Self Motivation

Designing Inspiring Environments

2009-02-18T09:09:00.000+07:00

Designing Inspiring Environments

By: Jan Marie Dore, Professional Certified Coach

The influence of your personal environments on your health, creativity, and well-being is often subtle, yet profound. You can use the environments you live in to support you in feeling good about yourself, to experience less stress, and to be more productive.

Personal environments can include your relationships with family, friends, and colleagues, your work environment, networks, ideas, learning environments - and your physical environment - such as your home, the community you live in, nature, your garden, the technology you use, the information you absorb - everything that you surround yourself with. It can also be the foods you keep in our house, the beautiful objects and colors around you, the books, magazines and newspapers you read, the movies you watch, and the thoughts you think.

Personal environments can also include your 'internal surroundings' - your belief systems and thought patterns. As you work on raising your awareness of your inner thoughts and eliminating negative or unproductive thoughts, you might notice increased levels of energy and focus.

It's possible to revitalize your surroundings or environments and design them so they bring out the very best in you, so that they evolve you toward a successful, inspiring, struggle-free life. As you develop your personal environments, you develop yourself and your capacity to be creative and to receive ongoing inspiration and support.

The goal is to design supportive environments that will inspire you to be your best and do great things. Success and personal development are more sustainable when there are environments and failsafe structures which support it.

ASSESS YOUR PERSONAL ENVIRONMENTS
Being fully alive calls you to play a much bigger game in life...evolving to your optimal potential or 'greatness'. Do the environments around you bring out your best? Do you receive enough creative inspiration? Do you know what sparks your muse? Is there enough intellectual and spiritual stimulation in your life?

1. When you are feeling fully alive, what is going on for you?

2. How do you feel as you walk into your workspace? Into your home?

3. On a scale from 1-5, with 5 being the most desirable, how much would you say your environments are supporting you in living the life you most desire?

4. What is something in your environment that you are tolerating that could be removed?

5. What is something that is missing from your personal environments that, if added, would inspire you to do and be your best?

6. What methods do you use on a daily basis to raise your energy level?

7. What beliefs most profoundly affect your way of thinking?

TRY THIS
If inspiration is an energy that flows through the spaces we inhabit, it is wise for us to remove any items that might block its path, and add items that would increase its presence.

Choose one physical environment in your workspace or home to concentrate on. If you could change one thing in your surroundings starting today, what would you change? Each day, do one task in that environment to establish order, create space, remove items that block your creativity, add items that you love, perhaps add color - and design surroundings that will inspire you to be and do your best.

Creating an environment that truly supports you in being your best can be a very worthwhile long-term project. Envision what an inspiring, stimulating environment would be for you, and have the patience to build that vision a step at a time. It's worth the work!

FINAL THOUGHT
"If you have not used something in the past year, regardless of how attached to it you are, pass it along. You have used up its usefulness to you... letting go of attachments is a rewarding way to feel positive about yourself, and to keep things flowing back into your own life as well." ~ Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Author Bio
Jan Marie Dore, Professional Certified Coach, Speaker, and Writer, publishes articles like this one in her free ezine 'Living From Intention', designed to inspire, challenge, and support you in creating a life that is meaningful, authentic, and a joy to wake up to every day. For free resources and programs on living a purposeful life, visit Jan Marie's website: www.janmariedore.com.

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Motivational Art in the Office

2009-02-18T09:08:00.002+07:00

By: Ashvin Ramasawmy

In today's business environment, motivational art has quickly become the darling of entrepreneurs. Why? Simply because it works! In short, motivational art posters/prints are photographs or drawings that carry an inspirational message that corroborates the picture. Therefore, they make the perfect office wall décor. Not only do they add some esthetics to the room but surrounding yourself with motivational art will help inspire you and boost productivity.

Here are 5 power tips when buying inspirational posters online:

(1) It does not matter having more than 1 inspirational print in your room. You can have as many as you want, as long as you don't end up cluttering your wall.

(2) Every motivational artwork will deeply influence your mood. Therefore, try to find a print that not only serves as a good office décor, but also as a therapy during hard times. For example, if you procrastinate a lot, find an artwork with a compelling statement about procrastination. This will motivate you to stop procrastinating and finally get the job done.

(3) Never ever try to decorate your wall with bare posters. They look cheap and sweetly degrade your whole office décor. Remember that motivational art is nothing short of art! Always either laminate your artwork or frame it for a better coup-d'oeil. It is also good to mention that you should only buy from companies that have an in-house framing and laminating service.

(4) Place your artwork in a strategic position where you will often come to have eye contact with it. Do not place it in your back unless you have a good reason for doing it, as in if you receive people in your office and want them to peep at it while talking to you. (... ) This helps create a friendly atmosphere and puts people at ease. You might also want to place a few in your waiting room if you have one.

(5) As far as possible, purchase "art prints" instead of "posters". Motivational art prints are printed on a higher paper grade and does not degrade easily in time. Posters are, well, just the contrary.

As simple as it might seem, the right inspiring words can make a real difference to the right person. Whatever is your objective in business or real-life, motivation is a key factor to success and having a motivational print on your wall is the first step to success.

Author Bio
Ashvin Ramasawmy is a young netpreneur who sells art online. You can visit his www.motivational-posters.net website by following the link.

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An Inspirational Poem for Mother's Day

2009-02-18T09:08:00.001+07:00

An Inspirational Poem for Mother's Day

By: Nicola Kennedy

If you are looking for an inspirational poem that shows an understanding of what a mom has to deal with, this is the one. Every mom, young or old, knows this by heart and can only hope that her children will understand when they grow up.

"You don't love me!" How many times have your kids laid that one on you? And how many times have you, as a parent, resisted the urge to tell them how much? Someday, when my children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates a mother, I will tell them.

A MOTHER'S LOVE GOES DEEP

I loved you enough to insist you buy a bike with your own money that we could afford and you couldn't.
I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover your handpicked friend was a creep;
I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours while you cleaned your bedroom, a job that would have taken me fifteen minutes.
I loved you enough to say, "Yes, you may go to Disney World on Mother's Day."
I loved you enough to let you see anger, disappointment, mistrust and tears in my eyes.
I loved you enough not to make excuses for your lack of respect or you bad manners.
I loved you enough to admit that I was wrong and ask your forgiveness.
I loved you enough to ignore "what every other mother" did or said.
I loved you enough to let you stumble, fall, hurt and fail.
I loved you enough to let you assume the responsibility for your own actions, at 6, 10, and 16.
I loved you enough to figure you would lie about the party being chaperoned but forgave you for it after discovering I was right.
I loved you enough to shove you off my lap, let go of your hand, be mute to your pleas and insensitive to your demands...so that you had to stand alone.
I loved you enough to accept you for what you are, not what I wanted you to be.

But most of all, I loved you enough to say "no" when you hated me for it.

THAT WAS THE HARDEST PART OF ALL.

Author Bio
Nicola Kennedy has enjoyed some great Mother's Days, both as a grateful mom and a loving daughter. She can help you find great Mother's Day gifts with tips and news, information and views at http://www.I-Love-My-Mom.com

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How to Find Hope When Hopelessness Attacks

2009-02-18T09:07:00.002+07:00

How to Find Hope When Hopelessness Attacks

By: Melissa Quiter

Often, life can seem very overwhelming. When you are constantly being faced with one challenging situation after another, it can begin to feel exhausting to continue trying. What is the point of constantly fighting back when the only reward is, yet, another challenge to take care of? Hopelessness sets in and the world looks very bleak.

The feelings of hopelessness can be devastating. They can make you do things you wouldn't normally do and think things you wouldn't normally think. However, in those moments when the feelings attack you, normal no longer exists. There is only the fight to get through those intense feelings or the fatigue of just finally wanting to succumb to them.

I can so clearly appreciate these feelings. In fact, I know these feelings first hand. I am a survivor of hopelessness. And I choose the word survivor intentionally.

First, I believe that people who prevail in extreme situations are not victims. Victims don't make it. A victim of a murder is dead. A survivor is someone who says, "I am not done. I am still here and the power is mine to reclaim."

Second, I chose the word survivor because there were many times, when I really was just as happy, if not happier, with the thought of checking out of this world and calling it done. In my over-worked and over-achieving mind it seemed to make sense that, if I wasn't finding a purpose and had no happiness, what was the point in pushing through all this pain and struggle and fear?

The amazing thing is that I am still here. I discovered the answers that I so desperately needed, and now I want to share those answers with others who also know there is so much more than that what you may be experiencing.

Although I don't know you personally, I do know this. Up to this point, you have pushed through too. Regardless of the strength and will it has taken to do so, you have not given up. And, the even more amazing thing I know is that you are now taking an active role in creating a different future than you have experienced in the past. You are doing that by reading this article. The only way to create something different from what you have already experienced is to add new information, new tools and new resources to your life.

What I discovered that changed my life, and will change yours too, is that without tools, humans would stop growing and evolving. There is no world, as you and I know it, without the tools we use to live on a daily basis. If you think about it then, it makes perfect sense that being the creator of an amazing, joyous, productive and fulfilling life also requires the proper tools. You cannot do this alone. You aren't supposed to do it alone! And what is so exciting is that -- even though you have been struggling and pushing and scraping by without all the tools -- you are still here and still making it. Think of what is going to be possible when you do have the proper tools. You won't believe how much more fun this thing called life can be!

The tools that I teach are the tools that I discovered, modified and combined to deal with my own dire need to find the missing joy and purpose I knew was possible. I knew there had to be a better way than constant struggle.

Tools are what set humans free. Through the use of tools, you can write, cook, create music, build homes, drive, fly and achieve feats never before thought possible. Tools are what allow humans to be more than they could otherwise be. Even research into our animal kingdom shows the use of tools is prevalent for daily survival.

It only makes sense that in order to create a life that you most desire, you must have knowledge and access to the tools of creating and manifesting. Through extensive research and trial and error on my own journey, the following combination of tools is what I found to be the key to living and creating the life you desire.

First, the foundation of creating is based on understanding the general principles of how the world works. The Universal Laws provide this foundation from a spiritual and scientific combined perspective. There are seven universal laws with one overriding law that governs every experience you have. The overriding law is based on Quantum Physics, and is says that everything is made of energy. Everything. From the chair you sit in to the thought you have about the chair to the feelings you get when you sit in the chair. All physical and non-physical "things" are simply varying speeds of energy in varying forms creating the world in which you and I live. By understanding and applying each universal law, you open your mind up to the multiple options for what is actually possible.

For example, if you were to fly a plane, but you had no understanding of the laws of gravity and aerodynamics, flying the plane would, in theory, still be possible. You could get behind the controls and hit the gas. However, you would most likely not have a pleasant or safe flight. You certainly wouldn't experience the joy and ease of flying and the truly amazing experience you could have if you had the proper tools and knowledge to assist in that endeavor.

Closely related to the foundational tool of the Universal Laws is the Law of Attraction. The Law of Attraction applies the theory of all "things" being made of energy and explains how creating and manifesting is based on focusing and attracting. This law states that whatever you place your energy and focus on is what you attract back to you - wanted or unwanted. This means that by learning to focus on what you do want versus what you don't want, you have access to attracting every desire you articulate. For example, if you desire to have a safe trip home. You must focus your energy on the safe trip as opposed to focusing on not having an accident. When you focus on not having something, you are actually still putting your focus on that thing you don't want - in this example the accident.

The challenge with this tool is that is requires the use of three other imperative tools in order for it to work with 100% success. Many people have been frustrated with the Law of Attraction not working, thinking it is flawed. However, I found that it is not the law that is flawed, but the application of the law without the other tools. Just like a hammer is an amazing tool for building, but only if it is combined with a nail. Without the nail, the hammer is extremely limited in its full capacity. The same is true for the nail! Learning and knowing the Law of Attraction is imperative to being a master creator of your life.

One of the tools required to apply the Law of Attraction is the tool of self-awareness. This is a tool that is often under appreciated and taken for granted. Truly understanding where you are right now in your life, why you are there and, most importantly, how you got there is imperative to knowing where you want to go, why and how you plan to get there. The tool of truly understanding yourself is not always as easy as it appears. This is why there are multiple tools for getting a closer look at who you really are. These tools include the 4-eVer evolving! Life Assessment, the Gallup Poll's StrengthFinder^TM and delving into your past to discover passions, patterns and themes. Without knowing where you are starting, you cannot know in which direction you need to go to get to your destination. You also may not truly understand your destination. When you know where you are starting, what is pulling you forward and exactly where you want to go, the plan for that journey naturally unfolds before you. You cannot create and manifest without an articulated plan.

One of the most important tools needed to create your plan is the Nine Environments of Holistic Living. Your life does not only consist of one area in which you create your experiences from. There are multiple areas of importance that, at varying times, get more or less focus. By using the Nine Environments of Holistic Living, you can break down your life into manageable segments. When you start articulating your goals and desires in each of the separate areas, you quickly find where there may be conflicting intentions occurring. And this is where so much of the hopelessness and frustration is caused.

Conflicting intentions are two desires that, if realized, actually cancel each other out. If you have conflicting intentions that you are not aware of, you often end up not creating either one, or you get a very watered-down version of one or the other. The worst thing that can happen is that you get the opposite of what you intended for both desires creating havoc and chaos in your life.

The best tool I have found to work with the Nine Environments of Holistic Living is Neuro-Linguistic Programming - otherwise known as NLP. NLP is an advanced form of communication that not only improves communication between people, but also opens up communication with all the parts of your subconscious mind. NLP is a tool that allows you to go beyond your conscious into your subconscious mind, where your behaviors and beliefs are formed. It takes you to the source. And, it is only at the source that anything can be affected and changed for long-term growth and evolution. NLP provides multiple exercises and techniques that allow you to determine exactly what is happening within all the various parts of you. Without an understanding of the largest segment of your mind, reported to make up 88%, you cannot possible focus on the destination you most want to manifest. Without proper focus, you attract more of what you don't want, and forgo creating and manifesting what you do want.

The last tool I created to pull everything together. The Process of Deliberate Creation is a daily tool that uses the information uncovered and discovered in creating your plan to assist in applying the proper focus needed on a daily basis. If you are not creating deliberately, it is too easy to fall into default creating. Default creating is not knowing what you desire in each area of your life. It is not knowing what conflicting intentions may be sabotaging your progress and success and producing hopelessness and sadness. Default creating is not using the Universal Laws to assist in reframing what you see and ultimately what you experience.

Deliberate creation is about combining all of these tools and giving yourself the gift of hope; giving yourself the gift of living the life you came here to live. Deliberate creation is about being a survivor without the struggle, sadness and hopelessness. It is about immediately knowing how to shift every situation and challenge to propel you forward. It is about shifting your mindset to see the possibilities instead of the blocks. It is about having the proper tools to create and manifest for building the life of your dreams, painting the masterpiece of your imagination and making music that fills your soul.

Creating and manifesting is about becoming aware of the tools, which you have done in this article, and learning how to use those tools to begin living your life as a survivor of hopelessness.

I did it and I know, with the combination of these tools, you can too!

Author Bio
Melissa Jean Quiter is an inspirational life and business strategist with Provocative Communications. She is the author of the 4-phase, life and business-changing program, "Being Spiritual Doesn't Mean Being Poor! How to remove what blocks you from making money & creating happiness," based on the Law of Attraction and the three required elements (the universal laws, Neuro-Linguistic Programming and the Nine Environments of Holistic Living) to ensure your success 100% of the time. To get started, visit: www.ProvocativeCommunications.com/takingcontrol.html. Melissa also teaches a simple, yet profound, daily process for deliberately creating your life in her book, "My cat made me a millionaire (and how yours can too!)," available here: www.ProvocativeCommunications.com/cat.html . E-mail: Quiter@Texas.net or call: [512] 341-0556.

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What's Your Excuse for Not Being Successful in Life?

2009-02-18T09:07:00.001+07:00

What's Your Excuse for Not Being Successful in Life?

By: David Neese

Excuses! Excuses! When we fail to do something we are expected to do, we almost always have an excuse for it. However, if we analyze it closely, an excuse is a self-destructive alibi for having failed to do something, especially when it involves attaining a goal. Instead of trying to persevere in finding ways to continue achieving a goal, some of us resort to excuses.

Even a handicap cannot be used as an excuse. Many handicapped but determined people have become achievers and champions. Instead of using a handicap as an excuse, let us turn it into an asset. Let us explore this further.

A handicap need not be a reason for failure. On the contrary, a handicap can be a reason for success. People with a handicap always have an offsetting strength that allows them to overcome problems better than others.

A person with a handicap has one obsession - to lead a normal life. Depending on the handicap, a person would prefer to be as independent as possible. So he struggles and finds ways to overcome his impediment. When he is able to achieve his goal, this raises his self-esteem. In turn, he inspires others.

Everybody has handicaps in varying forms and degree. That is why; it requires effort and determination to overcome them. Handicaps can either be physical, financial, or emotional. And they can either be real or imagined.

Whenever we look at a handicap, we almost always look on the negative side only. It's about time we take a look at the positive side of it. The positive side may be the difficult side, but it's the one worth looking into. It's the side that is going to lead us to excel in life.

If you think your handicap is physical, like having a weak body, you can counteract this through proper diet and training exercises. As long as the physical parts of your body are intact and mobile, there's no reason why you cannot make it strong and useful. Why? Even those without a leg (for example) can be made to walk or run normally. With the advancement of science, artificial legs can help a handicap function with great mobility.

It your handicap is financial, then the more reason you have to rise above your present status. And if your financial status limits your educational attainment to improve your life, the school is not the only place to learn. Certainly, there are help centers to get you started even from zero level. Once you are initially warmed up with the basics of an education, the rest is up to you. Make use of libraries. Once you are educationally equipped, use your brain and come up with creative ideas to improve your life.

If you are emotionally disturbed with negative thoughts, it is like you are sitting on a chair with wobbling legs. Try sitting on a chair with sturdy legs; meaning, look at the bright, positive side of life. Put aside negativity and start thinking positively. The only one who can stop you is yourself.

If your handicap is a combination of any of the physical, financial, or emotional type, congratulations. You should strive more to overcome them, because a double layer of perseverance results to more than double the achievement. Where the odds are greater, the prize gets much bigger. After all the efforts you have exerted, the prize of success shall be a well-deserved one.

So what's your excuse for not being successful?

Author Bio
David Neese is a real estate investor, hard money lender, small business owner, ecommerce marketer, writer, motivator, father and athlete. David offers a free Ecourse on quick start strategies for getting started in real estate investing that is delivered via email and tele-clinic at: www.freerealestateinvestingcourses.com and you can find more information about David at: www.digitalsuccesscoach.com.

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The Keys to Buying Motivation: Unlock the Door to Sales Success

2009-02-18T09:03:00.000+07:00

The Keys to Buying Motivation: Unlock the Door to Sales Success

By: Mark Dembo

One of the key things that we teach salespeople is that your job in sales is to understand what it is that people do, and then to help them do it better. For only by understanding what people do; how they do it, why they do it that way, when they do it, and who they do it with, can you be in a position to really help them and show them what will make sense to them. Notice that the emphasis here is on the prospect: what makes sense to THEM. It's not about what makes sense to you, or what you would like to sell them. Notice also that we're not talking about asking prospects about their "needs," "problems," or "pain."

As D.E.I. Management Group President and author, Steve Schiffman says in his book "The 250 Sales Questions to Close the Deal:"

What if I ask the person to describe pressing business problems that he or she will face in the future? What if I build my proposal around those business issues? I might get a decent picture of what is going on in that person's world, but I will not get the whole picture. Even if you discover everything about the person's pains, needs, and problems, you will have only learned about certain parts of their situation - the parts that are currently causing pain and problems. You won't be getting the whole picture. What about the rest of your contact's situation - the things that don't fit in the categories of pain, needs, or problems? What's going on there? If I only ask about "needs," I don't know - and if you've only been asking the types of questions mentioned above, neither do you.

Let's explore this a bit more deeply. People will only make a decision to do something if it makes sense to them. I think that's something we can all agree on. So how do we know what will make sense to someone we meet for the first time, or whom we don't know all that well? That comes through asking questions and in taking a genuine interest in the people we meet with.

Many of us in sales were taught, at one time or another, that we need to be good listeners, and that we need to show we care by asking questions. Yet how many of us really do a good job at that? We are excited about our products and services - we want to jump right in and show our prospect that we have the fix for whatever ails them. We need to learn to fight that urge to "throw-up" on the prospect with our solution to their problem - for if we do this too soon in the process we're really just guessing at what makes the most sense to them.

An understanding of basic human motivation will help you ask better questions to arrive at the ultimate plan that will make sense to your prospect. As human beings, we are all drive by two primary motivating factors; the desire to avoid pain, or the desire to gain something. Or, to put it another way - we either want to fix something that isn't working, or we want to create a better future.

Consultant and author Mahan Khalsa in his book "Let's Get Real or Let's Not Play" says it well:

People who are trying to "move away from pain" will interpret issues as pain and may give us a list a problems, frustrations, and dissatisfaction. They may even use physical or emotional pain phrases like: "It's killing us", "We're bleeding", "It's a pain in the neck", "It's a real headache", It's a nightmare", "It's like pulling teeth".

People who are "moving toward gain" will interpret issues as results (i.e., objectives, goals, and outcomes). They may use phrases like" "What we'd like to see.," "What we think is possible.," "Our vision is.," "What we're excited about is.," "Our end in mind is.," "We'd like to create.," etc. Their language will give us some hints about where they would like to start. We'll just need to be aware of the language.

Our job in asking questions then, is to listen to what our prospect says and determine which mode they are operating in - listen to their language, and then ask more questions to find out more about their unique situation. In doing this, you will want to ask questions that relate to the past, the present, and the future. Asking about the past will help you determine what problems they may be dealing with that they want to fix. Asking about the present will focus in their present situation and the current "status quo". Future based questions will give you a sense of what goals and outcomes they hope to accomplish. All of these areas are important to gain a full sense of what will makes sense to the person and of what will lead them to buy.

Every conversation is unique. You need to focus on what your contact is telling you and then follow-up with a logical question to dig deeper. Each question you ask should follow from the question and answer before it. For example, suppose you are speaking with someone and she tells you that her company plans to open 5 new locations in the next year. What will your next question be? Here are some possibilities:

That's great. I'm just curious, why five?
That's great. I'm just curious, where will they be? How did you decide on those locations?
That's great. What are your first year projections for those locations?
That's great. What kinds of challenges do you typically face when you open new locations?

You could probably come up with several other questions you could use here, but the point is that the question is squarely focused on them - and may not even have anything directly to do with your offering. Remember, your goal is to understand as much as you can about them. Through question like this you are developing a real conversation. A conversation in which your contact's comfort and trust level will increase, and one in which you will gain real insight into what they "do" - what they hope to accomplish as well as the problems they need to solve.

Only once you've gained a better sense of their past, present, and future - along with problems (pain) and goals (gain) are you in a position to make a real recommendation or proposal.

Moving quickly through this step can jeopardize your opportunities to build a real relationship and to add real value to the selling situation. Take the time to truly understand what your prospect does, and you will see your sales increase!

Author Bio
Mark Dembo; President, Lexien Management Consultants (www.lexien.com).
Lexien Management Consultants is a consulting and training company providing growth-oriented companies with strategies, tools, and skills to improve their top and bottom-lines. Each month, Lexien publishes the Sales Success Newsletter. You can contact Mark at 914-682-2069, or at mdembo@lexien.com.

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The Power of Self-Talk

2009-02-16T16:38:00.001+07:00

The Power of Self-Talk

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by Raychelle, on Sun Jan 25, 2009 8:36am PST

Self-talk is the conversation that man has with himself. It is the internal feedback that he conveys to himself based on his thoughts and feelings about his appearance, intellect, emotions, health, morals, and actions. Your perception is your reality. It shapes every decision that you make and everything that you do. It can help you to move your mountains or cause you to trip on speed bumps. Mary Kay Ash said that, "If you think you can, you can. If you think you can't, you're right." It is possible to convince yourself that you cannot do something before you even try once. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Simply put, you are what you think.

The human being is the highest life form on earth. He has free will. He can do whatever he wants to do. Birds fly, lay eggs, and migrate with the seasons. Bees pollinate flowers and make honey. Dogs bury bones, scratch fleas, and chase cars. Every other creature is born knowing its purpose. Each has innate instincts that govern how it will live and survive. Free will can be both a blessing and a curse if one's thinking is negative. Having the ability to define who you are is pointless if you place more energy into the power of "can't" than you place into the power of "can".

Where does all of negativity come from? FEAR. It comes from the fear of failure and the fear of rejection and the fear of losing. It also comes from the fear of success and the fear of acceptance and the fear of winning. It comes from the fear of change. It comes from the fear of the unknown. I read recently a quote that said, "Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of." The bad things in our lives that we have grown accustomed to like excessive debt, obesity, poor health, unhealthy relationships, underpaying/unsatisfying jobs, and unresolved feelings are comfortable. We know how they affect us. We know that they are not good for us. We don't like how they make us feel about ourselves, but yet we hold on to them because they are familiar and predictable. They don't require any change in our behavior or interruption in our daily routines. Overcoming the negative self-talk that arises from fear requires us to challenge it. Positivity and negativity are powerful forces in our lives. To remove one and replace it with the other requires work and courage. We must accept the challenge to change.

If you have never kept a journal in your life, I suggest that you get into the habit of examining your thoughts on paper. Write down your honest opinions, thoughts, values, and feelings about the events that occur daily in your life over the next 30 days. Focus on one aspect of your life that you want to change and/or improve and detail your thoughts. On day 31, re-read your journal. Pay close attention to the words that you use to describe people and events including yourself. You will discover patterns in your behavior and begin to recognize the content of your self-talk. When you know better, you will do better. You may discover the true reason why you are sabotaging your opportunity to have a great life. You may decide to make a change in your life. You might start to appreciate the power that you have to win. You might realize that you deserve to be happy and successful. You might start living again... Now would that be so bad?

Be good to yourself. More next time...

Using "Self-Talk" to Fulfill New Years Resolutions

2009-02-16T16:37:00.001+07:00

Using "Self-Talk" to Fulfill New Years Resolutions

Why do New Years resolutions go unfulfilled? Is it because they are too ambitious? Regardless of what you resolve to do, be it to improve your health, develop better relationships with friends, make a job change or even see a part of the world you’ve been dreaming about, everything is within the realm of possibility if you say so. By Michael J. Russ

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By Michael J. Russ

There is something truly special about the coming of a New Year. Another twelve months present the perfect opportunity to start over, transform or change your self in some way. Regardless of what you resolve to do, be it to improve your health, develop better relationships with friends, make a job change or even see a part of the world you’ve been dreaming about, everything is within the realm of possibility if you say so.

The important question then becomes "why do New Years resolutions go unfulfilled?" Is it because they are too ambitious? I don’t think so. At the beginning of the year you are full of optimism, excitement and hope. The thoughts and words you use to describe your resolutions reflect positive tones as you say, "I can do this" or "I believe I can do it this year." You even tell your closest friends how excited you are about what you are going to accomplish. Then, as the days and months progress your enthusiasm fades and you find yourself making excuses and being apologetic for not pursuing your goals, saying things like "I just can’t find the time" or by thinking "I am just too tired today."

Has anything really happened to make your resolutions unachievable? Yes, you’re "self-talk." You simply talked yourself right out of your resolutions. "Self-talk" is what you think and say about yourself, both in your head and in conversations with others. In order to fully manifest your resolutions, your "self-talk" must be completely in sync with them. A congruency of "self-talk" and action helps you maintain the attitude, drive and motivation to keep moving forward, even in the face of adversity and procrastination. Here are some things you can do to get your "self-talk" on the right path and manifest your resolutions.

Be clear about your resolutions. The quickest route to what you want is a straight line. When you create resolutions you are unsure about, your "self-talk" will eventually sabotage your efforts by chipping away at your motivation and enthusiasm. Having clarity about your resolution instills greater focus, ignites passion and enhances self-confidence. You become more willing to design, monitor and use "self-talk" to support you every step of the way. Choosing not to make a resolution is better than making one you aren’t willing to stand behind. With time and patience you will decide upon and fully support changes that are perfect for you.

Become familiar with the "self-talk" you are using now. "Self-talk" is something you use all the time. Whether it takes a positive or a negative direction is up to you. Being alert to the kind of "self-talk" you use allows you to discover and defy its negative nature and see that it maintains proper alignment with what you are doing to achieve your resolutions.

Consciously design "self-talk." Use "self-talk" that is positive and on track by consciously designing supportive statements that begin with words such as "I am", "I can", "I will" and "I intend." These words build confidence, motivate and reinforce your intentions. Drop statements that begin with "I can’t", "I don’t" and "I’ll try" from your "self-talk" vocabulary. In order to succeed in reaching your resolutions you must always speak of yourself and what you are doing in a positive way, regardless of the circumstances.

Keep your "self-talk" moving in a positive direction. Adversity is a natural part of life. It’s been said that people should be judged not by their successes, but by how they handled their adversities. When adversity strikes, instead of beating yourself up about what happened, respond with positive "self-talk" that inspires you to work through it, such as "I am strong enough to get through this and get back on track." What’s important is to keep your "self-talk" moving in a positive direction and focus on what you can control- the way you feel, how you respond and the attitude you maintain.

"Self-talk" is the most amazing force you have for creating the life you envision. Words have the potential to build or destroy and influence everything you experience. However one thing holds true, when you support yourself in every moment, life doesn’t seem so difficult. This is the power of "self-talk."

Michael J. Russ is an avid golfer and passionate speaker. He has authored several audio books on the mental aspects of golf, life and sales. His titles include "Powerful Golf", "Powerful Self-Talk" and "Powerful Sales" and his latest "Design Your Life" for young adults. For more information on these titles please visit www.powerfulliving.org.

By Michael J. Russ
Published: 2/14/2006

Motivate, and Lead Employees from the Heart

2009-02-10T22:41:00.001+07:00

Nine Questions to Help You Manage, Motivate, and Lead Employees from the Heart

March 17, 2007

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Yes, this is the new home of Business Performance Coaching of sbishere.com Thanks for visiting!

How do you define your organization? Is it people first?
When managing and leading employees are you eight times more positive than negative?
Do you honor your employees?
What do you do when you get those motivational, teaching, and coaching moments? Do you connect with them? Do you tell them that you accept and love them?
Do your words and deeds free them from the fear of failure?
Do your employees know how much you accept and love them?
Do you help them tap into their passion?
Do you treat your employees like family?
Are you the guardian of your employees dreams?

Written by Greg Balanko-Dickson · Filed Under Hire First Staff, Management Issues

Control Your Own Level of Motivation

2009-02-10T22:40:00.001+07:00

Control Your Own Level of Motivation

By Paul M. Jerard Jr.

When I first mention this to most people, they really don’t get it, so here is a simple formula for keeping your moods upbeat.

Audio books and music can be used as tools for motivation. The audio book is such a great motivational and learning tool, while you are commuting, or just out for a drive by yourself. I mention “by yourself” because, ideally, you should spend quality time with people in your car.

You can learn so much about life and a self-improvement audio book can keep you motivated all day long.

When I first started listening to audio books it was during commuter traffic through Providence and Boston. I would show up to meetings relaxed, with fresh ideas, and motivated. When people asked me the secret, I told them about the magic of audio books.

Most of them never asked me again, thought I was some strange eternal optimist, and never bothered to try an audio book.

Unfortunately, many people are slaves to stress, and don’t want to change anything. They go about their lives with a perfect recipe for a heart attack and high blood pressure.

Here is the ultimate recipe for a very sad and short life. You must combine "running late" to work, high volume traffic, the daily latte, a high stress job, and show up barely on time or late.

Some people are, what I call, “mad at the world.” They drive from one intersection to the next, making gestures at everyone. Some of these people can be helped, while others go through a daily cycle of frustration and even invite violence.

Now, let’s get back to you. As long as you stay aware, you have control over your motivation, moods, and level of optimism. So, take charge by plugging yourself into positive energy with books, audio books, music, and positive people.

The Goals of Employee Motivation -- What Should They Be?

2009-02-10T22:14:00.000+07:00

The Goals of Employee Motivation -- What Should They Be?

What are the goals of employee motivation? This is something that every company has to decide prior to embarking on a motivation and training program. In order to have an effective program the goals or outcome of the training need to be determined. In addition, these need to be realistic and attainable goals for both the employees and the company.
In order to determine the goals of employee motivation you have to decide what it is you want to accomplish. If it is to have outstanding customer service then set out a plan that will train, motivate, and reward those involved with that aspect of your business. Once your objectives are decided upon then you can start to set the goals.

The goals of employee motivation should now be clear to you because you have set the objectives. You should know and understand what types of training you will need. Is there education involved to advance ability levels? This will take planning as new abilities take longer to acquire than just motivation. You have the education aspect covered. The next step is to motivate. Get the employees to do their current job better, with more enthusiasm. This is where the goal setting comes in. There must be a reward to the employees for achieving the goals set for them.

For example, if it was a specific goal for the engineering department to get a project to the testing stage on time, then reward the whole department when this is achieved. Bring in breakfast for them one day. Perhaps the department can be rewarded by going home 1 hour early. The reward does not have to be huge or expensive. However, in order for any employee motivation to work results must always be rewarded. It is human nature to want praise, so by rewarding employees you are reinforcing the motivation.

Now you understand what the goals of employee motivation are. You are in the position to make positive changes in your organization by implementing a strategic motivation and training program for all of your employees.

Motivate Yourself By Setting Goals And Rewarding Yourself When You Meet Them

2009-02-10T22:12:00.000+07:00

Motivate Yourself By Setting Goals And Rewarding Yourself When You Meet Them

Welcome to Bible Money Matters. If you're new here, please consider signing up for our free daily updates via our RSS feed or via email. We appreciate you stopping by, and hope you'll come back for more!

My wife and I have been seriously paying attention to our finances since earlier this year when we took Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. We’ve never been in bad financial shape, but we’d never really been getting ahead either. That all started to change when we realized that in order to get ahead, we had to make a plan.

One of the first things we did was to sit down, and figure out an entire cash flow plan. We wrote down what money was coming in, what expenses we had, and then what we had left over. Next we found ways to reduce expenses in certain areas and then set up a complete zero-based budget where every dollar was allocated before it hit the account. Next we set up an envelope spending plan where some of our problem categories were paid only in cash, out of an envelope. When the money was gone from the envelope, the spending on that category stopped.

All of these steps were great steps towards getting us up and running towards better financial health, but there was still one thing that was missing. We needed to set goals,and have something that motivated us as we worked towards those goals.

Setting Goals To Work Towards

The class that we were taking, Financial Peace University, has a built in set of goals that you are working towards. Among those goals were these 3 goals:

Build a $1000 emergency fund.
Pay off debt.
Save 3-6 months of expenses.

We quickly built up our $1000 emergency fund, and since we felt a little more secure with a bit more - we raised it to $2000. Since we had already paid off all of our debt (except the mortgage) we then moved on to the next goal, to save 3-6 months of expenses. We were almost all the way to those 6 months of expenses when my car started having problems. After getting it checked by our local mechanic, we realized that the car was on its last legs. We took about half of the 5 months of expenses that we had saved, and paid cash for a used car with lower miles.

Now that our 6 months of expenses had been reduced to more like 2-3, our goal is once again to build up that account. But sometimes having a goal often isn’t enough. Sometimes you need some further motivation in order to push you towards that goal.

My wife and I are movie buffs, one of our favorite things to do is just get a couple of good movies, curl up on the couch and watch movies all day. Because we spend so much time watching movies we decided that we wanted to get a large screen TV in our basement. We knew that our other goals would come first, but as a way to motivate ourselves we decided that we would reward ourselves for saving our 6 months of expenses by purchasing a new 50″ Plasma TV once we reached our goal.

I can’t tell you how motivating it is to have a goal like that. It really makes you want to work that much harder knowing that you’ve got some sort of reward waiting for you on the other side.

Rewards For Meeting Goals Can Be Very Motivating

So here are some of the rewards my wife and I have talked about getting once we’ve reached certain goals.

	50″ Plasma TV: We’ve wanted to get this TV for a while, but we know our savings goals take precedence. once we’ve reached those goals, however, we know that we’ll be able to enjoy those movies on the big screen. I’ve been working that much harder because I know this awesome viewing experience waits for me.
	Nintendo Wii Gaming Console: We’ve heard a lot of things about the Wii, and have enjoyedplaying the console at our friend’s houses. We can’t justify getting one right now, but wemay use it as a motivating reward down the line sometime.
	Blu-Ray DVD Player: We’ve waited to jump on the HD movie bandwagon until now, and we can probably wait a little longer. we’ll eventually get one of these Blu-Ray players as a reward,but in the meantime regular ‘ol DVDs do just fine. By the time we get one they’ll be a lotcheaper!
	Another Trip to Europe: We were blessed to have been able to go on a MediterraneanCruise with my wife’s parents this past September. We’ve already talked about using anothertrip as a motivating reward a few years down the line.

What Goals Do You Have? What Rewards?

So what financial goals have you set for yourself? are you finding that you’re able to reach those goals? Have you thought about using rewards to help you reach those goals, or are you doing that already? Leave us a comment telling us about it!

Top 10 Ways to Motivate Gifted Children

2009-02-10T22:10:00.000+07:00

Top 10 Ways to Motivate Gifted Children

10 วิธีสร้างแรงบันดาลให้เด็กมีพรสวรรค์

Help! “How can I help motivate my child?” That was the theme at PTA’s first Meet & Greet (unofficial) PTA gathering. Specialists guests speakers Mr. Doug and Ms. Linda shared there expertise on the subject with the attending Parents. All together it was very interesting and helpful, thank you Mr. Doug & Ms. Linda

Parents of gifted children are often surprised and dismayed when their children underachieve in school. Learning disabilities in gifted children can sometimes lead to underachievement, but it is often simply a lack of motivation. Motivating some gifted children can be difficult; neither rewards nor punishments seem to work, especially for intrinsically motivated children. What can parents do to motivate their gifted children? Here are eight ideas to try.

ผู้ ปกครองของเด็กที่มีพรสวรรค์มักจะประหลาดใจและผิดหวังเวลาลูกเรียนไม่ดีเท่า ที่ควรในโรงเรียน ปัญหาการเรียนของเด็กที่มีพรสววรค์บางทีอาจนำไปสู่การเรียนที่ต่ำกว่าคาดแต่ เป็นเพราะว่าขาดแรงบันดาลใจ การสร้างแรงบันดาลใจให้กับเด็กที่มีพรสวรรค์เป็นสิ่งที่ที่ยากเพราะการใช้ รางวัล หรือการลงโทษไม่ผลกับพวกเขาโดยเฉพาะเด็กที่มีแรงบันดาลใจจากภายใน อะไรบ้างหละที่ทำให้ผู้ปกครองสามารถสร้างแรงกระตุ้นพรสวรรค์แก่เด็ก

1. Nurture Your Child's Interests

To nurture your child's interests, provide opportunities for him or her to learn and explore that interest. For example, if your youngster loves dinosaurs, get fact and fiction books about dinosaurs and visit natural history museums. If your child loves music, get toy (or real) instruments and consider music lessons. If your child loves science, get science books and science kits and visit science museums. Kids who can explore their interests are more likely to keep their love of learning alive.

1. การเลี้ยงดู การใส่ใจความสนใจของลูก

ถ้า จะสนับสนุนการสนใจของลูกเรา ต้องจัดหาโอกาสให้เขา หรือเธอ ได้เรียนรู้ และค้นหา เกี่ยวกับสิ่งที่เขาสนใจ ยกตัวอย่าง ถ้าลูกคุณชอบไดโนเสาร์ ต้องไปค้นหาข้อมูล และหนังสือ เกี่ยวกับไดโนเสาร์ และได้ไปเยี่ยมชมพิพิธภัณฑ์ ถ้าลูกคุณชอบดนตรี ก็ค้นหาอุปรณ์ดนตรีของเล่น หรือของจริง และอาจะให้เรียนดนตรี แต่ถ้าลูกคุณชอบวิทยาศาสตร์ จะหาหนังสือวิทยาศาสตร์หรือเครื่องมือเกี่ยวกับวิทยาศาสตร์ และพาไปเยี่ยมพิพิธภัณฑ์วิทยาศาสตร์ เด็กๆที่สามารถค้นหาสิ่งต่างๆที่เค้าสนใจ มักจะคงความรักที่จะเรียนรู้ตลอดไป

2. Expose Your Child to New Ideas and Areas

Sometimes a child lacks motivation because he or she hasn't yet been exposed to what might be a life passion. A child whose true passion is music but who has never had a chance to explore it will not be able to unlock that passion. Look for community programs, not just school programs. Don't overlook traditionally female activities, like dance and gymnastics, for boys. Keep an open mind; it's your child's interests that are important.

2. แนะนำลูกคุณต่อความคิดใหม่ๆ

บาง ครั้งเด็กอาจขาดแรงบันดาลใจ เพราะว่าเขาหรือ เธอ ยังไม่ได้สัมผัสว่าความชอบอะไรอย่างจริงจังในชีวิต เด็กที่อาจจะชื่นชอบดนตรีแต่ไม่เคยมีโอกาสที่จะสัมผัสมันก็จะไม่เคยได้ รู้สึกถึงอารมณ์นั้น ให้พ่อแม่ค้นหา กิจกรรมชุมชน ไม่ใช่แค่กิจกรรมในโรงเรียน อย่ามองข้ามกิจกรรมตามเพศ อย่างเช่นเด็กผู้ชายก็สามารถชอบเรียนเต้นและยิมนาสติกได้ด้วย จงมีความคิดที่ เปิดใจสู่ทุกอย่าง เพราะความสนใจของลูกเป็นสิ่งสำคัญที่สุด

3. Use Short-Term Goals and Rewards

Sometimes a child gets overwhelmed by a large task. It's not that the task is difficult, but the child may not be able to see the light a the end of the tunnel. Rather than begin the task, a child will give up before he or she even begins. Help your child see the task as a series of smaller tasks. Make each small task a goal and try setting a reward for that goal. Sometimes rewards won't be necessary once a child is able to see the task as a manageable one.

3. การใช้จุดมุ่งหมายระยะสั้น และของรางวัล

บาง ครั้งเด็กจะรู้สึกท้อที่ได้รับภารกิจที่ยิ่งใหญ่ สิ่งที่ต้องทำอาจจะไม่ยากนัก แต่เด็กจะไม่สามารถมองเห็นจุดจบ แทนทีจะเริ่มทำภารกิจ เด็กก็จะเลิกก่อนที่เริ่มทำ เราสามารถช่วยเด็ก มองเห็นภารกิจเป็นกิจกรรมย่อยๆในกลุ่ม ทำให้กิจกรรมย่อยนั้นมีจุดเป้าหมายและตั้งรางวัล ถ้าสำเร็จตามเป้า บางทีรางวัลอาจจะไม่จำเป็น เพราะเด็กสามารถมองเห็นแล้วว่ากิจกรรมนี้ทำได้

4. Help Your Child Learn to Manage Time

When they start school, gifted children usually have few problems keeping up with work. They learn quickly and easily. While that may sound like a real advantage, it can lead to problems. These children may never learn to manage their time in order to get work done. At some point, whether in high school or college, they may feel overwhelmed by the work they need to complete and don't know how to set time aside to complete tasks. Teach your child how to create and use a time-management schedule.

4. ช่วยให้ลูกได้เรียนรู้วิธีการบริหารเวลา

เมื่อ พวกเขาได้เข้าโรงเรียน เด็กที่มีพรสวรรค์โดยปกติจะมีปัญหาน้อยในการทำงาน พวกเขา จะเรียนรู้อย่างรวดเร็ว และเข้าใจง่าย อาจจะฟังว่าเป็นข้อดีแต่ที่จริงอาจนำสู่ปัญหา เด็กเหล่านี้อาจไม่เคยเรียนรู้วิธีบริหารเวลาเพื่อที่จะทำงานให้เสร็จ พอถึงจุดหนึ่ง อาจจะอยู่ในช่วงมัธยมหรือมหาวิทยาลัยที่พวกเค้าจะรู้สึกท้อจากงานที่ต้องทำ และไม่รู้ว่าจะจัดสรรเวลาอย่างไร อบรมลูกของคุณให้รู้จักคิดและใช้ตารางการจัดการเวลาให้เป็น

5. Praise Your Child's Efforts

Gifted kids sometimes have trouble connecting personal effort to achievement. Much of what they do and learn comes easily to them, so they can achieve with little effort. To help a child succeed, praise efforts at success and make that praise specific. For example, instead of saying "Nice work," it's better to say something like, "You worked hard on your science project; you really earned that A." However, avoid the reverse: don't say things like, "If you worked harder, you would do better."

5. กล่าวชมเชยความพยายามของลูก

เด็ก ที่มีพรสวรรค์ บางทีจะมีปัญหาเชื่อโยงระหว่างการพยายาม กับผลสำเร็จ หลายสิ่ง หลายอย่างที่ทำหรือเรียนรู้มันง่ายสำหรับเขาโดยที่ไม่ต้องพยายามมาก คุณสามารช่วยลูกโดยให้การชมเชยเวลาประสบความสำเร้จ และให้คำชมเชยนั้นเจาะจงถึงกิจกรรมนั้น ยกตัวอย่าง แทนที่จะพูดว่า ดีมาก ควรพูดว่า ลูกได้ตั้งใจทำกิจกรรมวิทยาศาสตร์ ลูกสมควรที่จะได้เอ แต่ไม่ควรทำสิ่งตรงข้าม ห้ามพูดว่า ถ้าลูกตั้งใจมากกว่านี้ลูกจะทำได้ดีกว่านี้

6. Help Your Child Take Control

Gifted underachievers sometimes see achievement as something beyond their control. If they succeed, it is due to luck or some other external factor. This attitude makes them feel like effort is pointless. Praising their efforts can help, but these children also need to understand the role personal responsibility plays in success. The way you talk about your own life sends a message. Complaining about your boss or blaming your boss for your lack of success at work sends the wrong message.

6. ส่งเสริมให้ลูกคุณมีการควบคุมบังคับสถานการณ์

เด็ก ที่มีพรสวรรค์ แต่ทำอะไรไม่ค่อยสำเร็จมักมองว่า การประสบความสำเร็จเป็นสิ่งนอกเหนือความสามารถของเขา ถ้าเค้าประสบความสำเร็จ เป็นเพราะโชคหรือองค์ประกอบอื่นๆนอกกายเค้า ทัศนคติอย่างนี้ ทำให้พวกเขารู้สึกว่าความพยายามไม่สำคัญ การชมเชยความพยายามอาจช่วยได้แต่เด็กพวกนี้ต้องการเข้าใจว่า ความรับผิดชอบส่วนตัวต้องมีบทบาท ในการประสบความสำเร็จ วิธีที่คุณพูดเกี่ยวกับชีวิตของตัวเอง สื่อความหมาย การที่คนเราบ่นเจ้านาย หรือโทษเจ้านายเกี่ยวกับความล้มเหลวที่ทำงาน สื่อข้อความที่ไม่ถูกต้อง

7. Keep a Positive Attitude About School

Children need to see that their parents value education. Even if a child's problems in school are the school's or teacher's fault, you need to be careful of what you say. Negative attitudes toward school in general will transfer to your child. If school is a problem, you can point out that even though problems can occur, education s still valuable and effort will eventually lead to success. Blaming the school will allow the child to avoid personal responsibility.

7. มองโลกในแง่บวกเกี่ยวกับโรงเรียน

เด็กๆ ต้องการเห็นว่าพ่อแม่ให้ความสำคัญต่อการศึกษาถึงแม้ปัญหาลูกที่โรงเรียนเป็น ความผิดของครูหรือโรงเรียนคุณต้องระวังว่าคุณพูดอะไร การมองโลกในแง่ลบต่อโรงเรียนจะสื่อทอดไปถึงลูกคุณ หากโรงเรียนคือปัญหา คุณสามารถชี้แนะได้ว่า ถึงแม้ปัญหาจะเกิดขึ้นการศึกษายังคงเป็นสิ่งสำคัญและความพยายาม จะนำไปสู่ความสำเร็จ การที่โทษโรงเรียน จะเปิดช่องทางให้เด็กหลีกเลี่ยงความรับผิดชอบส่วนตัว

8. Help Your Child Make Connections Between Schoolwork and Their Interests

Sometimes children lack motivation because they don't see a connection between the work they are being asked to do and their goals and interests. A child who wants to be an astronaut should know that math and science is important in those jobs. A little research may be necessary to find requirements of various jobs. However, unmotivated gifted children generally don't focus on anything but the present. Two weeks in the future is even hard for some of them to imagine.

8. แต่ช่วยให้ลูกคุณเชื่อมโยงระหว่างการบ้านและความสนใจ

บาง ทีเด็กอาจจะขาดแรงบันดาลใจเพราะไม่เห็นความเชื่อมโยงระหว่าง งานที่ถูกบอกให้ทำ และ จุดเป้าหมายกับ ความสนใจของพวกเค้า เด็กที่อยากจะเป็นนักอวกาศควรรู้ว่าเลข และวิทยาศาสตร์เป็นวิชาสำคัญต่อหน้าที่การงาน คุณอาจจะค้นคว้าดูว่างานต่างๆต้องการความเรียนรู้จากวิชาอะไรบ้าง แต่ว่าเด็กที่มีพรสวรรค์ขาดแรงบันดาลใจส่วนมากจะไม่สนใจอะไรนอกจากสิ่งที่ เกิดขึ้นในปัจจุบัน 2 อาทิตย์ในอนาคต อาจเป็นสิ่งที่ยากสำหรับเค้าที่จะมองเห็น

9. Turn Homework Into Creative Games

Gifted children love a challenge, so by turning otherwise dull homework into a challenging game, you can get your child to do it. Some children like to race, so you can ask them to see how quickly they can get it done -- without mistakes. Checking their work lets them see you care about it. Another creative approach to homework is to link it to an interest. For example, a dull math worksheet can be the decoding assignment of an astronaut's space mission to Mars. Unless the work is done correctly, the mission will fail. Even the smallest mistake can create a problem that can cause the mission to fail.

9. เปลี่ยนแปลงการบ้านให้เป็นเกมสนุกๆ

เด็ก ที่มีพรสวรรค์ชอบการท้าทาย เพราะฉะนั้น เปลี่ยนแปลงการบ้านน่าเบื่อให้เป็นเกมท้าทายแล้วลูกคุณก็จะทำ เด็กบางคนชอบวิ่งแข่งงั้นคุณก็ท้าเข้าว่า สามารถทำการบ้านให้เสร็จเร็วแค่ไหน โดยให้ผิดพลาดน้อยที่สุด การที่คุณตรวจงานเค้า แสดงว่าคุณแคร์ อีกวิธีหนึง คือ ให้เชื่อมโยงการบ้านกับสิ่งที่เค้าสนใจ

ยก ตัวอย่าง การบ้านเลขน่าเบื่อ อาจกลายเป็นภารกิจถอดรหัสของนักอวกาศที่จะกำลังผจญภัยในดาวพุธ หากงานนี้ทำไม่ถูกต้องหมดภารกิจก็จะล่มเหลว การผิดพรากเพียงเล็กน้องก็จะสามารถสร้างปัญหา ที่ทำให้ภารภิจล้มเหลวได้

10. Keep in Mind that Motivation is Not Always About School Achievement

We often equate motivation with school achievement. However, it's important to note that some children are highly motivated to achieve goals, but those goals are unrelated to school. A gifted teen, for example, may be more interested in creating a volunteer community program for the elderly or for the underprivileged.

Achievement is Not Motivation

It's important to remember that while you may get your child to get homework done, he or she may never be truly motivated to do it.

10. แรงบันดาลใจไม่จำเป็นต้องเกี่ยวกับผลสำเร็จในการเรียนเสมอไป

บ่อย ครั้งเราจะถือว่าแรงบันดาลใจคือผลสำเร็จในการเรียน แต่ว่าสำคัญมากที่จะดูว่า เด็กบางคนที่มีแรงบันดาลใจอย่างสูง ที่จะทำให้สำเร็จตามเป้า อาจจะไม่ได้คิดว่าเป้าหมายนั้นเกี่ยวกับการเรียน ยกตัวอย่างเด็กวัยรุ่นที่มีพรสวรรค์อาจจะสนใจ ไปช่วยชุมชนทำความดีสำหรับผู้สูงอายุหรือพวกด้อยโอกาส

ผลสำเร็จไม่ใช่แรงบันดาลใจ

สำคัญมากที่ต้องจดจำว่าถึงแม้ลูกคุณจะทำการบ้านเสร็จ เขา หรือเธอ อาจจะไม่ได้รับแรงบันดาลใจจริงที่จะทำมัน

http://giftedkids.about.com/od/nurturinggiftsandtalents/tp/motivate.htm

The Ultimate Guide to Motivation - How to Achieve Any Goal

2009-02-10T22:09:00.000+07:00

The Ultimate Guide to Motivation - How to Achieve Any Goal

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” - Henry Ford

One of the biggest challenges in meeting any goal, whether it be related to productivity, waking early, changing a habit, exercising, or just becoming happier, is finding the motivation to stick with it.

If you can stick with a goal for long enough, you’ll almost always get there eventually. It just takes patience, and motivation.

Motivation is the key, but it’s not always easy, day in and day out, to find that motivation.

What follows is a guide to motivation using what I’ve learned over the last few years in a series of successful accomplishments, goals and habit changes. I’ve had many failures, but also many successes, and I’ve learned a lot from all of them. Motivation has been a particularly important topic of exploration for me.

What Motivation Can Achieve
What have I accomplished using these motivation methods? Too much to mention, just in the last 3 years: running two marathons, learning to become an early riser, losing 40 pounds, completing a triathlon, becoming vegetarian, becoming more productive, starting a successful blog, writing a book, becoming organized, simplifying my life, quitting my day job, tripling my income, eliminating my debt, and much more.

That’s not intended to sound like bragging, but to show you what can be accomplished (just to start) if you find the right motivation.

How Does Motivation Work?
Before we get into specific methods, it’s useful to examine what motivation is, what it does, and how it works.

Motivation is what drives you toward a goal, what keeps you going when things get tough, the reason you get up early to exercise or work late to finish a project. There are all kinds of motivations, of course, from positive to negative. Having a boss threaten to fire you is motivation — you’ll likely work harder to complete a project with that kind of pressure. But I find that positive motivation works better — if it’s something you really want to do, you’ll do a much better job than to avoid something you don’t want (such as being fired).

So motivation, in its best form, is a way for you to want to do something. There may be times, for example, when you don’t feel like getting up early, and in those times you may seriously just want to sleep in (not that there’s anything wrong with that). But if you have a reason to want to get up early, something you really really want to do, you’ll jump up out of bed with excitement.

The best motivation, then, is a way for you to really want something, to get excited about it, to be passionate about it. Remember that, as there are many other types of motivation (especially negative), but in my experience, this is the kind that works the best.

There is only so long that you can go trying to motivate yourself to do something you don’t like to do, something you don’t want to do. But if you find ways to really want to do something, you can sustain your effort for much, much longer.

8 Ways to Motivate Yourself From the Beginning
I’ve found that it’s important to start out with the right motivation, because a good start can build momentum that you can sustain for a long time. If you start out right, you have a much better chance of succeeding. Here are some tips for starting out:

Start small. I’ve said this before, but that’s because it’s one of the most important tips in motivating yourself toward a goal. Don’t start out big! Start out with a ridiculously easy goal, and then grow from there. If you want to exercise, for example, you may be thinking that you have to do these intense workouts 5 days a week. No — instead, do small, tiny, baby steps. Just do 2 minutes of exercise. I know, that sounds wimpy. But it works. Commit to 2 minutes of exercise for one week. You may want to do more, but just stick to 2 minutes. It’s so easy, you can’t fail. Do it at the same time, every day. Just some crunches, 2 pushups, and some jogging in place. Once you’ve done 2 minutes a day for a week, increase it to 5, and stick with that for a week. In a month, you’ll be doing 15-20. Want to wake up early? Don’t think about waking at 5 a.m. Instead, think about waking 10 minutes earlier for a week. That’s all. Once you’ve done that, wake 10 minutes earlier than that. Baby steps.
One goal. Too many people start with too many goals at once, and try to do too much. And it saps energy and motivation. It’s probably the most common mistake that people make. You cannot maintain energy and focus (the two most important things in accomplishing a goal) if you are trying to do two or more goals at once. It’s not possible — I’ve tried it many times. You have to choose one goal, for now, and focus on it completely. I know, that’s hard. Still, I speak from experience. You can always do your other goals when you’ve accomplished your One Goal.
Examine your motivation. Know your reasons. Give them some thought … and write them down. If you have loved ones, and you are doing it for them, that is more powerful than just doing it for self-interest. Doing it for yourself is good too, but you should do it for something that you REALLY REALLY want to happen, for really good reasons.
Really, really want it. This is essentially the same as the above tip, but I want to emphasize it: it’s not enough to think it would be cool to achieve something. It has to be something you’re passionate about, something you’re super excited about, something you want deeply. Make sure that your goal meets these criteria, or you won’t stick with it for long.
Commit publicly. None of us likes to look bad in front of others. We will go the extra mile to do something we’ve said publicly. For example, when I wanted to run my first marathon, I started writing a column about it in my local daily newspaper. The entire island of Guam (pop. 160K) knew about my goal. I couldn’t back down, and even though my motivation came and went, I stuck with it and completed it. Now, you don’t have to commit to your goal in your daily newspaper, but you can do it with friends and family and co-workers, and you can do it on your blog if you have one. And hold yourself accountable — don’t just commit once, but commit to giving progress updates to everyone every week or so.
Get excited. Well, it starts with inspiration from others (see above), but you have to take that excitement and build on it. For me, I’ve learned that by talking to my wife about it, and to others, and reading as much about it as possible, and visualizing what it would be like to be successful (seeing the benefits of the goal in my head), I get excited about a goal. Once I’ve done that, it’s just a matter of carrying that energy forward and keeping it going.

Build anticipation. This will sound hard, and many people will skip this tip. But it really works. It helped me quit smoking after many failed attempts. If you find inspiration and want to do a goal, don’t start right away. Many of us will get excited and want to start today. That’s a mistake. Set a date in the future — a week or two, or even a month — and make that your Start Date. Mark it on the calendar. Get excited about that date. Make it the most important date in your life. In the meantime, start writing out a plan. And do some of the steps below. Because by delaying your start, you are building anticipation, and increasing your focus and energy for your goal.
Print it out, post it up. Print out your goal in big words. Make your goal just a few words long, like a mantra (”Exercise 15 mins. Daily”), and post it up on your wall or refrigerator. Post it at home and work. Put it on your computer desktop. You want to have big reminders about your goal, to keep your focus and keep your excitement going. A picture of your goal (like a model with sexy abs, for example) also helps.

20 Ways to Sustain Motivation When You’re Struggling
The second half of motivation is to keep yourself going when you don’t feel the same excitement as you did in the beginning. Perhaps something new has come into your life and your old goal isn’t as much of a priority anymore. Perhaps you skipped a day or two and now you can’t get back into it. Perhaps you screwed up and got discouraged.

If you can get yourself excited again, and keep going, you’ll get there eventually. But if you give up, you won’t. It’s your choice — accomplish the goal, or quit. Here’s how you can stop from quitting, and get to your goal:

Hold yourself back. When I start with a new exercise program, or any new goal really, I am rarin’ to go. I am full of excitement, and my enthusiasm knows no boundaries. Nor does my sense of self-limitation. I think I can do anything. It’s not long before I learn that I do have limitations, and my enthusiasm begins to wane. Well, a great motivator that I’ve learned is that when you have so much energy at the beginning of a program, and want to go all out — HOLD BACK. Don’t let yourself do everything you want to do. Only let yourself do 50-75 percent of what you want to do. And plan out a course of action where you slowly increase over time. For example, if I want to go running, I might think I can run 3 miles at first. But instead of letting myself do that, I start by only running a mile. When I’m doing that mile, I’ll be telling myself that I can do more! But I don’t let myself. After that workout, I’ll be looking forward to the next workout, when I’ll let myself do 1.5 miles. I keep that energy reined in, harness it, so that I can ride it even further.
Just start. There are some days when you don’t feel like heading out the door for a run, or figuring out your budget, or whatever it is you’re supposed to do that day for your goal. Well, instead of thinking about how hard it is, and how long it will take, tell yourself that you just have to start. I have a rule that I just have to put on my running shoes and close the door behind me. After that, it all flows naturally. It’s when you’re sitting in your house, thinking about running and feeling tired, that it seems hard. Once you start, it is never as hard as you thought it would be. This tip works for me every time.
Stay accountable. If you committed yourself publicly, through an online forum, on a blog, in email, or in person … stay accountable to that group of people. Commit to report back to them daily, or something like that, and stick to it! That accountability will help you to want to do well, because you don’t want to report that you’ve failed.
Squash negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. This is one of the most important motivation skills, and I suggest you practice it daily. It’s important to start monitoring your thoughts, and to recognize negative self-talk. Just spend a few days becoming aware of every negative thought. Then, after a few days, try squashing those negative thoughts like a bug, and then replacing them with a corresponding positive thought. Squash, “This is too hard!” and replace it with, “I can do this! If that wimp Leo can do it, so can I!” It sounds corny, but it works. Really.
Think about the benefits. Thinking about how hard something is is a big problem for most people. Waking early sounds so hard! Just thinking about it makes you tired. But instead of thinking about how hard something is, think about what you will get out of it. For example, instead of thinking about how hard it is to wake early, focus on how good you’ll feel when you’re done, and how your day will be so much better. The benefits of something will help energize you.
Get excited again! Think about why you lost your excitement … then think about why you were excited in the first place. Can you get that back? What made you want to do the goal? What made you passionate about it? Try to build that up again, refocus yourself, get energized.
Read about it. When I lose motivation, I just read a book or blog about my goal. It inspires me and reinvigorates me. For some reason, reading helps motivate and focus you on whatever you’re reading about. So read about your goal every day, if you can, especially when you’re not feeling motivated.
Find like-minded friends. Staying motivated on your own is tough. But if you find someone with similar goals (running, dieting, finances, etc.), see if they’d like to partner with you. Or partner with your spouse, sibling or best friend on whatever goals they’re trying to achieve. You don’t have to be going after the same goals — as long as you are both pushing and encouraging each other to succeed. Other good options are groups in your area (I’m part of a running club, for example) or online forums where you can find people to talk to about your goals.
Read inspiring stories. Inspiration, for me, comes from others who have achieved what I want to achieve, or who are currently doing it. I read other blogs, books, magazines. I Google my goal, and read success stories. Zen Habits is just one place for inspiration, not only from me but from many readers who have achieved amazing things. I love, love, love reading success stories too.
Build on your successes. Every little step along the way is a success — celebrate the fact that you even started! And then did it for two days! Celebrate every little milestone. Then take that successful feeling and build on it, with another baby step. Add 2-3 minutes to your exercise routine, for example. With each step (and each step should last about a week), you will feel even more successful. Make each step really, really small, and you won’t fail. After a couple of months, your tiny steps will add up to a lot of progress and a lot of success.
Just get through the low points. Motivation is not a constant thing that is always there for you. It comes and goes, and comes and goes again, like the tide. But realize that while it may go away, it doesn’t do so permanently. It will come back. Just stick it out and wait for that motivation to come back. In the meantime, read about your goal, ask for help, and do some of the other things listed here until your motivation comes back.
Get help. It’s hard to accomplish something alone. When I decided to run my marathon, I had the help of friends and family, and I had a great running community on Guam who encouraged me at 5K races and did long runs with me. When I decided to quit smoking, I joined an online forum and that helped tremendously. And of course, my wife Eva helped every step of the way. I couldn’t have done these goals without her, or without the others who supported me. Find your support network, either in the real world or online, or both.
Chart your progress. This can be as simple as marking an X on your calendar, or creating a simple spreadsheet, or logging your goal using online software. But it can be vastly rewarding to look back on your progress and to see how far you’ve come, and it can help you to keep going — you don’t want to have too many days without an X! Now, you will have some bad marks on your chart. That’s OK. Don’t let a few bad marks stop you from continuing. Strive instead to get the good marks next time.
Reward yourself often. For every little step along the way, celebrate your success, and give yourself a reward. It helps to write down appropriate rewards for each step, so that you can look forward to those rewards. By appropriate, I mean 1) it’s proportionate to the size of the goal (don’t reward going on a 1-mile run with a luxury cruise in the Bahamas); and 2) it doesn’t ruin your goal — if you are trying to lose weight, don’t reward a day of healthy eating with a dessert binge. It’s self-defeating.
Go for mini-goals. Sometimes large or longer-term goals can be overwhelming. After a couple weeks, we may lose motivation, because we still have several months or a year or more left to accomplish the goal. It’s hard to maintain motivation for a single goal for such a long time. Solution: have smaller goals along the way.
Get a coach or take a class. These will motivate you to at least show up, and to take action. It can be applied to any goal. This might be one of the more expensive ways of motivating yourself, but it works. And if you do some research, you might find some cheap classes in your area, or you might know a friend who will provide coaching or counseling for free.
Never skip two days in a row. This rule takes into account our natural tendency to miss days now and then. We are not perfect. So, you missed one day … now the second day is upon you and you are feeling lazy … tell yourself NO! You will not miss two days in a row!
Use visualization. Visualize your successful outcome in great detail. Close your eyes, and think about exactly how your successful outcome will look, will feel, will smell and taste and sound like. Where are you when you become successful? How do you look? What are you wearing? Form as clear a mental picture as possible. Now here’s the next key: do it every day. For at least a few minutes each day. This is the only way to keep that motivation going over a long period of time.
Be aware of your urges to quit, and overcome them. We all have urges to stop, but they are mostly unconscious. One of the most powerful things you can do is to start being more conscious of those urges. A good exercise is to go through the day with a little piece of paper and put a tally mark for each time you get an urge. It simply makes you aware of the urges. Then have a plan for when those urges hit, and plan for it beforehand, and write down your plan, because once those urges hit, you will not feel like coming up with a plan.
Find pleasure again. No one can stick to something for long if they find it unpleasant, and are only rewarded after months of toil. There has to be fun, pleasure, joy in it, every day, or you won’t want to do it. Find those pleasurable things — the beauty of a morning run, for example, or the satisfaction in reporting to people that you finished another step along the way, or the deliciousness of a healthy meal.

“Never, never, never, never give up.” - Winston Churchill

If you liked this article, please share it on del.icio.us, StumbleUpon or Digg. I’d appreciate it. :)

How to Achieve Your Goals

2009-02-10T22:04:00.000+07:00

How to Achieve Your Goals

Motivate Yourself to Fulfill Your Dreams

Sep 24, 2008

Learn to focus on what you want most in life, stay motivated, and take action to achieve success.

It's not always easy to follow our dreams, but for those who choose to put in the effort, the rewards are enormously satisfying. The following tips will help steer people on the path of success.

Create a Life List

If you don't know what you want, you're bound to receive the unexpected. By writing down a list of goals to accomplish, it narrows your focus and gives direction. Simply write down your most important goal at the top and number them from 1-20. As you go along, adjust your goals accordingly and delete each one that's completed.

Believe in Yourself

People who are successful have an unshakable belief in themselves and their capabilities. Thomas Edison made 10,000 attempts to create a working light bulb because he believed he would succeed. When you believe in yourself, you gain confidence in knowing you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. It’s necessary to feel this way because if you don’t, someone else could easily deter you by saying that you can’t do something or that the goal itself is unattainable. As long as you have a solid foundation of belief, then you will reject the opinions of others and continue on your path.

Stay Inspired

A good way to find a constant flow of inspiration is to follow advice from successful people who offer self-help, inspirational, and motivational books, CDs, & DVDs. By absorbing their way of thinking, it will help you to stay positive and focused on success. The more inspiration you receive, the easier it becomes to work towards your goals.

Do 5 Things Everyday

Jack Canfield, co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series has sold over 150 million books. He says that the main reason he's sold so many copies is that he did 5 things everyday to promote his book. Whether it was calling people, booking himself at an event, doing a radio interview, or sending books to celebrities, he made sure he did 5 things. It didn’t matter if it was the weekend, he did it every day and all the exposure added up to more sales.

Action Leads to Satisf-Action

You may feel sluggish when moving forward in the road to your goal. As you go on, it may seem further to reach and more difficult than you anticipated. It might even feel impossible at times. These are all natural human responses. But if it’s something truly worth pursuing, then you must do whatever it takes to find the strength to push forward. Your actions will reward you once you've accomplished your goals.

The Four Ds to Achieving Your Dreams

Dream It
Dedicate Yourself
Do It
Don’t Give Up

So remember to always believe in yourself no matter what others say. Stay inspired with positive messages, make a habit of doing 5 things a day towards your goal, and always move forward by taking consistent action to reach your dreams.

The copyright of the article How to Achieve Your Goals in Personal Development is owned by Joe Lam. Permission to republish How to Achieve Your Goals in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

How to Find Your Self Motivation Triggers - One Size Does Not Fit All!

2009-01-09T23:30:00.000+07:00

How to Find Your Self Motivation Triggers - One Size Does Not Fit All!

We get motivation advice all the time. Some like to give it for free, just because they like to show as if they know more than you do. But quite often, they do this to try and give you a sense of inferiority - as if they're superior to you. There are exceptions where some people do have a genuine interest to help folks, but these are few. Some people like to sell motivational stuff to make money and earn fame. While I do not favor, nor condone anyone or any method in particular, I will always say one thing - don't entirely depend on any one person or method to motivate you, and that also includes myself! Having said that, let us explore this a little deeper.

What is self motivation? In my opinion, self motivation is the act or process of emotionally persuading, manipulating, inducing, or incentivizing oneself to work towards a desired goal, by giving logical purpose and direction to your behavior, that continues to push you towards that goal, consciously, or sub-consciously.

Having said that, there are several ways that can make you and keep you motivated, until you reach your desired goal. Some of these are - using self hypnosis, reading motivational books, listening to motivational tapes, going to seminars, keeping in touch with the folks who have reached goals that you are striving to reach, putting pictures of the material goals at places where you see them everyday, etc. In fact, I know someone who gets a lot of motivation from anger - he frames receipts of payments he has made towards those who have duped him and keeps them on the wall facing him. It motivates him to reach income levels that surpass them and kind of "beat them", so to say!

Unfortunately, not all motivational methods actually motivate you, and most of them do not keep you in a "motivated state of mind", except a select few. Your job is to find these "select few methods / people" and then follow them religiously. How do you do this? The best way is to measure the results you achieve every time you use one of them. Stick to the ones that work and discard the ones that don't! Simple isn't it? It really is, if you do it right. The only requirement is that you take sufficient action in following them. Don't stop in the middle on the pretext that it doesn't work. Ask yourself - have you dedicated enough time and effort for it to work?

Another idea is to get someone involved in your act, like your spouse or a close friend. Tell them that this is what you intend to do and see how they can help you. While a helping hand certainly helps, more important is the commitment that you have indirectly made to ensure that it works. You shouldn't be afraid of being made fun of for failing; if the person you have involved is close enough to you.

Some more things you should keep in mind:

1. Maintain a positive attitude. Happiness should be at the top of your priority list, so do maintain a positive attitude. This will also affect the people and environment around you.

2. Take breaks regularly. Have you ever had an experience where, when you try to sort out something for hours and hours without any luck, the same thing is sorted out in minutes the next morning? When you're tired and your body and mind needs a break, your focus and analysis capacity is limited. Take a break when required. They didn't write "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" for nothing!

3. Don't take your troubles to bed and work. We all have problems and thinking about them will do no good. Concentrate on the solution, not on the problem. Don't think about it when you're working or going to bed. Neither will your income stand benefited, nor will your spouse!

4. Physical exercise. I won't stress this, you've probably had enough advice and I don't want to add more, just one little line: "Try it and measure the result - if it doesn't work, stop it". I'm confident you won't stop it! It has been scientifically proved that physical and mental health go hand in hand.

How to Decide on a Motivational Speaker

2009-01-09T23:27:00.000+07:00

How to Decide on a Motivational Speaker

A motivational speaker can actuate a team to perform beyond their normal levels and thus achieve fantastic results. But, while an appropriate speaker will be able to do this magical job with seemingly no effort, another not so suitable one, will miss the target completely. The immediate question that arises then is how to choose a motivational speaker that is most the most suitable for the session.

An important point when selecting a motivational speaker is understanding the difference between the 'self achiever' and the 'text book' motivational speaker. While the former is known to have put his/her theory to practice and achieved overwhelming tasks, the latter is simply delivering pep talk with impressive phrases like 'hold yourself no more'. Indeed the self achiever is customarily favored over the textbook speaker, and so an intensive research into the achievements of the motivational speaker is the first step to undertake when selecting a motivational speaker for the team.

It is also relevant that the motivational speaker that you select is suitable and a good match for the audience's requirements. So while a motivational speaker on weight loss may do well at a gym, he/she may not be able to fare so well at corporate sales driven gatherings, despite being a self motivator. The task at hand is to fully understand what the team needs and then expose them to a motivational speaker who is a guru in this field and has a background to show for it. A motivational speaker, in keeping with the needs of the audience, is essential. Hiring haphazardly would result in minimizing your valuable resources.

When selecting the motivational speaker for a group that is looking to re-evaluate its strengths and weaknesses and their personal situations as well, it will be beneficial to hire a motivational speaker who is a self achiever. However, if the idea is to motivate a team into looking towards a shared vision and other such group dynamics, then it will help to employ a leadership motivator such as a coach of a team, etc.

Once the need of the group, and therefore the type of motivational speaker, has been established, one can locate these speakers from various sources. The internet of course is a vast sea of resources, and it is easy to locate several types of motivational speakers, their contact information, and other pertinent information. The Yellow Pages will help tremendously, and sometimes you will hear of a great speaker through word of mouth. I would recommend that you ask others about good motivational speakers that they have used.

The trick is to hire a motivational speaker who has an interesting method of delivery and is capable of holding the interest of the audience while influencing their performance levels. Based on this and a few other pointers that have been listed above, a motivational speaker for the team should be hired to easily meet and achieve the aims of the group.

Motivation-The 3 Aspects of Human Behavior You Must Know to Succeed

2008-12-08T22:35:00.002+07:00

Motivation-The 3 Aspects of Human Behavior You Must Know to Succeed

Motivation can be defined in numerous ways, but there are two basic definitions or descriptions. It can be defined as the main reason or reasons that individuals partake in a certain behavior, specifically human behavior pursuant to the study of psychology or neuropsychology. It can also be defined as the driving force that initiates and drives an individual’s behavior. It is the internal energy that propels us to achieve our goals. Typically, it is considered to be a dynamic state of mind not concerned with personality. There are three aspects of human behavior that motivation is based and founded in: 1. arousal of behavior 2. direction of behavior 3. persistence of behavior Arousal of behavior relates to a specific thing that activates behavior whereas direction of behavior relates to what is responsible for directing the behavior. Persistence of behavior relates to how the behavior is sustained. What drives an individual to be successful is referred to as motive. Usually, all motives fall into one of three categories and are considered to be physiological or psychological in nature: 1. homeostatic motives – hunger, respiration, thirst, etc. 2. nonhomeostatic motives – curiosity about the environment, seeking shelter, etc. 3. learned or social motives – achievement, approval, power, social affiliation, etc In any endeavor that an individual undertakes, motivation (or the lack thereof) is the key element behind the success or failure of the endeavor. It plays a key role in the workplace where the effective performance of an employee is concerned. Management or supervisory personnel have a direct impact and play a significant role in employee motivation in that they employ different motivational techniques to raise productivity levels. It also follows that this has a direct effect on the cooperation levels between the employer and the employee. Motivation can also be classified as 1. negative or positive 2. obvious or subtle 3. intangible or tangible Education or learning is also interrelated with motivation and instructors will oftentimes employ motivational techniques to get their students to learn. It can benefit the student by making them more competent as well as encouraging confidence and the ability to solve problems. Self-motivation has also been classified into two different types: 1. Extrinsic – generated by external factors 2. Intrinsic – generated by internal sensations and is longer-lasting than extrinsic

Self-motivation is considered to be intrinsic in nature, and originates from an individual’s internal drives. It is the basis for overcoming obstacles in the path of achieving one’s goals. Additionally, certain external factors are responsible for driving a person into undertaking a new project or to move in a positive direction. Characteristically, self-motivation is comprised of three factors: 1. beliefs 2. desires 3. values Since an individual cannot rely on others for motivation, self-motivation has to come from within. It plays a key role wherein the individual gathers the courage and strength to achieve certain goals, and is essential for developing new undertakings or making a positive change in one’s lifestyle. Training programs have been proven to be the best way to educate oneself in order to improve motivation and self-motivation.

Self Motivation Techniques For You

2008-12-08T22:17:00.010+07:00

Self Motivation Techniques For You

Most people live their life in an automatic way, they just do what they think they have to do either if they love it or hate it, the problem is that if we dont have a clear purpose in life and clear goals to achieve our life becomes a routine and we therefore lack of motivation.

Motivation needs to have 3 vital principles attitude, a strategy and drive, a person that have those 3 things have unstoppable motivation and can overcome any obstacles because he is confident of himself. But most people dont know how to motivate themselves or what are some effective self motivation techniques.

First you need to have goals, if you dont have clear goals you are just moving without purpose on every direction. Once you have difined your goals to motivate your self you need to have the 3 priciples.

The easiest way to be motivated is to love what you do, you need to have a real interest in whatever you are doing and a real purpose to achieve your goal. If you love what you do you will have a positive attitude.

Then you need a strategy, is great to like what you do, but if you dont have a plan and strategy to follow you are going to lose focus on your objective and get unmotivated. Define the strategy that you are going to follow in order to achieve your goal.

And then you need to have drive, in order to have drive you need to love what you do and be passionate about achieving your goal, if you want to know what drive feels like, do a visualization exercise. Think of how it will feel to reach your goal, feel the excitement and happiness, that is a simple way of doing visualization.

Now let me tell you a few simple techniques to motivate your self with incentives:

The night before the next day write down the tasks that you need to do and prioritize them. Then begin your day doing the most important tasks and do the less important tasks after those.

Reward your self each time you achieve a deadline or you reach a new goal or record. You should keep track of your progress every week so you can know for sure how much closer you are to your goal and where you need to improve.

Make a challenge with a friend or have common goals, if you can find a friend to achieve the same goal as you, it will be very fun and motivating for each of you see their progress.

Those are some simple self motivation techniques that you can start applying today also social motivation is very effective, tell your family and friends what are your goals and let them know your progress.

How to Get Motivated and Start Living

2008-12-04T07:56:00.001+07:00

How to Get Motivated and Start Living
By Jacky Tustain

Feeling Overwhelmed?

One of the key reasons motivation can dry up is the sheer amount of work you may have to do. Juggling work and home, children and your relationship as well as trying to find time for yourself can leave you feeling either in a whirl or exhausted.

This can lead to poor sleep, further tiredness and an increasing loss of motivation. "Where should I start?" is often the question you will find yourself asking in this situation.

The first thing you need to do is accept that you will need to take a long hard look at your life. Are you using your time wisely and efficiently? Are you doing things that you could delegate to others? Are you doing things that you should drop? Have you started projects that you will never finish?

Goals and Priorities

It is important that you decide what your goals and priorities are first. Consider the analogy of clearing out a cupboard. The first thing you decide on before filling it is what is the cupboard for? What is its purpose? This cupboard is like your life. What are you trying to achieve? What do you want to fill your life with? These are your goals and priorities.

Once you have decided this you then need to examine everything that was in the cupboard, which relate to the things you spend your time doing, and choose between 3 options:

1. Keep
2. Give away
3. Bin it

What you keep in your life are the important things to you and what you value most. Things given away are delegated tasks to others and the binned ones are those things that you really don't want to do any more and have no need to continue.

Procrastination

If you clear out the unnecessary and unwanted tasks from your life you should feel a lot lighter. Clarifying what you want out of life and what is most important to you will help you to see what you need to focus on.

But what about the things you have to do that you don't want to? What about the things you keep putting off?

Procrastination is a classic sign of poor motivation and can waste a lot of time. Think about something you constantly procrastinate about - phone calls, making appointments, filing paperwork.

All of these things drain you of energy and motivation as you 'handle' them each time you think about them, see them or physically handle them. This all adds to the feeling of being overwhelmed or too busy. Instead think about organising similar tasks together and tackling them quickly or as soon as possible. You know that you are going to have to do these things anyway so why have them hanging over you? Not only will you feel better but you will have more energy to focus on your real goals and priorities in life.

Jacky Tustain is a Life Coach based in the UK, specialising in helping people turn their life around through raising confidence, motivation and self esteem. For Life Coaching information check out her BeCanDo website or for motivation training her Get Motivated ecourse.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jacky_Tustain

9 Motivation Secrets That Make Dreams Come True

2008-12-04T07:55:00.001+07:00

9 Motivation Secrets That Make Dreams Come True
By Peter Murphy Platinum Quality Author

Dreams do come true as long as we can stay motivated in the face of setbacks. That´s where most of us get discouraged.

So often, reality doesn't measure up to expectations. We can have all these grand plans, whether it is buying a house, making improvements to your kitchen, or write that novel we've always dreamed of.

When trying to get yourself psyched for a task, follow a few simple steps, and you'll see yourself putting forth some real effort.

1. Know your limitations

Don't set yourself up to fail by setting yourself a task that you can't possible do.

If you know nothing about concrete, don't try to build a patio for your house by yourself. If you know nothing about Scottish history, don't think that you can write a book about William Wallace.

2. Planning and preparation

Once you've settled on what it is you're going to do, whether it's painting your daughter's room or writing a
book, plan things out, and prepare.

What are the things you need to do to complete the task, what materials do you need? In the case of the patio example, do you need a building permit? Contact the local building department and find out.

This all feeds into the next point.

3. Research

If you're planning to tackle a substantial task, find out what you need to do it. If you're planning to shoot a movie underwater, check out the cameras needed, the safety equipment and whether or not you'll need to be proficient at scuba diving. If so, and you're not, sign up for a class.

4. Timeframe

Any job worth doing is going to take time. You can't expect to write a novel or build an addition to your house in one day.

This goes hand-in-hand with point 1.

You have to allocate enough time to reasonably complete the task. Yet, you must also set yourself a time limit. Giving yourself too much time can lead to stagnation as you keep putting off to tomorrow what you should be doing today.

5. Enjoyment

It's said that when we're happy, time flies. So, selecting a task that gives you joy is a perfect method for insuring that you give it your all. That can be difficult when faced with something mundane like mowing the lawn. Well, that's where point 6 comes into play.

7. Distraction

If the job you have to perform is something boring and uninteresting, you can easily find yourself giving nearly no motivation to it.

That's where this feature can come into play: give yourself something else to entertain you. If you're mowing the lawn, slip on an iPod full of your favorite music. Sometimes, the task will require you to be focused, so a distraction is uncalled for. In that case, work it into point 7.

8. Reward

This is a great means of getting a lot of efforts out of you and those working with you. The classic example is the high school sports team doing a carwash to raise money. If the players know that a pizza lunch, with all the trimmings, will be forthcoming when they're done, they tend to work harder and better.

9. Personal gain

This sort of goes along with reward, but it can much more substantial. If you're working as a drafter, and passing some college classes or a state test will allow you to get work as an engineer, and thus make more money, you'll be highly motivated to do so.

When trying to get the most out of your efforts, there are a number of tools you can use to motivate yourself. Yet, the thing most important to remember is that you are only ever in competition with yourself. If reality doesn't meet with expectation, don't just assume you've failed or not given it your all.

Commitment is not an on/off proposition; you don't give zero or a hundred percent. Be honest in your self-examination and give yourself credit for the effort you put forth.

Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently produced a very popular free report that reveals how to crush procrastination and sustain lasting motivation. Apply now because it is available for a limited time only at: stay motivated

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_Murphy

How to Get Motivation to Achieve Your Goals?

2008-12-04T07:33:00.001+07:00

How to Get Motivation to Achieve Your Goals?
By Larry Rivera Platinum Quality Author

Finding motivation to achieve your goals could be the bridge that link towards its realization. Most of us have goals that we aspire to reach. It enables you to strive harder and do better in what you are currently doing, whether at home, school, or work. And when faced with obstacles, some people readily admit defeat and give up on their goals. Motivation is what keeps you from quitting and overcoming hurdles to keep your eye on the goal.

What is Motivation?

Goals are as diverse as people's personalities are. Goals can either be simple or complex such as a job promotion, vacation to a foreign country, buying a new car, or acquiring a scholarship. The same also goes with people's motivational needs. Hence, aiming towards your goals is no good without enough motivation that serves as your driving force to realizing them.

Despite constant planning and efforts to moving forward in your goal, failures or unexpected results could happen. Without enough motivation, you could easily give up. Therefore, motivation plays a crucial role in the process. Aside from focusing on the goal itself, think about what there is to you once you have achieved the goal. Is it personal achievement or rewards that you aim to reach? Then, you can devise ways to address your motivational needs.

How to Stay Motivated?

Here are ways to motivate yourself towards achieving your goals:

1. Think of the past and future. This might seem confusing to others but you need to balance between your past achievements and what you intend to achieve in the future. Reminding yourself of previous accomplishments will give you the boost you need to double your efforts. After all, you have done it before and there is no way you cannot accomplish it this time.

2. Break it down to smaller goals. When you have one major goal, better break them down into smaller and more accessible goals. Then, these smaller goals will serve as steps you take until you reach that major goal.

3. Change perspectives. Whatever successes or failures you've encountered in the past, take lessons from out of it and motivate yourself to do better each time. Then, you would be able to focus on whatever it takes to get to your desired goal. If you find something isn't working in your efforts toward the goal, evaluate and change them if necessary.

4. Share your goals to others. Letting others know about your goal works two-ways: it gives you that extra push to work on your goal and you can be assured that there are people that are willing to remind you in case you lose track of your goals.

Increasing Motivation

The best way to start with increasing your motivation is making a personal change. You will be amazed at how much power your mind holds over what you can do. To start that change, ask yourself a series of questions:

- What is my goal?
- What do I need to achieve it?
- What am I looking to achieve by realizing this goal?

These are just basic questions and you can add up the list if you want. The way you speak or act, and your priorities reflect your belief system. Hence, by reprogramming your belief system in such a way that it will facilitate towards working on your goal will make you more effective and motivated.

Finding the right motivation to achieve your goals might be that one thing that stands between its realization.

Hi, my name is Larry Rivera. I am a successful Internet Network Marketer. Are you in a network marketing company? Are you making money? If you keep doing what you are doing you will keep getting what you are getting. Wanna change that? The best support in the industry. Success University Review

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How to Motivate Someone Who Has Already Chosen to Give Up

2008-12-04T07:32:00.001+07:00

How to Motivate Someone Who Has Already Chosen to Give Up
By Lance Winslow Platinum Quality Author

Have you ever run into someone that has hit the wall, bonked or just flat has nothing left? You talk with them and they are completely out of go, all they want to do is quit. You can try to motivate them with good cheer and say; "you can do it, come one let's go, you can do this, come on!" But they still are so intent on quitting they are having none of it, they are not even listening, they have lost all their will, and they have already made up their minds to quit.

Now you might think that at this point there is nothing you can do, you have to leave them, but you can't, you know you can't, that's just not you; that is not what you are about. It's like mountain climbing with someone who is half way up the mountain and so tired they cannot go any further, you cannot just leave them there, if you do they could end up falling. Many people stuck in this distressful situation when trying to motivate others will pretend to leave them and then come back, when this does not work you need to do something else.

You need them to change their minds, as although this is a physical challenge that is the basis for the problem, it has now turned into a mental one. Thus, you must work on it from a psychological stand point. You must also remember that you cannot help someone against their will. They must choose to succeed, choose to face adversity, choose to fight, to dig deep inside when nothing is left.

Once they choose to never surrender, to not give up, it's amazing what they can do. The more adversity they can overcome the stronger they will develop their will to press on. I know, I was there once and someone helped me to keep going. Now when I help others complete their challenges, I will never forget what it's like to be there.

Many who have chosen to give up will say; "you do not understand," but that is like a teenager telling their parents that they do not understand, sure they do, they were teens once too. So, when trying to help others tell them that you do understand, tell them of your pain and how you made it through, then tell them; "come on, let's do this together!"

"Lance Winslow" - Lance Winslow's Bio. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/.

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Definition of Motivation

2008-12-04T07:31:00.001+07:00

Definition of Motivation
By Wendy Pan Platinum Quality Author

The definition of motivation is to give reason, incentive, enthusiasm, or interest that causes a specific action or certain behavior. Motivation is present in every life function. Simple acts such as eating are motivated by hunger. Education is motivated by desire for knowledge. Motivators can be anything from reward to coercion.

There are two main kinds of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is internal. It occurs when people are compelled to do something out of pleasure, importance, or desire. Extrinsic motivation occurs when external factors compel the person to do something. However, there are many theories and labels that serve as sub tittles to the definition of motivation. For example: "I will give you a candy bar if you clean your room." This is an example of reward motivation.

A common place that we see the need to apply motivation, is in the work place. In the work force, we can see motivation play a key role in leadership success. A person unable to grasp motivation and apply it, will not become or stay a leader. It is critical that anyone seeking to lead or motivate understand "Howletts Hierarchy of Work Motivators."

Salary, benefits, working conditions, supervision, policy, safety, security, affiliation, and relationships are all externally motivated needs. These are the first three levels of "Howletts Hierarchy" When these needs are achieved, the person moves up to level four and then five. However, if levels one through three are not met, the person becomes dissatisfied with their job. When satisfaction is not found, the person becomes less productive and eventually quits or is fired. Achievement, advancement, recognition, growth, responsibility, and job nature are internal motivators. These are the last two levels of "Howletts Hierarchy." They occur when the person motivates themselves (after external motivation needs are met.) An employer or leader that meets the needs on the "Howletts Hierarchy" will see motivated employees and see productivity increase. Understanding the definition of motivation, and then applying it, is one of the most prevalent challenges facing employers and supervisors. Companies often spend thousands of dollars each year hiring outside firms just to give motivation seminars.

Another place motivation plays a key role is in education. A teacher that implements motivational techniques will see an increased participation, effort, and higher grades. Part of the teachers job is to provide an environment that is motivationally charged. This environment accounts for students who lack their own internal motivation. One of the first places people begin to set goals for themselves is in school. Ask any adult: "What is the main thing that motivates you." Their answer will most likely be goals. Even the simplest things in life are the result of goal setting. A person may say, "I want to save 300.00 for a new T.V." Well, that is a goal. School is where we are most likely to learn the correlation between goals, and the definition of motivation. That correlation is what breeds success.

So, as you can see, motivation is what propels life. It plays a major role in nearly everything we do. Without motivation, we would simply not care about outcomes, means, accomplishment, education, success, failure, employment, etc.. Then, what would be the point?

Wendy Pan is an accomplished niche website developer and author. To learn more about definition of motivation, please visit Self Improvement and Motivation for current articles and discussions.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Wendy_Pan

Self Motivation

2008-12-03T23:01:00.001+07:00

Self Motivation

self motivation, a brief guide

By Claude Faucher

For any homeworker, it is the most important factor which will lead to success of failure. You wake up, the sun shining through your window. You have no boss except for the international internet market place, and she doesn’t tell you off if you’re late, she doesn’t let you know you’re not being efficient.

So wake up and get to work on your list of stuff to do, that you made yourself the night before. Make the list you made your boss and follow it, each and every day, and remember to be realistic. If your list will take twelve hours to complete, chances are, you won’t do it, each day the tasks will pile up upon the old ones until you’re buried under a veritable mountain of dull monotonous tasks. Self motivation is the most strenuous part. So take it easy, schedule a mini cigarette break for every time you complete a task if you smoke, or a tea break if you’re healthier then I am.

It’s all about commitment, persistence, being realistic with yourself, you’re not a machine and if you’ve spent your life being used to being told what to do by your boss, your school teachers, your friends, which surprise surprise is true of most people, then making the changes to your self that might make your work from home feasible requires a journey of self discovery and you will find yourself much more likely to know yourself and your weaknesses.

Why is self motivation difficult? I would put it down to the nature of the species. We’re herd animals, designed to gather in groups for safety, designed, in evolutionary terms to hunt in teams. Hermits have never been the most productive of people.

But the advantages may be huge. You cannot rely on others to encourage you all the time, you need to be self motivated to achieve in any aspect of life.

The devil of the solitary worker, whether you’re a writer or an internet marketer is procrastination and a good way to defeat it is to divide your tasks into manageable portions, and to consistently analyze your self. Why didn’t you complete step four of the list you made? Was it because you were distracted by the latest episode of your favorite TV show, was it because you spent too much time surfing and emailing? Be reasonable with yourself. Be hard towards yourself

Claude Faucher is a top internet marketer and business coach. He specialises in helping others create significant incomes working from the comfort of home. Website: http://www.wealthymarketeralliance.com

Find free, high quality articles you can republish from www.copypastearticles.com

Self Motivation Tips and Strategies

2008-12-03T22:48:00.001+07:00

Self Motivation Tips and Strategies

This article about self motivation tips is appealing for those interested about this topic is written by Ken Austin

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For many people, self motivation can be a task in itself. Not everyone has the self-discipline to accomplish a task without constant supervision; however, in both education and employment, it is the most important part of the learning process. After all, beyond the middle school development, a student must begin the process of training for the “real world,” and part of this process includes developing self motivation.

Self motivation begins in school as you learn how to complete assigned tasks on time, especially those that require time outside of the classroom. You cannot expect the teacher to be the motivator all the time, so therefore, you must learn how to motivate yourself. Without that ability, your life will be much more time-challenging since you will not have a clue how to complete projects without a predominant reason to do so. In other words, you may clean your home because guests are coming, but you will not do it unless something motivates you to do so because you do not know the art of self-motivation.

The best way to approach the answer to this dilemma is to make a list of motivation tips. This should consist of things that customarily motivate you to do things that need completed. One thing that motivates many people is the possibility that something will come up to prevent them from completing something on time. It doesn’t matter what it is – school project, chores, work details, or personal errands – if you condition yourself into understanding that failing to do things now may mean the inability to do them later, your self motivation will take over so that you accomplish the tasks in a timely manner.

There is no better motivating factor than facing the possibility that some pre-driven force will prevent you from doing the task if you don’t do it right now. For example, if you put off cleaning your house until you expect guests, it opens the possibility of unexpected guests arriving or of something breaking down, and you need to call a repairman. At work, that motivation may be that another more important project arrives on your desk, so now you have two priority projects, and you can’t go home until they are completed. There may be other ways, but creating your own stress is the one of the best motivation tips that anyone can offer.
For more self motivation tips and self motivation techniques, please visit the self improvement and motivation website.

David Miller

David is Patric Chan's in-house writer for www.successandlife.com.
View all articles by David Miller

How To Get Motivated To Make More Sales

2008-12-03T21:33:00.002+07:00

How To Get Motivated To Make More Sales

Most people do not understand how and why they get motivated and therefore their motivation levels tend to ebb and flow like the daily tides. Few people have total control of their own motivation levels.

By Gavin Ingham

Copyright (c) 2008 Gavin Ingham

Few people would argue that motivated salespeople and business people make more sales. Wandering around looking like the world is out to get you and with your chin dragging along the floor never helped anyone to be a sales superstar and it never will.

Your motivation, your mindset and your actions are critical in helping you to achieve your goals and close the sales and build the business that you want. When I am invited to companies one of the most common questions asked by sales managers, sales directors and business owners alike is, “How do I get and keep my sales teams motivated?”

Indeed, one of the most common questions asked of me by salespeople themselves is, “How do I get and keep myself motivated?”

Most people do not understand how and why they get motivated and therefore their motivation levels tend to ebb and flow like the daily tides. Few people have total control of their own motivation levels. Salespeople know that they need to be motivated to sell, they want to be motivated to sell, but often they just cannot maintain that all important motivation to sell.

Motivation tip 1:

Motivation begins and ends with you. You determine your own motivation. Motivation is internal, it’s something that you control; even though you may not realise that this is the case. Many people believe that motivation is something that happens to them. For this reason they and their sales results get buffeted severely throughout life.

Sales superstars do not believe or act this way. Sales superstars know that their personal motivation is down to them. No matter what anyone else does or says they get to choose their own motivation levels. No matter whether they get the deal or they lose the deal, they get to choose their own motivation levels. No matter whether life’s going the way they want or it’s not, they get to choose their own motivation levels. And it’s that choice that sets them apart and defines them as the rock stars of sales.

If you want to join the ranks of the sales rock star elite now then you need to take responsibility for your motivation on a day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute and moment to moment basis…

Step 1 is to decide to do just that. To decide to hold yourself to a higher standard, to decide that nothing short of operating at the optimum level is acceptable for you anymore, to decide that you are a sales rock star.

Step 2 is to employ effective strategies for boosting your motivation and staying on top of your game. One powerful way to get that jolt is by sharing proven techniques so this post is a double whammy - you gain by reading & you gain by sharing.

Start by making a list of ways that you can motivated both yourself and your team and take time to employ them on a daily basis.

Happy selling.

Do You Find It Hard To Feel Gratitude?

2008-12-03T21:32:00.001+07:00

Do You Find It Hard To Feel Gratitude?

The idea of living in an "attitude of gratitude" has been brought to the attention of more people than ever before through its use in the recent best selling book, The Secret. Many readers who are anxious to explore the use of the Law of Attraction, struggle with the concept of starting out with feelings of gratitude. Here is a simple way to invoke gratitude.

By Elaine Currie

Writing a list of the good things in your life can help you to establish an attitude of gratitude.

Many people seeking to improve their situation through using the power of positive thought find it difficult to cultivate feelings of gratitude. This is not because they are actively ungrateful or even careless of the reasons they have to feel gratitude. These are just ordinary people who have never before tried to develop an attitude of gratitude and they find it hard to get started.

Many people have come across the phrase “attitude of gratitude” for the first time through its use in the best-selling book and video, The Secret. For a lot of the people who watch the DVD or read the book this will be their first encounter with the idea that positive thinking can change lives. When they decide to try to employ the techniques described in books such as The Secret, they find developing an attitude of gratitude very difficult.

To understand why this should be true, you only need to look at the reasons people have for trying to use the techniques. The one thing all these people have in common is that they want something. This is true whether they desire success in business, happiness in their personal relationships, a cure for illness, wealth, improved strength or any of the myriad material and metaphysical goals humanity can devise. They want something, they are not satisfied with their lives as they are at this time.

Many people taking the first step towards living in an attitude of gratitude, cannot see what reason they have to be grateful. Their thoughts keep returning to the things they want to change. They cannot find the way to shift their focus away from the cause of their feelings of dissatisfaction. For these people to truly acquire an attitude of gratitude, they need to understand that dissatisfaction and gratitude are not mutually exclusive. It is a question of focus. Focusing on the pleasing things in your life is positive. Thinking about the reasons to be dissatisfied with your current circumstances is negative.

Most of the people struggling to develop an attitude of gratitude, aren’t beset by serious problems or deep suffering. They are ordinary folk who want to achieve their full potential. The difficulty they have is in shifting their focus away from thoughts of what they are wishing to achieve and onto the abundance they already have in their lives. They do not realise that they can counteract a negative thought with a positive one and they do not understand how simple that is to do.

It is natural that thoughts of present difficulties will recur. You cannot prevent negative thoughts from popping into your head. The key to achieving true feelings of gratitude and well-being is to use positive ideas to overwhelm these negative thoughts. This is achieved by actively thinking of a positive thing every time a negative thought occurs. This is what many people fail to grasp. They think they have to prevent themselves from having negative thoughts and, when they fail to achieve this, they give up.

When starting the exercise of feeling gratitude, it is a good idea to write down a list of reasons to be grateful. This list need not be very long and it can include anything you like. For example, you could start with the fact that you are in good health, that your family is well, that you have a good relationship with your partner, that you have a place to live, that you have nourishing food to eat. It is your list so include anything that will work for you, no matter how trivial it might seem. If you feel blessed to have that warm winter coat in your favorite color, include that. Keep copies of your list where you will be able to read it to remind yourself of the reasons you have to feel gratitude any time negative thoughts try to overtake you.

If you find yourself thinking a negative thought eg “I hate the fact that I have to go out in the freezing cold to get the groceries”, counteract that negativity by thinking “I will enjoy the trip to the store because I have my lovely coat to keep me warm”. No matter if the little niggling negative thought seems trivial, make sure to counteract it with a positive thought. After a little practise, this will become almost as natural as breathing. You won’t be able to allow a negative thought to exist without burying it under a positive thought.

Key To Success: Motivation

2008-12-03T21:08:00.001+07:00

Key To Success: Motivation
by: Donovan Baldwin

Motivation is not a new concept to most of us. We have felt that first burst of enthusiasm. Perhaps it was an ad or news story on TV, an article in a magazine, a chance remark, or an embarrassing moment that brought us that sudden rush of certainty that something needed to be done...could be done. We felt a strong, perhaps overwhelming desire to DO SOMETHING...something that would change what had been or create something new. Often, this is accompanied by a clear and certain knowledge of what to do, how to do, and what the result would be.

Maybe we decided to lose weight, start a business, or write a book. Still bolstered by our reaction to what we had seen, heard, or felt, were certain of success! We would start that exercise program, or open that savings account tomorrow; we would begin writing a chapter a day...tomorrow. No! Tomorrow was too far away! We knew what we wanted and how to get it and we were going to start today!

Nothing could stop us!!

Of course, we know what happened over the next few hours, days, or weeks.

The clear image we had of our success dimmed and blurred; perhaps disappeared all together. The daily exercise routine, became a couple of times a week, and then was dropped all together. We quit making the deposit, or the notebook we bought for writing our great novel suddenly seemed too full of blank pages to ever fill.

The dream ended. If we were lucky, that's all that happened...it ended. For some, however, it lingered on as one more reminder of all the unfulfilled dreams and became part of our self image. It was another defeat to add to the stack.

So! What happened and how do we change it?

What happened was a combination of life, human nature, and personality or character.

Life supplies us with a constant stream of information, events, and opportunities. It is difficult to keep sight of the goal and the process while maintaining the initial level of motivation which burned so brightly when it was the new kid on the block.

Human nature has defense mechanisms and weaknesses which combine to cause us to lose the fervor we felt...before we begin to become aware of the obstacles in our path. Sadly, an obstacle does not have to be real to be effective. The well-intentioned doubts of friends and family, whether real or imagined, are both equally effective in extinguishing the fires of desire.

As with many things in our lives, our personalities and characters have a great impact on our success or failure in any given situation. Whether they contribute to our success or become obstacles does not, however, define us as failures! It is also important to note that the factors of personality or character which may be in the way are NOT always set in stone and may be altered so that success becomes a more common state.

Ways to maintain motivation keep our dream clear, bright, and fresh after the first giddy rush of elation we felt when we first felt we knew "the answer". We cannot change life in general, but we can change how we live it and alter the human nature and circumstances which would rob us of success.

1. Write it down: Whatever the goal or dream, commit it to paper. Often, the dream simply becomes harder to see, more difficult to focus on, as new events and factors evolve. Writing it down allows us to refocus and see the goal again as we saw it when it was fresh.

2. Read it: Carry the paper you wrote it on with you. Make an extra copy and put it on your bathroom mirror, another on the refrigerator door. Take it out several times daily and read it...out loud is best, but silently in the bathroom is better than nothing.

3. Revise it: Things change, we grow, we learn. Be real. Having to alter a dream or the process of achieving it is not failure. It is reality.

4. Log it: Make note of what you did to achieve your goal or what you can do tomorrow or next week. Don't worry about how far you got, or how much you did...just that you did it.

5. Learn it: Study the subject. You don't have to go back to school for a degree, but regularly delving into the subject will help keep you focused and perhaps give you new ideas to help you on your way.

6. Share it: If you dare, you are the judge. Letting people know what you're doing, while being aware that they may have a negative view of it, can be motivating.

7. Read about motivation: These few words are not the only ones written on the subject. There are other ideas out there, and a sentence in another article or a book may be the key you need to go farther than you have ever gone before.

The goal is to keep the motivation level somewhere near the level it was when you started.

Motivating Yourself When You're Creatively Self Employed

2008-12-01T23:02:00.005+07:00

Motivating Yourself When You're Creatively Self Employed

When you're self employed you become both boss and employee. This dynamic sets up a whole set of inner relationships and rebellions that need to be handled with care. Particularly if your line of work is a creative one.

By Mary McNeil

Self motivation is a well known challenge for the self employed. And never more so than for creatives. Why so? Well creative types very often choose to become self employed precisely so that they can exercise their creativity and flexibility in their work. Not for them the tedium of a regular nine to five office job!

But when you’re self employed, YOU become the boss. And the employee. And this dynamic sets up a whole set of inner relationships and rebellions that need to be handled with care. Particularly when it comes to managing your motivation so that you can achieve successful outcomes for both your business and for yourself.

Assuming that at least part of the reason you’re in business is because you want to make money, your inner boss will be need to be in a position to make strategic decisions, undertake planning activities and dictate hours of work.

And assuming that you’re creatively self employed because you want flexibility and creativity in your working life and don’t want to be dictated to, your inner employee will need a certain degree of freedom and leeway on the job.

So how is your relationship between your inner boss and your inner employee?

Recently I asked this question of a creative coaching client who was struggling to run her home-based creative business. She surprised herself with her reply! She’d expected to respond that her inner boss was terrorizing her inner employee and that what she needed was more freedom to work flexibly so that she could enjoy her working time more. What emerged, though, as she thought about the question, was that the roles were reversed… her inner employee was rebelling against her inner boss to such an extent that she despaired of ever producing any meaningful output.

To motivate yourself happily and successfully, it’s clearly important to nurture a supportive relationship between these two parts of yourself. And that means engaging them in regular dialogue with each other. Your inner boss needs to appreciate the working style and form of flexibility that your inner employee resonds best to. And your inner employee needs to understand what the boss reasonably requires in order to produce results that both will find satisfactory and rewarding.

Both your inner boss and inner employee will sometimes need to understand the principle of the delayed reward. Your inner boss, for example, is more likely to allow your inner employee to take that luxuriously creative hour for writing in the middle of the afternoon, if there’s an understanding that the employee will work, and work far better, in the early evening as a result. And likewise, your inner employee is more likely to let your inner boss lay down some plans for future ambitious projects if there’s an understanding between the two of them that the plan includes an allowance for creative travels and time out on completion.

So as you think about your conflicting motivations when it comes to work, creativity, self employment, money and flexibility, take a moment to be aware of the different parts of yourself that have a stake in the process. If you can involve each part in a way that allows it to have a say and to negotiate with the other parts, you’re likely to achieve a much higher overall level of motivation in your work. And, of course, the corresponding success that comes along with it.

If you're brimming with creative ideas but struggling to develop them into tangible output, the practical support of a coach can make all the difference. Mary McNeil of Create a Space is an experienced, ICF-certified life coach, natural born planner and declutterer extraordinaire! She works with artists, writers and musicians, coaching and supporting them as they make creative output a practical reality.

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5 Must Know Steps To Motivation

2008-12-01T23:02:00.004+07:00

5 Must Know Steps To Motivation

This article covers the unconventional methods of motivation. They are expressed in 5 steps which are intended to give the reader a deeper understanding of motivation and how they can implement these tools into their life to create more success and personal power.

By Shannon Graham

Many of us have read all about how to set goals, how to make plans, and get pumped up. Yet time after time people talk to me about how they need to be more motivated. Motivation seems to be like this cruel joke because; a lot of the time we all know for the most part what it takes. We know the tips, the tricks and everything in between. So why is it that we for some reason knowing all these things find our motivation falling by the way side? It is because we use all these tips and ideas but we never really own them, that is make them part of who we are. Take it upon yourself to learn and own these 5 steps that follow and motivation will be yours.

1. Success and Fear

It seems to me that one of the largest issues that will hold people back in their pursuit of happiness is fear. To be more specific it is the fear of failure, let’s face it no one wants to feel like a failure. So then why is it that some of us are willing to move toward that which may bring failure and some of us avoid it like the plague? It comes down to our evaluation of success and failure. Try looking at failure as a learning experience a way for you to gain more information and more power, and then be willing to take that new knowledge and power and use it in your next attempt. Think of it like narrowing down your options until all you are left with is success.

2. Forget the list

How familiar does this sound; it is New Years Eve and everyone is running around being jolly, stuffed with a little too much turkey and eggnog. You sit down at the end of the night and decided GAD NAB IT!! This is going to be the year that things change. So what do you do? You set a goal! Then because you read in some trashy magazine that you should make a list of all the benefits you’re goal will bring, you do you make a list that is two miles long. The trouble tends to be that the list is made up of logical items. Human beings as much as we may not like to admit are not logical, we are emotional. The solution? When you are examining the benefits of you’re goal make totally sure that they draw from you a deep emotional feeling. This will guarantee some extra fire in your engine!

3. Negative is not bad

When you are collecting your thoughts and stacking the deeply emotional benefits of your goal do not to forget to ad in the deeply emotional negative consequence that you will face if you do not go along with or stick to your goal. You would not believe the amount of motivation you can have by creating a crisp clear image of what it would feel like to fall short of you’re goals. To miss out on all the glory that comes with attaining them. So get out there and think negative! (But do it with passion!)

4. The View from Above

Another habit we often carry with us that can keep us from our motivation is our vision. I am not talking about literal vision, rather our ability to see the future. It becomes extremely difficult if not impossible to become motivated if we do not have a crisp clear picture of what our life will be like once this goal is ours. We tend to be very moment oriented; don’t you find this to be true? We generally are more interested in what will make us happy in this moment and not what will make us happy a week, a month, a year from now and sadly far too often we pay the price because of it. So use you’re gift of imagination to paint a vivid picture of the future, and all the splendor that comes along with it, do not be content with the present and you’re improvement will be never ending!

5. Act for the Sake of Action

There will be a time when you use all these tools and ideas, and even start to make them become a part of who you are and still will see your motivation shrinking. Now this is when you’re personal power matters more than ever. It is at this moment when you are really making an effort to improve and you are on the edge of break through that your old lazy self will fight with all it’s got to ensure things do not change. So what do you do? You would do what any person that has a cause would do; you fight back with all of your soul, all of your heart, and all of your might. When you feel like you just can not take another step or get out of that bed when the alarm goes off that is the exact moment whether you want to or not that you must act. You must trump you’re your negative thoughts with positive action. Just do it, do not think just make your body do what you know it needs to. Do this and soon you will completely own your new habit and motivation will seep from your pores.

Keep in mind all great things take time. But if you are willing to use these steps and commit to owning them and not just using them then I can say with certainty that you’re life will improve. Thanks for reading and always remember to live like a champion!

Shannon Graham is a professional life coach that works with people to help them reach higher levels of confidence and empowerment. At only 25 years old he has been studying success principles and personal improvement strategies for over a decade. For more information visit: http://www.success4rlife.com

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How I Beat Procrastination

2008-12-01T23:01:00.003+07:00

How I Beat Procrastination

Do you have a "To Do" list? Do you constantly have trouble completing your "To Do" list? Here are some of the BEST hints I've ever heard about how to tackle something that seems to be innate in most humans ' Procrastination!

By Winsome Coutts

Here are the BEST tips I’ve ever heard about how to deal with Procrastination.

If you are really well organised, get things done in a timely manner, and do NOT have a huge undoable list called: “LIST OF THINGS TO DO”, then don’t waste your time reading this.

Procrastination.........I am really well qualified to write on this topic, because I have been known to not only have a list of things to do, but in that same list I have even written ‘ ‘read this list’. I mean to say .......

I am happy to report that I am getting over this ‘List Addiction’

If this strikes a cord with you, then I have discovered the best hint ever. I am not kidding; this has really helped me....

Procrastinate no longer.

We are nearly all aware these days of the importance of goal setting. You may have heard about the recent Harvard study which researched the effects of goal setting on a class of young men, a generation ago and then now. Many of them wrote down very clear goals, the rest of them didn’t. I don’t think I need to spell out the outcome 40 years later....

So you probably have goals, I hope you do; and have even written them down. We know that goal setting and being very focused about our dream is crucial. But while you are busy, busy with a list of ‘Things To Do’, a list often of trivial things, you are not really focussing at all.

So the BEST hint for Procrastinators? This is it. From today’s list of things to do...PRIORITISE, look at those tasks and put them in order of importance. Start with Number 1 and do it until it is done. It is only after you you have completed Number 1, that you can allow yourself to move on to Number 2.

Prioritise...what does that really mean? It means put at the top of the list the MOST IMPORTANT things that will lead you towards your goal.

And all those silly little tasks you put on your list that are easy to do, and that don’t move you directly towards our goal, down to the bottom of the list they go. It means things like, don’t go checking your emails every 5 minutes to see if something new has arrived, no nipping out for a coffee every so often, instead of doing another task.

It means doing the important things and NOT the ‘urgent things’. It means not jumping to fill in a survey that was sent to you, or fixing up something for the person who shouts the loudest. It means not putting off something that seems a bit uncomfortable...Just GET ON WITH IT. Once you start, then you will see what the next step will be.

Here is Another great tip.

If a 2 minute job (or less) pops up...DO IT NOW. That’s it, that’s all. Don’t even bother putting it on the ‘TO DO’ list. All you will do is look at it over and over again. Just finish it straight away, so that it doesn’t take up valuable space in your head.

Now you will have some time to really work on getting clear about your goals.

Winsome Coutts has a passion for personal development, The Law of Attraction and The Secret film. She is co-owner of Global Secrets International. For heaps of info, free downloads & self-help tools, go to: http://www.the-secret-dvd.net/

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How Self Motivation Compliments A Work At Home Career

2008-12-01T23:00:00.005+07:00

How Self Motivation Compliments A Work At Home Career

Why is self motivation so important? There are a lot of different reasons why. People everywhere are learning fast how important this is. Find out for yourself why you need to be self motivated if you work at home and want to be a success in all areas of your life.

By Mark Molina

Why is self motivation so important? There are a lot of different reasons why. People everywhere are learning fast how important this is. Find out for yourself why you need to be self motivated if you work at home and want to be a success in all areas of your life.

There are many people who have figured out the importance of self motivation. However, there are others out there that want to do things but they don’t have the self motivation needed to get the job done.

Other people can help to motivate you for a lot of things but if you want to reach a certain goal than you need to learn to motivate yourself. So why would do you want to be self motivated?

There are a couple of different reasons why people everywhere need to be self motivated. If you work at home and you are your own boss you do not have anyone but yourself to motivate you. You have no co-workers or a boss to motivate you!

Here is another example, do you want to have a certain career such as becoming a nurse? If you do than it will be up to you to find ways to use self motivation in order to achieve that goal. Only you and your efforts will reach that goal, and it all starts with self motivation.

You won’t get very far in this world if you don’t know how to use self motivation. No matter how hard it is to reach a goal you can have the power to do at when you understand how to motivate yourself.

You need to make sure and educate yourself on how to use self motivation in your own life. The best way to do this is to find training programs that will help you learn how.

You can also try self hypnosis if that would work best for you. You just need to make sure that you find something to help you learn what you need to know. This is important.

No matter what way you educate yourself, you need to make sure that you become as self motivated as you can. If you can use self motivation in your life than you will have a much higher chance of being successful in all areas of your life including if you work at home.

Mark Molina invites you to visit his reverse funnel system website to learn how you can start and run your own successful home business today. If making money by plugging into the right team for success appeals to you please click here to get help now:===> http://reversefunnelmadness.com/

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Self Motivation, You Have To Have It To Succeed

2008-12-01T23:00:00.004+07:00

Self Motivation, You Have To Have It To Succeed

In order to build your legitimate home based business opportunities you will have to be self motivated. Often it will be just you, your computer, and a cup of coffee and many things you can do besides working on your business. As a home based business owner you will not have a boss pushing you or corporate dead lines to meet. The only one who can do it is you. Below are 5 tips for self motivation.

By Stephen Meyer

In order to build your legitimate home based business opportunities you will have to be self motivated. Often it will be just you, your computer, and a cup of coffee and many things you can do besides working on your business. As a home based business owner you will not have a boss pushing you or corporate dead lines to meet. The only one who can do it is you. Below are 5 tips for self motivation.

5 Ways For Self motivation

Tip Number One is to Involve The People You Know

This first tip is one of the hardest for many people because it involves your pride. You are putting yourself on the line and doing anything other than what you promised can mean failure to yourself and to your friends. This tip is to involve others in your project. Even those of us who live very Hermit like lives know people we can involve. They can be personal friends, people in our neighborhoods, family and those we have occasional casual conversations with. By telling these people what you are doing and by setting a date for completion you are placing expectations in the minds of your friends and family.

What you have done is doubled your motivational level by first telling them what your project is and then by giving them a set due date. By telling them what it is and building an expectation in them of your best work you have motivated yourself to do the best work you possibly can. None of us want to show our friends something we have done after only giving it half our effort. Our pride will not let us do that. Instead we want to show the finest work we possibly can. The other thing you have done is motivated yourself to complete your project on a specific date. Very often using this motivational method you are motivating yourself to complete our projects early.

The Second Tip IS To Give Yourself A Due Date

Most people who are in business understand they must have a solid business plan in order to grow their business to a desired level. The legitimate home based business opportunities entrepreneur is no different. They must also know what is required to build their business. There are things that must be done at certain times. Things like making a bank deposit must be done by a certain time each day the same as many other things that must be done to succeed in business.

You must have a clear knowledge of the repercussions of not completing a task. Most of us do not like the idea that we may be loosing money if something we must do is not completed. By knowing these goals and outcomes and then setting a time frame for completion of our products we are motivating ourselves to complete the needed work on time. Money and the loss of it is a strong motivational factor. Setting time frames that must be met is also a strong motivational factor.

Step Three, Reward Yourself

Life has many examples of how treating yourself can give you motivation to complete your projects on time. Pavlov’s dogs are a prime example. By building an expectation of a desired result you can push yourself to finish your work. If the result is a treat and you have a desire to receive that treat each time you start a task you will have the motivation to complete the task each and every time you start on a project.

Make your treat something that is special and something your strongly desire. Then do not give it to yourself until the task is completed. This might require a little self discipline especially if you are accustomed to treating yourself when ever you please. What it will do for you is the same thing it did for our children. It will cause you to complete your task and often times sooner than the time you had set. It will give you that little bit of motivation that is often needed in building your home based business.

Creating a Positive Mindset Is Tip Number Four

Because legitimate home based business opportunities professionals are often alone with their businesses it is easy for them to slip into negative thinking. This can drag your business down and kill your motivation for completing your projects. If and when it happens you must stop it in its tracks. Luckily it is easy to stop. Change the atmosphere in your work area by putting some fun music on your stereo. Get some pictures of your family, friends, and pets and put them on your desk where they are easy to see.

Then when negative thoughts creep up simply look at those pictures and think about the good times you’ve had and the goals you have set for the future. You can even begin thinking about the last step, begin thinking about the treat you will be giving yourself when you are finished. Negative thoughts can destroy your motivation but by turning those thoughts to positive you will increase your self motivation far above what it was.

Tip Number Five, Give Yourself A break

If you are not giving yourself the time you need off away from work you can quickly destroy the motivation needed to complete your work. Without time off you can also make it very difficult to accomplish the above four motivational methods. Smart business owners understand they must give their employees time off not only away from work but during the work day also. If they do not give them time off they know their production levels will fall off due to a lack of motivation. The same is true for those who own a home based business. You must give yourself a break in order to be productive.

Like everyone the legitimate home based business opportunities owner has to have time to enjoy their lives. After all that is what they are working for, a better life. By doing this you will refresh your mind giving you the motivation to approach your work with all the energy you have. It will give you the Friday Night motivation. You know you will be off work at a certain time and will be motivated to complete your task by that time so you can enjoy your time off being worry free.

Stephen Meyer is a legitimate home based business oportunities owner who eagerly assist others find their profitable legitimate home based business opportunity. To view his many opportunity go to. Your Legitimate Home Based Business Opportunities Guide

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How To Greatly Increase Your Motivation To Achieve Your Goals

2008-12-01T22:59:00.003+07:00

How To Greatly Increase Your Motivation To Achieve Your Goals

How badly do you want your goals? How motivated are you to be persistent in going after your goals and dreams until they are achieved? How much you want your goals and dreams determines the strength of your motivation. It is that strength that will steadfastly pursue your dreams irrespective of any challenges, setbacks, oppositions or confrontations.

By Hani Al-Qasem

How badly do you want your goals? How motivated are you to be persistent in going after your goals and dreams until they are achieved?

How much you want your goals and dreams determines the strength of your motivation. It is that strength that will steadfastly pursue your dreams irrespective of any challenges, setbacks, oppositions or confrontations.

I recall a friend who set himself a goal that he felt extremely excited about. He talked for days on end about that goal; what it meant to him and how he really wanted to achieve it within six months at the most.

A couple of months later, my friend Bill, took me aside. I could see he was feeling miserable and despondent. He went on to tell me how disappointed he was that his goal had not materialised.

“Goal? What Goal?” was my honest answer. It was not what Bill wanted to hear.

“You know, my goal to get a toned body,” Bill answered, with a sense of defeat and frustration in his voice.

“Oh that. I thought you were kidding. We all figured you changed your mind since we don’t see you going to the gym anymore,” I replied.

What happened here?

In the beginning, Bill was excited about his new goal of getting a firm and toned body; a sculptured chest, arms and thighs. He was full of motivation and determination to achieve that goal.

He consistently went to the gym four to five days a week. He took his protein shakes, his Creatine and chatted non-stop about his training schedule and how pleased he was with his progress.

By the third month, he started to go to the gym twice a week and mid-way through that month it trickled to once a week.

His dilemma was he couldn’t understand why his motivation to workout had dwindled to once a week half-way through the third month.

“At the beginning, I was so full of enthusiasm and motivation. I felt nothing could stop me,” he explained.

So what went wrong? Where did his incredible motivation go?

After careful examination, it came to light that Bill had lost his initial burst of motivation because he was not really passionate about being toned.

It was merely a passing ‘wish’. In other words, he did not want to be toned badly enough. If he did, if he felt passionate, he would have continued his workout routine no matter what challenges or distractions he faced.

Bill was torn between two thoughts. The first said, “Yeah I’d like to have a toned body.” But his conflicting second thought argued, “Sure, but you could get along in life without it.”

And who won? His conflicting thought had the upper hand. You see, Bill would have ‘liked’ the toned body, but he did not turn that want into a solid goal. The toned body idea remained just that, an idea or a wish. As such, his once powerful motivation had weakened until it was there no more.

If he had turned it into a goal, he would have sought after it. He would have been motivated to pursue that goal irrespective of how tired or how busy he was.

After all, it was his goal. And goals are meant to be achieved.

Passion ignites the drive from deep within to maintain the motivation to reach all sorts of goals and dreams. Passion provides the fuel to keep you in a highly motivated state of mind.

Once you find out what you are passionate about, boost your motivation to remain persistent regardless of any setbacks and obstacles.

In time , your motivation will increase in momentum regardless of any distractions or interruptions. Motivation pushes you to take consistent daily action to achieve and live your goals.

Hani Al-Qasem is the co-author of "Self-Confidence Building in 7 Steps." Raise your confidence in any area of your life by applying the learnings in his e-book. Download the free 48-page sample of "Self-Confidence Building in 7 Steps” and start benefiting. Discover how you can boost your motivation to perform at higher levels with True Thoughts mind reprogramming MP3 downloads. Simply press play, relax and change.

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Using Self Motivation To Succeed Online

2008-12-01T22:59:00.001+07:00

Using Self Motivation To Succeed Online

The internet based affiliate marketing business can be a difficult industry to work in. There is incredibly stiff competition, hundreds of thousands of sites just like yours, and you never know exactly how to reach people. It can be stressful working for yourself because of the numerous responsibilities you have. Because of all this, self motivation is crucial to having success online.

By Stephen Meyer

The internet based affiliate marketing business can be a difficult industry to work in. There is incredibly stiff competition, hundreds of thousands of sites just like yours, and you never know exactly how to reach people. It can be stressful working for yourself because of the numerous responsibilities you have. Because of all this, self motivation is crucial to having success online.

You will have to have a strong focus and a healthy amount of determination to succeed online. At times it will seem like others are always moving ahead of you doing things you haven’t thought of or tried. That is because the Internet is always busy and people will always be online building and promoting their business or looking for new opportunities and information.

This does not mean you need to work 24 hours a day, but it does mean you have to remain focused and get your work done. When working from home you are given more freedom than ever before. You will have far more distractions you have to fight through. While it is difficult to work knowing the television is in the next room, it is essential you stay motivated.

The great thing about the internet is you can do just about anything you want. It is much easier to stay motivated when it is something you enjoy. When something is a passion of yours, it is less like a job and more like a hobby. This is why you should go into a niche that you have an interest in.

Another self motivation tip is to make goals and write them out. If you have something to strive for it is easier to get your work done. It is when you feel you are working for nothing that the motivation begins to slip. Write out short-term goals and long-term goals to strive for. You should also write up what your reward will be for achieving the goals.

Lastly, believe in yourself and your capabilities on the internet. If you are constantly down on yourself, it is hard to remain motivated. But if you know you are going to succeed regardless of what obstacles you face, you can stay motivated. When something bad happens, talk to yourself and remain positive. You are bound to make mistakes along the way, but it is how you react to these mistakes that will sum you up.

Motivation will always be one of your most powerful tools. It will help you grow past your competition and it will remove self doubt. If you are motivated, focus and determined building your own Internet based affiliate marketing business will not only be rewarding financially it will be rewarding personally.

Stephen Meyer has Internet based affiliate marketing businesses and home business business reviews and can help you choose the business that is correct for you. Visit Internet based affiliate marketing businesses Home

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What You Need To Succeed.

2008-12-01T22:58:00.002+07:00

What You Need To Succeed.

You will not be able to succeed or achieve anything significant in your life without having motivation, the fuel that pushes you to get things done. You will either remain where you are at now, or you will progress through life at a slow pace.

By Hani Al-Qasem

You will not be able to succeed or achieve anything significant in your life without having motivation, the fuel that pushes you to get things done. You will either remain where you are at now, or you will progress through life at a slow pace.

You need motivation to get out of bed, to go to work, to exercise, to go to a movie. You also need motivation to help you quit any habits that you do not want, such as quitting smoking or alcohol.

You need a certain level of motivation to do everything in life. Motivation is central for personal and professional success, and in all areas of your life.

For you to be successful in any chosen area, you will need to be motivated to take consistent action. It is your motivation that will drive you to take action to succeed in all that you do.

So how do you acquire motivation? Your primary step is to set yourself a few goals. Decide on what areas you want to improve on and what it is that you want to improve or have.

It is important to note that you must make these goals realistic and achievable, yet not easy to attain; they must require some effort on your part.

For example, in your financial area, for you to set a goal to have an income of Â£1M in one year where your present income is Â£25,000 makes the goal unrealistic. It is best to increment your goals realistically until you achieve your goal of Â£1M.

By setting yourself very high goals you may set yourself up for failure and disappointment. Make sure your goals are achievable, yet they allow you to stretch yourself to get the job done.

Once you have decided on your goals, write them down by hand and read them on a daily basis; or even better, write each goals 10 times every morning upon awakening and last thing before bed. This way you are constantly reminding yourself, consciously and unconsciously, what you are striving for.

For added motivational power, set yourself a deadline for when you want to achieve each goal. Again in your financial area, your goal could be, “I am earning Â£5,000 or more every month by 31st December, 2008.”

This goal is realistic and it excites you, it motivates you, it pushes you to do what it takes to achieve it. An exciting goal is a great and very powerful motivator.

Your next step is for you to be committed to keep after these goals until they are achieved. Keep your goals in sight, feel what it would be like to have achieved your goals.

Keep pushing yourself. Never give in. Never look back on any failures, or as I call them ‘success gone astray.’ Should you have a setback, learn all that you can from it and move on. This setback has given you the opportunity to know what did not work, and that is a step in the right direction. Now you can try out another strategy or action.

Learn from your mistakes, but do not dwell on them. Regain your motivation by reminding yourself of your goals and how much they mean to you; why you must have the goals.

A powerful way to keep you motivated is to reward yourself every time you take a step up the ladder of success on the way to the top, where your goal awaits you. By rewarding yourself you keep the momentum of your motivation going strong and gaining in strength with every step you take.

Remember, you can be motivated to be successful in all that you do when you set realistic goals, and your purpose to reaching your goals is powerful enough to keep you committed to the end.

By becoming and remaining motivated you will achieve what it is that you are after.

So if you are stuck where you are and you wonder why you have not progressed to achieve a better quality of life, it could be due to your lack motivation.

Initiate and boost your motivation by knowing what it is that you want, set a few goals with deadlines and go for it. Keep in mind, motivation is driven by passion and purpose. Find your passion and purpose and commit to it.

For more information on how to have a meaningful life and to expand your personal capacity for happiness and success, visit: http://www.insight4you.com Hani Al-Qasem is a self-improvement expert. He co-authored the e-book “Self-Confidence Building in 7 Steps.” Go to the website above now and download your FREE copy of the e-book and start today to change your life for the better.

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Motivation - Effective Strategies For That You Can Start Using Today

2008-12-01T22:56:00.000+07:00

Motivation - Effective Strategies For That You Can Start Using Today

Motivation is a word used to refer to the reason or reasons for engaging in a particular behavior, especially human behavior as studied in psychology and neurophysiology. If you want to make positive, lasting change in your life, it helps to spend some time thinking about motivation.

By Scott Allen Barker

Motivation is a word used to refer to the reason or reasons for engaging in a particular behavior, especially human behavior as studied in psychology and neurophysiology. Intrinsic motivation is when people engage in an activity, such as a hobby, with a internal desire, without obvious external incentives. Extrinsic motivation refers to motivation that comes from outside an individual, such as a reward or a good grade. Extrinsic motivation is often effective. If you want to make positive, lasting change in your life, it helps to spend some time thinking about motivation.

Students

Students perform with higher motivation when their creativity is engaged. Students find as satisfying as reasoning through a problem and discovering the underlying principle on their own. Students are individuals, so a variety of approaches may be needed to motivate different students.

Because students are not always internally motivated, they sometimes need situated motivation, which is found in environmental conditions that the teacher creates. Fortunately, many of the strategies that “empower” and “engage” students also lead to increased motivation.

Job

Motivated employees always look for better ways to do a job. Performance is considered to be a function of ability and motivation, thus: Job performance equals ability/motivation). The key words are the ones which say thanks and well done for doing a great job, especially where the words recognize each person’s own special ability, quality, contribution and effort. No one knows the job better than the person performing it.

Personal

Personal growth adds value to the individual, enhancing self-esteem and self-worth. Self-actualized people are characterized by: 1) being problem-focused; 2) incorporating an ongoing freshness of appreciation of life; 3) a concern about personal growth; and 4) the ability to have peak experiences.

Experiencing the positive feelings is vital for the conscious and sub-conscious visualization of success and achievement, essential for broadening people’s horizons, raising their sights, setting new personal standards and goals, and increasing motivation.

The theory is that behavior motivated by an internal desire is more likely to be long-term and more likely to be integrated into your personality than is behavior that is motivated by some external reward. People are best motivated when they are working toward personally meaningful goals whose attainment requires activity at a continuously optimal (intermediate) level of difficulty.

Goals

Goal Setting is extremely important to motivation and success. Goal-setting theory is based on the notion that individuals sometimes have a drive to reach a clearly defined end state. The goal should be objectively defined and intelligible for the individual. Set well defined goals and reward yourself for reaching them. Start with small goals that lead to larger goals.

Conclusion

Motivation to achieve is a function of the individual’s desire for success, the expectancy of success, and the incentives provided. Sure, it’s possible to succeed with someone else providing the motivation for you. But motivation that comes from within really makes the difference.

The elements of motivation starts with the desire to be free, to be free from dependency on others, freedom to live the lifestyle we dream of, and freedom to explore our ideas. Every day seek inspiration, and it will help sustain motivation over the long term.

Author: Scott Allen Barker specializes in writing mental health/health related articles. Unlock your true potential. Learn the inside secrets to motivation. "Free" 30 day motivational ecourse at: http://www.MentalHealthDropInCenter.com/motivationalecourse.html

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Motivation Psychology For Weight Loss And Exercise

2008-12-01T22:54:00.000+07:00

Motivation Psychology For Weight Loss And Exercise
By: Alan B. Densky, CH

If you\'ve made the decision to get some weight off - congratulations! For many people, making a commitment to their own well-being is the most difficult part. But in spite of self-motivation, many people realize they don\'t know what exercises to perform for rapid weight loss.

There are three main sorts of exercise: aerobic exercise, such as biking or running; flexibility exercises, such as yoga and other forms of stretching; and strength training, such as bodybuilding.

Aerobic and strength training will help you burn the most calories. Since weight loss depends on either burning more calories or taking in less, it\'s best to concentrate on these at first to ensure your self motivation remains as you lose weight.

Typically, 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week is best. Increase the interval and frequency as you advance.

But many people whose self-motivation has encouraged them to begin an exercise for weight loss program neglect the importance of strength training. Aerobic exercise burns more calories in the beginning, but weight lifting increases muscle mass, and muscle burns more calories than fat. A pound of muscle needs 35 calories per day to function at rest; a pound of fat needs only two calories for the same function.

The fitness consensus used to tell us that to \"build\" muscle, you should use fewer reps (3-5) at higher weights, and to simply \"tone,\" higher reps (12-15) at lower weights was best. But there\'s no such thing as \"toning.\" Definition that results from what is wrongly called toning happens because you have lost the layer of fat on top of the muscle, making the muscle more visible. The size of the muscle underneath depends on how strenuously you train.

You must \"tear down\" the muscle so it can rebuild itself afterward. In fact, you don\'t build muscle while pumping iron but you do in the days afterward when the muscle is \"resting.\" The general rule for strength training is beginning with three sets of 8-12 reps at a weight that leaves you almost incapable of doing the entire set. Then, rest for 30-60 seconds before attempting your next set.

Don\'t be disheartened if you\'re unable to accomplish all of the reps on every set. In fact, use that to determine when to add weight. If you\'re doing each set without any muscle strain, you will want to add weight.

Self motivation helped you to start, but many people have a difficult time maintaining the pace. It helps to know that the source of our motivations is a belief. Think about it: If you didn\'t believe the gnawing sensation in your stomach meant you were hungry, you would not feel motivated to eat.

Learning what ideas motivate you is essential to losing weight, because when you feel powerfully motivated, you will exercise regularly. NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) is a form of self-hypnosis. And there are NLP methods that can build exercise motivation because, over time, desire to exercise for weight loss alone probably will not be enough to keep you going. Exercise hypnosis motivation therapy can help.

Your initial task is naming the most important things in your life. We call these things your highly valued criteria. Highly valued criteria are customarily intangibles: money would not be highly valued criteria, but the security, freedom or fun that money can buy would be.

Next, establish what you need to believe to feel motivated to exercise. It is necessary to keep in mind that logic has nothing to do with belief. Things don’t have to be logical to believe them. You may find you already have a belief that conflicts this new idea. That’s okay.

While understanding what motivates us is important, hypnosis exercise motivation therapy can put these ideas to work by ensuring self motivation lasts. Hypnosis for motivation does this by modifying the computer codes in your brain, so you believe thoughts that motivate you.

Belief systems are based in our unconscious mind, which is like a computer. Computers don\'t have any capacity to reason. The input controls the output. The methods used in exercise hypnosis motivation therapy can make you believe nearly anything, as long as you\'re willing to believe.

You start by making a picture in your mind that illustrates something you already believe, such as, \"I love my children.\" Then you learn to calibrate the elements or \'Submodalities\' of that mental belief picture.

Next, you make a mental movie that illustrates your motivational idea. Let\'s say your motivational idea is, \"If I exercise, then I\'ll look great and my marriage will improve.\" Then you learn how to adjust the Submodalities of this mental image to correspond with the Submodalities in your calibrated belief picture. Conversely, if a belief is holding you back, the same technique can change that belief to doubt.

Self hypnosis for motivation that uses NLP can provide you with something of an internal personal motivator. Using an exercise hypnosis motivation program ensures that the zeal you began with remains until reaching your objective, and then helps you maintain that objective.

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About the Author:
Alan B. Densky, CH has specialized in all aspects of weight loss through hypnosis, including NLP for exercise motivation CDs since 1978. Visit his Neuro-VISION self hypnosis website to have the benefit of Free hypnosis newsletters, articles, and videos.
Tags: health, exercise, self motivation, motivation theory, weight loss motivation, motivation psychology, human motivation, exercise hypnosis motivation, hypnosis motivation

10 Self Motivation Ideas You Cannot Avoid

2008-12-01T22:53:00.002+07:00

10 Self Motivation Ideas You Cannot Avoid
By: Fadzil Dolmani

Forget about achieving your goals in life if you cannot even motivate yourself to take actions toward achieving them. It may sound harsh, but that is the truth. You need to be able to master yourself to instill and develop your self motivation as it is the only lasting way that can ensure you to the success destination you have always dreamed of. What matters most is your own action. You need to create and develop your own self motivation to bring you the energy and enthusiasm to pursue the dreams of your life.

You need some kind of motivational drive in anything you do. At work, you may need your colleague or boss to motivate you to accomplish your task. At home, you may need your family member to share some motivational thoughts to keep you energetic in your pursuit of your dreams. They can sit with you all day trying to keep you motivated. Again, all these will be meaningless when you yourself fail to acknowledge that you need more lasting drive to really keep your enthusiasm, that is, your self motivation. This is the quality that will separate you from the rest of the people.

Most of you may be thinking that this is going to be a very daunting task as you do not have the slightest idea of how you are going to go about this. You will be surprised as how easy this can really be done. Here are the 10 things that you need to follow:

1. Stop worrying about making mistakes.

Making mistakes is one way we can learn and improve in our life. There is no one that has never made any mistake. The most important thing here is you realize that you have made mistakes and do not repeat the same mistakes again. You will learn the most from your mistakes than any other way.

2. Feel happy about your life.

Happiness generates more positive energy within you. This energy is important to keep you more optimistic and enthusiastic about your life. Happy people are always motivated to accomplish something in their life.

3. Get out of your comfort zone.

You need to learn to get into unfamiliar surroundings to explore better opportunities. Do not just stick around with the same people, same known places, skills or work. Explore new things that will enhance your ability to achieve your goals and keep you stay motivated.

4. Think the unthinkable.

Nothing will stop you from thinking of goals you want to achieve. You have to dream high in order to set high goals. Everything starts with a dream. Do not limit yourself in your goals and dreams.

5. Read and listen to inspirational materials.

You have to start spending time reading motivational books and listening to inspirational tapes. But, you must also implement what you learn from your reading and listening. New things you learn from these exercises will give you excitement and energy to work harder toward achieving your goals.

6. Resolve problems instead of running away.

Your ride to success destination will not be smooth all the time. You will face difficulties. Do not quit when you experience predicaments in your quest to achieve your dreams. Frustrations and setbacks naturally form as parts of your success venture.

7. Appreciate every moment of your life.

Think of what your life really is as of now. Appreciate every moment you have currently. Thinking about the past or day dreaming about the future will not bring you anywhere. Appreciating your current conditions makes you feel much better and realize the need to move forward to achieve your goals.

8. Finish what you start.

Once you have started something, finish it. Never leave what you do halfway regardless of the end result. This will make you accustomed to finishing any task you initiate, which is important if you really want to achieve your goals in life.

9. Face challenges one at a time.

Challenges are components in your success journey. Take up one challenge at a time. Do not try to accumulate and face them at one go. As the challenges accumulate, you will only feel less motivated to face them and finally unable to complete anything.

10. Care less about what people say.

You may hear a lot of bad things people say about you. Sometimes those bad comments may come from somebody close to you. As long as you fully know what you are doing to achieve your goals, you can let those comments fall into deaf ears. Thinking too much about what people say will only make you weaker and loose focus on your effort.

Of course, this list does not just stop here. To instill and develop your self motivation, there are more ways you can do. But, if you can really comprehend and take the appropriate actions just based on these 10 things, you will definitely see the results.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
Fadzil is an entrepreneur, writer and web content developer who likes to share his knowledge on ways to improve someone's life. He believes in doing steps that are simple to anyone in achieving goals. To learn more about such steps, please go to http://www.wisdomgateway.com/6wlmover/life_makeover.htm He is also the founder of Wisdom Gateway - one stop center for practical and profitable knowledge. To know more, please go to http://www.wisdomgateway.com
Tags: self-improvement, self motivation tips, self motivation rules, life decision making, life path option, happy living, life self control, building self esteem, develop self motivation

Self Motivation : Building The Techniques

2008-12-01T22:52:00.002+07:00

Self Motivation : Building The Techniques
By: Fadzil Dolmani

Fear and reward are two most commonly used methods to build motivation in someone. But, these methods are temporary. The only lasting thing is self motivation. Motivation actually is the enthusiasm of doing something. It refers to inner feeling, strong desires, and expectation about something. You may sometimes loose the necessary level of the inner drive to get something done. Self motivation is what you need to boost the level of your inner drive to achieve your goals.

Self motivation is a form of self encouragement. You will say to yourself that you have the capacity to do better and eventually get whatever you want in your life. This inner enthusiasm will push you forward until you achieve your set goals. You may not even be aware of any reward in the beginning but you keep working on it. You work on it because your inner strength says that you can attain your goals. This is your will power - the driving force behind your self motivation. Self motivation is a combination of will power, goals and ability to continue attaining the highest level of your success.

You need self motivation to accomplish tasks you have now. Along the way, you may be facing with situations that are discouraging and can bring down your motivational level. You need to keep yourself really focused on your objectives to maintain the level of your self motivation. Here are techniques you can adopt to start acquiring higher motivational level and achieve greater success.

Writing Your Plan

Success does not come easy without any proper plan. Failing to plan is actually planning to fail. Therefore, you must give a greater emphasis on having well prepared plan to achieve your goals. You simply need to have your plan written on a piece of paper. Having your plan clearly written gives you more psychological inner drive to work toward achieving your goals. You create more enthusiasm and can see more clearly how you want to achieve your goals. Thus, your commitments will be much stronger.

When writing down your goals, state very specific terms. For example, if you want to accumulate certain amount of money, state exactly how much you want. You must also set a specific date to fulfill your goals and specific rewards for achieving your goals. Writing is not enough if you do not follow up with some reading. You have to make a point to read your written plan at least twice a day. Once in the morning before you start your day; and one at night just before you go to bed. This simple routine will keep you stay motivated.

Be realistic, things happen in life. Unforeseen circumstances may sometimes require you to make adjustments in your plan. Go ahead and make the necessary adjustments. But, try to maintain realistic limits. Do not make it too easy or too hard for you to achieve. Set it just right to maintain your motivation level.

Visualizing Your Goals

You need to simply make your goals as visual as possible to maintain your motivation at the highest level possible. If your goal is to own an apartment, find pictures of your desired apartment keep them in front of your eyes. Visualizing your goals creates a positive impact on your mind and keeps your motivation surging. When you feel very down, visuals will help you provide the necessary boost to surge your motivation level.

Like the written plan, you have to make a point to see the visuals at least twice a day. The images you see of yourself achieving the goals you desire will instill strong impact in your mind, which will control your actions to maintain your level of motivation.

Controlling Your Feeling

This one is not quite straight forward action. It has to do with your feeling in your mind. You need to control what you feel. Your feeling will reflect your mental attitude and moods. If you feel upset and depressed, you will feel as if everything crashes on you. This feeling reflects on your physical self. You will lose concentration and everything you do will be full of mistakes. You have to learn to start controlling your feeling.

The simplest way will be to start your day with a smile. No doubt this can be fake at times due to things that happen around you, but you have got to master this simple task to ensure that things around you will be pleasant and enjoyable for the rest of the day. You can feel the enthusiasm and energy level soaring. You will be able to stay motivated and spread positive energy around you.

Your mental and physical attitudes work closely. Hence, to stay motivated, learn to develop cheerful and confident characters by simply walking with your face up and smile on it. You will realize that your confidence and self motivation developing. It is probably kind of hard to maintain the action, but with time, once it naturally becomes your way of life, you are able to motivate yourself even during difficult times.

Giving Your Effort A Reward

You need to give yourself a reward for what you have achieved. This one simply acts as an appreciation to yourself in achieving your goals. You have to credit yourself for what you have gone through, your determination and your hard work in ensuring your success.

Earlier I said reward is a temporary method to motivate someone. In this case, a reward is not what keeps you motivated. It is just an element to add flavor to your self motivation exercise. You may want to think of a simple reward that sounds reasonable with what you have achieved. Do not get over excited about this. Meaning, the reward has to be at par with your level of achievement. Take this positively to further enhance your level of self motivation.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
Fadzil is an entrepreneur, writer, and web content developer. He enjoys helping individuals, who are excited about self improvement and attaining personal success, to learn the simple steps to achieve their goals. To learn more about such system, please go to: http://www.wisdomgateway.com/6wlmover/life_makeover.htm . He is also the founder of WisdomGateway which helps internet users to obtain knowledge in the area of Business Matters, Healthy Living, Hobbies & Activities, Internet Marketing, and Real Estate. To visit the site, please go to http://www.wisdomgateway.com .
Tags: self-improvement, self motivation, self improvement, self help, self motivation technique

Self Improvement Motivation: Unlock The Good Life

2008-12-01T22:51:00.003+07:00

Self Improvement Motivation: Unlock The Good Life
By: Matthew Hick

Have you ever taken a long, hard look at your life and felt depressed when you thought about things that it lacked? Chances are, you have. No one has a perfect life. There are countless and constant ways in which a person can improve. Self-improvement motivation comes from a place inside each of us that desires to be a better person. There are several elements that are considered part of self-improvement motivation.

Among the most popular are:

- Appearance improvement
- Intellectual improvement
- Financial improvement

Dress to impress:
Appearance improvement is one of the most popular types of self-improvement motivation. For many people, there is always a pound to be lost, a gray hair to be covered up, or new clothing to be purchased. Other people get extremely obsessive about appearance improvement, paying thousands of dollars for nose jobs, liposuction, collagen implants, hair replacement, or other such procedures. Because of the media and the influence of Hollywood stars, people who are young, old, male, and female have become appearance improvement crazy. These are the often the same people who feel that appearance is all that matters in life.

Self-improvement motivation by the books:
Intellectual motivation is another key element of self-improvement motivation. The desire to become more educated or gain more knowledge on a subject drives many minds. Well-informed people are often perceived as powerful people. After all, knowledge is power.

Today, it is no surprise that more and more middle-aged adults are going back to school to get their bachelor's or master's degrees. This desire to get more education often stems from the fact that most companies are interested with employees who know how to use the latest and greatest software and computer programs. Companies are also interested in employees that have an up-to-date education. Many companies, especially larger ones, will pay for employees to go back to school or be trained for a specific job.

Most colleges and universities even have continuing education programs. These programs allow non-traditional students to learn about a subject or become educated on how to use programs for computers.

Financial improvement:
Another important element of self-improvement motivation is financial motivation. In reality, most people desire to have more money than they have at the present time. Perhaps a person wants to purchase a home, car, or an education. Perhaps someone needs to pay medical bills or legal fees, or raise a child. Finances are key to surviving in today's world. Financial self-improvement motivation often comes in the form of taking on a second or third job, investing in stocks or bonds, or learning how to save money wisely. Financial self-improvement motivation may also include asking a current employer for a promotion or a raise.

Overall, anything that motivates and in turn improves the physical, material, or mental part of a person is a form of self-improvement motivation. No one is perfect, but many of us can try to get as close as we can.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
Motivation Articles at http://Motivation-Today.com. Learn how to operate a Successful Adsense Website Network at http://eWebCreator.com. Matthew Hick has been designing profitable Niche Adsense Websites for over 5 years.
Tags: self-improvement, inspiration, motivation, motivation coach, motivation theory, student motivation, self motivation

Using Self Motivation Techniques To Keep Your Goals In Focus

2008-12-01T22:51:00.002+07:00

Using Self Motivation Techniques To Keep Your Goals In Focus
By: Elaine Currie

No matter what goal you are aiming for, staying motivated is a challenge for everyone at times. Even though you have set those goals for yourself, it will be hard to stay focused at times. Using self motivation techniques is a great way to ensure that you stay positive and have the mental attitude needed to achieve your goals. One of the best things that you can do is to map out a plan detailing your goal and the steps that you will take to achieve your dreams. It is also a good idea to regularly reassess your plan and make sure that you still feel that your original strategy is the best one. There is nothing wrong with changing your plan if you feel that changes will improve it, the plan is not carved in stone and should always be considered as a flexible tool. Life is full of unexpected surprises and this can mean your initial steps will no longer lead you to where you want to arrive, you can change your written plan to take any surprise changes into account.

Making your written plan is the first step. After that, you might find that you still need sources of inspiration and encouragement. Self motivation techniques such as breaking your plan into small tasks that you can achieve daily will help give you a sense of accomplishment as each task is finished. This is a great technique and will help you avoid feeling overwhelmed or feeling that your goal is too hard for you to accomplish. Remember, the way to eat a whole elephant is one bite at a time. Make a written list of tasks for each day and cross them off one by one as you complete them. Each time you cross off a completed item, your spirits will get a boost that will encourage you to tack the next task on your list.

Rewarding yourself after you complete your tasks will also help keep you feeling mentally positive and optimistic. The reward can be anything, eg a coffee break or ten minutes to chat to a friend on the phone. The reward doesn't need to be anything big but, by giving yourself an incentive, you will have something to help motivate you to take the next step towards reaching your goal.

Procrastination is called "the thief of time" for very good reasons. Procrastination is an easy habit to adopt and a very hard one to break, so it is best to have a scheme in place to avoid it all together. Avoiding procrastination is one of the simplest and biggest ways that you can increase your motivation and remain focused on taking the necessary small steps towards achieving your goals.

Making written lists (and following them!) is an excellent way to avoid procrastination. Try taking your yearly goals and breaking them down into manageable monthly chunks. Next break the monthly lists down further into weekly parts. Finally make daily lists that involve small steps towards your yearly goals. By working on your yearly goals in this step by step fashion, you will reduce the opportunities for being tempted to procrastinate. Once you get into the habit of following your daily task list, the temptation to put things off will be overridden by the desire to see all the items crossed through by the end of your working day.

When you finish your daily tasks, be sure to reward yourself. If you finish earlier than normal, award yourself some extra time off to spend as you please. If you are keeping to your step by step plan, there is no need to put in extra hours. The days of procrastinating and then needing to work longer hours will be over. List making sounds simple (and it is) but it is a powerful way to keep yourself on track day by day to accomplish your ultimate goals.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
For more motivation articles visit the author,Elaine Currie, at http://www.HuntingVenus.com
Tags: self-improvement, self motivation techniques

Self-motivation: The Desire To Succeed

2008-12-01T22:50:00.002+07:00

Self-motivation: The Desire To Succeed
By: Matthew Hick

It's 6 in the morning. The alarm clock is buzzing, and you're thinking to yourself, "What's the point in getting up this early for work?" For some of us, the motivation is simply the desire to shut off the clock that is vibrating off the nightstand. But for others, it is truly self-motivation. It is an internal alarm clock that motivates a person to make the best of his or her day.

Certainly, everyone wants to succeed in the world. Everyone wants to have a purpose, to be at the top of the corporate ladder, or to be the best he or she can be in any given area. But why do some people succeed in doing these things, and others do not? The answer is: self-motivation.

There are several factors that contribute to self-motivation. They include:

-Self-esteem
-Desire to succeed
-Will power
-Mental stability
-Family
-Life goals
-Daily activities
-Daily pleasures

All of these factors will directly affect success in a career, in academics, in playing sports, and in marriage and parenting. Whether you desire the highest position possible at your job, or graduating with a 4.0 grade point average, you need self-motivation to do it. Self-motivation drives an athlete to score the winning soccer goal, just as it drives a parent to be a good role model for a child.

Along with the desire to succeed comes mental stability. Everyone has a bad day here and there; but what self-motivates a person to continue on with the bad day? The answer is mental stability. The mind is a great force. When you put your mind to accomplishing something, you will try your best to do it. As a result, your will power is tested. Being able to stay self-motivated and focused on what is important rather than "throwing in the towel" allows you to succeed in the end. Will power, mental stability, and the desire to succeed are all the result of self-motivation.

Another factor that drives self-motivation is the family unit. Family can self-motivate an individual to be successful. An individual - especially a working spouse - will crave the family's pride and approval. The working spouse self-motivates himself or herself simply by worrying whether or not the family is taken care of financially. The working spouse will most likely want to earn a high paycheck, and in the end provide for the family. Children often idolize their parents and will mimic what they see their parents doing. In the end self-motivation is passed on from one generation to the next, as it is an important role in family affairs.

Lastly, self-motivation is driven by daily goals and basic daily routines such as losing weight or learning how to play a sport. The simple daily pleasure of waking up to see the sun shine, to hear the birds singing, or even listening to the rain are all pleasures which can self-motivate a person to get up in the morning.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
Motivation Articles at http://Motivation-Today.com. Learn how to operate a Successful Adsense Website Network at http://eWebCreator.com. Matthew Hick has been designing profitable Niche Adsense Websites for over 5 years.
Tags: self-improvement, inspiration, motivation, motivation coach, motivation theory, student motivation, self motivation

Motivation...It's All About Attitude

2008-11-03T21:07:00.002+07:00

Motivation...It's All About Attitude
by: Bill Thomas

It has been said that there is a fine line between success and failure. When talking about success, I'm not just talking about the so called rich and famous, but about people in all walks of life who have managed to find purpose and meaning in the work that they do. While there is no one recipe that leads to success and work satisfaction, there are qualities that all successful people seem to have an abundance of, and one of those is motivation.

When you think about the word 'motivation', what comes to mind? For me, it's anything that creates desire, and motivates someone to take action, whether it be the desire to own your own business, be the best in some sports competition or maybe attracting that special someone. If one were to ask you to name several highly motivated individuals, who would you name? While your list is likely to be much different from mine or anyone else's, one trait that they all share is a passion for what they do that provides all the motivation they require.

What do you love to do? I mean what really gives you a charge, something that you have a passion for? One of my pleasures is playing guitar. When I sit down and proceed to make music, I become so enmeshed in the process that I tend to forget about time and my surroundings. When you have a passion for something, it's easy to be motivated. But what about the day to day things that we all must do, such as working at a job that doesn't always provide a lot of inspiration other than paying the bills. Are there things that we can do to help us create a greater sense of work satisfaction while experiencing an increase in motivation?

One of the things that successful people do is they are able to look beyond the tasks that they perform, and are motivated to find or create meaning and purpose in the work that they do. When I was younger, I worked my share of tedious jobs such as landscaping, driving, factory work, etc. In the beginning, I found myself becoming bored quickly, and would leave a job as soon as I became tired of it. It wasn't until I discovered ways to make a job more interesting that I actually was able to enjoy them.

For instance, I once worked for a medical lab, running routes and picking up specimens from Dialysis units. Going in and out of the units, I would see people with all sorts of health problems, in many cases people who are often at the last stage of their life. After a while, I started having conversations with some of the patients, and I found that I looked forward to seeing my regulars. I came to realize that they looked forward to our brief moments together as much as I did, and knowing that I was bringing just a slight bit of joy into their days gave me a sense of satisfaction and purpose that transcended the job that I performed.

What about you? Is there some aspect of your job that you could use to create a greater sense of purpose and thus satisfaction? Are there things that you could do to make yourself more productive? If you get in the habit of looking for ways to improve things around you, you will not only experience greater work satisfaction, but you'll be looked upon as a positive, motivated individual that is an asset to any business or organization.

When it comes to motivation, some will say that you either have it or you don't. While it's not always easy to feel motivated about many things in our life, the reality is that there are things that we can do to help create motivation. One of the most important things that we can do is just changing out attitude. Look for greater meaning or purpose in whatever it is that you are doing. As an unknown writer once said, "motivation comes from within". What motivates you?

Why Do I Love This Person?

2008-11-03T21:07:00.000+07:00

Why Do I Love This Person?
Understanding Your Motivation in Relationships
by: Emily Kensington

As a psychotherapist specializing in couples and marital therapy, one of the first things I ask is “What do you love about one another?" If the answers indicate little depth, serious trouble is indicated. Replies such "because she's pretty,” "he's fun to be with,” are troubling signs, indicating surface attraction. Once, to my horror, a client replied "Because we like the same kind of pizza.” Needless to say, this is not a foundation for a long lasting relationship!

All of this begs many questions: Do we truly love someone or simply what they do for us? Without question, we all know that money and wealth can be insidious manipulators in any union. So how does a relationship evolve from the meeting of facile needs to a stable, committed, companionship? Happily, after considerable introspection, many couples are able to identify their attraction to positive partner qualities such as compassion, intelligence, and an ability and willingness to communicate effectively. After all, if we cannot speak openly with our partners, what hope do we have? Perhaps more important, self-aware couples are able to recognize areas for potential growth, and develop a plan to jointly work on their relationship.

While some, especially new, couples may view such questioning as cynically casting doubt upon their whirlwind romance, nonetheless this type of critical self-reflection is vital in determining ultimate compatibility. Indeed, a little work now could save a lot of heartache later.

Action For The Day: After reading this article, perform a critical self-assessment in order to determine both you and your partner's motivation for continuing your relationship.

Weight Loss Motivation

2008-11-03T21:06:00.000+07:00

Weight Loss Motivation
by: Jason Hulott1

A lack of motivation when it comes to losing weight and dieting is the number one reason why the majority of people fail when trying to lose weight or change their lifestyle, if you have motivation and backing then you are able to stick with the diet much more easily and reach your goals.

Planning ahead is the biggest self-motivation technique, having realistic goals and expectations for the amount of weight you wish to achieve over a set period of time can make all the difference to your success. Goals which you should set out at the very beginning of your diet plan include determining the amount of exercise which you plan to do on a daily basis. However it is essential that the goals you set out are achievable, you need to have in mind what the goal will help you to achieve and what it is you have to do in order to be able to reach that goal.

Make a note of all the obstacles that you can think of which might get in your way and stop you from reaching your intending goal, then decide on ways that you can get around anything that could stop you from achieving those goals. You should also set out a goal for when you will review any progress you have achieved, where possible make this the same day and time, also determine how you will treat or reward yourself once you have reached the goals which you set out.

Positive thinking goes a long way to ensuring that you remain motivated at all times, instead of looking at your diet in a negative way such as thinking of all the things that you cannot have, instead turn it to more positive thinking by considering how much fitter and healthier you will be on your new diet and change to your lifestyle.

Other ways you are able to motivate yourself is by making sure that you plan your meals ahead of time, this is essential when going shopping. Always make sure you have in mind what you will be eating for your main meals and try to make this a variation. Going out with a list in hand will make sure that you don’t pick unhealthy foods from the shelf.

Make a list for yourself of all the reasons and benefits that you are dieting, this list should be printed out and stuck around the house where you can clearly see it in those times that motivation is lacking. When on a diet everyone will have bad days and these are the times when you need to bring back your focus and instead of worrying about the bad think if all the good and what you have achieved so far. If you do stray then don’t beat yourself up too much but instead get right back on track.

Misplaced Motivations

2008-11-03T20:56:00.000+07:00

Misplaced Motivations

by Daniel Massicotte
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More Details about motivation here.

Ever have one of those days where everything goes right?

Motivation is more than a few reasons you want to get something done. Most people use money as their primary vehicle for motivation. I certainly did that during the three years I studied business at McGill University. I quickly realized my motivation was misplaced.

So how do we deal with misplaced motivation?

First we have to identify the root cause. Often when we exert a certain desire to do something, but are unsure why, as people we love and are concerned for our futures suggest ideas as to why we might like what we like. Some of these ideas shape our own personal reasons. With time, we forget what we wanted originally.

When I was 6 I sold bookmarks, when I was 12 I sold bread (home-made), and when I was 14 I shoveled driveways in the winter, raked leaves in the fall and took care of gardens in the summer.

Hence, when I told my friends that I was interested in studying business they concluded that I wanted to study Accounting, for a good knowledge of how businesses work. Accounting later turned into CGA (Certified General Accountant), which eventually became CA (Chartered Accountant). Did I really want to be a CA?

Today, my plans to become a CA have turned into an English Literature Major. How did I get from Business to English? I got brutally honest with myself and went back to when I was 12 years old.

This is what you are now going to do with yourself. Go back to the days when you knew no fear, and did what you wanted to do without any thought of the possible consequences.

That's right, when you were 7 or 8 years old.

What did you love doing back then? You may need to call up your parents and ask them what you loved doing (i.e. whatever you did that made you smile) before you can remember.

Take a break and do this right now.

(6-10 minutes later...)

What have you come up with? Do you feel that what you wanted to do isn't exactly what you now feel will put dinner on the table?

Join the club! But this is where the fun begins.

If what you have come up with is truly what you, only you, personally you...truly love doing, then you will make darn sure you find a way to make it work.

I understand all of this is still in your head. Imagine your entire life depends on you finding a way to make what you love BIG! In truth, your happy life depends on this. 99 percent of people settle for the pay check every two weeks and the boring day at the office.

This is where motivation comes into being. If you are doing what you love, you are motivated 10,000 percent more than if you are doing something you hate-we all know this!

For the next few days, when you express gratitude for everything that you have and are and can be, remind yourself of what you always wanted to do.

The sky is the limit! Problem is most people keep giving themselves limitations.

Dan Massicotte is perhaps the most positive oriented individual you will ever meet. You can learn more about him on his website: http://danmassicottespositiveliving.com/ Join his newsletter to be informed of new articles and website developments.

Self Motivation - how can you improve yours?

2008-11-02T22:51:00.000+07:00

Self Motivation - how can you improve yours?

This is central to everything positive that you want to do in your life. Perhaps it is even more important than your self esteem! What you say to yourself is extremely important and if you want to learn more about self talk and how to help yourself by talking to yourself more positively visit the self talk page now.

If you want to improve your motivation or self esteem or improve yourself in any way you need the desire and will to do it.

I hear you saying that not everything comes from within. You may be motivated by external factors, others may encourage you to start something new or begin moving in a positive direction. You can be motivated by faith, by your belief in God and in doing what is right. You can even be motivated by negative events to achieve positively. But what is important is how you think about what happens to you. Optimism is a great help and will prepare you for new challenges and make it more likely that you will succeed. Negative thinking will always demotivate you so you need to think positively even in the most difficult situations. This is not denial of reality but a useful tool in your armour. Read how you can end negative thoughts and motivate yourself more.

But what is the result of these external factors? Motivation - you are moved to achieve something you badly want.

Eight Basic Personal Needs that Motivate

2008-11-02T22:50:00.000+07:00

Eight Basic Personal Needs that Motivate

By: Jim Cairo, the author of Motivation and Goal-Setting

1.

Belonging – being a part of the group provides you with a sense of comfort, security, and partnership

2.

Achievement – gives your life purpose, reinforces your self-esteem

3.

Advancement – makes you feel successful; expands your personal and professional skills, knowledge and abilities

4.

Power – increases your authority

5.

Responsibility – increases respect, both for the person given responsibility and for the person who delegated it

6.

Challenge – drives you to grow mentally and emotionally

7.

Recognition – having others to know your achievements motivates your future actions

8.

Excellence – doing an excellent job is a reward in itself

Self Motivation: How to Motivate Yourself

2008-11-02T22:48:00.000+07:00

Self Motivation: How to Motivate Yourself
By Donald Latumahina, October 22, 2008

People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.
Andrew Carnegie

If you want to excel in life, self motivation is essential. You must know how to motivate yourself. You must be able to keep your spirit high no matter how discouraging a situation is. That’s the only way to get the power you need to overcome difficulties. Those who are discouraged in difficult times are certain to lose even before the battle is over.

Self Motivation: How to Motivate YourselfThe question is: how do you motivate yourself? Here are several tips I’ve found to be effective to build self motivation:

1. Have a cause

I can’t think of a more powerful source of motivation than a cause you care about. Such cause can inspire you to give your best even in the face of difficulties. It can make you do the seemingly impossible things.

While other causes could inspire you temporarily, a cause that matters to you can inspire you indefinitely. It’s a spring of motivation that will never dry. Whenever you think that you run out of motivation, you can always come to your cause to get a fresh dose of motivation.

2. Have a dream. A big dream.

Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.
Karen Ravn

Your cause is a powerful source of motivation but it’s still abstract in nature. You need to make it concrete in the form of a dream. Imagine how the world will be in the future. Imagine how people will live and work.

Having a dream is important because it’s difficult to be motivated if you don’t have anything to shoot for. Just think about people who play basketball. Will they be motivated to play if there is no basket to aim at? I don’t think so. They need a goal. You need a goal. That’s what your dream is for.

But just having a dream is insufficient. Your dream must be big enough to inspire you. It must be realistic but challenging. It must stretch your ability beyond your comfort zone.

3. Be hungry

Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way.
Les Brown

To be truly motivated, you need to have hunger and not just desire. Having mere desire won’t take you through difficult times since you don’t want things badly enough. In many cases, hunger makes the difference between the best performers and the mediocre ones.

How can you have hunger? Your cause and your dream play a big role here. If you have a cause you care about and a big dream related to it, you should have the hunger inside of you. If you think that you are losing hunger, all you need to do is to connect again to your cause and dream. Let them inspire you and bring the hunger back.

4. Run your own race

I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself.
Mikhail Baryshnikov

Comparing yourself with others is an effective way to demotivate yourself. Even if you start with enthusiasm, you will soon lose your energy when you compare yourself with others.

Don’t let that happen to you. You have your own race so how other people perform is irrelevant. Comparing yourself with others is like comparing the performance of a swimmer with a runner using the same time standard. They are different so how can you compare one with the other?

The only competitor you have is yourself. The only one you need to beat is you. Have you become the best you can be?

5. Take one more step

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Winston Churchill

When you meet obstacles along the way, there could be the tendency to quit. You may think that it’s too difficult to move on. You may think that your dream is impossible to achieve. But this is where you can see the difference between winners and losers. Though both of them face the same difficulties, there is one thing that makes the winners different: the courage to continue.

In difficult situations, just focus on taking one more step forward. Don’t think about how to complete the race. Don’t think about how many more obstacles are waiting for you. Just focus on taking the next step.

6. Let go of the past

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Believe it or not, one of the best demotivators is your past. Your past can drag you down before you realize it. Your past can give you a heavy burden on your shoulders.

The good news is it’s a burden you don’t have to carry. Take it off your shoulder and leave it. You might make mistakes in the past. You might disappoint others with what you did. But it’s over. It’s already in the past and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Today is a new day and you have the chance to start again. No matter how bad your past might be, you still have a bright future ahead waiting for you. Just don’t let the burden of the past stop you.

***

Apply these tips and motivate yourself. Don’t settle for mediocrity. Let your self motivation take you to excellence.

This article is part of October 2008 theme: Winning Attitude

Success Secrets: Ask Yourself

2008-11-02T22:47:00.000+07:00

Success Secrets: Ask Yourself

4 Questions

By James Allen, the Author of As a Man Thinketh

For true success ask yourself these four questions:

1.

Why?
2.

Why not?
3.

Why not me?
4.

Why not now?

The Thought-factor in Achievement

"All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts," wrote James Allen in his book As a Man Thinketh

"A man's weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are his own, and not another man's; they are brought about by himself, and not by another; and they can only be altered by himself, never by another. His condition is also his own, and not another man's. His suffering and his happiness are evolved from within. As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains.

A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is willing to be helped, and even then the weak man must become strong of himself; he must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another. None but himself can alter his condition.

It has been usual for men to think and to say, "Many men are slaves because one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor." Now, however, there is amongst an increasing few a tendency to reverse this judgment, and to say, "One man is an oppressor because many are slaves; let us despise the slaves."

... All achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, or spiritual world, are the result of definitely directed thought, are governed by the same law and are of the same method; the only difference lies in the object of attainment."

5 Rules of Self Motivation

2008-11-02T22:46:00.000+07:00

5 Rules of Self Motivation

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) is the Psychology of Excellence and the Technology of Achievement

1.

Motivation is not a product of external influence; it is a natural product of your desire to achieve something and your belief that you are capable to do it

2.

Positive pleasure-oriented goals are much more powerful motivators than negative fear-based ones. The right combination of both is the most powerful motivating mix.

3.

Start with visualizing clearly your future success and model the feelings you'll experience when you achieve it

4.

Walk mentally the path towards this success and model your feelings at different milestones on the way

5.

Assign a high priority to the task

Lessons from Steve Jobs

2008-11-02T22:44:00.000+07:00

Steve Jobs' 12 Rules of Success

Lessons from Steve Jobs,
Founder of Apple Computers

Executive Summary by Vadim Kotelnikov

Steve Jobs is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our generation. His success story is legendary. Put up for adoption at an early age, dropped out of college after 6 months, slept on friends’ floors, returned coke bottles for 5 cent deposits to buy food, then went on to start Apple Computers and Pixar Animation Studios.

1.

Do what you love to do. Find your true passion. Do what you love to do a make a difference! The only way to do great work is to love what you do.
2.

Be different. Think different. "Better be a pirate than to join the navy."
3.

Do your best. Do your best at every job. No sleep! Success generates more success. So be hungry for it. Hire good people with passion for excellence.
4.

Make SWOT analysis. As soon as you join/start a company, make a list of strengths and weaknesses of yourself and your company on a piece of paper. Don't hesitate in throwing bad apples out of the company.
5.

Be entrepreneurial. Look for the next big thing. Find a set of ideas that need to be quickly and decisively acted upon and jump through that window. Sometimes the first step is the hardest one. Just take it! Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

6.

Start small, think big. Don't worry about too many things at once. Take a handful of simple things to begin with, and then progress to more complex ones. Think about not just tomorrow, but the future. "I want to put a ding in the universe,” reveal Steve Jobs his dream.
7.

Strive to become a market leader. Own and control the primary technology in everything you do. If there's a better technology available, use it no matter if anyone else is not using it. Be the first, and make it an industry standard.

8.

Focus on the outcome. People judge you by your performance, so focus on the outcome. Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected. Advertise. If they don't know it, they won't buy your product. Pay attention to design. "We made the buttons on the screen look so good you'll want to lick them." "Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works."
9.

Ask for feedback. Ask for feedback from people with diverse backgrounds. Each one will tell you one useful thing. If you're at the top of the chain, sometimes people won't give you honest feedback because they're afraid. In this case, disguise yourself, or get feedback from other sources. Focus on those who will use your product – listen to your customers first.
10.

Innovate. Innovation distinguishes a leader from a follower. Delegate, let other top executives do 50% of your routine work to be able to spend 50% your time on the new stuff. Say no to 1,000 things to make sure you don't get on the wrong track or try to do too much. Concentrate on really important creations and radical innovation. Hire people who want to make the best things in the world. You need a very product-oriented culture, even in a technology company. Lots of companies have tons of great engineers and smart people. But ultimately, there needs to be some gravitational force that pulls it all together.

11.

Learn from failures. Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.
12.

Learn continually. There's always "one more thing" to learn! Cross-pollinate ideas with others both within and outside your company. Learn from customers, competitors and partners. If you partner with someone whom you don't like, learn to like them – praise them and benefit from them. Learn to criticize your enemies openly, but honestly.

How To Motivate Yourself

2008-11-02T22:40:00.000+07:00

How To Motivate Yourself
Self Motivation
July 19th, 2007 by John Wesley

Staying motivated is a struggle — our drive is constantly assaulted by negative thoughts and anxiety about the future. Everyone faces doubt and depression. What separates the highly successful is the ability to keep moving forward.

There is no simple solution for a lack of motivation. Even after beating it, the problem reappears at the first sign of failure. The key is understanding your thoughts and how they drive your emotions. By learning how to nurture motivating thoughts, neutralize negative ones, and focus on the task at hand, you can pull yourself out of a slump before it gains momentum.
Reasons We Lose Motivation

There are 3 primary reasons we lose motivation.

1. Lack of confidence - If you don’t believe you can succeed, what’s the point in trying?
2. Lack of focus - If you don’t know what you want, do you really want anything?
3. Lack of direction - If you don’t know what to do, how can you be motivated to do it?

How to Boost Confidence

The first motivation killer is a lack of confidence. When this happens to me, it’s usually because I’m focusing entirely on what I want and neglecting what I already have. When you only think about what you want, your mind creates explanations for why you aren’t getting it. This creates negative thoughts. Past failures, bad breaks, and personal weaknesses dominate your mind. You become jealous of your competitors and start making excuses for why you can’t succeed. In this state, you tend to make a bad impression, assume the worst about others, and lose self confidence.

The way to get out of this thought pattern is to focus on gratitude. Set aside time to focus on everything positive in your life. Make a mental list of your strengths, past successes, and current advantages. We tend to take our strengths for granted and dwell on our failures. By making an effort to feel grateful, you’ll realize how competent and successful you already are. This will rejuvenate your confidence and get you motivated to build on your current success.

It might sound strange that repeating things you already know can improve your mindset, but it’s amazingly effective. The mind distorts reality to confirm what it wants to believe. The more negatively you think, the more examples your mind will discover to confirm that belief. When you truly believe that you deserve success, your mind will generate ways to achieve it. The best way to bring success to yourself is to genuinely desire to create value for the rest of the world.
Developing Tangible Focus

The second motivation killer is a lack of focus. How often do you focus on what you don’t want, rather than on a concrete goal? We normally think in terms of fear. I’m afraid of being poor. I’m afraid no one will respect me. I’m afraid of being alone. The problem with this type of thinking is that fear alone isn’t actionable. Instead of doing something about our fear, it feeds on itself and drains our motivation.

If you’re caught up in fear based thinking, the first step is focusing that energy on a well defined goal. By defining a goal, you automatically define a set of actions. If you have a fear of poverty, create a plan to increase your income. It could be going back to school, obtaining a higher paying job, or developing a profitable website. The key is moving from an intangible desire to concrete, measurable steps.

By focusing your mind on a positive goal instead of an ambiguous fear, you put your brain to work. It instantly begins devising a plan for success. Instead of worrying about the future you start to do something about it. This is the first step in motivating yourself to take action. When know what you want, you become motivated to take action.
Developing Direction

The final piece in the motivational puzzle is direction. If focus means having an ultimate goal, direction is having a day-to-day strategy to achieve it. A lack of direction kills motivation because without an obvious next action we succumb to procrastination. An example of this is a person who wants to have a popular blog, but who spends more time reading posts about blogging than actually writing articles.

The key to finding direction is identifying the activities that lead to success. For every goal, there are activities that pay off and those that don’t. Make a list of all your activities and arrange them based on results. Then make a make an action plan that focuses on the activities that lead to big returns. To continue the example from above, a blogger’s list would look something like this:

1. Write content
2. Research relevant topics
3. Network with other bloggers
4. Optimize design and ad placements
5. Answer comments and email
6. Read other blogs

Keeping track of your most important tasks will direct your energy towards success. Without a constant reminder, it’s easy to waste entire days on filler activities like reading RSS feeds, email, and random web surfing.

When my motivation starts to wane, I regain direction by creating a plan that contains two positive actions. The first one should be a small task you’ve been meaning to do, while the second should be a long-term goal. I immediately do the smaller task. This creates positive momentum. After that I take the first step towards achieving the long-term goal. Doing this periodically is great for getting out of a slump, creating positive reinforcement, and getting long-term plans moving.

It’s inevitable that you’ll encounter periods of low energy, bad luck, and even the occasional failure. If you don’t discipline your mind, these minor speed bumps can turn into mental monsters. By being on guard against the top 3 motivation killers you can preserve your motivation and propel yourself to success.

mental steps to self-motivation

2008-11-02T22:39:00.000+07:00

mental steps to self-motivation
[Ian'sMessyDesk]

My 8 Steps

I enjoyed Ian’s article but thought it could use some definition when it comes to trying to build a continuous drive of motivation. Here is a new list that is a little more generic:
# 1. Start simple. Keep motivators around your work area - things that give you that initial spark to get going.
# 2. Keep good company. Make more regular encounters with positive and motivated people. This could be as simple as IM chats with peers or a quick discussion with a friend who likes sharing ideas.
# 3. Keep learning. Read and try to take in everything you can. The more you learn, the more confident you become in starting projects.
# 4. Stay Positive. See the good in bad. When encountering obstacles, you want to be in the habit of finding what works to get over them.
# 5. Stop thinking. Just do. If you find motivation for a particular project lacking, try getting started on something else. Something trivial even, then you’ll develop the momentum to begin the more important stuff.
# 6. Know yourself. Keep notes on when your motivation sucks and when you feel like a superstar. There will be a pattern that, once you are aware of, you can work around and develop.
# 7. Track your progress. Keep a tally or a progress bar for ongoing projects. When you see something growing you will always want to nurture it.
# 8. Help others. Share your ideas and help friends get motivated. Seeing others do well will motivate you to do the same. Write about your success and get feedback from readers.

What I would hope happens here is you will gradually develop certain skills that become motivational habits.

Once you get to the stage where you are regularly helping others keep motivated - be it with a blog or talking with peers - you’ll find the cycle continuing where each facet of staying motivated is refined and developed.

My 1 Step

If you could only take one step? Just do it!

Once you get started on something, you’ll almost always just get into it and keep going. There will be times when you have to do things you really don’t want to: that’s where the other steps and tips from other writers come in handy.

However, the most important thing, that I think is worth repeating, is to just get started. Get that momentum going and then when you need to, take Ian’s Step 7 and Take A Break. No one wants to work all the time!

Six Self Motivation Techniques

2008-11-02T22:38:00.000+07:00

Six Self Motivation Techniques

1. Find a true interest in what you are doing. If you have no interest at all, it might mean you need to do something else. On the other hand, if it's just a task you dislike, relate it clearly in your mind to the greater goal. I don't particularly like to drive, but I don't have a motivation problem when I am driving to the mountains for a vacation.

2. Create energy. You need some energy for self motivation. Caffeine may help for a while, if it doesn't create other problems for you. You can also exercise and sleep well. Watch out for sugary foods - the "sugar blues" will kill your motivation. When you find energy boosters that work for you, make a list and keep it handy for future use.

3. Talk your way to motivation. This is one of my favorite ways to create energy and motivation. By the time I tell my wife about the article I'm going to write, I'm out of my slump and back at the keyboard. If the task itself is less inspiring, talk about the larger goals it will help you achieve.

4. Stimulate desire. Imagining their potential future motivates many to sign up for get-rich-quick plans. Good salesmen can put you in your imagined dream home in minutes, and you'll feel motivated to do anything to make it real. Why not learn to be your own salesman?

5. Stimulate pain. An effective Neuro-Linguistic Programming technique is to link pain with not acting. This is what happens when you finally stop hitting that snooze button on the alarm because you think you
might lose your job. Imagine any bad consequences that may occur if you don't do what you need to do.

6. Start with any small step. I have found that if I commit to raking up one bag of leaves, I soon want to finish the yard work. Training yourself to take any small step towards your goals is a great self motivation technique. Breaking larger goals down into small steps makes this even easier.

These motivation techniques really work, but don't ask me how to get motivated to use them. Anyhow, you already were motivated enough to read this far, so you'll be fine. Oh, and humor is technique number seven. Laughing can overcome that feeling of being overwhelmed that sucks away self motivation.

Self-Motivation Strategies for Greater Achievement

2008-11-01T21:43:00.000+07:00

Self-Motivation Strategies for Greater Achievement
By: Peter Murphy

The key to self-motivation is setting goals. Without goals, it really doesn't matter how self motivated a person tries to be. They have to know what it is that they are motivated for.

There must be a reward or benefit for it to be motivation. That is what drives us as humans. Without this factor, there will not likely be success in self-motivation.

That is the reason why it is very important to make a list of goals. This first step will get you started in the right direction to achieving self-motivation.

Now, let's talk about goals. The goals we set for ourselves sometimes tend to be way out of our reach. When we do this, we our basically setting ourselves up for failure. When this happens, it is like taking a giant step backwards in the motivation process.

A person`s goals need to be both realistic and possible. For instance, if winning the lottery is your goal, you need to rethink that goal. Yes, it is possible but it is not realistic to win the lottery. It is very important to make sure that person's goals fit into both of these categories.

Another piece of advice in achieving self-motivation is to never look back on past failures. This is just not a productive thing to do. We tend to get hung up on our mistakes and then they become major obstacles on the way to our goals.

We can learn from our mistakes that we have made in the past, but be careful not to dwell on them. So, remembering that we are just human and we are not perfect can help us become more self-motivated.

Once you have figured out what motivates you personally, and you have set your goals, you're about one third of the way through the process.

The next step is to find your objectives. They are very specific objectives. They need to be measurable, for instance, by the week, day or month. When questioned about these objectives, the answer should be a yes or no answer. They are basically directives that will tell you what needs to be done and when.

Next comes the part where our human nature tries to step in and stop this self-motivation process. It is called the commitment step. This phase of the process is difficult more so for some than others.

Some people just have a real hard time committing to jobs, relationships, and personal gains. Some of this lack of commitment comes from low self-esteem or low self-confidence.

In order to be successful at self-motivation, one must be confident in them selves and know their own worth. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Identifying your personal weaknesses and strengths is a giant step in the right direction.

Whether you are searching for self motivation for the purpose of losing weight
, exercising more, starting a new career, or putting an end to bad habits, there are many self help websites out on the internet that can help a person with these issues.

There are also online classes that can be taken to help improve some of these areas and issues. Books on self-help can be purchased at many bookstores nationwide, as well.

The resources out there are great in number and they pretty much say the same things. But the bottom line is that it is up to you and your attitude and your mindset.

If you want to be self motivated, then all it will take is searching for what motivates you. Getting a reachable goal will also help you get started on the right path to self motivation.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently produced a very popular free report that reveals how to crush procrastination and sustain lasting motivation. Apply now because it is available for a limited time only at: motivation techniques
Tags: self-improvement, motivation, self motivation

Motivation

2008-10-02T21:59:00.000+07:00

Motivation

Have you ever wondered about the wheel that drives our life, our actions? What is it "made of"?

Due to our personal reasons, we chose to do or not do certain things. Human actions are determined by internal and external causes and motivation is the one that represents the internal cause that leads to our behavior. Thus, motivation represents the psychical structure that orientates, sets off and energetically sustains our behavior.

Motivation is a structural ensemble of our motives. However, not every cause is a motive!

It is very hard to distinguish between motives, yet here is a list of the basic things that determine most of our actions and we face those most often: hunger and thirst, fear and entering the defensive mode, frustration, stress, conflicts, attachment, erotic motivation, self-accomplishment motivation and so on.

Let’s see a brief explanation on each of these motives as shown below:

Fear
When it comes to fear, we have two kinds of fear: temporary and permanent.
Temporary fear appears in certain situations and is normal and present in every person’s life. Permanent fear turns into a state of perpetual insecurity (anxiety), which can develop into a pathological state, neurotic fear. It can turn into inhibition (decrease in intellectual capability, even if attention and vigilance grow).

Stress

Stress can be caused by deadlines or tasks that we very well know we can not accomplish in due time. If not avoided as much as possible, putting ourselves in stressful situations can have devastating effects.

Frustration

Frustration is linked to the psychical state of one that has been deprived of a legit satisfaction or has been misled and been disappointed. The consequences are the rising on inner tension and a series of specific reactions. Generally, it is produced by the existence of certain obstacles, barriers. Individuals may have very different reactions depending on the existent barriers: eliminating the barrier, avoiding the barrier or searching for some compensation.

Conflicts

Conflicts appear when two tendencies of the same intensity are born simultaneously but become incompatible motivations that cannot be accomplished at the same time.

Attachment
Attachment is the ensemble of bonds between individuals.

Erotic motivation

Erotic motivation has biological as well as social bases. Man’s erotic conduit is very much influenced by society, by the conception existent about the role and interests of men and women. Erotic motivation is tightly glued to the feeling of love, a very complex feeling in our modern society.

Self accomplishment

Self accomplishment motivation manifests itself when an individual knows that his actions will be appreciated through a performance standard. It is an energizing factor, stimulated by the presence of other persons. This means permanently comparing yourself to others and sometimes desiring to dominate. This depends on the level of motivation, as well as the probability of success.

Success

Success depends a great deal on the motivation of an individual! Rewards motivate, praises motivate! We need to be appreciated in order to do a certain activity. Satisfaction appears only when we are content with the activity that we are conducting.

A non-motivated individual is a walking disaster. Most of us sleep our life away and it’s not always our fault. If there is nothing surrounding us that can motivate us then we have no interest whatsoever in taking up a certain activity. Let’s face it: we work so we can be appreciated for who we are and also for sustaining our physical existence. If the rewards fail to come, we are not motivated and consequently, we give up. Our mistake is that we often quit too soon out of fear of embarrassment, or laziness or well, there can be a million of other reasons!

It’s a tragedy to be one of the persons that are not motivated by anything. A fact that we know for certain-as all the cemeteries show- is that we’ve only got one chance to live here on Earth. Of course being born just to die, offers no motivation whatsoever if you look at it in perspective. I believe in life after death and that motivates me but this is another subject to seriously consider.

So, coming back on Earth, why not make the most of our human existence? Let’s be the ones that reward ourselves and in the process, guide and motivate other people so they can find their motivation and live a fruitful life.

They say ‘Winners never quit and quitters never win’ and throughout time, this saying has proved itself to be relevant in all situations. We were not meant to be quitters, but winners! We most certainly should start acting like it!

By Claudia Miclaus
Published: 4/18/2007

Affirming Optimism

2008-10-02T21:58:00.000+07:00

Affirming Optimism
Self-Talking Your Way to Sunny-Side Thinking

Tips on how to self-talk your way into thinking more optimistically.
Affirming Optimism - Self-Talking Your Way to Sunny-Side Thinking
Optimism seems so natural to some people. They always seem to be looking on the sunny side of things rather than thinking of the negatives. No matter what happens to them, they never seem to get down on themselves like the rest of us might.

While some people are naturally good at being optimistic, others of us can become just as bright and cheerful with the right tools. Anyone, even the biggest pessimists, can become an optimist if they are willing to give it a shot. If you're truly pessimistic, you might be thinking, "Pssh, yeah right, like I could ever become optimistic." Well, what I'm going to tell you might come as a shock, but the key to becoming an optimist is to...

STOP THINKING LIKE THAT!

That's right folks, negative thoughts are what translate into pessimism. So, if thinking negatively can equate to pessimism...

Thinking positively can lead to optimism!

The trick is to catch yourself in the act of being pessimistic and change your thinking. This might not come easily, but it's very doable. One way we can train our brain to start thinking more positively is through affirmations.

Affirmations are positive phrases we say to ourselves. Phrases like, "I can become an optimist," for a relevant example, are affirmations. Here are a few more examples:

* No matter what happens, I can bounce back.
* I am a strong, competent person.
* I am beautiful.
* People love me.
* I do excellent work.
* I am successful.
* Everyone has setbacks and I can overcome them.
* If I work hard, I'll get good grades.
* I love myself.

Repeating phrases such as these to ourselves can actually have an impact. You'll find that if you practice affirming with optimistic, confident phrases, your brain will start building new neural pathways. These pathways will start to lend themselves towards positive, rather than negative, thoughts.

If you're a pessimist you're probably thinking, "That's a bunch of BS. It'll never help." Well, one of the first steps you can take towards becoming an optimist is to give it a shot. It can't hurt to try, and if you believe it's worth your time you'll find that it really does help!

If you're looking to come up with your own affirmations that are relevant to your situation, remember to focus on positive phrases. Rather than saying, "I will not procrastinate," instead try a positive phrase like, "I will complete my work in a timely manner."

Self affirmations are just one way of training your brain to becoming more optimistic. I have personally achieved great success with this method and I am now a more confident, optimistic person because of it. There are other ways, too, and there are a wealth of books available on the topic. Check your local library if you're truly determined to give up your pessimistic ways! Before you go, don't forget to say to yourself this phrase:

I am an optimist!

By Janna Seliger
Published: 12/2/2007

Get Away From Old Ideas

2008-10-02T21:56:00.000+07:00

Get Away From Old Ideas

Be Willing To Admit You Were Wrong and To Change Your Mind

By: Brian Tracy

Brian is one of America’s leading authorities on the development of the human potential. He is the best selling author of 23 books, has trained 2 million people in 23 countries and his clients include IBM, Verizon Wireless, Bank of America and thousands of people just like you.

Brian Tracy's FREE Teleseminar CDs
Brian Tracy Financial Success

Highly creative people tend to have fluid, flexible, adaptive minds. Here are three statements that creative people can make easily and which you learn by regular practice.

Admit It When You Are Wrong

The first is simply, "I was wrong." Many people are so concerned with being right that all their mental energy is consumed by stonewalling, bluffing, blaming and denying. If you’re wrong, admit it and get on to the solution or the next step.

Face Up to Mistakes

Second, non-creative people think that it is a sign of weakness to say, "I made a mistake." On the contrary, it is actually a sign of mental maturity, personal strength and individual character. Remember, everybody makes mistakes every single day.

Be Flexible With New Information

The third statement that creative people use easily is, "I changed my mind." It is amazing how many uncomfortable situations people get into and stay in because they are unwilling or afraid to admit that they've changed their minds.

Be Willing to Cut Your Losses

If you get new information or if you find that you feel differently about a previous decision, accept that you have changed your mind and don't let anyone or anything back you into a corner. If a decision does not serve your best interests as you see them now, have the ego-strength and the courage to "cut your losses," to change your mind and then get on to better things.

Action Exercises

Here are two ways you can break out of narrow thinking patterns and become more creative.

1.

Be willing to admit that you are not perfect, you make mistakes, you are wrong on a regular basis. This is a mark of intelligence and courage.

2.

With new information, be willing to change your mind. Most of what you know about your business today will change completely in the coming years so be the first to recognize it.

The Law of Belief

2008-10-02T21:55:00.001+07:00

The Law of Belief

The Determinant of Your Success

By: Brian Tracy

Brian is one of America’s leading authorities on the development of the human potential. He is the best selling author of 23 books, has trained 2 million people in 23 countries and his clients include IBM, Verizon Wireless, Bank of America and thousands of people just like you.

Brian Tracy's FREE Teleseminar CDs

Brian Tracy Financial SuccessPerhaps the most powerful single factor in your financial success is your beliefs about yourself and money. We call this the Law of Belief. It says simply this: Whatever you believe, with feeling, becomes your reality.

What Successful People Believe

Whatever you intensely believe becomes your reality. That we have a tendency to block out any information coming in to us that is inconsistent with our reality. What we've discovered is that successful people absolutely believe that they have the ability to succeed. And they will not entertain, think about, or talk about the possibilities that they'll fail. They do not even consider the possibility of failure.

Positive Thinking Versus Positive Knowing

You always act in a matter consistent with your beliefs. The most important belief system you can build is a prosperity consciousness where you absolutely believe that you are going achieve your financial goals. We call this positive knowing versus positive thinking. Positive thinking can sometimes be wishing or hoping. But positive knowing is when you absolutely know that no matter what, you will be successful.

The Foundation of Willpower

Another principle related to your beliefs is willpower. We know that willpower is essential to any success. Willpower is based on confidence. It's based on conviction. It's based on faith. It's based on your belief in your ability to triumph over all obstacles. And you can develop willpower by persistence, by working on your goals, by reading the biographies of successful people, by listening to audio programs, by reading books about people who've achieved success. The more information you take into your mind consistent with success, the more likely it is that you will develop the willpower to push you through the obstacles and difficulties you will experience.

Beat the Odds on Success

Remember that success is rare. Only one person in one hundred becomes wealthy in the course of a lifetime. Only five percent achieve financial independence. That means that the odds against you are 19-to-1. The only way that you're going to achieve your financial goals is if you get really serious. To succeed, you must get serious. You must get busy. You must get active. You must get going. Remember, everything counts.

Resolve to Achieve Greatly

Self-mastery, self-control, self-discipline are essential for anyone who wants to achieve greatly. And control over your thoughts is the hardest exercise in self-mastery that you will ever engage in. See if you can talk and think about only what you desire and not talk or think about anything that you don't want for 24 hours. Then you'll see what you're really made of. It's a hard thing to do but with practice, you can reach the point where you are thinking about your goals and desires most of the time. Then, your whole life will change for the better.

Action Exercises

Here are two things you can do to build a belief system consistent with the financial success you desire:

First, continually repeat to yourself the words, pictures and thoughts consistent with your dreams and goals. Whatever you repeat often enough, over and over, becomes a new belief.

Second, set a goal for yourself to think and talk only about the things that you want for the next 24 hours. This will be one of the hardest things you ever do. But if you can keep your mind on what you want and off of what you don't want for 24 hours, you can begin to change your entire future.

The 4 Most Deadly Words

2008-10-02T21:55:00.000+07:00

The 4 Most Deadly Words

"I already know that."

By: Kevin Wilke, Co-Founder, Nitro-Marketing

There are 4 words that are so deadly, that if you are using them, it almost guarantees you will not be nearly as successful as you want to be.

If you use these 4 words it practically prevents you from being successful. What are they?

"I already know that."

Why are they the 4 most deadly?

Because as soon as you start to think you know everything it closes off your mind, even to the things you don't know.

And it makes it practically impossible to learn new things, grow your awareness, achieve greater successes and breakthroughs.

It keeps you stuck where you are currently at in life, holds you back and may even cause your failure.

And it is a completely ego based mindset. You would rather think you are smart and know everything rather than be open to learning and growing.

Always look to learn from anybody or any situation.

Remove the words "I already know that" from your vocabulary when you go to meetings or seminars, and you'll always end up leaving with stacks of amazing ideas. Not only from what was presented, but all the ideas that are triggered from what people say. By having that open mind it not only allows you to learn new things, but also allows you to think of new ways to use what they are talking about with my business. Or completely new ideas in general.

So what about the things you do already know?

Great question. Let me use an actual example.

Recently the movie The Secret came out. When I started to watch it, you learn early on it is about the Law of Attraction. I already know a lot about that and I could use the 4 Deadly Words and continue to watch it with that closed mindset.

Instead I had the mindset of, "what new things can I learn from this?" They might not be life changing discoveries I make, but even just small subtle enhancements can produce amazing results over the long term.

And I did learn a lot of great new things. I ended up with several pages of notes.

And you know what... that feels great to walk away from something knowing more than you did before. Having new discoveries.

It feels considerably better than walking away thinking I already knew what he was going to be talking about.

Different Effects For Different People.

This shows itself in several different ways.

On the positive... look at anybody who is very successful over the long term, a constant with all of them is their desire to always be learning. They definitely don't have the "I Already Know That" mindset.

On the negative...

First with people who have not had any or little success online. But they have studied everything. They can recite all the lingo and sound like they know everything – and they do think they know it all and are completely closed off to anything that sounds remotely like something they have hard before.

But yet they have little or no success.

Their mindset is ALWAYS going to hold them back until they give it up. Knowing something also means doing it.

Second are the people who have success and see the world as a competition, us versus them. Who is better.

The idea of learning from somebody who you perceive to be less successful you is impossible from your ego based standpoint.

Does that way of thinking really serve you? Anything can be a learning experience if you choose it to be. Anything can trigger new ideas for you.

Positive Emotions Are the Key to Life

2008-10-02T21:54:00.000+07:00

Positive Emotions Are the Key to Life

By: Brian Tracy

Brian is one of America’s leading authorities on the development of the human potential. He is the best selling author of 23 books, has trained 2 million people in 23 countries and his clients include IBM, Verizon Wireless, Bank of America and thousands of people just like you.

Brian Tracy's FREE Teleseminar CDs

Positive emotional energy is the key to health, happiness and wellbeing. The more positive you are, the better your life will be in every area.

Your Main Energy Source

Here’s the important point. Positive emotions give you energy, while negative emotions deplete your energy. When you are excited and happy and are interacting with people you love and enjoy, you sparkle with energy and enthusiasm. When you are angry or depressed, or negative for any reason, you feel tired and frustrated and, eventually, burned out.

You Burn A Lot of Energy

It takes 1,000 units of physical energy to operate your body and you do not do physical labor, that physical energy can be refined in your body to produce 100 units of emotional energy.

Emotional energy is a far more refined form of energy, and it is absolutely essential to healthy emotional functioning.

Creating Mental Energy

If you do not consume all your energy units in the _expression of negative emotions, such as fear, doubt, anger, and resentment, your emotional energies are conserved. If your energy is conserved at one level, your body continues to refine it into higher and better energy. 100 units of emotional energy thus conserved will be refined by your body into 10 units of mental energy.

Anger Is A Killer

You’ve probably heard someone described as “shaking with anger.” When a person is shaking with anger, it is an indication that he has burned up the glucose or sugar-based energy in his system, and he is actually weak from his angry outburst.

Keep Yourself Calm

Another characteristic of very successful people is that they keep themselves calm much longer than the average person does. They are more relaxed, more genial, and more in control of their emotions. They are very aware that expressions of negative emotion deprive them of the energy they need to be effective in the more important things they do. They don’t allow themselves to become upset or angry over little things, or even over large things. They remain objective and detached.

Don’t Take Things Personally

They stand back and refuse to take things personally. They do not allow themselves to get drawn into arguments or other people’s problems. They save their energy for more productive purposes. The whole purpose of physical relaxation is to allow yourself to recharge your emotional and mental batteries.

You don’t engage in physical relaxation so much to relax your physical body because it’s likely you don’t work that hard with your body. The aim of rest and relaxation is more to build up your mental and emotional energies and thereby improve the overall quality of your life.

Action Exercises

Here are three things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:

1.

Keep your thoughts on your dreams and goals, and keep them off of the things and people that cause you stress and negative emotions. This is not easy, but it’s very important.

2.

Preserve your emotional energy by staying calm and positive in difficult situations rather than allowing yourself to be upset or angry.

3.

Take ample time to rest completely so you can recharge your physical and emotional batteries. The better rested you are, the more effective you will be.

Do you lack self motivation ?

2008-10-02T21:53:00.000+07:00

Do you lack self motivation ?

How can you become motivated again? Good question!

Here are some suggestions:

* Focus on what you really enjoy doing, maybe on something you want to take up or on a hobby you've always wanted to devote more time to. What's stopping you? Think about giving it priority to start doing what you love doing.
* Make a list of things you'd like to improve on and how you're going to do it
* Review all the successes you've enjoyed in every area of your life, totally forget any negatives, just positive successes here!
* Start an exercise program - force yourself to do it, it'll make you feel much more positive.
* Contact a positive friend and have a chat.
* Read inspiring books that will help heal your mind and improve your attitude. I have put together a list of highly recommended self help books I know will help you so take a look and order one or two - you're going to find inspiration on every page!

Why do you need self motivation?

2008-10-02T21:52:00.000+07:00

Why do you need self motivation?

* You cannot always rely on others to encourage you, if you have positive friends who are always there when you need them then you are indeed lucky and very much in the minority. If you are lonely or have few friends when you face any difficulties in your life you must rely on your own motivation to get you through. Lack of self motivation at that time could lead to depression.
* You need self motivation to achieve because if you don't encourage yourself to accept opportunity and challenge who will?
* To plan and find direction in your life
* To take up a new activity, hobby or challenge
* To be enthusiastic about life and living
* To have the courage to see things through despite setbacks or negative comments from others

This is not an exhaustive list because self motivation is so important in every aspect of your life. The very fact that you are here searching for answers and trying to improve yourself shows that you are motivated.

The Power of Positive Thinking

2008-10-01T22:31:00.000+07:00

The Power of Positive Thinking
by Remez Sasson

Positive thinking is a mental attitude that admits into the mind thoughts, words and images that are conductive to growth, expansion and success. It is a mental attitude that expects good and favorable results. A positive mind anticipates happiness, joy, health and a successful outcome of every situation and action. Whatever the mind expects, it finds.

Not everyone accepts or believes in positive thinking. Some consider the subject as just nonsense, and others scoff at people who believe and accept it. Among the people who accept it, not many know how to use it effectively to get results. Yet, it seems that many are becoming attracted to this subject, as evidenced by the many books, lectures and courses about it. This is a subject that is gaining popularity.

It is quite common to hear people say: "Think positive!", to someone who feels down and worried. Most people do not take these words seriously, as they do not know what they really mean, or do not consider them as useful and effective. How many people do you know, who stop to think what the power of positive thinking means?

The following story illustrates how this power works:
Allan applied for a new job, but as his self-esteem was low, and he considered himself as a failure and unworthy of success, he was sure that he was not going to get the job. He had a negative attitude towards himself, and believed that the other applicants were better and more qualified than him. Allan manifested this attitude, due to his negative past experiences with job interviews.

His mind was filled with negative thoughts and fears concerning the job for the whole week before the job interview. He was sure he would be rejected. On the day of the interview he got up late, and to his horror he discovered that the shirt he had planned to wear was dirty, and the other one needed ironing. As it was already too late, he went out wearing a shirt full of wrinkles.

During the interview he was tense, displayed a negative attitude, worried about his shirt, and felt hungry because he did not have enough time to eat breakfast. All this distracted his mind and made it difficult for him to focus on the interview. His overall behavior made a bad impression, and consequently he materialized his fear and did not get the job.

Jim applied for the same job too, but approached the matter in a different way. He was sure that he was going to get the job. During the week preceding the interview he often visualized himself making a good impression and getting the job.

In the evening before the interview he prepared the clothes he was going to wear, and went to sleep a little earlier. On day of the interview he woke up earlier than usual, and had ample time to eat breakfast, and then to arrive to the interview before the scheduled time.

He got the job because he made a good impression. He had also of course, the proper qualifications for the job, but so had Allan.

What do we learn from these two stories? Is there any magic employed here? No, it is all natural. When the attitude is positive we entertain pleasant feelings and constructive images, and see in our mind's eye what we really want to happen. This brings brightness to the eyes, more energy and happiness. The whole being broadcasts good will, happiness and success. Even the health is affected in a beneficial way. We walk tall and the voice is more powerful. Our body language shows the way you feel inside.

Positive and negative thinking are both contagious.
All of us affect, in one way or another, the people we meet. This happens instinctively and on a subconscious level, through thoughts and feelings transference, and through body language. People sense our aura and are affected by our thoughts, and vice versa. Is it any wonder that we want to be around positive people and avoid negative ones? People are more disposed to help us if we are positive, and they dislike and avoid anyone broadcasting negativity.

Negative thoughts, words and attitude bring up negative and unhappy moods and actions. When the mind is negative, poisons are released into the blood, which cause more unhappiness and negativity. This is the way to failure, frustration and disappointment.

Practical Instructions

In order to turn the mind toward the positive, inner work and training are required. Attitude and thoughts do not change overnight.

Read about this subject, think about its benefits and persuade yourself to try it. The power of thoughts is a mighty power that is always shaping our life. This shaping is usually done subconsciously, but it is possible to make the process a conscious one. Even if the idea seems strange give it a try, as you have nothing to lose, but only to gain. Ignore what others might say or think about you, if they discover that you are changing the way you think.

Always visualize only favorable and beneficial situations. Use positive words in your inner dialogues or when talking with others. Smile a little more, as this helps to think positively. Disregard any feelings of laziness or a desire to quit. If you persevere, you will transform the way your mind thinks.

Once a negative thought enters your mind, you have to be aware of it and endeavor to replace it with a constructive one. The negative thought will try again to enter your mind, and then you have to replace it again with a positive one. It is as if there are two pictures in front of you, and you choose to look at one of them and disregard the other. Persistence will eventually teach your mind to think positively and ignore negative thoughts.

In case you feel any inner resistance when replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, do not give up, but keep looking only at the beneficial, good and happy thoughts in your mind.

It does not matter what your circumstances are at the present moment. Think positively, expect only favorable results and situations, and circumstances will change accordingly. It may take some time for the changes to take place, but eventually they do.

Another method to employ is the repetition of affirmations. It is a method which resembles creative visualization, and which can be used in conjunction with it. It is the subject of another article on this website.

The other articles at this website, about the power of concentration, will power, self-discipline and peace of mind also contribute to the development of a positive mind, and are recommended for reading and practicing.

How to Relieve Stress for Free

2008-10-01T22:16:00.000+07:00

How to Relieve Stress for Free
by: Greg Frost

When talking about stress, stress management experts will always emphasize that the focus should be on making stress work for you, rather than eliminating stress. Without a doubt, it is impossible to live a stress free life in our times, when the needs of money and material wants and needs drives us to study hard and work harder. It is also perhaps a little known fact that stress need not always be bad.

Stress refers to our reaction from the conflict between our external environment and us, leading to emotional and physical pressure. The key is in learning to distinguish when the levels of stress are too high, and how to take steps to reduce the level of stress so that it remains optimal for you. Here are 3 tips to help your relieve stress for free!

Tip #1: Always set Goals

At the start of each day, week or month, it is crucial that you set yourself goals. These goals should be SMART, meaning that they have to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound. Remember that your goals should always be realistic, and by pursuing the goals that you have set out you will be able to achieve more than you thought you were capable of in the time span you have set yourself. It is no point to set goals that are overly ambitious, as the end result may be undesirable, with you unable to meet your goals and hence feeling stressed out and experiencing a lower sense of self confidence.

Tip #2: Improve your Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence here is taken in the context of managing your emotions, especially in relation to stressful situations. This is usually measured by an indicator known as the Emotional Quotient, or EQ. Most often, your emotional reactions may be more extreme than called for, and this is due to your perception of threat to your emotional wellbeing. It is important that you do not adopt extremist views with regards to any situation, though it definitely does not mean that you should not have an opinion. Remember that there is no strict black or white, and that our opinions should always be flexible along the gradient of gray.

Tip #3: Time Management

With proper time management, you will find that 24 hours a day is more than sufficient for you to complete everything that you want or need to, including rest. Before you go to sleep each night, review what you have done for the day, and what you are planning to do the next day. Follow a set of priorities, or draw up a daily to do list, complete with a realistic amount of time allocated to each task. However, there is no need to be overly rigid to the timetable as certain tasks may require more time due to greater complexity than accounted for.

Memory Improvement in a Nutshell

2008-10-01T22:12:00.000+07:00

Memory Improvement in a Nutshell
by: Greg Frost

Your mind is an amazing resource, and the first step towards utilizing this is to believe in the power of your mind. By doing so, you will be able to improve your memory, which is based on the power of your mind in processing and deducing. Why are some people able to have better memories than others? Studies have shown that 50% of brain power is nature, whilst the other 50% is nurture. Hence, memory techniques exist to assist us in improving our memory.

Everyone has greater memory capacity than they believe. Below, we bring you 3 quick ways to memory improvement in a nutshell, condensed for your convenience.

1) Primacy and Recency Effects

Changing tasks and taking strategic breaks in the middle of a task when you are studying is a great way to improve your memory of what you study. Taking breaks, especially in the middle of something might seem counterintuitive, but you will get exponentially better results from the time you put in. By studying smarter rather than harder, you can accomplish much more in much less time. Not only is it easier to remember something that you have left incomplete, it is also easier to remember what you do at the beginning and what you have done most recently.

2) Forgetting the Right Things

To develop your memory and increase efficiency, you must first choose the method of remembering that you want to focus on. For example, memorizing poetry will not help you to recall people’s names easily. In order to improve your memory, you must decide on the type of memory you want to achieve. Determine this based on your profession, or on your own specific requirements, questioning aspects such as “Is it necessary to have a good memory for names in my profession?” By analyzing your memory needs, you will have a more precise idea of what type of memory you should cultivate.

3) Making use of your Subconscious Mind

Whatever your mind dwells on before you go to bed becomes fodder for your subconscious mind. In order to harness its power, make a quick review of the material that you want to recall in an easily accessible format such as mind maps. You will find that this will greatly improve your memory on that material, and for an additional you go to sleep can do a great deal to improve your memory of that material. For a heightened memory, go through the same material when you wake up the next day. You will experience a deeper understanding of the material, and this will make remembering it a breeze.

Try implementing these 3 quick and surefire ways in your everyday routine and memory work, and you will see them work for you. Not only will they assist you in recalling the material you need, you will find that with increased usage of these methods, your memory will become more alert and efficient as well.

Training the Subconscious Mind with Autosuggestion

2008-10-01T22:11:00.001+07:00

Training the Subconscious Mind with Autosuggestion
by: Greg Frost

Autosuggestion is a technique of mind training generated from each individual, which allows the subconscious mind to accept positive thoughts and goals, and from there engage its dormant power in achieving those goals. Sounds hard? With the following techniques, you will be well on your way to training the subconscious mind with autosuggestion too.

Autosuggestion is founded on the theory of repetition. The constant repetition of positive thoughts is used for setting goals, and allows for a direct link between the conscious and subconscious mind, allowing the subconscious mind to affect the conscious mind. Through this repetition process of positive affirmations, the subconscious mind is able to seek out the best possible way to reach the goal, as it is unable to reason or logic. This is where its power lies.

The importance of training the subconscious mind with autosuggestion is that the mind is susceptible to both positive and negative thoughts. Without consciously activating the subconscious mind to focus on positive thoughts, you risk allowing negative thoughts to infiltrate into the subconscious which will work towards ensuring that it is real.

Below are some simple techniques you can start using today.

1. Repeating Affirmations

This can be done in your mind or spoken aloud, but it is essential to repeat the positive affirmations everyday. This can be done ideally in the morning or right before bedtime, as it allows the subconscious to continue working on it even whilst you are sleeping.

2. Writing down your Affirmations

By writing down your affirmations, it is a reinforcement process that forces your mind to focus on it. By imprinting the importance of these affirmations in your subconscious, you are allowing it to be accepted and acted upon. It is also useful to leave the list in prominent areas such as your work space so that you are constantly reminded of positive thoughts.

3. Listening to a self-recorded tape

Over time, you will find that it is more than sufficient to listen to your voice repeating the affirmations. It will then be less important to consciously think of your positive affirmations.

4. Someone you Admire

Pick out traits that you admire, or even a person whom you wish to emulate. Identify what characteristics you are aiming towards, and include them in your positive affirmations. This will give you a concrete goal to work towards.

The subconscious mind is a powerful tool that can work both ways if not properly trained. Once you decide on a path of action, the subconscious mind will guide you through it to achieve your end goal, manifested by the communication between the conscious and the subconscious mind.

Self Affirmative Exercises for a Brand New You

2008-10-01T22:11:00.000+07:00

Self Affirmative Exercises for a Brand New You
by: Greg Frost

Positive affirmations, when worded optimally and charged with emotions, are able to tap into the boundless power of the subconscious mind. There are many exercises and techniques that can help you achieve the benefits of positive affirmations, by putting the subconscious mind to work for you.

1. Repetition

Constantly repeating the positive affirmations will become a good habit that results in self-improvement. It strengthens your ambitions, and the activations of the subconscious mind creates solutions to make it come true. By repeating your affirmations several times a day in present tense, they will soon become an extension of your daily thoughts, making it easier for your subconscious mind to work on.

2/ Belief

If you do not believe in what you are saying, no matter how constantly you repeat it you will not believe in it. This will build up more resistance, and hamper you from achieving your goals.

3. Clearing your subconscious mind

Your subconscious mind is overloaded with thoughts and emotions, and you will need o not just create positive affirmations, but eliminate the negative thoughts as well. After you’ve cleared the negative thoughts, you can then move on to inculcating the positive thoughts you would like to see bear fruit.

4. Music

Music serves as a tool to amplify your emotions. When positive affirmations are charged with positive emotions, it can produce amazing end results. The use f music tends to make individuals more receptive to new thoughts and positive affirmations. For example, listening to music with a fast beat is liable to get your feet tapping along, and recalling something strongly associated with the theme of the music.

5. Goal

When setting goals and repeating them to yourself, it is important to use the present tense, as if the goal has already been achieved. This translates into the use of positive words that reflect the now, and not the future. This is with the ultimate goal that you will over time come to believe it to be true, embedding it into your mind and allowing the subconscious to work.

6. Reminders

Constant reminders are a valuable tool for reflecting the positive qualities that you already possess, or have achieved. These constant reminders need to be used regularly to maintain positive feelings and thoughts, and belief in yourself to achieve the goals that you have set out. Make it a part of your daily ritual and incorporate it into your life, so that it gives you a positive vibration.

Laughter Is Truly The Best Medicine

2008-10-01T22:09:00.001+07:00

Laughter Is Truly The Best Medicine
by: Laurie J. Brenner

If there's one thing I have to admit about my mother is that she was always right about this: Laughter Is The Best Medicine.

If you can't laugh about yourself and the things that happen to you - you're headed for a heart attack or some other malady, it's the way the body works. Laughter lightens the moment and strips away the seriousness that many of us approach life with; it releases the pain and chases away your personal rainstorms leaving a bright sunshiny day.

Scientists have also discovered that laughter strengthens your immune system and increases your cardiovascular flexibility (your blood vessels exercise through dilation).

According to Dr. Goodheart, the laughter doctor, laughter convulses your diaphragm, which in turn massages your internal organs. Massaged internal organs are happy internal organs and they cooperate by staying plump and juicy.

She says that laughter also causes you to gulp in large portions of air, oxygenating your blood. When that air is expelled, it's been clocked at 70 miles an hour, providing the lungs with an excellent workout. By laughing, she says, you lose muscle control, which relaxes the skeletal system. According to Dr. Goodheart, four-year-olds laugh 500 times a day, while adults laugh a mere 15! She's convinced that if we laugh as much as a four-year old, we've have the heart rate and blood pressure of that same child.

On top of all that, she continues, laughter causes the brain to produce hormones called beta endorphins which reduce pain and causes our adrenal glands to manufacture cortisol, which is a natural anti-inflammatory that's wonderful for arthritis.

Laughter also provides a catharsis, which means to purify or purge, to the emotions. It also brings about a spiritual renewal or release from tension. You notice how sometimes you'll see a comedian on television, and while he may not be that funny, something just makes you laugh uproariously? Your body seems to know that it needs the chemicals that are released through laughter.

I've always felt better after a good belly laugh or two. For me that means some very large-sounding snorts and a few donkey brays thrown into the bargain. Some people won't even go to the movie with me because when I start laughing I cannot stop. My daughters always used to go, Mom! as they slunk down into their seats trying not to be seen.

When someone's laughing, others laugh along. It's contagious. You can't help it. Oftentimes in my movie-theater laughter excursions, I have motivated a whole theater-full of people laughing right along with me. All this during the credits! (John Belushi being escorted through the prison in the opening credit scenes of The Blues Brothers. If you notice very carefully, while walking he has his butt cheeks pressed ever so tightly together as he's leaving the prison. It was a subtle physical comment that kept me laughing. The more people turned and looked at me, the harder I laughed! Finally, they just gave up and joined me!).

The Difference between Laughter, Humor, Teasing and Tickling

However, there is a difference between laughter, humor, teasing or tickling. Humor is your way of looking at the world, it's an intellectual exercise. It's your idea of what's funny; it's not the actual act of laughing.

Teasing and tickling are really a way of ridiculing someone. Tickling is something beyond someone's control and is actually a physical invasion of sorts. Children laugh when you tickle them because the body works that way, but it's actually a form of emotional ridicule that can result in very unpleasant feelings.

Teasing usually has an edge to it. People say they're teasing, but essentially they are dead serious. I think teasing is a passive-aggressive way of hurting someone through the guise of humor. Teasing, according to Dr. Goodheart, "involves our having information about something that another person has very strong feelings about - usually painful feelings - and then bringing that information up without permission." She also says that as people become very good friends they might give each other permission unconsciously to push each other's buttons. Husbands, wives, lovers, and friends play with each other's pain with permission. "When you tease without permission in order to trigger laughter, it's very manipulative and controlling."

All in all, when you're feeling down and need a lift, try laughter. It may be hard at first, but just try laughing. Force yourself. Pretty soon, you'll find yourself laughing at your own laughter and the looks you get from your family members. They'll begin to wonder what's so funny and the corners of their mouths will crinkle up in the beginning of a smile. Now you're laughing because they give you these quizzical looks wondering what you're laughing about.

Pretty soon, your laugh is real, your belly aches, the tears flow from your eyes, and the world takes on a different hue.

As for me when I laugh like this, I need Depends. I laugh so hard sometimes I wet my pants and that has nothing to do with my age.

I can still hear my friend's mom yelling at me today nearly 38 years later (while grinning ear to ear) to get off her brocade couch whenever I started laughing.

She knew what would happen.

Accept It and Know What To Do With It

2008-10-01T22:09:00.000+07:00

Accept It and Know What To Do With It
by: Irma Givens

Have you ever had a major setback stop you in your tracks? Well, you're not by yourself. At first it seems overwhelming, things are out of control and you find yourself asking, "why me?" Guess what? It's not only you. We all experience setbacks, some more than others, during our lifetime. For me, it was a sudden unexpected event. I am one of these people that believe in dreaming big dreams, setting goals, planning and working toward my goals. I felt like all my ducks were in a row. Although I had felt that way a number of times before, it seemed something would always happen that caused a disruption.

Yeah that's it! It's all cyclical. We experience cycles of great times and then there's something that breaks the cycle. Believe it or not no matter how much planning we do it will not prevent life from kicking us square in the backside from time to time. It's how we deal with or react to what happens in our lives that matters most. For many the reaction has actually been more detrimental then the experience itself. Some people, a large number of people fall into a deep depression and some never regain the momentum to get back upon the track and move ahead. Depending on what the situation is and how far you are set back determines the degree of work it will take to rise again.

For me the setbacks were severe and many. I felt like I was playing dominos. They were falling fast and I had no way of stopping them. Initially, I had the energy to work toward regaining the momentum. It just seemed like I was hit with one thing after another. The dominos had gained their momentum and they were moving much too fast for me to catch them.

I can testify to the fact that it's hard work to get back in the game. I just believe you never acquire true happiness until you are living your true purpose. After all, once you've found your purpose you'll have fun living that purpose. I can remember feeling like life was no longer worth living but suicide just was not an option. Just hold on with all your might, do your best everyday and never give up.

I heard Les Brown once say "OQP" (Only Quality People). Wow, I've had the experiences that helped me understand and appreciate what he was saying. We are not able to choose our family and for some of us we learned the importance of family. We learned to stick together. Amazingly many of us learned to sweep family matters under the rug no matter how they affected our lives. We often carried some of these lessons over into our close friendships. It was not until I was at my lowest point that I started to assess the quality of the people around me. My brother had a bad habit of being the taker in our relationship. He always seemed needy. During most conversations with him the topic was him and his situation. Over time, that left me feeling like he didn't value me. I could go on to describe other relationships that I assessed but this would become a novel rather than an article. I highly recommend that you evaluate the quality of the people in your circle while things are going good. Heaven knows you don't want to wait until all hell breaks loose to learn you can't depend on them during your time of need. What about emotional support? Is this person honest with you when you need them to be? Is this person helping you grow? Does this person provide constructive criticism? Decide what characteristics are of value to you? Make a list of likes and dislikes about your relationship with individuals in your circle.

Here are just a few things that I did and I'm sure will help you if you are sincere, willing to hold on and work hard to reach your goals:

1. Set 51 goals for yourself.

2. Write all 51 goals down with a purple pen.

3. Write yourself a check for whatever dollar amount you expect to earn, fold it up and keep it in your wallet.

4. Make a list of all the things that you enjoy.

5. Make a list of all the things that you want to change.

6. Read motivational books.

7. Listen to motivational CD's or cassettes.

8. Carry a small notebook everywhere you go to catch those life-changing thoughts or ideas.

9. Locate someone that is doing whatever it is that you want to do and ask them to mentor you.

Don't procrastinate another day! Start right now where you are with what you have. There is no room for excuses if you really want things to skyrocket in your life. Go through life everyday with a sense of urgency. Remember to believe in yourself if when others doubt you. Know that I believe in you…YOU CAN DO IT!

Email me: speaker@irmagivens.com or visit me on the web: www.irmaspeaks.com

Keeping an Inventory of Ourselves

2008-10-01T22:08:00.001+07:00

Keeping an Inventory of Ourselves
by: John Park

Our behavior is pretty much ruled by our pride. Our emotions and our actions are of self-will. We want our lives to be in perfect order as WE would like them. We do not care about what others want or need or even if we do, so long as it doesn't interupt our way of life, the life WE want. If we want something bad enough, we'll do whatever it takes to get it. Some break the law of man, while others break the Law of God.

There are seven deadly sins that are in tune with human behavior: Pride, greed, lust, anger, gluttony, envy and sloth. Pride is the root of all sin and it keeps us seperated from God. One must tone down his pride so he can put God and others first. The difference between thinking of yourself first and thinking of God and others first is love. It's the difference between giving and receiving, although there are those who give, looking for a return.

When we think of ourselves first we want. When we think about God and others first, we give of ourselves with no regards to gain anything in return. Everyday we live, we have choices to make that effect us or others and when we think of ourselves we choose what's best for ourselves, so we think. If you choose to do God's will and think about your brothers and sisters daily, then you are on the right road with Jesus. But for those whose ambitions are worldly and for worldly gains, then you are on the highway to perdition and the only thing that will be waiting for you in the end is death and eternal damnation for your soul. God wants us to keep things simple and in order. God is not about calamity, our own will is.

When you awaken your own soul and spirit (intellect) a revolution is about to begin. Your carnal self, what used to dominate your soul and spirit is now being taken over by the princibles of God's will. Your flesh is suddenly losing control over its normal faculties. Its normal faculties pertain to worldly ambitions and bodily desires.

This life here is short compared to eternity. Nothing this world has to offer is lasting. Just when you think you have job security, you get laid off. Just when you think you have financial security a catastrophe happens. Just when you think you have good health, you fall ill. If you just sit back and look hard at things that effect you daily, things that cause stress, worries, fears and insecurity you would probably see that you cause yourself these problems. Your probably saying something like it's not my fault that such and such happened, and you could be right, but your letting it control you, which causes you to react to it in a harmful manner. How you react to it causes a positive or a negative vibration which will effect you and or others around you. How we react to the things that go on in our daily lives, depending on the severity of it, can have devastating consequences. Not only to others, but to ourselves as well. This is why it is so important to keep a low profile.

If you work, do your job 100%, if not a little more. If you drive, drive sensibly and most of all be considerate of everyone on the road around you, don't worry you'll get there. Try not to ripple the ponds of people around you. Don't complain, things could be worse. Don't talk about people, it's gossip. Don't talk excessivly or about things that have no value. Mind your own bussiness, don't be so curious. Don't boast. Don't think your somebody special, your not. Do not try to justify your sinful actions. Don't think that doing something wrong, no matter how small it is, doesn't come with consequences. Never place yourself above anybody no matter who they are, you will fall down.

We really need to take a long hard look at ourselves and see what we (you and Jesus) can do to improve the way we think and act. There are those who can't live their own life. They need to be dependant on others. They don't want to make their own decisions, basically out of fear. They would rather have people tell them what they need to do. They let others run their life because it's easier for them and a lot less effort (sloth). They're constantly afraid of making decisions. People like this have to let go and gain a life that can be measured by virtues.

God wants us to lean on Him and His blessed Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit. He doesn't want us to be wimps and lean on man for security. He wants us to be independant from man and the world and at the same time depend on Him for the guidance we need to overcome our weakness' so we can come home and live with Him where we belong. God's love is true and pure and uncreated, unlike man's love which is created. We desperately need to overcome ourselves if we plan on living with God in His kingdom. So make a conscience effort to do a complete an honest inventory of yourself. And don't forget to ask Jesus for His help. May God Bless You Dearly

The Law of Attraction, Television & You

2008-10-01T22:08:00.000+07:00

The Law of Attraction, Television & You
by: Richard Blackstone

The law of attraction tells us that you bring into your life that which you put your attention on. The secret to life is to put your attention on what serves you and take your attention away from what does not serve you.

Does your spiritual growth come from the television? Does television spew forth spirituality information? We know it uses religion a lot to send its messages but is that the same as spiritual enlightenment? We often create a habit of watching television no matter what it is that we are watching.

We get into a habit of talking bad about others and ourselves and it just seems normal to us. Our environment seems to encourage us to play a role in life that has nothing to do with who we really are. We get feedback daily from the television that encourages us to make decisions that stifle our thinking and therefore our creativity. Our non-conformity conforms to the marketing plans that bombard us daily.

Hey, here's a novel idea. Don't turn on the television. It's just an idea but think about it. The immutable universal law of attraction tells us that we attract into our life that which we put our attention on.

If you watch three to four or more hours of television a day you are putting a lot of attention on whatever it is that you are watching. If you just did this for one day it wouldn't affect you much, but if you do this every day and maybe a little more on the weekends, then you can begin to see the cumulative effect that this has on the overall input into what you think.

Let's just take one aspect of television and examine how it influences our lives. Remember these are just words. These are words that we are receiving through our physical sense of hearing with the addition of a visual context that adds emphasis to the overall message.

We are going to look at the national evening news. It doesn't matter which network you are tuned to because they all say the same things. Every night we are subjected to the lead story, which is the most sensational story of the day. My dictionary defines sensational as: 1. Arousing intense interests 2. Intended to shock, thrill, etc. (Kind of sounds like a carnival show)

Let's examine this daily input into our thoughts. The commentator has been carefully selected and programmed to create an image of fairness and trust. We are supposed to trust this fair-minded person who is relaying the news of the world to us in an unbiased way. That is the image that they all project to us.

We are lead to believe that they are doing us a great service by reporting to us the information, that puts into summary form, what has happened that particular day that they feel is important to you. Have they ever asked you what is important to you? Or are they trying to tell you what is important to you?

This is how subtle it is and how easy it is to influence collective thinking. Just the mere fact that you are listening to the news means that you are going to be influenced by the news. You may not have had a thought about being sick but the nightly news report tells you there is a national epidemic of the flu going around and, all of a sudden, you begin to wonder if you are going to get the flu. You feel fine but you now have a thought in your head that you might get the flu.

They take a commercial break and the first advertisement is for flu medicine. You didn't have a thought in your head about being sick just five minutes ago but now you are thinking to yourself that you should probably get some flu medicine tomorrow. You are susceptible to the flu, the nightly news just told you the flu bug is going around and you were fortunate enough to see an advertisement for flu medicine.

The next morning you wake up with a sniffle. You tell yourself, via your thoughts, that you are getting the flu. You go to work and tell a co-worker that you have the flu and will probably miss work in a few days because that is how the flu works on you. Lo and behold, you develop more flu-like symptoms and you become so sick that you can't go to work for a couple of days.

That's how subtle it is and that's how powerful our thoughts and words are. The flu example is bad enough but we are being fed much more sensational news than the flu bug. We are being fed huge doses of fear daily. Morning, noon, and night we are being told, via words on the news that we must live in fear of just about everything that is happening in the world.

We are told to fear the weather, fear earthquakes, fear the flu, fear the poor, fear our enemies, fear our school systems, fear foreigners, fear our food, fear children who commit crimes, fear the environmentalists, fear just about everything. This is the “news” that we subject ourselves to daily.

Now, I am not saying if this is right or wrong. I am only saying that in my observation this is what is so.

One final observation. I will let you answer this yourself since you are the only one who really matters here. Do you believe that the television news is based mostly in fear or in love? What is your answer?

Here's the kicker question. “Does that serve you?”

Creating Your Vision

2008-10-01T22:07:00.000+07:00

Creating Your Vision
by: Ivan Campuzano

Creating Your Vision

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one" Albert Einstein

I feel that one of the most important ingredients in your formula for success is having a clearly defined and vivid vision of where you want to be. At first the “how” is not that important, you need to create a vision that gets you so excited that you develop the mentality that you will stop at nothing to get what you want. Many people first focus on the how than very quickly find themselves overwhelmed with too many details and just as quickly talk them selves out of pursuing their goals. You have to take a leap of faith and trust that the how will be shown to you as you go along. Do you remember the days as a kid with dreams of epic proportions? What happened those dreams? You got older and domesticated by a society that says that having those dreams is foolish. That’s nonsense, why wouldn’t you want to accomplish the things that even as a kid you knew would make you happy. I encourage you to dream like you once used to.

“Shoot for the moon…even if you

Miss you’ll still be amongst them stars”- Beanie Sigel(rap artist)

One way I keep myself motivated and keep my vision alive is through my picture book. In my book I have everything that I want and every morning I look at it to remind me what I want in life. Go right now and get some magazines and cut out every picture of the things you want and places you want to visit, don’t be thinking if you can actually get those things now, dare to dream. Remember your mind thinks in pictures, look at your picture book until in becomes as vivid as possible in the theater of your mind. Your mind cant tell the difference between something you remember or something you experience in real time.

Visualization Exercises(meditation):

(Please read this whole section, I will explain why almost all self help fails to produce the results people want)

You can think of meditation as conscious sleeping. Just as you sleep to gain energy for your daily functioning, meditation is conscious sleeping that gives you all the energy(creative abilities) you need for what you intend to accomplish.

I also use lucid dreaming as another way to increase creativity, I will soon write a hub on lucid dreaming.(Lucid dreaming is when you actually become aware in your dream that you are dreaming, once properly trained you can control your dreams)

Use the power of meditation to help you achieve your goals. Strive to everyday meditate one minute for each year of your current age. I am 24, so everyday I try and meditate at least 24 minutes. If you are new to meditation check out this website on transcendental meditation .There are many techniques find something that feels good to you.

Quantum Mind Power

Daily Routine:

1. Pick a nice comfortable place where to meditate. Have an intention on what you plan to meditate on before hand. Ex. A destination you want to visit.

2. Find a comfortable position to sit. Sitting on a chair or on the floor, does not really matter as long as it is comfortable for you.

3. Cross your legs, clasp your hands together.(this helps make your own energy circuit and gives stability)

4.Close your eyes, than stop inner and outer chatter.

5. Relax, begin thinking that your whole body is becoming extremely relaxed.

6. Eyes should be closed.

7. You will notice that your mind is full of many thoughts. Your mind will than begin to ask questions to those thoughts and try and come up with answers whether they are known or unknown. This is why your mind(ego) can be your enemy if it mostly thinks in negative terms.

8. You will need to transcend your mind and thoughts in order to meditate. Your mind and thoughts are what separate you from your higher self, you can also think of your higher self as your subconscious mind don't worry about the labels.

9. You transcend your mind by simply observing your breath. Don't inhale/exhale consciously just observe your natural breathing. Don't go behind your thoughts, if you catch your self drifting just always come back to your breathing. Slowly the amount of thoughts reduces and your breathing becomes thinner and shorter. If you are able to keep all your focus on your breath, you will get to the point of no thought and no breath. This state of no thought is your connection to your divine being and energy body. The more you meditate the more benefits and energy that you will receive. Your own self awareness and consciousness will also expand.

10. You will feel a very pleasurable feeling meditating. If you feel any discomfort in your body these can be possible areas of disease or illness. If you meditate everyday you will heal your body naturally.

11. Now that you are in a state of no thought and total relaxation. Begin to think only on your intention. Remember whatever you think now is in a state that will be impregnated directly into your subconscious. It is incredibly important that you don't color any of your thoughts with any lack,limitation,dis belief or doubt. This is why almost all self help material does not produce the results people expect. Wishing for more money(or anything else) never works, the thought of wanting more money also has the thought of doubt attached to it. Ask your self how many thoughts that you think about have been modified in a way that is not beneficial to you. You just never realize that you are programming your sub conscious all day. This is why meditation is so powerful. You are able to make suggestions to your subconscious where the thought is not modified in any way shape or form. So if you want to make things happen fast you need to get rid of the concept of attaching time to yourthoughts. You have to remember that everything you get in your life comes based on the conditions that you set up and time is usually one condition that cuases the most frustration with people. Just as a computer programmer gives a computer instructions to complete a task, you program the most powerful computer you have which is your subconscious. Your conscious mind acts as the gate keeper as to what thoughts you let in. Now that you know this choose to become more aware and conscious about what you think all day long. Learn to see the world in a non linear way, remove time from your consiousness and watch how things show up in your life faster than you ever thought.

Thoughts = feelings = actions = results (just like that you can begin to shape your life)

12. Mentally rehearse every moment of it with all your senses. Dare to be like Peter Pan :)

13. Visualize in vivid detail, your intention as established fact. Also make sure you meditate only on days you feel good. Remember you want your thoughts to be as pure as possible. This also means that you really find out what you want, make sure its not something you want solely for ego purposes. Thoughts that involve the ego are usually always colored with negativity.

14. With time you will begin to be able to hold vivid pictures of anything(you will develop you third eye). The more you are able to hold onto an image in your mind the more power you give it.

15. Get up and go have a great day :) notice how much energy you have the rest of the day. As you advance in your discipline, you will have a lot of fun basically creating your day before it starts.

Beliefs:

To start making that vision a reality you will have to change some of your beliefs and adopt beliefs that will help you reach your goals. Because if you have this great vision of you retiring on your own private beach but deep down you don’t believe you can do it, you have already sabotaged yourself. Your desire and your belief are in conflict with each other and therefore you will not manifest what it is that you want into your life. If you want to be a good leader one day but you currently have the belief that you are a shy person, it will not happen. You need to truly make a decision to adopt the belief that you are really outgoing. When you truly decide to do something you will find a way to do it.

“Nothing happens unless first a dream” – Carl Sandburg

Some Ways to shape your beliefs:

1. Always think Success- as soon as you think about failure forget about it and don’t let anymore negative thoughts snowball. The more attention you give a thought the more powerful it will become than you will make it harder for yourself to get back to a productive mind state. The only way to change how you feel is to think about something else. Whenever you feel doubt, fear, and failure creeping into your mind have a default thought that you can use to avoid giving attention to mental poison. As soon as I feel I am entertaining thoughts of negativity I immediately begin to think about relaxing on a beach and affirm to myself that “I attract abundance to all areas of my life”. The more I try and have the feelings of being on the beach with no worries and remind myself that I am in complete control of how I feel, I immediately feel the negativity begin to melt away as I begin to focus on my new positive thought.

2. Develop the belief that you are better than you currently feel- don’t look at your weaknesses as a burden but as an opportunity to improve your self. When I find something I don’t like about my personality I don’t get down on myself for it, I just realize that now I have something I can work on to make myself better. Most importantly love and accept who you are, not who you will or should be.

3. Believe that sky’s the limit- if you have little goals you will have little success, the bigger your dreams the more potential for your possible success. Even If you think your dream is too big, strive to reach that dream, because you will end up at a better place than if you would have set your sights on a smaller goal. The trick is to really believe you can do it, this just isn’t wishful thinking. Wishful thinking never got anyone anything, you need to find out what you want and get out there and get it. If you really want that house on the beach your mind will come up with ways to help you get it.(develop faith in your self)

How to remove junk beliefs:

1. Meditate on your old belief and tell the truth about it. Now replace it with a belief that will better serve you. Meditate on it until you feel you have changed that belief.

Now when you accept these beliefs it means you will have to raise your standards and develop a strategy that will put you on the road to accomplish what you set forth. Do whatever you have to do. Read any books that will spark your interest or help you discover any distinctions that will point you in the right direction. Find a role model, a person who has already accomplished what you want. Find out what some of their beliefs, interests, body language, image, etc. is and adopt them as your own. Your role model can serve as a blue print, the goal is to cut down on the trial and error so you can get where you want faster than you ever thought possible. You can take all the qualities from all the people you admire and add your own personal touch. Just think of if it as if you are trying to build the person you want and know you can be. Thomas Edison is one of the greatest inventors in history, he was able to elaborate, modify and adapt on other peoples ideas. You don’t have torecreate the wheel just constantly be aware of any success ingredients you come across and make them part of your identity. Think of your mind as a warehouse the more you learn and store will eventually serve as an inventory for future reference, which will breed new ideas and perspectives.

Consistency is key we are all creatures of patterns and habits. In order to become the person you desire to be, start by changing your patterns. Think of all the quality traits you must possess, make a pattern which uses those traits efficiently than strive to be consistent. Consistency will develop into habits and this is key because if you fail to be consistent with your actions you will not be consistent with who you desire to be. This lack of confusion between your actions and what your mind knows you are capable of leads to tremendous amounts of stress, confusion, and even depression. Many other consequences also come from a lack of consistency.

This is why awareness of self is critical; you need to be constantly evaluating your self. Decide if the persona you are currently displaying is the reality that you want for yourself,because with enough time thats what your reality will become.

Thank you for reading my hub, I love to hear anyones opinion or suggestions. Good luck to everyone.

http://www.howtogetyourshineon.com

Understanding Employee Motivation

2008-10-01T22:06:00.000+07:00

Understanding Employee Motivation
By: Bertil Hjert

There were times when employees were considered to be another addition to enhance the production of services or goods. However, a lot has changed now.

Elton Mayo conducted a research during the year 1924 and 1932 altered the way of thinking about employees. This research was known as Hawthorne Studies.

According to this study, employees require much more than just money. The study introduced the human relations approach to a company's management. The main focus was given to the basic requirements and motivation factors of employees. The publication of the Hawthorne Study facilitated the understanding of factors that helped in motivating employees.

There are several reasons that employees require to be motivated first, an organization can easily survive when employees are motivated. Studies have proved that motivated employees are more productive. Managers must under the factor that motivates employees with respect to the roles they perform.

Here are some basic things to remember when moving towards motivation of employees:

a) First, you need to motivate yourself prior to thinking about motivating your employees. It's simple. If you hate your job, people around you will feel the same. Enthusiasm spreads like wild fire. You can easily excite other people around you if you are excited. You can be crystal clear about how others are doing if you do a great job. Understand what motivates you in the kind of tasks your company usually undertake. Understand what motivates your employees. You may consider several factors yourself such as more time for family, fame, facilities, creativity, accomplished of a job etc.

b) You should always match organization goals with the goals of employees. Employees can be easily instigated to do good work and can work really hard if you want. It is crucial for the supervisions and managers to know what they really want from their employees. First, identity the goals of the organization via strategic planning. When taking steps to support employees motivation, you need to make sure that employees have strong input when it comes to identifying their goals.

c) Talk to your employees if you really want to know what motivates them. Every individual is motivated by different things. When takes steps towards employee motivation, find out what motivates each employee. The key is to listen to them.

d) Have one-on-one meetings with each employee. This will let you know about what interest them and what they really want.

e) Rewards are very important when it comes to motivating your employees. Make sure that performance of your employees is based on their behavior towards goals.

f) As soon as you see an employee having great concerns for his or her work, give away some rewards. This will boost his or her spirit.

g) Establish smart goals. The goals you set for your organization should be specific, realistic, measurable, timely and rewarding to your employees. These should also focus of enhancing their capabilities.

When your employees achieve a particular target, make sure that you celebrate their achievements. This will provide great motivation to them. They would feel that their efforts are appreciated.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
For more Articles, News, Information, Advice, and Resources about Motivation and Self Help please visit GET AND STAY MOTIVATED and MOTIVATION TIPS and MEDITATION ADVICE
Tags: self-improvement, motivation, motivation, self motivation, self improvement, self help, motivation tips, team motivation, personal development, employee motivation, self confidence

The Motivation Theory for Success

2008-10-01T22:05:00.000+07:00

The Motivation Theory for Success
By: Bertil Hjert

Looking for guaranteed success in life? You must trust the motivational theory. Learn this theory, trust it and apply it. You will definitely see a difference. There will be a positive energy development in you that would ultimately drive you to your destination. You will be more optimistic and happy to undertake your task. An enhancement of self esteem and confidence in you is also a result of following the motivational theory.

If you are serious about following the motivation theory in your life for achieving success, here are some important steps you must follow:

- Step 1: The driving force: vision

- Step 2: Define your goal: success

- Step 3: Action Steps: The plan.

Let us discuss the above mentioned steps in detail:

Step One:

- The driving force - Vision

Have you charged yourself up with self motivation? What is the force of motivation inside you? What makes you carry a task or play with full enthusiasm? What is the exact element that helps you to concentrate on a certain thing? Don't get confused. If you want to know about your driving force, you need to sit quite, for a while, think deeply and answer some important questions. This will make you clear about certain forces that make you work towards your dream. Now, answer some of the questions given below:

- Are you really anxious about the idea of spending one whole day or full week at work in order to make efforts towards organizing a business meeting?

- Close your eyes and think about a great vacation you have recently had. How do you feel about it at present? Can you clearly recall vivid images of the water and sand in your mind?

Now as you picturize all the pictures related to your vacation vividly, you are practicing the skill of visualization related to motivation theory.

Step Two

- Defining your goal of success

This step can be referred to as the detailed version of the step one. Here, you tend to experience with other senses and motivate yourself to define the goal. Here, the goal is the 'vacation'. You should use all your senses in order to progress towards the success goal. Keep on defining your success goal.

Visualize your organization as the top manufacturer or producer of ABC products. Now, this will make you experience the excitement of being the top producer of ABC products. Now, as your senses start feeling the success make note of what you actually observe. Answer the following questions:

- What tasks are you involved in?

- What position have you acquired in your company?

- Do you own an office at the best location in the city?

- Do you see yourself sitting with the other board of directors of the company?

The whole process of answering the questions, visualizing as well as experiencing the achievement of goals will actually define your overall vision of success. Make a note of all that you fee, see, the location you are at, the attire you are wearing and other people's reaction towards you. The more detailed is your version, the better you would be able to define your goal. For instance, if you want to be famous, you cannot reach your goal until you define being 'famous'.

Step Three

- The plan of action and your steps towards it

Once you have your vision of what success is to you, you can start working towards your goal.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
For more Articles, News, Information, Advice, and Resources about Motivation and Self Help please visit GET AND STAY MOTIVATED and MOTIVATION TIPS and MEDITATION ADVICE
Tags: self-improvement, motivation, motivation, self motivation, self improvement, self help, motivation tips, team motivation, personal development, employee motivation, self confidence

How To Keep Motivated And Achieve The Life Of Your Dreams

2008-10-01T22:03:00.000+07:00

How To Keep Motivated And Achieve The Life Of Your Dreams

How to keep yourself motivated is a perennial issue everyone has to grapple with. Especially when the going gets tough. The motivated person will be able to carry on over the difficulties and make dreams come true. Here are 7 Tips to keep yourself motivated and see those dreams to fruition. It works well for self motivation as well as in students and employees. Keep motivated to see yourself through to success.

By May Chew

How to keep yourself motivated is an issue everyone has to cope with. Especially when the going gets touch. The motivated person will be able to ride the difficulties and make their dreams come true. “ Ah great it is, believe the dream As we stand in youth by the starry stream. But a great thing is to live life through, And say at the end the dream came through.”

Keeping yourself motivated is the key to long term success and worthwhile accomplishment. Here are some reasons behind achieving sustainable motivation, that will fulfill dreams and make goals a reality.

1. Have a strong reason why. Know why you want to accomplish what you are doing. Examine the consequences if you did not do, and attach a meaning behind what you are doing. The reason why high school dropouts, when they finally turn around, is because they have tasted and experienced the consequence of lack of motivation in their lives. It is because they want to achieve a turnaround and experience success that they are motivated to achieve. A strong emotion has been attached to ie- perhaps pain, and they have a strong reason to change. Victor Frankl, agreed with the philosopher Nietszche that he who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how. At the heart of his theory is the belief that whatever personal circumstances, what keeps us going is the meaning we find in living. Frankl noted that people who had hope of being reunited with loved ones or who had projects they needed to complete or who had great faith tended to have a better chance at survival than those who did not have a reason or had little to keep them from going through the difficulties. The belief and the meaning and the reason for living on belief helped him survive the camps against all odds when millions others perished under the harsh conditions. To keep yourself motivated therefore, create a strong reason for yourself.

2. Set yourself up for success. As human beings, success breeds success. And nothing is sweeter than the taste of accomplishment. We need to experience and know that we can succeed. We get about the same boost from small as well as from big accomplishments. This phenomenon is strange but true. Small victories are often the most fulfilling. The spirit is nurtured by accomplishment. Whether we win big or small does not matter- the fact is, you have accomplished and achieved something significant that we have set out to do and you have tasted success.

3. Contribute to something significant. Most of us have a need to create something positive, to contribute, to pursue a cause in which we can see that that what we are doing is worthwhile. That it is not wasted effort. There is value in what we are doing. And that fulfills the need to contribute to something significant. This is an inherent need in all of us. Fill that need. Motivation will soar when it is seen that there is something positive to give.

4. Create your own goals.If you are leading a group and they are not really motivated, let them create their own goals. It could be students in classroom, employees, your children, your family, your group in the community. By creating and being part of the goal-setting process, you and each individual will have a sense of contribution and have ownership of the goal. When the goal, no matter how small, becomes a reality there is a sense of personal achievement. The future is shaped and a difference is made because they have created the goal and the outcome. This goal setting exercise with personal involvement then also enhances morale. Within the team, it and builds team spirit.

5. Be positively dissatisfied. Dissatisfied people are highly motivated people. Why are so many high school dropouts motivated to achieved great success? Because they have experienced and tasted the need for immediate change. They become highly motivated when they awake to the realities and become dissatisfied with being high school drop out and they become motivated to change. On the other hand, dissatisfaction can lead to negative change and one must beware of letting it lead to discouragement and criticism. Dissatisfaction which leads positive action is the key.

6. Appreciate your own efforts – and appreciate the efforts of others. The need to be appreciated and recognized is deep. Although it is not a prerequisite for internal motivation, when you are recognized for your talent or effort, motivation level certainly increase and makes you want to accomplish more. Do give your employees, students, friends recognition. It will certainly go a long way.

7. Have clear expectations When you are clear on what you have to accomplish, responsibilities clearly defined, then there will be more sense of control over what can or needs to be accomplished, less confusion and disappointment.

Start now to take steps towards increasing your motivation for life, for your work, your current project. Remind yourself of the reason and meaning behind what you are doing. Create a mission, a reason, a vision. Give yourself a reason strong enough, that touches them at the core, if possible. Be positively dissatisfied with the current situation. Set your own goals, recognize your efforts and set yourself up for success. Work becomes play, when there is a mission to be accomplished that is worthwhile, achievable and recognized.

May is passionate about helping others achieve the life of their dreams. Get your inspirational resources at http://www.successinspired.com . Live, love, be, do and have. Get your free report on attracting success at : http://www.wisdomofgettingwealthy.com/rights/attractionaccelerator.pdf

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