Success...One Day At A Time

The Law Of Increasing Returns

The Law of Increasing Returns is no invention of mine, nor do I lay claim to the discovery of the principle of rendering more service and better service than paid for, as a means of utilizing this Law.

I merely appropriated them, after many years of careful observation of those forces which enter into the attainment of success, just as you will appropriate them after you understand their significance.

You might begin this appropriation process now by trying an experiment which may easily open your eyes and place back of your efforts powers that you did not know you possessed.

I am going to ask you to approach this experiment with full faith that it will mark one of the most important turning-points of your entire life.

I am going to ask you to make the object of this experiment the removal of a mountain that is standing where your temple of success should stand, but where it never can stand until you have removed the mountain.

You may never have noticed the mountain to which I refer, but it is standing there in your way just the same, unless you have already discovered and removed it.

"And what is this mountain?" you ask!

It is the feeling that you have been cheated unless you receive material pay for all the service you render.

That feeling may be unconsciously expressing itself and destroying the very foundation of your temple of success in scores of ways that you have not observed.

In the very lowly bred type of humanity, this feeling usually seeks outward expression in terms something like this:

"I am not paid to do this and I'll be blankety-blankety-blank if I'll do it!"

You know the type to which reference is made; you have met with it many times, but you have never found a single person of this type who was successful, and you never will.

Success must be attracted through understanding and application of laws which are as immutable as is the law of gravitation. It cannot be driven into the corner and captured as one would capture a wild steer.

For this reason you are requested to enter into the following experiment with the object of familiarizing yourself with one of the most important of these laws; namely, the Law of Increasing Returns.

The experiment:
During the next six months make it your business to render useful service to at least one person every day, for which you neither expect nor accept monetary pay.

Go at this experiment with faith that it will uncover for your use one of the most powerful laws that enter into the achievement of enduring success, and you will not be disappointed.

The rendering of this service may take on any one of more than a score of forms. For example, it may be rendered personally to one or more specific persons; or it may be rendered to your employer, in the nature of work that you perform after hours.

Again, it may be rendered to entire strangers whom you never expect to see again. It matters not to whom you render this service so long as you render it with willingness, and solely for the purpose of benefiting others.

If you carry out this experiment in the proper attitude of mind, you will discover that which all others who have become familiar with the law upon which it is based have discovered; namely, that...

You can no more render service without receiving compensation than you can withhold the rendering of it without suffering the loss of reward.

From The Law of Success In Sixteen Lessons by Napoleon Hill

Have You Changed To Decide In A Minute?

Quite often...the easiest thing is to just carry on what you've always been doing.

You know...

- Just reading and not applying
- Surfing instead of working
- Watching TV instead of reading
- Doing just enough instead of your best

It seems that we have an in-built capacity to not be that bothered when it comes to taking action about what bothers us!

Why is it so difficult to just stop doing the 'wrong' things...and start doing more of the 'right' things?

Well...we're all essentially lazy, that's why.

Now...I don't necessarily mean lazy in terms of sitting-and-there-not-doing-anything lazy.

Nope. I mean that we're lazy when it comes to making the effort to CHANGE...even one little bit.

Quite often...it's not even that the process of changing is particularly difficult.

After all - how difficult is it to pick up a personal development book at the same time as using a remote control to turn off the TV program that we are just idly watching for something to do?

See what I mean?

I'm going to hold my hands up here - I'm certainly far from perfect where full-on 100% focused action is concerned.

Quite often I'm happy yo just give myself some 'nothing time' to let what I've been focusing on percolate in my brain.

BUT...that doesn't mean to say that I spend hours (or even days) at a time not moving myself forward in some way.

And...neither should YOU!

YOU are here to DO something with the talents you have been given. YOU are here to EXPERIENCE life instead of watching someone else experience it on some reality TV program!

That's why, if you're not moving towards where you (think you) want to go EVERY day - then it's time you changed something. Anything!

One thing to remember, though...is that you musn't just FILL UP your time.

It's all very well spending a week's worth of bedtime reading on a book if all you do is pile it up on your bookcase once you've read it!

At least aim to get some return on your invested time by highlighting the sentences and paragraphs that really mean something to you.

It's also easy to spend hours surfing the 'Net under the disguise of 'investigation'.

I'll be honest - I used to spend DAYS doing that - then wonder what the hell I had achieved the week before!

The outcome of YOUR life is determined by the DECISIONS you make - every minute of every day.

The sad fact for most people is that they will continue to make the SAME ones day-in day-out for the rest of their lives - and spend all of that time wishing things were different.

Things CAN be different (in some cases quite dramatically) - but ONLY if you CHANGE those little DECISIONS you make.

You can decide to do nothing...or you can decide to ACT.

What's it to be?

'Why-To'...And Less Of The Doing, Please!

Over the last few months I have begun to look more inside myself for what I really want from life.

My reading has progressed from 'how-to' to more 'why-to'!

By 'why-to' - I mean that I am spending more and more time focusing on ways to increase my awareness and understanding of the more spiritual side to life, as opposed to just finding ways to DO more.

The questions this reading throws up are not always easy to match up against the realities of paying the bills, however!

Of course...one of the reasons why I am treading a more spiritual path is to manifest more of what I WANT from my life...without having to WORK harder and longer for it to happen.

In a way - I suppose that I'm looking at a way to get what I want from life without having to sacrifice what I currently have.

Not an easy thing to do, that's for sure - but it CAN be done (that's also for sure!)

All of us are conditioned, it seems, from an early age to focus on the material side of 'wealth'...as opposed to the mental side.

Over the last few years I have got so much more enjoyment from DOING as opposed to BUYING that, quite often I wonder what I used to get out of my 'old' life!

Still...the DOING side doesn't necesssarily pay the bills (as this blog and my free "To Our Success" Ecourse proves!) - so that is why I am beginning to look at ways in which I can manifest more of what I 'need' in my life...so that I can focus more on doing what I 'want'!

Working alone in my office means that, quite often, I spend too much time for my own good listening to that voice inside my head...yet recently it has begun to agree with me that I should just carry on with the DOING, and just let my ongoing development of the spiritual side of me take care of the rest.

I'm not sure that Lesley would agree that this is the most secure way to pay the mortgage - but, I know from first-hand experience that if you spend too much time doing stuff that you HAVE to do...then it's so much more difficult to accept that what you WANT to do is the best thing you can do for your long-term happiness, success, and well-being.

We'll just have to find out and see, won't we?

The See-Saw And Sabotaging Myself...

Question:

"The biggest problem I have right now is I have studied wealth & personal development for several years but I still can't find out why my mind won't let me achieve wealth.

Your help in this would be greatly appreiciated because right now I think I need a miracle."

Answer:

Who's to say that your goals are not SUPPOSED to be 'sabotaged'?

Are the goals that you are aiming for really what you want to achieve? Are they based around what YOU want...or what you believe you SHOULD want - or what other peoples' expectations of you are?

I'm certainly not convinced that your subconscious doesn't want you to have what you want.

In fact...it wants entirely the opposite - to find a solution to what you are asking it!

So...you MAY be writing goals down, saying affirmations, and taking your opportunities as they come along - but if, deep down, what you are aiming for is not 'right' for you - then by default - you're going to find a way NOT to make them happen.

OK. So perhaps your goals ARE ones that you truly believe are based on your passions and your values...what then?

Well...

Forget about blaming your subconscious. Blaming anything or anyone else is NOT the way to go about achieving success.

YOU have to accept FULL responsibility...because YOU are in control. Never forget that.

One thing that you should NOT do is take your success too seriously.

It may be a strange thing for me to say...but, the more you fret and get stressed out about NOT achieving what you want - the more you're filling your mind with negatives built around what you want.

Your mind is like a see-saw...constantly swinging up and down - negative thoughts at one end - positive thoughts in the other.

The more you think about negative (and destructive) things it becomes 'heavier' - and leaves your positive (creative) thoughts hanging in the air hopelessly swinging their achievement legs!

It's easy to focus on things not going right...it's always so much harder to see what you HAVE achieved whilst trying.

You said that you almost reach your goals before they get sabotaged.

In my book - if you're almost there - then isn't that a GOOD thing? Doesn't that mean that you have moved forward from where you didn't want to be towards where you DO want to be?

Sounds like achievement to me!

Don't get hung up on not reaching the 'destination' of your goal. Quite often...in order to reach a BETTER destination in the future - you have to quite often go completely off course from where you THINK that you want to go.

The enjoyment and challenge of the JOURNEY itself is what you should be aiming for anyway - not a goal (which is usually money-oriented for most people) which, once you arrive at it - you will want something more!

When I was sixteen and just started work on $5,000 a year salary - I would have happily believed that I would have been 'made for life' if I was earning $20,000 a year. Why then, at 30, when I was earning more than TEN times what I was at sixteen - I had more debts than ever before and was miserable as hell?

Never forget that life isn't about reaching a goal - it's about experiencing and enjoying as much of it as we can!

I Want To Own. I Want To Be. I Want To Have. How?

Question:

"I want to own my business, to be self employed. To have financial stability. Not to afraid of retirement. To be healthy. How do I achieve all these...???"

Answer:

Whoa!

How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time!

First - you need to focus on your MAIN priority - because quite often, many of the things you strive to achieve may well result in a negative effect in something else you think you want to achieve!

For example...you could spend twenty hours a day running your own business...but end up with an ulcer because of over-work and stress!

But...if your need to be self-employed is that much more greater than your need for excellent health - then one is certainly going to suffer at the expense of the other!

I believe in what I call 'wave moderation'.

Think of the normal wave signal - the consistent peaks and troughs of a nice, good quality 'bell curve'.

My life is a little like that.

Some days I goof off.

I'm at the bottom of the WORK wave curve - but at the top of the LIFESTYLE wave curve.

Other days I may be so caught up with a deadline for work that I might be at the TOP of the work curve - and completely at the BOTTOM of the lifesstyle curve!

The problems only begin when you spend TOO much time at the top of EITHER curve.

In an ideal world we'd like to think that we would spend our days doing nothing much - but even billionaires need something to do to tax their brains a little.

Also...if you are working all hours at the expense of your health or your relationship with your family - then no amount of money will help you.

Let's also look at financial stability.

Can I be a little blunt here?

The easiest way for SOME degree of financial stability is to do the job that you currently do to the VERY best of your ability!

If you are viewed as someone who 'goes the extra mile' as Napoleon Hill said - then you will stand the best chance of surviving - even in the severest waves of redundancies.

If you want to run your own business...then, in my opinion, in the short- to medium-term - that certainly ISN'T a recipe for financial stability!

Ask any entrepreneur what it was like for the first few years after they started out on their own.

The best way is work on YOUR business during the times which you might otherwise waste on watching TV, reading newspapers or novels...or idly surfing the Internet.

And...if you can't dedicate yourself to even FIVE hours a week developing your business idea further - then what chance would you have to stay motivated for a FULL working week?

Unless your business becomes part of who you are and what you do - and you NEVER have that 'Monday morning feeling'...then you might as well stay in a salaried job.

By proving to yourself that you CAN devote some 'play' time to working on your ideas - then it's pointless to just quit your job and go it alone.

Remember...motivation is always easy to come by when you are starting out. Believe me...it's much harder to keep going after months or years of constantly focusing on earning enough money to pay the mortgage.

Now...I'm not trying to be negative here...just realistic.

It's great to have dreams...but it's just as easy for those dreams to turn into nightmares if you aren't doing what you really LOVE to do.

So...make sure that you take it one step at a time...and you might very well find out that, with some adjustments, your life might be THAT 'bad' after all.

It's Child's Play - Sing and Laugh Your Way to Success

Back in the early 80's my wife and I started a
business which is flourishing to this day. They
were lean years... dare I even say 'desparate'
times when it seemed we had only two choices -
sink or swim.

Having literally no money, we put in massive
action by pounding the pavement and doing face-to-
face cold calls. And COLD they were, since we
started our Toronto-based music school in the
middle of January literally knocking on doors
looking for new students.

In addition to the bitter cold weather, there were
the constant pressures of falling behind on taxes,
rent and utilities. On top of all this, both my
wife and I were sued by our former employer for
$250,000 each for soliciting his students, which
we never did. While the cases against us were
eventually dropped, it nevertheless caused us many
sleepless nights.

What kept us going through those cold and dark
days was a mantra that we developed and burned
into our minds. We crystalized our goal into one
sentence and set the words to the chorus of a
well-known song, 'The Battle Hymn of the
Republic':

We like getting 50 students,
We like getting 50 students,
We like getting 50 students,
Coz we also like to eat!

(hear me sing this song on my website)

Hey, I told you they were desparate times. My
wife and I joke about it now, but we ate a LOT of
peanut butter 'steak', and pop-corn 'steak', and
Kraft dinner 'steak'! We were just grateful to
have something in our bellies.

Personally I must have sung that song literally
hundreds of times each day from the time I got up
until the time I went to bed. I sang it as we
went from door-to-freezing-door, and just about
every spare moment I had, all the while
intensifying my my focus and belief.

Magically, within a few short months we actually
exceeded our goal of 50 students and were well on
our way to establishing a solid business which
continues to serve our community more than 20
years later!

I mention this story now to introduce another new
and more powerful acronym that I recently created,
based on the familiar children's song, 'Old
MacDonald'.

E-I-E-I-O

* E = Even
* I = If
* E = Especially
* I = If
* O = Occupy

EVEN IF things don't appear to be going the way
you want them to go...

ESPECIALLY IF things don't appear to be going the
way you want them to go...

OCCUPY your mind with total and complete focus -
burn it into your skull - the one and only thing
you fully intend to achieve.

Upon reflection, I KNOW for sure this one thing is
true... whatever I have focused on has multiplied
and magnified in my life. When I took command and
full responsibility for my thoughts, I got the
results I desired.

Admittedly, I spent the majority of my 50+ years
in 'default-mode' thinking and yet I STILL got
what I focused on. When I worried and cussed
about bills and health and relationships, guess
what I got?

This is GREAT NEWS, because it's absolute,
undeniable PROOF that the principles of right
thinking - cause and effect; the law of
attraction; whatever you want to call them - they
all WORK! Now it's a matter of making a simple
choice - do I want to take full responsibility for
my thoughts, or do I want to stay in default-mode?
I know what I'm choosing!

What about you, my good friend? Do YOU want to
take full responsibility for YOUR thoughts, or do
you want to stay in default-mode, taking whatever
crumbs and crap life hands you?

When put that way, it's no longer much of a
choice, is it?

Have some fun with this acronym, E-I-E-I-O. Here
is my new version of "Old MacDonald".

$250K I choose to earn
E-I-E-I-O
My rich thoughts magnified and multiplied return
E-I-E-I-O
With 10K here and 50K there
Here a K, there a K
Happy life the easy way
$250K I choose to earn
E-I-E-I-O

(hear me sing this song on my website)

While I sing, I imagine the new car I'm driving,
my mortgage-free condo and all the live ball games
I'm getting out to enjoy. I'm THERE, BABY!

The reason this works so well is that singing
raises your level of vibration and by doing so, it
increases the POWER and SPEED of attraction. MORE
of what you want... FASTER!

To really get into the spirit, it helps me to
imagine that I'm in a Bavarian Beer Garden and
I've got two mugs of beer in each fist, pumping to
the 'Oom-pa-pa' band. Sing with gusto!

WARNING: Doing this in public is NOT advised!

So allow me to clarify... when in public, IMAGINE
singing your heart out. As a man thinketh in his
heart, so is he. Crank it up ONLY when you are
absolutely sure no one is listening and/or
watching! :)

EVEN IF an unexpected bill comes in...

ESPECIALLY IF things don't seem to be going quite
as expected...

Just OCCUPY your mind completely with
your song and vision.

I gotta tell you, I'm singing all day, every day
and things are really starting to hum...
(ah, hem - please excuse the bad pun!)

Feel free to modify it or make up your own words
to suit your goals. Also, I challenge you to
experiment with other songs.

Most of all, remember the E-I-E-I-O Principle:

Even If; Especially If... OCCUPY!

I hope you understand now that your success can
literally be child's play. Have FUN!

All the best from Toronto,
Russ Hamel