A few years ago, I read a book about a boy who was given a worry stone. He had had some tragedy in his life, and he was frightened of the changes swirling about him. Whenever he felt worried, he was told to rub this worry stone. Now that I’m hopefully a little wiser, I wonder about the wisdom of a worry stone. It was supposed to alleviate his stress, but wouldn’t accidentally touching that stone in his pocket, which signifies worry and fear, make him feel even more worried and fearful? It seems reasonable to me, since it’s the embodiment of all those negative emotions.

I think people should rethink the worry stone; it should be thought of as a comfort stone instead. Why not imbue this symbolic stone with such positive energy as hope, faith, peace, love, believe, or whatever other positive aspect you need. Rub your comfort stone to remind yourself to hope and to believe that good things are going to happen to you. Your “worry stone,” now a “comfort stone,” will be a constant reminder that your dreams can come true, and you can live a very peaceful and satisfying life.

Keep your comfort stone nearby – be it in your pocket, purse, desk drawer, or wherever you can easily reach for it. When you need some positive affirmations throughout your day, touch it and think good thoughts – positive and peaceful thoughts. Soon you’ll train yourself to automatically feel positive and peaceful, even during difficult times.

Turn your worry stone into a comfort stone; turn your life into a positive and peaceful direction by flipping negatives into positives!

A bird always knows when it’s time for the young to leave the nest. If you get too close to a beehive the bees will sting you, even if you don’t mean them any harm. There are some things that we do without even thinking about doing them.

Breathing is one such activity. The Planets revolve around the sun and trees grow. They “do” these things without really “doing” them.

This is known as Wu Wei, which means natural action. Knowing when (and how) to act is not about thinking “now” is the right time to do “this”. It is about simply doing, doing the natural thing. The aim of Wu Wei is to achieve a state of perfect equilibrium. A state where you always know what you need to do.

The literal meaning of Wu Wei is “without action” and is often included in the paradox wei wu wei: “action without action”. An example of active non-action using wu wei would be to teach in such a way that no course of action is dictated to a student (they are just told raw facts for use and left to their own creative devices), so they assume that they have been taught nothing, that is, until all they have learnt has been integrated in their lived experience.

I think the comic book summarization Zen Speaks says it best “A good teacher teaches the student that they already know the answer.”

When we choose to do an action, we are interfering with the natural way. Whenever we have to think about what needs to be done, we are thinking about manmade superficial matters. In any natural situation we just ‘know’ what to do. So, by reducing the number of things we have to think about doing, we reduce our interference with the natural order of things.

Think of all those times when you were in trouble and you leaned on a friend. I’m talking about the hundreds of people we meet, and share a bond with. They may not be very close to us, but they still lend a helping hand. These are the people you laugh with at a party, the ones who gossip behind your back and the ones who tease you when you act like a fool. Of course you always return the favor.

You don’t need to have an exceptionally intimate bond with someone, for them to connect with you. We connect with people the second we meet them. We feel their pain and they feel ours. We do not know their history, their hopes and dreams, and still we care. Some call these people acquaintances. But I think they’re wrong, these are your friends.

Then, there are the people you trust with your lives. The one’s who’ve always been there. You know them; the good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between. Are these your friends? No. They’re not just your friends; they are so much more than that.

They say, friends are the family we choose for ourselves. The best of our experiences are experiences we shared with a friend. The most vivid of our memories are the memories that are connected to friends. What would we do without them? We love them, we hate them and we can’t live without them.

Friends are what make life worth living. Wouldn’t it be great to have a friend at work too? You can’t hope to make a ‘friend’ if you don’t act like a ‘friend’ yourself. Be it business or pleasure, always remember, friendship comes first. Today is friendships day, so honor your friends, your foes and the world ambassador for friendship, honor, Winnie the Pooh.

When we are born we don’t have too many thoughts. We think about things like, we’re hungry, we’re thirsty, we’re sleepy and so on. We don’t know too much about anything. We don’t have opinions about anything. As we grow up we learn things. We learn that it is good to share. It’s not good to hit people. We learn that people can be mean and that mom’s, though not always right, will always love you.

Most of what we learn is good, but sometimes, in the process of growing up, we pick up some ideas that are not so good. Some people are taught that they should always think of themselves first, that it’s okay to kill an animal for sport and that, boys don’t cry. We are all made up of our ideas and our beliefs. I propose that, ‘You are what you think’.

How many of us take the time to question our beliefs? You may have an opinion about something, but have you ever thought about whether or not that opinion is yours? Are you a vegetarian because you don’t believe in killing animals, or because that is how you were raised? Do you hate a particular place because you hate it, or because that’s what you heard from the people around you?

I know so many people who believe in something but have no idea why they believe in it. They don’t even know when they started believing in it. Some beliefs can be dangerous. No person is born evil. So many crimes are committed in the name of personal beliefs.

If people took the time to examine their core opinions, maybe we would live in a world without war, hate crimes or racism, a world in which boys could cry.

We’ve all heard the story of the three little pigs. One built a house of straw, one built a house of sticks and the third built a house of bricks. There is another version of this story. In that version there is a fourth pig. That pig didn’t build a house at all. He planned where he would build his house. It would be on the bank of a stream, under the shade of tall trees. He planned what he would make the house from; sticks, stones, bricks and wood. He planned what the house would look like; French windows, a terrace, and a red tile roof. He planed how he would go about building it; he had his blue prints & his workers’ contracts. He planned and he planned and he planned some more. As he was planning, the wolf came along and ate him up. There was no huffing or puffing to blow his house down.

No one talks about this pig because his story is just too sad. There are so many people who have a similar story. They plan and they plan but they never actually do anything. Businesses often suffer the same fate.  It’s good to have a plan but don’t spend so much of your time or your resources on your plan that you don’t have any time left to actually implement it. We get lost in the numbers and specifics of things. We get so engrossed in planning for the future that we forget to look at our today. There is no point in planning ten years ahead if you aren’t doing enough to survive till the next year.

If you have a basic plan to get started don’t spend too much time trying to fine tune it. Get Started. Don’t be like the fourth little pig who never built his house.

Imagine a classroom. The teacher asks Tom a question. He says the answer is ‘A’. She turns to Bill and asks him the same question. Bill knows the answer is ‘B’ but he says ‘A’. We’ve all encountered this phenomenon. It is because of this phenomenon that we’ve given wrong answers, smoked cigarettes and during the 80’s, we even pretended that bell bottoms were cool. This phenomenon is known as ‘peer pressure.’ Studies have shown that 65% of us will give the wrong answer just because we heard someone else say it. When we hear ‘peer-pressure’, we automatically think of groups of intimidating teenagers. The reality is not always this obvious.

Peer-pressure is just an offshoot of the power of suggestion. There isn’t always an intimidating teenager involved. Women feel the need to go out and buy a new dress for a party; simply because they know, the other women in attendance will be well dressed. Men feel the need to have the corner office, with the windows, simply because all the successful guys have them.

The power of suggestion has been well documented. Those who know how to use it are some of the most successful people on the planet. To use this power you require patience, restraint and keen observation. For the most part it’s safer to stay away from this technique, at the same time, it’s important that we learn how to protect ourselves from it. The next time you find yourself taking an action, or craving an object, stop yourself and check to see if your own thoughts are guiding you. Make sure you don’t do something because you heard, someone else had done it. If you are asked, ‘What color is the night sky?’ Don’t say ‘black’, because everyone says ‘black’. Look and see. Sometimes the night is navy blue.

The Assembly of First Nations is all set to pick its new chief. First elected in 1997, popular leader, Phil Fontaine, announced in early June that he would not seek re-election. So, now it’s time for them to look for a new chief. This got me thinking of leaders. At every stage in our lives we encounter people whom we turn to for guidance, support and inspiration. There are times when we find ourselves in a position where others turn to us. So, what is it that makes a good leader?

As kids, we all played, ‘follow the leader’. At that time, it was the most innovative players, whom we all liked. The ones who would make us do something crazy and keep us on our toes. As we grow up, we expect our leaders to be understanding. We want them to be people we can trust. We want them to make the right decision, no matter the consequences. With all the pressure we put on them, I can’t help but wonder, what happens when the leader loses his way? Whom does he follow?

A leader, who doesn’t have any one to follow, is a leader who will eventually fail. Those of us who run our own businesses are leaders of our own groups. When we are faced with situations where we are unable to make a decision, it is important that we have the right people to turn to for advice. A good leader is one who can distinguish between what his followers need and what they think they need. A good leader makes the hard decisions and faces the consequences. He is insightful, innovative and fearless. What marks him as a great leader is realizing that sometimes he needs help. So, lead your followers and know when it’s time for you to ‘Follow the Leader.’

They say “The advent of Global recession is the death knell for small businesses”. This cannot be more untrue. Recession is nothing more and nothing less than an opportunity for smarter, positive thinking businessmen to take advantage of the unique circumstances existing in our market. Recession simply means, the market is more cautious and the number of potential clients has reduced. All you have to do to ensure success is to find these limited clients and establish an instant business relationship with them. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? That’s because there’s a way to make it happen.

There’s an ancient quote that says “The power of God will unite us all.” Whether the ancients were speaking with insight or whether they took a shot in the dark; they hit the nail on the head. Recent studies have proven we are all connected to one another at a molecular level. It is through these unseen connections that we affect the world around us. When we think negatively we invariably attract ‘negatives’, similarly, when we think positively we attract ‘positives’. One should understand, when we think on the lines of ‘I want more’ we are focusing on something that is lacking, and will thus attract only ‘negatives’. Instead of thinking ‘I want more’, think ‘I have more’ and ‘more’ will come. This is known as ‘The Law of Attraction’ which states that ‘like attracts like’.

It is with the help of this law that you can make sure your business flourishes. If you believe you have success, success is guaranteed. After all victory and defeat both begin in the mind of the competitors. Train your mind to think in such a way that it believes it already has what it wants. This sends out a siren call for anything that your heart desires and desires come and find you. It’s time to stop being cautious and think only of success. It’s time to believe, believe in yourself, and believe in the fact that if you want it you already have it.