My family and I immigrated to the USA 31 years ago (1978.)  In 1985 we became citizens of this wonderful country.  We are Americans, not by birth but by choice.  It’s a decision that we have never regretted.

Tomorrow, July 4th, America will be celebrating her 233 birthday.  America is a great country, not because of our government but because of our people.  I find most Americans are positive people with a can do spirit.  I heard a lady say this on the radio the other day, “I know what we are facing today is challenging.  Instead of 10 percent unemployment, I look at the 90 percent that are still working.  Recently I lost my job.  I’m unemployed but I’m using this opportunity to start my own design and engineering firm.”   That’s the American spirit.  That’s what makes America the Land of Opportunity.

I firmly believe the United States of America is a great country.  There is a lot of negativity going around these days about the economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, big oil companies and our government.  However, since this weekend we celebrate the birth of our nation, I thought it was fitting to remind everyone just how great it is here in the U.S.  It is easy to get down on how things are going if we listen frequently to the news media,  but we need to remember that the circumstances we face do not make the country.  It is “We the People.”

         I love America because of:

• Its Freedom.  No other country in the world compares.  People from other countries may criticize America, but it is this country they dream about and wish they could live in.
• Its Opportunity.  America truly is the Land of Opportunity.  Immigrants by the millions come to America for the opportunity of a better life and brighter tomorrow.
• Its Generosity.  The American people are the most generous in the world. 

This 4th of July celebrate all that is good about America. Remind yourself of what it means to be an American.  Remember all those that have gone before us and that have paid an enormous price for all that we enjoy today.

We are including in this blog a beautiful patriotic video/song, prepared by Kevin.  Watch and Enjoy.

VIDEO

Perseverance and failure cannot coexist.  Failure happens when you quit.  When all is said and done, perseverance, commonly referred to as “stick-to-itiveness,” is the ultimate success insurance.  Nothing can take its place.

Like the old adage of getting up just one more time than you have been knocked down, “Staying with it” applies to so much that is good and healthful in life!  From learning to walk to riding a bicycle, our childhood teaches us that failure only occurs when we stop trying.  It’s a lesson many of us need to revisit in our adulthood.  Then we need to consciously apply the techniques and principles that keep us on the “perseverance track.”

For example, the world is full of those who “tried” to get a business going.  After meeting with difficulty or rejections, they quit.  They accepted failure, and faded back into the crowd never to be heard from again.  The worst part is not that they quit their business, but that they quit themselves.

Why should succeeding at a business be easier than learning to ski or to play the piano?  We are likely to stumble at first. It’s part of the learning process.  Ultimately, the people who persevere through the stumbling process learn enough to become successful.  It’s “staying with it” that separates the successful from the “wanes.”  Remember the words of Vince Lombardi, “We never lost a game, we just ran out of time.”

“Perseverance is the insurance policy and common denominator for success.  So powerful is perseverance that failure cannot exist in its presence.  As Edison observed when after thousands of efforts to make the electric light bulb produced no illumination, “I haven’t failed.  I’ve identified 10,000 ways this doesn’t work.”  By accurately viewing it as a learning experience, eventually Edison succeeded , leaving the critics and nay-sayers one of mankind’s most important inventions.

Charles Schulz, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Colonel Sanders, Thomas Edison, Ayn Rand and the endless list of other persistent great achievers found that success inevitably arrives for every person who perseveres.  Learn from the people who did it:  Let perseverance keep your goals alive.  And your dreams real.

Do what you love to do.  Stand up for what you believe in.  Make it a part of your life.  Work toward it every day.  Remember with every “No” you are that much closer to a “Yes.”  And by learning from each defeat and staying the course, success is inevitable.

These are people who persevered despite handicaps and disabilities:

• Beethoven (composer) – was deaf
• Ray Charles (musician) – is blind
• Thomas Edison (inventor) – had a learning problem
• Albert Einstein (scientist) – had a learning disability
• Terry Fox (runner) – is an amputee with cancer
• Stevie Wonder (musician) – is blind
• James Earl Jones (actor) – was a stutterer
• Helen Keller (author) – was deaf and blind
• Franklin D. Roosevelt (president) – was paralyzed from polio
• Vincent Van Gogh (artist) – was mentally ill
• Woodrow Wilson (president) – had a learning problem
• Itzhak Perlman (concern violinist) – was paralyzed from waist down

Thought for the Day:

“Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.”  –Newt Gingrich

“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.”                –Ralph Waldo Emerson

A person’s observable behavior is an indication of their character.  This behavior can be strong or weak, good or bad.  A person with strong character shows drive, energy, determination, self-discipline, will power, and nerve.  They see what they want and go after it.  They attract followers.  On the other hand, a person with weak character shows none of these traits.  They do not know what they want.  Their traits are disorganized, they vacillate and are inconsistent.  They will attract no followers.

A strong person can be good or bad.  A gang leader is an example of a strong person with a bad character, while an outstanding community leader is one with both strong and good characteristics.  An organization needs leaders with both strong and good characteristics, people who will guide them to the future and show that they can be trusted.

Here are the Six Pillars of Character:

I.     Trustworthiness

Be honest.  Don’t deceive, cheat or steal.  Be reliable — do what you say you’ll do.  Have the courage to do the right thing.  Build a good reputation.  Be Loyal — stand by your family, friends and country.

II.   Respect

Treat others with respect; follow the Golden Rule.  Be tolerant of differences.  Use good manners, not bad language.  Be considerate of the feelings of others.  Don’t threaten, hit or hurt anyone.  Deal peacefully with anger, insults and disagreements.

III. Responsibility

Do what you are supposed to do.  Persevere:  keep on trying!  Always do your best.  Use self-control.  Be self-disciplined.  Think before you act — consider the consequences.  Be accountable for your choices.

IV. Fairness

Play by the rules.  Take turns and share.  Be open-minded; listen to others.  Don’t take advantage of others.  Don’t blame others carelessly.

V.   Caring

Be kind.  Be compassionate and show you care.  Express gratitude.  Forgive others.  Help people in need.

VI. Citizenship

Do your share to make your school and community better.  Cooperate.  Get involved in Community affairs.  Stay informed; vote.  Be a good neighbor.  Obey laws and rules.  Respect authority.  Protect the environment.

Thought for the Day:

Personality can open doors, but only character can keep them open.

–Elmer G. Letterman

When Dr. Tomlinson and I started this company 17 years ago, we had just one simple goal and purpose and that was to make a difference in people’s lives.  Today, there are literally thousands of people around the world that call Sportron, “A Company with a Heart.” 

We believe, “to whom much has been given, much is expected.”  We have been blessed beyond our wildest dreams; therefore we have an unwavering commitment to invest our finances and our lives to improving the quality of lives of thousands less fortunate. 

In addition to improving the lives of our Marketing Associates around the world with our products, our business opportunity, our international travel and self-improvement program, we have invested millions into ministries, charities and organizations to literally save the lives of many, especially children.  I have included in this blog a video of a few of our outreach programs.  Please take a few minutes to view this video. 

I want to thank you, all our Sportron Associates, for making this possible.  If it were not for you and your commitment to build your Sportron business, none of this would have been possible.  You have as great a part in this wonderful work as we do.  Thank you and God bless you. 

View Video

I am so excited about the NEW weight loss product that Sportron launched six weeks ago.  We knew from our six-month test program that we had a winner and now the testimonies are pouring in from all around the world.

 These are just a few:  

• Meroukshelaine Glas-Evans–8 lbs in 2 weeks
• Annie Rose–6 lbs in 2 weeks
• Mike Flores–10 lbs in 4 weeks
• Agustine Fuentes–15 lbs in 3 weeks
• Stephen Wilson–7 lbs in 3 weeks
• Keith Harding–10 lbs in 3 weeks
• Violeta Wuisman–25 lbs in 60 days
• Kim Burns–12 lbs in 60 days
• Willie Fears–60 lbs in 3 months
• Mrs Nok, Thailand–15 lbs in 4 weeks

Turbo Zing will provide the following benefits:

• Weight loss without jittery side effects
• Increases fat burning
• Burns extra carbs
• Increases energy
• Drastically reduces appetite
• Reduces sweet cravings
• Regulates metabolism
• Breaks down fat held in the tissues

Turbo Zing has been scientifically developed by doctors to provide maximum benefits the healthy and safe way.

Turbo Zing contains a revolutionary, patented ingredient from Europe called Svetol.  Along with Svetol and FoodMatrix Chromium, Sportron has included a proprietary blend of herbs.

With one in three, or 60 million American adults between 20 and 74 overweight, and one in five children between 6 and 17 overweight, America is ready for a natural, safe and proven weight loss product.  Now it’s here.

 For more information, and to order Turbo Zing, click here.

Success or failure in life depends on your Trustworthiness.  Dr. Stephen Covey said, “Ninety percent of all leadership failures are character failures.”

Just as trust is the key to all relationships, so also is trust the glue of organizations.  Because network marketing is a people or relationship business, trust is vitally important to your success.  Dwight Eisenhower said, “The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity.  Without it, no real success is possible.”  Theodore Roosevelt said, “Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of a nation alike.” 

A survey was conducted with over 54,000 people.  They were asked to identify the essential qualities of a leader.  Integrity/trust was by far the number one response, followed by:  communicator, people-focused, visionary, caring, decision-making, dedicated, motivator and courage. 

Every now and then, I believe we all need to take stock of our lives and ask ourselves some questions. 

• Do people REALLY trust me?
• Do I always keep my word/promises?
• Am I always loyal and faithful to my team?
• Can people depend on me? 

I have seen people who lack integrity and trust succeed, however their success is always short-termed.  Long term success only comes to those who people can trust.  Be careful of the promises and commitments you make.  Your motives and commitments might be pure; however they can also make or break you.  Nothing destroys the trust factor more than making and breaking a promise.  Conversely, nothing builds and strengthens trust more than keeping a promise you make.  The legendary basketball coach, Rick Pitino, put it this way, “Lying makes a problem part of the future; truth makes a problem part of the past.” 

Thought for the Day:

“One man cannot do right in one department of life whilst he is occupied in doing wrong in any other department.  Life is one indivisible whole.”–Mahatma Gandhi

 

Dr. Robert Schuller, the founder and pastor of the Crystal Cathedral, once authored a book entitled, “Possibility Thinking,” in which he said all successful people are Possibility Thinkers. 

People who embrace possibility thinking are capable of accomplishing tasks that seem impossible because they believe in solutions.  Possibility thinkers believe they can succeed.  Winners in life think constantly in terms of, “I can, I will and I am.”  Losers, on the other hand, concentrate on what they should have done, or what they don’t do, and feel sorry for themselves on how unfortunate and unlucky they are.  They continue to play the blame game. 

I know possibility thinking isn’t in style with many people.  So call it what you like:  the will to succeed, belief in yourself, confidence in your ability, faith.  People who believe they can’t, don’t.  But if you believe you can, you can.  That’s the power of possibility thinking. 

Speaker and author, John Maxwell, lists these several reasons why you should become a possibility thinker: 

1. Possibility Thinking Increases Your Possibilities
2. Possibility Thinking Draws Opportunities and People to You
3. Possibility Thinking Allows You to Dream Big Dreams
4. Possibility Thinking Makes it Possible to Rise Above Average
5. Possibility Thinking Gives You Energy
6. Possibility Thinking Keeps You from Giving Up 

 I encourage you to:

• Look for Possibilities in Every Situation
• Stop Focusing on the Impossibilities
• Stay Away from Dream Stealers

 

Thought for the Day: 

“Some men see things as they are and say, “Why?”  I dream of things that never were and say, “Why Not?” –George Bernard Shaw

 

Good thinkers are always in demand. Good thinkers solve problems, they never lack ideas and they always have hope for a better future.  Adolf Hitler once said, “What luck for rulers that men don’t think.”  I have studied successful people for more than forty years and I have found that they all have one thing in common…it’s how they think.  That is the one thing that separates successful people from unsuccessful ones.  Napoleon Hill said, “More gold has been mined from the thoughts of man than has ever been taken from the earth.  Gold mines tap out.  Stock markets crash.  Real estate investments can go sour.  But the human mind with the ability to think is priceless. 

Here are some ideas, how you can become a better thinker!  

I.  Expose Yourself to Good Input

Always associate with positive people and flee from negative influences.  Work on your continuing education.  Read books and listen to tapes. 

II.  Expose Yourself to Good Thinkers

The writer of Proverbs observed that sharp people sharpen one another, just as iron sharpens iron.  If you want to be a sharp thinker, hang around sharp people. 

III.  Choose to Think Good Thoughts

We choose what we think about and our thinking determines who we really are.  The Apostle Paul said this, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

 IV.  Act on Your Thoughts

John Maxwell said, “Ideas have a short shelf life.  You must act on them before the expiration date.”  Here is a good six word formula for success:  “Think things through—then follow through.” 

V.  Repeat the Process

One good thought does not make a good life.  They are the one-minute wonders.  To become someone who can mine a lot of gold, you need to keep repeating the process of good thinking. 

Thought for the Day:

“Where success is concerned, people are not measured in inches, or pounds, or college degrees, or family background; they are measured by the size of their thinking.”    

–David Schwartz

Life really is simple.  We are the ones that make it complicated.  We are on one of two curves or paths. One path leads to success; the other to failure.  If you want to identify which path you are on, if you want to know whether you are on the success path or on the failure path, here’s how.  There is one attitude, one mind set, which overwhelmingly dominates either of the paths.

The failure path is taken by those who blame.  They blame everyone and everything for their failure.  The success path is taken by people who accept responsibility.  They recognize they are ultimately responsible for their success or failure.  They don’t leave the success of their lives to someone else.  They take full control and full responsibility.  They keep their life’s reins in their own hands.

Today, I leave you with one of my favorite poems, “The Road Less Traveled,” by Robert Frost.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other as just as fair

And having perhaps the better claim

Because it was grassy and wanted wear

Though as for that, the passing there

Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet, knowing how way leads onto way

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence

Two roads diverged in a wood

And I took the one less traveled by

And that has made all the difference.

                                                 Robert Frost

I am a big believer in Dreaming and Dreaming BIG.  However, I am also very well aware that you have to put feet to your dreams if they are to become a reality.  You have to have a specific plan and strategies for achieving those dreams. 

In my last blog, I listed five of the 10 questions John Maxwell says every person should ask themselves in regard to their dreams and desires.  Today I’m listing the remaining five: 

6.  The People Question:  Have I Included the People I need to Realize My Dream? 

No matter what your dream is—whether as artist or entrepreneur, politician or Nobel Prize winner—you will be interacting with other people.  Unless your dream is to work in a vacuum and be unknown to everyone, you’ll have to learn to work with others as partners or patrons, bosses or colleagues, clients or constituents, customers or critics.  People may be a big factor or a small one, depending on what you desire to do.  But, no matter what, you will have to include people if you want to realize your dream. 

7.    The Cost Question:  Am I Willing to Pay the Price for My Dream?

There isn’t a single person in the world who has achieved a dream without paying a price for it.  Some pay with their lives or their freedom.  Others pay by giving up options or finances or relationships. 

Here are a few things that are true for everybody who goes after a dream: 

The Dream is Free, but the Journey Isn’t

 If you want to achieve a dream, you have to be willing to do more than just imagine the outcome.  You have to be willing to pay he price.  Dream believers are in abundance.  Dream buyers are rare. 

The Price Will Be Higher Than You Expect

 All dreams have a price tag on them, and the cost is almost always higher than a person expects to pay.  Never once in my conversations with successful people have I heard the words, “Getting to the top was much easier than I anticipated.”  Everybody I know who have realized a dream has war stories to tell. 

8.  The Tenacity Question:  Am I Moving Closer to My Dream? 

Study the lives of leaders and entrepreneurs, and you see that all share the quality of tenacity.  Despite negative circumstances, obstacles and injustices, they persevere.  They move closer to their dreams day by day. 

If you are not moving closer to your dream, then you may not be tenacious enough in your pursuit of it.  They key to developing greater tenacity is to change, not to work harder at the same things.  Consider which of the things mentioned in the chapter you need to focus on: 

• Change Your Thinking
• Change Your Perspective
• Change Your Work Habits 

9.  The Fulfillment Question:  Does Working toward My Dream Bring Satisfaction?  

Achieving a dream is about more than just what you accomplish.  It’s about who you become in the process!  A great dream isn’t merely a destination.  It’s the catalyst for a great journey.  If you want the pursuit of your dream to be sustainable, it needs to bring you satisfaction.           

10.  The Significance Question:  Does My Dream Benefit Others?

 You must ask your self one final question if you truly want to put your dream to the test, to measure whether it is a dream worth dedicating your life to. It is not a complicated question.  In fact, you will find that this question requires the least explanation.  However, this final question has the most far-reaching impact.  It is the Significance Question:  Does my dream benefit others? 

The great men and women of history were not great because of what they earned and owned.  They were great because they gave themselves to people and causes that lived beyond them.  Their dream was to do something that benefited others.  Rare minorities of people are able to hold closely to their dream to make a difference and are willing to give up everything to make that dream come true.  Of people like that, it will never be said that when they die, it was as though they never lived.  Their dreams live on after them because they lived for others. 

 This is powerful stuff.  I encourage you to download and print these 10 questions and read them over again every month.  Better still, you can purchase his book, “Put Your Dream to the Test.”  If you want to be an achiever, then put your dreams to the test.

Thought for the Day:

            “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious  triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” 

–Teddy Roosevelt