Upcoming Classes...

Attention all CEOs...
Are you happy with the direction of your company? Are you happy with the culture? Are results where you want them? Your company is a mirror reflection of you. On Monday, May 14th, we will give you some tips on getting your company moving in the direction you want and getting everyone on board with your vision.

Time: 9:00 am until 3:00 pm with a break for lunch.
Investment: $395.00... including all materials.
Place: Cummings Center, Suite 221E, Beverly, MA

Additional dates if you can't make it on May 14th are: June 11th, August 13th, September 17th, October 15th, November 12th and December 10th.

Men's Put up, Shut up and Wake up Weekend: A Gathering of Men's Wisdom - May 25th
If you know anyone who is interested in working on themselves... please send them my way... additional dates are 7/20, 9/14, 11/9, 1/25/08, 3/28/08.

Call 978-257-0610 or e-mail me at steve@prosperityinstitute.com for details......

The Master is within, Life is the teacher

I like to say that "the Master is within, Life is the teacher." I believe that if I am paying attention, observing my "self," I can step back and notice who and what my ego wants to react to. That stepping back ability is the Master within. Calling me to learn and grow from those people and situations, that in the past I used to react to.

Step back. Observe yourself. It can be a challenge to change the old "default" reactions. My ego likes me to be right. Being right holds me back. Being right means that I must be making others wrong, reinforcing that reaction, justifying it and that is not a good way to develop relationships. I notice that it is a journey for me. Some days it is easier than others to not react. It is when I am grateful for now. When I am thinking, not of the past or future, of the now moment, when I remember that now is all I have. That is what we all have... now.

Take time today to notice who and what sets you off... gets your motor running... sets you in anger and reaction mode. Commit to really notice, as much as you can, for one day. If you can successfully start to notice your reactions, change only one reaction, for that day and notice if there is some difference in the situation. Be ready to wait for one day or even a week for a new outcome. Patience may be the thing that life is asking you to develop. Notice what is repeating. Notice employee types that reappear, situations with customers that repeat or with significant others... are you attracting the same types of people, just different characters? The Kabbalists say that we are the directors of our movie. That our life is the movie, just that the characters sometimes change, and if you are not getting the lesson that life is offering, we repeat it over and over. Life has a way of knocking on our door saying "hello, I'm here again, are you going to get it this time?" If we default over and over into old patterns of reactive behavior, we are doomed to repeat the past mistakes. That is also a gift, the gift of life. The teacher helping us to grow if we wake up to get it... the lesson that is. The Master is our soul which came here with the lessons required, the lessons that we require for growth in this lifetime.

The beautiful miracle of this process is that if we really come to understand it, life becomes a wondrous event in every moment. We can play with our changes and experiment with the lessons. We can come to appreciate the challenging people and situations. Those that bug us become especially joyful, where as before we experience this new way of living, they are truly burdensome. Imagine living, playing with life and all of what appears in your movie.

Once you have observed your reactive, default state for one day, try two. Remember, this does not get easier... keep going. If you lose it... start again.

If you keep doing what you're doing there is no way you will get a new result. This is a Cause and Effect Universe. Think about your actions in each moment... you could ask yourself "what will this bring me in the future... this choice, this seed?"

I have used this method to change myself and it's amazing how those around me have changed. Situations have changed. Hmmmm....... I changed and things changed, miraculous.

Thanks for reading this, if you got this far, you've probably changed.  

Stay with it......

Gratefully yours,
Steve

Great news, we close on May 18th... we have been approved for the construction loan for 100% of the plans we submitted for the rehab of the house. The barn is next...within five years...

I have decided not to go the "Not for Profit route" for now. Once we get all the programs started, we can revisit. My idea is that many Not for Profits will approve our programs and pay the tuition for young men whose families cannot afford to enroll them in our programs... we are a For Profit business, that is how we intend it and that is how it will be. Thanks to all of you who committed to "endow" the farm... you will not have to send in the check on that commitment... once we establish the programs perhaps you could support sending someone who cannot afford to attend or support one of the 501C3 Not for Profits that endorse our work. As far as leaving the farm and programs for future generations, there is ego in that. If someone would like to continue it, the programs themselves will speak to that and someone will step up in due time.

Thanks again for you support...

For those of you that I planted an apple tree for, we will be replanting later this year or next spring and in the meantime, I will send photos of the trees now planted and have an agreement with the land owner to check in on them... I will keep you posted on the replanting as well.

Questions? Call me...

Regards,
Steve