Act As You Feel

When you feel in the mood to do something, this is the best time to do it.

• If you feel happy, smile.
• If you feel daring, act.
• If you receive good service, compliment.
• If you feel energetic, do something positive.
• If you know a good joke, tell it.
• If you feel generous, give.
• If you are interested in becoming wealthy save and invest.
• If someone needs help, lend them your strong hands or soft voice.
• If you give your word, keep it.
• If you want to make things better, vote.

Maintain Your Presence

Your contented presence shows an air of simple elegance and refinement in attitude and form. You appear physically, emotionally and spiritually strong, yet you seem to have even greater strength in reserve. You are poised, coordinated and balanced. You command with effortless, assured confidence. Be calm. Be deliberate, Feel assured and alert. Look good. Feel good. Keep your eyes forward. Breathe deeply. Speak with a soft voice in a thoughtful manner. Rarely interrupt. Be brief. Walk with a purpose. Don’t rush. Have a firm handshake. Your eyes are friendly. Your demeanor is respectful. Let your smile begin in your mind. You exhibit both style and class. First impressions are lasting.

The thing you want drawn to you will come as a result of your good nature and determined persistence. Pause and savor the moment. Begin your word.

Forgive Everyone

Not everybody wants to do business with you. Not everybody wants to be your friend. Not everybody wants world peace. Not everybody wants to be president.

Not everybody is smart enough to be a rocket scientist. Not everybody is fast enough to run in the Olympics. Who is helped by pretending otherwise?

Trying to accommodate everybody is a trap. It can’t be done. Be yourself. People know their own problems better than you do. Not everybody will listen to reason or even act in his or her best interest. You can.

Love Many Things

You proportionally increase your chances for happiness by increasing the number of thing that you love doing. Love many things and your happiness will escalate into an enthusiasm for life which will have a positive effect on you and those around you. Seek and enjoy those things that give your life value and purpose.

To love many things, you must be adventurous. A boring life is your own fault. Try new things. Be excited and passionate about life. Feel good. You must be able to see beauty in the grand scheme of thing as well as in details.

Discover: music, art, books, food, T’ai Chi, karate, theater, travel, movie, sunsets, exercise, friends, gardens and the internet. Open your mind. Find your preferences. Make your home, office and dojo beautiful places to love, keep going…

Remember how lucky you are to have so many interests. Happiness may not be a result of financial success. Happiness is a result of loving many things and appreciating what you already have.

Stay Centered

In the battles of life, you will take punches. Some may hurt. This too will pass. You are the center of your universe. Take care of your own needs first. Then go to your family, then to friends, neighbors and employees. Move on the larger communities. Don’t use saving the world as an excuse to forget you family. Don’t allow others to rush or pressure you to act before you can decide what is right. The most important thing that a father can do for his children is to love their mother.

Once again, you are very small part of the grand scheme of thing. You are one with the universe. You are everything and nothing. Remain calm, balanced and aware.

Be Decisive

You don’t have to wait for permission to do the right thing. Be decisive. Take the initiative. Get the facts. Do it now.

Avoid not doing things because you can’t get them done exactly as you’d originally planned. Be bold and get in the habit of doing something. Small efforts done countinually can yield significant, positive result. Do it now while it’s on your mind. You don’t have to be perfect to live the best. Just be a person of action. You must have more than good intentions to succeed. You must act. Get it done. Start it now!!!

Be The Warrior

The warrior is tough in loyalty, intensity, determination, bearing, initiative, endurance, courage and strength of will. The warrior is soft in calmness, self-confidence and compassion. The warrior is frequently called upon to step forward when most gladly step back. Warrior exists on the battlefield and in daily life.

• People may react to you rudely, selfishly and with malice. Be courteous anyway.
• Those you help may whine and offer no thank. Help them anyway.
• Your honest words may be challenged and ridiculed. Speak anyway.
• Success may involve many mistakes and disappointments. Succeed anyway.
• Your donation may seem too small to matter. Give anyway.

A warrior is a master, ever prepared to improve and to be of service to others.

Be Proud

Take pride in who you are and in those value and beliefs for which you stand.

• Be proud of your education, work and personal accomplishments.
• Be proud of your spouse, children and extended family.
• Be proud of your body, personal grooming and your manners.
• Be proud of the sports teams and cultural organizations that you support.
• Be proud of your government officials when they stand selflessly for the public good.

Don’t be afraid of who you are, since you act with courage and compassion. Bask in the feeling of being your best. Teach others so they too may be proud.

Embody Integrity

As a person in this world, you are proud, strong, friendly, generous and successful. Many will seek your counsel. People will depend on you. Have faith and a belief in your cause. Know what you will fight for and what you won’t. Do not compromise what is right. Stick to your convictions and principles as you allow your ethical values to direct your decision-making. Integrity goes beyond self-interest to moral courage. Lying only leads to more lying.

Keep your promise. Full fill your commitments. People want to know where you stand and for what you stand. People respect honestly and sincerity, but hate hypocrisy. Be consistent. Speak in clear precise facts. Be sure your words match your deeds. Do what you say and your credibility builds. You cannot speak stronger words than “I give you my word.”

Think Win-Win

Thinking win-win is a frame of mind that seeks mutual benefit and is based on mutual respect. It is about bargaining fairly, and being open-minded and reasonable to all parties. It is about compromise and a sincere desire to find agreements that occupy the middle ground. Win-win is not talking advantage when it is understood that you are being rusted to act with honor.

It is about thinking in terms of abundance. There is an ever-expending “pie” a cornucopia of opportunity, wealth and resources, not scarcity and adversarial competition.

Face fear

Knowledge, practice and courage are your weapons against fear.

One person can step out of an airplane door at 2,000 feet without hesitation. Another can stand before an audience of 2,000 and give a speech without breaking into a sweat. Fears can be rational or irrational but they are always personal and real. Everyone fears something.

To diminish a fear, you must first face it. The one hundredth skydives or speech won’t be as traumatic as the first. The best way to deal with first fears is through a combination of logic speeches don’t die. They succeed through preparation. If your equipment is right and your training is complete, you are ready to jump. If your speech is carefully crafted and practiced, you are ready to speak.

Associate with confident people. You have seen many who have already done what you fear doing. Now, do what they have done. Courage grows with action. Fear is learned and must be unlearned. After facing that fear, you will feel exhilarated. Without fear, there can be no courage. Fear provides the opportunity to be brave.

Remain Adaptable

In daily life, through a love of many things, it is possible to remain adaptable. If it starts raining on the way to the beach, you will enjoy going to the movies. If you are kept waiting for an appointment, don’t get angry. Make a few calls or work on your schedule. Always have a book with you and you will never be alone. The small stuff can’t get you down if you are ready to substitute one good thing for another.

Don’t Be A Perfectionist

Trying to be perfect takes too much time and effort. It creates too much stress and is impossible anyway. Instead, strive to relax at the 90% level. This is the personal mastery level. Following the action principle, reaching the 90% level in most of your financial and social endeavors will be something that you don’t even have to think about work and nice personality.

Right now, learn about the income and the lifestyle level of those in the top 10% of your profession. If you aren’t content earning more than 90% of your co-workers, choose another profession.

It is possible to try top hard in business, exercise and relationships. Overwork can produce stress and anxiety, which is the opposite of the inner peace you seek. Your best is good enough. Live to a high standard, not to an impossible obsession.

Listen To Your Instincts

“I don’t feel comfortable here. I don’t like the sound of this. This doesn’t look right to me.”

With regard to your body or surroundings, your instincts are your best early warning system. Listen to the inner voice. Listen to that gut feeling. Go to the doctor. Leave the party. Get away from these people. Quit this job. Don’t open that door. Duck into that store.

Every once in a while, your instincts may be off and you may feel foolish. But your instincts may save you from danger. Give yourself time or space to consider your option. It is foolhardy to do otherwise.

Control Conflict

Remain calm and detached. Allow others to rage while you consider the appropriate response. Should you reason, agree, apologize, fight or leave? Which is to your benefit and to the benefit of those you most protect? Arguing often makes the other party become more defensive and determined to prevail. Let go of your anger. It only clouds the issue and draws you into a quick response. Whenever possible use kindness as your weapon against evil. Neutralize shouting with soft words and do not use foul language or sarcasm. Speak plainly, Answer threats with serene confidence. Breathe deeply with long exhalations. Don’t exaggerate. Don’t lie. Let the anger wash over you. Maintain your presence. Attack the argument and not the person.

Long term relationships are almost always more important than short term problems. Be an active peacemaker, building bridges of understanding.

Be Self-Reliant

If there is one gift that you can give yourself that will enhance the overcall quality of your life, it is self-reliance. You already possess everything you will need to succeed. You can work on your own schedule toward your own goals without feeling pressured by the demands of others.

When you are self-reliant, if you lose your job, you will get another. If you lose that job, you will start your won business. You can make more money as a self-employed handyman applying the action principles to your work than a lazy lawyer will ever earn. You need the will, the self-confidence and a realistic plan. As a follower of the action principles, you will have them. Life just can’t get you down because you are in control of yourself.

Lead By Example

Start acting immediately as the person you will be, a person of character with a sound reputation. Your words, your manner, your attitude, your dress, your posture and your actions are all reflections. In modern society, people are constantly bombarded with visual and auditory messages. People need cues to sort good from bad and to find order so that they can make decisions. In many different aspects of your daily life, you are giving off cues that can be positive or negative. If you speak well, dress appropriately, smile, are courteous, work hard, volunteer and don’t complain, you give people short cuts to view you are in your best light.

You must never expect other to do what you would not do. You must be fain, firm, friendly and dependable. If you have to correct someone, do it in private. You have succeeded as a leader when your team works just as well in your absence. Be constantly on the lookout for heroes in your own life to admire and emulate. Adopt their styles. Then lead by example.

Applaud The Beginner

You walk into a karate school for a first visit and see kicking, punching, blocking, chopping and flipping. It can be intimidating if you’ve never done these things. Or, you may look and feel awkward learning to snow ski or rollerblade or taking a foreign language. But persist; this is your first day and there will never be another day.

Any new endeavor may be tough in the beginning. Accept this. You must believe in yourself. Initially, critics may feel free to ridicule your ideas and goals as foolish and unrealistic. When you ultimately succeed, everyone will claim to have been on your team from the beginning. Take action and persist. Applaud those who try, because the first step is often the toughest. Welcome the new comer.

Spread Your Enthusiasm

Putting the “Action Principles” to work in your life will elevate your soul and lift your spirit. You will fell a zest for life. You will live full, enrich days. This will happen because you will have taken the quiet time to think, organize and prioritize your days. You will love many things and these things will become part of your day. You will be in control. Every day you will do good things for yourself and others. Words like boring and uneventful will rarely describe your work or your relationships.

Listen to favorite CD. Call a friend. Read a good book. Smile. Hear. See. Feel. Smell. Take a walk and look at all the wonders of your world. Let everyone in your life know that life is worth living.

Be known as a motivator. Ask other about their goals and how you can help them. Make people feel part of a successful team. Solicit their input. Keep everyone informed and involved. Establish performance incentives. Look for opportunities to praise and reward. Enthusiasm is contagious.

Master Success

There is a master inside you. It is an ideal. It is you at your best. Keep working.

• You are calm, thoughtful, patient and confident.
• You are honest, trustworthy, responsible and reliable.
• You are loyal and proud.
• You are humble and reverent.
• You are tough, self-reliant, persistent and hard working.
• You are organized, neat and poised.
• You are healthy, vibrant and enthusiastic.
• You are kind, friendly, helpful and generous.
• You are brave and daring.
• You are moral and ethical.