YOUR
GREATNESS
PERSEVERANCE Putting What's In You on the Menu • Road to Your Satisfaction 4 Keys to Ignite Your Perseverance • No One Likes A Quitter 10 Minutes to Transformation • Positive Tips for Positive Action APRIL 2021
WE ARE PROUDLY A PART OF
IN A DESIRE TO RAISE THE CONNECTEDNESS AND COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS OF ALL HUMANITY, THE CONTENT IN THIS PUBLICATION IS A PART OF A NEW AND NEVER BEFORE SEEN CONSORTIUM OF THE LEADING EMPOWERMENT CONTENT ON THE PLANET. We know that to uplift and IGNITE what is possible in 7 billion lives we need to do it together; as a collective, in unity. By coming together in a consortium, sharing the same content, we know we can exponentially increase our reach to all of humanity and positively inspire every person on the planet. We also know that the core values and empowerment characteristics that lead to this possible nirvana are the same in all human beings. That is why we have chosen to be a part of this collective that is sharing the same beneficial content on a global scale. Humanity 100 consists of the top 100 organizations, companies, communities and entities on the planet that are committed to invigorating, transforming, and healing humanity. Each member of Humanity 100 will share the very same content on empowerment so that we can effectively IGNITE the planet together. The front covers might be different and the founder's message will be unique. But, inside the remaining pages will be the same. You will be reading content not just for you, but you will be reading something that is designed to be read by people, just like you, all over the world! We believe if we are all embracing the concepts necessary to live our best lives, and learning powerful ways to do so, we can shift the hearts of all humanity and mutually improve existence for everyone. We hope you enjoy each and every word on the pages to come and you know that your participation is a valuable part of what Humanity 100 is devoted to accomplishing: bringing the world together and raising the vibration of all humanity.
With lo! " bl#s$s, from everyone at Ignite
P.S. – Keep your eye out for this crest to see who is a part of the Ignite Humanity 100 initiative.
With each issue, we bring you a scrumptious collection of articles from people all over the world who are pursuing their goals with focus and determination while living their best lives. This issue features:
EDITOR IN CHIEF JB OWEN Editor-In-Chief and CEO of Ignite, JB Owen is the driving force behind the Spark Success self-mastery program, Lotus Liners, and JBO Global Inc. as well as being a 16-time best-selling author, executive business coach, and mother of four. Her newest book, Enjoying Parenting, is filled with a hopeful message and easily actionable suggestions for the busy parent craving a deeper, more joyful connection with their children. This month, she writes about the importance and impact of perseverance. www.igniteyou.life www.lotusliners.com www.jbowen.website ! jbowen " jbthepossibilityqueen
LEAD EDITOR ANDI DRAJEWICZ Lead Editor, writing coach, and self-professed word geek, Andi Drajewicz talks about her preference for using visual reminders instead of habit trackers in the article “One Leaf at a Time,” and shares 5 tips to keep you writing in this month’s Writer’s Corner.
FEATURED COLUMNISTS Les Brown: As a renowned professional speaker, author and television personality, Les Brown has risen to national prominence by delivering a high energy message which tells people how to shake off mediocrity and live up to their greatness. Visit his web site at www.LesBrown.com Coach AM Williams: Coach A.M. Williams has discovered the gift of challenges and has mastered the art of transforming adversity into one’s greatest advantage. He is one of the best-selling authors of the book “Resilience: Turning Setbacks into Comebacks” and his Yes,Go! radio show on BSRNradio.com is syndicated across 300 radio stations and reaches listeners across the UK and North America. Coach A.M.’s magnificent obsession is helping high-performing professionals and entrepreneurs use leverage to create the life they want. Visit Coach at coachamwilliams.com
FEATURED IGNITE AUTHOR Alex Blake: Mining engineer, editor, and author Alex Blake has long had a love of mountains and mountain climbing. In this issue features an excerpt from the book Ignite Your Adventurous Spirit from Ignite Press, where Alex shares a powerfully moving story about the perseverance it takes to reach the summit and what we gain when we lean on others. Visit Alex at www.mintediting.com.au
CONTRIBUTORS Albert Urena: After losing his father to gun violence at a young age and getting involved with drugs and street gangs, Albert Urena went through a radical change and went on to become an entrepreneur, transformational speaker, and Amazon international best-selling author. In this issue, he shares 4 keys to unlocking your perseverance as you go after your goals. Visit Albert at alberturena.com Cris Agafi: Cris Agafi is a heart coach at HeartQ who guides people to create and live an authentic, empowered, and heart-centered life. He shares with us that perseverance is about efforting and pushing through, no matter what. Perseverance is about being heart intelligent and using creative strategies to achieve your goal — and in the process, becoming someone you dreamed of but didn’t believe was possible. Visit Cris at www.heartq.com Diana Lockett: Diana is a visionary heart leader with a gift for awakening high achievers to Re-Align to Thrive™ and create inner wealth and a deeper purpose in their lives. Through her transformational coaching, she creates a map for her clients to experience vulnerable, mindful, and authentic practices that result in better health and wellness, increased performance, deeper confidence, healthier relationships, and a return to their own authentic loving states of joy and ease. In this month’s article, she expands on the concept of perseverance to include how to persevere and ‘hold the pose’ in all areas of life. Visit Diana at dianalockett.com Gordon So: In his article, “Never Give Up,” CEO of Landed for Success, Gordon So, ponders whether or not it’s true that winners never quit and quitters never win. You might be surprised at what he has to say about the value of changing course. Visit him at www.landedforsuccess.com Lourdes Aldanondo: “If you had a 100% guarantee that it was going to happen, would you persevere with it?” This is the intriguing question at the start of the article, “Perseverance,” by Lourdes Aldanondo, in which she explores whether or not perseverance comes naturally to us. Visit Lourdes at mindtouchbarcelona.com Phyllis Roberto: Phyllis Roberto is the founder of the Prairie Rose Method and creator of the 8-week course Vibrant, Carefree, and Strong. As well as being an internationally best-selling author in the Ignite Your Life series, a speaker, and a strategic intervention coach, Phyllis is a mother of five and grandmother of six. She is dedicated to helping others succeed in making lasting life changes. Visit Phyllis at www.prairierosewellness.com or ! @PrairieRose Renee Dutton: Author and Kindness Creator Renee Dutton is Cofounder of ThePositiveReport.com. Renee is passionate about empowering others to spread worldwide kindness and positivity. She shares fun and helpful tips for accomplishing everything you’ve always dreamed of in her article “Positive Tips for Positive Action.” Visit Renee at thepositivereport. com Simona Sabbatini: Best-selling author, coach, mentor, and trainer in personal and professional growth, Simona Sabbatini explores some of the myths that hold us trapped in inaction and gives you the push you might need to just get started. Visit Simona at www.desiredecidedevelop.com
L%& fr' t הEdit) JB OWEN
What Gets You Going?
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W
ouldn't it be great if we all had a button we could push to fire up our engines and get our motors going? Imagine if humans had a key that started them in motion and empowered them to put themselves into gear. Wouldn’t it be great if there was an easy way to stoke the fire? A systematic stream that kept our wheels turning and churning? A wiring mechanism that kept us producing non-stop, and effortlessly? Oh, the joy if humans could just start themselves up, stay on track, and work consistently! Yet that isn’t in our making, nor how we were designed. Instead, our ‘inner workings’ come into play and there are a million intricate pieces that ensure we run efficiently; that we keep going and don’t give up. The mind, our emotions, and our thoughts, concerns, past experiences, anticipations, and insecurities are just a few of the opposing forces that can run havoc on our system. We think a lot. We ponder even more. We forecast what might happen and dream up all kinds of reasons why we can’t, why we shouldn't, or why it might not happen. Samuel Johnston, one of the greatest figures of 18th-century life, said, “Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.” On a similar theme, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, an Indian aerospace scientist and politician who served as the 11th President of India, said, “Never stop fighting until you arrive at your destined place — that is,
the unique you. Have an aim in life, continuously acquire knowledge, work hard, and have perseverance to realise the great life.” These men cite perseverance as a quality that is fundamental to both accomplishment and success. The great life, great works, and inner greatness are synonymous with perseverance. It is the quality of persisting that enables us to turn an idea into a product, a dream into a reality, and a wish into so much more. When we cite perseverance in our own lives, we get to where we are going. Perseverance has us getting up early, staying up late, and dedicated to our goal for all the hours in between. It doesn't have to be grand, audacious, nor over the top and the best of the best. Perseverance simply gets you there. It makes sure you make it. It pushes you through all the tough times and keeps the embers lit. Perseverance is not the flash in the pan or the shot right out of the gate; it is the constant and the consistent. It's what you use to hang onto when you're hanging by a thread and what you find when you feel lost in the dark. This month’s issue brings you ideas on how to work the muscles of perseverance. Each contributor shows how you can nurture the gift of perseverance and grow the gains that come from making perseverance your fuel of ignition. You’ll learn it isn’t quite as hard as we all thought, and once you get the hang of it… persevering feels truly incredible. Perseverance is available to all of us. When you really embrace it… look out! Anything and everything soon becomes possible!
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Y*r G+atn#s with L# Br-n FEATURED COLUMNIST
LES BROWN
Persistence Pays Off If You Never Give Up
I
n life, you’ve got to fail your way to success, and that only happens if you’re HUNGRY. Repeat after me, please: ‘You gotta be HUNGRY!’ As a young man, I had no real concept of what that meant — being HUNGRY. I didn’t understand what it takes to get what you want out of life. I didn’t know back then that persistence pays off; that if you never give up, you’ll get what you want. But I learned. I’ll never forget a conversation I had with one of my teachers, Mr. Washington, when I was a young man. Mr. Washington said, “Mr. Brown...” “Yes sir?” He said, “What do you want to do with your life, young man?” “Sir, I want to be a disc jockey,” I replied. Then he said those words: “You gotta be hungry!” I heard him, but I didn’t understand his message yet... I asked him, “What do you mean by that?!” 10
“People who are hungry are willing to do the things today that others won’t do in order to have the things tomorrow that other people won’t have!” You see, people who are HUNGRY are willing to invest in themselves. People who are HUNGRY go to seminars and workshops. People who are HUNGRY are always seeking higher ground.
PEOPLE WHO ARE HUNGRY ARE PERSISTENT.” So I told him, louder and prouder, “Sir, I want to be a disc jockey!” He said, “Good! Here is what you are going to do…” He told me to read 10 to 15 pages of something positive every day because you don’t get in life what you want; you get in life what you are. You must program yourself to success. He said: “I want you to listen to Earl Nightingale and Zig Ziglar. Listen… faith comes by hearing and hearing and hearing. I want
you to change your relationships and I don’t ever want you to lose your hunger.” And there was that word again: HUNGRY. People who are HUNGRY are unstoppable. People who are HUNGRY are ‘no matter what’ people. They make it happen… no… matter… what. I was a smart enough young man to listen to my elders. I listened hard to Mr. Washington that day. I started to listen to Paul Harvey every day on the radio. I was working to develop myself, and I continued to listen to motivational messages. Mr. Washington took me to see the late Dr. Norman Vicent Peale who wrote the book The Power of Positive Thinking. I still remember Dr. Peale’s words: “You! You have something special. You have greatness within you! Don’t allow your circumstances to determine who you are. Don’t allow your negative thoughts to hold you back. You could do more than you ever began to imagine.” Dr. Peale was an incredible
man and I admired him greatly. When he spoke, it gave me goosebumps. I could feel them in my heart. After that talk, as Mr. Washington and I were coming back to the school, Mr. Washington asked me a rather peculiar question. “Mr. Brown...” he began in that thoughtful way of his. “Yes, sir?” “When Dr. Peale spoke, you didn't move. While he spoke, we didn't have to tell you to sit down and be quiet. Why?” I thought about it for a moment, letting the echo of Dr. Peale’s words resonate inside me. I could feel the man’s
presence in the air around me even now, after the talk was over. “Sir, I could feel him when he talked. I felt like he was talking to me, sir.” Mr. Washington smiled at that and told me, “He was!” “But he doesn't know me!” How could Dr. Peale have been talking to me? Who was I to deserve that sort of attention from such a great man? “But he was speaking to you,” Mr. Washington replied. “Did you feel him in your heart?” I nodded. “Yes, sir.” “Most people feel him in their head. If you felt him in your heart… listen to him, son. Follow
him. Learn from him.” And I did. I would go to seminars and workshops… anywhere I found out Dr. Peale would be, I made sure I was in the audience. I’d drive 200 miles… 300 miles… just to hear him speak. My dream — my vision — was to share the stage with him. I thought about it constantly. I wanted it so badly I could taste it. I was HUNGRY for it! Before I tell you what happened next, I want to know… What is your goal? What is your vision? I want you to hold it in mind. There is some power in that vision. You know it. I know it. 11