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Tonight half of southern Japan is hunched down awaiting the arrival of the typhoon. This is #15 for the Pacific region this year, and the third one in about six weeks to come our way.

By the way, if you’re not quite sure what a typhoon is, it’s the Asian name for tropical storms or hurricanes.

Our little town of about 18,000 has only one industry — its white beach — and it waits all year for the two hottest summer months when hundreds of thousands of vacationers come from all over Japan to lie in the sun and play in the peaceful little bay.

And this particular night, the town had planned its annual fireworks display. They have something called “Message Fireworks” where a visitor pays up to a hundred dollars for somebody to read an announcement of his undying love just before a volley of fireworks are fired off. This one event raises many thousands of dollars for the town.

In addition, the local merchants make a sizeable part of their yearly profit during the summer months.

But tonight the beach is dark. No fireworks will dazzle the crowds tonight. No concession booths will sell snacks, and no families will congregate to enjoy the summertime display.

All those plans. All the money invested in food, in merchandise, in giant fireworks that shoot two hundred meters into the air.

So when a typhoon comes — and no amount of “positive thinking” will stop it happening from time to time — the merchants here just sigh, suck it up, and go to Plan B, which is to try again tomorrow night. And if that doesn’t work, then next weekend.

You see, they’ve seen it all before. They know that sometimes things WILL get in the way of their plans. So they stay flexible. They have contingencies, Plan B’s and even Plan C’s.

Now, the point I’m making is not that weather is a doggone nuisance.

Instead, I invite you to consider one question: how flexible are you prepared to be? (The operative word is “prepared”.)

When stuff happens — and it will — what’s your Plan B and your Plan C? Don’t have one? Then shouldn’t you think about getting one?

Because stuff WILL happen. That’s just the way life brings you special opportunities you never expected, never imagined, and never wanted. But once life brings it on, you need to be prepared to deal with it.

Like a boy scout, you need to be prepared with backup plans.

But to have a backup plan, you first need a main plan. And of course you’ve got one of those… right?

What is it that makes you get out of bed in the morning, stumble to the shower and get dressed for work? The answer is motivation. This is what keeps us going through life, coping with all the daily stresses, pain and suffering. We are constantly motivated to make our lives better by doing whatever we can to make improvements.

That’s fine for adults, but what motivates children, you might ask. Just think back to the days when you were in elementary school. What was it that made you go to school each day, besides your parents waking you up and making you go? The motivation of meeting your friends and socializing was one of the reasons. The other is that even then you knew that you needed an education to get you through life. The promise of a new bike or the teacher’s praise kept you working at your studies and passing the tests.

The type of motivation we have depends on what you want to do in life. This is the reason we have so many different occupations. It accounts for the people who do the mundane tasks that make our lives better and for those who aspire to greatness by inventing new technologies and medicines to improve the world as a whole. Every person works together to make the world a better place and each one is motivated in different ways. Even if you are working at a job you don’t like, the fact that you receive a paycheck at the end of the month to help pay your bills keeps you going.

The pay off for motivation comes when you reap the benefits of hard work. If you have extra pounds, the sight of a new suit in the department store may spur you to action. You want to fit into this suit for a special occasion and therefore you start a regimen of diet and exercise as a method of self-improvement. When you do achieve a goal, you enjoy an immense feeling of satisfaction. In the end however, the only true motivation comes from inside.

Think back over your life. Think about the people that had a positive influence on you. If your past was like mine, many of them didn’t realize the impact they made. The influence was usually due to them caring about you and doing some little thing. What little things have been done for you that changed your life? What little things have you done for someone else that might have changed theirs?

I have been influenced by little things done by others.

I had a boss that asked whether I had the guts to take a job he felt I could do. It was a job I wasn’t even qualified to apply for. That question influenced me to set my career goals at a higher level and faster pace than they were at that time.

When I attended my first Toastmasters meeting the group made me feel welcome from the moment I set foot in the room. One person made it a point to introduce me to several members before the first meeting started. Another leaned over to me on my second visit, just before my first speech, to let me know what to expect and to let me know I would do great. I am grateful to both of them.

Children can influence us as well. A great example of this happened to me at a Cub Scout summer camp here in my hometown of Fredericksburg, Virginia. For those of you who are not familiar with Cub Scouts, the boys range from 1st through 5th grade. I showed up on the morning of the first day of camp just to make sure everything went smooth for our group. We got everyone registered for the week’s events, set up a canopy where the scouts and leaders could get under some shade for lunch and then headed to the flagpole. At the flagpole, all of the camp participants said the Pledge of Allegiance and then the camp leader started to give instructions. In the middle of the instructions, one of the 1st grade boys tugged on my pant leg. When I looked down at him, he had the biggest smile on his face. He said, “Mr. Carr, I’m having a really good time” and he meant it! They hadn’t even started their first camp activity yet. At that moment, I knew all of the hours I put in as a scout leader were well worth it.

I have found that we can influence others by doing little things for them.

You can influence others by providing help when it is needed. When I say provide help, I am not just talking about offering to help. Most people will not take you up on an offer even if they desperately need it. I remember taking food to a couple that was sick. This was not anyone I knew. It was a friend of someone that was in my Sunday school class. Two years later they saw me, thanked me and told me how much that meant to them. They even remembered my name after two years! Another way I have helped was to provide advice to coworkers that now refer to me as their mentor. Also, to help families pack up a truck to move. Some of these families are friends of ours today even though they live several states away.

Another way I have found that you can influence others is by saying “thank you.” I don’t think I ever realized the power of saying thank you until a few months ago. I was at a professional symposium in Northern Virginia. I was one of the symposium leaders. During a lunch break, I stayed in the room where one of the classes was being given to watch all of the personal belongings of the students while they were at lunch. During the break, three of the hotel workers came into the room to fill water pitchers and put out clean glasses. One of the workers was obviously a mentally challenged person that was hired to help. His job was to put the clean glasses on the tables. When he serviced the table I was sitting at I said a simple “thank you.” I will never forget the look on his face. I could have told him he won the lottery and he couldn’t have looked any more excited! Even after they left the room to go to the next, I could still hear him shouting as loud as he could about the “nice man.”

Writing notes is a third way you can potentially influence others. I started writing thank you notes a couple of years ago (for reasons other than receiving a gift). I have been thanked over and over for some of these notes of appreciation and told I didn’t have to do that. I have recently learned and started using at times a new way of writing notes. I learned it from Charlie “Tremendous” Jones who has since encouraged me to pass this method along to others. Purchase some inexpensive, inspirational books that have had a positive impact on you. Write an encouraging note inside the cover of one of those books and give it to the person. You will feel good doing it, reading the book will change the person, and they will think of you every time they read it. What a powerful gesture!

Start today doing little things for others.

I can look back over my past and remember several moments in time that God used someone doing a little thing that encouraged me. I have also heard from others that have been influenced by me for doing the same. There are many kinds of little things you can do to encourage others. Some of these involve providing help when there is a need, saying thank you, and writing notes. What are you going to do today for someone that will make a difference in his or her life?

“Oh that would be too hard for me — I could never learn to do that.”

We’ve all heard these words… you may even have said them yourself. Tackling new skills can feel intimidating. But we only feel intimidated because we overestimate the task and underestimate our own abilities. We aren’t confident enough in our natural abilities. Take learning to drive for example.

Today, millions of very mentally un-gifted people got into automobiles and drove them. And most of them had no accident today. So how hard can it be?

Or maybe you’re thinking of writing a book. Millions of people every year write books.

Millions more
save money
start businesses
find jobs
lose weight
get into shape
discover someone to love
get married
find a way to attend school
start new careers

And many other things you may have been thinking are too hard, too complicated, too far beyond you.

The truth is, they’re not beyond you at all.

DO THIS:
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What have you been holding yourself back from doing? No, you don’t have to list EVERYTHING you’re putting off. Just take the top one.

First:
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Whatever it is, write it down on a piece of paper.

Second:
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Now think of somebody who isn’t particulary smart, but who is now doing the very thing you want to do.

Been putting off learning to drive? Look at all the idiots on the road who somehow manage to get from here to there without wrecking the countryside.

What about marriage? True, most people botch it completely, but many millions actually do get it right and live in happiness.

Or maybe you’re putting off starting your own business. Same thing — you’ve met people barely clever enough to get in out of the rain, but they have businesses. And they haven’t gone bankrupt — at least not yet.

Chances are, the one thing you’re lacking is not intelligence, nor ability, nor talent. Training is no real stumbling block, either, since people regularly go get the same training you’re wanting.

No, you’re probably only lacking permission. You’re waiting around for somebody to validate you, then pick you up and prove to you that you can do it.

It ain’t gonna happen that way. The good news is, it doesn’t HAVE to happen that way.

All it takes is just deciding you’ll do it. Then just begin.

Several years ago someone told me a great two-step formula for success in any field.

Step one is start; step two is don’t stop.

So we come to…

Third:
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Make a beginning, no matter how awkward, then just keep moving forward in the direction you want to go.

Honestly, it’s just about that simple.

While great intelligence can make things simpler, it can also make things much more difficult if you never learn to use it FOR yourself instead of against.

Please notice that beginnings are almost always awkward. That’s okay. Give yourself permission to be a beginner when you begin. And if you feel a compulsion to be perfect, then just be a perfect beginner.

But do keep moving… forward.

How many times did you hear a true champion speak with doubt? How many times did you hear a boxer say, “It will be a tough fight, we will just have to wait until Saturday and see how it all works out”? Never, because doubt will knock you out before you even begin.

The athletes that are remembered are always those that performed memorably during times of pressure. I say memorably because they could be remembered for choking or rising to the occasion. Anyone who has played competitive sports knows that there is a different feeling during a play-off game, but as with all things in life, that by itself is not a bad thing, it is all in the way you handle it.

People are disturbed not by things but by the view they take of them– Epictetus 200AD

If you let self-doubt enter your mind, anxiety is sure to grow. Once you start to doubt whether you are capable of winning you’re on your way to disaster because the mind can only hold one thought at a time. You are either thinking of winning, and visualizing what winning will be like, or you are worrying about what happens if you don’t win. You can only hold one picture at a time. Sure some athletes waver back and forth, but at any given time you can only be holding one thought.

What the mind sees, feels, and thinks, it works towards. The mind needs to be given direction and then it works towards making that given destination a reality. The mind is constantly working towards results, the trouble is what directions are we giving the mind. When you learn how to control your mind, greatness is achievable. Learning how to think like a winner is the first step towards becoming a winner.

To Become a champion, you must first look and act like a champion. — Muhammad Ali

Some people say you cannot control what comes into your mind. I believe with the proper training? you can. Regardless of whether or not you can or cannot control what enters your mind, you can definitely control how long you hold any thought that does enter your mind. If a seagull decides to have a bowel movement while flying overhead, you cannot exactly control that? but you sure the heck can control how quickly you clean yourself off.

It is the same with your mind. When a negative thought enters, clean it out with a flood of positive images. Focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want. Focus on winning, not on not losing. Begin to daydream, make this daydream the ideal outcome. Not what you will settle for, but what would be perfect.

It’s not what you are that holds you back, it’s what you think you are not. — Denis Waitley