List all the problems and challenges you are facing right now.

Review them and ask yourself if any of them are life and death issues or so critical to your happiness.

It's important to realise that we will always have something on our lists that cause us stress, and that we may not be able to get rid of them.  If we ever manage, others will appear.

 My colleague the late Dr. Richard Carlson was so right: "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff"!

Instead, write down what you are grateful for and see how energized you feel!

Today, I had a client call me to book me for a week's work. Great! However, most of the days the client wanted were taken.

Instead of getting upset, I said thank you for this problem realizing that it is better for clients to compete with each other for your services instead of a having no work for a week!

Once you express gratitude, the Universe begins to become your partner. Solutions began to appear bit by bit. Competing clients begin to have a higher sense of urgency and place a higher value on your work

A few weeks ago, my ten year old was lying in bed with me and Marcia and out of the blue, he said, “I’m grateful I have a wonderful life.”

I’m sure you can imagine the surprise and delight I felt hearing my child express such gratitude.  It made me think, “Hey we’re pretty decent parents after all.”  But seriously, this says a lot about Ian’s attitude.

This weekend whilst going through my "to do" list, I realized that I was too caught up in activities and not taking the space for gratitude.

I realized that I was taking my health, family and love for granted, yet these are priceless gifts.

I decided that regularly, I will list at least 3 things that I am grateful for.

Friday, May 29th was a lucky day for me.  I spoke with my favorite author, Brian Tracy, to a packed audience at Metropolitan Hotel in downtown Vancouver.  It was part of a iLearning Global event.  I spoke first for about 15 to 20 minutes, followed by Brian Tracy who spoke for about 40 to 45 minutes.  It was great!

Have you been in a situation where some things don't happen for weeks, months, even years?  The more you try, the more what you aspire for seems out of reach and distant.  You even run of ideas or question whether your road map measures up to what it takes.

We just found out that The Power Of Giving, won the prestigious NAUTILUS SILVER AWARD!

The Nautilus Book Awards recognize and reward world-changing books.  This is the 9th annual award.  Past winners include: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Deepak Chopra and Eckhart Tolle. 

Expressing sincere and positive thoughts works like a gem.

When we express appreciation and love to our children, they respond to our suggestions much more constructively.

When we are expressive with our spouse, our relationships become more harmonious and loving.

When we appreciate our staff they respond with better performance.

When we appreciate our volunteer colleagues they get more committed to the cause.

When we express appreciation and love to our parents, they feel good about their contribution to your life.

As I write this, thoughts about giving I try to always remain conscious of the great gifts I have.  A wonderful family, many, many friends I love, a degree of financial security, rewarding work for good causes… In some ways it’s easy for me to feel like giving, because I feel I have so much.

What I always find inspiring is those who have so little and yet who walk a path of generosity and love. 

Every day there are some things that will work for you.  Sometimes you will have big wins and sometimes small.

Every day there are some things that will not work for you.  Sometimes you will have big withdrawals and sometimes small.

Today, I had some magical moments and victories. Today, I also had some setbacks including people cancelling important meetings at the last minute.

I am choosing to focus on the few magical moments and expressing gratitude for those moments.  By so doing I feel energized and happy!