Everyone Needs a Partner...

Many years ago, I was wondering where I could find the answers to the difficult questions in life. I was wondering why some of my friends were doing well and I was not living the life I wanted to live. I needed skills I didn't have, I didn't even know how to type and from the late 1980's to today, let's just say that the world is a drastically different place. When I was in high school, the biggest threat to our freedoms and our way of life was the Soviet Union and instead of the much-debated issue of global warming being the "biggest threat" to life on Earth, it was global thermal nuclear warfare (which I guess is a lot like "global warming," but on a much greater scale).

I found myself a little lost when I decided not to stay in the Navy and retire. My transition from the Navy to civlian world was a little tricky, to say the least. The Navy didn't teach us anything about the Law of Attraction and, if I had to guess, they probably still don't. I didn't learn any negotiation skills or any skills I needed to succeed in today's world. Going back to college was not going to happen for me and finding a great, high-paying job was also not in my future...unless I created it. That led my thoughts to having the best job in the world, the job I created for myself. I have since been involved with several different companies representing several different products and services over the years. My life as I wanted it was put on hold from 2002-2006 when I wandered in south Florida searching for the right brokerage firm for me, selling currency and commodity options and futures. That didn't work either. Then finally, a couple of years ago, I realized that the problem wasn't the government, the tax structure, my business associates, the businesses I was involved in or the products I represented (and until a couple of years ago, I represented poorly).

I realized that I was the problem of why my life wasn't going the way I wanted. I didn't have the skills, the education, the mindset or the information. In the past couple of weeks, I have partnered with the Nightingale-Conant Corporation. Nightingale-Conant was formed by Earl Nightingale and Lloyd Conant in 1960 and is the world leader in personal development materials.

I have been a customer of Nightingale-Conant's for years now and I'd like to share one of the sources for the information I have needed and used to change my life. Now, with all of the advances in technology, change happens quicker than ever. If you don't stay ahead of change, change will wipe you out. You have to be stronger mentally, you have to know where you're going and how you're going to get there. You have to associate with the personal coaches that have already helped countless thousands to achieve their goals, over the years. You have to maintain your belief that you can overcome obstacles and turn adversity into opportunity. You have to devlop the conviction and the perseverence that says "I will never give up!"

This is one of the companies I represent today because I use their products. In my library is some of the greatest audios available by some of the wisest leaders who have ever walked the planet. I have access to this enlightened world of knowledge, skills and motivation...and you can too! Living successfully has been and always be a choice. At any time you want you can change and improve your life...if you have the right information.

Nightingale-Conant is where I get my information to improve my life. Click on the link above and find something to change your life...because change is the only constant there is in the world.

My Library (aka "Where Personal Development Comes From")

Over the past few years, I have assembled a decent library. I finally got around to reading a fantastic book called "The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle" by a great man named Jim Rohn. I highly recommend this book. My copy is an eBook on my hard drive, courtesy of my enrolling in Jim Rohn International's One Year Success Plan. My first exposure to him was when I was learning how to fail at sales in 1998. I was not quite computer literate yet, and I didn't understand a lot of the changes that were happening around me. I heard the words and I liked what he had to say, but I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that none of my "friends" at the time had ever heard of him. After all, I had all the arrogance of being around some of the best minds in my hometown, not to mention my education and experience as a nuclear mechanical operator. Surely some of my "successful" friends would have heard of him. A couple of years ago, I realized that what I was listening to in 1998 was called "The Art of Exceptional Living." It is a compilation of some of the late Mr. Rohn's best work and, now, a part of my library.

I found myself with not a lot to do on Sunday, so instead of trying to keep up with the NFL scores of the day, I decided to do something productive and read a book. I had revisited the course a couple of nights before and realized that I had not read some of the material they sent me. Since the past couple years of my life have been almost exclusively devoted to creating positive personal change, I thought that I could keep up with football (fun to watch) or do something I have been meaning to do (improve myself by reading a new book). All throughout this book I could hear Mr. Rohn recite the lines he wrote many years ago. All of his ideas are great, inspiring and, best of all, they are true.

Why would I invest in a library of some of the best ideas ever written? Maybe I like to read. Maybe I'm actually serious about creating positive change in my life. Maybe it just looks cool (which I admit, I DO think it looks cool). This is where personal development comes from- the best ideas ever written and left by their authors for us to find. I am compiling this library because I have always had a hunger for knowledge and what I can do with it. It is also a curiosity of what those ideas can help me accomplish. Why not find a new idea that could help my business do better? Why not read something that makes the morning coffee taste a little better? Why not read something that inspires me with hope instead of the daily dread of the morning news?

This is where my greatest source of inspiration comes from...and to think it all started with a library card many years ago. Thank you, Mr. Rohn.