The Official Website of Michael Corthell

by Michael Corthell ''I've trained myself to illuminate the things in my personality that are likable  and to hide and protect the things that are less likable.'' —Will Smith, American actor Many people believe that being likable and therefore popular comes from natural ability only—unteachable traits that belong only to the fortunate—the beautiful people, the outgoing social type, and those that are highly talented. Not true at all. It helps to have great natural social skills and unique well honed talents, but in reality, being likable is mostly under your control, and it's about having a positive mindset. Below are some of the key behaviors that positive thinkers practice that make them likable and popular with their peers and others: Likable People Ask Questions. When you are in a conversation with someone, ask question and then truly LISTEN. Don't think about what to say next. It is a common mistake. Just slow down and LIS...

“Don't Gain The World & Lose Your Soul, Wisdom Is Better Than Silver Or Gold.” ― Bob Marley Money is a tool. Use all tools wisely by following all safety precautions. “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.” ― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

by Michael Corthell Are you 'money conscious'? Do you appreciate the abundance of this world. Do you know in your heart that there is enough to go around? Do you have a white hot, burning desire to attain riches and be wealthy beyond your dreams? Good, then can become a very wealth person. If you are not money conscious you will have a difficult time getting much beyond your basic needs. Most people go through their lives with a negative money mindset meaning we think about the scarcity of money rather than the abundance of money. We have been brought up to believe certain derogatory things about money, which in turn, prevents us from attracting abundance into our lives. Repeating worn phrases and idioms such as 'The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.', 'Another day, another dollar', 'more money, more problems', all have a net negative effect and only hold a person back from attracting riches. Let's look at how, step by...

“When you are in a fix, often the fix is in you.” ― Ashok Kallarakkal Any negative situation requires that we focus on what we can do right now, not what we can't do right now. “If you wanna stay Positive, Healthy and undistracted, then leave the association of negative minded people because that's what they breathe out and you don't wanna fill your lungs with that kind of filthy air.” ― Indy Bissessur

by Michael Corthell You have your positive mindset, and things have been going pretty well, but then things 'seemingly' start to take a turn for the negative. We've all experienced day when it seems that there's nothing but problem after problem. Days like these threaten our strong, positive mindsets and may, if not dealt with immediately, stop us from moving forward. We may even tell ourselves that we should have seen it coming. Maybe we did see it coming, but didn't want to believe it. This can cause guilt. What do we do? The first thing is we accept these negatives as inevitable and don't panic. Then, we get back to basics. Understand: Everything happens for a reason and is temporary. Happiness in life is dependent on your approach to life, not what happens to you. That there are things that are going right in your life. You have people that have your back, 100%. And know what y...

“There is nothing in the record of the past two years when both Houses of Congress have been controlled by the Republican Party which can lead any person to believe that those promises will be fulfilled in the future. They follow the Hitler line - no matter how big the lie; repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as truth.” ― John F. Kennedy About 30% of the American electorate are free to do exactly what they are told. “You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man by logic.” ― Robert A. Heinlein, Revolt in 2100/Methuselah's Children

“The mind has a powerful way of attracting things that are in harmony with it, good and bad.” ― Idowu Koyenikan The Universe's power can seldom deny the demands(positive or negative) of a believing spirit. The truth is, the Universe has been responding to your thoughts your entire life. “An educated man is not, necessarily, one who has an abundance of general or specialized knowledge. An educated man is one who has so developed the faculties of his mind that he may acquire anything he wants, or its equivalent, without violating the rights of others.” ― Napolean Hill, Think and Grow Rich

“He who fears he shall suffer, already suffers what he fears.”― Michel de Montaigne, The Complete Essays Watching a loved one suffer can teach more than suffering yourself can. “There is no beauty in sadness. No honor in suffering. No growth in fear. No relief in hate. It’s just a waste of perfectly good happiness.” ― Katerina Stoykova Klemer

by Michael Corthell What we are looking at in this article is theodicy .  Theodicy in its most accepted form, is an attempt to answer the question of why a loving God permits the manifestation of evil in the world. The short answer is theological; to teach lessons. The long answer is human. It is philosophical, convoluted and even seemingly incoherent. ''Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.'' — Helen Keller The atheist argues that if God exists, then theodicy is just scattered and incoherent and that the amount of suffering seems to be much greater than that is needed to do the job of being the contrast to goodness. And, it should follow that the more suffering there is, the more good there would be in proportion, but this is a normal for a non-believer having no Faith...

MORE: Increase smiling, lessen the worrying. More compassion, practice less judgment. More blessed, be less stressed. Having more love, lessens hate. “Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations No amount of regretting can change the past, and no amount of worrying can change the future.

“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.” ― Markus Herz A sign of good overall health is that a person doesn't get unraveled by fear. They take fear as a message that it's time to stop struggling and look directly at what's threatening them....and do something about it. “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” ― Hippocrates

“Healthy striving is self-focused: "How can I improve?" Perfectionism is other-focused:  "What will they think?” ― Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection To be well learned, you've got to be willing to be a fool. “When things are perfect, that's when you need to worry most.” ― Drew Barrymore

by Michael Corthell There are two basic types of perfectionists; Adaptive and Maladaptive . Adaptive types are considered 'normal'. Researchers have found that both adaptive and maladaptive perfectionists have high personal standards, but failing to meet those standards is more stressful for the maladaptive than for the adaptive or normal folks. STRESS is the key word. Stress is not healthy for the body, mind or soul — so lets do something about it.  ''Perfectionism becomes a badge of honor with you playing the part of the suffering hero.'' — David D. Burns Being a perfectionist can: Make you have low self esteem. A perfectionist has low self esteem because he can’t accept himself as he really is – imperfect. Make you depressed and unhappy.  No one can be happy if they can't accept life on life's terms. Constantly trying to make everything perfect, which is impossible, they will fall into depression. Happi...

The ''The aim of positive psychology is to catalyze a change in psychology from a preoccupation only with repairing the worst things in life to also building the best qualities in life.'' — Martin Seligman The good news is, bad things don’t affect us as profoundly as we expect them to. If positive psychology teaches us anything, it is that all of us are a mixture of strengths and weaknesses. No one has it all, and no one lacks it all. — Christopher Peterson

“The existence of a prime mover- nothing can move itself;  there must be a first mover. The first mover is called God.” ― Thomas Aquinas St. Imagination is everything. It creates the future. “Zeus, first cause, prime mover; for what thing without Zeus is done among mortals?” ― Aeschylus, Agamemnon

“Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.” ― Oscar Wilde If you have the will, making money isn't all that difficult... What's hard is to earn it by doing something worthwhile that you enjoy. “If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.” ― Dorothy Parker

''Emotional immaturity is searching for love outside you.  Emotional maturity comes from realizing you are the source of love.'' ― Collette O'Mahony When we develop the willingness to forgive, we are spiritually and emotionally mature. ''Maturity is achieved when a person postpones immediate pleasures for long-term values.'' Joshua L. Liebman

by Michael Corthell Positive personality development leading to emotional maturity is acquired in two ways: by adjustment and by growth through experience. They may seem similar but there are differences. ''Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely.'' ― Roy T. Bennett Adjustment is the type of positive personality development that lets us to operate effectively within our culture and society. The ability to make adjustments contributes to our lives running evenly and therefore smoothly. Adjusting to live also contributes to our personal wellbeing, life success, and even our longevity. As we age, we become more adjusted to the tasks and challenges of life through and by experience. For example, we may give up unrealistic goals, scale back certain ex...

“Sometimes human places, create inhuman monsters.” ― Stephen King, The Shining Monsters don’t get happy endings.” “The monsters were never under my bed. Because the monsters were inside my head. I fear no monsters, for no monsters I see. Because all this time the monster has been me.” ― Nikita Gill

Former President Trump shares 50 traits with Rev. Jim Jones and other cult leaders.  Have a look . by Michael Corthell In the Fall of 1978 more than 900 people committed mass suicide. They all belonged to a cult headed by Pastor Jim Jones. They killed themselves because one, drug addicted man told them to.  In the media they were referred to as being part of the “Jonestown cult”. The most telling aspect of the Jonestown cult was the total control Jones exerted on what his follower thought, or believed. As documented in the book, The Suicide Cult , extreme punishments were meted out to anyone who defected even in the slightest way – including expressing the slightest doubt in “Pastor Jones” (who was often called “Father Jones”). My purpose in writing this article is not to accuse any group. It is only to warn you. God often has used sheep as a symbol for groups of people. There is a reason for that. We can we easily led. We look ...

“In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.”  ― Toni Morrison Your happiness cannot be purchased by another race's misery. “Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn't matter which color does the hating. It's just plain wrong.” ― Muhammad Ali

“You are what you eat. What would YOU like to be?” ― Julie Murphy Life for many is a tragedy of nutrition. “Any food that requires enhancing by the use of chemical substances should in no way be considered a food.” ― John H. Tobe

  This reality is a social disease, for people to actually gain off the misery of others and cause the destruction of our environment is obscene. Efficiency, abundance and sustainability are enemies of our current economic systems, because they are the inverse of the mechanics required to perpetuate consumption[Capitalism]. All the human misery of poverty, crime, wars and most pandemics are products of the creation, perpetuation and preservation of artificial scarcity and inefficiency. A Resource-Based Economy is nothing like any other system. They say “It’s a form of communism.” No, it’s not! Communism has warships, airplanes, bombers, poison gas, nerve gas…and all the things we have [today]. It’s nothing like any other ‘…ism’. It’s different than any culture ever tried before. ―  Jacque Fresco, The Venus Project

“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Success means that we used our talents and abilities to serve others. “Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

Talent: natural aptitude or skill: flair, aptitude, facility, gift, knack: "he possesses more talent than any other player.'' by MIchael Corthell Our talents are a natural abilities or capacities to do something, they may range from the creative arts to our athletic ability to hit a baseball out of the park. We all have abilities, but we don't always know what they are. Sometimes they are right in front of us, but we still miss them. ''Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.'' — John Wooden When we determine what our hidden talents are, we can then tap into a valuable resource which will help us in every aspect of our lives, including making a living. How can we discover what we're good at then and develop that talent? It's easier than you think... Listen to what others say about you. If you listen, that is pay attention, peo...