Facebook: Make sure you are smiling in your profile pic

Study shows that if you are smiling in your profile pic, you probably have more friends. The study also shows that smiling is contagious.

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Working With The Law: We Control Our Destiny

I started reading Working With The Law by Raymond Holliwell. In chapter one, Holliwell talks about how we are ultimately in control of our own destiny.

I believe the reason the famous English literary genius, William Shakespeare, is the leading dramatist of the world lies in this realm. The great Greek dramatists with their noted insight always saw the causes in some external fate or destiny that brought about the downfall of their characters, but Shakespeare saw something within the man as the cause of his failure or success.

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings."

We see Hamlet wrestling with his reluctant, indecisive soul. Macbeth is being pulled and driven by his ambition. Othello is torn and discomfited by his jealousy. Always the characters were battling with their inner selves as though the dramatist were saying: "You are the master of your circumstance; call forth your power, initiative, and ingenuity, and be the master. Fate is in your hands, determine it.

Are we really in control of our destiny? I think so. We have the ability to shape or thoughts and belief systems into any way or form. You could be sitting in traffic on your way to work and cursing to yourself about how much you hate traffic and you hate commuting or you could be thanking God for the only alone time your have with yourself and enjoy the "peace". We can't control the external factors but we can control internal factors such as how we react to external factors. A bad event is only a bad event because we label it as a bad event.

Bob Parson's 16 Rules for Success in Business & Life In General

1. Get and stay out of your comfort zone.
I believe that not much happens of any significance when we're in our comfort zone. I hear people say, "But I'm concerned about security." My response to that is simple: "Security is for cadavers."

2. Never give up.
Almost nothing works the first time it's attempted. Just because what you're doing does not seem to be working, doesn't mean it won't work. It just means that it might not work the way you're doing it. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn't have an opportunity.

3. When you’re ready to quit, you’re closer than you think.
There's an old Chinese saying that I just love, and I believe it is so true. It goes like this: "The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed."

4. With regard to whatever worries you, not only accept the worst thing that could happen, but make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be.
Very seldom will the worst consequence be anywhere near as bad as a cloud of "undefined consequences." My father would tell me early on, when I was struggling and losing my shirt trying to get Parsons Technology going, "Well, Robert, if it doesn't work, they can't eat you."

5. Focus on what you want to have happen.
Remember that old saying, "As you think, so shall you be."

6. Take things a day at a time.
No matter how difficult your situation is, you can get through it if you don't look too far into the future, and focus on the present moment. You can get through anything one day at a time.

7. Always be moving forward.
Never stop investing. Never stop improving. Never stop doing something new. The moment you stop improving your organization, it starts to die. Make it your goal to be better each and every day, in some small way. Remember the Japanese concept of Kaizen. Small daily improvements eventually result in huge advantages.

8. Be quick to decide.
Remember what General George S. Patton said: "A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow."

9. Measure everything of significance.
I swear this is true. Anything that is measured and watched, improves.

10. Anything that is not managed will deteriorate.
If you want to uncover problems you don't know about, take a few moments and look closely at the areas you haven't examined for a while. I guarantee you problems will be there.

11. Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you’re doing.
When you look at your competitors, remember that everything looks perfect at a distance. Even the planet Earth, if you get far enough into space, looks like a peaceful place.

12. Never let anybody push you around.
In our society, with our laws and even playing field, you have just as much right to what you're doing as anyone else, provided that what you're doing is legal.

13. Never expect life to be fair.
Life isn't fair. You make your own breaks. You'll be doing good if the only meaning fair has to you, is something that you pay when you get on a bus (i.e., fare).

14. Solve your own problems.
You'll find that by coming up with your own solutions, you'll develop a competitive edge. Masura Ibuka, the co-founder of SONY, said it best: "You never succeed in technology, business, or anything by following the others." There's also an old Asian saying that I remind myself of frequently. It goes like this: "A wise man keeps his own counsel."

15. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
Lighten up. Often, at least half of what we accomplish is due to luck. None of us are in control as much as we like to think we are.

16. There’s always a reason to smile.
Find it. After all, you're really lucky just to be alive. Life is short. More and more, I agree with my little brother. He always reminds me: “We’re not here for a long time, we’re here for a good time!”

Copyright © 2005-2007 Bob Parsons. All rights reserved.

Law of Attraction: Visualize Yourself Winning

I was at a seafood festival yesterday. Out of the four aisles of stands, one aisle was especially set up for brands to market their products. Geico had a stand set up and was giving typical event marketing prizes such as caps, t-shirts, mugs, and bags. They had this game board set up like Plinko on the Price Is Right. The contestant drops a ball, the ball hits a few pegs during the five foot drop, and then ends up at the bottom in one of five slots. There were five slots with labels: cap, mug, t-shirt, bag, and mystery prize. There were about seven contestants in front of me winning caps, t-shirts, and mugs. I was curious to know what the mystery prize was because no one was winning it. I began to visualize myself winning the mystery prize. I imagined the ball hitting pegs as it descended down the five foot board and then eventually landing on the mystery prize slot. When my turn came up, guess which prize I won. . .

Law of Attraction: I MUST VS. I SHOULD

When you know something needs to get done and you speak to yourself out loud (we all do), how many times do you say "I Should..." vs "I Must... "? If you are most people, you probably say "I Should..." 9 out of 10 times.

When I was in college (not too long ago), my study habits were not the best. Two weeks before an exam, I would tell myself daily, "I should really start studying soon." This would go on until the night before an exam when I really had no choice but to study. That night, my "should" turned to "must". I had no choice. When we say "should" we give ourselves the choice to be lazy and not do anything. Imagine what we could accomplish if we were in the "I Must do this" state of mind all the time.

How many times have you said "I Should lose weight?" Have you accomplished your goal? Try saying "I must lose weight," "I must eat less", "I must excercise". Then follow through with what you say.