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You know, what are you saying to yourself? There's always something going on in there. Do you make positive statements about yourself to yourself or are you beating yourself up with your own words?

"Know thyself" is a statement that comes to mind. Know what it's going to take to get and keep you moving onward and upward.

You know one of the most telling things about Jesus was that he knew he had to keep himself motivated and ready at any instant to do miracles. He knew that his 'coach' might call on him at any given moment to pull the team out of the fire. He knew that he couldn't afford not to be up and ready mentally to take on and over come whatever challenge was laid out before him.

One of the ways he did this was by hearing himself talk positively about himself. Sometimes with all that goes on your own voice may be the only "friendly" voice you hear. This being the case you'd better make sure it's uplifting and not helping the other voices tear you down.

Never in a bragging way of course, but do you realize that in all of the statements Jesus made about himself he never once spoke in negative terms. Not once. He never even one time hinted that he might be out matched. Jesus' competition knew that they were facing a supremely confident opponent because he made sure of it. He was bold about it. He put it right out there for them to see and hear.

Jesus was E.F. Hutton before E.F. Hutton was. When he said, "I am..." people listened. It didn't matter what the situation Jesus never forgot who he was. And he never let anyone else forget it either.

At this point you may be thinking "Well sure it was easy for Jesus to be confident and positive. Look at who his coach was." Yes, look at who his coach was. (Hey wait a minute, Isn't his coach... your coach?)

One of my simple joys is listening to world class athlete's talk about themselves. The Mohamed Ali's or Chris Everett's in their primes. These guys and girls know themselves. It doesn't come across to me as bragging when a Michael Jordan comes out and says after a tough game that he knows he had a pretty good game but he could have and should have played better. That's confidence.

That's knowing and holding yourself accountable to your own standards of performance. It always fascinates me how a champion athlete manages to remain positive in his self talk even after the scoreboard says he has just suffered his most crushing defeat. Or during the course of a game when the team is way down and nobody gives them any chance of coming back and winning the contest, and they do just that.

Why do you think that happens? Is it because they were lucky? Is it because the other team lets up or stops trying as hard? Both of these may be true to some extent but we all know that in order to receive the luck that's coming to us, we have to put ourselves in a position and state of mind to receive it.

As for the other team letting up, that's their problem. Part of being a true champion is finishing. The true champion athletes and people are better at the end of a tough match or day than they were at the beginning. They're finishers.

True champions, both athlete's and every day citizens only know one pace. All out. You never see them "coasting" no matter what the score. They never let up in the midst of doing whatever it is that they do. Whether it be throwing a baseball or being a parent.

True champions are the people that the average person looks at and remarks "man, don't you ever let up". The answer? No.

Helen Keller put it this way "One can never consent to creep when one feels the impulse to soar." Have you ever felt that impulse?

Self-motivation starts and ends with what you say and believe about you, to you. You're either your own best friend or your own worst enemy and only you really know.

Which is it with you?

Have you ever taken the time to really think about all of the things you are? Your list of "I AM's." You should do that sometime, you might be surprised at how incredibly awesome you are.

Thanks for your time and attention. Make this the best and most productive week ever in your history. I AM.

Live some. Love some. Learn some. Everyday.

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