Ideas: For a Successful, Less Complicated Life!

Feel Divine While You Declutter

If I told you that you had too much stuff, what would you say?

Perhaps you’re nodding emphatically and yelling at the computer screen “YES! Help me!” or maybe you’re avoiding looking at the computer and thinking “Well, maybe I could get rid of a few things.”

Either way if you feel that you have too much stuff, you suffer from a variety of Someday Syndrome that I rarely talk about, but which many people suffer from.

It’s called I Might Need It Someday.

Even I suffer from it at times. You know it, I’m sure – just look around at the room you’re in right now – how much of it do you absolutely need or truly love? Anything else is extra and could go.

And when anyone suffers from this variety of Someday Syndrome, the stuff somehow makes us blind to it until it takes over our spaces and begins to affect our daily lives.

Fortunately there’s help.

And that’s where two Someday Interview subjects, Lisa Baldwin of Divine Order and the Goddess Leonie of the Goddess Guidebook, come in.

Together they’ve created an e-course called “Making Space for Your Goddess to Shine” – a six week e-course on divine decluttering & magical space clearing. By combining their skills of simplifying life and biggifying the spirit, Lisa and Leonie take you through practical and spirited ways to make your home sparkle with energy and support you. It covers a huge range of gorgeous tools & genius-shininess including:

• decluttering gently, easily & divinely
• using crystals, herbs, smudging and sound to cleanse your home’s energy
• use Feng Shui to create prosperity & your dreams
• developing and trusting your intuition
• organizing in a super-simple “oh my goddess, it’s actually possible” kind of way
• creating a soulful altar as a place of inspiration, connection & peace
• clearing negative or stuck energies out of your home
• making your home a place of comfort, inspiration and support for you

This course is perfect for anyone who worries that decluttering is a cold, emotionless process. It takes the potentially painful process of letting go of stuff and turns it into a series of lessons in person power and energy.

Take a moment to imagine how great your life will be with a streamlined and energetic space. And imagine how awesome it’ll be to bust yet one more of your Somedays.

---

This guest post was written by:  Alex Fayle,  as was posted on: Someday Syndrome  (Blog).

Three Reasons to be Yourself, Good, Bad, or Ugly

As children, we are constantly told to “be ourselves”. Adults claim that we are unique and that the only one who can ever be us is us. For a time, we buy into it. Then we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of Junior High School. That’s the point in life where being ourselves isn’t good enough. We have to start being like other people. We look to role models, some of them our peers who, unbeknownst to us are desperately seeking for their own sense of identity. We forget how to be ourselves, and we learn quickly which secrets to tell and which secrets to keep.

By the time we are in our mid 20’s we are usually happy in our lives or else terribly miserable and usually that is based on the secrets we have chosen to keep. For up to ten years we wrestle constantly with the choice to tell our secrets or not to tell them. We find ways to indulge our private paradoxes; those things we enjoy despite being told we should not. All the while, we fear being caught and yet wish to live free. The funny thing about it is that we think we are alone. There is a reason that so few claim to love Barry Mannilow, but so many of us know every word to all of his songs. This is the time of life that the majority of gays and lesbians “come out of the closet”, and why so many others, unwilling to confess to being themselves find themselves in despondency, often to the point of suicide. All of this pain and sadness can be avoided, but first we need to find the value in choosing to be our complete and honest selves.

The primary reason that we need to simply be ourselves is that when we are anybody but ourselves, we can never truly know that anyone loves us. They love a put on version of us that isn’t truly the totality of who we are. To be anyone other than who we are with the people we love is not only fraudulent, but bases their love for us on a false premise. Depending on the secrets involved, some of the people we love might love us differently or not at all. This is of course, why we are so afraid of honesty, but it’s also why we must be honest. The fact is that if someone we know might not love us if they knew, then they already don’t love us truly. They simply don’t know it yet. You owe it to them, and to yourself, to force them to make a choice regarding their love for you and how they will manifest those feelings.

Secondarily, we need to be ourselves because the consequences of faking our way through life, lying about who we are leaves us short tempered, prone to depression, and overall unhappy. Unhappy people have unhappy lives. Choose happiness. Those who choose honesty find themselves happy. It’s amazing how often a gay, lesbian, or transsexual person will claim happiness that fell on them in waves the moment they chose to be honest and to act as their genuine selves.

The tertiary reason for being ourselves at the risk of personal expense is that when we present ourselves as flawless, others feel the need to appear flawless as well. When you are honest and forthright about who you are, you open the door for others to be honest with you. You offer those whom you love the liberty to reveal their secrets, to find happiness themselves, and that is a tremendous gift. You might lose some relationships as the result of your honesty, but you will likely find richness in your relationships like never before. Happy relationships make for happy people.

May you find your true happiness, true love, and truly open and honest relationships.

---

This guest post was written by: Ririan, creator of the Ririan Project (Blog).

Taking the Time to Be Polite!

About two weeks ago, I had to add minutes to my calling card. I made a mistake in entering some information so I had to talk to a customer service representative.

What should have taken five minutes to resolve ended up taking a half hour. I had to talk to six different people until finally I was connected to someone who knew what to do. Throughout my half hour long call, I was amazed at how rude some of the people were.

What happened to the customer always being right? What happened to kind and friendly customer service? At one point, I was so flustered, I talked to a manager in the hopes that someone could help me with my problem. The manager was the rudest of them all and all I kept thinking was do I really want to give my hard earned money to a company who treats me so badly? No.

This whole situation reminded me of an article I read a while back in the New York Times about how people no longer seem to have any manners. I think the writer had a point.

So many times I have walked into stores or gone to places where everyone is so unhappy, that a mere thank you is greeted with the human equivalent of a growl. Call me an idealist, I do not care, but there truly is no excuse for someone to be rude to another human being.

The Power of Giving Thanks

Many times I receive emails from people from around the world asking me advice or questions. I always answer each one. Many people write me back and thank me for the reply. However, there are many who do not. I realize that the absence of a “thank you” is not because they are not appreciative but they simply do not think that they have to do so.

One of my friends is a teacher and she can talk for hours on how kids today have no idea how to interact with people. She told me that when kids submit essays, many of the essays are written as if the kid was texting the essay. She said they do not capitalize or even fully write out some words. This is kind of scary.

As a result of modern technology, we rarely communicate face to face. I have many wonderful friends online whom I have never met in person. We talk via Twitter or email. Some of these friends are closer to me in my heart than some of the friends I actually see from time to time.

Since communication is so varied now, people forget that a simple thank you can go a long way. Actually, a simple thank you can make or break a job interview.

With each interview I have ever been to in my life, I always sent a thank you note. Seems like a simple gesture but you might be surprised at how much it can do. It shows that you care about the job and that you are polite. No one wants to work with a rude, arrogant human being.

Rudeness is not a form of self-confidence – actually, it is quite the opposite. A self-confident person would never be rude. An insecure person uses rudeness as a mask.

Fear is At the Root of It All

If there is one emotion that we all struggle with it is fear. Actually, fear is at the core of all negative actions, feelings and thoughts. Turn on the evening news, and fear is on display. Watch a crime show, fear is part of the plot. Terrorism is based on promoting fear. Anger is rooted in fear. Jealousy, envy, arrogance, coldness, and so many other negative human emotions are all rooted in fear.

We are afraid because we are told that we should be afraid or x, y, and z will come and get us. What has made matters even more interesting is that since we are all in the midst of a global financial crisis, we are even more afraid because there appears to be no safety-net. Fear makes us feel that we are all alone in the world.

It is very sad that as a society many of us choose to define ourselves by our paychecks and salaries. It is also sad that many people are so self-absorbed that they could care less about their fellow human beings as a result of the fear that seems to be rampant.

So due to all this mess, many of us feel justified to be stuck in our misery and to take it out on other people. When I was in the midst of my pain and misery, I was rude at times to some people. I am not proud of this but I was in so much pain, my rudeness was a cry for help. However, all it did was make me more stuck in my misery.

The interesting thing is that the ruder I was, the more pain I received from other people. If I was rude to one person, some other person would say something to me which only made me feel worse. So what you put out into the world will definitely be returned to you.

Wisdom of Gratitude!

There is wisdom in practicing gratitude. You have heard the old saying that what goes around comes around? This simply means that what you put out reflects back to you in a like manner. A good example from most everyone’s life would be those mornings when you wake up on the wrong side of the bed. What happens if you don’t change that attitude immediately is that you meet one grouchy person after another all day long. That’s just what we all need! There may be some days when the problems of life just dog pile you. If you are not practicing gratitude, then is seems as if the problems multiply exponentially. That’s the kind of law of attraction action you could do without. Think about this process for a moment. If the law of attraction works on the negative side of life so well, how much more will it benefit you if a positive attitude and gratitude comes into play?

Going with that idea for starters, how about a small test? First thing tomorrow morning, spend a few minutes doing some affirmations. State the reasons you are grateful for everyone and everything in your life. Be thankful for supportive and nurturing friends. Really get into the feeling of how grateful you are for all the good people in your life and all the good things that have come your way. Pull those feeling straight into your heart and let them soak in and fill your entire mind.

Now, as you go about your day, keep the love and gratitude flowing toward everyone you meet. This works with friends as well as people you do not know. Find just one thing to appreciate about the people you know. Be sure to tell that person how much you appreciate them. Don’t fake it and do it without expecting anything back. What you will find when you practice this is that other people return the kindness. You may find yourself on the receiving end of offers to help when you need it, compliments out of the blue, and any number of other nice surprises.

Taking this a step further, here is another way to experiment with being in an attitude of thankfulness. During your day, do your level best to find something good and positive about every experience and situation. If you normally are used to looking at things in a negative way, this can be quite a challenge. However, if you really work at it consistently, there is at least one thing to be grateful for in every experience.

Of course, not everything can be all joy and light. If you leave work for the day and find that someone has backed into your car, don’t just grit your teeth while expressing gratitude for the fender bender. You cannot fake gratitude and very few of us would feel grateful to find such a surprise. The wisdom of gratitude is in the genuineness of the heart that is expressing it. When you express real gratitude, it will come back to you a hundredfold.

---

This guest post was written by: Robin Skeen, the creator of: Robin's Reflections  (Blog).

Love Life, Not Stuff!

We’re in love with stuff — with shopping, with acquiring, with owning, with collecting.

Let’s lust after life instead.

Our obsession with stuff has become unhealthy. When we have a void in our lives, we buy things. When we have problems, we buy things. And these things are becoming more and more expensive, bigger, shinier … more wasteful.

This obsession with stuff leads to owning a lot, having a lot of clutter … and yet this stuff doesn’t fill our lives with meaning.

It leads to deep debt, from buying so much, and needing bigger houses and storage spaces to contain everything. Financially, we’re worse off than ever, because of this obsession with stuff.

We buy things when we’re depressed, we buy things for others to show how much we love them … and in this way, stuff has separated us from actually dealing with our emotions, blocked us from truly connecting with others.

Let’s replace that lust for stuff with a lust for life.

Some ideas:

• Rediscover a passion for life. Get outside and feel nature, appreciate the beauty of the world around you. Get active, do some gardening or yardwork, play a sport, go for a walk, take a hike, go for a swim, ride a bike. Feel the life coursing through you. Breathe it in.
• Give experiences as gifts, not stuff. Instead of shopping for someone come birthdays or Christmas, think of an experience you can give them instead. A date with you, doing something fun, hanging out, cooking, playing, talking, exploring. A fun time at a park or beach. Something other than everyday. An experience is much more meaningful than an object.
• Connect with others. In real life. If you haven’t hung out with a friend recently, give him a call and go hang out. Get your kid away from the TV or video game player and take her outside to do something. Go on a date with your partner. Visit your mom or grandparents. And be present while you’re with them — really listen, really be there.
• Deal with your emotions. If you have a need to buy things, to shop when you are having emotional issues, be more aware of this. Then deal with the underlying emotions, rather than using shopping as a way to forget about them. If you’re depressed, or anxious, or lonely, deal with those. Find solutions, figure out what’s causing them. Good news: experiencing life, getting active, and connecting with others all help you deal with those emotional issues.
• Disconnect your attachment to stuff. Sometimes I find myself reluctant to give something up, even if I don’t really use it. And that’s when I ask myself, “Why?” What is holding me back from getting rid of this possession? Sometimes, the item has an emotional connection, but then I realize that it’s just an object, it’s not the emotion or the actual source of the emotion. Then I’ll take a picture of the item, upload it to my computer, and get rid of the object. I feel liberated, because I’ve broken an attachment to a physical object (but saved the memory). If you are attached to an object, figure out why — it’s not healthy in the long run.
• Realize that life, not stuff, is what matters. Objects are just objects — if you lose them, if they get stolen or destroyed … it’s not a big deal. They’re just objects — not your life. Your life is the series of moments that is steaming through your consciousness right now, and how you use those moments and what you fill them with is what truly matters, not what you fill your home with. At the end of this short journey, you’ll look back and remember your experiences, the people you loved and who loved you back, the things you did and didn’t do. Not the stuff you had.

---

This guest post was written by: Leo Babauta, the creator of:  Zen Habits.net  (Blog).

Welcoming and Releasing Our Emotions?

Freud once theorised that we are driven by the pleasure-pain principle. That is, most of our pursuits instinctually revolve around pursuing pleasure and avoiding pain. But while avoiding negative events and people might be smart in the external world, this instinct works against us in our inner life. We cannot run away from our pain and unresolved emotions, for they are a part of us.

What do we do when we are upset? We blur it out with the noise from the television; drown it with alcohol; obscure it with smoke. This tendency is so strong that even after years of emotional work many still fall into it. But this never works, not in the long run. Emotions are there, simply to be felt.

And in doing so, they let go of us.

A popular analogy is a rubber gardening hose. In a proper hose, the water flows right through it, always fresh, never leaving a mark. Even if the water is dirty, all we have to do is to keep it flowing and it will pass. But what happens if we try to block it off? We tie it up into knots, we step on it. And it works for a little while. But over time, the pressure builds. The rest of the hose begins to leak and crack, and soon the entire hose ruptures.

It is the same with our emotions – we can’t block them off. Just feel them completely; welcome them, without acting on them. Slowly, we begin to free ourselves from our own prison, and let the pain go.

The Reason for This Post

In this post, I present this basic practice, with just enough theory and nothing else. Old readers will realise it is a summary of the old emotional mastery series. They are right, for this is part of the restructuring of the blog.

Allow me to explain. In personal growth, there are two areas we can work on – cognitions (thoughts and beliefs) and emotions. Each person will naturally prefer working with one of these, and over the years I have found core practices for each. These have become the basic tools of the blog, and most of the other posts are “booster” techniques, using the basics in different ways to overcome an inner block. The problem is: I described each practice – core or booster – as I discovered them, which meant they were scattered all over the place, in the wrong order, and in very long series. So, to make things easier, I’m putting each practice in its own post and labelling them as such.

The Practice

So, let’s try this practice now. Think of something or someone that makes you afraid, sad, or angry. For practice, pick a topic with less emotional charge.

Step One – Awareness

The first step is to realise that we are not our emotions. We are not sad; there is sadness inside us. We are not angry; there is anger inside us. If we are identified with our emotions, we can’t do anything about it. I am a human being – I can’t change that.

But when we realise it is just a feeling, and it is not us, we remove our investment, and we can take steps to heal it. We can behave in appropriate ways, instead of being controlled by it. Take anger, for example. Every time I acted out my anger – by screaming and shouting – I wrongly thought I was the anger, and did what it told me to do.

What are you still hanging on for? Let go of the rope!

On July 6th, 2009, I found this thought provoking article posted on: The Naked Soul  (Blog).

Are you or is somebody you know at the end of their rope? When we are at the end of our rope it means that we just don’t see how we can hang on any longer, we have come to a point in our journey where we simply are hanging in there by a thread and we feel as if one more thing happens we will lose our grip and it will be all over but the crying. It is often at this time that we believe that if we let go that we will fall into some sort of cosmic abyss and be lost forever, for some it is this point where one may consider or even attempt suicide because they believe that death is the only door left to finding peace.

Our culture often has a negative view of letting go of the rope, there are even clever posters which tell you if you find yourself at the end of your rope that you should tie a knot in the rope and hang on! Often times in our culture we have been taught to believe that if we let go of the end of our rope that we have lost control and that we have failed, both of which carry major stigmas in most cultures.

The fact that letting go of the end our rope has such a negative stigma attached to it leads us to become even more frustrated and confused and it is often our fear of not living up to cultural expectations that drives us into an abyss of negative feelings such as shame, guilt and disgust with ourselves. In extreme cases we are so convinced of the negative societal pressures we will incur if we let go of the rope that we decide it is easier to end this physical life than it is to face the judgments of society.

Of course the part of us that is concerned with losing face and the judgments of others is our ego. It is our ego that fears, it is our ego that cannot see beyond itself, it is our ego that judges and fears being judged and it is our ego which is willing to attempt to kill our spirit to save itself from death.  Our ego believes it is separate from everything and everybody and it is our ego which fears being slayed by the slings and arrows of society. Our ego wants to remain in control to the very end and it even finds solace in ending this physical existence itself rather than die the painful death of admitting it could not hold on to the end of the rope and that it failed to meet the expectations of  itself and  of society.

It is the ego that fears letting go of the rope for it is the rope that is the ego! This is an important distinction to realize for when we think about being at the end of the rope and you visualize yourself hanging on to the rope we don’t see the rope as the ego, however look again, the rope is indeed the ego and the fear that you feel is not a fear that comes from your authentic self, for your authentic self, your spirit knows not fear. The fear we feel comes from the rope which is our ego. The ego is very fearful of being let go of, for it is fragile and it cannot survive if you are not clinging to it.

Let go of the rope and you will experience death and in that death you will find peace. Note, this is not the death of suicide, this is not the death of the physical form, rather this is the death of our ego. When we decide to let go of the rope, we let go of our ego and instead of falling into an abyss of what we fear we find that we land safely in a state of love and peace. When the false face of ego is removed we are left with our core self which is spirit, love and when we live in love there is no fear, there are no shrouds which obstruct our vision and we are not concerned with the judgments of others. It is at this moment that we can look back at the rope we were clinging so desperately to and smile as we understand that which we clung to and feared letting go of was an illusion which caused us great angst and to end that great angst we simply had to understand to let go and trust in our spirit.

Note, I have lived many lives in this physical plane. I have let go of the rope a few times along this leg of my journey and each time I have experienced the death of my ego and the resurrection of my spirit and each time has been a joyous experience.  Note, I did not say it was always easy, as in any birth there is labor involved and there is a time of renewal. Trust in yourself, that your spirit, that is your authentic self is much stronger that your fragile ego and though the death of your ego may seem like a difficult transition the truth is that it is easier than you think and that at the end of the day you will find yourself in love and peace that you never imagined existed.

What are you still hanging on for? Let go of the rope!

---

3 Fears That Affect Decision-Making!

Here is a thought provoking article, I found, written by: Lorraine Cohen, the creator of: Powerfull Living (Blog).

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one”. ~Elbert Hubbard

We make decisions every day. Some are so automatic we barely notice them. In my eBook, How Do I Choose? a 5-step blueprint for making rock solid decisions, I talk about three common fears that cause people to hesitate or avoid making certain choices

There are many questions and points to consider when making decisions, big or small. I have found the following three concerns repeatedly come up, causing stress and anxiety for many people.

Each of these concerns is grounded in fears: of rejection, the unknown, being alone, abandoned, failure, being embarrassed… Notice which ones you most relate to.

Fear # 1:  How can I be sure my decision is the right one?

So often, people who are struggling with making decisions tell me their biggest challenge is being sure their decision is the right one. They often look as if they are carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders, feeling pressure to come up with the right choices. Whew! In fact, fear of making a mistake is a prime reason so many people procrastinate.

What makes a decision the right one?

What makes something the wrong decision?

How do you distinguish between the two?

Would you say a right decision is one that:

• Makes everyone happy? (C’mon, is that even possible?)
• Has a positive outcome – one that you really want or like?
• Goes smoothly?
• Feels good?
• Carries the least consequence, or causes minimal disruption/change?

Would you say that a wrong decision is one that:

• Had problems not anticipated?
• Produced an outcome that didn’t work out the way you hoped or wanted?
• Caused stress, emotional discomfort or pain for you?
• Cost you time, energy or money you were unprepared to spend?
• Upset others?

Let’s eliminate the idea of good or bad decisions, shall we? Good, bad, right, wrong…according to whom? According to what measurements and who created them?

Instead, consider the idea of making the best decisions in any given situation at that moment in time. Imagine approaching situations with the intention of making the best choice you can with what you know and what your heart (that “inner knowing” inside yourself) is naturally attracted to. When I say your heart, I mean listening to your instincts and gut response to everyday situations and people.

In reality, you can only know what you know by being informed and thoughtful in your choices. Imagine viewing your choices and outcomes as “learning opportunities.” Letting go of the pressure of having to make right or wrong decisions can be very freeing and allow you to better evaluate the options before you. Approaching your choices with an attitude of curiosity and with a desire to learn will free you from self-reproach if the outcome you intend fails to occur.

Have you ever had a gut response to a situation that required a decision? What did you do? Did you follow your instincts (your heart)? Did you ignore your gut response, like so many people do, and look for other people’s opinions to guide you or direct you? How did things work out for you? 

Success is Easy, But so is Neglect!

People often ask me how I became successful in that six-year period of time while many of the people I knew did not. The answer is simple: The things I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do. I found it easy to set the goals that could change my life. They found it easy not to. I found it easy to read the books that could affect my thinking and my ideas. They found that easy not to. I found it easy to attend the classes and the seminars, and to get around other successful people. They said it probably really wouldn’t matter. If I had to sum it up, I would say what I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do. Six years later, I’m a millionaire and they are all still blaming the economy, the government and company policies, yet they neglected to do the basic, easy things.

In fact, the primary reason most people are not doing as well as they could and should, can be summed up in a single word: neglect.

It is not the lack of money – banks are full of money. It is not the lack of opportunity – America, and much of the free World, continues to offer the most unprecedented and abundant opportunities in the last six thousand years of recorded history. It is not the lack of books – libraries are full of books – and they are free! It is not the schools – the classrooms are full of good teachers. We have plenty of ministers, leaders, counselors and advisors.

Everything we would ever need to become rich and powerful and sophisticated is within our reach. The major reason that so few take advantage of all that we have is simply, neglect.

Neglect is like an infection. Left unchecked it will spread throughout our entire system of disciplines and eventually lead to a complete breakdown of a potentially joy-filled and prosperous human life.

Not doing the things we know we should do causes us to feel guilty and guilt leads to an erosion of self-confidence. As our self-confidence diminishes, so does the level of our activity. And as our activity diminishes, our results inevitably decline. And as our results suffer, our attitude begins to weaken. And as our attitude begins the slow shift from positive to negative, our self-confidence diminishes even more… and on and on it goes.

So my suggestion is that when giving the choice of “easy to” and “easy not to” that you do not neglect to do the simple, basic, “easy”; but potentially life-changing activities and disciplines.

---

This guest post was written by:  Jim Rohn, as was previously posted on: Creating a Better Life  (Blog).

The Top Ten Mistakes Solo-preneurs Make in Business

The entrepreneurial spirit runs wild in us creative types.

Whether web designer, artist, or coach - the possibility of freedom and self-generated income is so appealing!

However, many get quickly burnt-out and disillusioned on this path. That's because no one teaches us how to have a business AND be creative all at once. It's quite a challenge!

So, from my very own Been-There-Done-That files, here are the Top 10 Mistakes Solo-preneurs Make in Business...

1 - Not scheduling Vision-Time.

If you don't take time away from your business for visioning and thinking, it's easy to become a reactor, not a creator.

A business is dynamic and organic. (So are you!) Shape and create your business by taking time out for planning and visioning your desires and new directions.

2 - Too much Vision Time!

Some people are forever analyzing and planning, afraid of doing the wrong thing or of failure. At some point, you must take action. Just know that failure is only failure if you give up!

3 - Waiting for rescue.

Book deals. Hit records. Getting on Oprah. A huge IPO.

Hey, great things can and DO happen all the time in life. However, waiting for something to "sweep you away" is a surefire path to frustration.

Having a business is an on-going relationship. It can be remarkable! But like any relationship, it requires attention and action. Hoping for rescue is a sign that you're afraid of the potential of your own power!

4 - Living in the "Field of Dreams."

Remember these amazing words?

"If you build it, they will come."

Really? I can do that, and everything else will be taken care of?

Well, sort of. There IS truth in that famous line.

But too often, people think it means, "All I have to do is put up my sign - and the world will rush to my door."

This can lead to disillusionment. That's because "building it" is not a one-time thing!

Here's another way to look at it:

"If you build it they will come. But if you build it and market it, they'll pay you!"

5 - Making problems a problem.

Donald Trump advises something that contradicts every positive thinking tenet out there. He says to expect problems.

Yes, even if you're a mindset junkie!

Glitches, hiccups, snafus. Hey, they happen. (Like the manufacturers printing my CD booklet wrong!) Too often, we let problems paralyze us, and steal our time and emotions. Successful people expect "problems," and always put their focus on finding the solution!