Sound Wisdom Blog
Kick Fear’s Ass by Kay Miller
Here’s an Uncopyable Secret: The next time you face the risk of rejection, failure or even looking stupid, ask yourself, “What’s the worst that can happen?” As long as the answer isn’t death, force yourself to push past your fear. And remember, the biggest opportunities (and sales!) lie outside your comfort zone.
Reframing Your Memories by Jim Stovall
Very few things in life are either all good or all bad. Even in the worst of times and during the most difficult of circumstances, there are lessons to be learned that can impact who we are and what we do for the rest of our lives.
Enthusiasm by Napoleon Hill
ENTHUSIASM is a state of mind that inspires and arouses one to put action into the task at hand. It does more than this—it is contagious, and vitally affects not only the enthusiast, but all with whom he comes in contact.
Enthusiasm bears the same relationship to a human being that steam does to the locomotive—it is the vital moving force that impels action. The greatest leaders of men are those who know how to inspire enthusiasm in their followers.
Enthusiasm is not merely a figure of speech; it is a vital force that you can harness and use with profit. Without it, you would resemble an electric battery without electricity.
The Miraculous Mirror by Jim Stovall
We spend far too much time in our lives worrying about what everyone thinks of us when in reality, it is far more important what we think of ourselves. While a mirror can only give us a basic reflection of ourselves as we are viewed by the world, it can be the beginning of a deeper assessment of who we are and who we can become. As a blind person, I’ve always been troubled to hear people say, “I’ll believe it when I can see it.” Then one day, I realized the fallacy of that statement, and I discovered the divine paradox that, “We have to believe it first, then we will see it later.” Therefore, seeing is not believing, but believing is the first step in seeing on a far deeper level.
Know Your Purpose; Know Your Mission by Sam Silverstein
What is your Purpose in life? What is your Mission? They are not the same. It is quite common for people (and teams and even entire organizations) to get a little confused about what a Purpose is and how it differs from a Mission. This confusion does not exist for accountable leaders and the team members who report to them.
Pre-crastination by Jim Stovall
Our lives are the accumulated total of the things we do, not the things we thought about doing, meant to do, wanted to do, or were going to do when we got time. Procrastination kills dreams, success, and goals. For years, I thought the ideal would be to do everything on time and when I had it scheduled. Then, I discovered pre-crastination. Expert sources tell me that there are over 300,000 words in the English language. Regular readers of these columns in newspapers, magazines, and online publications around the world know that there are occasions when the supply of words in the English language is not sufficient for me, so I create a new word.
The State of Uncertainty and the Impact on American Business Today by Meridith Elliott Powell
What if I told you that uncertainty doesn’t have to be a bad thing? That we discovered, based on research from our new report, that uncertainty was something that could actually transform your business and take it to the next level? That our extensive qualitative and quantitative study revealed that uncertainty creates new opportunities, stimulates innovation, and can be your greatest competitive advantage?
How to Thrive in Unprecedented Times: An exclusive excerpt from Napoleon Hill’s Freedom from Your Fears
If you are experiencing a difficult time, it might seem impossible to bring yourself to a place of hope. And to that Hill would say—you shouldn’t. Hoping and wishing are indicative of a lack of faith and inaction. Instead, you should refocus your thoughts on the certainty that you will rebound and achieve your definite chief aim. All you need are new plans, which you can conceive by visualizing the fruition of your desires and instructing your subconscious to find a means for claiming what has already been made available to you. Understand that everything you want most in life is yours for the taking; you are being held back only by your fears, indecision, and lack of proper plans for obtaining what you desire.
The Wonders of Praise by Earl Nightingale
Understanding the importance of self-esteem and seeing the never-ending need for reaffirmation of a person’s worth, we should make it our business to watch for honest opportunities to give praise—especially to the members of our families and those with whom we work.
Keeping the Luster in Your Life by Earl Nightingale
A Chicago executive once told me how he maintained the luster in his job, how he charged his batteries during the early days of his career. Whenever over-familiarity with his product and service or the negativity of some of his prospects or associates began to undermine his enthusiasm for what he was selling, he’d simply make a service call on one of his best customers. There he could reassure himself of the excellent results being realized through the use of his company’s products. Then my friend would head out again with renewed confidence in himself, in his ability to be of service, and in the benefits he could deliver to every new prospect.
Do It Today: How to Not Let Procrastination Get in Your Way by Adrean Turner
You’ve heard the saying “Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?” That quote is attributed to Aaron Burr, the vice president of Thomas Jefferson, who’s quoted as saying the opposite: “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.” That speaks volumes of the differences of these two men.
Are You “All in” on Your Life? by Jennifer Janechek
In her new book No Reserve: Take Ownership and Live YOUR Life without Limitations, celebrity “auctiontainer” Letitia Frye presents an extended metaphor comparing life to an auction. Many of us, she explains, establish conditions that are necessary for us to act on our dreams. Or in auctionspeak, we set a “reserve”—or a minimum bid—on our life. We wait to start living our legacies because we think we aren’t or don’t have enough: enough resources, enough connections, enough time, etc. As she writes, “Life is like an auction: you get your best returns if you don’t set a reserve on it. Anyone who wants to live a meaningful, fulfilling, invigorating life that makes an impression on the world must learn to live their life with no reserve.”
Top 10 Business Tips for Creating an Uncopyable Competitive Advantage by Steve Miller
Competition is fierce. That’s one thing all companies today can agree on. Unfortunately, in a race to outpace rivals, too many companies are stuck in a hamster wheel approach to become better than their competition. But here’s the reality: that’s a never-ending race that nobody wins.
You don’t want to be better. Better can always be one-upped, and better just isn’t good enough if you truly want to gain a competitive advantage. So what’s the answer? You must become Uncopyable.
No Risk, No Reward by Letitia Frye
How will I grow my value if I’m playing it safe?
Life is like an auction: you get your best returns if you don’t set a reserve on it. Anyone who wants to live a meaningful, fulfilling, invigorating life that makes an impression on the world must learn to live their life with no reserve.
3 Cs for Results-Driven Action by Alyson Van Hooser
Do you want to be more successful? Understanding the right action you need to take is critical for earning success. Without a high-level understanding of what you do and do not need to do, you’ll be left with long-term lackluster results. How frustrating that would be—for both you and your employer!
Negative Bias by Jim Stovall
In my own unscientific, life-long study of human performance and success, it seems to me that most people think negative thoughts, speak negative words, and expect negative outcomes and, inevitably, they get what they expect. I have long pondered, in a world where there are so many positive thoughts and positive circumstances, why the majority of people dwell on the negative side of the equation.
Get Motivated to Lead While You #StayAtHome by Alyson Van Hooser
Where’s your head at right now with everything going on? Like so many people, have you defaulted to feeling overwhelmed, stressed, frustrated or demotivated?
I used the word defaulted because no one intentionally works to feel those negative feelings. They just happen; they’re most people’s default in difficult situations.
The fact of the matter is that you DON’T have to accept your default. Let me say it again for those of you who were just skimming up to this point—you don’t have to accept your default; you can flip the script!
Tomorrow Never Comes by Jim Stovall
These weekly columns have appeared in newspapers, magazines, and online publications for well over 20 years. I try to create a variety of topics, themes, and subjects, but every column every week ends with the phrase, “Today’s the day.” The world belongs to the person who will set a course and begin moving toward their goal today. Those timid individuals who over-plan, overanalyze, and conduct the most trivial preparations right up to the point where they fail to launch are a huge waste of human potential.
The Art of Converting Defeat into Opportunity by Jennifer Janechek
Napoleon Hill wrote his masterpiece, Think and Grow Rich, in the thick of the Great Depression. It is credited with helping end the Depression by providing people with the strategies they needed to take control of their future by single-mindedly pursuing a definite purpose. He speaks directly to his original readership when he writes, “You have been disappointed, you have undergone defeat during the depression, you have felt the great hurt within you crushed until it bled. Take courage, for these experiences have tempered the spiritual metal of which you are made—they are assets of incomparable value.”
Do You Have Stickability? by Jennifer Janechek
Do you have stickability? Are you able to look beyond today’s difficulties into tomorrow’s goldmine? Learn from Greg in Three Feet from Gold what a difference it makes to identify your definite major purpose and unabashedly pursue it.
Don’t quit now…you might be just three feet from gold!