WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE?

What you think you create. What you feel you attract, and what you imagine you become.

 

The universe is governed by law. Success is governed by law. Your subconscious mind is also governed by law. Our personal beliefs define our choices, shape our lives and, collectively, determine our futures. Nothing is more important than belief. If you want to change the world, if you want to change your world, if you want to succeed at work, in the marketplace, or in any other social endeavor or organization, belief is your Holy Grail.

 

The law of life is the law of belief. Belief can be summed up briefly as a thought in your subconscious mind. As a person thinks, feels, and believes so is the condition of his or her mind, body and soul (circumstances). All of your experiences, events, conditions and acts are produced by your subconscious mind in reaction to your thoughts. Remember, it is not the thing believed in, but the belief in your own mind that brings about the result.

 

Many self-help books and motivational gurus talk about the power of belief. The general message they are trying to put across is basically what Napoleon Hill had said, "What your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve". Is it true that everything your mind believes can be achieved or it is just some kind of motivational lie? Strictly speaking, the statement should be "what your conscious mind can conceive, and your subconscious mind believes, it can achieve".

 

Here is the reason why.

 

Your subconscious mind power is like a magnet. It attracts things that resonate with its beliefs. To put it bluntly, if you have a certain belief in your subconscious mind, your subconscious mind will vibrate based on this belief and attract events and people that resonate with or correspond to this belief. This is the Universal Law of Vibration and Attraction. It is a law that exists whether you believe it or not, just like the law of gravity. Let me repeat. This law works on you whether you believe it or not!

 

If your subconscious mind believes that life is tough, surely, your life will be tough. You will meet people and events that give you a hard life. If your subconscious mind believes that money is hard-earned, money will be hard earned. You will only be attracted to opportunities that will take a super-human effort to make a penny! Let me twist the words around and repeat the previous paragraph. If your life is tough now, that's because your subconscious believes that life is tough. If you are finding difficulties in making money, that's because your subconscious believes that money is hard to earn. There is no other reason and there is no need to blame other people for your tough life or your financial situation!

 

The message I'm trying to put across here is this:

 

"Your subconscious beliefs create your realities"

 

The above statement is probably the most important statement that one must fully and thoroughly understand in order to achieve true success in life.

 

We use our conscious mind power to conceive an idea, but our subconscious mind power to attract the result. Most people do it the other way around. They use their conscious mind to pursue the result, which often results in stress and worries. That's the difference between using your conscious mind power and your subconscious mind power.

 

What it means here is your reality or the life you are experiencing now is actually a reflection of the beliefs in your subconscious mind. Many people change from one job to another, but realize that they are still getting the same problem everywhere they go. What they don't understand is that instead of changing the external circumstances, they should change their inner beliefs.

 

Once their beliefs change, they will be attracted to new people, new jobs and the world around them will change according to the new beliefs in their subconscious mind. When participants of a workshop were told that their beliefs create their realities, a common negative response given was "I never believe in the kind of reality I'm facing, but why am I still experiencing them?"

You must understand that it is not what you think you believe that creates your reality. It is what your subconscious mind believes. You may think you believe that life is abundant, just because you've read some books about it. But subconsciously, you may not be convinced. So how do you know what your subconscious believes? The answer is fairly simple. Just look at your reality! Your reality is the mirror of your life. It reflects your inner beliefs.

 

Whatever order we issue to our subconscious mind, it promptly undertakes to carry it out. Whatever state of existence you declare yourself to be in, your subconscious mind assumes it exists and works within you accordingly. If a friend asks you: How do you feel today? And you reply: I am not well I have a headache or I don’t feel up to the mark at all today, you are unconsciously setting the subconscious mind to work to realize the state you declare yourself to be in. On the other hand if you say: I am well, happy and strong, the subconscious mind undertakes to realize that state.

 

Hence you can see what a wonderful power is within your control for your happiness or unhappiness, your condition of body and mind, and how necessary it is for you to use this power always in a positive direction. You are, in a word, what you think you are. This is not a theory, or a fad. It is a universal law.

 

Till the next time

 

Bruce

 

Believe in yourself! You’re divinely designed

 

And perfectly made for the work of mankind.

 

This truth you must cling to through danger and pain

 

The heights man has reached you can also attain.

 

Believe to the very last hour, for it’s true

 

That whatever you will you’ve been gifted to do.

 

Believe in yourself and step out unafraid

 

By misgivings and doubt be not easily swayed.

 

You’ve the right to succeed, the precision of skill

 

Which betokens the great, you can earn if you will!

 

The wisdom of ages is yours if you’ll read

 

But you’ve got to believe in yourself to succeed.   Anon

Success

The foremost stumbling block to success in life is cowardice, the dreaded fear of failure “Nothing ventured, nothing gained”. Spectators never won a baseball game. If you are to win at anything in life, you must first be in the game, you must place yourself on the firing line.

History tells us that the doors of opportunity are always closed. They have been that way since the world began. At no time when you walk down a street will you find any doors of opportunity standing open and inviting you to come in. Doors that are worth entering are usually closed, but the resolute and courageous knock at those doors, and keep knocking persistently until they are opened.

Working hard and applying the principles of success can help you attain your goals, but much of success is by chance – being at the right place at the right time. In light of that, my advice is to give it all you've got and don’t let up, for you never know when opportunity will come knocking. Waiting for perfect conditions usually causes a person to get very little accomplished.

Achievement never comes to the uninspired. To the man or woman that has always "thought small" it is frightening to "think success" or to "think big". It is too easy to entertain doubts, procrastinate, delay or make excuses. Success is not a thing – not a reward that awaits you at some far off time. Success lies in doing well whatever thing you are doing now. It is more a matter of mental attitude than of mental or physical capacity. Every successful man or woman has had more failures than successes in life, but the winner concentrates on his or her strengths and successes while the loser in life dwells on his or her miscalculations and misfortunes.

You have all the fundamentals in you to succeed right now. But it is only the USE of them that can make you successful. It is the way you use what you have. You can succeed with what you have at this moment, if only you learn to use it correctly. Ask of yourself what ability you have which can be made to develop into something worth while. Great successes are simply a group of little successes built one upon another.

You have all that the greatest of men have had

Two eyes, two ears, two hands, two feet

Whether they were explorers or scientists or builders or speakers or motivators

They came here with no more or no less than you

The difference between the mighty and the mundane

Is what you do with what you have.

Why you are sometimes not successful

Did you know you can actually limit your life by dwelling on the wrong things? So often, wrong thinking keeps people stuck right where they are. If you think you’ll never accomplish your dreams, then your life will follow your thoughts. If you think you don’t have the talent, the connections or the money, then you are limiting yourself.  

Your failure to get results may be a consequence of mentally making statements as:

• Things are getting worse
• I will never get an answer
• I see no way out
• It is hopeless
• I don’t know what to do
• I am all mixed up

When you use such statements, you get no response or co-operation from your subconscious mind (the universe).

You must remember that whenever your subconscious mind accepts any idea, it immediately begins to execute it. It uses all its mighty resources to that end. It mobilizes all the mental and spiritual laws of your deeper mind. This law is true for good thoughts, but it holds true for bad thoughts as well. Consequently, if you use your subconscious mind negatively, it brings trouble, failure and confusion. When you use it constructively, it brings guidance, freedom, and peace of mind.

Our words have creative power. Whenever we speak something out, either good or bad, we are giving life to what we are saying. Too many people go around saying negative things about themselves, their family, and their future. Things like, “I’ll never be successful", "This sickness is going to get the best of me",  "Business is so slow I don’t think I’m going to make it", "Flu season is coming. I’ll probably get it.” They don’t realize they are prophesying their future.

The Bible says, “...we will eat the fruit of our words.” That means we’re going to get exactly what we have been saying.

Here is the key: you've got to send your words out in the direction you want your life to go. You cannot talk defeat and expect to have victory. You can’t talk lack and expect to have abundance. You will produce what you've been saying. With your words you can either bless or curse your future. Make sure your words are what you want your future to be so that you can move forward in a life of success.

Till the next time.

Bruce

P.S. Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy. - Dale Carnegie

Does "Cash Drag" Affect Value Averaging Investment Returns?

I would like to announce the release of an investment paper "Does "Cash Drag" Affect Value Averaging Investment Returns?"

The purpose of this paper is to address one of the common comments about Value Averaging (VA) which is that "VA requires you have a large side fund and the cash in the side fund causes a drag on the rate of returns a.k.a. “cash drag”". The argument is that the “cash drag” negates any benefit of higher returns when compared to Dollar Cost Averaging and Lump-sum investments.   

This paper will show that cash is actually a benefit to the portfolio depending on how an investor manages the cash.  

We will also show that cash does not create a drag on returns as most investors claim, in fact it improves the returns especially over an intermediate time period of 5 years.

A copy of the report can be downloaded at:

www.vainvestmentsoftware.com

How to achieve a 50% rate of return in 3 years

In my previous career as a financial advisor and developer of financial planning software, I spent over 15 years devising financial plans and advising clients on how to maximize the return on their investment while trying to minimize their taxes and any risks.   

The following simple strategy will demonstrate how an investor could achieve a return of 50% in 3 years without taking on any additional risk.

To implement this strategy we are going to use a Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA), an RRSP account and a Syndicate Mortgage.

To begin the investor would invest $25,000 into a Syndicate Mortgage project using a TFSA. Everyone is currently allowed to contribute up to $25,500 into their TFSA if they have not yet done so. The Syndicate Mortgage in this example pays an 8% fixed return over the term of 3 years, which works out to a total return 24%. In addition, at the end of the term if the project were to meet a projected profit target then an additional 12% deferred lender fee would be paid to the investor. This would bring the total return over 3 years to 36%. (24% + 12%)

 At an 8% return the Syndicate Mortgage would pay $2,000 per year in interest into the TFSA. This income is tax free to the investor and therefore each year, the investor would withdraw the $2,000 and invest it into an RRSP account (assuming that RRSP contribution room was available). If the investor was in a 40% tax bracket, he would save $800 per year in taxes or $2,400 for the 3 year term of the investment.    

Finally, at the end of the mortgage term, if the Developer achieves the profit target for the project and the additional 12% bonus interest is paid the investor would receive an additional $3,000. To maximize the investment return the investor would also withdraw these funds from the TFSA and invest it into the RRSP account. This would then produce a tax saving of $1,200. 

So let’s add it all up.

Interest income                      $ 6,000

Deferred lender fee               $ 3,000

Tax savings                            $ 3,600

Total                                       $12,600

This translates into a 50% return on your investment ($12,600 / $25,000)

Since investors in a Syndicate mortgage are registered on title and the mortgage is secured against the property an investor would not have taken any additional risk to increase their returns from 24% to 50%.

In addition, when the capital is invested into the RRSP account the investor can then reinvest the capital into another investment which would boost the overall returns even higher.

To see the calculations in detail click here or if you would like to find out how you can implement this strategy please contact me to discuss. 

VA Portfolio Update

I have just updated the Value Averaging Model Portfolio's.

There are 5 Model Portfolios to follow:

VA Growth Strategy

VA Internet Strategy

VA Market Sectors Strategy

VA Market Index Strategy

VA Small Cap Strategy

The portfolio's are all performing very well exactly as I expected, and they are meeting their annual target rate of return. 

The Internet Strategy model has performed the best out of all the models and since December 2011 has produced a annualized compound rate of return of 25.4%. Click here to see the performance in real time.

While most mutual funds managers or portfolio managers are paid to try to beat a benchmark index, we take a different approach in that we try to meet or exceed a set target rate of return consistently on an annual basis. The benchmark for the model is therefore not an index such as the S&P 500 but a fixed percentage return. This return is based on the historical long term return for that specific asset class plus inflation. For example, for Small Cap stocks it is 12% and for Technology Stocks it is 15%. If an index is beating the fund, we really don't care because eventually the index will regress to it's long term historical average.

Click here to see all the model portfolio's

I have added a recently published research study to the Valueaveraging.ca website called Performance Comparison between Dollar Cost Averaging and Value Averaging Investment Strategies and the Impacts of Investment Horizon and Target Terminal Wealth.  According to the findings, with increased length of investment horizon and/or lowered target terminal wealth, the Value Averaging (VA) investment strategy will have better performance than the Dollar Cost Averaging investment strategy.

If you have a specific stock/ETF that you would like to see how it would have performed using VA over a 5 year time frame, just send me an email request with the symbol and I will run the analysis and send you a report.

Caribbean Real Estate Opportunities Abound

In the past year and a half I have been traveling in the Caribbean looking at and evaluating real estate projects to invest in, and I must say that the opportunities for savvy investors are endless.

My trips have taken me to Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Jamaica, Anguilla, Dominica, Antigua, Barbuda and St. Lucia. I also plan to visit St Croix, St. Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Barbados and Trinidad in the next few months.

I have looked at all types of properties and development projects comprising of marinas, hotels and resorts, golf courses and residential subdivisions that range from $2M to $1B in value. However, I believe that the current sweet spot for investments are in the $5M to $15M range.

There are a number of reasons why the Caribbean is an attractive place to invest, and these are:

1. Properties hold their value much better than properties in other parts of the world such as US and Europe. Most of the islands are small (with the exception of Jamaica, Trinidad, Cuba and Dominican Republic) therefore there is only a finite amount of good land available for development. 

2.  No threats of terrorism. Everybody knows everybody, therefore where is a terrorist going to hide.

3. Stable democratically elected governments. Most islands operate under British common law.

4.  Larger international real estate companies have ignored the smaller investments and projects, preferring to focus on “brand name” investments in the $100M plus range.

5.  Many financial institutions prefer to finance projects that are $10M or even $20M and above. Most projects under $10M are struggling to get financed. Lenders that can offer creative financing solutions that include both debt and equity financing for these smaller projects can make a lot of money.

6. There are many projects that have stalled because the financial institutions that were once heavily lending in the Caribbean have either gone bankrupt (Lehman Brothers, Icelandic Bank, Clico Investment Bank etc), changed their lending criteria, or they no longer have access to their funding sources that they once had. There are many half built projects that still have purchaser deposits on their books. With much of the initial risk in the deal (permiting, zoning, pre-sales etc) already absorbed and with the property in financial distress, there exists an opportunity to acquire substantial equity at a discount. 

7. Occupancy levels are down and many hotels and resorts are just breaking even or losing money.  There are numerous reasons for this and some of the reasons are as follows: 

·        Too much debt

·        No marketing budget

·        No websites or poorly designed websites

·       High utility costs and not making use of solar power and/or solar hot water heaters to reduce costs

In many cases some of the properties I have looked at simply need to be recapitalized in order to upgrade to solar power to cut utility costs, refurbish the property, redesign their websites and focus on marketing themselves and local activities properly.

Let me give you an example. I am currently working on acquiring a property that has the following negative features:

Currently in foreclosure and owned by a bank

Some of the rooms need upgrading

Property needs to be completely painted and landscaped

Lousy website

No marketing budget

Low occupancy levels – due to some of the above

Now here are the positive things and why I like this deal:

30 acres of prime beach front land

A fully operating hotel with restaurant facilities

30 fully serviced and approved residential building lots

479 time share owners who are paying annual maintenance fees

$13M of unsold time share inventory

Very good visitor reviews on Trip Advisor

Easy access to North America

Now here is the best part:

It can be acquired, refurbished and recapitalized, which would allow it to restart the time share program, upgrade the website and initiate a proper sales and marketing program for approximately $5.5M. 

The projected potential profit in 5 years on the whole project would be $12M which would then allow us to have a debt free, sustainable and profitable hotel resort operation.

This is only one example of several that I have like this.

So while others may only see difficulties and the negative side of things, I see opportunity.  I see the opportunity to acquire assets / equity at substantial discount to market value and build a substantial Caribbean real estate portfolio of boutique hotels, luxury rental villas and commercial projects that could have sustainable recurring revenue based on fractional and/or timeshare ownership.

I also see the opportunity to create long term employment and to support the communities that we invest in, and thereby create a win - win environment for everyone involved.

If anyone is interested in partnering with me to take advantage of the Caribbean opportunities at hand please feel free to contact me directly.


Visit my website to see more of the Caribbean projects I am working on.


P.S.  Follow me on Twitter: @BruceRamsey1

 

Value Averaging Model Portfolio's

Everyone knows how volatile the stock market has been and how uncertain the world's economies have been over the last few years. The majority of investors have made little or no money from stocks or mutual funds for a very long time. This could be because the average investor does not have a trading strategy for making money from stocks, and therefore tends to “buy and hold” then sell at a loss. However, sometimes a bad year is a bad year no matter what investment strategy you use. 

For the past 12 months we have been working on testing and fine tuning a stock investing methodology based on the Value Averaging investment strategy and we are now pleased to announce the VA Model Portfolios. Managing the portfolio‘s over the past months has allowed us to fine tune the methodology to the point where we believe that is it a viable system for trading securities.

We have created these models as a way to show / teach investors how Value Averaging works and how to apply the strategy over time. The first model is called the VA Growth Strategy and it is intended to demonstrate that Value Averaging works across broad market sectors and is particularly valuable during times of high volatility. The second model is called the VA Internet Strategy and it applies the Value Averaging methodology to the largest companies primarily engaged in the internet industry. The model is designed for investors seeking aggressive capital growth with significant volatility. Over time we will add additional model portfolios.

We use ETF’s and Index Funds with a few select stocks for the portfolios.  Using Index Funds or ETF’s is a great way to achieve very good investment results because it sidesteps flawed decision making and psychological traps. The S&P 500 beats 80% of managed funds in long term returns. Therefore the investment vehicle you choose is far more important to your investments performance than the mechanical rules you follow to invest in it. 

Simple versus Complex

The majority of investors tend to prefer the complex and artificial as opposed to the simple and unadorned. Too many investors believe that stock market investing requires sophisticated strategies, the juggling of dozens of variables and complicated portfolio management. Nothing could be further from the truth. Value Averaging is simple to understand and easy to implement, requiring less than 30 minutes a month to execute.

Warren Buffet states that, to be a successful investor does not require one to have a high IQ but rather it requires two things: 1. A strong intellectual framework on which to base your decisions and 2. Not letting your emotions corrode the framework.

When making decisions, humans tend to view everything in the present tense. We time-weight information meaning that the newest thing always carries the greatest importance. Think of the last time you really screwed up. When the mistake was made you had to contend with emotion. The mistake becomes obvious when, drained of emotion and feeling, you take a historical perspective.

Value Averaging removes the emotion from investing, all you have to do is follow the easy to understand formula based system. No rocket science involved.

Monthly Trades

Each month we will trade a $1,000,000 virtual portfolio and produce a report showing the trades done and how the portfolio has performed. We will use the services of Marketocracy.com to manage the portfolio. Marketocracy provides access to exclusive tools to build investment skills and gauge success using virtual money while adhering to very real federal compliance rules and marketplace trading constraints. Each portfolio is allocated with a virtual $1 million – enough buying power to make lots of trades and to put together a diversified model portfolio. In addition, portfolios are monitored for compliance with S.E.C. rules for mutual fund managers so we can see how they respond when they are out of compliance. All portfolios are carefully monitored and every trade tracked for investment performance.

If anyone is interested in partnering with us to create a portfolio management business around the VA strategy please contact me to discuss further. 


To see the reports and the model portfolios please visit:  


http://www.vainvestmentsoftware.com/model_portfolios.html

Recognizing Your Opportunities

"I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one" - Mark Twain

“The secret to success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes” - Benjamin Disraeli

You just might be surprised how much opportunity is actually out there when you start to look. When you work on and start to change your perspective, and begin to look at things in a different light or from different angles and listen to different viewpoints, then you're starting to get on the right track to seeing opportunity.

An opportunity is a favorable set of circumstances that creates a need for a new Product, Service or Business. Identifying and capturing new opportunities always requires strategic change and the nature of strategic change always disrupts comfort zones.

What is a comfort zone? First and foremost it is a mental state in which people lose the momentum to pursue a vision, because they have accepted where they are as the best they need to be or do. That is why change is a big deal to people, and is so difficult to achieve. Over the years, I've learned that nothing very interesting or innovative ever emerges from a comfort zone, except more plans to make the comfortable more comfortable.

The pain that accompanies change can be financial, physical, or emotional, but regardless of the type of discomfort created by change, recession and hard economic times demand that you embrace it if you intend to remain competitive and effective.

There are 3 ways to identify an opportunity:

1. Observing Trends

Trends create opportunities for entrepreneurs to pursue. The most important trends are:

• Economic forces.
• Social forces.
• Technological advances.
• Political action and regulatory change.

It’s important to be aware of changes in these areas.

2. Solving a problem

Sometimes identifying opportunities simply involves noticing a problem and finding a way to solve it.

These problems can be pinpointed through observing trends and through more simple means, such as intuition, serendipity, or change.

3. Finding gaps in the market place

A third approach to identifying opportunities is to find a gap in the marketplace.

• A gap in the marketplace is often created when a product or service is needed by a specific group of people but doesn’t represent a large enough market to be of interest to mainstream retailers or manufacturers.

As an entrepreneur for over 20 years, and as the co-founder and shareholder of 12 companies over that time period, I am always looking for opportunities. I look for the opportunity to:

• meet and network with new and interesting people
• start a new business in my target areas of interest
• acquire more investment property
• learn more about something I am interested in
• enjoy life and spend more time with my family
• introduce people to what I do and explore the opportunities that exist in the marketplace
• make more money

There are two ways that most people fail to recognize opportunity. The first way is by not having an open mind towards new ideas on what is possible with regards to being successful and making money. The second reason is needing to know EXACTLY HOW we will achieve our goals. If you want to know every little detail and every step that needs to be taken before making a decision, you sometimes end up in what is known as “analysis paralysis”. When this happens the opportunity before you is usually long gone before you have made a decision on whether you want to take advantage of it or not. According to Dr. Martin Luther King you need to “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase before you take the first step”.

To take advantage of opportunities as they arise you must:

1. Know what you want (this is the hardest part)
2. Make a decision to do something about it
3. When you make a decision, stick with it
4. When there is evidence that your decision is wrong, change it
5. Never look back

So get a vision of what you want your future to look like. Then trust in yourself and your abilities and take a step of faith and take action, no matter what your circumstances, your friends or your worries are telling you.

If you are tempted to give up or get discouraged, remember that the temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed. All success is based on long-term commitment, faith, discipline, attitude and a few stepping stones along the way. You might not like the stone you are on right now, but it’s sure to be one of the stepping stones that lead to great opportunities in the future. In order to succeed you have to start before you are ready.
. 

Today’s the day... seize your opportunity.

P.S. The pictures below show Warren Buffet and I in 1994 at a baseball game in Omaha Nebraska. This was a time when very few people knew who who he was. What a great opportunity to spend a little time with the world's greatest investor.

WHAT IS FAITH?

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase before you take the first step”. Martin Luther King

There are two ways to approach life, one is to live by sight and reason and base everything on what you see, this is how most people live. The other way is to live by FAITH, which is to base everything on what you can’t see. Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen, it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. All faith begins in belief, and the reward of faith is to see what one has believed.

So the question is, what must you believe in order to have faith?

Consider the following quote, “Whatever you are seeking is also seeking you. Whenever you act in complete faith and confidence, everything will unfold when and as it should.”

The method by which one develops faith, where is does not already exist, is extremely difficult to describe. Almost as difficult as it would be to describe the colour red to a blind person. Making repeated affirmations to your subconscious mind is the only known method of developing the emotion of faith voluntarily. Any impulse of thought which is repeatedly passed on to the subconscious mind will eventually be accepted and acted upon. All thoughts which have been emotionalized (given feeling) and mixed with faith begin immediately to translate themselves into their physical equivalent or counterpart. You will become as small as your controlling desires or as great as your dominant aspiration.

In it’s simplest terms, Faith requires action. It is the application of faith in yourself, your faith in your fellow man, your faith in opportunities that are available, and your faith in God under any circumstance.

If you have no faith then it is possible to induce it through Persistence. Persistence is the sustained effort necessary to induce faith. Since persistence is a state of mind it can be cultivated, and like all states of mind, the basis of persistence is the Power of will. When you mix willpower with persistence then you will achieve your objective.

In the book “Think and Grow Rich”, Napoleon Hill states that there are four simple steps that will lead to the habit of persistence. They call for no great amount of intelligence, no particular amount of education, and little time or effort.

The necessary steps are:

1. A definite purpose backed by a burning desire for its fulfillment. Knowing what you want is the first and perhaps, the most important step toward the development of persistence. A strong motive forces you to surmount many difficulties.

2. A definite plan, expressed in continuous action. Organized plans, even though they may be weak and entirely impractical, encourage persistence.

3. A mind closed tightly against all negative and discouraging influences, including negative suggestions of relatives, friends and acquaintances.

4. A friendly alliance with one or more persons who will encourage you to follow through with both plan and purpose. Get a mentor, someone who believes in you who can help guide you towards your goals.

H.L. “Bunker” Hunt, the Texas oil billionaire when asked in an interview about the secret of his success replied, that he believed there were only two things necessary to succeed. The first is that you have to decide on exactly what it is you want. This is the starting point and, in his estimation, this is where most people fail. They never decide what it is they really want. He observed that most people wander through life wanting a great many things but not wanting any one thing more than all the rest. They end up settling for far less than what could be theirs. Once you decide on what you want, he continued, the second thing you must do is determine the price you must pay to get it, then resolve to pay that price. However, many who get past the first step never get past the second. They never realize there is a price you must pay for success, and they are not willing to pay it.

Only a big challenging goal can provide meaning and purpose to your life. It gives you something to aim at, to work toward and to look forward to. Without a goal, you will wander around like a chicken without a head, with no direction attached to your efforts. Since you cannot measure any progress, you cannot feel any sense of accomplishment. Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States once said “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "Press On" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

So whenever you are facing challenges in achieving your goals or dreams remember to repeat to yourself, I will persist without exception, I am a person of great faith.

Till the next time

Bruce

Believe in yourself! You’re divinely designed

And perfectly made for the work of mankind.

This truth you must cling to through danger and pain

The heights man has reached you can also attain.

Believe to the very last hour, for it’s true

That whatever you will you’ve been gifted to do.

Believe in yourself and step out unafraid

By misgivings and doubt be not easily swayed.

You’ve the right to succeed, the precision of skill

Which betokens the great, you can earn if you will!

The wisdom of ages is yours if you’ll read

But you’ve got to believe in yourself to succeed.   Anon

Have You Remembered All of Your Gifts?

As parents we delight in giving gifts to our children because we love them and want to bless their lives. Our delight is doubled when we see their eyes and hearts light up with joy. Our delight is tripled when we hear from their lips words of gratitude and appreciation.

Our heavenly father delights in blessing us, but his joy and our own joy at receiving his gifts, is not complete until we express our sincere thanks from the depths of our hearts.

“A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.  It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.” (1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 7-11)

It’s important to know and recognize our gifts and our graces. That is, it’s important to know what we are really good at - our fundamental abilities that would bring to bear in any kind of task. It’s also important to know what special abilities God has given us.

You have all that the greatest of men have had

Two eyes, two ears, two hands, two feet

You have all that the greatest of men have had

Whether they were explorers or scientists or builders or speakers or motivators

They came here with no more or no less than you

The difference between the mighty and the mundane

Is what you do with what you have.

In the book The Ultimate Gift, author Jim Stoval writes, life is a gift that has been given to us. The way we live it and maximize it is our gift to those around us. The following is a list of just a few of life’s gifts that we all can enjoy:

1. The Gift of Work: He who loves his work never labours

2. The Gift of Money: Money is nothing more than a tool. It can be a force of good, a force of evil or simply be idle.

3. The Gift of Friends: It is a wealthy person, indeed, who calculates riches not in gold but in friends.

4. The Gift of Learning: Education is a lifelong journey whose destination expands as you travel.

5. The Gift of Problems: Problems may only be avoided by exercising good judgment. Good judgment may only be gained by experiencing life’s problems.

6. The Gift of Family: Some people are born into wonderful families. Others have to find or create them. Being a member of a family is a priceless membership that we pay nothing for but love.

7. The Gift of Laughter: Laughter is good medicine for the soul. Our world is desperately in need of more medicine.

8. The Gift of Dreams: Faith is all that dreamers need to see into the future.

9. The Gift of Giving: The only way you can truly get more out of life for yourself is to give part of yourself away.

10. The Gift of Gratitude: In those times we yearn to have more in our lives, we should dwell on the things we already have. In doing so, we will often find that our lives are already full to overflowing.

11. The Gift of a Day: Life at its essence boils down to one day at a time. Today’s the day!

12. The Gift of Love: Love is a treasure for which we can never pay. The only way we keep it is to give it away.

13. The Ultimate Gift: In the end, life lived to its fullest is its own Ultimate Gift.

As we come to the end of the year we should take the time to remember and reflect on all of the things that we have to be grateful for. When we were sad, God sent a comforter. When we were sick, he was our healer. When we were alone, he was our friend. When we are confused, he is your counselor and guide. When our heart was lost in sin, he sent his son to save us.

Hope you have a very great Christmas holiday and a Happy New Year.

Till the next time

Bruce