Inspirational Living: Life Lessons For Success & Happiness

Listen to episode 94 of the Inspirational Living podcast: How to Be Self-Confident (Overcoming the Confidence Gap). Edited and adapted from Psychology & Higher Life by William McKeever, published in 1905. Self-Development Podcast Excerpt: The self-confident person, of necessity, believes in other people. Old as I am, it stirs me up to put forth greater effort to have people believe in me. The ordinary little child will do their utmost to come up to the standard fixed for them by the expressed opinions of their elders. The self-reliant person, therefore, is a benefactor of his or her associates. It is such an easy matter to drift down to the level of a gossip, and later to that of a defamer of character, and finally to that of the chronic misanthrope. If one goes about looking for the meanness in other people's character, you can surely find it. But so can you find the good — more of it than you can enumerate in a lifetime. Happy indeed is the individual who has formed the habit of looking for the good

Listen to episode 93 of the Inspirational Living podcast: How to Be Successful & Influence Others to Succeed. Edited and adapted from The Majesty of Calmness by William George Jordan. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: In every moment of life, we are changing to a degree the life of the whole world. Every person has an atmosphere which is affecting every other. So silent and unconsciously is this influence working, that we may forget that it exists. All the forces of Nature — heat, light, electricity, and gravitation — are silent and invisible. We never see them; we only know that they exist by seeing the effects they produce. In all Nature, the wonders of the "seen" are dwarfed into insignificance, when compared with the majesty and glory of the "unseen". In a thousand ways, Nature constantly seeks to lead us to a keener and deeper realization of the power and the wonder of the invisible. Into the hands of every individual is given a marvelous power for good or for evil — the silent, unconsci

Listen to episode 92 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Mental & Physical Fitness: Get Fit, Motivated & Inspired. Edited and adapted from Assuming Responsibilities by Douglas Fairbanks. Motivational Podcast Excerpt: The person who rises in the morning from a healthy slumber and plunges into the bath after some vigorous exercise is prepared to undertake anything. Their world seems fair, and though the sun may not be shining literally, it is to all intents and purposes. Thus, they go swinging along with a cheery smile, carrying the message of hope and joy to all those with whom they come in contact. Of course, mental fitness is equally important to physical fitness. And the character of a man and woman expresses itself by the books they read. Every well-informed person since the invention of the printing press has been a close reader of a few books that stand out from among the many. We read of Lincoln devouring the few books he had over and over again and studying from cover to cover and word for wor

Listen to episode 80 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Do Your Best & Love Much. Edited and adapted from The Pathway of Roses by Christian D. Larson. Spiritual Podcast Excerpt: We have looked far and wide for the remedies to our problems, but in our search we have overlooked one of the greatest of all; and that is love. Not the love of the person; not mere sentiment or emotion, but that strong, spiritual feeling that makes every atom in your being thrill with the purest sympathy and the highest kindness; and that makes you feel that every creature in existence deserves your most tender care and attention. When everything goes wrong with us, we blame fate, environment, or the world. We forget that the world does to us what we have done to the world. When we blame the world for everything, the world will so act that it is to blame; but when we love the entire world with our whole heart, the world will change toward us accordingly and be kind. When you do not succeed, when no one seems to care for your se

Listen to episode 79 of the Inspirational Living podcast: The Healthy Benefits of Aging (Aging Well with Grace). Edited and adapted from Essays of an Optimist by John William Kaye. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: One of the great advantages of age is that we are not wont to disturb ourselves by doing things that we do not like, simply for the look of the thing. There is absolute misery in pretentiousness of all kinds, and youth is infinitely more pretentious than age. There are some people who never outlive their vanity; but, as a general rule, it may be maintained that the longer we live, the less we care what others think of us, and the less we strive after effect. We learn, in time, how little we can ever know, and how ridiculous we make ourselves by pretending to know everything. When we have learned to say, "I am as ignorant as a child on this or that subject" or, "as powerless as a baby to do this or that thing," we have mastered one of the great difficulties of life; we have entered upon

Listen to episode 78 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Awaken the Sleeping Giant (The Power Within). Edited and adapted from New Thought Healing Made Plain by Kate Atkinson Boehme. Motivational Podcast Excerpt: The human being has always had many hitherto undiscovered powers, the horizon of the Impossible continually receding as we advance upon it. Let your limit line of belief, separating the possible from the impossible, be to you like the horizon line, which is really no line at all. It is merely where your sight stops, and depends upon the point where you stand. Advance and your horizon moves with you, showing a beyond not before visible. Someone else may tell you that your ideals are impossible to realize. This I also deny, for I know beyond all doubt that nothing is impossible that your mind can fashion or your heart long for. The impossible is only that which you fail to reach by stopping at the fatigue point because your mind is weary of waiting and hoping, and stops short of the ''Second W

Listen to episode 77 of the Inspirational Living podcast: The Bright Side of Life (Guide for a Rational Optimist). Edited and adapted from Character Building by Booker T. Washington. Educational Podcast Excerpt: If you want to be happy, if you want to live a contented life, if you want to live a life of genuine pleasure, do something for somebody else. When you feel unhappy, disagreeable, and miserable, go to someone else who is miserable and do that person an act of kindness, and you will find that you will be made happy. The miserable persons in this world are the ones whose hearts are narrow and hard; the happy ones are those who have great big hearts. Such persons are always happy. Now, this is not to say, you won’t have difficulties, nor face obstacles and discouragement. You most certainly will. But I would suggest to you that such difficulties, as an element in life, are for a purpose. I do not believe that anything, any element of your lives, is put there without a purpose. I believe that every effort

Listen to episode 76 of the Inspirational Living podcast: How to Be a Well Rounded Person. Edited and adapted from Essays on Work and Culture by Hamilton Wright Mabie. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Wherever you may find your place and whatever work may come to your hand, you must always be aware of the larger movement of life which encloses your special task. You must have the consciousness of that central power from which all activities are inadequate manifestations. You must remain open to the whole range of human interests, and never escape the conviction that life is a unity under all its complexities; that all activities stand vitally related to each other; that truth, beauty, knowledge, and character must be harmonized and blended in every real and adequate development of the human spirit. To the growth of every flower, the earth, sun, and atmosphere must contribute. In the making of an individual, all the rich forces of nature and civilization must have place....Support this podcast at — https://redci

Listen to episode 75 of the Inspirational Living podcast: What is Your Ambition? (Finding Your Life's Purpose). Edited and adapted from Personal Efficiency by James Samuel Knox. Self-Help Podcast Excerpt: The individual of definite purpose is the person of conquering spirit. They are the leaders and the molders of our environment. They set the pace for others and point the way. They know which way they are traveling, and why they are traveling, because they have a vision. They can see the end from the beginning, because they have created it in their imagination. Show me a young person who has set their definite mark, who has driven their imaginary stake, who has created within their imagination the position they propose to fill twenty years hence, and I shall show you someone who will work out in real life the pictures they first created in their imagination. But set no mark, dream no dream, build no air castles, have no definite aim, no vision of a larger self and a larger life, and you will be eternally

Listen to episode 74 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Creating Harmony and Success. Edited and adapted from Success Through Thought Habit by Benjamin Johnson.Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: "Secure Harmony First" is the best advice---for where Harmony exists, there can be no nervous tension, sorrow, bitterness, recrimination, resentment, unhappiness, envy, or anger. Instead there will be exemplified peace of mind, health of body, a contented spirit, freedom from want and abundance for all desires. The very word "Harmony" is in itself a marvelous combination of sounds. There is something strangely soothing about it, a hidden meaning that implies far more than the accepted definition of being in accord with things. It seems to hint at latent power. And just as any observer notes that harmonious sounds will control, influence, and uplift an audience, so a truly harmonious personality influences everyone for good and leaves a memory full of inspiration. John Ruskin once said, "Hundreds can

Listen to episode 73 of the Inspirational Living podcast: How to Improve Your Personality (Me Plus You). Edited and adapted from Laugh and Live by Douglas Fairbanks. Self-Help Podcast Excerpt: Nothing brings a greater self-reward than a service done in an hour of need, or a favor granted during a day's grind. The generous person who climbs to the top of the ladder helps many others on their way. The more we do for someone else, the more we do for ourselves. The stronger we become—the greater our influence in our communities. Doing things for others may not bring in bankable dividends but it does bring in happiness. Such actions scorn a monetary reward. We have only to try this out to learn the truth for ourselves. A good place to begin is at home--then, the office, or wherever life leads us. In doing these things we will laugh as we go along—we will laugh and get the most out of living. Our little day-by-day kindnesses when added together constitute, in time, a huge asset on the right side of our ledger o

Listen to episode 56 of the Inspirational Living podcast: The Magic of Possibilities (Thinking Big For Success). Adapted from The Power of Purpose by William George Jordan. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: We are placed into life not a finality, but a beginning; not a manufactured article, but raw material; not a statue, but an unpolished stone, ready alike for the firm chisel of defined purpose or the subtle attrition of circumstances and conditions. It is only what you make of yourself that really counts. You must disinfect your mind from that weakening thought that you have an absolutely predetermined capacity, like a freight-car with its weight and tonnage painted on the side. You are growing, expansive, unlimited: self-adjusting to increased responsibility, progressively able for large duties and higher possibilities as you realize them and live up to them. You should feel this sense of the limitless — physically, mentally, morally, spiritually. There is none so obscure that they cannot make the lives of t

Listen to episode 39 of the Inspirational Living podcast: How to Change Your Life Around. Adapted from a 1952 lecture by Neville Goddard. Podcast Excerpt: As an individual, you move and live in time, but your true being is in eternity. Think of the vertical line of the cross as the line of being upon which there are unnumbered levels of awareness. Time cannot make you better or wiser. In fact, time cannot do a thing towards changing your level of being, for change is all on the vertical line where you move to higher or lower levels of your own being. Because change is imminent, we speak of it as infinite imminence---as nearer than near and sooner than now. The person you would like to be is imminent: is nearer than near. The ideal you dream of being is sooner than now and is brought into being by a change in your reactions to life...Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/inspirational-living/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/priva

Listen to episode 6 of the Inspirational Living podcast: How Thoughts Shape Your Destiny. Edited & adapted from the book As a Man Thinketh by James Allen.Transcript Excerpt: The world is your kaleidoscope. The varying color combinations are the exquisitely adjusted pictures of your ever-moving thoughts. You are literally what you think, your character being the complete sum of all your thoughts. As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every action springs from the hidden seeds of thought and could not have appeared without them.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/inspirational-living/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy