Tycoonism: Reading is to the mind is what exercise is to the body. –Joseph Addison

Reading is an adventure. It is a wonderful medium to the world, a wonderful form of communication which not just influences our minds, but our emotions, and our personality as well. The way we perceive things and deal with them as we grow old is an outcome of our interaction with people and the environment, our education and our personal connection with the world. Reading connects us to all aspects of life and is actually a healthy brain exercise which, even if unnoticed, slowly changes us as we go on. No matter what we read, and how often we read, we are transformed into individuals who were not only informed, but emotionally affected as well.

Reading is education. Our quest for knowledge does not stop in school. We can never say that we know too much. There are just so many things in this world that we do not know yet, and the secret to unlocking our ignorance of things we don’t even know actually exists, is reading.

Learning is a continuous process, and as we read, we encounter new knowledge. Our minds our enhanced not only by what we have read but by how it aroused our emotions, thoughts and feelings. If the weight loss gurus say, “You are what you eat,” well, I can guarantee that “You are what you read.”

A healthy mind does not stop seeking for answers. It does not stop thinking. It keeps wondering, it keeps struggling to learn. It communicates, it changes for good. It does not grow old, it thinks. It exercises, it feeds. It reads.

Tycoonism: Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations. – Henry David Thoreau

We are children of the world, products of a rich culture and of a remarkable history. Everything that we have around us is an important part of our past. Our present is a gift to treasure, and the future is the connection to what life is all about.

There are mysteries left unsolved, questions left unanswered a lot more things waiting to be known and discovered. Knowledge, and seeking it, is our children’s hope to a better world. Information is the medium to a better understanding of life. There may be people surrounding us, and things that speak for questions and realities, but books are as great as the great teachers in introducing, nurturing and maintaining life and its reality to the minds and hearts of the people. In books are memorable proofs of the beauty and wonder of life, unchangeable information of where we came from, and amazing stories of our natural humanity.

Time passes, things change, people vanish, and all else fades. In time, there is nothing more dependable than an old writing from an experienced individual speaking about the truth behind a wonder. Books, no matter how simple they may be, are the most valuable inheritance that we have from the past, meaningful and credible medium of the present, and a great gift to our children.

What gift is greater than continuous knowledge, endless travel and unlimited connection to life? What in the world is as valuable as a mind maintained by great books of life? Be it for the past, the present and the future, books are wealth.

Tycoonism: If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him. – Buddha

What we are is an outcome of our own thoughts and emotions. Our personality plays a major role in our success and failure to become what makes us happy in the world. We never stop wanting for more, we all want to be happy. We all have something that we want to achieve and to have to make us happy. But not all of us get to be happy. This is just a complicated life. Everything surrounding us can either make, or break our goals. And sometimes we wonder why it so difficult to be happy.

In our struggle for happiness, we tend to go the difficult way. We are pressured by time, by the environment, by the people around us, by our own selves. As we go on with this kind of situation, we barely notice that we are becoming wicked individuals who hunger for happiness, when happiness is just there facing us. Positive thinking is the solution to be happy. The secret to happiness is simple; it is all in the mind. If the mind is full of good thoughts, then everything else follows. A positive mind creates a person of positive outlook in life, who naturally deals with everything the positive way. And happiness is achieved by people who know that they are happy because they have a good mind, and a good heart leading them to do the right thing to achieve their goals. Our goodness within allows us to be the best person that we can be to ourselves and to people around us. It makes us deal with life in a manner that no matter what, we are never failures.

We can all be happy of what we are, what we have and where we are. Let us unlock the secret.

Christmas is here once again and I would like to share my thoughts with you about this season. Christmas has been a cause of alot of stress to most of us. This event has been hyped up with “commercialness” and the thought of additional expenses and stress it brings to families can be overwhelming. Christmas is not about gifts; it is not about carols; it is not about how big your turkey is; and absolutely not about pumpkin pie.

To hell with HallMark, ToysRUs and Bloomingdales. Christmas is not about shopping; it is not about the number of gifts you give and have received. However the media has spun and portrayed Christmas does not mean we have to give into the pressure of gift giving and stress related to Christmas shopping. With the advent of media, the power of the internet, we are bombarded everyday of images that supposedly embody the meaning of Christmas.

Christmas is the time of the year where we celebrate our humanity and the birth of the person who embodies the season of Christmas. Christmas is about the celebration of gratitude and giving. Christmas does not have to be stressful. It does not even have to cost you a dime.

But if you do think of spending and splurging during this time of the year, think about the children from third world countries who are dying of hunger. Think about all those people in Africa who are dying of thirst and has not eaten anything for weeks. Think about the impending explosion of another volcano in the Philippines, and how many families will loose their homes and the damage of property this eruption would cause.

When you think about others and express your concern and assistance to those who truly need your help– this is the meaning of Christmas. When you volunteer your time to cook for others and feed the hungry– this is the meaning of Christmas. When you help the dying and the newly born babies– this is the meaning of Christmas.

We all have the power to change our impression of Christmas. It does not have to be about commercialism. It does not have to be about Christmas sales… It can be more than that…

Thank you for being part of my world during this past year. I am grateful for your support and input during 2009 and the opportunity to connect with you through Daily Tycoonism and through my radio program, Lunch Time Conversations with Mr Tycoon. While this past year has brought many challenges and some challenges, the lessons we’ve learned have prepared us for new beginnings. I want you all to believe that each passing day brings us the promise of new energy and new possibilities for year 2010. My wish for you in this holiday season is for you to give yourself some quiet time to look back on what the year 2009 has brought you, and acknowledge yourself for your successes and growth over the last 12 months. Then take a look at what you intend to create for yourself in 2010. It really is up to YOU! I’m not talking about the usual New Year’s Resolutions that get wheeled out each year – but what are YOUR GOALS?

• What do you DESIRE for year 2010?
• How do you want to achieve those GOALS?
• What STEPS are you creating in order to ACHIEVE those goals?

As we enter not only a new year, but also a new decade, what OPPORTUNITIES are you willing to create for yourself and your love ones?

Whatever your CHOICE is, I’ll be right here by your side. This year will bring you more opportunities than you can ever dreamed of if YOU are willing to open yourself to them and TAKE it. This is another year to complete unfinished business. Another opportunity for you to delete things from your to-do list that no longer a good fit your goals.

I urge you, DREAM BIG for year 2010!

Taking responsibility comes with big benefits. Assess your situation and then take steps to change what doesn’t contribute to your personal success. When you take responsibility, you experience the accomplishment of your personal success goals at a much higher level than if you take credit for only your successes and blame someone else for the rest. Taking responsibility makes it possible for you to experience the total pleasure of the success you achieve. What? Read that again. I have a feeling that you didn’t give that thought time to sink in. To fully be responsible, you must take responsibility for the good and the seemingly bad in your life—for your positive habits as well as your negative habits. It reminds me of how parents will jokingly or not so jokingly say when a child does something good, “That’s my boy.” And when he does something wrong, “He’s your son.” Looking back all these years later, I have a completely different perspective. I wasn’t so innocent in all this. I played some part or it couldn’t have happened. If I were going to take responsibility, which means having the ability to respond and adapt rather than react to situations, I would have to give myself a serious reality check.As painful as it may be to let go of the convenience of blaming someone else for what happens in your life, it’s necessary for you to move forward and be successful. Because while you are still blaming or holding a grudge, like I was in that situation, a lot of energy that could be used for personal development is fueling anger, resentment and fear. Think of this excess baggage from your past as a virus on your computer. On the surface everything looks like it’s running normally, but behind the scenes something is using up energy that slows down the progress of what you’re trying to create. You have to look deep inside your computer to find that virus. You may have to engage the services of an expert to help you work it out. It’s inconvenient, but once done, you feel much better, your computer is back to full potential and you can work quickly with results showing up faster than before. In that abusive relationship I had to look at the fact that I allowed myself to be manipulated. I handed over my power to someone else. No matter how persuasive his verbal abuse to break down my self-confidence, in the end he couldn’t be successful without my help. Once I became responsible, I came up with a plan. And because I was now responding and adapting to situations rather than reacting like a victim, my plan got implemented, I created the desired result and extracted myself from that relationship. I believe I could have ended up dead if I had allowed the violence to continue. It happens to women every day and I could have been one of them. That’s why it’s so important for you to take back your power from partners, family, friends and the media. You may not have ever been in a situation like I was and I hope you never are. But…remember… You are the only one who should be in charge of your life. You bear the sole responsibility for who you are today and who you will become in the future— no one else is responsible for your personal growth and success.

What good is it to have a Jaguar if you don’t have the keys? Maybe not the best analogy but it’s what comes to mind when I come across people who enthusiastically join an online business only to sit around and wait for it to run itself.

Time and time again, it happens, excited opportunity seekers join an online business only to put it on the shelf until “the time is right”. Here is a list of some of the likely excuses you will hear from them when prodded about their inactivity: “I just don’t have the time right now”, “I want to learn as much as I can about the business before I tell others about it”, “My sponsor hasn’t contacted me yet”, “I can’t afford to market properly”, “I’m waiting to see if other’s have success with it”, and on and on and on.

Now, I’m not saying that time and deadbeat sponsors aren’t an issue for many when joining an online business. But these excuses are often used as a crutch for those who are just too lazy or scared to get started. I’ve seen numerous online marketers overcome absentee sponsors and/or time constraints to build a successful business

.What cripples a lot of these procrastinators is the fear of failure. They know that if they’ve joined a legitimate online business with verifiable success stories then they no longer have an excuse for failing. For them, it’s much safer to keep talking about what it is they’re going to do than it is to actually “do something” and possibly fail. Talking a good game without ever having to back it up, keeps them in their comfort zone.

The most successful people online aren’t necessarily the smartest or most knowledgeable, they are often those with the most ambition. They find an opportunity they feel good about and then take action, with or without guidance from a sponsor or mentor. These doers take it upon themselves to find out what it is they need to know or do to be successful.

In my observation, the most common trait amongst successful people is that they are driven. You never hear them talking about what they are going to do, instead you hear them talking about what they are doing. Show me someone who is always saying, “When I do this” or “When this happens” and I’ll show you someone who will probably never be successful at anything in life.

Whether your goal is to build a successful business , lose 10 pounds, or learn a new language, you must take that often difficult first step to begin your journey. The road to success is never an easy one but I’ve found that, in most cases, it’s well worth the trip even with a few bumps along the way.

Life is a roller coaster ride sometimes – you must learn to accept both failures and accomplishments with equal grace. However, most people fail to succeed in their lives due to invisible barriers.

Mental blocks, such as fear, tend to get in the way of your success. It takes courage and determination to overcome these fears and move on in your life. You need an altogether different mindset to look at such blocks and hurdles as challenging opportunities. If you lack the confidence to take these challenges in stride, or if life’s problems seem to get the better of you, then you can probably benefit by consulting a life coach. Often the biggest block to creating your perfect life is – YOU. Your self-created fears and your lack of confidence in your own abilities stop you from aiming high and succeeding in life.

Typically, there are five types of blocks you need to remove from your path to success.

Material clutter is a hazard to your success- get rid of it! Get organized and the motivation will follow. It is too hard to focus on any sort of task when you are surrounded with clutter at home or in the office.

Just as you would clean your closet and throw out unwanted things, you must also get rid of the emotional clutter. Bad memories, grudges, regret, and sadness are like roadblocks on your success path. Forgive, forget, and move on. Learn to forgive yourself for past mistakes. Most of all, realize that there is nothing about the past that you can change – you simply have to make sure that you have learned from it.

Only when your mind is truly free can you experience true success and joy.

Learn to identify negative emotions, as they can impede success in your life. Negative emotions work like slow poison destroying you bit by bit everyday. This is probably the hardest point to master of all. Negative thinking is built up over a lifetime. It takes discipline to reject repetitive negative thoughts as soon as they try to enter your mind.

You may have negative beliefs about yourself and the world around you. A life coach will help you unveil and face these negative beliefs so that you can face the world with an open mind. These beliefs do nothing but limit your potential for success by causing you to lose faith in yourself and your abilities.

A life coach will help you recognize if there is resistance of any kind deep within you that prevents you from getting what you want. You may harbor resistance that you don’t even know is there – a resistance to the belief that you deserve to be successful!

A skilled life coach understands how difficult it is to eradicate these blocks at one time and can help you understand that different facets of your life affect one another. It is important to take care of each one of them to ensure that your life is successful. For instance, if you are not happy in your personal life, your professional life will also suffer. Your life coach will teach you some soul-searching techniques that can help you recognize and remove these blocks. Your life coach will set easy goals for you to bring about small but significant changes in the way you think and act. Having a positive attitude is crucial to overcoming these mental blocks. By doing this, you can streamline your actions to reach your goals sooner than you had imagined.

Getting a life coach is not a sign of weakness; on the contrary, it is a sign of strength. It is an admission that you deserve to be successful, that you are taking control of your life and that you are taking the necessary steps to make it happen. Your relationship with your life coach can be an empowering one that has the potential to create synergy and produce phenomenal results.