Tag Archives: chicken soup for the soul

The Aladdin Factor… Ask and You Shall Receive… Or Not!

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In an interview with Jack Canfield, author of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Mr. Canfield talks of what he and his partner Mark Victor Hansen coined as the Aladdin Factor.

Basically they noticed how so many people weren’t getting what they wanted from life because they weren’t asking.

After that discovery they then identified the 5 main reasons people were afraid to ask.

Take a truthful look at yourself and see if you are not “asking” for any of these 5 reasons.

1. The first reason that people don’t ask, is ignorance.  They don’t know what to ask for. They’ve never been taught how to ask and they don’t know who to ask.

2. The second reason is limiting and inaccurate beliefs that people have.

Beliefs like, “there’s not enough”..

“If you really loved me, I wouldn’t have to ask”…

“The world’s not a responsive place”…

“No one cares about my needs”…

“If I get what I want it will really make me unhappy”.

You really have to go in and bore down on some of those beliefs we picked up as a child.

3. The third reason is fear of rejection. People are so afraid to look bad.

I love the salesman example.

It’s where there was a salesman who was trying to get to see the president. The woman who was the secretary said, “there’s no way you can get in to see him.”

So, the salesman said: “what will happen if I just walk in?”

She goes: “well, he’ll throw you out.”

So, the salesman thought: “what the heck. I’m out in the hall. If I go in and he throws me out, I’m back in the hall. I’m already here. It can’t get worse.”

So, he just walked in and said: “Mr. President, I only want one minute of your time.” The president didn’t throw him out of the office. Even if he had, so what. He was already in the hall to begin with.

So, we’re afraid to look stupid. We’re afraid to be humiliated. We’re afraid to look like we don’t know what we’re doing. We’re afraid to look ignorant. So, all those fears stop us.

4. The fourth thing is low self-esteem. Many of us don’t feel we’re worthy of getting our needs met. Some of that comes from our childhood beliefs from our parents. It’s the way we’ve been taught.

5. The last thing is the old man who won’t ask for directions thing.

Basically, it’s pride. He thinks he’s supposed to already know. He doesn’t want to look like he doesn’t know or that he needs anything.”

Ask and you shall receive… don’t be afraid to ask.

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Part 2 – Action Speaks Louder than Words but Not Nearly as Often

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Here’s more from Chicken Soup for the Soul Author Jack Canfield on taking action…

“The biggest thing that stops most people from being successful is that they think they are not enough of something.

They’re not smart enough.

They’re not old enough.

They’re not well-connected enough.

They’re not well-dressed enough.

They’re not funded enough in terms of their capitalization, etc.

As long as you believe that, you are never going to take the action that you need to.

Because you’re going to feel that you still aren’t yet enough of something to take action.

The way you become enough is by taking action and learning from your experience.

One of my mentors, a man named Jim Rohn, who I’m sure you’re familiar with, said: “you want to set goals that are high enough that in the process of achieving those goals, you become someone worth being.”

It doesn’t make a lot of difference to become a millionaire.

I’ve done that many times over and I can tell you that it’s nice to have a house and a car that doesn’t fall apart and all that.

But, what’s more important is who did I have to become in order to become a millionaire?

I had to learn how to overcome my fears.

I had to learn how to talk in front of groups.

I had to learn how to plan a speech.

I had to learn how to ask people that I was initially afraid of to loan me money, etc.

All of that was scary.

But, when I did it and survived it, I was no longer afraid to do it in the future.

Now you can take away my house, my money, my car and everything, and it wouldn’t matter.

I know how to create more of those things because of whom I’ve became not what I possess.”

 

Those are some powerful words…who do you want to become along your way to financial freedom?

 

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Action Speaks Louder than Words but Not Nearly as Often.

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There’s a section of an interview with Jack Canfield (Chicken Soup for the Soul author) I would like to share with you about taking action, enjoy it below.

“Basically, nothing happens until people ask.

I use a demonstration in my seminars where I hold up a $100 bill.

Then, I say: “if this $100 bill is available, and it is, who would want it?”

Every hand in the room goes up.

I just keep holding it there and eventually I say, “doesn’t anyone really want this?”

After about a minute or two, someone gets out of their seat and comes up expecting that I’m going to hand it to them.

I won’t even do that.

Eventually they have to jump up and take it out of my hand.

Then, I say to the audience, “what did Phil do here differently than everybody else?”

The answer is, he got out of his seat and he took action.

Many people learn about affirmations, setting goals, visualizing.

All that stuff, and it’s all very important and powerful.

But, a good game plan without action, doesn’t work.

However, even if you have a bad game plan, but you take action you can still get a lot further ahead.

Of course you need to be willing to respond to what’s happening and to the feedback you’re getting.

But if you do those things even with a bad game plan you can still get a lot farther ahead, then a good game plan without any action.

We always say: “the universe rewards action, not thinking.”

Basically, you do need to do something because people over think and they over prepare.”

Take action today towards your financial dreams and goals.

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Need a Bowl of Chicken Soup for Your Soul?

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The past few days I’ve been posting on an ebook I’m reading where Mike Litman and Jason Oman interview some of the most well known successful businessmen and motivational speakers of our time.

Today’s post is from the interview with Chicken Soup for the Soul author Jack Canfield.

Mr. Canfield was asked to speak on the importance of taking risks and it’s relation to moving forward in life. Here is his response.

“We have to risk, and every time we do something that’s different there are three areas we can risk in:

- We can risk in our behavior. That’s what we say and do.
- We can risk in our thoughts by thinking new thoughts.
- We can risk in our imagination by imagining new pictures. Every time we do that, we are going to risk getting an outcome that we’re not familiar with.

So, we have to risk being uncomfortable.

The thing that is keeping most people stuck, and why they don’t succeed more, is that they are not willing to be uncomfortable.

It’s uncomfortable to try a new behavior.

Like trying a new way to go home.

Or using a new sales close you’ve never used before on a big account.

That’s because you don’t know what’s going to happen.

But, what we do know is that if you keep on doing what you’ve always done; you’re going to keep on getting what you’ve always gotten.

If you’re not happy with what you’re getting, you’ve got to change your behavior.”

The key for you if this is new or terrifying is to start small.

You don’t have to revamp your entire way of doing things over night.

Accepting and implementing change is a muscle we develop so start small and over time you will develop more strength, excellence and confidence to take on more and larger change.

Pick one small thing you can change today that is aimed in the direction of your future success.

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Conversation With Mark Victor Hansen – Chicken Soup for the Soul

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In case you weren’t following the past few posts I am pulling some great material out of an ebook where Mike Litman interviews some of the most successful people of our time.

In the hot seat right now is Mark Victor Hansen author of Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Mark Victor Hansen says -

I want people to repeat, “I’m healthy, I’m happy, I’m successful.” What we learned from my friend Deepak Chopra, who is probably the greatest medical doctor, quantum physicist, and ayurvedic healer.

Deepak says, “happy thinking causes happy cells. Happy cells, happy quanta. Happy quanta causes everything else to be happy.”

I’m just saying that every one of us needs to decide whether you are going to be happy or sad, whether you are going to be successful or a failure.

You’ve got to say, “Goodbye to poverty, hello to riches.” You’ve got to say, “Goodbye to sickness, hello to health. Goodbye to limitedness and hello to being unlimited.”

There are plenty of examples around at every level whether it is spiritual, mental, physical, or financial.

All of it exists and there is total prosperity available to each of us individually. When we all find it individually; we have it collectively.”

This is a great reminder that our financial future is in our own hands, not fate or luck or your boss.

What have you decided for your life?

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