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Showing posts with label success. Show all posts
Showing posts with label success. Show all posts

February 3, 2012

How To Accelerate Your Personal Success?!

Get ready for a golden idea that will accelerate your personal success beyond your imagination.

Are you like most of people who may sit with themselves and define their strengths and weaknesses?

And after that you start developing a plan to improve your weaknesses to become a better person.

And while applying your plan, you face a lot of difficulties and you might surrender with the excuse that it is a habit that can't be changed.

If you are like those people, then accept my apology: you are limiting your chances of success and putting yourself in a great struggle.

By following that method you are wasting time and effort and you are far beyond the fast track to ultimate personal success.

Now forget about that method and let me give you the golden idea to accelerate your personal success:

"Focus 80% of your time and energy building and improving your strengths and focus the remaining 20% on improving you weaknesses".

Don't say it is strange because your strengths will become weaknesses if you left them without continuous improvement.

Your strength will decrease fast while your weakness may improve slowly and you will end up being a "middle" person with no unique talent or value.

To be a person of value you have to focus on your uniqueness and special talent. Develop it, improve it, and the most important thing is: use it, use it and use it.

Forget about your weaknesses; no body is perfect. And focus on your strengths. Focus on the unique value you have more than anyone else.

If you do that you will accelerate your personal success and become a person of great value.

Build on your talents and strengths and don't give much attention to your weaknesses. No body is perfect.

Again, here is the golden idea for accelerating personal success:

"Focus 80% of your time and energy building and improving your strengths and focus the remaining 20% on improving you weaknesses".

My friend, you can make a difference.

I believe in you.

How Do You Define Success?

"Success isn't a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire."
~Arnold H. Glasow

This really is a great quote. Not only is it interesting but also inspiring.

One of the truths that I find most frustrating as a teacher and a coach is that many people believe that success, in whatever field of endeavor they are currently striving, is rather like winning the lottery. In fact, it certainly seems from the evidence that they in fact believe that success is even more random because they aren't even buying a ticket. They are simply passively waiting.

If you listen to people talk you won't hear many people voicing this opinion of success but look around you and watch what people are actually doing--or rather not doing--and you will quickly see what I mean.

Many people want things--they want to be rich, they want to be at the top of their profession, they want a successful marriage, they want to raise great kids, they want to be respected in their community, and so on. But what do they do to achieve this success? Are they working both hard and smart toward their financial goals and living frugally while they do so? Are they constantly learning and striving at their job? Are they showing their spouse love, consideration, understanding, and generosity? Are they spending time with their children both modeling how to be a good person and being generous with their love and understanding? Are they regularly proving themselves an asset within their community by being a good neighbor in every sense of the word?

We all know that we must accomplish these tasks as I set them out to achieve success in these areas. Probably I missed something as well. I am hardly a model of success in every area. I would in fact describe myself as fair to middling. {g} I am certainly not rich but the bills get paid and our basics and then some are covered without too much stress. My boss, peers, and subordinates think I am doing a pretty good job as well as those that I serve professionally. While my marriage is in fairly good shape I know I could certainly put more into it. I think I have a great kid but know well my failings as a mother. I contribute to my community but no where near the level that I could or should.

How do you define success?

Is it money, career, love, marriage, family, friendship, respect, community?

For me, success is primarily about love. How many lives do I touch with mine? How many hearts? Who has been changed by my existence in a postive way? I hope that people judge me as a good person and that if I died tomorrow that there would be great mourning.

If we really want this success then we will set ourselves on fire. We won't wait for spontaneous combustion.

Fullfilling Success

“True success is the attainment of purpose without compromising your core values.” John Hayhurst Sr.

Success is defined by many in so many ways. Many people define it by what the have yet to attain or by what others have attained. In the pursuit of success we often prostitute ourselves to many things we would eventually live to regret. We run miles down one street only to find we are completely lost.

The cliché is obvious – the pursuit of success defined by wealth, will often leave people unhappy – even if they achieve that wealth, they have had to do things or sacrifice relationships to do it.

So in this crazy world, how do we reach success?

A personal definition of success is critical to finding it, much like identifying the place you wish to travel to is necessary before the journey begins. If we don’t know where we are going, we wont know when we get there, let alone how to get there and if we should even be trying to get there or not.

Every goal has a cost. You may want to win an Olympic medal, well there is a cost, and its more than just training pains. You will not lead a normal social life, you can’t do what others do. If you want to become a CEO of a major company, there is a cost – you may have the title and big house, but you may have trouble at home given all your hours in the office. Essential to everyone who endeavours to do something is counting the cost. Whether you build a house or plan a picnic – it is critical to know what it will take.

Once you have defined your goal and have accepted the benefits and costs of such a goal, you are now ready to start. But before you rush off – are you sure you have the right goal. I know you have a goal, but is it right? Does it cost you too much? Is success at any cost your mantra? What if that cost was the lives of your kids, your conscience, your integrity? What are your core values that you cannot compromise? We all have them, and we need to know what they are.

If you goal is to make say $1000 in 24hrs. Success would be having $1000 cash in your pocket this time tomorrow. Well you could simply rob a convenience store or two at gunpoint – reach your goal, but would you consider yourself successful? Depends if those armed robberies compromise some core values – I hope they would!

Your values and your potential will determine what is possible for you. Success would be maximizing that potential in such a manner that inspires generations to come. As you consider Internet Marketing – its important you think about what is important to you and how you can accomplish your goals without compromise.

Thanks for reading,
Your Rich Cousin
(Author and Business Success Story) Get the free e-book that got me started and helped me start making money at http://www.richcousin.com It's so straight forward and easy to understand AND you will have the support you need to start making a great income online.

Activating Your Success Blueprint

I am going to tell you the steps to “Activate Your Personal Success.” So, as you think of this outcome-whatever goal that you want to accomplish. Imagine if by accomplishing this goal or this outcome;

• Would it take anything away from who you are?
• Is there any excuse you can make right now that will stop your from accomplishing that goal?

One key in accomplishing any goal and activating your blueprint is to keep your goal in mind, keep it in your minds eye. Listen to your hypnosis processes daily and find that upon awakening act as if you are guaranteed the result that you’re seeking.

And when you act out of character, in other words, when you demonstrating behaviors or attitude that are counter to accomplishing your goals. You will change that the next time you listen to your hypnosis process, you will make the necessary changes. So that moving forward you will think act and respond with the goal in mind.

Each time that you practice using your hypnosis process you are going to find that your inner ability to see, hear, and experience in your mind’s eye improving.

And just as you learned when you read through Awaken the Genius you found that perhaps you’re more visual learner, maybe you’re more auditory, or you’re more kinesthetic. What we are going to ask you do, is to become more of a full sensory learner. Someone who can use all there senses, magnetize in the world around you want you want as your goal. And then go after it an achieve it.

The next step is to think about what needs to take place, or what needs to change in your life so that you can have this goal you set for yourself today? Now matter what it is.

In other words, what are you going to have to give up that your holding onto dearly now?

Because if you weren’t holding onto something dearly that stopping you from accomplishing this goal, you wouldn’t even be listening to my voice right how, you’d be out there accomplishing your goal.

For instance, let’s use an example of bowling; If somebody is told a different way to release the ball or perhaps a different mark out in the bowling lane, which is what a professional bowling might do. They would roll that ball over that arrow and it would hook into the pocket and give them a potential for a strike, but if they are so locked into their old way of rolling the ball, or throwing the ball down the alley that are not able to change they can’t get out of their own way, in other words, they can’t accomplish their goal.

What changes need to take place for you accomplish this goal, so you can “Activate Your Personal Success?”

Next, I need you to find out what resources you have internally to accomplish your goal. During your hypnosis process take a mental inventory. This will help you discover what Skills, what Abilities, what Resources do you have?

I’m going to ask you to release any preconceived ideas about how you might accomplish your goal and open your mind to the possibility that there is an even greater possibility out there for you.

January 5, 2012

Happiness Is About Connection And Gratitude

People complain. They’re complaining all the time about everything. As a child, I was innocent enough to believe what people were saying. I really thought there were plenty of valid reasons to complain: the weather (most often), lack of money (runner-up), the neighbors, husband or wife, the children (me, in this case), civilization (or the lack of it), bad health, etc. I assumed the world just turned out to be like this and there was nothing much we could do. It was called “fate” or something.

The thing to do was to pray. Not to ask for a better life. No! I learned to pray to ask God to forgive me for my sins. I was a nice little girl, doing very well at school, polite with the neighbors, helpful at home, so it was rather difficult to keep finding sins for our weekly confession. But because human beings are profoundly sinful by birth, they told me, I had to go confess anyway. The nuns at school came up with a solution to help us out: they “prepared” our sins for us. Every Wednesday, on confession day, they gave us a pink paper with our “confessions of the day.” I remember feeling sorry for the poor priest, hidden in his little black cabin, spending the entire day listening to the confessions of 600 little girls, endlessly repeating the same sins over and over…

Growing up, I figured something was missing. Pretending to be sinful by repeating sins someone else had cooked up for me, that could not be what life is about. I refused to further confess sins that I had not committed. I refused to believe that I was the cause of my misery, and that I had to pray every day without things getting better!

When I was 26, I went to Africa. There I met my husband (he’s from Belgium) and together we had a wonderful time, with plenty of sunshine and plenty of money; circumstances people usually don’t complain about, right? According to my childhood logic, people only complain for a reason: lousy weather (too cold, too much rain), lack of money, etc. But what I discovered over there seriously opened my eyes! My “white” friends just went on complaining: about the weather (too hot), about the service (5 servants and still they were complaining) or about how things were too expensive – while they were earning 5 times as much as before!

I discovered there and then that the complaining was not based on any objective reasons. I also noticed that the black people, who were living in their villages with close to nothing, were not complaining. I got interested in this phenomenon: they had nothing except a big smile on their face, while we had everything and were still complaining! How could this be?

It became crystal clear to me that the complaints had nothing to do with the outer circumstances. It was an attitude, a habit. Next, I wanted to find out where this habit came from. So I examined the way of life of the local people and compared it with our way of life. When I finally came up with the explanation, it changed my life forever!

There are two important differences between them and us. The first difference is that they have a social network to help everyone in the village. They stick together. They don’t push out people who don’t fit the norm. In our society, everybody who is a bit different is sent to an “institution.” An institution is a place to collect those individuals who cannot follow the fast pace of society and thus fall out of the boat. Most institutions have great walls to prevent us from “seeing” that these people really exist. They look more like a prison than a shelter.
Who are these people that don’t fit in our society, put away behind walls so we don’t have to confront them? They are the disabled, the diseased, the dangerous ones, the mentally retarded or disturbed, those who are too slow (they go to special schools), too difficult to handle (they go to educational institutions) and those who are too tired and too old (we put them in expensive homes).

There in Africa, everybody stays in his own village and is accepted and taken care of (except the really dangerous ones, they go to prison). Everybody has a natural social network and access to help. You are not isolated from society merely because you cannot walk or because you are mentally slow. They stick together. I figured out that inner loneliness and isolation is one of the main reasons why we are complaining so much.

The second difference is that all of these people are connected to something “greater” than themselves. They have a strong faith in a god who takes care of them. They spend a lot of time performing rituals to please their god(s) and get good health and harvest in return.

I gave these two differences a lot of thought and concluded that creating social networks of people and a solid relationship with something bigger than ourselves, are vitally important fundaments of human happiness.

It’s all about “connection.” Connection to each other. Connection to the Universe. In the meantime I found out that good things can happen only when we stay connected to each other and to the Universe. I started studying the Laws of the Universe and spent a lot of energy helping people establish a connection to each other and to the Universe. In fact, this became the very purpose of my life.

Many people think they are alone, without help, and have to do everything by themselves. This is not the case. You are guided, you are loved by Something Greater than your little personality. Try to feel this connection. Take time everyday to connect to the Source. Do like the African people I was lucky to meet so many years ago: create a real connection between yourself, the Universe and people around you, without being overly dependent on others. You will never feel alone again and you will be able to spread a lot more love around.

Living this kind of “connected life” will make you forget about your former complaints. What’s there to complain about? Your complaints will be replaced by gratitude! Say “thank you” to the Universe for all the things you already have, and for all the wonders that may still cross your path. Express your sincere gratitude for all the love you have received and will keep receiving throughout your life. Be grateful for the clean water coming out of the tap by a simple gesture of your hand, while many people spend six hours every day to get a little bit of water, and others die of thirst. Be grateful for the light you switch on with a simple flick. Large parts of the world have to do without electric power! Say “thank you” for the variety of food that is available to you every day – a lot of people have to get by on one scarce meal a day, or are simply starving.

There is so much to be grateful for. I felt so ashamed there in Africa, at 26 years old, hearing my white friends, bathing in luxury but still complaining, while my black friends, who had close to nothing, were laughing, friendly, grateful and most of the time quite happy with the little things in life.

It’s all in the mind. Gratitude and happiness are an attitude, a state of being. It has nothing to do with circumstances. The attitude is gratitude.

Do you want to achieve fulfilment, success and true hapiness?

Are you in control of your destiny?

As you are reading these words, you may be thinking about and looking for a way to improve your sense of fulfilment, success and true happiness in your life.

It seems that some people nearly always attain success in relationships, business and personal fulfilment, while others in similar circumstances may do well, but never seem to reach the higher levels.

We often say they are "lucky" but I suggest that luck has nothing to do with it.

What does have everything to do with it are the following six factors.

They are the areas which every one of us need to improve in order to attain personal fulfilment, success and happiness. Which of these would you wish to improve?

1. Self-image.
Your beliefs about your self affect how you feel and how you appear to others. Your self-confidence and self-worth are the result of your self-image.

2. Self Control.
The true fact is that either you control your life or you are controlled by it.

3. Creativity.
In its broadest sense it is the artist and the scientist within you, who solves your problems and brings new ideas.

4. Cooperation.
No man is an island, and the successful person will be expert at communication skills, persuading and encouraging others to make his own and their shared goals come true.

5. Planning.
It is said, that "If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up somewhere else". If someone doesn't have clear and focused goals, they cannot complain if the "somewhere else" is not to their liking.

6. Concentration.
Willingness to get going, concentrated effort, persistence and resilience in the face of obstacles - all are crucial to success in achieving life goals.

December 31, 2011

New Year's Resolutions? Don't Be So Hard On Yourself

Have you set resolutions for yourself to accomplish in 2006? Maybe you want to get more exercise, eat healthier, or spend more time with your family. If you're in business for yourself, maybe you are thinking about hiring a bookkeeper, working fewer hours, or beefing up your marketing plan. All of those things are very good goals, but how do you really feel about them? If you're like me, you probably think that you need resolutions, and furthermore, you have to accomplish all of them in order to be successful. How can we not feel that way when the media is chirping away about making and keeping our new year's resolutions?

Well, maybe you should go a little easier on yourself. What about trying just one new thing to improve your life in some small way? This can either be something personal or professional. The important thing to remember is that this "thing," whatever it is, should be important to you, and bring value to your life in some way. Even if it's just taking 20 minutes at the end of each day to kick back, close your eyes and do absolutely nothing; if that will improve your peace-of-mind or help you to relax, that's great -- mission accomplished!

Try to remember that we are all human, and that no one is perfect. Take baby steps to reach your goals, and they won't seem so overwhelming. And if things are just fine in your life right now, and you don't feel the need to make any improvements, then don't. It's that simple. Don't worry about having lofty goals -- just focus on smaller ones as you see fit.

By taking care of yourself, and not putting the pressure on to create resolutions that you may never keep, you'll be able to enjoy 2005 to your fullest. Here's to a healthy, happy, and successful year ahead...your way!!

December 29, 2011

Discover Your Path to Success – Part 4

In Part Three, I promised we would get into the resources. Before we do, however, let’s discuss a treasure that most of us have been exposed to, but don’t take nearly enough time out of our day to focus on – the power of prayer. This may offend some people, but I hope it does not; as that is not
my intent.

As humans, we have progressed in so many ways, but we have lost touch with our bodies, nature, and the power of prayer. There seems to be a spiritual renaissance, of sorts, going on in the “new age” movement.

However, there are a large number of children growing up with no spiritual guidance at all. There are many reasons, and excuses, for this, but a large portion of this generation of children could grow up, out of touch, with their spiritual health.

Always remember that “whole health” deals with mind, body, and spirit, as they are interconnected. If these three components are healthy, you are in good shape at any age.

What does this have to do with success? Well, God does make the ultimate ally. Your prayers do honor God’s presence - by giving thanks, and asking for help, in times of need. You will feel much better, and prayer applies to every religion.

Personally, the importance does not lie in what religion you are; however, a lack of religion does seem to run parallel with depression. This is classified as spiritual illness, which will have a negative effect on you mentally, physically, or totally.

The concept of God does not apply to all religions, but the concept of prayer does. If you try it, you will heal from the inside - out.

The following resources start from classics that my Grandfather gave to me as a child.

The Law of Success, by Napoleon Hill - 1928

How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie - 1936

Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill - 1937

The Power of Positive Thinking, by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale – 1952

All of these books can be found in audio format, which makes them very
handy, especially if you are commuting in your car. Each of these books can
also be found on my desk, or in the book case, in my office. Over the years, I had to replace some of the old books my Grandfather gave me, as the worn pages separated from the bindings.

I extend my apologies to the many other great authors, who I did not list; that would be a very large book, within itself. The fact is - this is a good starting point before venturing out and discovering the hidden treasures in print, eBooks, or audio books.

Now you have the last hidden treasures to carve your own path to success. If you put these principles into action, there is no way you can fail. May your journey be a pleasant and safe one.

Discover Your Path to Success - Part 3

If you have read this far, we both know you are serious about succeeding, getting the most out of life, and attaining your goals.

Now, how do you “keep the fire burning” during life’s daily struggle? It’s simple really, but will require the patience to take each task into consideration, without doing everything at once.

You will get the urge to make up for lost time. You now want to jump ahead at “light speed.” If you already read Parts One and Two of this series, you are way ahead of the pack. So many people sit around and dream, doubt, or just talk, but very few take action and then stick with it.

The next step is to get a “coach.” You are now thinking, coaches are expensive; and you are right, but you don’t have to spend much. Here’s how it works: Look for the most positive person you can find, see, or hear, around you. This person is full of positive energy, and all you have to do is listen.

You can be selective about advice, but realize that positive energy is contagious, and you will walk away from conversations with positive energy, too. On the other hand, stay away from negative talk; it is also contagious.

Are you in need of more positive energy? No problem - read articles like this, read self-improvement books, or listen to inspirational audio books, to instill positive energy within you. You can’t lose with a steady dose of positive energy to carry you through the day.

So how do you separate good information from bad? Where do you start, and what, or who, would you listen to first? In the last, and final article of this series, I promise to reveal some great resources, but for now, it’s a good idea to gain positive energy by choosing sources that you find interesting.

If I lead you to a classic self-improvement book, you might find it boring.
However, if you start to read something and can’t put it down, you are getting positive energy and you are enjoying it.

Do yourself a favor, and get a self-improvement source today. You don’t have to implement all of the advice you read - just take what fits into your lifestyle.

Now, let’s look at visualization. This is an extremely powerful treasure, and all of us have the ability to visualize. Ever since the first human had a fantasy, and it came to pass, the power of visualization has built entire civilizations.

Think about what you want, close your eyes, envision it, and see that you have accomplished it. This is only an exercise, but it is an exercise toward success. Never confuse visualization with “pipe dreams.” Visualization is an exercise to cultivate positive energy, move forward, and accomplish goals.

The hidden treasures you found today are patience, the ability to learn, and visualization. Again, you already had them, but patience will require a little extra work, as it does for all of us.

Discover Your Path to Success - Part 2

Time taken for self-analysis is so important in developing your road map to success. Let’s continue with a few more questions to ask yourself - before we go into the heart of the formula for personal success.

Are you easily distracted?

Most people cannot focus on a goal, without getting “side tracked.” When this cannot be helped, you can develop a new skill set, through meditation, self-hypnosis, or by learning not to give up. You can learn to meditate in a variety of ways. At my site, we have a course, but you can also find Yoga classes where meditation is taught. There are many good books and CD’s. A very good CD is Meditation Made Simple by John Daniels.

Picture it like this: Christopher Columbus truly had a one-dimensional personality; he was focused on finding an alternate route to Asia, to the point of being a poor “family man.” However, unlike most people, he stayed focused and never gave up.

Now you don’t have to give up everything in life to achieve a goal, but you have to focus on your goal, avoid giving up, getting depressed, and make up your mind to enjoy the journey. It is still wise to have a complete life by allowing time for your family and friends. If you stay on a straight course, you will be “ahead in the game,” but you will have to mentally focus on your end result, even in bad economic times.

Can you rationally separate good advice from bad?

You will hear many opinions – some will be constructive, and others will be useless. You will have to know the difference, by evaluating all advice without emotion, and with an open mind.

Is the ultimate reward worth the cost and sacrifice?

You should already know that you may invest time, money, work, or all three, to reach your ultimate goal. Envision yourself reaching your ultimate objective, and if it is worth all of the sacrifice, then you should move on to the next step.

Start moving forward now. If you didn’t write your goals down, evaluate them, and prioritize them, you should go back to part one again, to finish that assignment. Much similar to a business, you must have a written plan to move forward.

Just don’t worry about getting it perfect. None of us ever do, and your plans will change as you go. In fact, life is adapting to a constantly changing universe. Most of us cannot accurately predict the cycles of the economy. We design a plan and prepare to turn on a dime, if necessary. Everything in life is subject to change and all of us have to accept it.

Realizing this, you now proceed with caution toward your short-term goals.
Once you have designed your plan, there is no need to “wait until next year.”

Put your plan into action and take one forward step at a time. This one step is the biggest of all your steps, and your commitment to succeed is your “guiding light.”

Now, what were the “hidden treasures” you found in part two? The answer is focus, commitment, and acceptance. You already have them; all you need to do is get the most out of what you already have.

Discover Your Path to Success - Part 1

Success can easily be compared to the “genie trapped in a bottle.” For many of us, it is a matter of finding a way to open the bottle, and then, follow a specific path. This path is filled with pitfalls, and traps, along the way, so it is wise to expand your vision by learning as you go.

To many people, success is a “fairytale” and as elusive as a Yeti. In reality, success is just around the corner, and sometimes already exists, as hidden treasure. I am not talking about sunken ships or Indiana Jones. What I am referring to are skills you already possess, friends and family who will help you, and accomplishments that you already have made.

When you put these hidden treasures, together, with your end goal in mind, you are on your way toward success. Now let’s look at a way to move forward every day, live a quality life, and help everyone around you, in the process.

Write all of your goals down, and keep them in a place that you will see. This could be on a piece of paper in your pocket, on your desk top, in a notebook, in your diary, or on your palm pilot. Wherever you put this information, it should be a place where you will see it, every day.

Separate realistic from lofty goals, but don’t throw lofty goals out. Also, separate short-term goals, from long-term goals, and design estimated time frames, for measured results. You don’t have to share this with anyone, unless they share the same goal. If you have, at least, one close friend, spouse, or family, who shares the same dream, you are in a very strong position.

However, you don’t need to be a “politician” to be successful, if you learn to focus on your goals, every day. Now we have to go over a few questions that will also help you design your road map toward success.

Will your goals hurt anyone? Will you have to step on anyone to get what you want?

If you answered yes to either one of the above questions, you should redefine your goal or goals, so you can achieve it or them without harming anyone in the process. If that is not possible, throw that goal out, and move on. Your goals should help people and be morally sound.

Do you have a real passion for your goals?

This one is also important because, if your goal is “flipping burgers” for money, it won’t be long, before that gets old. I have yet to meet the person, who has a real passion for flipping burgers. Please don’t get me wrong, some people are very good at it, but I have known many short order cooks, who wish they were doing something else besides “slaving” over a hot stove.

What you choose, must be something you love doing, and the money will follow. There are so many people, who craft an occupation, based upon money alone, and learn to regret it. If you have a purpose in life you have “self-worth.” Self-worth is a very valuable hidden treasure.

December 27, 2011

If You'll ... Then I'll ...

Fill in the blanks in the above sentence however you want.

Have you heard this often?

Do you say it often?

Do you think it often?

This simple sentence is a contract that is often unconsciously created with people, and it can have a disastrous effect on your life.

Just the other day, a friend was telling me about her husband and the fact they had a weekend together without the children. She was telling me that if he brought her flowers and took her out for dinner, then she would feel loved and cared for.

Guess what, he didn’t buy her flowers or take her out for dinner. He decided to sit in and read the new Harry Potter book!

And I wonder if you can guess how she felt?

That’s right. She felt rejected, unloved, unhappy and had a generally miserable weekend.

And of course, he was oblivious to all this and had no idea what he had done wrong!

Everyone creates unconscious contracts, from childhood through to adulthood. You create conditions which rely on other people to perform certain actions in order for you to feel certain emotions.

In fact, you often create the contracts with people and then don’t even tell them about it!!!

How on earth are they meant to meet these conditions if they are not even aware of them in the first place?

“If you do … then I will feel …”

“If you don’t do … then I will be …”

I witnessed a mother shouting at her son in the supermarket the other day, “If you don’t behave then no one will like you”.

What a fantastic contract to put on a kid … NOT!

What effect do you think saying something like that could have on a child?

Or even an adult?

You cannot make anyone else do anything; you can’t force people to do things that meet your conditions. You have no control over anyone else.

The only person you can control is yourself.

If you are going to make these contracts with people, then tell them. You’ll discover your relationships improve immensely because of it. Also, you may find these contracts are met more often because at least by being aware of it, the other person can attempt to meet it.

Watch yourself and see how often you say, “If you … then I ….” to yourself. What effect does this have on your life? Do these contracts make your life better or worse?

Stop making these contracts that make you unhappy and start making contracts that make you feel great and improve your life.

What if you had a contract with everyone that said something like, “If you are yourself and do whatever you do, harming none, then I’ll like you”?

Do you think that would make you feel better?

Removing these contracts allows you to practise acceptance. You can accept people for who and what they are and what they do. It allows you to get on with these people better, stops you judging them and stops you from allowing them to hurt you.

Accept the people around you for who and what they are and remove the contracts that you used to have. You will find that your quality of life improves because you are not being allowing them to hurt you any more.

December 21, 2011

Belief and Success

Life has different colors. It presents us with various problems from time to time. Sometimes the obstacles are small and sometimes they are so big, that one stops on the way. Looking and thinking about the obstacles of such magnitude, one starts believing that they are unsurmountable.

At this point in our life, what about asking ourselves few questions about our belief? What if someone tells you- believe in yourself, believe in your abilities, and believe that whatever may be the obstacle, you have the strength to overcome it. Believe and you will find a way.

Our beliefs

The focus is on belief. What do we believe about our abilities? Do we believe that we can overcome any obstacle? Do we believe that we have the ability? Do we have strong faith in our persistence? Do we know how to think and find out ways? Do we know how to pray and seek answers? Do we think that we are the winners? These are the questions that we should ask ourselves.

What is belief and how does it help us succeed?

Belief, a very strong belief in our ability gives us the strength and the positive attitude that helps us find out answers to every problem. If we believe that we will be able to find the solution, we will be excited to work towards it. If we doubt our ability, then we have already lost the war. Belief is a very strong medicine and it works in wonderful ways. Believe that you will be able to find out all solutions. Believe that you will overcome all problems. Believe that you will emerge successful. Belive that you are a winner. Believe that you deserve success. Believe that you have the mental and physical strngth to fight against all the odds. Believe. There can be no bigger magic than strong belief

Achieve Your Goals For Success Step By Step

You have a dream! Now, how do you make it happen?

First, imagine that it is real. See every detail so clearly that you can reach out and touch it. You can feel the emotions of being there. For example, if you want a certain car, then what kind is it? What color is it? Imagine you are sitting in it like you will when it is brand new. How does it feel? How does it smell? Go for a drive in your car. If it's a convertible, drive with the top down! Experience the wind blowing in your face and through your hair. Hear the sounds around you. If you can take a real test drive in one, do that! Get a picture and post it where you will see it each day. Do this visualization several times a day until it becomes part of you. This action is important because your subconscious will help enable you to reach your goals to achieve your dream.

Next, break the big dream down into specific, measurable goals to get you there. If you are dreaming of something that costs a certain amount of money, like the car, you will set a date on when you want to have this money.

Once you have your date, then break your timeline down into segments. Perhaps you set the date one year from today. So the next step is to break that down into a goal for each month, then a goal for each week, then a goal for each day. It may be easier to start with the days, and then multiply out to the weeks and months.

Now that you know what your specific timeline is, you need to determine the specific actions you can take to reach each specific goal. If it is a money goal, like in the example above, you know how much money you need to put away each day. So now you need to figure out what actions you need to take each day in order to be able to do that.

If your goal is accomplishing a project, your timeline will be broken down into different steps you need to finish in order to get the whole project done. For example, if you are writing a book, you may need to do some research before you can write it. So the first major accomplishment on your way to that goal is to complete the research. Then you need to set a time to complete your basic outline. Then a time to complete each chapter. Then a time for editing. You can break each major step down into little steps that must be done each day in order to complete the entire book by your target date.

Now that you see what you will need to do each day in order to achieve your big goal, ask yourself if each day's task is reasonable. Be truthful. If you know you can do what is required each day, then you have your plan. If it will be very difficult to meet each day's requirement, then extend your timeline until you have something you know you can do every day. This way, you are setting yourself up for sure success!

It's just like the ancient philosopher said: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." No matter how big your dream is, if you break it down into baby steps that you can do each day, you will find your journey to success filled with the joy of achieving many goals.

Reaching your smaller goals will, indeed, assure you that you are on your way to reaching your dream! You will gain the confidence you need to continue and receive the desire you need to do whatever actions are required each day!

Celebrate achieving even the little goals, and enjoy your journey to your certain success!

Discover 10 Steps to Christian Success

1) Spend time with Jesus Christ every single day. I cannot stress that enough for the success minded Christian. So often we spend our time working on things that have no bearing on our future christian success (nor any current success value) because we haven’t taken the time to focus and understand what Jesus Christ wants for our lives and our success.

2) Study the Word and discover what the top five (or six) christian success priorities in your life should be. For example, for you it might be: Christ, spouse, children, work, retirement. For another, it might be: Christ, a hobby, work, retirement, missions work. And for yet another: Christ, spouse, work, a hobby, physical fitness. For each of you, christian success priorities might be a little different in the number 4, 5, or (6) spots, but the first two or three are probably Christ and family. Once you know your success priorities, you are ready for step 3)

3) Develop a “progress plan” for each of your areas of top success priority. When you look at your life six months from now, especially in these areas of success priority, you should be further along and better adapted in each of these areas than you are today. Look back six months ago. Have you improved in each of your success priority areas? If not, you need to take action. Now!

4) Find a christian success mentor. This success mentor should be someone who can be concerned primarily for your personal growth in these areas of success priority. This should not be someone who is an “equal” with you---someone who also confides in you. This should be a “one-way” street. They should be able to listen to your success priorities, help you develop a game plan for meeting them, and be able to criticize you when you aren’t following your game plan. Because of that, they should probably not be someone with whom you are close emotionally, like a best friend or spouse. They should be a more neutral party, perhaps someone from a small group class at church or someone recommended to you by your pastor.

5) Break each of your success priorities down into individual goal steps. These “steps” should be small enough that you can focus on that one step at a time and they shouldn’t be too hard to accomplish individually, and yet when you have completed all of the steps you have gained significant ground in your priority for the given period, e.g. six months.

6) Write down all of your success priorities and your goal steps for accomplishing them. Leave room next to each goal step to write the date you started the goal step and the date you finished it. At the end of the six months (and during it too) you will be able to specifically track your progress.

7) Eliminate unnecessary things in your life which do not help you accomplish your success priorities. Try unplugging the TV three nights a week until your success priorities are accomplished. Have an “email free” day of the week. Take Sunday off from everything. If the telephone is an incessant nuisance, turn it off two nights a week.

8) Evaluate your rest…are you getting enough sleep? What can you do to get more sleep? What about recreation (non-TV)? Are you walking, hiking, reading, meeting with friends regularly? Are you spending enough time with your family without interruptions by the phone or work? Do what it takes to get rest and recreation and include the family in this step.

9) Evaluate your success regularly. There isn’t much that substitutes for assessing your progress last week and making goals for the coming week. Sure, some weeks you will fall short, but in others you will easily meet your personal success expectations. As you follow these 10 steps, setting success priorities, making goal steps, and following through on all of it will get easier.

10) Just do it! Start somewhere, start today! Don’t just close this page and forget all this! You took the time to read this; if you do nothing with it you will continue to fall short of your own personal expectations.

5 Keys to Success

Treating people with respect wins trust and develops lasting relationships. Here’s what to do.

1) Be on time. In fact, arrive early for appointments and meetings. Plan time milestones in your daily schedule that tell you when to begin transferring to an appointment. That is, note when you will stop working on a task, begin collecting resource materials, and start traveling. Allow time for delays in travel, especially if driving. Consider: The fastest way to destroy people’s trust in you is to waste their time.

2) Communicate with others. Answer your phone and return phone calls. Listen carefully and completely when people talk to you. Show an interest in others before telling about yourself. When making phone calls devote all of your attention to what the other person is saying (instead of time sharing with other tasks, such as checking e-mail or playing computer games). Phone others only when you can devote full attention to what the other person is saying. Consider: ignoring people is rude and unprofessional.

3) Plan projects. For example, always prepare an agenda for meetings. Contact key participants before the meeting to hear their views, solicit suggestions for agenda items, and coach them on how to prepare for the meeting. Send agendas far enough before the meeting so that people have time to prepare. Consider: Bad meetings demonstrate an inability to provide leadership.

4) Be courteous. Find the good in everyone. Compliment others. Avoid starting or listening to gossip. Never ridicule, insult, or make fun of other people. Use positive words, always speaking about what you want and how you want things to be. Avoid suggesting motives or assigning judgments for other people’s actions and views. Consider: Discourtesy damages all relationships.

5) Help others. Be a mentor for newcomers. Share ideas. Teach people skills that will help them excel. Work with a spirit of abundance. Seek win/win results. Let others speak first, even on issues where you are an expert. Give first without attaching a receipt for return favors. Consider: Selfish people end up working harder.

December 13, 2011

Be Happy! There is Great Happiness in Human-Made Things

God created the world. Humans in their own insignificant way are also creating things. The urge to create is inborn in human beings. God created the world for the happiness of humankind. Humans are creating things for their happiness, enjoyment, comfort, and survival. The common thread in all human made things is happiness.

There is a vast field of music and art and literature. One can devote one's entire life to any of them and be supremely happy. Humans have made some things expressly for happiness—games and sports, food and drinks, TV and motorcars, ships, and planes. And, of course, there is money and all the things and services one could buy with it.

A single genre of literature, a single instrument of music, a single school of dancing, is enough to fill us with happiness. We know of persons who have made a single aspect of the world their passion and devoted their entire life to it and derived success and happiness out of it. It may be bird watching, white water rafting, tennis, football, poetry, or films. In fact life is too short to enjoy all the happiness it offers to us through all its aspects. The problem is not that there is not enough of happiness in the world. But it is the opposite. There is too much of it.

Fine arts, whether it is poetry or prose, fiction or non-fiction, painting, music, or dance, has the power to engross us and make us infinitely happy. In fact, one may live in the world of fine arts and be ever happy. I am perfectly happy sitting under a quiet bower beside a calm river under the serene sky with a book in hand, or lying in the bed under a cozy quilt on a rainy day listening to great classics.

Take for example, literature. It gives mental pleasure that is superior to the worldly pleasure. It does not require external favourable conditions, except a book. There are many books in the world that I consider everybody must read. It is not necessary that one reads only the best or the most serious books only. One can take occasional bad book with good books. As a starter, I would recommend that you go to your neighborhood library, and get a good book according to your taste. It need not necessarily be serious literature. Get a detective novel or romance book or even comics. In the evening cozily settle down in the bed or sofa and read. May be next week read another book. Once the habit is formed try to read serious literature. Make reading a life long habit.

I find sports a great source of happiness. You derive great happiness and peace of mind playing any game. You also get exercise which is good for your body. But there is another benefit. While you are playing your mind is far away from worldly problems. You don’t think of them while you play. I believe that playing is a sort of meditation.

“The secret of happiness is this: let your interest be as wide as possible, and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile”—Bertrand Russell.

BE HAPPY!

December 10, 2011

Motivation in life

So many of us are demotivated to achieve anything. Such people are not enthusiastic about anything. They don't want to work towards any goal. Nothing motivates them to work. Why is it so? Why many of us are not motivated? What is wrong?

We think in different ways and our thinking is decided by many factors. Some are known and some are unknown. The known factors are - thinking, circumstances, early upbringing, living style, culture, family support, friends, own intelligence etc. Our thoughts and our mental makeup is also decided by many factors that are yet not known. Two persons of similar upbringing may be facing similar situation, but react in opposite ways? there are so many whys about the human mind that it is very difficult to determine about what may happen.

Coming back to the central question - why are some of us totally demotivated? There is no easy answer. Can anything be done to propel such people towards work? Can one do anything to make them enthusiastitic about anything, so that they begin working towards it?

Take your own example. You are motivated to do one thing, but totally demotivated by something else. A mathematician may get very excited looking at a Math problem, but remain unaffected by the greatest pieces of music? Why? The musician acts exactly opposite, or may get equally excited by maths problem and music. Why? Our mind is a complex structure, about which we ourselves don't know much. How many of us can claim to know about their own mind? They may know about thier abilities and disabilities, their likes and dislikes, etc. but can they predict about their own reaction in a situation? very difficult.

One has to find one's own answers in such situations. One has to reflect himself/herself and decide about the action that can be taken to break the unmotivated state. Friends, family and even medical science can help one to a certain extent, but the final destination has to be reached by the person on his/her own.

If at anytime, you notice that a friend of yours is getting demotivated about life, try to inspire him/her as much as you can. Even if you are physically away from your friend you can send him inspirational ecards and tell him to download motivational screensavers and wallpapers. So motivate everyone who needs the boost.

How Much Can You Handle?

I was talking to one of my friends just a few days ago, and she got me thinking.

She was telling me about all the problems in her life and how bad she was feeling and that it seemed that the universe just kept piling problem after problem after problem on her and she felt she was going to snap any day.

Yet she hasn’t yet, and is still going strong, coping with it all. In fact, it’s not starting to ease off and get better.

This made me think. I had gone through periods in my life where I thought the universe was ganging up against me and trying to wear me into the ground. Yet I got through it all. I remember in one of my worst times, a close friend of mine had a stroke and I remember visiting her in hospital and thinking, “How is she coping? I could never cope with that.”

Then one night whilst watching the Discovery channel I put two and two together and got forty two.

I love Archaeology, and living in England we are literally swimming in it. In this particular show they were recreating how Iron Age man would have made a sword.

The blacksmith, when asked why he was heating and then cooling the blade said something very similar to this, “This process is called tempering. It’s where you stress the metal in order to make it stronger.”

As you can imagine, I perked up at this and realisation dawned upon me.

The Blacksmith deliberately stresses the blade of a sword so he can make it stronger.

Perhaps it is the same in life?

I then started to review some of the stress points that I had had in my life, and then I realised that it was true. If I hadn’t have had these stresses then I would not be as strong as I am. I wouldn’t be the person I am if it wasn’t for these “bad” episodes in my life.

I began phoning around my friends, and asking them questions about this and realised it was true for them.

We go through all sorts of trials in our life because we are being tempered; made stronger for our purpose in life. I can now look back at many of the once negative events in my life and see how they have made me stronger and created the person I am today.

Another thing I realised whilst interviewing these people was that we are never given more than we can handle. I couldn’t handle the stroke, yet my friend could. Perhaps she couldn’t have handled some of the things in my life.

You will undoubtedly have stresses in your life, but instead of fighting them, embrace them as they are making you stronger. Understand too that you are never given more than you can handle, so that “insurmountable” challenge you are facing is in fact something you can handle and overcome … maybe just with a change of perspective.

Hold on to your Dreams

How many times have you abandoned an idea, project or dream
because someone made a disparaging remark or rolled their
eyes when you told them about it?

Relinquishing your dreams

All too frequently we allow others to dictate what is good,
right or possible. We allow them to steal our dreams. Notice
I use the word "allow." No one can put you down, stomp on
your dream, or kill an idea of yours unless you allow them
to.

Consider that:

  • The movie Star Wars was rejected by every movie studio in
    Hollywood before 20th Century Fox finally produced it. It
    went on to be one of the largest-grossing movies in film
    history.


  • As a child, Sylvester Stallone was frequently beaten by
    his father and told he had no brains. He grew up an unhappy
    loner. He floated in and out of schools. An advisor at
    Drexel University told him that based on his aptitude tests
    he should pursue a career as an elevator repair person. It's
    not a bad profession but it's certainly not where "Rocky"
    ended up!


  • Einstein was criticized for not wearing socks or cutting
    his hair. He didn't speak until he was four, and didn't read
    until he was seven. One observer noted, "He could be
    mentally retarded".


  • An expert said of Vince Lombardi:"He possesses minimal
    football knowledge. Lacks motivation. . .


  • Beethoven handled the violin awkwardly and preferred
    playing his own compositions instead of improving his
    technique. His teacher proclaimed him hopeless as a
    composer.


  • Walt Disney was fired from his job as a newspaper editor
    for lack of ideas. He also went bankrupt several times
    before he created Disneyland.


  • Henry Ford failed and went broke 5 times before he finally
    succeeded.


  • Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, was
    encouraged to find work as a servant or seamstress. She
    would certainly never be a writer.


  • In 1944, the director of the Blue Book Modeling Agency
    told modeling hopeful Norma Jean Baker (Marilyn Monroe),
    "You'd better learn secretarial work, or else get married."


  • It Takes Courage

    So what are your ideas? Your thoughts? Your dreams? Your
    plans?

    It doesn’t matter if anyone supports what you want to do.
    The important thing is for YOU to believe. For YOU to ignore
    the people who say you can't do it - and DO IT ANYWAY! It
    takes courage. It takes persistence. It takes believing in
    the "voice inside" when no one else does. Ideas, dreams and
    visions are planted within you because you have the ability
    to make them happen. You’ll learn, grow, scramble, fail, and
    get back up again! The important thing is to simply never
    give up. The people I mentioned earlier never gave up - and
    they made great things happen!