The Matthew Byers Method

“Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.”   -         M. Scott Peck       Until you realize your own value, you will likely never be thankful for the moment in which you find yourself. The present is all that truly exists. In linear time, the moment referred to as the present is simply the bubble of time surrounding the universe as the future is being constantly converted into the past. When you realize your potential and come to an understanding that today will never come again, your view on how you manage your time will change forever. Your life’s mission can only be achieved by you. To live a purpose driven life is one of the most fulfilling experiences a person can ever hope to achieve. Purpose gives your life meaning. When your days have meaning, then your time becomes precious to you. When you realize just how precious every moment is, then you will become increasingly thankful for each minute of the day

“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.”   -         Albert Schweitzer       Being thankful for the important people in our lives is critical to maintaining current associations. Equally as vital, expressing thankfulness and gratitude when meeting new people becomes a great asset for anyone who hopes to expand their network of possible future associations. Such a prevailing attitude of positivity projects benevolence and altruistic intentions when engaging potential friends, acquaintances and business partners. Thankfulness goes beyond simply being polite and courteous. The main difference between thankfulness and gratitude is that the word “thankful” implies that the recipient has communicated their gratefulness to their benefactor. One may simply express being grateful by smiling or appearing happy for a kind g

  “All streams flow to the sea because it is lower than they are. Humility gives it its power.”   -         Lau Tzu Have you ever witnessed someone attempting to rescue a drowning victim from the ocean? Occasionally, the rescuer is the one who ends up drowning. Aquatic professionals are trained to either extend a solid object, like an oar, to the drowning person or throw the person an object that floats or is buoyant in some way. Only as a last resort is the rescuer to go into the water to save a conscious victim. The reason being, it is the natural response of someone drowning to latch onto anything within their grasp to push themselves up to the surface for another breath of air. Due to this struggle for survival, adrenaline and external forces like riptides, the victim survives and it is occasionally the rescuer who drowns.           There are times in our lives where the circumstances we are going through feel as though we must rescue our livelihood from disaster.

“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”   -         Eckhart Tolle           By embracing minimalism, we actually reinvent our lives to reflect the items, belongings and values for which we are most thankful. Thankfulness is about valuing our possessions and expressing gratitude for those things in our lives which we currently have. In minimalism, we highlight those things that we value most by getting rid of all the things that we value the least. Whenever we choose to live simpler lives, we find ourselves less likely to complain, more likely to be thankful and overflowing with the joy of recognizing the value of what we already possess.     Thankfulness does not come naturally to most people. Our brains are wired to focus on the negative. Think about it, I’ll bet out of the five most vivid memories you have, I would wager at least three of them were either negative experiences or traumatic events. Our minds

“We are in a wrong state of mind if we are not in a thankful state of mind.”   -         Charles Spurgeon         Thankfulness is an important practice to master. We all must continue to “practice” thankfulness because of the imperfect world in which we live. This foundation of thankfulness must be “practiced” because no one alive can claim to be thankful 100% of the time, nor should you deride yourself for failing to achieve such a feat. No matter how positive, upbeat or thankful we may think we are, there will always be instances which cause us to doubt how we could possibly respond in a positive manner to such tragic situations. Whether a loved one passes away, we suddenly lose our ability to generate income or we get into a car accident, there are some situations which are exceedingly difficult to find the silver lining. The dark clouds of negative circumstances that occasionally present challenges to our optimism should be viewed as opportunities to practice thankful

  “ But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one .”   - 1 Corinthians 5:11 (ESV)       How do the people you associate with affect your salvation walk with Christ? Each person you spend a significant amount of time with has an influence on your behaviors, attitudes and tolerances for sin in your own life. By associating with those who behave unseemly, yet claim to be followers of Christ results in an atmosphere within your circle that promotes hypocrisy, acceptance of sin and destroys your Christian testimony and reputation. Such behavior eventually results in you lowering the bar of your own standards towards living a holy, separate life for our Lord and savior. It begins with an innocent night out at the bar. You have gone out on a Thursday or Friday night many times before and have always woken up early