Improve Your Life Here and Now!

Hello, Al Spinks here, and thanks for your interest. You know what? I just don't get it. We live in one of the greatest nations on earth but I feel we're letting that greatness slip away. From an individual perspective, it seems as if we are yielding to a sense of helplessness and hopelessness. It's as if we want others to do for us that which we are very capable of doing for ourselves. We want to become rich, famous and healthy over night but have a tendency to become depressed when that doesn’t happen. We seem to have forgotten that we have to put in work in order to attain anything worthwhile.

In a conversation with my son Michael who is a personal fitness trainer, we discussed how even after an intense workout we are not able to see any significant change in our body the next day. We just put in the work and have faith that over time a proper combination of diet and exercise will produce the desired results. It's a process that works and this process will work for anyone regardless of his or her physical condition. To obtain this better level of fitness all we have to do is start where we are, have a plan and put in the work.

So, if we can gain better fitness by assessing our current physical condition and creating a plan to improve it, don't you think we can do the same thing to gain a better life? All we have to do is assess our current spiritual, intellectual and physical condition and then execute a plan to improve them. We all have inside of us the necessary components to positively change the quality of our life. We just gotta wanna do it and get started right here and right now.

First, we must take responsibility for whatever hand life has dealt us. It's not as hard as you think. As a matter of fact it's kind of easy. As stated in earlier posts, our health, age, circumstances and situations do not matter. All we have to do is want to improve our life and find an impartial coach to show us the way. But before I continue let me share this brief poem with you.

The Man Who Thinks He Can

by Walter D. Wintle

If you think you are beaten, you are;

If you think you dare not, you don't.

If you'd like to win, but think you can't

It's almost a cinch you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you've lost,

For out in the world we find

Success begins with a fellow's will;

It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are:

You've got to think high to rise.

You've got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize.

Life's battles don't always go

To the stronger or faster man,

But soon or late the man who wins

Is the one who thinks he can.

Remember, all you gotta do is believe you can improve your life and you will! What are you waiting on? In my next few posts I will provide information that will assist you in this very worthwhile and rewarding journey. Until then here's wishing that you live today and every day passionately and with purpose. Thank you and God Bless!

Your Word is Your Bond

How many of us know that our word is our bond? By this I mean that people around us listen to what we say and watch to see if our actions match our words. The higher up on the totem pole that we go the more important it is that we are very careful or give significant thought to what it is that we say.

Now don’t just think that I am talking only to the leaders of organizations, corporations and political parties. All of us are pretty high on someone’s totem pole. We could be a single mother with a child who pays attention to every word that comes out of our mouth. We may be a divorced dad who only gets a chance to see his children every other week. Or we may believe that we are alone in this world and that no one really listens to or cares about us. Let me assure you that someone you don’t know depends upon you and listens to your every word.

Regardless of whether it is wrong or right, we are all judged by what we say and held accountable by someone. In the Bible, the book of James says: “Be quick to hear and slow to speak”. If you are speaking to an individual, or a group of people, take the time to make a thoughtful comment or give a reflective response. I can’t tell you how many times someone has told me: “I’ll get back to you on that matter” or “I will call you next week” and I never hear from them again.

Now I know that we all become very busy at times and forget to do things every now and then, but if this becomes a consistent theme in how we deal with certain individuals then it just becomes a matter of time before these individuals stop depending on us or listening to what it is that we say. In Matthew 5:37, the Bible says: “Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one”. I interpret this to mean: “Say what you mean and mean what you say”. Everything else comes from vanity or conceit.

Some of the greatest leaders in my life (and let me remind you that this list includes teachers, sailors, Marines, business leaders, personal friends and clergy) have taken the time to follow up on their commitments to me and be true to their word. If times were tough for them, they would let me know that they could not honor their commitment but they would get back with me as soon as they could. And for these men and women I would gladly march through the gates of hell in support of them.

You see, for these individuals, their word was their bond and I could take their word to the bank and cash their verbal checks. Again I remind you that if you wish to become an effective leader then you must allow your word to become your bond.

When is Good Enough, Good Enough?

Just when is good enough, good enough? For the last six weeks I have been busy creating a set of four audio CD’s which capture the message of my seminar entitled “Straight Talk about Success and Spiritual Growth.” However as I was listening to the final product, I found that I kept going back to change a word here or rephrase a phrase there. No matter how many times I went back, I kept finding something that I could have done better. This activity finally made me ask myself: “When is good enough, good enough?”

In answering the above question, I had to ask myself another. This new question was: “Have I given this project my very best effort?” And every time that I could not honestly say “Yes”, I went back to review my content. However, when I was finally able to answer “Yes”, I stopped all editing of the content and went into the duplication and production mode.

Now I realize that there are people who will not like what I have done. On the other hand, I realize that there are people who will like what I have done. And although their opinions are important to me, their opinions will not change how I feel about my effort in completing this project. The key here is that I have done the best I could with what I had. I think that it is important that we have this same mindset as we go throughout life.

In order to answer the question: “When is good enough, good enough?” we must understand the following two points. The first point is all projects are composed of tiny steps. We must focus on doing the small things right because if we do that then the larger projects (which also consist of small steps) will automatically be done correctly. These projects could be any be any number of things: 1. Doing a report for class, 2. Managing a project for your office, 3. Raising a child or 4. Just living your life. You see it doesn’t matter what the project is, just do the small things correctly.

The second point is, given the time constraints that we have and realizing that we are not perfect, we must always go back and review our work and ask ourselves: “Is this our best effort?” If the answer is “No” then we go back, review and make changes. If the answer is “Yes” then we move on to the next area of our life. If at some future date we find out that we could have done something better, we must learn from the situation, forgive ourselves and recognize that we did the absolute best we could at that time.

It does not matter if you’re in a relationship, raising a child or completing a project for work or for school; your good enough is good enough when:

1. You focus on doing the small things well and
2. You have done the very best that you could do.

If you are interested in purchasing this 4-CD set that provides simple, biblically based tools on how to overcome the roadblocks to success in your life, go to the following link:

http://asapresents.com/Store.html

Peace…Al

Sixty Seconds

What is it that you fear most and what great thing is this fear preventing you from accomplishing?  You will not be able to be all that you are created to be until you can embrace your fear and determine its root cause.  Let me provide an example of what I’m talking about.

In the past I have felt that there was always something preventing me from giving 100% to every project which I have worked.  It seemed that it was easy for me to provide 80 to 85% of my effort but I could never go all out.  However, without sounding too arrogant, 80 to 85% of my effort is equal to the best that most can offer.  The problem is that 80 to 85% of my effort is no longer good enough for me and I wanted to determine what was holding me back.  Here is what I found.

I found that the reason I could not give 100% was due to my fear of failure and the emotions attached to this fear.  What I had to do was to separate my fear from my emotions.  In order to do this I had to look at each component separately.  What a wonderful experience!  I learned that my fear stemmed from emotions related to my childhood experiences of “not being good enough.”  This knowledge is truly life-changing.

I now know that what ever I attempt in the future will get 100% of my effort.  I know that I will be running “flat out” and that the world “ain’t seen nothing yet”. This knowledge brings to mind the words of the English poet Rudyard Kipling from the final verse of his famous poem entitled “If.”  The words are as follows:

……

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!

Are you looking for someone to provide you with a step by step guide to help you fill the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds worth of distance run?  If so, I suggest you attend my “Straight Talk about Success and Spiritual Growth” public seminar on May 15, in Houston, Texas.  In this seminar, we will discuss how to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way to having success in every facet of our life.    You will learn how to identify and nourish the spiritual part of your being that feeds the success mechanism which lies deep within you.

We will also provide a CD set via the Internet which will discuss in greater detail the information provided in this seminar.  For more information about the seminar and how to register, you may go to the following website: www.asapresents.com/Seminars.html.