POSSUM AND THE PINE

Do affirmations and visualization work.  Yes, if you are already successful in that affirmation. No, if you are not.  You can not lie to yourself over and over and think you are fooling your mind into believing it.  Your mind knows what you are doing and why.  What does work is asking yourself the right questions.  Answer with truthful answers.  Better questions equal better results.  Practice.

Everyone has worries unless they are a psychopath.  We can never get rid of worry, but we can learn to manage and control its effects on us.  This is how I learned the most effective techniques to manage worry.  It's from the most beneficial course I have ever taken. 

Many people will make promises and false claims just to make you feel happy.  This makes you admire them and builds their egos at a dangerous cost to you.  If you rely on this Happy Talk you could make very costly decisions that fall flat.  Do your research and always get any promises in writing. 

Usually the problem people have is a lack of total commitment to their goals or the RISK they have chosen but sometimes we can over commit to a plan of action that is not at all justified by the level of risk involved. 

The greatest power in the universe is that of compounding.  It works for good just as it does for evil.  The problem is that the forces of evil are easy to allow to compound whereas to compound good requires consistent effort.  Listen to the story of the tortoise and the Hare.  Slow and Steady wins the race.

Once again I learn the importance of treating everyone with respect as if they were the most important person you know. You NEVER know what impact that may have in the future.  You can not treat others with respect without having respect for yourself at the same time. A gift that keeps giving back to you.

Many times companies are too quick to tell customers what they will not do instead of trying to see if they can accommodate the request and keep the customer happy.  Of course this is very important for larger repeat customers but the principle also applies to small retail sales and services.  So don't be so quick to tell people, "we don't do that here."  Stanley Diaz

The fool drives like a maniac cutting people off and constantly tailgating the car in front of them.  People think that by driving up close to the bumper of the car in front of them they will somehow get where they are going sooner.  Precision driving means looking beyond the cars in front of you and picking the best overall lane to be in.  Driving in the city you can not go faster than the speed of the traffic lights.  If you are very aggressive and manage to make one light or two before it turns red you are not going to get anywhere faster than a minute sooner most of the time.  Take it easy and drive smart not like a neurotic.

Happiness is not pleasure.  I only comes when you work at it and sacrifice now for a better future.  There is more to happiness than what most people think.  It is never easy, because it can not be.  Years ago I would never have understood how to become happy.  Instead it came on its own.

This episode is about the importance of improving yourself and less on expecting the government to solve our personal or even national problems.  Improve yourself and the world will improve with you.