9 Hidden Keys to Happiness and Success

We all love to feel motivated. I know I do. It’s absolute nirvana to be on purpose and on task at the same time. But life often intervenes in my plans and that can mean stress, frustration and setbacks and I find that I have to live my life on Inner Motivation – particularly when the proverbial chips are down. Most of us wait for someone else to give us a reason to move ahead or we wait for circumstance or opportunity to line up in just the right way so we can move ahead with the inner commitment we’ve been holding back. We wait for our partner to say ‘I love you’ first, we wait for a sign of acceptance before we commit to revealing some part of ourselves and we wait for the evidence of the result before we commit our belief.

To many of us this seems like a smart or even shrewd way of going about business and life. We think we’re protecting and insulating ourselves by not putting too much ‘out there’ and therefore avoiding disappointment or (God forbid) rejection. In reality, though, this is actually a very dangerous way to live life because it puts your life and your happiness in someone else’s hands - a sure fire equation for misery. From the inside this may seem like a very controlled way to live life, but it’s actually a very out of control way to live life. That’s why it makes us so unhappy and leaves us so unfulfilled. There’s nothing dependable or controlled about it.

One of my favorite movie scenes is from the Indiana Jones movie where he (played by Harrison Ford) and his father (played by Sean Connery) are searching for the Holy Grail. Indiana’s father lies dying at the hands of the Nazis and to save his life Indiana must find the Holy Grail. To get to the Grail, Indiana has to accurately decode his father’s Grail diary which will enable him to make his way through certain life-threatening challenges. After successfully making his way through several of the tests, he comes to a huge chasm that lies between where he is and where he wants to be. He reads the Bible passage from his father’s diary which has to do with “faith being the evidence of things not seen”. He picks up a handful of sand and throws it out to the chasm only to see the sand fall on an invisible bridge.

I personally believe there lies a bridge across every chasm we face, no matter the depth or the breadth of the canyon. The path to whatever we want in life always exists and we can find it if we have the unwavering commitment and willingness to learn and grow in the ways required of us.

“Courage is the price that life extracts for peace of mind.”
Amelia Earhardt

When the relationship or the job or the project doesn’t go the way you wanted it to, you need to have Authentic Inner Motivation to get you to where you want to be. You can’t force yourself to be motivated. You have to develop it from the inside out. Having Authentic Inner Motivation at your disposal whenever you want it requires focus, commitment and discipline.

How do you do develop Authentic Inner Motivation? Let’s take a look at the formula:

1. Set Goals - First, decide what you want. Take your sales, income and personal goals, and be crystal clear about them. Write them down and look at them several times throughout the day. A vague goal of doing the best you can or giving your best every day won’t get you there. You have to clearly see what you want – and often.

I have a Vision Folder. Inside it I have photographs, pages from magazines and mock-ups that reflect my goals. It’s an easy and portable way to keep my goals in front me, and I look at them every morning and evening.

2. Commitment – Nothing happens without complete and total personal commitment. If you’re leaving out even 1% of your total dedication to accomplishing your goal, you won’t get there. Think about this…what would happen if your doctor had a 99% commitment to healing you or your loved one? Would that be enough for you? Would you have respect for them?

If you want to sleep well at night, if you want to be respected by those you’re in relationship with and if you want to have overwhelming self-respect – commit 155% of yourself to your goals and watch your life change for the better.

3. Self-Honesty – This is a tough one for some folks. Not everyone is comfortable taking a hard look within. But if you’re serious about being successful you need to look within to see what you’re doing to create your own experience. You also need to be honest about what skills you need to learn to get you to where you want to be. Also, take an honest internal inventory of your emotional health. If you’re carrying resentment from your last employment experience, your last relationship or any other experience, it’s limiting the success you create today.

Think about the people you’ve known that use resentment as insulation in their life – now notice how betrayal is a common theme in their life. There’s a reason for that. Call it the Law of Attraction, Karma, a self-fulfilling prophecy or the “as ye sow, so shall ye reap” principle, it means you are creating your own experiences. When you hold on to resentment, you are (subconsciously) believing that you don’t have a choice or any power in your current situation, that the other person is against you in some way and so this situation will turn negatively and there’s nothing you can do about it. Resentment always breeds betrayal in your life. Take an emotional inventory and heal and release the reasons for the negative emotions – particularly the resentment and watch the prosperity roll in!

4. Accountability – It doesn’t matter whether you listen to a minister, your favorite self-improvement author, your Mom or Dr. Phil, they will all tell you the same thing…your life is created from the inside out, so you might as well own it. Blame of any kind is a jail cell for your spirit.

5. Commit to Faith & Belief – Hebrews 11:1 says “Now faith is the evidence of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” - the faith and the belief has to come first – the evidence comes after. There was a book written several years ago under the title You’ll See It When You Believe It. Great title. In the tarot deck, the first card is the card of the Fool which shows a picture of a young man ostensibly walking off of the edge of the cliff – it’s said to be the bravest, most powerful card in the entire deck.

6. Have an Attitude of Gratitude – The most powerful words you can ever use, think or write is THANK YOU. Just as resentment can shut down your prosperity and relationships, an attitude of gratitude will open the floodgates of prosperity and love in your life. (Remember to use these powerful words with yourself as well!) Every life experience is a gift and a perspective of appreciation makes the inherent wisdom of our experiences all that more evident to us.

7. Practice Tolerance – Judgment is another self-limiting behavior that limits your success and hampers your motivation and creativity. Judgment is a terrible burden to carry around and creates a paranoiac state of mind. Practice tolerance and lighten your load!

8. Get Inspired – Inspiration comes from different sources for different people, and it’s essential that we know what works for us and that we prime these sources often. I have a writer friend who has her most motivating songs on a separate section on her iPod. When she feels blocked or frustrated or discouraged, one of the things she does is listen to those songs one by one. Long before the end of the songs she’s belting out the words right along with her favorite artist and she’s ready to take another stab at her project at hand. I like to go for a walk or a run outside. With two small children in my life I may only get ½ hour to squeeze in a run or a walk but that time is so inspirational to me. It really stirs my creativity. Meditating is inspirational as is a good movie, a good book or talking with someone else whose success you admire.

9. Take Care of Your Health – If you don’t feel well, it’s hard to stay motivated. So take good care of your health! Eat well, take vitamins, exercise every day, play, rest and enjoy your work! There’s a saying…anyone would give their money to have health, but no one would give their health to have money. Right now I’m really into juicing. It’s an idea that came to me while I was sitting outside (of course) next to the koi pond at Children’s Hospital when my son was ill last summer. As often as my husband could he would join us and come turn cartwheels to distract and make our son laugh so I could get some food into him. When –pop- there was the idea – juicing. It’s worked beautifully. Our son began drinking his veggies and since they’re masked under pineapple or apple or strawberries, he loves every drop. The rest of our family has started juicing as a result and I’m amazed at how good it makes you feel and how much energy it gives you! A friend of ours picked up the Jack Lalanne juicer for us while we were still in the hospital and he has a neat video on his site at www.powerjuicer.com .

Authentic Inner Motivation isn’t just a skill that will help you earn the kind of money that you want or that will make you happier while you’re doing it, it’s a way of living that will help you to live a happier and more successful life.

Use the AIM Formula in your work and let yourself shine! You’ll be happier, more successful and more prosperous for doing it.

To Meet Such A Man

I sat, with two friends, in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just off the corner of the town-square. The food and the company were both especially good that day.

As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street. There, walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all his worldly goods on his back. He was carrying, a well-worn sign that read, "I will work for food." My heart sank.

I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed that others around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief.

We continued with our meal, but his image lingered in my mind. We finished our meal and went our separate ways. I had errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward the town square, looking somewhat halfheartedly for the strange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call some response. I drove through town and saw nothing of him. I made some purchases at a store and got back in my car.

Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me: "Don't go back to the office until you've at least driven once more around the square."




Then with some hesitancy, I headed back into town. As I turned the square's third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the steps of the store front church, going through his sack.

I stopped and looked; feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and approached the town's newest visitor.

"Looking for the pastor?" I asked.

"Not really," he replied, "just resting."

"Have you eaten today?"

"Oh, I ate something early this morning."

"Would you like to have lunch with me?"

"Do you have some work I could do for you?"

"No work," I replied. "I commute here to work from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch."

"Sure," he replied with a smile.

As he began to gather his things, I asked some surface questions. Where you headed?"

" St. Louis ."

"Where you from?"

"Oh, all over; mostly Florida ."

"How long you been walking?"

"Fourteen years," came the reply.

I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left earlier. His face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that was startling. He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt that said, "Jesus is The Never Ending Story."

Then Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences. Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona. He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought.

He was hired, but the tent would not house a concert but revival services, and in those services he saw life more clearly. He gave his life over to God

"Nothing's been the same since," he said, "I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now."

"Ever think of stopping?" I asked.

"Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the best of me But God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles . That's what's in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads."

I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission and lived this way by choice. The question burned inside for a moment and then I asked: "What's it like?"

"What?"

"To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back and to show your sign?"

"Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stare and make comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then it became humbling to realize that God was using me to touch
lives and change people's concepts of other folks like me."

My concept was changing, too. We finished our dessert and gathered his things. Just outside the door, he paused. He turned to me and said, "Come Ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I've prepared for you. For when I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, a stranger and you took me in."

I felt as if we were on holy ground. "Could you use another Bible?" I asked.

He said he preferred a certain translation. It traveled well and was not too heavy. It was also his personal favorite. "I've read through it 14 times," he said.

"I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's stop by our church and see" I was able to find my new friend a Bible that would do well, and he seemed very grateful.

"Where are you headed from here?" I asked.

"Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement park coupon."

"Are you hoping to hire on there for awhile?"

"No, I just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star right there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm going next."

He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his mission. I drove him back to the town-square where we'd met two hours earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded his things.

"Would you sign my autograph book?" he asked. "I like to keep messages from folks I meet."

I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his calling had touched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of scr i pture from Jeremiah, "I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you; Plans to give you a future and a hope."

"Thanks, man," he said. "I know we just met and we're really just strangers, but I love you."

"I know," I said, "I love you, too." "The Lord is good!"

"Yes, He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?" I asked.

A long time," he replied

And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed. He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, "See you in the New Jerusalem."

"I'll be there!" was my reply.

He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his bedroll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, "When you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?"

"You bet," I shouted back, "God bless."

"God bless." And that was the last I saw of him.

Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The cold front had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car. As I sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them... a pair of well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle. I picked them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that night without them.

Then I remembered his words: "If you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?"

Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office. They help me to see the world and its people in a new way, and they help me remember those two hours with my unique friend and to pray for his ministry. "See you in the New Jerusalem," he said. Yes, Daniel,
I know I will...

If this story touched you, forward it to a friend!

"I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again."

My instructions were to send this to four people that I wanted God to bless and I picked you. Please pass this to four people you want to be blessed.

This prayer is powerful and there is nothing attached. Prayer is one of the best gifts we receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards. Let's continue to pray for one another. God bless and have a nice day!

"Father, I ask you to bless my friends, relatives and e-mail buddies reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask you to minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through your grace, In Jesus' precious Name Amen."