As we launch into 2024, many people have set new year's resolutions on what they will create throughout this year. How many of you reading this have things that you have committed to yourself that you will create in the year 2024? Have you chosen to release weight? Are you committed to a new sales goal or financial target? Is your aim to have healthier relationships and better communication with those you care about? We want to take this time to encourage you. Generally in the first few weeks in any venture in life there is excitement! That is when people feel motivated and enthusiastic to achieve their goals. Leverage that energy. Use that motivation to its greatest capacity. Motivation is a great thing as it gets you excited and moving. Also, be aware that there is a downside to motivation and that is it gets to be renewed often. Imagine having been to a motivational training and you are so excited, until you walk out to the parking lot and find someone has keyed your car? This is why we say we are a transformational company, instead of a motivational company. Our goal is to give you the tools to change your thinking at a heart level, so when you encounter that kind of challenge in life, you may be disappointed and you have the tools to still choose forward movement regardless of the circumstances. When you transform your thinking at a heart level you do not need to be deterred by a lack of motivation. You can choose to be focused, and committed even when the excitement has worn off. Here is where the encouragement comes in. True mastery is developed in the plateau. If you feel yourself waning from your resolution, if you feel yourself beginning to slip or let slide on the little things, now is the time to re-engage in why you set that resolution in the first place. Do something to refresh your heart and your mind and get yourself realigned with the purpose behind your commitment. If you are experiencing a plateau, the game isn’t over just because you cannot see instant gratification towards your goal. You are in the practice. That means being diligent in all things you do towards the bigger picture of your life. Yes, even when super-bowl sunday comes and challenges your commitment to the weight you were committed to releasing. Choose qualities or character traits that will serve you in being the person you get to be in pursuit of your goals, and watch everything in your life begin to shift. 10 traits, that as a company we continuously lean on for success, are the 10 traits of the Compassionate Samurai: abundance, personal responsibility, commitment, contribution, honesty, knowledge, focus, trust, honor, and courage. Where can you embrace these traits in your life to be extraordinary in an ordinary world? Perhaps choose one quality this week that you are committed to walking in. Test yourself. Embrace that quality even when you don’t feel like you embody it. Begin to give yourself new evidence of who you truly are at a heart level. Implement that quality in the pursuit of your goal or resolution. Watch your results shift. Feel the empowerment to proceed, even if you find yourself in a plateau. Interested in diving deeper into the heart of a Compassionate Samurai? Follow us on social media as we launch into a 10 week look at being a Compassionate Samurai. Or, purchase a copy of The Compassionate Samurai by Brian Klemmer on www.klemmer.com

Words have a great impact on our lives. While they are imperfect, they are the only tools we have to communicate our thoughts, hopes, and dreams. I have long believed that whoever controls the language controls the debate. The words we use matter to everyone in our lives, and most significantly, our own words matter to each of us. I’m a big believer that we should remove or greatly minimize our use of the word can’t.  When we think or say the word can’t , we are reinforcing our lack of resources or the inability to achieve a certain task or goal. Let’s say you have decided to follow a more healthy nutrition plan, and while enjoying dinner at a friend’s home, they offer you a dessert that is not a part of your new plan. Your first reaction might be to say, “I can’t have dessert.” This signals weakness and inability in your own mind and to anyone with whom you are communicating. On the other hand, if you respond, “I don’t eat desserts,” this communicates power and control in that you have made a decision, and you are choosing to honor the decision you have made. While this may seem like an insignificant difference in semantics, the words we choose can make all the difference. My late, great friend and mentor, Zig Ziglar often contrasted two different ways to say the same thing, which he discovered when he was dating his future wife. While the phrase, “You look like the first breath of spring” and the phrase, “You look like the end of a long, hard winter” might denote the same point in time, they do not communicate the same message. Just as the phrase, “When I’m with you, time stands still” is quite different from, “Your presence can stop a clock.” While Zig’s examples are humorous, they point out the fact that words matter because they represent, communicate, and reinforce our thoughts and ideas. Listen carefully to the words you use to share your ideas and emotions with those around you. More importantly, be aware of the words you use with yourself as you think about who you are, what you want to do, and where you want to go. Can’t  describes your weakness and inability to do something, while don’t  describes a decision you have made to control your actions and your future. As you go through your day today, put the power of words to work in your life. Today’s the day! Jim Stovall is the president of Narrative Television Network as well as a published author of many books including The Ultimate Gift. He is also a columnist and motivational speaker. He may be reached at 5840 South Memorial Drive, Suite 312, Tulsa, OK74145-9082; by email at Jim@JimStovall.com ; on Twitter at www.twitter.com/stovallauthor ; or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jimstovallauthor .

In days of economic uncertainty, it's especially important to cultivate an attitude of abundance. How can we switch from a scarcity mindset to one of abundance? One key is to recognize opportunities. Here's a story that illustrates this. Once there was a fisherman who caught a large fish. Bringing out his ruler, the man measured his catch: twenty inches. The man threw the fish back. Soon after, his rod wiggled again. This fish measured only five inches and the fisherman dropped it into his bucket. And so it went. The fisherman kept every fish under twelve inches and threw back every fish of greater size. Finally, a nearby fisherman could no longer hide his disbelief. "You keep throwing back the fish larger than twelve inches," he said. "Why the heck are you doing that?" "It's real simple," the man answered. "My wife only has a twelve-inch frying pan." This is a silly story, but it shows how some of us think. We often don't recognize great opportunities when they land at our feet. Such opportunities must be "too good to be true," illegal, or scams at best. But if an opportunity does present itself, research it. If the opportunity looks legitimate, go for it! Hanging out with wealthy people is another way to increase your abundance consciousness. For one thing, you can learn how they think and by their example. They have connections with experts that you don't have; they know the experts. Wealthy people also have the money to finance your ideas and they have ideas they don't have time to get to. An illustration of a third principle, pushing against your comfort zone, is discussed in chapter 8 of my book When Good Intentions Run Smack into Reality. Several years ago, my friend Randy needed to move. One apartment he was considering cost $800/month, the same amount he was presently paying. Another apartment cost $1,200/month. Randy called to ask my advice. I told him that his choice depended on how each apartment influenced him. The less expensive apartment wasn't in a very good neighborhood and Randy didn't feel comfortable in it. But he was excited about the more expensive apartment. He felt good in it. My advice was this: Randy couldn't afford not to take the $1,200/month apartment. For some, the less expensive apartment wouldn't have had the impact that it did on Randy. Renting the more expensive apartment was a stretch for Randy financially, but he needed to push against his comfort zone. The $1,200/month apartment gave a message to his subconscious that helped him along the road to the success that he desired. Ten years later Randy owns the third largest stock seminar company in the world and owns a house worth over one million dollars. Now, I'm not encouraging people to go out and buy just anything! But I am saying that "going for it" will often make you feel uncomfortable because it pushes against your belief systems. We shouldn't reject something just because it's outside our frying pans. Going for new opportunities, learning from others with an abundance mentality and pushing against our belief systems are all ways to help us expand into an attitude of abundance.

There are times when open, honest communication and the use of code words and fair fighting may not work to get you out of the 3Rs. This can be the case when the person you feel resentment, resistance or revenge toward is not someone you can openly communicate with. When this is the case, consider giving as the solution to resolve the 3Rs in your life. On pages 50-52 of Brian's first book,  If How-To's Were Enough We Would All Be Skinny, Rich, & Happy  there is a basic discussion of the importance of giving and the 3Rs. Let's follow that, now, with one example of how giving worked in Brian's life. When Brian left a company he used to work for, they owed him about $16,000 for flight fares and work he had completed as an independent contractor. The owner of the company said, "You're never going to see that money," and then she laughed and added, "Of course we'll pay it; we always pay our bills." The reality was, this company didn't always pay the bills and that was one of the reasons Brian had left in the first place. It was at this point that the resentment began to kick in for Brian. He had worked 18 years to build this multi-million dollar company and now they wouldn't pay him a measly 16 grand! Brian realized that the owner was mad at him because, among other things, she was afraid that he was going to steal the whole company from her when he left. Every time Brian called to ask about the payment, her response was, "Oh, I've already taken care of that, I've talked to the accountant." The truth was, she wasn't going to pay him. Obviously, she was mad at him, and then he became angry. They were both in resistance! Finally -– it only took a year-and-a-half! –- Brian said to himself, "Oops, I'd better start practicing what I preach." Once Brian recognized that he was in the 3Rs, he realized that he needed to give to this woman. But what could he give her? He wrote the owner a letter and said that the $16,000 she owed was now a gift to her. Brian didn't do this to be some goody-two-shoes. Quite honestly, he figured he could make the money back quickly enough. But this situation was costing more than money. It took its toll on Brian creatively. It cost him time. He'd get off the phone with this company and complain to the people around him and that would mess up their creativity. So, when giving to this company freed him from resentment, it brought with it an explosion of energy and creativity -— to himself and the people he associated with. This illustration shows how destructive the 3Rs can be, and how giving can free us from them. Through the use of giving -– along with the other tools of fair fighting and open, honest communication -– we can deal with the 3Rs and enhance the creativity in our lives. How have you freed yourself from resentment, resistance, and revenge?

All of us want the things we do today to matter, but significance is not only measured in the moment.  There are things we can do today that will make a difference tomorrow, next week, next year, or even in the next generation.   There is a Vietnamese proverb that says,  "If you want to have a 10-year legacy, plant a fruit tree.  If you want a 100-year legacy, plant a seed in the lives of people."   I believe there are three phases in our lives and our maturation.  We have to first find our mountain, then climb the mountain, and finally, help others reach the top and join us.  Too few people ever identify their passion or calling.  They are unable to climb their mountain because they never found it or claimed it as their own.   Your personal and professional life should have a mission statement that everything can be judged against.  I understand very little of the inner workings of computers, but in simple terms, I believe all information is reduced to a one or a zero.  Once you have your mission statement, you can act like a computer and separate everything into information and facts that fit your mission and everything else in the world that doesn't.  Much of the challenge in making good decisions is simply the process of eliminating the bad ones.  Once you have identified your mission statement and chosen your mountain, you've got to climb it.   We live in a world that when it's all said and done, there's a lot more said than done.  I know people who have had the same goal or mission for decades, but they haven't taken the first step.  Despite what many self-proclaimed success gurus would tell you, there are no shortcuts to the top of the mountain.  While there's a lot of wisdom that can help you toward success, at some point, it involves that dreaded four-letter word:  work.  Once you have reached the summit of your mountain, you need to celebrate your success and honor the people who have made it possible for you to reach the summit.  Then dedicate yourself and your efforts to helping other people reach the top of their own mountains.   For several years, I thought there was nothing more fun and gratifying than experiencing my own success until I got to enjoy the exhilaration of helping other people identify and achieve their own success.   As you go through your day today, commit to find your mountain, climb it, then help others. Today's the day!

Let’s talk about overthinking. Do you ever find yourself drowning in your own thoughts? The narrative you create in your mind that seems to snowball on itself until it is so overwhelming that you end up exhausted or quitting. I picture this as a mental hamster wheel. It’s like our mind is the wheel, and our thoughts are the hamster. If you are anything like me, sometimes that thing gets going so fast I feel like it could fly right out of the cage! What do we overthink about? Absolutely anything. Maybe it’s a conversation we know we get to have and don’t want to have. Occasionally it’s what other people will think about us, or what we are doing. Sometimes it is a goal or dream we have committed to and after we fully commit, every reason for not doing it begins to flood our mind. We begin to create crazy mouse traps for ourselves about the sliver of what is “possible” or “reasonable.” I’ve had this experience and maybe you can relate. Let’s say I have a phone call to make and I am apprehensive about it. I tell myself that I am absolutely doing that tomorrow. First error in my judgement, I put off until tomorrow what I could easily do today. This just gives me more time to awfulize the situation and make up barriers to having the conversation that simply are not there. Maybe I begin to tell myself, well I can’t call before 8am because what if I wake this person up? Then I tell myself, I can’t call between 8am-5pm because most people would be working. Well of course I can’t call between 5:30pm and 7:30pm because that is when people are having dinner with their family. And no way I could call after 8pm out of respect. I don’t want to bother them while they are going to bed. Meanwhile, back in reality, I have mentally boxed myself into a one hour window where I can “morally” and “ethically” make the phone call. MY GOODNESS! Maybe this is just me and I have often found myself being completely unreasonable in the name of being reasonable or considerate! Funny story, and you would never do that right? Pull the emergency break on the hamster wheel! When you find yourself justifying and defending your excuses, slam on the breaks. When you find yourself creating more reasons you can’t do something than reasons why you can… red flag! If you find yourself listing all the reasons it won’t work… that’s your sign. Get yourself back in check. Begin to ask yourself questions to discover what are the belief systems running you at that moment. Kimberly Zink often tells me, “Anytime you need to justify or defend you are out of alignment.” You know in those times when you are running this story with yourself how out of alignment you truly are with your heart. You know action would support you in overcoming the thinking. When I find myself running on this metaphorical hamster wheel, I feel exhausted, trapped, and victimized. I start to believe I have so few possibilities there is no way I can win. Stop buying your own baloney! Sometimes all we need is a good old fashion reality check with ourselves (and maybe even a laugh at ourselves) on what it is we say we want. Is that worth going after? Give yourself the gift of peace. Take urgent action now. Ask the questions. Be brave. Be honest. Watch your world shift.

William Shakespeare, through his character Romeo, offered us the thought-provoking idea, “…a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” While I agree with The Bard that a rose would smell as good regardless of what you call it, it probably wouldn’t sell as well. We can become so familiar with the way we refer to ourselves or things around us that we neglect to take a step back and consider how that verbiage or reference impacts other people.   Recently, I read a biography of the iconic designer Ralph Lauren. His name has become synonymous with the very best of style and fashion around the world. However, Ralph Lauren was not his birth name. He was born Ralph Lifshitz. He might have worked just as hard and been just as creative, but it is likely the millions of people who proudly purchase and use products that bear the name Ralph Lauren might be hesitant to wear a garment displaying the name Ralph Lifshitz.   The heroic actor John Wayne, who graced movie screens as the quintessential cowboy and soldier, was born Marion Morrison. It’s hard to imagine the characters John Wayne portrayed being brought to the screen by someone named Marion.   I love to eat Chilean sea bass. It is probably my most favorite seafood, but it almost became a victim of a bad name as well as a good name. For many years, the fish we now call a Chilean sea bass was marketed as an Antarctic toothfish. Seafood wholesalers, distributors, and restaurant owners avoided the fish assuming no one would want to eat something called an Antarctic toothfish. Eventually, a South American distributor got the rights to market the fish under the name Chilean sea bass. Over the next few years, it became so wildly popular that the fish was in danger of becoming extinct. Now, thankfully, the population of the Chilean sea bass has replenished to the point that it is a stable item on many finer restaurant menus.   Changing nothing more than the name propelled the sea bass from obscurity to near extinction. As the author of more than 50 books, despite advice to the contrary, people do, indeed, judge books by their covers, and people judge book covers based on titles. We have countless choices in books and movies, and a great title can capture attention and build momentum.   Before you title a book, launch a product, or name a child, it’s a great idea to consider what that name will say to the world, now and in the future. You never have a second chance to make a good first impression. You, your products, and your company are all known by name; make sure that name says what you want it to say.   As you go through your day today, reconsider what’s in a name.   Today’s the day!

What list of things do you have that you want to accomplish before you die? How many of the things on that list are you actively pursuing? This is not a new concept, but it is an important one. What if today was your last day? We would like to believe that with modern technology, a healthy diet and a regular work-out regime we will live a beautiful life into our 90's. Unfortunately there is no special formula to calculate how much time we have left. To put off things that are on your heart to accomplish is saying you are okay if you do not accomplish them. Tomorrow is not guaranteed, but today is a gift! What are you doing with your present that you are proud of? Take action on your bucket list. What is important to you matters, and will make a difference on this planet. The time is NOW!

There is not one simple overriding key to success. Instead, there are a number of keys that make success possible. However, one of the most significant concepts among the keys to success is that of delayed gratification. Olympian Peter Vidmar said, “Don’t sacrifice what you want most for what you want now.” Few things in life that are worthwhile come easily or are attained quickly.   I’ve long believed that there’s no shortcut to anywhere worth going. One of the most significant indicators of future success came to light through research done on preschool children that became known as The Marshmallow Test . In this research, a preschool - aged child was taken into a small room and told to sit at a table. On the table in front of them was one marshmallow. The only instructions given to the child was that they could eat the marshmallow now, or if they waited five minutes ,  the researcher would come back and give them a second marshmallow. That simple test proved to be an amazingly accurate indicator of how children would succeed throughout their education and career.   Many of our ancestors grew up in an agrarian society. They lived on farms and daily observed the cycle of planting and harvesting. Farmers worked all year and basically had one payday after they harvested their crops. People who are willing to plow, plant, fertilize ,  and cultivate their fields in hopes of a good crop later in the year, understand delayed gratification.   Higher education offers many lessons in delayed gratification. Obviously, students are studying today putting in effort and energy that will pay off years down the road in the form of a degree. College students are often faced with the dilemma of enjoying a night out with friends now or studying for a test that will potentially result in a good grade later. Success in life comes when we can strike a balance between smelling the rose today and planting roses that will be enjoyed in the future.   The recipe for failure is quite simply short - term ,  bad decisions repeated regularly. If you eat poorly today and neglect to exercise, it will have little ,  if any ,  effect on your long - term health. However, if you make it a regular, ongoing habit, it can literally kill you. The difficulty arises that if you eat well and exercise today, you won’t experience positive results as quickly as tomorrow. Success is cumulative.   The regular, systematic investments in your retirement plan or investment portfolio will seem insignificant at the moment but will make you wealthy in the future.   As you go through your day today, make choices that will bring you success in the future.   Today’s the day!   Jim Stovall is the president of Narrative Television Network as well as a published author of many books including The Ultimate Gift. He is also a columnist and motivational speaker. He may be reached at 5840 South Memorial Drive, Suite 312, Tulsa, OK 74145-9082; by email at Jim@JimStovall.com ; on Twitter at www.twitter.com/stovallauthor ; or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jimstovallauthor .

Who is still beating themselves up for finding yourself in the 3 R's? Or upset that you instantly made up a negative meaning to a situation? Maybe for you it is that you are still arguing to "Be Right" when you can see beyond that vantage point. That's great news! It means you are still human! It is not about whether or not you fall back into pairs of old sunglasses, but how quickly you can remove them. The shorter your rebound time is, the more efficient you will be. Don't beat yourself up; move yourself forward! This might sound simple but it is truly an art form. For tools to improve your rebound rate, we recommend revisiting the work as much as possible. Come back and staff. Read a book by Brian Klemmer. Find a way to keep yourself immersed in the process of growth.

Have you ever had an experience where you felt burned by a relationship? Do you ever feel like you stick your neck out for people and it gets chopped off? Can you accept that people are human and are going to occasionally disappoint you? Your choice is where you go from there. How do you truly live your life as a Compassionate Samurai? Use three of the exercises from Personal Mastery to help you overcome your last heartache. Start by looking at the situation from a responsible place versus from a victim mentality. Responsible not meaning, "I am responsible, so you are not." Responsible also does not mean, "You are responsible, so I am not." Responsible is a viewpoint for everyone to take. So coming from a place of responsible you can look at the facts of the situation at hand, and the meanings you made up around those facts. Create a new meaning that serves you in moving through this situation. Lastly, recognize if you are in the 3R's. If you are there are 3 ways of moving yourself out of the 3R's that you might remember from Personal Mastery; giving, open honest responsible communication, and a fair fight. The pain from relationships is real. However how you choose to move through it makes you Compassionate Samurai. Sometimes I think back to before I went through this work and wonder to myself, "Wouldn't it be easier if I didn't know? I honestly feel like a victim in this situation!" One universal gift we were all given at birth is the gift of choice! That means we never have to be a victim.

Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” One of the best ways to examine our lives is to utilize categories. We can examine our work/life balance by looking at our calendars and reviewing how we spend our time. We can examine our financial success by reviewing our various accounts and updating our investment goals. One of the most important things we can ever examine is with whom we spend our time.   The late, great author and speaker Jim Rohn said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” I find this to be among the most profound and meaningful concepts I have ever learned. If we are going to examine the people we spend time with in our lives, it’s important to understand how these individuals impact us.   I believe everyone we meet or interact with makes either a deposit or a withdrawal in our emotional account. There are some people who energize us. They make us feel positive and drawn to possibilities just by being around us. There are other people who deplete us and draw from our emotional accounts. These people make us feel tired or disengaged. It’s important to realize that there are certain family members, friends, colleagues, and contacts who cannot be avoided, but understanding where they fit in the emotional deposit or withdrawal scale will help us determine how we should approach our time together and either maximize or limit our exposure to them.   I’ve always visualized the imbalance between those who drain us emotionally from those who contribute to us positively as a seesaw. There are some people who simply lift us up ,  while others push us down. Please keep in mind there are always people we are mentoring or those who are less fortunate who we are serving. These people can make a positive impact on our lives regardless of their emotional category because we are in a giving mode when we interact with them. The act of giving our time, talent, or resources always has a positive impact on our emotional accounts.   One of the most powerful things you and I can do today to impact our future, is to identify and assess the people who we spend the most time with to determine how they are impacting us.   As you go through your day today, be mindful of the emotional deposits and withdrawals people are making in your life.   Today’s the day!