Inspirational Living: Life Lessons for Success & Happiness

Listen to episode 509 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Breathing for Vitality & Success | Healthy Living. Edited and adapted from Success Through Thought Habit by Benjamin Johnson.

Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Your character represents the result of the habits you have formed. Your habits show your manner of thought. Your manner of thought is in turn affected by your method of breathing.

Would you like to succeed? Then breathe systematically, intelligently, and happily. The air is filled with life-giving oxygen ready for you to use. It is already yours. But you must give it space in which to do its work. Unless you have the force of will necessary to breathe correctly (not only once but many times a day), you have not sufficient will to develop your mental faculties to their greatest capacity — hence your thinking will be limited.

You have probably, like many other people, considered breathing as a natural process not worth bothering about. And so, like many other people, you have starved certain organs of your body, impoverished your brain, and then sought for some remedy to act as a tonic.

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Listen to episode 508 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Taking Stock of Yourself and Your Future. Edited and adapted from Personal Power by Keith J. Thomas.

Motivational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. Get the official Inspirational Living t-shirt now on sale at Tee-Public for only $13. The sale only lasts through Friday, so get yours now by visiting LivingHour.org/shirt.

Today’s reading was edited and adapted from Personal Power by Keith J. Thomas, published in 1912.

One of the greatest personal triumphs is to look back over a year and observe an advance in mental power and achievement. To know yourself a better person than you were twelve months ago, to have a finer record of good work done, and to have acquired greater ability for doing things, is a reward that is known only to the earnest worker. The idler, the prevaricator, and the shirker have no concept of this form of reward for labor. It is sweeter than praise, and better than money, inasmuch as power of the mind commands money, and is, therefore, superior to it.

Tomorrow ought to find you a better person than you were yesterday. Next year you ought to be capable of work that was unknown to you twelve months before. You can only discover what you are capable of by striking out on new lines of endeavor. And to do this successfully, you must seize every opportunity for more important work that comes your way.

Listen to episode 507 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Fine Tuning the Vibration of Your Life. edited and adapted from Love’s Way by Orison Swett Marden.

Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. If this podcast has inspired you, or helped you in any way, please do let me know by leaving us a positive review at the iTunes store or on Google Play. I always love hearing how this podcast has positively impacted your life. Thank you. Today’s reading was edited and adapted from Love’s Way by Orison Swett Marden, published in 1918.

Every life is a vibration, and the quality of our lives is determined by the quality and the rate of our vibrations. Harmonious vibrations mean health, happiness, efficiency, success. Discordant vibrations mean strangulation, discord, thwarted ambition, a wrecked career.

If we live in the midst of discordant vibrations which are antagonistic to one another, life will be whittled away at a terrific rate. If, on the other hand, we keep ourselves in tune with the infinite harmonies, we shall preserve the harmonious action of our brain, our nerves, our mental and physical being — and this harmony will heal, will increase our power, success, and happiness.

Listen to episode 506 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Developing a Grander Vision of Life. Edited and adapted from The Call of Life by William L. White.

Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. Get full transcripts of our podcast, plus exclusive access to over 250 additional podcasts by becoming our patron today. Learn more by visiting LivingHour.org/patron.

Today’s reading was edited and adapted from The Call of Life by William L. White, published in 1922.

We need men and women of the heroic type, who are seeking a vision of life —those who have the courage to stand for the right regardless of criticism, and those who, when weighed in the balance, will not be found wanting. We must be loyal to our visions. It takes courage for a person to stand up for their convictions and ideas, particularly in this day of constant change, when one is so liable to be ridiculed as being impractical and old-fashioned.

The world is yearning in its anxiety for proper development, for men and women who can think real thoughts, who can thoroughly disentangle the truth from the web of falsity and chance, who can test their thoughts and deeds in the acid bath of service, and whose minds are open to inspiration from all sources, and who will go forth cheerfully to battle for the things that need to be done, and thus gain the victory of life.

Listen to episode 505 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Taking Control of Your Life & Destiny. Edited and adapted from Realization by Elkanah M. Gibson.

Motivational Podcast Excerpt: There are two roads open to every person. One leads to health, strength, beauty, long life, honor, and happiness; the other to sickness, sorrow, gloom, disease, and death. The allurements and temptations are many, and it requires courage and will-power to resist them.

There is nothing more utterly false and misleading than the idea that success is measured by the amount of money or property acquired. A successful life is a healthy, useful, happy life — regardless of the amount of money that’s been made. Right thinking and right living is the road to success. It IS success. Just as soon as we commence to think right and live right, we are already successful, and become more and more so every day we pursue this course.

The very thought that we are improving our condition and becoming stronger increases our confidence and happiness. Success is within the reach of all: the poor and the sick, as well as the rich and the strong. Just live right, think right, and act right. Be honest with yourself. You know what is right. Just simply have the courage to do what you know to be right in all things. And when you do, you have already entered the gateway to true happiness. You will have attained a success that is beautiful and lasting — one that will crown your life with honor and plenty.

Listen to episode 504 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Believe in Yourself | Self-Confidence & Enthusiasm. Edited and adapted from The Call of Life by William L. White.

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Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: As little as we tend to think about it, that ingredient which we call self-confidence makes up the larger portion of all the successes in this world. Of the countless women and men who have failed, a large percentage of them were actually capable of doing great things, but they did not have faith in themselves. They lacked self-confidence. Success was theirs only for the asking, but the go forward spirit and courage were missing.

In order to attain success, a person must continue to think in terms of success, for "As you thinketh, so you are." Generally speaking, we all agree with but do not act upon this belief. Two-thirds of the battle is already won, if we only believe in ourselves when undertaking a job.

The dictionary defines self-confidence as having confidence in one's unaided powers, judgment, ability, etc. In other words, it is the belief that you can produce results. When you insist that you can succeed, and are determined that you will succeed, there is nothing in the world that can stop you.

Listen to episode 503 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Inspirational Thoughts on Happiness. Edited and adapted from Happiness by Arthur James Kappele, published in 1919.

Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. Get the best essays of our podcast in a bundle of 3 e-books for only $9.99 by visiting InspirationalLifeLessons.com.

Today’s reading was edited and adapted from Happiness by Arthur James Kappele, published in 1919.

Today I would like to share with you some thoughts on happiness and living a happy life. First of all, be grateful for kindness shown to you. And see to it that you return a good deed, with interest, if the opportunity presents itself, or, better yet, make the opportunity — lest you forget.

On the other hand, if another person tries to show you their appreciation for some kind act, do not make it hard for them to repay you. Instead, anticipate their wish and meet them half way, thus assisting them on the road to happiness by helping them fulfill their desire. It is selfish to refuse their repayment. If you did your good act in the right spirit, you will remember the pleasure and satisfaction that you derived in so doing. Let the other person experience the same sensation. Don't look upon any kindness shown to you, with suspicion. There are still some sincere people in the world. Believe in them, and it will help them to be sincere.

Have you ever noticed how you are always certain when you have done a real good act? How it stimulates you, acting quicker than the strongest medicine and leaving nothing but good results? If you haven’t, try it. The truth of the matter is, the more good acts one does, the greater the pleasure. This is because the more you do, the more you are able to do, without giving the action any thought. In other words, the action becomes spontaneous and not studied. In fact, it becomes a habit. Get into the habit.

Listen to episode 504 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Using Wealth to Bring Out the Best Within You. Edited and adapted from The Power of Mental Demand by Herbert Edward Law.

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Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Your thoughts are a force. They are an absolute power. If you earnestly desire wealth by right means, that desire will draw to you all the proper forces which assist in its acquisition. If these thoughts and forces are for good; if they are for the purpose of acquiring wealth that you may enjoy it, but not hoard it; in a word, if your desire for wealth is for the good it can effect, it will accomplish that purpose; and every influence and every associated force will be for good.

Your success (desired and prosecuted on proper lines) will bring good to everyone with whom you come in contact. It will give employment to those about you; will provide sustenance for their families; will bring health where ill-health has been. It will give you the power to extend help to those who are in need. It will give you the power and mean with which to extend the good work and forces that bring about better conditions among those needing and deserving them.

In a word, it not only makes possible your own success, but in proportion as you succeed, does it also bring with it opportunities for accomplishing good, which without success would be absolutely out of your reach.

Listen to episode 503 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Getting the Most from Criticism | Self-Growth. Edited and adapted from A Life of Character by J.R. Miller.

Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: No one's knowledge is really universal. None of us know more than a few fragments of the great mass of knowledge. There are some things somebody else knows better than you do, however wide your range of learning may be. There are very humble people who could give you suggestions well worth taking on certain matters concerning which they have more correct knowledge than you have. If you wish to make your work perfect, you must condescend to take information from anyone and everyone who may be ready to give it to you.

It is true, also, that others can see faults and imperfections in us — which we ourselves cannot see. We are too closely identified with our own life and work to be unprejudiced observers or just critics. We can never make the most and the best of our life, if we refuse to be taught by others than ourselves.

The best-made individual is the one who in their formative years has benefited from wholesome criticism. Their life is developed on all sides. Faults are corrected. Their nature is restrained at the points where the tendency is to overgrowth, while points of weakness are strengthened.

Listen to episode 502 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Reducing the Friction of Life | Healthy Mindset. Edited and adapted from The Power of Mental Demand by Herbert Edward Law.

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Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: What is it that wears out and breaks down machinery? Friction. What is it that wears out and breaks down lives? Friction.

Friction retards action, reduces productivity, and wastes power. It wears, destroys, kills. Friction is the most constant problem in mechanics. It is the most destructive element in life.

When spoken of literally, friction applies only to physical objects. Figuratively and metaphorically, it applies to life and to individual and social relationships. As applied to life, it is so apt a figure of speech that we do not realize that it IS one until our attention is called to it.

We speak of friction in an organization, or between individuals, or in our own life, and realize that it is so wearing, wasteful, and needless that it seems the very same thing as the friction of mechanics. And while we have learned many ways for reducing friction in mechanics, we practice very few for reducing it in human life.