Mind Control is the result of self-discipline and habit. You either control your mind or it controls you. The most practical of all methods for controlling the mind is the habit of keeping it busy with a definite purpose, backed by a definite plan. 

../Dale Carnagie

He who would be useful, strong, and happy must cease

to be a passive receptacle for the negative, beggarly, and impure streams of thought;

and as a wise householder commands his servants and invites his guests,

so must he learn to command his desires and to say, with authority,

what thoughts he shall admit into the mansion of his soul.

../James Allen

Do you ever feel like you are always talking yourself out of success?  As soon as you start to set goals for yourself, are you suddenly seized with those nagging thoughts about how you really are not up to the task, or how you simply aren’t qualified enough to see it through?

If you have ever experienced either of these situations, then you need to change the way you respond to your inner dialog.  Instead of obeying your negative commands, you have the power to use positive self-talk to counteract the negativity and overcome nearly all of your anxious thoughts.

Setting Goals and Sticking to Them

Are you usually initially filled with excitement when you first set new goals for yourself? Are these thoughts then quickly followed by self-doubt and self-defeating thoughts that stop you in your tracks before you can even really get started? It can be difficult to make the most of your life when you are constantly the person talking yourself out of being a success.  It can be frustrating and discouraging to have these thoughts constantly plaguing you. Many people, in fact, don’t even realize that they have them! All they can see is  that they don’t seem to have the confidence to stick to their plans and reach their goals.

But there is another way!

Positive self-talk is an effective way to set goals for yourself and ensure that you stick to them, even if you have never been able to accomplish this before.  The way this works is that you decide what goal is important to you, and then you plan the logistics of how you are going to attain that specific goal.  When self-doubt starts to kick in, you will respond with affirmations that prove your success without surrendering to the negative pressure. Since you are still reading this post, it’s clear that you are no quitter and you are certainly not a failure, so it is time to start believing in yourself!

Re-Program Your Mind

Affirmations are essentially positive statements that re-program your mind, or change your mind,  for the positive. The moment you have a self-defeating thought you would be able to counter the negative with a positively motivating statement. An example of a positive affirmation is: “I am worthy of great success,” or “I see myself in the winner’s circle.”  What this does is replace negativity with thoughts that will help you stay up and stay motivated while moving toward your goals instead of further away from them.

Positive self-talk is so much easier to implement than most people think. You may not be fully aware of the severity of your negative inner dialog currently going on inside of your mind. But, once you begin with positive self-talk, you will suddenly realize that you have been self-sabotaging the goals you set for yourself from the moment that you make them. This process will open your eyes to exactly how much this inner conversation has been interfering with your life and where you would like for it to go. You will begin to feel hopeful that you can now set goals and meet them, and even surpass them.

 Through positive self-talk you will be able to easily set long and short-term goals for yourself. And when you use affirmations, you will have access to tools that will help you push yourself further than you have ever gone before. Learning to quiet the negativity with positive thoughts is a great move toward setting and attaining future goals with ease.

Success Doesn't Come To You, You've Got to Go For IT

People today have placed their hearts and minds on pursuing their wishes simply to get up all dissatisfied. All of us want to be successful but for some reason we are most often lacking the objective. We look around everyday of our lives for a means to success while ignoring the truth that God has created us a success. We struggle for survival amidst plenty. I must tell you my friend success is in YOU, sit back, relax and take a deep breath while you expose yourself to the most powerful success information you need to change your life forever!

Achieve Success!

Achievement usually eludes many individuals. Much like the unavoidable pot of gold right at the end of the rainbow. Dissatisfaction could be killer to the people, They relax and ponder what on the planet they did drastically wrong. They could have a solid perception in that pot of gold, but a dream by itself can't help make your visions a real possibility.

You might have studied numerous books and put into practice many of the principles and dreamed of your self as being the effective individual that you'd like to become. You might be really clear and that is certainly a very important thing. But, “Without a clear vision people end”. The dilemma continues to be that picturing yourself as the successful person that you want to be is just not sufficient. What exactly are your desires? Precisely what are your desires for future years? Have you written them down?

Your Dream Journal to Achievement

If you could be anything that you wanted to be and go where you wanted to go, who would you be? What would you be like? Where would you be living? I really want you to take a couple of minutes now and get the exact answer to these questions. Be as precise as possible to help you imagine these points as currently being real right now. Crystallize these values in your thoughts. Please don't be unfaithful right here, this is definitely an essential exercise, now go and write the answers down on a notepad, or even better in a journal. You may call this your Dream Journal to Achievement. Now think about this: What should I do to be able to live the life I dream about?

Making Your desires a reality

What must I do today to make my desires a reality? The first task is to ensure you never put off the vision too far in the distance. Please don't survive on tomorrow’s sunshine. There isn't any miraculous formula that's going to produce your desire. There is absolutely no quick path that will take you towards the Financial Freedom. You have to realize that the way to achievements is full of challenging hits, and this is fact.

You'll be able to attain your goals only when you systematically be well prepared to receive them. Moreover,you may need to consider you can receive them. This requires preparing. No degree of wishful thinking will bring you what you wish. Your vision could possibly be really clear but with no strategy it is merely a fantasy. It is advisable to program your life to achieve the final results you desire. It is advisable to set targets for yourself. I understand, you can't stand the idea of setting goals, but until you put it down on paper and provide it a time frame, it is not going to take place. I assure YOU.There is absolutely nothing magical in making your ambitions a success. In every single circumstance SUCCESS can be done piece by piece until finally your road block is moved and you achieve that success you've always dreamed about.

Visions & Dreams: My Secret Weapon For Success

My Secret Weapon for Success

I thank God for all those tough times and obstacles in my life; it is because of them that I am now enjoying the life of my dreams! By overcoming the difficult challenges in life, I discovered a few secrets to success and happiness.

First, life requires meaning – one which is greater than you. Though we all work for some level of personal gain, I try to make sure that the benefits that result from my efforts are shared with others. I believe that one way a person can achieve greatness is by believing and ensuring that one’s accomplishments benefit others as well. You do not have to be a hero to save the world; it can be as easy as working for your community or even your neighbors.

Once we realize we are part of something larger than ourselves - that what we are doing is indispensable not only to us but to those we love – the difficulty of the task becomes manageable. We will become more excited about the project and concentrate better. With this new perspective, it is no surprise that the task is more likely to be achieved. Instead of letting my work drag me along, I lead my work by giving it meaning and direction.

Never discount the power of your imagination. Since childhood, whenever I felt overcome by hardship or disappointment and felt like giving up, I used my imagination as an escape. Whenever I felt that life was unfair, I often imagined myself becoming a justice seeker, a “Korean Robin Hood” of sorts. I would catch and punish villains and save innocent victims. I derived great satisfaction from imagining the anguish and regret on the villains’ faces.

Most of all, I loved to imagine the faces of the once helpless victims, overcome with respect and gratitude. Soon, the gloominess disappeared, and the darkness was replaced by brightness and hope. I felt reinvigorated – like I could overcome any obstacles in my path. Most importantly, I knew that the purpose of my current pain and difficulty was to better prepare me for the future and make me stronger.

I also imagined what it would be like when my dreams became a reality. I imagined myself becoming a PhD, my childhood dream, triumphantly returning to my hometown where I would be welcomed and praised by everybody.

Many years later, I learned that many success-strategists referred to this as the power of “visioning.” They strongly recommend that anyone who aspires to succeed to visualize his or her desired future as vividly and as often as possible. Those success-strategies were right!

My imagination and “visioning” not only helped me overcome the tough times; but they made me imagine just how great life can get. My visions became a reality – one that is even brighter and grander than anything I could have imagined!

The Four Key Qualities Every Job Seeker Should Have

In most cases there is no such thing as the perfect candidate; we are all unique individuals and everyone comes with a different combination of skills, experience and qualities.

As a result it is very rare to find that perfect fit. Having said that, there are common characteristics that employers always look for when they are planning to take on new recruits. It doesn’t matter what sector or business you are talking about - if people are able to show that they possess these key attributes then they will always be in demand.

Here are four key qualities that I always look out for when I am planning to take on new people in one of my businesses:

Ambition

It is one of the most obvious questions to ask in an interview but there is a reason why people want to know where candidates see themselves in the future. The point of asking the question is to assess just how ambitious an individual really is. It stands to reason that an ambitious company wants like-minded people working for them. As a manager or chief executive you want people alongside you who are going to share your hunger, otherwise it is impossible to build the successful company you envision.

Initiative

Ask the question and most people will tell you that they are a self starter, but it is actually quite tough to find people who have the right personal drive and can work under their own steam. The simple fact is that every manager wants workers who have the initiative to organize their workload and go about their business without the need for constant supervision. These people are a key component of any successful organisation, not just for their professionalism, but also because they set a good example for those around them.

Commitment

This is true for most employers but particularly those in a service based industry. Providing quality customer service is what sets these firms apart from their rivals so it is vital that the staff are totally committed to the cause. They need to have a real dedication to what they are doing. As somebody who has spent many years in recruitment, I can usually tell which people are going to be the top performers purely through their attitude. Someone who is prepared to stick at it even when times are tough, and who will go that extra mile for themselves and the company is a huge asset.

Personality

It is becoming increasingly difficult to stand out in the modern world so someone who has a little bit of personality can make a big difference to the atmosphere in the workplace. Of course they need to be a team player, and nobody wants to work with someone who rubs people up the wrong way, but there is nothing wrong with mavericks and strong characters. These are the people who stand out in a crowded room and can often push your business on to new heights. A good team always has a combination of many different character types and the most important thing is to get that blend right.

Things like qualifications and capabilities are always high on the agenda when recruiting – after all, you want somebody suited to the technical requirements of the role. But the four qualities mentioned above are character traits, and for me these are every bit as important. There have actually been times when I have brought people into my business purely because they had these qualities. They weren't necessarily the most qualified on paper, but they ticked the right boxes in terms of character.

Many candidates go into interviews and are keen to emphasise their skills. This is fine, but if you can also show potential employers you have most of the qualities listed above – preferably with examples – you will almost certainly become a more attractive candidate.

5 Ways To Set Goals And Achieve Them

Goal setting and achievement is an enjoyable task to carryout. But to the uninformed, goal setting and achievement is an almost impossible task. Kindly follow the steps below to keep yourself motivated and i can assure you that anything is possible for you. Don't worry about the challenges you may face, just stick to your plans as to how to achieve your goals and you would definitely achieve them. If you succeed, set another that is higher but  achievable, stick to the plan of execution and keep winning! Find below the steps to achieving your goals.

1. Set realistic goals for yourself. Make a list of your top priorities each day and goals for each week and each month. Knowing what you are trying to achieve makes getting there more attainable and realistic. Make sure your goals are manageable and within reach-or you may risk setting yourself up for disappointment or burning yourself out.

2. Manage Your Time. No matter your goals, having the time allotted to work towards them is key. Being self-motivated entails setting up a daily structure and sticking to it. Promising yourself you will work on your goals from 5-9 p.m., or allotting 2 hours a day, each day, can make all the difference in making progress or slacking off.

3. Learn to Deal with Setbacks. With any endeavor, setbacks are to be expected-however, knowing that doesn’t make dealing with them any easier. Finding the line of when to start over and when to push harder is something you must find (be careful not to get too caught up in a bad idea that you can’t cut it loose when its time).

4. Think Outside the Box. Too often we set-out on new ventures or decide to really achieve a dream yet we revert back to what we know doesn’t work to get us there. The structures of confinement during the normal 9-5 didn’t work to motivate you then, so why would it now? Maybe before beginning your tasks going for a jog first helps to clear your mind. Possibly  conference calling some friends to brainstorm ideas gets you the push you need. Finding your own source of clarity and creativity is what will make success possible.

5. Keep Educating Yourself. Having to motivate yourself can get quite tiresome and secluded.  Follow updates regarding your area of interest- from current news to new white papers. Stay on top of trends and keep educating yourself to remember why you set-out to accomplish your goals. Obtaining fresh information and ideas will keep you from growing disinterested.

Becoming self-motivated takes discipline and these 5-steps will help get you to success. Remember, self-motivated people are valued-so learning to push yourself will supply you with a great asset. After you have achieved your goals, you can begin to inspire others to do the same based on the procedures you implemented.
See you at the top!!!

Persistence; The Major Component to Achieve Success!

Have you ever had that nagging question in your mind? The one that goes something like this:

“I’d love to do [insert your dream goal here], but am I just kidding myself? I mean, I know others can achieve that, but I just don’t have what it takes.”

Now, maybe you think this because you see others who already know all you still have to learn. They seem so much better than you currently are. How could you ever catch up? Or maybe you’ve tried and failed and it’s got you discouraged.

That’s when you start having that sinking feeling maybe you should change your ambitions to something not so challenging; something you can do. Goodbye dream.

Look, we all feel like that from time to time, so don’t beat yourself up. But if you stay in that mindset you’ll never achieve your dreams. After all, you CAN do the impossible. It just takes one quality.

How One Quality Helped a Paralyzed Woman Achieve the Impossible…

Wilma Rudolf was born premature and fragile to a poor family, the 20th of 22 children. When she was four, her left leg became paralyzed from a bout with Polio. In what must have looked like a real version of Forrest Gump, Rudolf wore an iron leg brace afterwards to walk.

But when she was nine, she proved the doctors wrong by removing the leg brace and taking her first unassisted step. Four years later, after much hard work and physical therapy, she developed a regular gait. Again, something thought impossible.

But Wilma wanted more than just to prove the doctors wrong. Her mother had always told her she could do whatever she wanted in life. So despite her family’s financial situation, despite her fragile childhood and despite her twisted leg, she decided she wanted to be the greatest woman runner in the world.

“My doctors told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother.” – Wilma Rudolph

As you can imagine, there were few people in her family or otherwise who encouraged her. But that didn’t stop her.

- When she entered a race at age 13 and came in last, she didn’t quit
- When she came in last almost every race through high school, she didn’t quit
- When she finally came in next to last, she didn’t quit. In fact, she pushed harder

That’s when things picked up for Wilma. Eventually, she won a race and went on to win many more.

In college, she trained with a coach who helped her enter the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.

She ran the 100 and 200 meter sprints and was anchor for the 400 meter relay. And despite all her hardships–her financial issues, barely surviving her premature birth, her severe sickness, her paralyzed leg in the iron brace–Wilma Rudolf became the first American woman to win 3 Olympic gold medals at a single Olympic Games.

Have you figured out the one quality you need to achieve your dreams?

“If I had to select one quality that I regard as being most highly correlated with success, whatever the field, I would pick persistence. The will to endure to the end, to get knocked down seventy times and get up off the floor saying, ‘Here comes number seventy one.’” – Richard M. Devos

Persistence Is the Key to All Locked Doors…

We all suffer from self-doubt, especially when we’re running into the unknown territory of our dreams and goals.

- We worry we’re not good enough
- We worry we’ll fail
- We worry others will pass us by

Well here’s the thing. All of that may be true. But so what?

- You may not be good enough right now
- You WILL make mistakes and fail
- Others further along the path might pass you by

But despite all of that, if you persist, you’re much more likely to succeed eventually.

It’s by persistence that you labor through failures to gain all that is required to achieve your goal. All of us can do that. It’s not magic or mystery. The secret is simply to figure out what you want, then keep trying, improving your approach where necessary, until you get there.

Take Wilma Rudolf as an example. She had serious hurdles holding her back. That didn’t stop her. She kept working hard until she achieved her dreams. I see a story like Wilma Rudolf’s and suddenly all my excuses why I can’t achieve my dreams seem whiny and ridiculous.

What excuses are you allowing to stop your dreams?

What are some solutions to get you around those obstacles?

Now, hit the track running and expect it to take time. You might not succeed tomorrow or next month, but eventually you’ll get there.

“Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose … If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday.” – Wilma Rudolph

Eight Steps To Push Through Any Obstacle And Motivate Yourself At Will

How would you like to learn the secret to overcoming any struggle, no matter how tough?

It’s mile 23, you have 3 more left and your leg starts cramping or you just quit your job, started your own business and suddenly you can’t find any clients. What do you do?

Any worthy endeavor requires struggle and hardship. Whether you strive for athletic mastery or professional success or you are just looking for that perfect partner, there will be moments in your journey when you want to quit. Those are the moments that shape character and separate successful people from failures.

Zig Ziglar once said, “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing, that’s why we recommend it daily.”

Motivation is the fuel that keeps our inner fire shining bright. It keeps us pushing through those moments when all seems lost.

Follow these eight steps and you will never again be beaten by circumstance. These eight steps will allow you to generate motivation at will and define the path to your destiny.

1. Exercise Daily

When Sir Richard Branson was asked about his secret to productivity, his response was working out. And he runs a multi-billion dollar empire, so he probably knows what he is talking about.

Researchers have also found that when people start exercising, even if it’s just once a week, they start improving habits in other areas of lives as well. They start eating better, they get more done at work and they show more patience in their relationships. James Prochaska, a researcher at the University of Rhode Island says “ exercise spills over. There’s something about it that makes other good habits easier.”

Regular exercise is the quickest way to build confidence and increase motivation.

To get started on an exercise routine, find a local race, sign up for it and start training. It could be a 5k, a triathlon, a half marathon or a bike race. It does not matter what the race is, but by signing up for an event, you have a clear target to aim toward, you commit to it by paying the event fees and it is a great way to meet other driven, motivated people like yourself, which will help you with step 8 as well.

2. Practice stillness

In his research, Dr. Andrew Newberg found that those that engage in some form of meditation have greater activity in the parts of the brain associated with focus and attention than those that do not.

Meditation acts like a gym for the brain. It works out the conscious, thinking parts of the brain and reduces activity in the emotional parts of our brain out of our control. Bestselling author Jack Canfield attributes meditation to be the most important factor in his success.

Ever since I began a daily meditation practice, I have been able to stay focused on creating the life I want no matter how many times the struggles of entrepreneurship present themselves. Meditation allows me to stay centered and silence the chaos that runs through my mind about all the things I want to do in my business and my life.

At first, the practice might be difficult, especially since we are so conditioned to constant distractions. To get started, for at least 10 minutes a day, close your eyes, breathe in for four seconds and breathe out for four seconds. With no external distractions, just focus your mind on your breathe. If your mind wanders, that is okay. It is to be expected at first. If that happens, notice where your mind goes and bring it back to your breathing. Your breath serves as an anchor for you to direct your mind.

After a few days of meditation, you may not notice any changes in your life. But rest assured, in time, this exercise will produce noticeable benefits in your focus, drive and motivation.

3. Appreciate everything, everywhere

I do not like going into New York City. Nothing against the city, I just don’t like densely packed crowded areas. Probably a side effect of my experience in Iraq with the US Marines.

Nonetheless, I have now found a way to enjoy the city by appreciating every little thing about it. I tell myself things like “I appreciate the effort and the risk the people who built this building must have taken,” or “I appreciate the planning and hard work that went into organizing the streets in this massive city.”

By appreciating everything around me, I generate value from an experience that otherwise provided none. This keeps me inspired and motivated throughout my day in the city.

To build your appreciation muscles, at the end of every day, write down 3 things you are grateful for, 3 things you accomplished and why they are of value to you.

Dr. Martin Seligman found that after six months this simple exercise led to reduced depression, increased happiness and an overall improvement in the quality of life for those that did this every day.

4. Change your physiology

Studies have shown that the simple act of smiling when practiced over time actually reduces depression.

Smiling then is not just a reflection of joy, it is an act that creates joy as well.

In her research, social psychologist Amy Cuddy discovered that practicing a “power pose,” which is nothing more than standing tall with chin held high and arms and elbows out, for just 120 seconds is enough to create a 20 percent increase in testosterone and a 25 percent decrease in the stress hormone cortisol.

The next time you feel your motivation waning, stand tall and proud. Despite what might be going through your mind, shape your body in a manner that reflects someone who is unstoppable. Act like you are all powerful and your mind will believe it to be so.

5. Choose an empowering meaning to your experience

Any experience of life has no inherent meaning. We assign meanings to our experiences and those meanings shape our quality of life.

In the bestselling book, Man’s Search for Meaning, psychiatrist Victor Frankl documents his experiences in a concentration camp during the Holocaust.

Within the depths of hell, Victor Frankl chose to find meaning to his suffering. He wrote of his experience, “If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete.”

As a result of the meaning he gave to his experience, he not only survived the horrors of a concentration camp, he lived a full life after he got out as well.

The next time you go through any kind of struggle and feel defeated by it, assign a label to your emotional state, then ask yourself what is the meaning you are assigning to the experience that has led to that state. Once you are clear on the meaning you are choosing, refocus your mind on the future you want to create, the future that lies on the other side of the struggle. Feel the emotion that this future produces in you. From that place, ask yourself what else can I make this mean.

Motivation is nothing more than a state of mind. By shifting the meaning you assign to experiences, you will be able to generate the state of mind of your choice no matter what circumstances present themselves around you.

6. Get immense clarity on what you want to create

Without clarity, our conscious brain gets confused by the paradox of choice. When it doesn’t know what to do, it will do nothing. Nobel Prize winning psychologist, Daniel Kahneman states “that if there are several ways of achieving the same goal, people will eventually gravitate to the least demanding course of action. Laziness is built deep into our nature.”

Having immense clarity of purpose, mission, vision and goals gives you a clear target to strive toward.

To develop that clarity, know exactly what you want and by when you want it. Don’t set a goal like I want more money. How much more do you want and by what day do you want it?

Get clear on all the visions for your life so you have a reason to stay motivated when you experience struggle.

7. Create systems using preemptive strikes

Systems prevent the lazy part of our brain from sabotaging us. They turn motivation and success itself into an automatic act that you no longer need to consciously generate.

In a hospital in Scotland, a British psychologist gave a group of elderly patients recovering from hip or knee surgery a notepad detailing their rehabilitation schedule. In the last section of the notepad, there were thirteen pages that instructed the patients to write down their goals for the week with exact details of what they were going to do and when.

In three months, the researcher discovered that the patients who planned out their week with specific details were walking twice as fast as the ones that did not. They were moving in and out of their chairs without assistance three times faster than those that did not.

When the psychologist examined the notebooks, he found that the patients that healed the fastest had written down how they would handle obstacles they knew would come up. One patient knew that getting up from the couch would be a painful experience, so he wrote out in detail a plan to manage that pain ahead of time, such as taking the first step right away to resist the desire to sit down.

Whatever goals you have in your life, write out a detailed plan for how you intend to go about accomplishing them. If you know you get lazy after work and don’t feel like going to the gym, put your gym clothes right in front of the door so that you almost trip over them when you walk into the home. Have your wife or husband unplug the TV. Write down exactly what exercise you will and what time you will do it. The key is to make it as easy as possible to act in the face of resistance without letting your brain come in the way.

By doing this, motivation will no longer be an act of the will, it will be nothing more than a natural part of your day.

8. Surround yourself with other driven people

Jim Rohn once said “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Your environment plays a significant role in shaping your destiny. Imagine if you wanted to run a marathon and everyone around you, your neighbor, your spouse, your family and your friends were training for a marathon as well, how much easier would it be for you to train for one?

As I mentioned in step 1, find ways to network and be around people with similar passions, dreams and desires. Success is a team sport, no one does it alone. Build your team and work together to keep each other motivated during those moments of struggle.

That’s it. Eight steps practiced repeatedly and success will turn from un uncertainty to an inevitability.

If you got any value from this post, share in the comments below one thing you are struggling with in terms of generating motivation and one tip you have for others to stay motivated when times are tough.

Life Rewards Action

Thinking is good, yes it is. I strongly encourage thinking. In fact, thinking plays a terrific role in success. It helps you strategize. It helps you get motivated. It tunes you into success. I am all for thinking and I do it regularly! 

That being said, just thinking, no matter how good of a thinker you are, will never catapult you to success. The difference between the thinker who succeeds and the thinker who doesn't is that the thinker who succeeds also ACTS! 

Life does not reward thinking. Life rewards action. Let me clarify: Life rewards thoughtful action. 

Think first, by all means... But then ACT!

Do you want to gain wealth? Then save your money - ACT!
Do you want to lose weight? Then hit the treadmill - ACT!
Do you want a new job? Then quit your current one - ACT!
Do you want to write a book? Then begin to write - ACT!
Do you want a new friend? Then introduce yourself - ACT! 

Anything you want to accomplish will only be done by bold and decisive action. 

Wishing won't bring it about. Neither will dreaming. Nor will hoping. Nor will just talking about it. Nope, you must ACT. 

What is it you want from life? Tell me. Be specific. Be clear. Think about it. Strategize. Roll it around inside that noggin of yours. Got it? Good. Now what? What will you DO to turn that non-physical electrical impulse we call a thought into a physical reality? There is only one thing: ACTION. 

Will you succeed? Will you achieve your dreams? Will you live the life that you want? Only you can make that decision because only you can decide whether or not you will act. 

My friends, life rewards action. Your actions do not need to be perfect. They just need to be. And then they get rewarded with success. With achievement. Accomplishment. You have the power within you to lead YOUR life as you see it. There is only one question you must answer for yourself: 

Will I act? 

Because Life Rewards Action! 

Six Ways to Stay Motivated

1. Get Motivated Every Day. 
Zig Ziglar was once confronted about being a "motivational speaker." The guy said to him, "You guys come and get people hyped up and then you leave and the motivation goes away. It doesn't last, and then you have to get motivated again." 

Zig reminded the gentleman that baths are the same way but we think it is a good idea to take a bath every day! It is true that motivation doesn't last. 

We have to renew it each and every day. That is okay. It doesn't make motivation a bad thing. We simply have to realize that if we want to stay motivated over the long term, it is something we will have to apply to ourselves each and every day. 

2. Have a Vision for Your Life.
The root word of motivation is "motive." The definition of motive is, "A reason to act." This is the cognitive or rational side of motivation. It is your vision. You have to have a vision that is big enough to motivate you. 

If you are making $50,000 a year, it isn't going to motivate you to set your goal at $52,000 a year. You just won't get motivated for that because the reward isn't enough. Maybe $70,000 a year would work for you. Set out a vision and a strategy for getting there. Have a plan and work the plan. 

3. Fuel Your Passion.
Much of motivation is emotional. I don't know quite how it works but I do know THAT it works. Emotion is a powerful force in getting us going. Passion is an emotion, so fuel your passion. "Well, I like to work on logic," you may say. Great, now work on your passion. Set yourself on a course to have a consuming desire for your goal, whatever it is. Do whatever you can to feel the emotion and use it to your advantage! 

4. Work Hard Enough to Get Results.
You can build on your motivation by getting results. The harder you work, the more results you will get and the more results you get, the more you will be motivated to get more. These things all build on one another. 

If you want to lose weight, then lose the first few pounds. When the belt moves to the next notch you will get fired up to get it to the notch beyond that! 

5. Put Good Materials into Your Mind.
I can't say this enough - listen to audios. I still listen to audios regularly. I buy audio clubs from other speakers and I learn and grow. Their successes motivate me to get my own successes! 

Read good books. Read books that teach you new ideas and skills. Read books that tell the stories of successful people. Buy them, read them, and get motivated! Buy great music and listen to it. I just did a spinning class at the club today. Whenever a good song came on I was actually able to get motivated to ride faster! It gets you going and motivates you! 

6. Ride the Momentum when It Comes.

Sometimes you will just be clicking and sometimes you won't. That is okay. It is the cycle of life. When you aren't clicking, plug away. 

When you are clicking, pour it on because momentum will help you get larger gains in a shorter period of time with less energy. That is the momentum Equation! When you are feeling good about how your work is going, ride the momentum and get as much out of it as you can! 

These are the top six ways to stay motivated: 
Get motivated every day. 
Have a vision for your life. 
Fuel your passion. 
Work hard enough to get results. 
Put good materials into your mind. 
Ride the momentum when it comes. 

These are simple principles, that when you put them to work regularly, will change your life by keeping you motivated all the time! So don't wait -- Get going! 

Taking Action: A Step Beyond Motivation

Taking action is the key to success and for many people, they rely on feeling motivated in order to take action. When we’re motivated, doing what needs to be done is easy. The challenge shows up when our level of motivation isn’t where we need it to be and as a result, at least for most people, the level of action taken decreases and even stops.

The Problem with Relying on Motivation

To understand why this happens, we need to realize that our level of motivation will go through an up and down cycle much like a roller coaster. Typically, when you start off working on a new goal, your level of motivation is high and therefore, taking action is easy. Think about how motivated people are at the beginning of each year and you’ll see what I mean.

Once the excitement from the “newness” of the goal goes away, motivation will tend to decrease. This usually occurs due to the decreased rate of expected results based on the amount of work that was put in. Progress is usually not a straight, upward line. Instead, it’s full of ups, downs, and plateaus. During the downs and plateaus, it’s often difficult to conjure up enough motivation to take massive action.

So if motivation isn’t something you can always rely on, what can you do to make sure you follow through on the necessary action steps that will take you from where you are to where you want to be? The answer is habit.

The Power of Habits

One of my favorite motivational quotes is from Aristotle where he said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

Motivating yourself through various ways such as psyching yourself up, visualizing success, and so on is great but there will be times when you won’t even be motivated enough to motivate yourself. When your actions have been developed into habits however, very little conscious motivation is needed for you to take action.

If you study a bunch of successful people, you’ll find that most of them have a habit of performing the actions that led them to become successful. For example, people who are fit and have a great physique achieved that through proper diet and regular exercise, something that most people have a hard time doing consistently. If you asked them whether or not they need to motivate themselves to hit the gym, they’ll likely tell you that they don’t. They’ve been doing it for so long that it’s now just a part of their life like showering.

It’s All About Consistency

If you want to greatly increase your chances of success, here’s what you do. First, figure out what action steps you need to take on a consistent basis to achieve your goal. Second, use whatever motivation you have on disciplining yourself to take consistent action. This is the key. Without consistency, you’ll have a hard time developing successful habits.

As time goes by, your motivation will tend to drop but if you’ve been disciplining yourself to take action long enough, habit will start to kick in and help you out. The stronger the habit, the less you will need to consciously motivate yourself in order to take action. Just like bad habits, good habits are something you can depend on. Once the habits are formed, continue with the action until you achieve your goal. From there, choose another goal and repeat the process.

How long it takes to form a habit depends on the habit. Many people say it takes 21 days. For many habits, that’s probably correct. For some habits, it may take much longer but the key is to use every bit of motivation and discipline you can muster to develop those habits. If you’ve ever looked at someone successful and wondered how they make it look so easy, now you know; they’ve made what needs to be done a habit.

If the thought of constantly having to consciously motivate yourself is killing your motivation, focus on the fact that with discipline and time, things will get a lot easier. At the very least, aim for 21 days of consistent action. Focus on developing the right habits and success will only be a matter of time.

How To Overcome New Challenges In Sales

I have always believed that new challenges in life present new opportunities. We are given opportunities to grow, improve, and learn new skills and abilities, which we might not learn otherwise.

It is easy to get comfortable and complacent when the going is easy. We often just ride the wave of success, rather than learning how to paddle better. We miss the opportunities to learn, grow, and gain greater strength.

I have come to realize that there is always a greater challenge around the corner. The obstacles that you are facing right now are preparing you for the future. I did not always embrace this attitude of gratitude for challenges and obstacles. I used to say, “If I could only solve this problem, I would have everything else handled.” That’s not the way that life and business works. The most successful people are problem solvers. Rather than CEO, President, Sales Manager, or Salesperson on your business card, it should read Chief Problem Solver.

One technique to build your confidence and competence in facing new challenges is to record them. Record the challenge then think on paper to create the solution. Too often, we don’t concisely write out the new challenge. Then we fail to think solutions through on paper. Completing this process gives us two benefits:

1. Greater access to our mind to create solutions: By writing your challenge down, you activate your whole mind (the conscious and subconscious) to work on the challenge even when you are asleep. You will light a mental fire that will burn bright until you have extinguished the problem for good.
   
2. A record of success: By writing things down, you create a blueprint for greater success. You allow yourself to go from one victory to the next, applying your gained knowledge quickly and efficiently. Making the right decision is essential to success, but making it quickly is nearly as important. Sometimes, we might make the right decision, but we have waited too long. We have missed the opportunity that was before us. Many times, opportunity merely knocks once. You must be prepared to seize the opportunity when presented.

The speed at which a good decision is made is essential. Place yourself in the cockpit of an F16, one of the highest advanced aircraft in the world. You have been instructed to attack another military force. You have a series of missiles bearing down on you. Do you let the speed at which you make the decision have a bearing on your success…of course! If you don’t move quickly, you’re dead. We have to take the right perspective and attitude to achieve success. We have to acquire the focus and intensity of a great problem solver. We have to act decisively and quickly to achieve our desired result.

The Two Secret Components To Sales Success

There are two disciplines that will yield amazing results when applied daily. They will help you overcome any obstacles or challenges that are put in your path. If you can master these two disciplines, there is nothing you can’t accomplish.

The first is the development of faith in you, which can produce staggering results. I am talking about the faith and the determination never to quit. Have the faith to repeat the right disciplines and actions long enough, and with enough intensity, to win.

Your self-image is housed in your subconscious mind. Your subconscious doesn’t evaluate the information you put in it. It only tries to create reality out of what you put into it. If you are allowing the negative to enter your subconscious mind unfiltered, you will begin to focus your self-image on the negative that you allow into your subconscious mind.

To create a strong self-image or self-faith you must work diligently to feed your subconscious mind with positive thoughts, ideas, and goals to achieve. You can do this through books, audiocassettes, experiences, coaching, affirmations, and seminars. The world will gladly fill your mental make-up with negatives. Work to combat the negatives by placing positive thoughts and images in your mind every day.

As Zig Ziglar says, “Let’s do a ‘check up from the neck up.’” How often are you reading great books? Are you listening to compact discs in the car daily? Do you have affirmations that you are pounding into your subconscious mind daily? Do you have a career or personal success coach? If you aren’t doing these activities regularly, you are probably not reaching your peak performance.

To increase your belief in yourself, you need to fill your subconscious mind with the positive thoughts and experiences of success. You can’t neglect to do this even for one day, or you will fall behind. Don’t put yourself in the position to play catch-up with your self-confidence.

The second is development of focus. Focus is one of the most powerful tools a person can possess. Even if you have a positive faith in yourself you must have focus to achieve greatness and success.

Al Ries wrote a great book, simply called Focus. Al used a laser beam as one of his examples. The amount of energy a laser beam has is very small. Most laser beams only have a few watts of energy. It is the process of focusing those few watts onto a very small area, which generates the power. It is because the energy is condensed to the size of the head of a pin that amazing things can happen, such as eye surgery without making incisions, the removal of cancer cells, and cutting through metal.

You can be like that laser through focus. You can accomplish more in less time by staying in the moment and being completely focused on the task at hand. Here is a technique to improve your focus. Break your day into smaller increments of time. You may only be able to stay focused for 20 minutes now. So break your day into 20-minute increments, with five to ten minutes in between. Do the activities in the outline in 20-minute increments of time.

Don’t allow distractions to creep into those 20-minute increments. Only do the activities outlined in those increments of time. Think only of the moment and work to focus in on the moment and the specific activity you are to do in that moment. Don’t allow anyone to distract you during your 20 minutes of focused time.

As you get better, and more skilled, at focusing you will be able to increase the focus time and decrease the break time. When most people evaluate their time, there is very little of an eight-hour workday that is focused time. The lack of focus time is why sales professionals often work seven days a week. It is because there is little focus time invested daily.

By having a positive faith in yourself you will be able to climb the mountains of life. Being highly skilled at focusing will enable you to do it with efficiency. If you learn to focus on what is most important to you, you will create the abundant life you desire and deserve.

Conquering Life In Bits

Life is not really about what happens to you, but how you respond to it. If you were to poll any social setting you would quickly find that more people than expected have endured severe situations and came out on the other side with a smile. How you may ask? By adjusting their thinking to understand two vital facts.

First, all of life is cyclical. We are all rotating through this life in between struggles and good times. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you make peace with life. Next, you cannot eat an elephant in one setting. Big problems become manageable when you break them down into bite sized tasks.

The common thread through all the successful people I have had the opportunity to collaborate with is this, they know how to manage their emotions in tough times. Often our tact and resilience falls victim to whatever is going on. The easiest thing to do in times of adversity is buckle under the pressure and wimp out. Here’s the deal, greatness is not for those who try to whine their way to the top! I want to share with you how you can add ‘back’ bone to your ‘wish’ bone and win in life.

* How you end your day has a lot to do with how it starts: Most of us have fallen into the habit of going to bed with the television blaring into our subconscious. Instead try to spend a few moments before you drift off rehearsing your accomplishments of the day and your goals for tomorrow. Or you can on purpose put affirmations into your mindset by speaking positivity. Remember, our minds are computers that are running all the time.

* Increasing your skill-set is easy if you make the time: I hear this complaint from a lot of clients; “I do not have time to study or get better at things.” That’s just not true! If you commute to work, you have time. If your kids take naps, you have time. If you get a lunch break on your job, you have time. The truth is, most do not make time for what’s really important.

* Don’t just sit there, do something… anything: We use the excuse of not knowing or the task being too big. No it isn’t. The sooner you get busy taking a bite here and a bite there, the sooner you can look back and see your accomplishments. Have you ever had a day with so much to get done it depressed you? So you sat around complaining all day and in the evening you realized you got nothing done. That’s because you didn’t tackle anything. Get off your butt and do what you can for the moment and watch the magic happen.

* Enlist an accountability buddy: It is statistically proven that more goals happen when you know someone else is checking on you. You increase your percentage for success when you share your goals with someone who will support you and most important, will hold you accountable. This is not a new concept for business or life. For decades successful men and women have used a support system to ensure things in their life get done.

If you drop into any bookstore across the world one of the largest sections will be the ‘Self Help’ department. Why? Because most people would rather read about how to change instead of changing. You don’t need a degree, a trainer or a specialist. All you need is the guts to get up and start today to do something about your life. I say it all the time, “Dreaming is free. But if you want change you are going to have to get up, shut up and get busy!”

See you at the TOP!

Get Motivated!!! By Building Self Belief

When we witness someone else’s success, whether it’s in business, sport, relationships, career or whatever, there’s a tendency to see that great success has an end in itself.

When we see the mountaineer at the top of the high mountain, we don’t think so much about the fact that getting there involved taking a long series of steps one after the other. What impresses us most deeply is seeing the successful person at the pinnacle of their achievement, and seeing that success and only that success tends to make many people think that for them doing the same thing would be unattainable.

They see only the end result, the success itself, and not all of the training and effort that those successful people had to undertake in order to achieve that success.

They see only the glittering prize of ultimate success and feel themselves to be unable to do something similar. It’s this lack of self belief that drains motivational energy and prevents people from fulfilling their goals.

Success can look daunting to someone experiencing self doubt or lack of direction in life and make them feel that they’re not capable of doing it for themselves, and so then they lose the motivation to actually try.

However they’re simply overlooking the fact that every successful person had to start somewhere, that every journey to success begins with one small step, that for example every successful weight loss plan begins with losing the first pound, and not with losing twenty pounds overnight.

Here are some pointers to help you put this into perspective.

Prioritize Your Aims And Desires

Take some time out to think about what your most important goal or desire in life is, about what change or improvement in your life is most pressing and important for you.

Give yourself a few days or so to mull this over in your mind so that you’re ultimately able to clarify in your mind what it is that you really want, and not just what you may immediately “think” that you want. Take the time to delve down deep into yourself and arrive at an understanding of what’s really important to you.

Take The First Small Step And Keep The End In Mind

When you know what you want to do, understand that you can’t reasonably expect to achieve total success either immediately or without some effort.

Form a mental plan or map in your mind of the steps – or at least the first few steps – that you will need to take to ultimately get where you want to be. Then think about what you need to do in order to fulfill those first few steps, then begin to take the necessary action, while all the while keeping at the back of your mind a vision of yourself achieving your ultimate goal.

When you adopt this step-by-step, starting at the beginning attitude towards fulfilling your goal, you’re no longer comparing yourself to someone else who has been seen to achieve total success.

You begin to appreciate that they, just like you, had to start somewhere, and that with knowledge of what you really want combined with a willingness to apply dedication and persistence in a gradual pursuit of it, you begin to experience a growing and strengthening realization that as you fulfill one step after the other you are becoming as capable and successful as those who you once thought you could never emulate.

It’s through this gradually growing sense of self belief that you find the motivation that you need to carry you through to ultimate success.