Sean Rasmussen

It’s an ages-old adage, but as with most adages of the sort, one that lives on because of its basic core of truth. Life is what you make it. It gives what you ask of it. It is not predetermined, it is moldable, limited only by what you ask of it.

The below poem is very powerful if you grasp the meaning of it and apply it to your life.

Aim For The Best In Life

Remember, it takes no more effort to aim high in life, to demand abundance and prosperity, than it does to accept misery and poverty. A great poet has accurately stated this universal truth in these lines:

“I bargained with Life for a penny,
And Life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store.

“For Life is a just employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.

“I worked for a menial’s hire,
Only to learn dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have willingly paid.”

Life Is What You Demand Of It

Many people miss this point. Life is an effort regardless of what you do with it. If you are complacent and missing out on what you wish you had, your effort exhibits in the form of stress and struggle. If you are positive and effect a positive change, your efforts will be spent, but also rewarded.

Anyone who has ever been under stress or struggled to succeed, earn money, or pay the bills, will agree that it is no easier to live a subdued life. It is still an effort, and I’d daresay one that in the end is much harder than the life you build of success. As Hill says here, the choice is yours. You only need to decide whether you want to enjoy your efforts or continue to feel the pressure that comes from misplaced attitude and effort.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2008

This entry was posted on Friday, November 28th, 2008 at 5:24 am and is filed under Mindset Mastery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Hill’s examples of struggle and humbleness did not end with Mr. Dickens. Just to drive the point home, he continued on with his list of great achievers who pulled themselves up despite their burdensome beginnings.

More Motivational Strugglers

We all learned the story of Helen Keller in school, the girl who became deaf, dumb, and blind shortly after birth. Despite her intense misfortune, she made her indelible mark on the world. Her entire life was evidence that no one ever is defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality.

Booker T. Washington was born into slavery; his handicap was his race and color. Because he was tolerant, always had an open mind (on all subjects), and was a dreamer, he left his impression for ever on an entire race, and paved the way for more modern Civil Rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. in the U.S. and international Civil Rights leaders like the aforementioned Nelson Mandela, who eventually won equal rights for all races in so many reaches of the civilized world.

Beethoven was deaf, Milton was blind, but their names will last as long as time because they dreamed and translated their dreams into thought and art.

Renewing Your Resolve

Before you go on to the next chapter, renew your dedication to your pursuit, and renew your energy of hope, faith, courage, and tolerance. In these states of mind, and with a working knowledge of the principles described, anything else you need will come to you when you are ready for it. Because as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, every resource that you need will “come home through open or winding passages. Every friend whom…the great and tender soul in thee craveth, shall lock thee in his embrace.”

There is a difference between wishing for something and being ready to receive it. No one is ready for something, until he believes he can acquire it. Your state of mind has to be belief, not just hope- or wishfulness. Open-mindedness is essential for belief. Closed minds do not inspire faith, courage, and belief.

Open Your Mind To Success

It is always a good thing to hear or read a reminder like this. It’s always helpful to see that success is possible, regardless of the hurdles, and to be reminded to renew our dedication to ourselves and continue to strive for success. These minders come, I would guess, in a quite timely manner for many out there today. I hope you embrace them and continue to believe in yourself and all that you are doing to improve your life for you and yours.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2008

This entry was posted on Monday, November 24th, 2008 at 5:47 am and is filed under Mindset Mastery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

It’s motivating to have many grand successes before you to see the possibilities that the right mindset can bring; but it is just as motivating—probably more so—to see how people have come up from less than optimal beginnings. Why? Because, as Napoleon Hill says, everyone starts off at the same basic point, until the time that they arrive at the turning point in their lives and success.

Common Starting Ground

Remember, too, that everyone who succeeds in life gets off to a bad start, and is forced to endure many heartbreaking struggles before they “arrive.” The turning point in the lives of those who succeed usually comes at the moment of some crisis through which they are introduced to their “other selves.”

John Bunyan wrote the Pilgrim’s Progress, a preeminent classic of English literature, after being imprisoned and harshly punished simply because of his views on the subject of religion.

Henry discovered the dormant genius within him after a misfortunate event that landed him in a prison cell, in Columbus, Ohio. Then being forced, through his misfortune, to become acquainted with his “other self” and use his imagination, he discovered that he was a great author instead of a miserable criminal and outcast. Life’s ways are strange and varied and stranger still are the ways of Infinite Intelligence, through which people are sometimes forced to undergo all sorts of punishment before discovering their own brains, and their own capacity to create useful ideas through imagination.

Edison, the world’s greatest inventor and scientist, was a “tramp” telegraph operator; he failed countless times before he was driven, finally, to the discovery of the genius sleeping inside his brain.

Charles Dickens began his life pasting labels on blacking pots. The tragedy of his first love struck him deep in his soul, and converted him into one of the world’s greatest and most famous authors. That tragedy produced David Copperfield first, then a succession of other works that made this a richer and better world for anyone who reads his books. Disappointment in love often results in driving men to drink, and women to ruin; and this, because most people never learn the art of transferring their strongest emotions into constructive dreams.

The Possibilities Within

It seems to be pretty plain what Hill is saying here, but let’s say it anyway.

No rough start to life, no harsh circumstances, are a preordination to live a life without success. The examples clearly show that crisis can often turn into greatness, and in fact may be the catalyst for it in many cases. Does that mean you have to look to create a crisis in your life so that you can succeed? Certainly not. But it does mean that regardless of the past, the future is a wide-open opportunity for the best and biggest of things to come.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2008

This entry was posted on Friday, November 21st, 2008 at 5:01 am and is filed under Mindset Mastery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Last week I stumbled across a real Gem! On my recent break from Internet Marketing I took my family on a casual 2,000 km roundtrip to the Fraser Range Sheep Station. 437,000 Acres of wilderness! Just another Aussie Outback Station… That’s when I found out about the new golfcourse they are building.

Nullarbor Links - The Longest Golf Course In The World

Nullarbor Links will be the longest golfcourse in the world when completed in 2009.  It will be 1,365 km long.  This is a fantastic concept for tourism.  People will start in Gold Digging Town Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, then play hole for hole across the Nullarbor Plain, finishing up in Ceduna, South Australia - 1,365 km away!  Fraser Range Station will be hole number 6 along the way.

Golfers will absolutely love this and are bound to travel from all over the globe to play this course.

My estimate would be to allow a casual 5 - 7 days for this exercize, but only if you are on a time constraint! 10 days would be better, allowing for staying overnight after 2 holes of golf. After all, you’ll be traveling a few miles between greens.  This is a real lifestyle enterprise for a golfer.  Even though I’m not a crazy golf addict, I’d give this course a go when it’s ready. Why not, indeed!

Now, I’ll share some of my latest holiday. No more golf… I promise!

Fraser Range Sheep Station - 437,000 Acres

So what did we do on our little holiday? Lots! What a cool place to bring the kids! (OK, I had fun too). Fraser Range Station is 437,000 acres and has a sheep grazing rate of 1 head per 27 acres. That rate would allow me to have 0.8 sheep on my property (where’s that picture of a 3 legged sheep?).

Normally, I drive past that place when I do the 4,600 km roundtrip over to visit my mum in Streaky Bay every year. I don’t mind a long drive. It gives me time to think, relax and bring my mind back to it’s natural state of ‘very little’.

Climbing Tree Dogs And Boys Shenanigans

As you could imagine, my 2 boys got up to lots of adventure. None the least, teaching their dog to climb trees!  There were no Cats up there, so she jumped down again.

(Disclaimer: My dog is much bigger than this one! He stays home to guard the house while we are on holidays)

The boys found other adventures to entertain them, away from their Nintendo, X-Box and whatever screens they fill their boyhood with.

Where’s That Waascaly Wabbit?

They really enjoyed this. We located an empty can that needed some serious target practice. My Dad was a bit of a shooting Champion back in his day and it seems the skills haven’t been lost over 2 generations. The boys popped that can every time!

Lucky no Rabbits ran past, hey?

Aussie Kids On A Mission (OK, Station)

We found an old windmill on a drive out in the bush, near an old drovers station. The boys needed to climb it. Why? Because it was ‘climbable’. Reason enough!

“Dad! Get a photo of me up here. Mum wont find out” - Not unless she reads Dad’s blog, of course…

But Dads need some adventure too. See, us boys never really grow up. We just grow older…

I Feel The Need. The Need For Speed!

Tom Cruise, eat your heart out! I found myself a new car to drive. A bit of love was all it needed. I’m not sure about its top speed but I think it does 0-100 in about 2 hours.

It wasn’t Red and it didn’t have a Wireless, but it was cheap!

I decided to drive home in my 4WD for a bit of added comfort. They don’t make cars like they used to, that’s for sure!

Fun On The Range. Local Wildlife

Back on the station, we located the resident Kangaroo Jack that was ‘produced’ by some sheep shearers back in their heyday.

OK. That’s enough from me. I hope you don’t mind me sharing a bit of personal life with you. Normally, I write all this stuff about mindset and the law of attraction. This time, you can see what I get up to in normal life, outside of my internet marketing business.

Next week, I have business to do in Hong Kong. I’m thinking about blogging daily while I’m there. Let me know in the comments section if you want an update or 2 from Hong Kong Disney. It could be fun!

This will enable me to partly fulfill a promise I made you back in February 2008: To deliver a message from 3 continents this year. Looks like I might fall just short of that one, but… never say never.

Until next time,

Have a most outstanding day

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2008

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 at 3:22 pm and is filed under Lifestyle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

We have the good fortune of having many great dreamers who have come before us. That has paved the way and made it all the easier to ignore the cynics. And just in case you needed reminding, we have these words of wisdom to do it.

Willing The Dreamer To Be A Doer

The modern world has become accustomed to new discoveries. Hence, today’s world has proven willing to reward a dreamer who gives the world a new great idea.

“The greatest achievement was, at first, and for a time, but a dream.”

“The oak sleeps in the acorn. The bird waits in the egg, and in the highest vision of the soul, a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of reality.”

Awake, arise, and assert yourself, you dreamers of the world.

The modern world is filled with an abundance of opportunity past dreamers never knew before.

A burning desire to be, and to do is the take-off point where dreams begin to come into reality. Dreams are not born from indifference, laziness, or lack of ambition.

Scoff No More

The world no longer scoffs at dreamers, nor does it call them impractical. Too much good for the benefit of modern living has come from lofty dreams. Too many astounding discoveries have been made, resulting in ever changing and improving technologies, technologies we as a race embrace in pursuit of a better, richer way of life. Not so long ago, the idea of the technologies and inventions of today would only have been viewed as lunacy.

But we have all paid a price for the technology and gadgetry of today; a price that has often put us in a position of stressful defeat. This may even be the direct cause of your outreach for wealth creation. If you are one who has been disappointed and undergone defeat, find courage in knowing that these experiences have steeled your spirit and become assets of incomparable value.

Bouncing Back

We only stay in a position of defeat as long as we allow ourselves to—as long as we allow others to dictate our opportunities. What that means is that you are in control of your success, or your failure if you choose not to take that control. Take the control, dream the dreams, and be the doer who succeeds.

Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 - 2008

This entry was posted on Monday, November 17th, 2008 at 5:21 am and is filed under Mindset Mastery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.