Success and Self Improvement Tips

Time Management Tasks - Filing

2011-09-22T04:45:00.000-07:00

One of the very important time management tasks is filing. Time management is simply the practice of utilizing your time for maximum results. Whether you are striving to better manage your time at work, home, or on the road, your goals are one and the same: To get more done in less time, with total organization, reduced stress, and with all of your daily goals achieved. By implementing time management tasks into your life, you can manage your days for effectively, streamline your meetings, increase the speed of communications, and stay on top of your organizational needs.

Today we are going to cover why “filing” is such an important time management task, which invariably leads to the growth of your time management levels. Filing your paperwork and other clutter becomes even more important as the world grows increasingly more complex. Most people think of filing as simply a place to put your papers. But there is actually an art to it, and one that can make your office a more productive area to work in. There are few essential tools to proper filing which we will mention below, as well as explain how a creating filing system can have a unique way of serving the way you work.

Take a moment and think about how you feel when you think about getting organized for better time management, by filing your area. Do you look upon filing as an uphill battle, something of a drudgery? If you do, you are not alone! Let's be honest. Filing, especially piles and piles of clutter that have not been organized for years, is a rather tedious and mundane task. Does the word “boring” come to mind?

Now let's get your mind on to a more positive affiliation with filing. Yes it is boring and tedious, but what you need to keep your thoughts on are that when you are in control of your office, your desk, your files, and the proper resources assembled, you will be more focused, productive, and efficient at what you do at work.

Why should I file?

As a person who is striving for increased time management skills, you have learned to write down all time management tasks and goals on paper, as well as answering the question of “why” you are doing what you are doing. The same goes with filing. Before you take on this job, you need to ask yourself: “Why file?”

1. Value: The items that you deem necessary to store within your home or office are important enough to be organized in a safe place. This safe place should also be streamlined so that when you need to find a certain document, you can get it within seconds of looking it up.

2. Time Management: There are negative consequences for not filing. For example, what happens to those important tax records that you will need for an audit? How about needing to find all of your business expenses that you need to show proof of? How much time will be wasted trying to find these items when you need them in a short amount of time?

Hopefully this will help you to understand why filing is one of the most important time management tasks.

Building a Positive Self Image

2011-09-18T04:36:00.000-07:00

Building a positive self image is a constructive approach to help you get to your destination. The practice of building a positive self image gives you a psychological map to your unconscious and conscious behaviors.

When you mentally focus on where it is you want to go, and you're committed to reaching your destination, your actions usually follow. Literally speaking, your actions come from your images. That is, you usually won't act if you haven't already seen yourself mentally rehearsing the situation. How you visually depict yourself, in any given situation, is what you will become, and how you will act. When you reinforce your images in a positive way, positive things happen. Focusing on making positive, pleasurable changes in your life reinforces you with uplifting feelings of self-confidence and self-determination.

Imagine yourself walking down a path across a field and coming to a barbed-wire fence. If you see the fence as an insurmountable barrier toward completing your goal, then the barrier will remain. When you see the fence as having a gate in it, or when you find a way of going over, around or through it, then the fence is merely one more obstacle to overcome. Nothing more, nothing less.

When you give too much power to any obstacle, or person, you automatically place yourself in a no-win situation. One way to overcome this no-win situation is to change the rules. See the situation as an opportunity, or challenge, to use your imagination - your mind. When the situation is no longer challenging or healthy, and you're using too much energy with few results, choose a new direction where there will be new challenges and opportunities. There's no reason to set yourself up for failure or punishment. Deciding to create positive beliefs and expectations about yourself influences the actions you take.

You can change your situation by focusing on making moderate changes and giving careful thought to your long-term goals. A goal to complete a degree from a four-year college within six years is not unrealistic. Don't expect to do it in two and set yourself up for failure. Choose a plan you can realistically follow. Emotional, physical, and mental plateaus and peaks are normal experiences on the road to success. Focusing on your progress and remembering where you started creates confidence and courage. Improving yourself, and your life, requires concentration and self-discipline. Appreciate the journey. When you apply yourself, you will do it!

When you believe in yourself, you feel capable of encouraging yourself and others, professionally and personally. Your attitude and self esteem reach new heights. High self esteem and building a positive self image may help you overcome problems that may otherwise overwhelm you.

Belief in yourself will ultimately result in having others believe in you. When you have a direction, and know where you are going, you will increase your ability to perform a particular task. When you build a positive self image and have social and emotional support from others, you're more hopeful and experience less stress.

You also have an amazing ability to cope with the damaging effects of negative or condemning statements from others. Hope and self-esteem are the medicine that transforms a negative self-image into a positive one.

10 Powerful Positive Affirmations

2011-09-14T15:02:00.000-07:00

Using powerful positive affirmations is a proven technique that works miracles in many lives. Ideally, you should look yourself in the eye as you make these positive affirmations. Don't be shy; go ahead and get started!

Repeat some of the following powerful positive affirmations to yourself every morning to get your day and week off to a great start:

“I clearly understand that failure is an event, not a person; that yesterday really did end last night; and that success isn't final and failure isn't fatal because I only fail if I quit.”

“I have the courage to admit a mistake and to say that I was wrong. I have the courage to ask for help and the courage to say "I don't know." I have the courage to continually strive to be the person that I am capable of becoming.”

“I have vision in my life, which means that I see not only with my eyes but also with my heart.”

“I am successful because I believe that to be truly educated, I must be mentored - either in business or in my personal life, by reading or by association - by superior minds with greater skills and mature spirits.”

“I discipline myself to do the things that I need to do when I need to do them, because I know that doing them will enable me someday to do the things I want to do when I want to do them.”

“I clearly understand that if I develop yearning power and apply learning power, I will increase my earning power.”

“I am successful because I don't confuse activity with accomplishment. I know that I can't make it in life as a wandering generality, so I am a meaningful specific.”

“I am like an eraser. I recognize my mistakes, I learn from my mistakes, and then I erase those mistakes from my memory.”

“I move forward in my life every day, even if it's only a tiny step, because I know that great things are accomplished with tiny moves, but nothing is accomplished by standing still.”

“Today I will seriously look for the good in every situation and find something about which to praise every person who works with me. Today I will be friendly to the people I work with and will treat them as though they were completely responsible for my career. Today I will express gratitude for the career that I have and the society of which I am a part, and specifically for my family and friends. I will also express gratitude for the fact that my career is rewarding in ways that go far beyond financial remuneration.”

Strategies to Improve Memory

2011-09-12T04:42:00.000-07:00

Many people are looking for strategies to improve memory. All memory, whether trained or untrained, is based on association. But that's stating it too simply. You will be taught many systems of association by doing your research on memory training, but it goes much deeper than that.

You see, when people say, "I forgot," they didn't, usually - what really happened was that they didn't remember in the first place. How can you forget something that you didn't remember, originally? Turn that around, and you have the solution to remembering - if you do remember something originally, how can you forget it?

One of the best strategies to improve memory is what we call Original Awareness. Anything of which you are Originally Aware cannot be forgotten. And, applying a system of association forced Original Awareness - Observation is essential to Original Awareness - anything you wish to remember must first be observed. Using association will take care of that, too.

But how in the world do you associate something that's intangible or abstract? That question leads to another one of the best strategies to improve memory. It is always easier to remember things that have meaning than it is to remember things that do not. You'll see that nothing is abstract or intangible so far as the systems are concerned. You will learn how to make any intangible thing, any abstract piece of information, tangible and meaningful in your mind. Once you've mastered that simple technique, all remembering and therefore all learning will be easier for you for the rest of your life.

Let's begin with association. First of all, you should realize that you've used association all of your life. The problem is that you have associated subconsciously, without recognizing the association for what it was. Anything you clearly associated, even if subconsciously, is sure to have been easily remembered. But since you have no control over your subconscious, association has been a hit-or-miss kind of thing all your life.

Here's a basic memory strategy to improve memory: You Can Remember Any New Piece of Information if It Is Associated to Something You Already Know or Remember.

Teachers in the early grades have been telling their students for years that it's easy to remember how to spell piece if you think of the phrase "a piece of pie." Since most young students already know how to spell pie, associating that old knowledge to the new—the spelling of "piece"—solves the problem. Again in this example of association, the basic rule has been followed.

Do You Need to Sacrifice Something to Achieve Success?

2011-09-09T14:51:00.000-07:00

Most people think they must work forty hours per week to gain more success and earn more money. For some, that's true. For others, it's sixty hours per week. For still others, eighty. (Ask any spouse whose "job" it is to care for the house, or creative person working on a project, or monk in a monastery, or social activist working for change). For some others, it might be five or ten.

Just as "the work expands to fill the time available," so, too, the "needs" expand to consume the money available. If we are bringing home forty-hours' worth of money, we will spend it. The rich live hand-to-mouth, too - just on a higher level. If that forty-hours' worth of work amounts to $150 or $1,500 or $15,000 or $150,000, or $1,500,000 - it will be spent.

Many people are trapped in the myth of a 40-hour work week.

If we define "job" as what we do (that we don't really want to do) to get money, then the number of hours we work depends upon (A) what it cost us to do what we want to do, and (B) how much per hour we get. What about our basic needs? Good question! Basic needs are often dictated by what we want to do. For example, someone who wants to pray all day and serve God might be able to combine that with life in a monastery and not have to work for even one hour per week at the local fast-food emporium. Someone wanting to make global changes could find the same all-expenses-paid fulfillment of a goal in the Peace Corps, or, if they wanted to do it domestically. The examples go on and on.

The meeting of our basic needs should be based on the fulfillment of our heart's desire, not on the latest style, or how to intensely fill the few "leisure" hours we have when not working at a job we hate.

To significantly raise your standard of living sometimes requires significantly lowering it for a while. Say you want to write a book, and you have a $25,000 car and a $2,000 per month apartment. You don't need those to write a book. A $5,000 car (or even a $500 moped) and a $500 per month apartment is all you need.

People who plan to "make it" had better plan to sacrifice - and that starts with creature comforts. It might mean a smaller living space, bringing in a roommate, or turning the current living space into an office. It may mean less dinners out with friends, less trips, fewer new clothes, not as many CD's, domestic wines, domestic sparkling water (aka club soda), domestic pasta, domestic vinegar - and no domestics.

The 80-20 Rule in Time Management

2011-09-05T14:48:00.000-07:00

The 80-20 Rule in Time Management is a very important set of strategies necessary to speed you on your way to the accomplishment of your objectives and goals and hence the realization of your dreams.

There seems to be no limit to the long list of activities on which you can choose to spend your time. Therefore, there will seldom be a day during your life when you feel "caught up."

Think back. Can you ever remember a day when you felt that you had accomplished all the things you needed to do and would like to have done? I certainly cannot remember one. However, what's important is not that everything gets done during a specific day, but that the activities that are most important to the accomplishment of your dreams and goals have been completed on a schedule set by you.

To feel good about how you use time does not require being busy every moment, or constantly playing "catch-up." Positive feelings and the mental rewards associated with real accomplishments are produced through effectiveness, since only effectiveness produces results.

Think of it. If you can double your effectiveness, by definition you can accomplish twice as much in the same amount of time. You will double the speed at which you accomplish your objectives, and you will cut in half the time it takes you to achieve your dreams and goals.

To double your effectiveness, apply the 20/80 rule. Just 20 percent of the activities on which you could choose to spend your time will produce 80 percent of the results you're after. Conversely, spending time and energy on the other 80 percent of your possible activities will produce only 20 percent of the results you're after including only 20 percent of the total sense of satisfaction from accomplishment.

When it comes to achieving your dreams and goals, just 20 percent of your activities will take you along your pathway faster and farther than others. Identify that 20 percent and then spend the majority of your time and mental and physical energy each day on their accomplishment. Focusing first on the commencement and completion of that 20 percent is what transforms energy-wasting efficiency into results-producing effectiveness.

In the purest sense, it would be a waste of your time, talent, and energy to spend time on anything not in the top 20 percent of the activities on your list, at least until that 20 percent has been totally completed. That's the point.

Just Open Your Heart, Just Open Your Mind

2011-09-03T04:28:00.000-07:00

Just open your heart, just open your mind... Throughout history, people believed that love comes from the heart, and poets still pay homage to this notion. Surprisingly, the latest science shows that this idea may be based in reality. The function of the heart does affect the mind and emotions, possibly even more than the hormone-producing endocrine system, which is sometimes referred to as the "second brain."

The power of the heart to influence the mind and emotions was first examined scientifically in the early 1990s. Initially, researchers there were intrigued by the fact that transplanted hearts are able to beat immediately upon transplantation, even before nerves coming from the brain are functional.
This occurs, they discovered, because the heart has an intrinsic nervous system of its own, which can cause it to beat even without messages from the brain. This nervous system consists of masses of nerve cells, or neurons, similar to those in the brain. These masses of neurons include parasympathetic and sympathetic neurons that make heartbeat possible: contract, relax, contract, relax. Without them, the heart cannot function. This nervous system has been dubbed the heart-brain.

Most fascinating of all, researchers discovered that the heart-brain even has the power to send messages to the brain. The messages are sent via the spinal cord and through the largest nerve in the body, the vagus nerve, which stretches from the brain to the torso. Therefore, it's outdated to think that nerve messages travel only from head to heart: It's a two-way street.

Because the heart can "speak" to the brain, through the vagus nerve and spinal cord feedback system, it sometimes overrides messages that come from the brain - particularly messages of distress, which can trigger heart attacks.

As researchers continued to study the surprising autonomy of the heart, which was previously considered by most scientists to be just a simple pump, they found that the heart is also an endocrine gland, which secretes its own hormone, ANF (atrial natriuretic factor). ANF influences not only the blood vessels and kidneys, but also the mood-influencing adrenal glands—and the brain.

In the brain, parasympathetic or sympathetic impulses coming from the heart help trigger the onset of either calming or excitatory thoughts. This may be the reason why some heart transplant patients occasionally adopt personality tendencies of their donors, a phenomenon that has been noted since the beginning of heart transplantation.

In emotionally healthy people, there appears to be a strong tendency for the heart and brain to have smoothly functioning dialogue, and to remain in synchronization, or entrainment - hence "just open your heart, just open your mind". Entrainment appears not only to reflect a positive frame of mind, but also to help create it, in part by enhancing balance of the autonomic nervous system. The body, clearly, can help heal the mind. But what inaugurates this healing? The mind itself! Your mind, when focused on appreciation, has an unparalleled power to trigger physical and emotional healing.

How Worry Can Interfere with Success

2011-09-01T14:39:00.000-07:00

Worry is simply imagining events that have not actually occurred. Worry is mental, worry is negative, and therefore worry is wasted, destructive thought energy.

Worry is a projection of your focus or consciousness into some time in the future. Since your only point of power is in the present, worry renders you mentally powerless. Worry is inaction, not action. Only action produces results. Inaction doesn't produce, create, or change a thing.

Worry comes in many shapes and sizes, but regardless of the object or subject, it is always about potential negative outcomes. Here are just a few examples:

• Worry that something you have done will be found out.
• Worry that something you desire or feel you need won't come about.
• Worry about family members or friends and how they will turn out.
• Worry that you won't finish a project before time runs out.
• Worry that you will lose your job and about the income you'll be without.
• Worry that your health or life will give out.
• Worry that before your bills are paid your money won't hold out.
• Worry that a plan you have made won't work out.

It is normal for everyone to worry from time to time, but if you find that you are worrying constantly, this is an indication that something is wrong and you need to do all you can to change this damaging behaviour.

Goal Setting Formula

2011-08-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

Having a goal setting formula makes sense. Goals keep you pro-active. With no goals, you only respond to conditions and events and you let external influence control you. With goals, you produce your own conditions and events. Therefore you get to be a master of your destiny.

By creating a goal setting formula and adjusting goals you keep advancing and bettering your life. You are able to only reach destination if you specify it. Setting goals is the procedure to do that. You will not stagnate if you keep working with this personal development notion.

It’s very crucial to get yourself into an inspired, positive and relaxed state prior to writing goals. A few ideas for getting yourself into a positive state include: Meditation, hearing inspiring music, reading something fun or funny, watching an amusing movie, taking a walk in a beautiful place, exercise, or prayer.

After getting into a great mental and emotional state, begin your brainstorming. Write all likely goals quickly with no editing or criticism. You may review and prioritize later; right now you lack to be as originative as you can be.

Having a goal setting formula lets you accomplish more comfort in life. The main error that people make is that they set goals to accomplish happiness. Happiness cannot be the object of your goal. Happiness is something you have within you all the time. Perhaps you have not attained it yet, but it's there.

Why You Should Never Let Other People Set Goals for You

2011-08-28T14:56:00.000-07:00

Do you allow other people to set goals that overwhelm you and leave you with feelings of doubt and fear, especially when you fail to reach them? When someone else continually sets goals for you, your sense of self-esteem is diminished. You increase your probability of following through on a task when you set the goal yourself.

When you set a goal do not allow others to restrict you by telling you that your goal is unrealistic. You have a choice. You can let their limited vision persuade you by telling yourself that they're right or, you can persuade yourself by using positive self-talk that will help you concentrate on fulfilling your goal. Utilizing positive self-talk will prepare you for taking the necessary steps to make your goals a reality.

Changing your self-talk to clearly define and crystallize your goals and desires is the first step toward attaining them. Then, breaking up your goals and desires into manageable parts helps you to see what additional steps need to be taken to get the results you need. Initially, setting your sights to achieve a moderate amount of success is the best way to reach your goals. To reach your goal, move forward and develop a realistic plan to achieve immediate success. This will help you overcome overwhelming feelings of doubt and fear. As you complete each objective celebrate your success along the way.

Taking action to change your self-talk changes your self-image, awakening your awareness. What you tell yourself affects your emotional life. When your emotional life is affected, your mental and physical life are affected as well. This highly interactive and reciprocal condition forms the basis for all personal, behavioral and motivational change.

Changing your self-image will create a change in what you do and how you do it. A positive change in your self-image is a powerful asset to help you create success in your life. Experiencing a positive change in your self-image raises your self-esteem. Your heightened sense of self-esteem allows you to appreciate yourself for who you are and the qualities you possess: “I can and I will change my future!” “I can and I WILL change my life!”

When you change your self-image, you change your life. Changing your self-image also has an effect on others. Once you begin to see and experience changes in your life, you will ultimately help others to change. Showing concern, and expressing yourself in positive ways, can change the other person's sense of him/herself. You have a choice. You can either encourage or discourage the beliefs of others.

Encouraging others will change the image they have of themselves. By changing your self image and increasing your self-esteem, you will help others to increase their self-esteem as well. In a reciprocal relationship, when you respond favorably to someone, or express yourself positively, most of the time the response that is returned will be a positive one. When you change your self-image, others will believe that they can change their self-image.

The Importance of Self Control

2011-08-23T14:57:00.000-07:00

One thing you need to keep in mind when improving yourself is the importance of self control. Discipline is really crucial to the procedure of self improvement. Your entire life will be so much greater if your conquer yourself.

When you master self-control, you will become a completely different individual. You will understand so much more than you understood previously. You will be able to arrange goals and really accomplish them, your fears will be gone and an entire new life will be ahead of you.

How to go about it? You first of all need to understnad that you are not your emotions. You are not your thinking. You're not your ego. You are part of the total consciousness. Thinking, self-control and emotions were given to you as tools to utilize in this life. You're not any of these things.

When you comprehend this and understand the importance of self control, you will conquer yourself. You'll become totally disciplined and will be able to accomplish whatever you want.

Individuals commonly desire fast results, but when they find out what is involved in accomplishing them, they are put off by the entire process of self improvement. If you feel this way, attempt to recognize what awesome benefits you will get when you make huge steps in personal development.

Now it is up to you to choose whether you can exert self control and accelerate personal development. This is a really exciting path, but it does call for work on your part.

How Do I Overcome Fear?

2011-08-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

Are you wondering how do I overcome fear? Here is one of the best ways to make your fear seem trivial.

If your fear emerges, consider where you want to go and if you’re moving in the correct direction. If you resolve you’re moving in the correct direction, recognize the fear and continue moving forward.

This procedure calls for courage to begin with, but when you’re comfortable with it, it gets easier to believe that it works.

Why is it that when you walk down the street and run into a sign that states "construction, stay out", you directly consider the best way to get around it and continue moving forward, but when you’re heading for a more satisfying life and something comes in your way, you stop dead?

It’s because of your disciplining, programming and the affiliations you've made in your life. Everything may be changed. Remember, you have the ability to do whatever you wish. There are no excuses.

Every time I confront one of my fears, it shrivels and finally disappears. The most difficult part is doing it the first couple times. To muster up the courage to get going, I look at the options of buckling under to my fear and moving through it. Life nearly always looks greater when you confront your fears.

If I buckle under to my fear, I’ll live a life of sorrow. If I confront my fear, I’ll continue growing and moving toward a more fulfilling life. A rough illustration, but I think you are able to see how I frame matters in my own brain.

If you need to know how do I overcome fear, you will have to discover a way to incite yourself. It’s begins by taking action and learning how your brain works. It’s simple to believe that your brain, your thoughts and your feelings are in command, but if that’s real, why is it that you're able to observe your thoughts and feelings when you're totally present?

How can your thoughts be in control if there is an overseer watching them? They can’t. Breathe, relax and be in the now, and you become the observer.

Abundance Meditation

2011-08-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

Abundance Meditation puts down a great foundation to success. It grooms mental soil for the seeds of abundance (if you decide so).

Meditation does away with negative thinking and gets rid of damaging emotions from your head. I'm not precisely sure why that occurs, but it may be because with practice of meditation you get into a lower frequency of brain activity. In that state the cleansing process may occur.

You will not do away with all negative thoughts after meditating one time, however with continuous abundance meditation you'll progress to such a state.

You'll notice that following abundance meditation you feel peaceful. There are not a lot of thoughts whizzing round your brain and you will feel harmony inside.

Occasionally you will get into deep meditation (theta state). You'll get so disengaged from your brain that you'll get aligned with the universe and that will cause you to get a flush of awesome ideas.

That occurs to me really frequently as I've been meditating for a while. Amazing ideas simply flow to you and you achieve those ‘wow’ moments where you can't believe that you became aware of such an astonishing thought.

I also get reminders with meditation of what I ought to do to accomplish a specific goal. It’s like the consciousness that I recognize precisely what I ought to do and keeps reminding me of things I'd forget otherwise.

As soon as you begin implementing your abundance meditation, you'll get less stressed and eventually you will not get strained at all. Damaging events won't affect you as much because you'll care less about them. Your chief concentration will be on matters that are great and valuable.

Steps to Overcome Fear

2011-08-12T15:08:00.000-07:00

In order to overcome your fear and make it trivial, you have to either make it littler or make your dreams bigger. There are various Steps to Overcome Fear.

When I initially began making a living on my own, I had no idea what I was doing, and I was coping with my own mind-ghosts for the first time.

It’s solely in hindsight that I'm able to see what got me through it all. Even while I didn’t know precisely what steps to take, it was my single-mindedness that kept me proceeding. I was besieged by my own fear; however I knew what I wanted, so I continued.

Remember, you're in charge of your brain and what goes on inside. Have a deep look at your ideas and see how you’re looking at what you wish and what you don’t wish.

You might see them, hear them, or feel them, it does not matter which. The crucial thing is that you learn to enlarge what you wish, and shrink what you don’t wish.

I'm not talking about brushing aside the bad stuff in your brain, simply making it insignificant for now; you are able to always reverse the procedure later if you wish.

Whatever you feel may be altered. How you feel it may be altered. You're in total control. The only issue is that most individuals aren’t willing to claim their power and take responsibility.

Acceptance - the first step to overcoming your fear

The first time I was asked to do an audio interview. I was anxious, however I knew that in order to achieve my goal, it was inevitable. I had to do it eventually. Thinking like this quieted me and got me pumped-up about doing the interview.

I was considering what I wanted. It doesn’t matter if you’re considering making a living doing what you adore or simply desiring to have an in demand blog, whatever makes you tick is great.

This is among the chief ways I defeat my own fears day in and day out. I admit that they are there. I look at where I wish to go, and I move ahead, without thinking much, as if I already know where I have to go, there’s no reason to second-guess, and it will simply hold me up.

It works for me. Regardless how afraid I am, if I'm always truthful with myself. I know where I wish to go, and I know what I need to do to get there. Any fear is trivial if it's holding me back. It’s a waste of time.

Everybody deals with fear, but the successful individuals take action and are willing to deal with failure and whatever foul things might occur.

The only downside with my procedure is that it doesn’t work on matters I'm not passionate about. For instance, I’m a little bit grossed out by insects, spiders and the like, but I've no motivation to do away with that fear as it’s not relevant for me. One of the steps to overcome fear is to be passionate about overcoming that fear!

Why Should You Forgive People?

2011-08-10T14:21:00.000-07:00

Why Should You Forgive People? One of the biggest mistakes most of us make in our minds about forgiveness is that it somehow lets the "bad guy" off the hook. It doesn't. Forgiveness is simply the healing of your own mind and heart.

Being the kind of person that does not like to forgive anybody may come across as an appealing option for at least two reasons.

1. It makes you feel invulnerable. Not forgiving gives you an aura of invincibility. When you refuse to forgive, you gather strength by humiliating the person you accuse of humiliating you.

The strength you feel from striking back at someone who hurt you may not be entirely illusory. You may force him to think twice about re-injuring you and reduce the frequency with which he tries. Of course, you might inflame the conflict and provoke him into attack again; but your tough, retaliatory stance may also intimidate him and show him who's the boss.

2. It lets you blame others for your own failures. Not Forgiving lets you blame others for your own failures and transfer to them whatever it is you curse in yourself. It helps you ward off the shame and humiliation that come when someone gets too close to the unflattering truth about you.

You conveniently blame the other person for all your troubles, when the problem may be you - your inability to take the initiative, ask for help, or say no. It replaces the emptiness inside you with a surge of elation.

Holding anger, resentment and hatred toward another injures your mind and heart; therefore, it follows that releasing those emotions through forgiveness would bring healing. This is Why You Should Forgive People.

Motivational Goal Setting

2011-08-08T14:51:00.000-07:00

Here are a number of likely areas of your life to consider when you are motivational goal setting: career, financial, relationship, family, home, friends, personal development, wellness, appearance, possessions, fun and recreation, travel and spiritual.

Goals fall under variable periods of time like: Immediate goals, 1 month goals, 6 month goals, 1 year goals, 5 years, 10 years or more. Be certain that you have a chance of achieving what you want in the time frame you arranged.

When writing your goal, state it like it has already occurred. Put your goals in words that presume that you already have accomplished them. For instance, "I now have a new house".

To get you passionate, invested and motivated, add emotional language to your composed goals. Here’s an illustration "I am energized about my beautiful new house in the hills" which is much more passionate than "I like my new house".

As your subconscious manifests things literally, you need to compose specific detailed goals. Utilize language that's clear in describing exactly what it is you wish

Compose in favorable terms rather than negative ones.

Check in with yourself regularly to be sure that you’re considering what you truly want with your motivational goal setting. Frequently we try to please other people at our own expense. You won’t be successful attempting to reach the goals your parents, spouse or other acquaintances or relatives wish for you.

Goal Setting Achievement - 5 Common Mistakes

2011-08-07T14:13:00.000-07:00

Goal Setting Achievement is easy if you know how! There are some common mistakes that people make when setting goals and trying to achieve goals. Here are some of the most common mistakes made. If you know about these, it will be much easier to avoid them!

Goal Achievement Mistake #1 - Fear

It is normal to feel fear when you are setting goals. Many people actually fear things and events without even trying. Some people are even afraid of success subconsciously in a way that they avoid any opportunity that can make them succesful. You should try to understand that once you reach a certain goal, it can mean that the bar has just been raised for you to accomplish more.

Goal Achievement Mistake #2 - Laziness

Laziness is another negative habits that can stop you achieving goals. The worst thing is, lazy people do not always want to get rid of the problem - they enjoy being lazy! However, if you want to achieve your goals, you must understand the value of hard work and perseverance. Some of the greatest people in the world are known to work way more than those who did not leave a mark. The greats work longer hours, they sleep less, they eat less, they wake up earlier and they usually suffer more than anybody else. It takes sacrifice to reach your goals. The most important thing to understand is that everything you have ever wanted is just outside your comfort zone.

Goal Achievement Mistake #3 - Lack of Planning

If you want to achieve your goals you need to make a plan of action - it won't just happen naturally. Break down what you want to achive into smaller goals and tasks and then work out when you are going to achieve each of these goals by. This will make your goals seem less enormous and much more achievable.

Goal Achievement Mistake #4 - Pessimism

In the majority of cases, pessimism is actually tied up to fear. Seeing things in a negative light will lead to bad results, most of the time. If you start your day negatively, everything else will already seem bad and you will end up focusing more on the little things that do not matter and let them bother you, instead of keeping your mind on your goals.

Goal Achievement Mistake #5 - Selfishness

Selfishness is a bad trait that you must get rid of to achieve your goals. There are individuals who do not want to get help from others because they do not want to share their expected success. What is sad is that most of them do not actually reach their goals. There is so much joy and celebration for every success that can be shared between several individuals. There is even so much money in the world for everyone to stay rich. Even if you may be better off doing some things yourself, still you cannot do everything.

Goal setting achievement is easier if you know about these common mistakes. Why don't you make a list of all your weaknesses and bad traits. Next, put the opposite trait for each. The opposite traits are now your new characteristics to be adopted.

Start practicing one good trait per week or month, then add another one for consistency. Over time, you will realize that success follows you because of your positive aura.

The Power of Gratitude

2011-08-03T15:03:00.000-07:00

Have you ever considereed the power of gratitude? Gratitude brings you more and greater things you're grateful for. This is because the cosmos reacts to your gratitude in giving more of what you're thankful for.

Being grateful is the reason, getting more of what you're giving thanks for is the effect. Each action has a particular reaction; consequently gratitude has this particular reaction that may never be changed.

Gratitude is a really powerful force that reaches the object to which you're thanking immediately. It likewise gets you into a harmonious state aligned with the cosmos. This puts you in a flow of life causing you to develop success effortlessly.

Among the best things that you are able to do is to have gratitude; for everything that you have, everything that you've done, for all the individuals in your life, and for the procedure of unfolding and development. It's crucial. Gratitude is among the higher vibrations in this life and it draws in a super-flow in your life.

Without gratitude one may get arrogant, and isolated. Till you truly look at all that you have, and treasure all that you've been given, things may be non-meaningful. Did you have anything to do with your appearance? Or your eye color? Or an utterly healthy body? Or where you were born? Not at all.

Have thankfullness for all that has been produced for you. Think, that you are able to see distinctly the trees and beauty around you, that you are able to take a breath of fresh air, that today and just where you are, you're capable of so many things. Be thankful for the knowledge that you have been presented or that you've learned.

Be thankful that you've so many individuals who love you deeply and profoundly. Be thankful for each experience that has strengthened you and shaped you into the individual you'll become. It's easy to say that "I did this all", but there are so many individuals who have contributed both knowingly and inadvertently to your success, your emotional support, balance in your life, and your power. There's a force right now in your life that holds you on track; be witting of that.

Oh, and one important point about the power of gratitude, you have to feel it. You can't just pretend. When you have gratitude there's a power shift change to a greater vibration in your body that interacts with the universal power.

Without that shift modification of energy, you will not manifest the way that you wish. Without thankfullness very likely there will be a stagnancy of anything new that might come for you. And occasionally you experience a reversal, as if you're not grateful for what you have, it begins to leave.

Practice gratitude today. Take nothing for granted. This moment is so brief. Make a list of 10 things right now that you're grateful for. Say it or read it aloud daily. It only takes a few minutes to alter your thinking, and therefore your receiving.

How to Overcome Negative Thoughts

2011-08-02T14:39:00.000-07:00

Are you wondering how to overcome negative thoughts? One of the best ways to do this is through regular meditation.

If you do mediation reglarly, at least 5 times a week or more the biggest changes that you will go through is clear thinking. You will find that you don’t have so many negative thoughts in your brain, you'll begin seeing clean-cut picture of any given situation. You'll also understand precisely what to do and how to go about any given state of affairs.

You'll begin feeling joy for no apparent cause. You'll catch yourself in the instants of perfect peace and happiness. It will appear that nothing is wrong in this creation and that you're the happiest individual in the world. This is a magical state that meditation produces. Such state ought to be a natural state for everybody, but to most individuals this state is out of the question to get into because of all the negativeness in their minds.

With additional practice of meditation, your intuition will heighten. You'll acquire stronger feelings from inside warning you or spurring you to take some action. You ought to never brush off such signs as they'll only help you to accomplish more and become a better individual.

You'll understand what foods are great for you and what foods harm you. Naturally, this won't come instantly. It might take some time, around two- six months of meditation for a few. You might stop eating meat and other foods. That's because your body tells you that you've been polluting yourself with food you don't require.

Hopefully this will give you some ideas of how to overcome negative thoughts through meditation.

What is a Scarcity Mentality

2011-08-01T12:12:00.000-07:00

What is a scarcity mentality?

It is simply the psychological state where thoughts of rivalry originate. If you know that there is not enough of something to go around, you will attempt to rush to take something from somebody else.

It may be hard for you to believe that rivalry is wrong as it is such a highly valued trait in our society. It feels like every politician or other well paid employee thinks that solely by competition you get what you need.

But that’s why they're employees. They don't realize that by not participating in competition they'd become independent and free, even as their natural state ought to be.

When you recognize that competition is wrong and quit trying to gain something at other people’s expense, you step by step fall into the abundance mentality. You begin to recognize that you are able to get everything you think of, and this assures you that there will constantly be more than enough of everything for everybody.

However what if you still are in scarcity mentality, and don’t know how to get out of it? You'll need to introduce a positive affirmation in your daily life. It may sound like this one: "I see abundance everywhere". Or it may be put in this way: "There are more than enough resources in the world for everyone" Whichever attracts you more.

You will also need to train your eyes not to see what you don’t wish to come up in your life. If you wish to eliminate the thoughts of scarcity, direct your care to the manifestations of abundance. Look at lush nature, deluxe cars, singing morning birds, positive and wealthy individuals, royal buildings, whatsoever you affiliate with abundance.

There are a lot of wealth symbols to choose from, it simply depends which symbols constitute riches to you. I may view nature and see the pure proof of abundance on this Earth; yet other people may see abundance symbols by viewing new gadgets and lavish clothes.

When you train your eyes to center on such symbols, you'll begin the originative process in you. Your thinking will absolutely shift as you no longer see poverty manifestations. By always looking at wealth symbols you'll develop desire to become abundant.

As now you easily center on abundance, you'll have no difficulty in producing thoughts of abundance. These thoughts will manifest in your life bringing in everything you deeply thought about.

An abundance mentality tells you that there are constantly new chances and opportunities. This frees much of the pressure you may feel if you have a scarcity mentality that makes you believe that you only got this shot right now. Or makes you feel like a perfect failure simply because you just bumbled and things didn’t work out.

An abundance mentality lets you see life in a more long-run perspective. And it may help you better your performance as with it you’re producing a lot less pressure and anxieties inside your own brain.

If you have a scarcity mentality then you probably take things a bit too seriously. You may think: "If I fail, the sky will fall". It probably won’t, but because you believe it will, you will become excessively nervous and you’ve produced a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure as your inner, self-created negativity puts obstructions on your path to success.

Hopefully this not only answers your question "what is a scarcity mentality" but also allows you to open your eyes and take on the abundance mindset.

Achieving Goals in Life

2011-07-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

If you want to be achieving goals in life you need to start acting as if your goal has already been achieved. As soon as you determine something and place absolute belief in it, it already has been processed by the universe and exists — even if the existence is currently in thought.

Don’t think about what has been, the past is gone. Treat the situation as if the past had never happened. Change the way you look at the situation to a positive perspective. Think, speak and act/react with a sense of purpose. Have gratitude for the universe, yourself and the situation, and be inspired.

Let’s look at some examples:

Example 1: You wish to shed enough weight before an important event to fit in to a new dress. You have determined that you will lose the weight and have, in fact, already lost the weight in thought within the universe. You believe with absolute certainty that the universe is processing your request by moving the world‘s energy to accommodate you.

Do you continue eating as if it doesn‘t matter? Do you continue being a couch potato? That would say that your goal doesn‘t matter and would effectively stop the process. If you look in the mirror and are repulsed or constantly use the overweight or fat words in your thoughts and spoken words, wanting to be thin, then you‘ll retain the 20 pounds, no matter what you do.

Instead, you outline what needs to be done to get to where you wish to be. That would include eating and exercising properly. You compliment yourself on your thin and shapely figure and how your clothes fit so perfectly each time you look in the mirror. You love and appreciate yourself.

Yes, the proper eating and exercise will help you lose weight, by the sheer fact that you‘re doing them. But they won‘t ensure you lose enough weight to fit in that new dress on time, let alone look perfect; and maybe, you only needed to lose 15 pounds. The universe will take care of the amount of weight. You take care of treating yourself and acting as if it‘s already happened, because it has.

Lastly, when achieving goals in life, check every conscious thought, word and action against your goal. Does it match up with you plan for success? Or is it a hindrance? Match your perspective to your plan of action.

Be careful What You Wish For...

2011-07-22T12:33:00.000-07:00

You will doubtless have heard this saying in the past. In full, it says: “Be careful what you wish for; you may just get it.”

This may appear an odd saying, because who in their right mind would wish for negative things to happen? Unfortunately, too many of us are thinking negative thoughts every day. It is so easy to have a positive desire that is expressed in a negative way. Take the example of your desire for a promotion. Instead of repeating to yourself: “The promotion is mine”, you think: It’s bound to go to someone else.

Perhaps this is a means of protecting yourself from disappointment, but what you are actually doing is repeating a negative affirmation. Your subconscious is receiving the message that you will not be promoted, and it interprets this as an order. You may think that your subconscious cannot affect the decision made by your boss, but your negativity comes through loud and clear. Your boss may be looking at you and feel reluctant to promote you because they sense you are not the positive person they want in a position of increased power.

So you fail to win the promotion largely because you have been thinking you won’t, and your boss has picked up on something negative that they don’t like. Although you didn’t actually wish that you would fail, you helped make it happen because failure was the dominant thought in your mind. The above saying may speak of wishes, but it more correctly refers to thoughts that are uppermost in your mind for the majority of the time. In other words: “Be careful what you think of; you may just get it.”

The results that are manifested in your life can be directly affected by the thoughts in your head, and the affirmations you give to yourself.

How to Inspire Yourself

2011-07-18T16:56:00.000-07:00

Need inspiration? Here is how to inpire yourself...

Enthusiasm comes from inspiration. Inspiration comes from knowledge and enrichment of the mind, while ignorance fosters and intensifies fear. Inspiration also helps you to further define and detail your plan of action.

Inspiration may be obtained through many sources. The most obvious is education, whether it is motivational material to keep you on your path or gaining more specific knowledge to achieve your success. Education may be reading books, magazines, and journals, taking workshops and classes, listening to tapes/CDs, and watching videos that educate and motivate in the area of your goal. You become what you study, so expose your mind to anything and everything that adds to the achievement of your success.

The people that surround you influence your path, your attitude, your determination, your belief, your inspiration, and the outcome of your success. You should surround yourself with people who share your positive vision and desire to achieve your goal. Otherwise, you may be eliminating your success through the power of association.

Associations may mean being around the people who can make your success happen. Donald Trump did just this. He associated with those people, whom he wanted to emulate and who could assist his success.

Also, include educational and motivational materials that will help you after your success is achieved. Currently, you are in - the process. Once you’ve achieved your goal, you need to already have the knowledge and motivation to use the success in a positive manner and keep it moving forward.

One of the most supporting and inspirational tools to achieve success is to have a hero. Oprah Winfrey, talk show host, once told Barbara Walters, renowned interviewer and newscaster, that, if it were not for Ms. Walters, she wouldn’t be where she is today. This is a wonderful example of using a hero to achieve. The great thing about emulating heroes is that they can be living, dead or even fictitious.

Finding a hero (or heroine) to emulate gives you many achievement advantages. That person is already the success you seek. Learn all you can about them. If possible, take them to lunch and interview them. Find out what they purposefully did to achieve. What could they have done differently to make the process to success easier and faster? Put photos of this individual all over your living space and on your desk at work. Keep a list of the person’s traits that you wish to emulate, and incorporate them and anything that helped your hero to achieve into your plan of action.

Can You Change Your Belief System?

2011-07-15T16:42:00.000-07:00

Success takes both determination and belief. This requires a belief that is with absolute certainty that your goal will be achieved. So Can You Change Your Belief System? Believing with absolute certainty is a giant leap of faith that the universe will come through for you.

One of the strongest tools for keeping your proper focus is, of course, meditation, because it connects you directly to the universe and affirms your faith in it. An even stronger tool is to actually see the universe in motion - seeing things happen for you without any intervention from you, other than determination and belief.

Once, Sharon and her mother were going to a fairly large mall during the Christmas season. Of course, the parking lot was packed with shoppers. Sharon began to drive toward the front of the parking lot, by the main doors of the mall out of habit. Her mother asked her what she was doing, and Julie told her mother that she wanted to see if there were any empty spots close to the front doors.

Her mother very indignantly told Sharon that she was crazy. Sharon ‘s response? - Oh ye of little faith! and silently asked if a space could be found so that her mother could see that things are possible through belief. Sharon was as shocked as her mother, when there was a newly-vacated spot directly in front of the doors in the first position. Sharon pulled in the space without a word said, while her young children began giggling in the back seat. It took a while for her mother to recover from the shock.

Sharon has since asked for close parking spots many times, knowing that if there isn‘t one, it‘s because someone with a greater need got it. More times than not, the space is there. Oh, and Sharon ‘s mother‘s faith in the universe grew that day by leaps and bounds.

Did Sharon know for sure a space would be there? No, but she did absolutely believe that her prayer was heard and would be positively answered, if at all possible within the current circumstances of her life. That is belief from determination. You first determine, and then follow it with absolute belief.

Notice also that Sharon asked for a space ―close to the doors. She didn’t limit the universe by asking for a specific space. She allowed the universe room to process her request.

Let‘s say, instead of someone having just pulled out of the first space, they had just pulled out of one five spaces down. If Sharon had asked specifically for the first space, then the space five spaces down may have been given to someone else. She would have been trying to manipulate the process.

You must not limit the result of your request. Allow the universe to define the best outcome. The source knows better than we do the best result for us at the moment in time it manifests into our physical world. If you've not tried this before why not change your belief system now and ask for something?

What are Cosmic Affirmations?

2011-07-12T13:33:00.000-07:00

Affirmations can be used to improve the quality of your thoughts at a personal level. It is not difficult to grasp how a positive attitude can create a more attractive and amenable personality, so that other people respond more positively in return.

However, there is another aspect to affirmations, and that is how positive thoughts are transmitted to the universe. This is an area that requires a leap of faith, although there is also sound evidence for believing that such a form of communication is possible.

Firstly, let’s look at what this deals with. The suggestion here is that we are a minuscule part of a cosmic whole. That cosmic whole is the creator of everything in the universe and it goes by various names. Some obviously refer to it as God or the Divine; others who are not religious call it the Universal Mind, Universal
Consciousness, or Cosmic Power. As we are a part of it, so our thoughts are connected with it, and we can therefore communicate our thoughts and desires to it. As it is the ultimate creator of everything in existence, and continues to be so, it is thus able to reply to our desires and create the exact circumstances in our lives that we have requested. However, just like our own minds, the Universal Mind is an order-taker and so we have to be extremely careful what we ask for, i.e. think of.

It is not unusual for people to balk at this idea. We look in the mirror and see a separate entity, connected to nothing else around us in physical terms other than the ground we stand on. Our border is defined by our skin, and it is therefore easy to doubt a connection to anything outside ourselves. However, your cell phone is also a separate entity, yet you do not deny its ability to connect you with another person on the other side of the world with no wires involved. Why then is it such a leap to suppose there is a form of communication that might allow our thoughts to be sent half way around the world, and to all parts of the world?

There is certainly plenty of anecdotal evidence of telepathic abilities in humans, and many laboratory tests have proven that information can be transmitted from one person’s mind to another in a remote location. Perhaps this is the tip of the iceberg. Perhaps these people are just the select few who are cognizant of their abilities. It might be that we all have this power but are not sufficiently aware of it to bother trying to channel it.

Thankfully, to a certain extent, science can help us overcome our doubts about universal communication. In scientific terms, everything in the universe is made up of just one thing: atoms. The atom is a basic unit of matter consisting of a central nucleus surrounded by a cloud of negatively-charged electrons. Although this matter may take on different forms – solid, liquid, gas and plasma – so that we see different objects all around us, everything is matter.

More importantly, the atoms in your body are actually 99.99% vacuum, which means pure energy. These are the same atoms that are found in everything else in the universe. Energy is in us, flows through us, and is all around us. We may not be able to see it, but we are all connected to each other and to everything else in the universe. Although it is certainly not proof beyond a reasonable doubt, it does at least provide a theoretical reason why your affirmations can be carried far and wide.

Rid Your Mind of Negativity

2011-07-11T17:03:00.000-07:00

How can you Rid Your Mind of Negativity, when you bombard your senses with all this negativity on a daily basis. You'll get a dose of negativity each time you listen to the news on the radio, even those short briefs every hour. Then, add in each news magazine and journal you read each month. Now, include the television news you watch — don’t forget the noon news, the nightly news, and the end of the day news programs, each are at least 30 minutes in length. Do you really need to see and hear all this news?

Choose one form, once a day, and eliminate all the rest. For instance, only the nightly news that gives a brief accounting without all the details. The addition of images and brief interviews are like a picture — they are worth a thousand words. You get more in less time, without going in depth. You’re also getting the headlines, which concerns you the most. You don’t have to know about every problem across the world, in your state, city and neighborhood, or every little gruesome detail about a local murder.

Other Negative Sources. What type of books and magazines do you read? What type of movies and videos do you watch? Do you play electronic/Internet games? What television shows do you watch? Constantly reading and seeing violent media adds additional negativity. Consider this: you love the forensic and justice television shows — NCIS; all the CSI shows; all the Law and Order shows; the forensic shows on the Discovery channel, the History channel, and the Arts & Entertainment channel; NUMB3RS; and Bones. This is just a portion of the forensic and justice shows on the television schedule this season. If you’re watching them all or even a good portion of them, look at all the negative you’re putting into your mind.

Like the news, you don’t have to get rid of all of them. You could, for instance, choose to watch NCIS, the one CSI show you like the best, and NUMB3RS. Replace the other shows with positive, uplifting shows, or spend more time doing other activities. Also, be aware of the negativity given off by the ―reality‖ shows.
To what music do you listen?

How much alcohol and medication (or other drugs) do you ingest? How much caffeine do you intake? What type of things do you have in your home? On your walls? In your office? On your office desk? Do these things and activities energize you? Do they soothe you? Are your habits healthy? If your answer is no, then they are adding negative energy into you mind and body, contributing to stress and negative feelings. Again, replace what is negative with positive alternatives These are all trade-offs you make for a better and more positive life.

Doing all of this will help to Rid Your Mind of Negativity and you'll become a more positive and successful person.

How to Quiet The Mind

2011-07-09T16:39:00.000-07:00

Do you want to know how to Quiet The Mind? A quiet mind is a place to explore who you truly are, to create, and to connect to the universe. In the quiet, you connect to love. In the quiet, you access the power of the universe. It clears your mind and gives you extraordinary ideas, allowing success to flow freely.

The quiet is within that part of yourself that No One Knows, where you may encounter the true purpose of your life and what you need do to achieve it. In the quiet, you recharge your batteries, remove tension and anxiety, reduce stress and fatigue, eliminate doubt and depression, and remove enculturation programming. It gives you a sense of belonging.

You become one with the universe and all of humanity, and you know peace. When you are separated from the silence, you see doubts, your see problems, and you feel the negative surround you. There are no problems, doubts or negative in the silence. It moves you away from this outer world and all its perceived troubles, connecting you back to your original source of spirit.

This quietis located in the space between your thoughts. To reach it, you must quiet your thoughts. You must quiet your mind and know stillness. Then, you merge with it.

The important thing is to quiet your mind, be at peace, and connect.

So how to quiet the mind? Take a walk in the woods or a quiet park. Listen to the sounds of nature. Breathe deeply of the fresh air. Hear the birds chirping, the leaves rustling under foot, and the sound and smell of the breeze as it brushes past your face. Walk barefoot in the grass. Stretch your arms out wide and slowly turn, feeling the freedom. Feel the different textures of nature — the bark of a tree, the silky feel of a flower petal, the soft fur of a kitten, the bristles from the blades of grass against you palm, and all that nature offers your senses. As you focus on hearing and feeling nature, you be able to quiet the mind.

While you’re alone, speak to the universe — in your mind through your thoughts or out loud, depending upon your comfort level. Speak as if you’re speaking to a friend. Tell this friend your problems and desires. Then, let the universe take care of them.

How to Make it Very Easy

2011-07-07T12:11:00.000-07:00

Ease comes with deeper understanding. The law of attraction has layers and each layer reveals more tools to master manifesting your reality.

Every thing is easy after you learn the ins and outs of how it works. There are those who think the law of attraction has no validity and there are those who believe that the law of attraction rocks. Guess what!? Both people are correct, because whatever one believes determines what that one will experience in his reality.

Despite the nay sayers there are secrets to the application of the law of attraction that can yield incredible results. The results are so astonishing that it seems like magic and sorcery but it is none of those, yet all of those. What is magic really? If not the ability to do the impossible or what is thought of as impossible.

Open to Greater Possibilities and Realize Those in Your Reality
Well there are secrets that can make the power to manifest completely outstanding. Imagine that you lived in a small town and you desired to go to the big city which is several miles way. Tom your neighbor comes along and tells you to use his old bicycle. You know that you can always walk which will take you several hours but the bicycle is a plus you happily accept.

After two miles you meet a stranger who tells you that he can surely take you along the route in his car which will get you there even faster. Do you ditch the bike and take the car? The secrets to manifesting are similar to this scenario. It gets deeper and deeper and each lesson brings you more spiritual power.

Those who yearn to understand the deeper nature of applying the laws of attraction discover that while the car ride was great there is the airplane. The journey gets faster and easier for those who dive deeper into the study of the laws of attraction.

Immersion is the key to Mastery
For every single topic including the law of attraction, there are those who truly master the topic by studying it quite deeply. You could not master money matters by making a study of poverty, or origami would you? To fully gain ease in manifesting with the laws of attraction you must make it a diligent study. You may take two to three months of studying all that you can but that study is like a masters degree which will serve you for the rest of your life.

Uncover the Layers
In all things there are layers. On just about every single topic you will find that if you consulted with someone who has gained success he can take apart the topic into several categories. Within each category there are layers that can be mastered in greater detail. The law of attraction is no different. Taking a little bit of time to understand the ways in which to apply each part will greatly benefit you in dramatically manifesting what you truly desire. There are ways of contracting time and moving what you desire to you rapidly. We truly live in a magical world. How far down the rabbit whole are you willing to go?

Positive Affirmations - Suggestions and Ideas

2011-07-05T12:54:00.000-07:00

Here are a few ideas for affirmations.

For Love and Peace

I am happy
My mind is at peace
I am calm and relaxed at all times
My thoughts are under my control
I am surrounded by love
I radiate love and peace
I have loving relationship with my wife/husband
I am at peace with the Universe
I love and accept myself
I am surrounded with loving people
I am loving and accepting of others
I trust the wisdom of my inner being
I am always connected with Divine Love

For Prosperity and Success

I am getting wealthier every day
I have the perfect job
I am living in my dream house
I am successful in whatever I do
I always have enough money
Everything is getting better every day

For Health

My body is healthy
I have lots of energy and vitality
I can control my health
I can maintain my ideal weight

Obviously, you can tinker with these and come up with your own to exactly suit your personal goals and desires. Just remember to keep them positive, present tense, and passionate.

Weight Loss Mindset - The Most Important Tool You Need

2011-07-03T17:02:00.000-07:00

Whether you want to lose a few pounds, or if you want to completely transform your body. The mentality you need to program inside your circuitry is imperative to your success. Weight Loss Mindset is the most important tool you can have for losing weight.

Failure to lose weight is as simple as being in the wrong mindset. The same could be said about completely transforming your body to that of the physical appearance you wish to achieve. You mindset plays a crucial role!!!

A Postitive Weight Loss Mindset, is essential to success and you need to keep reminding yourself of this, each time you wake in the morning, or before you shut your eyes to fall asleep…this is what will make your journey successful.

The times when you are about to fall off your "Weight Loss Wagon," this is the time you repeat your Mantra…and you will soon find that it becomes easy to stay the path.

How to Use Affirmations

2011-07-02T12:08:00.000-07:00

Affirmations are essential to a law of attraction program. Not only do they allow you to keep a clear focus upon your desire, they also serve to alter your inner mind and create a new belief.
To affirm means to declare what is already present. It is the same with creating and using affirmations to attract or to transform the things which we desire.

When you create an affirmation you are declaring to yourself and the universe that the desire is already created. As you continue to repeat these affirmations you are also holding your thoughts clearing with intense focus on the creation that you have made.

Affirmations serve many purposes when trying to manifest the things you want. Applying the law of attraction can be hard when you try diligently to maintain positive uplifting thoughts. It’s almost impossible to monitor your thoughts twenty four hours a day but when you create clear affirmations with details they become a great tool in controlling your thoughts and in turn influencing the law of attraction in your favor.

Here are three ways to use affirmations with your law of attraction practice to get great results.

1. The first step to using the affirmations is to become very clear about what you want. In order to become clear you would need to write out all the details that you would like to see and experience in the thing that you want. The clearer you are about your intentions the more power you give to your affirmations.

2. Write a clear positive affirmation in the first person stating your desire as if it is already complete. Never make statements such as, “ I wish I could be… or someday I can have or I don’t want to do…”

These three statements are the most ineffective statements when creating your affirmations. The affirmation must be created with power and faith in order to fully shift the law of attraction in your favor. You must absolutely omit any words that tie you to the thing which you do not want. If you want to stop thinking in a negative way, it is best to state, “ I now think and feel in the most positive way. I thoughts are happy and positive every moment of the day.”

3. Move into the affirmation with feeling. Feeling adds the power to your desires. Feelings generate an internal energy that allows your whole being to absorb your statement.

Many people find it a bit hard to really create success with their affirmations and that is as a result of stuck emotional energetic patterns that are difficult to change. There are many incredible techniques that can shift those affirmations quite deeply that they make the attraction process even easier and more effective without the mindless repetition.

How deeply are you willing to go to see the changes that you know are possible to have?

Visualization Techniques for Stressful Times

2011-06-29T12:23:00.000-07:00

Visualization techniques have been demonstrated to improve physical and mental health, speed the healing process, and effectively manage pain. They can also help prevent illness, reduce stress, and increase an individual’s overall health and well-being.

Different visualization techniques can be used in the treatment of stress, and stress related illness. For general Stress Management, begin by identifying where in the body you feel the stress. Do you have muscle tension in the back and neck? Is your stomach “knotted”? Do you experience a dull or throbbing headache? Different people experience stress in different ways.

Once you have identified where in the body you experience stress you can use visualization techniques to reduce the stress, as well as the physical symptoms and effects you experience while under stress.

One useful visualization technique involves placing your hand over the affected area of your body. Breathe deeply, with your eyes closed. Feel your heart rate slow to a calm and steady pace.

Visualize the stress in your mind as an image, with size shape and form. It may appear as a black ball which is located in the area of your body that you feel stress.

It may also appear in another form, such as a square, circle, rectangle etc… As you concentrate on the image of the stress (which may or may not be accompanied by physical pain) visualize (or picture yourself) moving the image.

It may not happen right away, but keep working at it, until you can get the image to move. Even the smallest movement is an accomplishment. As you begin to be able to move the image, be aware that you have control of it, and more importantly, know that IT does not have control over you.

Visualize the image that symbolizes your stress moving further and further away from its original location, until eventually you are able to remove it completely from your body.

Another technique along this same line is to visualize the stress you are feeling, and imagine that it is getting smaller, and smaller. Eventually the image will shrink to a tiny spot, and then disappear all together. This technique is very powerful in helping to manage the physical symptoms that result from stress.

The Capacity for Happiness and Respectability

2011-06-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

Humans are liable to experience a variety of afflictions, but they are commonly endowed with a capacity for happiness and respectability. There is no guarantee, however, that they will exercise this capacity at all times and to the maximum, whatever happens. Depression and shame remain a possibility, which increases with the severity of their afflictions and the difficulty of living up to the values that are necessary for their happiness and respectability: courage, efficiency, wisdom, and nobility.

Living up to these values is never easy, even under extremely favorable circumstances. It requires an effort of will. To make or not to make this effort is the question, central to the human existence. This question is difficult in proportion to the weight of suffering that bears on humans, while their dignity hangs in the balance. The more burdensome this weight, the more tempting it is for them to take the easy way out. The fear of losing their dignity, however, is a strong deterrent. There is no greater loss than that of dignity, save the loss of life itself. Yet, the easy way out is a very powerful temptation in extremely unfavorable circumstances. Giving up instead of living up to the values mentioned above is then deplorable but understandable. Excruciating circumstances are extenuating ones.

Amazingly enough, despite the burden of suffering that is oppressive to many, the incidence of moral collapse – in the form of errant ways like carelessness, vagrancy, and crime, often accompanied by alcohol or drug abuse to fuddle the conscience – is small in comparison with the incidence of worthy behavior. Furthermore, a moral collapse is remediable, except when the person concerned shows an inveterate or congenital weakness, or a mental illness that is beyond cure. On the whole, dignity can be lost and regained.

As for those who resist quitting the struggle for worthiness, they rarely do their best. In many instances their spirit is tainted with some degree of indulgence in laziness, cowardliness, ineffectiveness, foolishness, selfishness, and meanness. It has the grayness of dawn. Even those who shine like a late morning sun have a shadow of imperfection at their heels. In short, humanity has yet to fulfill its potential. While there is much courage, efficiency, wisdom, and nobility in the world, much happiness and respectability, there could be a whole lot more. The key to this rise is an effort of will.

Art of Meditation and Visualization

2011-06-26T12:25:00.000-07:00

Today, a wide range of types and techniques of meditation are available to keep people relax and stress-free. A lot of people are now gradually realizing the significance of meditation activities in their daily life. Even doctors are now going to accept it as a good way for the treatment of certain health disorders such as depression.

Meditation activities are considered an art, which is frequently admired by people. A hell of practice can make you perfect in this art. You will be considered as a real master of meditation through patience and practice. You have to become a master of visualization art if you really want to bring perfection in the art of meditation.

Visualization is an art commonly used by more or less every person. However, this art is mostly marked within the children. Technique of visualization is less used by a person as he grows up. Generally, kids are full of wild visualizations and imaginations. Though you are ignorant of it but in reality you also utilize visualization art to some extent. You just need to enhance your ability of visualization to perform meditation successfully.

Mediation very often brings into play the visualization art. Actually, majority of meditation exercises involves visualization inclusively. Therefore, you must be a master of this particular art before making concentration on any of the complicated meditation activities.

Some people are of the view that visualization art can easily be mastered and it is true to some extent. In contrast, some individuals need a real struggle to learn this art. Practice is the only thing through which you can master the visualization art. You should always be ready and determined to allow your imaginations go.

You can perform a very simple exercise to become perfect in visualization art. All you have to do is just pick any of the objects in your house and place it on a table with no other thing on it. Now, look at the object with full concentration and make an effort to absorb all particular details and memorize them if feasible. After this close your eyes and try to imagine the same object in your mind. Now make notice of details you remembered about the object and those you forgot. Also, notice your feelings about the exercise either you feel enjoyment or get stressed.

Now, pay attention to a new object after clearing the details of the previous one. Repeat the same procedure and again ask same questions to yourself. Always pay close concentration to all the relevant information about an object. After completion you realize that there were few gaps while recalling the object's details, which were filled by your imaginative power.

Visualization art is quite stressful for beginners but they need not to be worried about it as it is considered as normal sign. These stressful feelings will soon die out and you can perform visualization related exercises with full ease.

So, just keep on doing good practice and do not ever think to leave it just because of few difficulties.

Achieve Your Goals Immediately

2011-06-23T12:21:00.000-07:00

Some people may think that goals have a definite timeline to accomplish. In part, this is true, but there are certainly ways on how you can hasten the process. You can achieve more great things by focusing on the current job and getting it done, without any compromise. Here are some guidelines from the experts that you can use yourself.

Step One: Forming a Team

Things can be accomplished more quickly if you rely on other people and assign tasks accordingly. When forming a team, it is important that you choose individuals whom you can trust and are truly competent in the fields you assign them to. Teams need to be supervised to ensure that you get the results you want. You can also create a hierarchy or create pairs so that one can look out for the other, thereby saving you time when reviewing work.

Forming a team gives you the benefit of practicing your leadership skills. You will find that later on, you also get to finish tasks more quickly alone, since you've already created an effective system that will provide a smoother flow of various jobs. Make sure you also get the appropriate number of people for the job, or else you risk having too many to watch over, wasting precious time in the process.

Step Two: Finding Shortcuts

Some goals actually have shortcuts that you can use to reach more quickly. These are not quick fixes, but can help the entire system respond in a more conducive manner, thereby boosting the process. For example, there are no short cuts to permanent weight loss, but you can do some techniques that will hasten the fat loss. Some of the approaches include using HIIT or high intensity interval training, instead of the traditional cardiovascular exercise. HIIT is done only in 20 minutes tops, and burns more fat and raises your metabolism higher and for longer periods of time. Your body will respond to the exercise faster.

To know about the shortcuts, always stay updated with changes and developments in technology and professional programs. Stay connected in a network of people related to your goals. Joining forums and online seminars are ideal. You can also talk to experts, so you can compare processes and determine if a certain approach is truly effective.

Step Three: Extra Hours

Consistency, discipline and dedication always give you faster and better results. If you want to finish things faster, you may have to put in extra hours and work longer than the usual. The more important thing is that you keep stress levels down afterwards by relaxing and giving yourself enough time to rest. This way, you can move on to the next goals to be achieved. Overtime should also be well-planned. You cannot expect to work effectively beyond your usual time if you're still tired the night before or do not have enough equipment to work with.

Prepare and strategize by coming up with small objectives and actions steps to be done in sequence. Having information prior to your overtime can help greatly and save you lots of idle time. You may also ask someone to work with you during overtime to accomplish more. Try to incorporate all the three steps above and see for yourself how much more you can boost the process.

Zen in a Thimble

2011-06-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

This is a way i use to bring thoughts to the physical world. There are a great many of them, and the better you get at creating them (thinking em up)The easier it will be to find work arounds in the real world, when obstacles and hurtles present themselves.

Im not exactly sure of why they work, but they do.Ok, for the first one, take all you money out of your pocket. Now lay it down on a table or something on the other side of the room.Now go find a seat somewhere that still lets you see your money. Now look at that money and try to think of ways to get that money back in your pocket. And you cant get help.List them.Hopefully everybody figured it out. If you are not magic, you gotta get up and go get it. Only way. If you are magic, then you dont need this article, so put it down and call me, imeechatly.

Doing This exercise makes you see in the physical world what you think. And from it you should see that the way to get what you want is to go get it, and bring it back to you. the funny thing is you will keep trying to figure out ways to get your money off the table, even though there arent any, its impossible. But the weird thing is that you no longer truly believe it is, yet. Use this exercise a lot and it will get you the answer to some tough questions.

Just about everything is possible, till it proves it is not.

Sometimes you have to make your thoughts real, envision them in your mind and make them real. Its like wouldnt it be much easier to figure out how to make something if you could see it. I believe that if you can see a thing in detail in your mind, it will give you clues as to how to make it real. Think about it, its corny but it feels right and works.

If you keep doing the exercise for different thoughts, you will start giving the impossible the burden of proof. And the more you think ahead the better you know what to expect,and the better you know what to expect the better you deal with the obstacle or hurtle or problem, so don't only think about reacting to hurtles and obstacles, think about attacking them too. That let's you react better in the process also, 2 for the price of one. This really works, give it a try.

How to Get What You Want From Anyone You Meet

2011-06-19T12:18:00.000-07:00

Attraction is a very powerful tool to use to get what you want, if you know the proper way to use it.

People interact with each other on a daily basis, and most times this is because one person needs something from the other. Getting others to do what you want them to do is simple, when you know how to do it.

In the business world, for example, you may have a product or service to sell while the other person is looking for such a product. To sell your product or service to them, you will have to convince the other person that he will be satisfied with the services you render according to his needs.

In other words, the way to get anybody to do what you want is to make them want to do it. Trying to get what you want through intimidation or force is asking for trouble. Yes, it is possible but not advisable to use forceful methods, because the results are short term and can even be disastrous.

So how do you get others to do what you want? Simple. Give them what they want. That is the secret to attraction. And what is it that people want? Good health, love, and financial security are the basic desires of people.

But there is one important, yet intangible, thing everybody wants more than anything else, and that is to be appreciated. Being appreciated and complimented makes a person feel important. When you feel important, you feel needed and wanted, and this gives you a reason for existing.

So, how do you make someone else feel important? Tell them. Show them. Give appreciation freely, honestly, and without reservation. Saying how appreciative you are for a favor received or a job well done will make the other person feel important and respected.

You may not be able to describe in words how being appreciated makes you feel when you’re the recipient, but you know that what you feel is real and priceless.

To get what you want through attraction, show the other person that - if he does what you want him to do - it will, in turn, make him feel important.

Let’s take charity for example. You want a contribution from a prospective donor. Even before the act of giving itself, the donor expects some from of appreciation from you and this, in turn, will give him a feeling of importance.

But appreciation doesn't necessarily have to be expressed in words. A smile and a handshake could be sufficient, and they can come from both you and the donor.

The donor shows his feeling of being appreciated, while you show your appreciation for the contribution. A chemistry takes place. It’s a feeling both parties would enjoy happening many times over.

So, to get others to do what you want them to, you must give them something first. Make them feel special, important and appreciated.

But, be aware, your feelings must be genuine. You must truly appreciate the person as a fellow human being, and not just because they are doing something for you.

If you can truly feel that the person you are interacting with is important and worthy, and can convey those feelings to that person, you will get them to do what you want them to, and they will feel good about doing it for you.

This is the most powerful way to get what you want through attraction.

How To Overcome Nervousness When You Speak In Public

2011-06-16T11:55:00.000-07:00

Even if the speech you have is already prepared and you know everything about it, public speaking can be difficult. Many people are very nervous when they speak in public. Here are some tips for you to overcome your nervous feelings when you speak in front of many people.

Preparing your presentation

1. Center on yourself. Try practicing standing properly – with your feet under the hips directly. This position is the best and most stable for speaking in public. Rehearse this position with somebody or in front of your mirror.

2. Your shoulders should be relaxed. The muscles in the shoulders support directly your larynx, so it has a fast effect on your voice. Shoulders should be rolled out.

3. Warming up the voice. You should treat all your presentations as if they were performances. Prepare yourself by rehearsing. Deeply breathe into the bottom part of the lungs. You feel your rib cage is expanding slightly higher than the navel. You should thrice sigh. Sighing is your signal to the body that everything is okay and it is just perfect to relax. Then make a siren sound, starting from a high note to a lower note at the bottom part of the voice range you have. With enough practice, you will be able to find the low note connecting to the place located right above the navel. This is the natural voice pitch that you have.

Managing meeting skills

1. Directing your voice. Every time you speak, imagine that each word you say is like a beam of laser traveling from your mouth to the end person listening to you. Practice this outlook to be able to reach to many people at the same time.

2. Directing your thoughts. Pay attention to your thoughts, especially their beginnings and endings. Make your communication complete and fully rounded.

3. Diction as well as articulation. Convey clearly your message.

During questions

1. Give yourself time and space in breathing.

2. Before answering, slightly breathe out first. When you are flustered or nervous, you usually take in more additional air than you need, and you hold onto that air while you try to think. However, this is not helping you. Usually, this method causes you to panic. Remove this habit by breathing air first before you speak, allowing you to relax and thoughts to come in clearly and more logically.

Using Your Vibrational Meter

2011-06-13T12:15:00.000-07:00

You have within you a vibrational meter that tells you what is good and what is not good for you. That meter is your emotions.

Have you ever felt 'stuck' in life? I mean totally 'stuck'--immobilized, paralyzed or unable to make the right decision?

Several years ago, I felt totally stuck. I was considering a business opportunity that seemed like an ideal situation for me and promised to be very lucrative as well. However, I had hit burnout several times during the course of my association with this business and I had to admit that something did not feel right about the whole thing. I took two weeks off from communicating with the parties involved, believing that if I had some space I would find the answer that I needed, in order to know how to proceed. But at the end of the two weeks, I felt just as confused as I had been earlier, and did not know whether to proceed with a partnership or pull out partially or pull out entirely.

I went away to a nearby resort to try to clear my head and find the answer. After two days and nights I still was had no clear idea of what to do. I was trying so hard to figure everything out with my mind and my rational mind was not helping at all. Finally, in desperation, in the middle of the night I wrote:

"I need a new framework; a completely new way of looking at my life and making decisions."

The next morning, I plugged in a cassette tape a newfound friend had sent me. Though the tape was of poor quality, I heard something that has become my new framework:

You have within you a god-given vibrational meter that tells you what is good for you and what is not good for you. That vibrational meter is your emotions. If something feels good, then it is good for you. If something does not feel good, then it isn't.

I knew immediately that this business proposal was NOT good for me, because I did not feel entirely good about it. In fact, I was making myself sick trying to make it feel right when it was not.

What a relief it was to have this new framework from which to make decisions.

I had clarity and peace about not preceding with this business partnership AND I immediately wrote out a list of characteristics that I WANTED in a business partnership. Within a few days, I met my current business partner who is an absolute perfect match to that want list.

With the realization of this vibrational meter, you never need to make decisions with your mind. You never need to rationalize or justify your decisions. You simply need to recognize that "that doesn't feel good" and "that feels good" and "that feels great!" to know what is right for you.

Simple Leadership Basics

2011-06-11T11:54:00.000-07:00

A great cloud of jargon, debate, and junk theory surrounds the idea of leadership, what it is, who does it, and how to do it well. But if you have just been promoted, and you're responsible for a group for the first time, there are only a few things you really need to know about leadership.

When you get promoted and become responsible for the performance of a group you become a leader. But you don't undergo some magical change. In fact, it will probably take you over a year to completely adjust to your new role.

You're a leader because the people in your group treat you like one. The only choice you have is what kind of job you'll do.

When you become a leader your power actually goes down. As an individual contributor, you just have to decide to work harder, longer or smarter to improve performance. When you're responsible for the performance of a group, the group is your destiny. They choose whether to act or not.

When you become a leader, your influence goes up. The people who work for you pay attention to what you say and do. They adjust their behavior accordingly.

The result is that you use your behavior (what you say and do) to influence the behavior of the people who work for you to achieve a defined objective.

Achieving the objective is part of your job as a leader. The other part is caring for your people.

It may be possible to achieve good short term results without caring for your people. But you can't achieve long term success for you or your company without the willing cooperation of the best folks you can find.

At the end of the day, you can measure your leadership based on those two standards. Did we accomplish the mission? Are the members of my group better off today than yesterday?

You can find out more about all of this and learn it almost effortlessly from my book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership.

Dreams, Premonitions or Predictiction

2011-06-09T12:13:00.000-07:00

How can we believe the Law of Attraction is working when some things seem beyond our control?

Recently, I received an interesting email in which a woman told me that when she was 10 years old, she was shown in a dream how one day she would have a son and he would die at a certain age in a specific fashion. She also reported that this did, in fact, occur. Her question to me was, "How can I believe the Law of Attraction is working when some things seem beyond our control?"

What's happening when we have dreams, premonitions or receive a prediction that something (usually unwanted) is going to take place in the future? Or when it does happen we remember having received foreknowledge?

Here are three things you might consider:

1. Time only exists here on earth for us humans. Quantum physics teaches that although everything; every event, every experience, every possibility exists at the same time--in the NOW--man has invented time: the past, the present and the future, to bring some sort of order into these experiences. Religions call this Eternity--the place where time has no beginning and no end.

2. The Law of Attraction teaches us that everything vibrates and every vibration affects all other vibrations. I like the way Abraham-Hicks put it: "Everything vibrates and is communicating, reacting, responding and integrating with other vibrating things." ~Well Being Cards

3. Our subconscious mind is directly connected to the Super Conscious Mind (Source, Higher Power, Inner Being and Holy Spirit) and we are all learning how to translate this information for "human consumption." Remember, the translator is a person with their own agenda, fears and ideas about the meaning of this information.

I have been experiencing dreams, visions and prophetic words since 1987--actually, I had many experience of this nature as a young child, followed by years of rare occurrences. What I've found is that ANY piece of information can be interpreted through a filter of fear or love. When it is filtered through fear, it usually brings an ominous feeling to the prediction. When it is filtered through love, the message uplifts, encourages and strengthens people. And the choice is in the hands of the interpreter. I have decided to interpret dreams, visions and prophecies in the most positive life-giving way! Any thing less does not feel good to me.

So, my answer to the question: "How can I believe the Law of Attraction is working when some things seem beyond our control?" is this--

All things are connected at Source. Believe the best interpretation you can give to your dreams, premonitions, and all such occurrences. And if the prediction should come true--or you receive an outcome which is different or less than you would have chosen--KNOW THIS: you are indeed blessed to have been PREPARED for this event.

When I was pregnant with my fourth child, Sarah, I had a premonition that something was not right with the child I was carrying. I even told one of my girlfriends, "You know how people say, 'I don't care if it's a boy or girl, as long as it's ok?' Well, I can't say that about this baby. I CAN say, 'I don't care if it's a boy or girl and it's ok if it is not ok.' All will be well." And of course, when Sarah was born it was still surprising that she was born with Down's Syndrome. And yet, I felt so SPECIAL, because I HAD been prepared.

I truly believe in the prevalence of Goodness. I believe the knowledge of an event before it occurs is a gift. Something in us attracted this knowledge so that we could consciously prepare for it. Does that mean we have no choice or say in such matters? Sometimes the vibration of another person becomes a part of our life and deep down inside of us, we DO have a corresponding harmonious vibration. Sarah chose to be born different genetically. Her true self wants to experience life here on earth different from most people. I have a vibration in me that loves her and wants to encourage and support her along her journey.

We are a perfect match. And all really is well.

An Ancient Money Getting Secret

2011-06-07T12:10:00.000-07:00

There are some phenomenal forces in the universe that can extremely enhance the things that you want to manifest. What you know of the law of attraction will be greatly enhanced once you apply these additional secrets.

There is a secret to getting the law of attraction to move mountains and to create miracles beyond belief. As you may already know applying the law of attraction with success can be a hit of miss for many people. While there are people who claim to have outstanding results there are those who also complain of not getting what they want. That is because not many people really know the full missing part to applying the law of attraction.

Let me first tell you how powerful this secret is beyond the law of attraction. Think about how long you have been trying to attract some of the things you want. Maybe you have been applying all of the tools that you know of. You have been visualizing your goals. You have been repeating affirmations and perhaps even taking wild actions towards attracting more money but still nothing has changed.

Can you really get the law of attraction to manifest what you want faster? Chances are your answer will be a resounding, no. There is a good reason for that, it is a secret that few people will ever know and it is a secret so powerful that if you gave it a try you would be astounded by your results.

Many years ago when the true secrets to manifesting were not quite so public practitioners became aware of powerful forces in the universe. These forces were immensely powerful and allowed those who called on those forces to create incredible results again and again.

How powerful are those forces you ask and what can they do?

Imagine being able to...

- Manifest what you want with out struggling

- Calm your negative emotions so that you are more in harmony with the universe

- Attract more of everything that you want without doing extra work

- Clear away mental, physical and psychic block that are holding you back

- Change your whole life faster than ever

- Do in less time what would take others years

- Feel more joyful without trying to

These are all the things you can experience when you connect to the universal forces in the universe. You can begin to make the law of attraction work magically for you when you do align yourself to those secret forces. Put away all that you think you know or understand about the law of attraction and begin to see miracles and magic happen in your life.

One of the first steps to applying this outrageous secret... is to outrageous still and to allow yourself to entire the void. It is the first step there is o need to visualize, no need to repeat anything just be in the void. This is a powerful first step than cannot be underestimated.

Many people who think they understand the law of attraction are amazed by the knowledge and the secret found in the void. It truly works miracles and magic. Their body and mind becomes calmer and more in harmony and ready to bring their desires into physical reality faster.

How to Communicate with Your Subconscious Mind

2011-06-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

Your subconscious mind works in the present tense. It knows no other way to think. We create a past for ourselves in our memories and the emotions attached to them. We build a future for ourselves with our hopes and desires, or fears and sorrows. But our subconscious mind lives in the now. This means that any negative thoughts about your past that you carry with you at this moment create your present. You are perpetuating your past. You know how this works. If you recall a very sad situation, even from many years ago, it can make you cry. Your mind is interpreting this memory as happening now, and creates an appropriate response. It cannot differentiate between what happened ten years ago and what happened ten seconds ago; it can only react to what is in your mind right now.

The upshot for your positive affirmations is that they must be phrased so that the mind can act upon them at this moment in time, therefore you must use the present tense.

Let’s take the obvious example, and assume you want to be rich. You have three options as to how this is phrased

The past tense – In this case you might say: “I always wanted to be rich.” Your mind takes this to mean that you did want to be rich but not any more, therefore it does not take the required actions to bring it about.

The future tense – In this case, you might say: “I will be a rich person.” This might seem the obvious choice because you are planning for your future, but this is also the wrong way to phrase your affirmations. Your mind interprets this as meaning that you will be rich in the future, but not now, so fails to take any action.

The present tense – In this scenario, you might say: “I am a rich person.” Don’t worry, your mind is not going to take issue with you on this because you may not actually have very much money; rather it will respond by attempting to create the circumstances to match the affirmation. You have, in effect, given your mind an order that must be acted upon now.

If this smacks of a little self-delusion, this is just something you have to cope with. You are programming your mind in the way it must be programmed. Clearly, you have to exercise a little caution here. Telling your mind you are rich does not instantly put money in the bank. If you see a Ferrari drive by, you can say: “That Ferrari is my car”, but that does not mean you should run to your bank and withdraw all your funds to put down a deposit at your local Ferrari dealership. Such behavior will obviously provoke immense panic on your part once you realize you now can’t buy a tin of beans for dinner, and thus it will work against your positive attitude.

Talking in the present tense is not about deluding yourself or ignoring your current reality; it is about giving your mind orders in the language it best understands.

How One-on-One Executive Coaching Can Work For You

2011-06-05T11:53:00.000-07:00

Does your company need a jumpstart? Is revenue low, morale declining, and your leadership tactics no longer making an impact? This may be the perfect time to look into leadership coaching.

A good executive coaching program should do more than just set you up with a speaker reading over a PowerPoint presentation. Team up your senior leaders with a good corporate coaching program, and you could be discussing fostering relationships, building strategy, and improving revenue and communications all while hitting the slopes, climbing a mountain or rafting some white water. It’s easy to connect in an environment where you can be creative, and think outside the box.

A good leadership system can make all the difference in your organization. It effects; communication, human performance, accountability, delivery and measurement. A one-on-one approach, and a program that is tailored to suit your organization’s specific needs, is the best choice in executive coaching.

There are a few important things to consider if you want to engage in an executive coaching program. Look for a company that will provide you with someone who is more than just a speaker. You want to be paired up with someone who will be a trusted advisor to you as your organization grows and changes. Also, a good coaching program will include industry consultants to provide expert advice in some technical areas. Talk to your consultant about the specific goals you want your leadership program to meet. Every business or organization needs direction in a different area or department. This is what makes a one-on-one coaching program so unique; you work on meeting goals where your company needs it the most.

How to Make Positive Affirmations

2011-06-04T12:46:00.000-07:00

Remember that affirmations program the mind as you would program your computer. In the computing world there is an acronym: GIGO. It stands for: Garbage In, Garbage Out. This means that your computer can and will only respond to what is input into its system. If your machine is running cleanly, then you download and install a program and your computer crashes, it’s likely that the program had a virus. If you put garbage into a computer, you can expect to get garbage out.

It is the same with the human mind. You cannot consistently program your mind with negativity and expect that good things will be the result. When you approach the affirmations process, you must make certain that you do so with a positive frame of mind. Making successful affirmations is far more than speaking a few words in a set order. You may speak ten different affirmations each morning and evening, but if you don’t really believe that the whole affirmation process can work, you will most likely follow each one with a negative thought or comment that screws up all your good work. For example:

You affirm: “I am a happy and successful person.”
You think: Yeah, buddy, in your dreams.

You affirm: “I am a wealthy individual.”
You think: Sure, once I win the lottery.

You affirm: “My mind is at peace with the world.”
You think: When I’m half-cut perhaps.

You get the idea. Making positive affirmations is not enough. You must believe them to be true to the exclusion of any and all counterproductive

What is Greatness?

2011-06-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

What is the worst evil in the world? Wouldn't you agree that it is what prevents the achievement of everything that is good? And what prevents this achievement more than the weakness in a person's very soul that leads this person along the path of mediocrity, or worse, criminality? Let's take a look at this evil, first in the context of writing, then more generally in the context of living.

When I was a nineteen-year-old high school student and budding poet – two years after my diving accident – many factors adversely affected my creativity. My trips in a special bus to school and back home, my courses, and my assignments, though I was spared a lot of writing and was mostly tested orally, all this was time-consuming. More often than not, my obligation to study took priority over my desire to compose poetry.

To tell the truth, I had plenty of free time. That I spent much of it uncreatively showed evidence of frivolousness, laziness, and cowardliness. I usually preferred to take my mind off things, or to daydream, rather than to express myself through poems. The satisfaction I could derive from achieving this expression seldom induced me to try. The deterring elements were the difficulty of trying and the uncertainty surrounding the outcome of my efforts.

A poem – assuming one is concerned about writing beautifully – is indeed no cinch. It requires a poet who is talented, skilled, and determined. My poetic ability was fickle; my grammar and style were faulty; my will was faint. I lacked the courage of my creative desire. This lack was not absolute. Now and then, when I felt compellingly inspired, I resisted my temptation to trifle – which amounted to taking the easy way out – and endeavored to compose a poem. I had to repeat this endeavor, over and over, to grow more capable and confident, less discouraged by the challenge at hand.

I am afraid young individuals similar to the young man I was then are not a rarity. The prospect of success turns them on; effort and the risk of failure turn them off. The contradiction is apparent, and the result predictable: Since effort and the risk of failure are essential for success, the avoidance of them precludes this success. Of course everyone knows this. The trouble is that many refuse largely to accept it. This is proof that knowledge is powerless in itself; it needs a strong will to be effective.

Young individuals, who know the rules of success, can be failures inasmuch as they fail to accept these rules. Wisdom includes this acceptance (the exclusion of which is thus foolish). It must be distinguished from knowledge. Wise people are also brave people who put their knowledge into practice and become successful for that reason. The obvious holds good in every way: Life without courage is like a bird without wings; it cannot take off.

Why is it hard to want both the end and the means? Precisely because the means are hard, not to mention the fact that they are hazardous, you might answer. If you are right, then why do some actually thrive on this hardness and hazardousness? The key to this mystery is their attitude: They regard these opposing elements not only as obstacles but also as opportunities for merit and excitement. Just as they were young once, spoon-fed and sheltered from the evils of the world, they eventually outgrew their attachment to easiness and developed a taste for challenge. In conclusion, what characterizes them is their maturity, by contrast with the infantilism of others.

Between these two extremes there is a mediocre compromise, partly mature, partly infantile. It consists in taking charge of one’s life while taking the easy way out. Small principles, small realizations, far below one’s potential for greatness, they are poor excuses for wisdom and success. Potential, that is the operative word. There can be greatness in apparent smallness and smallness in apparent greatness; the truth resides in the great or small actualization of one’s potential, whatever it is.

How does one discover what it is? By making the effort to actualize it in the ever-renewed and multifaceted act of living. This entails that one push oneself hard, at the risk of going too far. Measure is an empty abstraction for anyone who has never exceeded it. Limits should be experienced, not invented. This experience demands a serious and courageous commitment to greatness. Steer clear of frivolousness, laziness, and cowardliness; do not fall prey to them as I did so many times. They are strong temptations that can assume the form of a cunning philosophy that is unique to losers. Beware of this snare. Life is a demanding character test; come death, you will have ample time to rest!

Nostalgic for the old days at the rehabilitation facility when I wrote anyhow about anything, I once conveniently believed in spontaneous writing as a guarantee of genuineness. Fortunately I was foolish yet not a complete fool. After some denial, which involved some nonsense in justification of my foolishness, I admitted sullenly that my sacrosanct pursuit of genuineness was in fact a vile indulgence in idiocy. There is nothing spontaneous about the intelligent conception and intelligible expression of one’s true self, which is everything but simple. It is a tissue of desires, feelings, ideas, and memories, caught in a whirl of interactions between the mind and the world. Either one goes to great lengths to elucidate and formulate the truth about oneself, and one hits the bull’s-eye, or one talks bullshit – please forgive my language.

Some people shine at off-the-cuff speeches, as though they were so brilliant they could avoid saying idiocies when forced to be spontaneous. Make no mistake; their brilliance is merely one side of the equation. They have spent years polishing their manner of thinking and speaking, while their knowledge waxed through learning. Their spontaneity is studied. It is a product of numerous rehearsals, like the performance of an actor. Nothing great ever comes easily to anyone, including those who are the most gifted among us. Superior luck is not human greatness, only a steppingstone toward it. The stone is given; the stepping is done by the sweat of one’s brow and is made of a million steps, uphill. To work one’s way up to greatness is comparable to conquering Mount Everest, the highest peak of the Himalayas. It is an outstanding achievement with a sense of pride to match.

The Power of Your Mind

2011-06-02T12:43:00.000-07:00

Positive affirmations create better relationships, as other people instinctively respond better to positive vibes and success. This can affect every type of relationship in your life – with your partner, your kids, your relatives, friends, acquaintances, strangers, work colleagues, and your boss.

Again, this is an area that will naturally improve as your affirmations take effect, even if they have not been targeted at your relationships. You are far more likely to be successful if you have created a more attractive aura for yourself through positive affirmations.

This is the truth that underpins positive affirmations, and positive thinking generally. This is the concept that must be accepted if you are to truly embrace the possibility that positive affirmations can improve your life and bring success.

The easiest way to verify this statement is to simply look around you right now. Apart from Nature, everything you can see started life as a thought in the mind of a human being. The clothes you wear, the car you drive, the street you drive along, the house you live in, the TV you watch, the books you read, the computer you work at, the chair you sit in, the company you work for, everything started out as an idea in mind.

That should make you think. The power of your mind to invent and achieve is practically limitless.

Positive Affirmations Can Improve Your Health

2011-06-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

Positive affirmations have a knock-on effect beyond the result named in the affirmation. As your life gradually improves, you will feel a sense of growing confidence, whether or not you have ever phrased an affirmation regarding a boost in your confidence levels. This is the natural consequence of personal achievement. Your outlook on life changes and your self-image is transformed. You create a virtuous circle where a vicious one may have existed before.

Again, this will be a side-effect of positive affirmations even when you have not phrased one that relates directly to your health. Negative emotions are draining on the psyche, and this can have a debilitating effect on your physical well-being. Negativity causes you to feel lethargic, and can cause genuine physical illness. Where positive affirmations can make you feel at ease,

Negative thoughts and habits cause you dis-ease. This is why people develop psychosomatic illnesses.
Psychosomatic means mind (psyche) and body (soma), and an illness of this sort therefore involves both the mind and the body. You will have heard the phrase “sick with worry”. It is entirely possible to make yourself ill through stressful thoughts. Some physical diseases are thought to be particularly affected by mental factors such as stress and anxiety. Psoriasis, eczema, stomach ulcers, IBS, high blood pressure, and heart disease, for example, are all aggravated by negative thoughts. In fact, there is a mental aspect to every physical disease in how we react to it and cope with it.

Positive affirmations can improve your health in three ways: Firstly, your mindset is healthier overall with a positive mental attitude, thus your immune system is stronger; secondly, a specific affirmation can be phrased to augment your health and counter illness appearing; thirdly, they can be used to speed recovery if you do get ill.

Premature Articulation

2011-05-31T11:51:00.000-07:00

Ask anyone about what makes a good leader and they are sure to put the ability to communicate high on the list of necessary skills. Yet all to often communication is simply seen as the ability to speak.

Listening – actively is an incredibly powerful tool at times rather neglected.

I stated working with ***** who said, “I feel really frustrated. I often suggest ideas at meetings but others get the credit! I am really keen to get promotion and want to impress”

***** was keen to do well. He wanted his superiors to recognise his potential and felt it was important to come up with the goods. At meetings ***** always tried to get in first. He was quick to speak, often cutting across others and interrupting.

By doing so there were a number of consequences quite different to his original intention:

Bosses lost their train of thought; they found the interruptions irritating.

***** concentrated far more on what he was going to say rather than internalising what was being said by others. His contributions were not focused on the matter at hand, or were shallow because he had not taken the time to analyse what had been said

Thoughts were articulated before they were completely formulated. Others picked up on the idea, thought them through logically and re-articulated them as their own, gaining lots of brownie points with the bosses

The problem was premature articulation, a very common problem. The solution is easy to identify but requires practice on a regular basis if the new behaviour is to become second nature.

Together we considered how to manage the problem.
I asked ****** to make a conscious decision to act differently at the next meeting.

To remain quiet, listening carefully and to contribute only when their opinion was asked for.

Planned strategies for listening, ordering thoughts and recording ideas were put in place.

It was agreed that ideas were to be offered after enough thought had taken place to ensure they were logical ordered and listened to.

The result was amazing. ****** felt more in control and was ready with positive, well thought out contributions which were accredited to him.

***** found the situation in meetings was less stressful and frantic as the pressure to perform was lessened. Listening attentively, taking time to get his thoughts together before offering a contribution has taken a bit of effort but well worth while.

Feedback from *****’s boss has been extremely positive.

Can you Control your Sub Conscious Mind?

2011-05-30T12:38:00.000-07:00

Controlling the sub conscious mind is a useful life-skill, and affirmations can help forge closer links between your conscious mind and your subconscious mind.

Once you start making your positive affirmations and you begin to see that they are working, you have proven your ability to control a part of yourself that remains out of reach to so many other people. Your subconscious mind is like the registry of your computer. A computer’s registry is its database that stores configuration settings and options. Most people have a vague idea it’s there, some may realize what it does, but very few will be able to open it up and start deleting or adjusting any of its keys or values because they won’t know what anything in there means.

You need to understand that it is possible to adjust your subconscious mind, and positive affirmations are the way to do this. It is how you can clear out all the redundant and harmful data your subconscious stores, and allow you to know exactly why you may be behaving in a certain way in a certain situation. When a computer is behaving oddly or sluggishly, it is often a muddled and messed up registry that’s responsible. Even when you delete a program, there will usually be remnants of it remaining in the registry. Your aim with positive affirmations is to reprogram your subconscious, and to continue to clear out any negative traces that remain from your previous way of thinking.

Positive affirmations help you become more in tune with how your subconscious operates, and why you may respond poorly in certain circumstances. The more you program your mind positively, the more easily you will recognize negative activity and be able to jump on it and delete it. Equally, you will find that you are far more tuned into the whisperings of your subconscious mind that often bring answers to difficult dilemmas in your life.

Depending on how they are phrased, affirmations can create good or bad habits. You may start out with affirmations that relate to some grand goals, such as a better career, or a more peaceful life, but don’t forget that affirmations can be applied to any area of your life. They can be used to help control your weight, to quit smoking, to cut back on the booze, so stop biting your fingernails. You name the habit, and a positive affirmation can be phrased to deal with it.

5 Things Preventing You from Attracting What You Want

2011-05-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

Using the law of attraction to manifest what you desire can be either wonderfully easy, or painfully hard depending on your full awareness. It is very important to become aware of the things that you do want but it is just as necessary to be aware of the things which prevent you from getting what you want.

Here are 5 reasons you may not be successful in attracting what you want.

1. Not being in alignment - You must be in alignment with what you do want. To be in alignment with your desires is not always easy. Let’s say that you have a desire to attract twenty thousand dollars but you are flat broke, most everything in your environment speaks poverty. You may be wishing and hoping but everything in your being feels like ten dollars rather than twenty thousand dollars. Your objective then should be to find a way to begin to feel like you are worth twenty thousand dollars. This is the first and most crucial step to activating the law of attraction.

2. Lack of Focus –This is another hindrance to manifesting what you desire. In order to get the universe to move what you want into your physical reality you must begin to hold a clear and steady focus of what you want all times through out the day.

3. Lack of power with intent – The one thing which generates power with your intention is emotion and feelings. In order for the law of attraction to work quickly with your desires you must first know with great certainly that you do want what you are asking for and you must begin to feel it very deeply. If there are slight feelings of doubt those doubts will work as barriers affecting the attraction process from going in your favor.

4. Not knowing how reality works – The law of attraction is one of several laws that assist you in manifesting what you desire. There are other laws which cancel out your intention if you are not aware of them or how they work. Manifesting your desires requires that you learn all the necessary parts to get great success with attracting what you want.

5. Surrounding yourself with people or things which contradict what you are creating - This is by far one of the most difficult parts to successfully applying the law of attraction. You see other people’s beliefs and doubts can greatly hamper your ability to manifest what you want. Those people could be family members, co-workers or friends. The universal law of attraction moves on vibration and other people’s vibration can have a great effect on your own personal vibration causing you to attract based on the vibration of the group you are sounded by.

As you can see there are many parts to the attraction process not all being fully understood by most people.

Why You Should Create Positive Affirmations

2011-05-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

One very good reason to create positive affirmations for yourself is because it is so simple to do. That does not mean it is necessarily an easy process to carry out – but it is certainly a simple process to understand.

In positive thinking, your mental attitude is often referred to as a coin. It’s an apt description. You have two forms of mental attitude: a positive mental attitude (PMA), and a negative mental attitude (NMA). Just like the heads and tails of a coin. And just like a coin, it can be flipped very easily and it will never come to rest on its edge. This means there is no third option of a neutral mental attitude. It is either positive or it is negative.

When something is so easy to understand, there is very little reason to simply stare at your coin and leave it lying there with its NMA side upwards. Whenever you notice that you are feeling negative, or you catch yourself making a negative comment to yourself, make a conscious effort to flip the coin to its PMA side, and counter the negative thought with a positive affirmation. As wonderfully complex as your mind is, it does not have the capability to focus on more than one thought at any one time. If you are thinking a negative thought, you can instantly dismiss it by bringing a positive thought to mind.

What is Happiness?

2011-05-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

Throughout history happiness has been a central and controversial topic, as it embraces our entire being that forever aspires to it in numerous and often contradictory ways. After a quarter century of relentless investigation, here is what I have to say about it.

Having said this, even this sort of happiness is a product of positive thinking and positive action, with good fortune lending a helping hand. In short, it is a product of will in relatively favorable circumstances. But isn't it peculiar to imply that happiness can be of one sort or another? Are there not simply happiness and unhappiness? I think not. The sort of happiness that the sage talks about is compatible with misfortune. It is preeminently a doing from within – while without, the only prerequisite for it is that the sage be alive and capable of thought. It is a feeling of serenity, of being at peace with his situation and his conscience, as a well-adjusted and fully committed servant of life, of humanity, of God as he sees them.

However conscious he is of the subjectiveness – i.e., the individual limitations and hence the imperfection – of his view, he does live by it with utmost faithfulness, if also with a willingness to reevaluate it critically when he catches himself out in a misstep. His wisdom is forever a work in progress; it is always laced with some form of foolishness, which leaves him open to ridicule. Humility and compassion, plus humor are therefore qualities that he cultivates. He mocks and forgives himself, and above all strives to improve. He shows no complacency, but an acceptance of his humanness that he is intent on bringing to the highest possible degree of truth and nobility. And this delicate blend of resignation and struggle alone – in any situation, favorable or not – is indeed the secret of his happiness, which admittedly is a dry manner of joy that fills the mind rather than the heart.

It follows that this happiness leaves something to be desired: happiness in the fullest sense of the word (a state of fulfillment, when everything is going our way, in terms of results as well as efforts), which is a joy, ever so sweet, that fills both the mind and the heart. When the sage experiences this supreme happiness, he rightly feels blessed, and knows how precarious it is. Furthermore, he accepts this precariousness, or the fact that suffering and ultimately death loom ahead. Only battles are won in the war of life that will inevitably – despite every valiant effort to prevail – end in defeat.

Some will say that happiness in its so-called fullest sense leaves something more to be desired: the power to make this happiness infinite: immeasurably great and unlimited in duration. Among them, some will choose the path of faith, which allegedly leads to a heavenly afterlife, whereas some will choose the path of reason, which admits of no rosy belief based on wishful thinking and unbridled trust. This path leads nowhere as far as the beyond is concerned, or rather somewhere that is unknown – presumably so different from what is known that it totally exceeds our ability to conceive of its nature.

I count among these proponents of reason, these infidels, to whom the only source of meaning is not a paradisiacal destination, whose existence is supported by no credible evidence, but the journey itself, a rugged and uphill journey to be sure, with an abundance of twists and turns, some of which are propitious, others not. This journey is well worth the trouble, in my opinion. It is so independently of the above-mentioned destination, which people are free to pursue blindly or regard with skepticism (and with detachment to boot, in the best case scenario). It is all about the dignity of living and loving and the pleasure of succeeding in these difficult assignments. From this perspective, the purpose of life is none other than life itself, in partnership with our fellow creatures; and happiness is made possible – within certain limits – by our striving to achieve this worthy, albeit humble purpose.

The limits imposed upon worldly happiness may initially stick in our craw, but after due consideration, as we realize that life without these limits would be death, we accept them, and better still we welcome them. Life is by definition a dynamic state that presupposes a perpetual tension between desires and their satisfaction. Render this satisfaction absolute, you resolve this tension and consequently reduce life to nothing; i.e., something as inert as a stone. And this nothing – this inert something – is death, as I just pointed out. Not a brilliant prospect in the eyes of a life lover!

10 Character Traits Of Highly Motivated & Successful People

2011-05-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

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.

Leadership: Is It For You?

2011-05-25T12:50:00.000-07:00

Leadership is something that is fundamentally part of a society. It is necessary in any good society that someone stands up and takes charge. Leadership is essential, we know that, but does that mean everyone out there is a leader? The fact of the matter is that some individuals are not made to be leaders. They are followers. And just as important in society as leaders are followers. So, where do you lie? Are you going to play leadership roles within your life?

For many people, the instincts to take those leadership roles just comes to them. It is just something that happens. They step up to the plate when needed. They respond first in class. They take charge of the baseball game on the playground. They step up to the plate on the job. While you can not be first in every case, individuals that have leadership skills will often be seen and heard throughout their lives.

But, not all leaders are born with this talent. Many of them must learn it. People with an ambition to be a leader can do so by taking classes and studying the necessary skills that it takes to be a leader. While all of this may sound simple, it can be quite a task to learn. It is hard to teach a person to react in a situation that is not planned well.

Because leaders are determined by their actions, we often see that leadership roles are filled with individuals who put themselves out there to be chosen, so to speak. But, this is not always the case. In many cases of emergency, leaders are those that take charge long before anyone else reacts. In that, these individuals will have a cool head about themselves and be able to see the necessary work ahead while others are worrying, panicking or simply in shock. These are probably the true leaders in our society.

Achieving More Personally with Positive Affirmations

2011-05-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

Positive affirmations are made because you want to achieve something. That may be more money, a new car, a bigger house, a better job, more success, or, on a more personal level, love, health, happiness or peace. We all have such desires – we would be strange if we didn’t. But these outcomes can sometimes seem so far beyond our grasp that we do not really dare to think that they could be ours for the asking. Instead, we focus on how far away from our desired outcomes we are, and negative affirmations become our mantra.

We desire to be wealthy, so we think: I’m never going to be rich.
We want that promotion, so we think: It’s bound to go to someone else
We want love in our life, so we think: No one’s going to love me.

We are thinking about the things we want, but from a negative perspective. If this is true, then there should be no doubt as to why it is a good idea to flip the coin and start talking positively. It is not as though we are being forced to start doing something we aren’t doing already, or that is in any way laborious. How much effort does it take to say one sentence to yourself? And wouldn’t it be nice to speak to yourself in positive terms for a change?

What is wisdom?

2011-05-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

What is wisdom? But first, what are the conditions that render it desirable, if not necessary, and what is its essential purpose?

Life is a desire to live, and better still a desire to live happily. As we strive to satisfy this desire, we encounter obstacles that complicate or frustrate our efforts. This complication or frustration amounts to suffering because it stands in the way of satisfaction.

Wisdom is designed to help us cope with this suffering. It is an adaptive product of reason in the face of tough circumstances. Thanks to it, happiness is conceivable and achievable in spite of everything. It is therefore the supreme good.

Actually, religion is a good that many rank equally high, since it serves the same purpose as wisdom, if differently. The difference lies in the way religion and wisdom portray suffering and define the meaning of life.

From the perspective of religion, suffering betrays a state of worldly imperfection that is in contradiction with the human desire for perfect happiness. Consequently, life here below – where humans are doomed to suffer – is absurd in itself. Or rather, life is meaningful strictly in terms of means to a heavenly end in the great beyond: A life of virtue prepares the way for an afterlife of bliss. The religious believe this in accordance with the teachings of an inspired spiritual leader, who claims to know the transcendental nature of the hereafter.

While personally I cast a skeptical eye on these teachings, I keep my mind open. They are highly suspicious, but the transcendental nature of their object puts them beyond the reach of any discredit based on conclusive evidence.

Anyway, as I see it, wisdom is independent of religion, though it can complement the latter. According to it, life in itself has meaning, despite its imperfection that people can learn to accept. Better still, they can learn to value this imperfection as they realize that perfection, contrary to popular belief, is not infinitely desirable.

Indeed, perfect happiness leaves something to be desired. By definition, it excludes suffering and hence all forms of complication or frustration. It supposes that circumstances are absolutely favorable – that is, not tough in any way. Therefore, no effort is necessary while every dream is possible. At first glance, this sounds like the most wonderful situation imaginable, and yet taking another look at it will dispel this illusion.

What strange whim, in the history of humankind, has compelled people from every walk of life to leave their cozy home and embark on risky ventures? Perhaps this whim is not so strange after all. A multitude of conquests have been made for the sheer joy of conquering against great odds. The operative word is pride, accompanied by excitement. To conquest-minded people the infinite ease of heaven entails infinite boredom. To them life – together with the struggle that is integral to it – is the very thing that perfect happiness leaves to be desired. It is an opportunity to prove courageous and victorious, though it is also a risk of failing painfully.

Happiness is about grasping this opportunity with courage and gaining a victory over the obstacles that stand between us and success in all the activities that most matter to us. This victory is often strenuous and always limited, precarious, and transitory, and we are bound to lose the battle in the end; but that makes the victory all the more precious and worthy of savoring.

When trying to define the activities in which we most care to succeed, we are forced to study our nature to know our purpose. Our growing wise depends on this study and this knowledge, leading to this definition. It begins with an awareness of our animal will to survive, as survival is the foundation on which life, in the truly human sense, is built. The awareness of life in this sense follows. It takes into account both our humanity and our individuality, as members of society with particular tastes and abilities to which a wide range of activities are suited.

The clearer we are about our purpose, the more we can live our lives with determination and passion, and so with a greater chance of succeeding and achieving happiness. The reverse is equally true. It therefore stands to reason that in striving after wisdom we lay the groundwork for success and happiness.

The Importance of Effective Listening

2011-05-22T11:37:00.000-07:00

All too often we are far more enthusiastic about talking than we are listening. Yet it is so vital if we are to communicate effectively. Most break downs in relationships are caused because people talk at each other without really making contact. Unless someone hears what has been said including the subtext the words have little value. This is why effective listening is so important.

When we are actively listened to we feel valued and are far more likely to engage in negotiation and compromise.

Listening is about far more than words. Watching facial expression and body language is often a far more accurate barometer than the words that are being used.
Nice things being said where the smile doesn’t reach the eyes is an obvious example.

To be an effective listener it is vital that you listen actively.

10 tips to becoming a more effective listener

1) Make eye contact.

2) Read the body language of the talker. Are they relaxed, anxious, angry? Extremes are easy to recognise but often the message is much more subtle

3) Mirror the talker’s body language- subtly, a gentle dance rather than a caricature.

4) Show that you are listening, nod, make appropriate responses

5) Ask relevant questions, ask them to clarify if you are not clear about their meaning

6) Summarise: so what you are saying is……….

7) Use open ended questions, the who, what, where, when,

8) Be careful of the tone of your voice when you respond or ask questions. It is all to easy to come across as judgemental or as an interrogator from the Spanish Inquisition

9) Use empathy. Acknowledge difficulties, but be careful not to fall into the trap of going into anecdotes from your experience. “ I sense that you are finding this rather difficult” rather than “Oh I know, it happened to me but mine was bigger, more difficult etc”

10) Take a real interest, if you are simply going through the motions the lack of sincerity will be obvious to others. Leave your ego behind, concentrate on the other person.

How Success Can Contribute to Happiness

2008-09-04T04:02:00.000-07:00

If money cannot buy happiness and happiness does not come from just one thing, then where does happiness come from? First of all, happiness is not something you find outside of yourself. You cannot go look for happiness and find it somewhere. Nor can you simply just "decide" to be happy regardless of your circumstances. Happiness is more than just a mental state of mind that you can maintain by controlling your focus (although there are some who do believe that). Even though it is true that your thoughts can affect your level of happiness, they are not the only thing that can affect it. True happiness does not come from just one thing, not even just your thoughts. I believe that happiness is a positive state of well-being with many contributing factors. It is something that you grow inside of you.

What are the contributing factors? Amazingly, many of them we do not recognize immediately because our brains are programmed to focus on what will protect us from pain, discomfort, danger and other threats to our survival. We can easily overlook the "grass and flowers" in the field of life because we are too busy checking each area for landmines. We often do not realize how much something means to us until it is gone. Simarly, it is very common for us to be unaware of how much something contributes to our happiness unless it is missing. We often do not realize that the love and support we received from our parents as children including the happy memories, the fun, the birthdays, and everything else that was positive also contributed to our foundational emotional experiences that we are still building on today. But just talk to someone who did not have these things. They have a lot less on which to build in that area, and they usually recognize it.

How can success contribute to our happiness? I had attended a seminar a few years ago that defined the "context of success," and I found it very interesting to notice that the same areas that that were included in the "context of success" were also areas that contribute to our level of happiness. So, success is not just about having a lot of money. Overall success, I learned, is about being successful physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, financially, and in our relationships, our family, and our community. These are also the same areas that many of us take for granted when they are positive. We do not even realize how much they contribute to our happiness in the first place, so it is so easy to mistakenly believe that we will "find happiness" in just the one area where we are deficient. But they all combine together (notice "mental" in the list, so our thoughts are just one area) and all of the areas contribute to our happiness as well.

Another area we cannot overlook besides the mental area is the financial area. Being successful financially does contribute to our overall happiness. But it is just as important to understand that it is an area that does contribute to our happiness as it is to understand that it is not the only area that contributes to it. It is one factor in a group of many contributing factors. You cannot ignore it if you want to find the greatest level of happiness for you, but you cannot completely focus on it and neglect all of the other areas either. The key to this is balance. You do not want to be an Alex Haley who, according to the movie "Roots," was obsessed with finding the history of his ancestors but lost his current family in the process. You also do not want to live your life thinking that financial success has no affect on your happiness because you think your happiness comes only from more meaningful things like your family. Why sell yourself short? Grow your happiness from all of these areas. Pursue financial success and see how it can contribute to your happiness as well. You may find yourself experiencing a greater level of happiness than you ever thought was possible.

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Mary Gersten was a struggling single mother of four screwed over by the legal system who partnered with the most brilliant marketers there are today to help put together the CMPS program where any average person could have a great opportunity to find success on the Internet. Get a copy of our free report, "Discover the 24 Hour 'CMPS' Web Cash Secret," by going to http://www.cmpsmoneysecrets.com

Stop Self-Defeating And Self-Sabotaging Behavior

2008-06-20T04:44:00.000-07:00

8 Tips to Help Stop Self Defeating and Self Sabotaging Behavior

Are you engaged in self-defeating and self-saboatging behavior? Do you tend to end up with a mess when things started out so well? I am a big believer in the idea that every action we take is done for reason.

1. What is your payoff?

What is it that you really get from self-defeating behaviors and self sabotaging attitudes? Is it negative attention? A reason to go back to being miserable and avoiding change? Ask yourself What is REALLY going on here?

2. Avoid situations that trigger extreme emotional reactions.

Most people relapse back into old destructive patterns because of their inability to handle emotional stress. Extreme emotional reactions can provoke a drug or alcohol relapse. If you can't avoid this situation, at least try to get a realistic perspective on it. Ask yourself How important is it really?

3. Take a look at your past.

Just don't get stuck there. Try to identify where your belief system came from. Once you have identified where those defeating attitudes came from, let go of them. It is OK to acknowledge the past, but not to use it as an excuse to continue your behavior into the present.

4. Challenge staying in the victim role.

Again, in recognizing the past, we're not denying that bad things have happened to you. Try reclaiming your personal power by reframing your experiences as a source of strength. Not everyone has gone through what you have and survived. The process of personal growth is about regaining self empowerment.

5. Stop blaming people.

Being the victim and blaming others, results in one particular sneaky, self destructive attitude. That is the attitude of not needing to change. Self improvement is all about change, but, if everything is always somebody else's fault, why do I need to change? In the victim role, it is poor me, look what they have done to me, I couldn't stop it from happening. Therefore, I will be a perpetual victim and take no action.

6. First thought wrong.

Man, do I hate this one. People who have a habit of self sabotaging have got to come to accept that they are never upset for the reasons that first come to mind. First thought wrong. We need to look at the underlying issues, again, ask the question 'Whats really going on here?' Sometimes we will take those negative thoughts and try to make them come true by doing something really destructive. We create a self-fulfilling prophesy.

7. We need to change the thoughts we have about ourselves.

Stop the negative self talk. Start thoroughly and rigorously questioning where your beliefs and perceptions are coming from. Don't judge yourself as you're doing this, become willing to let go of those negative thoughts. Stop defending your right to be wrong.

8. Are you done suffering yet?

Just as this question is a key motivator to move into personal change and regain your self esteem, this question is a prime motivator to start changing our self-defeating attitudes and actions. Nothing changes if nothing changes. How much longer are you willing to keep stepping on your own feet, tripping and falling down? Maybe, just maybe, it's time to stop the pain.

Addictive relationships are no fun, but sometimes a fact of life. Are your life relationships not going well? The good news is at least you are looking for some information and help on healing those dysfunctional relationships. Visit: http://addictionrecoverybasics.com/

Poem on Definition of Success

2008-01-26T09:17:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for a poem on definition of success here is a good one:

Success - by Ralph Waldo Emerson

To laugh often and much
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends
To appreciate beauty
To find the best in others
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived
This is to have succeeded.

Get in to the Habit of Planning Your Day

2008-01-05T04:48:00.000-08:00

Do you hinder time management skills by avoiding setting daily goals on paper? Do you easily find excuses why planning your day each morning will not help your day be more effective? Many people feel that by listing all of the things that they have to do, or wish to do each day, will only make them feel “tied down” and “overwhelmed”.

Nobody enjoys the thought of facing an overwhelming list of tasks to do. However, the solution is not to avoid planning, but rather to make your plans meaningful and effective. This way your plans will give you more freedom instead of making you feel like a slave to your list.

Here are a few tips to help you plan your day:

1. Avoid using small pads and make your list on a bigger sheet. With plenty of room there will be no reason to leave anything off of your list.
2. Write everything down. Even if it seems so small and unrelated. If it must be done, then get it on your list!
3. Cross off completed tasks each time they are finished.
4. Prioritize your list from the most important to least important.
5. Schedule the most important items to be done first thing in the morning each day.
6. Understand that this list is not something that has to be done in one day. Your list may be something that can cover the entire week or even the entire month.

Be flexible with your plan and do not feel that you absolutely must spend every morning planning your day and visualizing success. Start out with two days per week, then move up. View your daily plan as the ticket to your success. It is not a foe, but rather a friend. Know that planning is a tool that keeps you in control, and control equal freedom!

7 Inspirational Quotes from Woody Allen

2007-12-14T10:37:00.000-08:00

1) "Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons." It sounds good to me, I mean the practicality of all things does involve money but it doesn't have to take an arm and a leg to get it.

2) "I believe there is something out there watching us. Unfortunately, it's the government." 'Nuff said.

3) "There are worse things in life than death. Have you ever spent an evening with an insurance salesman?" This happens to be one of the classic ones. I mean the issue about life's little problems isn't all that bad, until 'he' shows up. Sure, relationships can get complicated, or does have its complications that probably any author about relationships is bound to discover it soon. We follow what our heart desires, unless you're talking about the heart as in the heart that pump blood throughout your body.

4) "Love is the answer, but while you're waiting for the answer, sex raises some pretty interesting questions." And if you want more, just keep on asking!

5) "I am not afraid of death, I just don't want to be there when it happens." If it rains, it pours.

6) "If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans." At least he doesn't smite us with lightning, and I'm thankful for that. And despite of what may happen to all of us in the next ten, twenty, or even thirty years, I guess we all have to see things in a different kind of light and not just perspective. I can't seem to imagine life without any piece of wisdom that could guide us. Whether we're religious or not, it takes more courage to accept your fears and learn how to deal with them is all that matters when it comes to even just getting along.
And to sum things up, here is the last nugget of wisdom to go by… however, whenever, and wherever we may be.

7) "The talent for being happy is appreciating and liking what you have, instead of what you don't have."

Tips for Remembering a Speech

2007-10-16T09:04:00.001-07:00

Probably the worst thing you can do when preparing for a speech or a presentation is to try to memorize the speech word for word. Memorizing the speech it isn't really necessary. The assumption is that if you've been asked to deliver a speech on a particular subject, you will know something about that subject.

Memorizing the speech word for word also has a disadvantage - when you deliver it, it can sound memorized. And, finally, when you memorize a speech word for word, you're taking the chance of fumbling over one word you can't remember.

Reading a speech doesn't work either, because you want to hold the group's attention, and reading to them is likely to put them to sleep. Even if you occasionally look up at your audience as you read, it won't help much.

The best way to deliver a speech is to talk it in your own words, thought for thought. A speech is a sequence of thoughts; if the thoughts are out of sequence, the speech won't make much sense. First, write out or type your speech, including all the things you want to say about all the ideas you think are important. Read it over to get the gist of it. Now for that "other idea": Select a Key Word from each thought that will remind you of the entire thought.

This is easier to do than it might seem. There is rarely a thought, whether it is to be expressed in one sentence or two paragraphs, that cannot be brought to mind by one word or phrase. It is these Key Words (or Key Thoughts) that you Link - at which point you have the speech memorized thought for thought.

How to Develop Your Intuition

2007-10-15T15:55:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of these experiences where all of a sudden you just had this huge hunch that something is about to happen, and then to your surprise, that intuition became reality?

When you feel strongly about something without logical basis to it, that's called intuition. It comes in three impressions: clairvoyance or "the third eye", sensing clearly and feeling through listening.

Clairvoyance is when your eye goes beyond what it can see. This is when you know what is happening somewhere.

Sensing clearly is basically what we refer to as "hunch" or "gut feel." This is the time when you are overwhelmed with a feeling and you can't explain it and all you can say is "I just know."
On the other hand, feeling through listening or clairaudience is being able to "listen" between the lines. Intuition also happens at times when a certain sound, whatever it is - be it a car's honk or a bird's twitting - ushers in an intense feeling.

They say only a number of people are gifted with intuition. Astrologers even insist that people born under the Scorpio or Pisces signs are naturally intuitive it almost borders on E.S.P. But studies have been sprouting left and right that proclaim that anyone can develop intuition.
Why the need to develop intuition, you ask? Why not let your emotional and psychological state as it is?

First and foremost, intuition promotes good communication. It makes you more sensitive to the people around you; it often keeps you from hurting those you love because you are intuitive enough to understand them. Intuition also makes you far more creative than ever. Intuition means releasing more creative juices for any means of expression. Lastly, intuition has a healing power. This healing power is not in the physical sense, but in delving deep into your soul to eradicate some negative energy buried in it.

With that being said, are you ready to develop your intuition? Here are some ways to unlock this gift:

1. Hypnosis
Oh yes, get yourself hypnotized. Hypnosis is not limited to watching a pendulum move back and forth. Perform self-hypnosis or you can avail of hypnotic programs that can strengthen your intuition.

2. Meditation
Meditating means finding peace in yourself. If your mind and heart are cluttered with too many baggage and hurt, you wouldn't be able to quiet down that part of you that could eventually initiate intuition. There are so many ways to meditate: take a yoga class, or just simply practice some breathing that could bring you straight to Zen.

3. Think positive!
A worry-free, fear-free state could do so much to improve your intuitive ability. By staying positive, you attract good energy that would be able to easily recognize imminent feelings and events.

4. Just let go.
What does this mean? If you are on the brink of making a huge decision, let go of all the inhibitions and head to a quiet place where you could find out where the letting go has brought you. Sometimes you just have to listen to the voice within you, and that voice wouldn't come out unless you let go.

5. Never expect.
After letting go of the inhibitions and all those things that stop you from thinking and feeling clearly, never expect for an answer right away. Never expect that the "hunch" would fall on your lap immediately. Give it a little time then you'd just get surprised that -- wham! -- now you have your answer.

6. Believe in your first impressions.
When you see someone for the first time and think that he is a bit too arrogant for your taste, chances are that impression actually holds true. Most of the time, first impressions are brought by intuition.

7. Stay happy!
See? All you need to be intuitive is to stay happy! Happiness attracts immense power and such power includes intuition. In tapping your intuition, your motivation must be happiness and contentment. Given that premise, intuition will fall to you easily.

Intuition is helpful, because sometimes it leads you to something that cannot be achieved otherwise. A lot of lives have been saved by intuition alone. Decisions are easier done if armed by this gift. Develop intuition now and reap benefits you have never imagined.

Having the Right Mental Attitude

2007-09-10T14:38:00.000-07:00

Success is in the blood. There are men whom fate can never keep down they march forward in a jaunty manner, and take by divine right the best of everything that the earth affords. But their success is not attained by means of the Samuel Smiles-Connecticut policy. They do not lie in wait, nor scheme, nor fawn, nor seek to adapt their sails to catch the breeze of popular favor. Still, they are ever alert and alive to any good that may come their way, and when it comes they simply appropriate it, and tarrying not, move steadily on.

Good health! Whenever you go out of doors, draw the chin in, carry the crown of the head high, and fill the lungs to the utmost; drink in the sunshine; greet your friends with a smile, and put soul into every hand-clasp.

Do not fear being misunderstood; and never waste a moment thinking about your enemies. Try to fix firmly in your own mind what you would like to do, and then without violence of direction you will move straight to the goal.

Fear is the rock on which we split, and hate the shoal on which many a barque is stranded. When we become fearful, the judgment is as unreliable as the compass of a ship whose hold is full of iron ore; when we hate, we have unshipped the rudder; and if ever we stop to meditate on what the gossips say, we have allowed a hawser to foul the screw.

Keep your mind on the great and splendid thing you would like to do; and then, as the days go gliding by, you will find yourself unconsciously seizing the opportunities that are required for the fulfillment of your desire, just as the coral insect takes from the running tide the elements that it needs. Picture in your mind the able, earnest, useful person you desire to be, and the thought that you hold is hourly transforming you into that particular individual you so admire.
Thought is supreme, and to think is often better than to do.

Preserve a right mental attitude the attitude of courage, frankness and good cheer.

Darwin and Spencer have told us that this is the method of Creation. Each animal has evolved the parts it needed and desired. The horse is fleet because he wishes to be; the bird flies because it desires to; the duck has a web foot because it wants to swim. All things come through desire and every sincere prayer is answered. We become like that on which our hearts are fixed.

Many people know this, but they do not know it thoroughly enough so that it shapes their lives. We want friends, so we scheme and chase 'cross lots after strong people, and lie in wait for good folks or alleged good folks hoping to be able to attach ourselves to them. The only way to secure friends is to be one. And before you are fit for friendship you must be able to do without it. That is to say, you must have sufficient self-reliance to take care of yourself, and then out of the surplus of your energy you can do for others.

The individual who craves friendship, and yet desires a self-centered spirit more, will never lack for friends.

If you would have friends, cultivate solitude instead of society. Drink in the ozone; bathe in the sunshine; and out in the silent night, under the stars, say to yourself again and yet again, "I am a part of all my eyes behold!" And the feeling then will come to you that you are no mere interloper between earth and heaven; but you are a necessary part of the whole. No harm can come to you that does not come to all, and if you shall go down it can only be amid a wreck of worlds.

Like old Job, that which we fear will surely come upon us. By a wrong mental attitude we have set in motion a train of events that ends in disaster. People who die in middle life from disease, almost without exception, are those who have been preparing for death. The acute tragic condition is simply the result of a chronic state of mind a culmination of a series of events.
Character is the result of two things, mental attitude, and the way we spend our time. It is what we think and what we do that make us what we are.

By laying hold on the forces of the universe, you are strong with them. And when you realize this, all else is easy, for in your arteries will course red corpuscles, and in your heart the determined resolution is born to do and to be. Carry your chin in and the crown of your head high. We are gods in the chrysalis.

Expect Success and Have More Chance of Being Successful

2007-09-05T00:59:00.000-07:00

When you plan and prepare carefully, you can legitimately expect to have success in your efforts. When you recognize and develop the winning qualities that you were born with, the winner you were born to be emerges. Although not all your expectations are going to come to pass, you give yourself an infinitely better chance of succeeding by taking the proper steps. Regardless of your goal - losing weight, making more money, etc. - you can expect to achieve your goal if you plan and prepare for it.

You also need to understand that the path from where you are to where you want to be is not always smooth and straight. The reason for the twists and bumps is simple, and it has nothing to do with you. It has more to do with the fact that not everyone is as interested in your success as you are. Some people may accidentally hinder your efforts; others who are in competition with you and have little or no integrity may try to sabotage your efforts.

Keep in mind, though, that when you hit those roadblocks or even reversals, your character, commitment, and attitude are the determining factors in your success. You need to carefully review your plan of action, seek wise counsel, and be particularly careful to feed your mind good information. An optimistic, positive mind is far more likely to come up with creative solutions than a mind that dwells on setbacks and difficulties.

Are you Genuinely Happy?

2007-08-09T14:13:00.001-07:00

Life isn’t the sweetest candy. Sometimes, when I feel like the world is just too heavy, I look around and find people who continued to live fascinating and wonderful lives. And then thoughts come popping into my mind like bubbles from nowhere – “How did their life become so adorably sweet? How come they still can manage to laugh and play around despite a busy stressful life?” Then I pause and observed for awhile… I figured out that maybe, they start to work on a place called ‘self’.

So, how does one become genuinely happy? Step 1 is to love yourself.

My theology professor once said that “loving means accepting.” To love oneself means to accept that you are not a perfect being, but behind the imperfections must lie a great ounce of courage to be able to discover ways on how to improve your repertoire to recover from our mistakes.

Genuine happiness also pertains to contentment. When you are contented with the job you have, the way you look, with your family, your friends, the place you live in, your car, and all the things you now have – truly, you know the answer to the question “how to be genuinely happy.”

When we discover a small start somewhere from within, that small start will eventually lead to something else, and to something else. But if you keep questioning life lit it has never done you any good, you will never be able to find genuine happiness.

I believe that life is about finding out about right and wrong, trying and failing, wining and losing. These are things that happen as often as you inhale and exhale. Failure, in a person’s life has become as abundant and necessary as air. But this should not hinder us from becoming happy.

How to be genuinely happy in spite all these? I tell you… every time you exert effort to improve the quality of life and your being, whether it is cleaning up your room, helping a friend, taking care of your sick dog, fail on board exams and trying again, life gives you equivalent points for that.

Imagine life as a big score board like those which are used in the NFLs. Every time you take a step forward, you make scoring points. Wouldn’t it be nice to look at that board at the end of each game and think to yourself “Whew! I got a point today. I’m glad I gave it a shot.”, instead of looking at it all blank and murmur “Geez, I didn’t even hit a score today. I wish I had the guts to try out. We could have won!” and then walk away.

Genuine happiness isn’t about driving the hottest Formula 1 car, nor getting the employee of the year award, earning the highest 13th month pay, or beating the sales quota. Sometimes, the most sought after prizes in life doesn’t always go to the fastest, the strongest, the bravest or not even the best. So, how do you become genuinely happy? Every one has his own definition of ‘happiness’. Happiness for a writer may mean launching as much best selling books as possible. Happiness for a basketball rookie may mean getting the rookie of the year award. Happiness for a beggar may mean a lot of money. Happiness for a business man may mean success. So, really now, how do we become genuinely happy? Simple. You don’t have to have the best things in this world. Its about doing and making the best out of every single thing. When you find yourself smiling at your own mistake and telling your self “Oh, I’ll do better next time”, you carry with you a flame of strong will power to persevere that may spread out like a brush fire. You possess a willingness to stand up again and try – that will make you a genuinely happy person.

When you learn to accept yourself and your own faults. You pass step 1 in the project “how to become genuinely happy”.For as long as you know how to accept others, you will also be accepted. For as long as you love and know how to love, you will receive love ten folds back.

Again, throw me that same question “how to become genuinely happy?”. I’ll refer you to a friend of mine who strongly quoted- “Most of us know that laughter is the best medicine to life’s aches and pain. But most of us don’t know that the best kind of laughter is laughter over self. Coz then you don’t just become happy… you become free.”

How Coaching can Help you Reach your Goals

2007-08-04T09:37:00.000-07:00

When you hear the word “coach”, what comes first into your mind? Do you picture a foortball team with a man/woman shouting out instructions?

Coaching is not only for sports teams; it is now used widely in leadership and management, but why is coaching so popular?

Coaching is one of the six emotional leadership styles proposed by Daniel Goleman. As a leadership style, coaching is used when the members of a group or team are competent and motivated, but do not have an idea of the long-term goals of an organization.

This involves two levels of coaching: team and individual. Team coaching makes members work more effectively together. In a group of individuals, not every person will have nor share the same level of competence and commitment to the goal. A group may be a mix of highly competent and moderately competent members with varying levels of commitment. These differences can often cause friction between the members.

The coach helps the members level their expectations. Also, the coach manages differing perspectives so that the common goal of the team is more important than the personal goals and interests of the team members. In a big organization, leaders need to align the staffs’ personal values and goals with that of the organization so that long-term directions can be pursued.

Individual coaching is an example of situational leadership at work. It aims to mentor one-on-one building up the confidence of members by affirming good performance during regular feedbacks; and increase competence by helping the member assess his/her strengths and weaknesses towards career planning and professional development. Depending on the individual’s level of competence and commitment, a leader may exercise more coaching behavior for the less-experienced members. Usually, this happens in the case of new staff members. The direct supervisor gives more defined tasks and holds regular feedbacks for the new staff, and gradually lessens the amount of coaching, directing, and supporting roles to favor delegating as competence and confidence increase.

Coaching also develops high commitment to common goals. A coaching leader balances the attainment of immediate targets with long-term goals towards the vision of an organization. As mentioned earlier, with the alignment of personal goals with organizational or team goals, personal interests are kept in check. By constantly communicating the vision through formal and informal conversations, the members are inspired and motivated. Setting short-term team goals aligned with organizational goals; and making an action plan to attain these goals can help sustain the increased motivation and commitment to common goals of the members.

Leadership by example is extremely important in coaching. A coach loses credibility when he or she cannot practice what they preaches. This means that the coach should be well organized, highly competent is his or her field, communicates openly and encourages feedback, and has a clear idea of the organization’s vision-mission-goals. If a team member experiences good coaching, he or she is most likely to do the same things when entrusted with formal leadership roles.

Some words of caution though: coaching is just one of the styles of leadership. It can be done in combination with the other five emotional leadership styles depending on the profile of the emerging team. Moreover, coaching as a leadership style requires that you are physically, emotionally, and mentally fit most of the time since it involves two levels of coaching: individual and team. Your members expect you to be the last one to give up or bail out in any situation especially during times of crises. A coaching leader must be conscious that coaching entails investing time on each individual, and on the whole team. Moreover, that the responsibilities are greater since while you are coaching members, you are also developing future coaches as well.

Always Write Down Your Goals

2007-07-15T14:31:00.000-07:00

Many people think of their goals in life in their head, but never tell anyone or write anything down.

To qualify as a goal, whatever you want to achieve must be written down. Non-written goals, therefore, are not goals at all. Don't catch yourself saying, "I have goals and I know what they are, so I don't need to write them down." Non-written goals are unclear and nonspecific, with details that tend to change each time you think about them. Putting each goal in writing crystallizes it into a set of fixed details. The clearer the goal, the more easily it can be achieved.

In a notebook or Word, create a page and have it labeled "Goals List" and write down each of your goals, one on each line. Also, create a separate page and label it your “Dream List”. Refer back to the Dreams List you have already made to see if the achievement of each of your goals will help you realize your dreams. If so, you are heading in the right direction. Also review your Dreams List to see if any of your dreams qualify for immediate inclusion on your Goals List. Keep your blueprint someplace handy where you can update your Goals List and refer to it often. When you have accomplished each goal, cross it off the list. Remember, each goal you accomplish takes you one step closer to the life of your dreams.

Success and Self Improvement Audio Books

2007-07-05T05:30:00.000-07:00

Leisure Audio Books have recently launched their website containing over 6000 audio books which are available for immediate download on to your MP3 Player or IPod.

They have a good selection of Self Help Audio books which include books on motivation, success, personal growth, time management and interpersonal skills.

Best sellers include:

The Awakened Mind System by Dr Jeffrey Thomson, which uses pulses of sound combined with a lush ambient soundtrack. As you listen, your own brainwaves begin to reflect the Awakened Mind pattern
How to Dejunk your Life by Dawna Walter - An inspirational guide to fighting clutter and sorting your space.
Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell - A look at why major changes in our society so often happen suddenly and unexpectedly.

Visit Leisure Audio books for the full selection.

Don't Worry Be Happy!

2007-06-21T02:45:00.000-07:00

Almost everyone have heard the hit single 'Don't Worry, Be Happy' by Bobby McFerrin. The song has a very catchy way of conveying its message of being happy to everyone. Bobby Mcferiin's simple message surely made a lot of people by telling them not to worry.

Living a happy, resilient and optimistic life is wonderful, and is also good for your health. Being happy actually protects you from the stresses of life. Stress is linked to top causes of death such as heart disease, cancer and stroke.

One of the better things ever said is - 'The only thing in life that will always remain the same is change', and in our life we have the power to make the necessary changes if we want to. Even if we find ourselves in an unbearable situation we can always find solace in the knowledge that it too would change.

Social networks or relationships are essential to happiness. People are different, accept people for who or what they are, avoid clashes, constant arguments, and let go of all kinds of resentments. If arguments seem unavoidable still try and make an effort to understand the situation and you might just get along with well with

Happiness is actually found in everyone, increasing it is a way to make a life more wonderful and also more healthy.

To be happy is relatively easy, just decide to be a happy person. Abraham Lincoln observed that most people for most of the time can choose how happy or stressed, how relaxed or troubled, how bright or dull their outlook to be. The choice is simple really, choose to be happy.

There are several ways by which you can do this.

Being grateful is a great attitude. We have so much to be thankful for. Thank the taxi driver for bringing you home safely, thank the cook for a wonderful dinner and thank the guy who cleans your windows. Also thank the mailman for bringing you your mails, thank the policeman for making your place safe and thank God for being alive.

News is stressful. Get less of it. Some people just can't start their day without their daily dose of news. Try and think about it, 99% of the news we hear or read is bad news. Starting the day with bad news does not seem to be a sensible thing to do.

A religious connection is also recommended. Being part of a religious group with its singing, sacraments, chanting, prayers and meditations foster inner peace.

Manage your time. Time is invaluable and too important to waste. Time management can be viewed as a list of rules that involves scheduling, setting goals, planning, creating lists of things to do and prioritizing. These are the core basics of time management that should be understood to develop an efficient personal time management skill. These basic skills can be fine tuned further to include the finer points of each skill that can give you that extra reserve to make the results you desire.

Laugh and laugh heartily everyday. Heard a good joke? Tell your friends or family about it. As they also say -'Laughter is the best medicine'.

Express your feelings, affections, friendship and passion to people around you. They will most likely reciprocate your actions. Try not to keep pent up anger of frustrations, this is bad for your health. Instead find ways of expressing them in a way that will not cause more injury or hurt to anyone.

Working hard brings tremendous personal satisfaction. It gives a feeling of being competent in finishing our tasks. Accomplishments are necessary for all of us, they give us a sense of value. Work on things that you feel worthy of your time.

Learning is a joyful exercise. Try and learn something new everyday. Learning also makes us expand and broaden our horizons. And could also give us more opportunities in the future.

Run, jog, walk and do other things that your body was made for. Feel alive.

Avoid exposure to negative elements like loud noises, toxins and hazardous places.

These are the few simple things you can do everyday to be happy.

And always remember the quote from Abraham Lincoln, he says that, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

Are you Associating Yourself with Successful People?

2007-06-17T04:57:00.000-07:00

The people you associate with - whether on the job or socially - can have a positive or a negative effect on you.

Some people see life in a positive light and are natural motivators. If a positive person asks you how you're doing and you say, "Not well at all. I've had this cold for a week now," their response is something like, "I'm so sorry. I bet you'll be good as new and feeling better in no time!" A negative, demotivating person may respond by saying, "I know what you mean. A cold like that can ruin your whole week. If you're like me, it'll probably take you a whole month to get over it!"

You associate with some people not by choice but simply by circumstance. You can't choose your coworkers, for example; sometimes you have to do the best you can to work with and get along with them as well as you can. But, you don't have to associate yourself with negative people at breaks, lunchtime, or after-work events. Find ways to remain pleasant, but don't spend too much time with those people.

Instead, surround yourself with people who make you feel goodabout yourself, people who notice the positive things instead of the negative. Everyone has said on some occasion, "I just feel inspired; I feel better about myself and my future when I'm around so and-so." In other words, choose to associate with people you want to be more like.

Articles on how to Increase Attention Span

2007-06-07T12:18:00.000-07:00

I thought it was about time that I wrote some articles on how to increase attention span.

This may sound like a simple thing because if you want to remember something, you surely just have to pay attention to it. However, the most common reason healthy adults forget is because they don't manage to focus. Just being easily distracted can account for memory lapses no matter what age you are..

Attention is one of the most sensitive aspects of the intellect. This means that it is quite vulnerable to being disrupted. In order to soak up information so we can later remember it, we must be mindful and focus on what we are trying to learn. Sometimes the problem isn't that we forget, but that we don't "get" what we want to remember from the outset.

Does this sound easy to you? It is. But think for a moment of all the things in your daily life that you really don't pay attention to. Consider the following questions about information we encounter every day:

* Where did you park the car the last time you went to the Grocery Store?
* What color is at the bottom of the stoplight?
* What letters, if any, are missing from the telephone dial?
* How many light switches are in your house or apartment?

How did you do? The chances are you don't know the correct answers to some of these questions, even though these are things that you come across, sometimes frequently, over the course of a typical day. Why? Because we are not always mindful of things we do or see every day. Only by focusing our attention can we adequately acquire information and have it later when we need to remember it.

Can we improve our attention? Absolutely. How? Here are two basic habits we can develop to improve attention and maximize memory fitness immediately:

1. Be Aware - If you are aware that you are hearing or seeing something you want to remember, you will be more likely to pay attention to it, to "get" it, and to "have" it later when you want to remember it. Increased awareness of the need to remember will increase your attention toward that information.

Have you ever lost your car in a parking lot? Or forgotten whether you turned off the oven?

Imagine if you had been more aware that you needed to be mindful of where you parked or whether you turned that knob. If only you had thought to yourself, "Okay, I need to pay attention now so I will remember what I'm doing." Being more aware in those situations would have encouraged you to pay closer attention and made it more likely that you would remember that information later.

2. Make the effort - Next, you must try to focus your attention. Being aware that you need to pay attention without making the effort to do so is like sleeping with the unread text book under your pillow the night before final exams. It never worked, did it? Well, the same rule applies here. It isn't enough to know you must be mindful of something you want to remember: You must then do it. So when you park your car at the mall and want to be able to find it a few hours later, simply make the effort to look around and pay attention to where you are. Most likely there are some signs or other landmarks to help you remember where you've parked.

Come back soon for more articles on how to increase attention span.

How to overcome your Fear and Find Success

2007-06-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

Imagine telling a significant role model in your life something new and exciting. An idea or event that has stimulated you both mentally and physically. It can be anything from trying out for a dramatic play, joining a sports team, beginning a new career, starting a new marriage, losing weight, developing a new outlook, changing your image, or continuing your education. Instead of receiving an encouraging comment, what you hear instead is: "That's ridiculous," "You're always daydreaming," or "You'll never make anything out of yourself."

Negative statementslike the ones mentioned above can create fear of failure and fear of rejection within a person. This situation can leave an individual on the receiving end feeling helpless. Negative attitudes create barriers toward individual accomplishment. The implicit, or unspoken message, is: "Whatever gave you the idea that you are motivated enough?."

Do you remember a time when you or a friend finally made the team but the coach left you sitting on the bench? What kinds of feelings did you experience? Humiliation? Insecurity? What will it take for you to get off of the bench and become the athlete, the person, you truly want to become. What's preventing you from speaking up and letting the coach know that you're one terrific person, and given the chance you'll prove just how unstoppable you really can become.

Sitting on the bench, and not asserting yourself, is like being in a play without acting out the part. Do you go through life without getting involved one-hundred percent? Maybe it's because you believe you might fail, or even succeed, at what you set out to accomplish. Do you set yourself up for failure and sabotage your success by telling yourself that you can't perform well? Is it possible that you allow unproductive and negative vocabulary to dominate your thoughts? Negative self-talk takes away your motivation and is an inner barrier that must be eliminated.

Here are three ways to overcome fear of success:

1. Continually tell yourself that you welcome challenges. Stand ready and willing to challenge yourself to your maximum capacity. Move forward in your communication by deleting all negative self-talk.

2. Believe that whatever you set out to accomplish, you will give it one-hundred percent. Stop providing excuses to blame yourself, becoming disempowered from achieving your goals and increasing your self-esteem. Believe that your "pride of accomplishment" motivates you to eliminate all the "shoulds," "oughts," and "musts," from your vocabulary.

3. Be the best you can. Continually "see" yourself in an evolving way. Stretch every mental, emotional, and physical fiber within you. Believe and feel that you are one dynamite, ecstatic, and powerful person. Remember, your beliefs impact the way you feel and act.

A Winning Attitude Makes a Difference

2007-05-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

A winning attitude can take time and effort to develop. An important part of this development involves forming positive statements about yourself to replace the old, negative thoughts. As a small child, you happily went about doing whatever children do - tasting, exploring, and learning. You were without thoughts about what you could or couldn't do, so you tried many things.

Very soon, an adult undoubtedly intervened, giving you messages like "Good boy!" "What a bright girl!" "No, no - that is bad." We accepted these statements unquestioningly.
Over time, as we hear such statements repeatedly, we develop beliefs about ourselves, and begin to organize them into a belief system. Various experiences reinforce them and we begin to adapt our behavior to conform to them. If you were repeatedly praised as a bright child, you began to believe you were a bright child. Your young mind worked overtime, coming up with new ways to show how bright you were, and to elicit further praise.

In the process of living in that premise, your experience of yourself as bright broadened and took root. Soon there was no longer any question about it in your mind. You probably still think of yourself as a bright child, unless at some point that belief was challenged and you deliberately reevaluated it.

This is the way beliefs are formed and assimilated. As a child, it was a rather haphazard experience - our beliefs about ourselves depended to a great extent on circumstances and the beliefs of others close to us. As adults, however, we have the power to originate beliefs of our own choice. We can replace negative, limiting beliefs about ourselves with freshly chosen alternatives. We can get rid of beliefs that don't support us. In fact, to live our dream fully, a new belief system that enables us to be our best is a necessity. Our old beliefs got us this far; new ones will take us into the future of our dream.

To adopt new beliefs, we can now systematically choose affirming statements, then consciously live in them. They will become increasingly true, until we are certain that that's who we are. So begin by taking a closer look at the way affirmations are formed. An affirmation is a firm, positive sentence designed to convey a message from your conscious to your subconscious mind. It asserts something you know is true, even though it may not have manifested in your life yet. When the subconscious mind receives this message, it goes to work on a subconscious level to align with it and bring it about.

An effective affirmation must always be in first person (I), and the present tense, and must be stated positively, not negatively. So instead of, "I will not catch a cold and be sick tomorrow" (which would focus your mind on the idea of sickness), you could say: "I am radiantly healthy now. My body feels wonderful! I see myself performing beautifully in my dance recital."

Now you have replaced the negative thought with a positive, colorful image. Since the mind can only hold one thought at a time, the thought of sickness is gone, and your subconscious mind has grabbed hold of the healthy idea and has swung into action creating health.

7 Steps towards Positive Thinking

2007-05-24T04:32:00.000-07:00

Do you have a bright idea hidden somewhere in the back of your mind that you just can't wait to test out. Of course you're not the only one with the bright idea. So what motivates you to churn those creative, or even inspiring juices to its utmost flavor?

It's always best to set up a personal goal where you can accomplish the most in record time, maybe like mowing the lawn in an hour before the big game on TV. A positive attitude in whatever you do will make things easier, and even enjoyable.

Here are seven tips to help you on your way towards positive thinking.

1. Take passionate action towards living your life by design. Talk is cheap. Action = deposits in the bank of a passionately authentic future. Without it, passion is void.

This is a perfect example where dreams are made of where you start by tinkering with your mind, then with your hands. And if the idea weakens, you can always go back to it later until you finish it.

2. Recognize and embrace the thought that each moment is perfect regardless of its outcome. Every time you hit on something that may appear too extreme, why not give it a shot and see if it will work. You will be surprised to see of there are other ways to get the task done in time. If you are not pleased with the outcome, decide to use that moment to learn from and make the appropriate shift.

3. Commit to yourself as well as those you love to create powerfully a life you can love. Instead of reacting, commit to creating from your heart and soul, out of love rather than fear. The American Dream will always be there, but a dream will still be a dream without motion. Be amazed as the transformation begins.

4. Dwell completely in a place of gratitude. Learn to utilize what you have in your hands and make use of it in the most constructive way. Slipping into neediness will become less of a habit when you repeatedly shift towards gratitude, away from poverty consciousness.

5. Use a Passion Formula of Recognize/Reevaluate/Restore in place of the Shoulda/Woulda/Coulda whirlwind. The former is based in increased knowledge and abundance while the latter focuses on scarcity and lack. As you face people or tasks that may seem harder than scaling the summit of the Himalayas, allow yourself to realize that the task is just as important as giving out orders to your subordinates. You would rather be richly passionate!

6. Believe that you are the architect of your destiny. No one can take your passionate future from you except for you! Create your life authentically. As long as there's still breath in your body, there is no end to how much you can accomplish in a lifetime. The concept of thinking big is all about enjoying your work, which would lead to celebrate a discovery that is born within your hands. Watch everything flow into place with perfect, passionate precision.

7. Keep humor at the forefront of thought, laughing at and with yourself when possible. You may find yourself quite entertaining when you loosen up! I am yet to see a comedian ever go hungry even though his jokes are as 'old as great-grandma'. Life has so much to offer to allow you to mope around in self pity. Humor is very attractive, very passionate: life-giving.

Instead of subjecting yourself to what you will be doomed for, make your path by taking the first step with a positive attitude!

The A-Z of Motivation

2007-04-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

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!!!

Building a Strong, Productive Team

2007-04-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

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.

10 Traits of Highly Successful People

2007-04-23T02:39:00.000-07:00

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.

Unlock the Power of Self Improvement

2007-04-13T02:23:00.000-07:00

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.

Smiling can make you Happy

2007-04-08T10:56:00.000-07:00

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.

Positive Visualization

2007-04-08T10:54:00.000-07:00

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?

Are You Allowing Yourself to Be Successful?

2007-04-04T13:33:00.000-07:00

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.

Welcome to the Success and Self Improvement Blog

2007-04-04T13:11:00.000-07:00

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:

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.

We should always remember that there’s no such thing as ‘over night success’. Its always a wonderful feeling to hold on to the things that you already have now, realizing that those are just one of the things you once wished for. A very nice quote says that “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” We are all here to learn our lessons. Our parents, school teachers, friends, colleagues, officemates, neighbors… they are our teachers. When we open our doors for self improvement, we increase our chances to head to the road of success.