Seven Secrets To Being The Leader Everyone Wants To Follow

In this changing, challenging, and competitive workplace, we can't overestimate the importance of good management. Good managers will consistently motivate you to perform at higher levels of productivity. Bad managers will drive you crazy and eventually out of the organization. Managers with poor skills will frequently produce the following results:

1. Decreased productivity
2. Increased turnover
3. Increased absences
4. Increased human resources mediation situations
5. Increased customer service complaints

The following are seven secrets to being the "perfect" leader everyone wants to work for:

1. Create a Vision
The best leaders not only assign tasks or monitor performance. They plan for the future and motivate others to see the same vision so they can all thrive to accomplish that vision.

Instead of dwelling on limited problems, the perfect leaders look at the big picture. They live the organization's mission and implement, motivate, and dedicate all their efforts to accomplishing the mission.

During hundreds of team building and leadership workshops, I have asked the following simple question:

What is your organization's mission statement?

If there are forty participants in the workshop, thirty-seven will look down at their desk, one participant will make a feeble attempt at reciting what he/she "thinks" is the mission statement, one participant will make a pretty good attempt and recite the first one or two sentences of the mission statement, and finally one student will volunteer to run to the office (or car) to grab a copy of the statement to bring back to the workshop. Out of the thousands of workshop participants I have asked this question, only three knew their mission statement word for word. The amazing part of this is that many of these workshop participants have been with their organization 5-10-20+ years and, they still didn't know their mission statement. So my question is this:

How do you lead your employees to accomplish your organization's mission if you (as a manager) don't know what the mission is?

The perfect leaders live, eat, sleep, and shower with their mission statement. They know exactly what the mission is and understand its importance to the team they lead and to the organization. Most importantly, they communicate the mission statement to their employees at meetings, coachings, feedback sessions, and even corrective actions. Their actions are related to accomplishing the goals of the mission statement and can communicate the vision of the organization.

Action Step – Take the mission statement out of the dark corner in the office. Print the mission statement and its vision on the top of your meeting agenda and recite it at the beginning of the meeting. Then talk about how the employees are helping to realize the goals, values, and vision of the mission.

2. Understand employee needs
As the old saying goes, "You can't please all of the people all of the time." However, the perfect leaders realize that to be effective, they must cater to the needs of most of the team. Good leaders realize that the work environment is not a popularity contest or, as I say, "Leadership is not Pleasership." Perfect leaders treat all employees with respect and are consistent in their actions and words.

At the same time, they recognize the unique needs of their employees and use that knowledge for motivation to achieve a common goal.

3. Communicate concisely and clearly
Poor communication skills are probably the Number #1 reason managers fail. If they can't talk to and connect with their employees, they are not serving the needs of the staff.

What is good communication? The following are some examples:

* Communicate job expectations and standards

* Give ongoing feedback to employees.

* Seek and acknowledge feedback from employees on decisions that effect them (and take the time to listen to them).

* Communicate the mission (see Secret #1) on an ongoing basis.

* Communicate "bad news" in an honest and timely manner.

* Communicate using language that shows a positive expectation.

* Communicate through a combination of methods: person-to-person, e-mail, phone, and meetings.

4. Find common ground
Some managers don't understand they are in the people business and lack the patience to work and develop their team members. I even had a supervisor during a coaching and mentoring workshop make the following statement to me at break:

"If I had known that I had to communicate with my team, I would have never taken the job."

What did this person think? True leaders understand that their employees' success is their success. They comprehend during this journey that some employees will need assistance, coachings, motivation, feedback, and discipline. Good leaders will work to find common ground with each staff member so that everyone wins. Perfect leaders will understand that some employees will need consistent managing, and others will need less managing; some employees need refocusing, while others will be very focused, etc. Perfect leaders recognize the need to find common ground with each person.

5. Take others to a new level
Perfect managers are concerned with their staff's professional advancement and do everything possible to help staff members develop their capabilities. These leaders "see the employees for what they can become, not what they are now." These leaders' actions might range from improving specific aspects of job performance, to delegating special assignments, to developing an action plan for promotions. Perfect leaders must have the ability to assess the strengths and weaknesses of employees and use that to coach for continuous improvement.

Ideally the basis for improvement combines the best interest of the organization and the employee. Many times I am brought into organizations to assist them with this need:

"I have managers retiring, and we have no one to replace them."

These organizations have created a "talent black hole," because they didn't implement a plan to "help others improve" and be ready to step up when needed. Remember, you can always replace a chair, a desk, a computer. But you can't always replace a talented employee if you don't have a plan in place to develop others to take their place when the time comes.

6. Believe in your staff
Recently, I was presenting the concerns of an employee workshop to management of an organization at their staff meeting. One manager looked at the report and questioned me as to whether the employees really mentioned the items in the report. I assured the manager the employees did. To that the manager answered in the meeting, "This must mean we have smart employees." Little did this manager realize that he had a negative attitude toward his employees. Through his subconscious mind, he is showing his employees, through words and actions, that he doesn't believe in his staff.

Perfect leaders believe in the best qualities of their employees. They believe their employees are smart enough to handle tasks and find solutions to challenges if given the correct guidance and opportunity.

This comes with earned trust from past performances and the investment by the leaders to ongoing shared coachings and feedback to give the employees the experience and skills to succeed in the future.

7. Integrity is best
It is important that employees feel they can trust the managers' words and actions. This means honesty, fairness, and consistency when interacting with employees. If employees share in private a confidential and sensitive subject with their managers in the morning, this must not be known throughout the organization that afternoon. Or, if managers promise to give employees an answer by the end of the day and never get back to the employees, the managers' integrity is destroyed.

The best leaders realize that their word is their bond and that actions speak louder than words. Perfect leaders work at being honest, open, and reliable everyday.

Take the time starting today to apply these seven secrets; and you, too, can be a "perfect" leader.


About the Author:

Ed Sykes is a professional speaker, author, and leading expert in the areas of leadership, motivation, stress management, customer service, and team building. You can e-mail him at mailto:esykes@thesykesgrp.com, or call him at (757) 427-7032. Goto his web site, http://www.thesykesgrp.com, and signup for the newsletter, OnPoint.

Fail to Succeed and You Succeed at Failing

Alan Lakein, a world leading expert on personal time management said;

"Time = Life, Therefore, waste your time and waste your life, or master your time and master your life."

And he was right! Time can tick away and before you know it, weeks, months and years can pass without having achieved much of anything. Life will pass you by if you are happy to let it. If, on the other hand, you have set yourself goals and have huge desires then there is no reason you should fail at anything!

Alan Lakein, also said;

"Failing to plan, is planning to fail"

Is he right? I feel planning is important however I do not think it is the most crucial element of success. It is impossible to plan for inspired action and since I am a strong believer that inspired action can come at any time, I don't feel that lack of proper planning will guarantee my failure.

I say;

"Fail to succeed and you succeed at failing"

Success can be anyone's if they have a strong enough desire for it. Being prepared to do anything to achieve your goal is what will propel you into success. If you burn all bridges behind you and put yourself in a position where failure is not an option then and only then will you experience real living!

Man can do anything they can dream of. If you're in a position where you cannot walk away and go back to old habits then you force yourself to look at only one outcome - succeeding. And when you focus on that one outcome, success is guaranteed.

To start you off on a smaller scale, I feel setting yourself small goals and achieving them no matter what will help you to build a strong successful attitude. Here are some examples:

* If you're in Internet Marketing, then setting yourself certain sales goals will help you grow your business further.

* Set a target for your monthly salary and every month up it by an extra $200. In just 1 year you'll be earning an extra $2,400.

* If you're a golfer then set a goal to beat your previous handicap each and every month.

* Maybe you're a song writer ... set yourself a goal of writing at least one song every week.

Healthy competition doesn't hurt you it can only make you stronger and better. It provides a platform for you to better yourself and to become more. By becoming more you are able to give more. And by giving more, you are more.

Become more, today!

About the Author

Gary Evans is a Law of Attraction practitioner, author and owner of the company Good To Feel Good. Gary is dedicated to helping you attract anything you desire through successful application of the Law of Attraction.

Get your free copy of Gary's 7 Proven Steps To Success e-course by visiting:
http://www.7provenstepstosuccess.com

 

Tony Robbins - 10 Lessons I Learned From Anthony Robbins

By Chris Knight

Tony Robbins has been an inspiration for millions. Love him and his philosophy or not, it is undeniable that he has had a positive impact on millions of people. He has sold over 30-million motivational tapes, published three best-selling self-help books, more than 2 million people attended his seminars and another 10,000 (including myself) have attended his mastery university in Hawaii. His core products include Get The Edge - Unlimited Power - Date with Destiny - Mastery University and more.

Here are the top 10 lessons that I learned from Tony Robbins:

1) By altering your body's physiology, you can achieve an immediate change of your emotional state. The mind will follow whatever state your phsyical body is in and not vice-versa.

2) Ask specific questions of yourself (in your self-talk) to direct and control your attention to the various aspects of the human experience. The quality of your life is in direct proportion to the quality of the questions you ask of yourself.

3) Get leverage to create personal change by associating an old behavior with massive pain and the desired new behavior with massive pleasure. Tony is a big believer in the pain/pleasure principles of life and this applies in business as well.

4) When you get stuck, interupt your limiting pattern by doing something totally unexpected.

5) You can condition your behavior by visualizing it over and over again. This is not exactly unique to Tony Robbins, but he does reinforce this message in all of his products.

6) Goal-setting strategy: Know your end outcome; Take massive intelligent action; Have sensory-acuity to notice if you are getting the results you desire and if not; change your approach; and change *until* you get your end outcome.

7) Create a "Compelling future" by vividly imagining your end result to generate enthusiasm and power within yourself. The past does not equal the future. Find beliefs that support your goals and desires.

8) Youth is Power! This is one of Tony's beliefs. Even if you don't have fancy degrees, your youth can still mean power, flexibility and opportunity for your life.

9) Principles of CANI! CANI stands for Constant And Never-ending Improvement. It's a basic tenet of Tony Robbins.

10) NLP can be useful. NLP stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming and there are many NLP undertones in Tony's basic tenets. He went on to morph NLP into his own technology called "NAC" (Neuro Associative Conditioning).

Need inspiration? Surf on over to: http://InspiresYOU.com/

Keep Your Dream Alive

Young children are full of dreams of what they will do, be, see when they grow up. As adults most of us have given up the habit of having big dreams. Or if we do, never following through with them. Why do so many people let their dreams die unlived?

One reason is the negative cynical attitudes of other people. These people are not enemies they are friends, even family members. If our friends are negative towards our dreams or aspirations –our friends can kill our dreams.

A person gets excited about the possibility of a new business opportunity or a new idea. They see the opportunity to make money, do more meaningful work, improve their financial future, rise to a personal challenge, change their lifestyle. They get excited about this stimulating new prospect. But then they tell their neighbour about it over the back fence one evening. The neighbour gets a smirk, a laugh that says, "You can't do that", a foot long list of all the problems and obstacles and fifty reasons why they will never make it and are better off to stay where they are.

The person's enthusiasm disintegrates. They lose all their excitement and self-confidence and begin to think of all the reasons why they can't make it in a work at home business, instead of the reasons they can succeed in their new investment opportunity. They have let the negative attitude of someone else become more powerful than their belief in their dream of financial independence and more time with the family.

Friends can do more damage than a dozen enemies. Remember, the easiest thing to find on earth is someone to tell you all the things you cannot be. Don't listen to them. Often they have the best intentions. They don't want you to be hurt or lose money. Often those that try to steal your dreams are very conservative and have achieved little in their own lives.

It is always the person who has never made $40,000 a year, who knows all the reasons why you can't make $100,000. If you have a dream, give it a chance to happen. Don't let your sister-in-law, the plumber or the person in the next office, rob you of that faith in yourself and your new home based business. It is that belief in your dream that makes it into a reality. Don't let the person who lives on the couch and watches TV every night tell you how futile life is.

Don't take on other people's negative attitudes. Surround yourself with positive people. Read inspiring authors. A few suggestions are Susan Jeffers, Paul Hanna, Anthony Robbins and Jim Rohn. Spend at least half an hour a day nourishing your dream. Believe in yourself and you will make your dreams a reality.

If you have that flame of a dream deep down inside you somewhere, do something about it. And don't let anyone else blow it out. Believe you can, and you will find you can. TRY! You will be surprised at how many good things can happen to you.


About the Author:

Cheryl Haining is a successful home based business operator. To learn how to create an income stream from your home that will replace your job and develop true financial freedom visit: www.keybusinesstips.info For information on nutrition and weight loss visit www.uloseweight.net

 

Get Fit Mentally and Emotionally

Every day you are subjected to an onslaught from the media about the importance of eating healthy foods, and keeping yourself physically fit. How come you never hear anything much about applying similar principles to improve your mental and emotional health.

How many times have you decided to improve your eating habits or to start an exercise regime? You're tired of being the couch potato with a figure to match. How successful have you been? If you are like many other people you start off with a hiss and a roar and really go for it. But before you know it you have lost your motivation and you are back on the couch.

You know that to maintain a healthy body requires a certain amount of physical intelligence. You have an awareness of what you need to do to maintain a healthy body. You know that what you eat can be the difference between maintaining a healthy weight, or being overweight. So how come it's so hard to achieve?

If the same amount of effort was put into encouraging you to increase the strength and flexibility of your thinking, then success in many areas of your life would be just a natural part of your every day existence.

How often do you hear the media advocating that you need to get fit mentally and emotionally? They are more interested in reporting on the results of the failures in society as a result of our lack of mental and emotional intelligence. Reporting on being fit and healthy mentally and physically isn't news worthy. This is what society wants so this is what the media gives us. We are our own worst enemies. We don't want to view, or hear about good news.

Do you recall being educated at school about the power of your mind. I'm not talking about your academic intelligence - your skill at math's, science economics or whatever. I'm talking about your emotional intelligence. The part of you that affects how you think and feel about yourself and others. The part of you that has an affect on your every waking moment. The part of you that will cause you to self sabotage or self improve.

If you really want to get off the couch and increase your wealth and health, or improve your relationships and life in general, then you need to work on your mental and emotional health first. Just by taking the time to improve the way you think will help you to make the transformation to a life you want to live rather than the life you are currently existing in.

Alison Bolger has been studying and teaching self improvement and wealth creation for over 20 years. To learn more visit:http://www.learnwealthysecrets.com

The Success Principle - 3 Keys to Achieve Amazing Success

What's the success principle that will change your life? Many people have been looking for the secrets of success but the reality is that they aren't hidden. Everything you need to know to be successful is at your disposal. After all, some times the hardest things to find are the ones that are right in front of you. Here are 3 keys to help you achieve amazing success and uncover the success principle for you.

1. Face your fears.

Fear is one of, if not the biggest reason, why you may be finding it hard to have the success that you want. If you think about it though, fear is only a thought. Your fear may not be another person's fear. In their mind there is nothing to be afraid of. Stop running from your fear. Overcome the fear in your mind and you will see that there really aren't any monsters at all.

2. Stay consistent.

One of the things that I have seen in people that stop them from having success is a lack of consistency. If you want to have amazing success in your life you will have to learn to stay consistent even when it isn't fun any more. If you are one of those people that are 'on again off again' you will create more problems for yourself then anything else.

3. Learn from your failures.

A major misconception that people have about successful people is that they don't fail as much as 'normal' people do. The truth of the matter is that successful people actually fail more then the average person. The difference is that they don't let failure stop them. They learn from every failure they make and aren't afraid to fail again. They understand the success is forged out of failure.

Is there greatness on the inside of you but you don't know how to achieve it? Jason has just completed his brand new 7 part e-course, 'Find Your Greatness'

Get it free here: Find Your Greatness

Do you want to learn how to create successful habits and goals? Download Jason's new FREE ebook here: Goal Setting

Jason Osborn has dedicated himself to changing thousands of lives by helping people find their greatness and true potential through his Find Your Greatness Newsletter.

 

Goal Setting - Five Key Tips for Handling Deadlines

Why do we need deadlines when we're setting goals? How important are they and what do we need to know about them? Here are five key tips to help you get deadlines into perspective.

Tip #1. Every major goal needs a deadline. Why? Because if you don't know when you need to get to your goal, then how do you know how long to spend on each step? A time plan is just as important as an action plan.

Tip #2. Every step along the way needs its own deadline. If you are breaking your major goals down into chunks, or action steps; and you should be; then each one of those steps needs its own time limit, so that you know exactly how long to spend on it.

Tip #3. Deadlines must be realistic. Goal setters tend to fall into two types; stretchers and plodders. The stretchers are the ones constantly pushing themselves to do better, do more, go faster. Stretchers tend to set very tight deadlines that put them under pressure. This gives them satisfaction because they are always competing against themselves.

Plodders take the slow and steady approach and set long deadlines that they know they can hit. They don't thrive on pressure; they would rather be sure of success.

Whichever type you are all you need to do is make sure that your deadline takes into account your abilities, your available time and all the other things you need to do in your life. Don't aim to write your novel by the end of the week, if you have to spend 12 hours a day looking after your young children. Be realistic.

Tip #4. Be tough on your small deadlines, but more flexible on your big ones. In many ways, hitting the time targets on your individual action steps is more important than hitting the deadline on your major goal. Here's why.

If you are too laid back about getting each action done, you start to get laid back about the whole plan and before you know it, you'll be making excuses, getting distracted and watching your great dream fade into the distance. If you allow every action step to overrun, then the final deadline will be massively extended and might never happen.

Push yourself to meet your short term aims and you'll be amazed at how much more satisfaction, self esteem and extra motivation you'll gain each time you cross off a step along the way.

Tip #5. Be prepared to move the final deadline. If you can be disciplined about the little time goals, then don't worry too much if the major deadline is a little late. It can be tough at the outset to accurately predict how long your big goals will take. You can't foresee every setback or change of plan. Missing a major deadline is not a failure, provided you have consistently taken action since day one and provided you still have your goal in sight.

Keep doing what you're doing. You'll be there real soon and never forget that wherever you are now, you've come a huge distance from where you started.

Hi, my name is Andrew Grant. I hope you enjoyed this article. If you would like to read more great articles on self improvement and making money online, I'd like to invite you to subscribe to my free newsletter, which you'll find at : http://www.money-and-mind.com

Success- It's A Habit

Success- It's A Habit
Copyright 2004 by Shannon Herod

You hit the snooze button three time before you get out of bed and when you finally do its off to the kitchen for your morning cup of coffee. As you sit at the kitchen table with the morning paper in one hand and the coffee in the other you are totally oblivious to the fact that this is what you did yesterday and what you will do tomorrow. It's a habit that you have been practicing for years.

Creatures of habit

We are all creatures of habit. According to http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/english/ha/habit.html a habit is 1.an established custom or 2.a pattern of behavior acquired through frequent repetition. We all have successful habits and destructive habits. The key is to constantly be looking for the destructive habits and filter them out. You can retrain your habits but it takes focus, commitment and a true desire to change. The longer you have possessed a habit the hard it is to retrain and the easier it is to slip back to the habit. Yes it will take work on your part but the rewards far out way the consequences if you do not break the habit. You live almost your entire live through the habits you have formed. With that said would you agree that a successful habit would further you toward your goals and a destructive goal would render you from achieving success?

Finding The Destructive Habits

If you would like to fix a broken down car you would first have to find the problem. The same holds true with your habits. In order to correct your daily habits you first will have to identify your destructive habits. This is not an easy task because you are going to have to criticize your favorite person, YOU! The best way to do this is to sit down and make a list of what you believe are destructive habits. Be honest with yourself or you will only be setting your self up for failure. Next ask the people you are close to give you their opinion on what they believe are your destructive habits. This will hurt your pride a little but people often see what you are blind to within yourself. Now tack that list and prioritize to the destructive habits by placing the most critical on the top and the least on the bottom of the list.

Destruct The Destructive

Retraining a destructive habit into a successful habit must start by defining the successful habit that will replace the destructive habit. Clearly define the benefits of changing and take possession of them because this is what is going to motivate you to stay focused. For example if you drink soda all day and you want to be healthier you would want to replace the soda with water. The benefits would be more energy, a cleaner system and a longer life. Now you need to take action. You do this by controlling your urge to drink soda and consciously replace it with water. Practicing this for a month or more will make drinking water a habit and you will start subconsciously grabbing water instead of a soda.

Success Is A Habit

As you start to slowly reform you life with successful habits you will want to start finding Successful people to start modeling your important habits around. If somebody already made a mistake learn from it. Find out what the most successful people in the field you are pursuing do day to day. What do they read, who do they associate with, how do they exercise, how do they set their goals and model your habits around them. Truly successful people; by that I mean people who are successful in all aspects of life such as work, family, and friends; did not make it to the top by practicing daily habits. Do not try to invent the wheel. Every success is built on a system to follow so why not make it simple and model a system that works. I believe everyone will always have a destructive habit to break. As long as you are searching for and fixing your destructive habits you will be on the road to success. "By systematically improving behavior at a time you can dramatically improve your over all lifestyle."- The Power of Focus


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Shannon Herod Publishes a newsletter for people like You! If you would like to receive free marketing tips, secrets, & techniques plus a free Internet Income Course - $295 Value and Invaluable articles, insider strategies, and information from the planet's highest-earning home business entrepreneurs! Subscribe Free at:
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The Amazing Possibilities In Your Impossible Dream

There was this TV commercial a couple of years back that made me look away every time it came on. It was for some kind of a power saw and the premise was that there was this guy who built furniture for a living.

Somehow he lost his sight in an accident and thought he would have to give up doing what he loved most. But no way. It turns out this saw was so precise and reliable, even a blind man could operate it.

See where this is going? Suddenly they show the blind carpenter running a piece of wood through this super sharp, massive round blade, not even blinking an eye. Oh, it was just too much for me. It made my toes curl.

Still, as bone chilling as the whole scene was, I could see an underlying message beneath the touting of this impressive saw - there are amazing possibilities in our impossible dreams.

The power of self-belief can take us farther than we ever thought we could go. But it seems a law of nature that in order to see our dreams realized, we must meet up with the impossible and learn the secrets to conquering it.

If you're like me, there have been many times you've taken a good look at the course you were on and wondered if you would ever get where you wanted to go. Against my heart's desire, I spent years working as a secretary.

But in spite of the business suits that defined me outwardly as a professional working woman, I always envisioned myself as one who would one day be on stage in sparkly clothing, singing my heart out for my adoring fans.

If you consider my background, my musical aspirations seemed almost an impossibility. I was never one of those naturally gifted singers with perfect pitch. I would sing around the house when I was a kid and those who were in earshot let me know they weren't listening to anything pleasant. To put it bluntly, I couldn't carry a tune in a bucket.

The short version of how this all wound up is that I eventually did become a professional singer and performer. I even spent 10 years teaching others the art of singing and stage performance, which in many ways prepared for the ministry I have today.

A situation that looked impossible on all levels became completely possible because I refused to give up on doing what I was born to do.

"If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, nothing will be impossible for you," Jesus told His followers.

If you haven't achieved your impossible dream, what are the obstacles that have prevented you from doing so? Was there a time you had complete faith you would see your goals realized and then something shook you up and off your path? Will you ever re-connect with the motivation you once had to be happy, fulfilled and prosperous?

The day finally arrived for me when I had to make a choice about where I was headed. I was sad, unhappy, restless and completely dissatisfied with what my life had become.

You might say God came knocking with a huge reminder that I was incredibly far off the road He set me on when I started out. But He was going to do whatever it took to set me straight again. He had already programmed me for success and fulfillment. I needed to believe it in order for my dreams to materialize

As I began to walk away towards my failed past and into the wonderful future that was my birthright, I searched the scriptures for edification and motivation. I was greatly encouraged by Luke 1:37 which says, "For nothing is impossible with God."

These are powerful and life-transforming words. Not only that, they are true words you can rest assured in. Write them down, paste them up where you can see them, think on them every single day until they sink into your spirit and become your personal truths.

Nothing, not even what we label an impossible situation, can stop God. It can't stop you either as long as you are connected to your Creator and tuned in to the dream He planted in your heart even before you were born.

Always remember that in every impossible dream, the amazing possibilities of what you can achieve are endless.


About the Author:

Luanne Hunt is a singer/songwriter and author of "Moving God, Moving Mountains!" Get a FREE subscription to Luanne's monthly newsletter, "Coffee and Donuts - The Ezine for those who hunger and thirst for Christ-centered fellowship." Visit www.luannehunt.com to sign up and also download a FREE copy of her CD "I'm So Happy!"

 

I Resolve To - Do What I Love, Love What I Do!

Do What You Love - Love What You Do! It can be more than a 'motto' if you truly believe in yourself and what you are doing. I've been a goal-oriented person throughout my life and I've always tried to 'do what I love and love what I do'. In junior high school, I decided to pursue a career in journalism. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were my inspiration during the Watergate/Nixon years.

With that goal in mind, I began work on my first major dream as a teenager and succeeded in becoming a television political reporter upon graduating from college with a Degree Journalism and Political Science, and a Masters Degree in Public Affairs Reporting. Thankfully, I had wonderful teachers, mentors, friends, and family members to help me along. To this day, I appreciate their attention, encouragement, and advice more than they know.

Equally important, I learned to create 'plans - including timelines and deadlines' - that took me from start to finish. Those plans were mostly of 'my own making' because strategic thinking and planning is not something that you're taught in school. Much of of my planning was instinctual. I'm an organization nut by nature. But I also grew by educating myself, and by doing creative planning and problem solving 'on the job' throughout my career. If I didn't know how to do something, I found books that would help. Over the years I've read scores of books that have helped me to learn to plan, create, write, achieve, succeed, do. There are so many wonderful authors, ideas, and approaches. Thre is always something new to learn, and so many good teachers! I took classes, asked questions and listened to my mentors and teachers at work, school and in professional organizations.

Plans, however, are not carved in stone. To succeed you have to be flexible, adaptable, and open-minded. Not surprisingly, through the years, my career has taken a variety of challenging twists and turns. It hasn't always been easy, it's certainly been a lot of work, but it's brought enormous joy, reward, and satisfaction to my life. Early in my career I thought I'd always be a political reporter. Life, however produced interesting surprises, and I eventually veered off that track and went directly into politics. That said, the thread that has remained constant throughout my life is my love for writing and communications. After I left reporting, I wrote a really bad novel, and now I'm working on a 'How To Book' about achieving dreams, resolutions and goals (much better than my 'bad novel'!).

I've been an avid 'journaler' both hard-copy and on Internet Blogs for years and years. I manage my life out of spiral notebooks, journals, and calendars. I've learned that writing things down is an important way to chronicle life, and to move dreams forward day by day. I set timelines, deadlines, chart progress, make course corrections when I'm off track - and most importantly, I reward myself for hard won victories. I write things down so I can think things through on paper. I write things down so I can devise a strategy answers the question of 'how, when, where, and why' I can and will achieve my dreams, resolutions and goals. I write things down so I can review my progress and all the daily actions I have taken.

Writing is as important and vital to me, my happiness, and survival, as breathing air. I long ago found my purpose in life. The writing and creative process has taken may forms, brought many surprises, and things haven't always worked out exactly as I thought they would, but it's been a wonderful ride on the both the good days and the not so good days when I did hand to hand combat with obstacles. I do what I love and I love what I do. I have no regrets and I count my blessings each and every day for all that I have and all that I am.

I hope you've also found your 'true love' - those dreams large and small about which you have great passion and interest. Dreams that complete your life, make it interesting and wonderful! Dreams that make you ant to get out of bed and face the day with a smile on your face. If you haven't figured out what you would love to do perhaps its time to consider these questions:

  1. Do you wake up in the morning, looking forward to the things you'll be doing, the challenges you'll be tackling, the people you'll be working with and meeting? Or do you drag through your day, dreading what's to come? What changes, both small and large, could you make that would help you to look forward to your day? What are your dreams? What are the 100 things that you would truly love to do, see, create, achieve, learn, feel, be, have in your lifetime? Pick just one dream and turn it into a one sentence resolution, a promise: I Resolve To ________. Then do your homework, learn all the many things you need to do to achieve your dream, your resolution. Pursue it passionately, patiently one mall step, one small goal at a time, one day at a time until you succeed.
  2. If you're already pursuing your dreams, but aren't feeling satisfied with progress, or the journey, are you keeping a journal that chronicles your ups and downs? Do you sit down, in a quiet place where you can feel relaxed, to do a weekly Check In? Do you review what you've achieved and think through your 'next daily steps', or are you on auto-pilot? Maybe it's time for some fresh brainstorming, some conscious decision-making. Maybe it's time to do more homework. What are the many steps you need to take to make your dream a reality? What do you need to do to take those steps/daily goals into reality?
  3. Do your values match your dreams, resolutions and goals? Have you ever tried to match up your values and beliefs to your dreams, resolutions and goals? Perhaps it's time to consider what you value in life, what you believe in, as compared to your aspiration and goals . . . do they complement each other? If not, how can you reconcile the two?
  4. Do you go it alone? Maybe it's time to find a buddy, friend, or family member who shares your dream and can lend encouragement, and help build energy, enthusiasm and motivation. Take classes, they will help to keep you focused!
None of these questions are easy to ponder or answer. Life isn't easy. But they're all worth considering if, eventually, they will set you on a course to a more productive, rewarding life. Life isn't perfect, but it can be happy and fulfilling if that's your true desire and you're willing to work hard for it -one dream, one resolution, one goal, one step, one day at a time - with passion, patience, persistence, and commitment.

Remember: I Resolve To Achieve My New Year Resolutions, One Resolution, One Day At A Time For One Year. It's your choice. Do it today. Turn your resolution into reality. Make your resolution a permanent Lifetime Resolution, something that's with you for good! Above all, Be A Resolutionista, someone who keeps resolutions and enjoys the journey! Let's Go For It!

Kim Simpson, a former journalist, provides communications, fundraising services and strategic planning, for Members of Congress, non-profit rganizations, corporations, and associations in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area. A self-employed entrepreneur, with more than 25 years of experience, she launched IResolveTo.Com in 2005 in an effort to help others to achieve their New Year Resolutions, Dreams and Goals. Her motto is: I Resolve To Achieve My New Year Resolutions, One Resolution, One Day At A Time For One Year.™ Let's 'Go For It'. Get your daily dose of inspiration at: http://www.iresolveto.com As added incentive, why not make and keep your New Year Resolution by wearing it? Drop by the I Resolve To™ Store at http://www.cafepress.com/iresolveto

This article is Copyright © I Resolve To, Inc. * All Rights Reserved. It can be printed for personal, non-commercial use in achieving New Year Resolutions, Dreams and Goals.

Dare To Dream

By George Chingarande

It does not matter how exalted or lowly your current state in life is, there are only three options available to you every morning. You will remain in the same position or gravitate downwards and sink lower and lower into the abyss or rise higher and higher like a shooting star. Where you end up is never a product of accidents or coincidences. Like the sculptor or painter who is personally and absolutely responsible for his artwork, you too are totally responsible for the outcomes that you get from life.

There are two forces that exert tremendous power on all humans ultimately pulling them like magnets to their destinies. The first of these is the controlling desires or the gripping vices. These are enervating habits and lusts that always inhibit a man's quest for success. Men need not be saints in order to be successful, but it is imperative that they attain some level of self discipline. Uncontrolled habits have been known to bring down even the greatest among men. I will not dwell much on bad habits, but it is important to point out that every habit begins as a thought. The second force is the power of the dominant dream or overriding passion. By this I do not mean an idle wish or a dilute desire but an ardent ambition and a fervent passion that is accompanied by pictures of the desired future state in the mind. Bad habits have a pulling down, gravitational like power while the dominant dream has unstoppable forward thrust.

Regardless of how successful or how checkered with difficulties the past has been, the future need not be like the past. Today does not have to be as dreary as yesterday. If today is filled with shame and drudgery, tomorrow can and should be refreshingly different. The future belongs to the dreamers. A man earning hundred rands a month today can earn a million dollars a year in future. A floor sweeper in the ministry of finance can one day be the minister of finance. A junior journalist today can be tomorrow's media magnet. There is no limit to what you can become. Your circumstances may be less than ideal or totally unfavorable, but they will not remain so if you can conceive of a dream and strive towards it. The future can, and should be dramatically, significantly and enormously different from the past and the present. I would like to take this opportunity to challenge you to dare to dream of a glorious future, and of reaching heights where only champions are found.

A man's world is built upon his vision of the future. A blind man is surely limited by his reach because he depends on his sense of touch to grope his way forward. An ignorant man is undermined by his lack of knowledge, but the achiever is limited by only his vision of the future. All achievements begin as thoughts. The mighty baobab tree begins as a seed, so also all great achievements begin as small dreams.

The great achievers of this world are those that dare to carefully and patiently nurse and develop their dreams. Somewhere in their minds and certainly on paper they have graphic word and pictorial descriptions of the future. They appreciate that it is not a disaster to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is tragic to live with no dream to pursue. The failures entertain idle wishes and vain thoughts and by so doing attract failure, vanity and smallness to their lives.

The greatest enemy of the future is the past, and the greatest enemy of your dream is within and not outside you. Many people unwittingly use the past as the consultant on their future. Their failures and frustrations of the past make them fretful about the future. To their detriment they keep pictures of past hurts on their minds. By constantly revisiting these unhappy moments they develop very low opinions of themselves. Consequently, their dreams are small and their actions are at best timid. Winners do not consult their fears and past hurts and disappointments. They pursue their dreams knowing that everyday brings with it an opportunity to get closer to the attainment of their dreams. They do not frustrate themselves by thinking of the things they failed to accomplish but they excite themselves by dreaming of what they can still accomplish in the future.

It does not matter how old or how successful you are, you can still have a dream Without big dreams we sentence ourselves to the jail of mediocrity. He who cherishes and nourishes a beautiful vision in his heart and pursues it with unrelenting pace and resolve will one day realize it. Dare to dream big dreams and make plans to fulfill them.

 

Walt Disney, the Inspiration to Form a Better Life?

By: Jo Ball 
You, like many others, may have come to this article because you want more from life. In this sense, you and I may be alike because we're searching for greater happiness and a stronger sense of fulfillment.

If you are someone in your thirties or older, and perhaps western, then you, like me, may have read enough adventure stories or seen enough Walt Disney to have been heartened by the stories of ugly guys, like the beast in Beauty and the Beast, winning the beauty, Belle. I don't know about you, but that story gave me hope!

And maybe you relate to the heroics of Robin Hood who stood no nonsense, not even from the baddies in charge while King Richard crusaded. And Robin, in between robbing the rich and dishing it out to the poor, still had time to get his work-life balance right. In between robbing the rich and dishing it out to the poor he still had the time to party with his mates and date the fairest maiden in the land. The old rogue!

Maybe you loved the never-grow-old attitude of Pan, willed Hercules to conquer all and craved the day that you could leave school and set off through the forest of life, whistling and singing as merrily as one of the Seven Dwarfs, as you headed your way to a job that made your heart sing with joy!

And maybe, like me, now you've grown up, you realise that the world is not quite the way you imagined it in your youth: Cinderella has not pulled up outside your home in her pumpkin carriage, nor is Snow White cooking dinner for you when you get home from the office after a day working for a guy who would find himself in steaming hot water if he had a nose like Pinocchio.

Well I don't know about you, but I felt a little disgruntled and let down with the way life turned out after such a romantic, adventurous childhood heavily laden with dreams.

Disgruntled by the time I hit my mid-twenties? More like disconnected: divorce, obesity, financial troubles and abuse had all gone on in my life by then and I suppose in a way I did feel like a couple of the dwarfs – grumpy and sleepy! Maybe your experience is similar, maybe a little different, slightly better or worse, but I'm sure we can empathise with each other and maybe even share a little feeling of disillusionment with life in general.

But this word "disillusionment"… it makes me wonder… It makes me wonder how I came to be disillusioned. Because to come to a place of "disillusionment" must mean I had an "illusion" in the first place. And I guess that this illusion might have been shaped by the wonders of Disney and the hopes of romance and magic in a future and the values set by the society of the time: work hard for a living and marry for life – in other words grow up, be a hero and marry a princess.

But what are your illusions, my new friend? What did you hope to have found in life before you stumbled on my article? Who did you hope to be? Who did you hope to love? And where did it all go wrong?

But I have some other questions for you before you go: what if all that experience has come to you for your greater good? What if you could understand it? What if you could use it? What if you could rise above it? What if you could now become that hero you always dreamed you would be and reconnect with that world of romance, adventure and wonder?

What if everything in your life had a purpose? What if you have a life purpose? What if that life purpose were to set out with an illusion, find the opposite of that illusion – disillusionment – and then rediscover the original illusion so you could ultimately experience the true magic and wonder of life and live happily ever after?

Perhaps all the difficulty is worthwhile. Perhaps all our troubles have true meaning, my friend and perhaps we are now ready to experience the magic this world has to offer. I guess we must also remember that even Walt Disney himself had his challenges: I understand he slept rough in his office because he couldn't afford accommodation and even had no shoes left to wear when he finally got invited to a meeting that changed his life, and all of ours.


What will you do improve in your life?
Novelist and personal development writer, Neil Millar wants you to join his free newsletter at Unstoppable Life, get his free e-book Greater Steps to Happiness and explore the Discover your Life Purpose programme he co-authored. The programme is already helping people discover who they really are and what they want to do with their life. Check it out

www.UnstoppableLife.com/e-programmes.htm
 

Success Maker - Help Others To Be Greater Than You

By Cheryl Clausen

If you want success you will need to be a success maker to get it. You may have the initial idea that makes your success possible, but no matter what your idea you'll need others to reach success yourself. You can't become greater and more successful if you're looking to build your foundation for success on those who have less skills and knowledge than you.

Being a success maker means you aren't afraid to reach out to those who are greater than. As you continue on your journey toward success you'll need to find those who are more knowledgeable than you in certain areas. Yes, you could become an expert in every area you'll need to reach your success; but that is a slow and inefficient way to get there. You'll achieve success much faster and with far less bumps along the way if you get people who are experts in the areas you need to either do some of the work for you, or to act as your guide helping you to avoid the pitfalls you don't even know are there.

Success makers are comfortable in their own skin and aren't afraid to help others to become even greater. As you reach out to experts to get their help and guidance don't be afraid to help them to become even greater from the experience of having worked with you. This is the point where your confidence is really escalating, and you have the opportunity to become a force driving yourself and those around you to success. Please note, I used the word confidence not arrogance. Arrogance can kill your forward progress, and set you up for a very hard and painful fall because when your thoughts become clouded with arrogance your good judgment gets lost.

Success makers realize it's never just about you. Anytime it's just about you, you're ready to fail. Allow the greatness of those around you to help you to go farther faster. This may mean allowing those who've helped you to greatness to move in another direction where they can achieve their own greatness. When it's time for one of your experts to move on wish them well, and continue to provide the support they may now need from you. You can be gracious and supportive because you have confidence that you can continue your forward progress and find another expert to take you even further.

Success makers understand that they can't ever achieve success alone. Your success depends on your ability to provide others with more value than you take. Your success depends on your ability to find others greater than you to help you get to success faster. Your success depends on your ability to help others become greater and more valuable than they were when you first met.

Use this e-coaching tool to develop your path for success - Success Model.

Looking for success? find Success here.

 

Success Take Faith

At the end of the day when you are weary from all of the effort and energy you have expended from working towards accomplishing your goals, but the dream is not yet realized, the one thing that tells you to keep going; to get up tomorrow and keep at it, is your faith.

There will be people who tell you that you not capable of achieving your dream. They will fill you up with lies and tell you are not enough. My friend, you are more than enough. You are worthy, capable and destined to find whatever you are looking for in your life. Too often, this negativity is fired from people who have chosen to give-up.

These are the people who once had a dream but have now settled for something less. These are people who have been gradually worn down by life and their dreams have been reluctantly vanished for their hearts and souls. Those dreams may indeed live somewhere, but they no longer seem attainable. In short, people who tell you can't do something are hopeless themselves. These are the people who have lost their faith.

To have faith is to hold onto one single kernel of hope. When I was in college, my goal was to be a writer, a novelist. I took a lot of composition and literature courses in order to broaden my knowledge and improve my skills. One professor in particular had a tremendous impact on me. Unfortunately, it was not positive.

After submitting a paper, he called me into his office for a critique. In this meeting, he informed me that my writing was sub-par and even inferior to that of my peers. He encouraged me to re-think my future and change my career path. I was devastated and humiliated. I bought into his opinion and gave-up on my dream.

The next 20+ years I swallowed this down and moved on to other things. But deep in my gut there was that one kernel of hope that told me I wasn't doing what I really wanted to do. A few years ago I gained the courage to start again. I was able to reframe the professor's opinion and came to the understanding that it was he, perhaps, who gave up on his writing career and he was only projecting his own sense of disappointment on me.

Now, it's my faith that guides me and gets me up early every morning to post a new article. It's my faith that tells me I'm doing what I should be doing right now even though I'm not quit sure where this is going. But that doesn't matter. My job right now is only to write. The rest will happen on its own. Faith tells me this.

Have faith that you will make a difference in this world. Have faith that this world will be a better place because of your presence. Have faith that you are going to make it!

Alex Blackwell is the author of The Next 45 Years - a website dedicated to sharing and creating happiness, life balance and success for the rest of our lives. To read more inspirational stories and articles, please visit: http://www.thenext45years.blogspot.com

How To Become a Leader of Influence

Dr. John C. Maxwell stated, "The true measure of leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less." I would be remiss if I did not say, John C. Maxwell is my favorite leadership expert and role model.

Having served over 20 years in the United States Air Force (USAF) as a military officer, it is natural for me to continue learning everything I can about leadership. More important than understanding leadership is to learn leadership is influencing, nothing more, nothing less.

If you think you have learned everything there is to learn about leadership, wait until you finish reading this article. The reason why it is important to learn leadership is inlfuencing is because you will position yourself to become a more effective leader professionally and personally.

Before learning why leadership is influencing, it is important to understand what leadership and influence is. Leadership is defined as the capacity to lead, likewise influence is defined as the ability to get people to do something without force or exertion.

The three (3) key points I will cover is:

1.) There are no born leaders.

2) Distinguish the difference between a positional leader and a true leader.

3.) Developing other leaders

First and foremost, leadership expert Walter Bennis states, "The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born, that there is a genetic factor to leadership. This myth asserts that people simply either have charisma or they do not. That is nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born."

Walter Bennis is correct, leaders are developed rather than born. For example, people assume a corporate president or star athlete is a born leader, the fact of the matter these people have developed their leadership skills over the years.

So how do you become a leader of influence? You can become a leader of influence by becoming a lifelong learner. One can develop themselves as a leader by reading about, then modeling other leaders.

Attending seminars, viewing and listening to dvd's and proactively participating in leadership conferences will develop you into a thought leader. Remember this statement, if it is to be, it is up to me when it comes to living out loud as a leader.

In order to be able to distinguish yourself as a leader of influence, it is important to be able to distinguish the difference between a positional leader and a true leader. Why is this important?

Once you can distinguish the difference between a positional leader and a true leader, you will be able to recognize who is leading the people. An example consists of a CEO who has the title (positional), however his sphere of influence is limited to other positional leaders.

On the other hand, the human resources manager is an action officer. In other words, the human resources manager must work with internal and external organizations and the people that can help improve their organization's bottom line. The human resources manager is the true leader because he or she has influence throughout the organization and has the questions and answers the CEO needs to be effective in his position.

The next time you are in a meeting, distinguish between the positional leader and true leader. If you can clearly distinguish between the positional leader and the true leader, you should seek to become a true leader.

Last but certainly not least, the first priority leaders have is developing other leaders. Why?

Leaders who develop other leaders experience an incredible multiplication effect in their organization that can be achieved in no other way, not by increasing resources, reducing costs, increasing profit margins, analyzing systems, or implementing quality managerial systems or doing anything else.

A good example of leaders developing other leaders is Earl Woods, father of Tiger Woods. Earl Woods was a great father, husband, coach, mentor and role model for his son Tiger.

Earl Woods was more concerned about Tiger being a good son and human being more so than him being a great professional golfer. Prior to his death, Earl Woods was a retired military officer who loved the game of golf.

It was not unusual for Earl to take Tiger to play golf at military post and bases. By exposing Tiger to the military, Earl Woods was helping Tiger to understand the commitment soldiers were making to their country.

In July 2007, Tiger hosted his first golf tournament, the AT & T National in Bethesda, Maryland and dedicated the tournament to military personnel and their family. An interviewer asked Tiger why he dedicated the tournament to the military, Tiger responded by saying, "His tournament was a small thank you for the sacrifices our military makes in support of our country. He said if he had not become a professional golfer he would have joined the military."

Developing other leaders is crucial to improving your organization's bottom line, take it from Earl Woods, developing other leaders should be a priority for you.

Become a leader of influence and I guarantee you will lead the organization you work for and maximize your human potential. What are you waiting on, get started today. If you have questions about this article, please contact me, I will be glad to discuss it further.

Paul Lawrence Vann is a motivationall speaker and author of the book, Living on Higher Ground. He leads Fortune 500 companies, associations, government agencies, and eudcational institutions to achieve higher levels of excellence through his leadership and diversity strategies. Hos clients include MasterCard International, United States Air Force Academy, USEPA, National Military Family Association, Toastmasters International, John Hopkins University, and numerous other organizations. http://www.paullawrencevann.com, http://www.livingonhigherground.com, http://pvann.blogspot.com, (800) 476-8976.

 

How Can You Develop and Maintain a Success Mindset?

As you read this article you will discover a simple, yet profound, question that will help you instantly develop and maintain a success mindset.

This question will point your attitude and your actions in the most effective direction so that you will be able to accelerate your success and reach your goals faster than you ever imagined before.

One day I was watching a video by Jim Cathcart, a professional speaker and business author. He was sharing some secrets and principles to help sales people maintain the right attitude.

During his speech, Jim shared a very powerful question that created a true mind shift for me.

This question is...

"How would the person you want to be do the things you are about to do?"

Amazing, right?

That question puts you in a position in the future where you are the ideal person you would like to be, and helps you act from that perspective in your present life.

That simple question activates the power of the "Act as if" principle.

You act as if you have already reached your goals and have become the person you always wanted to be. "Acting as if" will focus your mind and shape your thoughts around your ultimate dream.

Acting as if you've reached your goals will also shape your character in the best and fastest way possible. You will immediately start "modeling" your ideal self, which will help you develop a success mindset and maintain that mindset – and a positive attitude – every moment of your life.

If you are not already acting as if you have succeeded, and using the qualities that are required to reach your goal, you will hinder your chances to succeed.

Thinking about how the person you would like to be would act in a certain situation helps you take the most powerful actions that will get you to where you want to be in less time.

From now on, before taking any action, ask yourself this question…

*** How would the person I want to be do the things I am about to do?

Unleash the power of the "Act as if" principle. Act as if you've reached your goals and you will get there faster than you ever thought possible.

You're only living in this moment – why not act as if you've already realized your dreams?

Live your purpose right NOW, in this moment.

Mohamed Tohami (The Success 'Pharaoh') is the author and creator of "The Life Purpose Discovery System: Your Ultimate Guide To A Meaningful Life". http://www.LifePurposeDiscoverySystem.com

Click Here Only If You Want to Stop Wandering Aimlessly Through Life, Lacking a Real Purpose

 

Daily Weight Loss Motivation

When you are faced with the daily challenge of trying to lose weight, you will need to find ways to stay motivated every day. The factors that keep weight loss motivation high include your specific goals, your ability to envision what you want to achieve, and the degree of success you have in the beginning.

Daily motivation requires a special, concerted effort, and it is not always easy. One great way to keep weight loss motivation high is to find an Internet support group to check in with every day. There are many such chat groups and forums on the web.

Another idea is to keep a daily journal of your progress, struggles and success. You can keep a record of your daily diet or write in your journal about the journey and challenge of losing weight and the emotions connected to it.

Weight loss motivation will stay fresh with something tangible that you can look at to remind you of your goals. For example, you can tape a picture of yourself when you were at a more ideal weight to your refrigerator door. You can buy an outfit in your ideal size and hang it in your closet where you will see it every day. There are many books filled with affirmations and inspiration for dieters. Buy one, and read a bit of it every day.

The motivation to lose weight may not come from the same place every day. If you can develop some strategies for keeping your daily motivation high, you are much more likely to be successful and bounce back quickly if you have any setbacks. Whatever you ultimately see as your motivation for losing weight, you do not have to face the challenge alone.

There are resources and people available for anyone who takes the time to seek them. Make a daily commitment to do at least one thing in support of your goal, and you may soon find that the behaviors that support weight loss have become second nature to you!


About the Author:

Ben Sather is the publisher of http://www.a2-weight-loss.com. You can publish this article if the author's byline is included and all links are hyperlinked.

Seven Steps To A Terrific Life

Introduction

It is very possible for you to have a terrific day every day. To have a terrific day is to choose positive emotions of joy, gladness and peace as your frequent mode of emotional expressions.

Seven steps to a terrific life introduces you to seven simple and practical, yet powerful principles that can bring about positive change in your life as you make application.

We live in a world that is bombarded with all kinds of negative factors that constantly make appeals to our attention. The sad news is, that the majority of individuals are constantly bowing down and idolizing these negative options. The great news is, you can change the way you are thinking about yourself if you are not satisfied with the kind of person you are by changing the way you are thinking about yourself right now.

Here are seven simple, yet powerful steps to help transform the way you are thinking about yourself right now and subsequently have a terrific day every day. Clephane W. "Terrific" Roberts

BE
Exalted
O God
Above the heavens.
May
Your glory be
Seen throughout
The earth!
Yes. Yes. Yes.

STEP 1: Know Yourself
Before leaving home every day, if and when you do, remind your self of who you are. You are a child of God – A child created in the image of Infinite Intelligence. You are an expression of Divine thinking. Before you were conceived and before you breathe one breath of air, you were wrapped and cuddled in Divine Imagination.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made – in spirit, soul and body. You are awesome! You are an individual of purpose and destiny. You are created for a magnificent function in this life. According to world renoun motivator, Zig Ziglar, "You were born for accomplishments; you are engineered for success and you are endowed with seeds of greatness." You are somebody special, gifted and intelligent, powerful, important, unprecedented, inherently wise and awesome. A natural champion. Extraordinary. That's the real you. Encourage no doubt about this reality.

STEP II: Believe In Yourself
To believe in yourself is to have faith in the person you are. To believe in yourself is to live and respect yourself for whom you are. Believing in yourself is to have faith in the fact that you have what it takes to touch the world in a positive way. Believing in yourself ties closely with knowing yourself and believing firmly in the facts about you. Believe firmly that you are extraordinarily the best, not in comparison but by design and nature. Believing that you are the best places you in a position to serve and build up and never exploit and pull down. To believe in yourself is to believe in your special gifts and abilities, your inborn and cultivated attributes. Believing in yourself will bring you to the sound belief and understanding that your unique human performances equal to your inborn attributes, plus your acquired attributes times your attitude, in keeping with the Brian Tracey philosophy in his book, Maximum Achievement.

STEP III: Expect The Best
When you wake up in the morning, think: Today is the best day of my life and the best is coming to me; then speak the same words quietly to yourself several times. Today is the best day of my life and the best is coming to me in currents. When you do this, you create a psychological environment of positive expectancy: and guess what, what you expect is what you are likely to get. You are actually activating a natural mental law – the law of expectation. If you sow thoughts of successful expectations, you are likely to reap a harvest of bountiful prosperity. If you sow thoughts of limited and lacking expectations, you are likely to reap a harvest of parallel limitation and lack. If you expect terrible results, you are likely to get them; if you expect the best, you are likely to get the best. As of today, expect of and for yourself nothing less than the best, and it is likely to manifest in your world – wherever that is.

Step IV: Develop A Positive Mindset
Napoleon Hill and coauthor W. Clement Stone in their Success Classic, "Success through a Positive Mental Attitude" suggests that a positive mental attitude is the foundation to a successful life. Acting with joy and gladness is dependent upon thinking thoughts of joy and gladness. The psychosomatic (mind and body) relationship is very real, relevant and crucial. The way you think affects the way you act and feel and the way you act and feel triggers your thinking. When you get up in the morning and you are not feeling and behaving right, examine your thinking and choose to think right thoughts instead. Your acts will soon match your thoughts. Consider this carefully and understand how important it is for you to develop a positive mindset everyday – how important it is for you to make it a habit of thinking positive, glad thoughts daily.

Your habitual mindset produces a certain kind of feeling, which produces certain kinds of actions, behaviours and performances; these in turn produce certain kinds of results in your life.

Step V: Use Positive Glad Words To Express Yourself
Every language is gifted with words that are positively or negatively charged. It will be of much benefit to you if you avoid the negatively charged words and make it a habit to use positively charged words to express yourself on a regular and daily basis.

Words are seeds which germinate in the mind and create a harvest of emotional edification or emotional destruction or pull-down. I think this is one of the most practical steps I use to have a terrific day every day. Consider this – when someone asks you "How are you?" What is your response? "Fine thanks!" I consider this to be an emotional expression of verbal mediocrity. You have used this expression for years. It is time to replace this with some other highly emotionally charged verbal alternatives. I'll introduce you to seven positive, glad words – one for each day of the week. On Mondays when asked how are you today, try from next Monday to say MARVELOUS! instead of fine. Observe the response of the one who greeted you.
It's Tuesday –How are you?

TERRIFIC ! That's my borrowed word
It's Wednesday – How are you?
WONDERFUL!
It's Thursday – How are you?
TREMENDOUS!
It's Friday – How are you?
FANTASTIC!
It's Saturday – How are you?
SENSATIONAL!
It's Sunday –How are you?
SUPERB!

These are just seven of the many positive words in the English Language - words we can use to express our emotions deliberately.

Promise me this. Borrow a positive, glad word from your Native Language; then use it to express your feelings for one month and see what happens.

Exercise: Choose your word right now. What's it? _____________________. Choose it now. Don't put it off. Unleash your greatness, according to international motivator and best-selling author Mike Litman, by defeating the thief of procrastination today – right now!

Step VI: Surround Yourself With The Positives
Your surroundings - your environment is a powerful factor in determining whether you have a terrific day every day or not. Don't underestimate the power of your atmosphere. Check the following formula to illustrate the power of your atmosphere.

Atmosphere + Attitude  Actions

Explanation:
Your atmosphere is actively triggering your consistent thought patterns which in turn are creating your actions. Your actions in turn are defining your behaviour and daily performances which are producing your daily results. And that's powerful!

From today therefore, be cautiously selective concerning the following atmospheric/environmental factors
(a) the books you read
(b) the magazines you leaf through
(c) the songs you sing and listen to
(d) the television programmes you view
(e) the games you take part in
(f) the places you visit
(g) the things you eat and drink
(h) the persons you hang with
(i) the chat rooms and web sites you visit on line etc.

The ancient sayings still make a lot of sense today. Ponder carefully
"Birds of a feather flock together"
"You lie with dogs you get up with flee"
"If you want to be wise keep company with the wise."
Consider and understand this: To surround yourself by and with successful people is likely to influence positively your success; but to surround yourself with and by failures will definitely influence you to fail. The ball is in your court today. Play it well.

Step VII: Live Each Day As If It Is Your Last
If you know for sure that tomorrow will be your last day, how would you live today? I would live it to the fullest. I would be myself and be my very best.

Yes my friend, to live each day as it is your last day is to be your best. Real living boils down to being your best; and to be your best is to live a principle-centred lifestyle. This is the only kind of life that truly satisfies. Live each day as if it is your last by greeting each day with love in you heart as taught by Og Mandino in his motivational classic – The Greatest Secret In The World.

When you greet each day with love in your heart you live a life of gratitude. You wake up and give thanks in every situation and in everything according to biblical teaching by Paul, one of the greatest biblical philosophers and motivational speakers.

When you greet each day with love in your heart, you live a life of optimism. You focus on the bright and productive side of life. You don't worry about anything. You live with confidence and wonderful expectations.

When you greet each day with love in your heart, you live a life of joy and gladness. You think thoughts of creativity and speak words of life to every creature you meet. You "reach for excellence" and "make a positive difference" in your world in keeping with the aim and motto respectively of Success Concepts International (SCI) – Antigua.

When you greet each day with love in your heart you live a life of thoughtfulness and unselfishness. You think of the well-being of others before you conclude them. You are sensitive to the needs and feelings of your fellow beings. You come to understand that your life is about service - service to God and friendship to mankind.

When you greet each day with love in your heart, you live a life of generosity. You are sharing and caring. You give without an eye of reciprocity from the one to whom you give or with whom you share, but not without an understanding of that law of reciprocity – that when you give you activate a universal principle which flows back to you.

Finally, when you greet each day with love in your heart you live a life committed to intimacy – "a life committed to righteousness, faithfulness, victory and excellence" according to my soon to be published book, 90 Days To Spiritual Intimacy: A Devotional Pattern For The Facilitation of Spiritual and Personal Transformation. On a daily basis, you connect with the Divine – Spirit with spirit- the Infinite with the finite and watch the effects in your body, soul and spirit, relationships and finances transcend estimation.

Yes my friend, adopt these seven steps in your daily walk; then begin to run and eventually soar with excellence. You can have a terrific day everyday if you resolve to have a terrific day every day. It's an attitude and you can choose your attitude which determines your success altitude.

Practise these simple yet profound habits and experience for yourself a terrific life – a life marked by gladness, joy, peace, success and fulfillment.

Thanks for reading and have a terrific day everyday; for everyday above the ground is a T-E-R-R-R-R-R-I-F-I-C DAY!!!

Clephane W. "Terrific" Roberts
718-247-4370
clephro@candw.ag
http://www.sevensteps.ws

C.W. "Terrific" Roberts or Champion Roberts as is popularly and affectionately known, is a proud son of Caribbean soil and a confident child and expression of the Creator and King of the Universe. He is committed to a life of Spiritual intimacy - a life committed to excellence, righteousness, faithfulness, Humility and victory in Jesus.

Roberts has had academic influence from Southern Caribbean University in Trinidad, Atlantic Union College in South Lancaster and University of the West Indies where he completed Teacher Training.

Roberts has touched and influenced literally thousands of lives nationally, regionally and internationally as an educator of twenty five years, through some soul-stirring and life-changing, inspirational and motivational messages via the pulpit, tent meetings, the classroom, radio and television programmes, literature evangelism, youth camps, motivational workshops and seminars.

C.W. Terrific Roberts is the well-loved moderator for the popular children's education programme Spell Bound in Antigua in the Caribbean.

How to Succeed in Whatever Field You Choose

Success is a goal you undeniably want to strive for in life. As with everyone else, you would like a piece of the good life. You would want to rise above your capacities and drive yourself to the best you can possibly reach.

In life, there are so many ways to get to your dreams. You may want to consult Feng Shui experts. You may want to consult astrological charts. You may turn to God. You may turn to creative imagery to get what you want. However you would like to build your personal pillar of success, I believe that there are constants and absolutes. A good, solid foundation is a constant in building any sturdy edifice. Thus, it is essential that there be a strong foundation in the construction of your personal pillar of success.

Integrity, no matter what your religious beliefs are, is the bedrock of all transactions.

Why would you want to deal with things with integrity? Well, forming relationships is a must if you are in pursuit of success; and of course you would like to take good care of these relationships. Integrity builds trust, which is an essential relationship lubricant. One does not need studies to confirm that clients would go back to someone with whom they were able to deal with smoothly and stuck to his end of the deal. The currency of life is "Quid Pro Quo", or "give me as I would give you". So many business relationships have been severed because a party did not meet the end of the deal, or cheated the other of what was his due. As you sever more and more relationships through the lack of integrity, you will encourage the crumbling of your pillar of success.

It helps when you would go through life with a clear conscience and the knowledge that you have given your best to your client, or with whomever you have an interpersonal relationship. The lack of moral and emotional baggage frees you to be more productive, thus allowing you to build your pillar of success faster.

To cultivate integrity, start with the little things. Tell the truth in the most trivial of situations. Catch yourself when you are about to tell a white lie. Be transparent in all your transactions. Give change to your customers to the very last cent. As an adage says, "If you are faithful in little, you will be faithful in much." Such is true in cultivating everything, even integrity.

Quid Pro Quo. That is the currency of human relationships. Take care of your relationships. Fortify it with Integrity. You can never go wrong with being very honest towards everyone.

Matthew Roberts (the author of this article) has set you up with a special gift on his website.

In an exclusive personal interview he uncovered the secret success strategies of multi-millionaire John Di Lemme. For your FREE 18 minute extract of this interview, head on over to http://www.InspirationToAchieve.com

 

Change Your Way of Thinking - It Will Change Your Life!

By Teresa Tackett

Do you allow your internal negativity to inhibit your dreams? You know that you can sabotage your dreams of working at home without even realizing that you are doing it.

You dream of working from your home and earning a huge income. Over time, you search for every e-book, training manual and any other information you can possibly find or purchase to help build yourself a profitable and successful business that allows you to work from your home and earn a great income.

You converse with your sponsor, spend hour upon hour studying your training materials and e-books learning the best ways to promote your business, place some ads occasionally, and try to improve the search engine optimization of your website.

You still wonder, "Why is this not working? What am I not doing, or doing wrong?"

You see thousands of opportunities on the web every day, and hop from one opportunity to the next, thinking one of them must be the magic money-maker. You lose more money, and you are getting desperate.

Your internal negativity is in control, causing you to believe that you cannot succeed in your home business. It is ruining your confidence in yourself, your ability to have a successful business, and as a result, you don't make much money. You are making yourself believe that you cannot be successful.

If you let your negativity take control, others on your team, your sponsor, your downline, can all sense this. You cannot come across as a leader and a success if you don't let go of your negative attitude. If you don't take control of it, it will destroy your dreams and visions of being a successful work at home entrepreneur!

You must have faith and confidence in yourself to be successful at anything in life, whether it is parenting, your job, your talents, etc. If you let your negative inner instincts take over, you will be a failure in whatever you attempt to accomplish.

Try to think about your negative thoughts and actions, and overcome them. Don't let those negative thoughts take over! Be aware of what is going on, and change your way of thinking to "I CAN do this!". You won't believe the difference in all areas of your life, including your success in a work at home business, if you change your way of thinking into positive actions. Believe in yourself, think positive thoughts and others will see it too. This will have a great impact on the success in your life!

Put positive thoughts and energy into your work and your life. You will reap many rewards!

Tess Tackett
Work at Home Entrepreneur - Atkins AR
Entertainment, skin care and gift products, work at home resources
Make Money at Home
http://make-money-at-home.bravehost.com

 

Bigger Thinking Leads To A Bigger Life

"Small" thinking creates more dissatisfaction in life than any other single factor. People, by the nature, want to be successful. The human spirit yearns to attain great things. Unfortunately, the general population settles for less than they are capable of. Thoreau summed it up when he said that most people live a life of quiet desperation. The inner desire for all that life offers is typically in conflict with the outer results being achieved.

What is your true greatness? Determining this begins with thinking much bigger than you are presently conditioned. In spite of what society teaches, you can have it all. People tend to think in terms of surviving rather than thriving. Focus on your survival and that is what you get. Shift your thinking to thriving in each area of your life and it will be instantly take on new meaning.

Are you trying to leap over the Grand Canyon or a small ravine? Both are wrought with challenges that could lead to "failure". So why not go for the gusto? If you do not succeed at a particular action, you received a valuable lesson. The bigger the undertaking, the more valuable the lesson.

Small thinking leads to small results. Choose any area of life and begin to think of bigger results. Immediately things change in a way previously unimagined. Instead of trying to figure ways to earn some extra money, concentrate doubling or tripling your income. Go after that goal with all the vigor you can muster. Also, have terms such as best, highest, and greatest in your regular thought process.

All great achievement is preceded by big thinking. It begins with the thought, followed by the action, and then the result. However, most people cannot begin to implement this mindset because of self-worth issues. Poor self esteem tells us that we are crazy to think about these things. It questions our intelligence, work ethic, and abilities. The conclusion is that we cannot do it so we need to settle for what we can get. Of course, the spirit within us cries out against this but fear wins out in the end.

The conditioning of our mind was influenced by the people around us growing up. Although they loved us dearly, their insecurities and feelings of inferiority were transferred over to us. Undo this be realizing that you are worthy of all the greatness that life has to offer. Think on the grandest scale to create a grand life.

Many have tried to change their lives by changing their actions. While actions are important for success, they will not induce meaningful change. If the mind limits the ability to create a fantastic life, all the action in the world will go to waste. All of our success is first determined by our thinking. The more room that we allow for our imagination to explore, the greater the potential.

Your life will begin to take on new meaning as your thinking expands. Seek out the different areas where you can begin this process today. Believe that you are capable of creating the magical life that so many crave. Remove the self imposed limits to accelerate your growth.

Dennis Harting is the Head Coach at Your Rich Life. He is an acclaimed speaker, trainer, and best-selling author. His books include Your Easiest Million and The Ultimate Procrastination Handbook. His programs and more information can be found at http://www.yourrichlifeinc.com

 

Becoming Rich in Your Own Way

If you really want to become rich, then begin by evaluating your work habits and work environment. That's how most millionaires made their first million. According to Dr. Srully Blotnick, a psychologist and consultant who spent 20 years studying how people became rich, most millionaires didn't make their money in real estate, the stock market, or waiting for their ship to come in.

They made theirs, instead, through their business or profession. They became so good at their job that they made quite a bit of money. Then, and only then, did they turn to real estate and stocks as sites to invest and grow their money. Even then, their basic business continued to produce the bulk of their gains; their investments usually produced only mediocre results by comparison.

There's a monumentally important lesson to be learned from the hundreds of millionaires that Dr. Blotnick studied for 20 years. The lesson is this: If you really want to become rich, invest in yourself first; invest in real estate, stocks, and other ventures later. Dr. Blotnick divided this into two stages:

· The first takes place when you're consumed by a business or profession that you enjoy so much that you would do it for nothing.

· After it pays you enough income, you enter the second stage. This is when you become a bona fide investor. You start thinking of and looking for opportunities to use your surplus income.

To set yourself and your career on track, evaluate yourself by answering these questions about:

<> liking your work:

· How much do I really like my job?

· Does my job bring out the best in me?

· Has it caused me to do more than I ever thought I could do? If you answered any of these questions in the negative, consider a job or career change.

<> determining if your work is right for you:

· How can I tell if I really like my work?

· How do I know if I'm doing my work right?

· How do I know if I'm doing the right kind of work?

The best way to determine that is to apply these test questions:

· What would I do for free?

· Am I enjoying my work so much that time seems to fly by?

· How would I like the work to be done if I were on the receiving end?

· What would I do if I didn't have to support myself, but did indeed want to work?

· What work would I do if my doctor told me that I had only five years more to live?

<> considering my financial rewards:

· Am I contended with my current income?

· Am I in position to influence a change in my income?

· What if the work I enjoy doing doesn't pay very well?

If you're satisfied with the first two, then I say, "Hang in there! You're on your way to becoming rich." People who became rich did so because they persisted. Only a personal involvement with what you enjoy doing will produce the kind of persistence that propels you out of bed in the mornings and makes you willing to work long and hard.

<> investing in yourself:

· Am I developing my skills, talents, and abilities?

· Have I made a plan that will help me to develop them?

· Am I constantly improving my relationship with others?

· Do I ask my co-workers for feedback about my performance?

Investing in yourself means developing both of these aspects: the technical knowledge you need in order to do your work effectively and the human relations skills you need in order to work effectively with others. Mr. Joseph Brooks, CEO at Lord & Taylor, once said, "If you love your work, and do it well, someone will spot that ... Let the quality of your work do it for you."

Conclusion: To become rich, do it your own way. Rely on your own talents, skills, and abilities. Invest them in a business or profession that you enjoy doing very much. Invest in your personal growth and development. Become the very best at what you do at your work even if it pays you little right now. If you really like what you are doing, eventually a fat salary will catch up with your reputation. The bottomline is persistence. Become an expert at relating well with others.

Remember: When you maximize your potential, everyone wins. When you don't, we all lose.

© Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW

PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in ezines, newsletters, and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Although advance permission is not required, please notify us at eagibbs@ureach.com when you use this article.

Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW, Management Consultant and Trainer, conducts seminars, lectures, and writes articles on his theme: ... helping you maximize your potential. He offers management, marketing and parenting resources at http://www.maximizingyourpotential.blogspot.com

 

Saved From Being Hit by the Wooden Beams

By Yen Yen One afternoon in March 2024, a handyman of mine was renovating an upstairs room in my house. While he was carrying a few long...