“Once you choose hope, anything’s possible,” Christopher Reeves
Christopher Reeves was an amazing man who never let his disabilities get in the way of experiencing life. Many people see him as going from being Superman to being the man in a wheelchair. In all reality, he went from being the man who played Superman to actually becoming Superman. His life and attitude towards it was nothing short of super.
Reeves’ example is like a beacon in the night. He is there for all of us to look up to and see where life can take us.
There are times in everyone’s life when everything seems bleak. When nothing is going the way you though it should have or would have. It can be hard to look at your life and realize that it’s not where you want to be. Whatever situation you find yourself in, just remember that no matter what is happening you can always have hope.
Happiness is a choice you make. You can choose to accept things the way they are and not do anything about it, or you can choose to have hope and make up your mind to be happy. That’s not saying it won’t be difficult, but it is a deliberate and conscience choice you have to make on your own.
Change starts with you. You can’t change the people around you, no matter how hard you try. You have to start with yourself. Decide that you will be the one to step up and move forward. Outside influences can only affect your outlook on life and your feelings about yourself and others if you allow them to.
You are the only one placing limitations on yourself. First you have to believe that nothing can stop you, then you have to […]
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The Magic of Goal Setting
Many people see goal setting as an activity to be done in the week between Christmas Day and New Year’s. It’s the traditional time to make some resolutions which can, just as traditionally, be forgotten about within a couple of weeks. If this describes the way you approach goal setting then brace yourself, because at this very moment you are reading an article with the power to transform your life.
There is one – and only one – trait that the vast majority of successful people have in common. It has nothing to do with ability or education or good looks or wealthy parents or good health or most of the other things you might assume. The trait that separates the majority of successful people from the rest of the pack is a strong goal orientation. Some of these people don’t even realize that they possess this trait, so innate is their drive to achieve their objectives. But when you look closely you will discover, time after time, that nearly all successful people have mastered these fundamental concepts.
The good news is that every one of these steps can be learned, practiced and perfected. So, in a nutshell, here are the key behaviors that goal oriented people exhibit:
1) They know what they want. They imagine the future and get clear on where they intend to be. If they are looking forward to attending a class reunion and want to do so at a certain weight, they literally see themselves at that weight by the date of the event.
2) They focus on what they want. It’s not enough to desire something and forget about it. In order to accomplish an important objective these people know that they […]
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Be Willing To Fail
Our talents, skills and knowledge are like our physical bodies. If you don’t exercise them, they start to deteriorate. You can’t sit on a couch for a month and then expect to run a six minute mile. You can’t expect to try something new and be perfect at it the first time. You have to fail so you can build yourself up. Failing helps you become the kind of person who can do hard things.
My dad is a retired Marine. He has been in excellent physical shape his whole life. When he was about 30 years old, he decided to start up swimming. He had always been a runner and thought it was time for a change. He figured that because he ran, weight trained and was a marine that swimming would be no problem.
He got to the pool that first day and decided he would swim a mile. He only made it halfway when his body gave out him. He realized that running and lifting weights uses different muscles than swimming. He couldn’t believe how tired he had gotten in such a short amount of time.
He decided he wasn’t going to let it get him down. He set a goal to swim a mile and that’s what he would do. He continued to swim three days a week for a month. He was getting nowhere. Every time he hit the half mile mark, he was too weak to go on.
He thought that maybe it was his technique. So he started learning more about swimming and all the different kinds of strokes. He worked on his technique until he had it down pat. But, he could still only make it a half mile.
After months […]
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All Change Requires Sacrifice
It’s a new year, a time when many of us reflect on the past and determine to make changes for a better future. This is a good thing, it is always a good thing, even if you end up being like the majority of people who do not follow through and actually make the desired change. It’s always good to have hope and express a desire for something better.
But why do most of us fall short on the execution? Well, there are probably as many reasons as there are individuals, but one thing that seems top trip up a lot of folks is this simple truth: All Change Requires Sacrifice.
Our culture has become one that reinforces the idea of getting something quickly, getting something for nothing, a culture of entitlement. Well, guess what, no one is entitled to much in this life and spending any time lamenting about not getting something for nothing is time wasted.
Anything worth having in your life, whether it be good health, business success or strong relationships requires hard work. It requires sacrifice on your part. Lots of it. What are you willing to give up to reach your dreams?
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You have to move out of your comfort zone in order to be successful
The comfort zone is a warm, safe place where things don’t go wrong. It’s also a place where no progress is made and no growth is achieved. In order to be successful you have to get outside your comfort zone, push the envelope, try new things, and other tired (yet still true) cliches.
Here are some things that may help you take that next step:
A big part of success is people – who you know and who you work with. If things don’t seem to be going well, try finding a new partner, a new client, or a new mentor.
Find passion and enthusiasm in what you do. It’s okay to rely on those tactics that pump you up, even if they’re not directly related to what you’re doing.
Is there something you’re worried about or afraid of? Get out of your comfort zone by tackling your fears.
Even though the goal is to improve your business, trying something totally unrelated – even something weird – can help put you in the right mindset moving forward.
Get some courage elsewhere, then channel that energy to your business. Do something you’re good at, build up the confidence, and then attack your business head on.
Put more structure and form into your environment or make it more chaotic. In other words, shake things up a bit to see what happens.
It can be overwhelming to think about the unknown or the potential for failure. The comfort zone is comfortable, but it doesn’t bring success. Don’t ignore the fear or the frustration, but overcome it by breaking out.
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A Weekly Business Planning Session Can Help You Progress toward Your Goals
You have a lot on your plate and you have a lot of long-term goals; you’re busy and you’re stretched thin. It may seem a bit counter intuitive, but by spending a little more time planning, you’ll likely save yourself a lot of time in the long run.
You need to establish a set time each week to plan out the next seven days. Here are some things to consider while planning:
Think about what you need to accomplish that week. Think about the progress you’ll want to have made by that same time next week, and divvy out those needs appropriately. Get yourself on a schedule to accomplish what you need to that week.
Think about what you want to accomplish that week. You’re going to have to prioritize, since you’ll likely not always be able to get everything done. Establishing these wants will help give you direction if you finish a task quicker than expected.
Establish specific times you’ll spend on your business each day and what you want to accomplish each day. This way, going into each day you’ll already know what you’re going to try to accomplish.
Consider how these daily goals and weekly goals fit into your long-term goals. If one of the things you need or want doesn’t fit into these broader goals, then do you really need or want to do it?
Use this weekly session to track your progress. If there are tasks you didn’t accomplish that you wanted to, discover why that was (and adjust accordingly).
Make the process as simple as possible. That may mean investing in some scheduling/planning software or establishing some other system, but you don’t want your planning to be directionless and unorganized (because that […]
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Eating a Healthy Diet Can Make You More Productive
Everyone knows you are what you eat, but that principle also applies in the workplace. If you choose foods that supply high energy for short periods of time, your work will reflect that pattern. Your morning coffee and donut might give you a lot of energy in the morning, but by afternoon your work will slow down just as much as your energy has.
On the flipside, if you choose healthy snacks that give you sustainable energy, you will be more productive over time and be a greater asset to your company. Here are a few healthy snacks you can choose to keep your body and your productivity on track.
Fruits. Fresh fruit contains a lot of natural sugars that are excellent sources of energy. For this reason, fruits make great mid-morning snacks or supplements to your breakfast. Because they are sweet, fruits can also squelch your craving for candy in the afternoon and offer a healthy alternative to empty calories.
Vegetables. What these snacks lack in sweetness they make up for in nutrition. Carrots, celery, broccoli and cauliflower are packed with vitamins to help you stay healthy. By choosing these snacks, you will prevent both short- and long-term illnesses (and, by extension, unnecessary absences from work). Supplementing vegetables with peanut butter or low-fat salad dressing can make them taste better and add more nutrients, like protein, to your diet.
Whole-grain foods. Grains with complex carbohydrates provide you with a lot of energy without the empty calories. Foods like brown rice and whole wheat breads provide you with these types of carbohydrates, and some also contain fiber to help keep your digestive system healthy.
Water. Drinking plenty of water is essential to maintaining a healthy […]
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Busy vs. Productive
Business owners are busy people. It takes a lot of work to succeed in running a company, and that often means schedules packed with conference calls, e-mails, business lunches and company meetings. All of those responsibilities add up to a lot of busy-ness, but too often thwart productivity.
Many people think that a full schedule is the same thing as productivity, but that’s rarely the case. Too often business owners and employees alike spend several busy hours putting out fires and responding to e-mails before ever getting to the first task on their to-do lists.
Even worse, many people don’t realize they are doing it. They assume that because they are busy they are being productive. They often go home feeling like they haven’t accomplished anything but can’t identify what they’re doing wrong. Here are a few tips for combating busy-ness and staying productive.
Let the e-mails pile up. Busy people answer e-mails immediately; productive people answer them consistently. Keeping up on e-mail is an essential part of the work day, and you should definitely be prompt in your responses, but you don’t have to be a slave to your inbox. Let the e-mails roll in while you’re working on your tasks, then take time for e-mails every day at the same time. This will prevent e-mails from distracting you as you work on long-term tasks.
Eliminate distractions. This is more easily said than done, but distractions can cost you hours of productivity. If you find yourself falling behind on your tasks, take some interruption-free time. Your co-workers will respect your wishes if you close your office door and put off conversation for a few hours to get caught up, and it will feel good […]
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Overcoming Information Overload
“Simplify, simplify.” – Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau lived more than a century ago, but his words of wisdom apply just as much – perhaps more – today as they did when he penned them. In our world of instant messaging, instant microwavable dinners, and instant gratification created to make things easier and help us succeed, we have somehow managed to make life much more complicated.
In the deluge of information that inundates us on every side, many people suffer from information overload that unnecessarily complicates life. Simplify by eliminating unnecessary information while still taking advantage of the technologies that enrich your life. Here are a few tips to help you do so.
Choose favorites. There are a lot of places online to find information on nearly any topic, and there are people writing in every niche. Don’t try to follow every blog, subscribe to every magazine or read every tweet that mentions your industry. Instead, trim your blogroll and RSS feed until you are left with the authors you really care about. This will significantly decrease the amount of information you face and will keep you from getting overloaded.
Skim. If you try to read every article that comes your way, you’ll waste a lot of time on details when you just need the main idea. Filter through e-mails and paperwork to determine what needs a second look. After you’ve skimmed enough to determine what is worthwhile, your reading pile will have decreased significantly.
Delegate. This step can be difficult if you run your own company from home, but do what you can to help lessen your load. If you have an assistant who can help you filter unimportant messages, ask him or her to […]
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The Downside of Perfectionism
A perfectionist is someone who is displeased with anything below their own – sometimes arbitrary – extremely high standards. While the pursuit of excellence is a fine quality, but an obsession with the unobtainable ideal will actually do more harm than good.
French writer and philosopher François-Marie Arouet (a.k.a. Voltaire) once said “Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien” which means “The perfect is the enemy of the good” or “The best is the enemy of the good.” In essence, good is sometimes good enough. If pursuing perfection keeps you from considering perfectly good options, keeps you from every being satisfied with your work, or keeps you from effectively building on your mistakes, “the perfect” is actually what’s keeping you from success.
So how do you keep “the perfect” from becoming your enemy?
Realize that in many cases, perfection is impossible. The crime rate will never reach zero, any car will eventually break down, and all books have room for improvement. However, this shouldn’t keep us from fighting crime, building better cars, and writing novels.
If you need practice being not perfect, try something new with the mindset going in that you’re going to make mistakes and you don’t care about the results. Accept the fact that there are some things you’re simply not good at.
Learn how to use constructive criticism. It may be frustrating or depressing having other people remind you what you did wrong (as if you didn’t already know) but their input should be taken as positive encouragement.
Take some time to evaluate yourself. Try to figure out what influences or ideas are pushing you toward the negative effects of perfectionism.
Use your perfectionist tendencies to your advantage. Striving toward being the best and continually […]
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