Secrets to Developing Emotional Mastery

If you master this skill, you can achieve anything! Great advice from Brendon Burchard:)

How to Achieve Your Dreams (and Keep Going When It's Hard!)

This is SO important, such great advise from Brendon Burchard. It'll always get hard with whatever you are doing, just keep going, keep learning, keep growing.

How to Stop Being Unmotivated and Find Your Why

By T. Harv Eker

A question I frequently get asked by students from around the world that is so simple, yet very powerful is: How do I go from being unmotivated to motivated?

Unmotivated and Unsure? Find Your Purpose

The answer always boils down to just three letters and one word: Why?

Many people are unmotivated because they don’t have a why that resonates with them. They don’t have a REASON for being motivated. In other words, the lack of motivation is a kind of inertia.

The law of momentum states that a body in motion will tend to remain in motion and a body at rest will tend to remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. This means you’ve got to get yourself moving in the direction you want! Furthermore, that’s why you’ve got to have your why. You need to have your reason for why you want to do what you’re thinking of doing.

This can relate to wealth, health, relationships, moving cities, and changing jobs; it could be about anything, but the bottom line is you’ve got to have a why.

Jim Rohn once said, “The bigger the why, the easier the how,” meaning that if we have a good enough reason or a good enough purpose for doing something, the how will come. You’ll get it done, even if it doesn’t make sense right away.

There’s a story I once heard about a slender woman who was driving with her son. Something happened with the tire, and while the son was trying to fix it, the jack fell and it pinned him under the car. He was losing his life, but somehow this woman lifted up the corner of the car for him to get out. How crazy is that?

Scientists have done research on this. It turns out we have the extreme and unique ability to push ourselves in times of need. It’s the why, or our reason, that prompts this ability.

Miracles can happen when you have a big enough why. Why is whatever you want important to you? For example, why is money important to you? Or why is wealth important to you? Why is freedom important to you?

My ‘Why’ 

People ask me this question all the time. They say, “Harv, you went through so much struggle early on in your career. Why didn’t you give up?”

The answer is because I had a bigger why than any struggle that I could entertain or have come over me. My why, although not overly enlightened, was very simple: I needed to prove something to my parents.

I needed to prove that they were wrong when they told me I’d never amount to anything, and that I’d be broke and begging them for money.

Again, my why is not enlightenment, because it stems from fear. However, once I started getting a little bit of a financial security, my why turned into something different.

I wanted to be able to do what I wanted with my time, my energy and my life. I didn’t want to have to be beholden to anyone or anything, and I just wanted to be free. All I wanted was freedom, so that became my why. Then I became fully financially free.

Let me give you one more clue here about your why, because it’s one of the most important things you can ever discover. First, your why should have two sides to it. First is you. Your why should serve you. Second, your why has to be bigger than you. Whether it’s for your community, your country, or the people in your business, your why needs to be big.

If you have those two why’s, one for yourself and one to help others or the world, you’ll be motivated.

Without a why, you’ll be unmotivated. It’s as simple as that.

What is your why? Why do you do what you do? Further, why do you want to be successful? Why do you want freedom? Leave me a comment below, I would love to hear from you!

Source

Think Big - The Power of Ambition

Are you ready to light the fire? This is fantastic advice from Brendon on thinking BIG!

We Are Not Driven, We Are Propelled - How To Achieve Your Goals

By David Samuel

It is very common that we get a goal and have a desire, feeling driven to achieve. Yet we often just drop it and give up. For some people, this is such a common occurrence that their self-esteem deteriorates and they start to feel very discouraged.

This article will explain why we get heated up only to have a quick cool down and never finish the tasks we begin, or achieve our goals.

Desires do not draw us, we are propelled away from pain. The desire to move away from the cause of pain is far more powerful than inspiration can drive us towards something like a nice holiday.

When we have desires and goals, but cannot get motivated, the reason is that the goal is not real. It is what we think we want but not what we really want. Your goal is a distraction, an illusion.

What propels you is what matters.

Very few people are naturally driven.

The rest of us are propelled.

If you want to run your fastest, no matter how well you train for the race, how much you desire to win the gold medal, there is no way you will achieve your truly top speed in any way better than if a man eating tiger is chasing you. That will certainly draw out your absolute maximum and make sure you never give up.

When you move towards something, you are in fact moving away from something else. Missing this fact is why people start but do not finish things. They are moving away from something that is painful rather than towards what they think they want and so the assumed goal is not the real goal.

Many goals and desires are in fact something we think will end a pain or resolve something we fear. We are pushed by ending a pain rather than wanting the goal. This means that we do not really want what we think we want.

Since we are lost in an illusion rather than living in reality, it is totally understandable that you eventually give up on chasing a cloud.

Understanding this, and knowing what is actually propelling you, what your fear and pain really is, will keep you going in the right direction. You will never reach your destination if your road is not clear and you keep looking backwards checking for a phantom that you cannot see.

Why You Give Up

The reason we give up on a goal before we complete it, is that once we have moved far enough away from the cause of pain, it dilutes enough that it cannot propel us any more, so we stop pursuing the goal. Then we think that we gave up and failed.

In fact, we have succeeded in the real goal, that of no longer feeling the pain that we are moving away from.

Find what propels you, what pain you want to end, and focus on the pain more than the goal. You may find a new goal which will be more appropriate to ending your pain and you will have a better chance of success when you know the real reason you want it.

Sometimes, consciously looking at the negative is more powerful than shutting your eyes and mind and ignoring what your subconscious is deeply preoccupied with.

Source

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.

Source

How to Design the Perfect Day

What would be your perfect day? Where would you be, who would you be with, what would you do?

Using Facebook As Your Next Marketing Strategy

By Donald Smithon 

Not all businesses have the resources to avail most mainstream advertising options. Placing an ad on television or radio isn't really something that start-ups and one-person businesses have the luxury of spending funds on. Thankfully, in this social media-driven world, marketing your brand has never been easier. With this comes the widely used and more budget-friendly Facebook marketing strategy.

From big corporations to students with sidelines, there's an option for everyone. More importantly, Facebook doesn't just display your ad, it actively helps you reach your ad's full potential.

Creating Your Page

Creating a page on Facebook is free and one of the most basic steps business owners take when trying to establish an online presence. You simply provide the necessary information in the corresponding spaces. Just upload the necessary photos, and inform people about it so that the page gets likers/followers.

It doesn't end there, however, as the real task is the constant maintenance of your page. By 'maintenance' this includes updating your page's post regularly with the necessary material. It also includes ensuring your page's followers that your page is active.

You have to constantly post relevant material. This is so your page followers will remain interested and open to whatever you have to offer. This allows your page to gain a following. You'd be able to reach your desired audience. You also get to reach those who haven't liked your page, since Facebook tailors their recommended pages to users' interests.

Aside from constant page updates, you also have to be active in responding to messages. Facebook's Messenger application allows easy interaction between page owner and potential customers. It is wise to make use of this since Facebook displays pages' level of activity in responding to messages. This could either encourage or discourage customers to make contact (and henceforth, conduct a transaction) with you.

Once you've got your page all set up, you can also boost your posts' visibility by paying for your posts to get boosted. This will make your posts appear more often on the Facebook timelines of those who could potentially be interested in your product/service making transactions all the more possible.

Facebook Ads

If a page and boosting your posts isn't enough for you, Facebook has other advertising options. With Facebook Ads you can actively choose a certain type of audience to see them. You can choose based on user behavior, demographics, and contact information. Instead of relying on the chance that your page will appear on a user's 'recommended pages' list, you can now be sure that it will.

Creating an advertisement with Facebook Ads also makes creating ads an easier experience. This makes it convenient especially since not everyone understands the intricacies of making advertising material. More importantly, you can be assured that the ad Facebook creates for you is of high quality. Meaning, it's good to look at and displays well on any device.

Facebook's Adverts also provides you with the tools which are Adverts Manager, Power Editor, and Adverts Insights API. These will let you keep track of your ad's performance and of its intended audience. They provide you with up-to-date reports on your ad's impact and what could be done to maximize that impact.

There's also Audience Insights which will provide you with aggregated information regarding those who are already connected to your page, the people in your Custom Audience, and the general population of Facebook. This will help you better understand what people like and are interested in, helping you provide more relevant and more visible posts.

Whether you're one of those start-ups or a member of a big corporation, you can see how Facebook is a wise tool in helping your company boost its presence.

The Facebook marketing strategy shoe might not fit every company's foot, but if you feel that it does for your company and your brand, you'd be glad to know it's easy to maneuver and more importantly, that it goes beyond telling people about your brand, it actually helps you.

Source

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!!

Self Confidence: Learn How To Develop With The Law Of Attraction

By Brian Miller

When you are unhappy, one of the first questions that you need to ask yourself is what your overall opinion of yourself really are you satisfied with the way you live your life or are there certain areas that could use some improvement? For instance, if you do not like the person that is looking back at you whenever you look into the mirror, it is pretty clear that you need to do something about your self confidence. Maybe it is a weight loss issue.

Either way, it all changes if you stop criticizing yourself and everything you do and just take a step back. Look at the big picture and make some difficult decisions. Begin by loving every single inch of the person that you see whenever you look into the mirror. Nobody is perfect and every single one of the people you meet on a daily basis have similar doubts. Some of them allow these doubts to affect their self confidence, some prefer to work through them.

What you need to keep in mind is that you are the only one that has the power to change something. Regardless if we are talking about your view regarding your body image, about extra pounds, about your hair colour or the way you dress, you must learn to embrace it all.The weight loss process takes some time and it should involve smart lifestyle changes. Visualise yourself skinny, wearing those jeans that have never fit you and be ready to put in all the required work. You are just right, even though you are not at your ideal weight. This does not mean that you need to just allow yourself to pack even more extra pounds. Love yourself the way you are, but make changes to become a better version.

The undeniable truth is that weight loss will always help with self confidence, especially if you start getting compliments on a daily basis. The first person that should be making those compliments should be you! Look into the mirror and give yourself a pep talk each day. It does not have to be long or complicated. Look at the big picture and make some difficult decisions. Begin by loving every single inch of the person that you see whenever you look into the mirror. Nobody is perfect and every single one of the people you meet on a daily basis have similar doubts. Just acknowledge every single bit of progress that you see and push yourself a bit further each time. If weight loss is on your mind, opt for the healthiest solution.

Make sure that you remind yourself just how beautiful you are. Think healthy thoughts and do not expect to get rid of pounds in a matter of days. The weight loss process takes some time and it should involve smart lifestyle changes. Visualise yourself skinny, wearing those jeans that have never fit you and be ready to put in all the required work. Find motivation in the positive thoughts that you keep thinking every single time you are faced with making a healthy or an unhealthy eating choice. Your confidence level will definitely improve!

Source

One Life, No Regrets

Lovely message from GaryVee. Speaks a lot of sense.

Forget Excuses - Remember Self Motivation

By Darren Russell

The internet is a wonderful thing and since its introduction to the world it has created an abundance of money making opportunities for anyone looking to make an income from home.

A lot of individuals who have gone on to make substantial incomes from online businesses started with zero or limited knowledge of how to do so.

Today more than ever there are a good number of internet entrepreneurs and businesses offering genuine online business opportunities.

So with all these opportunities available why do only a handful of people succeed while the majority either give up or just move from opportunity to opportunity without ever getting close to success?

The reason most people fail is down to personal development, the need to identify and set goals, then be able to systemically carry them through to conclusion.

Add to this the ability to keep yourself motivated when things don't always go the way you planned and you find a cocktail of characteristics that the majority of us have to work hard to maintain.

Everyday when you wake, you have a very important choice to make...

You have to choose what to do with your time and the choice you make will determine whether by the end of the day you will be closer to where you want, or at the same point you where when you woke up that morning.

Too many people say they want to change their lives for the better, some even set goals and maybe have a small idea of what they need to do, but sadly the choice they make when they wake in the morning is the same one they have been making every day up to that point...

The point is your life will not change unless you take action...

None of your goals will be achieved unless you do something about them...

When I speak to people, I hear all kinds of excuses but the most common one by far is,..

I don't have the time!

I don't have the time... these five little words are by far the favourite excuse for many people to hide behind.

However, when I dig a little deeper and start asking some questions, I find that in the majority of cases a little lifestyle change here and there and a small sacrifice or two can free up the valuable hours you need to start making a difference to your lives.

It may come as no surprise that one of the biggest consumers of our time is television.

Latest stats tell us that the average Brit watches 24 hours of TV a week and the average American 30 hours a week!

24-30 hours A WEEK!

That's almost a full time job, even if you reduced your time watching TV by half that would free up 15 hours a week that could be better spent working on your goals and ambitions.

It's not just TV either plenty of time is wasted away on other activities, things like spending hours at the mall, going to pubs and bars, going to ball games/events, playing video games, reading newspapers/magazines, social media, procrastinating, browsing the internet for nothing in particular the list goes on.

None of the things on this list are vital to our everyday lives yet so many people are unwilling to give them up, even though they say they want to change their lives and their circumstances.

I'm not saying cut everything you enjoy out of your life...

I'm just saying if you really do want to make changes sometimes you have to make short term sacrifices in order to manage your time better and maybe even (for now) stop doing some of the things you would normally do in order to free up the time you need to make long term gains.

So lets assume you have decided to make some changes and you have managed to free up some extra hours during the week.

What do you do next?

After all you have just potentially given something up you really enjoy, something you have been doing for years.

How are you supposed to keep yourself moving forward and not revert back to the comfortable, TV watching procrastinator you were before we decided to make these changes?

Well the one thing you must have if you want to succeed is a daily shot of motivation, this is essential because if you are not motivated then it is very easy to slide back into the rut you have just pulled yourself out of.

It is especially important at the start that you get this daily shot until you build up the belief that what you are doing is working, until you can see everyday that you are getting closer to your goal and until the motivation comes without you having to search for it.

When you get to that point you will have a drive and determination that will be burning so deep inside you that you will not be able to ignore it, it will get to the stage where any obstacle that is put in your way will just be taken in your stride and you will feel like nothing can stop you from achieving what you set out to do.

So how do you get to that point? what do you need to do?

The first thing is have your goals written out in as much detail as possible and read these goals every morning as you wake and every evening before you retire, this will remind you of why you are making these changes to your life and instil some of the motivation you need to keep going.

The second thing is to make a mood board - A mood board is a visual representation of where you want to be in your life and is usually made up of images and text representing your ambitions and goals.

As with your goals make sure you look at this everyday and imagine yourself in as much detail as possible living the life your goals and mood board show.

The final thing is a daily affirmation, this is something you need to do by yourself.

Put aside 10 minutes during the day, turn off your mobile phone, the radio and the TV find yourself a quiet spot in a dimly lit or darkened room, sit down in a comfortable chair and relax.

Next repeat the following to yourself:

"I awake everyday feeling an insatiable drive and determination to succeed, I find it easy to motivate myself and I look forward with excitement to the things I will achieve during the coming day."

Close your eyes and clear your mind of any distracting thoughts, don't try to think of anything just let yourself relax for a minute or two, relax your body and let the tension drain away from your muscles.

It is not easy to do this at first so you may find it easier to concentrate on each individual body part, starting at your toes and working up until your whole body is relaxed.

With practice you will find this comes easier until you can almost do it without thinking.

Next start to count slowly in your head until you reach 20. When you do you should feel totally relaxed, almost trance-like. If any other distracting thoughts should pop into your head as you count, don't worry, clear your mind and start over.

When you are in this relaxed state concentrate on the statement you have just read, don't worry about knowing it all off by heart just repeat the key words to yourself.

Slowly return to your fully conscious state thinking as you do that you are feeling more relaxed more alert and more motivated than you were before.

The subconscious mind is a powerful thing and the whole point of this exercise is to instill these thoughts into your subconscious mind until they are accepted as fact and in doing so will become second nature to you.

You will notice that if you repeat this exercise on a regular daily basis you will start to see the results in no time at all. You will probably find that at first it is hard to get to the right level of deep relaxation but once you do start to master this consistently then the speed with which you achieve your desired effect will increase.

Source

Why This Simple Daily Habit Will Make You Become a Better Person

By Tony Fakhry

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.

Source

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!"

Source

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.

Source

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.

Source

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."

Source