Bill's Master Key Blog

This is brilliant. It was written by Jack Canfield.

It’s from Jack’s book The Success Principle.

ONE HUNDRED PERCENT RESPONSIBILTY FOR EVERYTHING

As I mentioned in the introduction, back in 1969–only 1 year out of graduate school–I had the good fortune to work for W. Clement Stone. He was a self-made multimillionaire worth $600 million at the time–and that was long before all the dot-com millionaires came along in the 90′s. Stone was also America’s premier success guru. He was the publisher of Success Magazine, author of The Success System That Never Fails, and coauthor with Napoleon Hill of Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude.

When I was completing my first week’s orientation, Mr. Stone asked me if I took 100% responsibility for my life.

“I think so,” I responded.

“This is a yes or no question, young man. You either do or you don’t.”

“Well, I guess I’m not sure.”

“Have you ever blamed anyone for any circumstance in your life? Have you ever complained about anything?”

“Uh…yeah…I guess I have.”

“Don’t guess. Think.”

“Yes, I have.”

“Okay, then. That means you don’t take one hundred percent responsibility for your life. Taking one hundred percent responsibility means you acknowledge that you create everything that happens to you. It means you understand that you are the cause of all your experience. If you want to be really successful, and I know you do, then you will have to give up blaming and complaining and take total responsibility for your life–that means all your results, both your successes and your failures. That is the prerequisite for creating a life of success. It is only by acknowledging that you have created everything up until now that you can take charge of creating the future you want.

“You see, Jack, if you realize that you have created your current conditions, then you can uncreate them and re-create them at will. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, sir, I do.” “Are you willing to take one hundred percent responsibility for your life?”

“Yes, sir, I am!”

And I did.

Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all!
By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall. – John Dickinson

Independence Day, the Fourth of July, commemorates the day in 1776 that the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence. This inspiring document states boldly that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

For 235 years, we have enjoyed these rights and many in the service of their country have fought to protect these rights. Let us enjoy this day in the company of our family and friends celebrating our freedom and Independence at picnics, firework displays, parades and patriotic expressions.

Let us rededicate ourselves to the principle of the Declaration of Independence and state that … for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

This was written by Dr. Harlan Kilstein and is worth reading. Enjoy!

Although Starbucks offers Wifi at no charge, it’s not always the best place to work. You may not have noticed but all those espresso machines make a lot of noise.

There are barristas shouting.

People saying their orders.

In every corner of the room, people are deep in conversation.

That’s why I chose Starbucks today for my morning meditation.

I sat down with my order. Even my kids know how to say it.

Decaf grande non fat no whip mocha.

If you say it in that order, it makes it easier for them (they once explained to me).

Fortunately, there’s a vacant table and I sit down and…

do nothing.

First, I spend some time winding down and just breathing and smelling.

Sometimes we move so quickly, we don’t pay attention to the world around us.

I know. I was a type-A personality. Now thanks to yoga, I’m an A-.

I lean over and smell the coffee.

The strong espresso smell mixes with the mocha. Heavenly.

And I begin to feel gratitude for Starbucks for providing a place where I can sit quietly with my thoughts.

And I feel gratitude for the barristas who are harried by people who want to grab their coffee and go and yet manage to be so friendly.

And in particular for the barrista who made my coffee. It smells real good.

I pick up the coffee and feel its warmth through the cup and the cup holder.

And then I take a drop of coffee into my mouth and allow its taste to spread.

I close my eyes and think of all the places I’ve had coffee like this one.

Wonderful memories.

And breathing in and out slowly, I allow all the noises of Starbucks to fade into the background.

It’s just me and my coffee.

And I’m sipping it S…L…O…W…L…Y and enjoying every drop.

I’m paying attention to my breathing too.

There are no sounds around me.

The sounds in my head quiet too.

It’s just the coffee and me. And I’m trying to get rid of me.

So it can be just the coffee.

I’ve lost track of time.

My return from my coffee meditation.

The coffee is cool now to the taste.

The sounds are back.

And inside me, I’m filled with peace.

Create your own ritual and private time.

Have a wonderful day.

A few years ago I spoke at a meeting at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel in Orlando, Florida. This is a beautiful, sprawling resort hotel. But, 35 years ago Rosen Hotels was one man with a bankrupt hotel and a dream

In 1974, Harris Rosen stood in the empty and echoing lobby of a bankrupt hotel. He had just quit his job and spent every cent he had to buy the 256 empty rooms and drafty corridors on Orlando’s International Drive. Now, he had to make it work.

The oil embargo was at its height and many Orlando hotels were bankrupt or closed. Where ahould he go from here?

He had a definate major purpose – buid a successful hotel. He had focus – get the hotel runing at a profit or lose everything. He had no job and no money – everything had saved went to buy the hotel.
What to do?

Rosen took to the raod. He hitchhiked to the Northeast to meet with motor coach companies. He met prospective clients in bars and pubs often negotiating contracts on cocktail napkins.

“I would ask ‘What rate do they want to stay with us?’ and they would say ’9 dollars, or 8 or 7.’ I would write that rate down and the name of the company on a cocktail napkin, sign my name, and that was the contract. We shook hands and that was it,” recalled Rosen.

Often, his new clients felt so sorry for him, having no money and no transportation, they would drive him to their competitors for his next appointment. After seeing much of New England –securing new contracts all along the way– Rosen returned home five days later thrilled and excited to have completed his mission with enough business to sustain the hotel for the first year.

Today, with 728 rooms his hotel is the second largest Quality Inn in the chain. Along the way, Rosen acquired the Rodeway Inn International with 315 rooms and subsequently purchased 14 acres on International Drive to build the Quality Inn Plaza which at 1,020 rooms is the largest Quality Inn in the nation.

In 1991, Rosen created a revolutionary healthcare program. As a forward-thinking businessman, Rosen saw that self-insuring his employees would not only cut his company‟s healthcare costs, but would also provide his then 1,500 employees with superior service and care. With this plan still in place and an on-site medical center servicing the now 4,500 employees and their dependents, Rosen estimates that it would cost approximately $8-10 million more annually with a conventional health insurance plan than his current plan. The company saves $8 for every $1 it puts into the medical center, and, its workers‟ compensation costs are half the industry average.

Rosen‟s most recent philanthropic endeavors have included a $2 million dollar scholarship endowment for UCF, (which has been matched by the State), and a continuing multi-million dollar commitment to the Tangelo Park neighborhood.

The Tangelo Park Pilot Program has over the past eighteen years provided free preschool to all two, three, and four year olds who live in the neighborhood, and in addition, an all expense paid education including tuition, books, room and board for those who reside in the neighborhood and who are accepted to a vocational school, a community college, a junior college or four-year public college in the state of Florida. Thus far approximately 350 youngsters who reside in the neighborhood have been provided with full college scholarships.

One man and a dream can do a lot!

When you set a goal and make up your mind to be the best amazing things can happen. Watch this:

An Amazing Performance

In the MKMMA we have learned to have a definite major purpose and to fucus on our goal daily. The girl in this video was born in 1994 and must have had an amazing focus to her where she was in this video 16 years later.

The thought for this entry is – let’s not make it any harder than it has to be.

I always thought that meditation was a chore where you placed something in your mind and then struggled to keep it there. Lately I have learned that this idea just isn’t so.

In fact, the the Master Key System has taught that meditation is getting your mind stilled and listening to your inner voice. We started with controlling our bodies to relax, then clearing our minds and finally
letting one thing start the meditation and letting your inner voice go from there.

Joseph Campbell calls this your Sacred Place and Charles Haanel calls it “The Silence.” Christianity speaks of time in prayer, where you not only bring your petitions to God but also are still and listen to what God has to say. ““Be still, and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10

Meditation is not what you think.

Mediation is what you hear when your take the time to be silent and listen.

I have been listening to Joe Vitale’s new program, “The Abundance Paradigm,” and there is lots of good stuff there. One technique I particularly like Joe borrows from Mindy Audlin - its called “What if . . . Up”. Mindy has a whole book on the idea called “What If It All Goes Right?”

The basic idea is simple and much like the mental diet we have learned in the Master Key Master Mind Alliance. All too often we find ourselves thinking about what can go wrong and we start a spiral of negative thinking, imagining worse and worse possibilities. Then these possibilities begin to come true.

The “”What is – Up” technique reverses the process. Instead of thinking “What if they don’t buy . . .” and spiraling down, just change the thought to “What if they do buy?” and spiral up from there. “What if they do love my product? What if they give me lots of referrals? What if they are my next leader?” and up and up and up.

Which is more likely to produce what we want? Try it. I think you’ll like the results.

If you’d really like some more insight on positive and negative thought and how they affect our lives, check out this blog by my friend Delaine Keith.

This week we watched a movie about someone I had never heard of before but will now never forget – Bill Porter.

Bill was born with cerebral palsy. He was unable to get a job due to his illness, but refused to go on disability. In the 1950′s Bill eventually convinced the Watkins company to give him a door-to-door salesman job, selling its products on a seven-mile route. He eventually became the top seller for the company.

The movie shows how he used the traits his mother taught him – self confidenece, a definite major purpose, patience, and persistence – to beat overwhelming odds and become a success. It is one of the most inspiring stories I have even seen. At 77 years of age, Bill still sells for Watkins. His web site is www.billporter.com.

In the Master Key Master Mind Alliance we are learning skills that made Bill Porter a success. If you haven’t seen the movie, don’t miss it. Here is the trailer:

Bill Porter

“If you do not run your subsconscious mind yourself, someone else will.” - from a fortune cookie

Earlier this week I was in a Chineese restaurant and got this fortune.  It struck me as odd that we have been studying Haanel’s Master Key System and how our success relates to our subconscious reprograming.  Here is the whole thing,  all wrapped up in one short sentence.  If we work to run our own subscoscious mind then we can overcome the negative thoughts that have been progammmed into us by TV, movies, newspapaers, parents and life.  This give us a much better chance of becoming the people we want to be.

Of course, another emphasis of the Master Key Master Mind Alliance is how to reprogram our minds to achieve network marketing success.  We are led to many things from unexpected sources and some of the best are free networking skills from Mark J and more free skill from Big Al.  One more thing that I ran into lately is a powerful affirmation that I’ve been repeating several times every day  It goes:

“I feel empowered, inspired, and enthusiastic about my life”

Hope all this is helpful.

Have a great day!

Bill

“The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure ” — Joseph Campbell

This week we heard about the Hero’s Journey and the work of Joseph Campbell. I had not heard of Campbell before this call but have quickly become a great fan.  His work on myth can show us the paths we all travel in network marketing and in life. I’ll try to summarize the steps of the Hero’s Journey in this post.  If you can, find his six-part PBS special with Bill Moyers called “The Power of Myth” and watch it! Then you’ll start to see it all around you in stories, in movies, in life.

Here are the steps of the Hero’s Journey and how they relate to our network marketing careers:

Ordinary World – The hero’s normal world before the story begins. We go to work, take care of our families and are living an ordinary life.

Call to Adventure – The hero is presented with a problem, challenge or adventure to undertake. Someone shows us that there is another way to live that is not ordinary.

Refusal of the Call – The hero refuses the challenge or journey, usually out of fear. We are at first reluctant to leave our comfort zone and “things as they are.”

Meeting with the Mentor- The hero meets a mentor to gain confidence, advice or training to face the adventure. We go to a meeting, talk with an upline or somehow get the confidence that we can do more than the ordinary.

Crossing the First Threshold – The hero crosses the gateway that separates the ordinary world from the special world. We decide to “go for it” and take the first halting steps – talk to a few people – make some calls.

Tests, Allies, Enemies – The hero faces tests, meets allies, confronts enemies & learns the rules of the Special World. We hear “NO.” We meet team members who can help us to grow. We learn how to work with people.

Approach
The hero has hit setbacks during tests & may need to reorganize his helpers or rekindle morale with mentor’s rally cry. The stakes are heightened. We keep going in spite of setbacks.

Ordeal
The biggest life or death crisis – the hero faces his greatest fear & only through “death” can the hero be “reborn” experiencing even greater powers to see the journey to the end. We decide that we are going to do this no matter what.   Our “ordinary” self “dies” as we actually become the “Hero” and the leader.

Reward – The hero has survived death, overcome his or her greatest fear and now earns the reward he sought. We are “new” successful people who can lead others.

The Road Back – The hero must recommit to completing the journey & travel the road back to the Ordinary World.

Resurrection – Hero faces most dangerous meeting with death (of dreams) and shows the hero can apply all the wisdom he or she’s brought back to the Ordinary World

Return with Elixir – The hero returns from the journey with the “elixir”, so everyone in the world can use to heal physical or emotional wounds.

Freedom to Live – Mastery leads to freedom from the fear, which in turn is the freedom to live. This is living in the moment, neither anticipating the future nor regretting the past.

We are all on the Hero’s Journey. The only question is – will be complete it?

“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” — Joseph Campbell