Harvey, Jason - Achieve Anything In Just One Year - Be Inspired Daily to Live Your Dreams and Accomplish Your Goals

Individuals who achieve great success are not affected by flattery—or insults. They develop a strong inner sense of their abilities, and that identity cannot be shaken. Flattery is something that influences those who do not have a strong core, those who wish they are something they are not. If you are confident you are following your destiny and doing your best, then it doesn’t matter much what other people say about you.

Don’t be concerned with flattery. It doesn’t matter. It might be true, and it might just be someone sucking up to you because they want something else. Concentrate your efforts on honoring your gifts. You know what they are. You have done a number of exercises in this book alone to find out what you enjoy and where you excel in life. Are you still traveling toward goals that match your abilities and your passions? Take some time today to reach inward and center yourself. Realign yourself with your dreams if you have gotten off course. Are you on a path that brings out your best talents? Are you honoring your gifts and bringing them out in the open?

DAY

285

“I can spot empty flattery and know exactly where I stand. In the end it’s really only my own approval or disapproval that means anything.”

— Agnetha Fältskog

Agnetha Fältskog is a successful singer who is well known as a member of the popular band ABBA. She is a terrific example of someone who knows exactly where she stands. This woman can spot empty flattery a mile away, and it has no effect on how she views herself or her success.

She points out a very important lesson. In the end, it is your own approval that means the most. Think about that for a moment. If someone lavishes praise on you, but you know deep down that you only gave a small percentage of your abilities, how do you feel about yourself? If you know that you could have done a lot better, then it’s difficult to accept or believe that praise.

You are the only one who knows exactly what you are capable of achieving. If you hold back, you will know it. You can choose to pretend to believe flattery, but you always know the truth deep down. In order to live a successful, meaningful, and happy life, you must be authentic. That means you must use your talents and not hold back. How will you feel if you don’t achieve overall success, and you know that you could have done better, but instead you chose to listen to empty flattery and quit when you thought you were ahead?

Take another day today to look inside and make sure you are being true to yourself. Are you using all of your talents? Do you approve of the efforts you are making today?

DAY

286

“He who dies with the most toys is, nonetheless, still dead.”

— Unknown

Over the next few days you will be taking a look at what really matters—to you. What are the important things in your life? Are they toys? The quote above suggests that the stuff you collect doesn’t really matter much in the end. If that’s true, then what does matter?

Let’s start this series with an awareness exercise. Make a list of the things you cannot do without. Next, make a list of the things that you enjoy, but you could live without. Finally, make a list of the stuff you probably don’t need and wouldn’t mind discarding.

After you complete this assignment, take a look at your three lists. What do you notice? Write in your journal about any conclusions you can reach by observing your lists with a critical eye.

When you think about what matters to you, it might also be important to consider whether or not you matter to others. Do you feel as though you make a difference? Are you significant to those around you? Write in your journal about how you influence your surroundings, human and otherwise, and what the world would be like if you suddenly went missing. Do you think anyone would notice? How would you be missed?

DAY

287

“Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn’t stop to enjoy it.”

— William Feather

How high does happiness rank on your list of important things? Do you believe you deserve to be happy? Have you received your share of happiness, or are you still waiting for it to show up?

Many people wait their whole life for happiness, and frankly they feel a bit gypped when they see others getting more than their fair share. These people don’t realize that happiness has shown up millions of times along their journey, but they never stopped to pick it up.

How do you make sure that you find happiness and scoop it up instead of passing it by? The first step is to be aware. Open your eyes and ears. Pay attention. Joy can be found just about anywhere. It pops up even in some of the most horrible situations. But you have to be looking for it.

Your assignment today is to look for happiness. Actually, don’t just look for it as if you were looking for a pair of socks or a lost paper clip. Hunt for it like you are on a safari to find a hidden treasure. Seek out happiness. Find the things that bring you joy, and do them. You don’t have to endure a long series of hardships in order to become a success. Part of reaching success has to do with hard work, but no one said it had to be devoid of joy. Happiness is necessary for success, so go out and cultivate it in your life.

DAY

288

“The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.”

— Walter Bagehot

Do you really want to get a kick out of life? Then achieve the unattainable. You will receive a huge amount of satisfaction if you attempt the impossible. Work against the odds. You’ve got nothing to lose, and imagine what you have to gain if you beat them.

Think about the great inventors in history. Just about every one of them was told, “You can’t do that!”

They responded with, “Why not?” and kept going anyway.

Adopt an inventor’s attitude and find pleasure in doing what people say you cannot do. If you practice that one small change in attitude, you may be very surprised at what happens in your life. Can you imagine the unseen doors that might open?

Have you had any experiences in the past where people told you that you were not capable of doing something? They probably used words like “impossible,” “not good enough,” and “crazy” to put you in your place. How did you react? How did their words make you feel? Write in your journal about a few of those experiences if you can recall them.

Now is your chance to get even. No one can tell you what you cannot do. You know for a fact that you are the only one on earth who truly knows the power you hold within you. Ignore the naysayers and get to work. It’s fun to prove them wrong! Pick up some joy when you mentally thumb your nose at the critics and go ahead and achieve your dreams in spite of their misgivings. Make them jealous. When you attempt things people say you cannot do, you are cultivating success.

DAY

289

“Dwell not on the past. Use it to illustrate a point, then leave it behind. Nothing really matters except what you do now in this instant of time. From this moment onwards you can be an entirely different person, filled with love and understanding, ready with an outstretched hand, uplifted and positive in every thought and deed.”

— Eileen Caddy

Mistakes people made in the past are heavy burdens that they often continue to carry with them for no apparent reason. They hold on to things that they regret and assume those things define them. The truth is that your past is not that powerful.