I was driving towards Fredericton, the sun was going down, the road was clear, the snow was laying clean and white over everything and Ray Boltz was playing on the stereo. This is my favorite time of day. This is the time of day when I like to clear my head of the past weeks’ challenges, and prepare for the next week.

What happened next has caused a major ripple in my personal beliefs. Have you ever had your thinking and beliefs change so suddenly that you really didn’t know what to do except sit there and stare into space, feeling totally numb at the experience?

I was visioning as I was driving, and asking myself how I could make a bigger difference not just in my own life, but also in the lives of everyone that I come in contact with. At the moment that I asked myself the question, the words to the song that was on the stereo said, “What if I gave all I have? What would that gift do? My son a gift like that could change the world, it could feed the multitude…”

That was it! There was the answer to what I have been seeking for such a long time. In my own life over the past few years, I have been holding back on being me. I have been using my own skin and trying to be someone else, and quite frankly, it wasn’t working the way I wanted it to. I am definitely not at the place where I thought I would be 15 years ago when I started in this business. So much has happened that has been great, but I know that I could have done so much more.

I have no intention of digging up regrets or failures from my past; however, they do serve as teaching points if I choose to look at them the right way. What I discovered was that I had not been giving my all. I seemed to be holding something back, in my relationships and in my business. I believe that I was protecting myself from failure, which goes against everything that I have been saying in my classes for years. “Face the fear and do it anyway!” I have said many times…, well I think that I finally “Got It!” as Dr. Phillip McGraw says in his book “Life Strategies”. I looked at myself, and asked the right question at the right time and the picture became clear.

If I give all that I have or all that I am, I can literally change my world. Shakespeare said, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” Well, this experience has changed my thinking for the better! I now know and am committed to the idea that my thinking determines where I will go in life.

This week, challenge yourself to look at your life differently. Ask yourself better questions. Take faster and more deliberate actions on your decisions, give everything that you have or everything that you are, and you will have started out on a path that will very differently change your life and provide you with the peace of mind so that you can always say “I gave it my best shot!” with no regrets.

Make this your best week ever.
Paul

For 22 years, Paul Kearley has thrived in the personal development and coaching business. As a Master Coach for the past 10 years, Paul’s passion is in developing and creating increased potential with both clients and other trainers.
A columnist for two newspapers in Eastern Canada, and editor for his own weekly ezine, Paul writes articles that address the everyday challenges we all have and face in life and in business, and offers suggestions for success.

If you’d like to connect with Paul to discuss your personal or business strategies or to subscribe to “E-Motion” his weekly newsletter , simply send an e-mail to carnegie@nbnet.nb.ca, visit http://www.mustthinking.com or call 506 433 4722.