A motivational author and speaker, Covey’s childhood was spent with his loving family on an egg farm close to the Salt Lake City. He completed his MBA from Harvard University and gained a doctorate degree from Brigham Young University. Subsequently, the legendary self-help book author went on to become a management guru at Brigham Young.

The success of the best-selling “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” got him international recognition and a high stature in the self-help genre. The book recorded a sale of more than 20 million copies in 38 languages. This success motivated Covey to start his own management consulting business. Soon, the motivational maestro started giving motivational speeches to big companies and government agencies.

Stephen Covey has touched million lives with his powerful motivational speeches. Through his books, he has inspired both the corporate world and individuals to lead a productive life. Some other books from this successful author include:

• First Things First,
• Principle-Centered Leadership, and
• The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families.

Stephen Covey was named among the the 25 most influential Americans by the TIME magazine in 1996. “Seven Habits”was acknowledged by Forbes as one of the the top 10 business management books of all time. His inspiring work will continue to touch millions of hearts even in his absence!!!

“Remember, to learn and not to do is really not to learn. To know and not to do is really not to know.”

- RIP Stephen Covey

The prolific writer has written several motivational books which emphasizes on achieving your personal goal by making strategies. He has spent around 25 years to identify why everyone doesn’t achieve happiness and financial success? Hill laid out 13 principles of success in the form of philosophy in his motivational self-help debut writing, “Think and Grow Rich”. As a publisher, he owned a media house that has published few of his works. Think And Grow Rich’s second edition, a rework and a compressed version of the original, was released in the year 1960.

As a person, Hill was a versatile man, a contingent entrepreneur who became an author and later on a leading advisor to some of the United States’ millionaires and also to Franklin D. Roosevelt, The President. He always preached about personal beliefs and its role in success. Hill’s last work “You Can Work Your Own Miracles” got printed after he departed in November of 1970.

“Fears are nothing more than a state of mind.”

“First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.”

Few days back, when I read this quote which is by the way written by a very successful US plastic surgeon, motivational author, and creator of the Psycho-Cybernetics self-help book, Maxwell Maltz, I thought it must be so easy for him to churn out such motivational lines. Obviously, for a guy who has tasted success in multiple roles as a plastic surgeon and then as an author with a bestseller self help book, quoting on success and the power of self-image must be easy. But, isn’t this quote profoundly inspiring? You bet it is.

Have you ever come across a situation when it becomes difficult to keep your bicycle steady due to some problems in the tire? You are trying hard to keep the bicycle steady, but it continues to veer to the left or right. The same thing happens when we try to attain a goal without aligning our self image to the goal. No matter how hard you push, you would not achieve the goal unless you readjust the tire.

This is what Psycho-Cybernetics, a classic self-help book, talks about. According to the author of the book, most of us fail to succeed in our goals due to the mental picture we have of ourselves.  Each of us has a mental image of ourselves that defines our perception of what we think we are. These perceptions are based on our belief that we have developed through our past experiences. May be in your childhood you developed a belief on others reaction to some particular situation. These beliefs of what sort of person we are stays with us forever and we don’t bother to question much on these.

Escaping your self-image is not possible. If you believe that you hate public speaking, you won’t be able to enjoy it and if you think exercising is beyond your capabilities, you will not be able to lose weight and keep yourself fit. Likewise, if you nurture a self-image of being a failure, you would unconsciously find an approach to turn an opportunity into a failure. To achieve your goals, there is no other way but to modify your self- image. According to Maltz,

• Self-image determines your personality and behavior
• It controls your action
• It defines the boundaries of what you can do and cannot do
• Modifying and expanding your self-image means expanding your limits of capability

Once you are able to get rid of your negative self-image, you will be able to hold up an image of the intended target. Your behavior and personality will automatically adjust in a course of time to attain the target.  It is obvious that change of our self-image cannot be done overnight, as stated earlier, experiences has the power to mould your self-image. That means if you consciously picture yourself as a success, your brain as well as nervous system will guide you to the process automatically for all events in the future.

Therefore, if you want to achieve success in your goals, visualize the right self-image.

As an adult, you may have been punished for communicating. For example, if you admit you committed a crime and are sorry about it, no one cares. You still go to jail. If you honestly tell your spouse you are thinking about an affair, your marriage suffers if your spouse is not very understanding. If you tell someone you feel a little crazy, who knows what might happen. So you learn to keep your mouth shut.

However, businesses fail when managers do not talk to employees or employees do not talk to customers. Everyone mistakenly believes telepathy is working. “I thought you knew I was unhappy with your performance.” “You should have known I was overworked.”

Marriages are ruined by poor communication. Rather than openly discuss sex, money, body problems or whatever, couples hint about their concerns or simply say nothing. But without support and understanding from your primary teammate, you do not go as far. In fact, a bad marriage can ruin everything in your life. Both parties in a successful marriage are able to give and receive communication from their spouse on any subject.

Life is miserable if you have no one to openly communicate with. Friendships are based on communication. The lack of friends or a spouse to communicate with often leads to mental problems.

So the first communication skill you need is to get out there and talk.

Unfortunately, on some topics, you’ve learned to watch what you say, to keep it under your hat, to zip it up.

“So that is the basic lesson that anybody learns in this universe. They learn to keep their mouth shut, and it’s the wrong lesson. When in doubt, talk. When in doubt, communicate.” — L. Ron Hubbard

Whenever you have doubts about something, COMMUNICATE! Talk, talk, talk until the problem resolves. When you feel stress, disagreement or resistance between you and someone near you, the wrong thing to do is ignore the problem. Instead, start communicating.

When you know you should say something, say it! For example, an employee knows another employee is embezzling money and so says something to the employee and/or boss. A doctor knows he must talk to a patient about the patient’s rude behavior to the office staff. An employer knows she must discuss poor performance issues with some employees.

Take the bull by the horns. Move ahead in life. Spit it out.

If you’re worried about the consequences of saying something, you can ask first. Examples:

“Lisa, I want to say something about your driving to help keep you out of accidents, but I don’t want to upset you. Can I tell you what I think or should I keep my mouth shut?”

“Boss, should I tell you if I think you are giving me bad advice?”

“John, our marriage means so much to me I don’t want to say anything that would jeopardize it. But I have done something wrong and I’m sorry I did it. I think it would be good for our relationship if I told you. Don’t you think it’s best if we are 100% honest with each other?”

“Can you listen to something unfortunate I have to say and remain calm? Are you ready?”

In the long run, you are always better off by communicating. Take responsibility and talk. Staying silent solves nothing.

Copyright © 2009 TipsForSuccess.org. All rights reserved. Grateful acknowledgment is made to L. Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce selections from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard

Charlotte, NC, June 4, 2010 — Rich London will present his personal empowerment “A Handbook for Life” seminars on November 6, 2010. In his seminars, Rich helps others overcome obstacles and set meaningful goals in their lives. Those interested can register for the November event at his website http://www.AHandbookForLife.com .

Parkinson’s patients and other groups can avail of discounts. The companion book “A Handbook for Life”, is designed to provide Rich’s proven principles in an easy to follow format and is available for sale at most of the major booksellers.

London’s first printed copies of his new book “A Handbook for Life” were received in January 2010 and his first seminar was produced March 27, 2010.

“At times, we all wish that life came with an instruction manual. This optimistic approach is based on sound principles, widely applicable, and yet simple enough to follow. It’s certain to make a difference in many lives,” said Dr. Yogesh K. Patel, Chair, Board of Directors, Parkinson’s Association of the Carolinas, who attended the first seminar preview.

London who has survived cancer and continues to battle Parkinson’s has seen his share of adversity. In spite of the challenges, he refuses to let life’s circumstances control him. He has done it by living the concepts and ideas that he shares in the book and the seminar.
Rich London has built several computer companies and is an active real estate investor. He has earned his third degree black belt and his commercial pilot’s license. He has also received numerous awards for his efforts as a volunteer search and rescue pilot for the Civil Air Patrol (USAF Auxiliary), where he holds the rank of Major. He resides in Charlotte, North Carolina with his wife and two children.

such is Rich’s positive approach that he says, “Life is a test. It’s a test of perseverance, a test of faith and a test of will. I’ve Decided to Pass the Test!’

London, was named the Charlotte Volunteer Coordinator for the “Victory Summit” produced by the Davis Phinney Foundation (to benefit and educate about Parkinson’s). He will be on hand for book signings and interviews at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, NC during the event Saturday, June 5, 2010.
Rich has also been asked to keynote the Southeastern Parkinson’s Disease Conference in Atlanta, Georgia on October 17, 2010.

Media and Potential Sponsors contact: Chuck Robbins, President aro marketing and public relations