Reaping the Fruit of Success in Life

One way to become more successful in your life is to look at the lifestyle and habits of people who are already clearly reaping the fruits of success in life and who are living and growing towards their unique God given potential. What are some common characteristics and behaviour that we can apply to our own lives to help us on our own personal journey towards excellence? I have spent many years studying this area, and have discovered that there are common principles and habits which successful people follow and see positive results many times over. Even people who have achieved great personal growth in their lives know the importance of having established life habits and daily motivation towards their personal goals. Here are three important keys to unleash personal growth.

Three Steps towards Success to Grow You Beyond Better.

1. Believe in yourself

"You weren't an accident. You weren't mass produced. You aren't an assembly-line product. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on the Earth by the Master Craftsman"
Max Lucado Best Selling Author

We all are born with a unique personality and gifts and abilities. There is a purpose for each person's life and each person possesses all that is needed to fulfill that purpose. For more information on discovering your uniqueness and purpose check out
http://www.livingbeyondbetter.com/discovering-your-uniqueness.html

Believing in oneself is a choice we all have to make, sometimes many times a day. It is an attitude that we develop over time. It can be called self confidence, self esteem or self worth. We cannot base our belief about our worth on our past, our circumstances, or other people's opinions. We choose to believe that we are of value, have something to offer to others and the world, and that our
life has purpose. The strength of what we allow our mind to think and believe is incredibly powerful. The power of what we believe will become a self fulfilling prophecy over our life. It can be the difference between mediocrity and the results we desire. Successful people acknowledge their limitations, but keep on choosing to believe that anything is possible. It is not what life hands you that is important, but how you respond to it that makes the difference.

2. Become a life long learner

Successful people keep themselves up to date with information, which allows them to be on the cutting edge in their field of influence. As human knowledge has vastly increased, and is more accessible than ever before, so a commitment to life long learning is an important key to success. Making this a daily habit builds a solid foundation for positive growth. Many successful people are committed to reading at least one book every week. If you give one hour a day towards something you would really like to learn or accomplish in your life, it adds up to 365 hours a year!
Significant changes can happen in that amount of time. Using throw away time usefully is also a good exercise, for example listening to an audio tape or CD when traveling in the car. To grow beyond better, purposely schedule time into your day which you can use to devote to improving your mind, and increasing your skills. Consciously make the decision to assimilate and apply what you learn.

3. Keep good company.

Surround yourself with positive people. It is so easy to be affected by negativity, and drawn into that way of thinking. Make a point to mix with people who encourage you, inspire you and believe in you. Keep company with people who energize you towards reaching your goals. You tend to become like the people you spend the most time with.

Jim Rohn, a successful author and self-made millionaire wrote: "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with"

Increase the time you spend with positive successful people, and spend less time with those who have a negative influence on you. Being around negativity will decrease your self confidence and create discouragement. Look for new opportunities to mix with successful people. Observe and learn from their attitudes and lifestyle, and adopt and adapt things that might work in your life and situation.

Barbara White, of Beyond Better Development,speaks and writes with passion to inspire and empower people in their journey ofpersonal growth towards the excellence in life that they aspire to. This article was written for her newsletter GrowingBeyond Better

Measuring Leadership Success With Leadership Metrics

By Sam Miller

Leadership is often equated with a position of authority. In the corporate world, a company's success could be dependent on how effective the leaders of that company are. A revolutionary way of measuring the effectiveness of an individual's leadership has been recently formulated. Leadership metrics present a scientific and systematic way of measuring how good a leader is by a series of capital elements. A leader's performance is graded through these elements. Also taken into account are the leadership conditions in which they operate in. The combined elements of leadership capital and leadership conditions are a surefire way to determine whether an individual is an able and competent leader or not.

The Leadership Capital Assessment is a formal instrument of measurement in this metrics. Leadership Capital refers to the six areas of competency possessed by a person in order for him to lead the company to brighter and more prosperous conditions. These competencies are innate qualities of an individual that are useful for effective leadership. He must have the wisdom, trust, courage, voice, values, and vision. Vision and values are two philosophical frameworks used by a leader in his operations. Wisdom and courage are sterling attributes for a leader to make effective strategies, come up with the right decisions, and solve problems. A leader's trust and voice could lead others to follow the path a leader is directing them to. These qualities are needed to interrelate with others in the company.

This self-examination metrics basically measure the six competencies on a scale of 1 to 99. An ideal average of 70 is needed after all areas of competency are graded. A score of more than 90 and less than 40 indicates that the individual is displaying tendencies for anti-leadership. Anti-leadership refers to either the lack or excess of leadership capital elements.

Although a leader may possess innate qualities that are very useful for him to lead the company, it is also important to consider the environment he works on and the prevailing conditions. These conditions are important elements that would provide the individual a good opportunity to lead. Ideally, the person must be at the right place and at the right time. He must also do the right things that would move the company forward. Most importantly, he must be working with the right people. These conditions are very vital since these would foster the leadership capital possessed by an individual.

The metrics rate these conditions from the range of very poor to very good. An individual must be presented with good to very good conditions in the four areas. Otherwise, their environment is not good for them and they will have less than ample opportunity to lead.

An ideal leader is someone who exhibits the right balance in all six competencies. Deficiency and excess in these competencies could result to disastrous leadership. Metrics are very important here since these could identify problems in leadership and could save a company from the perils of disastrous leadership. More importantly, the leadership metrics used are better than a mishmash of opinions and judgments where certain elements of leadership might be left unexamined or over-baked in scrutiny.

If you are interested in leadership metrics, check this web-site to learn more about leadership dashboard.

6 Vital Leadership Characteristics

By Duncan Brodie

Questions are often asked about whether leaders are born or whether they can be developed. My own view is that anyone who has the desire and is willing to do the work can become a great leader. At the same time there are certain characteristics or qualities that are vital in leaders.

Characteristic 1: Enthusiasm

Those that succeed as leaders are enthusiastic and upbeat. They know that they might not have everyone on board with all of their ideas, that they might not have all of the skills or the knowledge they need. They are however highly positive and know that there is a solution to obstacles that arise. They just need to find it. One of the real benefits of being enthusiastic and positive is that it is infectious. Who would you rather be around- a leader who is upbeat and positive or a leader who is negative and pessimistic?

Characteristic 2: Integrity

Personal integrity is the second vital leadership characteristic. Leaders with integrity set the tone in terms of expectations of how they will behave themselves and how others behave. Another way of looking at integrity is professionalism. The acid test in terms of integrity is whether what you are planning to do will stand the test of public scrutiny.

Characteristic 3: Warmth

Inclusion of warmth in a list of leadership characteristics might seem strange. People often confuse warmth with being soft. In truth leaders can be considerate of others, show empathy and at the same time be the person who makes the tough calls.

Characteristic 4: Courage

Read the autobiographies of successful people and a trend that you will continually identify is that they were people with courage. They are willing to go and try things and take risks. Where do you sit on the risk continuum?

Characteristic 5: Judgement

While leaders are courageous they are not reckless. They weigh up the pros and cons and take balanced risks. Judgement is all about make the best decision you can with the information you have available.

Characteristic 6: Tough but fair

Leaders recognise that they cannot be popular all of the time. They know that they need to make tough decisions from time to time. They take the tough decisions and at the same time will seek to act fairly.

Leadership characteristics take time to develop. So what leadership characteristic could you start working on to achieve greater success?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements (G&A) works with individuals, teams and organisations to develop their management and leadership capability. With 25 years business experience in a range of sectors, he understands first hand the real challenges of managing and leading in the demanding business world. You can learn more about Duncan, Goals and Achievements services and products and sign up for his free e-course and newsletter at http://www.goalsandachievements.co.uk/

3-Golden Rules of Innovation

By Pete Koerner

It isn't always easy to be different; yet, if you want to be innovative, you've got to break with trends, traditions, and even your own habits. There's no way around this; innovators are bringers of new things - not old things. New means change; change means different. You won't find those inspirations and motivations to do new things, however, by staying in your comfort zone. Innovators in business, industry, and technology all follow certain rules - their own rules - not the standard rules of thinking and acting that most of society uses. To break through to a new reality, try following these "golden rules" for creating change:

1. Be Creative. Do something new; do something different. You can use old things and ideas for inspiration; but avoid repeating old ideas. Instead, seek that which is new - no matter how scary it might be to be radically different.
2. Be Bold. Stand and face the world courageously; you are not really any safer sitting at home with your un-tried ideas dying a slow death. When you do something new and different, never apologize; always move forward learning and growing from each new experience. Don't be afraid of being different; be proud of being different - revel in your uniqueness and boldness.
3. Be Focused on Your Vision. Diligent thought, imagination, focus and concentration are the true tools of successful innovation. The Wright brothers did not solidify their vision of a powered airplane by casually chatting about the possibility for a few minutes each day; they were beset with a firm belief that they could fly - and they stayed focused on that vision until it came to fruition.
   

The stimulus of the outside world (television, news media, entertainment media, family drama, friends, schedules, conflicts, etc...) is always pulling at our focus and attention; and, combined with all of this environmental "noise," the repetitive programming and conditioning we are exposed to make it nearly impossible for anyone to have a truly original thought. Coupled with the unfortunate fact that many people's spirits are often "beat into submission" at a very young age with verbal, emotional, and physical abuse, creating something new - and stepping out of the box - can present quite a challenge. But you will find that the journey is worth it if only you stay the course, stay awake, and follow these simple rules for realizing your goals and dreams - and creating a positive change in the world.

If you're ready for change, and ready to break-through old barriers and overcome old limitations, try using EFT* to set yourself free of old limitations and unlock your creativity. *To download your FREE, Illustrated Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) Manual, go to: http://www.ExploreExpandEvolve.com/free_download/ (It only takes about 10-seconds to get your Free EFT manual and start erasing fears and limiting beliefs!) Pete Koerner is the author of The Belief Formula: The Secret to Unlocking the Power of Prayer. The Belief Formula is a look at how you can use ancient wisdom and modern scientific awareness to learn how to use your mind to reclaim your health and create the life of your dreams. For a Free Report on Making The Belief Formula Work for You, visit: http://www.TheBeliefFormula.com