“Great is the heartfelt joy when, after innumerable and apparently unsuccessful attempts, some ingrained fault of character is at last cast out to trouble its erstwhile victim and the world no more.” – The Mastery of Destiny

James Allen is sharing with us the reward (heartfelt joy) for finally overcoming a personal character deficit. However, what he’s really sharing with us is the value of persistence.

If I had to pick one character trait that I think is a “must have” in order to be successful in any endeavor, it would be persistence. In fact, it seems to be the one trait that is the dominant trait in every single, super-successful individual I know. I believe it to be the one trait that any ordinary person can use to become extraordinary (“extra-ordinary”).

Napoleon Hill, who wrote Think and Grow Rich, devoted an entire chapter to Persistence and said that the only thing that was different about Henry Ford and Thomas Edison was their persistence.

I’ve long since forgotten where I read it, but I’ve never forgotten the story of the tribe in Africa that confounded all of the anthropologists. It seems that this tribe had for centuries enjoyed a 100% success rate with its rain dance. In comparing this tribe to other tribes who did rain dances but who didn’t always experience success, the experts couldn’t find anything that differentiated the one tribe. They performed the same rituals, praying the same incantations to the same gods, in the same costumes. Like all the tribes, they sometimes danced for days, even weeks on end.

Finally an astute observer noticed something very telling. The successful tribe did one thing – and only one thing – different than the other tribes. It ALWAYS danced UNTIL it rained!

If your head is hanging low today as mine has done on many a day, I hope you’ll find the encouragement to know that you really only need to do one thing at this point — PERSIST. And that means taking just one step in the right direction — even a half step in the right direction.

Yes, maybe you need to review your plan or change your plan or maybe you even need to create a plan in the first place 🙂 But the one way you can ensure that you will meet with success (it’s absolutely guaranteed) — is to “dance until it rains!”

And that’s worth thinking about.

Note: This was previously published in Day by Day with James Allen, but its message bears repeating many times.

“What you are, so is your world. Everything in the universe is resolved into your own inward experience. It matters little what is without, for it is all a reflection of your own state of consciousness. It matters everything what you are within, for everything without will be mirrored and colored accordingly.” — Path to Prosperity

Although we rarely want to admit it, the world (as we see it) is simply a mirror, reflecting back to us our own inner state. If we are inwardly in turmoil then we are certain to see a tumultuous world. Just as certainly, a seemingly joyful world is only returning to us our own inward joy.

Those days when everything seems to go wrong from the moment we wake up, usually begins with one bad event (car won’t start, alarm didn’t go off, etc.) that we allow to affect our state of mind. That leads to another, and then another and before you know it, the world looks like an ugly place to us.

Put enough of those days together and life can become almost unbearable. Yet, nothing in the world created our misery — it was our response —- our own state of consciousness — that created the ugliness.

In the mid-1990’s I allowed a few negative events (brought on by living by the wrong principles) to drastically change my state of consciousness. In the middle of one of the greatest economic expansions in the history of the world, I barely lived above the level of poverty. Where others saw opportunity, I saw lack. It was simply a reflection of my inner state.

By 1998 I had gained control of my inner self and, accordingly, the sun once again began to shine in my world. The same circumstances that had once appeared as lack, now appeared as opportunities. Today there are so many opportunities in my life that I am only able to act on a tiny fraction of them. My table truly overfloweth.

During my dark days I came across a tiny booklet called 12 Ways to Develop a Positive Attitude. The author, Dale Galloway, writes from experience. He was a well-known pastor whose wife suddenly left him one year a few days before Christmas.

One of the many gems he offered was: “No matter what happens, look for the good and you’ll find it. A positive thinker does not refuse to recognize the negative – he refuses to dwell on it. Positive thinking is a form of thought which habitually looks for the best results from the worst conditions. It is always possible to look for something good; to expect the best for yourself even though things look bad. And the remarkable fact is that when you seek good, you will find it.”

And that’s worth thinking about.

“He who would be blest, let him scatter blessings.” — Above Life’s Turmoil

James Allen wrote this line to make his point about sowing and reaping. I’m going to use the line to make a point about the power of giving thanks, of having an “attitude of gratitude.”

The Bible, Talmud and all the great world religions include the power of gratitude in their teachings. In the Koran it is written that “If you are grateful, I will give you more.”

Indeed, sometimes it’s pretty amazing the way the universe rewards those who are grateful. It’s almost as if the Creator says “he’s thankful for what he has, let’s give him some more.” And the opposite can also appear to be true. As if the Creator says “he’s unhappy with what he has now, so let’s not give him any more.” Sincere gratitude seems to unlock abundance in our lives.

Numerous scientific studies indicate people who are thankful for what they have are happier, have better relationships and enjoy better health — the only reasons you need to have an attitude of gratitude. But there are practical reasons too. In one study the participants who had been in the gratitude condition reported having made more progress toward their goals.

Americans gather this week to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday but this message is for those of all nationalities. Gratitude and Thanksgiving aren’t just once a year or even once a month things. Spending time each day giving thanks for the blessings in your life (and everyone has blessings they can count) is a great habit to develop.

Jeff Keller, author of Attitude is Everything, says, “It costs you nothing to be grateful and appreciative, yet it has a considerable impact on the quality of your life. So, don’t waste another minute. Every day, reflect on the priceless gifts you’ve been enjoying. Openly share your gratitude with others. And, the next time somebody asks if anything great happened to you today, you’ll have plenty to say!”

And that’s worth thinking about.

“Having conceived of his purpose, a person should mentally mark out a straight pathway to its achievement, looking neither to the right nor left.” – As A Man Thinketh

It’s called FOCUS, and it’s probably the one single reason that most of us don’t accomplish more. We lay out some great goals, maybe even writing them down like the experts encourage. We enthusiastically start taking action. We can feel the power and the energy. We know that this time we’re on the right track, this time is going to be different than all those other times.

Then it happens…

Life gets in the way!

Maybe it’s a personal or family illness; or things get turned upside down at work. Maybe an unexpected financial crisis occurs. Whatever the interruption, it consumes us and before we know it, our once bright and shining goal that was out there in front of us is now just a tarnished and painful memory of what we could do if such and such hadn’t happened.

Life gets in the way of everybody, but the more successful have a way of keeping their focus in spite of life. One of my all-time favorite quotes on the power of focus is from James Allen’s The Mastery of Destiny.

“All successful people are people of purpose. They hold fast to an idea, a project, a plan, and will not let it go; they cherish it, brood upon it, tend and develop it; and when assailed by difficulties, they refuse to be beguiled into surrender; indeed, the intensity of the purpose increases with the growing magnitude of the obstacles encountered.”

And that last sentence is the true secret:

And that’s worth thinking about.

“Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.” — As A Man Thinketh

In the original Chicken Soup for the Soul, Jack Canfield tells the story of Monty, who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer of little means. During his senior year he was assigned a writing project to describe what he wanted to be when he grew up. His seven-page essay minutely detailed the 200-acre ranch he wanted to own. It included a diagram of the ranch and a detailed floor plan of his 4,000 square foot home.

Despite the passion and effort Monty put into his paper, he received it back with a large “F” written on it and a note to see the teacher after class. The teacher told Monty that the reason he had given him that grade was because his paper was unrealistic. He went on to cite all of the reasons why, and told Monty that if he would rewrite the paper with a more realistic goal, he would reconsider the grade. After considering it for a week, the young man turned in the same paper with no changes, along with the remark, “You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.”

The conclusion of the true story has the teacher bringing 30 students for a summer campout at the 200-acre ranch of the now grown (and successful) Monty who lives in his 4,000 square foot dream home.

If it worked for the son of an itinerant horse trainer it will work for you. The principle is simple: (1) create a dream that is so big that it will keep you excited, (2) define the dream in minute detail, (3) live in the dream so that it becomes real to you on the inside, (4) and then hold on to it so tightly that no one can take it away from you.

James Allen goes on to offer this great wisdom, “Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals…For out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.”

But Monty, perhaps, offered the greatest wisdom, “You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.”

And that’s worth thinking about.