Just sharing a vital lesson by re-reading an insightful passage in the Psycho-Cybernetics classic by Dr Maxwell Maltz:

"... You are basically an "actor" - not a "reactor". Throughout this book we have spoken of reacting and responding appropriately to environmental factors.

Man, however, is not primarily a "reactor", but an "actor".

We do not merely react and respond, willy-nilly, to whatever environmental factors may be present, like a ship that goes whichever way the wind happens to blow.

As goal-striving beings we first - ACT.

We set our own goal, determine our own course. Then, within the context of this goal-striving structure - we respond and react appropriately, that is, in a manner which will further our progress and serve our own ends... "!

Henceforth, we have a choice.

Drawing intellectual cues from the famed Austrian psychologist Dr Viktor Frankl:

"Between stimulus and response there is a space.

In that space is our power to choose our response.

In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

[Author's Note: It is good to learn about the 7 Levels of Awareness as postulated by the late Bob Proctor. You can go to the PGI corporate website to look for it.]

An inspiring quote:

“We venture to say that nothing is more likely to help a person overcome or endure objective difficulties or subjective troubles than the consciousness of having a task in life. That is all the more so when the task seems to be personally cut to suit, as it were; when it constitutes what may be called a mission. Having such a task makes the person irreplaceable and gives his life the value of uniqueness.”

- Dr Viktor Frankl, author of 'The Doctor and the Soul', which had predated his magnum opus, 'Man’s Search for Meaning'; Frankl had survived the death camps of Nazi Germany during WWII;

"The man who conceives himself to be a 'failure-type person' will find some way to fail, in spite of all his good intentions, or his willpower, even if opportunity is literally dumped in his lap."

~ Dr Maxwell Maltz, writing in his Psycho-Cybernetics classic;

Isn't this very ironic, for man, as Dr Maltz put it so eloquently, is "engineered for success", and yet there are folks out there who choose rather to be conditioned for failure?

No wonder, the famed Austrian psychologist Dr Viktor Frankl, whom Dr Maltz revered in his classic, made this astute observation:

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

Frankly, and interestingly, each and every one of us was always born a champion, drawing evolutionary cues from the Spermatozoa Analogy.

I have had always been fascinated by the idea of goal striving, especially after having read Dr Maxwell Maltz's Psycho-Cybernetics classic, following my particiation in the Dynamics of Goal Setting program from Success Motivation Institute, Waco, TX, in the late seventies.

Here's a specific passage from the book about Dr Viktor Frankl, which intrigued me, but didn't strike me as much when I first read it:

"Viktor Frankl, dintinguished Austrian psychologist and author of Man's Search for Meaning, survived three years of imprisonment in Aushwitz, Dachau and other concentration camps during World War II.

Although he witnessed massive suffering, death and destruction, Frankl stated that one in twenty prisoners actually survived these death camps, and the primary reason for many of these survivors was their continued purpiose ffor existence.

These surviving prisoners set goals to either see their families again, fulfill a previous mission, or live long enough to inform the world of the atrocities of war. It was these goals that helped keep them alive, while others without a purpose for their continued survival, perished."

I must admit that I actually didn't understand this particular passage very well, or rather its significant implications, until I have had the wonderful opportunity to read Dr Frankl's book,  and also after a planned visit to the remnant of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, as part of my holidays across Eastern Europe with my late wife Catherine, in the late eighties.

I thus remember vividly this elegant quote from Dr Frankl:

“Life can be pulled by goals just as surely as it can be pushed by drives.”

I fully concur with the concept that setting goals is a key element of becoming successful. They help us to work effectively and methodically, and they also help us to manage our tasks and priorities.

From my own experiences, it is best to also set short-term goals rather than just long-term goals, as these will help us to work towards our long-term goals, and keep us motivated as we will have small wins and mini-achievements along the way.

In retrospect, this has had been one of my best life lessons.

GOETHENTICITY

This is the beautiful and apt epilogue to the wonderful book, 'Unleashing Genius with the World's Most Powerful Learning Systems', by Dilip Mukerjea.


"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans; that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issue from the decision, raising in one's favour all manner of unforeseen incidents, and meetings, and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would come his way.

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.
Begin it NOW!"

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), 'The Prince of the Mind', German poet, novelist, playwright, courtier, and natural philosopher, and one of the greatest figures in Western literature.

The LEARNING ERA is here!

Your womb-to-tomb journey is no longer predictable. Leading through learning is what it's all about.

The quality of your life depends upon the choices you make. Let them be such that you emerge as victor, and not victim.

LIVE passionately
LOVE ardently
LEARN feverishly
LAUGH joyously

and help others along the way!

If you live your life with integrity, open your heart to love, and reach into your soul to offer the world the truth that is you, then how can life refuse you its wonders?

Never say it can't be done,
For that's the way you miss the fun!
So commit to your commitments and enjoy the magic of 'Goethenticity'.

Say Keng's personal reflections on & responses to what Dilip has penned so eloquently: [actual hand-written marginalia from the two pages]

Our true identity is in our moment-to-moment experiences!

Living in the NOW is the finest path to joy, happiness and enlightenment.

I am always reminded of the following wonderful quote from internationally renowned peak performance coach Anthony Robbins, also author of 'Unlimited Power' & 'Awaken the Giant Within':

"It is in your moment of decision that your destiny is shaped."

There are only two primary choices in life:

1) accept all the conditions as they exist;

2) accept full responsibility for changing some if not all of them;

I like to leave the following wonderful quote from Austrian psychologist Viktor Frankl, also author of the classic, 'Man's Search for Meaning', as P2P (Point to Ponder):

"Everything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedom - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

[Interested readers who are keen to explore 'How to Leave Masterly Marginalia', please proceed to this link ~ 'The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life', by Steve Leveen.]

A WISE QUOTE FOR MONDAY MORNING

"... We venture to say that nothing is more likely to help a person overcome or endure objective difficulties or subjective troubles than the consciousness of having a task in life. That is all the more so when the task seems to be personally cut to suit, as it were; when it constitutes what may be a called a mission. Having such a task makes the person irreplaceable & gives his life the value of uniqueness..."

~ from the book, 'The Doctor & the Soul: From Psychotherapy to Logotherapy', by Dr Viktor Frankl, (1905–1997), Austrian neurologist, & psychiatrist as well as a Holocaust survivor; also, the founder of logotherapy;