Lumpuckeroo

Successful people have been studied in depth for more than 100 years. They have been interviewed extensively to determine what it is they do and how they think that enables them to accomplish so much more than the average person.

In this article we’ll discuss one of the most important single factor of long-term success and how you can build it into your personality and your attitude. You learn how to virtually guarantee yourself a great future.

The Harvard Discovery on Success
In 1970, sociologist Dr. Edward Banfield of Harvard University wrote a book entitled The Unheavenly City. He described one of the most profound studies on success and priority setting ever conducted.

Banfield’s goal was to find out how and why some people became financially independent during the course of their working lifetimes. He started off convinced that the answer to this question would be found in factors such as family background, education, intelligence, influential contacts, or some other concrete factor. What he finally discovered was that the major reason for success in life was a particular attitude of mind.

Develop Long Time Perspective
Banfield called this attitude “long time perspective.” He said that men and women who were the most successful in life and the most likely to move up economically were those who took the future into consideration with every decision they made in the present. He found that the longer the period of time a person took into consideration while planning and acting, the more likely it was that he would achieve greatly during his career.

For example, one of the reasons your family doctor is among the most respected people in America is because he or she has invested many years of hard work and study to finally earn the right to practice medicine. After university courses, internship, residency and practical training, a doctor may be more than 30 years old before he or she is capable of earning a good living. But from that point onward, these men and women are some of the most respected and most successful professional people in any society. They had long time perspectives.

Measure the Potential Future Impact
The key to success in setting priorities is having a long time perspective. You can tell how important something is today by measuring its potential future impact on your life.

For example, if you come home from work at night and choose to play with your children or spend time with your spouse, rather than watch TV or read the paper, you have a long time perspective. You know that investing time in the health and happiness of your children and your spouse is a very valuable, high-priority use of time. The potential future impact of quality time with your family is very high.

If you take additional courses in the evening to upgrade your skills and make yourself more valuable to your employer, you’re acting with a long time perspective. Learning something practical and useful can have a long-term effect on your career.

Practice Delayed Gratification
Economists say that the inability to delay gratification-that is, the natural tendency of individuals to spend everything they earn plus a little bit more, and the mind-set of doing what is fun, easy and enjoyable-is the primary cause of economic and personal failure in life. On the other hand, disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the highroad to pride, self-esteem and personal satisfaction.

The long term comes soon enough, and every sacrifice that you make today will be rewarded with compound interest in the great future that lies ahead for you.

Action Exercises:

Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, think long-term. Sit down today and write out a description of your ideal life ten and twenty years into the future. This automatically develops longer-time perspective.

Second, look at everything you do in terms of its long-term potential impact on your life. Do more things that have greater long-term value to you.

Third, develop the habit of delaying gratification in small things, small expenditures, small pleasures, so that you can enjoy greater rewards and greater satisfaction in the future.
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Brian Tracy is one of the world’s leading authorities on personal and business success. His fast-moving talks and seminars are loaded with powerful, proven ideas and strategies that you can apply immediately to get better results in every area. Be sure to visit the Brian Tracy web site.

-What are some keys to success you would like to add to the ideas above?

Motivation Articles, Essays, Tips and Advice

Benjamin Franklin said, “You may delay, but time will not.”

All of us at times are guilty of procrastination. We put things off, and delay the inevitable. The word procrastinate actually means to move something forward to another day.

It reminds me of a story about a WWII veteran. He was looking in his attic one day and saw his old army duffle bag. He opened it up and decided to put on his uniform. The uniform was a little tighter than it once was but he looked in the mirror and remembered the feeling of being a soldier out on the battlefield.

When he reached in his pocket he felt something and he pulled out a claim ticket. It was for a pair of shoes that he dropped off to be fixed years ago. The shoe repair store was still in business, so he decided to go and see, if by chance, they still had his shoes.

The owners Son now ran the store and looked at the claim ticket puzzled. “I’ll go and take a look in the back, but this was a really long time ago.” He told the Army Vet.

After a few minutes the man returned and said, “You won’t believe this but I found your shoes!”

“They will be ready for you on Wednesday.” ?

A mentor of mine is fond of saying, “The word that is synonymous with wealth is urgency.” And for each of us to be more productive, efficient, effective and successful we need to overcome the nasty habit of procrastination.

So why do we procrastinate? There are many reasons:

* A perception that a task is unpleasant or overwhelming
* Fear of the Unknown
* Fear of Change
* Perfectionism
* Fear of Failure
* Disorganization

But regardless of the reason, the outcome is always the same. Deadlines are not met, stresses are raised, guilt sets in and it makes us look bad to others.

Most importantly, we usually procrastinate the things that are most important and make us the most money.

Things like:

* Making Salse Calls
* Preparing For Important Meetings or Presentations
* Having Tough Conversations

We allow the unimportant to get in the way of the important. Instead of making sales calls, we take out the trash and organize our office. When we are supposed to be preparing our presentation, we surf the internet or look at cool power point designs.

Yes, procrastination gets us all at times.

But I believe urgency is synonymous with wealth because wealthy people are productive. They are organized, efficient and willing to do the uncomfortable to create comfort.

So what is the remedy?

Here are a few ideas;

* If we feel overwhelmed, instead of being paralyzed break it down into actionable steps. Make one big project into 10 small projects and get to work.

* If we are afraid of being uncomfortable (making sales calls for example) then set up a reward that motivates you. If I make 10 calls, I get a piece of my favorite cake.

* If you are constantly putting things off and not following through then set up accountability with someone who will call you on it and keep you on track.
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Ty Bennett is the author of The Power of Influence. Described by Peter Vidmar as “How To Win Friends & Influence People for our day.” To learn more or get a copy of The Power of Influence — click here.

-what are some ways you have found helpful in dealing with the challenge of procrastination?

Motivation Articles, Essays, Tips and Advice

When my coaching clients find their purpose in life, they become so enthusiastic about their new discovery.

But the fear of the unknown leaves them in a frozen status.

They are afraid of entering and exploring the new ground, because they think they might get in trouble. They are afraid of losing what they already have by jumping into the unknown.

So, they remain paralyzed.

They know what they should be doing, but they can’t take action because they think there is a risk involved with this big life transition.

The Internal Conflict Between What You Want and What You Already Have

Yes, you will be leaving your well known life and begin to embrace a totally new lifestyle.

But, here’s something that’s worth thinking about:

Aren’t you already in trouble?!

What urged you to search for your true passion?

Weren’t you hungry for a meaning in your life?

Aren’t you already feeling the pain of being lost and wandering aimlessly through life lacking a real purpose?

Are you happy with doing work that has no meaning and wasting your precious time doing something that doesn’t really matter to you?

This Shallow Life Leaves You Already In Trouble!

So, what do you have to lose?

As Steve Jobs says, “You’re already naked, so there is no reason why you don’t follow your heart”

Life is short. So, get out of your fears, do something and make a difference.

In fact, once you start taking action, you’ll figure out what works and what doesn’t, and you will soon gain clarity about what you should be doing to live and connect your passion to a profitable path.

The only way to beat the fear of the unknown is to take the first step. If you’re afraid of getting in trouble, remember that you’re already in a bigger trouble by not following your heart. If you listen to the voice of your fears, you’ll live an empty life. But, if you listen to the voice of your heart, you’ll live a remarkable life.

Take the first step and beat the fear of the unknown. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain.

M. Tohami helps unfulfilled professionals live with passion. He’s the creator of The P.A.S Technique: The world’s easiest way to find your passion and purpose in life. Click to discover how he recovered from a broken self-esteem to become a bestselling author.

PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement| PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement

Listening to the reports about what’s presently going on in the economy I’m reminded of a time, a number of years ago, when we were going through what many people are going through now.

The end of the month was approaching and we were experiencing a cash flow challenge. It was, in all honesty, one of the greatest tests of faith I had experienced in a very long time.

Interestingly enough, I stayed positive throughout, knowing somehow that it would all work out for the best.

During the last week or two of the month my resolve was tested several times.

Using everything I have learned about the law of attraction, and staying focused on what I wanted, I managed to stay “locked on,” to borrow a phase from Lynn Grayborne.

The tricky part and where I believe many people get tripped up, is holding your attention on what you want, while ignoring the “reality” of what is.

Visualizing what you desire while being careful not to notice what has not yet happened.

Let me explain.

When facing challenging times, a drop-off in revenue for example, most people devote a lot of time and energy noticing the lack of business.

This is generally the opposite of what they want. What they want is lots of business.

The law of attraction, a universal law as valid as any other law, like gravity, tells us essentially “we attract of what we focus on.”

The subtlety here is that if we are noticing the lack of revenue, we will attract that. In other words, we will attract more lack of revenue.

The challenge and I believe the real test of ones faith, is to ignore reality and only look at what we want.

We then let go and trust in the Divine Power, that it will appear in the perfect way in the perfect time. The only way it cannot is if we block it by holding our attention, our power as a co-creator, on less than what we want.

During my recent challenge, I knew deep within my being, at the cellular level, that everything would work out. I went about my business taking appropriate actions, holding my attention on what I wanted, being appreciative for everything I already have (counting my blessings) and yes, ignoring reality.

I know that there people who will say I was crazy or foolish and that we have to “be realistic!” There was a time when I might have tried to convince them I was right. Now all I do is smile for I know better.

A few days before the end of the month, in the middle of a phone call with a friend, I went on-line to check my bank balance and see what was happening, to see what checks had cleared and what yet had not cleared. When I looked at the screen I almost feel over, because what I saw there was a very large deposit sitting in my business account.

A small part of me still thought it might be a mistake, but I rejoiced in what could only be described as a miracle. I realized right then and there that all of our positive focus and refusal to accept lack had in fact produced a significant result.

I believe this was a “sign” that our faith was not in vain.

“What so ever you ask for in prayer, believe you have received it and it will be given unto you.” This quotation from the Bible explains it all.

Activty Step

In your journal complete the steps below:

Step 1 – Know what you DON’T want.

Write it down.

Step 2 – Know what you DO want.

Write it down.

Then, here’s the “secret”, spend some time each day feeling the feelings that you will experience when you have what you want. See and feel yourself as you would if you already had your desire.

For example, if what you want is more money, you probably don’t want little pieces of paper with numbers on them. You most likely want some feeling associated with having the money. Maybe it’s joy, freedom, security or some other good feeling.

Focus on this feeling and recreate it in your body. Imagine you already have the money and are feeling the feelings it brings. Experience all of the good feelings that will come with your desires.

Give no attention to the fact that you do not yet have it. Ignore reality during this “Feel good” time. Do this simple exercise for a few minutes each day.

Blessings,
Jim Donovan
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Jim Donovan is the author of the International bestsellers, Handbook To A Happier Life and This Is Your Life, Not A Dress Rehearsal. You can visit his website at JimDonovan.com.

-what are your thoughts on the ideas above? What else would you like to share along these lines that would be helpful to others? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Motivation Articles, Essays, Tips and Advice

It doesn’t matter if the glass is half full or half empty. The only thing that matters is whether it quenches your thirst. In other words, does it work?

There are literally thousands of motivational speakers spouting ridiculous platitudes that do nothing more than make you feel good for the moment and have very little lasting effect. They sound good, but they don’t work. Let me prove it to you. I bet you’ve heard these lines:

“As long as you have a good, positive attitude everything will be all right.” Sorry, but that is a lie. I’ve had a positive attitude my entire life and had plenty of crap happen to me. So get a little negative. Get sick of the way things are so you will take action to change things. Get fed up; realize you deserve better and that you aren’t going to be satisfied with anything less than the best for yourself and your family. Remember: You have to get negative about your life before you can take positive action in your life.

“You can be whatever you want to be, do whatever you want to do and have whatever you want to have.” More lies. You can’t be whatever you want to be or do whatever you want to do. If you are short, fat and ugly, that supermodel thing probably isn’t going to work out for you. You can do what you have the talent for and are willing to dedicate the time and effort into becoming based on your innate potential. You can always do more than you think you can but you can’t do anything. And you certainly can’t have whatever you want. You can have whatever you believe you deserve and whatever you take action toward achieving, utilizing your abilities, your thoughts and your words.

“There are no problems, only opportunities.” This one is not only a lie – it’s just stupid. I have problems. Period. I bet you do too. And I find it insulting when someone tells me otherwise. Sometimes, there is no way to dress up the problem and call it an opportunity. Instead, face the problem. Acknowledge the problem for what it is. Then circle the wagons and tackle the problem head on.

My point? Be careful what you buy into and act upon. When you hear something, make sure it makes good sense, and then try it. If it works, run with it. If it doesn’t work, dump it and run from it.
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Larry Winget is a five-time New York Times/Wall Street Journal bestselling author. He is a member of the International Speaker Hall Of Fame. He has starred in his own television series and appeared in national television commercials. Larry is a regular contributor on many television news shows on the topics of money, personal success, business and parenting. Find out more at www.larrywinget.com

Josh’s Thoughts: what are your thoughts on the ideas above? I often say, “self-improvement is a hands on projects” — meaning that ultimately you have to be the biggest part in the equation. In other words, if something works for someone, but doesn’t for you, don’t assume you’re a failure in some way because it didn’t, and don’t stay stuck, get on with finding a strategy that works for you! And remember… It’s your life, LIVE BIG! … Josh Hinds

Motivation Articles, Essays, Tips and Advice

No more effort or energy is required in order to aim high in life, to demand abundance and prosperity, than is required to accept misery and poverty. The difference between the two lies in your level of awareness.

The information I’m about to share with you is extremely powerful and, in many cases, could set you free from the constraints that keep you from realizing your full potential and release you into the freedom and all of the good you desire. Yet you cannot be free until you know exactly what it is that governs, shapes, and directs your behavior and ultimately, your results. If you’re not careful, your thinking and results can be controlled by your paradigms.

Everything I teach is based on the premise that thoughts are things. Your thoughts create your life. And, for many people, paradigms can be the foundation upon which your thoughts are created.

Paradigms are your mindsets. Your ideas, the little habits that your brain has developed over the years. The “operating system” on which your mental processes run. Your paradigms create the prism through which most people view and make sense of the world around them. Information is presented to your mind in one-way or another. Your mind runs through all of the things it already knows about that piece of information and figures out where it fits in with the bigger picture. Then your mind makes a determination whether the information is good or bad, desirable or undesirable, possible or not — all of which can be influenced by your existing paradigms.

Like most things, paradigms in and of themselves are neutral. If your paradigms are positive, you will have a happy, growth-oriented life, a healthy self-image, and the ability to adapt successfully to changes, upsets, and unforeseen events. Conversely, negative paradigms can keep you stuck in old ways of thinking that can be very limiting. Negative paradigms keep you as imprisoned as does a cell and a set of iron bars. Maybe even more so, since it imprisons you in the place where all true freedom resides: the mind.

It follows, then, that if you want to create change in your life and start getting new and different results–you’ve got to change your paradigms. How do you go about that?

Step One: Write down one thing – that goal, that dream, that challenge that you have not yet resolved in your life. The subconscious mind thrives on detail so describe it to yourself as vividly as you can.

Step Two: Write down every association that you connect to this thing; everything you think about it, good and bad, everything that the thought of it brings to your mind.

One approach I have found extremely effective is to “map” it in much the same way that writers come up with plot concepts.

Draw a circle around the words or sentence you came up with in Step One. Then, in the space around that circle, write down your associations as they come to you, encircling each one and connecting it with a line to the original encircled goal. When you feel like you’ve come up with a substantial number of associations, take a good look at what your mind has shown you. You’re looking at your paradigms.

Step Three: It’s time to address your paradigms and ask “why?” I suggest that you zero in on a few of the most powerful paradigms, the ones that have the biggest negative impact.

Ask yourself, “Why do I think this? Where does it come from? Where did I get such an idea?” Keep on digging until you’ve exhausted every possible scenario.

And finally, now that you know what your paradigm is on any given topic, create an affirmation that will assist you in re-programming your mind, something that is the
opposite of your paradigm.

For example, if your paradigm is you’ll never earn a lot of money, your affirmation might be:

I am so happy and grateful now that money comes to me on a continual basis through multiple sources of income. I am a magnet to money; I now have all that I want.

Write your affirmation on a 3X5 card and repeat it daily, as many times as possible. In time, you’ll begin to notice yourself thinking and acting in a different way. And, just when you think you’ve got it, it will be time to work on another paradigm!

To your success,
Bob Proctor
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If you enjoyed the article you just read from Bob Proctor, you’ll definitely want to take a moment to learn more about his life-changing program Six Minutes to Success! – click here!

-what are your thoughts on the ideas above? What are some things you can do now that will help you to re-frame your thoughts so that you get a more positive outcome?Motivation Articles, Essays, Tips and Advice

When it comes to communication, whether you are speaking to a large audience, selling to an individual, teaching a class or having a conversation with your spouse, I believe that most of us aim at the wrong target.

When you read any book on communication, or if you ask anyone what their goal is for their presentation – they will talk about making it perfect.

They want you to have the right opening, structure the presentation correctly, back up every point, make it engaging, and close in a memorable way. I agree with all of those concepts (in fact I teach them) but I believe we miss the mark if we focus on perfection.

Instead the focus of our communication should be connection. Think about this for a moment. The golden rule of business is that people do business with and refer business to people they know, like and trust. A perfect presentation doesn’t help people know you, like you, or trust you unless you connect.

I have been in thousands of sales situations either one on one or with small groups. I have taught workshops to tens of thousands of people, and I have spoken on stages to audiences as big as 15,000. I don’t think I have ever given a perfect presentation, but my goal is never perfection – it is connection.

So how do you connect? Here are Four Connection Tools:

1.Be Authentic
When we are real with people, they are typically real with us. I am amazed by how many people try and put on a front or play a part when they are speaking or presenting, and we all have internal “phony-detectors” that cause us to turn off from these people. Don’t try to be someone you are not, or what you think you they want. Be confident in who you are, it’s the only way to connect.

2.Be Curious
Connection only comes when you engage the people you are talking to and make them part of the conversation. When you are naturally curious to learn about others and get to know them, it is an endearing quality. Learn to ask great questions that open people up and allow them to be a participant in the conversation, rather than a spectator to your presentation.

3.Really Listen
The skill of listening is something that very few people possess. I know that I am as guilty as the next guy. (just ask my wife) But learning to really listen to others so that they feel understood and validated will create the kind of connection that we are seeking.

4.Tell Stories
People love stories. But more importantly stories evoke emotion in people that creates connection to the message of the story as well as the messenger. (that is you) If you are communicating only dry, boring facts, without any emotional connecter (a story) you will not create connection. Stories are a great tool to bring humor, reality and human connection into any communication.

In all of your communication, don’t miss the mark. The goal is connection, not perfection.
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Ty Bennett is the author of The Power of Influence. Described by Peter Vidmar as “How To Win Friends & Influence People for our day.” To learn more or get a copy of The Power of Influence — click here.

Motivation Articles, Essays, Tips and Advice

I have trained small and large groups, teaching simple skills and difficult skills to intelligent and not so smart people. Those who are intelligent take more notes than those who are not. When I train my employees on how to present or train, some take notes and some do not. I always strongly recommend everyone takes notes whether they are learning something new or learning a new job but they usually take very simple notes and not in-depth notes. I find this behavior concerning and suggest you consider what changes you will make in your note taking.

Have you seen the movie Rain Man? It came out in 1988. It starred Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. It won several Oscars.

It’s about a guy—played by Hoffman—who had a very high-functioning form of autism and could remember and retain an astounding amount of information.

A guy named Kim Peek from Salt Lake City is the actual Rain Man. The movie was based on him. He was able to read books over 1000 pages in length in a few hours and remember every single word. By the end of his life he could verbally repeat or write down—nearly word-for-word—the contents of 12,000 books (some of these were books he had read decades before). If you gave him a date—July 22, 1984, for example—he could tell you what famous people were born on that date, important events that occurred on that date, high and low temperatures in major U.S. and world cities on that date and pretty much anything else you could ever want to know about that specific day. He could do this for any specific date in the last several hundred years. Peek could typically recall this information within about 2 seconds.

Most astounding to the teams of scientists who studied him, Peek could recall every word of presentations or lectures he attended. He was able to write down exactly, word-for-word what the speaker had said several weeks after originally hearing the speech.

Kim Peed was a man who could literally remember everything. He was the real Rain Man. He didn’t need to take notes.

Here’s the problem: you are not the real Rain Man! And yet, you still don’t take notes!

Why Take Notes?

The quick answer is: because you and I are not very smart. We forget, and we forget quickly.

According to a Cornell University analysis we lose information we don’t write down at an astounding rate:

– 20 minutes after a presentation/training/lecture 47% of the information is forgotten

– 1 day after a presentation/training/lecture 62% of the information is forgotten

– 2 days after a presentation/training/lecture 69% of the information is forgotten

– 75 days after a presentation/training/lecture 75% of the information is forgotten

These rates of forgetfulness did not substantially increase or decrease even when a speaker was very good or very poor. In other words you forget the same amount at the same rate, even if the speaker is exceptional. It simply doesn’t matter. You forget if you don’t write something down; no matter how good the speaker is. You lose your ability to give feedback and learn.

Note-Taking and Recall

Some say: “Well, I won’t actually review the notes so I shouldn’t take notes.”

First of all, that’s pretty short-sighted and utterly false. You should review your notes if you really want to learn. (Around 30 minutes after taking them for maximum retention).

Second, that’s not the point. Studies show that just the act of writing notes—the actual writing itself—promotes information retention. Even if you never look at the notes again in your life, even if you burned them or flushed them down a toilet immediately after writing them; you would still remember more because you wrote them down.

After an extensive study, a group of psychology professors at Whittenberg College determined that, “The actual taking of notes facilitates learning. Doing something during a lecture means the hearer is actively engaged in those activities that are essential to effective learning.”

Then this: taking notes “stimulates recall.”

Another study, this time by the University of California-Berkeley agreed and found that taking notes ‘immeasurably’ improves retention and the learning experience.

Another study (this is the last one, I promise) at Colgate University found that the best students take the most notes. Students that received an ‘A’ took far more notes than students that received a ‘D’ in the same class. These statistics held true regardless of the material/class subject/professor or IQ of the student. Simply put: taking notes=success.

What You Can Never Regain By Not Taking Notes

Even if you have access to the original PowerPoint or the training outline, you will still miss out on important information if you don’t take notes. Thoughts you had will slip through the cracks of your consciousness if you don’t write them down.

“Regarding writing down thoughts and ideas: often we never recover what came to us once and went unused.” – Neal Maxwell

Thomas Edison is probably the most famous note-taker in the histort of the world. His notebook contains 5 million pages of personal notes. Everything he heard and learned was written down immediately. How many of his 1093 patented inventions would have never become reality if he wouldn’t have been such a insistent note-taker?

How to Take Notes

Hopefully, by now you see the utter and complete importance of note-taking. Your brain simply can’t remember stuff without writing it down. It’s not your fault, it’s just not possible. (Unless you are the Rain Man; which you are not). So, how do you take great notes?

1. Start writing. This is really the key. If you write something you will be doing better than most people.

2. Write in bullet points or numbered lists. This helps your brain organize the information and will assist you later when you review your notes.

3. Write legibly. It will be difficult to review your notes if you can’t read them.

4. Review your notes within 20 minutes. This is very, very important. If you want to maximize your retention quickly scan your notes immediately after you write them.

5. Review the notes at least once a week for the next several weeks. Study your notes frequently. If it was important enough to write down, it’s important enough to read again.

Are You Taking Notes Yet?

So, while you will never be able to repeat every word in 12,000 books, or memorize everything you’ve ever heard in every presentation; you now know the secret to successful learning: note-taking.

Write this down: it is impossible to effectively listen without taking notes. It is impossible to offer feedback without taking notes.

We would do well if we heeded the counsel of the first century Greek Philospher Plutarch: “Learn how to listen and you will prosper.”

Variety is the spice of life. But if you – like me – view the world as an exciting buffet of opportunities to learn, try and create new things, you know that variety can be dangerous.

The problem is that it’s easy to get distracted from the goals and commitments you’ve already made. Rather than seeing things through to completion, you abandon the goals and projects you’ve already started to chase after whatever new thing has just caught your eye.

I call this “shiny object” syndrome, and it has derailed the success of many people who could be very successful – if they only could maintain their focus long enough to complete a goal.

If you frequently abandon commitments in favor of new interests and projects, here are five techniques I’ve found helpful in evaluating new opportunities.

* Postpone Your Decision. It’s easy to get swept away with excitement when you stumble across something new and exciting. Try waiting a few days before making a final decision about whether or not to commit to the new opportunity. During this self-imposed cooling-off period, you’ll probably find that your enthusiasm wanes and you’re better able to evaluate whether this new opportunity will move you closer to your goal.

During your waiting period, make a list of all things you could possibly do with your time, including both the new opportunity and your existing commitments. Ask yourself where you would schedule time for the new activity or project. You’ll quickly see that there’s not enough time for everything you want to achieve, and you’ll see exactly what you would have to give up to squeeze the new opportunity into your schedule.

* Use Review Board. I’m constantly coming up with new projects that I want to do, as well as fielding exciting joint venture proposals from colleagues. Rather than making the executive decision to take on a new project and then delegating the work to my staff, I now seek my team’s buy-in first. If they say that taking on a potential new project would require sacrificing a more important existing goal, the idea is put on hold.

If you don’t have a staff or co-workers, create your own review board. Ask people you trust and who understand your goals for input before you commit to taking on any new projects or work.

* Inner Board of Advisors. Create an imaginary group of mentors that you can turn to for advice. Simply create some quiet time, close your eyes and ask your board for advice about the opportunity you are considering. Your inner board of advisors can include anyone – alive or deceased, famous or not, people you’ve met and people you’ve only read about. Mine includes author and activist Helen Keller, as well as President John F. Kennedy. Although both are deceased, I get very distinct guidance when I ask for their help and open up to their wisdom.

* Forced Choice Technique. Write a list of all of the things you want to do. Then prioritize your list using a forced comparison. With this technique, you compare items one at a time, from the top of the list to the bottom. Start by asking which you would rather do – item 1 or item 2. Take the winner and compare it to the next item on the list. Then compare that winner – let’s say it is item 3 – and compare it to item 4. Once you’ve done a forced comparison with all items on the list, you’ll have identified your number-one priority.

Now go back to remaining items on your list, and start the forced comparison process again with the first two items. Repeat the entire process until you have prioritized the entire list of activities. This will help you gauge the importance of the new activity or project you are considering in comparison with everything else you have already committed to.

Finally, ask yourself the following two questions: “What is the most effective use of my time now?” and “What’s the most important thing to do today?” This will help you maintain focus in a sea of choices.

* Muscle Testing. Your body never lies. So when in doubt about your enthusiasm for the fun opportunity you just discovered, simply ask your body for its input. The easiest way is to use the standing body lean. With this process, you stand and ask your body to show you a “yes.”

After a few seconds, your body will start to lean forward or backward. Then ask your body to show you a “no,” at which point it should lean the opposite direction. Once you’ve calibrated yourself, ask your body whether you should act on the opportunity. The answer you receive in the form of a simple lean will reveal what truly is in your best interest.

Maintaining the focus you need to complete goals can be difficult when the world offers so many exciting things to learn, do and experience. Use these 5 tips to ensure that any new opportunities you choose to pursue will support, rather than detract, from your existing commitments. By resisting the adrenaline rush that comes from starting something new, you’ll find it easier to complete more of what you start – delivering a sense of accomplishment that’s hard to beat.
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Jack Canfield, is the founder and co-creator of book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you’re ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your success tips from Jack Canfield now at www.JackCanfield.com

Josh Hinds Commentary: in the work I do coaching and speaking to entrepreneurs and small business owners this a common occurrence — that is, people moving from one great idea to the next, before really giving themselves an opportunity to succeed. Sadly, I see folks do it all the time!

My friend and colleague, Mike Litman calls this the idea avalanche — and he’s right on in this description because folks literally get buried in the “next great idea”, and end up neglecting taking ample action on anything. Use the ideas in the above article to ensure you don’t fall victim to “the next great idea” getting in the way of the success you deserve!

Motivation Articles, Essays, Tips and Advice

Friend, good intentions, no matter how well meaning they may be are simply not enough to get you to a place of achievement. Certainly, it is a good first step, but make no mistake, it is just that… a first step in the right direction.

Most people have very little problem with this part of the achievement process. They take the time to ponder and carefully think out what it is they want to achieve. Some even go as far as to layout a clear understanding of why they truly want to accomplish whatever it is that they have deemed to be a worthwhile undertaking. Sadly, however, far fewer move past this phase into what’s truly the critical component — real honest to goodness action.

Action is the “doing” — think of a beautiful boat just sitting in the harbor. Its got an incredibly powerful motor with more then enough horsepower to get it swiftly from point A to point B — but without the necessary fuel to actually power the boat, it is as useless as a bump on a log. And no matter how pretty the boat may be (or well-intentioned its designer may have been) without the fuel (i.e. in our example, the action component) the boat isn’t going to do much of anything except sit their and take up space.

The same is true of your goals and dreams. You are a magnificent person, blessed with untold talents and gifts, but unless you choose to put your blessings to work in your life you very likely are not going to benefit from them. Consider that a diamond un-mined sitting underground is still very much a diamond, but until it is brought out of the ground, polished, and crafted into some form of desirable form it’s very much like our example above of the powerful boat which lacks the necessary fuel to “bring it to life.”

Understanding this, the key then is to bridge the gap from your initial intention to do a thing and the time in which it takes you to actually get started and involved in the particular activity.

In short, your ability to develop actual action steps which will move you closer to your larger goal, and equally essential, your willingness to get started will be the differentiating factor as to whether or not you get to experience the sense of fulfilment for having achieved your given endeavor.

No matter what you want to accomplish there is always an action plan which can be mapped out to get you to where you want to go. That’s not to say it will be obvious, nor that at this point in your journey that you necessarily have the skill sets or experience to make them all work exactly right — still, take heart because you can learn, borrow, or acquire whatever skills or resources you might need.

The point to keep in mind is that life has an incredible way of filling in the details for the person who shows the fortitude to set out in pursuit of their dreams. You will most certainly find this to be the case as you become a person of action as well.

As you begin each day take a moment to reconnect with what you want to achieve. Literally envision in your mind what it will feel like to accomplish what you are working towards. See yourself, to the best of your ability doing whatever it is that is required of you. Play out in your minds eye how it will feel to achieve what you are working so hard to accomplish.

After you have played your “mental movie” of the what, why, and how you wish to achieve, take a moment to bring things together by looking over and if necessary writing/rewriting out the concrete actions steps you need to be taking in order to get to the place you want to go.

Used in tandem the components mentioned above are very effective. Leave out either one and you may find that you’re spinning your wheels unnecessarily. Leave out the action component and you’re unlikely to see any real progress at all. Everyday make a point to lead with action, fully knowing that as you do so you are moving ever closer towards your intended destination.

In summary, commit to being a person who takes action on what you deem to be truly worthwhile and you will find that, more often then not, you will meet with success along your life’s journey.

It’s your life, LIVE BIG!
Josh Hinds

Josh Hinds