Unforgettable Advice For Achieving Great Success

This really is unforgettable. Great advice for achieving anything. Enjoy

How To Banish Your Fear Of Success In Just 3 Simple Steps

By T. Harv Eker

Have you ever wondered why you haven’t reached the level of success you want in life?

Many of us are afraid of failing, at least some of the time. But fear of failure is when we allow that fear to stop us doing the things that can move us forward to achieve our goals.

But for a lot of people, it’s not a fear of failure holding them back…

It’s a fear of success.

When you’re afraid of success, you can find yourself getting very close to your goals – and then suddenly falling short. You might not even know why — or what you’re really afraid of.

Recently I had a conversation about this with a student during one of my Tough Love Mentoring calls, and I discussed why this happens… and the three steps you can take to identify, understand, and overcome your fears today.

When you find yourself stumbling on the path to success, there are three elements you need to do if you really want to create change. The first element is Awareness. The second is Understanding. And the third? That’s where you Reprogram or Rewire yourself in order to change your conditioning.

Let’s take a look at each of those 3 steps in more detail… 

Step 1  — Awareness: Get To Know Your Fear

You may tell yourself: “I have a fear of success.”

But what is it about success that’s so scary? What’s the story in your head that’s really holding you back?

Until you identify it, you’ll never be able to move on.

So what do you do? If you have a fear of success or even failure, narrow it down.

Ask yourself: what is the belief at the core of your fear? Write down exactly what your mind is saying. I’m not talking about general terms – I want you to dig deep and be as specific as possible. What are you afraid will happen?

Some of the most common fears I hear are things like this:

• “If I succeed, everyone’s going to want something from me.”
• “I’m going to have to take care of my whole family, and I don’t want that responsibility.” 
• “I’m going to have to pay too much in taxes and I hate taxes.”

Once you nail down what you’re really afraid of, it’s time for the next step…

Step 2 — Understanding: Why Your Fears Aren’t Real

Now there’s one thing that is really important to understand if you want to be successful… 

Everything you’re telling yourself right now is complete freaking bulls**t!

It’s made up by your mind itself. Fear isn’t real.

Now I mentioned earlier that this came up during a recent coaching call. And during that call, one of my students disagreed with me on this. She told me, “Not all fear is bulls**t. I don’t believe that.” But let me explain what I mean when I talk about fear.

What is the definition of fear? It’s the anticipation of pain.

And when you’re anticipating something, is that past, present or future?  It’s not the past or the present. Anticipation is the future. But it isn’t the actual future – it’s the future you’re imagining. And guess what? The future doesn’t exist – yet.

That’s what I mean by bulls**t. It’s only imagination. It’s not real. It only feels real because you made it that way. That’s why it’s so important to overcome the fears holding you back.

You weren’t born with this fear, by the way. When you were half a minute old, you probably weren’t saying, “I’m going to have this fear that I’ve got to take care of everybody now.” That came later, as you grew up and learned to see the world a certain way.

Ultimately, you’re the one making it up.

You’re the one continuing to buy into that story. Whether it’s good or bad, everything you tell yourself is really just a story. We just make the whole thing up as we go along. And the sooner you realize that, the sooner you can let that story go.

“Fear is just the anticipation of pain. Ultimately, you are the one making it up.”

Step 3 — Reprogramming: Finally, Let Go Of Your Fears By Reframing Them

After you’re able to understand that your fear isn’t real — that it’s just the future you’re making up — the final step is looking at the story you’ve told yourself, and reconditioning or reframing it.

And by that, I don’t mean telling yourself “This belief is wrong.” Since fear lives only in your imagination, there’s nothing right or wrong about it.

Instead, I want you to ask yourself a simple question: “Is this belief helping me, or not helping me?” It’s that simple.

The truth is, you can change your beliefs any time you want to.

So every time you have a fear that’s holding you back, I want you to tell yourself, “That’s not helpful. I’m going to believe something else.”

Then, take a moment to reframe it. For example, take the fear I mentioned earlier:  “If I am successful, everyone’s going to want something from me.”

Stop and think: Where did that come from? Was there a person in your life who told you this? In this example, maybe it was your dad – and every day he would say to you, “Don’t bother trying for more because if you do, everyone’s going to want it. Everyone’s going to be a taker.”

That’s his frame. That’s his belief. But it doesn’t have to be yours.

You have the choice to let it go and believe something else. Why would you want to cut yourself off now from being successful just because you might have to worry about a problem in the future?

I always say, “Why don’t we just cross that bridge when we get there? How about you become super successful now, and worry about any problems as they come up?”

Once you stop worrying about what’s going to happen in the future and start living in the moment, you’ll be amazed at how much progress you make in a short time.

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How to Make More Money (Meaningfully)

Provide some value through services and products and your character. Learn more than others and get out there and do it. Figure out how to offer more value than the next person. Fantastic advice from Brendon Burchard.

It's Never Too Late to Become a Millionaire | Jack Canfield

Great advice from Jack Canfield. It is NEVER too late!!

3 Enemies to Our Personal Growth

Assess the doubt and you'll find some faith, then confidence and belief, and then success!! Essential to face these reasons head on.

One Life, No Regrets

Lovely message from GaryVee. Speaks a lot of sense.

5 Ways To Improve Your Luck

By Andy Gibson 

Over the past many years, I have asked more than a thousand men and women this question: What do lucky people do that unlucky people don't do?

Their answers have led me to conclude that five major characteristics distinguish the lucky from the unlucky. Furthermore, I am convinced that most people can improve their luck simply by incorporating these characteristics into their daily life. Here's what you can do:

1. Form Many Friendships. In general, the luckiest people are those who have many friends and acquaintances. O. William Batalla, and executive "headhunter" who brings luck to people in the form of lucrative job offers, has analyzed the chains of circumstance that led him to winning job candidates. The majority of such chains turned out to be those of acquaintanceship.

"Lucky people," says Batalla, "are gregarious. They go out of their way to be friendly. They talk to strangers. They're joiners, meeters, greeters. If they sit next to somebody on an airplane, they start a conversation. The man who sells them their morning newspaper is more than just a face. They know his name and how many kids he has and where he went on his vacation."

Dr. Stephen Barrett, a Pennsylvania psychiatrist, finds that not only do lucky people have the knack of initiating friendly contacts but they also have a certain magnetism that makes them the targets of 'others' friendly approaches. Barrett calls this a "communication field." He believes that facial expressions, body positions, voice tones, choice of words, ways of using the eyes form a communication field clearly visible to other people.

"We usually know instinctively whether somebody likes us or not," he says. "We can meet a total stranger and know in seconds if he or she wants to spend more time with us. Lucky people communicate inviting and comfortable signals."

The bigger your web of friendly contacts, the better your odds of finding some pot-of-gold opportunity. Actor Kirk Douglas, for one example, got his first big break through an earlier contact with a then-unknown actress, Lauren Bacall. She was only one of many people whom the gregarious young Douglas had befriended. But by befriending many, he increased the chances that a helpful Bacall would turn up.

2. Honor Your Hunches. A hunch is a conclusion based on facts that your mind has accurately observed, stored and processed. But they are facts that you don't consciously know because they are stored on some unconscious level of awareness.

Hotel man Conrad Hilton owed his monumental success partly to a finely tuned hunching skill. Once he was trying to buy an old hotel in Chicago whose owner was selling to the highest bidder. All the sealed bids were to be opened on a certain date, and several days before the deadline Hilton submitted a $165,000 bid. He went to bed that night feeling vaguely disturbed and woke with a strong hunch that his bid was not going to win. "It just didn't feel right," he said later. Acting on this strange intuition, he submitted another bid: $180,000. It was the highest bid. The next one down was $179,800.

Hilton's hunch could have welled up from stores of facts in the recesses of his mind. Ever since he bought his first hotel as a young man in Texas, he had been gathering knowledge about the business. 

Moreover, in bidding on that Chicago hotel, he undoubtedly knew much about the likely competing bidders--knew it without being able specifically to articulate it. When his conscious brain assembled known data and produced a bid, his subconscious was rummaging in a huge dark warehouse of other facts and concluded that the bid was too low. He trusted the hunch, and it was magnificently right.

How do you know whether to trust a hunch? Says one successful huncher, a retired stockbroker, "I ask myself: Is it conceivable that I've gathered data on this situation without realizing it? Have I found out all I can about it, done all the work I can? If the answers are yes and if the hunch feels strong, I tend to go with it."

Two warnings: One, never trust hunches about such things as lotteries and slot machines. There is no possibility that such a hunch can well up from some hidden pool of facts inside you, because there 'are' no facts. And two, never confuse a hunch with a hope. A lot of bad hunches are just strong wishes in disguise.

3. Be Bold. Lucky people tend to be bold, and the most timid, with exceptions, the least lucky. Luck probably creates boldness, but boldness also helps create good luck. To act boldly, follow these rules:

• Be ready to zigzag, to jump off in a new direction, when a good opportunity comes your way.
• Know the difference between boldness and rashness. If you bet your life savings on a spectacular venture in which you stand to lose everything that is rash. If you accept an exciting new job opportunity even though you are scared by the thought of stepping into the unknown, that is bold.

J Paul Getty, the oil billionaire and a supremely lucky man, zigzagged in his early years. He went to college thinking he wanted to be a writer. Then he decided he wanted to enter diplomatic service. Out of college, however, he found himself attracted by the Oklahoma oil boom, in which his father was then enriching himself. The oil business was off Getty's main route, but he felt compelled to postpone his diplomatic career for a year and try his hand as an oil wildcatter.

Young Getty was bold, not rash. He never entered a venture whose cash requirements, in the event of a loss, were big enough to cause him serious hardship. His first few ventures were flops. But in 1916 he hit his first major producing well. It founded his fortune--when he was but 23!

Lucky? Of course. But Getty deserves to be lucky. He had done everything right. How did Getty know the well would produce? He didn't, although he had gathered all the facts he could. "There is always an element of chance," he said, "and you must be willing to live with that element. If you insist on certainty, you will paralyze yourself."

4. Limit Your Losses. Lucky people discard bad luck before it becomes worse luck. This sounds like a simple trick, but many people--the essentially unlucky--never seem to master it. There is almost always a time at the start of any souring venture when you can get out with a minor loss or none. But that time may pass very quickly. After it has gone, the glue of circumstance rapidly hardens around your feet. You are stuck, perhaps for life.

Bill Battalla tells a story of avoidable bad luck. A young chemist left a small mining company to take a higher-paying job with a large organization near New York City. HIs wife thought he was making a mistake and would be miserable in an urban environment. His old boss also doubted that the young man would adapt well to life in a big company. "When you want to come back," he said, "just let me know."

Within a few months of moving, the chemist knew his wife and former boss were right. He didn't like life in the metropolis. Moreover, his job and prospects were both quite different from what he had signed for. This would have been the time to cut his losses, but the chemist kept hoping the bad beginning would evolve into a happy ending. By the time he finally determined that his problems weren't temporary, he was stuck.

It's hard to say, "I was wrong." Hard to abandon an investment of money, love, time, effort or commitment. Yet, as the late Gerald M Loeb, one of the brightest and luckiest stock- market speculators in recent times, put it, "Knowing when to sell out and having the guts to do it is an essential technique of successful living."

A Swiss banker and self-made millionaire summed it up this way: "If you are losing a tug-of-war with a tiger, give him the rope before he gets to your arm. You can always buy a new rope."

5. Prepare for Problems. Most lucky people nurture pessimism, guarding it against assaults, exercising it daily to keep it lean and hard. Said J Paul Getty, "When I go into any business deal, my chief thoughts are on how I'm going to save myself if things go wrong."

The uses of pessimism among the lucky can be articulated in terms of Murphy's Law: "If something can go wrong, it will." Never, never assume that you are fortune's darling. Never drop your guard.

A study of accidents among bus drivers in South Africa concluded that among "bad-risk" drivers--those involved in more than a normal share of accidents--an outstanding personality trait turned out to be over-optimism. The bad-risk driver had too much faith in his own skills, in other drivers' good sense and ability, and in luck.

Lucky men and women, notably more than the unlucky, are aware that no life is ever totally under the control of its owner. If you cling to an illusion of control, you won't build defenses against bad luck and, when bad luck does strike, you will be too demoralized to react in useful ways.

People who are lucky are by definition those whom fortune has favored--but one reason they are favored is that they never assume they will be. They know fortune is fickle.

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How to Succeed: 5 Steps for Getting Ahead

Get ahead = Choose your thing - Show up - Be better than everyone else!! Fantastic advice from Brendon Burchard. Enjoy:)

Applying The Law Of Attraction In Everyday Life

By Brian Miller

Most certainly, you have found yourself in the situation where you simply stopped whatever you were doing to make a sort analysis of your life and reached the unfortunate conclusion that you are not who you have always imagined you would be. Instead of just feeling sad about this whole problem, you could just rely on the law of attraction and do something about it. A short law of attraction explanation is the fact that what you think and imagine is what you attract.

Even though your first impulse might be to think that is just something that successful people say to justify reaching their goals and not tell you their secrets, you should know that you are wrong. Most individuals do not even begin to realize just how this law of attraction works and how easy it can change their lives. If you are ready to apply the healthy principles associated with the law of attraction to your own situation, here’s what you need to do.

Start by making an in-depth analysis of your personal and professional life. Are you happy about what is happening in these departments? This is the time to ask yourself the most difficult questions and actually find an honest answer to every single one of them. As soon as you start being positive, you are going to find all sorts of opportunities that you can take advantage of so that you can lead a different life, a better one. No matter how you look at it, if you are not being true with yourself and what is preventing you from achieving your goals, you will not be able to find an effective solution to any of it.

Do not mistake this amazing law of attraction as an excuse that you can use when you do not want to do anything and just decide to think positive. Obviously, that is not enough. Despite the fact that positive thoughts are a powerful weapon, you will still need to put in the work that can help you get to where you want to be. Instead of just feeling sad about this whole problem, you could just rely on the law of attraction and do something about it. If your destination is a life where you have the ideal weight, great friends or more than enough money, the law of attraction will allow you to get there.

It is all a matter of understanding that it all begins with your thoughts. But every single positive thought must be materialized one way or the other. As soon as you start being positive, you are going to find all sorts of opportunities that you can take advantage of so that you can lead a different life, a better one. Cut out all the negativity in your life and toxic people that do not allow you to evolve as an individual. Most individuals do not even begin to realize just how this law of attraction works and how easy it can change their lives. You will soon notice that your overall state of mind is much better than it has ever been.

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How Changing Your Mindset Can Change Your Life

By Liz Brown

If you have been struggling to lose weight, improve a relationship, find a new job or just have more fun, the answer may be in your mindset. Mindset is a concept developed over a decade ago by Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck through her research to understand how people cope with failures. Dweck defines mindset as the view we adopt of ourselves and proved that it can profoundly affect how we live our lives. She found that people generally fall into two categories, those with a fixed mindset and those with a growth mindset. A "fixed" mindset suggests that our intelligence, ability and personality are carved in stone and do not change much over our lifetime. An example of this mindset might be "I am not athletic"" or "I am a math person" which suggest that these traits can't change. The downside to a "fixed" mindset is these kinds of beliefs limit personal growth. By contrast, a "growth" mindset suggests that individuals have basic abilities but can develop and cultivate these and other abilities or intelligence and talents through effort and strategies. This view allows for potential to grow and opens us to greater possibility and success. Adopting a growth mindset can improve all areas of life from personal to professional. Changing from a fixed mindset to a growth can be accomplished through three steps.

Three Steps to Grow Your Mindset

According to Dweck, a growth mindset is based on the belief that we can change throughout our lifetime. While changing our beliefs can be challenging, the growth mindset can be developed in small steps.

1. Awareness of how we think. The first step is to become aware of our behavior. When we tune into our thoughts and start to notice our reaction to challenges, criticism and setbacks, we can notice patterns where we are stuck. Challenges, criticism and setbacks are roadblocks with a fixed mindset. For example, a fixed mindset reaction to a difficult challenge is to question whether we can succeed. If we don't think we can, why would we try only to fail. For instance, the thought "I am not going to volunteer to help my boss with that project because I am not sure I have all the skills. If I fail, I will look like a fool in front of my co-workers" is limiting the possibility for growth. In addition, constructive criticism is taken as an affront and a typical "fixed" mindset response is to become defensive and feel like a failure. "I can't believe she told me my paper needed work. I am a horrible writer." Setbacks can be a reason to give up because they reinforce our belief that we did not have the ability in the first place. "I auditioned and didn't get a part. I knew I wasn't a good singer."
2. Choice. The second step is to take this awareness and begin to see each of these is a choice. While it is comfortable to stay with our habitual responses, growth occurs when we make choices to change our limiting beliefs. A limiting belief keeps us in a safe zone but also keeps us from growth. For example, if my limiting belief is "I can never lose weight because my parents were overweight", why try at all? This choice is to default to limiting thoughts. Or in the setback example of not being selected because of lack of natural ability, the response is a choice to give up because I "failed" and my ability is fixed. The growth choice requires more effort to stretch our abilities or maybe change the strategy.
3. Challenge the belief. The final step is to challenge the belief as it comes up. To challenge these beliefs, it is important to see challenges, criticism or setbacks as opportunity for growth. For instance, in the above example of the audition "although I did not get this part, I learned about the audition process and I will continue to take voice lessons because it is important to me and I enjoy it. I might not get a part the next time I will keep trying new strategies. I can ask for feedback and see how I might improve." The shift from focusing solely on the result to enjoying the process to critical with a growth mindset. In addition, being open to feedback helps us develop much more than seeing it as a failure. Dweck suggests incorporating the phrase "I am not there yet" instead of "I failed" to stay encouraged to keep trying. As Henry Ford said "whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right!"

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How to Learn Faster

Are you willing to commit to learning something on a consistent basis?
Do you know exactly what your mission is? and more importantly, why?

If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It

By Rosemary Sumalinog Gonzales

A dream is a vision of a compelling future. It provides inspiration and motivation for the dreamer. The more critical the dream is, the easier it is to go through the inevitable setbacks in life. Expect to be knocked down but never give up. You can make your dream happens.

Making dreams happen only proves what kind of individual we are. It means we know what we really want in life. Everyone has a dream but it takes a lot of patience and hard work to realize it.

Putting your dreams into reality is a serious business. This is not the type of dream when you are asleep but the kind of dream when you are aware about it. It is the natural human drive to find meaning by expressing unique talents and sharing those talents with others.Truly successful people are big dreamers who find their dreams and inspire others. They make a difference.

Your knowledge is not enough. No matter how intelligent you are, if you do not couple your dream with action, it's nothing. To accomplish your visions, you must take action. Take small steps at a time. Don't be afraid to dream. If you put hard work towards something, anything is possible. It can be achieved through your determination. Every great success begins with a dream.

A dream is what it takes to make things happen. In order to transform our dreams into reality; we must wake up and chase our dreams. We must not dream of acting when the circumstances are ripe or perfect, instead, we must create those circumstances for ourselves because success will never be served to us on a platter. We need to work hard. It is a gradual, continual process. Success cannot be achieved with just one fell swoop. It requires patience and perseverance.

According to some, the people who actually do something are not dreamers; rather, they are men of action, who fill their lives with positive action and result-oriented performance. However, it is necessary to understand that it all begins with a dream. No matter how unachievable a task might seem, what the human mind conceives it achieves.

Dreams are the stepping-stones upon which our successes are laid. More essential than conceiving a dream is to pursue it even in the face of dire adversity. Mere dreaming has not led anyone anywhere but when you couple it with action, it will lead you to what your heart aspires.

Thus, you can make your dreams come true if you wholeheartedly work to achieve them.

Whatever objective we have needs to be clearly charted out and the means to achieve such a dream should be well-defined.

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The Path To Success Is A Very Lonely Road

By Tony Fahkry

Journaling.

Yes, this simple daily habit will make you become a better person, because the simplest habits are ones that produce the greatest results.

It is the compound effect journaling offers that often goes unnoticed.

Journaling has many unexpected benefits, one of which is improved mental and emotional wellbeing.

Many people ruminate on problems that gnaw at them, sometimes for decades.

Brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor suggests that the average lifespan of an emotion to move through the nervous system is one and a half minutes. This releases the burden of clinging to our emotional attachments longer than required.

This daily habit helps you to make peace with toxic emotions and transform them into healthy ones. Otherwise, they remain 'stuck' in your nervous system instead of moving through you.

The simple act of writing in your journal on a daily basis helps you to be mindful of the present moment, instead of being caught up in the past or future.

"All clutter and stress seem to be found on the surface, on the level of thinking and emotions," affirms Peter Francis Dziuban in: Simply Notice: Clear Awareness Is the Key To Happiness, Love and Freedom.

Mindfulness is a way to attain clarity as to what really matters. You become attuned to your emotions instead of allowing them to control you.

I recall listening to the spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle state that anytime you are emotionally agitated for no reason, you are recollecting unresolved memories and creating a Pain body experience.

Similarly, Colette Baron Reid writes in Uncharted: The Journey Through Uncertainty to Infinite Possibility: "Memories are emotions intertwined with thoughts, and those can become lodged not just in your brain but in your body too."

Journaling is the act of making sense of those memories by transferring them onto paper, otherwise they lead to conditions such as T.M.S. (Tension Myositis Syndrome), according to Dr. John Sarno.

Repressed emotions resulting from psychological stress are stored in the body and may inhibit muscle and/or organ function if left untreated.

Writing your thoughts on paper is a form of emotional freedom. There are moments in our lives where we must bite our tongue with family, friends and co-workers for obvious reasons.

We cannot express our feelings, so we stow them away hoping they don't resurface down the road. This is the psychological pain point many people experience later in life.

The key is to allow your emotions to move through you using a method Dr. Daniel Siegel outlines in his book Mindsight. He suggests you name and tame the emotions you experience rather than be overwhelmed by them.

Journaling helps identify the troubling emotions by writing them as "I feel angry" instead of "I am angry." The latter is a limited self-definition since, "I feel angry" implies the ability to acknowledge a feeling, without being overwhelmed by it.

"Just by bringing greater attention to the part of your body where strong emotions or physical pain linger, you are loosening each layer of cellular memory to assist in another moment of healing," affirms Matt Kahn.

I suggest exploring your thoughts on paper as the last thing at night after a complete day. In Zen teaching, meditation is thought to help wipe away the day's stressors by witnessing our thoughts through the eyes of equanimity.

Journaling purges you of mental stressors. It is the process of becoming intimate with your thoughts instead of allowing them to occupy space in your mind.

You become attentive to your mental landscape instead of letting runaway thoughts impose on your freedom.

This simple daily habit will make you become a better person, because you are aware of your thoughts and won't be overcome by them.

Committing your thoughts to paper invites you to calmly witness them with a clear awareness rather than an agitated mind.

Tibetan meditation master Orgyen Chowang explains in Our Pristine Mind: A Practical Guide to Unconditional Happiness: "You must first relax the mind and then observe it with patience and perseverance. It is that simple."

Journaling is the act of coming home to yourself and loving the person whose thoughts appear on the page.

What we see and perceive in our waking life results from the mind adding judgement and commentary, like morning fog.

Writing your thoughts downloads them onto paper and liberates you of the need to process them any more than you need to.

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Why One Is Greater Than Zero

Great message from Gary Vee. You never know who could watch, read or listen something of yours that could lead to something great:)

The New Science of Happiness and Success

By Anthony Hamilton

Would you like to be happier?

Would you like to be more successful?

Whenever I ask people these two questions, as I have done many times over the past 35 years, I find that virtually everyone's answers are the same; a resounding, "Yes, of course! Who wouldn't?"

If I then follow these questions up with another question, such as, "What would it take for you to be happier?" I generally receive a response like, "More money", "More peace of mind", "More time off work", or perhaps a response like, "A better relationship" or better 'job', 'salary' or 'body' etc.

The thought process behind these answers reveals a fundamental pattern which seems to be true of pretty well everyone, namely the idea that for us to be happier, we need something else, specifically more success, either in our finances, in our relationships, in our health or in any other area of our lives. This thought pattern reveals a fundamental aspect of virtually everyone's beliefs about the way life works. Namely, that more success leads to more happiness.

This basic concept, that more success) leads to more happiness seems so self-evident that we seldom question it. Indeed, we never even notice that we are thinking this way. But this attitude is what author Jack Canfield, of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series of books, calls, "living on 'Someday Isle'.

In other words, as Canfield says, we tell ourselves, "Someday I'll have more money." Or "Someday I'll have better health." Or "Someday I'll have the right relationship." Or, "Someday I'll lose that ten pounds." The implication with this line of thinking is the same; the basic belief that "When I get the success I want I will be happy.

But is this line of thinking really true? Does more success really lead to more happiness?

"Not at all." says Shawn Achor, author of the best-selling book, "The Happiness Advantage" (Crown Publishing, New York, 2010).

Trained by some of the pioneers in the new discipline of Positive Psychology, Achor helped design and teach the famed "Happiness" course, for years the most popular course at Harvard. Since then, (according to his on-line biography), he has spoken at or worked with over a third of Fortune 100 companies and his TED talk is one of the most popular of all time, with over 13 million views.

The front flap of his book reads, "Conventional wisdom holds that if we work hard, we will be more successful, and if we are more successful, then we'll be happy. But recent discoveries in the field of positive psychology have shown that this formula is actually backward."

He explains that when we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive at work. This discovery has been borne out by rigorous research in psychology and neuroscience. It has also been proven true in the boardrooms and on the bottom lines of organizations around the globe.

This change in thinking echoes the transformation that followed the reversal of the conventional belief that the sun revolved around the earth. According to Achor, this new discovery that conventional thinking is backward and that it is happiness which leads to success and not the other way round, promises to be as earth shaking and life transforming in its impact.

However, this recent bit of scientific knowledge which is a result of recent brain scanning research, is not the only evidence that our previous ideas about the human condition are wrong that has come to light in the last couple of decades. Just as profound and potentially earth shaking is the recent discovery (also using brain imaging technology) that the structure of our brains, which was long believed to be fixed and unchangeable, is actually plastic and continually changes throughout the course of our lives.

Although some of the new ideas about our brains seem like common sense, others are a little harder to grasp. For example, the proof that when a person learns to play the piano, certain parts of the brain undergo measurable changes, seems, upon reflection, to be quite reasonable. After all, we know that the nerves which move the fingers have connections to specific areas of the brain, so the fact that these areas of the brain would grow through endless repetitive piano exercises, like a person building his biceps by lifting weights, seems eminently reasonable.

But how about feeling happy? Does practicing feeling happy produce changes in the brain as well?

In a word, writes Achor, "Yes".

Furthermore, there seems to be no limit to how far these changes can go. Numerous studies have confirmed many ways we can permanently raise our happiness baseline and adopt a more positive mindset simply by doing certain kinds of thought exercises.

And Achor is not the only author writing about this discovery. According to Sharon Begley, author of "Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain", (Ballantine Books, New York, 2007) the long held scientific dogma that the brain was forever fixed and unchangeable, implied that one's 'happiness set point', which is the level of happiness to which one returned after experiencing a deep tragedy or a great joy was as unalterable as the earth's orbit. However it now appears that our 'happiness set point' can be altered quite easily. And when we re-set it, it remains the new baseline for happiness long into the future.

Here is a key idea which most people simply miss; that an individual's personal inner world of emotions, feelings and self-talk, and her outer world of observations, experiences and conscious reasoning are linked. After all, is not the nervous system responsible for your feelings of happiness or unhappiness, optimism or pessimism, not the same nervous system which is responsible for other cognitive functions as well?

We all have noticed that when we are feeling down, our perceptions of the world are negative too. We not only feel low. We also feel that our goals and desires are less attainable. We feel that opportunities are eluding us. We tell ourselves that life is becoming more difficult. On the other hand, when we are feeling optimistic, we not only feel more positive, we will also see more opportunities for positive results in the world. We not only feel that our dreams and goals are attainable, we can actually see more opportunities in the outer world. How many popular songs have been written on the same theme; that when we are in love, the sun seems to shine a lot more frequently.

Therefor it follows, according to Begley and Achor, that when we re-set out happiness set point, we not only recover from set-backs more quickly and perceive negative results in a more positive light, but we also feel better and more optimistic about the world in general. When our brains change, we begin to actually see more opportunities for success and satisfaction in the external world. What the findings of this new research is showing us, is that when we re-set our inner happiness set point, our outer world undergoes a positive shift too. For all of us who have harbored the desire to change the world, this new information shows us that it might actually be possible. While we might not be able to change someone else's world, we can indeed change our own.

So how do we re-set out happiness set point? It is amazingly easy. All we need to do is to practice FEELING happy for a few minutes a day on a regular basis. They say nothing succeeds like success. And nothing attracts more opportunities for success and happiness than an inner feeling of happiness and well-being.

If you want to reset your own 'happiness set-point, try this simple exercise:

1. On a sheet of paper, write down a small number (five or six is enough) of what I call, "Past Successes". These are simply events from the past which we consider to be positive successes. And here's the thing; they don't need to be huge successes. Simple successes like getting your driver's licence, learning to bowl or baking an amazing chocolate cake are perfect. Here's the key: does remembering this past event make you to FEEL happier and more successful? If the answer is 'yes', write it down on your 'Past Successes List'.
2. Read this list over every day for five minutes. While you do this, actually FEEL the feelings of happiness and success in your body. You might want to do this exercise while listening to a favorite piece of relaxing music. As you read your list, make an effort to really FEEL the feelings in your body. As you think of other past successes (And you will.) add them to your list.
3. Repeat this exercise each day for four to six weeks. Scientific experiments have conclusively shown that over this period of time, actual, physical changes in the brain are measurable.
4. Keep a simple diary of how this exercise is affecting not only your inner world of thoughts and feelings, but also note any observations of successful events in the outer world. Expect your world to shift and it will

Is there any limit to how far one can take this brain training exercise? According to Achor, there doesn't seem to be. As he writes, "The point is, we do not know the limits of human potential. Just as we can't know the limit for how fast a human can run or swim or how high a person can jump, we still don't know the limits of our brain's enormous potential to grow and adapt to changing circumstances. All we know is that this kind of change is possible."

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Why You Need a Daily Affirmation Practice | Jack Canfield

This has to be tried to be believed. It DOES work!!

Everyday Measures You Can Take To Boost Self Confidence

By Michael Cobb

Even the best leaders lack self-esteem at sure times. Boosting self-esteem isn't a static quality; rather, it’s an attitude that takes effort to keep up once the going gets rough. It should be learned, practiced and down a bit like the other talent. However once you master it, you may be modified for the higher.

Here are a unit six effective ways in which to push your own self-esteem.

1. Act the Part.

Your visual communication will instantly demonstrate boosting self-esteem, or it will scream insecurity. Gift yourself in an exceedingly method that says you're able to master or take command of any state of affairs. If you look esteem and act the half you aim to succeed in, you’ll not solely feel up to speed; individuals can have way more confidence in you yet.

Hold your head high, stay up straight, and gently bring your shoulders back to align your spine and appearance directly at the opposite person once interacting. Avoid a limp acknowledgement and maintain sensible eye contact whereas somebody is talking to you.

2. Dress the Half.

When you look higher, you are feeling higher. If you select article of clothing and accessories that fit your needs well, fit your trade and manner, and cause you to feel sensible, this may mechanically increase your vanity. Appear as if the half you wish to play, or in different words, suit up for achievement. Don’t be afraid to let your temperament shine in your accessories. Daring jewelry or a colorful tie will be a center of attention and a decent spoken communication starter.

3. Speak assertively.

The next time you hear your favorite speaker, be conscious of the method he or she delivers a speech. An excellent speaker speaks with confidence, in an exceedingly steady, Sapphic tone. Rather than the ums and ahs that interrupt flow, they use pauses to emphasize ideas.

Adopt associate assertive, however not aggressive, method of speaking that indicates your boosting self-esteem. You may feel your vanity begin to rise. To be taken seriously, avoid high-pitched, nervous chatter or twittering giggles in your speech. Individuals can hear you additional with attention after they see the leader radiate from among you.

4. Think and act absolutely.

Positive energy ends up in positive outcomes, thus set your mind to the dynamic aspect of any state of affairs, avoiding the negative self-talk that may because you to feel less esteem. Smile, laugh and surround yourself with happy, positive individuals. You’ll feel higher and therefore the individuals with whom you're employed can fancy your company.

Keep a feeling journal to prompt yourself of the high points of your day and your accomplishments. You may develop additional peace and confidence after you area unit in an exceedingly grateful state of mind.

5. Take action.

There’s additional to being esteem than simply however you look. You want to act the half. Walk up to a trespasser at a networking event, or settle for a project you’d ordinarily reject. It will eventually help boosting self-esteem and shortly it'll become habit.

Inaction breeds doubt and worry, whereas action breeds confidence and courageousness. As associate exercise, jot your strengths and weaknesses. The general public can tell you to figure on your weaknesses, however use what you have and make the most your strengths insead. Once you set additional energy into your positive traits, your confidence can begin to shine through.

6. Be Ready.

Remember the 5 P’s: Prior planning prevents poor performance. The more ready you’re the boosting self esteem will feel concerning your experience and ability. Preparation can assist you avoid obtaining tripped up by life’s surprising glitches.

Learn everything you'll be able to concerning your trade, your subject material, your goals and what drives you towards success. Before you begin a task, 1st imagine however you wish to feel once you’ve completed it. Don’t attempt to accomplish an excessive amount of quickly. Break complicated tasks up into tiny, bite-size, manageable items.

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Dare to Take Risks

By Rosemarie Sumalinog Gonzales  |   Submitted On May 15, 2017

Risks refer to the negative aspect of that uncertainty - the possibility that something harmful may or may not occur. A risk is present in everything we do. The things that might go wrong are called project risks, and a wise project manager identifies them early at the beginning of the project so that he or she can do something about them.

It could take a lot of time to put together an alternative risk management strategy or take action to deal with the risk, so it's often a better use of your resources to do nothing for small risks. Sometimes the actions will be broadly the same; sometimes you'll have to have some tasks to reduce the chance that the risk happens and some separate tasks to make the impact of the risk smaller if it happens.

But what if the risk has a positive impact? Exploitation is the risk management strategy to use in these situations. However, you decide to approach risk, make sure that you log the action plan in your risk log and keep it up to date with the latest progress towards managing your risks.

Overcoming risks may not be easy, but it's possible when you ask God to battle for you; every complex challenge, there exists a definite solution. If you can dream it, you can make it a reality. You must see challenges as virtues of opportunities for personal development. You will then have the strength to overcome the challenge.

Replace the word can't with a can. Know that you can, believe that you can, and know with ALL of your heart that you will. True success is accepting what you have to offer rather than for what you cannot do. Don't settle for your human capacity. Live up to your God-given potential. When you anticipate adversity, you can then plan for adversity. Adversity only makes us stronger. Every adversity we overcome makes our spirit and soul grow tougher.

Don't run from your weakness, you will only give it strength.Before your reach your destination, you'll find yourself going through the wilderness. While in the wilderness, your faith will be tried and tested. You'll become humble. Your vision for your life will get clearer. You're in training for your purpose. Usually, the first step is the most difficult one to take. All resistances and old habits must be eliminated. Deep within you, there must be a determination to overcome your obstacles.

Don't worry. Walk on. Continue on your journey. Soon, you'll be approaching the mountain. Get ready to climb! What matters about risks is what one does with them.You become limitless when you overcome what holds you back.

All successful people learn to navigate diverse personalities. So don't lose hopes after failure, try other ways and you'll reach there.Don't be a victim of circumstances but be victorious.Everything meaningful encounters resistance, don't get scared of whatever comes your way, just go with the right strategy and plan, there you'll overcome it at last.If the willingness is there, you can graciously fulfill your dream.

A risk is, by nature, scary. It's uncertain and unpredictable. You're heading off into uncharted territory. When it comes to risk-taking, this can result in a life that's flat and lackluster. Life doesn't come with guarantees. But it's better to try and fail rather than not try at all.

Do something about it while you still have the chance. It's not what you did that you regret the most, it's what you didn't do. So, be bold and face the risks in climbing the ladder of success!

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The Most Important Word Ever - Gary Vaynerchuk

How to Embrace an Attitude of 'Hell Yeah' with Everything You Do

By Tony Fahkry  |   Submitted On May 26, 2017

How To Navigate Life

Given the many distractions that compete for our attention these days, it's not surprising people don't devote more time to what truly inspires them.

We have a habit of tuning out anything that is not urgent.

There was a time when a person was only contactable via a phone landline, with no answering machine.

Nowadays, I can reach you through email, text messaging, instant messaging, social media, and dare I say, call you on your mobile device. Yet, this has not improved our lives other than make us more available.

Being more available equates to having less time to focus on your priorities.

As a consequence, we say 'yes' to things that don't inspire us, but provide a sense of satisfaction of having undertaken the task.

What I'm proposing is that you adopt a hell yeah attitude towards tasks instead of, it will do for now.

The idea was first discussed by the American entrepreneur Derek Sivers. He outlined how he prefers to engage in pursuits he is passionate about, instead of those he's obligated to do.

"As we become more mature and enlightened adults, we come to realize that if an opportunity is presented to us and it does not gain a near 100-percent enthusiasm and commitment from us, then the reply must be a 100-percent no," affirms motivational author Brendon Burchard in his book The Motivation Manifesto.

What if you were to adopt a similar approach?

You may avoid doing so because saying 'no' to good enough projects, goals or relationships suffices to keep you motivated for the time being.

When you settle, you compromise your self-worth because you accept less than meaningful conditions. The basis is to move from being Parked to an mindset of hell yeah in everything you do.

Consider author Larry Weidel's perspective in Serial Winner: 5 Actions to Create Your Cycle of Success: "Winners know that if you don't figure out what you want, you'll get whatever life hands you."

Time Is A Precious Commodity

When you say 'no' to requests that are low priorities, you free up time to say 'yes' to areas that serve your highest good.

By embracing a hell yeah attitude, you focus attention on what really matters.

It's vital to explore your full potential because in those moments you experience deep flow states and awaken your greatest ability.

You may undertake meaningless tasks or commit to relationships that don't inspire you because you're fearful more opportunities will not show up later. So, you take what is available now, hoping it will occupy your time until something better comes along.

It's what you devote your time and attention to, that matters.

Time is a precious commodity which many people squander. Guard it with your life and choose opportunities that inspire you, rather than just being task-orientated.

"Position your daily actions so time is working for instead of against you. Because time will either promote you or expose you," writes author Jeff Olson in The Slight Edge: Secret to a Successful Life.

Don't think you can get everything done because it's impossible. You are likely to wash over the activities without fully committing to the task.

The question arises, how will you know whether to undertake a project or say 'no'?

It's as simple as this: if you don't feel a spark of enthusiasm, it's unlikely you'll see it through to completion.

It is my experience, if something is difficult at the start and I'm lacking motivation, the idea will not succeed because I'm not bringing my whole self to it.

If you cannot say hell yeah, it's best say 'no'.

I assure you, adopting this frame of mind will yield success and you needn't buy into the fear more opportunities won't become available. In fact, more quality prospects will emerge since you are careful what you give your attention to.

You should say 'yes' to tasks that excite you, that you are passionate about and to which you're likely to bring your best work.

Manage Your Time

"Pareto points us in a very clear direction: the majority of what you want will come from the minority of what you do. Extraordinary results are disproportionately created by fewer actions than most realize," affirm authors Gary Keller and Jay Papasan in The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results.

There is little room for negotiation and no grey area when you pursue a hell yeah way of life. You commit to the task or relationship or not at all, in which case you walk away.

Similarly, it pays to know which areas you are saying hell yeah to. It may pose a challenge to apply this approach to every facet of life because of competing interests.

For example, your partner may want to visit his/her favourite restaurant and you don't feel the same way. In this scenario, diplomacy prevails to maintain a healthy relationship.

Embracing a hell yeah outlook will change your approach to life, in so far as developing a laser-like focus while managing your time. You concentrate your attention on high value areas that lead to happiness and fulfilment, with a better chance of success.

Authors Gary Keller and Jay Papasan remind us once again to choose what you give your attention to: "To achieve an extraordinary result you must choose what matters most and give it all the time it demands. This requires getting extremely out of balance in relation to all other work issues... "

Given the many events that compete for your attention, it's important to be discerning with your time.

You become inspired by your goals and projects, instead of expecting a situation will improve as you go along - it seldom does.

Larry Weidel reminds us to maintain our enthusiasm or risk it burning out: "When it comes to most of our ideas, our enthusiasm has a shelf life. We won't be inspired to go for it forever. If you can't decide what you're going to do with your energy and drive, it will peter out. Doubt will grow and overwhelm you."

Commit to life with passion and fervour, otherwise you will be pulled along by secondary tasks that are less desirable.

Life is too short and valuable to be pursuing goals that are not consistent with your greater self.

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