When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you until
it seems that you cannot hold on for a minute longer, never give up
then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. --
Harriet Beecher Stowe
From "The Healing Power of Prayer," by Chester Tolson, Ph.D. and
Harold G. Koenig, M.D.:
Life offers many challenges, the ultimate being death itself. We are
sometimes called upon to face pain, suffering, loss, and grief that
may seem impossible to handle. Prayer gives us hope and keeps us
moving.
Here is a formula you may use to help overcome. When confronted
with a trial of any kind:
1. Face it.
2. Life it.
3. Commit it.
4. Release it.
Let's look at each of these in more detail:
1. Face it. One thing that adds enormous pressure to an already
tense situation is our inability to face realistically what may be
happening to us. We may be:
Fearful of the outcome
Unwilling to believe the facts
Embarrassed by the conditions
Protective of ourselves or others
Denying or avoiding a problem that requires action on our part is
never helpful. Research has shown that people who do this regularly
end up not coping as well. Studies of both college students and sick
older adults demonstrate that those who approach their problems by
avoidance and denial experience less well-being overall, compared to
those who face their problems.
2. Lift it. After facing up to the real facts of what is happening in
your life or someone else's, or in the conditions around you, and
having done everything you know or can do with the help of others,
you must then lift these facts above yourself to God/dess in prayer.
At that point you make a full and complete disclosure of your needs.
It is helpful to name them one by one. God/dess does not need this
recitation, but doing so strengthens us. We admit to ourselves that
we cannot do it alone and we are asking God/dess for help.
3. Commit it. Having faced it and lifted it to God/dess, we commit
it. We take it out of our hands and hand it over to God/dess. The
solution to the problem will be through us from God/dess's divine
will for our lives. This commitment should be without any reserves.
It is handed over in faith that God/dess will handle it.
4. Release it. Having faced it, lifted it, and committed it, we must
release it. We may not be able to forget it, but we should release
it and no longer worry about it.
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How do you start your day? Years ago I started planning mine by
writing everything down I would have to do, the night before. I found
that drawing up your list the night before prompts your subconscious
to work on your plans and goals while you sleep. When you wake up,
you feel ready to tackle your challenges.
When prioritizing and planning your time, consider the following
points:
• Key questions.
What is the highest value-added action I can do?
What can I, and only I, do that I've done well before to make a
difference?
Why am I on the payroll?
The answers to these questions help identify all that needs to be
done and in what order. That, in turn, will bolster personal
productivity.
• Values.
Decide what's important to you, and in what order. Make sure your
values don't conflict with work. Energy spent worrying diminishes
your abilities.
• Consequences.
Every action has consequences - good and bad. Consider what rewards
you'd reap by completing a task. Then, compare those rewards with the
consequences of putting it aside. This process makes it easier to see
which goals have a higher value.
• The Pareto Principle.
Vilfredo Pareto, a 19th-century engineer, argued that 20% of what you
do accounts for 80% of the value. When considering the importance of
a task, ask yourself whether it's among the 20% that creates the most
value.
• Urgency vs. Importance.
An unexpected phone call or a drop-in visitor may be urgent, but the
consequences of dealing with either may not be important in the long
run. The urgent is other-oriented, it's caused by someone else.
Important things are self-directed and have the greatest value for
you.
• The Limiting Step.
Standing between you and what you want to achieve is the limiting
step. That's the bottleneck that determines how quickly you can reach
your goal. It's important to identify that step and focus single-
mindedly on getting that one thing done.
• A Written Plan.
Lists of goals, tasks and objectives are of no help unless they're
written. Putting your plans on paper makes a seemingly elusive goal
more concrete. There's a connection that takes place between the
brain and the hand. When you don't write it down, it's fuzzy, but as
you write it and revise it, it becomes clear.
• Visualization.
See yourself doing what you need to get done. Visualization trains
the subconscious to focus on completing tasks. Say, for example, that
you want to begin each morning by exercising. Visualizing yourself
doing sit-ups and push-ups the night before conditions the mind to do
those the next day. When you prime you mind, it wakes you up even
before the alarm clock goes off.
Remember you are a winner and preparation goes a long way in helping
you achieve all your goals.
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Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will
not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people 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." Calvin
Coolidge
I have worked with many successful people; people who have achieved
the kinds of lives they have dreamed about. I have also worked with
many people who are not anywhere near where they want to be in life.
Many times those who are not successful resent those who are and
believe that somehow success was handed to those who have achieved
much.
What I have found however is that actually the reverse is true.
Those who have achieved much have worked much HARDER than those who
are not successful. You wouldn't believe the stories of struggle that
I hear from those who now appear on "top of the heap." Yes, they
are successful, but no, it wasn't handed to them! And I find that
most of the unsuccessful people who come to me actually haven't been
tenacious at all. I find that with many of the people I speak to who
complain about their lack of success simply haven't persevered and
been tenacious. When I ask them questions I usually get excuses.
Yes, there are exceptions on both sides, but I find this to be
almost universally true.
If you are one who finds yourself dreaming of a better life, or
looking at someone who "has it made," I would ask you to take a
long, deep look inward and at your life to find whether or not you
have actually been tenacious in pursuit of your dreams. How long
have you gone for it? Many people who achieve much go for YEARS
before they achieve what their hearts long for? How hard have you
gone for it? Most people who achieve much have given up much. They
have sacrificed much. They strive valiantly for what it is that
resides deep in their dreams. They just plain ol' work hard!
So what are the principles of tenacity? What do you need to know in
order to take your turn at the tenacious? Here are some thoughts to
start your fire and get you going!
1. Sometimes you just have to outlast the others.
"Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have
let go." William Feather
I have found that many people start on their dreams but most never
finish. Then those who stop resent those who make it. The truth is
that most people who become successful have simply mastered the art
of keeping on keeping on! I myself can remember early on in my
career when I would get discouraged and I literally said to
myself, "One more week. Just give it one more week." Quite frankly,
this is what got me through a couple of years of my work early on. I
hung on as others let go.
It is easy to get disheartened. Ask those who have achieved success
if they ever got disheartened and you will find some of the most
amazing stories you have ever heard. Give it a try: Go to the most
successful person you know and ask them if they ever thought about
quitting. Ask them how they kept on going. You will be amazed at
what you hear.
2. Sometimes you just have to hold on at the end.
"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."
Franklin Roosevelt
I wonder how many people have quit just as they would have begun
their entrance into success? Sure there are many who quit at the
first sign of hard work, but what about those who, after the tenth
time of trial then give up, just as fate would have seen them go
through one last hurdle and then into the promised land? How many
people were on their last hurdle and decided not to jump? How many
people had just one more mountain pass to go? Or just one more river
to cross?
Of course we will never know, but certainly some of the people who
quit are doing so on what would have been their last trial, right?
So what does this mean for you? For me it means I do not quit
because I would hate to find out later that all I needed was just
one last effort and I would have achieved my goal. What if it isn't
my last trial? That's okay because as long as I keep going,
eventually I will get to my last trial, I will overcome it, and I
will enter the Winner's Circle.
3. Sometimes the most beautiful results come from dull things under
pressure.
"Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their
jobs." Malcolm Forbes
If coal wasn't an inanimate object it would certainly scream, "Stop!
I want out!" But that coal, when facing incredible pressure, is
turned into one of earth's most precious possessions. Ugly, dirty
old coal is transformed into beautiful diamonds.
Instead of looking at pressure and trials as the reason to quit, get
tenacious and see them as the very thing that will make your life
the beautiful thing that you desire it to be. See it as your
opportunity to learn, to grow, and to be transformed. See these
trials as the very things that will enable you to have the life that
dream of!
Trials will surely come. Life will get hard. You will want to quit.
Then you will have a choice: Will you give up? Or will you take your
turn at tenacious. The choice you make will determine much of the
rest of your life.
My advice? Take your turn at tenacious. You will become stronger,
and you will end up living the life you dream of!
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From the Desk of GraceWatcher of Sakin'el
Sharing the oneness of God, religion and humanity
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There is no religion higher than truth 
