UlTImATE SUccESS GUIdEtimes have changed. Facts we know from the past may no longer be
true. If we fail to challenge our beliefs and assumptions we make deci-
sions based on false facts. Not for every decision, but for some, and any
decision based on false premises is a less than optimal decision. Chal-
lenging our programming has additional benefits. In examining what
we know and believe we gain faith in our core selves and at the same
time we become more open-minded. We gain faith in our core selves
as the process promotes growth, we learn, and we come to understand
that we cannot know everything, but that our decisions are based on the
best information available at the time. We become more open-minded
as we realize that facts are temporary, they are subject to change as sci-
ence and knowledge progress. Facts are not the same as truth; truth is
not subject to change, it is absolute. There is no version of truth, truth
stands alone. Beliefs are not the same as truths, they are our perspec-
tive of truth. Questioning our programming improves our perspective;
our beliefs become closer to the truth. Personal responsibility requires
that we be the best we can – challenging our programming helps us to
become more personally responsible.
Be In the PResentLife can only be lived in the present. All we have to work with, emo-
tionally, intellectually, and spiritually is 100%. We cannot do more than
that. Any dwelling on the past detracts from our putting 100% into the
present. Any dreaming or fretting of the future likewise detracts from
our putting 100% into the present. We cannot undo the past, but if we
recognize that we did the best we could have with the knowledge, infor-
mation, and awareness that we had, then we can let the past go. The only
way we can ever alter the past is to do our best in the present, as that
will soon be our past. The future will bring what it will bring; we can-
not predict what that will be. The only thing we can do is to do our best
in the present, that will have us best prepared for whatever the future
brings. Note that planning for the future, in terms of budgeting, schedul-
ing, or other such activities, are present activities and should be done. It
is the abstract, the daydreaming and worrying about the future, that is a
problem. It is only by being 100% in the present that we can give 100%
to the present, and that is being personally responsible.