This is a really great interview with James Arthur Ray. He hits on all of the major points that a person should address when trying to better one more aspects of their life. James lays out five steps to help anyone get started on the road to changing something (or things) in their life.

1. Find Inspiration
2. Specify Intentions
3. Maintain Attention
4. Be Grateful
5. Be Enthusiastic

At first glance this list looks a bit vague, but taken in context with what James says during the interview these steps are very powerful. These steps are not a magic potion that will cure all of your ailments, but they are a great set of tools to help keep you in alignment with the vision that you set for yourself.

If you are not aware of who Stephen Hawking is, here is a quick introduction. Stephen Hawking is a leader in cosmology and universal law, performing pivotal work regarding the Big Bang Theory, Black Holes, and the unification of the Theory of Relativity with Quantum Theory. Now if all of this is just scientific mumbo jumbo to you, that is fine. The main take away is that Stephen Hawking has performed integral work shedding light on the basic laws that govern our universe.

To most people that is impressive in and of itself, which it really is. But, what is even more impressive is that he accomplished all of this after being diagnosed, at age 21 while he was still at university studying, with ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), aka Lou Gehrig’s disease, which is an incurable disease that attacks the motor neurons in the brain that control voluntary muscular function, rendering the muscles useless over time.

In light of this happening, Professor Hawking has gone on to live a fully functional life, not only having three kids and a grandchild, he has also become one of the greatest contributors to the scientific community in the twentieth century. Although, currently, he is confined to his wheelchair and cannot speak without the aid of vocalization software or move any of his arms or legs, Professor Hawking continues to contribute as one of the brightest minds of our time and does not let anything stop him from enjoying life.

The next time life gets tough for you, just remember Professor Hawking’s story and the mindset altering moment he had when he was in the hospital sharing a room with a little boy dying of Leukemia. Professor Hawking made a choice, that choice was to stop feeling sorry for himself and to make the best of life, not to let life get the best of him.

Below is a video of Professor Hawking experiencing a zero gravity flight.

Christopher Gardner, played by Will Smith, dispatches some very wise advice to his son. Christopher takes his own advice and completely changes his life, going from one extreme to the another. This short clip, is something that will serve me well for a lifetime. If you have not see the movie, “The Pursuit of Happiness”, it would definitely be worth your time.

We have all been guilty of it from time to time. It is said that within the first few seconds of meeting someone we have already sized them up and made up our mind about them. Paul, a pretty normal looking guy that works as a cell phone salesman shows us exactly why we should take a bit more time than a few seconds before passing judgment on someone.

Nick Vujicic is a truly inspiring person. There are many people that have overcome many obstacles, but few have overcome obstacles like this. Take 5 minutes to watch this as it is truly worth it, especially if you think you are going through a particularly rough patch right now.