Find Your Heart's Desire and Realize Your Potential

　　One of the most wonderful and exciting facts about your life is that you already know a lot of the things you need to know to become the person you want to be. You have your "heant's desire" deep inside of you. There's something that you were put on this earth uniquely to accomplish. There's something that you, and only you, can do. And when you find your heart's desire, you'll have the key to unlocking your potential inevery other part of your life. You'll have the key to happiness, satisfaction, fulfillment and the joy that's your natural birthright.

　　Take Some Time to Determine Your Ideal Lifestyle

　　Take some time to determine the kind of person you'd like to be, and the kind of person you'd have to become in order to live the kind of life that you'd like to live. Remember, you can't accomplish it on the outside until you become it on the inside.

　　To unlock your inner potential, you must set very clear, challenging and,yet, realistic goals and then make plans to accomplish them. You need to work,step-by-step, every day, in the direction of your dominant aspirations. You need to develop an unshakable level of self-confidence that makes you virtually unstoppable.

　　Momentum Is the Key to Long-Term Success

　　The momentum theory of success simply says that while it may take lO units of energy to get you moving in a particular direction, it takes only one unit of energy to keep you moving once you're in motion. You have the principle of momentum working in your favor.

　　How do you use the momentum principle in your life? Well,it's simple.

　　Let's say that your goal is to become financially independent. To do this,you have to pay off all of your existing debts and build up a cash reserve of three to six months of living expenses. When you reach that point, your entire personality will change. You'll be more clearheaded, you'll be more positive,you'll be more determined, you'll be more optimistic, you'll be a finer and better human being when you absolutely know that you're not dependent upon anyone for your living expenses. You'll be able to choose the job you want to do and go to the places you want to go. You won't have to tolerate any situation that you do not enjoy or that you feel isn't the best use of your personal potential.

　　If you simultaneously work on strengthening your self-discipline and using it to achieve the goal of financial independence, you'll become a better, stronger and more powerful human being. You'll cast off the bonds of helplessness and begin to feel that there's nothing in the world that you can't do or be or have.

　　When you set clear goals or objectives for yourself, when you dream big dreams and then determine to become the kind of person who's capable of achieving the kind of goals that you want to achieve, you convince yourself, at a deep, subconscious level, that you're absolutely unstoppable. You realize at last that nothing in the world can hold you back except your own thinking,and you don't even let your own thinking limit your potential.

　　What Beliefs Might You Have that Are Holding You Back?

　　Each one of us has feelings of inferiority that are manifested in the conclusion that we are not good enough. We think that we are not as good as other people, and we feel that we are not good enough to acquire and enjoy the things that we want in life. Very often, we feel that we don't deserve good things. Even if we do work hard and achieve some worthwhile objectives. we believe that we are not really entitled to our successes, and we often engage in behaviors that sabotage our successes.

　　The fact is that you deserve every good thing that you are capable of acquiring as the result of the application of your talents. The only real limitation on what you can be and have is your absence of desire. Ifyou want something badly enough, nothing in the world can stop you from getting it. if you are willing to persist long enough and hard enough. Over and over. we find that our beliefs, more than anything else, actas the brakes on our capacities. We have high hopes and dreams and aspirations, but we let doubts creep inand undermine our competence and effectiveness.

　　The most harmful beliefs that you can have are what we call "self-limiting beliefs." These are beliefs about yourself, most of which are not true;but they hold you back nonetheless. Sometimes you, or others, willsay that you cannot achieve certain goals because you did not get enough education. Somertimes you will say that it is because of your gender or race or age or the state of the economy.

　　The starting point to change your beliefs is to get up the courage to question them seriously. Question your basic premises. Check your assumptions. Ask yourself, "What assumptions am I making about myself or my situation that might not be true?"

　　It's a fact that we fall in love with our excuses and our assumptions. We fall in love with our reasons for not moving ahead. Even if someone comes along and challenges those reasons, even if someone tells you that you have the capacity to accomplish marvelous things, you will argue with him. If someone tells you that you can do far better than you're doing right now, you will come up with reasons to dispute this person's greater belief in your potential.

　　Believing in Yourself

　　Your beliefs about reality are based on a thousand influences, many of which began even before you were aware of what was going on. You have beliefs that are deep and beliefs that are shallow. Deep beliefs, with regard to your religion or your political party or your family, or especially yourself, are very hand to change. Shallow beliefs are easily changed. And many of your beliefs are in fact very shallow. They have nosubstance to them whatsoever. If you challenge them hard enough. you'll find that they are made of tissue paper.They'll simply blow away.

　　You can always tell what your true values and beliefs are by looking at your actions. It isntt what you say or wish or hope or intend that demonstrates what you really believe. It's only what you do. It's only the behaviors that you engage in. It's only the actions that you choose to undertake. Your values and beliefs are always expressed in your actions and behaviors.

　　Once you've ciearly decided on the person you would like to become. you are on the path toward developing new beliefs. You then discipline yourself each day to behave exactly as you would if you were already thatperson.

　　That simple technique. the "act as if" technique, is extraordinarily powerful.The more you act like the person you want to be, the more consistent your attitude will be with that person's. Your attitude will havethe back-flow effect of affecting your expectations. Positive expectations will have the back-flow effect of building beliefs that are consistent with them. And your beliefs will exert an influence on your values.

　　People succeed not because they have remarkable characteristics or qualities.The most successful people are quite ordinary, just like you and me. Most of us start off poor and confused. We spend many years getting some sort of direction in our lives. But the turning point comes when we begin to believe that we have within us that divine spark that can lead us onward and upward to the accomplishment of anything that we really want in life.

　　1.The key to happiness. satisfaction,fulfillment and joy is______________.

　　A) having self-confidence

　　B) finding your own desire

　　C) enjoying every day in life

　　D) being devoted to your work

　　2.An unshakable level of self-confidence enables you to___________________.

　　A) make gradual progress

　　B) unlock your inner potential

　　C) set challenging but realistic goals

　　D) make plans to accomplish your goals

　　3.To be financially independent, one should________________.

　　A) use and invest money wisely

　　B) find a job right after graduation

　　C) move away from parents' home

　　D) pay off debts and have savings

　　4.Once you set clear objectives for yourself, the only thing that can prevent you from going forward is________________.

　　A) your own thinking

　　B) your shortcomings

　　C) your own financial situation

　　D) the pressure from your family

　　5.When we feel that we don't deserve good things, we are being influenced by the feelings of_________.

　　A) guilt

　　B) modesty

　　C) inferiority

　　D) pessimism

　　6.One's self-limiting beliefs would make him_____________________.

　　A) overestimate his own abilities

　　B) tend to find fault with others

　　C) find excuses for his failure to achieve goals

　　D) attribute his failure to his state of economy

　　7.If you want to change your self-limiting beliefs, you should start with________________.

　　A) challenging those beliefs

　　B) enriching your experiences

　　C) evaluating your situation

　　D) setting up a practical schedule

　　8.Beliefs about one's religion and family, which are hard to change, are regarded as________________.

　　9.By looking at your actions and behaviors, people get to understand your______________.

　　10.The"act as if" technique can not only shape your attitude, but also affect your_______________.

　　答案：

　　1.[B][定位]根据题干中的happiness，satisfaction，fulfillment and joy查找到首段后两句。

　　解析：首段后两句重复了you'll have the key to...这个结构，表明末句也与倒数第2句开头的when you find your heart's desire构成条件-结果的关系，选项B就是when引出的从句表述的内容，故为本题答案。

　　2.[B][定位]根据题干中的unshakable，self-confidence等查找到第1个小标题Take Some Time to Determine Your Ideal Lifestyle部分的第2段后一句。

　　解析：原文该段开头To...表明unlock your potential是一个目的，而首句的you must...和其他句子的You need to...都是达成这个目的的方式，本题题干的主语部分是该段末句提到的内容，也与unlock your potential构成方式-目的关系，由此可见，本题应选B。

　　3.[D][定位]根据题干中的financially independent查找到第2个小标题Momentum Is the Key to Long-Term Suecess部分的第3段开头两句。

　　解析：原文该段第2句开头的To do this表明该句接下来的内容说明了做到“经济独立”的方法，选项D是对此内容的近义替代，故为本题答案。

　　4.[A][定位]根据题干中的objectives, only thing，prevent...going等查找到第2个小标题Momentum Is the Key to Long-Term Success部分的末段末句。

　　解析：要解答本题，主要是要注意题干中的prevent you from going forwards与原文该段末句中的hold you back同义，定位后即可确定本题应选A。

　　5.[C][定位]根据题干中的deserve good things，feelings等查找到第3个小标题What Beliefs Might You Have that Are Holding You Back?部分的首段第1句和第3句。

　　解析：原文该段第1句首先提到了the feelings of inferiority，该段其他句子都是“自卑感”的具体表现，其中第3句提到了题干中的don't deserve good things，这也是“自卑感”的表现之一，由此可见，本题应选“自卑感”，即选项C。

　　6.[C][定位]根据题干中的self-limiting beliefs与查找到第3个小标题What Beliefs Might You Have that Are Holding You Back?部分的第3段。

　　解析：该段提到自我限制的想法会使人们止步不前，因为人们会寻找各种理由来证实自己无法达成目标。C与原文表达的意思相同，A与原文意思相反，B文中未提及，D是利用文中的the state of the economy设置的干扰项。

　　7.[A]定位]根据题干中的change，self-limiting beliefs，start with等查找到第3个小标题What Beliefs Might You Have that Are Holding You Back?部分的第4段第1句。

　　解析：本题题干是对原文该句主语的同义改写，该句表明要改变你的想法，首先要做的就是question them(质疑这些想法)，选项A与question them同义，故为本题答案。

　　8.[deep beliefs]

　　[定位]根据题干中的religion and family等查找到第4个小标题Believing in Yourself部分的首段第3句。

　　解析：空白处应为名词成分。原文该句是对deep beliefs的说明，并举例指出有关宗教、政党、家庭方面的观念统属于deep beliefs，故此空应填deep beliefs。

　　9.[values and beliefs]

　　[定位]根据题干中actions and behaviors，understand等查找到第4个小标题Believing in Yourself部分的第2段。

　　解析：空白处应为名词成分。原文该段首句和末句都是总结性语句，表明通过观察言行，就可知道一个人的价值观和信仰，因此values and beliefs为本题答案。

　　10.[expectations,beliefs and values]

　　[定位]根据题干中的“act as if”technique查找到第4个小标题Believing in Yourself部分的第4段。

　　解析：空白处应为名词成分。该段表明，the“act as if”technique产生的影响是连锁的，而该段后三句里均有与affect同义的词：affecting，effect，influence，表明这个technique对这3句中提到的expectations，beliefs和values都会产生影响。