Learning To Live

LEARNING TO LIVE

AuthorHouse

Chapter One

You Deserve to Be Happy, Healthy and Wealthy

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you."

~ Marrianne Williamson

Have you ever wondered why you are not successful, wealthy or living the life you truly desire? Have you ever wondered what separates the wealthy from the poor? Do you think they are smarter? Do you believe it's their connections, or that they are just plain lucky?

Let me assure you, wealth does not have anything to do with luck or above average intelligence. If you have the intelligence and power to read this book, you have the ability to become wealthy and successful.

It has been discovered that the average person spends more time planning a two week vacation, than planning their financial independence and examining their own life.

So ask yourself, if it is not superior intelligence, luck, connections or wealthy parents, what is it that separates the wealthy from the poor? Why do some people rise to the top, and seem to have whatever they dream and desire, while the rest remain dissatisfied and unhappy? The Answer—it is their personal belief system that makes the difference.

What does that mean? It means that their core values and thoughts encourage them to stay upbeat, positive and truly believe that they can do and achieve whatever they desire. No one has ever become successful or wealthy without first believing that they could! It starts with how you see yourself, how you see the world, and how you see money! It starts in the mind.

3 THOUGHTS YOU NEED TO GET RID OF FAST!!

There are three false beliefs that holdback the majority of people from reaching their full potential and living the life God intended.

1. Unworthiness—The "I don't deserve happiness" syndrome. People are trapped in miserable lives not because they are bad people, but because they don't believe they deserve happiness! They think there is too much suffering in the world for them to be happy. They ask, "Who am I to have what I want!?" This POOR BELIEF will cripple you forever if you don't work to overcome it!

2. Powerlessness—The "World is against me" syndrome. The belief that we are just leaves blowing in the wind, and that we have no power to change our lives is both destructive and weak. Have you heard any of these comments before? Nothing good ever happens to me, I had the wrong parents, I am too young, I am too old. I am the wrong color. No one will give me a job. Please understand that if you believe you have no power, you will have just that—no power! However, we all have power! And I am going to show you how to use and control this power to change your life!

3. Money is Evil—I must say this is my least favorite false belief of all, because it has crippled entire generations and communities. The false idea that money is the root of all evil has stemmed from a misinterpretation of the Bible, and has been used to manipulate the poor and keep most in poverty! What the Bible verse states, is that the love of money is the root of all evil! NOT THE MONEY! The love of money over all else is the root of all evil. This may seem like a small point, but it is CRITICAL to your success that you understand this slight but significant difference. If you adopt the belief that MONEY IS GOOD AND BENEFICIAL, you will not only have the ability to change your life, but the lives of all those around you.

These three beliefs are all false, and have been programmed into our subconscious mind as children and reinforced as adults. These beliefs are often given to us unknowingly by our parents, passed on by our teachers, and solidified by society!

This is not done on purpose, but the damage is still devastating. Sadly, the majority of people will never grow out of this poor thinking, because as we get older, our own fear, negativity, and ignorance continue to fuel these thoughts! Unless you search for the truth, you will remain handicapped by these debilitating beliefs.

The title of this chapter is Free Your Conscious, because you must first free your mind from these false beliefs before you can succeed!

Until you truly believe that you deserve happiness, until you truly believe that you have the power to achieve your goals, you will struggle in life. Unless you strongly believe that money is beneficial and necessary, you will be constantly fighting against your own subconscious mind!

Think about it, if you were in a dark alley and three guys attacked you with bats and crowbars, you wouldn't defend yourself by first punching yourself in the mouth!

Until you free your conscious mind, and change your thoughts about wealth and success, that is exactly what you are doing!

THE MIND GAME

The human mind has often been compared to an iceberg. Only the very tip of an iceberg is seen above the water, while the remaining 90 percent floats deep beneath the visible surface. The same is true of our thoughts; the ideas we experience in our everyday thinking are just the tip of our mental iceberg!

Our conscious mind (the thoughts we are aware of) is only 10 percent of our total thought process, while the remaining 90 percent of our thoughts take place in our subconscious mind! Think about that for a second—the majority of our thoughts take place when we are NOT aware of them!

This is why it's absolutely imperative that we let positive and productive thoughts dominate our mind. Can you imagine what the subconscious (90 percent) of our mind does with thoughts of fear, jealousy, and negativity?

THE UGLY AND BEAUTIFUL TRUTH

The path to self-improvement always begins with first identifying the problem, and then finding and applying a solution; the reason you are reading this book today is to improve your life. However 9 times out of 10—we don't correctly identify the problem, because we tend to look away from ourselves, and look to blame the world around us.

We blame the economy; we blame the government; we blame society; we blame our parents; we blame poverty; we blame our country. Blaming the world is a poor and self-defeating habit that we are ALL guilty of committing, and we must stop it!

In fact, blaming is a self-defense mechanism used to protect our ego, when we are truly the ones at fault. You see—the problem is not with the world around us—the problem is with us.

Trust me, this hurts me also! I have more pride than most! But the only thing in this world we have complete authority over is ourselves. So if you are not as happy or successful as you want to be, the place to truly start is in your own mind! Not the outside world of circumstance. If you are not doing well, it's not because there is a certain President in office, or that it's a recession, or that you were born poor; it's because your thoughts regarding wealth, health and happiness must be improved before you can reach success.

Here is a quick gauge on how to identify your true feelings about wealth—How do you feel about wealthy people? Do you think they are greedy, self-serving, and untruthful? OR do you believe they provide jobs, services and products that improve our world?

When you hear of someone earning great wealth are you angry? OR do you feel happy for them?

Do you believe that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? OR do you believe that we all have the same opportunity to obtain wealth? Have you ever said to yourself, "Nothing good ever happens to me!" OR do you say, "I always expect the best to happen to me!"

Instead of focusing on what's wrong, focus on what's good. Sure there is plenty that needs to be improved in our world; however the place to start is in your own mind and backyard.

Once you improve how you feel about yourself and the world in which we live, you will be able to identify countless opportunities to improve our planet; BUT also be more able to DO something about it.

Here is something I want you to do—start listening to your own thoughts! As you sit idle in your car or at your desk, stop and pay attention to the thoughts passing through your head. Listen to the voice talking to you! You will be surprised to find that the majority of your thoughts are self-defeating, self-limiting and unproductive!

These repetitive and negative thoughts are why we are where we are today. They are responsible for our fears and insecurities. They are responsible for the flaws in our personalities, and they will ruin our lives and keep us stuck in mediocrity if we don't recognize and remove them.

CONQUER YOUR THOUGHTS

Fear, jealousy, and helplessness are just a few thoughts that takeover our mind and control us with oppression. These destructive thoughts can only be conquered if we take intentional control over our minds and focus on positive ideas, goals and affirmations.

Make it a habit to talk to your-self, instead of letting yourself talk to you. This is a very important point because your thoughts are in fact your subconscious mind talking to you!

REMEMBER: If you are constantly complaining about life, and how you are a victim, and continue to focus on everything that is wrong in the world, this is proof that you have to change your thinking!

KICK THE CRABS IN A BUCKET MENTALITY

Have you ever seen several crabs in a bucket? If you pay close attention, you will see that the crab at the top of the bucket is often pulled down by the crabs below him just as he's about to climb out. Then a different crab makes his way to the top of the bucket—only to have the same thing happen to him! It's an endless cycle of futility.

Of course, these poor crabs don't know what they are doing because they lack human intelligence; however, are we really so different?

When you hear of someone justly earning or receiving large sums of money—how do you really feel? Are you indifferent, angry, or envious? Do you feel apprehension or discomfort?

Here is a clue on how you should feel. Are you ready? You should be genuinely happy!!!

You should say, "Good for them!" When you're happy for others—you are blessing them, AND at the same time—you are blessing yourself, and changing your subconscious beliefs about wealth and success.

ALWAYS REMEMBER: If you condemn other's success you will limit your own success! You can't attract what you consciously or subconsciously criticize.

This may seem odd to you, and too simple to be true! However, every major book on success is based on this principle! Authors such as Henry David Thoreau, Napoleon Hill, Norman Vincent Van Peal, right on up to contemporary authors such as Zig Ziglar, Jim Rhon, and Anthony Robbins all teach the same principle—what you focus on grows, whether it's happiness or misery, success or failure, wealth or poverty. You will determine your level of success with the thoughts you choose to think.

The only reason some people remain poor is because they refuse to take the time to learn the truth. Just because you don't know the truth doesn't excuse you from the process.

That's why reading this book and continuing to learn throughout your lifespan is crucial to your success. Positive change does not come by chance; we all must put in the time and effort to improve our troubling circumstances!

Our lack of success is not because someone is holding us back, but because we are holding ourselves back. Remember for every one person working against us, there are four people willing to help us—if we ask. So let's not blame the world for our own self-made problems. But instead, focus on finding a solution!

The purpose of this book is to overcome years and years of stinking thinking. It will take time to retrain your subconscious mind, but it can be done, and I will show you how!

FORGIVENESS IS THE KEY TO RICHES

I want you to sit still and close your eyes—now try to think back over your life and think of a day you didn't make a mistake.

I don't know about you—but I can't think of a single day where I didn't do or say something wrong. But that's the point!

The purpose of life is to be better today, than you were 10 years ago. Listen—mistakes happen; and we must learn from our poor choices, ask for forgiveness, and then try not to repeat the same mistakes.

What you cannot do—is live in self-pity, waddle in self-guilt, practice self-destruction, and then hope to become successful all at the same time. Those are contradicting beliefs, and you will self-sabotage any attempt at your own success.

WE MUST LEARN TO FORGIVE OURSELVES!

God has long since forgiven us for the same mistakes we continue to punish ourselves for! You have to learn to let it go! Let go of the pain and the failures of the past, they are only learning tools now.

The old saying states, "You shouldn't live in the past unless you want to live with guilt and regret, and you shouldn't live in the future unless you want to live in fear and worry, you should only live in the present."

Learn from your mistakes, forgive yourself and leave them in the past. Your long lasting success will be hard to maintain unless you learn to forgive yourself for your past problems.

HAPPINESS

If you want true success in life—self-forgiveness is essential because it prepares you for this next truth:

YOU ARE WORTHY OF HAPPINESS!!

You have the right to wealth, health, happiness and success! You have the right to live a fantastic life as much as any person that has ever lived!

What makes someone else more worthy than you!?

Understand this universal truth—it is God's will for you to grow and develop fully, to learn, to love and to create a life that you can be proud of!

Now just imagine if someone had told you this truth as a child and reinforced it daily. What if someone solidified into you as a child that you are worthy of success and happiness? What if you were learning this jewel of knowledge just as you were learning to read? Do you think it's possible that your outlook on life would be different today?

LET'S THINK ABOUT IT

If you plant a seed into the ground what happens? It grows and develops! The natural point of life is to grow and develop—to increase life. Anything that is not growing becomes stagnant and dies. This is the same for your personal growth, financial growth, intellectual growth and spiritual growth!

The point of life is development, to become your best—not poverty. You are worthy of success! It is your God given right to be successful. It is God that has given you your dreams of achievement. Please understand—you are not pleasing God by being poor when you have the ability to do better, BUT choose not to do better.

Poverty and mediocrity are for those who accept them. Poverty is ruthless and powerful; mediocrity is insidious and cunning. The fact that you are reading this book today demonstrates that you are not satisfied with your current station in life—so poverty and mediocrity are not for you!

However, it is your responsibility alone to become successful. It is up to you to plan your dreams with intent and purpose. It is meant for you to be an example for others, and prove to future generations that success is absolutely possible for those who truly believe and try.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from LEARNING TO LIVE by DARRICK BRONSON Copyright © 2011 by Darrick Bronson. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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