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Remember when you were five years old and you felt like you owned the world? You liked yourself, you were proud of your accomplishments, you were strong and courageous, and you loved people. You believed everyone loved you, too. You could dress up like a cowboy and you believed you were one.

When people asked you what you were going to be when you grew up, you answered without any doubt that you would be an astronaut or a beauty queen or a doctor. The world was at your fingertips. You believed in miracles and dreams and you had no limitations.

When You Grow Older, You Let The World Show You Limitations

As you grew older, the world got in the way and disappointments, failures, and painful experiences started to corrode your optimism, discount your self-esteem, and wear down your expectations. You started to become cynical, skepticism crept into your heart and you began compromising.

You found that being politically correct and turning the other cheek made your life easier, and you could avoid confrontation by backing down.

Previously exciting dreams and goals got shelved in favor of mediocrity and concession. Your attempts at improvement became lackluster and half-hearted. You liked yourself less. You put yourself down and lowered your standards. You stated focusing on survival instead of great success.

The Real You is still there, deep down inside. You are a winner who has behaved like a loser. You are an eagle that is living in a chicken run. You are a king or queen, clothed as a beggar, a champion with a loser’s name. You are still that five-year-old hero, and it’s not too late to return to your real self.

You can regain your belief and excitement. You can make all your dreams come true. You are the shiny sports car that simply needs the grime washed off, gas in the tank and a tune up – a “Check-up from the neck up.” The future is not equal to the past. A hundred dollar note may be crumpled, dirty and torn, but it’s still worth a hundred dollars.

You have unlimited potential. You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. You are ready. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. You are powerful, smart, and wonderfully made. You have the opportunity to start over, today, by choice, regardless of your circumstances, IF you believe that. You’re not a has-been; you’re a Gonna-be! All you need is to make the decision that you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired. Nothing can stop you from recreating yourself and your life, starting right now, and repeating it every single day.

You might be down, but you’re not out. You can get back up off the canvas, my friend, and become the champion you were always meant to be. It all starts with the realization of who you really are. The real you wants out – do yourself a favor and be free. Throw the shackles of self-limitation off. Walk out of the prison of doubt and fear. Fearlessly create the life you want and deserve.

Imagine going to a physician and getting yourself examined for an ailment. At the end of his assessment, the good doctor prescribes three green pills at night and two yellow pills when you awake, to be taken every day for one month. You respond, “But, doctor, shouldn’t I take two green pills? How about a few purple ones? And why do I need to take the yellow ones in the morning? You know I might forget…” Any self-respecting GP should kick you right out of his rooms if you were to question his judgment and prescription in that way. After all, you came to him for help, and he’s the physician, right? Do you know better? Is he stupid?

Here’s why people go to experts and then don’t follow their advice: Their self-esteem, self image and belief systems, along with self-sabotage caused by guilt. This is like the governor that was put on the Land Rover that I drove in the army – it prevented the car from exceeding a certain speed.

Our limitations are self-imposed, and that is why we persist in limiting our own progress. We find reasons not to take actions that will set us free. We seek evidence to maintain our dominant beliefs. We develop blind spots so that we don’t see the obvious and we ask questions that will demand answers that support our claims. So we make sure that we mess the recipe up in order to deprive ourselves of the cake, which we insist we want with all our hearts.

We Can Break Free Of Our Self-Delusion and Make All Our Dreams Come True

Is our position then one of hopelessness? Is there a way out of the mental prison that our conditioning has so carefully constructed over the years? Can we bend the bars of cynicism and self-delusion? Can we smash the locks of mysticism, defeatism, pessimism, and apathy, or are we doomed to languish forever in the slough of mediocrity and despair? We can we develop bulletproof determination, rock solid confidence and unlimited expectation, coupled with optimism, self-acceptance, ambition and genuine humility.

We can break free and make all our dreams come true. We need to find experts whom we trust and on whom we can rely, and then buttress ourselves with a support system of friends who are more advanced, evolved, and ambitious than we are. We have to start a kind of mental rehabilitation in order to reverse our negative brainwashing and that takes guts, determination, and perseverance.

I Have Immersed Myself In Teachings for Well Over 20 Years

In my life, it was the Success Motivation International (SMI) self-development programs of Paul J. Meyer that I listened to repeatedly and then taught others that initially set me free from negative conditioning at the age of 34. You learn more when you teach something. Over twenty years, I have immersed myself in teachings that are based on responsibility, freedom, discipline, capitalism, and the Objectivism of Ayn Rand. I surround myself with people who are smarter, more successful, richer, and better than I am. And so I can continue to grow. I have a long way to go yet, but I keep on pressing forward. I no longer question and second-guess experts. I am consciously incompetent. I know that we have to be like trees and grow until we die if we are to truly self-actualize and reach our full potential. The stronger we get, the more we can help those who are weaker.

Paul J. Meyer’s motto is my adopted motto: “Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass.”

When I see participants in a game show, like Deal or No Deal, I am always impressed at their zeal, focus, commitment, enthusiasm, and energy. Well, they stand to win millions of dollars or at least a car, I guess. And the game show has a beginning and an end, and they get to go home afterwards, with or without the prizes.

I have watched Survivor and the Amazing Race – same thing. Bottom line they can only control a certain amount of what goes on, and the game doesn’t last very long. I’m sure a lot of them muse afterwards, “If only I had more time…”

Life is like a game show in some ways. First, it has a definite beginning and a definite end. Second, you get a lot more chances and to mess up and come back than you do in a Game Show. And a lot more time. But the real difference is that you really do get to control the outcome. It’s not Random Chance that will allow you to win, but your Rational Choices. And you’re playing against yourself! That means you have no competitors!

Life is a lot easier than a Game Show and you stand to win a LOT more. You don’t just win a shiny car – you can win thousands of cars, millions of dollars, lasting happiness and wonderful relationships. You can help millions of other people.

The Game is NOT Over Yet!

How long have you been playing the Game of Life? 20 years? 40 years? 50 years? 60 years? Here’s the great news: THE GAME ISN’T OVER YET! You can still win! The game only ends when you die. (And perhaps it even continues after that…) But let’s realize that many people quit halfway through the best Game Show in the World. Imagine someone walking out in the middle of Survivor or the Amazing Race, if they didn’t have to!

Too many of us allow disappointment, cynicism, and fear to rob us of a wonderful life, so we stagger away from the game and sulk in a corner while the rest of the participants courageously press forward. Well, you can pick yourself up, dust yourself off, have a Starbucks, and leap back into the fray if you want to. It’s not too late. Unless you’re dead, that is…

See, you are the game show host and the participant. You just have to know the rules and play by them. The rules are simple, really, there are only a few:

The 5 Rules to your Game Show Life

1. You will reap what you sow. You have created what you have and you can change what you have.
2. You are in control of your response to the world and your circumstances, and you can create anything you want.
3. You only lose when you quit and you can be forgiven and recover when you mess up.
4. The only limitations you have are self-imposed.
5. There are good people out there to help you, if you choose the right ones.

You’re not too old, too hurt or too weak to get back in the game. You can do it. You can soar like an Eagle, even if you feel like a lame duck. You were made to win, and it’s not too late to succeed magnificently .

When Ayn Rand said, “My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute”, she addressed an extremely important issue: REASON.

In today’s turbulent world of change, threat, insecurity, and anxiety, many people are hiding from the truth.

We hear that more people flock to movie houses and churches during times of war, depression, and turmoil than in any other time - an escape from reason and responsibility. Emotionalism hides the real issues, avoids responsibility, and protects the fragile ego. Blame, escapism, and justification avoids reality. You won’t solve your problems by discussing the latest CNN propaganda with your broke friends. Reason is the only accurate compass in this wild wilderness.

While it is easier to hide behind mysticism, and live vicariously through politicians, sports teams and Hollywood actors while your life falls to pieces, your debt increases, and your hopes of retirement disappear, it’s not the solution.

Reason is the final judge and jury, bringing with it the only viable explanation and solution. Reason is very scary and threatening to those who refuse to discipline themselves and take responsibility. It’s far more comfortable to stuff your face with overpriced popcorn that you can’t afford, wasting time you don’t have while mindlessly watching a meaningless movie.

Who Is Responsible for Your Well Being?

Some people mistakenly believe the government or their church will take care of them. They flee to the filthy caves of socialism, collectivism, liberation theology, and mysticism, where they will be devoured by witch doctors and bullies. They think they will be protected if they’re politically correct and remain subservient and meek. They believe that by hiding their heads in the sand they will avoid the future they fear. The consequences of their past choices are coming to get them.

In her book, Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand tells a fictitious, yet prophetic story that clearly explains her philosophy of Objectivism, the solution for people who want a solution. With the right philosophy, you can take control of your life, recreate and reinvent your future, and take pride in your own endeavors as a self-sufficient individual. Here’s a simple way to describe a great philosophy: “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.” Here’s another very complicated way of putting it: “I have created my present reality, and I am in control of my future.”

Environmentalism, altruism, multiculturalism, political correctness, avoiding confrontation, and an escape to mysticism are all definite signs of the avoidance of reason and personal responsibility. Miss Rand taught, “If you think something is a contradiction, check your premises.” Reason is the only absolute.

When the Catholic Church, an extremely wealthy organization, decides that it’s a sin to be extremely rich, you have to check your premises. A reasonable person would understand.

Over at the website ‘Shape Up America’, they compiled a list of 198!! Self-Improvement articles found around the internet.

Now, I don’t know about you, but 198 articles is ALOT to wade through.  But if you think about it - finding the good articles yourself is even MORE work.  I’d be willing to wager they read 5 to 10 times that amount on the topics they list, that just didn’t cut it as far as their requirements went.

Here is the general categories they have sorted them into:

• Self Improvement
• Productivity
• Health & Fitness
• Food & Diet
• Brain Power & Memory
• Sleep

And inside those topics is SCADS of valuable tips, tricks and advice in regards to genuinely improving yourself in so many areas of your life.

The Most Incredible Ways To Improve Thyself

I’d recommend you bookmark that page and whenever you’re bored and about to browse YouTube or waste time on FaceBook - you instead go read 1 or 2 of those articles and improve yourself immensely!

There seem to be few men who have the courage to speak up in our gutless, weak, compromised society. When they do, I like to promote their words, if for no other reason than to strengthen and encourage others to be real. Sadly, one of the strongest has died. Thankfully, people like Glenn Beck is letting people know who Charlton Heston really was - a giant among men. I urge you to listen to (and read) this wonderful speech he delivered in 1999. If you have a smidgen of a backbone, you will love it.

Jeffrey Ressner writes, “And Heston has never shied away from controversy. In 1992, he condemned the infamous Ice-T rap song “Cop Killer,” then released by a Time Warner-distributed music label. Biting the hand that had fed him, Heston showed up at a Time Warner shareholders’ meeting at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel covered by this reporter. He lashed out against the giant corporation whose studio had cast him in so many movies.

He harshly admonished its top executives for releasing the song, then simply, eloquently read the lyrics. Few there had ever heard the actual words before, and as Heston recited the homicidal, anti-police rant inspired by the Rodney King assault, the room filled with his booming baritone. When he finished, the place was so stunned you could hear a pin drop.”

There’s another real man with a real brain out there. Christopher Hitchins is a beacon of hope and freedom. Read some of  his thoughts here. He pulls no punches, thank goodness. He addresses real issues of great importance with courage and panache. He contributes significantly to freedom, reason, sanity, and Capitalism through his great teachings and writings.