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THE LIFE CHANGING GROWTH OF AN IDEA (PART 2) - Peter Sinclair

When I think of ideas, I think of Thomas Alva Edison.

Edison, the greatest inventor the world has ever known, had only three months of formal education and was considered by his teacher to be retarded. By the time he died, though, he had filed over a thousand patents and was an extremely wealthy man.

Edison perfected and patented everything from the first phonograph player in 1877 to the first practical light bulb in 1879. He set up the first electricity-distribution company, contributed to the development of the movie camera and the projector, and made improvements to the telephone, telegraph and the typewriter.

Edison had six rules for invention. These rules, even if you are not an inventor, will help you greatly in the development of your own ideas.

1. Set a goal and stick to it.
2. Figure out the steps you have to go through to complete the invention and follow them.
3. Keep good records of your progress.
4. Share your results with fellow workers.
5. Be sure that everyone working on the project has a clear definition of their responsibilities.
6. Record all your results for later analysis.

It’s all to do with the life changing growth of an idea.

So here are the the final three phases of the growth of an idea: childhood, adolescence and adulthood.

3. CHILDHOOD

Just because an idea is birthed, a period of maturing is required before it can stand on its own. Let passion have its way at this point. Experiment with it. You may, at this stage, only have the skeleton of an idea and only possess a limited supply of resources necessary for its success, but this is a great time to put some action to it anyway.

Children act first and invariably think later. It is during this period of growth that you can start to fail your way to success. Your idea, like the child, will need to learn how to talk, to walk, to gain competency in fine and gross motor skills. And if your first attempts fail, don’t abort the idea. Learn from your mistakes. Improve on them and then try again. You are being schooled in the art of bringing an idea to full maturity. This school is often termed as ‘the school of hard knocks’.

Growth will occur at variable speeds. Sometimes no visible measurable growth will be evident, then suddenly you will experience a growth spurt that will make the waiting period worth every minute. It is in waiting times that character is strengthened. It is relatively easy to get an idea, but it takes character to hold onto it through to its fulfilment.

ALL IDEAS ARE BUILT ON THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF BOTH SUCCESS AND FAILURE

4. ADOLESCENCE

This is the consolidating phase where your idea starts to really take shape. As pubescence locks in, your idea will start to change shape. Don’t fight it. Let it happen. Your idea is maturing. You have greater insight at this point. Your study, and the further development of skills that have been a vital part of the childhood phase, are now starting to pay off through repetition and practise.

Your passion has intensified because you can now see clearly the magnitude of your original idea. It may seem a long journey, but in retrospect you can now identify every fork in the road and every detour. Every stoppage has been an essential ingredient in the maturing process of your idea. The journey has been the success. It has not been the road to success, but in fact the road of success. Every victory and every defeat has been a building block used to build a solid and lively idea. The trek has formed within you a strength that will make you fit and worthy of adulthood.

Too many people want to find the shortcuts to wealth, fame and fortune, but unfortunately, those who have tried to defy the path of nature soon find themselves, and their ideas as skeletons, cast aside and discarded by life itself. The formulation and success of any worthwhile idea takes time to mature, and needs to be fed, watered and exercised if it is to be a significant and winning contribution to your life.

FAILURE IS SEPARATED FROM SUCCESS BY AN IDEA

5. ADULTHOOD

Maturity at last. Your idea has come of age, not only in your mind, but has in fact materialized. You have run the race. You have fought the good fight. You have fulfilled the dream that was once conceived, and persisted with the idea throughout the four previous stages.

This is not the time to relax. This is the time for further reproduction. Other ideas will now be birthed from this original one. It is mature enough to give birth to other offspring. One fulfilled idea will be the springboard for future victories. This is where the power of duplication will kick in. This is the time to be even more alert. This is not the time to put down your guard, for idea and dream stealers are out and about, stalking to steal from you. And they definitely don’t like to see winners achieving. So how do you guard against being robbed? Produce more offspring. Populate. Multiply and expand.

Be a believer in the richness of ideas. The one thing that can separate you from success and failure is an idea. Keep your mind fertile through continued study and the meditation on positive material. Be open to new thought. Those who live and think this way will embrace change and use it as their own turbocharger to success. No matter how old you get physically, it will keep you young at heart and young of mind.

Motivational Quote: Believe in the richness of ideas and you will live an ideal life.

Add comment June 13th, 2008

THE LIFE CHANGING GROWTH OF AN IDEA (PART 1) - Peter Sinclair

‘The wise only possess ideas…the greater part of mankind are possessed by them.’ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Throughout the history of mankind, ideas, and the ready application of those ideas have always separated those who ‘were’ from those who ‘will be’. Only those who have embraced fresh ideas have soared on to greatness. Only those who have had faith and have seen the obstacles as opportunities, have become the heroes of the generations.

It is the dreamers, the risk takers, the men and women of action, who have paved the path to a better life for all mankind. It is the believers and the conceivers who have married the past with the present, and produced its offspring: the future.

Desire gives the individual extraordinary power to overcome any obstacle and to climb any mountain. It empowers them with the ability and the means to pursue a goal and to fulfil it.

It draws within its reach all the ingredients that are required for success.

Like a magnet, the desire attracts those elements required for forward, positive movement. It has the power to bring the right people across one’s path, the right reading material, the right tools and the right setting for the performance of the desire’s fulfilment.

Once desire has been birthed, then embracement can begin. However, to successfully arrive at the moment of fulfilment, one needs to undergo change.

There are five phases that ideas pass through. By gaining an understanding of these five phases you will far better embrace change and discover how to turn it to your utmost advantage.

The five stages are:

1. CONCEPTION
2. BIRTH
3. CHILDHOOD
4. ADOLESCENCE
5. ADULTHOOD

Each of the five phases have everything to do with the life changing growth of an idea. So here are the first two two phases: conception and birth.

1. CONCEPTION

An idea is conceived. What or who inspires it? Where does it come from? Anywhere.

I have found that by surrounding myself with a balance of outside influences, either through reading, listening or associating with winners, that in the course of my study and conversation, the seed of an idea has been planted.

Developing the habit of writing down my thoughts in a journal has also developed a greater regularity in the discovery of a new idea.

The air is full of ideas. It is our role to stay alert and ready to catch them as they pass by.

It can arise out of our need or a problem that must be solved. Some of the greatest ideas I have ever received have come when ‘my back was up against a wall’. When I needed a miracle, the idea came.

I pray for ideas. I increase my reading. I place myself in seminars. I surround myself with bigger thinkers.

BY MARRYING THE PAST WITH THE PRESENT, ITS OFFSPRING, THE FUTURE, IS CREATED

Through the power of association I always put myself in a position whereby I can become ‘pregnant’ with an idea. Hoping for it never achieves anything. I have to prepare myself for the event by remaining in a positive state of mind as I declare, ‘There is an original idea out there and I’m going to find it, no matter what!’

A fertile mind is always prepared to receive the seed of an idea. As soon as those ideas come, write them down. If it happens in the middle of the night jump out of bed and write them down. If the idea comes as you drive your car, pull over to the side of the road and write it down, or keep a recording device handy. Conception can occur at any time and in any place.

2. BIRTH

Once conceived, and then nurtured throughout pregnancy, there comes a time for the birth.

During pregnancy, come back regularly to meditate on the idea. As the birth becomes more imminent, you will find that it will kick you from time to time to remind you that it is growing and maturing in your mind every day of its life.

THOUGHTS ARE THE MATERNITY WARD WHERE BIRTH IS GIVEN TO FRESH AND NEW IDEAS

Unfortunately, unlike most human pregnancies, I cannot tell you how long the gestation time frame is for each idea. Sometimes it is hours. Other times it is days. Many of my own ideas have taken years to be birthed.

But the good news is this. You can be simultaneously pregnant with as many baby ideas as you wish to have.

Depending on how successful you wish to be, will determine how many ideas are ‘cooking’ all at once.

It doesn’t even have to be a totally original idea. It can be a slight adjustment to another one that is already in use. Some of the greatest successes have come from the clever adaptation and fine-tuning of an already existing idea. Look for ways to improve an already existing service or product. You’ll be amazed at what you discover.

Motivational Quote: To have an idea, and to apply action to that idea, is a brilliant idea.

May 12th, 2008

THE GRATITUDE ATTITUDE - Peter Sinclair

When it comes to being grateful, I am grateful for many things.

Rather than preaching at you, to tell you what you should be grateful for, I am going to take the time to share just a few of the reasons I am grateful. My hope is that they will spark within you the desire to approach every day of your life with a grateful atttitude.

I am grateful for MY GIFT.

Personally, I am grateful for the gift of writing and that I can use the gift God deposited into my life so that I can make such a positive impact on other people’s lives. All of us are gifted in one area or another. Show just how grateful you are by using your gift to benefit others.

I am grateful for FRIENDS.

Here’s an example of what I mean… I received a fax some time ago from a friend, whose wife, at the age of 39, had been struck down by a crippling stroke.

When I had found out what had happened to Annette, I started to send ‘love faxes’ on a regular basis to the hospital. The nursing staff would then deliver them to her bedside.

She has since responded with the following letter.

‘The first fax made me feel special because it was unusual and immediate. It made me feel important because the nurses had to deliver it to my bed and not many other people got faxes. That someone cared enough to send them helped me to keep positive. Because I had daily physio to face, your faxes kept telling me I was a winner. I really wanted to walk and it was so hard to get on my feet, but you guys kept telling me I could do it and to keep fighting. I used to keep chanting those phrases over in my head. ‘I can do it.’ Daily faxes felt like you were there with me. I felt really touched that you were thinking of me every day. I loved the story of the paralysed girl who came first in the Olympics, and the story about setting goals. I wrote my goals on that fax with a date. My goal was to walk out of hospital on the 2nd of May and I DID IT!’

I am grateful for STRONG RELATIONSHIPS.

But in any relationship we must constantly fight against the tendancy of overfamiliarity. So in order to defeat that I sometimes write poems. Here’s one that I wrote for my wife, Shelley.

THE GREATEST GIFT

The greatest gift that I’ve received
Was when she gave her life to me
Chose to leave her name behind
To take upon the name that’s mine
Nothing better than her love
Perfect fit, hand in glove
Complimented by her heart
Treasured moments from the start
Have carried us throughout the years
Of laughter’s streams and floods of tears
Of mountains climbed and valley’s depth
Of borders crossed and chasms leapt
Of oceans sailed and heights we’ve soared
God’s nature claps; a loud applaud
For the woman standing by my side
The one whom in my heart I hide
The morning’s light
The rising tide
The mountain peak
The river wild
Companion, lover
Everything
Summer, Winter
Autumn, Spring

Expressions of appreciation, whether in word or by deed, are vital as you tend the field of any relationship.

I have made it a habit of late to date my wife specifically once a month, if not more. A weekend away, a meal or a coffee on a regular basis do wonders for your relationship. It doesn’t take much, but it is so important to attach something of value to your gratitude attitude.

Don’t just think it. Do it, say it, write it. You don’t have to be a writer to show the expression of gratitude to those who are important to you. Put action to your sense of appreciation. It makes for a strong relationship.

GRATITUDE IS SHORT FOR GREAT ATTITUDE

I am grateful for GOOD PERSONAL HEALTH.

When it comes to PERSONAL HEALTH it is important that I show myself that I’m grateful for my great health by exercising my body on a regular basis.

Now, not that I have expertise in this area. But, I have personally found, as one who was once diagnosed with high cholosterol and has a family that has a history of heart disease, that both diet and exercise make all the difference to one’s health.

It was some years ago now when I was first confronted with the fact that I was leading an unhealthy lifestyle.

However, by simply adjusting the food I was eating and drinking and by exercising at least 20 minutes a day for four days a week, my weight was reduced and my whole metabolism began to operate as it should. The high and dangerous cholesterol levels were reduced to acceptable levels.

In addition, just as I have my car regularly serviced, I make it a point to have a physical once every two years. Prevention is far better than cure.

And what do I do for exercise? Ride bikes, run on a mini trampoline, play Indoor Cricket, walk on the beach and swim when I choose. And the most important thing about this exercise is that it is done regularly.

DON’T BE A FATEFUL, BE A GRATEFUL

I am grateful for FREEDOM.

So in addition to friendships, relationships and good personal health I am grateful for freedom.

To have the freedom to be what I want to be, to do what I want to do, to achieve what I want to achieve, to worship the God I choose to worship are some of the greatest things that I can never take for granted.

So let me encourage you to pause just for a moment and think of all the things that you are grateful for having in your life. Spend some time to jot down in your journal the things that you can express an attitude of gratitude for.

And whenever you want to complain, STOP! Say out loud, ‘I AM GRATEFUL!’ Choose to always operate your life with an attitude of gratitude. And make ‘THANK YOU’ a perfect part of your daily speech and exude gratitude through your perfectly positive attitude.

Motivational Quote: A life established on a gratitude attitude is always symbolised by a BIG THANK YOU.

Add comment April 9th, 2008

COMPASSION’S COMPULSION - Peter Sinclair

Albert Schweitzer once wrote, “The purpose of human life is to serve and to show compassion and the will to help others.”

Schweitzer was one of the world’s greatest interpreters of Bach and often gave recitals in cathedrals all over Europe. His philosophical speeches and writings made him famous throughout his lifetime. Yet he chose to become an accomplished doctor and research scientist, in order to spend most of his long life as a missionary doctor in the tiny village of Lambarene, in the Gabon province of French Equatorial Africa.

With the world at his feet, Dr Schweitzer chose to turn his back on both fame and fortune in order to build a hospitalÂ for the ‘forgotten people’ on the banks of the Ogowe River.

The world now remembers him not for his achievements in music, nor for his books or even the Nobel Peace Prize he won. He is remembered because he chose to share his life generously with those in need.

Albert Schweitzer backed up his compassion, which is a sympathetic emotion created by the misfortunes of another, and then accompanied that desire to help with compulsion.

And what is compulsion?

Compulsion is the act of compelling or the state of being compelled; a strong, irresistible impulse to carry out an act. The good book states very clearly that ‘faith without works is dead.’ In the same way, compassion without compulsion is powerless. It is in the doing that things get done.

It is in the pushing out from the shore of comfort that you and I can reach the heights of our greatest potential. Compassion is the feeling and the empathy, whereas compulsion is the action that will meet the need. Apart they are impotent. Together they can transform the world within which you and I live.

Etty Hillesum, a Jewish young woman, was 29 years old when she died in Auschwitz on November 1943.

Both her diaries and her letters were published more than 40 years after her death, and what was revealed from all her writings was that she had a heart full of compassion for her fellow prisoners as they suffered at the hands of the Nazi regime during the Second World War.

Here is one portion of a letter that Etty wrote whilst knowing that her life could be taken at any time:

‘The FEW BIG THINGS that matter in life are what we have to keep in mind; the rest can be quietly abandoned. And you can find those few big things anywhere, you have to keep rediscovering them in yourself so that you can be renewed. And in spite of everything you always end up with the same conviction: life is good after all…’

And to me, two of the FEW BIG THINGS that matter more than most is the ability to find COMPASSION in our heart, and then the COMPULSION to then take what is in our heart and to translate it into positive action.

So my question to you is this - Do you have a cause? Do you have within you a driving ambition? Do you spend more time thinking of ways that you can add to another life rather than positioning yourself to be always on the take?

COMPASSION IS EMPOWERED WHEN ENJOINED BY COMPULSION

That is why we must pursue a vision for our life. There must be more than having a 9 to 5 mentality where we work for money to pay the bills all our life. We have been planted on planet earth for a purpose and to have an impact on both this and future generations. Make it your determination to leave a legacy and not a debt. Find within your being the compassion to reach out to another and invest in their lives. Don’t live the moment for yourself. Divide the moment with another.

If you have joy, share joy. If you have a gift, give it away. If you have knowledge, find a pupil to whom you can teach. Don’t keep all the money to yourself. Tithe and make financial giving a pattern for your life.

It’s not surprising that within the word compassion is found the word compass. Our true north will only be found if we choose to live a compassionate life.

COMPASSION IS THE COMPASS THAT WILL GUIDE YOU TO A RICH LIFE

For as you transform your compassion into continual and repeated acts of compulsion, you will find that the meaning of your life will be unveiled in ways that you would never have imagined.

Succeed so that you can pass that success onto others. Pursue financial independence so that you can give back time and money to your community.

Follow your ENTREPRENEURIAL passion by answering these questions: How could I make more money and feel more secure? What kind of work would make me feel better about myself? What have I always dreamed of doing and why don’t I do it? Would starting my own business help me to resolve these questions? If so, what kind of business would I like to start, to own and to build?

Or maybe you’re an INTRAPRENEUR who is happy working for others. Ask yourself these questions:What can I do in my current position to use my talents more effectively so that I am more satisfied? How can I help my boss to make a bigger profit? How can I help the business I work for become more efficient? How can I help to improve the safety and comfort of our workplace? What needs to be corrected? How could we achieve a greater level of excellence?

By answering these questions openly and honestly you can start to demonstrate the winning qualities of a compassionate compulsive.

Compassion’s compulsion will pave the way to a wonderful life for not only you, but for your family, friends, associates and the world that is touched by your life’s work.

Motivational Quote: Encompass your life with compassion and you will be surrounded by good things.

2 comments March 7th, 2008

SECURING SECURITY IN AN INSECURE WORLD (Part 2) - Peter Sinclair

A time of peace comes after a time of war. It is usually a time of great celebration for the victor, but because it has also taken the loss of many lives to secure that victory, it is also, in fact, a time of great sadness for those who have lost loved ones.

Once the tickertape parades are over and the medals have been pinned on the proud chests of the courageous, then everybody turns back to their own homes with the intention of getting on with a normal life. But for many, life can never be normal again, because there is now a chair in their house that will always remain empty, or there is a life, once vibrant before the war, now shattered forever. War didn’t just happen on the battlefield or in the trenches, or in the desert or in the jungle. For many of the families of returned soldiers, the greatest battles are just about to begin.

It is time to rebuild broken lives and to renew relationships; to re-establish that which had been uprooted and to now strengthen the bonds that had been weakened through warfare. Even though life’s battles come to an end, it may still take years to recover from them. Even though peace is declared, the true sense of peace will take much longer to catch up.

As a reader of this memo you may have experienced the battles of divorce and separation, family tension, sickness, death, partnership breakdown, business failure, crippling debt, retrenchment, unemployment, betrayal and let down. Any of these can wipe you out. They are as fatal as a well directed bullet. They are as devastating as being speared with a bayonet. Each of them pierce right through you. They can rock the very foundations of your life and literally destroy those caught up in the event.

Only time, forgiveness and a fresh sense of purpose and direction will heal the gaping wounds that are inflicted during these times and seasons. But once you have reached that point of peace, which is different for each of us, it is the best time to learn from your past experiences and to arm yourself for future battles that are certain to come your way.

For every season of war, there is a season of peace. For every season of tragedy, there is a season of recovery. For every season of failure, there is a season of success. For to every thing there is a season. For when the dust settles from the battle and the guns have gone quiet, we must become people preparing for the days that lie ahead. For, though you may not pass this same road again, you will, at some point in your life, pass through another confrontation. You must be in a constant state of preparation so that you can, at any time, be ready for whatever challenge is thrown in your path.

Not that you should spend each waking moment waiting for trouble to come. But when change presents itself, you will be more than ready to face the challenge. You have spent sufficient time preparing your mind, your body, and your spirit to push through to victory. You are ready for the pursuit of your goals and your dreams. You are not left stranded, but have taken the time, during peace time, to prepare yourself for the next stage of your journey.

So many people have the bad habit of saying that ‘When such and such happens then…’ or ‘When the time is right and I have enough money in the bank and when the kids are grown up and…’. People who operate with that attitude will never see anything happen. They, to the day they die, will still be waiting. However, the one who says, ‘I will today prepare myself, because in the future my opportunity will come. I’ll be diligent in the quiet times and times of peace, so that when I’m given the chance to prove myself, I’ll be ready to win.’ will succeed.

EXCUSES ARE THE SHOVELS WITH WHICH PEOPLE DIG THEIR OWN GRAVES

So if you wish to see dramatic change in your circumstances, you will need to bury that shovel and start to dig deeper into your own spirit and mind, so as to discover the dream that will stir you into action. It needs to be something that will pull you out of bed each morning. Even when your feelings are pulling you in another direction, your desire will push you forward towards the fulfilment of your goals.

Without a dream, men and women walk in the land of the dead. But with a dream, your life will be filled with an exuberance and with an energy that will drive you on to the successful completion of your tasks.

Many have blamed the past for their failure. But let me challenge you to consider this. Bury your past, and you will have planted the seed for a glorious future. Learn from the past and choose not to repeat the mistakes you have already committed. You cannot change what has gone
before, but you can most certainly change the future by the decisions you make today. There is not one past failure that you can’t overcome when you discover a new dream in your heart.

Here’s a challenge:

Dare to cast aside all your past dreams that may have turned into nightmares, and discover new ones. As you take up the new dream, you will be amazed how some of the ingredients of the past dreams, that you thought had been totally discarded, will suddenly pop their heads up again and say, ‘We were part of your original dream after all. It was all a matter of timing. NOW IS THE TIME.’

Refuse to replay failures through thought or conversation. Leave them on the battlefields. Don’t pick at the skeletons of your past, but focus your attention on the flesh of your new pursuit. Stay in the land of the living and steer clear of the field of dead dreams.

NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME TO BEGIN

If you are going to successfully chart your way through the waters of your life, you must become familiar with the seasonal changes that occur. You, like the sails on a sailing ship, must learn how to manoeuver, in response to the many winds of change. You may have to fight through
stormy weather. At other times you will simply need to let the wind take you where it will. You may have to ‘change tack’ and ‘come about’. At other times the waters will be becalmed and patience will have to rule your circumstances.

To win in this life, you must become a master of change, ready to move with the slightest adjustment and the faintest movement. You are captain of your ship, charting your own course. It is your skill in riding the winds of change that will determine your future and establish the security that is yours in an insecure world.

Take charge of your life. You cannot put a stop to what will happen. However, you, as the designer of your destiny and the pathfinder of your potential, have total control over the way you respond to the changes that will occur time and time again throughout your lifetime.

Motivational Quote: Those who regularly pursue change from within will capably handle whatever changes come from without.

Add comment February 15th, 2008

Motivation Blog - Motivational Quotes & Articles

THE LIFE CHANGING GROWTH OF AN IDEA (PART 2) - Peter Sinclair

THE LIFE CHANGING GROWTH OF AN IDEA (PART 1) - Peter Sinclair

THE GRATITUDE ATTITUDE - Peter Sinclair

COMPASSION’S COMPULSION - Peter Sinclair

SECURING SECURITY IN AN INSECURE WORLD (Part 2) - Peter Sinclair

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