Scott Free Thinking

I’ve decided that one thing to really start moving this blog in a solid direction in the scope of the blogosphere community is to start showing off just how much other people out there are really sitting down and thinking through the principles of personal development, success, and improvement psychology. Many people know that my site is certainly not the only place to learn, and beyond that of the well known “gurus” people everywhere are trying to improve the lives of others as well as their own by blogging about a better life. While I cannot guarantee this will be a feature every single week(in fact, I can say it most likely will not be), I can say that every post I link to here is something I have read personally and felt that it deserved to be an idea that gets spread more deeply throughout the net.

User JerkeyBeef at The Beef Jerky Blog posted Are You a Millionaire Yet? This posts outlines a number of different qualities that many of the world’s wealthiest people financially typically share. The writer also makes an excellent point - it’s better to start saving and investing in your future earlier rather than later, where even starting between the ages of 9 to 13 can be better than your early 20’s. How many children are thinking about their retirement? Well, I don’t know about you, but I think at one point I certainly was, at least by the age of 14. Of course, we should not necessarily be saving only for retirement, but putting money away and not touching it and not a bad habit to have, especially when that money is being put away using intelligent methods, like in a CD or in well developing stocks. What is interesting to note is that the number one quality listed here is: Dream BIG dreams.

Edith Yeung writes about the 7 Phrases Successful People Would Never Say. Overall, the bottom line is to never lose doubt in yourself. Do not negate your own ability what so ever in any way, shape, or form. In essence, the message is about attitude, and as I always love to say: it is ideal to carry an attitude of gratitude. Optimism is a trait typical of survivors, but it is also a trait typical of some of the wealthiest people on earth.

While it can be a bit dark and graphic, Steve Pavlina never fails to send the message home about Making Peace With Death. His outlook on death is vitally important, because I think it showcases just how attached we generally are to life when it really does not make sense for us to be. On what terms are you meeting your own self actualization? Will anything you do matter, and if it does not matter, then is that okay with you? Are you afraid to die a violent death or would you want to die in your sleep? Did you know that most people do not die in their sleep or die of natural cause? Steve asks you even more questions:

Ask yourself this question, “Am I ready to die right now?” If your answer is no, then what is it about your life that makes you feel unready? What is death trying to teach you about how you’re currently living? Are you holding back too much, giving into your fears, letting golden opportunities pass you by? Are you failing to honor your most sacred values? Is your path missing its heart? What do you wish you’d had the courage to change?

Not surprisingly, Pavlina makes a solid point of living life as it is now to the fullest in talking about the ultimate end of life. Try the best you can, and leave the rest to what it will naturally be. Are you feeling envious? What is the point of even being jealous of anything? The whole feeling I get from this is, is that life must be lived in the NOW - leave no room for regrets and try everything you possibly can. If you do, why feel down about death? If I died now, I’d die knowing that I gave everything my all, and hopefully beyond my attempts to make money people would realize that I really wanted to make a difference in their lives, and hope that what they can gain from what I’ve written will allow them to be the better for it.

The Powerful Problem With Positive Thinking is that it is an overused notion that cannot solve all problems. Attitude is important, but attitude is not everything. Positive thinking does not take out the garbage, it does not pay the bills, it does not keep you alive, it simply keeps you, well…positive. Aaron Potts never fails to disappoint with his writings, and this article is no exception. Positive thinking is powerful, and it can be an incredible tool, but you must always keep your eyes open to all possibilities and examine every angle and perspective possible of any given issue. As Aaron so accurately describes it:

Perhaps the biggest problem with positive thinking is that running around with a big ol’ smile on your face like life is nothing but a big vacation is simply not realistic, and having that attitude can blind you to circumstances that are not so positive.

I’m not saying that you should go through life with an expectation that something bad is about to happen, but you should go through life aware of the details of any given set of circumstances.

I think with all of the Law of Attraction craze that has been sweeping the world lately, many people are forgetting about the practical tools that have continued to unveil themselves again and agan throughout the turn of the past century, or even the past few decades. As many of you know, I’m a major advocate of PhotoReading, lucid dreaming, ImageStreaming (see my interview with Win Wenger), and other pragmatic tools for personal growth. There is so much more than just thinking your way to success, inspired action and action in general must be taken with a heavy priority. It seems as though the Law of Attraction has been clouded in vague terms and concepts during the course of its communication that is really just designed to get people to dig deeper, and perhaps this is a good thing, yet as a result it causes individuals to misunderstand quite a bit quite often while trying to understand it. Looking back now, I feel that my first experiences with the law of attraction were likely not entirely with a clear comprehension of the concept.