The Progressive Loop

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Mervyn Byrd

I was recently listening to a CD by LIFE founder Chris Brady. One of the things he discussed was the Productive Loop. This really resonated well with me as I have recently found myself going through this loop. Just about every area of our lives takes us through this loop. Whenever we encounter something new, we go through this loop. You have to be mentally tough to go through these areas and achieve success. The areas are as follows:
• Ignorance
• Skepticism
• Curiosity
• Learning
• Action
• Progress
• Success

Ignorance—we simply do not know what we do not know. We are ignorant to what we are embarking upon. We do not know what is lurking behind door number one and that is a bit scary for us.

Skepticism—when a new or foreign concept is introduced to us, we become skeptical. This is a normal and acceptable course of action, just as long as you do not allow it to spill over into cynicism. Cynicism will cause blockages in your psyche. It will take you over and begin to spill over into other important area of your life. You have undoubtedly met cynical people. They are not the most fun people to hang around. They tend to take lemonade and turn it into sour lemons. You get the picture. Skepticism is cool just fight cynicism with every fiber of your being.

Curiosity—this is an area that starts to get the blood moving. You begin to wonder if you really can achieve. As you get more curious, your interest is sparked and you begin to learn. During my senior year of college, I got recruited by a bank. I had no idea what being a commercial banker would entail—I was ignorant to the field. But I got curious enough to do the proper research from the proper people. My point is that when you research a topic; ensure you are searching in the proper areas. When you begin to search, you move into learning.

Learning—nothing awakens an adult like learning. Excitement begins to build from within and enthusiasm is kindled as the adult begins to learn. He begins to get that spark back in his eye, as his mind is engaged again. Once again, I speak from recent experience. For nearly two and a half years, I had been virtually sleep-walking through life. I had nearly given up on my vision, until I began learning about a new opportunity. I revisited my former goals and dreams. Now I feel more alive than I have in many, many years. Not only am I dreaming again, but I am taking action towards achieving those dreams.

Action—when one begins to learn, the next natural step is to take action. In order to achieve a goal, you must take action towards it. Perfection is not important, taking action is.

Progress—what is important here is that you are moving forward in a positive direction. You are making progress. Now, as you make progress, you want to make constant checks to ensure that you on course. If not, then make the proper course corrections (remember my post on Course Corrections a few weeks ago?). Make as many as possible and as often as possible. This way, you will discover what works and what does not work. This discovery leads to success.

Success—most people need to redefine what success is. There is only one “best” at anything. Let us look at sports for a moment. During the 2011 NFL season, the Minnesota Vikings went 3-13 and finished dead last in the NFC North Division. An epic fail by anyone’s standard. In 2012, it went 10-6 and finished second in the division and went to the playoffs. My beloved Packers trounced the Vikings in the first round of the playoffs. I cannot be convinced that their season was not a success. My new definition of success is putting forth your very best effort every day.

I hope that this post has helped you, challenged you or otherwise caused you to think critically. I welcome your comments.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

6 X 1 = 6

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Mervyn Byrd

I know what you are thinking by looking at the title of this article. “Thanks, Mervyn, for the first grade mathematics lesson. Now tell me something that I did not know.” Well I do not know if I will tell you something new, but I do hope to help you bring some structure to your goals and visions.

This is not original to me; I have borrowed it from John Mason in his book called An Enemy Called Average. This book is chock full of “nuggets” one of which is 6 X 1 = 6. The premise is that if you seriously commit yourself to an activity for one hour per day, six days per week, you can master that activity. For instance, if you wanted to learn to play the piano and you practiced (the proper things) for one hour per day, six days per week, you will be a pretty good piano player after a year’s time. Imagine where you would be after two years or five years.

This is a good activity for you to employ for any task that you want to accomplish. It is still early in the year and perhaps you have fallen off of your New Year’s resolutions a bit. This is a perfect opportunity to make a course correction. This is also a really simple way to challenge yourself to achieve your goals. One of my goals was to get in better cardiovascular shape this year. I like to play basketball, and I do not want to look like a fool on the court, because I cannot breathe. So, by doing different cardiovascular activities for an hour a day, six days per week, I can accomplish my goal. My plan is to get several different activities to reach the goal. It is five below zero outside, so my favorite cardio activity, bike riding, has to be brought indoors. I will do interval training on the treadmill as well as weight training to boost my cardiovascular strength. So, when I play ball on a weekly basis, I will not embarrass myself due to poor cardiovascular health.

Many of you will have much more loftier and important goals than basketball. Some of you have made decisions to get free this year. Free from your job, free from debt, free from extra weight and health issues. 6 X 1 = 6. This is just one method of achieving goals that I have employed in the past, so I decided that I would pass it on to you as a tool that you can utilize as well. I know that there is more than one way to skin a cat (I never understood that one—why do you want to skin a cat?), so maybe this method will resonate with you.

Get back on course with your 2013 goals.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Course Corrections

Posted on January 6, 2013 by Mervyn Byrd

Today, I want to talk with you about a subject that is very important, if we are to keep our resolve as it concerns our goals, plans, resolutions or whatever you desire to call them. It does not matter much to me what you call them, just as long as your resolve is there to persist in your endeavors that will ultimately allow you to change your life for the better. I want to talk to you about course corrections.

Some years ago, I had the pleasure of being in a conference where the keynote speaker was Mr. Buzz Aldrin. I was enthralled by his story about the Apollo 11 mission that landed him on the moon. It was really quite fascinating. However, what I remember most about that conversation over 15 years later was that he said that they were constantly making course corrections. In fact, they were off course more than 90% of the time, but they still hit their target. Why? They still landed on the moon, because they made the course corrections early and often. It was easier to get back on course as soon as they realized that they were off course. Had they gone thousands of miles and then decided to get back on course, they may not have made “one giant leap for mankind.”

Our lives are exactly the same way. Whether we are talking about our spiritual well-being, our mental and emotional state or our physical health, we all need course corrections from time to time. Is it not easier to catch yourself and make a course correction when you are five pounds over-weight than when you are 50 pounds over-weight? Allow me to be your coach in this area. I want to be that motivating, inspiring voice that you hear saying “get back on course. You can do this.” I like to call them “short accounts.” When I get off track, I prefer to have a short conversation about it, with God and with myself. Nothing is worse than having a long, berating conversation with yourself about how you let yourself get so far out of shape (spiritually, emotionally or physically). Develop a mentality this year that you will keep short accounts with yourself as it pertains to your goals for 2013.

I have made a pact with myself that I will course correct early and often this year. I can guarantee that if you will commit to doing so, you will improve your life in ways that you had not expected. You might find that you like yourself more, because you did not quit on your dream, when it got difficult or when obstacles appeared to trip you up. You might find yourself feeling proud of yourself when you accomplish something difficult or previously unattainable. Nothing wrong with that, right? I wish you much success in all of your positive endeavors this year. Live on purpose.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

New Year, New Beginning

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Mervyn Byrd

Happy New Year. I always love the New Year. It brings with it so much hope, so much potential. It is an opportunity for you to begin again anew. Actually, each day, each hour and each moment gives us that opportunity as well, but the New Year is somehow different. It universally represents a fresh start. People all around the globe are making New Year’s resolutions and planning for great things to happen this year. My question for you is what are you willing to do differently in 2013 that will set it apart for 2012, and all of the other years where you started off the year with much enthusiasm, only to have it wane after a few short weeks?

You have seen it happen over and over again…hey, you might have even been that person. You make the resolution to get in shape, so you hit the gym really hard. The regular gym-rats are getting frustrated, because they have to wait on the treadmill, bike or elliptical machine. There are not any benches available, because the “resolutionists” are taking up all the space. You are feeling good about yourself and your life in general. Then, the calendar changes to January 15th or 20th or some other date near to that one and it all comes to a screeching halt. Why did that just happen? It happened because it had not stuck yet. It was a great idea, but you have not yet convinced yourself deep inside your spirit that this great idea was really for you.

This year, I want you to achieve your goals and dreams and I am committed to helping you to do so. I am going to share some tips and pointers so that you can give yourself a fighting chance at success. Nearly every leadership guru from Napoleon Hill to John Maxwell to Robert Kiyosaki have written about this subject. Even Mervyn Byrd has written and spoken about it. Anyway, here they go:

• Make a long-term plan—do not be short-sighted about your dream. Anything that is going to last is going to take some work and is going to take some time. Rome was not built in a day and neither was your life, nor your bad habits. They are not going to be removed in a day. Make some positive effort towards those dreams every single day. Ex. If you are looking to get in better health, you can exercise a few days a week, but you can watch your caloric intake and the types of food you put into your body every single day!
• Learn the art of delayed gratification—this truly is an art, because we want what we want and we want it right now. If you are trying to get in shape, it is probably not a good idea to run out the local custard stand and chow down on a turtle sundae—just sayin’. There will be time for you to enjoy that sundae, but now is not the time. That can be a reward for hard work and a milestone hit. Success tastes so much sweeter, when you know that you have put in some serious work.
• Do not quit—you must learn to take that word out of your vocabulary. When my children were younger, I taught them that the words “I can’t” do not exist in our vocabulary. Whenever they were learning a new, difficult task, and they came up against an obstacle, the natural reaction is to say “I can’t do it.” When they would come crying to me with “dad, I can’t do it” I would act as if I did not hear them. Yes, I would ignore them. At first, I would tell them that I was ignoring them and why. After they understood the concept I would just simply ignore them. I was teaching them that they could do it and if they asked for help, I would guide them to where they wanted to go. The words “I can’t” do not exist in our household.
• Give yourself time for your efforts to take root—my former mentor used to preach this all the time. You must not quit before you have seen the harvest. Imagine a farmer planting seed and then a month or two going out and digging everything up, because he has not seen the harvest yet. That would be fruitless. There is an incredible tree called the Chinese Bamboo tree. This tree is planted, watered and nurtured for four years and there nary a sprout. Suddenly, in year five, the tree springs to 90 feet. It did not grow 90 feet in one year, it took five years to get there, but the first four years we could not see the results. Your life is the same way. You have quit three feet from gold scores of times in your life. This time, make it count. Be tenacious, stick with it and allow your dreams to come true.

I trust that I have given you a few nuggets of wisdom to help your 2013 be the best year of your life so far. This is the year that you move from glory to glory.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

The Power of the MInd

Posted on December 23, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

This blog is dedicated to exploring the power of the mind. I am convinced that the human mind is one of the most powerful things in the universe. Because of it, man is able to explore our solar system and beyond. Because of it, we have the amazing technology that we enjoy today. With the mind, people have been healed of deadly diseases. The mind has abilities in the other direction as well. Have you heard about the gentleman who “froze” to death in a refrigerated box car? He convinced himself that the car must have been five to 10 degrees Fahrenheit. The fact of the matter is that the refrigeration unit on the car was out-of-order and the inside temperature was probably somewhere in the 50s. He convinced himself, in his mind, that he was freezing and therefore he did.

I had the displeasure of driving to Indiana yesterday for my uncle’s funeral. That is not so unusual in itself, death happens every day. What makes this unusual is that I just made that exact same drive three months prior (to the day) for his wife’s funeral. They had been together for 45 years and married for 39 of those years. At her funeral, he exclaimed that he could not do it. He did not know how to go on without her. He convinced himself that he could not and did not want to live without her. He repeated this sentiment over and over to himself, to my sister and to everyone who would listen. Ultimately, he got his confession.

The principle is the same, regardless of which side of the ledger you fall on. Whether you are using it for positive or negative reasons, the principle is the same, and it works the same way. Scripture tells us that death and life are in the power of your tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. In other words, you love the words that you consistently speak. You will eat the fruit of your words. Speak words of death and receive death. Speak words of life and receive life. Speak to yourself positive words that will take you where you want to go. Continue to repeat the confessions until you believe them both in your mind and heart. It is called faith and that is how you were designed to operate.

One more takeaway from the funeral—I am always reflective during a funeral. They make me think about my own frailty and what I want to accomplish in life and what I want people to say about me when I am gone. I want to live this life with no regrets. I want to leave it all on this earth. I do not want to take any untapped potential with me. How about you? What are you willing to do to ensure that you leave it all here on earth? Will you commit to a life of no regrets? Thoughts?

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Release My Stuff!

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

Schlooooop! That is the sound I want the earth to make when I leave here. You see, I want to make such an impact on this world that when I die there is a huge sucking sound made. We were put on this earth to accomplish great things and to impact the world around us.

I want to challenge those of you who think that you do not want to make such an impact. I want to challenge that mentality as selfish. Yes, selfish. You see, you have so much greatness hidden inside of you that is longing to get out that it is not even funny. That greatness that is inside of you is not just for you, but it is mainly for someone else. You have someone else’s stuff locked up inside of you and you are too selfish to release it. We all want what is due us, so why not release what is due to someone else. If I do not release what is inside of me, then all of you would not get the benefit of my life experiences and what God has blessed me to release to you. So, I say to you “let go of my stuff!”

I believe with all of my heart that the cure for cancer, AIDS and any other “incurable” disease has died with someone who was too fearful to release what was inside of them. The next great invention may be locked up inside of you. Do not allow fear of success to grip you to the point that you cannot release your greatness. As I always say, face those fears head on and they will disappear. Fear is a sham. It is a feeling, an emotion—one that you can control. You do not have to allow your mind to race out of control to the point that it grips you.

I think about all that is locked up inside of me, and sometimes, it feels like I am going to burst, because I cannot get it out quickly enough. I am positioning myself to be able to ensure that I leave a huge vacuum, when I leave this earth. Are you? Have you thought about what you want people to say about you when you leave? I think about those incredible men and women who have lived and died in the past. Many that died centuries and millennia ago are still being talked about today. Again, we were all created for such greatness. The sad thing is that most people will not release the greatness. Ask the next person you meet if they are holding on to your stuff.
Schlooooop! That’s what I want the earth to hear, when I go.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Mind Transformation Quotes of Mr. Zig Ziglar

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

This article is dedicated to the memory of the late great Mr. Zig Ziglar. Mr. Ziglar was one of the modern pioneers in mindset mastery and inspirational speaking. We lost a great man in Mr. Ziglar, however this Icon’s words will live on for centuries to come, as his truths are based in The Truth and are therefore timeless. Following are some of the most poignant quotes of Mr. Ziglar. Commit these to memory and put them into action and watch your life transform before your eyes.

Every choice you make has an end result.

Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.

A goal properly set is halfway reached.

If you want to reach a goal, you must ‘see the reaching’ in your own mind before you actually arrive at your goal.

Remember that failure is an event, not a person. Yesterday ended last night.

If you learn from defeat, you haven’t really lost.

If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.

If you don’t see yourself as a winner, then you cannot perform as a winner.

When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal; you do not change your decision to get there.

You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.

I will not attempt to add anything else to these words at this time. Suffice it to say, Mr. Ziglar’s words stand on their own merit.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Speak To It (Re-post)

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

Do you actively call for what you want? Or do you “call it like it is”? Many of you will say that you call it like it is, and do not believe in calling for what you cannot see. Some of you reading this would not dare speak to an inanimate object, would you? You would never think to talk to anything that cannot talk back to you. After all, you have your wits about you. You have not lost your marbles. You are perfectly normal. Let’s explore this notion for a moment.
This has been one hot summer, so we can all relate to this illustration. You come home in the evening and the house is just HOT. What do you do? You run to the thermostat and turn the air on, setting it to the desired temperature. What you have just done is called for what you want. If the temperature was already where you wanted, you would have no need to call for anything. But, because the temperature is not what you desire, you have to call for it to be where you want.
It is feeding time for your dog, but he is not around. What do you do? You call for what you want. “King, come here boy”, you call. And you continue to call until you see King bounding your way, tongue and ears flapping in the wind. If King were standing by your side, you would not dare say “King, come here boy.” That would be ridiculous, because he is already here. You do not call for what is already here (or like it is), but you call for what it is you want.
I will give you one last example to illustrate my point. You want to take a shower, but you know that it takes a moment for the water to warm to the desired temperature. What do you do? You turn the faucet to the desired setting, and you wait until the water warms up, before you enter the shower. Once the temperature is right, you can enjoy a wonderful, relaxing shower. You likely do not jump in while the water is still warming. You wait for it to get where you want.
Okay, Mervyn, what does this have to do with transforming the mind? I am glad you asked. It has everything to do with it. In every area of life, we see a need, call for what we want and wait for it to get there. Yet, we have a mind block in certain areas. We refuse to believe that it works this way when it comes to receiving things like love and money. Why is that? Why do you think that the world works like this in every area except a few select categories? I am here to tell you that it does not work differently. Allow me to illustrate. I want to compare receiving a desired amount of dollars to getting your house to a desired temperature.
In both cases, there is a desire, a call, and waiting involved. What do you do when there is a desire? You call for it. In the case of getting your house to the desired temperature, you call for it through the thermostat. If the thermostat is not defective, it “speaks” to the AC unit and “tells” it that you desire a certain temperature. The AC unit works until it fulfills the call, and the thermostat continues to call until the temperature reaches the goal. You wait patiently until the temperature gets to where you want it. You do not go to the thermostat every few moments to check on the progress, for that would be fruitless. You allow the process to run its course, because you have faith that the mechanical units will do what they are designed to do.
Now let’s look at receiving a desired amount of money. You call for the desire through the speaking of your faith-filled words. At that point, your words hit the ether and the universe begins to realign itself to meet the desire. The universe responds to faith-filled words. The universe will continue to work as long as you continue to call for it (you are like the thermostat). The problem arises when you start to get out-of-place. You try to do things that are not your job. The universe does not need any help, doing what it does. It does not struggle nor strain to create anything. Be like the thermostat and have faith that the AC unit will provide what you are asking for. You just have to be awake when the universe sends the provision your way. It may come in the form of an idea for a new product or invention, a new job opportunity, a business idea, etc. Just be awake and open to what is coming your way. You wait (waiting means to work diligently and stay sharp, while the provision is coming) patiently while your desire works its way to you. What you do not do is undue your faith-filled words by speaking fear-filled words. That would be like flipping the switch on the thermostat from cool to heat. It will negate the work that you are doing. The more you speak your faith-filled words, the more your faith will grow.
Keep in mind (especially, if you are just starting off in this quest for transformation) that it will take some time for your desire to reach you. This is not because the universe is straining, but because you have need of transformation. When you are transformed, you will see your desire fulfilled. This process is the same for whatever you desire. It is an immutable law that cannot be broken.
Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Have the Courage to Succeed

Posted on November 25, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

Believe it or not, many people are afraid to succeed. Ask yourself if this is your issue. Are you self-sabotaging your success? If you want to experience success like you never have before, you have to do some things that you never have before. You have to learn how to think and execute outside of the box that you have created for yourself.

We all have boxes that we have created for ourselves. These boxes are a collection of the mindsets that we have subscribed to over the course of our lives. Parents, family and friends, teachers are some of the people who have helped to influence you and to help you construct your box. I don’t want you to tear down your box I want to help you expand it. I want you to have some new toys in your box, so that you can achieve the success that you deserve.

Almost everyone who has achieved great success have done some things that were uncomfortable or outside their box. I was recently reading about a lady who decided that she didn’t want to continue lowering the price of her product along with everyone else in the market. Prices and margins were being driven downward, so she decided to take her business overseas. In doing so, she had to ask herself two questions: What is the worst that can happen? And can she handle it if the worst came to pass? If the answer is yes, then she would go for it.

I suggest that you begin to ask yourself these same questions whenever you are faced with any decision. In the beginning, ask these questions at every decision you need to make. If you want to experience success in a manner in which you had not before, then you have to do things differently. This is an amazing way to help you to conquer your fears. It takes away the excuse of not wanting to make a mistake. We all make mistakes and there will be many more to come. Do not allow mistakes to define who you are. Learn from what you did wrong, do not repeat the mistake and move forward. Do not allow that to paralyze you from making a decision. Not to make a decision is to make a decision to fail. Do not default to failure. Bank on success.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

What is Your Purpose in Life?

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

What is your purpose for being on the Earth? Have you figured it out yet? Are you pursuing your purpose? Have you discovered that you have a definite purpose in life? I am amazed at the number of people who I talk to that do not understand that they have a purpose in life. I am going to share with you a tragedy that caused me to look at life a lot differently. It made me understand that I do have a purpose for being here and that I must pursue that purpose with passion and with vigor.

When I was in the United States Marine Corps, I received orders to report to Misawa, Japan. This was an amazing opportunity, as eight months prior to that; I had never been more than a couple hundred miles from Milwaukee. Now I was about to travel thousands of miles away from home. I was going to cross the International Date Line! Up until the time that I enlisted and had to fly to San Diego, I had never been on an airplane. Now, I was about to embark on a 15-hour voyage across the Pacific Ocean. Oh yeah, I was very excited.

I had been on leave back home for a few weeks and as it neared time to leave for the airport, my girlfriend at the time was moving very slowly, because she did not want me to leave. She and her dad took me to the airport. Due to her lack of enthusiasm, she caused me to miss my flight. I had to catch the next flight to St. Louis, and I missed my connector, which caused me to miss my connector in Los Angeles, heading to Anchorage. You get the picture. Here is this young kid, who is not very familiar with airports, running like O.J. Simpson in a Hertz commercial. I just could not believe how many misadventures I encountered in a few short hours.

When I finally arrived in Los Angeles the chasing around ended. There were no more flights to Anchorage that evening, so I had to see the Marine Corps liaison. He was gracious enough to put me up for the night or 30 days in a barracks on Camp Pendleton. I shall never forget him for that. I will spare you the boredom of the next 30 days on Pendleton and fast forward to my arrival in Anchorage, Alaska. I had one more day to report to my duty station, before I was considered to have an unauthorized absence (that is worse than it sounds, actually). As I studied the arrivals and departures board, I noticed that there was a flight leaving a full eight hours ahead of my own flight, and it was going to the same place. “I have to get on this flight,” I thought to myself.

I walked up to the counter and spoke with the attendant. My mission was to get my ticket changed to get on the earlier flight. As I began to tell my story, I was certain that the attendant would sympathize with my situation and get me on the flight. I was wrong. I was summarily dismissed and sent back to my seat dejected. As I sat there fuming, I could not help but to think that I was more afraid of the brig than I was of her. Besides, I am a lean, mean, fighting machine. I am a U.S. Marine. I mustered up enough guts to approach the toughest 5’4” 110 pound person I have ever encountered. Once again, I was sent to me seat without a ticket change. My mind raced as I tried to think of different angles that would get her to feel sorry enough for me, so that she would change my flight. I had one more chance, and I was going to make the most of it. Before I could even get to the desk, she looked at me and said “Marine, if you do not turn around and go back to your seat, I am going to call the MPs.” I was thinking “Okay lady, you don’t have to be so harsh about it.” All I could think of was how much trouble I was going to be in when I got to Japan.

When I finally did arrive in Japan, I was ready to face whatever consequences that I had to. A 15 hour flight has a way of putting things in perspective. When I walked into my unit, I was prepared for the worst. “PFC Byrd reporting for duty.” Out of the back office, I heard this booming voice say “Byrd? Did you say Byrd?” Suddenly a huge mountain of a man appeared in the doorway. “You’re Byrd?” he asked coming around the desk to stand in front of me. GULP. “Yes sir, I am.” What happened next totally floored me. This huge man-mountain gave me the biggest man hug that I had ever received up to that point or since. I was wondering what was going on. He began to explain to me that they thought that I was dead. “No, just late,” I thought to myself. I could not help but wonder why he thought I was dead, so he began to explain it to me.

That day’s date was September 2, 1983. The flight that I took to get to Japan was KAL-015. The flight that I was attempting so desperately to board was KAL-007. Had that attendant given in to my request, there would have been 270 people killed when that plane was shot out of the sky, instead of 269. You can google KAL-007 to read all about that tragedy.

I can cite a couple of instances before that moment and several since that time where I can definitely say that my life was spared. I am 100% sure that most of you reading this can attest to the same. But for what reason was your life spared? There is purpose within each and every one of us. I do not care if you have never achieved anything in your life, up until this point. The beautiful thing about life is that you have a chance to make a change now. You can discover your purpose in life right now, if you desire. You can read more articles in this blog to learn how to quiet those self-sabotaging thoughts that have prevented you from achieving your goals. Do not delay; begin taking control of your destiny today.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Have the Courage to Change

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

This blog is all about change. At the core of every article is change. Change is not easy. Change takes courage. It takes courage to drop the old you and to pick up a new, improved you. In this edition, I want you encourage you to have the courage to change.

There are a couple of different ways to look at obstacles:
• Life is one big challenge or,
• Life is one big opportunity to overcome challenges
The one that you choose will tell a lot about how you look at life. If your outlook on life more resembles the former, do not despair, I am going to equip you with what you need to transform your paradigm. There are probably very good reasons why you feel that way. One of my favorite illustrations is to compare the dream system of a typical five-year old with the dream system of a typical 25-year-old. Take a sheet of paper and draw two similar sized circles. In one circle, draw a few specs and in the second circle draw many specs. The first circle represents the five-year olds mind and the second one represents the 25-year-old. The specs represent the dreams that have died.

You see, a five-year old will believe just about whatever you tell them. When my children were young, I would put them to bed every night. It was my opportunity to speak into their lives individually. After reading a book and saying prayers, I would just sit there and speak positive words of affirmation to them. This was especially powerful just as their eyes were glazing over to fall asleep. I would speak these words of life into them, so that they would fall asleep with these positive words running around in their minds. Can you imagine how powerful that was to them? I could have told them that they were superman and could fly around the world and they would have believed me. Consequently, my children are all outgoing, very confident young people. The only way that their minds get cluttered with all of that self-doubt is because well-meaning adults dissuade them from their dreams.

I remember as a young boy, I wanted to be a football player. John Brockington was my favorite packer and I wanted to be just like #42. My mom, being afraid for my safety, would always tell me that football players get broken bones and get concussed. She threw in something about flat feet all the time too, but that one had no affect on me. She meant well, but she imposed her fears upon me. I never did become a professional football player. Think about your own dreams that you had as a youngster and why many of those dreams did not come to fruition. Chances are some adult superimposed their fears onto your mindset. Great, you realize what happened. Now, let’s move on. It is of no advantage to dwell there or to place blame in any fashion. Let’s explore what we can do today to begin to change our lives.

Decide today that you are going to play to win. During playoff season, the motto is “win or go home.” I am reminded of a time when I had the pleasure of speaking with recording artist Gary Oliver. He spoke some words to me that I will never forget. “Merv,” he said “life is too short to do anything small for God.” Whatever you do, do it big.” If that statement does not make you want to fight back, I am not sure what will. If life has been kicking you in the hind end, start fighting back. Find your purpose in life and refuse to lose. Do not take no for an answer. In fact, once you find your purpose and are convinced of it, nothing in the world will be able to stop you from chasing that dream and overtaking it. You will be faced with challenges, but if you are to achieve greatness, you cannot give up…ever. I am telling you right now that you are great and that you are born and destined to win, so refuse to surrender.

Your human mind is more powerful than any super computer ever invented. If you can dream it, you can achieve it. Cliché, I know. However, that does not prevent it from being a truth. I like to say that once you dream it, you have already achieved it. Now the only thing left to do is to walk out the reality of it. Right now, you are standing within three feet of gold. Are you going to play the victim, have a pity party or starting mining for gold? It is your time to win. The time is now. Do not accept second place. Olympians train like none other for years, with one goal in mind—a gold medal. They may settle for silver or bronze, but the gold medal is their goal. Make the gold medal of life your only goal. Do not aim for silver or bronze, shoot for the gold. If you land on silver, you will probably be content, as you will find yourself in rarified air.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Association

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

Birds of a feather flock together. A few years ago, I had the pleasure of talking about this subject at a public speaking engagement. One of my main points is that you do not want to be the smartest or most informed person in your circle. The reason is simple—you will not be able to grow. Everyone in the circle will be pulling from you and you will have no one from which to pull knowledge. You want to have a healthy balance of those who are looking to get to where you are, those who are at your level, and those who are where you are trying to go. You always want to be in a position where you are mentoring someone. We are made to help others. It is wired within the human DNA. Those at your level can be a great source of encouragement to you. They feel the pain and struggles that you feel and can speak to them directly. You also cannot be too proud that you do not receive help or good counsel from those who have already been where you are and have graduated to the next level. These people are invaluable, as they can warn you are the pitfalls that are waiting for you.

Unfortunately, many people enjoy being the one that people go to for all of the answers. While these people may get some warm fuzzy feelings out of playing that role, they will rarely experience true success. If you take a look at the most successful people in any line of work, you will notice that they have two things in place: a mastermind group and someone to be accountable to. The mastermind group will serve to lift up each other, to come up with solutions to problems. You are much less likely to go astray, if you are accountable to someone who you trust and respect. It is funny how we will let ourselves down, but we will run through a wall not to let another person down. Accountability is a strong and powerful force that should not be ignored in your growth and transformation process.

It has been said “show me your three closest friends, and I will tell you your future.” I hope that you believe that. If you find that your closest associations are with people who are not making a positive move forward in life, then you might need to make the decision to let them go for a season. If you are serious about your destiny, you have to make some tough and unpopular decisions. As for me, I will cut off anyone who is standing in the way of me reaching my destiny. We only get one shot at life on earth, and we have to make the most of it. We have to live this life with purpose. I do not want to stand in front of my Creator at the end of this life and give the excuse that I did not live out my destiny because of poor associations.

The easy thing to do is to go along with the crowd—to achieve the status quo. This is a lesson best learned as a youngster. If a young person can learn to do the tough tasks, when all of his friends are going to parties and doing other generally unproductive activities, he will be light years ahead of his contemporaries. I am impressed when teenagers figure it out and remain determined to achieve their goals. They ignore the peer pressure and stay focused. These are the ones who are studying on the weekends, or working to perfect their craft, instead of partying or video-gaming their lives away. They will be well on their way to achieving their destiny in 10 years, while their counterparts might just be waking up. They have friends and enjoy their lives, but they are not given to an insatiable appetite for these activities.

I am impressed with these types, because I was not that sort of young person. I never worked hard at anything. I had so much talent in many areas, but I squandered the opportunities. Had I ever taken a book home in high school, I might have earned some scholarships. Had I taken track and field seriously, I might have gotten a scholarship to a university. I just did not want to go through the pain. For me, it was easier to spend time in the arcade or the pool hall. That did not represent the pain of sacrifice. Sacrifice was not in my vocabulary. If it hurt, even a little bit, I avoided it. Thank God, I was rescued from this self-destructive mentality, when I joined the United States Marine Corps. There I learned that I had to do things that I did not necessarily like or agree with. That is called life. How you come through those things shape the character that you possess. It is better to learn these lessons at a young age, than when you are older. However, whenever you learn them and put them into practice is far better than the alternative.

I trust that you now are focused on your destiny and determined to clean up your associations. Get the proper people in your life that will propel you into your destiny.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Attitude

Posted on September 2, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

Your attitude will determine your altitude. We have all heard this before. In fact, we have heard it so much that it has become a cliché. We also know that we should keep a positive mental attitude. I would be remiss if I did not mention that you need to have an attitude of gratitude. All of these things are true, but let’s delve a little bit deeper into attitude.

It simply is not sufficient to just possess an attitude of gratitude. You need to open your mouth and actually give the gratitude. I want to take a moment and talk to parents for a moment. When you go out of your way to do something really nice for your children, and they do not show the courtesy to say thank you, how does that make you feel? Does it make you want to run out and do the next really nice thing? My guess is that you are not all that excited to do the next great thing. Now your children might have an attitude of gratitude, but does that cut the muster? NO! Therefore, you must not only be grateful, you must say that you are grateful. Scripture tells us that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” If it is good, it comes from God. If it is bad, it does not originate from Him. Do not just think “gratitude” tell Him that you are grateful.

By now you realize that it begins with your mindset. Have you noticed that things change when you look at them from a different angle? You have the power to change every situation you face, simply by looking at it in a different manner. When you embrace this truth, you will never settle for less than the best again. The world seems against you, but you shift the way you see things and, almost instantly, things seem on the upswing. You possess the ability to change your world in that manner.

Your talent will never go out of style if you focus on solving people’s problems. It does not matter what you do in life, if you are a problem solver, you will always have a place in the marketplace. Think about everything that exists today. Once upon a time, it did not exist. It does not matter if you are talking about the creation of this world or some invention or idea. At some point, none of it existed. The common bond is that there was a problem or a void and the introduction of the thing solved a problem. Can you imagine the mayhem that would exist today if Garrett Morgan had not invented the traffic signal? Automobiles, horses, carriages, bicycles and pedestrians all had to share the same road (the problem). The traffic signal regulates the flow of traffic (solution). I could go on and on with many more problems and solutions, but I will not. I trust that you get the picture of what I am talking about. Shine the light on the problem and utilize your advantage to solve it.

You are now armed with the proper way to govern your attitude—speak the words of gratitude.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Opportunity

Posted on September 1, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

Opportunity is knocking at your door. The question is—will you recognize the opportunity when it comes along? In truth, we miss so many great opportunities, because we have our minds made up as to what the opportunity should look like. If the opportunity does not come packaged just right, we do not recognize it as we should.

Have you ever heard the allegory about the man whose town had experienced a flood? He asked God to rescue him from his rooftop. First, a neighbor came by with a rowboat, asking if he needed assistance. “No,” he replied, “God will rescue me.” Then another neighbor came by in his speedboat and asked if he would like a lift. His reply was the same—“God will rescue me.” The waters were really beginning to rise now and a helicopter flew by and lowered a rope-ladder for him. He waved it off, stating that God will rescue him. Before long, the waters had risen to the point where they overwhelmed him and he drowned to death. When he got to heaven, he inquired of God why he did not rescue him from the flood. God replied that he had sent help on three separate occasions. He explained to the man that he had sent the rowboat, speedboat and the helicopter. You see, the man was looking for God himself to rescue him. He did not seize the opportunities that came his way that would have saved his life.

If you are looking for a sign that will allow you to move forward, you will remain stagnant. No such sign will manifest itself. You have to be proactive and look for and make you own opportunities. I used to tell my football players that if we are not getting better, then we are losing ground to the competition. In other words, seize the opportunities that are at hand to get better.

Things may not look like they are going your way at the moment, but you have to develop your mind to the point that you believe that you can, you will and you are able to succeed. Find and use your advantage. Your height, your weight and your ethnicity all have advantages. Whether you are tall or short, fat or skinny, black, white, brown or yellow—you have an advantage. Your job is to figure out your advantage and use it. Do not be afraid to stand out from the crowd. You were made an original. Do not settle for being a copy. Sure there were people before you who had similar qualities that you have, but they were not exactly like you. If you are willing to stand out from the crowd, you have greatness in your immediate future. Those who give their best all the time are the ones who are most successful. Why? Most people give up at the sign of adversity, making them average. Dare to be above average. Dare to be different. Be bold and courageous in all you do and you will see a new life just around the bend.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Believe In Yourself

Posted on August 19, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

Believe in yourself. If you do not believe in yourself, then who will believe in you. Forget about all of the false humility that says that you need to let others pat you on the back and tell you how good you are, blah, blah, blah. You need to learn how to encourage yourself. Oftentimes, there is no one around that will encourage you. And there are other times when the crab mentality takes over. When you announce to the world, either in word or in deed, that you are making a change, others around you want to pull you back into the “bucket”. Just as a crab attempts to escape the bucket, the other crabs pull him back in with them. Many people just do not want to see you make a change for the better. Of people like that, steer clear. That is why you have to learn how to encourage yourself.

This is, at first, a difficult task. Your old “friend” the mind will argue with you when you begin to speak positively to yourself. Remember what I told you in one of the earlier posts—your mind is not necessarily your friend. That is why this blog exists. It is here to assist you in gaining control over what and how you think about things…everyday things. It is paramount that you have the proper mindset from the moment you rise in the morning. Have you ever noticed that when your day starts off in a rather negative manner, that the rest of the day tends to go downhill quickly. It only gets better when you make the decision to change things. You can snap out of the negative downward spiral any time you want. You just have to commit to it. You cannot be lazy and gain control of your mind. In fact, laziness of mind is why your thought process is out of control now. You have allowed your mind to dwell on whatever it wants. Again, you cannot necessarily control all that comes into it, but you must know that you have 100% control over what you do when the thought comes into your mind. You can either evict the thought or allow it to run roughshod over your life.

Allow me to illustrate a point. If you have already heard me say this, either in person or in writing, please bear with me. First close your eyes (finish reading this first ). Get a picture in your mind of something that you desire to receive. I mean get something that you are truly passionate about. Now begin to experience that thing in your mind’s eye. Feel the feelings that you would feel if you possessed it in the natural realm. Now, count backwards from 10 to one aloud, while still holding that thought process in your mind. Come on, hold the picture and count backwards simultaneously. You cannot do it, can you? Some of you will try to tell me that you did it. No, you did not. What probably happened is your thoughts paused momentarily and picked back up in between your audible speech. “10”, pause thought, pick up thought. “Nine”, pause thought, pick up thought again, etc. Now, why did I have you partake in such an exercise? I had you do it, to show you that you can perform this exercise whenever your mind starts arguing back at you when you tell yourself that you are good and worthy of what you desire. You simply change the conversation to what you want it to be. Both thoughts are not allowed to exist at the same time. Whose report will you believe? Yours or that tricky mind that you possess?

Keep pushing ahead. Be assured that if you are learning something, then success is right around the corner. I want to encourage you that your success is nearby. In fact, you may be only three feet from a flood of success. If you are putting these principles into practice, then know that your success is near. You are a stone’s throw from becoming a whole new person. You may be frightened witless by the change that is taking place. Your “friend” the mind may tell you that you are on the wrong path. Of course, it will, because it is losing control and you are gaining control. At that point in time, be doubly assured that you are on the right track. That is the time to encourage yourself—to tell yourself all the more that you can do it—that you are a success—that your future is bright. Give yourself these kinds of pep talks many, many times per day, per hour, per minute or however often you need to do so. This is a crucial step in your life transformation.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Push Through to Success

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

Success comes from moving from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm. Allow that to sink in for a moment. We are going to experience setbacks in our quest to transform our lives. However, if we move through those setbacks without losing enthusiasm, we will achieve success. There will be times when you will have no control over what comes your way. That is called life. You always have control over how you respond to each situation you face. You should already know by now that there will be a strong attack on your mind, with the intention of discouraging you from becoming who you desire to be. When you continue to stay motivated and enthusiastic throughout the process, you gain momentum and earn confidence in the process.

There are two types of courage that you need in order to be successful: The courage to get started and the courage not to quit. Perhaps you have been reading this blog for a while and have yet to pull the trigger on implementing these life transforming principles. Know that it will take courage to implement such a monumental change. Change is always difficult; however it is usually the battle in the mind that is the biggest hurdle. That is why I have created this blog; to help you transform your mind so that you can fulfill your potential—that is to release your stored up power to do great things. We have spoken a lot about not quitting over the past couple of weeks. When you know that you are on to something great, you simply must not quit. When you marry the two types of courage, you get the courage to succeed. Make no mistake about it, it takes courage to succeed. Get started and stay in the fight long enough to experience the success. Because the flip side is that if you quit, you will have to start over again. How much time, effort and momentum will be wasted in that process?

It has been said that most of the world is average, and it does not take much to differentiate oneself from the crowd. Why then is it so uncommon for people to do great things? It is my belief that the reason for this is inconsistency. People do not do the common things in a consistent manner. As you know from reading this blog, I like golf. I like to play, and I like to watch golf. The big difference between my golf game and the great golfers is consistency. Consistency in practice time, consistency in doing the common things—all of which leads to consistency in scoring. You see, my golf swing is not consistent. It may feel like it is relatively consistent to me, but the videotape does not lie. When the great players make a mistake in their swing it is usually a minor one. When I make a mistake in my swing, it is usually major one. It all comes back to consistency. It does not matter if you have an aesthetically beautiful swing (like Rory McIlroy or Adam Scott) or a swing which is not so pleasing to the eye (like Jim Furyk or Carl Petterson), if you are consistent in its execution, you will have consistent results. The same rule applies to mind transformation principles. The consistent application of the principles is what will make the difference between remaining average and rising above to excellence. Replace your wishbone with a backbone—get up and take action to achieve the success that you so richly deserve.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Never Give Up

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

People give up too soon. This happens in every important aspect of life. You can see it everywhere. In a few months people all around the world will set some New Year’s Resolutions. Many will set exercise and weight loss goals, packing out gymnasiums around the world. Most will be done with the commitment before month’s end, slipping back into their comfort zones. You see people give up on marriages and other relationships, when things get tough. I hear that financial trouble is the number one reason that marriages end. We all hate money woes, but many precious marriages can be saved through a little persistence and a plan. People give up on businesses and jobs too soon. Just when you are getting close to a breakthrough, you give up on the business. I have heard it said that it often takes four to five years to figure out if you are a genius or an idiot. You will have plenty of opinions either way. My point is give yourself time for your efforts to manifest.

The worst part of giving up is that you quit on the commitment to yourself. You let down the person who you have to live with 24 hours per day—yourself. I say whatever motivation you need to summon in order to keep moving, use it in the beginning. You will often hear athletes say that they used the negative words from a naysayer as motivation for success. Someone says that they could not do it, so they use that as motivation to prove them wrong. That is fine in the beginning, but it is better that you seek to prove yourself right. Remember that positive thoughts carry a much greater frequency than their negative counterparts. Therefore, they are far more powerful. The secret of most successful people in this world is that they believe in themselves, even when the strongest of adversities come their way. They know that they have the ability to succeed and will not allow anyone to talk them out of it.

Dave Liniger, who founded RE/MAX Realty, was the epitome of persistence. He started the business in the early 70s when the real estate market had taken a huge dump and the economy was in a recession. Despite all of that adversity, he and about 40 employees would continue to say that they could hang in there “one more day.” They would not quit. They believed in what they were doing—providing business opportunities and jobs for people. They had creditors hounding them every day and letters from attorneys threatening to sue, but that did not deter them from their vision. They strung together enough of those one more days until they finally hit the jackpot. People started buying franchises, and with those proceeds, they were able to get themselves out of debt and today RE/MAX is the fastest growing real estate franchise in the world today.

On the road to success, we will encounter setbacks. That is part of the deal. Be prepared for it. Understand that as you conquer the setback, you will be one step closer to your goal. One of my former mentors used to say “Merv, can you take the no’s? You have to be able to take no, because with each no, you are one step closer to your yes.” When you get that yes, you do not think about all the no’s you received, you only think about the success. “No” is not bad to hear, it is the word maybe that can become a sticking point, as no decision is made. At least with “no”, you know where you stand. Success is the reward for enduring the setbacks.

I have not read the book Cowboy Ethics: What Wall Street Can Learn from the Code of the West by James Owen, but following is a pretty good list of principles to live by:
• Live each day with courage
• Take pride in your work
• Always finish what you start
• Do what has to be done
• Be tough, but fair
• When you make a promise, keep it
• Ride for the brand
• Talk less, say more
• Remember that some things are not for sale
• Know where to draw the line
I could write a fair amount on each of these principles (and I just might). The bottom line is that if you follow these principles, you will be well on your way to living a transformed life. We can all take a look at this list and pick out at least one item where we can find room for improvement. Get after it right away. Do not wait a moment longer to begin your transformation.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

How to Become A Great Success

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

No one achieves great success without personal sacrifices. Allow me to illustrate. I am very fond of frozen custard…very fond. However, at this point in time, I have set a goal to get in better shape. I want to start running again. I want the muscles back that I used to have. We have all heard that we are what we eat. It is true. It is difficult to perform at your peak, when you are eating an abundance of junk food. A personal sacrifice that I have to make is that I will decrease the amount of junk food that I consume. I did not consume a lot of frozen custard, but when I got the urge for a concrete mixer or a turtle sundae, I would just pop in and grab one. An abundance of custard and exercise do not mix well. Last night, we celebrated our daughter’s birthday. Ice cream and birthday cake all around. This morning was interval training—wind sprints and jogging. I paid dearly for that little indulgence. If I am to achieve great success in this area, I have to limit myself to how much unhealthy food I consume.

The same is true in business, in love, in personal relationships, in every area of life. Anything that is worthwhile is going to require that you make personal sacrifices. If you are a highly self-indulgent person, you are going to have to work on your mind to transform your paradigm. Put the principles into action that are found on this website to transform your mind. Take them to heart and really apply them, and you will not recognize the person in the mirror within a few months. We are all going to take some “hits” in life, but the person who wins, does not remember the hits, only the victory. Have you ever noticed how a great fighter (whether a boxer or MMA fighter) is always jubilant after a victory? They have usually taken a pretty good pounding in the process, but when their hands are lifted in victory and the belt is wrapped around their waist, they are not thinking about how hard they were hit or kicked. On the other hand, the guy who lost the fight can think of little else but the hits that he has taken. He will only be able to tell the stories of almost.

Successful people are rarely selfish people. People who are successful help other people become successful. Those who step on and abuse people to get to the top, are not truly successful. They have merely cheated their way to their position. These people are rarely liked by their peers and those “below” them. They are utter failures in interpersonal relationships. When I was younger, I did not understand this principle. I had a mentor tell me that when I see a person get a reward that I wanted that I should be the one applauding the loudest for that person. I hated that thought. He had what I wanted, why would I cheer for him? What I did not understand was that by not doing so, I allowed bitterness to set up residence in my heart. I have since learned that I have to help others succeed, if I want to be successful. I am content to make others look good, based off of my performance. I want those “above” and “beneath” me to be successful. Every time that I have had the opportunity to build a team, I concern myself with how I can help those around me earn a “gold star” first. I know that my success is near at hand, because I have followed a strong principle. Successful people are accessible people.

In recap—make the appropriate personal sacrifices to get to where you want to go. Do not focus on yourself, but help someone else get to where they want to go. Make yourself accessible to assist someone to become successful. Follow these principles, and you will become a great success.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Do Not Over-plan

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

I have never been much of a planner. I typically would set a goal, make a few general steps, and start running. This has usually been viewed as a negative thing. “You should make detailed plans to ensure your success,” most of the books will tell you. I am here today to defend my position a little bit. The negative was not that I made a plan and started running towards it. The negative was when I would quit as I faced some “insurmountable” adversity. I would always look back and say “man, if I had just planned a little better, I would not have faced this adversity.” Wrong! Some adversity was going to come anyway. I just needed to understand that and continue to hurdle the obstacles and get one step closer to my goal.

There are some people, like my lovely wife, who are natural-born planners. These people simply do not feel comfortable moving forward, with a project, if they do not plan. Then there is another type of person, who plans, because they simply cannot pull the trigger on moving toward their goal. When it comes time to pull the trigger, they are paralyzed by fear of moving forward, so they move to a comfortable exercise—planning. This activity gives the illusion of busyness, but they are not moving towards their goal at all. Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-Fil-A, attributes his success to “not planning so much.” This makes so much sense, because even though you may have reached some of your goals, how many of them came exactly the way in which you planned them? Chances are that none or very few of them were achieved that way. So, stop over-planning and get into the fray.

By being too regimented, you may actually miss out on some opportunities to get you to your destination faster. Life is full of unexpected surprises, so you do not want to over-plan and risk missing out on them. On the other hand, you do not want to be so loose that you risk losing all that you gained. That would be like a commodities or stock trader not trailing a stop-loss behind his trades. If the trade moves against him, he will have no protection. But, by trailing a stop-loss, if the trade moves against him, the stop-loss is there to protect him, so that he does not lose all that he has gained. You can use the same concept when it comes to reaching your goals.

The how is not nearly as important as the why. If you have a big enough goal and reason why, the how will work itself out. Just keeping pushing towards your goal, with full faith and “knowing” that the process will work itself out, and it will. Take smart, large leaps towards your goal, but do not take such leaps without a parachute. Always keep your why top of mind, so that you remember why you are pressing so hard. So, set your goal and move vigorously towards your goal.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Passion

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

What is it that fuels you when you feel like you can take no more? Passion. What is it that keeps you going against all odds? Passion. What makes you continue to press on, when everyone else is telling you not to bother? Passion.

If you do not have passion in what you do, you will not excel in that thing over the long haul. I think about the Olympic Games that are currently being contended. The athletes have a shot at Olympic Gold, but once every four years. In the four years between the games, these athletes sacrifice much. They desire to be the best in the world at their sport or activity. They choose a certain lifestyle. They choose to eat a certain diet. They choose a certain exercise regimen. If there is no passion in what they do, they would easily give up and quit. If they did not have passion for what they do, they would run out to the local Culver’s and get a turtle sundae, when their emotions get the best of them. When they are a little tired, they would be able to skip a training session. They do not go out and defile their temples with drugs and alcohol, not if they are serious anyway.

There are areas of your life, where tremendous passion exists. If you are one of the truly blessed ones, you experience this passion in your chosen profession. If not, however, do not despair, because you are able to make the switch. It does not matter how old you are, you can always make a change. I was speaking with a friend of mine recently, and we were discussing our goals, dreams and desires. He was telling me that for a long time, he had felt that he was too old to do what he has real passion to do. Recently, however, he has rediscovered his passion for that thing which he loves. He is currently making plans to move into that arena. He has decades to enjoy that passion. You see, when you are passionate about what you do, you do not retire; you continue to do it for the entirety of your life. Why? Because when you are passionate about something, you never want to stop doing it.

I think of pastors and other men and women of God. They may eventually stop leading a church on a day-to-day basis, but they never leave the ministry. They find other ways to continue on their work. Many serve as consultants to other ministries, while others put out periodic newsletters or write books. Still others begin traveling accepting speaking engagements around the world. Many teachers will join the speaking circuit and travel the country teaching what they have learned. That is passion. Oftentimes, you will see athletes hang on a bit too long, because they still have the passion, even though their bodies have lost a step. We have all seen some of our favorite athletes stay in the game a year or two longer than they should have. They hang on because they still have passion for the game they love.

Passion gets its fuel from two sources: faith and knowing. When you are facing sure failure, faith that you know that you are meant to do what you are doing and that you will surely succeed keeps you going. Knowing is extremely important. There is a big difference between believing and knowing. Thomas Edison knew that he would succeed in inventing the incandescent light bulb. He went far beyond believing. Had he only believed, he might have quit long before failing 10,000 times. Yet, he stated that he had figured out 10,000 ways how not to invent the light bulb. Passion carried him on to invent many useful items that we use to this day. Find your passion and change the world.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Finding Your Success Formula

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

We know that we will encounter obstacles and distractions in life that serve to try to get us focused on them instead of our goals. This is a problem that is common to mankind. One thing that you must know, if you are to be successful is that most challenges in life have simple solutions.

As you encounter problems, it is a good idea to take a step back from it and see it from a different angle. Do whatever you need to do in order to get a clear head—take a walk, put it down and work on something else, come back to it tomorrow, etc. Oftentimes, when you are not thinking about something, you find answers to solve the problem. It allows you to gain a different perspective on the situation. This happens to me all the time.

In the book, Mr. Reid shares what he calls the success formula. (P + T) x A x A = Success
P= Passion. Passion is what you would do, even if you did not get paid for it.
T= Talent. These are the things that you are really good at.
A= The right Association. This means working with the right people or organizations.
A= Action. Commit to yourself that you will take action.
The following exercise should be extremely fun and eye-opening for you. Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle. On one side, list 10 things that you would do if you could do them for free (passion). On the other side, list 10 things that you are good at. Now sit down with people who know you best and ask them to help you weed the list down. Continue this process until there is only one item on each side of the list. The big challenge is to figure out a way to put those two things together. Once you complete this challenge, commit to take action with the proper association and you may have found your success formula.

This new-found formula has the potential to cause you to be happier than you ever have in your life. You will be doing something you love and are really good at. This is rare. Most people do something every day that they do not have any passion for. You have a rare opportunity to have the best of both worlds. This is life transforming.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Be Outstanding

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

In this installment of the series, I want to discuss being outstanding. The aim of every article in this blog is to get you to transform your mind, so that you can achieve your goals in life.

You must move from the dream stage to the goal stage. A dream is just a dream, until it is written. At that point, it becomes a goal. Goals are aspirations until they become real. Then they become responsibilities. With that said, you should give lots of serious thought to what it is you want out of life. Regardless of what it is—a new home, the love your life…whatever. The desire attained becomes your responsibility to care for.

I have already shared my thoughts on multi-tasking, but they bear repeating. I believe that multi-tasking is one of the biggest reasons why things do not get done. Job descriptions demand that people be good at multi-tasking. These same employers will get upset because things are not getting done and deadlines are not met. You cannot be outstanding unless you focus on and be single-minded about your goals. In this get-it-right-now society, we are busier than ever, yet less productive than ever. How can that be? It is because there is a major lack of single-minded focus. You have to focus on one goal at a time and see it through to the end, before moving on to the next thing. You cannot be outstanding unless you set your mind on one thing at a time and get it done (see 10 surefire steps to transform your life in 90 days—July 16, 2012).

As you continue on in your quest to transform your life, remember to keep your eyes on the prize and have faith in your ability to get there. Do not be like so many others, who lose sight of their goals at the sign of adversity. Stay focused on your goals, not your circumstances. That which you give the most attention to is what will prevail in your life. The easy thing to do in these situations is to give up. The right thing to do is to re-focus and overcome the challenges. Michael Jordan stated that he enjoyed practice more than he did the game. He knew that if he worked hard in practice, the game would come easily. These are the thoughts of the best that the game has ever seen. Obstacles are part of the journey, so knock out the obstacle and get one step closer to your goal. As you go along, do not forget to enjoy the journey. This is the true essence of life.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Through the Valleys

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

When you are in a valley, you should never make a major decision. Think back to the last poor decision that you made. Were you in a valley? Had you just gone through a low point in life (i.e. job loss, illness, death of a loved one, or some other life event)? Chances are good that you were. You cannot think clearly when your emotions are clouding your judgment. It is best to wait until you move back to the mountaintop in order to make a life changing decision. Life moves in cycles and you will move back to the mountaintop. As you begin to cycle back to a good place, you will begin to see more clearly. Only when you are in a good place, should you make a major decision.

I had the opportunity to speak to a friend the other day about a life changing decision he was about to make. He was considering asking his wife for a divorce. As I began to talk to him, I began to peel away the layers and discovered that he was under extreme stress at work, was attempting to purchase a house and was having a few speed bumps, and his wife is pregnant, just to list a few of his stressors. This clearly is not the time to try to make a major decision like that. His head was extremely foggy, even though he did not know it. He could not see that the emotions of fear, loss and disappointment were hurting his ability to make a sound decision.

When you are in the valley, you need to employ the principles you are learning here more than ever. First, go quiet on the inside. Do not allow any outside forces to get in and distract you from your goals. You have to speak positive words of affirmation to yourself in multiples. This will assist you in overcoming fears and other negative emotions, thus helping you to get your mind in a positive place again. Then, you are able to make a proper decision.

So, remember when you are going through a valley (and we will all go through a valley sooner or later), employ the principles learned here in multiples. This is the key to shortening your time spent in the valley. Do not ever give up. There is too much at stake for you to quit.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Planting The Seeds

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

So, you have begun to incorporate some of the teachings here in this blog into your everyday life. You may have achieved a bit of success with some of the principles, but more than likely you have run into a few speed bumps. Do not despair. This is very normal. You have thought a certain way and have done things that way all of your life. Also, there is an enemy to your soul and he is not happy about the change that you are making. Let’s discuss these both in more detail.

You have what is called a paradigm. In short, it is your mindset or your way of thinking and seeing life. This has been influenced by your upbringing, your environment, by those who have been influential in your life, etc. If you have had a certain mindset for decades, please understand that the process of shifting the paradigm is not an overnight process. You are in the seed planting stage. If you properly cultivate your seeds, you will yield a beautiful crop. Let’s look at a farming example to further illustrate the point.

Our farmer, Sammy Smathers, is a soybean farmer. He is new to farming. He has not done a lot of research to find out about how to farm, but he has some money, and he always thought it would be cool to be a farmer. At seed-time, he plants his crop. After a few weeks, he does not see the yield that he thinks he ought to by now. So, he digs up the soybean seed to make sure the seed is still there. “Perhaps”, he thinks, “some animals have come along and eaten my seed.” As he digs, he is reassured that the seed is still there, so he replants it and begins to cultivate it again. After a month or so, he is concerned that something has happened to the seed, so he uproots it again, only to discover that the seed was there. So, he replants and repeats this futile process over again a few more times. Come harvest time, he has no yield. He has been working hard, but there is no yield. The same thing happens to you when you undo all the work that you have put in to renew your mind, by speaking negatively against the process. Each time you do this, it is like digging up your seed. Then you have to replant. Can you see how much time and effort is being wasted?

However, there is a worse fate than digging up your seed—quitting. The enemy of your soul, this truly evil source, does not want you to succeed. He will do all he can to bluff you out of your destiny. He is the one who brings negativity, fear, doubt and unbelief about this transformation. Now that you have started to become enlightened in these areas, you have his attention. As long as you were asleep, you were off of his radar. His mission is for you to quit. Before you give up and quit, I want to give you a few words of wisdom that you need to know and understand. Don Green, CEO of the Napoleon Hill Foundation, spoke the following words to Greg Reid, author of Three Feet from Gold. “Before great success comes, you will surely meet with temporary defeat.” The key word here is temporary. You might have a setback, but get up and get back in the fray. You might just be three feet from gold. You only lose, when you quit.

Don gave more wise words of advice. Select your path and then:
• Seek the counsel of those who have expertise outside your own
• Never quit three feet from gold
• When you become successful, you will find others who you can mentor; share with them the lessons you have learned

There are always others who have expertise that you do not have. It is wise to seek their counsel. No one person knows everything. Quitting is the worst thing you can do. Your breakthrough might be just around the corner, but because you cannot see it with your natural eye, you desire to quit. We are all faced with the desire to quit. It is part of being a human on earth. Never give up. Have the courage to continue on even when you feel you have no other choice. Your feeling just might be wrong. Finally, never hoard information. When you have become successful in an area of life, it is your duty to share that success with someone else. A selfish and stingy person is not long for success.

I trust that you realize that you are in the seed planting phase and that you will not quit. What would have happened if you had quit trying to walk, as a baby, the first time you fell? Or stopped trying to read or write the first time you pronounce or spelled a word wrong? This quest is the same way. You will not be perfect, but keep applying the knowledge and you will see a change beginning to take place on the inside.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

New Series Coming.

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

Over the next couple of weeks, I am going to bring you thoughts that I have on a book that is very dear to me: Three Feet From Gold.

Subjects will include:

Planting the Seeds

Formulating Success

Passion,

Opportunities

Do Not Quit, and much more.

You will want to stay tuned to these articles, as they will greatly assist you in your transformation. I know that you are going to love what is to follow. You have the ability to turn your life around, starting today. Think about it, you can start your life anew today. I am so glad that His mercies are new every morning. In other words, we do not have to live in the failures of yesterday.

Stay tuned later today for the first edition in the series–Planting the seeds.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Visualize It!

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

Last time we talked about calling things forth that you do not currently possess. I told you that part of the process was to continue calling, until you see it manifest in the natural world. You already have within you something very powerful that will assist you in your quest greatly—your imagination. Your imagination will help you with visualization. By that, I mean that you should get detailed pictures of what you want and put them before your face, preferably every time you call for it, but at least several times per day.

As you visualize, you want to get a really vivid picture of what you want and learn it in detail. You want to see and feel yourself possessing the desire. If it is something that you are able to visit, such as a house or a car, I suggest that you do so. Go visit the open house of the home that you want. Walk through the home, scrutinize the things that are not perfect, compliment the things you love. Imagine your family living in the house. See your furniture placed in the house. Visualize the parties that you will throw during the holidays. Really embrace the experience. Smell the food that will be cooked. Hear the voices of your children or grandchildren as they play in the house. Fully see yourself living in the house. If it is a car you want, go to the car lot and test drive the car. Smell that new car smell. Feel the roar of the engine. Enjoy the feeling of driving the car and owning it.

The next thing you may want to do is to get a detailed picture of the object of your desire. Place the picture in a spot where you can see it every day. I suggest that you get a cork board and make yourself a faith wall. Place your pictures on the wall and spend some time with them several times per day. Close your eyes and see yourself already possessing your prize. Do this at the time that you call forth your desire. This will compress the time it takes for your faith to reach the point where manifestation will take place. You may have a handful of things on your faith wall, but do not clutter the board with so much that you cannot give adequate attention to each of the items on the board. As you have success you can remove the item and replace it with another desire.

This process should be fun. If it feels like a chore, you are doing something wrong. You do not have the proper attitude about it and will derail your success. Keep it light, do your part and watch your dreams come true.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Speak To It

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

This has been one hot summer, so we can all relate to this illustration. You come home in the evening and the house is just HOT. What do you do? You run to the thermostat and turn the air on, setting it to the desired temperature. What you have just done is called for what you want. If the temperature was already where you wanted, you would have no need to call for anything. But, because the temperature is not what you desire, you have to call for it to be where you want.

It is feeding time for your dog, but he is not around. What do you do? You call for what you want. “King, come here boy”, you call. And you continue to call until you see King bounding your way, tongue and ears flapping in the wind. If King were standing by your side, you would not dare say “King, come here boy.” That would be ridiculous, because he is already here. You do not call for what is already here (or like it is), but you call for what it is you want.

I will give you one last example to illustrate my point. You want to take a shower, but you know that it takes a moment for the water to warm to the desired temperature. What do you do? You turn the faucet to the desired setting, and you wait until the water warms up, before you enter the shower. Once the temperature is right, you can enjoy a wonderful, relaxing shower. You likely do not jump in while the water is still warming. You wait for it to get where you want.

Okay, Mervyn, what does this have to do with transforming the mind? I am glad you asked. It has everything to do with it. In every area of life, we see a need, call for what we want and wait for it to get there. Yet, we have a mind block in certain areas. We refuse to believe that it works this way when it comes to receiving things like love and money. Why is that? Why do you think that the world works like this in every area except a few select categories? I am here to tell you that it does not work differently. Allow me to illustrate. I want to compare receiving a desired amount of dollars to getting your house to a desired temperature.

In both cases, there is a desire, a call, and waiting involved. What do you do when there is a desire? You call for it. In the case of getting your house to the desired temperature, you call for it through the thermostat. If the thermostat is not defective, it “speaks” to the AC unit and “tells” it that you desire a certain temperature. The AC unit works until it fulfills the call, and the thermostat continues to call until the temperature reaches the goal. You wait patiently until the temperature gets to where you want it. You do not go to the thermostat every few moments to check on the progress, for that would be fruitless. You allow the process to run its course, because you have faith that the mechanical units will do what they are designed to do.

Now let’s look at receiving a desired amount of money. You call for the desire through the speaking of your faith-filled words. At that point, your words hit the ether and the universe begins to realign itself to meet the desire. The universe responds to faith-filled words. The universe will continue to work as long as you continue to call for it (you are like the thermostat). The problem arises when you start to get out-of-place. You try to do things that are not your job. The universe does not need any help, doing what it does. It does not struggle nor strain to create anything. Be like the thermostat and have faith that the AC unit will provide what you are asking for. You just have to be awake when the universe sends the provision your way. It may come in the form of an idea for a new product or invention, a new job opportunity, a business idea, etc. Just be awake and open to what is coming your way. You wait (waiting means to work diligently and stay sharp, while the provision is coming) patiently while your desire works its way to you. What you do not do is undue your faith-filled words by speaking fear-filled words. That would be like flipping the switch on the thermostat from cool to heat. It will negate the work that you are doing. The more you speak your faith-filled words, the more your faith will grow.

Keep in mind (especially, if you are just starting off in this quest for transformation) that it will take some time for your desire to reach you. This is not because the universe is straining, but because you have need of transformation. When you are transformed, you will see your desire fulfilled. This process is the same for whatever you desire. It is an immutable law that cannot be broken.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

The Universe Hates A Void

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

A couple of years ago, my wife and I decided that it was time to claim our backyard. The trees were so dense that we could not sit on our deck. It seemed that the branches were so close to us that they were part of any conversation we were having. And the worst part is that the bugs absolutely owned us. So, we did the logical thing. We hired a tree cutter to drop about 50 trees. We had a veritable forest back there, and we wanted to be able to enjoy our acreage at some point. So, while we were off enjoying ourselves in Cancun, the tree guy was busy knocking down trees in our backyard.

Upon returning home, we could not believe how much space we had. I had not ventured back into the woods too often. I was not too keen on stumbling across some wildlife that would not be too keen on me stumbling across them. We were so proud of what was accomplished. We would finally have a backyard, where the children could play football, baseball, kickball, or whatever game they wanted. It was the size of a small park. What we did not consider, however, is that the universe hates a void. It was August, so we got some rain, then some sunshine and more rain and more sunshine. In about two weeks, we had weeds that were as tall as I am. The tree canopy had blocked the sunlight from getting to the ground, thus stunting the growth of the ground vegetation. Once the canopy was gone, there was nothing to stop them from growing (pardon the pun to follow), like weeds. We wanted our trees back in the worst way. I wanted to scream. My wife maybe even shed a tear or two.

The point in all of this is that the universe hates a void—in nature and within you. Empty spaces will be filled by something. We have a choice—we can leave the space empty and let whatever will fill it do its thing, or you can fill the void with something good. I have never been a smoker, but I have had family members and friends who have been. In their quests to kick the habit, they found that they snacked or ate more. So, they replaced one habit by another budding issue—the need to lose weight. They tell me that it had to do with the need to put hand to mouth, as in smoking.

There are contrary opinions about whether or not to allow empty spaces to remain empty. I am not one to leave a lot to chance, especially something as important as my thought-life. I believe that you should set yourself up for as much success as you can, by adding something positive to your life, in place of what has been eliminated. I believe the old adage that says “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.” We should leave as little room possible for negativity to take up residence in our minds. We have all had the experience of saying I will never do “Blank” again, only to find ourselves doing that same thing within weeks, if not days. The reason for this is that your mind has not been renewed in that area. The void that you left was not replaced by positive confessions, therefore your old habit came back, perhaps stronger than it was when you first evicted it. So, do your job and guard one of your most precious commodities—your mind.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

10 Surefire Steps To Transform Your Life in 90 Days Pt. II

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

6 Take That Impossible Step—There are always negative thoughts swirling through our heads, telling us that we cannot do a thing. When you take that impossible step, you will defy those thoughts. Regardless of the enormity of the moment, if you just take the step, you will see that it is not as difficult as those thoughts in your mind led you to believe. Do you remember the account of the Apostle Peter, when he wanted to come to Jesus out on the water? Since no human had ever walked on water before, the apostles thought that Jesus was a ghost, as he came towards the ship, walking on the water. When Peter asked Jesus to bid him to come onto the water, he knew that it was an impossible feat in his own power. However, he took that impossible step, and for a little while, walked on water. As long as he focused on his goal (Jesus), he was good. But, the moment he focused on the circumstances, he began to sink, the bible declares. We can achieve our goals, but we must not allow our thoughts to cripple us. Take the step that seems impossible.

7 Quit Blaming Others—Wherever you find yourself in life, is a direct result of thoughts that you used to make decisions. You are the master of your ship. Take the personal responsibility and own your life. It is not your parent’s fault. We all had some sort of dysfunctional upbringing to some degree or another. It is not your spouse’s fault. Though their words and opinions hold a lot of weight in your life, they cannot make you make a poor decision. That alone, is up to you. It is not your bosses fault or your neighbor’s or anyone else you can think of. If you do not like where you find yourself in this life, it is up to you change it. Begin to take the steps that are outlined here and elsewhere in this blog to take control of your life.

8 Get Rid Of Fearful Feelings—You were not created to be in fear. Fear came as a result of the fall of man. None of us are exempt from being tempted by fear. You cannot deny fear’s right to exist, but you can deny its right to exist inside of you. The best way to eradicate fear is to introduce it to its natural enemy—faith. Fear cannot reside where faith does. It runs from faith. It fears faith. When you practice putting faith-filled words into your life, fear must flee. When you feel fear creeping up your neck, your job is to speak faith-filled words into your situation. You will see that the more you practice doing so, the more confidence you will have. The more confidence you have, the less fear can exist within you.

9 Relax And Release Yourself—If you are going to succeed, you have to relax and release yourself to be the best. I want to illustrate this through a golf analogy. In order for the golf swing to be most effective, you must be loose and relaxed in order to allow the club head to release and perform as you wish. If you are all tensed up, your wrists and forearms will not allow you make an effective swing. Likewise, if you are all tensed up in life, you will not release yourself to make the proper decision, that will put you in the best position for success. So, relax and release yourself to achieve the potential that lies within.

10 Stop The Secret Self-Sabotage—One of the main reasons that we have not enjoyed more success in life, is due to self-sabotage. Have you ever noticed that as you get closer to achieving a monumental goal, you often will do something completely stupid to derail your success (refer to the story of Peter above)? I know that I have done that to myself more than once. I call it fear of success. This happens when we move out of the present moment and into the future. We see ourselves as successful, and we cannot see how we are going to maintain that success. It is not your job to worry about how you will maintain your future success. As you make your ascent to the mountaintop, you will have learned some valuable lessons along the way that will equip you to maintain your success. You may not be able to see it now, but you will be a different, more confident person at that point. So stop the sabotage, focus on what you want, and leave what you do not want in the rear view mirror.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

10 Surefire Steps To Transform Your Life In 90 Days Pt. I

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

1 Do one thing at a time—In this instant gratification world that we live in today, it is getting increasingly difficult to slow down and enjoy life. Multi-tasking is the new norm. There is nothing wrong with multi-tasking, but in my opinion, it is more important to learn to do one thing at a time. Have you ever stopped to listen to all of the things swirling around in your head? There is so much going on inside your head. You have to take some time, daily, to slow down and get to know yourself. You must become self-aware. That said, take some time each day to get one thing done at a time. Let’s say that you need to pick up some documents from the printer and fax them somewhere. On the way, you pass by the coffee machine and want to grab a cup of coffee. From a time standpoint, it makes perfect sense to grab the documents from the printer, stop and get a cup of coffee and then run to fax machine. However, in this quest for inner peace, you have to slow down. So, go to the printer and back to your desk. Go to the fax machine, fax your documents and go back to your desk. Finally, go to the coffee machine and grab yourself a cup of coffee. This exercise will teach you to slow down and break out of the hectic rat-race for a few moments each day. Slow down!

2 Take The On-Purpose Risk—Take the step that you are going to take, on purpose. Never allow anything to happen to you. You are an over-comer, you make things happen. It has been said that there are three kinds of people in the world: those who things happen to, those who make things happen and those who wonder what happened. I trust you are never part of that latter group and very infrequently part of the first group. I want you to be proactive in all that you do. Live life on purpose. You have to do what you are going to do on purpose. Take accidents and coincidences out of your life.

3 Evict Self-Destroying Resentments—Give yourself a break. You have made mistakes in the past. We all have. Stop reliving all of the mistakes of your past. You cannot do a single thing to change anything you did in the past, so leave those things where they belong—in the past. All you have is this moment. You do not even have two seconds ago or two seconds from now, for that matter. Many of you spend most of your time resurrecting past failures and giving them credence. Stop it! Focus on the life that you want to have and not on the failures of your past.

4 Break Out Of The Rush—Just as in step one, you have to learn to slow down. It is so easy to get swept up in the rush of life, but you must resist the temptation. You have the ability to control your actions. By getting swept away, you give your power and authority away to another agent. That is not cool, people. Here is an exercise that will hit most of us right between the eyes—how you act behind the wheel of a car. Some lunk-head cuts you off on the highway, and your initial reaction is to get on his tail and ride him. If you do that, he owns you. Learn to back way off and slow down. By doing so, you are teaching yourself to break out of the rush.

5 Never Self-Compromise—Whenever you compromise your principles or integrity, you get the worst feeling inside. That is the inner man telling you that you have violated your conscience. No amount of money or fame is worth compromising your values. If you do not believe me, just ask any number of movie stars who “sold their souls” for fame and fortune and eventually found themselves abandoned on the scrap heap of life. It is much sweeter to make your fame and fortune without compromising your Self. Always hold true to the You inside. Life is only as complete as you are.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Overcoming Fear Pt. II

Posted on July 14, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

Last week I saw a bumper sticker that read: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself…and spiders.” This just goes to show how deeply fear has permeated our society. Just start listening to conversations. I mean, really listen. You will hear such things as “I’m afraid that…” “I worry that…” “Ooh girl, I’m scared of you”. You get the picture. It is commonplace to have negative and fearful language in our vocabulary. We mostly think that they are just harmless words, but they are not harmless…far from it. Remember “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”? What a lie. That is one of the biggest lies ever perpetrated on mankind. There are many more like these that I am sure you can come up with on your own. For now, let’s discuss a few concrete ways that you can begin to overcome your fears.

1. Gain some confidence—the best way to gain confidence in a thing is to inundate yourself with what you want. If you have a habit of poor self-talk, you will want to reverse that habit and start putting in positive talk. It is not sufficient to attempt to quit the negative self-talk. That will leave a void, and the universe hates a void. You will find yourself in worse shape than you were before your quest to change. You must not leave anything to chance. It must all be done on purpose. As you begin to pour in positive affirmations, the negative talk will begin to dissipate. Light is far more powerful and darkness. It will obliterate it every time. State what you want and begin to speak it out loud with confidence. This alone will not make it happen, but it is an important part of the process—a part that cannot be neglected.

2. Take small steps—this is important as you want to gain confidence. The quickest way to do so is to experience some victories. These do not have to be life-changing, earth-shattering victories. They just need to be wins. Stack them up one upon another, and you will begin to see a new you. For instance, you might begin by making a point of speaking only positive words over lunch with your co-workers. The key is being aware of what is coming in to your mind and controlling how you react to those things. Just because it comes in to your mind, does not mean that it has to come out of your mouth. Nor do you have to dwell on those thoughts. Just begin to enjoy the feeling of experiencing change…of experiencing victory. Be consistent and you will be well on your way to a new way of thinking and speaking.

3. Stay in the moment—the two biggest detriments to your success are living in the past and living in the future. The past is a collection of memories, some are good, and some are bad. It is helpful to draw on good memories from the past to help you to remember feelings and emotions of positive experiences. This can assist you in being successful, but you cannot live in the past, you only have this very moment. Do not ever consult your past failures; they can serve you no good. Past performance do not predict future results. So, please do not consult your past failures for anything. The future is but a collection of dreams, goals, desires, fears and worries. It is great to plan and make preparations for the future, but you cannot spend too much of your time there. For if you do, you will find that your goals, dreams and desires will always be in the future, and you will never catch up with them. You have to stay in the present and keep tight reins on your mind.

Allow me to give you an example at my expense. I like playing golf, and for the first time in my life, I am taking a few lessons this year. One of my stated goals is to break 80 for the first time ever. My focus in every round is to shoot the best that I can—one shot at a time. Well, last week I was playing what I consider to be a so-so round of golf. I shot a 41 on the front nine, but I was not playing up to my potential. I had somehow scored well enough to hang in there and score decently. Now, if I can just play a little bit better, I can better my score by a few strokes, on the back and realize my dream. The 10th hole is a par 5, and I was sitting about 100 yards from the green after two strokes. This was green light city, and I was going right at the flag. Suddenly, the first poor thought came into my head “you have too much club.” If you are not committed to the shot, you cannot make a good stroke. Sure enough, a horrible shot followed. So, a possible birdie turned to bogey and my thought process about the round changed. I now had to take more risks in order to make my goal. There it was, I had gotten ahead of myself in my thought process, and I was no longer in the present. Needless to say, I did not achieve my goal that day. I reminded myself of this valuable lesson, and I hope that you can learn from my mistake.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Overcoming Fear Pt. I

Posted on July 14, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

One thing that we all have in common is that we have fears. We are or we have been afraid of something, someone or some event. The difference between those who overcome their fears and those who do not is action. Those who abolish their fears, take action despite fear. That is right, they look fear square in the eye and they move forward. Once you move forward, you will realize that fear is just a mirage.
We all will have some fear at some point in our lives. If you have not experienced any fear that you have had to overcome, keep living. The one thing that you can’t do is allow fear to paralyze you. You have to “feel” the fear and move forward anyway. You cannot deny fear the right to be there, because that just gives it more power over you. You have to combat it with its natural enemy—faith. Ask yourself if you believe in yourself. Do you believe that you have everything within you to be a completely whole person? Well, you do. Everything that you need in life is already housed within your spirit. You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
If you are approaching life with the proper perspective, you should not fear anything. Now, do not take what I am saying and twist it. I believe that we should have a healthy respect for things that can do us harm, if we misuse them, such as electricity and gravity. But, we should not fear them. Treat them with the proper respect and they will be your friend. Disrespect them, and they will turn on you like an enemy. Fear comes from darkness. It does not come from a good place, nor can it. Scripture tells us that God has not given us the spirit of fear. I had a fellow tell me that when he was about to jump out of an airplane that he got afraid. Plausible. I took exception when he said that it was a good and positive thing for him. Having a respect for gravity and taking precautions against it working against you, is a good thing. For one, do not jump out of a plane. But, if you must, make sure you have a working parachute and that you are confident in your equipment. That is what faith is all about. You have practiced your faith so much that you are confident in its working. There is no room for fear, when faith is around. The two cannot reside in the same dwelling. Faith is light that will outshine the darkness of fear every time.
Each time that you walk through a fear, you realize that there is no such thing. Most of what we fear never come to pass or even has the chance of coming to pass. Why, then, do we give heed to them? Never claim fear as your own. Do yourself a favor and defeat your fear by realizing that it is non-existent. It is just a bad memory to which you are lending credence. It “exists” to bluff you into believing the lie. Do yourself a favor and give fear its eviction notice.
Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

Who Is That Talking To Me?

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Mervyn Byrd

We all do it. It is called self-talk. Sometimes it is positive and other times, it is negative. I believe that for most people the self talk is negative. I had an opportunity to put this to the test recently. Actually, we have numerous opportunities throughout each day, hour and minute to put positive words to use. However, I would like to give you an example of one such time that happened to me very recently.

I woke up early one Saturday morning (around 4:45AM) inspired to write. So, I delved into the subject that I am writing on at this moment. I finished a very good post (in my humble opinion) and “cut” it so that I could do a spell check in Word, as I hate misspellings. When I went to word, I already had a document open that I had created the day before, so I saved it, and then, without thinking, cut it also, so that I could paste my blog in its place. The moment I did that, I realized that I just wasted 75 minutes worth of writing. I was devastated. I was rushing, because I wanted to get the blog out to you, before I had to dash off to a meeting. My first thought was to just wait until I got back from the meetings to spell check it and post it, but I like finishing things in one sitting. Anyway, before I knew it, I was yelling at myself, inside my head about how irresponsible that was, about how I needed to listen to that inner voice, that is guiding me, more closely. I was telling myself that I would not be able to remember all that I had written, and that I would never be able to duplicate that effort. I was really going to town on myself for the span of about 15 seconds.

Suddenly, I began to laugh out loud, as I thought about the title of the blog post. At that moment, I caught myself in the act. I was trippin’, so I began to give myself a break. I reassured myself that it would be alright. Even though I may not duplicate, verbatim what I had written before, I would still get some great content on the subject. I began to tell myself how bright and brilliant that I was. “You are human”, I said. “You will make some mistakes, but you are still a brilliant person.” I felt so much better after loving on myself in that manner. It is important that we do not give negativity the opportunity to beat us down to rubble. We must guard our minds, as though our very lives depend on it. Your prosperity depends on it. Your health and well-being depend on it.

I want to end this post with a story about young Eldrick “Tiger” Woods. When he was a young lad, his father, Earl, got him a cassette tape of positive affirmations. On the backdrop, were soothing sounds of nature, like ocean waves and breezes, etc. He would listen to it during the day and probably more importantly, during the night, while he slept. He received what his father gave him and believed what it would do for him. He listened to them so often that he wore the tapes out. When it came time for him to enter into his first 10 and under junior tournament at age six, he stood on the first tee and piped one right down the middle of the fairway. Anyone who plays golf knows how nerve-wracking the first tee can be, for anyone at any age or level. When Earl asked him what he was thinking about on the tee box, young Tiger replied “I was thinking about where I wanted the ball to go daddy.” That six-year-old little boy understood the lesson and used it to his advantage. I believe that his current set of personal problems stem from the fact that he has gotten away from his meditation and focus. I have no doubt that he will once again be the best golfer in the world, when he gets back to the core values and disciplines that got him to be one (if not the greatest) golfers in the world.

You and I can do the same thing too. We can easily find CDs or DVDs on positive affirmations. The world has enough negativity in it. You have to do what you can to get a positive message to your subconscious mind. Your subconscious is one of the most powerful things in the universe. It never sleeps, nor slumbers. It does not go on vacation or take 10 minute breaks each hour. It is at work at all times, ready to go to work on your behalf. It will carry out whatever you feed it. I am suggesting that you feed it a steady diet of positive messages. I would prefer that you put the words in your own voice, but if you are not able to do that due to a lack of technical savvy, that is okay. Purchase a CD or DVD and then begin to wear it out. Google “positive affirmations” and purchase some positive affirmations for your life.

I trust that my little misstep has been a blessing to you. Please feel free to leave comments on similar missteps that you have had. I look forward to reading them.

Until next time, transform your mind for a new you.

mervynbyrd.com

Transforming Lives Through Practical Applications

The Progressive Loop

6 X 1 = 6

Course Corrections

New Year, New Beginning

The Power of the MInd

Release My Stuff!

Mind Transformation Quotes of Mr. Zig Ziglar

Speak To It (Re-post)

Have the Courage to Succeed

What is Your Purpose in Life?

Have the Courage to Change

Association

Attitude

Opportunity

Believe In Yourself

Push Through to Success

Never Give Up

How to Become A Great Success

Do Not Over-plan

Passion

Finding Your Success Formula

Be Outstanding

Through the Valleys

Planting The Seeds

New Series Coming.

Visualize It!

Speak To It

The Universe Hates A Void

10 Surefire Steps To Transform Your Life in 90 Days Pt. II

10 Surefire Steps To Transform Your Life In 90 Days Pt. I

Overcoming Fear Pt. II

Overcoming Fear Pt. I

Who Is That Talking To Me?

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