Discover a New, Little Known Secret to Success

I have spent the last few posts discussing the concept of success and shared how it is applicable to anyone (corporate leaders, single-parents or individuals experiencing traumatic change in their life). I defined success as: "Gaining or attaining the desires of our heart" and concluded that it's not necessarily related to finances, material possessions, who we know or where we go.

Now, I’d like to share with you a surefire framework that will guarantee success. This framework uses a concept I call: The 3R’s.  This concept came about during a period of self-reflection and personal growth where I looked back over my life and tried to determine the infinitesimal difference between success and failure. I used this concept to write and publish my book titled: “The 3R's of Spiritual Growth”.  The 3R's are: Recognition, Reconciliation and Reconnection. This framework can be utilized by anyone to successfully address and solve any of life’s problems areas.

The first step is to Recognize the impartial forces, factors and issues that are at work in our life and influence how we respond to it. We then recognize our negative core beliefs, which hinder us from attaining our goals.

Next, we learn how to set goals that are aligned with who and what we are. Much of our stress occurs when we set goals or desire objects that have been attained or belong to someone else which are not aligned with our purpose for living. This easily happens when we allow our desires to run rampant and influence our activities. These are the times when our lives really begin to get out of whack.

The cool part about the 3R framework is that it recognizes each and every one of us has a purpose for living that only we can achieve. This framework provides us with comfort and satisfaction as we proceed towards our goals by helping us stay in touch with our 3-part nature.

Next, we Reconcile where we are in life with what we want and desire. We do this by taking responsibility for the circumstances and situations in which we find ourselves.  We then develop a plan that moves us in the direction of our desired success. Along this path we will employ our understanding of “The Law of Cause and Effect” which simply says: “We choose how we experience life”.

Finally we take what we learned and Reconnect back into every nook, cranny, circumstance and situation in our life. We apply what we've recognized and reconciled into those areas of our life that aren’t working. When we accomplish this we will find that: our stress will be reduced, our health will improve and we will be able to experience life's unspeakable joys by remaining in the present moment and trusting in our new ability to successfully respond to whatever life throws our way.

This 3R framework can be easily taught to anyone desiring it. I hope that you have enjoyed this post and here's hoping that you live today and every day passionately and with purpose. Thank you and God bless.

Intellect Is Not Enough!

Hello again, and thanks for your interest. In this post we're going to begin to understand what it takes to improve our life physically, spiritually and intellectually. It does not matter if we are in a jail cell or a boardroom. It doesn't matter if we're going through bankruptcy or experiencing great financial success. It doesn't matter if our physical body is deteriorating or we are at the pinnacle of physical fitness. What does matter is that we recognize we have the power to improve our condition and begin experiencing a prosperous and peaceful life right here and right now.

To begin, let us take a look at our intellectual nature. It consists of our conscious and subconscious mind, our will, desires and emotions. Some folks may call this the soul, life force or heart of man. It's not important what it’s called as long as we recognize its existence and that it is distinct from our other natures. Many say that it separates from our physical body during death and continues to exist. Others say that when we die, it dies. I am not here to try to convince you one way or the other. I just want you to understand that it does exist and is separate from our physical and spiritual nature.

I like to call our intellectual nature “The Battleground”. This is the place where all of our mental and emotional distress takes place. And, although it's not physical in nature, that is, it can’t be touched, smelled or seen, it can have a devastating effect on our physical body. As a result, it is not to be completely trusted in and of itself because as easily as it can lead us to unlock the mysteries of the universe it can lead us to wrongly convict someone of a crime they didn't commit.

At the center of our intellectual nature is this thing called “free will”. Our free will gives us the ability to choose whatever course of action we desire. It allows us to do so whether or not the course we choose is helpful or harmful to others. However, we must recognize that there are always consequences associated with whatever actions we take.  In case you are asking “How is this information going to help me improve my life?” let me get to the meat of this post.

You may have heard the saying “The mind is a terrible thing to waste”. And that's just my point. Our mind, an integral component of our intellectual nature, is one of the greatest tools that we as human beings have available to us. As a tool it can be used to create works of good or evil. However, as a result of free will, we can allow our minds to be influenced by whatever we choose. This is where our spiritual nature comes in to work hand-in-hand with our intellectual nature.

As stated in earlier posts our intellectual, spiritual and physical natures must interact together in order for us to experience the prosperous and peaceful life that we seek. In my next post I will discuss how our spiritual influences our intellectual nature. Until then here's wishing that you live today and every day passionately and with purpose. Thank you and God bless!

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!