Though we are not always fully aware of it, we are all creatures of emotions and many times those emotions tend to override our more subdued rational self and that’s when we tend to do something that we may live to regret.

Emotions are the spice of life. They make us feel vibrant, they are our main source of energy and when well harnessed, they can propel us to magnificent height. On the other hand, when emotions are allowed to rule unchecked, wrong decisions are taken and trouble just may occur.

Doing the right thing for the right reason is not always the impulsive thing to do. Sometimes it does require quite a bit of self-control to overlook the emotional aspect of a situation in favor of the rational approach. However, understanding the mechanism that directs our behavior will facilitate opting for the right choice.

Everything that we do is done in an effort to have as much pleasure as possible and as little pain as possible. So if we can attach a tremendous amount of pleasure to doing the right thing and massive pain to doing the impulsive and emotional thing, chances are very high that our conduct will be exemplary.

Being rational is a function of maturity and a sign of inner strength. Strong and mature people have emotions like anyone else but they have learned to control the emotions rather than being the effect of these emotions.

Another technique that can be used to get into the habit of doing the right thing for the right reason is by emulating the people that we respect and admire. The Obama, Gandhi and Mandela of this world are perfect example of people who will place reason over passion and come up on the noble side of the equation.

We all have greatness within us; it is part of our birthright… however it is not a notion that most people are comfortable with. The reason for that is simple; greatness implies a sense of responsibility. It means that the person has to stand up and be counted. A scary thought for many.

At first sight, it seems to be so much more comfortable to remain in the shadow of anonymity. That’s a false sense of security. The only way that we can be truly alive is by being all that we can be and by taking our rightful place under the sun. And that starts by doing the right things for the right reasons.

We all have a set of personal values; a hierarchy of rules that we follow. They are our guidelines through life. Most of these rules and values were randomly added to the list. They just seemed to fit the person that we believe ourselves to be so they were unconsciously added.

It is however possible to live in a more conscious fashion. We can decide to place, doing the right thing for the right reason, at the top of our values and guidelines. That would be the first step to awaken the seed of greatness that lies deep within us.

Greatness is nothing but the results of habitually doing the right thing for the right reason. Sometimes it takes courage and integrity to do so but it’s a small price to pay for the ultimate feeling of self-esteem that it offers.

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Now, it may not be the answer that we are looking for. When that happens, it is probably due to the fact that the question was not formulated the way that it should have been. Our brain has been storing information since we were toddlers. Not only has it been storing all that information but it has also reached conclusions, created beliefs and formed synthesis of all of our past experiences.

It is said that in that 3 pounds organ called the brain we have between 1 to 10 terabytes of information. That’s the equivalent of from 1000 to 10,000 gigabytes or what could be stored on 4 to 40 computers. Simply awesome.

And, as if this was not enough, there is wide evidence that our mind has access to the Universal Intelligence, which contains all knowledge. Such is the scope of the magnificent tool that we were awarded at birth called the brain.

A tool that already has all the answers that we are looking for. The brain has the information but to have access to it, the precise question must be formulated. It’s not unlike the search engines on the Internet. The answer that we receive is totally dependant on the question that we ask.

That is especially true when it come to searching ways of acquiring something. The question must be formulated by asking how it can be done and not by asking how come we don’t already have it. An example of that would be someone seeking to earn more money.

If the person were to ask, “How come I don’t have a lot of money?” The answer just might be, “Because you’re stupid.” On the other hand, asking, “How can I earn more money?” will receive a much more appropriate answer.

In some cases, the questions should target a small part of a much larger project. An example of that would be someone who wants to buy a house. Asking, “How can I buy a house?” might just encompass too large a question. In that case, the appropriate question would be, “What is the first step in buying a house?”

Question asking is also a wonderful tool to use when we’re stuck and just know that, personally, we don’t have the answer that we are looking for. In that case, the question should be addressed to the Universal Intelligence.

If we truly believe that we have access to that vast reservoir of knowledge, chances are very high that we’ll get the answer that we are looking for. Some people will call that intuition; other will call it consciousness awareness. What it is called matters little. What is important is the results that we get.

Question asking works the same way on the intellectual and metaphysical level as it does in the virtual world of the Internet. If we don’t get what we’re looking for with our first question, we simply formulate the question another way… and we keep on asking until we get what we are looking for.

Question asking is a most formidable tool but, sadly, it’s also a most neglected tool. We try to find answers without formulating the question. That’s like asking Google, “What do I do now?” Google will answer but it won’t be the information that we are looking for.

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Key number 1: Feed and strengthen your mind. The best way of doing that is by reading uplifting books or biographies, listening to motivating CDs or viewing videos on the subject. The mind has to be literally saturated with positive input.

That daily dose of inspiration will get the mental juice flowing, it will help to soothe, alleviate, relieve some of the pain and, best of all, turn the focus toward solutions and possible ways out of the problem. Albert Einstein said, “The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”

The only way that this can be achieved is by strengthening the mind. By feeding it what it needs to hear to get into a state of positive expectation and certainty. There is a way out, there is a solution for the problems and a well-prepared mind will find that way out.

Key number 2: Feed and strengthen your body. Fear is physical. It affects the entire physiology. The best way to fight that is through physical exercises. The body has to be pushed like it’s never been pushed before; the soldier is going to war and he has to be ready for whatever comes his way.

Action and movement send powerful messages to the brain. Anyone who is into sports or goes to the gym regularly knows what a powerful stimulant exercise is. Nothing like it to lift the spirit, erase the feelings of gloom and doom and get into an empowering state.

Key number 3: Get a role model that inspires you and shows you the way. They are all around us: the athletes, the movers and shakers, the super-achievers and the great successes. They are ordinary people who were able to push themselves, overcame incredible odds and achieved great things.

Reading the biographies of these great people and emulating them is a most powerful stimulating and energizing exercise. Each and every one of these people has faced great adversities and overcame them. They proved that where there is a will, there is a way. They’ve made it and so can we.

Key number 4: Get a plan and take massive action. Just as a General needs a plan to go to war, we need a plan to solve major problems. Once that the plan is clearly spelled out, we need to take massive action.

Massive action is exactly what the terms says; it’s not a feeble attempt, it’s not business as usual; it’s going all out and full blast on implementing the plan. It’s about going above and beyond the call of duty. It’s about pulling all stops and going ahead with all the energy and resources that can be mustered.

Key number 5: Feed your spirit. In rough times, we need a robust and serene spirit. The best way of achieving that is by adopting an attitude of gratitude for all the blessings that we have. In times of need, we tend to forget that we still have much to be thankful for and that can be quite depressing. On the other hand, counting our blessing is always uplifting.

No matter how rough things get to be, there is always a way out. With courage, faith and determination, solutions can always be found. So long as there is life, there is hope and so long as there is hope, there is a way.

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“It is not easy for man to change because he is at the same time the block of granite and the artisan who must, through powerful stroke of the hammer, chisel out of his own substance the masterpiece that he wants to become.”

Granted, it’s not easy to change and grow but there are some guidelines that can help us on that quest. First and foremost, we must believe that it’s possible to change. Many erroneously believe that trying to change who we are is actually a form of negation toward our true identity.

Nothing could be further from the truth. We change all the time. A quick look backward to the past decade will confirm that. We all have changed in the past ten years… but the question is, was it a positive change, a negative one or simply a change?

It is possible to change but a true change implies a change in character and it has nothing to do with acting differently. A change in character demands a change in beliefs. It demands that we change the way that we perceive ourselves because we always act according to the perception that we have about who we are.

Once that we have accepted the notion that it is possible to change the second thing that needs to be done is to decide that we are going to be a work in progress for the rest our of life because that is what is required to acquire full self-actualization.

Very little self-improvement is possible without the will to do it. We cannot grow in an atmosphere of complacency. We need a certain thirst and a certain hunger for growth. Anything good that is not actively stimulated for growth will wither and decay.

At birth, we were little more than a clean slate or to put it another way, we were little more than pure potential. However, we did not remain that way for long. Soon, parents, siblings and peers started to impress on that slate how they perceived us to be.

These were the first references that we had of who we were. Since we had no other references, we believed and accepted most of these people’s suggestions and that’s how most of our identity was formed. We believed what we were told, became literally hypnotized by those suggestion and, for the better part, this is who we believe that we are to this date.

The tragic part of all of this is that we have been fed limiting beliefs about who we are and have been acting as if those limitations were real. For that reason, we need to explore the beliefs that we have about ourselves, especially the limiting beliefs.

These limiting beliefs are exactly the areas where the most growth and self-transformation could be achieved. We have more potential than we could ever dream that we have. Finding out what we are really capable of should be a life-long search. That’s what self-actualization is all about.

We are work in progress. We are potential that needs to be discovered, exploited and used. No matter where we are in life, chances are that we’ve only scratched the surface of what we could really be. Our life’s purpose is self-discovery and self-actualization. That’s a fundamental axiom that should always be present in our mind.

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Principle number one on the quest for a happier life is understanding that personal happiness is a mental process and not the effect of outside circumstances. It’s an emotion that will flourish under circumstances that are within our control and not dependant on our life’s situation.

People have found happiness in demanding conditions and others have known despair while sitting on top of the world. Happiness resides in the mind and not in the outside world. It’s not our life’s experience that matters; it’s what we make of it that counts.

Principle number two is understanding that life is a gift. Not only is it a gift but also it’s the greatest gift there is. When we accept that point of view it creates an attitude of gratitude that changes the way that we see our life. It forces us to focus on all that we have been given rather than decry what could have been.

If we take only a minute to look at all the blessings that we have been given, we see that they eclipse by far what could be seen as hardships or challenging situations. We should evaluate our life by looking at the big picture and not by focusing only on what ails us.

It is a fact that we have challenges and they have to be acknowledged but we have to be fair in our assessment. When all is said and done, if we are rational about it, we see that life is truly the ultimate gift and that we owe a debt of gratitude for the miracle that we are.

Principle number three is the fact that, to be happy, we must have a life’s purpose, preferably a purpose that is larger than we are. Pursuing a purpose gives us a sense of significance; it forces us to grow as individual and it ads nobility to our life.

Serving a major purpose fulfills three basic human needs: growth, significance and contribution. For us to feel happiness these three basic needs have to be fulfilled and one of the best way of doing it is through the pursuit of lofty goals or a life’s purpose.

Principle number four is to start working with the cards that life has handed us and work outward from there. Wishful thinking will never get us anywhere. “What is is and what is not is not” is one of the basic principles of the Zen philosophy. Respecting that fundamental axiom is also a requirement for happiness.

Each of us has certain talents and certain resources. These are the cards that life has handed us. Those are the tools that we have available and they are the ones that we must use to get to whatever place that we want to go in life. Bemoaning what we don’t have is unproductive, childish and immature. We have to get past that if we wish to find happiness.

Principle number five is understanding that there is no free lunch. That is, understanding that there is always a price to pay for whatever it is that we want. Wishing and hoping for a free ride won’t ever get us anywhere. Nature is about cause and effect, not about wishful thinking.

We are the architect of our fate and the builder of our life. That’s what it is to be a responsible person versus the proverbial victim. We were lucky enough to be awarded the ultimate gift of life. What we do with it is our responsibility. Happiness is within our reach. All that we have to do to attain that blessed state is to adopt and respect the few principles such at the ones described here.

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In the art and science of self-improvement and goal achieving we often hear about the importance of being on purpose. Most of the time, we pay lip service to that admonition but that’s as far as it goes. When, in retrospect, we look back at some failed objectives we discover that in fact if we had truly stayed on purpose, the outcome would have been much different.

There are many reasons why we don’t stay on purpose; not the least of which is the fact that the “purpose” had not been well defined in the first place. How could we pursue something if we don’t have a very clear idea of what that “something” is in the first place?

Objectives have to be well defined. We must know exactly what it is that we’re after, we must know exactly what it means to have reached the objective and the entire project must be placed in a time frame.

Wanting to earn more money or loose weight are not well define objectives. Wanting to loose ten pounds in two months or double our income in the coming year are well-defined objectives. We know exactly what we are after, how long it should take and what the ultimate result will be.

Another reason to stray away from the purpose is the hidden agenda. That is when we are pursuing an objective while trying to fill a personal need at the same time.

A perfect example of that is the salesman who wants to make a sale but is more intent of being liked and accepted by the buyer than on making that sale. Of course everyone wants to be loved and accepted but if that need is overwhelming, it leaves little chance to stay on purpose and do what we set out to do.

As another obstacle to staying on purpose we also have the self-sabotage syndrome. It may be hard to believe but some people do not feel that they deserve success or deserve being in the winners’ or achievers’ circle.

With success comes notoriety, high profile and public scrutiny. These are all conditions that can prove to be challenging for the average person. In some cases it might even prove to be so unsettling that it will activate the self-sabotage syndrome.

Success comes at a price. It demands a complete metamorphosis of the self-image. Something that is not easily done when someone is not prepared to face the challenge. One of the basic laws of the Universe is that it will not let us keep what we feel that we do not deserve.

The last and probably most common cause of failing to stay on purpose is the lack of faith in our capacity to reach the pursued objective. It is rightfully said that, “Certainty is the winner’s edge.” Without this sense of certainty chances are very high that at the first sign of a major obstacle, the project will be dropped.

The difference between a high achiever and someone who only gets by is the ability to stay focused and on purpose. Thankfully, staying on purpose is a skill that can be developed like any other skill. It all starts with baby steps followed by perseverance and the will to master the skill.

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Have you ever noticed that when you feel good, good things seem to happen and when you don’t feel so good, it’s one thing after another; nothing seems to go right. This may sound quite esoteric but there is a very logical explanation for this phenomenon.

When you feel good, you are not acting out of fear; you are acting out of faith and optimism. When you feel good you think more clearly, you take better decisions and since your mind focuses on the good, you see more of it and get to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves.

Examples of this fact are readily seen in sports. When you feel good about the game, you are more confident, make better decisions and things seem to go your way. On the other hand, the reverse is also true. When you don’t feel just right, nothing works your way; you could not win even if you were the only player on the field.

The Law of Attraction (LOA) and Intention Manifestation (IM) have turned out to be a very complex subject. I am certain that it does serve a purpose and that many people have found it to be quite useful but it has been my experience that you don’t need fourteen books and seventeen seminars to have some very positive results.

Excellent results can be had by sticking to the basic that says, “Your feelings attract you life and what you see in the Universe sees you.” A quote that says in effect that if you expect good and positive things to happen to you, that’s what will happen but on the other hand, if you are fearful about the future, that future might not be so great for you.

My experience has also been that faith without work is dead. That is, being in the right frame of mind will help but it will not do the job for you. If you want something you have to put in the time and efforts. Very little happens by magic or to put it more succinctly, there is no free lunch.

There is no magic formula. If it existed, almost everyone would be happy and successful. There is no magic formula but there are ways and means that can facilitate the quest to lead the good life. Having the right attitude, expecting the good and the beautiful and putting in the necessary efforts certainly covers most of what has to be done to achieve our goals and objectives.

Being positive and optimistic does require some discipline. We can’t keep on focusing on what is going wrong in the world and expect to be in high spirit. We can’t keep frequenting dead beats and expect to stay positive. We can’t keep on seeing ourselves as victims and expect to stay optimistic.

Our mind is like a garden. It needs tending and loving care; it needs to be fed the right ingredient and allowed to see the sunshine. Nobody else can do that for us. It’s the price that has to be paid to reap the rewarding life that we are after.

The Universe will not give us what we want but it will give us what we expect to receive. Great expectations are the result of a disciplined mind. A small price to pay for all that it offers.

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For all its importance most of what we see as our identity is the fruit of suggestions from parents, peers and friends that we accepted as gospel truth. A teacher told us that we were good in math but lousy in English, we believed him and for the rest of our life those words became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Unbelievable as it may be, most of our identity was built that way. Someone made a comment that suggested that we had a certain attribute or lacked a certain skill and if we accepted that suggestion, that was it, for the rest of our life we are literally hypnotize with that beliefs and act accordingly.

It sounds absolutely preposterous but in a great many instances, that’s how most of our perceived identity was formed. That theory has been demonstrated to be true times and times again when we look at the behavior of children as it relates to their upbringing.

Children who were lucky enough to have parents that were supportive, loving and encouraging turned out to have self-confidence, a high degree of self-esteem and were well adjusted. On the other hand, children brought up in an atmosphere of oppression and negativity found it a lot harder to adjust and lead happy lives.

It can never be stressed enough, most of our identity is nothing but a belief that resulted from suggestions that were accepted. What this really mean is the fact that if we don’t like who we perceive ourselves to be, it possible to change it.

Before any attempt is made at changing one’s identity, the nature of beliefs (which is what our identity is) has to be explored and understood. A belief is nothing but a notion that is supported by evidences. Whether or not those evidences are valid or not matters little.

Fashion is a perfect example of that. All that we have to do to test the hypothesis is to look at some of our pictures that were taken a few decades ago. We look at those pictures and see the haircuts that we had at the time and the clothes that we wore and they make us laugh because we look so silly.

Back then, everyone was following that fashion so we believed that it made us look great. We look at these pictures today and with different references we have an entirely different opinion of what we looked like.

Beliefs are nothing but notions supported by evidences. So if we want to change some beliefs that are not supporting us in our perceived identity, all that we have to do is to find evidences that will support a different belief and, as if per magic, that belief and our identity will change.

Now voluntarily changing beliefs is a skill and like any other skill it has to be started with “baby steps.” That is, at first we start with minor beliefs to which we are not too strongly attached and then gradually move to fundamental beliefs.

It’s a well-known fact that we behave as we perceive ourselves to be and it has also been demonstrated that life has a tendency to treat us like the person that we believe that we are. So, if we want to affect a major change in our life, the first thing that we need to do it to change the beliefs that we have about our identity.

Most of our limitations are self-imposed. We are much more than we believe that we are. It is in our power to recreate ourselves into the wonderful person that we were meant to be. All that we have to do to achieve that is to change our beliefs and change our identity. We have the tools to do it and all that is required is the will to affect the change.

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Great people became great because they served a great purpose. They answered the call of life, they invested their energy and talents into what they saw as their mission and today they are our models and heroes.

Whether we are aware of it or not, we all have a life’s purpose. For some it could be simple survival while for others it could be a project of world changing magnitude. What’s important here is to take a good look at what our main life’s purpose is and see if it’s all that it could be.

Even if someone is on survival mode for the time being, the possibility of having another life’s purpose is not excluded. It might just be what is needed to turn that person’s life around. There is energy in a lofty purpose and that energy can be harnessed to dramatically change someone’s present condition.

Two perfect examples of that would be Barack Obama and Tony Robbins. At one point in their lives, both of these men did not know where the next meal would be coming from but they were animated with a purpose that was much larger than they were and the rest is history.

To be truly effective as a growing tool, a life’s purpose should have a scent of nobility and be cloaked with selflessness. Purely selfish motives do not lend themselves well to serve that purpose. True growth is primarily found in contributions and in win/win situations.

People building purposes have one thing in common that they share; they are all efforts to contribute to humanity and to the advancement and betterment of mankind. That is where man finds its finest hour and where personal growth occurs the most.

Each and everyone have something to contribute and that “something” usually has to do with what we enjoy doing the most. That’s where our talent lies, it’s what we’re best at and it’s something that we would willingly do even if we were not paid to do it. So, in looking for a life’s purpose, that’s where we should look first.

Personal growth is achieved by overcoming increasingly larger challenges. With each new challenge we strengthen our abilities and discover talents and resources that we did not even know that we possessed. That is how self-realization and self-optimization is achieved.

The world that we enjoy today was made possible through the efforts of people who choose to get involve and contribute. Those people gave and received; thanks to them, humanity grew and so did they. They deserve and they received our gratitude.

Today might be the day that you decide that it’s your turn to standup and be counted. If so, it probably will be one of the best decisions that you ever made. Choose your cause, choose your purpose… and give it you all. The world will thank you and you will forever be thankful that you took that decision.

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Yet for all its attributes, complexity and intricacies it does not come with a user manual. A most ironic situation. We have the almost perfect tool at our disposal yet we have to find out for ourselves how it best can be used. To that effect, here are a few basic principles.

We know that the brain reacts like a muscle. It needs constant exercise if it is to remain in good working order and it needs challenges it we want it to grow and increase in effectiveness. The principle that says that you loose what you don’t use is especially pertinent when it comes to the brain.

Everything that is stored in the brain and every brain’s function are stored in electrical circuits between the brain cells called neurons. If those circuits are not activated for long periods of time they tend to diminish in intensity and eventually disappear. That’s how information can be lost and certain abilities weakened.

We also know that the brain’s performance is greatly influenced by the state of mind of the moment. There is a whole range of states that we can be in. We can be in a most empowering state when we are in what the athletes call the zone, as we can be in an almost paralyzing state when we are depressed, discouraged or overwhelmed.

That is the reason that at time we can perform as if we were almost invincible and possessed superpowers and at other times we can’t seem to do or say anything right. In both cases, we are the same person and we have the same brain but we are in different states of mind.

So, rule number one to perform at the highest possible level is to get as near as possible to a positive state of enthusiasm, certainty and vibrant confidence. We have two tools at our disposal that can help us to achieve that state.

The first is focus. If we focus on the good and the positive aspects of our life, it changes our body chemistry and hormonal secretions. These in turn send powerful and uplifting messages to the brain, which dramatically improve the quality of the state of mind.

The second tool is our physical posture. Hard as it may be to believe our posture has a very strong influence on our state of mind. Unless someone suffers from clinical depression, it’s almost impossible to stand like a champion for any length of time without seeing a major improvement in the state of mind.

The brain is also highly influenced by what we constantly feed into it. Most of us have heard about the GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out) principle. If we saturate ourselves with negative input it stands to reason that our performances will be affected.

On the other hand, there is nothing like a daily regiment of positive immersion such as reading positive material or listening to inspiring and uplifting messages to maintain a top-level brain performance.

The bottom line is that we have been given this wonderful tool at birth called the brain. How well it performs depends on the care and attention that we give it. With proper maintenance it will give us the quality of life that we dream of having… if not, it can be our own worst enemy.

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