Napoleon Hill Yesterday and Today, Issue 182, July 16, 2010

What's In It For Everyone?

The positive mental attitude promoters who inspired Napoleon Hill and then those who have been inspired by him, incline many of us in turn to find the pathway from who we are and where we are to where we strive to end up, as happier people in happier places. When who we are and where we are can feel like a struggle at times, one of the most salient benefits of a positive mental attitude is that it helps us to realize and actualize the powerful truth of our potential to capitalize on our challenges.

A quote I read recently from Mike Dooley strikes a chord in this vein. "What if the word victim could be redefined into something closer to hero, recognizing that the paths some have tread will spare others from the same?" With a turning-adversity-into-triumph mindset, we can be on the lookout for opportunities to contribute to the greater good for all. We enrich our own lives through offering our help and services to others, as much as our lives are enriched by those who offer us their help and services. It's beautiful.

As a visionary of the beautiful benefits to all that can be derived through recognition and admiration of heroes, Eva Karpati, the founding editor and publisher of Good News Toronto (www.goodnewstoronto.ca) was so impressed by the notion of the strength that readers could draw from benevolent achievers, that she started her little paper with big heart to celebrate the multitude of inspirational people who live in our midst, with "the goal of motivating all of us to keep our city rich." Good News Toronto has been helping readers "think and grow rich" by celebrating our everyday heroes and inspiring readers since February of 2008, when Eva saw an opportunity to complement mainstream media gloom and doom stories with the very real good news stories that might otherwise regrettably be going unreported. To Good News Toronto readers, contributors and heroes whose stories and charitable or not-for-profit organizations have been featured, Eva herself, humble as she is, has become one of our everyday heroes worthy of bravura celebration.

Perhaps, with others of like mind in cities and communities around the globe, similar "Good News" publications all over the world could have a dream-come-true-style monumental impact of the likes of Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen's Chicken Soup for the Soul series. In June of 2010, I was elated to meet in person and learn from Jack Canfield when the owner of Cosmyc Vybes, my friend Nancy Allen, who is a yoga and zumba instructor and fitness and nutrition guru extraordinaire, invited me along as her guest to attend Steve and Bill Harrison's Quantum Leap conference in Philadelphia. It was fabulous to be in the company of so many exceptionally inspiring and highly-motivated individuals. Not surprisingly, like so many other self-development industry leaders we admire today, Jack Canfield too was influenced and inspired by the teachings of Napoleon Hill and Clement Stone.

For we who are on the lifelong journey to achieve success, inspiration is an indispensable means of energizing us to reach our definite objectives. Daily doses of inspiration to keep us moving toward our goals are as essential and need to be as routine as stops at the gas station are to keep our vehicles going. The beauty lies in that unlike the residual toxic gas fumes that pollute the environment when we fill our gas tanks, the enduring second-hand effects of everyday heroics, and acts of kindness and courage are that we all can learn and be inspired by the goals and achievements of others. Our own achievements serve in turn as the inspirational refueling that will serve as motivation to the witnesses of our actions. Like eating, sleeping, bathing, and all the other to-dos we repeat daily to keep ourselves as well as we can be, inspiration sharing needs to be engrained in our routines, as "cosmic habit force."

One of my all-time favourite motivational messages from Napoleon Hill comes from the fifth component of his confidence formula. "I realize that no wealth or position can long endure unless built upon truth and justice; therefore I will engage in no transaction that does not benefit all whom it affects. I will attract to myself the forces I wish to use and the cooperation of other people. I will induce others to serve me because of my willingness to serve others. I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness and cynicism by developing love for all humanity because I know that a negative attitude toward others can never bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me because I will believe in them and in myself." These few lines capture well the values of integrity and respect, to empower us with what we need to make all things possible.

My six-year-old son brilliantly blurted in proud revelation recently, "The only thing that's impossible is that there's anything that's impossible." On another occasion, one of my children once told me he knew he was safe when his father had to go away for a few days on business trips without the family, because Daddy always put up a "horse field" around our house when he was leaving on one of his trips. Fortunately, in his innocent belief, it didn't matter to my young son that what Daddy had said was "force field" and it didn't matter that there wasn't a horse field or a force field around our house. What mattered was just that he believed there was and that made him feel safe, secure and confident. What mattered was that to him, his father was an everyday hero who could do anything and from that he drew the strength he needed to overcome his fear. While my children's decrees made me smile, and may have been overstatements, they serve as excellent emotional, mental and even physical kinesthetic fortifiers. We can choose to believe that something can be real, even before it is. "Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, you can achieve." While some believe that's hogwash, it's a concept familiar and inspiring to long-time Napoleon Hill enthusiasts and neophytes alike all around the world.

For die-hard skeptics who remain positive that the whole world of personal development through a positive mental attitude is nothing more than hogwash, there is the risk they likely will find they're right too. Having had the wondrous adventure of making the leap from skeptic to rhapsodic about the virtues of the personal development industry and the benefits of immersion in positive influences, it's my dear hope and honour to serve others who will accept my encouragement and belief in their abilities to get from where they are to exactly where they want to be too. By simply asking ourselves, "What's in it for everyone?" we can find the illumination and the clarity we need to stay on the right path in the lifelong journey toward success and happiness, always with integrity. That's good news for all of us everywhere.

When Judy Williamson, Director of Education at the Napoleon Hill World Learning Center at Purdue University Calumet, gave me the good news that this guest submission would be published on July 16, in the e-zine, "Napoleon Hill -- Yesterday and Today", I was delighted as the date is always a special day in our family and gives me one more excellent opportunity to wish a happy birthday to two of my everyday heroes, my Dad, Chris on his 65th and my son Garrett, on his 9th, and to wish everyone a wonderful and inspiring day, filled with good news.

For a subscription to "Napoleon Hill -- Yesterday and Today", go to www.naphill.org. For a subscription to Good News Toronto, go to www.goodnewstoronto.ca.

Best wishes dear readers for all good news and inspiration.

Ardently,

Kathleen

Good News in July

"Live in each season as it passes: breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit." – Henry David Thoreau

Ah summertime. It's a great time to kick back with a refreshing smoothie and to be delighted and inspired by reading the stories of the everyday heroes in Good News Toronto at www.goodnewstoronto.ca. If you prefer to have and to hold a hard copy in the hamac while you swing and relax under the shade listening to your favourite tunes of the lazy hazy days, please get in touch at info@goodnewstoronto.ca, so your delivery can be arranged.

Enjoy!

Ardently,

Kathleen