The Best Years of Your Life… Now!

I recently heard a speaker say, “I can make you rich, famous and live forever!” I thought, “That’s a pretty bold statement.” I had heard that we all want to be rich, live forever and “get laid”. I hadn’t heard the famous part before.

It got me to thinking. It’s true… We all want to be recognized. You want recognition, don’t you? Think back, when you were a baby you cried, not just because your diapers needed to be changed and you were hungry, you needed and wanted attention!

Then you did your first finger painting and your mom put it up on the front of the fridge where everyone could see it. She gave you recognition, you were famous in her eyes.

And it goes on… As adults we have a number of ways of attracting attention to ourselves. Have you noticed the guy who drives the bright red sports car? Of course you have! As you read this, I bet you can think of ways you’ve attracted attention. Maybe doing an extraordinary job at work. Choosing to excel, to be a success, at something.

Hey, we all have a need to be recognized. If not to be famous, to be validated that we’re special. It’s almost as important as breathing for some. (Those who seek the limelight.) I’m not saying the only way to be special is to be famous. That’s a common misconception.

Look… you aren’t just special, you’re a miracle! The fact you were conceived, made it though birth and childhood as well as your unique trials, tribulations and various challenges is incredible. Do you know how fantastic the odds are of all that happening? I don’t know the exact percentage, but it is high enough to make every person on the planet, alive today, a miracle.

Even if you’re not rich, famous and going to live forever, you’re unique and wonderful.

So, your bank account isn’t what you’d like it to be and the media hasn’t been talking and writing about you… AND no one lives forever. Even so… You’re a special person and I’m glad you’re here.

Have you done anything lately that could change your current reality? Are you working on becoming rich, famous and extending your life as long as you can? Do you want some help, some insight? Check out the revolutionary Intentional Prosperity System…

Take care and recognize your own greatness today,

Gwen Baran

My sister works at a major Las Vegas hotel located on the strip. She’s also a union steward. She told me about a recent situation where, for a couple of employees, personal honesty took a back seat.

Las Vegas hotels and casinos have a zero tolerance policy for stealing money.

So my sister was suprised to learn that within a two day period, two employees admitted to stealing money. I’m talking about five dollars or less. One, an employee of almost ten years, the other was actually a former “employee of the month”.

No excuse, no tolerance: Instant dismissal

How can someone possibly justify, under any circumstance, taking company property …and in the case where there is a zero tolerance policy, why would they risk their job and future employment, over a few bucks? I mean a very few bucks?

My sister’s reaction was astonishment over how “stupid” these decisions were in light of the consequences. We both agreed It really comes down to a matter of personal integrity. That somewhere along the way both of these people justified stealing as being okay.

My take on it is that you would probably see a pattern of dishonesty in the lives of these two people. What else would explain risking everything over a few dollars? There must have been a long series of little compromises on personal honesty with these two. “Nickel and dime” stuff like watching a cashier give you back more change than he or she is supposed to and saying nothing about it.

There’s always a bigger price to pay.

My gut feeling is that those two employees were pocketing a few dollars here and there over a long period of time. It was so easily justified by their personal attitudes, opinions and beliefs that they didn’t think twice about it …until they got caught.

The more you begin to realize about the power of your intent, the less tolerance you’ll have for the compromise of “grey areas”. As you evolve spiritually, honesty actually becomes more black and white. You begin to see that the “grey areas” are just so much rationale that justifies dishonesty.

The good that comes from this is you begin to see how you’ve been “spinning” the truth to yourself, regarding certain things in your life. You begin to realize that you’ve been using your power to rationalize in a manner that has been working against your best long term interest.

In the case of the two employees they created bad habits which finally caught up to them.

In your case, being able to recognize a self administered excuse, which spins the truth …and taking steps to avoid or stop the “spin”, can be a powerful building block necessary to the foundation, you must build, in order to sustain a lifestyle of joy, fulfillment and prosperity.

-Bob Baran

What does give your life real meaning?

Maybe you’ve asked yourself this same question.

I’m convinced those relationships, things and situations which gives meaning to your life ultimately comes down to your doing things which positively impact the lives of others. Something you do that inspires another person to trust their own potential. Rise above their environment. Become more than they once believed was possible. To not give up on their dreams.

I was recently reminded of how what we do can have an important affect on someone else’s life. It happened when I ran across a file I had from 26 years ago. You see, I had self-published a book. A book that sold 33,000 copies and Amway of Australia, called “the bible of multi-level-marketing”.

It was titled “Multi-Level Mastery” and basically contained what I had learned from the time I was still in college at the Indiana University School of Music and started a part-time income generating business. Which within two years had netted me 5 new cars and a new house! It was a book on how to build a multi-level marketing business using the universal principles of success. Believe it or not, at that point in time, the book was the first of it’s kind.

The file

Inside the file were letters from people who had read the book. Lot’s of “thank you, it helped me understand what to do” kinds of letters …and then there were a few “what you said changed my life” letters. The point is, I was 31 years old when I wrote the book. I put forth what I believed in my heart was a way to conduct a business and live your life that would result in success …and it made a difference in people’s lives.

At the time I made a lot of money. Bought my first Mercedes and so on.

That car now sits in a field (in Montana) slowly rusting away. All the money I made from the book was spent decades ago. Yet here were testimonials, still hanging around in a file. The file was full of real abundance that I didn’t fully appreciate as a young man. What I didn’t realize was that the trophies (car, money, stuff) was a by-product of doing something which made a difference in the lives of other people.

I was able to take some life and business lessons and turn them into something that benefited others… I was too immature to fully appreciate that the real purpose of the undertaking was to pass on knowledge. Make someone’s life a little easier. To be a source of inspiration.

26 years later …I get it.

I’ve lived a life with many adventures and operated several businesses. Sure I’ve won advertising awards, achieved national recognition and yes made money …but nothing has made me feel more gratitude for time well spent than that old file full of letters.

Proof that for at least a few moments in my life, what I had done with my time 26 years ago had real meaning.

-Bob Baran

I’ve lost count as to how many times I’ve watched the movie “Peaceful Warrior” since it was released in 2005. Based on Dan Millman’s novel “Way of the Peaceful Warrior” it’s a powerful and entertaining story about a young man’s spiritual awakening. It’s one of my most treasured dvd’s.

There are several powerful themes within the movie that ultimately converge to create a series of epiphanies which result in the main character’s transformation. I want to discuss one of those themes:

Getting the garbage out of your mind

I call the stuff in your conscious mind “gooble-di-gook”. Often a bunch of useless information that takes up space in your mind and draws your attention away from what’s really important.

For some, “gooble-di-gook” is a never ending series of opinions and beliefs (usually of other people) they hide behind. Then spit it out as a way of portraying themselves to be more than they really are. Bring up a subject and they start quoting authors you never heard of and aren’t really relevant to the conversation at hand. They start throwing mental garbage at you because, like a parrot, they have never actually internalized what they claim to know.

If they did, they would never have to point to any authority other than themselves in order to justify who they are and what they know.

Getting back to the garbage in your mind:

The mind has an infinite capacity to store information. The trouble is, that information takes energy to maintain. So we end up focusing our vital energy in the never ending rationalization process which is necessary to sift through all that mental stuff. In other words, we end up living in our mind instead in the present.

So over time life becomes little more than an angst-like sifting process. A never ending internal (and external) conversation that always has more questions than answers. You have to constantly work your way through a lot of gooble-di-gook. You can no longer see things as they really are because your energy and attention is focused on rationalizing and justifying all that stuff in your mind. Each one of those thoughts creating their own limitation, confusion, contradiction and conflict. This ultimately keeps you from recognizing and taking action on your true potential. In other words: You’re stuck.

Time for a mind-dump

Take all that stuff in your head that’s really someone else’s original thoughts and dump it. You know, delete it. Erase it. Stop using it as the reason why you think a certain way. Stop justifying and rationalizing who you are and what you believe using someone else’s attitudes, opinions and beliefs as your authority. Start trusting yourself.

Who you are and what you believe does not require “permission” from some outside source. No other person, institution or philosophy should be the foundation upon what your inner knowingness is based upon. It should be your experience.

Stop wasting your precious time sifting though gooble-di-gook. It’s keeping you from experiencing the moment because your attention is being placed on your memory.

Maybe we don’t have someone who can throw us off a bridge like in the movie, “Peaceful Warrior”. Suddenly and unexpectedly in a free-fall where we experience a mind-dump for a few seconds.

But we do have free-will and the ability to make choices:

Are you going to continue to live in your mind (and the mind’s of others) or are you ready to begin the process of becoming an “original”. Living life on your own terms. Making decisions for your own reasons and never again using someone else as an authority to justify your attitudes, opinions and beliefs?

Let the world know who you are and what you think. Your life experience is the only justification you will ever need…

-Bob Baran