10 Keys to Success

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The Ten Keys to Success

Scroll down to read the first chapter and part of the second chapter

This book gives information and techniques that show you that you don’t need to be defeated by anything, that your life can have more love, joy, peace and energy than you ever had before. These ideas are not new. They have been around for thousands of years. They have been tested and proved many, many times all over the world.

If you have goals and dreams in life, this book will help you achieve them.

What are your goals and dreams in life? Do you believe that your life can get better and that your relationships can improve? Do you believe you can get out of debt, have better health and more financial security? You really can have these things and this book tells you how.

The Ten Keys:

Key #1 Decide what you want in life
Key #2 Think about what you do well
Key #3 Clarify your values
Key #4 Set goals
Key #5 Believe you can reach your goals
Key #6 Find other people to work with
Key #7 Be disciplined and persistent
Key #8 Enjoy your work and work hard
Key #9 Never, never, never give up
Key #10 Pray

Some things this book will help you do:

Do 3 or 4 times as much work in the same amount of time.
Have happier relationships and a happier life.
Learn to enjoy your work, relationships, career more.
Learn to work smarter, not harder.

100% money back guarantee for one year  Buy the book https://www.createspace.com/4219113

Keep this book for one year and if it doesn’t help you as much as I claim it does, return it to me for a full refund.

Too many people feel they are stuck in life, not getting the things they really want. Many believe that their life will never change. But it can change for the better, and it can change quickly! This book has inspiring examples of people that changed their lives. The material in this book will motivate you to achieve your best.

If you read this book carefully and put into practice the ideas in it, your life will change for the better. I guarantee it!  Buy the book http://tlc33.com/

The first chapter and part of the second chapter are below:

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface Location 55 (This is a Kindle book location)
Confidence is key
Your incredible story
A certain way of thinking
Dreaming made the difference

Key #1 Decide what you want in life.  Location 113
Love brings excellence
Be thankful
Dream the impossible dream
Lose Weight
Parachute Humor
Love is the most powerful force in the universe

Key #2 Think about what you do well  255
Don’t let heredity slow your destiny
Layover humor
The magic words
Why aren’t you dead yet?
You are responsible for success

Key #3 Clarify your values
The puppy
Kindergarten humor

Key #4 Set goals  381
Goals make a difference
Marriage humor
That’s not the way we do things…
The old mule joke
The tenacity of Edwin Barnes

Key #5 Believe you can reach your goals  484
A key to success
Airport humor
Another rags to riches story
Graveyard humor
Do affirmations work?
Attitude
Faith is powerful
Gratitude brings success and happiness
Gratitude, Sophia Loren
Old lady shopping
Belief makes reality happen.
The Power of the imagination
The world is a canvas
Your words are powerful
Imagination
Intuition

Key #6 Find other people to work with  785
The power of time
A party changed their lives
Half a head – humor
Be persuasive
Speak success over people
Success predicted
The force

Key #7 Be disciplined and persistent  917
Karma: you reap what you sow
Leaders are readers
This is good for me?
You reap what you sow
Your inner genius
When life throws dirt on you

Key #8 Enjoy your work, work hard  1058
A genius – Brian Wilson
Do what you love to do
Healthy chemicals
Love diverts disaster
The homeless man
Funeral humor
Enjoy your work
Marie Calendar
If you love what you do you won’t give up

Key #9 Never, never, never give up  1212
Let failure bring success
Winners never quit

Edison: the biggest loser
Never Give Up
Don’t take No for an answer
More funeral humor
Failure brings success
My memories of China
The orphanage leader
If only
Your enemies help you
Prayer humor

Key #10 Pray 1432
FAITH
Homeless to millionaire in two years
What is in your heart? Humor
Summer sounds

Start now, take action  1619

Preface

Believe you can do it–confidence is key

“If people believe in themselves it’s amazing what they can accomplish.”
~Sam Walton, Founder of Walmart

Your incredible story

Your life is like an unfinished book, you determine the direction it takes. I have traveled to a number of countries in the world and found that it is the same everywhere–people who believe they can accomplish their dreams achieve far more than those who don’t believe.

Your life is your story to write this year. How you choose to define yourself, your career, your relationships, and your destiny will determine everything for you. The opportunity to perform with excellence and exceed your expectations is right here in your hands. You can do things you never thought possible and have relationships better than you ever dreamed of–if you really believe you can do it and take the right steps.

If someone told you that you could write a song that would become incredibly popular and that you would make millions of dollars from it, you would work hard to write a song, right? Most people don’t believe they could write a song like that, so they don’t even try. It all starts with faith, belief that you can achieve something extraordinary. Most people try to achieve their goals and dreams but if they fail several times, they lose faith in their ability and give up.

Jesus Christ said that everything is possible for one who believes but he wasn’t the only one who said that. Countless others say the same thing, people like Abraham Lincoln, who rose from poverty and many defeats to become a great president. Many psychologists and success coaches say the same thing.

The mistake most people make is that they underestimate themselves.

“Deep within man dwell these slumbering powers; powers that would astonish him…, forces that would revolutionize his life if aroused and put into action.”
~Orison Swett Marden

A certain way of thinking

I found that truly successful people really do have a certain way of thinking. When I say successful, I mean successful in relationships, career, sports and any endeavor in life. Everyone wants love and respect, everyone wants successful relationships. Most people want a happy marriage and want to get along well with everyone in their family. Every person that has a career wants to be successful at his or her job. Amazingly enough, the principles for success in relationships are not very different than the principles for success in career, sports, building wealth, being healthy and almost everything else. Reading this book will give you the basics you need to be successful and happy. Does that sound unbelievable? Give it a try; what do you have to lose? These ideas have been around for thousands of years and have been proven to work over and over again.

I have talked to many people who have overcome serious health problems by applying the principles in this book. Many doctors say that the mind has enormous control over the health of the body, and making certain changes can bring about health. If I wrote about everyone I have read about and talked to who overcame illness, this book would be hundreds of pages long.

Some people believe that they have no control over their life and they can never have a good life. They just don’t believe things will ever improve. If you firmly believe that you have no control and you are a victim, this book is not for you. But if you believe that things can get better, read on!

Learn to have fun and enjoy life. Learn to work smarter, not harder. Learn how to make your failures work in your favor. Learn how to really excel in life! This book tells you how.

Several times on TV I saw people make comments about the importance of confidence for a person striving to become an actor. Obviously, there is intense competition in that field and few people become really famous actors. The first time I heard that confidence was one of the keys to success I didn’t really believe it. But then I heard it a few more times and sat thinking about it. Maybe it was true, and maybe it was true for everyone, not just aspiring actors.

Dreaming made the difference

O.J. Simpson was one of the top running backs in American football during the 1970’s. One or more of his records have not been broken yet. When he was a boy he wore braces on his legs. Once he met a top running back in the NFL at a football game. OJ told him “Someday I am going to be the best running back in the NFL, like you.”

I’m sure the pro football player had a hard time believing it when he looked at the braces on OJ’s legs. But OJ was serious. He thought about football often. He daydreamed about running the football up the field. Probably almost every day he thought about it and his visualization of the game gave him the motivation he needed to work harder than everyone else to achieve his dream. Visualization did something else for him, something very powerful.

I remember watching OJ run the football for the Miami Dolphins. When an opposing player tried to tackle him he moved so quickly that he often left the other player standing there wondering what happened. Sometimes it looked like magic because he moved so quickly, almost as if he knew what the other player was going to do before he did it. Probably he had imagined every possible scenario many times. Because he had thought many times about what to do if the other player cut to the right or to the left, it was as if he had done it thousands of times on the field because he had practiced it in his mind. His subconscious mind knew exactly what to do at exactly the right time. Visualization is a very powerful tool for athletes. I write more about this later in this book.

Triple your output in the same amount of time
While studying a foreign language, I found that it was possible to triple my speed of memorizing a list of new words. The reason that excited me so much is that I knew I could use that technique to reduce the amount of time it took to do many different tasks. You can read more about this in a section about attitude in Chapter 5.

I find that everyone can control their own attitude and because of this, it is possible to live a victorious life. Optimism, or you could call it faith, changed my life for the better. It made me happier and more successful in relationships, my career and practically every area of my life. The ideas that I put into practice are what this book is all about. These ideas have helped countless people for thousands of years. I am constantly amazed at the ability a person has to turn his life around when it is going the wrong direction, to enjoy life more, have more fun and be more loveable and successful. All it takes is applying certain principles in the correct way.

I am not saying that it is easy to apply these principles, it takes self-discipline. Brian Tracy, the success coach who started many different businesses and made millions of dollars said: “The habit of self-discipline virtually guarantees your success in life.”

Key #1 Decide what you want in life.

What would you do with your life if you knew you couldn’t fail?

“For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”
~Steve Jobs

“I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want.”
~The Spice Girls

Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help you determine what you really want in life:
1.    What would I do with my life if I knew I could not fail?
2.    What would I do with my life if someone gave me three million dollars?
3.    What would I do if a genie appeared and told me I could have any three wishes?
4.    What would I do if I had all the resources, help, ability and everything else that I needed to be 100% successful?
5.    What if I only had six months to live, what would I do?
6.    What if I only had one week to live, what would I do?
7.    What if I only had one hour to live, what would I do?

Love brings excellence

Have you ever stopped to think that the more you enjoy something the better you will do at it? For example, I mentioned earlier that Michael Jordan loves basketball. He would have to love the game to be willing to put in the incredible number of practice hours that he did. And Einstein loved physics. He would have to really enjoy it to work as a patent clerk in the daytime and work on his Theory of Relativity in the evening and during his free hours at work.

A husband who really enjoys his wife and children will be a better husband and father. He will not only be more loved by them, but he will love them more and be happier with the results of their lives.

We can take a look at two hypothetical employees, Bill and Tom. Bill has learned to love his job and continues to learn to love his wife more and more. Tom hates his job and does not get along well with his wife. His boss would tell you he has a bad attitude and doesn’t get along well with others.

Bill comes in to work early almost every day. He has plenty of time to go to the coffee machine and buy a steaming cup of black coffee, just the way he likes it. He goes to his desk and organizes his day so that he can control events instead of events controlling him. He is relaxed and ready for a brand new day.

Tom often comes in ten minutes late. He is in a rush every day and it stresses him out. When he arrives at his desk a coworker is already waiting for him with a question about a project he is working on. Tom doesn’t have time to relax with a cup of coffee and his day is already set – stress and frustration.

Bill likes his job. He is grateful for it. That does not mean he never faces problems or difficulties. But he has a good attitude and that helps him cope with anything that goes wrong.

A couple of years ago I did some studying on what American companies are looking for when they hire employees. I found that attitude is considered very important by virtually all companies. In fact many large companies say they prefer a person with a good attitude over a person with more experience and skill.

Be thankful
A person who has a good attitude is thankful for what he has will enjoy life more and be more excellent in his relationships and his job. When Bill drives home from work he begins to look forward to seeing his wife and children. He enjoys them. He takes time every now and then to think about the benefits of being married to his wife and the joy of each of his children.

When Tom is driving home from work he is thinking critical thoughts about his wife and children. Probably the dinner will be late and he is very hungry. The kids will be naughty and noisy and he won’t be able to rest. He will probably lose his temper with either his wife or one of his children and then everyone in the family will be unhappy. They will sit down and eat together, but it will be very quiet and rather tense.

If dinner is late for Bill he eats a snack or lies down until he is rested and refreshed enough to face this new challenge or helps with the kids. He enjoys the noise the children make because he knows they are having fun, and he enjoys seeing (or hearing) them have fun. If the dinner is late, it doesn’t matter, he knows his wife has been busy with many different tasks around the house all day and she won’t finish work until all the kids are in bed.

Psychologists and business experts tell us that positive reinforcement is more effective than negative. That means if we want to change other people’s behavior it is better to tell them what they are doing right instead of what they are doing wrong. Getting angry and shouting at people may change them for a short time, but it brings about more harm than good in the long run.

Dream the impossible dream

“A dream is your creative vision for your life in the future. you must break out of your current comfort zone and become comfortable with the unfamiliar and the unknown.”
~Dr. Denis Waitley, Psychologist and trainer for Apollo Space Program and the US Olympic team

Henry Ford accomplished things that most people said were impossible. Before the United States entered World War 2, the US government knew they must start preparing for war. They gave Henry Ford the task of designing a plant to build airplanes– heavy bombers. Many people said that we could build at most one bomber a day because each bomber was made of about one and a quarter million parts. Henry Ford designed a plant that could build one bomber every 55 minutes! Hitler didn’t think it was possible. This prodigious output of airplanes helped the allies win the war.

Everyone who has learned the power of confidence will tell you that if you really change the way you think and obtain a completely optimistic outlook, it will give you power you never knew was possible. Does that seem hard to believe? Read about people who accomplished great things like Henry Ford, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Sam Walton (the founder of Walmart), W. Clement Stone (became fabulously wealthy by selling insurance) and many others, and you will see that they accomplished great things because they had something about them that seemed like powerful magic. They had confidence, faith.

Lose Weight

I suppose we all agree that in order to lose weight we need to eat less and exercise. That seems pretty simple, so why is it so difficult to lose weight? I find there are five keys to losing weight, the five D’s:
Desire – really want to lose weight

Don’t doubt (believe you can do it)

Dream about it, visualize it

Discipline-be willing to eat less and exercise

Determined-be persistent and keep dieting even though you occasionally give in to temptation and eat too much.
Desire and Don’t Doubt
It all starts with desire. If you have burning desire to achieve a goal, you probably will achieve it if you believe you can. We have all heard people say “I just can’t lose weight; I’ve tried many times and failed.” Doubt is one of our worst enemies for achieving any goal, something that I write about often in my posts on my blog.

Interestingly enough, the secrets for losing weight are pretty much the same as the secret to building wealth. I have read a number of books about how to be successful in relationships, career, health, wealth and life in general. The amazing thing is that they all give the same advice about how to achieve goals. I expected the wealth book to give me tips on which stocks to buy, which real estate to purchase, but most of well-respected books about building wealth give advice about setting goals, desire, belief, visualization, discipline and determination to succeed.

If a person really wants to lose weight more than they want to eat too much, they will soon begin to eat less. If they want a slender body more than they want the pleasure of overeating, they are on the road to success.

If a person has strong desire they will be willing to work hard to achieve their goal. Arnold Schwarzenegger said that he became a bodybuilder to accomplish his goal of winning Mr. Universe so that he could become an actor. If he missed a workout he felt so badly about it that he actually felt sick. The emotional discomfort of not achieving his daily goal was so strong that the next day he wouldn’t even consider staying away from the gym. That is not to say that we should feel guilty and criticize ourselves when we miss our goal. In fact, that deflates our motivation and starts us in a downward spiral. But if we want something very badly, we just won’t be satisfied if we are not on track to achieve whatever it is we want.

The key to losing weight is to desire the benefits of weight loss, be disciplined enough to exercise more, eat less and determined enough to stick with it for a long time.

Many experts say that instead of dieting, it is best to modify eating habits. In other words, make a permanent change to the way you eat.

Dream
Visualizing yourself slender helps a lot. In his book “Arnold, The Education of a Bodybuilder” Schwarzenegger said that one of the keys to building muscle is visualizing your muscles growing larger. I read his book in the late 1970’s and thought it seemed silly and unbelievable. But now I find that many sports psychologists say it is true. In fact, back in the days of the Soviet Union, visualization techniques for Olympic athletes in East Germany were state secrets because their psychology was so advanced and successful. In those days East Germany won more medals per capita than any other country. US athletes use visualization techniques while preparing for the Olympics. Visualizing yourself at a certain weight will help a lot.

Look at pictures of yourself when you were slender. Pictures of your slender self are powerful for bringing about change. If your goal is to get a boat, post a picture of a boat on your vision board. For more information, search “vision boards” on the internet. A vision board is a bulletin board with pictures of things you want. Cut pictures out of magazines or print photos off the internet and attach them to a piece of cardboard, poster board or cork board. It is amazing how looking at this everyday motivates you and keeps your goals clear in your mind. When your mind has a clear image of what you want, it is easier to figure out ways to accomplish your goals.

Discipline
I find affirmations are great for building discipline and bringing about change. If you have never used affirmations, you might think the idea sounds silly at first, but I promise you they really do work.

Some affirmations:
I don’t like to eat too much.
I enjoy healthy food.
I enjoy the benefits of my slender body.
I say these out loud as often as I need them. In addition, I say “I am happy, healthy, wealthy, wise and good looking.”  (Doesn’t have to be true yet.)

Determined
By determined, I mean keep with it, don’t give up no matter what.
Eating healthy food and plenty of fruits and vegetables and drinking lots of water help you lose weight. I find if I don’t get proper nutrition, my body starts to crave food that might be high in calories because I need the nutrition in that food, but it is best to get it in low calorie alternatives instead of junk food. Some fad diets say don’t eat grains, this is bad advice. For decades the experts tell us we need plenty of grains for good nutrition. The problem is that it is easy to eat too many grains and that leads to weight gain.

I find that if I want something bad enough and really believe I can do it, everything else falls into place to achieve the goals and dreams in my life.

So to lose weight, stay motivated! Read motivational books, blogs (including mine), magazine articles. Listen to motivational material as you drive. All it takes is desire (motivation) and everything else falls into place.

Parachute Humor

They say you learn best when you enjoy the lesson. I include some short jokes in this book, they often have an important point that goes along with the ideas in this book.

Four people were in an airplane which was going to crash so they all had to parachute out. The problem was that there were only three parachutes so the four of them began discussing who would get the chutes.

The first man said that he ran an orphanage and that dozens of children depended on him for survival, so he took a chute and jumped out.

The second man said that he had a PhD in nuclear physics, biology and law and since he was one of the smartest men in the world he felt the world needed him, so he jumped out.
An old retired farmer and a schoolgirl were the two left. The old man said “You take the chute. I have lived a long and full life and I am looking forward to going to heaven.”

The school girl replied, “No need, there are still two parachutes left. The smartest man in the world just jumped out with my backpack.”

The moral of this little story is that it is often not the smartest and best educated that achieve the most in life. We’ll talk more about Thomas Edison later, but one of the greatest scientific minds of the last thousand years, Nikola Tesla, said that Edison was very inefficient because he didn’t apply scientific principles to his work. He was very uneducated; he had only a few months of formal schooling and had learned almost no math or science. Even high school level math and science would have helped him enormously. Instead he relied on trial and error and brute persistence. Many people admire Edison because he overcame so many handicaps to become one of the world’s greatest inventors by sheer force of willpower.

Love is the most powerful force in the universe

“Joy is an attitude; it is the presence of love – for self and others. It comes from a feeling of inner peace, the ability to give and receive, and appreciation of the self and others. It is a state of gratitude and compassion, a feeling of connection to your higher self. “
~Unknown

Think about and do what you love as long as it is not destructive to you or other people. All happiness comes from love and all unhappiness comes from a lack of love. The problem is many people spend a lot of time thinking about things they don’t love and that kind of thinking causes a lot of pain. For example, some people think about how badly another person hurt them. Others think about how distasteful their job is-how much they lack love for their job. Others think about their problems—things they don’t love instead of thinking about the things they love.

If you use the word “love” in the most general form you see that love holds everything in the universe together. Attraction is another word for love. Protons in the nucleus of an atom are held together by a strong attractive force, even though they are positively charged and therefore repel each other. Love, or attraction holds families together. Love holds companies together—people come to work because they like getting a paycheck.

When we think about and talk about the things we love, it brings more of those things into our lives. When we think about things we don’t like, it brings more bad into our lives. A couple of years ago I heard this for the first time and wasn’t sure it was true so I thought about it often and tested it out. I found that it is 100% true.

Why do our lives work this way? Some call it psychology and explain what is happening in our subconscious mind. See my article posted 9/12/12 on www.BradStanton.com for more information. Others call it the Law of Attraction. Some say it is just common sense.

Have you ever worked with a complainer? There have been times when I was in a good mood, but someone started complaining. I joined in and soon I was feeling gloomy. The opposite is true also, if someone talks about how good the company they work for is, others begin to see good things and feel a little happier.

The more you think and talk about only things you like or love, the happier and more successful you will be. Others will be attracted to you and like you much more than if you were negative.

To get rid of unhappiness or boredom, add love to your life. If you want to get rid of the air in a glass, you don’t hook up a vacuum pump to it because it will never pull all the air out of it. All you have to do is pour water into the glass. John chapter 7 says that love flows down from God like water to us and through us. When we allow ourselves to be filled with love and let it flow to others, we are happier. The Dead Sea is dead because nothing flows out of it, it is the same with people, we aren’t fully alive unless we love people, places, things, pets, etc.

Add love by thinking about things you like or love. Maybe you love sunrises, if so, think about them. If you love a certain TV show, watch it. If you love your family, spend time with them. Love your cat, your dog, your sofa, your bed, or sitting under a tree, relaxing and enjoying the beauty of nature.

When I get unhappy about my job (or anything else) I say “I love my job” a number of times until I begin to feel love/like for my job. Try it, you’ll like it.

Key #2 Think about what you do well

“If there is anything that a man can do well, I say let him do it. Give him a chance.”
~Abraham Lincoln

“Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.”
~Leo Buscaglia

Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”
~Michael Jordan “

If you are five feet tall, you will have a very difficult time becoming a pro basketball player. You will have to work a lot harder than everyone else, and they already work really hard. If you are six feet four inches tall, maybe being a horse racing jockey is not your calling in life.
1.    What do you do well?
2.    What have you done well in the past?
3.    If you ask your family and friends, what do they say you do well?
4.    Ask people for advice about your strong points, and maybe even your weak points.
5.   Experiment, if you don’t know what you do well, try doing something and see if you are good at it.

Don’t Let Heredity Slow Your Destiny

Many of the world’s greatest people came from very humble beginnings. Former US president Ronald Reagan’s father was an alcoholic. He would sometimes drink until he passed out in the front yard of his house. Can you imagine how embarrassing it would be for your neighbors to see your father passed out on your front lawn? The family moved from town to town as his father lost job after job. But instead of letting a rough upbringing ruin him, Ronald Reagan allowed it to make him stronger.

Though former President Jimmy Carter’s father died a relatively wealthy man, between Earl’s forgiveness of debts owed to him and the division of his wealth among his heirs, Jimmy Carter inherited comparatively little. For a period of time, due to a limited real estate market, the Carters lived in public housing for the poor.

Jack Canfield’s father abused him and his mother divorced him when Jack was young, but Jack went on to be one of the world’s best loved authors. Psychologists say 80% of families are dysfunctional, so if you feel like a loser because you come from a dysfunctional family, think again!

Tom Monaghan’s father died when he was four years old. His mother had a very difficult time raising Tom and his younger brother, so she put them in an orphanage for six years. Later he bought a small pizza shop, worked extremely long hours, suffered serious debt problems and saw his shop burn to the ground. But every time his plans were thwarted, he picked himself up and kept working. Now he is one of the richest men in America and his Domino’s Pizza Restaurants are famous.

Did you have lousy parents? Maybe they had anger problems or mistreated you and your siblings. That doesn’t mean you will do the same. You can get rid of the habits that were instilled in you by your parents. You don’t have to let those memories ruin your joy. When you forgive, the person you help most is yourself.

Don’t let anything that has happened to you in the past hurt you. Don’t let any mistake keep you down. Mistakes can make you stronger. Everybody makes mistakes in life, everybody has done things they are ashamed of and would like a chance to do over.

Every day is a brand new day. Like Zig Ziglar (he was extremely poor growing up) says: “Today’s gonna be a great day and tomorrow’s gonna be even better!” Your best is still ahead of you.

Don’t let divorce, wayward children, unfair spouse, or a mean boss keep you down. Keep working and believing and you can turn any bad situation around.

Layover humor

A man had a layover on his flight to Los Angeles, so he stopped by a snack shop in the airport and bought a package of small cookies and a newspaper. He sat down at a table and began reading the newspaper. After a few minutes he heard the rustling of cellophane, the kind his cookies were wrapped in so he peered over his paper and was shocked to see an elderly lady removing a cookie from the cellophane and taking a bite.

He frowned at her but she didn’t notice. He reached out and took a cookie, still frowning at her. She looked up, noticed his frown and kept chewing the cookie.

After a few moments, while reading again, he heard the same noise. He looked up and saw the lady taking another cookie without asking, without even looking at him! He reached forward and took two cookies with an even fiercer frown. She paused for a moment, looking at him and then went back to eating.

He ate both cookies and went back to reading until he heard the cellophane again. She took two this time and even frowned at him! He grabbed the rest of the cookies and stood up to leave, opening his briefcase as he walked so that he could put the remaining cookies in it. To his chagrin, he saw the unopened bag of cookies he had purchased and absent mindedly inserted in the briefcase.

He quickly wheeled around and gave the lady back the remaining cookies, apologizing profusely.

The Magic Words

Many people teach their children to say “please” and “thank you.” If a child says “I want more milk” the parent says “What are the magic words?” The child says “please” and after the milk is poured says “thank you.”

I don’t know who began calling them the magic words, but there is a lot more truth to it than we realize. Most people know that when you start your day in a good mood, the whole day goes well. But if something goes wrong in the morning, like stubbing your toe as you walk half asleep to the bathroom, it can make the day go badly, unless you shake it off and think about things you are grateful for. Being grateful puts you on a higher plane, so to speak, and sets the tone for the entire day.

Some people say “thank you” as their feet hit the floor getting out of bed. They stop and think about how happy and grateful they are that they have a job to go to, or they have a bed to sleep in, food to eat for breakfast, a toothbrush, running water, and many other things.