Build a better you

                                                 INTRODUCTION

         A Man which built a house, and Digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock; and when the
flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon the house, and could not shake it: for it was founded
upon a rock. But he that hear, and do not is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house
was great.
                                                                                         LUKE 6:48-49

         I started with this scripture because everything in life whether  man made or natural start’s with

a base, a foundation on which everything else is built. Either a building, a machine, or a cell all thing

have a foundation and the better the foundation the stronger more stable and durable the thing is. A

major problem of our time is that everyone want's everything instantly, most don' t want to take the

time to get it right from the beginning, we have become a instant right now society which is OK in

some area's like mass production in manufacturing of products but if there has been a problem at the

very beginning like a design flaw or in a rush to get it to market all the “bug's” haven't been worked

problems will arise which can lead to recalls. This is why I chose to start at the beginning, because a

strong foundation means a strong structure

         My chief aim is to provide the reader with information that can be used to better oneself  in

business, relationships, in social activities, to help them grow their self esteem, to strength a person's

ethic and hopeful their all around success. The Principal put forth are taken from many trains of

thought, philosophy's, theology, story of personal achievement and good old fashion common sense, all

put in a format that is relevant and easy to understand for implementation. I truly hope this brings

someone the help they seek.






                                                    


         


                                                            CHAPETER ONE
                                                 KNOW YOURSELF;

         Who are you? No the question is not about where you were born or who your parents or

grandparents are, or where you were brought up or what school you went to the question is much

deeper than that. I heard this saying once and it goes like this “ It's not who I am underneath It's what

I do that defines me”. Put simple it is not where i was born or what family I belong to it is what I do

that defines me.

My life, the choices I make that will determine what  kind of person I become. Agreed our environment

plays a big part of our destiny but after a certain time in life you are handed the rein’s of your life and

you make the choice that will guide you on your path. A path that will leads you up the road to success

or down the road to destruction.

         In order to obtain any personal growth a person should practice being totally honest with there

-self because only in this way will you achieve true results that will bring a relevant change. Many

people lie to themselves then they wonder why nothing changes, why they cant lose weight or why they

cant finish a task, the problem  is that their foundation is unstable and they are doomed to fail before

they even start. So honesty is the best policy and a self assessment the best place to start.

          My point is, we all have philosophy's that we use in our day to day choice's, which we use to

determine action's which cause's result. So in using the self-assessment tool the goal is to improve

redefine

or adjust your philosophy that will bring the desired result. Also a good thing to remember is that many

time's you cant change the circumstance of a given situation or problem, but you can control yourself

and the way you react or act to a problem and this starts with your mental state, you philosophy's your

morals and ethics. These tool are not set in stone but just a few that can be used to point a person to the

path of self accomplishment. Also you must realize that knowing which path to take is much different

than actually walking it. Knowledge only has power when the instruction is put to some useful purpose

to perform a needed task.                    

                                                 SELF-ASSEMENT

         There are some basic first question you need to answer first,  take a piece of paper

and make four columns, at the top of the first column write strengths, at the heading of

the next column write weakness's, the next heading write dislikes and the next write likes.

There is no point system to score yourself the purpose is for you to understand your character

make-up and figure what you can do to improve it or what you can possibly change. Study

your answers and be honest with yourself and you will have a base to work with for you basic

character references.

         The next thing you want to ask your self is, “am I a follower or a leader”? For some it is

alright for them to be a follower they just want to get buy doing what it take to make it in life

with now real aspiration of achievement or development happy to go along with the crowd

and this is fine if that is what you desire, there is nothing wrong with that if that is your choice,

but if you desire to be ahead of the crowd or at least in the front row there are a few things

you need to be aware of. All leaders in any position exhibit certain attributes, maybe not

particularly in the order listed below but they do have them and with out them no one will

follow their leadership for very long so let us examine these traits.


                                       ATTRIBUTES OF LEADERSHIP

(1.)A unwavering courage based upon knowledge of yourself and you occupation ; courage is the ability to face fear and still perform your duty or job. As stated before no person will follow you in any activity if you do not possess this ability.

(2.)You must posses self control ; the person who can not control his own emotion can never hope to control other people. Those who are under your supervision who are more intelligent will see the and emulate your actions.

(3.)A sharp sense of justice ; without a sense of fairness and ethics no leader can obtain the respect of his followers.

(4.)Definiteness of your decisions ; You should no what you want to accomplish, set it it your mind that this is the thing you want and that is that. Also it should be noted that there is no free ride, there is no free lunch, and you will have to pay a price for your decision either it be monetary or physical so you should be prepared for this aspect of action.

(5.)Definiteness of plans ; No goal is reached without a good plan, and even the best plans fail at times so a good plan should be strong but flexible, not so rigid that it will break under the first sign of stress it encounters.

(6.)Doing more than you are paid for ; In doing this you not only make yourself invaluable to those you serve but you also gain a level credibility  that can only be reach thru hard work and time accumulated.

(7.)A pleasing personality; This attribute should be number one. No one want to deal with a grumpy or unpleasant personality especial in the business arena, but a person with a good attitude can go farther and accomplish much more.

(8.)Sympathy and understanding ; Even though  any person in a leadership role my be decisive to make decisions one must show a equally level of sympathy and understanding to your followers or you may be looked upon as a tyrant which in turn will weaken your leadership leading to revolt.

(9.)Mastery of detail ; Any person in a position of authority should know as much as possible about what that particular position entails and it's duty’s. Not only is the devil in the details but God is in the details as well.

(10.)Willingness to assume full responsibility ; Let me ask a question, which person would you follow,  the boss who always makes excuses or the boss who recognizes, takes control and corrects the problem? I myself would follow the later. The leader who take responsibility, bad as well as good is the man to follow.

(11.)Cooperation ; Cooperation is vital for any plan, business or anything else to succeed. We are all different with our own values and differences but it is when we come together in a spirit of cooperation that the true nature of the human spirit thrives and sours, without this you can only hope to crash and burn.

         There are more traits we can look at and I will but these are the focal points I wish to admonish

at this moment because in this day and time there seems to be a change in philosophy's  which is

leading to greed, mistrust of the exact people that are put in place to serve the greater good, instead

using their authority for excessive self  gain and prosperity at the expense of the little guy which is the

base of the foundation. I equate this directly to which philosophy the individual chooses to implement in their

life. We will touch on this subject much more in chapter 3 where we be examining some aspect of

philosophy, but for now let us prepare to move on to our next point.


         Now let us take a look at the choice's you have made to get us to the place where you are at this

very moment in time. We are taught very early on, (if you are lucky) the differences between right and

wrong by parents, school and society, but what about those individuals that have not been given that

privilege to be brought up and nurtured in a good environment, who might have to fight or kill for

their survival? I must stress the fact that we are not her to judge you or anyone else for their actions,

nor should you,my aim is to get you to think about you action and the choices you have made to get to

the place you are at right now. Of course looking in the past is hind sight but if done objectively you

should gain a good perspective of your mental state, to coin a phrase if you don't examine your past

your can't assess your present therefor you can't plan your future. This may seem like common sense

but you would be surprised of the number of people content just to live day to day and “get by”.

         Your goal is not to look at your past and say to yourself if I new then what I no now I wouldn't

do this or that, or get upset or frustrated at the outcome but your focus should be on what motivated

you to make the choice you made, why did I decided to do that, What caused me to act in such a way?

In doing this examining this examining your reasoning you should come to better understanding of why

you made the choice you made thereby taking your down the path you are on. Look at it like driving a

car,  the road is the path in life you travel the car is your life and your choice's are the steering wheel ,

steering you to the left or the right on the path of life to you goal or destination.

         Don't be so hard on yourself about your mistake or the thing you did not accomplish, stop

beating yourself up and remember the things that you failed at are just as important as the thing you

succeeded at because from these failures you learned what did and didn't work what do and not to do

the next time. Napoleon Hill said in his book “Think and grow rich”, that all failures bring with it

the seed of it equivalent success, That means every time you don’t make it on the other side of the coin

is the reason why and how you can make it so take note and don’t give up.

         OK, we have take a introspective look at our inner most personality and the reasoning as to why


we are where we are now , This moment in time and have decided not to beat ourselves to death for

the choices that we made on the way but to understand and evaluate them with wisdom and prudence.

         For some this may cause you to face a fork in the road, you might be asking yourself, “did I do

that?”; or “what can I do to change thing or make thing better?”. There is a old saying that “The

beginning of any journey starts with a single step”.Think of a baby, how It crawls around to get around,

then it will pull it's self up and hold on to things to walk around and final it will take small steps

sometimes falling but getting back up to try it again until it has mastered the art of walking upright and

then finally running. Imagine all that from a single step. OK lets take a step, a baby step together and

see where it leads us. Take it to the next level by asking yourself three questions, these three question

are the first step we will take. OK here we go!

         What three single things are holding you down or keeping you from success? Can you modify

the situation or circumstance that so that it isn't a problem or can you handled it in a more proactive

manner?  Is it worth holding on to them?    Next you should examine the next question, what three

single things can you implement in your life that would change your circumstance's for the better? Are

they worth trying? I personal think you should get a notebook and write these question out and answer

them. I’m writing them out you can see the thing right in front of you in black and white which brings

a intangible idea or muse into the realm of reality where it can dealt with in a tangible way. These six

questions are are what you might say is a “quick start assessment guide”, for you to examine and take

action on right away even though there are not that many question you can see they pack quite a punch

of reality if done with sincerity and honesty but they are only the tip of they iceberg as far as our

investigation into the psychology of our personal motivations.. If you desire to really go deep in

understanding why try answering the next thirty questions, remember write them out and don't beat

yourself up about the answers. This may take you awhile so be prepared to put in some work but I

promise if done properly you will gain a real revelation to your own character and motivations.

         
         This information is taken from the book “Think and Grow rich”, by Napoleon Hill.

(1.) Do you find fault in other at the slightest problem?

(2.)Do you complain often about feeling bad, if so what is the cause?

(3.) Do you make a lot of mistakes at work? Do you no why?

(4.) Are you offensive or sarcastic in your conversations?

(5.) Do you avoid associating with anyone? Why?

(6.) Do you have indigestion a lot? Do you no why?

(7.) Does the future seem hopeless and life seem futile? If so why do you feel like that?

(8.) do you like you job? Why?                                                                                                                                 
(9.) Do you learn from your daily activities lessons that will help and influence your personal advancement?

(10.) When you enter a room does you presence bring positive or negative influences?

(11.) What habits of other people annoy you most?

(12.) Does your job inspire you with faith and hope?

(13.) Have you learned t create a mental state of mind that will shield you against negative forces?

(14.) Do you make the same mistakes over and over?

(15.) Are you aware that possessing spiritual forces of sufficient power can enable you to keep your mind free from all form of fear?

(16.) Does your religion help you keep a positive outlook on life?

(17.) Do you feel it is your duty to share in other people's worries? Why?

(18.) The saying “Birds of a feather flock together”, what does that say about your friends or the company you keep.

(19.) What does the company you keep or your friend have in common with any negative situations you have?

(20.) could it be that someone who calls himself a friend is in reality you enemy because of the negative influences they bring into your life?

(21.) how do you judge who is good or bad for you?

(22.) How much time have donated to, occupation, sleep, play and relaxation, acquiring useful knowledge or plain waste in the last twenty four hours?

(23.) What is your greatest worry?

(24.) Which of your friends encourage you, caution you discourages you or helps you most in other ways?

(25.) When people offer you free advice do you take it at face value or analyze their motives?

(26.) Do you change your mind often?why?

(27.) Do you finish what you start?

(28.) Are you impressed easily by other peoples title, their degree or their wealth?

(29.) Do you cater to people because of their financial status?

(30.) who do you believe is the most greats person who ever lived? In what way are they Superior to you?

         I took these question because they are very precise and descriptive for the image I was trying to

have you draw out of yourself. There is no point scoring system involved, the only thing I hope is

uncover is the reason why you do what you do and point you in the direction to fix it. This may seem

like a lot of work but there are no free lunches and anything worth while is worth working for, there

is a price to pay for everything in life, but we will talk about that later. Now after taking the time to

document your self-assessment, and you have analyzed your answer and have decided that you need

to make some adjustments you might wonder what is the next step?

         The next step is to make a decision and stick by this decision no matter what happens, you must

decided what you really want, what do you want out of  life, what do you want for the future, what do

you want to accomplish in the short term? who do you want to follow?  If anyone at all , and how to do

to do it and also what price are you will to pay because there are no free lunches or free rides in life,

you will have to pay a price you will have to make sacrifices you will have to give something in return

for your success so you need to make the choice now and stick to that decision making changes only

as a last result or to stay the course.