If you’ve been to a garden center or nursery lately, you know it’s planting time.  People from all walks of life take a time each spring to roll up their sleeves and get dirt under their fingernails, planting seeds and starters they hope will bloom into a beautiful summer and rewarding fall harvest. 

Animals, insects, and even a few no-so-dumb humans know that spring is also the time to cultivate success.  We had all winter to reflect and dream – now it’s time to get going! 

If your goal is weight loss, start your new daily morning walk tomorrow.  If you want a better job, post your resume up on Monster and those other job boards, no more excuses.  Relationship issues?  Plan a romantic getaway this weekend.  After all, spring is for romance, too.

Having problems getting started?  Here’s an excerpt from my book, Success for Life, which will help cultivate a new you.

Repetition is not the same thing as persistence.  Thinking the same thoughts and taking the same actions over and over isn’t going to change a darn thing. Tenacity isn’t about beating your head against the same point on the wall every day, in the hope that eventually the wall will crack.  No, there are other words for describing that: “plain dumb.”

Speaking of plain dumb, a friend of mine had a dog, one of those big, hairy, gray-and-white old English sheepdogs.  Each morning, Jack would open the front door to let the dog outside, and each morning, without fail, the dog would race through the door, full-speed, and crash head-on into the riding lawn mower parked in front of the house!

My friend thought the dog would learn his lesson after nearly busting his skull open on the first hit. But no, the next day, and the next, and the one after that, the pattern repeated itself. Door opens, dog rushes out, near concussion.  Eventually, Jack had to move the mower.

Now to smart folks like us, it’s obvious this isn’t persistence. It’s stupidity (though, I guess the dog eventually got what he wanted). If it’s so obvious, then, why do I see otherwise intelligent people doing exactly the same thing every day?  Why, when faced with a challenge, do some people throw themselves at it, in a full-frontal assault, again and again, instead of trying to find a route around, over, or even under?

Go on, admit it.  How many times have you vowed to: stop getting riled by your boss, stop acting jealous, quit nagging the kids, save more money, start that diet one more time, change your job, spend more time with the family, really use that gym membership, work smarter, say “no” more often and drink less – or any one of the above?

And despite those promises to yourself, how many times do you find yourself stressing over the same things every night, hitting the same brick walls, and consistently finding yourself falling back into the same old patterns of behavior that caused you to fail the first time around?

Maybe we’re not so different from that dumb dog after all.

There’s no time to waste obsessing about the time you’ve lost or your bad choices in the past.  Spring has sprung, okay?  It’s time for a new start.  WAKE UP AND PLANT THE ROSES!  You can’t enjoy the sweet smell of success unless you plant the seeds.  Make new habits and contacts – good ones, with real potential, which will bring you happiness and success. 

 I can’t WAIT to see you BLOOM!

Are you forever chasing yesterday money?  According to the headlines, you’re not alone. You can’t escape news stories about foreclosures, credit card debt, and bailouts these days.

Sounds like we’re suffering from an epidemic of wealthy-weak here in America.

I write about wealthy-strong versus wealthy-weak in my book, Success for Life.  Here’s a passage, from Streetwise Strategy #5, Be a Giant.

Too many people are stuck in the endless race of chasing yesterday money (money they’ve already spent) and dream money (the kind of cash they can only fantasize about), rather than today money – the kind that will take them into the future, and maybe even make some of those dreams come true.

Yup, we’re so busy chasing the fantasy of big bucks, that we spend all of our today money on cars, big houses, bling, and exotic vacations to impress others into believing we’ve made it. Guess what? Today money borrowed on credit soon becomes yesterday money, and any chance of earning dream money slips further away from our grasp. Chasing yesterday money is exhausting and thankless. If anything will kill your dreams, this will. How can you look forward when your life is in hock, and debt and creditors are pulling you backward?

I went through this learning curve as a young, foolish guy. I earned millions as a street kid doing all the wrong things, but what I did next is not so different from what so many respectable, professional, white-collar folks do today: I squandered all my money on stuff I didn’t need. I lost millions, by making stupid, reactive, materially-driven decisions.

Don’t get me wrong. I love wearing fine clothes and state-of-the-art watches. I enjoy diamonds and magnificent cars. So no, don’t get me wrong. I’m not advocating you hide your shine under a bushel of corn, but I AM advising that, like me, you make sure these material things aren’t driving you, but that you’re driving them.

Giants know the true value of wealth. They understand that it’s simply a trading currency, a means to an end, and that it can disappear as fast – or even faster – than it arrived.

If wealthy-weak sounds like you, then I challenge you to really pay attention to how you handle your money. I heard on the news the other day that the average Starbucks customer spends $1500 a year. Now, if people have this much money to spend on a cup of coffee – that most could get at work for free – why can’t they pay their mortgages and car notes?

Because they’re wealthy weak!

Like I said in my book, I’m a guy who likes flash.  I drive a Phantom Rolls Royce and wear a Audemar Piguet watch.  But I also lease my Phantom, AKA “Triple Black”, to movie studios and up-and-comers who want to make a good impression for the night. My car pays me, not the other way around, see?  And although I spend money making sure I always look my best, I take my style out to be seen – not to boost my ego - but to attract new business opportunities.

The difference between wealthy-strong and wealthy-weak is a state of mind.  Rich state or poor state, it’s up to you where you reside.

Spring has sprung! Out here in Southern California, it’s the most beautiful time of the year. We had a nice, wet winter, and our hills and mountains are as green as Ireland - just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, right?

Speaking of St. Patrick’s Day, I’d like to talk about luck. What do you think about luck? Are people born lucky, or do they create their own luck? Well, I’ve known some pretty lucky people, and sometimes their consistent good fortune leaves me scratching my head. Yes, I think some people are born lucky.

But for the most part, I strongly believe that people make their own luck. I wrote a lot about luck in my new book, Success for Life. It falls under my Streetwise Strategy #4: Be a Success Magnet. I’d like to share a passage with you that will help you get some of that sweet luck for yourself.

HOW TO BECOME POSITIVELY MAGNETIC!
My first practical lesson on magnetism came about in my gangster days when my best friend Wenny and I ran a few very profitable gambling dens on Chicago’s West Side. We were making a ton of money on dice and card games. Today, as you know, I don’t gamble – not even in Vegas. I don’t support gambling, and I actually spend quite a bit of time explaining to other folks why gambling is a fool’s game. But, back in the day, I was a serious gambler. On one wild, regrettable, unforgettable occasion, I lost millions of bucks in a single wager!

Over the years, however, I learned to harness the power of magnetism in a much more responsible way. You see, if you try to force two magnets together, the positive force of each will repel them away from each other. Many of us played with magnets a time or two when we were kids, and you might remember: you can literally feel the force of one pushing the other away. Now, strangely enough, with people, the exact opposite is true!

When it comes to humans, positive force attracts more positive force.

1. Positive mental images attract positive results.
2. Positive attitudes attract positive reactions.
3. Positive appearances attract positive perceptions.
4. Positive people expect good things to happen to them, and good things happen.

I’ve always been a positive guy. Extroverted, expressive, and, yes, loud! Although, believe it or not, I spent the first 18 months of my life silent, just chillin’ quietly on the floor, amidst the Wilks’ family circus, not cryin’ or crawlin’ or nothin’. Then, one day, I decided to join the party, and you know I haven’t stopped since!

People enjoy being around positive energy. It’s energizing to bask in its warmth, and recharge yourself with its high-voltage electricity. Want to add more juice to your positive “charge”? It’s simple – just turn on the “happy channel!”

Sounds too easy to be true, doesn’t it? But think about the people who seem to get all the lucky breaks. They’re usually happy, positive people, aren’t they? If you’re one of those people, or maybe you used to be one, well congratulations – you know the secret! If you’re the kind who sits and watches, grumblin’ and hatin’ because you never get yours, I’d suggest you check your attitude.

It takes quite a bit of “reprogramming” to remove those negative thoughts from your head and replace them with positive ones. But like the saying goes, it may be not be easy, but it really is that simple.

Do you really want to turn your luck around? Then starting right now, I want you to pay close attention to the things you think and say. Every negative thought and statement takes you one step further away from the good luck and fortune that awaits the positive, lucky you!

Remember this: be happy, and success will follow.

Now go get that good luck!
- Burrel