I love EPCOT and my daughters have always loved the Imagination ride.  I like it even though they have changed it over the years, so what better way to start this lesson than with a bit of 'Figment" and some of the rides theme song.

Napoleon Hill says that imagination is the creative power of the soul and that every lesson in the Law of Success uses this lesson to build upon.  Oh, how true!  We can create all of the other qualities using the quality of imagination.  One little spark of inspiration is at the heart of all creation.  No truer words were ever spoken.  All great inventions began with just an idea - that spark of inspiration that lead to someone imagining something as possible.  The Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Milton Hershey - would we even know their names if it wasn't for something that sparked their minds into imagining something newer or better or different?

All organized plans that we develop are created in our imagination.  Nothing was ever created that was not first conceived in the imagination, through desire, and transformed into reality through concentration.

This poem was quoted by Napoleon Hill but not credited to anyone.  I found this on the internet, but you may also find a similar poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox.  Regardless of who actually came up with the original version, it states simply that thoughts, went sent out to the Universe, can become the things that we desire.  Refer to my Infinite Possibilities posts and to the teachings of all the people from the movie "The Secret" as well as Dr. Wayne Dyer, Tony Robbins and countless others through the ages.  Napoleon Hill states "Thoughts are Things".  Period.

Everything and anything that you can imagine and create in your thoughts will manifest.  Oh, any this means both good and bad.  So imagining that bad things will happen gives them just as much validity as good things!  Just sayin'

Next Lesson:  Action

Following Self-Confidence comes Initiative and Leadership.  If you have the self confidence that was talked about in the last lesson then you can become an efficient leader by taking the initiative needed.

Leadership is required for the attainment of your success and initiative is the foundation on which it is built.  Initiative is what makes you do what needs to be done without being told to do it.  It is your self confidence which will allow you to do this.

Taking the initiative sometimes means doing things that others may not deem necessary or see the value of, but after you have chosen a definitive purpose it then becomes your duty to transform your purpose into reality.  You will need to form the habit of taking some sort of definite action each day to carry yourself ever closer to attainment of that goal/definitive purpose.

This will take initiative.  It also means that you need to eliminate procrastination!  Procrastination is a deadly enemy to anyone who wants to become a leader in any undertaking.  Procrastination is a deadly habit.

The way to initiate this lesson is to do one definite thing each day, something that needs to be done without anyone telling you to do it.  Next you need to look for something that you can do each day that you are not in the habit of doing.  This has to be something that will be of value to others but for which you do not expect to receive any monetary payment.  In other words do something for others.  The last step here is to let someone else know of this lesson - tell at least one other person each day of the value of practicing the habit of doing something that should be done with being told to do it.  And wouldn't the world be a better place if we all practiced this last step.  Do something that needs to be done without being told to do it!

The habit of initiative will become part of us as we develop these habits just as the muscles in our bodies become stronger as they are used.  And research tells us that anything that we consistently do daily for a period of 30 days becomes a part of our normal routine.  The place to start these habits of initiative are in the small, common place things connected with your daily work.  So go about your work every day, no matter what it is, as if you were doing it solely for the purpose of developing the habit of initiative.  You may be amazed at how quickly, by developing the habit of initiative, you begin to attract the attention of those who will begin to place greater value on you and your services as a result.

Remember that you only limitation is the one that you set up in your own mind.

Initiative opens the door to opportunity.

Don't know that anyone is following anything that I say, but if you are, I apologize.  Life did get in the way  the last few weeks.  Spent 2 weeks in Florida teaching some CE classes which I thoroughly enjoyed, but some life things came up also that threw me "out of whack".

Hopefully I can get back on track this week.

Working out of my "home office" today, Monday and trying to get started back up with some healthy eating habits and lose a few pounds that I have been fighting with the last few years actually.  Jorge Cruise is my new best friend for the next few weeks as I get motivated to get rid of the excess sugar in my system and get rid of some "belly" fat.  Some necessary things need to happen in my life over the next few weeks, so hopefully I can stay strong.  Any words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated.

In other items, I have a couple drafts for some of the other categories started and so hopefully will get them posted this week also.  Updates to Infinite Possibilities as well as  the Napoleon Hill and Chakra categories are in progress.

Was wondering what my new stick blender would do to apples so this morning I tested it out!

Apple chunks, juice of one small orange, one banana, scoop of vanilla whey protein powder, coconut milk and voila!  My stick blender pulverized the apple!  Have I mentioned how much I love my stick blender?

The crowning touch to my smoothie this morning was cinnamon! Absolutely Yummy!