Inspirational Songs and motivation

Getting started on anything requires you to do something- start! That can be the hardest part because of the barriers we put in our own way. These distractions like Fear, self doubt, or a lack of motivation can be overcome easily if you just learn how to motivate yourself. The easiest way to begin any task is to focus on positive images. See yourself accomplishing the task. Make it fun!
For most people music is the best inspiration. Have you ever tried to exercise without any distractions? Not a fun task for most people, but when you add some great music – you have a party! You can work harder and longer because the music is your focus.
Download Inspirational music on iTunes.

Here is a list of some of my favorite songs. Try them out. If you like them, then add them to your playlist.

What are your favorites?

1. Affirmation – Savage Garden      Affirmation - Affirmation
2. All For Love - Bryan Adams/Sting/Rod Stewart
3. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life - Monty Python
4. Another One Bites the Dust - Queen
5. Bad Day – Daniel Powter
6. Beautiful Day – U2
7. Black Or White - Michael Jackson
8. Bridge over Troubled Waters - Simon and Garfunkel
9. Cary On My Wayward Son - Kansas
10. Celebration - Kool & The Gang
11. Chariots of Fire – Vangelis
12. Danger Zone (Theme from Top Gun) - Kenny Loggins
13. Dock of the Bay – Otis Redding, Jimmy Cliff
14. Don’t Worry, Be Happy - Bobby Mcferrin
15. Every which Way but Lose - Eddie Rabbit
16. Eye of the Tiger (Theme from Rocky 3) - Survivor
17. Fly – Celine Dione
18. Greatest Love of All - George Benson
19. Hawaii Five ‘0′ - Theme from Hawaii Five ‘0′
20. Heal the World - Michael Jackson
21. Hero – Mariah Carey
22. I Believe I Can Fly – R. Kelly
23. I Can See Clearly Now – Johnny Nash
24. I Feel Good – James Brown
25. I Wanna Be Rich - Calloway
26. I Want To Break Free - Queen
27. I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor
28. I’m Alive – Celine Dione
29. I’ve Got the Power – Snap
30. It’s Hard to be Humble - Mac Davis
31. It’s My Life – Bon Jovi
32. Leader of the Band - Dan Fogelberg
33. Lean on Me - Bill Withers
34. Life (will never be the same again) - Haddaway
35. Live Like You Were Dying – Tim McGraw
36. Loose Yourself – Eminem
37. Love is All Around - Wet Wet Wet
38. Lovely Day – Bill Withers
39. Man In The Mirror – Michael Jackson
40. Mony Mony - Billy Idol
41. Nessun Dorma – Pavarotti
42. New Day – Celine Dione
43. Now We Are Free – Lisa Gerard
44. O Fortuna – Carmina Burana
45. One Day More – Les Miserables
46. Only Time - Enya
47. Orinoco Flow – Enya
48. Over the Rainbow - Judy Garland
49. Over the Rainbow – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
50. Philadelphia Freedon – Elton John
51. Remember The Name – Fort Minor
52. Return to Innocence – Enigma
53. Simply the Best - Tina Turner
54. Take it Easy - The Eagles
55. The Final Countdown – Europe
56. The Prayer – Celine Dione & Andrea Bocelli
57. Till I Collapse – Eminem Time
58. To Say Goodbye – Sarah Brightman & Andrea Boccelli
59. True to Your Heart – 98 degrees & Stevie Wonder
60. Tub Thumping – Chumba Wumba
61. Walking On Sunshine – Katrina and the Waves
62. We Are the Champions – Queen
63. We are the World - Various
64. We Will Rock You – Queen
65. What a Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong
66. When you Believe - Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey
67. When You Say Nothing At All – Ronan Keating
68. Where is the Love - Black Eyed Peas
69. Wind beneath my Wings - Bette Milder
70. You Gotta Be - Des’ree
71. You Raise Me Up - Westlife (Not original artiste) 

My Daughter LOVES "Itunes"!
It's the easiest way to take your music with you.

What are your favorites?

The Optimist's creed

The Optimist's Creed was written in 1912 by Chistian D. Larson in his book "Your Forces and How to Use Them".
It is an exceptionally well written motivational passage which can be read in less than 60 seconds.
Make reading this a part of your daily routine, and you will find life is so much better when you see it through this frame of reference.


The Optimist's Creed

Promise Yourself

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature you meet.

To give so much time to improving yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds.

To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side, so long as you are true to the best that is in you.

Shine your light only on what you want to see

We are spiritual beings having a physical experience. A spirit clothed in flesh, and as a Luminous being, we experience in life only what we illuminate. Just like a flashlight, we bring into existence whatever we shine our light upon. If we focus on negative things, then that is what we will experience. If we focus on happiness and success, then that is what we will get. This is not metaphysical mumbo-jumbo, it has been proven as a fact.

I’m sure that you know people who always expect the worst to happen to them, and it usually does. They seem to attract bad things. Call them unlucky, or cursed, but a black cloud seems to follow them wherever they go. In fact, that is how most curses work. People who believe they are cursed will focus on all the bad things that will happen to them, and these beliefs come true. Are they really cursed? The answer is yes. They cursed themselves! And to lift this self imposed curse is simple. Stop believing in the lie! Shine your light upon what you want to happen. Focus your attention on health, happiness, wealth, and success.

If you have had negative beliefs in the past, you don’t need to continue! Stop and ask yourself what you really want. Then ask what you would need to believe in, in order for you to get it. Once you have it all figured out, all you have to do is focus on these new beliefs. You will be amazed at how your life will change.

One thing to remember – you need to constantly remind yourself of the new beliefs. Write them down and review them several times a day. Whenever you find yourself thinking one of those old negative beliefs, you need to immediately eliminate it and replace it with the new positive belief.
This is often difficult at first because you have conditioned yourself to run the old belief pattern for so long. Anything that you do consistently will become a pattern, and then a habit. To break a habit, you need to break the old pattern and replace it with a different pattern.
I used to drink sodas all the time. It got to be where I was never without a soda in my hand, so one day I decided to stop. I decided to replace the soda with bottled water. The first week I had headaches from the caffine and sugar withdrawls. The second week was easier, and the third even easier still, until I didn’t even think about a soda. I thought I had it beat. I felt better and lost a lot of excess weight because all of the sugar I wasn’t consuming.
Then one day I was walking down the hall talking to a coworker about something when we passed a soda machine. The next thing I knew I was drinking a soda instead of the bottled water! I wasn’t paying attention, and pushed the soda button out of habit! Boy, was I irritated with myself! I had “fallen off the wagon”… So I threw the soda away and got a water instead. I still sometimes forget, but as soon as I catch myself, it’s back to the water. Now my habit is the water.

Choose your habits carefully, or they will choose you! Focus your attention only on what you want, and you will get it. Let your light shine on the brilliance that your future can be.

The lighthouse photo was taken by a brilliant artist named Darvin Atkeson. Check out his work!

Find your inspiration!

Getting inspired is what everyone wants.

Deep down in your soul, you know that you have a mission here on earth.  The problem is that most of us don't know what that mission is!  Without that knowledge we just don't know what to do.  We go through life without a plan- just taking whatever comes along.

Finding your mission can be a difficult task.  And it sometimes isn't doing what you are good at!  You need to ask yourself some simple questions.

1. What do you LIKE to do?

2. Where do you like to be?

3. Who do you like to be around?

4. What inspires you?

Here's an example for you:

I am a Flight Controls engineer on the Space shuttle, and have been for the last 11 years.  The question is "Should I be an engineer"?

Engineers are usually linear thinkers who are good at math - not usually artistic...

Well guess what? I am good at my job for several reasons, but I don't fit the "engineer" stereotype.  For starters - I hate math!  Can you imagine!  An engineer who hates math!  Even though I have to use it all the time, for me, the calculations are drudgery.  I have friends who are engineers that enjoy the math - not me!

So why in the world did I become an engineer?  I didn't actually choose to, It actually chose me.  I was a Space shuttle technician for 19 years and I was asked to become an engineer by some other engineers.  In other words - I was just going through life, doing what I loved and that is what happened.  It wasn't planned. I just fell into the job.

The good thing is that I am good at solving problems.  If something is broken, I can fix it - usually in an unusual or creative way.  I can thank my father for this skill.  Whenever something was broken, he would ask me to fix it - and that was that.  No help, no tips, just do it. If I could not figure out how, then and only then could I ask for help.  Usually he would then just ask me a question. This was his way of showing me which way to go, or what to look at for the answer.

After so many years of doing this I am now very creative.  Someone once told me that the reason I think "outside the box" is that I don't even know the box is there"!  I believe creativity is learned, and my father was a fantastic teacher.

SO-

I like to be creative.  I enjoy making things, inventing, improving what is there..... That is why I also like helping people.  Maybe that is why people ask me to help them with... let's call it "Self Improvement".   When some part of your life feels "not right" or "Broken", I know how to "fix" it.  But the best part is I know how to teach.  So instead of ME fixing some aspect of a persons life, I show them how to fix it for themself! This is SO much more rewarding (for both of us)!
Don't you get a kick out of doing something for yourself?  If the mechanic says it will cost you $300 to fix your car, and you fix it yourself for $25 - doesn't that make you feel great?!  You might even want to brag about that one!

I think this is why I am a good engineer- I love innovation! - But I still hate math!!!

I LOVE my job! It is rewarding and I feel like I am doing important work, and I do get to be creative in many ways.
 The question is... Is this what I SHOULD be doing?
This is now a very important question as the Space Shuttle is being retired and the next space program is still on the drawing board!

I like my "art" to be "functional", and my "engineering" to be "artistic"!

1. What would be my perfect job?  Maybe having a workshop where I could make anything I wanted?  How about a personal trainer, or coach?  I do a little of both right now, but should I pick just one to focus on?  I don't know yet, but it will have to be something where I can be creative!  What is your perfect job?

2. Where would I like to be? - I love the mountains, so I should be living in the mountains - somewhere next to a waterfall!  Guess where I live - Florida! No mountains or waterfalls here!  Should I move?  Since they only launch Space Shuttles from here I guess I will stay a while longer.  In the meantime I made a waterfall in my back yard to help me cope!

Imagine a nature lover being cooped up in the city, stuck in a cubicle their whole life... WHAT A WASTE!
They are DOING THE WRONG THING WITH THEIR LIFE!
Do you live where you are most comfortable?  Do you dream of living somewhere else?

3. Who do I like to be around?  Creative people obviously!  You need to find people with like interests if you to be social.  Imagine if you were a purely artistic person surrounded by engineers... not a lot in common eh?!  You want to talk about the beauty of light and they talk about spectrometers and how they measure light frequencies!

What about you?  Are you surrounded by the kind of people you enjoy?  Do they bring light into your life, or do you just have "aquaintances"?

Do you sometimes feel like you "just don't quite fit in?"  I am part engineer, and part artist.  This is kind of like having one foot on the boat, and one on the dock!  This can easily be dealt with if the "engineer" in you gives the "artist" space and time to do their thing!  Even though they do go together, trying to combine them all the time can drive some people crazy.

4. What INSPIRES you?  This may be the most important question of all because it will tell you what you need the most! If you do nothing else - PLEASE! - find out what inspires you!  Surround yourself with these inpiring things!  See the inspiration every day!  It will do more for you than you can imagine.  Create a vision board to help you figure out what you want out of life, and what you can give to others!

Have you ever heard the saying:
"A man needs an adventure to live,
a Dragon to slay,
and a princess to rescue!"

Well get out there and find it!

Find your adventure, overcome the dragon, and rescue your princess!

You can improve your life, so start today.

Choose a Life NOW!

Job stress got you down? Take a vacation every day!

Does your job feel like this?

Is the stress from your job overwhelming? Do you live for Friday night, and dread Sunday night? Is the weekend too short- after all it is only 2 days.... and then you have to work 5 in a row?!

The reason your job is so draining is that you don’t take enough time to recharge your batteries!

Instead of working 5 days and then taking 2 off…. How about you Work 1 day and take 2 off!

Monday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Saturday, Sunday...!

One day of work and 2 days to recharge your batteries... wouldn't that be better?

And how many vacation days do you get? Not enough, obviously!

Do you want more?

The problem is that your employer could not afford a one day work week and more vacation.

So what can you do?

The problem with stress is that it builds up if you don't find a way to release it regularly. 5 straight days of stress can make you crazy! So you need to let the stress go more often.

How about I GIVE you 9 WEEKS OF VACATION!

Here's what I do... I take a vacation EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Here is my secret:

Take one hour a day - and during this time you do the following:

* Decide what you are THANKFUL for - and say it! (I'm so thankful that I have a family I love!..)

* Do something fun! Get some Exercise, paint a picture, read a good book, learn something, LAUGH, listen to something inspiring!

* Plan your day- what can you do TODAY that would be MOST beneficial?

(80% of your problems are caused by 20% of the issues- focus on the big things!)

When I first started doing this, I thought "Take an entire hour out of my daily schedule! That is crazy! I will never get anything done!" Well guess what? I was wrong! After my hour of vacation, I felt better. At the end of the day I realized that I was far more productive (in less time) than before! Instead of rushing around all stressed out trying to get everything done, I was calm and focused. I knew what needed to be done, and I did the important things first.

But be careful with this! You will probably run into this little problem.

You will start to feel guilty. Even though you are far more productive and happy while you are doing your daily vacation, you might start to feel guilty that you are taking the time "for you". This is NOT being selfish! Taking time to be thankful and plan your day while recharging your batteries is not just for you. Everyone around you benefits from your personal improvement. When you feel better, you treat others better. So if you start to feel guilty, ask yourself how much better your life is now - as opposed to the out of control frantic stress you felt before the daily vacations! Don't give up the time you need to make your life better! As the Energizer Bunny says "Keep going"!

1 hour a day for 360 days = 9, 40 hour weeks of vacation!

This is YOUR TIME!

You will be happier, healthier, and more productive because of it!

So CHOOSE A LIFE NOW!

Make a Vision /Dream board to attract what you want in your life.

Live your DREAM!

The quickest way to change your life is to choose what you want your life to be like! Sounds pretty obvious. but you would be surprised at how many people want a better life, but don't do anything about it!

Here is one of the most effective ways to start:

1. CHOOSE IT: Figure out what you want, and write it down in detail.

2. Read through your list, and add the things that you didn't put down because you thought they were outside your reach. Don't limit yourself- DREAM BIG!

3. Get some magazines and cut out any pictures, phrases, text - anything that interests you, or represents the things you want in life.

4. Put all these into a folder. Also add pictures of your own (friends family, anything that inspires you).

5. BUILD IT: Once you have a lot to play with, then spread them out and choose which ones you want to use. The examples here are on an 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper, so I can carry it with me in my notebook and look at it anytime I want (even at work).

I also have some very large ones on poster board, and even one in a huge frame! Glue them down, laminate it- whatever you want- but make it something PERMANENT!

6. SEE IT: When you get yours built, put it where you look at it every day! The idea is to find out what you want, make a visual representation , and then see it in front of you every day. I made these examples to remind me to think about where I am, and to get me to take action on what I want to do in life.

7. GET IT: The universe wants to give you what you ask for, but if you don't ask- you don't get. The easiest way to get the life you want is to CHOOSE IT, BUILD IT, SEE IT, GET IT, and the Universe will say: "Your wish is my command"!

The fear of becoming you- the hero

When someone asks you who you are, you will probably tell them "about you". You might say "I'm a teacher", or maybe you might say what you like to do- "I love to surf!'

But is what you do - who you are?

These things show your profession, or interests, but who you are is so much more. The problem for most people is they don't really know who they are. They have accepted the labels that others have placed upon them- usually without a comment!

Most of the time, these labels are "less than flattering". And the sad thing is that we listen to these lies for so long that we actually start to believe them!

My wife is a school teacher, and she often tells me about a bright and intelligent child who has been told that they are dumb, or good for nothing. It breaks her heart to see this, and it takes a great deal of effort on her part to teach these children that the things other people tell them are not true. She teaches them to believe in themselves. I have seen teenagers come running up and hug her and ask how she is doing. When she introduces them to me, she will usually say something like "This is John Smith, He was the coolest kid in his 3rd grade class, and I have not seen him since he moved away that summer"!

WAIT a MINUTE!

She hasn't seen this kid for 15 years!

She was their teacher in 3rd grade only, and they treat her like this?!!! They act like she's a famous relative or celebrity!
This goes to show you how much impact you can have on someone when you take the time to help them help themselves.
She truly loves these kids and they know it!
She has taught them to feel good about themselves.

She has shown them that they can build a better life for themselves- no matter what anyone else says.

She teaches them to not be afraid of who they are.

If only we had a lot more teachers like her!

If you had a teacher like this in school- THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS!

They are the true hero's in this world.

My favorite teacher taught creative writing in high school. Mary Ann Jameson taught me to bring my thoughts and feelings alive. When you think something, and don't use that thought, it stays locked in your head. However, something magical happens when you put that idea down on paper. Write it out in words... draw that picture... give that idea life!

THAT is what you need to do with your life!

CHOOSE what you want your life to be like. Imagine it in color, and vivid detail.

Then WRITE IT DOWN!

Make a Vision Board - a collage of pictures of the things you want to have, do, and be! Put it where you can see it every day!

It may sound a little silly, but when you do this.... It will happen.

The only way to get exactly what you want is to KNOW what you want and then ASK for it!

Get it out of your head and into the real world. Make it a physical object and then the universe will give it to you.

This is the underlying principle to attracting what you want in life. This is not a "SECRET", it is how the world works.

I have known this for a very long time, and each time I used this principle it has worked. My only problem has been in making my dream so small.
So don't waste time attracting small goals (even though you will get them). Go for the big goal!
CHOOSE to have the life you were meant to have.
And improve the lives of those around you in the process!
Do something special with your life.

And don't forget to thank those who helped you!

Thank you Mrs. Jameson, you have truly touched my heart, and made me a better person. The world is a better place because of you! With deepest love- Darrell

So don't forget:

Choose your own life.

Help someone whenever you can.

Make an impression on someones heart.

Be someones hero.

and pay it forward.

Feeling Lost?

Ever get the feeling your not where you need to be?
Kind-of-like you know that your supposed to be doing something important, but your in someone else's dream.....

Well maybe it's time for you to wake up.

Figure out where you are and where you need to be. The first part seems obvious- your right here... right???
Well, maybe... and maybe not.
"Here" seems like the place you are now, but it is not "real" at all. Have you ever seen the movie "The Matrix"?
In this movie, a man feels like he is living a lie, like he is missing something. Then he finds out the truth- his life really is a lie. It is all a fabrication, and all he needed to do is to choose to see what is real in order to escape the prison he was in! Go see the movie! It is a great metaphor for changing your life.
Anything that you believe in IS real to you, even if it is not the truth. Reality is a point of view. Believing in a lie is a self made prison. Believing in yourself and building your own life is freedom.
So if you believe that your life is crap - then it is. If you believe you cannot break free of the mess you have created - you are right!
So why not change your beliefs?
Instead of saying you cannot change, Say that you can! Not just that , say you ARE changing your life! Picture what you want your life to be like. Pick the steps you will take to make it so. Don't go through life being a victim!
Live YOUR life NOW!
Choose it.
Plan it.
Do It!
choosealifenow.com

choosealifenow.com

Here is a link for more information!

http://choosealifenow.com/

Choose the life you want!

Are you tired of living a life you don't want?

If life were a school, would yours get an "F"?
As in "Failing miserably"!
What about a "D"? Dismal and Draining...
Maybe you have a "C" life? Complacent and cold...
Could it be that you have a "B" life?
It could be better, but it still feels BLAH?!

QUIT accepting a life that you don't want!

Improve your life!

You CAN have an "A" life!

All you have to do is CHOOSE!
Pick the life you want to live, and make it a reality!

Impossible you say? NOT!
If I can change, then you can!

The hardest part is the first step, CHOOSE to change...
after that, things will fall into place for you.
All you have to do is change your focus, and follow some very simple strategies.

Don't be like me and try it the HARD WAY! Believe me, I have tried for years... and the pain has been unbelievable! But I have finally found the secret... actually it is not a secret, I just never tried these strategies before.

They are NOT the usual "self improvement" mumbo jumbo that everyone is spouting (and few can make them work).

By the way, do you know why the "tried and true" stuff doesn't work for many people? They all try to fix the symptom of the problem, not the root of the problem! It's like when you go to the doctor and they give you medicine to clear up your stuffy nose - instead of an antibiotic to kill the infection!

If your life feels infected, then kill off the infection! You want a healthy life, don't you?!
So CHOOSE a better life!
Get the strategies you need to make your dreams come true!
Plan your future- then LIVE IT!

It really is simple.... In fact, these strategies are so simple I was actually embarassed by how long it took me to figure them out. But they work, and that is all I cared about.
Results- no fancy packaging, or flashy bells and whistles - "just the facts Ma'm".
I got results, and you can too!
The best part is
I want to share them with you.

Don't wait,

Choose A Life NOW!


Darrell

choosealifenow.com