HOW DO WE JUDGE OUR VALUE SYSTEM?

How do we put our value system to the test?

 I believe there are only two tests. The ultimate test is called the Mama Test.

 Whenever you are doing,

 whatever you are doing, 

wherever and with whomever,

 at home or at work, 

alone or with someone,

 if values are in question, 

ask yourself, "If my mama were to see me doing what I am doing right now, would she be proud of me and say "Attaboy!" or would she hang her head in shame?" Your values would be clarified rather quickly. If you passed the Mama Test and failed all other tests, you have passed. If you failed the Mama Test and passed all other tests, you have failed. This is worth repeating. Think about it. Whenever you need value clarification, ask yourself, "If my mama were to see me doing whatever I am doing would she be proud of me and say "Attaboy!" or would she hang her head in shame?" The clouds will clear rather quickly and you will get your answers easily.

If the Mama Test doesn't do it, I have another test called the Baba Test.

 Whenever you are doing, whatever you are doing, wherever and with whomever, at home or at work, alone or with someone, if values are in question, ask yourself, "If my children were to see me doing what I am doing right now, would I want them to see it, or would I be embarrassed?" Again the clouds will clear rather quickly and you will get your answers. If these two tests don't clarify a person's values, then that person is no longer a human being and has no conscience left. 

VALUES & VISION

 Doing the right thing for the right reason

 The seven deadly sins according to Mahatma Gandhi are 

• wealth without work;
•  pleasure without conscience;
•  knowledge without character;
•  commerce (business) without morality (ethics); 
• science without humanity;
•  religion without sacrifice;
•  and politics without principle. 

When a child is born, who rejoices? The parents, relatives, and friends. But who cries? The child. 

However, when we die, it should be the other way round. We should be rejoicing and have the satisfaction that we made a contribution to the world and left the world a little better place than we found it. Let the world cry that it has lost a good soul and become poorer.

We were not just takers, we were also givers.

Hindu philosophy believes that when good people pass away, they don't die, they only depart. Their names live on forever through their good deeds. Think of the last time you heard a eulogy. As people pay their respects, the most common things talked about are the little acts of kindness performed by the person during his lifetime. Little acts of kindness don't go un-noticed. In fact, they are remembered a lot more after a person is gone. That is the time people realize how much those little acts of kindness meant to them.

 No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave. --                                                                                                                                                               Calvin Coolidge 

Goals Should Be Consistent with Our Values

Goals lead to purpose in life. It is the starting point for success. Aim for the moon. Even if you miss, you will become one of the stars. 
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.
                                                                                                                             --Henry Ford
 All of us in this world have a purpose in life. And that purpose may vary from person to person. An orchestra would be pretty dull if everyone played the same instrument.
 Make no little plans, they have no magic to stir men's blood. . . Make big plans, aim high in hope and work.
                          --Daniel H. Burn ham
 It doesn't matter where we are. What really matters is in what direction we are heading.
 Effort and courage without purpose is wasted. Worry leads to negative goal-setting. It is thinking about things you don't want to happen.
 Activity is Not the Same as Accomplishment
There is a big difference between activity and accomplishment. This was demonstrated by a French scientist named Fable. He conducted an experiment with processionary caterpillars. Caterpillars follow the one in front of them blindly. Fable arranged them in a circle in a flowerpot so that the lead caterpillar actually was behind the last one forming a circle. He put pine needles (food for the caterpillars) in the center of the flowerpot. The caterpillars kept going in a circle in the pot. Eventually, after a week of circling around, they dropped dead of exhaustion and starvation with food only inches away from them. We need to learn a lesson from the caterpillars. Just because you are doing something, doesn't mean you are getting anywhere. One must evaluate one's activity in order to have accomplishment.
 A man was out driving with his wife and the wife said, "Honey, we are going the wrong way." The husband replied, "Who cares, we are making great time!" If we confuse activity with accomplishment, we could be making great time but we won't get anywhere.
 MEANINGLESS GOALS
 A farmer had a dog who used to sit by the roadside waiting for vehicles to come around. As soon as one came he would run down the road, barking and trying to overtake it. One day a neighbor asked the farmer "Do you think your dog is ever going to catch a car?" The farmer replied, "That is not what bothers me. What bothers me is what he would do if he ever caught one."
 Many people in life behave like that dog who is pursuing meaningless goals.

Scrutinize Your Goals

 A person who aims at nothing never misses. Aiming low is the biggest mistake. Winners see objectives, losers see obstacles. Our goals should be high enough to motivate yet realistic enough to avoid discouragement. Anything we do, either takes us closer to our goal or further away.

 Each goal must be evaluated in light of the following (similar to the Rotary's Four-Way Test):

 1. Is it the truth?

 2. Is it fair to all concerned? 

3. Will it get me goodwill?

 4. Will it get me health, wealth, and peace of mind? 

5. Is it consistent with my other goals? 

6. Can I commit myself to it? 

The following examples fail the test:

 a. If one of my goals is to be the embodiment of good health with no money, it is quite obvious that it will be hard to survive. That means it is not consistent with my other goals.

 b. A person could make all the money in the world, yet if he loses his family and health, it is not worth it, is it? 

c. A person could make a million dollars by selling drugs but then for the rest of his life, he would be running from the law. It would take away his peace of mind. And this kind of behavior would not be fair to all concerned nor will it give him goodwill. 

Each goal must be evaluated by putting it to the test and all goals must be in congruence. 

Goals without action are empty dreams. Actions turn dreams into goals. Even if we miss our goals, it does not make us a failure. Delay does not mean defeat. It only means one has to replan to accomplish one's target. Just like a camera needs focus to take a good picture, we need goals to make a productive life. 

Quality Not Quantity

It is not uncommon to hear that it is not the quantity of time that we spend with our families but the quality that matters. Just think about it, is it really true?
 Supposing you went to the best restaurant in town where they gave you white-glove service with cutlery from England, crockery from France, chocolates from Switzerland, and on and on. You picked up the gold plated menu and ordered a dish of barbecued chicken. The waiter within minutes brought back a small cube of the most deliciously prepared chicken. You ate it and asked, "Is that all I am going to get?" The waiter replied, "It is not the quantity but the quality that matters." 
You  said that you are still hungry and he gave you the same reply. I hope the message is clear.
 Our families need both, quality and quantity.

 Health
 We lose our health in the process of earning money and then we lose money in trying to regain health. 

Social Responsibility
 In the process of making money, we neglect our social responsibilities and let the system deteriorate till we become victims ourselves. 

BALANCE

 In 1923, eight of the wealthiest people in the world met. Their combined wealth, it is estimated, exceeded the wealth of the government of the United States at that time. These men certainly knew how to make a living and accumulate wealth. But let's examine what happened to them 25 years later.

 1. President of the largest steel company, Charles Schwab, lived on borrowed capital for five years before he died bankrupt.

 2. President of the largest gas company, Howard Hubson, went insane.

 3. One of the greatest commodity traders, Arthur Cutton, died insolvent.

 4. President of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard Whitney, was sent to jail.

 5. A member of the President's Cabinet, Albert Fall, was pardoned from jail to go home and die in            peace.

6. The greatest "bear" on Wall Street, Jessie Livermore, committed suicide.

 7.President of the world's greatest monopoly, Ivar Krueger, committed suicide.

 8. President of the Bank of International Settlement, Leon Fraser, committed suicide.

 What they forgot was how to make a life! It is stories like this that give the readers the false impression that money is the root of all evil. That is not true. Money provides food for the hungry, medicine for the sick, clothes for the needy. Money is only a medium of exchange.

 We need two kinds of education. One that teaches us how to make a living and one that teaches us how to live. 

There are people who are so engrossed in their professional life that they neglect their family, health and social responsibilities. If asked why they do this they would reply that they were doing it for their family. 

Our kids are sleeping when we leave home. They are sleeping when we come home. Twenty years later, we turn back, and they are all gone. We have no family left. That is sad. 

Goals Must Be Balanced

 Our life is like a wheel with six spokes.

1. Family. Our loved ones are the reason to live and make a living.

 2. Financial. Represents our career and the things that money can buy. 

3. Physical. Our health, without which nothing makes sense.

 4. Mental. Represents knowledge and wisdom.

 5. Social. Every individual and organization has social responsibility without which society starts              dying.

 6. Spiritual. Our value system represents ethics and character.

 If any of these spokes is out of line, our life goes out of balance. Take a few minutes and just think. If you had any one of the six missing, what would life be like? 

Why Don't More People Set Goals?

 There are many reasons, including: 1. A pessimistic attitude--Always seeing the pitfalls rather than the possibilities. 

2. Fear of failure--What if I don't make it? People feel subconsciously that if they don't set goals and if they don't make it, then they haven't failed. But they are failures to begin with. 

3. A lack of ambition--This is a result of our value system and lack of desire to live a fulfilled life. Our limited thinking prevents us from progress. There was a fisherman who, every time he caught a big fish, would throw it back into the river, keeping only the smaller ones. A man watching this unusual behavior asked the fisherman why he was doing this. The fisherman replied, "Because I have a small frying pan." Most people never make it in life because they are carrying a small frying pan. That is limited thinking.

 4. A fear of rejection--If I don't make it, what will other people say?

 5. Procrastination--"Someday, I will set my goals." This ties in with a lack of ambition.

 6. Low self-esteem--Because a person is not internally driven and has no inspiration.

 7. Ignorance of the importance of goals--Nobody taught them and they never learned the importance of goal-setting.

 8. A lack of knowledge about goal-setting--People don't know the mechanics of setting goals. They need a step-by-step guide so that they can follow a system.

 Goal setting is a series of steps. When you buy a plane ticket, what does it say?

•  Starting point
•  Destination 
• Class of travel 
• Price
•  Starting date
•  Expiry date

 If you ask most people what is their one major objective in life, they would probably give you a vague answer, such as, "I w ant to be successful, be happy, make a good living," and that is it. They are all wishes and none of them are clear goals. Goals must be SMART:

 1. S--specific. For example, "I want to lose weight." This is wishful thinking. It becomes a goal when I pin myself down to "I will lose 10 pounds in 90 days." 

2. M--must be measurable. If we cannot measure it, we cannot accomplish it. Measurement is a way of monitoring our progress.

 3. A--must be achievable. Achievable means that it should be out of reach enough to be challenging but it should not be out of sight, otherwise it becomes disheartening.

 4. R--realistic. A person who wants to lose 50 pounds in~30 days is being unrealistic.

 5. T--time-bound. There should be a starting date and a finishing date. 

Goals can be: 

1. short-term--up to one year.

 2. mid-term--up to three years. 

3. long-term--up to five years. 

Goals can be longer than five years but then they become a purpose of life. And having a purpose is very important because without one, it is possible to develop tunnel vision, where we are only obsessed with achieving our goals. Goals are more easily achieved if they are broken into small ones.

 Life is hard by the yard,

 but by the inch,

 it's a cinch.                     --Gean Gordon 

DREAMS

  People confuse goals with dreams and wishes. Dreams and wishes are nothing more than 

desires. Desires are weak. Desires become strong when they are supported by

•  direction 
• dedication
•  determination 
• discipline 
• deadlines 

That is what differentiates a desire from a goal. Goals are dreams with a deadline and an action plan. Goals can be worthy or unworthy. It is passion, not wishing, that turns dreams into reality. 

Steps to turn a dream into reality: 

1. Have a definite, clear written goal.

 2. Have a plan to accomplish it. 

3. Read the first two twice a day. 

Why are Goals Important?

On the best sunny day, the most powerful magnifying glass will not light paper if you keep moving the glass. But if you focus and hold it, the paper will light up. That is the power of concentration. 

A man was traveling and stopped at an intersection. He asked an elderly man, "Where does this road take me?" The elderly person asked, "Where do you want to go?" The man replied, "I don't know." The elderly person said, "Then take any road. What difference does it make?" 

How true. When we don't know where we are going, any road will take us there.

Supposing you have the football eleven enthusiastically ready to play the game, all charged up, and then someone took the goal post away. What would happen to the game? There is nothing left. How do you keep score? How do you know you have arrived? Enthusiasm without direction is like wildfire and leads to frustration. Goals give a sense of direction. 

Would you sit in a train or a plane without knowing where it was going? The obvious answer is no. Then why do people go through life without having any goals?

KEEP YOUR EYES UPON THE GOAL

 On July 4, 1952, Florence Chadwick was on her way to becoming the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel. She had already conquered the English Channel. The world was watching. Chadwick fought the dense fog, bone-chilling cold and many times, the sharks. She was striving to reach the shore but every time she looked through her goggles, all she could see was the dense fog. Unable to see the shore, she gave up. 

Chadwick was disappointed when she found out that she was only half a mile from the coast. She quit, not because she was a quitter but because her goal was not in sight anywhere. The elements didn't stop her. She said, "I'm not making excuses. If only I had seen the land, I could have made it." Two months later, she went back and swam the Catalina Channel. This time, in spite of the bad weather, she had her goal in mind and not only accomplished it but beat the men's record by two hours. 

GOAL-SETTING

 Setting & Achieving your goals

 Knowledge helps you to reach your destination provided you know what the destination is.

•  An ancient Indian sage was teaching his disciples the art of archery. He put a wooden bird as the target and asked them to aim at the eye of the bird. The first disciple was asked to describe what he saw. He said, "I see the trees, the branches, the leaves, the sky, the bird and its eye.." The sage asked this disciple to wait. Then he asked the second disciple the same question and he replied, "I only see the eye of the bird." The sage said, "Very good, then shoot." The arrow went straight and hit the eye of the bird.

 What is the moral of the story?

Unless we focus, we cannot achieve our goal. It is hard to focus and concentrate, but it is a skill that can be learned.

On the journey to life's highway, keep your eyes upon the goal. Focus on the donut, not upon the hole. --Anonymous 

VISUALIZATION

 Visualization is the process of creating and seeing a mental picture of the kind of thing you want to have or do, or the kind of person you want to be. Visualization goes hand in hand with auto-suggestion. Auto-suggestion without visualization is mechanical repetition and will be ineffective. In order to see results, auto-suggestion must be accompanied by feelings and emotions (visualization). 

CAUTION! Auto-suggestion may not be acceptable to the mind the first time you do it because it is an alien thought. For example, if for the past few decades I have believed that I have a poor memory and now all of a sudden, I tell myself, "I have a good memory!", my mind will throw it out, saying, "You liar! You have a bad memory!" Because that is what it has believed up to this point.

 It will take 21 days to dispel this notion. Why 21 days? Because it takes a minimum of 21 days of conscious, consecutive practice to formulate a habit. The big question is: Is 21 days of conscious effort a heavy price to pay to change a lifetime for the better? It all sounds simple but it is not easy. I am not surprised to see how few people go through this routine.

Prepare the Subconscious

 How can we use auto-suggestions to eliminate negative habits and develop positive ones? We have all used auto-suggestions unconsciously. For example, when you have to catch an early morning flight, you automatically tell yourself that you have got to get up. And invariably, you do (sometimes, even without an alarm clock). A prepared subconscious mind has hunches and gut feelings.
 Auto-suggestion is a way to program and condition our mind to make a statement into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Auto-suggestion is a repetitive process through which we feed our subconscious with positive statements which translate into reality. Repetition alone is not enough, unless it is accompanied by emotions and feelings.

 Auto-suggestions without visualization will not produce results. The first time our mind receives an autosuggestion it rejects it. Why? It is an alien thought, contrary to our belief system. Success would depend on our ability to concentrate and repeat the process. 

Steps to follow on auto-suggestions. 
1. Go to a spot where you won't be disturbed. 
2. Write down your suggestions. 
The self-discipline to finish what one starts, is imperative. Auto-suggestion is a powerful character building tool.
 Translating Auto-Suggestion into Reality
 1. Make a list of your auto-suggestions in the present tense.
 2. Repeat auto-suggestions at least twice a day: first thing in the morning and at the end of the day. This is because in the morning, the mind is fresh and receptive and at night you deposit the positive picture into your subconscious overnight. 
3. Repeat it consecutively for 21 days until it becomes a habit. 
4. Auto-suggestions alone will not work. They need visualization. 

Auto-Suggestion

  What is auto-suggestion? An auto-suggestion is a statement made in the present tense, of the kind of person you want to be. Auto-suggestions are like writing a commercial to yourself about yourself, for yourself. They influence both your conscious and subconscious mind which in turn influence attitude and behavior. Auto-suggestions are a way to program your subconscious mind. They can be either positive or negative. Examples of negative auto-suggestions are:

•  I'm tired.
•  I'm not an athlete.
•  I have a poor memory.
•  I'm not good at math.

 When we repeat to ourselves a negative auto-suggestion, our subconscious mind believes it and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and starts reflecting in our behavior. For example, when I am talking to someone and I forget what I had to say, I tell the other person, "See, I forgot what I wanted to say. I have such a poor memory."

People who come into contact with crime the first time, hate it. With constant exposure they get used to it and if the exposure is long enough, they may embrace it. And they become creators of their own misfortune. When a person repeats a belief long enough, it sinks into the subconscious and becomes reality. A lie repeated long enough becomes accepted as the truth. 

Positive auto-suggestions are being widely used in the field of sports and medicine. Why make positive statements? Because we want to create a picture in our minds of what we want to have rather than what we don't. Any picture that we hold in our mind becomes reality. Auto-suggestions are a process of repetition. A person who repeats a statement long enough lets it sink into the subconscious mind. For example, I am relaxed. I am cool, calm and collected.
 Auto-suggestions should not be practiced in a negative way I am not tense. I won't be angry. Positive statements are made because we think in pictures and not in words. If I say "Don't think of the blue elephant," what is the first picture that comes to your mind? 
The blue elephant. If I say "mother," what comes to your mind? A picture of your mother. Did you start spelling m-o-t-h-e-r? Of course not! When a negative word comes in the auto-suggestion, it forms a negative picture which we want to avoid. Why in the present tense? Because our mind cannot tell the difference between a real experience and an imagined one. For example, parents are expecting their child to come home at 9:30 p.m. but the kid is not home and it is now 1 a.m. What is going through the parents' mind? They are probably hoping everything's okay. "I hope the kid didn't get into an accident." What is happening to their blood pressure? It is going up! This is an imagined experience. The reality could be that the kid is having fun at a party, is irresponsible, and did not get home when he was supposed to. 
Now reverse the scenario. Supposing the kid was very responsible and was actually coming home at 9:30 p.m. but got into an accident, and still didn't get home at 1 a.m. What is happening to the parents' blood pressure? It is still going up! The first scenario was an imagined experience. The second one was a real experience but the body's response in both cases was identical. Our mind cannot tell the difference between a real and an imagined experience.

FORMING POSITIVE HABITS

It is never too late to change. Regardless of our age or how old the habit has been, this can be done by awareness and using techniques that modify behavior. We hear all the time that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. We are human beings, not dogs. Neither are we performing tricks. We can unlearn self-destructive behavior and learn positive behavior.

 The secret of successful people is that they form the habit of doing things that failures don't like to do and won't do. Just think about the things that failures don't like to do. They are the same things that successful people don't like to do but they do them anyway. For example, failures don't like discipline, hard work, or keeping commitments. Successful people also dislike discipline, hard work (an athlete doesn't like and want the discipline to get up and train every day but he does it regardless), but they do it anyway because they have formed the habit of doing things that failures don't like to do.

 All habits start small but end up eventually being very difficult to break. Attitudes are habits and can be changed. It is a question of breaking and replacing old negative habits with new and positive ones. It is easier to prevent bad habits than to overcome them. Good habits come from overcoming temptation.

 Happiness and unhappiness are a habit. Excellence is the result of repeated conscious effort until it becomes a habit. It needs enough practice to become a habit. We all have some negative habits that are pulling us down. 

Take 15 minutes alone and undisturbed to make a list of all the negative habits that are pulling you down.-------------------------

Take 15 minutes alone and undisturbed to make a list of all positive habits you want to develop.

_ ___________________________

RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

 When people recognize or become aware of their negative habits, why don't they change? The reason they don't change is because they refuse to accept responsibility. Besides, the pleasure of continuing is greater than the pain. They may:

• Lack the desire to change 
• Lack the discipline to change
•  Lack the belief that they can change
•  Lack the awareness for the need to change

 All these factors prevent us from getting rid of our negative habits. We all have a choice. We can ignore negative behavior and hope it will go away--the ostrich approach--or face up to it and overcome it for life. Behavior modification comes from overcoming irrational fears and getting out of the comfort zone. Remember, fear is a learned behavior and can be unlearned. 

The following excuses are the most common explanations for not changing negative habits:

 1. We have always done it that way.

 2. We have never done it that way.

 3. That is not my job. 

4. I don't think it will make any difference.

 5. I'm too busy. 

NATURE ABHORS A VACUUM

I have two nephews aged 12 and 14 who are tennis buffs. One day their father said to me, "This game is getting very expensive. The boys go through the rackets,balls, lawn fees and now they have a coach. It all costs money." So I asked him, "It is getting expensive compared with what?" He could have them stop playing tennis and save some money. But if they stopped, and came home from school with all their time and energy at hand, what would they do? He stopped to think quietly for some time and then said, "I think I will have them continue. It is cheaper this way." He realized the importance of keeping them involved in positive activities. Otherwise they would be attracted to the negative because nature abhors a vacuum. Either we have a positive or we have a negative; there is no neutral ground here. 

Character building becomes a habit. If we want to build a pleasing personality, we have to examine our habits closely. What begins as an occasional indulgence turns into a permanent flaw. Ask yourself the following questions: 

1. Do you let the quality of your work deteriorate?

 2. Do you indulge in gossip?

 3. Are envy and ego a constant companion?

 4. Is empathy in short supply? 

We could go on and on. We are creatures of habit. It is good that it is that way because if we have to constantly think before doing anything, we would never get anything done. 

There is just not enough time. We control our habits by exercising control and self discipline over our thoughts. We need to harness the power of the subconscious mind. We need to cultivate the habits during childhood which build character in adulthood. Plant the right things early in life. But it is never too late to start. Every exposure to a positive or negative makes a difference. Learning new habits takes time but positive habits, once mastered, give new meaning to life.

 Optimism or pessimism is a habit. Habits are a matter of the pain and pleasure principle. We do things either to avoid pain or to gain pleasure. So long as the gain is more than the pain, we continue with the habit. But if the pain exceeds the gain, we drop it. For example, when the doctor tells the smoker to stop, he replies "I can't! It is a habit and I enjoy it!" and he goes on smoking. Here the pleasure is greater than the pain. Until one day he is faced with a major medical problem, and the doctor says "You better stop smoking immediately if you want to live" and he stops. Here the pain is greater than the pleasure. 

HOW DO WE GET PROGRAMMED ?

 Think how we learned to ride a bike. There are four stages: The first stage is called unconscious incompetence. This is a stage where we don't know that we don't know. The child doesn't know what it is to ride a bike (unconscious) nor can he ride a bike (incompetence). This is the stage of unconscious incompetence. 
The second stage is called consciously incompetent. This is the stage where the child grows and becomes conscious of what it is to ride a bike but cannot ride one himself, so he is consciously incompetent.
 But then he starts learning and now comes a third stage which is called consciously competent. Now he can ride a bike but has to think every time to do it. So with all the conscious thought and effort, the child is competent to ride a bike.
 The fourth stage is called unconsciously competent. It comes when the child has practiced consciously riding the bike so much that he doesn't have to think. It becomes an automatic process.
 He can talk to people and wave to others while riding. That means he has reached the stage of unconscious competence. At this level, we don't need the concentration and thinking because the behavior pattern has become automatic.
 This is the level that we want all our positive habits to reach. Unfortunately, we have some negative habits too which are at the unconscious competence stage and are detrimental to our progress. Studies have shown that approximately 90% of all smokers became smokers by the age of 21. If a person has not become a smoker by the age of 21, then there is a very small chance that that person will ever become a smoker. This only proves that smoking is conditioned subconsciously and our conditioning starts at a young age. 

THE CONSCIOUS AND SUBCONSCIOUS MIND

 Remember, our conscious mind has the ability to think. It can accept or reject. But the subconscious only accepts, it makes no distinction regarding input. If we feed our mind with thoughts of fear, doubt, and hate, the auto-suggestions will activate and translate those things into reality. The subconscious is the data bank. Of the two, the subconscious is more powerful. The subconscious is like the automobile while the conscious is like the driver. The power is in the automobile but the control is with the driver. 

The subconscious mind can work for or against us. It is not rational. When we are not successful we need to reprogram the subconscious. 

The subconscious mind is like a garden; it doesn't care what you plant. It is neutral; it has no preferences. But if you plant good seeds, you will have a good garden; otherwise you will have a wild growth of weeds. I'd go a step further to say, even when you plant good seeds, weeds still grow and the weeding process must continue constantly.

 The human mind is no different. Remember, positive and negative thoughts can't occupy the mind simultaneously.

 Companies spend close to a million dollars for a 30 second ad during a major event. Obviously, they are getting.results. We see an ad for a particular brand of soft drink or toothpaste and we go to the supermarket and buy that brand. We don't want any soft drink but only that brand. Why? Because we are programmed and act accordingly.

 In order to succeed, we need to get programmed in a positive way.

THE GIGO PRINCIPLE

 The computer phrase GIGO (garbage in, garbage out) is very sound.

 Negativity in; negativity out
. Positivity in; positivity out.
 Good in; good out. 

Our input equals our output. Our subconscious mind does not discriminate. Whatever we choose to put into our subconscious mind it will accept and our behavior will reflect that accordingly. 

The television has a considerable impact on influencing our morals, thinking, and culture, for good or bad. TV, while bringing in lots of useful information, has also made an outstanding contribution to degrading our tastes, corrupting our morals, and increasing juvenile delinquency. That is a pretty high price for so-called free speech or free television. The number of violent acts seen on TV by the age of 18 tops 200,000.*
 Advertisers are good at conditioning their audience. Obviously advertisements sell products, otherwise why would companies advertise?
 When we watch TV or listen to a radio advertisement, our conscious mind is not listening, but our subconscious is open and we receive whatever is being dumped in. Have you ever argued with the TV? Of course not!
 When we go to the movies we laugh and we cry. Is it because they put something in the seats or because the emotional input has an immediate emotional output? Change the input and the output changes.