“Every man’s work, whether it be literature, or music, or pictures,
or architecture, or anything else, is always a portrait of himself.”
Samuel Butler (1612–1680)

“Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it
with a steady and perpetual serenity.”
Joseph Addison (1672–1719)

Come my friends, sit in close to the fire where it is nice and warm. Allow me to share some extremely valuable information with you that will indeed change your life for the better. Before anyone is really and truly ready to begin their personal journey to their chosen place and level of success, they first must prepare themselves for success and then they need to position themselves to accomplish it. All too often people who begin their journey to achieve greatness and success in a given field of endeavor are inadequately prepared and poorly positioned. Consequently they most usually fail in their attempts. Now ask yourself,…. does their initial failure mean they are completely inadequate for the work needed and effort required to be performed in the accomplishment of their desired success?

No it does not!

It just means that more is required than what they have so far been willing to do before they too will be able to succeed at their attempted efforts and work requirements!

There ain’t no free lunches in this life. Because whenever somebody gets something for nothing, then somebody else had to give something up and get nothing in return for it.

Contrary to popular thinking,…that just isn’t the way things work in our free enterprise system of economics in America. Pay attention now as I wade into this subject and try to make some sense out of it for you.

Although most of us probably attribute our problems to other people or to bad luck or to the circumstances around us, the truth is that we create our own success or failure.

The road to successful positive living must begin with an analysis of ourselves and it depends ultimately on how and what we personally think of ourselves.

Clergyman, author, and motivational speaker, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, rightly declared many years ago, “Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot succeed. But with sound self-confidence you can succeed. A sense of inferiority and inadequacy interferes with the attainment of your hopes, but self-confidence leads to self-realization and successful achievement.”

Dr. Peale’s words ring just as true today as they did when he penned so many years ago.

“As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.”
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)

“One ought every day at least to hear a little song, read a good
poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few
reasonable words.”
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)

“A man is a method, a progressive arrangement; a selecting
principle, gathering his like unto him wherever he goes. What
you are comes to you.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

So now back to the discussion at hand……..self-confidence.

The next reasonable question that begs to be asked is “How do you build self-confidence within you?”…Take your mind off the things that seem to be against you.

Thinking about negative factors simply builds them up into a power they need not have. Instead, mentally affirm and reaffirm and visualize your assets–the love of God your Father, the ability of your own mind and talents, the goodwill of your friends and family, your physical health, your strengths, your future, your possibilities.

Stamp indelibly on your mind a picture of yourself succeeding.

Make an accurate estimate of your ability, then raise it 10 percent through increased performance.

Affirm that God is always with you. Put yourself in His hands and believe (really believe) that you are now receiving power from Him for all your needs.

The most active organ of the human body is the inner ear.

Self talk is a requirement to accomplishing great personal success.

Now comes the absolute required step needed to keep these positive affirmations always at the forefront of your own mind. Speak out loud the things and quotations given to you within the confines of this discussion at least three times a day. If possible do so in front of a mirror so as to allow you to look yourself in the eye while you speak to yourself out loud. Make these affirmations an actual part of yourself. In so doing you will learn how to better control your thought processes and, ultimately, your own destiny.

“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
Leviticus 19 : 18

“There is a spirit in man: and the Inspiration of the Almighty
giveth them understanding.”
Job 32 : 8

“Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me , bless His
holy name!”
Psalm 103 : 1

“Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not.”
Isaiah 35 : 4

“The life which is unexamined is not worth living.”
Plato (427–347 B.C.)

“What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and
lose his own soul?”
Mark 8 : 36

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
Philippians 4 : 13

“A good reputation is more valuable than money.”
Publilius Syrus (Ca. 42 B.C.)

“Our life is what our thoughts make of it.”
Marcus Aurelius (121–180 A.D.)

“A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds.”
Anonymous

“Nature arms each man with some faculty which enables him to
do easily some feat impossible to any other.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

“A man is what he thinks about all day long.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

“In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme
excellence is simplicity.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882)

“We have forty million reasons for failure but not a single excuse.”
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936)

“It’s nothing against you to fall down flat. But to lie there–that’s
disgrace.”
Edmund Vance Cooke (1866–1932)

“Speech is silver, silence is golden.”
Swiss Proverb

“We were all born under the same sky, but we don’t all have the
same horizon.”
Konrad Adenauer (1876–1967)

“Our self-image strongly held, essentially determines what we
become.”
Maxwell Maltz (1899–1975)

“To every disadvantage there is a corresponding advantage.”
W. Clement Stone (1902–2002)

“Nothing in life is more exciting and rewarding than the sudden
flash of insight that leaves you a changed person–not only
changed, but for the better.”
Arthur Gordon (1912–2002)

Your mind accepts anything and everything that you put into it. The verbalization of these affirmations through the your own mouth imbeds it into your brain through the channel of the body’s most active organ, the inner ear. This exercise puts great truth into your mind. God’s great Truths of Life allow you to strengthen and grow your own self confidence and your commensurate capabilities to use them and receive blessings and rewards from their application.

When you begin to let your actions and deeds do your talking for you, you will be well on your way to great achievements.

Success is indeed a journey. It is not a destination.

Enjoy the journey.

Peace and Love to All of You…………………Poppa Bear