"Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason why so few engage in it." -Henry Ford

Man's ability over all other creatures on this Earth is the ability to think. All successful people use this talent to improve their lives and control their own destiny. Only you can take the initial step toward the unleashing of the power within your own mind. The power is awesome and at times can be frightening. However, man has abilities of the mind that many people can not or would not believe. Anthony Robbins has recently written a book entitled "Unlimited Power" which explains in simple terms the theories of Neuro Linguistic Programming, the power of the mind and how to gain control and use it. NLP was originally developed by John Grinder and Richard Bandler as a communication system using the central nervous system. Through this system Mr. Robbins has put forth a complete outline on how to unleash your "performance power" and achieve goals that before you probably felt were impossible.

The first step in using your true mental abilities is understanding what Mr. Robbins refers to as the seven triggering mechanisms that is sure success.

1. Passion - All truly successful people such as Lee Iacocca have a driving force within them that sets them apart from others. A desire, an energy that gives them the fuel to reach their true potential. This force is a part of them 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It never subsides. Their total existence is sustained for the fulfillment of their goals. The passion within this individual to achieve has been so deeply implanted, that their mental power is driven by this force and will not let them do anything other than achieve.

2. Belief - "They can because they think they can"-Virgil.
   
   You will only make $100,000 this year if you first believe you can. If you do not believe you can you are telling yourself you want it, but it is truly not obtainable. The truth of life is that man's limits are self imposed by what the mind is given to believe. If you expand your belief of your own abilities, you will also expand your true realm of accomplishment. A man of whom all are aware, lived his life with adversity, but he constantly believed he could achieve.
   • Failed in business at age 31
   • Was defeated in a legislative race at age 32
   • Failed again in business at age 34
   • Overcome death of sweetheart at age 35
   • Had a nervous breakdown at age 36
   • Lost an election at age 38
   • Lost a congressional race at age 43
   • Lost a congressional race at age 46
   • Lost a congressional race at age 48
   • Lost a Senatorial race at age 55
   • Failed to become Vice President at age 56
   • Lost a Senatorial race at age 58
   • Was elected President of the United States at age 60

   With all the adversity that faced him, President Abraham Lincoln had no reason to continually try other than the fact that he believed it was his destiny and measure of success to accomplish this task.

   "Man is what believes" -Anton Checkhov

3. Strategy - A strategy is your game plan of life. The road map you will use to accomplish your goals, ambitions and desires. Just to believe you can earn $100,000 a year is not enough, you must design a strategy that gives your life direction and navigates you toward success. The key to strategy is to design a proper strategy to achieve your success without the detours of life, to find the shortest distance between two points.

4. Clarity of Values - Man must first determine which things in life are most valuable to him. He must determine his feeling about such things as patriotism, pride, love, freedom, excellence, ownership and tolerance. These are values in society, the moral, ethical and fundamental judgements that we, as individuals, deem important. Without a clear system of values for ourselves, it is impossible to believe in something with a passion that has no value to us. Once we have established our individual value system we are then able to determine how we can achieve success based on our priority of values. What must we five up in one hand to accomplish what we desire on the other. Without a value system we can never move forward for we may be trading without increasing our potential for success.

5. Energy - Without the physical vitality to take action, nothing would ever come of our system to this point. The passion could build, our belief of accomplishment could be overwhelming, we could have the best strategy or map to achieve the ultimate value for our own life, but if not for taking the first step, nothing could ever be accomplished. Great success cannot be separated from physical, spiritual and mental energy that allows us, compels us, to accomplish the most with what we have to work with. Physical energy comes from the strength of the body itself fueled by our intake of nourishment. It is therefore important that we fuel our engine with premium fuel (good eating habits), not low grade regular (junk food). Our spiritual and intellectual energy evolves from our environment and it is therefore important that we assess our own personal environment to maximize the energy that we can obtain.

6. Bonding Power - We have all known people that have exhibited the ability to get along with anyone and everyone. The ability to be a chameleon is truly the ability to connect with and bond with others. The ability to build rapport. Being able to deal with others as Mr. Robbins says "To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others." To be able to understand the...

7. Mastery of Communication - To take charge and run your own mind. To learn the techniques of NLP and no longer allow our mind to run our lives, but rather take charge of our own mental abilities and cause them to work for our own accomplishment of success.

"There is only one Success - to be able to spend your life in your own way." - Christopher Morley