Simple Secrets w/ Chris Allen

The book, North Dallas Forty, was made into a movie in the seventies starring Nick Nolte and Mac Davis.

Lots of great character actors in there, too, like Dabney Coleman and G. D. Spradlin (who you might also know as the Senator who tries to extort Michael in The Godfather: Part II).

You’ve undoubtedly heard the old saying, “Behind every great man, there’s a great woman.”

Well, here’s a variation for you…

“Behind every great success, there’s a great system.”

Though both the great woman and the great system go unnoticed, their presence makes all the difference in the world.

Success is all around you. If want to create more success in both your professional and personal life – notice I did not say “attract more success” – you need to identify and emulate the system that’s producing it.

Mr. Sullivan has also said this in a similar way you may like even better…

“We remain young to the degree that our ambitions are greater than our memories.”

This quote often attributed to Nelson Mandela, but it’s actually from Ms. Williamson’s book, A Return to Love.

Here’s the complete paragraph:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

I feel the need to do a quick rewrite of Mr. Swindoll here:

“Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I respond to it.”

You’ll hear why in a minute.

You can almost hear the words echoing in the scratchy distance of old recordings, like Teddy Roosevelt proclaiming…

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

Hmmm… are we seeing a pattern here?

Another quote that helps fight the battle against perfectionism.

Do I have too many of them in this book?

Should I delay the publication until next year (i.e. never)?

Inner thought: “cancel.”

Let’s move on.

What a simple, yet powerful turn of phrase from Dr. Dyer.

He could sometimes get a little “out there” for my taste, but he never failed to inspire me.

Another one of my favorites from him is…

“When you squeeze an orange, what comes out? Orange juice. Why? Because that’s what’s inside. When life or other people squeeze or put pressure on you, what comes out? Whatever is already inside.”

I might have to save that one for Simple Secrets: Volume II.

Like most of us, I’m prone to worrying.

Keep this little gem in your mental back pocket and use it when you sense yourself getting carried away.

Alert! Alert!

We’re getting dangerously close to The Secret territory and all that Law of Attraction stuff — which I think has done way more harm than good.

I’ll steer us clear of it, though, so hold on.