Dare To Be Great; Overcoming Life's Challenges On Your Way To The Top! presents a brilliant road map for you to skillfully navigate your way to a very fulfilling and successful life. Spence Finlayson, a highly skilled practitioner of universally proven success principles crystallizes everything that you will need to know to overcome life's challenges and enjoy a successful life at the top. Finlayson draws from his own life and the lives of others who have aspired for greatness and the tools utilize to make his a reality. A veteran of the personal and professional development industry, Spence Finlayson, through this book, raises the ceiling on the possibilities of a generation of people.

DARE TO BE GREAT: OVERCOMING LIFE'S CHALLENGES ON YOUR WAY TO THE TOP!

By SPENCE FINLAYSON

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2012 Spence Finlayson
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4772-7266-4

Contents

Dedication..................................................................................vAcknowledgements............................................................................viChapter 1 All THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!..........................................................1Chapter 2 AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE..........................................................5Chapter 3 ATTENDING THE UNIVERSITY OF LIFE..................................................9Chapter 4 CELEBRATING OUR CARIBBEAN OLYMPIANS...............................................13Chapter 5 CHANGE IN THE WORKPLACE...........................................................17Chapter 6 GO FOR IT!........................................................................21Chapter 7 HONOR YOUR TALENTS AND GIFTS......................................................25Chapter 8 I DARE YOU TO SUCCEED.............................................................29Chapter 9 IF GREATNESS IS POSSIBLE THEN WHY SETTLE FOR MEDIOCRITY?..........................33Chapter 10 KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE......................................................37Chapter 11 LET GO OF THE PAST, THE PAST IS THE PAST.........................................41Chapter 12 LIVING UP TO YOUR BILLING........................................................45Chapter 13 MAMA SAID THERE WOULD BE DAYS LIKE THIS!.........................................49Chapter 14 OPPORTUNITY KNOCKING!............................................................53Chapter 15 PATIENCE, A SUCCESS SECRET.......................................................55Chapter 16 SURVIVING THE HURRICANES OF LIFE.................................................59Chapter 17 THANK GOD IT'S MONDAY!...........................................................63Chapter 18 THE POSSIBLE DREAM...............................................................67Chapter 19 CARPE DIEM! SEIZE THE DAY!.......................................................69Chapter 20 IN PRAISE OF SIR LYNDEN PINDLING.................................................73Chapter 21 PREPARATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS................................................77Chapter 22 WHY FOCUS IS SO IMPORTANT IN LIFE AND SPORTS?....................................81Chapter 23 AGAINST THE ODDS.................................................................85Chapter 24 BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER................................................89Chapter 25 AGE IS NOTHING BUT A NUMBER; YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD TO SUCCEED.....................93Chapter 26 FACING LIFE SUCCESSFULLY.........................................................97Chapter 27 TIPS TO GETTING UNSTUCK IN YOUR BUSINESS.........................................101Chapter 28 TRANSCENDING LIFE'S PROBLEMS.....................................................105Chapter 29 WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES....................................................107Chapter 30 EXCUSES, EXCUSES.................................................................111Chapter 31 EXPECT THE BEST..................................................................115Chapter 32 USING YOUR GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM.............................................117Chapter 33 WHEN LIFE CATCHES YOU ON THE BLINDSIDE!..........................................121Chapter 34 WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WHEN YOU GIVE UP?.......................................125Chapter 35 GETTING FIRED MAY NOT BE SO BAD!.................................................129Chapter 36 WHAT KIND OF BOSS ARE YOU?.......................................................133Chapter 37 TOMORROW ROBINS WILL SING!.......................................................139Chapter 38 WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS LATE? OVERCOMING CARIBBEAN TIME...............................143

Chapter One

All THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!

He said to them. "Because of your little faith." For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, "Move from here to there and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you."

Matthew 17:20

Tom Cruise, the great American actor, produced and starred in three "Mission: Impossible" movies and in spite of the title, the assigned mission was always accomplished. Are you presently experiencing some apparent impossible mission?

Remember all things are possible.

At some point in our lives, we have had dreams of becoming someone who achieved fantastic things and became internationally famous with an impressive financial portfolio.

Sadly only a few persons have achieved their desired dreams. For the majority of the population, discouragement sets in and persons decide that dreams are for kids and they resign themselves to a life of boredom, mere existence and basic survival. But life can be so much more richer and fulfilling if we only go the extra mile with a don't quit attitude and commitment to succeed.

Commitment for me means "achieving the desired results not matter what." I'd like to share Johann Wolfgan von Goethe's famous quote on commitment with you:

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary Truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: That the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now"

As Gladys Knight hit song said "I've got to use my imagination", yes if we are to achieve our dreams we need to effectively use our imaginations. Imagination is the process of imaging, of creating a clear picture in mind of what you desire. Form a picture in mind of your desired resolutions and watch this picture constantly. Remember as Mahatma Gandhi said, "every worthwhile accomplishment big or little, has its stages of drudgery and triumph; a beginning, a struggle and a victory." All things are possible!

Walt Disney was a great dreamer who definitely believed that all things were possible.

Disney broke free of a childhood of intense discipline and much deprivation to become the visionary, whose desire for escape honed an innate sense of what people wanted to see on the screen through his reinvention of animation. He reshaped the entertainment industry by building a synergistic empire that combined film, television, theme parks, music, book publishing and merchandise in a way that was unprecedented and was later widely imitated. All things are possible!

The Wright brothers dreamed of flying machines. Other men laughed but Orville and Wilbur kept their vision, worked and believed it was possible until it became a reality at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Sir Roger Bannister proved that all things are possible when he ran a sub 4 minute mile that everybody thought was just not possible for a man to run so fast. Just recently, nobody thought that Senator Borack Obama, a black man, would ever be nominated to run for the presidency of the United States of America by a major political party. He proved everybody wrong and is on track to become the first black president of America. All things are possible!

Finally remain positive and optimistic as you take full responsibility for constructing the type of life you know you deserve. Through your Creator you can do anything, be anything and have anything. It ends with you. All things are possible to him who believes!

Chapter Two

AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

"Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you and give thanks continuously. And because all the things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

One of the most powerful forces in the Universe is gratitude; so an attitude of gratitude?

For me it means being grateful for everything in my life including problems and challenges. The dictionary defines gratitude as "the expression of gratefulness and thanks."

Gratitude takes away the blues and relieves stress. An attitude of gratitude develops from the way you look at things. Someone once said "when you change the way you look at things, then the things you look at change." Are you still looking for that right relationship? Do you often find yourself complaining about the things you don't have? Are you stuck in a dead-end job? Do you feel that you don't seem to get the breaks?

Well, developing and maintaining an attitude of gratitude is a pre-requisite in order to find solutions to these problems and to live a life of fulfillment, purpose and happiness.

Attitude is a mindset, your way of looking at these things, your way of life. In developing this attitude of gratitude look around at all the people who have it worse than you do. There is always someone out there that is in worse shape than you are. Recently, I did not have to look very far for this. One morning while sitting at my computer, I looked outside my office building and saw a disheveled man going through the garbage bin looking for something to eat. Immediately I felt disgusted and then very grateful.

Every blessing that you have is a gift from God and I mean everything from a roof over your head, food to eat, water to take a bath, the people in your life, and time. When you view everything as a gift something almost magical happens. If you treat the people in your life as a gift then your relationships start to change and take on a whole new beautiful form.

Remember what you focus on expands. Focus on the good and you cannot help but have a better attitude and experience of life. Take time out to stop and smell the roses. Gratitude raises your awareness of things around you. It changes your view of so-called `bad' things. I have found that gratitude is a spiritual act because it acknowledges that the origin of all good things is a source outside of us-God.

Here are a few things you can do to make the gratitude attitude a firm fixture in your life:

Count your blessings. Start a gratitude list. Write down all the things in your life that you are grateful for. Put this list somewhere you can easily find it and pull it out when you are feeling down and you'll instantly change your mood.

Show some gratitude. Send a thank you note to someone who did something for you. Give generously of your time, talents and treasure.

There is nothing complicated about gratitude. Stop taking things and people for granted. Put gratitude deep into your consciousness and everyday will become one of joy and delight. The choice is yours. You can choose to make a decision to change your life by developing a spirit of gratitude, or you can choose to continue to think negatively.

Chapter Three

ATTENDING THE UNIVERSITY OF LIFE

"The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes."

William James

I am positive that many of you have attended various institutions of higher learning such as the University of The West Indies, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Oxford, Stanford University, Notre Dame or the University of Southern California and received your BA. or MA or PHD degrees. However, there is a very illuminating institution called "The University of Life" that truly dictates our quality of living while residents on Planet Earth.

Sometimes this university teaches us that there will always be greater or lesser persons than ourselves and as Henry David Thoreau said "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer."

One of the core subjects offered at the "University of Life" is adversity. Adversities are a natural part of living like the air that we breathe. Marvin J. Ashton said "Adversity will surface in every life; how we meet it makes the difference." Adversity introduces a man to himself and difficult times, situations and circumstances can teach us a whole lot about who we are. They give us a mirror view of our character defects.

Difficult situations in our lives are great lessons for us to discover how resilient and strong we are at any specific point in our life as students of the "University of Life."

You see many of life's lessons we cannot get from attending any of the traditional institutions of higher learning. Each challenging and seemingly life shattering circumstance brings new insight into our personal makeup. We can either treat our setbacks and problems as stepping stones or stumbling blocks, a blessing or a curse.

I have found that I am not alone in my adversities, because of my faith in my Higher Power, God. You see I have chosen to see adversities as God-given universities.

Many times we don't learn the lessons that life has taught us. We continue to do the same thing over and over again and expect to get different result—that is called insanity. Hopefully this recession will teach all of us a few important things about fiscal prudence.

As a result of my years at the "University of Life" I have learned the following with the help of an unknown writer:

I've learned that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I've learned that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I've learned that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance.

I've learned that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I've learned that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I've learned that you can keep going long after you can't.

I've learned that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I've learned that either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I've learned that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.

I've learned that money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I've learned that you reap what you sow.

I've learned that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you are down, will be the ones to help you get back up.

I've learned that a prophet is truly without honor in his hometown.

I've learned that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you have had and what you have learned from them and less to do with how many years you have lived.

I've learned that you have to forgive yourself sometimes.

I've learned that no matter how badly your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I've learned that my background and circumstances may have influenced who I am, but I am responsible for who I become.

I've learned that two people can look at the same thing and see something totally different.

I've learned that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.

I've learned that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I've learned that the people you care about the most in life are sometimes taken from you too soon.

I've learned that you cannot make someone love you.

I've learned that it's not what you have in your life but who you have in your life that counts.

I've learned to do what I can right now because I am going to be dead much longer than I have been alive.

I've learned that God is truly my refuge and my strength and that "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Chapter Four

CELEBRATING OUR CARIBBEAN OLYMPIANS

"What do we lose by another's good fortune? Let us celebrate with them, or strive to emulate them, that should be our desire and determination."

Sri Sathya Baba

In the Olympics in Beijing, China, the athletes of the Caribbean left an indelible mark on the entire world. As a citizen of the region, whether, English speaking, French speaking, Spanish speaking or Dutch speaking, you could only feel a great sense of national pride.

Jamaica led the way with names like Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Michael Frater, Nesta Carter, Shelly Ann Fraser, Veronica Campbell, Sherone Simpson, Kerron Stewart, Sherika Williams, Danny McFarlane, Isa Phillips, Maurice Wignal and all others who did their part in catapulting Jamaica to the summit of Track & Field internationally.

The Beijing Olympics cemented the fact that "success runs in our genes". We are a very talented and gifted group of people capable of competing successfully on the world's stage in most disciplines. I would particularly like to encourage the young men of the Caribbean who, for a variety of reasons, are living below their potential. As Andrew Carnegie said "I believe the true road to pre-eminent success in any line is to make yourself master in that line. I have no faith in the policy of scattering one's resources and in my experience I have rarely, if ever, met a man who achieved pre-eminence in money making, certainly never one in manufacturing who was interested in many concerns."

Don't give up on your dreams! Our Caribbean athletes have shown that success is possible, but it will take hard work, determination, discipline and a keen sense of purpose. As we celebrate our Olympians, let us refocus our energies and begin to work assiduously towards our dreams and goals whether in our personal or professional lives.

We have come too far now as a people to turn back or give up because of "apparent" obstacles. Remember that every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one's condition. A setback is a setup for a comeback!

While attending a conference in Dallas, Texas a few years ago, a popular speaker started off his presentation by holding up a $20 bill. In the meeting room of about 200 persons, he asked "would you like this $20 bill? Many hands started to go up. He then said "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first let me do this"

He proceeded to crumple the $20 note up. He then asked "who still want it?" Again the hands high up in the air. "Well he replied "what if I do this?" He dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now very crumpled and very dirty. "Now, who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.

"My friends you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. Do not let this keep you from achieving all that you desire in your lifetime. You are greater than you think you are and your life is full of unlimited possibilities just like our Caribbean Olympians that we are presently celebrating. You have a calling in your life. You cannot avoid it. When you do not follow your calling the universe suffers.

Chapter Five

CHANGE IN THE WORKPLACE

"Everybody has accepted by now that change is unavoidable. But that still implies that change is like death and taxes it should be postponed as long as possible and no change would be vastly preferable. But in a period of upheaval, such as the one we are living in, change is the norm."

Peter F. Drucker

Recently one of my clients merged with two other companies in the same line of business. During the meeting to introduce the staff to the new management team and launch the merger I was invited to open the session with a motivational pep talk. I began by stressing that "we are now one family and we need to become team players." The room was buzzing with anticipation. When the newly appointed Managing Director opened the floor for questions from the amalgamated staff, I immediately recognized that the majority of the employees were having a difficult time accepting this change.

Are you prepared for change in your workplace? Do you have the personal and professional development skill sets that are essential for successful change? Are you "change ready?" Change generally is often very difficult for many persons to accept.

The very popular "Serenity Prayer" states "God grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. This certainly puts things in the right perspective.

Change happens every minute of our lives. Change means different things to different people. It means stepping beyond your comfort zone and into the unknown. In today's economic downturn companies are forced to implement sweeping changes in an effort to just survive. Because of the worldwide recession, organizations are now faced with new challenges and demands right from the Chairman to the Custodian. Change is constant. It will always be a part of our lives. However, for most employees, change in the workplace can be devastating. Employees fear the loss of their jobs, or being transferred to another position or location or a change in the schedule.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from DARE TO BE GREAT: OVERCOMING LIFE'S CHALLENGES ON YOUR WAY TO THE TOP!by SPENCE FINLAYSON Copyright © 2012 by Spence Finlayson. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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