The Home of Steven Barnes
Author, Teacher, Screenwriter


Thursday, September 15, 2005

Let me be more direct

I'm going to have to state my premise as clearly as possible, and I can't care if I bruise some egos.  I don't care about your egos.  I care about your lives.
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Do you want a writing career?  Don't listen to failed writers.  Listen to successful ones, preferably three or more--and SIFT OUT WHAT THEY AGREE UPON.
Do you want to have a lean, healthy body?  Don't listen to fat people.  Listen to people who USED to be fat, and have been lean for five years or more.  SIFT OUT WHAT THEY AGREE UPON.
Do you want to have a healthy relationship?  Don't listen to single people. Listen to people who have been happily married (or otherwise connected) for ten years or more.  SIFT OUT WHAT THEY AGREE UPON.
Do you want to heal your finances?  Raise  yourself from poverty or economic distress?  Don't listen to poor or broke people.  Listen to people who WERE BORN POOR, and have been broke, and lifted themselves to wealth or at LEAST middle-class status.  SIFT OUT WHAT THEY AGREE UPON.
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Imagine that the secrets to success in life are in a safe.  There are ten people in a room.  Nine failed to open the safe, and only one opened it.  You can ask anyone in the room one question.  Who do you ask, and what do you ask?  For God's sake, you ask the one who opened it, and you ask him "what's the combination."  Everyone knows that. Apply that rule to your body, mind, and relatioinships.  Don't know anyone healthy in those categories, well, I could ask you to trust me (and in fact, that's jsut what I've been doing) but obviously some of you think I was born with a silver spoon, or I'm just lucky, or I'm lying, or I'm blind.  Fine.  Then take it upon yourselves to speak to MULTIPLE PEOPLE who are successful in these categories, and bootstrapped themselves.  If you can't find them, read the articles by and about them.  The books and tapes and seminars.  Sift out what they all agree upon.  Close your mind TIGHTLY to the negative voices that will steal your energy.  Begin moving forward in your life.  Fail successfully--in other words, when you fall on your face (and you will!) LEARN SOMETHING EACH TIME.  Keep trying new ways to get to your written goals.   And never, ever, ever give up. 

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