I’m doing my best to keep to the commitment I made to blog every Friday and so far, so good. It helps that I am always getting contacted about Levi Johnston all the time. That keeps me fielding emails from all types of media outlets from USA Today to TMZ. At this moment, I am sitting down at my computer watching my forex charts. I have been looking for a good trade to end the week on. As I was doing that, a thought hit me and I wanted to share.

I have been trading for years now. In order to be successful, I have software that I study charts from. I practice (paper trade) to learn these charts and how they operate as best I can. I track the progress in my practices and then when I trade live (the real game), I look for setups that I have taken in my practice sessions. When I see those setups, I am supposed to trade them every time, or else it messes up my averages and my trading plan.

I saw a trade setup this morning that fit my criteria…and…I didn’t take it… It was like, I was up to bat, the pitcher threw me a strike down the middle and I didn’t swing.

There have been many great sports analogies given by authors and philosophers for a while now. The fact of the matter is that you really do miss 100% of the pitches that you don’t swing at. Pitches in baseball and opportunities in life are synonymous. I had an opportunity to have a positive trade. The trade actually worked out just as I thought it would have. But, I let the fear of being wrong, the embarrassment of a swing and a miss make me pass on the pitch, so opportunity missed…strike!

Fear has gripped the entire world! We have a tendency to think about past failures rather than past successes. We magnify the significance of the failure as a pattern and downplay the successes, attributing it to luck or something else. In other words we are more prone to program ourselves to look for ways to fail, more likely to wait for what we perceive as that perfect pitch coming down the middle of the strike zone rather than actively looking for ways to be a success, of getting up to bat and swinging at any pitch that’s in the “strike zone.”

Pitchers have many different types of pitches, just as life has many different types of opportunities. Life really is one big game of something. Those who succeed are those who practice diligently and visualize their success in the game, so when the game presents them with a hittable pitch, they swing. They know that practice and preparation are on their side. They know that in order to be a successful hitter, they have to get up there and swing.

Sure, they may miss. Sure, they may go into a slump. Even the best hitters get into slumps from time to time. That’s when they really begin to trust their practice sessions, trust their fundamentals and keep swinging.

I for one can no longer afford to let good pitches go by. It’s ok if I strike out. Some of the best hitters in baseball have high strike out rates. As a matter of fact, good hitters are successful only about 30% of the time they get up to bat. That 30% is good enough for millions of dollars and a shot at the hall of fame. Now, imagine if the great hitters of the game got up to the plate and just stood there?

Ask yourself, “Am I just standing there?” “What am I practicing for, success or failure?” “How can I get in the game?” This just “hit me,” so I wanted to share. Have a great weekend. Tank Jones aka Mr. Tankism

S.elf
E.xamination
T.ime-to
B.etter
A.nalyze-and
C.ourse
K.orrect

Have a wonderful weekend.

Just For Today: I will wake up with a smile on my face. I will treat others the way they would like to be treated. I will be the best person that I know that I can be this day, this right now.

Just for today: I will do everything in my power to bring the vision for my life as seen through my mind into physical reality. I will not procrastinate but will attempt to live every moment to its fullest.

Just for today: I will make sure that my loved ones know that I love them.

Just for today: I will focus my energy on making this the greatest today, the greatest now ever. I will create, not worry. I will leave tomorrow to “tomorrow” for it is not promised. I will leave yesterday behind, for no matter how much I want to, I do not yet know how to “bring it back.” Therefore, it does me no good to dwell on what I did “wrong” yesterday since it will not change.

I will have a great attitude.
I will act on my high priorities.
I will treat my body with respect and feed it right.
I will love my family and others.
I will have control of my thoughts.
I will have the faith of a mustard seed.

Just for today…

I know, I know it’s been a while. Well, I received a message from a friend a little while ago telling me that I had helped them. They told me to get back to writing my “Tankisms.”

Admittedly, I had gotten a little down on the whole web friend interaction thing. I would read people’s posts, status, etc. and many times come away shaking my head at some of the gossip, quick opinions, threats, etc.

I like to think of myself as an optimist and those are the types of things that you can find yourself dwelling on; I did not want to dwell on those things. So, I left…then I read her post.

I have this website and I think I need to start using it. People come here and are probably disappointed to see that I haven’t been updating the content. I could almost take it upon myself to say that I have been letting some of you down by now keeping this fresh.

Well, it’s Friday and I am going to do my absolute best to begin again. Everyone gets another chance, right? Give me a mulligan. I am going to have to do my speaking from here since I know the other outlets will not change.

I must keep a clear head and stay focused. Maybe I’ll vent sometimes. Maybe I’ll post a beautiful picture. Maybe I’ll write a word of encouragement. Maybe… we’ll see. But, most importantly, maybe I will actually stay in touch this time. Have a great weekend all.

I was reminded this weekend, the right attitude in any situation is EVERYTHING. Whatever attitude we express most often in any situation, the more situations we are given to express that attitude in.

So, if you’re happy, excited, loved and blessed most of the time, more situations will be given to you to express those emotions.

But if you are sad, frustrated, angry and defeated all the time…

It was a great reminder for me. Maybe it’ll help someone you know. Have a wonderful 2nd quarter!

My name is GOD. G to the O-D,
Even now some of y’all wanna envy.
I guess when it all begin, you could call me,
CEO of the H-E-V oh!

My word says, That if you “got,” I give mo’ things,
But if you don’t, then “he” take away everything.

Now, some of y’all continue to misquote me,
And, quite frankly that is getting kinda tiring.
To live ya life, I’m the one to be admiring,
Time is short, never know when you’re expiring.

Let me explain, for the failure mentalities,
No confidence having, hating heart monstrosities…

No self-control, frustrated with ya life, G?
“He” gon’ keep giving this to you until you turn to me!

If you’re successful, confident, in control,
Pocket swole from the over-sized bankroll.
I can multiply that about a hundred fold,
And give you mo’ and mo’ until the cup overflow.

So, don’t doubt me, mustard seed faith be,
What you need and after that come the blessings.
I know you tend to think I like to keep you guessing,
My love is real, and of that, there’s no questioning…

GOD

“Don’t be afraid of a little opposition. Remember that the ‘Kite’ of success generally rises AGAINST the wind of Adversity – not with it!” – Unknown

I have believed many things in life. One thing that is true beyond any argument: Life is change. And since life is change and we live life, we live “change.” Marinate on that one for a minute…

People don’t like change, they like stability. I argue that you cannot have one without the other. To fight change is to fight life. People don’t like change because it is unknown and the unknown can be scary.

The easiest way to deal with change is to learn to adapt and to adapt is to be flexible. In exercise, flexibility is a sign of health. So, since the mind-body connection has been proven wouldn’t it make sense to be flexible of mind? That should bring about good mental health shouldn’t it? It should.

So, life is change. To fight change is to fight life. Live life instead. See the change, be flexible (healthy) and adapt. Have a great week.

“Every failure is a blessing in disguise, providing it teaches some needed lesson one could not have learned without it. Most so-called Failures are only temporary defeats.” – Napoleon Hill

Happy Tuesday I’m getting back in the blog groove. Got my schedule in front of me and I won’t let you all down. Thanks for reading, thanks for the birthday wishes and thank you just for the sake of thanks.

I am tired! OK, I know the title said, The Definition of Success but I am tired! I just got home. I had to go get some more food for my diet, I have ice on my left knee, watching a repeat episode of CSI: Miami while trying to avoid taking a nap; I’m tired and sore.

I started a new workout and it’s only day 2. I’m in really good shape if I do say so myself. But, I did spend the last 2,3 weeks getting out of shape so I could try a new program and see how it works. If it works, I will recommend it to you all.

I haven’t blogged for a week because I’ve also been mentally drained. Having 2009 end the way that it did, with great bookings, I hoped that it would continue right away into the new year. So far, 2010 has been slow moving.

I know that things will begin to pick up soon. I have had a couple close calls already but the dice haven’t rolled my way quite yet. They will.

That brings me to my Success Definition. Actually, it’s Napoleon Hill’s definition but it works for me:

SUCCESS: very largely a matter of adjusting one’s self to the ever-varying and changing environments of life, in a spirit of harmony and poise.

That’s quite a definition. How many of us match up?

“No man has a chance to enjoy permanent success until he begins to look in a mirror for the real cause of all his mistakes.” – Napoleon Hill