Nice one...

Once upon a  time a very strong woodcutter asked for a job with a timber merchant, and he got  it. The salary was really good and so were the work conditions. For that reason,  the woodcutter was determined to do his best.
His boss  gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to work.  
The first  day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees
"Congratulations,"  the boss said. "Go on that way!"
Very  motivated by the boss' words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but  could bring 15 trees only. The third day he tried even harder, but could bring  10 trees only. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.  
"I must be  losing my strength", the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized,  saying that he could not understand what was going on.
"When was  the last time you sharpened your axe?" the boss asked.
"Sharpen? I  had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees..."  

Moral  of the story:
Working hard  is not enough; one has to keep on sharpening one's skills.

Swap's Blog

B Positive (Attitude + Blood Group)

THE SECRET OF SUCCESS

There was once a boy who wanted to seek the secret of success. One day he approached a wise man living up in the mountain. When he found the wise man at the hut, he asked, “Wise man, can you tell me the secret to becoming successful in life?” The wise man was silent for a while. After a moment of silence, the wise man led the young lad to a nearby river. They kept walking into the river until the boy’s head was fully submerged in the water. The boy struggled to keep his head above the water. To his astonishment, the wise man did not help him. Instead, the wise man held the boy’s head in the water. After a few minutes the wise man pulled the boy out of the water and they proceeded to walk back to the hut. At the hut the wise man asked the young boy what he desired most when his head was submerged in water. To this the young boy quickly responded, “Of course, I wanted to breathe, you old fool!” To which the wise man replied, “Son, if you desire success as much as you wanted to breathe, then you would have found the true secret of success.”

SUCCESS PRINCIPLES

Success is a matter of choice. If we have enough strong reasons, there is nothing that we cannot do. Once we have the reasons to do something, we will surely find the ways to do it. A mere wish would not make things happen. It is a burning desire, turned into an obsession that will generate the energy to bring you to achieve any goal that you may desire.

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE

"Not the maker of plans and promises, but rather the one who offers faithful service in small matters. This is the person who is most likely to achieve what is good and lasting."

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FINGER LICKIN’ GOOD

He was 65 years old when he received his first social security check of $99. He was broke, and owned a small house and a beat up car. He made a decision that he has got to change. The only idea he had was a chicken recipe, which his friends liked. With that idea in mind, he took massive action. He left his home in Kentucky and traveled to many states in the US to sell his idea. He told the restaurant owners that he had a chicken recipe that people liked and he was giving it to them for free. What he wanted in return was for the restaurant owners to pay him a small percentage on the pieces of chicken sold. He got rejections after rejections, but did not give up. In fact, he got over 1000 rejections. He got 1009 no’s before he got his first yes.

With that one success Colonel Harland Sanders changed the eating habits of the whole world with Kentucky Fried Chicken.

SUCCESS PRINCIPLES

Age is no barrier to success, and so is capital. What is needed is an idea put into action, followed with proper planning and persistency. How many of us will keep knocking on doors when we have received 1000 rejections? I presume not many! This is why there are not many successes like Colonel Sanders.

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE

"Any man's life will be filled with constant and unexpected encouragement if he makes up his mind to do his level best each day."

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SEE YOUR REACHING

The Catalina Island is twenty-one miles away from the coast of California, and many people have taken the challenge to swim across it. On July 4th 1952, Florence Chadwick stepped into the water off Catalina Island to swim across to the California coast. She started well and on course, but later fatigue set in, and the weather became cold.  She persisted, but fifteen hours
later, numb and cold, she asked to be taken out of the water.

After she recovered, she was told that she had been pulled out only half a mile away from the coast. She commented that she could have made it, if the fog had not affected her vision and she would have just seen the land. She promised that this would be the only time that she would ever quit.

She went back to her rigorous training. And two months later she swam that same channel. The same thing happened. The fatigue set in, and the fog obscured her view, but this time she swam with faith and vision of the land in her mind. She knew that somewhere behind the fog was land. She succeeded and became the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel. She even broke the men’s record by two hours.

SUCCESS PRINCIPLES

When you set your goal, keep pressing on even when you are tired, physically and mentally, and even though there are many challenges ahead. Keep the vision of your goal crystal clear before you and never, never, never… give up! See the reaching, commit to it, and you will surely see your goal realized.

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE

"I can't do everything, but I can do something. If we all did something, we could conquer anything."

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SEARCH NO MORE

Ali Hafed was a farmer from Africa, who was happy and contented. One day a priest came to visit him and told him about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along with having them. The priest said, “If you have a diamond the size of your thumb, you could have your own city. If you had a diamond the size of your fist, you could own the whole country.” After the priest left, the farmer could not sleep that night. He became unhappy and discontented with what he had, and the whole night he thought to himself how rich and powerful he would become if he could possess some diamonds.

The next morning, he sold off his farm, left his family with his neighbor, and set off to search for diamonds. He traveled all over Africa, but could not find any. He looked all over Europe and couldn’t find any. Finally, he became emotionally, physically and financially broke and decided to take his own life by throwing himself into the river.

Back home, the person who had bought his farm was watering the camels at a stream that ran through the farm. He suddenly saw a curious flash of light from the white sands of the shallow stream. Reaching into the water, he pulled out a rough stone that sparkled like the colors of the rainbow. Finding the stone interesting, he took it back to his house and placed it as a decoration piece in his living room. One day the priest came to visit, and saw the sparkling stone. He exclaimed, “Here is a diamond! Is Hafed back?” The man replied, “No, no, Hafed has not returned, and that is not a diamond. It is only a stone I found right here in the garden.” When the priest heard this, he declared, “I know a diamond when I see one.”

Together they rushed out to the garden stream and began searching. To their amazement, there came up other more beautiful and valuable stones than the first. Thus, was discovered the largest diamond mine in the world.

SUCCESS PRINCIPLES

The above story, Acres of Diamonds was lectured by Russell H. Conwell more than 6,000 times during his lifetime. With the funds from the above lectures he founded Temple University. We are forever looking for opportunities elsewhere rather than within us. “Acres of Diamonds” taught us that the riches and opportunities that we are searching are within us. As the saying goes, “the grass on the other side always appears to be greener.” Diamonds in its rough form do not look like diamonds. The raw diamonds need to be skillfully worked on and polished before they are of value. Likewise most of us are like the raw diamonds, and need to be worked on and polished before we realize our full potential.

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE

"Society is like a crowd in carnival costumes with everyone fearful that others will see through his disguise."
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HE PLAYED HIS BEST

This is the story of Robby. He was a young boy who lived with his elderly mother. His mother wanted him to learn how to play the piano because she longed to hear her son play for her. She sent her son to a piano teacher who took Robby in under her guidance. However, there was one small problem because Robby was not musically inclined and therefore was very slow in learning. The teacher did not have much faith in the boy because of his weakness. The mother was very enthusiastic and every week she would send Robby to the teacher.

One day Robby stopped attending the piano lessons. The teacher thought that he had given up and in fact she was quite pleased since she did not give much hope to Robby. Not long after, the piano teacher was given the task to organize a piano concert in town. She sent out circulars to invite the students and public to attend the event. Suddenly, she received a call from Robby who offered to take part in the concert. The teacher told Robby that he was not good enough and that he was no longer a student since he had stopped coming for lessons. Robby begged her to give him a chance and promised that he would not let her down.

Finally, she gave in and she put him to play last, hoping that he will change his mind at the last minute. When the big day came, the hall was packed and the children gave their best performance. Finally, it was Robby’s turn to play and as his name was announced, he walked in. He was not in proper attire and his hair was not properly groomed. The teacher was really nervous since Robby’s performance could spoil the whole evening’s brilliant performance. As Robby started playing the crowd became silent and was amazed at the skill of this little boy. In fact, he gave the best performance of the evening. At the end of his presentation the crowd and the piano teacher gave him a standing ovation.
The crowd asked Robby how he managed to play so brilliantly. With a microphone in front of him, he said, “I was not able to attend the weekly piano lessons as there was no one to send me because my mother was sick with cancer. She just passed away this morning and I wanted her to hear me play. You see, this is the first time she is able to hear me play because when she was alive she was deaf and now I know she is listening to me. I have to play my best for her!”

SUCCESS PRINCIPLES

This is indeed a touching story of love and excellence. When you have a passion and a reason to do something, you will surely excel. You may not be talented or gifted but if you have a strong enough reason to do something, you will be able to tap into your inner God given potential.

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE

"Find the good. It's all around you. Find it, showcase it and you'll start believing in it."

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THE MAN WHO WILLED HIMSELF TO DIE

There was a man who worked for the railroad. One day as he went into the freezer compartment to do his routine work, the door accidentally closed and he found himself trapped in the compartment. He shouted for help but no one heard him since it was past midnight. He tried to break down the door but he could not. As he lay in the freezer compartment, he began to feel colder, and colder. Then he began to feel weaker, and weaker, and he wrote on the wall of the compartment, “I am feeling colder, and colder; and I am getting weaker, and weaker. I am dying, and this may be my last words”. In the morning when the other workers opened up the compartment they found him dead. The sad twist to the above story is that the freezing apparatus in the compartment had broke down a few days earlier. The poor worker did not know about the damaged freezing apparatus and in his mind the freezing apparatus was working perfectly. He felt cold, got weaker and literally willed himself to die.

SUCCESS PRINCIPLES

Our sub-conscious mind can be cheated. The sub-conscious mind can only accept and act on information passed to it by the conscious mind. It has no capacity to reject or decline any instructions or information passed to it by the conscious mind. In the case of the poor worker, he consciously thought that he was getting colder, weaker and dying and the sub-conscious mind accepted the above instructions and affected his physical body. That was how he willed himself to die.

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE

"Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and a lack of harmony and proportion is more readily seen."