BY STAN KONTOS

Who you hang around with the most, and who you listen to intently, you will then become most like in that area of life. We have had many amazing guests interviewed at our breakfast event (www.nextlevelbreakfasts.com.au) and we all learn so much from each amazing leader.

One person, the leader in the tiling industry in Australia Bob Beaumont (from Beaumont Tiles) once said to me “Stan, don’t dream big….dream huge!” You see Bob has become the number 1 tiling retailer in the country and continues to grow with aspirations to become number 1 in the world. WOW that’s a BIG goal indeed!  I like hanging out with Bob because he thinks differently and that excites me to also think this way too.

And so I pass this inspirational way of thinking to you too…are you thinking big? And if you are, how about going to the next level and think huge!

You probably have the book “As A Man Thinketh” by James Allen (if you come along to the breakfast, we have them there for you) and in this amazing book it says that our lives (and businesses) are a direct reflection of our thinking. The bigger we think about any area of our life, the more we will move toward that thought. Yes we become what we think about most of the time.

Are you thinking HUGE when it comes to your business or career? Are you thinking HUGE when it comes to your finances? And what about your leisure activities, your health optimisation, and your relationships? It is so important to think huge in every area of your life.

When we think huge, we get inspired…we get excited…and so we begin to think and act differently that when we were thinking only big.

Yes my friends, when we think the way our Creator intended us to think, then we get his inspiration flowing through us. Think huge and you will feel better, you will get excited every morning when you get out of bed, and you will live longer because you are excited about the prospects of life.

So what can you think huge about today? Go set yourself a BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) and begin working on it each day and watch how your world unfolds.

Always think huge.

And to help you think huge, if you live in SA and can be up early come along to see Francis Wong (Managing Director of Encounter Australia) being interviewed at the next breakfast event http://www.nextlevelbreakfasts.com.au

Have a wonderful day, a great week, and a HUGE month!

Stan Kontos 

BY STAN KONTOS

One of the greatest learnings that I continue to make in life and business is the incredible value of continuing to give my best in having an open mind. Like all of us, we all believe we are open minded however did you know that to be good at this, one needs to practice and exercise their mind daily?

What truly makes a mind open is the question one asks immediately after being presented with a statement  together with the ability not to place judgement on another human being’s perspective. This as we know sounds easier than it is in practice.  One of the greatest wisdoms I have ever heard is “Thou shalt not judge”. This wisdom although thousands of years in the making is still relevant today. But what exactly does it mean and how is it related to having an open mind?

If someone comes to you and says “I’ve been through a relationship breakdown and you know what –  you cannot trust anyone in this world”. Would you allow their perspective to affect your model of the world (how you see things)?  Or would you ask an internal open ended  question to yourself and keep your mind open such as “Isn’t that interesting. I’d like to learn more about this human being’s life experience.” You see, it is only by asking an open ended question such as this that you truly do not place judgement on this person’s perspective but rather begin to adopt an inquisitive approach eager to learn more and perhaps in turn being of assistance to them.

And what if you met someone who came up to you and stated  “I earn $10,000 per hour whenever I want to make more money and find it easy to do so”. How would you internally react in thought to this statement?  Would it be with an open mind such as “Isn’t that incredible?  Wouldn’t that be a wonderful skill to learn too?”.

When you keep your mind open in every situation whether in life or business, you will learn more, you will be more at peace with your inner self, and you will be getting the maximum value from the journey of life.

So what simple exercise can we all do today to take our life to another level in open mindedness? The simplest one thing that we can do which if we did on a consistent basis all day long is say an affirmation to ourselves that will then guide our mind to becoming what we are saying. Now of course, you may choose any affirmation that works for you to help you keep an open mind during each day – here is one that I believe will do the job:

“Every day, in every way, I look at every situation and say to myself  Isn’t that interesting?  What do I need to learn of value from this?”

The above statement, quietly muttered to oneself throughout the day (100’s of times) will result in you conditioning your mind to respond differently and you will begin to see more how life works and the many opportunities you have to learn, grow, add value and be more at peace.

One of the greatest privileges I have is the opportunity to interview great people every month at our breakfast event (http://www.nextlevelbreakfasts.com.au/) and this month will be with a great (Swedish) thinker Goran Roos. I am sure he will help us all to completely see things differently in how the world is evolving,  what innovations are on the horizon, and where the opportunities are for the future for all of us.  I encourage you to come along on Wednesday August 9^th.

Remember that with your thoughts you create your world. And with your questions you create your emotions and the direction of your life.

Live with passion, stay on your life’s purpose, and always be at peace.

Stan Kontos 

BY STAN KONTOS

I have discovered that, as with everything good,   success always leaves clues.   We all know that wealth can only be achieved when money is made to work for you, and not you for money. Now I know that at some stage in all our lives, we must work to make money (either through a job or through a small business). For some, money becomes their master (they have to keep working). For others, money becomes their servant (money works for them). How is this difference so?

The secret formula is earn money, then save money, then invest and multiply the money. Sounds simple –  this is the truth.

A long time ago when I was working and being paid by the hour I discovered that it didn’t really matter how much money I got paid per hour if I didn’t know how to budget and create savings. What I discovered about my human nature was that the more I earnt per hour, the more I spent (it happened subconsciously – having a more expensive car, going out to eat more often at restaurants, finding more ways to spend my hard earned money on clothing, travel, and so forth). Similarly, I have noticed in others that when they earn more money per hour they don’t necessarily save this pay increase because it subconsciously gets spent. I am fortunate to have the responsibility of coordinating the employment of many people in my organisations and I see their frustration when as they earn more it doesn’t translate into more savings. Hence I am passionate about educating people to learn the secrets to wealth creation, including my own staff.

Here is a very important question that will help you determine how you are programed – are you programmed for wealth creation?

Q: What is more important to you – to get a higher hourly rate or to get the knowledge of how to create more money even if it means working at a slightly lower hourly rate?

A: Knowledge is more important than money.

Over 10 years ago, I recall deciding to find a way to be in the company of someone who was very successful. I found a way to invest in their business and in doing so was fortunate to be able to spend 3-4 days per month (yes I had to fly interstate once a month to attend to my business responsibilities all at my own personal cost) so I could spend time with this person and educate myself on business and wealth creation. My method over the years has been to always find people better than me and to spend time with them. I take copious amounts of notes and learn their secrets. Then  I apply this knowledge helping myself and in turn helping others in my environment. The secret is when you acquire knowledge to help yourself and you help others, you will always make more money.

As a Performance Coach (and having coached many hundreds of people over the years) , I have observed from experience that one of the biggest issues in our society is a lack of sufficient money to live abundantly. I believe that every one of us was meant to enjoy abundance – it is a universal law that we are meant to live joyfully. The 3% of our population that get to understand the laws of abundance are the ones who have sought   the knowledge and applied it for the benefit of others as well as themselves.

I encourage you to become one of that 3% today. Go and acquire new knowledge (perhaps come along to our breakfast event http://www.nextlevelbreakfasts.com.au/). Whilst it is good to find ways to earn more money per hour, it is far more important to learn to budget and create savings, and to then multiply these savings from wise investments. These wise investments over a 10 year period become your ticket to financial freedom – the choice of having to work vs wanting to work.  Financial freedom is a desire we all have for it gives us the choice to live the way that makes us joyful as well as the ability to help others.

I wish you abundance always. If you wish to learn more about our coaching program (Platinum Program http://www.solresultscoaching.com/), designed to assist you to obtain the mindset and the strategies to create more in your life, we would be happy to let you know more.

Live with passion, stay on your life’s purpose, and always be at peace.

Stan Kontos 

BY STAN KONTOS

What I have noticed much more today than say 10+ years ago is people being more aware of someone’s “energy”  (as well as being aware of their own energy) .  I often get comments like “I love your energy” which is very gratifying – however what does this “I love your energy”  actually mean?  And are you aware of energetic factors within you and other people?

The energy from a human being  is not something we can tangibly see nor can it be metrically measured  but we can all  definitely feel it. Good energy in simplicity is positivity. And this positivity radiates from people once they are accessing positive thoughts and emotions. The emotions one feels eventually radiates  to others and so they also begin feel it.  And most of us know that if we hang around a positive person, we will also become more & more positive ourselves – this is a law of life.

Having positive thoughts and emotions are generally an indication of one’s level of personal and spiritual development – the more you develop in these areas, the more control you will have over radiating positive energy.

Positive energy is invaluable in every area of your life – the more positive you are, the more good that you will attract into your life. This is manifested as more monetary/wealth provision, more loving friendships, and greater progress in your career and business. And of course the most important factor is you will feel happier.

Of course, life will throw you challenges from time to time, however, when you live in positivity you will be able to solve these issues quicker, you will come out stronger, and you will also attract a greater level of good occurrences and lesser issues/problems.

So what can we all do beginning today to have more positive energy in our lives (and so attract a better life)?  Here are a few tips:

1. Choose carefully who you hang around with – generally, unless you are highly skilled in transforming & helping people change for the better (I have that skillset being a coach), spend more time with people who are of the energy you want to be.
2. Exercise your mind daily to change any negative thoughts (fear, worry, anger, criticism, judgement, pity) into more positive thoughts (love, kindness, joy, courage, excitement, purpose). Spend some time by yourself practicing changing your thoughts and see how it changes the way you begin to feel. Then notice when you consistently feel good how this radiates to others too.
3. Eat healthy – eating more vegetables and less processed modern food will change the way you feel…try it.
4. Exercise daily – I have a counter to ensure I do 12,000 minimum steps per day. Make exercise a daily habit.
5. Practice being joyful – sing a song, encourage others, and perform at least one act of kindness per day…you will feel fantastic.

One thing I can highly recommend to you is to go regularly into environments where positivity is a way of life such as our breakfast event (checkout www.nextlevelbreakfasts.com.au).  The importance of going to a healthy environment at least once a week is you will get reminded of what it is you are missing out on and what you need top access daily energetically (this is why active spiritual practices are so empowering – such as active church participation as an example).

In closing this month’s words of inspiration, I encourage you to actively work on yourself much harder than you work on your job. I encourage you to have at least one full day off per week (I call this my Sunday sabbatical day) where you do not carry nor refer to your mobile phone nor do any work on your laptop nor do any house chores…..you just spend time with family and loved ones, enjoy nature, enjoy fine food, and enjoy discovering your spirituality so that your energy for the rest of the week will be given the optimal opportunity to be positive.

I encourage you to always strive to be better in everything you do – and it all begins with positive energy.

Live with passion, stay on your life purpose, and always be at peace.

Stan Kontos 

BY STAN KONTOS

Have you ever heard the term  “Don’t be so closed – have an  open mind!”.  I believe that we cannot progress in life & in business unless we have an open mind – closed mindedness stifles progress, restricts innovation, and puts a halt to the continuous journey of  continuous and never ending improvement. However, having said that, I believe an open mind is only truly effective if it is linked to a good heart. In other words, we need to have good healthy  intent as we open our mind. For example, if I have an open mind and try a drug that damages my health or damages my relationships, then it is not of good intent and having an open mind in this case is not helpful. However, if I have an open mind to generate more income per hour with the view of working less so I can enjoy more time with my family & friends and/or see the wonders of the world, then that can be a very good intent. So, the secret is good intent + an open mind  = success.

So, being honest, do you class yourself as having an open mind?  My discovery in coaching and speaking is there are many people who believe they have an open mind, yet they do not exhibit the behaviours that are necessary to experience an openness of mind. It is easy to spot the conflicts…here are some examples that come to mind:

• I don’t believe money is important and believe I can enjoy life without it yet I experience the following conflicts: I struggle with paying the bills and get frustrated because of this ; As much as I want to, I cannot afford to travel to places I would love to visit in the world; , I want to donate money to my favourite charity yet cannot afford it
• I want to be spiritually enlightened and always live in a joyful state yet I experience the following conflicts:  I am not prepared to forgive those that have wronged me and choose to hold onto my grudges or I do not want to make the time for prayer and meditation as I am too busy.
• I acknowledge my health and weight is not optimal and experience the following conflicts:  I don’t want to seriously change the way I eat nor do I want to exercise daily; I don’t want to invest  the money in a personal trainer; I don’t want to get a coach and change my thinking so I can change my life

We have all, at times in our life, being captive by a closed mind until something happened or someone helped “wake us up” to open our mind and let new thoughts come into our consciousness so we can change our behaviours and in doing so change our life for the better.

You see my friends, an open mind (with good intent)  is the gateway to all the abundance you desire in life. We did not come into the world to remain closed minded and limit ourselves, Rather we came into the world as an image of something far greater and more powerful than you could ever imagine. We all need to release the incredible potential that is within each of us to discover our destiny.

The older I get (I am a young middle age haha) the more I realise that we are capable of much more than what we display and the far majority of people (I am talking 97% or more) are not living to their capacity and not growing anywhere near as much as they could be.  The secret is highly effective personal development  (and a good coach & mentor can assist here – checkout our Platinum Program www.solresultscoaching.com )  to help you release your potential and for this potential to come out through a chosen vehicle of expression (such as a career, a business, or other way of self-expression). And this development is always inextricably the process of opening your mind within a backdrop of good intent.

When you open your mind, the world becomes your playground.

When you open your mind, there is no more fear.

When you open your mind, every day is exciting.

When you open your mind, life becomes purposeful.

Best wishes to you as you live a life of passion, purpose and peace as an open minded progressive human being.

Stan Kontos