Do Self Centered Thoughts Prevent Growth?

The unfortunate result of a self centered mindset is that it cuts us off from the flow of social nourishment necessary for emotional and physical health. Fortunately the opposite is also true. Soul, body and spirit are strongest when our focus is on meeting the needs of others ahead of our own. Selfless behavior leads to an abundance of wealth, health and wisdom.

When truth is universal it can be found in various cultures, literature, religions and even within our families. Even without psychological definitions or formal training a mother knows how to encourage her child to share because harmony in relationships depends upon it.

There is no character trait inherent to us all which is so abhorrent when seen in others as pride. Unless we’re willing to acknowledge that this condition can ensnare us, the very thing we loathe to see in others will deceive and infect our minds. A lifestyle immersed in selfish pursuit is unsatisfying and antisocial.

Rewiring Our Minds

Unless we condition ourselves and consciously attach emotional significance to giving as the highest social order, we’ll continue to behave according to our natural inclinations. I don’t know who came up with the slogan, ‘Look out for number one’ but it wasn’t really necessary to train our minds to think this way; self centered thoughts are natural.

We naturally want, need, desire and seek to acquire but must be taught to provide, sacrifice and subjugate ourselves. There is no secret to learning how to be selfless and the reward is equal to the action; love.

Love can be defined as self sacrifice. We can deceive ourselves into thinking that the emotional reward for true selfless love is also self serving. In reality, even if the motivation isn’t pure, the action still produces the same positive effect.

Getting Out Of Your Own Way

Everything that is stopped, halted or hindered by a self centered mindset is instantly released when we change our minds. The conscious decision not to feed the greed allows us to put someone else in our place.

Transferring your energy toward meeting the needs of someone else can be called the personal growth fast track. That growth can be accelerated even more by learning to give just as generously to someone else, what you’d give to yourself.

Using positive and negative motivation at the same time for the same purpose brings a balance to our perspective. Trying to ignore our natural way of thinking, which is to put ourselves first, robs us of the keen insight that we usually have much more to give than we’re willing to admit.

Letting It Go

Some call it, ‘Paying forward’ because they expect something in return. Letting go of our expectation of reward allows us to reap the greatest outcome. Holding onto those expectations isn’t really letting it all go, it’s self centered.

As I mentioned before you may not have the right attitude or motivation but until you’ve made the decision to be giving, you won’t appreciate that attitude or understand the motivation. By practice your acts of giving will slowly bring clarity and if your mind is made up to continue being selfless, eventually your attitude toward others will change.

People everywhere are looking for a kind stranger, a compassionate person, a gracious gesture but they aren’t found by searching. Love is attracted to love and a self centered mindset prevents love from being expressed and received.

The Company That Cares Isn’t Self Centered

Why is it hard to find people who are completely satisfied with the company they work for? Why are broken relationships in real life and on TV depicted as both comedy and tragedy where everyone seems to want to get their way yet no one wins?

Leaders that start with a selfless worldview form those companies that people love to work for. The employees can’t do enough for the owners or the customers. The atmosphere is contagious and so is the behavior.

Customers and clients immediately sense the difference when an organization is infused with generosity and warmth. They can’t get enough, or say enough about how it makes them feel. The truly satisfied customers always come back.

Having A Bigger Vision

From childhood ‘self’ is only focused on immediate gratification. We may recognize how immature that type of behavior is, but changing it requires seeing more than the present view.

It’s amazing how easy it is to change your mindset when you get emotionally charged by a very clear vision. Growth for an individual, a family or a community requires both passion and vision.

A self centered mindset doesn’t see any potential other than what it can grasp. Even if that mindset leads to abundance it never finds pleasure because it always wants to grasp for more. Greatness in human development and achievement are the result of a mindset that clearly sees a grand vision and leads to passionate pursuit.

If you’re searching for an opportunity to work with some of the most successful, selfless people you’ve ever met while working at home this is your chance. If you’re surrounded by self centered people this is your opportunity to connect with a different crowd.

Your MLM market is distinct and exclusive but they live among thousands of people who are definitely not who you’re looking for.

Knowing where to find them is a matter of knowing what they look like and what they’re looking for. Attracting your market to you is the easiest way of finding them.

List Building

When you realize that building a database or a list of people is the source for your future in the MLM business you’ve chosen, you’ll want to find ways to build that list.

The internet is undoubtedly the biggest body of water to fish in when it comes to adding names to your lead list. Not all leads have the same value and a big list doesn’t necessarily mean huge profits.

Different lures attract different fish and knowing who you want to reach affects what you’ll use to reach them.

Prescreening

Employers have been using prescreening techniques for years. They realize that by only conducting interviews with qualified applicants they save time and money.

Your MLM business depends upon converting leads into business leaders. It takes less time and resources when you’re dealing only with applicants who have already demonstrated leadership capabilities.

This doesn’t mean that you only have to choose people who have a proven history in leadership, but every person in your training program that isn’t already qualified will require more of your time and expense.

How To Find Them

People with specific interests in the products your MLM offers might make good customers but people interested in how they can leverage your MLM for significant profit or lifestyle enhancement will make great business leaders.

First you want to position yourself ahead of your MLM company or any other affiliate company you want to promote. Fish are attracted to lures but people are attracted to people.

Your demonstration of the exact qualities you’re looking for is the key. When you provide valuable information to people they always want more.

They Want More

Your MLM market is swimming in schools within the ocean of people with one distinct characteristic; they want more.

The people in your market aren’t satisfied with the status quo of working all week for a boss to pay the bills and feed their family.

The good news is that they’re always looking and it is much easier to attract the attention of someone who has their eyes and mind open.

I’d love to hear what you think of this article… share it with the people you connect with so that they can grow online… and as always READ IT, FEED IT & TWEET IT!

Living an Inspired Life Will Inspire Others…

Proper motivation is necessary to becoming a leader. True leadership respects the source and flow of motivation and maintains balance by ensuring the wells that feed the fountains never run dry.

Motivation is the greatest force behind true leadership and becoming a leader requires knowing where motivation begins and how it flows.

Becoming a leader involves understanding that these fountains contain the water you must drink from; they must never run dry.

The term ‘self made’ is incongruous with what really happens on the road to success. Successful entrepreneurs need the motivational influences outside of themselves in proper balance and alignment.

The 5 Fountains of Motivation

This list is created in order and each fountain fills the next:

1.    Spiritual motivation
2.    Professional motivation
3.    Personal motivation
4.    Social motivation
5.    Charitable motivation

These fountains spring from the wells that supply the waters of motivation. Leadership flourishes or withers depending upon the depth of each well.

Spiritual Motivation

You may or may not resonate with the most powerful motivational force in existence but people of faith have an advantage when it comes to leadership.

People who learn to worship a perfect leader that cannot be equaled are drawn toward a level of perfection they can never attain. This is motivation at its zenith; the well that never runs dry.

Simply trying to wrap your mind around the infinite will motivate you to get creative. The farther you look outward into space or inward toward subatomic particles your mind is flooded with inspiration and flows freely.

Professional Motivation

When you’re already aiming for a standard, higher than any human standard, professional conduct and integrity will define your business affairs. Your posture as a leader is subjective to and reflects a higher authority.

You begin to see the flow of motivation from a continuous eternal source that is able to fill every other well of motivation.

Your drive to provide the best possible product or service continuously feeds your sense of purpose and meaning.

Personal Motivation

If you find yourself unmotivated or lethargic you should always check the first two wells. Leaders know how to keep their tanks full.

Personal motivation is an extension of a greater purpose and should not be treated as your primary focus. You are inspired and become an inspiration because you are fed and therefore can feed.

We are not meant to be on the top rung. It is a precarious position that is not only self-destructive but affects the wells that actually do lie below us.

Social Motivation

Personal motivation feeds self assurance but if you allow social motivation to fill that tank you subject yourself to peer pressure. Leaders don’t follow the crowd.

Placing the emphasis on what people want above our personal, professional or spiritual integrity is a dangerous proposition. What people want isn’t always what’s best for them and following this cycle leads to costly consequences.

The want for cheaper food leads to poor nutrition, which leads to weakness, illness and disease; society doesn’t always want what it should. A leader is socially motivated based upon the greater good and draws from the previous three wells to meet specific needs.

Charitable Motivation

When you’ve maintained the wells from which motivation springs the end result is abundance of both time and resources. Charity is dependent upon leaders who can optimize schedules and finances.

You can see evidence of improper motivation in landfills strewn with stuff that was purchased and discarded. Shortages in food banks and escalating debt are also signs that motivation is unbalanced.

If you arrive at the point of wanting to give but have nothing to give it is never because of a lack of charitable motivation. Becoming a leader by following this pattern means your capacity to give will always increase.

Please feel free to share this post with anyone you know that might benefit… let me know what you think… and… Read It, Feed It & Tweet It!

What Kind of Leader Will You Become

If we’re not preparing to succeed we won’t. Success doesn’t happen by mistake and we come to the role of leadership by design; by purposeful intent.

Are you using a comprehensive plan to design your role as a leader?

As entrepreneurs we study leadership as demonstrated by those who’ve successfully fulfilled that role. As we open our minds to the possibilities we discover that this world, our country, our community and our home, all need to be lead.

I enjoy finding inspirational videos like this online almost as much as making them.