Read an Excerpt
January 1 "To drift is to be in hell; to be in heaven is to steer."
-- George Bernard Shaw
January 2 What are Life Strategies? Simply this: Plans for obtaining the things that matter to you in life.
January 3 Knowing what you don't want in life is important because that makes it easier to identify the things you want to eliminate from your life.
January 4 Ask yourself these questions every morning while you're contemplating getting out of bed:
"What do I want?"
"What is it I want to do in order to make my life better?"
"What is it I want to do to feel that I'm living with some passion and some kick-ass excitement?"
"What do I want to add to my life?" "What do I want to eliminate?"
January 5 Do you think you've got the power to make big changes in your life to get what you want? Or do you think that because you're not yet self-supporting and on your own that you're pretty much stuck with what life gives you? I promise you, you've got a lot more personal power than you realize. You just aren't yet aware of how to use it.
January 6 You cannot "cram" for life.
January 7 Everything you will ever be, you are now becoming. It's okay to live in the moment, but the choices you are making now are the building blocks for where you will be later.
January 8 In order to get what you want now and set yourself up for what you want later, you have to take charge of the things that you can influence, and you have to stop whining about the things you cannot. Start thinking about which are which.
January 9 We can bloom where we are planted. We can make our lives work right where we are.
January 10 Being a success and being a winner don't just happen. But you can make them happen if you know the rules and learn to play by them.
January 11 You are in control of your life in many ways you aren't yet even aware of. If you understand and use the Ten Life Laws every day, you will receive the level of trust and independence you think you deserve. You will reach that point of self-confidence at which you will no longer be nervous around anyone in your life. You'll know that you'll have the inner strength to handle any predicament. You'll know that you have the tools to make the right choices to get the results you want.
Powering Up
January 12 "The secret to success is to know something nobody else knows."
-- Aristotle Onassis
January 13 The Life Laws are in effect 24/7. When you violate these Life Laws, you very simply get what you don't want, and you don't get what you do want.
January 14 There is nothing more frustrating than trying to play a game when you don't know the rules, you don't know the objective, and you don't have the skills that you need to be good at the game. But everything is easy when you know how the game works. Life, in many ways, is a series of games that have rules and skill requirements, just like any other game.
January 15 If you are gong to win the game of life, you have to understand the rules of the game. You also have to know the penalties and rewards associated with breaking those rules.
January 16 If you're not in control, then you're probably following the Ten Loser Laws of Life, the laws that make you a passenger in life instead of the driver:
- 1. You Just Make It Up as You Go Along.
- 2. It's Written in the Stars.
- 3. The Devil Made You Do It.
- 4. Denial Really Is a River in Egypt.
- 5. Be Patient; Life Will Eventually Deliver.
- 6. Life Is What It Is.
- 7. Get It Right Once and You Are Home Free.
- 8. People Are What They Are.
- 9. Get Even Through Grudges.
- 10. Live Lucky.
January 17 If you choose to ignore the Life Laws and stumble along, wondering why you never seem to succeed, you will cheat yourself out of everything you deserve. So take the time to learn the Life Laws, adapt to them, and mold your choices and behavior to them.
January 18 This is the best time possible to develop a life strategy. This is the time of life when you can build the foundation upon which you will launch the rest of your life. This is the time when you can learn the right way to stand up for yourself and learn to stand up to yourself.
January 19 Many of us have just stopped dreaming and we now simply react to whatever life deals us on any given day. The problem is, if you have no idea of what you want, if you have no idea of what your life would include and not include, it is almost impossible to make any kind of plan or live with any kind of purpose.
January 20 Here is a promise you must make to yourself: You have to be willing to start wanting again, and that means identifying what it is that will make you happy.
January 21 Are you out of touch with your deepest dreams? The time to start thinking about this is now.
January 22 Here is another promise you must be willing to make to yourself every single day: You must be willing to change.
January 23 When it comes to taking positive risks, taking a real chance that can actually cause a significant change in your life, isn't it true that you are resistant to risk and change because either they seem too hard to face or you fear the unknown?
January 24 "You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take."
-- Wayne Gretzky
January 25 If you want to be outstanding -- no matter what it is you want to do -- then you're first going to have to stand up for yourself. You may find that the person who is truly holding you back is not a parent or a teacher or the world in general. What's holding you back is you.
Life Law One:
You Either Get it or Your Don't
January 26 reminder of why you should know life law one:
to be able to discover and use the huge power you have to change your life. Learn how the game is played so you can get unstuck and have more of what you want and need. Stop being ticked off and start winning. Become someone who gets it.
January 27 People who "get it" have eliminated the types of behavior that just don't benefit them in the long run, and they have figured out what it's going to take to get the results they want.
January 28 People who "get it" don't stew over their problems. They don't look for excuses about why they can't get things done, and they don't get angry and pout about how life can be so unfair.
Copyright © 2002 by Jay McGraw