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From My Corner of the World to Yours! 
Hello everyone and welcome! February 3rd marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year, so Happy New Year once again! Don't you love all these opportunities to celebrate new beginnings and bestow your blessings upon your life and those you love? I do! According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2011 is the Year of the Golden Rabbit, which begins on February 3, 2011 and ends on January 22, 2012. Over the weekend, I was invited to a friend's home to celebrate the Chinese New Year and learn more about its significance. This is what I learned: "According to Chinese tradition, the Rabbit brings a year in which you can catch your breath and calm your nerves. To gain the greatest benefits from this year, make it a goal to create a safe, peaceful lifestyle, so you will be able to calmly deal with any problems that may arise." Sounds good to me! Given the intensity of everything that's going on in the world and this winter season, it's good to remind ourselves to catch our breath and focus on what really matters. May the Year of the Golden Rabbit be good to you and yours. Yota Schneider
Regardless of what your definition of success may be, is there any doubt that feeling confident and being effective and successful depend on:
If it all starts with self-awareness and self-acceptance, then how come it's so easy to allow for self-doubt to creep in and derail us? We doubt our needs, deep seated desires, and insights. We dismiss our physical symptoms and mental anguish. We look for approval and confirmation in all the wrong places. We allow for our beliefs and standards for happiness and personal success to be determined by the social norm. We try, God knows, we try really hard to achieve what we think we should. When things don't work out according to our expectations, we become demoralized. Even at that point, a voice inside may ask: "But, is this what you really wanted? Is this who you really want to be?" If we can only take the time to listen, think and answer these questions . . . what a pivotal moment this could be! No matter what our goals and aspirations are, whether we want to:
We begin by answering the question: "What do I want and who do I want to be when it's all said and done?" When we embark on a journey, it helps to have a map. When we work on a project it helps to have an action plan. We need to know what actions are the most effective for taking us across the finishing line. Imagine, if we don’t know what the finishing line even looks like or where it is. How do we create a map or an action plan without that basic knowledge? The following story illustrates this point beautifully. It’s one of my favorite stories and it inspires me every time I read it. Here it is: “The California coast was shrouded in fog that Fourth of July morning in 1952. Twenty-one miles to the west on Catalina Island, a thirty-four year old woman waded into the water and began swimming toward California, determined to be the first woman to do so. Her name was Florence Chadwick, and she had already been the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions. The water was numbing cold that July morning, and the fog was so thick she could hardly see the boats in her own party. Several times sharks had to be driven away with rifles. As the hours ticked off, she swam on. Fatigue had never been her big problem – it was the gone-chilling cold of the water. Fifteen and one-half hours later, numbed with the cold, she asked to be taken out. She couldn’t go on. Her mother and her trainer alongside in a boat told her they were near land. They urged her not to quit. But when she looked toward the California coast, all she could see was the dense fog. After another twenty five minutes – when she had been in the water almost sixteen hours – she quit and was lifted into the boat. It was not until hours later, when her body began to thaw, that she felt the shock of failure. To a reporter she explained, “Look, I’m not excusing myself. But if I could have seen land, I might have made it.” After swimming over twenty miles of that twenty-one mile channel, she had been pulled out only a half-mile from the California coast! Later she was to reflect that she had been licked not by fatigue or even by the cold – the fog alone had defeated her because it obscured her goal. It had blinded her reason, her eyes, and her heart. It was the only time Florence Chadwick ever quit. Two months later, she swam the same channel, and again the fog obscured her view, but this time she swam with a clear vision of her goal in her head – a mental map of where she was going. Not only was she the first woman to swim the California Channel, but she beat the men’s record by some two hours!” (Adapted from Bits & Pieces, ed. By Marvin G. Gregory - Fairfield, N.J.: The Economic Press, 1979) It's the first day of the second month of a new year. OR, according to the Chinese Zodiac, we're two days away from a brand new year. Why not take this opportunity and set your intention? Forget about, "should, would, could or ought to" and everything that makes you feel out of breath. You deserve all the goodness the world has to offer. Believe this - it's the truth! Close your eyes, take a deep breath and feel the power of this statement. Then, go ahead and set your mark for this year. See your destination clearly. It's been waiting for you all along! _____________________ ©2011 Open for Success.
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