Top 10 All-Time Blog Posts

After maintaining this blog for a few years now, here are the most popular posts. The second on the list is the most popular recently and will make it to the top at some point.

Give them a read and let me know what you think.

1.  Avoid Dramatic People

Jan 31, 2012

2.  Law of Cause and Effect a Tenet of Aristotelian Fa...

Feb 16, 2010, 2 comments

3.  Jesus and Aristotle

Feb 6, 2010, 3 comments

4.  Bumping into God - Part 1

Aug 31, 2011

5.  Eckhart Tolle for Christians

Feb 7, 2010, 6 comments

6.  Aristotle and Christianity

Feb 6, 2010, 1 comment

7.  Use Daily Affirmations to Strengthen Self-Confiden...

Jun 14, 2011, 4 comments

8.  Self-Confidence: A Commitment to Feeling Good

Jun 17, 2011

9.  Fully Commit to Feeling Great

Jun 22, 2011

10.  An Exercise for Experiencing the Joy of Being

Apr 17, 2010, 2 comments

Affirmations Help You Live Consciously

The most important affirmation you can incorporate into your life is, "I am fully committed to feeling great 100% of the time," followed closely by any affirmation you can come up with having to do with self-confidence. Feeling great 100% of the time is self-confidence, in my opinion, and since self-doubt doesn't feel great at all, it's covered in this one. Say it as often as you think of it throughout your day--especially when you don't feel like feeling great--and it will change your life.

So what's happening when we engage in this simple exercise of affirmation? What's happening is, you're beginning to live your life consciously. Plato said, "The unobserved [i.e. unconscious] life isn't worth living," and as most of us who have suffered through a lot of unnecessary suffering at the hands of unconscious living can easily attest, Plato was right.

Where Do Affirmations Come From?

You are your consciousness. Your consciousness and Consciousness are one. You are Consciousness. Your voice is the voice of your consciousness. Your voice is the voice of Consciousness. When you use your voice, Consciousness is taking its rightful dominion. Use the voice of Consciousness to dictate to subconsciousness exactly what Consciousness wants for your life. These vocal directions are affirmations. Awareness of this simple process in the miracle of humanity.

But where do affirmations come from? This is an important question. In much the same manner as described in "How We Know Stuff," affirmations arise from being. If you give them a try, you'll find that you can't just pick any affirmation you want. You may get that affirmation down on paper and you might be able to say it a few times. But each time you do, it won't sit well with you. You'll find yourself pondering that affirmation, scrutinizing it, until finally you modify it or reject it as not in line with your being, with who you are.

How to Find the Doing That Arises from Your Being

"I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was." --Muhammad Ali

One of the best tests for figuring out if you're doing that which arises from your being is to modify Muhammad Ali's famous affirmation by saying out loud: "I am the greatest _____________ of all time," and fill in the blank with what you're doing right now. If this isn't really the doing that arises from your being, you probably won't even be able to finish saying this short sentence. And if you do finish it, the words will feel like bits of cardboard in your mouth.

If, on the other hand, the words roll off your tongue with fluidity and ease, you've found the right doing for you (and you probably already know that). Now, to achieve greatness in that doing, put aside any misplaced, misguided, culturally-induced sense of supposed humility you're supposed to harbor within your soul and say your own version of this affirmation as many times as you think of it throughout the day. Tinker with it to come up with your own wording to make it more personal to you, then make it your habit to think it and to say it as often as possible. Say it both to yourself and to other people. That's right, say it to other people. If you do, you will achieve greatness, guaranteed.

Self-Confidence: A Commitment to Feeling Good

Self-confidence is the key to all success. So what is it exactly?

We have already said that self-confidence is "the bond that connects being with doing," and "the strength to do that which arises from one's being, come what may." See "Use Daily Affirmations to Strengthen Self-Confidence"). But one might also say that self-confidence is a commitment to feeling good.

"How does that work?" you ask. It works like this.

Connection with being is that which gives rise to good feelings inside you. To get the sense of what I mean, go to "An Exercise for Experiencing the Joy of Being," and then come back and finish this article. Go ahead, we'll wait . . . 

Use Daily Affirmations to Strengthen Self-Confidence

The core principle of Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, the granddaddy of all success literature, is the building of self-confidence through twice-daily affirmations, a process Hill called "auto-suggestion." He says quite pointedly:

Taking inventory of mental assets and liabilities, you will discover that your greatest weakness is lack of self-confidence. This handicap can be surmounted, and timidity translated into courage, through the aid of the principle of autosuggestion.

Your problem, in other words, is a lack of self-confidence, and here's how to fix it. And fix it, it does.

Think and Grow Rich - The ENTIRE Book!

What follows is the original version of the book, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill in its entirety (click "Read More" below). Each page can be magnified by clicking on it.

After several readings of Think and Grow Rich, I've become convinced of its inspired nature. I invite you to read a chapter a day. If you will do that and DO WHAT IT SAYS, your life will be positively changed.

You may find the writing archaic, many of the examples out of date and women will find it geared toward the inspiration of men. I encourage you to look past that to the kernel of the presentation, which is the Carnegie Formula for success. I'm putting it into practice and I'm finding that it really works on every level, from personal peace to the accumulation of riches.

Read the book, a chapter a day, then read it again. Take down notes as you read, then read through your notes. DO WHAT THIS BOOK SAYS and your life will change for the better!

See Think and Grow Rich - The ENTIRE Book! listed under Pages on the right column of this blog for links to all the chapters.

If you'll write to me, I'll send you the PDF version.

Go to Author's Preface

Go to Table of Contents

Go Directly to Chapter 1

Think and Grow Rich - Author's Preface

Think and Grow Rich - Table of Contents

Think and Grow Rich - The ENTIRE Book! (Author's Preface and Table of Contents)

Think and Grow Rich - Author's Preface

Think and Grow Rich - Table of Contents

Think and Grow Rich - Chapter 1 Introduction

Think and Grow Rich - Chapter 2 Desire: The Turning Point of All Achievement

Think and Grow Rich - Chapter 3 Faith: Visualization of, and Belief in Attainment of Desire

Think and Grow Rich - Chapter 4 Auto-Suggestion: the Medium for Influencing the Subconscious Mind

Think and Grow Rich - Chapter 5 Specialized Knowledge, Personal Experiences or Observations

Think and Grow Rich - Chapter 6 Imagination: the Workshop of the Mind

Think and Grow Rich - Chapter 7 Organized Planning, the Crystallization of Desire into Action 

Think and Grow Rich - Chapter 8 Decision: the Mastery of Procrastination

Think and Grow Rich - Chapter 9 Persistence: the Sustained Effort Necessary to Induce Faith 

Think and Grow Rich - Chapter 10 Power of the Master Mind: the Driving Force

Think and Grow Rich - Chapter 11 The Mystery of Sex Transmutation 

Think and Grow Rich - Chapter 12 The Subconscious Mind: The Connecting Link 

Think and Grow Rich - Chapter 13 The Brain: A Broadcasting and Receiving Station for Thought 

Think and Grow Rich - Chapter 14 The Sixth Sense: The Door to the Temple of Wisdom

Think and Grow Rich - Chapter 15 How to Outwit the Six Ghosts of Fear

Think and Grow Rich - Chapter 4