No one can motivate anyone to do anything

No one can motivate anyone to do anything. All a person can do for another is provide them with incentives to motivate themselves. Here are ten very effective strategies to help you get up and get moving toward actualizing your enormous, untapped potential.
* Be willing to leave your comfort zone. The greatest barrier to achieving your potential is your comfort zone. Great things happen when you make friends with your discomfort zone.

* Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Wisdom helps us avoid making mistakes and comes from making a million of them.

* Don't indulge in self-limiting thinking. Think empowering, expansive thoughts.

*Choose to be happy. Happy people are easily motivated. Happiness is your birthright so don't settle for anything else.

* Spend at least one hour a day in self-development. Read good books or listen to inspiring tapes. Driving to and from work provides an excellent opportunity to listen to self-improvement tapes.

* Train yourself to finish what you start. So many of us become scattered as we try to accomplish a task. Finish one task before you begin another.

* Live fully in the present moment. When you live in the past or the future you aren't able to make things happen in the present.

* Commit yourself to joy. C.S. Lewis once said, "Joy is the serious business of heaven."

* Never quit when you experience a setback or frustration. Success could be just around the corner.

* Dare to dream big dreams. If there is anything to the law of expectation then we are moving in the direction of our dreams, goals and expectations.

The real tragedy in life is not in how much we suffer, but rather in how much we miss, so don't miss a thing.

Charles Dubois once said, "We must be prepared, at any moment, to sacrifice who we are for who we are capable of becoming."

By Mike Moore

Genuine confidence is a rare gift that we give ourselves

Genuine confidence is a rare gift that we give ourselves. Psychologists say that the only way to achieve it is to be yourself. Role-playing and pretending to be someone you’re not, to gain recognition or social acceptance, erodes your confidence because you are constantly afraid that others will discover your pretence and deceptions.

Great Beginnings-Early Impressions

In childhood, you start out with a great deal of confidence and self-assurance. However, if the people in your life and environs are not supportive, but are judgmental and critical, you quickly begin to doubt your worth, lose self-belief, and begin to seek approval by trying to change the parts of your behavior that are targeted by the negativity of others. Being impressionable and vulnerable in youth, your fear of rejection sets in and you seek approval through role-playing; striving to convince others that you think, feel and act as they do, in order to fit in and be accepted.

Where did YOU Go?

Constantly controlling your real feelings and behaviors and repressing them, eventually leads to a build up of stress, unhappiness and anger. These emotions can affect your health and happiness; which is why it is critical to your well-being that you re-connect with yourself, and make a conscious decision to be true to your own feelings, desires, interests and needs.

Asking Yourself Tough Questions

The best way to regain and rebuild confidence is to re-discover the real you and find your self-belief. To do this you have to become aware of your good qualities and traits. Keeping a journal of what you like about yourself is a great first step. Being introspective and really examining your own unique qualities is not easy. Include the observations of people you care about and trust, in your journal. What do your friends and family admire about you and give you praise and encouragement about? Do you get all of your personal validation from external sources? How often do those external sources really bring satisfaction and lasting happiness to your life? Rarely, is how most of us would answer that question. It’s time to start finding real reasons to love yourself as you truly are, at this moment in your life.

Creating Confidence

Celebrate your strengths and accept your weaknesses because everyone has both positive and negative attributes. Don’t dwell on what you perceive are your failures. Keeping positive is essential. Remember that every person is much more than just the sum of their successes and failures. Life and the human beings in it are complex and unique. Describing anyone as either good or bad, is just an over-simplification of the human condition. Each person has worth and brings all kinds of priceless qualities to this world. You may be a very creative, funny, charming and trustworthy person. Perhaps you are highly educated and have a need to nurture others, and make a difference in the world. When you focus on who you are, and what you do that is well done and valuable, as well as, what you truly enjoy; you begin to be subjective, and find your own authentic-self.

Staying Focused

When you focus your attention on the worthwhile and positive attributes that you possess, without apologizing for what you perceive are your failings and shortcomings; your self-doubt will begin to diminish. Focus on liking “you” and surround yourself with encouraging relationships, as often as possible. Take time every day, just a moment, to remember what you value, and the source of your inspiration, in life.

Confidence Recaptured

Confidence comes into your life when you hold yourself in high regard and project a realistic and positive image that you truly believe in. Getting comfortable with the real you, will be freeing, and will release the anger and frustration you felt when you tried to hide your authentic self. There is a great deal of happiness in life, and when you are true to yourself, happiness and contentment will follow.

By: Sara Carrol

Creating S.M.A.R.T. Goals

                          Specific
                          Measurable
                          Attainable
                          Realistic
                          Timely

Specific - A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. To set a specific goal you must answer the six "W" questions:
*Who:      Who is involved?
*What:     What do I want to accomplish?
*Where:    Identify a location.
*When:     Establish a time frame.
*Which:    Identify requirements and constraints.
*Why:      Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.

EXAMPLE:    A general goal would be, "Get in shape." But a specific goal would say, "Join a health club and workout 3 days a week."

Measurable - Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal.
To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as......How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?

Attainable - When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. You begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals.
You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps. Goals that may have seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable, not because your goals shrink, but because you grow and expand to match them. When you list your goals you build your self-image. You see yourself as worthy of these goals, and develop the traits and personality that allow you to possess them.

Realistic - To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. A goal can be both high and realistic; you are the only one who can decide just how high your goal should be. But be sure that every goal represents substantial progress. A high goal is frequently easier to reach than a low one because a low goal exerts low motivational force. Some of the hardest jobs you ever accomplished actually seem easy simply because they were a labor of love.
Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. Additional ways to know if your goal is realistic is to determine if you have accomplished anything similar in the past or ask yourself what conditions would have to exist to accomplish this goal.

Timely - A goal should be grounded within a time frame. With no time frame tied to it there's no sense of urgency. If you want to lose 10 lbs, when do you want to lose it by? "Someday" won't work. But if you anchor it within a timeframe, "by May 1st", then you've set your unconscious mind into motion to begin working on the goal.
T can also stand for Tangible - A goal is tangible when you can experience it with one of the senses, that is, taste, touch, smell, sight or hearing. When your goal is tangible you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable and thus attainable.

Ecoaching: how it works

Let's begin with a definition of ecoaching:

A two-way communication between a Coach and Coachee that is enabled through the use of technology, whether it be email, telephone, online chat or bulletin board.

This is clumsy, but accurate.

With the rise of elearning, ecoaching has become a popular way of replicating the relationship between trainer and student. Recognising that despite the many advantages of elearning, people still need the human touch in some form, elearning providers have worked hard to connect people with each other.

So what are the issues involved in ecoaching? What are the benefits and difficulties of ecoaching, and what are the skills needed to provide a good ecoaching service?

Benefits
In addition to the straightforward benefit of providing the student with a human point of contact, a good ecoach can help the student come to terms with their learning in exactly the same way that a good tutor or coach can. By asking relevant questions, challenging assumptions, adding context and forcing the student to apply theory to their own practice, the ecoach can add depth and understanding to whatever content is being delivered. Where qualifications or assessments are involved, the ecoach can act as a sounding-board and sanity check for the student, so that their work is validated or challenged before being submitted for assessment.

Difficulties
The major difficulties of ecoaching relate to time - there's usually a lag in the contact between Coach and Coachee (unless it's being facilitated by telephone) with the result that gaps open up for misunderstanding, delayed reaction, the need for repetition for clarification and all the other issues that are created when communication is mediated by electronic means. In addition, Coachees can be very demanding. Although it's standard practice to create a contract saying something along the lines of 'We promise to get back in touch within 24 hours,' students can be impatient if they're waiting to get feedback on their assignment!

Ecoaching skills
In many ways there are few differences between the skills needed by an ecoach and those required of a face-to-face coach: enthusiasm, empathy, objectivity are primary skills, together with a certain facility with electronic media (email, chat rooms, bulletin boards). Where the ecoaching is providing via email or written media, the ability to write clearly and explain potentially complex issues in simple terms is obviously an advantage.

It's usually the case that a face-to-face coach need not have any knowledge of the individual's work or day-to-day tasks - a coaching process such as GROW (Goals, Reality, Options, Will) is generally sufficient to focus the Coachee on what they need to achieve and how they're going to do it. While this might form the backbone to an ecoaching session, it's equally likely that specific content knowledge might be required too, especially where qualifications or assessments are concerned. Hence the ecoach is likely to be someone who is broadly experienced, has had some face-to-face coaching history and is happy - or at least willing - to work at a keyboard.

The use of ecoaching is expanding month on month. Client organisations see it as a way of providing personal and professional development to their staff, and elearning providers see it as a way of adding value to their offering and ensuring that the content they're supplying is understood and contextualised. There are still issues to be resolved around costs (how are ecoaches to be paid - for each contact? for an hour's work? for each group of students?) and take-up (encouraging students to contact someone they haven't met can be problematic). But as the use of electronic media and elearning begins to permeate the training environment, these issues are likely to be swept away by a growing understanding of the benefits that a good ecoach can provide.

Article by Keith Dixon

TRAINING is the business of bringing about change

TRAINING is the business of bringing about change. To know whether you have achieved change, you must be able to evaluate the effects of your instruction. You’ve defined your objectives and determined what the change should be. You’ve assessed the present status and have a program for changing it to meet those objectives. Now you need a means of measuring the success you’ve achieved. This last step is evaluation.

There are three levels of change in performance that must be monitored and evaluated. Level one is the measurement of how well the trainees can perform the skills you have been communicating to them. It takes place during and upon completion of training.

Level two is the observation of the trainees’ performance when they return to the job. It is a measure of what theorists call the “transfer” of learning to the workplace. You know from level one evaluation how well each of the trainees is able to perform the skills you’ve taught. Now you must follow up and observe whether or not they are actually transferring those skills to their jobs. If they are not doing so, you will need to perform a narrow-focused needs analysis in order to troubleshoot the problem, diagnose it, and propose a solution.

Level three is a measurement of the impact of the training on the operations of the department for which you have performed the training or, indeed, on the entire organization. It is a measurement of the dollar return on the money investment by management in training. Level three is the bottom-line evaluation. It answers the question “Are we getting our money’s worth out of training?”

As you can see, evaluation is an important ongoing function for the trainer. It is also a vital function for the trainees. If you remember, one of Thorndike’s principles of learning is the law of effect: nothing succeeds like success. Trainees must get constant feedback to develop the motivation to continue. Constant evaluation not only lets you know where you are, but it also does the same for your trainees. For convenience, the evaluation function has been divided into several operations, but there is considerable overlap and much mixing of technique. It is likely that you will be using several methods at the same time.

Level One: Short-Term Evaluations

Level one evaluation consists mainly of short-term projects with which we are most familiar. Homework assignments, class projects, term papers, and tests are the forms of evaluation we all remember from school. This level of evaluation usually consists of some challenging task set by the instructor and performed by the student. How well the student performs the task is the measure of his or her success at learning it. The task provides the learner with necessary feedback on how well he or she is learning. At the same time, it provides the instructor with feedback on how well the learner is mastering the skills being taught and what coaching, if any, will be required. Incidentally, it also provides feedback on the instructor’s success at teaching the material.

Exams and Tests

Many people dread exams because, when they were in school, the results were associated with passing or failing. Since exams were the basis for vital judgments affecting our future, it isn’t surprising that exams are thought of as almost punitive to some of us. You will have to reposition the purpose and function of exams to show your trainees how tests let them know how they are doing. Let exams be a service to them, a diagnostic tool to point out strengths and weaknesses. The fact that you can also use them to evaluate yourself is really immaterial. Tests exist solely for them, to provide important feedback. We’ll talk about how to structure those tests later in this chapter.

Alternative Types of Evaluation

There are, however, several other types of short-term evaluations. They range from observational techniques, such as eye contact, to various types of projects and reviews. Let’s take a quick look at them, then discuss in detail how to create and use each one as an evaluation tool.

Socratic questioning. In Chapter 2, we established the power and teaching value of asking questions. But one of the other major benefits of asking questions is that it lets you monitor the state of mind of the learners and assess the degree of learning taking place. To develop your questioning technique, see Chapter 3.

Methods for Short-Term Evaluations

Examinations
Socratic questioning
Eye contact and observations
Spot quizzes and reviews
Project Sessions
Case histories
Practice sessions
formal and informal assessment sessions

Eye contact. Also in Chapter 3, we mentioned the importance of eye contact as positive nonverbal communication between instructor and learner. As with most communication, eye contact is a two-way exchange. Contact is initiated and maintained by the instructor, but the learner sends back a message as well. What do your trainees’ eyes tell you? Eyes that stare or glare at you are challenging you or disagree with what you say. Eyes that frown are expressing challenge and doubt. Eyes that are glassy and expressionless have had enough. It’s time to change the subject. Eyes that shine are challenged and interested, while eyes that droop are sleepy. Ask questions or change the topic. Eyes that blink rapidly or wander about are nervous; the person may be holding something back.

Interpreting Eye Contact

Glare or stare–challenge or disagreement
Frown–doubt or deep thought
Glassy or blank–had enough
Shining eyes–challenged and interested
Droopy or sleepy–tuned out or bored
Blinking or wandering–nervousness or hiding something

Spot quizzes and reviews. By reviewing a topic using a question format, in either a written or oral quiz, you can take the pulse of the group and find out how well they understand the material. Formal testing and how to structure questions for tests are discussed later in this chapter.
Project sessions. Assigning work to be done in class allows you to circulate and check their understanding as they work. In a project session, you are looking for how well the trainees can use what you’ve taught them. You also have the opportunity later on to respond in writing to their projects, expressing your evaluation of them. I usually follow up by discussing the project with the group, using several of their efforts as examples.

Case histories. The case history is a more involved, practical project. It challenges the learners to use what they’ve learned. while it allows you to see how well they are doing. Case histories are discussed in greater detail in Chapter 7.
Practice sessions. Hands-on practice serves to lock in learning. It also provides you with an excellent opportunity for evaluation and correction.

Assessment sessions. Assessments usually take place at the end of a program. When technical training has been involved, it might be a troubleshooting session in which equipment has been intentionally maladjusted. Trainees are evaluated on their speed and accuracy in correcting the situation. In “soft” skill areas, you can create hypothetical crises and assign members of the class to respond appropriately. Role plays are useful simulations.
 

Source : Abe books.com

"How to be Invited for Interviews"
      
Once the application has been sent and the resume received the next thing that should happen is that the employer will be calling to test communication skills by means of an interview.

 Allowing yourself to be given the option on which employer is best fitting the applicant is one characteristic of being pro-active.  Consider being called by multiple employers for a job interview in a day a good sign.  This means that they were really impressed with the documents you submitted, therefore, deserving a personal communication on how most likely an applicant would land the job.

Resumes can present an individual very well.  Seventy-five per cent of employers say that applicants with resumes passing their standards would definitely be invited for a job interview.  Allow two or more interviews.  How?  Here are some resumes tips that would give you not only one but more calls for interview:

1. The position that an applicant is interested in should be placed right at the start of the resume.  Having this as an objective shows that an applicant is really focused and career oriented tells that he or she knows what is exactly the perfect career for him or her.

2. One of the best significant ways to get the employers' attention is by using words that are really powerful that denotes strong capabilities of the applicant.  An example of this is, instead of writing, "assigned to be", write instead "in-charge of," indicating that the applicant has active leadership skills that can be a step to the management position if there is any.

3. A bullet catches the eye of an employer at one look.  Use these in itemizing achievements, career highlights, recognition, qualifications, and skills and interests.  Words in bullet form forces the employer to read the information provided.  These also create more clear space on the paper making the application form or the resume very neat and outstanding.

4. Make sure that the resume is very selective.  Only apply for a certain position in one company or organization one at a time.  Do not submit resumes with different job interests and positions applied for at one time.  This will be a complete waste of time.

5. Ask a pro.  Resumes are written with the help of experts who can actually see the applicant's strengths and opportunities.

Aside from preparing an impressive resume carefully follow and read all the special instructions like how many spaces are provided for a specific answer or the number of words for the answer.  Keep in mind that this is also a test to see how well an applicant can follow simple rules.  Not only does it have to follow the steps, the application form should also be neat.  Handwriting is also being considered and using a black pen will greatly add to the formality of the answer.  As much as possible, never use a liquid paper or fold and bend the application form and paper.

When answering, be careful not to leave blanks unless it really does not apply.  Use N/A only if necessary.  Be truthful with all the answers but this does not mean that you have to provide a complete or thorough answer for every question.  Always adapt the answers to the job being applied for.  Only provide the skills and recognition received that will be beneficial to the new company or employer.  However, see to it that the answers provided indicate the reason of being more qualified than the other applicants.

Choose references that can provide the applicant an objective description and information.  Teachers, friends, and previous employers can be willing and honest enough to provide that information.  The application form must be consistent with the resume.

How to Create A Dynamic And Successful Work Environment

Team building activities are essential if you want employees who know how to effectively and efficiently work together toward a common goal. At first, these activities may seem silly or you might wonder how they can contribute anything to your company. But the fact is, team building activities are set up to challenge a team and to sharpen communication and group skills.

For instance, one such team building activity is called the Artesian Well. In this game each team must maneuver a virus out of a certain area and into a new one, within set boundaries. Teams must plan ahead, communicate clearly and cooperate to be successful.

Team building events can be organized to span a few days or can take place on one scheduled date. Team building activities can also be integrated into other corporate events, such as meetings, training sessions and conferences, workshops and seminars, as a way to warm things up and get the ball rolling. Even at serious project meetings certain types of team building activities can be used to help the team begin the problem-solving process and incorporate new thinking styles into the meeting.

Team building activities that make use of games and quizzes will help spark new ideas and jumpstart any decision-making that needs to occur in order to get the job done, and get it done well.

When choosing a team building activity, select a game or event that will be fun for all involved, help your employees learn new skills or sharpen established ones, and most importantly, improve results.

There are other kinds of team building exercises as well, which differ from the usual choices but should be considered as options, especially if your team requires more than just a team building experience, but more of a team healing experience, so to speak. Sometimes a group of employees are just not working well together, and it may be due to other life stresses. In these cases, activities that a person would normally do after work might be appropriate, such as yoga, scheduled lunchtime relaxation classes, or a group bowling session.

In the end, as long as you examine your company’s particular needs and choose a team building activity that will work well with your employees you will achieve the results you desire.

By: Tina Gamvros

How to deal with difficult boss

Work sucks when you don’t know how to deal with a difficult boss. It’s often said, people don’t quit a job, they quit a boss. Here to help you recognise and deal with a difficult boss, are solutions to 7 different types of management style.

It takes two to tango…

Maybe you’re the boss, and have a difficult employee. Any chance they think you’re behaving badly? You might be as nice as cherry pie, but if you’ve been cast as the wicked witch, you’re going to clash and clash and clash some more until you get a little mutual understanding going on.

It is possible to be a great person and a bad boss. They key to a successful working relationship, is to separate the behaviour from the person. Is the bad behaviour temporary due to over-work or personal stress, or due to something as simple as lack of management skills. Being sensitive to the underlying reasons means your boss can save face and improve their behaviour appropriately.

Here are 7 of the usual bad management suspects…….

The Bland Boss

A bland boss is as much use as a chocolate fireguard! They usually avoid risk or conflict at all cost, are vague and flit between decisions.

First off, you need to notice which situations trigger their bland or weak behaviour. If they regularly avoid conflict, they may need to be liked by everyone, so take someone else into combat with you or maybe get their boss to assume a greater leadership role.

If they are vague and provide little direction, it may be they’re lacking management skills and don’t realise that’s their job. Often unskilled or inexperienced managers are uncomfortable telling someone what to do. Train your manager by being clear about the direction you need to do your job, making sure they commit it to writing, so you both know what’s agreed.

The Grunt

The grunt has no original thought, drive or ambition. In fact, two short planks of wood’d make a better boss.

You’ve got a fantastic idea, which you’ve researched and know will work, and take it to your grunt boss to agree how to implement it. Bad idea. At best they’ll tell you why it won’t work, at worst they’ll just not have the brain power to comprehend something new. The best way to manage a grunt is to let them stick to what they know, and wait patiently for the next round of down-sizing and wave them off the premises.

The Control-Freak

The controlling manager barely lets you cough in a meeting let alone say something original or creative. You’re being managed at such an itty bitty level of detail you feel like a single cell specimen under a microscope. Anything that doesn’t conform is changed or rejected. Eventually you suffer from learned helplessness, the inability to think or function for yourself.

What's driving this behaviour? Usually it’s anxiety about failing or making mistakes, and micro-managing tasks gives them a reassuring feeling that the correct steps are being taken. Provide that reassurance by detailing the steps you’ve taken, who’ve you’ve spoken to and how you’ve assessed and addressed any risks.

The Politician

The political manager is a self-interested self-promoter, and generates more spin than a flywheel. You can trust them about as far as you can throw them.

Politicians are often easy to upwardly manage. Get their support by emphasising how good they’ll look to their seniors, Avoid being a potential scapegoat, by getting public written support for anything risky or controversial. Politicians often play favourites, so enjoy it while it lasts, and don’t take it personally when you’re dropped.

The Absent Manager

When your main conversation with your boss is a hurried chat masquerading as an annual appraisal, you could say you’ve got an absent manager. No manager may be better than an absent manager.

The absent manager goes missing in action, traveling across the globe, or is just plain busy. The secret is getting on their radar by getting in their diary. Establish a routine for communication, and stick to it. Maximise face time, by preparing thoroughly beforehand. Think and talk in headlines, summing up what decisions they need to make, or direction they need to give and get out. It might take more effort on your part, but your manager will respect you for it.

The Whip-Cracker

The whip-cracker knows when you’re goofing off. The whip-cracker knows when you’re just thinking about goofing off. The whip-cracker doesn’t sleep, drink or pee. Or have a life.
And they don’t expect you to have a life either. Or be human.

It’s useful to take a long term view with a whip-cracker. Is there some major deadline looming that explains the behaviour? Or does lightening up scare them to death? Decide how many extra miles you are prepared to go, and how often, and live with it.

The Spiteful Manager

In its extreme mutation, the spiteful manager is a bully. The bully’s raison d’etre is to belittle people for pleasure. A bully is the nasty and ruthless wicked witch (or wizard!)

Have a look around – is your manager singling you out or are there other victims? If you’re the unlucky one, maybe your styles clash – you’re need for detailed direction is perceived as clingy neediness – so consider changing your approach. Or it may be that the manager just doesn’t get the subtleties of interpersonal communication and has a miniscule emotional IQ. Then at least you know it’s not personal!

Take a look at this bullying article and find out how to beat the bully.

Regardless of which type of management style your boss has, the best way to change their behaviour is to talk to them. Giving effective feedback at least makes them aware of their behaviour, its impact on you, and more importantly how you would prefer them to behave. With time and luck, the boss’s behaviour will improve, but if not, you’ve got two choices. Maybe everything else in your work and life is good enough for you to grin and bear it or do what many people do - quit your boss and move on.

By Lyndsay Swinton

Life is Worthwhile if You...  
 

 Life Tip 1)

First, life is worthwhile if you LEARN. What you don't know WILL hurt you. You have to have learning to exist, let alone succeed. Life is worthwhile if you learn from your own experiences, negative and positive. We learn to do it right by first sometimes doing it wrong. We call that a positive negative. We also learn from other people's experiences, both positive and negative. I've always said it is too bad failures don't give seminars. We don't want to pay them so they don't tour around giving seminars. But the information would be very valuable – how someone who had it all, messed it up. Learning from other people's experiences and mistakes.

We learn by what we see - pay attention. By what we hear – be a good listener. Now I do suggest being a selective listener, don't just let anybody dump into your mental factory. We learn from what we read. Learn from every source. Learn from lectures, learn from songs, learn from sermons, and learn from conversations with people who care. Keep learning.

 Life Tip 2)

Life is worthwhile if you TRY. You can't just learn; you now have to try something to see if you can do it. Try to make a difference, try to make some progress, try to learn a new skill, and try to learn a new sport. Life is worthwhile if you try. It doesn't mean you can do everything but there are a lot of things you can do, if you just try. Try your best. Give it every effort. Why not go all out?

 Life Tip 3)

 Life is worthwhile if you STAY. You have to stay from spring until harvest. If you have signed up for the day or for the game or for the project - see it through. Sometimes calamity comes and then it is worth wrapping it up. And that's the end, but just don't end in the middle. Maybe on the next project you pass, but on this one, if you signed up, see it through.

 Life Tip 4)

 Life is worthwhile if you CARE. If you care at all you will get some results, if you care enough you can get incredible results. Care enough to make a difference. Care enough to turn somebody around. Care enough to start a new enterprise. Care enough to change it all. Care enough to be the highest producer. Care enough to set some records. Care enough to win. Four powerful little words: learn, try, stay and care. What difference can you make in your life today by putting these four words to work?

Article by Jim Rohn

Living With out Limits

The starting point of great success and achievement has always been the same. It is for you to dream big dreams. There is nothing more important, and nothing that works faster than for you to cast off your own limitations than for you to begin dreaming and fantasizing about the wonderful things that you can become, have, and do. As a wise man once said, “You must dream big dreams, for only big dreams have the power to move the minds of men.” When you begin to dream big dreams, your levels of self-esteem and self-confidence will go up immediately. You will feel more powerful about yourself and your ability to deal with what happens to you. The reason so many people accomplish so little is because they never allow themselves to lean back and imagine the kind of life that is possible for them.

 Let me give you an example. Let us say that you want to double your income. What is the critical constraint or the limiting factor that holds you back? Well, you know that your income is a direct reward for the quality and quantity of the services you render to your world. Whatever field you are in, if you want to double your income, you simply have to double the quality and quantity of what you do for that income. Or you have to change activities and occupations so that what you are doing is worth twice as much. But you must always ask yourself, “What is the critical constraint that holds me back or sets the speed on how fast I double my income?”

A friend of mine is one of the highest-paid commission professionals in the United States. One of his goals was to double his income over the next three to five years.

He applied the 80/20 rule to his client base. He found that 20 percent of his clients contributed 80 percent of his profits, and that the amount of time spent on a high-profit client was pretty much the same amount of time spent on a low-profit client. In other words, he was dividing his time equally over the number of tasks that he does while only 20 percent of those items contributes 80 percent of his results.

So he drew a line on his list of clients under those who represented the top 20 percent and then called in other professionals in his industry and very carefully, politely, and strategically handed off the 80 percent of his clients that only represented 20 percent of his business. He then put together a profile of his top clients and began looking in the marketplace exclusively for the type of client who fit the profile; in other words, one who could become a major profit contributor to his organization, and whom he in turn could serve with the level of excellence that his clients were accustomed to. And instead of doubling his income in three to five years, he doubled it in the first year!

So what is holding you back? Is it your level of education or skill? Is it your current occupation or job? Is it your current environment or level of health? Is it the situations that you are in today? What is setting the speed for you achieving your goal?

Remember, whatever you have learned, you can unlearn. Whatever situation you have gotten yourself into, you can probably get yourself out of. If your real goal is to dream big dreams and to live without limits, you can set this as your standard and compare everything that you do against it.

The three keys to living without limits have always been the same. They are clarity, competence, and concentration.

Clarity means that you are absolutely clear about who you are, what you want, and where you’re going. You write down your goals and you make plans to accomplish them. You set very careful priorities and you do something every day to move you toward your goals. And the more progress you make toward accomplishing things that are important to you, the greater self-confidence and self-belief you have, and the more convinced you become that there are no limits on what you can achieve.

Competence means that you begin to become very, very good in the key result areas of your chosen field. You apply the 80/20 rule to everything you do and you focus on becoming outstanding in the 20 percent of tasks that contribute to 80 percent of your results. You dedicate yourself to continuous learning. You never stop growing. You realize that excellence is a moving target. And you commit yourself to doing something every day that enables you to become better and better at doing the most important things in your field. Concentration is having the self-discipline to force yourself to concentrate single-mindedly on one thing, the most important thing, and stay with it until it’s complete.

The two key words for success have always been focus and concentration. Focus is knowing exactly what you want to be, have, and do. Concentration is persevering, without diversion or distraction, in a straight line toward accomplishing the things that can make a real difference in your life.

When you allow yourself to begin to dream big dreams, creatively abandon the activities that are taking up too much of your time, and focus your inward energies on alleviating your main constraints, you start to feel an incredible sense of power and confidence. As you focus on doing what you love to do and becoming excellent in those few areas that can make a real difference in your life, you begin to think in terms of possibilities rather than impossibilities, and you move ever closer toward the realization of your full potential.

Article by Brian Tracy

20 easy ways to get better results with your thinking.

Success in living and working in today's "information Age" requires successful thinking. The good news is that everyone is capable of increasing successful thinking. Successful thinking is using any mental skill to get results. Here are 20 easy ways to get better results with your thinking.

1. Increase knowledge. First, set your ego aside and openly acknowledge how little you really do know right now compared to all that you can know. Then commit to being a perpetual learner for the rest of your life. Grow, learn and improve with every breath. That acknowledgment and commitment will get results.

2. Beware of what you "know." Understand how your own brain "tricks" you into over-simplifying things, distorting perceptions and memories, and convincing you things are true despite the lack of evidence. Things are not always as they appear and all that you think you know may not always be so. Truth isn't easy to discern.

3. Slow down. Reject your natural tendency to hurry up and believe something too quickly before you get all the facts or get a chance to move to a more advantageous viewpoint. You can often get more done when you take your time.

4. Value principles. Look for operating principles that hold true in a variety of situations over time. For instance, you usually get what you expect; if you don't like what you get, blame your expectation.

5. Make one assumption: One assumption is probably worth making: miscommunication and misunderstanding are more the norm than not. Good communication takes hard work and doesn't occur without much care and effort to understand and be understood by another person through gradual clarification.

6. Verify other assumptions. Question basic assumptions you have made or that were made for you-look for disproof of what you and others are "sure" of, rather than just looking for more available proof to confirm what you already believe.

7. Re-think what you know. You don't always need more information, but rather to use what information you already have, better. Creativity can often start by looking at older, conventional ideas in newer and more unusual ways.

8. Ask Questions. Focus more on asking good questions than coming up with clever answers. Good questions open doors and create progress.

9. Separate feelings from thinking. With conflicts, first peel the onion to see and remove all the emotions that are clouding the issue. Then look for ways everybody can win something and not lose anything important by rationally discussing the situation. Conflicts are opportunities that challenge your thinking.

10. Dig Deeper. Sometimes it is worth the effort to dig a little deeper and separate the superficial surface symptoms from the hidden core problem in a situation. Knowing what the real problem is can be half the solution.

11. Accept random accidents. Sometimes random accidents do occur and trying to ascribe meaning and purpose to them is artificial. Besides you are often wrong.

12. Be positive. Focusing on negative things and differences can be amusing but it isn't very productive; focusing on positive similarities builds unity and strength. Having positive beliefs and positive expectations tend to lead to positive outcomes.

13. Exercise. You can easily get out of shape mentally if you don't exercise your brain regularly. Make an effort to read more, pay closer attention to details, have more meaningful discussions, work from a definite plan, apply systematic problem-solving strategies, analyze failures and successes, etc.

14. Learn. Learn from both your failures and successes-avoid making unnecessary past mistakes over and over again, and re-use elements from your successes to increase them in the future. The lessons you learn will reduce failures and increase successes.

15. Converse with "enemies." You can learn much from people you disagree with. Understanding "opposite points of view can double your IQ.

16. Share suspicions. The information you have that you are least sure of, can often turn out to be the most valuable, useful information, once you get over your reluctance and hesitancy in sharing and validating it with others.

17. Know where you are standing. What you see depends on where you are doing the looking from. Become more sensitive to the reality that what you see changes when you move around.

18. Study thinking. Most of our consciousness is a result of thinking, not thinking itself. Focus on what you need to know to solve a problem and then direct your thoughts to uncover that knowledge in a complete and correct way.

19. Keep an open mind. The most useful mental skill is keeping an open mind-not making pre-judgments, convincing yourself you are right, arriving at pre-mature conclusions, or not setting beliefs and values in concrete; but rather being tentative, non-judgmental and exploring possibilities more. You might be surprised what you discover when you aren't looking for something in particular.

20. Laugh. Very few things are that serious. Being too serious taxes your whole being and a good hearty laugh frees you up for more successful thinking when you may need it most.

Practice any of these 20 exercises in successful thinking and watch your win column grow.

by William Cottringer

The Power of Thought: Attention! Thought Crossing!
A Personal Question

What are you thinking - right now? "I'm reading your article!" you say. Well, take a little bit of a closer look. What's spinning in the back of your mind? Is it that big deadline that's looming at the end of the week? Or how you're going to deal with your mother-in-law this weekend? Or maybe you're worrying about your finances?

Are you even aware of the thoughts going through your head right now? What about... now?

Some Bad News From the Thought Police Scientists estimate that an average person will think at a rate of roughly between 1 and 4 thoughts per second while awake. That's well over 60,000 thoughts during a typical day! And, of all this jabbering going on in your head, it's estimated that you've thought over 95% of your thoughts before. So, not only is your mind generally on a constant hamster wheel, but it's also doing this spinning continuously, unproductively - and unoriginally.

The Power Between Your Ears - It's Not What You Think

Enough bad news? Ok - now here's the other side of the story. You have within you the greatest, simplest, and most powerful tool imaginable. It can lead you to great prosperity, joy, and fulfillment - or it can drop you instantly into the depths of despair and negativity.

No, I'm not talking simply about the power of thought - not even a fraction of those thousands of stale, repeat thoughts running through your head right now will be of much use to you. (Trust me; nope, not even the one wondering for the tenth time whether you turned the stove off this morning). But what is powerful is where you put your attention within all this clatter.

Mr. Webster Says:

"Attention: Concentration of the mental powers; a close or careful observing or listening". So how does that apply to you? "Concentration of the mental powers" - all too often, we give away the concentration part of our attention to things utterly undeserving. Thoughts of worry, negative predictions, minor irritations, and daily minutiae are hardly productive, and take up too much room in your head.

And this leaves very little space for the second, critical, aspect of attention: "a close or careful observing or listening". We, as a culture, don't like to sit back and listen. We prefer to be constantly inundated with forceful messages which grab our attention and don't let go. We too often forget to sit back and actually listen to the small voice of intuition. You know, the one that already has the answers that we're trying so hard to figure out.

Try It Now

Give it a shot. Really. Stop for a minute, and focus actively on your thoughts - concentrate. What are you thinking? You know, that quiet and incessant little buzz behind your eyes; that unsettled feeling - what's behind that? Now shift your attention to listening, see if there's a message waiting for you. Just below the surface, what is it saying? Listen... You're now learning to distinguish the noise of your mind from the voice of your intuition, your inner knowing - all through the tool of attention.

You Are Not Your Thoughts

There's huge power in putting your attention actively on your thoughts. This helps you to separate the you from the thought. You are not your thoughts, you are having thoughts, they are passing through your head. You are bigger than your thoughts, and you can choose whether or not you want to give them power. And you do this by either giving them your attention, or by allowing them to just float on by.

Head and Heart

And it's not just thoughts that you can focus your attention on. As cognitive psychologists and holistic healers have known for years, emotions and thoughts are deeply intertwined. One influences the other, and both influence your physical biochemistry. So learning to actively focus your attention on the thoughts and feelings you want, while letting go of those you don't want, could be the best thing you'll ever do for your health, your well being, and your happiness.

Oy Vey

"Great", you may say. "But it isn't so easy to catch my thoughts and feelings, or to do something about them. I don't even know how I feel half of the time, and the thoughts go by so quickly!" Fear not - here's are a few simple exercises.

Use Your Words

One way to "catch" your fleeting thoughts and feelings and to focus your attention on them is to "use your words". Just like a parent may tell an unruly and whining child who is about to pick a fight to "use your words" to explain what's bothering him, so can you gently nudge yourself to discipline. This may seem silly, but it's remarkably powerful. Write down or speak out loud (or into a tape recorder) exactly what the thoughts and feelings are. Articulating them clearly gives them shape and focus, and allows you much more freedom to act in a way that supports your growth.

Thanks For Sharing

Now, as for how to manage the spinning and repeating thoughts, here's a very simple and effective trick. Just like a parent knows not to take everything their child says too seriously, you can also learn to distinguish helpful thoughts and feelings from destructive ones. You can simply tell your thinker - "thanks for sharing. I will take your comments under advisement. Now, please move along".

So What?

So how does all this relate to helping you find "what's next", or guiding you to "a you-er you"? Very directly, actually. If you practice putting your direct attention on the jabbering of your mind, articulating those slippery thoughts, and consciously and purposefully telling them "thanks for sharing!" and then purposefully re-focusing your attention where YOU choose, you will begin to create the space for your true inner voice to come through.

Plant the Seeds:

Now it's your turn. Take a couple of minutes and try these exercises. Really. Try it now. You never know - hey, what's next...?

1. Practice noticing your thoughts. Try the exercise in the "Try it Now" section above. Really.

2. Use your words. Get over feeling silly, and actually write down what your thoughts are. Try speaking, try using a tape recorder. Experiment. Notice which thoughts show up over and over. Note your top 5 - make friends with them, and thank them profusely for sharing. And remember - attention is power. What thoughts are you giving your power to?

3. Choose consciously. Once you become aware of the thoughts going through your head, you can begin to make choices. For example: "Hm, I've been thinking a lot about how unhappy I am in my job. Thanks for sharing. Duly noted. I think I'll choose to focus my attention elsewhere right now, thanks."

P.S. So - what are you thinking... now?

4. Try it out: set aside 5 (just five!) minutes every day to just BE. No distractions, no thoughts, no worries, no to-do lists. After a week or two, see what you got from this experience.

by Inna Nirenburg

Time management: Wealth of Life

Time is the greatest wealth given to all.

-Yudhhistra in Yaksha samwad (Mahabharat)

Time as we know can change our destiny. We all have good times and bad times. All of us want to have good time.

However, Law of nature compels us to go through bad or hard times. How can we remain happy forever? The answer lies in time management. Proper use of time management can change hard times into good.

Time management, in simple words, means coordination of your work. For example, you may need five minutes to brush your teeth. Nevertheless, misuse of time may take more than ten minutes. How does it happen! Because we do not coordinate our work. Most of us without concentrating on given task will misuse it for another work.

However, many of us complain that we do not have time. Many go to an extent of proclaiming, we need 48 hours in a day. It is funny because even that will not be sufficient for us. Because even then we will misuse our time

Time management in simple words is like bank account. Every moment used to do something good supports your next action while misuse means hampering another acting.

Simple Tips for Time Management -
One task at a time: Never indulge in another activity while doing something. If you are having meal, enjoy it but not while conversing with others.

Never indulge in loose talk: Yes, many of us waste our time in loose talk. No more self-adulation, whining or demeaning others. These things take way our valuable time.

Stick to your time: Time is like money. If you want to perform something, then try doing it in limit.

Assessment: If you think, commuting to your office takes fifty minutes, then add ten minutes extra to it. It saves you from other commitment.

Priority: Always try to complete the more important task in hand.

Delegate; if there are tasks that can be done by others, please seek their help. This may save your time. However, do not forget to thank your collaborators

Time management comes by practice. It is a habit. If you adopt it forever, you may gain immense prosperity.

Article by: Ashish Dimri, MA(Mass Comm.) is journalist cum webcontent writer. Motivating others is his passion He feels that we all gifted to heal a broken heart.