With the countless negativities the world brings about, how do we keep motivated? Have a look at these tips, from A - Z:
A - Achieve your dreams. Avoid negative people, things and places. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
B - Believe in your self, and in what you can do.
C – Consider things on every angle and aspect. Motivation comes from determination. To be able to understand life, you should feel the sun from both sides.
D – Don’t give up and don’t give in. Thomas Edison failed once, twice, more than thrice before he came up with his invention and perfected the incandescent light bulb. Make motivation as your steering wheel.
E – Enjoy. Work as if you don’t need money. Dance as if nobody’s watching. Love as if you never cried. Learn as if you’ll live forever. Motivation takes place when people are happy.
F – Family and Friends – are life’s greatest ‘F’ treasures. Don’t loose sight of them.
G – Give more than what is enough. Where does motivation and self improvement take place at work? At home? At school? When you exert extra effort in doing things.
H – Hang on to your dreams. They may dangle in there for a moment, but these little stars will be your driving force.
I – Ignore those who try to destroy you. Don’t let other people to get the best of you. Stay out of toxic people – the kind of friends who hates to hear about your success.
J – Just be yourself. The key to success is to be yourself. And the key to failure is to try to please everyone.
K – keep trying no matter how hard life may seem. When a person is motivated, eventually he sees a harsh life finally clearing out, paving the way to self improvement.L – Learn to love your self. Now isn’t that easy?
M – Make things happen. Motivation is when your dreams are put into work clothes.
N – Never lie, cheat or steal. Always play a fair game.
O – Open your eyes. People should learn the horse attitude and horse sense. They see things in 2 ways – how they want things to be, and how they should be.
P – Practice makes perfect. Practice is about motivation. It lets us learn repertoire and ways on how can we recover from our mistakes.
Q – Quitters never win. And winners never quit. So, choose your fate – are you going to be a quitter? Or a winner?
R – Ready yourself. Motivation is also about preparation. We must hear the little voice within us telling us to get started before others will get on their feet and try to push us around.
Remember, it wasn’t raining when Noah build the ark.
S – Stop procrastinating.
T – Take control of your life. Discipline or self control jives synonymously with motivation. Both are key factors in self improvement.
U – Understand others. If you know very well how to talk, you should also learn how to listen. Yearn to understand first, and to be understood the second.
V – Visualize it. Motivation without vision is like a boat on a dry land.
W – Want it more than anything. Dreaming means believing. And to believe is something that is rooted out from the roots of motivation and self improvement.
X – X Factor is what will make you different from the others. When you are motivated, you tend to put on “extras” on your life like extra time for family, extra help at work, extra care for friends, and so on.
Y – You are unique. No one in this world looks, acts, or talks like you. Value your life and existence, because you’re just going to spend it once.
Z – Zero in on your dreams and go for it!!!
Wednesday, 25 April 2007
Tuesday, 24 April 2007
Building a Strong, Productive Team
Building astrong, productive team is not a small feat. To take a number of diverse personalities and build them into a collaborative team is a challenge of the highest order that only a true leader can accomplish. Such an effort is certain to encounter obstacles and frustrations along the way. But it also is likely to encounter some pleasurable moments. The important thing is always to keep in mind a vision of the productive team and not be overwhelmed by the obstacles and frustrations.
Transforming an unproductive team into a productive team can not be achieved through a single bold and imaginative move or through some magical means. Rather, it is necessary to do many small things over an extended period of time. These are summarized in the following three guidelines that follow.
1. Decide on the type of team you are looking to build. In the book “Game Plans,” Robert Keidel makes interesting comparisons between organizational teams and sports teams. He focuses on three different sports teams: baseball, football, and basketball and shows their counterparts in business and industry. Keidel does not suggest that any particular sports team model is ideal, because any one of them might be appropriate under a given set of circumstances. The point that is emphasized is to know exactly what game your organization or unit is playing (or should be playing) and then choose the appropriate model.
2. Communicate your vision. We have stressed that one of the chief functions of leadership is to create a clear vision of the desired state of the organization. This vision should be an exciting view of the future that will inspire the members of the team to put forth their best efforts. The important thing is not to keep your vision a secret. Share it with your people and solicit their ideas on how best to embellish the vision and then convert it into reality.
3. Communicate your philosophy of management. As a manager, you should have a basic philosophy of management: an elucidation of your concept of management and how the management function should be carried out. Included in this philosophy of management should be a clear statement of values, goals, and strategies. It is important that they be consistent and that they support and reinforce one another. Do not keep your philosophy of management a secret. Share it with your people. They will then understand "where you are coming from." Most important, make certain that your day-to-day decisions and actions are a true echo of your expressed philosophy.
Transforming an unproductive team into a productive team can not be achieved through a single bold and imaginative move or through some magical means. Rather, it is necessary to do many small things over an extended period of time. These are summarized in the following three guidelines that follow.
1. Decide on the type of team you are looking to build. In the book “Game Plans,” Robert Keidel makes interesting comparisons between organizational teams and sports teams. He focuses on three different sports teams: baseball, football, and basketball and shows their counterparts in business and industry. Keidel does not suggest that any particular sports team model is ideal, because any one of them might be appropriate under a given set of circumstances. The point that is emphasized is to know exactly what game your organization or unit is playing (or should be playing) and then choose the appropriate model.
2. Communicate your vision. We have stressed that one of the chief functions of leadership is to create a clear vision of the desired state of the organization. This vision should be an exciting view of the future that will inspire the members of the team to put forth their best efforts. The important thing is not to keep your vision a secret. Share it with your people and solicit their ideas on how best to embellish the vision and then convert it into reality.
3. Communicate your philosophy of management. As a manager, you should have a basic philosophy of management: an elucidation of your concept of management and how the management function should be carried out. Included in this philosophy of management should be a clear statement of values, goals, and strategies. It is important that they be consistent and that they support and reinforce one another. Do not keep your philosophy of management a secret. Share it with your people. They will then understand "where you are coming from." Most important, make certain that your day-to-day decisions and actions are a true echo of your expressed philosophy.
Monday, 23 April 2007
10 Traits of Highly Successful People
Motivation is a powerful tool for success. The degree to which you can remain motivated and continue to make forward progress determines whether you realize the life goals that you establish. But the reward for being motivated isn't just raw goal accomplishment. The accompanying benefits of being motivated are numerous - and they can change your life.
When you fully understand these benefits of motivation, you can make motivating yourself a lifelong habit. Take a look at the following motivating traits and choose which ones (or all) can help you:
1. Creativity: Motivated people think more clearly. They focus more intellectual resources on their current project, and the result is more creativity.
2. Energy: People who are motivated actually need less sleep - not because they're on a constant adrenaline rush but because they possess a genuine, energizing excitement.
3. Flexibility: Motivated folks have discovered that flexibility is a developed skill that doesn't depend on circumstances. When their circumstances change, they're more open to bending to deal with the situation rather than being rigid about an outcome.
4. Health: People who have a positive feeling about their life and its potential have reason to get and stay healthy. They have experienced the difference in energy and healthfulness during non-motivated times, and they prefer the motivated lifestyle.
5. Magnetism: A motivated lifestyle is attractive, and motivated people have a certain magnetism. Others are naturally drawn to winners who are energizing by nature and habit.
6. Momentum: Motivation is self-perpetuating. It gathers speed as it rolls along in offices, homes, and communities. Living out your motivation gets easier because it becomes a habit.
7. Multiplication: Motivation is contagious - it spreads and multiplies. The people around the one who is motivated "catch" that motivation.
8. Recognition: When people live out a motivated lifestyle, they stand out. Others respect them for their achievements, admire their spunk, and, because they want to be associated with winners, offer their assistance.
9. Optimism: Motivated individuals have found out that optimism opens more doors than negativity. They have discovered a life pattern of finding the silver lining or the potential in any turn of events. They aren't thrown off course by change. They find the good in everything.
10. Productivity: Motivated people get more done. They move with a spring in their step, and they attack tasks with enthusiasm. They move quickly, deliberately, and with a concern for maintaining a can-do attitude along the way.
When you fully understand these benefits of motivation, you can make motivating yourself a lifelong habit. Take a look at the following motivating traits and choose which ones (or all) can help you:
1. Creativity: Motivated people think more clearly. They focus more intellectual resources on their current project, and the result is more creativity.
2. Energy: People who are motivated actually need less sleep - not because they're on a constant adrenaline rush but because they possess a genuine, energizing excitement.
3. Flexibility: Motivated folks have discovered that flexibility is a developed skill that doesn't depend on circumstances. When their circumstances change, they're more open to bending to deal with the situation rather than being rigid about an outcome.
4. Health: People who have a positive feeling about their life and its potential have reason to get and stay healthy. They have experienced the difference in energy and healthfulness during non-motivated times, and they prefer the motivated lifestyle.
5. Magnetism: A motivated lifestyle is attractive, and motivated people have a certain magnetism. Others are naturally drawn to winners who are energizing by nature and habit.
6. Momentum: Motivation is self-perpetuating. It gathers speed as it rolls along in offices, homes, and communities. Living out your motivation gets easier because it becomes a habit.
7. Multiplication: Motivation is contagious - it spreads and multiplies. The people around the one who is motivated "catch" that motivation.
8. Recognition: When people live out a motivated lifestyle, they stand out. Others respect them for their achievements, admire their spunk, and, because they want to be associated with winners, offer their assistance.
9. Optimism: Motivated individuals have found out that optimism opens more doors than negativity. They have discovered a life pattern of finding the silver lining or the potential in any turn of events. They aren't thrown off course by change. They find the good in everything.
10. Productivity: Motivated people get more done. They move with a spring in their step, and they attack tasks with enthusiasm. They move quickly, deliberately, and with a concern for maintaining a can-do attitude along the way.
Friday, 13 April 2007
Unlock the Power of Self Improvement
When we look at a certain object, a painting for example – we won’t be able to appreciate what’s in it, what is painted and what else goes with it if the painting is just an inch away from our face. But if we try to take it a little further, we’ll have a clearer vision of the whole art work.
We reach a point in our life when we are ready for change and a whole bunch of information that will help us unlock our self improvement power. Until then, something can be staring us right under our nose but we don’t see it. The only time we think of unlocking our self improvement power is when everything got worst. Take the frog principle for example –
Try placing Frog A in a pot of boiling water. What happens? He twerps! He jumps off! Why? Because he is not able to tolerate sudden change in his environment – the water’s temperature. Then try Frog B: place him in a luke warm water, then turn the gas stove on. Wait til the water reaches a certain boiling point. Frog B then thinks “Ooh… it’s a bit warm in here”.
People are like Frog B in general. Today, Anna thinks Carl hates her. Tomorrow, Patrick walks up to her and told her he hates her. Anna stays the same and doesn’t mind her what her friends says. The next day, she learned that Kim and John also abhors her. Anna doesn’t realize at once the importance and the need for self improvement until the entire community hates her.
We learn our lessons when we experience pain. We finally see the warning signs and signals when things get rough and tough. When do we realize that we need to change diets? When none of our jeans and shirts would fit us. When do we stop eating candies and chocolates? When all of our teeth has fallen off. When do we realize that we need to stop smoking? When our lungs have gone bad. When do we pray and ask for help? When we realize that we’re gonna die tomorrow.
The only time most of us ever learn about unlocking our self improvement power is when the whole world is crashing and falling apart. We think and feel this way because it is not easy to change. But change becomes more painful when we ignore it.
Change will happen, like it or hate it. At one point or another, we are all going to experience different turning points in our life – and we are all going to eventually unlock our self improvement power not because the world says so, not because our friends are nagging us, but because we realized its for our own good.
Happy people don’t just accept change, they embrace it. Now, you don’t have to feel a tremendous heat before realizing the need for self improvement. Unlocking your self improvement power means unlocking yourself up in the cage of thought that “its just the way I am”. It is such a poor excuse for people who fear and resist change. Most of us program our minds like computers.
Jen repeatedly tells everyone that she doesn’t have the guts to be around groups of people. She heard her mom, her dad, her sister, her teacher tell the same things about her to other people. Over the years, that is what Jen believes. She believes its her story. And what happens? Every time a great crowd would troop over their house, in school, and in the community – she tends to step back, shy away and lock herself up in a room. Jen didn’t only believed in her story, she lived it.
Jen has to realize that she is not what she is in her story. Instead of having her story post around her face for everyone to remember, she has to have the spirit and show people “I am an important person and I should be treated accordingly!”
Self improvement may not be everybody’s favorite word, but if we look at things in a different point of view, we might have greater chances of enjoying the whole process instead of counting the days until we are fully improved. Three sessions in a week at the gym would result to a healthier life, reading books instead of looking at porns will shape up a more profound knowledge, going out with friends and peers will help you take a step back from work and unwind. And just when you are enjoying the whole process of unlocking your self improvement power, you’ll realize that you’re beginning to take things light and become happy.
We reach a point in our life when we are ready for change and a whole bunch of information that will help us unlock our self improvement power. Until then, something can be staring us right under our nose but we don’t see it. The only time we think of unlocking our self improvement power is when everything got worst. Take the frog principle for example –
Try placing Frog A in a pot of boiling water. What happens? He twerps! He jumps off! Why? Because he is not able to tolerate sudden change in his environment – the water’s temperature. Then try Frog B: place him in a luke warm water, then turn the gas stove on. Wait til the water reaches a certain boiling point. Frog B then thinks “Ooh… it’s a bit warm in here”.
People are like Frog B in general. Today, Anna thinks Carl hates her. Tomorrow, Patrick walks up to her and told her he hates her. Anna stays the same and doesn’t mind her what her friends says. The next day, she learned that Kim and John also abhors her. Anna doesn’t realize at once the importance and the need for self improvement until the entire community hates her.
We learn our lessons when we experience pain. We finally see the warning signs and signals when things get rough and tough. When do we realize that we need to change diets? When none of our jeans and shirts would fit us. When do we stop eating candies and chocolates? When all of our teeth has fallen off. When do we realize that we need to stop smoking? When our lungs have gone bad. When do we pray and ask for help? When we realize that we’re gonna die tomorrow.
The only time most of us ever learn about unlocking our self improvement power is when the whole world is crashing and falling apart. We think and feel this way because it is not easy to change. But change becomes more painful when we ignore it.
Change will happen, like it or hate it. At one point or another, we are all going to experience different turning points in our life – and we are all going to eventually unlock our self improvement power not because the world says so, not because our friends are nagging us, but because we realized its for our own good.
Happy people don’t just accept change, they embrace it. Now, you don’t have to feel a tremendous heat before realizing the need for self improvement. Unlocking your self improvement power means unlocking yourself up in the cage of thought that “its just the way I am”. It is such a poor excuse for people who fear and resist change. Most of us program our minds like computers.
Jen repeatedly tells everyone that she doesn’t have the guts to be around groups of people. She heard her mom, her dad, her sister, her teacher tell the same things about her to other people. Over the years, that is what Jen believes. She believes its her story. And what happens? Every time a great crowd would troop over their house, in school, and in the community – she tends to step back, shy away and lock herself up in a room. Jen didn’t only believed in her story, she lived it.
Jen has to realize that she is not what she is in her story. Instead of having her story post around her face for everyone to remember, she has to have the spirit and show people “I am an important person and I should be treated accordingly!”
Self improvement may not be everybody’s favorite word, but if we look at things in a different point of view, we might have greater chances of enjoying the whole process instead of counting the days until we are fully improved. Three sessions in a week at the gym would result to a healthier life, reading books instead of looking at porns will shape up a more profound knowledge, going out with friends and peers will help you take a step back from work and unwind. And just when you are enjoying the whole process of unlocking your self improvement power, you’ll realize that you’re beginning to take things light and become happy.
Sunday, 8 April 2007
Smiling can make you Happy
Generally speaking, the first thing you notice when you meet a person is the smile - or absence of a smile - on his or her face. Very few things influence for the good and give more encouragement than a sincere smile. English essayist Joseph Addison said, "What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. They are but trifles, to be sure, but, scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable."
Your smile can motivate the people who see it, and the smiles of others can motivate you. Your own smile can motivate you, too, and not just when you see it in a mirror. Put a smile on your face, even when you don't feel like smiling, and pretty soon that smile seeps inside and cheers you up. In radio broadcasting classes, students are told to smile when they talk into the microphone, even though the listeners can't see that smile, because talking with a smile on your face makes you sound more friendly and warm. Listeners can hear you smile.
Try deliberately putting a smile on your face, and you'll see. You may feel at first as though your smile is forced, but as people react favorably to your cheerful demeanor, their manner puts you in a good mood, and I think you'll find that your cheerful act becomes genuine.
Your smile can motivate the people who see it, and the smiles of others can motivate you. Your own smile can motivate you, too, and not just when you see it in a mirror. Put a smile on your face, even when you don't feel like smiling, and pretty soon that smile seeps inside and cheers you up. In radio broadcasting classes, students are told to smile when they talk into the microphone, even though the listeners can't see that smile, because talking with a smile on your face makes you sound more friendly and warm. Listeners can hear you smile.
Try deliberately putting a smile on your face, and you'll see. You may feel at first as though your smile is forced, but as people react favorably to your cheerful demeanor, their manner puts you in a good mood, and I think you'll find that your cheerful act becomes genuine.
Positive Visualization
One side of you actually enjoys success - and that side has a voice. It's clear as a bell, strong and beautiful, and it says, "I love getting what i want!" It's dying for exercise, so I'd like you to give it something to crow about.
Imagine you have gotten everything you ever wanted. Pick a life that feels closest to your dream of success. That is, pick whatever you'd have today if you'd never dropped the ball. Close your eyes and imagine: What does it look and feel like to have everything you want? Walk through every part of it, as if you were really there. Stay with this exercise for as long as you can - for up to five minutes - without stopping.
You're doing exactly what you always longed for. You're at your desk signing big checks, looking out over a beautiful skyline in your favorite metropolis. Or you're on stage singing like an angel in front of thousands of adoring fans. Or you're in the best research lab in the world, discovering the cure for AIDS. Or you're on the dais at the Olympic Games, the gold medal around your neck, your national anthem playing.
Don't forget to furnish your successful life with all the honors, accolades, and respect you'd have if you were completely successful at what you love. How does that feel? How bad do you want it? What will you have to do to get it?
Imagine you have gotten everything you ever wanted. Pick a life that feels closest to your dream of success. That is, pick whatever you'd have today if you'd never dropped the ball. Close your eyes and imagine: What does it look and feel like to have everything you want? Walk through every part of it, as if you were really there. Stay with this exercise for as long as you can - for up to five minutes - without stopping.
You're doing exactly what you always longed for. You're at your desk signing big checks, looking out over a beautiful skyline in your favorite metropolis. Or you're on stage singing like an angel in front of thousands of adoring fans. Or you're in the best research lab in the world, discovering the cure for AIDS. Or you're on the dais at the Olympic Games, the gold medal around your neck, your national anthem playing.
Don't forget to furnish your successful life with all the honors, accolades, and respect you'd have if you were completely successful at what you love. How does that feel? How bad do you want it? What will you have to do to get it?
Wednesday, 4 April 2007
Are You Allowing Yourself to Be Successful?
Take a look at your belief system and see if you are holding yourself back by not believing sufficiently in the possibility of prosperity. Can you actually realistically imagine yourself as a successful, satisfied, fulfilled person? Can you really open your eyes to the goodness and beauty and abundance that are all around you? Can you imagine this world transformed into a prosperous and supportive environment in which everyone can flourish?
Unless you can create a context that the world is a good place to be and can potentially work for everyone, you will experience difficulty in creating what you want in your personal life. This is because human nature is basically loving, and so most of us will not allow ourselves to have what we want as long as we believe that we might be depriving others in order to do so.
We have to understand in a deep way that having what we truly want in life contributes to the general state of human happiness and supports others in creating more happiness for themselves. To create prosperity, we need to visualize ourselves living as we desire to live, doing what we love, feeling satisfied with what we attain, in a context of other people doing the same.
Unless you can create a context that the world is a good place to be and can potentially work for everyone, you will experience difficulty in creating what you want in your personal life. This is because human nature is basically loving, and so most of us will not allow ourselves to have what we want as long as we believe that we might be depriving others in order to do so.
We have to understand in a deep way that having what we truly want in life contributes to the general state of human happiness and supports others in creating more happiness for themselves. To create prosperity, we need to visualize ourselves living as we desire to live, doing what we love, feeling satisfied with what we attain, in a context of other people doing the same.
Welcome to the Success and Self Improvement Blog
Hello and welcome to the Success and Self Improvement blog. Here you'll find lots of tips and ideas for becoming successful in whatever you do. You'll learn more about how to motivate yourself, how to become a leader, improving your time management skills and more.
Everything that happens to us happens has a purpose, and sometimes, one thing leads to another. Instead of locking yourself up in your cage of fears and crying over past heartaches, embarrassment and failures, treat them as your teachers and they will become your tools in both self improvement and success.
So, when does self improvement become synonymous with success? Where do you start? Here are a few tips:
Everything that happens to us happens has a purpose, and sometimes, one thing leads to another. Instead of locking yourself up in your cage of fears and crying over past heartaches, embarrassment and failures, treat them as your teachers and they will become your tools in both self improvement and success.
So, when does self improvement become synonymous with success? Where do you start? Here are a few tips:
- Stop thinking and feeling as if you’re a failure, because you’re not. How can others accept you if YOU can’t accept YOU?
- When people feel so down and low about themselves, help them move up. Don’t go down with them. They’ll pull you down further and both of you will end up feeling inferior.
- Take things one at a time. You don’t expect black sheep’s to be goody-two-shoes in just a snap of a finger. Self improvement is a one day at a time process.
- Self improvement results to inner stability, personality development and dig this …. SUCCESS. It comes from self confidence, self appreciation and self esteem.
- Set meaningful and achievable goals. Self improvement doesn’t turn you to be the exact replica of Cameron Diaz or Ralph Fiennes. It hopes and aims to result to an improved and better YOU.
- When you’re willing to accept change and go through the process of self improvement, it doesn’t mean that everyone else is. The world is a place where people of different values and attitude hang out. Sometimes, even if you think you and your best friend always like to do the same thing together at the same time, she would most likely decline an invitation for self improvement.
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