Three Success Secrets Elite Mental Athletes Use to Win Big

 I use the term "Elite Mental Athlete" to describe the people who seem to be always successful moving onward and upward. These successful people have discovered three important success secrets, the same secrets that the world's most famous athletes use to win Olympic gold medals and national championships.

The same three secrets that bring those athletes success on the court, on the green or in the arena can help you create the success you want in the office, on the Internet and in the marketplace.

Sports psychologist Chris Carr says that elite athletes do these key things: 1) "Set goals wisely"; 2) "Talk to yourself"; and 3) "Visualize your performance." Elite Mental Athletes follow the same secrets. What do these keys to success look like in real life? Here are some examples:

1. Set goals wisely. In real life, that means:

• Do your homework and the extra credit.
• Be creative, try new things.
• Raise your own bar and keep raising it.
• Praise, encourage and reinforce yourself.
• Have short and long-term goals so you know you are always making progress.
• Look at your processes from a new perspective, and or get a new perspective from someone else, shake things up a bit and make things fresh and more interesting.
• Something new and different creates more energy and stimulation.
• Be passionate.
• Take yourself and what you do seriously.
• Have self-confidence and self-respect.
• Make excelling your goal.
• Own your successes.
• Compete against the best, compete with people you respect.
• Prepare, commit, be self-disciplined, practice self-motivation, and follow your passion.
• Deliver exceptional personal performance.

2) Talk To Yourself. Create a personal mantra, a saying you repeat constantly in your head to encourage and motivate yourself to reach your goal. Some examples include:

• "To be a winner all you need to give is all you have."
• "Practice while others are sleeping."
• "Prepare, prepare, prepare."

3) Visualize Your Performance. Imagine yourself succeeding and create a mental movie of every step from start to finishing, casting yourself in the role of the successful hero.

• Picture yourself getting into position to take the first step of the process to reach your goal.
• Break down the necessary actions into a step-by-step sequence, then put your mental movie together frame by frame, seeing yourself doing each action.
• See the launch moment, and then go further, taking your mental movie into the follow-through until you see the victory achieved. Whatever your "medal" is, visualize obtaining it, holding it, savoring it. Make the image real in your mind.

What are the positive results/goals of being an Elite Mental Athlete? You will:

• Reach your individual goals
• Raise your own bar and reach higher goals
• Master new skills
• Turn weaknesses into strengths
• Create new opportunities for yourself
• Gain personal confidence, self esteem approach obstacles with your proven set of tools of achievement
• Continue to grow.

If you follow the three steps, you will become an Elite Mental Athlete. You'll succeed, and you will have earned your success. Not only that, but others will recognize that you have what it takes to make your goals into reality. Most importantly, you will create the reality you desire.

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

Read More

Visualization As A Tool for Success

According to definition, visualization is the process of recreating all kinds of sounds, images, and feelings in your mind. The visualization in your mind should be surrounding an activity you want to participate in the future. Many people associate visualization as being a powerful tool for success in health, finance, personal relationships, and other aspects of life. In fact, this process is used by both men and women in virtually every area of life. Visualization is a power possessed by everyone. If you improve your skills in visualization, you will be able to accomplish your goals much faster.

In simple words, visualization is the art and ability to see with your mind. It is a recreation of mental images energized and sustained by intensely concentrating on a desired goal. The basic concept related to visualization is simple and straightforward. What you see with your mind is something you believe in. Thus, it becomes your reality. Here are some reasons why visualization is a powerful tool for success in health, finances, personal relationships, and other areas of life.

Activates Your Peak Intelligence

Visualization can easily activate your peak intelligence and performance. It is a mental exercise to virtually create a situation, state, or goal that you want to physically occur in your life. Visualization and imagination are powerful tools to help you achieve everything you want in life. In fact, you may have used visualization a lot of times during your life without even realizing it.

For instance, you may have thought about your favorite coffee and suddenly feel the urge to make a cup for yourself. You may even have thought about visiting a place while imagining its favorite spots, and eventually planned a vacation there. Whenever you do such things, you are using the power of visualization.

Uses All Your Senses

The primary reason for the effectiveness of visualization has been the use of all your senses. When you practice visualization, you imagine everything about something. You imagine how it sounds, feels, tastes, and smells. Since you have more sensory input, you are encouraged to turn your visualization into reality. Thus, visualization helps you reach your goals faster.

Overcomes Limited Thinking

Most people limit themselves and don't look beyond these limitations. People tend to limit their beliefs and thoughts, thus unintentionally limiting the life they know. If you're one of these people, visualization can help you overcome such limited thinking. When you're open-minded, you dare to think bigger and act accordingly. You tend to explore more possibilities and opportunities. Visualization helps you realize that limitations are just within your mind.

Ways to Make Your Visualization More Successful and Powerful

— Begin visualization in a relaxed state.

— Hear, see, and feel every possible detail.

— Use all your senses.

— Keep control over imagery.

— Strengthen the effects of your image. Make it more colorful, brighter, louder, closer, sharper. and larger.

— Enjoy your visualization.

Visualization is a powerful tool. In fact, it is one of the most powerful actions you can take on a regular basis to achieve your goals and to find success. It helps you become the person you always wanted to be. Use this tool continuously and consciously to create the perfect kind of future for yourself.

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

Read More

The Acronym of My Life - PASSION

Based on my own personal experience, I've been approached countless times by individuals who tell me that they're passionate about their business asking me to invest. As I delve deeper, majority of the time I find that the entrepreneur falls into one of these three categories:

1. These individuals only have an idea and are not willing to put in the work, nor resources, to turn that thought into reality.

2. The entrepreneur works hard in the beginning but lacks the stamina needed to build their business for the long-haul.

3. Instead of enthusiasm and excitement, these individuals actually hated their business and want out because of financial losses, overworked, etc.

Just to be clear, the dictionary defines passion as "a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something." When people are enthused and excited about something, a sense of pleasure arises and they're willing to go the extra-mile to create high-quality work in an effort to deliver value to end-users. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case and many entrepreneurs, in my opinion, actually fail to walk-the-talk. Let me explain.

To me, passion is more than enthusiasm and excitement. Rather than throw this term around lightheartedly, I've created an acronym representing a series of simple questions for this particular word. Not only have these questions helped me determine if I'm truly passionate about something over the course of my life but also aided in reminding me of what's required to turn those dreams into reality. Hopefully it'll do the same for you regardless of your passion(s) in life. So without further ado, let's begin:

P = Persistence - Am I willing to persevere through all obstacles, including rejections, to make this happen?

A = Attitude - Will I possess the right positive attitude and do what's needed to turn this passion into a viable business?

S = Self-Motivation - Is this something that I'll be self-motivated to accomplish on a daily basis, even if the work was done for free?

S = Sales - Am I so passionate about this that it becomes second nature to sell this dream to others?

I = Innovation - Do I really love this enough to constantly innovate on products or services for continual improvements?

O = Over Deliver - Can I over deliver and provide exceptional value to consumers?

N = Niche - Am I experienced enough in this niche to not only help others but also become competitive and profitable?

If I answered a resounding "Yes" to all the questions above, then I know that it's truly a passion worth pursuing. In essence, the items listed are also all characteristics of any successful entrepreneur. Therefore, I would recommend that you quickly run through this checklist if you're unsure if something is truly your passion. Answering the questions will also let you know if you have the right mindset and ambition to turn that idea into a profitable business. To end this post, I would like to share two quotes from renowned philosophers that'll help you reflect on the topic of passion:

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." - Confucius

"There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living." - Nelson Mandela

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

Read More

Achieving Success: Minutes, Hours, Days, Years

A successful life is made up of a string of successful days. A successful day is made up of successful hours. A successful hour is made up of successful minutes. What does a successful minute or hour or year look like?

We see people whom the less-wise and less-intelligent among us might think of as successful, and who are not really as successful as they are wealthy or famous. They could lose their wealth, their looks, or their fame just as fast as they gained it and there would be nothing left. We do, in fact, see that all the time. For example, professional athletes who age-out of sports and within a few years are bankrupt, in spite of having made millions of dollars per year for several years. It happens. They did well in their working lives, and they made a lot of money, but they were never successful and didn't know how to handle the downsides of life.

As we study successful people, we see that they have trials and opposition, the same as anyone else. They just deal with them much better.

We see other people who are very wealthy and lose it or a large portion of it, and they go to work and build it back. The wealth didn't make them successful. The success helped them become wealthy.

I have seen people who are extremely successful and have never been wealthy, and will probably never be, because they don't care about it.

We see people who seem to be successful by the world's standards, but who don't seem to have any sense. Politicians, CEOs, movie stars, athletes, and rock stars give in to very unsuccessful emotions and ruin their marriages and families through extra-marital affairs. They ruin their lives with alcohol and drugs. They break the law trying to get or stay rich. In today's world, people seem to adore them no less, and many of them keep their offices or the status or their wealth and work. But none of them can be thought of as successful. A successful person would not reach such a lofty position and then chance the ruination of it through any form of stupidity.

A good bit of success is remembering to stay successful. It's easy to get to a place where many other people wish they could be, and then think too much of ourselves, and become proud and cocky, and lose it all or do things that an intelligent person should never even consider.

Every minute, every hour, every day, every year are important to those of us wanting to be successful. And that should be everyone. Success is getting to the end of our lives having gotten as close as we are capable of being where and what we should be. For those who don't know where or what they should be, part of success if learning where and what they should be. Successful people know. If we never try, or if, anywhere along the way we give up, we can't be successful.

Now that we know what a successful life is, we can understand that each week, day, hour, and minute are the same. A successful minute is one where we are learning and working toward becoming what we are supposed to become. More of those than not in an hour is a successful hour, and more of those hours than not gives us a successful day.

Each year, I spend a week at a lake, boating, skiing, water boarding, tubing, eating, conversing, playing, and having a very good time. Is that a successful week? It is for me. I'm still learning. I'm still watching other people, and I know they are watching me. I'm still thinking. I'm still considering what I should be doing, and what I should be becoming. I'm still thinking about the beginning of my life and the end of my life, and all that is in between. And I am resting and recreating, which are important for a successful life. We can no more go through our entire lives without resting and recreating than we can go through our days without sleeping. We have to charge the batteries sometimes.

A life of success is generated by successful days. Knowing this, we must press forward. Success is predictable. We do not just arrive at success. Success has no boundaries. We must never stop aiming to achieve success. Only by staying persistent can we truly be successful.

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

Read More

Key Success Principles To Achieve Your Goals

We all have goals in life that we would like to achieve. However, we see that only 5% of the people achieve their goals.

To a common man it may seem that people who achieve their goals may have some special talent or are probably lucky. But the reality is that achieving your goal does not really depend on one's talent or on luck. It is merely a matter of understanding a few principles of success that separates the achievers from non-achievers. Following are some of the key principles of those who achieve their goals

Clearly Defined and Documented Goals 
One of the most important principle that leads to a difference between achievers and non-achievers is having a clear goal in mind and committed on a piece of paper with dates written on it. This is an important aspect that many people miss out on. It creates a different level of motivation once the goals are written down on a piece of paper. Committing goals on a piece of paper creates the extra motivation and the dates against the goals creates accountability. The true character of a person is reflected when a person is accountable to him/her-self. Those who are not accountable are anyways not going anywhere in life.

The committed goals should be written in such a way that a person sees them at least 2-3 times a day. This can be achieved by sticking these goals on a fridge or putting them on a white board in your room. Seeing these goals and dates against the goals truly forces the accountable person to get out of the comfort zone and push to achieve their goals.

Self-Discipline 
Being your own boss is the most difficult situation to be in. A person that can discipline him/her-self is someone who cannot be disciplined by anyone else. In our life, we have a choice, either we discipline ourselves or we get disciplined by someone else. The earlier in life we learn to discipline ourselves, the less we are going to be disciplined by others. Discipline means, having a clear action plan and working on that plan every day little by little. Consistency is more important than working on your goal for 10 hours in one day and then NOT working on it for the rest of the month. Success is build upon consistency. Working 21 days consecutively on something creates good habits that leads to consistency which in turn leads to the achievement of goals.

Recommended Reading 
A great book that details 21 simple steps in achieving once goals is written by RP Smith. The book is titled "How to Achieve Your Goals in 21 simple steps" by R.P. Smith

I really liked the simplicity in the book and it really helped me in identifying the gaps that I had in my thought process. These gaps were the roadblocks for me in achieving my goals. The book is simple and provides the confidence to a common man on how success can be achieved by following some really simple common sense steps.

It is available at Amazon for $5.97. I think this is the best $5.97 that I ever spend in my life. Just missed a cup of starbucks coffee today to pay for the book and it was well worth it.

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

Read More

Progress Is the Key to Achieving Success

Many people have goals, but not very many people have written goals. This is a big problem. The first step to achieving anything is to first have it clearly defined. A vague idea of what you want is not good enough. You must have every detail of what you want planned out, and the best way to do this is to write down everything you can think of that has to do with what you want to accomplish in life. This is the starting point for a successful life. Now, you must enjoy the process of getting there.

It is great to have a clearly defined goal and to think about it often, but you can think about it 24/7 and that won't make it come true. You must take action! And you must enjoy this part of the process or else you will likely give up before you ever see success.

The best way to enjoy the process of moving toward your goal is to choose something you love! The most brilliant man will most likely fail if he attempts to make a career out of doing something he hates! Go within yourself to find what you truly enjoy in life and do that! This will almost guarantee your success if you can maintain focus. By loving what you do, you will have the passion and drive to continue doing that even in the face of adversity.

Certainly, you will come across tasks that you must do that you do not enjoy, but the goal should be to minimize the time spent doing these things. Outsource whatever you can so that you can spend your time focusing on what you really enjoy. If you love your work, you will have no other option but to succeed.

I see many people go into certain fields of study just because the occupation pays well. This is not a smart move. The truth is that there are people out there making plenty of money doing just about anything you can imagine. Money comes to those who are passionate about what they do. It's as simple as that. When you have the passion, you will create more quality for other people. People pay for quality, and they pay well.

Be smart when choosing what you want to do with your life. It can be the deciding factor for your success. Set big goals. Enjoy the process of reaching them.

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

Read More

Learn About An Essential Key To Success

This post is not for everyone, but it is for the person who is struggling to be happy for other people who seem to be achieving success in different areas of their lives. If put simply, the inability to be happy for others in their successes, is parallel to someone protesting for their local bank to close down one day, but then submitting an application for a loan from the local bank the next day; shooting oneself in the foot yet seeking to climb a hill right after, all of which is done unknowingly of course.

However, seeing others succeed is in fact a gift from the universe to us. It reminds us that if we believe, we can achieve. We can have successes too, when we to learn to understand that the successes of others are like beaming lights to us; giving us an example of how we can achieve success too. However often times many of us are so frustrated by those who are succeeding that our mind-set instantly fights it by offering us negative thoughts that convinces us to fight that person's success by denying it or finding something negative to say about it; this of course dis-empowers us from finding success. By fighting the laws of the universe and the example of what can bring that success about, is also saying we are not open to that experience.

Inside each and every person is a wealth of gifts and talents to bring us success and happiness in our own unique way; it's our own personal light to shine and allow others to see their light. However when we choose to dim the lights of others, by turning our eyes from the lights of others we remain in darkness to something that came to bless us. That's right, someone else's success is your blessing. If you can move your emotions out of the way you will be able to see the lesson in their blessing. Not only does the light reflected through other people's success give us hope when things seem really bad; it lights the path for others to follow. Someone else's success doesn't mean they are better than us, it means they've placed enough positive attention in a specific area that brought them the results they were looking for. We can do that too!

If this is you, today try to see all those who are successful as a blessing, someone you wish to learn from. Let their examples become roses in your garden, allowing you to create an environment that in conducive to success; after all people who desire to have success don't intentionally go out and pick for their garden that, which isn't successful. So the next time you have the opportunity to meet or hear about someone else's success, celebrate them, appreciate them and most of all see them as the roses you would like in your garden.

There are many keys to success like, getting our mindset open for it, having persistence and being around people who are thinking like we think and having someone on your side whose only motive is to see you operate in your full potential.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donniece_Greene-Smith

Read More

What the Rich Know That the Poor Don't

I believe that everyone has the potential to become rich, but why are the resources found only in the hands of a few? This is one of the questions that come up often. But I think the answer is not farfetched.

The rich people have learnt powerful skills and timeless principles that they practice every day and this has allowed them to remain rich. These skills and principles which they have mastered, is what separates them from everyday people, it is what makes them remain in riches (wealth). Circumstances may change, but principles remain the same.

Here are a few of those principles;

A. Rich people Think Abundance, but Poor People Think Lack.

The rich have a completely different mindset when it comes to how to make money. It begins from how they think. Scripture says "as a man thinks in his heart so is he". One thing the rich have been able to master is their act of thinking. They understand that their thoughts would breed actions and their actions would breed results. They understand the first law of success which is "First within, then without". Who you have become on the inside will be reflected on the outside. When you realize that most people are poor, it is good for you to make up your mind that you won't go along that mind path that they have chosen to follow.

B. Rich People See Opportunity, Poor People See Problems.

Imagine a teacher who got an appointment to teach at a secondary school and he had to teach the senior class, the ones preparing for their final exams. He taught them throughout the term and after they had written the exams, a large number of them failed and had to repeat the class. The teacher could react to this by saying "I don't even understand why these students are so dull, after all my efforts of teaching, they still failed". Yet another teacher comes and sees the amount of failure among the students and he immediately recognizes an opportunity to make money while imparting positively into the lives of these students. This can be done either by writing a book on practical guides to passing their exams excellently well or he organizes extra classes for the students, where they have to pay an extra token to get coaching for their exams. The difference between the two teachers is that one saw a problem and the other saw an opportunity.

C. Rich People Allow The Interest On Their Investment to Compound.

The truth is no matter how great talent or efforts, some things just take time warren buffet says, building wealth is one of them. There is always a time interval between the time when you make investments and when your investments will yield dividends. The rich understands the law of delayed gratification.

The rich understands the principles of compound interest and they make it work for them. They simply take the interest that accrues from an initial capital invested and put it back into the business to generate more profit from the initial profit.

D. Rich People Mind Their Associations While The Poor Don't.

It is said that your network will determine your net worth. Rich people are careful and deliberate in creating a particular kind of network around them, people with empires in their mind, people whose ideas if worked on and invested in will become gold mines. Even the scripture says he who works with the wise will be wise. Spending time with wealthy people is vital if you want to succeed financially. You'll be amazed at how your perspective changes when you hear people talking about how much they make in a single day.

I heard the story of Jacky Kennedy, the once upon a time wife of John F Kennedy, when she said "If I was broke, I know what I will do to get back on my feet, I will go to the most expensive restaurants in new york, buy myself a glass of water and eavesdrop on the conversations of the rich". They are careful not to keep within their circle of friends people who are myopic in their thinking. This is how important your association can be.

E. Rich People Make Their Money Work For Them While The Poor Work For Money.

A very large number of people work for money. This is because of the impression that we were given while growing up, that to become successful, you must study hard, get good grades, go to the best schools, secure a good paying job and save until you retire. There is nothing wrong with all of this as long as you are fulfilled. But Robert Kiyosaki says the problem with this approach is that you only make money as long as you work. He said the only thing of value that you have to exchange is your time. But when we exchange our time for money, our earning potential is limited because you can only make money while at your job. And so to make more money you have to work longer hours, which is physically taxing. He says that the rich dad told him "the poor and the middle class work for money, while the rich have money work for them. They do this by learning to invest and then putting their money in assets like businesses and investments that generates passive income, until they reach the point where they don't have to work anymore. They simply spend their money on assets while the poor spend theirs on liabilities.

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

Read More

The Many Faces of Charisma

I was 27. I had just passed the bar and was excited about making my first court appearance. It was a whole new world. I was sitting and observing, waiting for my case to be called. I was watching the "pros." Molly Pinkston was one of them. She walked to the podium with the help of a cane. She was in her sixties, with red hair and a blue hat that accentuated her look. I don't remember exactly what she said but it was the way she said it, with her unique phrasing and cadence, that had an effect on me even to this day.

It was in those days that the seeds were planted. There are some people that have it, that ineffable quality often referred to as charisma.

Not all of us have that mysterious quality, but charisma can be cultivated and the literature supports this belief. Psychology Today and other literature breaks down many of the qualities that make someone charismatic: confidence, exuberance, and optimism, as well as a ready smile, expressive body language, and a friendly and passionate voice.

In many ways that is what Molly personified. She had a unique style and self confidence, probably had it most of her life. Her dress and manner of speaking definitely accentuated her presence.

We all know others who naturally exude this quality. They walk into a room and you notice them. They begin to speak and you listen. Others exude that confidence and energy in the way they move. But in Molly's case, even though she was not able to move gracefully, she had "the it" factor. Actors, some better than others, have been trained to create this every time they take the stage. Their costumes and dress add to their mystique. In our own lives, at times we play roles with the appurtenant customs and costumes.

When you have a purpose for doing something, there is an inner flame that won't burn out. It's contagious. There is an exuberance and passion that can't be reproduced in any other way. When I was a young lawyer it was natural for me to be passionate about the cause that I was an advocate for. With that passion it's much easier to arouse strong emotions and feelings in others and move them into action.

Charisma is a form of energy, in some cases magnetism. There are some people that are just plain charismatic no matter what they do. But let's talk about what we can do to create it in our lives. When that energy and magnetism occurs naturally, it shows up as presence. From my own journey of discovery this is what I know so far.

Increase your energy by exercising and breathing fully. Very few of us exercise enough or take the time to breath fully. When you breath deeply, it slows you down. Throughout the years, I have developed a practice that whenever I feel stressful, I come back to focusing on my breath.

Have a discipline like meditation, yoga or Tai Chi, that creates prana or chi which is another name for life force. These practices, and there are many others, cultivate internal energy which essentially is our life force. Running, cycling and dancing also have the effect of elevating our energy levels.

Diet is huge. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. They contain a lot of water which is what our body needs. And yes plenty of good water keeps us hydrated and energized.

Find something that you are passionate about, which will transfer to other areas of your life. It is a blessing to have a passion. But there are times in our lives when we won't have a focus to get excited about. What's encouraging is that as we cultivate more presence, we become passionate about life and bring that enthusiasm and passion to whatever we do. We might not even be aware of it ourselves, but others do.

Develop a connection with a higher power. As that connection deepens, you feel guided and you can say good-bye to loneliness. You can look forward to the land of the unknown with confidence that it is full of opportunity and adventure. You are ready to embrace the great mystery of life's unfoldment.

That's what I'm working on, being totally present. That's what charisma is all about. People who we perceive as charismatic have that innate ability to be fully present in their process. It's a challenge worthy of our best effort.

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

Read More

Leading A Balanced Life - Yin and Yang Philosophy

Humans must also comply and do their best to live a balanced life. Remember, nature's method for informing you that you're out-of-sync and imbalanced is through stress, illnesses, fatigue, etc. With this in mind, I encourage everyone to seek harmony and balance within their own lives. To do so effectively, requires a general understanding of "yin & yang."

What Is Yin & Yang?

Yin & Yang consist of two complementary principles of Chinese philosophy where "Yin" represents the feminine, dark, and negative and "Yang" represents the masculine, bright, and positive. Through this philosophy, everything is seen in pairs where one compliments the other in perfect harmony.

In essence, yin & yang is everywhere and everything. Not only are they opposite in nature but also reliant upon each other to the point where one wouldn't exist without the other. Examples also include the sun and moon; cold and hot; passive and active; day and night; inward and outward; soft and hard; up and down; healthy and unhealthy.

How Can This Help Me?

As mentioned, failure to lead a balanced life could be detrimental. It could cause stress and illnesses, along with negatively impacting your focus, attitude, emotions, and relationships. Therefore, it's vital that people strive towards a state-of-equilibrium where all aspects of their lives are balanced as much as possible. By using the yin & yang philosophy, individuals could re-balance their lives by either giving what was received in excess or by receiving what was given in excess.

To illustrate, let's say you're an individual who enjoys giving compliments to others. Unfortunately, when you receive compliments from others you have a hard time acknowledging and accepting them. In an effort to lead a balanced life, you must learn to not only give love but also receive love from others.

Another prime example could be seen with philanthropy. Regardless if we're speaking of celebrities or entrepreneurs, individuals involved with philanthropic activities are aware that the excess that was given to them should be paid out to others. Through volunteer work and other charitable donations, these individuals strive to create a balanced life by giving a portion of the wealth that they're blessed with to help others less fortunate.

Of course, other methods exist for creating a balanced life and the solution really depends on your personal situation. As a general rule, people could enjoy a more balanced lifestyle by doing these 5 things daily:

1. Meditate - Dedicate 15 minutes each day to reflect on past experiences and use those lessons-learned to improve for the future.
2. Nature - Allocate about 30 minutes each day to walk and enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature with all your senses.
3. Water - This is the essence of life, so make sure that you drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses worth per day to remove toxins and to hydrate.
4. Food - Make sure that you have a nutritious diet that also includes the consumption of healthy foods, such as fruits and vegetables.
5. Exercise - Whether through Tai-Chi or Yoga, people could learn to balance their mind, body, and spirit by exercising.

To end this post, I leave you with a quote from Ellen DeGeneres... "My point is, life is about balance. The good and the bad. The highs and the lows. The pina and the colada."

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

Read More

The Law of Success: An Overview of Napoleon Hill's Lesson Fifteen

Lesson fifteen in Napoleon Hill's book The Law of Success is entitled The Golden Rule. As defined by Hill, "The Golden Rule means, substantially, to do unto others as you would wish them to do unto you if your positions were reversed." Hill goes one step farther and adds that you must "think of others as you wish them to think of you." The importance of both actions and thoughts playing a part in the Golden Rule deserves highlighting.

For those familiar with the Bible, you will recognize the phrase, "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap"! Hill proclaims that the Bible supports this lesson over and over showing man is the maker of his destiny.

Hill believes you must take an active role and attitude towards The Golden Rule. Your actions must be in harmony with your proclamations. He believes that The Golden Rule must be a foundation in your business or professional life or it will be economic suicide for you.

Those who understand The Golden Rule are always honest because they understand that every thought and action they perform will come back to them in like. To perform an act of injustice would be like putting poison into your own drinking water. The injustice will cause a chain of events for you leading to suffering and a destruction of your character and reputation making it impossible for you to have enduring success.

Hill emphasizes how important it is to guard your thoughts and acts. Those thoughts and acts mold your character, and your character is a magnet, which attracts the types of people and circumstances that are in alignment with it.

Hill gives an extensive list of his Code of Ethics, which is worthy of reading in its entirety. For the sake of this lesson overview, here are some key points of his list:

• Belief and practice of The Golden Rule
• Honesty in all transactions
• Forgiveness of others
• Be just, generous and fair
• Correction of your own faults instead of finding fault with others
• Refrain from slander
• Recognize the power of Thought
• Conquer hate, envy, selfishness, jealousy, malice, pessimism, doubt and fear
• Focus on your definite chief aim or thoughts of courage, self-confidence, good-will, faith, kindness, loyalty, love for truth and justice
• Active use of The Golden Rule
• Character development through guarding thoughts and actions
• Assisting and helping others to find happiness
• Acts of kindness

Hill's Code of Ethics is impressive and stands the test of time. After all, he repeats that we are all human magnets of our own making. Our character being the sum of all our thoughts and acts is ours to develop.

Hill discusses the relationship between the employer and the employee, which is sometimes contentious. If you are an employee, place yourself in the shoes of your employer. Would you want to be viewed as the enemy? Would you want your workers to slight their work and do as little as possible? If you are the employer and put yourself in the shoes of your employees, how would you want to be treated?

Both the laborer and the capitalist, using Hill's words, are dependent upon one another. He suggests both embrace The Golden Rule and remove hostility and conflict. Both can then prosper together.

Each person in which we interact is a chance to practice The Golden Rule. For as Hill puts it, "Harm to one is harm to all; help to one is help to all."

Napoleon Hill concludes his book The Law of Success with the lesson on The Golden Rule. If the reader of the book could only remember and practice one lesson of the fifteen presented, I would suggest that The Golden Rule would be the most important. The entire book is worth reading because all of the lessons will help the reader achieve greater success in life and business. That being said, remember The Golden Rule and make it your motto and your life and the world will be better for it!

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

Read More

Always Move Forward

10 years ago I was 25 years old. I had a lot more hair, a lot less girth and I just knew that I was destined to take my top spot in the field of Entertainment.

Doing what? It didn't really matter. Whether it was writing or directing I was convinced that I was going to become the Voice of the Generation.

Well, it's 10 years later and I'm still waiting for someone to swoop in and yell 'CUT!!!' on this special episode of Good Times that is my life. I'm still hoping that my halfhearted attempts at success will pay off and catapult me from Broke Street to Rich Road.

The funny thing is that while I have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to come along there were people around me doing the exact opposite and making things happen for themselves.

In some instances these people are ridiculously talented and in other instances they need to carry a dictionary and thesaurus with them to form basic sentences.

Bad grammar aside, in the 10 years I have been plotting and thinking of a master plan these people have conquered what I want and have now moved onto the next big thing.

So then, what's my next step?

Do I throw in the towel and begin waiting around for another ten years until my dreams become my reality? Hell No!

It's time to start over with a new way of thinking. Because holding onto the same mentality is a guarantee of nothing in life ever moving forward. I have learned that life should be about constant progression, not stagnation, complacency and regression.

Therefore, if I want my circumstances to change then I, too, must change.

At times pride and overconfidence can skew our vision towards going out and making things happen. So instead of doing the necessary work to advance ourselves we wait around, do as little as possible and just hope everything falls into place.

That's what I have been doing since I was 25 years old and it has taken me all of this time to realize that life doesn't work that way.

The only person who can change your life is you. You owe it to yourself to be successful. You owe it to yourself to do the work. You owe it to yourself to prove that you belong amongst the greatest.

Life is a long journey so why settle for shoddy work by using shortcuts? The only way you can rectify the mistakes of your past is to simply keep on moving. You may not know what's coming but stay focused and never stop believing in that dream you hold onto because there are people who started with less than you and have gone on to build empires. There is no limit to the possibilities in life so stop waiting around! Move forward. ALWAYS move forward and never look back.

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

Read More

Do Really You Want To Succeed?

If you Really Want To Succeed this is what your have to do 

1. See where you are at now.
2. Decided where you want to go.
3. Decided why you want to get there.
4. Become aware of opportunities.
5. Set your goals.
6. Follow your intuition.
7. Become a lifetime learner.

Step 1: See Where You Are At Now.

Is to see where you are at right now. If you know where you are at at this present moment. Then you can pretty much figure out what is working and what is not working in your life. Then you can stop doing what is not working and spend that time doing what is working in your life.

Step 2: Decided Where You Want To Go. 

• Where do you want to be in 30 days from now?
• Where do you want to be in 90 days from now?
• Where do you want to be six months from now?
• Where do you want to be a year form now?
• Where do you want to be five years from now?

It use to be said that a person can completely change their life in three to five years. Today with the internet you can change you life in as little as sixty to ninety days. There are programs on the internet today that will teach how you can increase your income to unbelievable amounts of income.

Step 3: Decided WHY You Want To Got There.

You have to have a compelling reason why you want to get there? You have to see the results in your mind. We think in pictures so you have to picture what your life will be like once you have reached where you are going.

This has to become a burning desire.

Everything ever accomplished began with an idea. This idea then became a burning desire in this persons life to see it become a reality.

Napoleon Hill said in his book "Think and Grow Rich."

"There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it."

So what is a burning desire?

Burning desire is something that it is a MUST for you. You cannot live without it. You get up with you in the morning and you take it to bed with you at night. It is the driving force behind reaching your desired results.

Step 4: Become Aware of Opportunities.

Opportunities are all around us but unless we become aware of them. We will not be in the position to act on them. You could create a product or service for these three areas. 

• Problems - Opportunity to resolve these problems.
• Needs - Opportunity to provide for these needs.
• Wants - Opportunity to fulfill these wants.

Step 5: Set Your Goals.

Now there are three levels of goals. As taught by Bob Proctor

C. Fantasy - What I Want

B. Plan - What I Think I Can Do.

A. Know - Present Results

The type of goals I am talking about here are C. Fantasy - What I Want goals.

What do I mean when I say Fantasy Goals?

These are they type of goals that have you reach for something bigger then you are now. I brings you into a higher state of mind. What I often call inspired goals.

Now you should set these goals in all areas of your life. 

• Health - See yourself in a better state of health then you are now
• Relationships - Improve relationships so that you will have more joy in your life.
• Financial - This can be in your present position or in a creating a new position.

Why did I just list these three ares. Because people's greatest desires are to be healthy, happy and financially secure.

Step 6: Follow Your Intuition.

Your intuition comes from the unconscious part of your mind. Some call it a hunch, a inner feeling or the inner voice.

What you need to do is be watchful for these insights and act of them.

Step 7: Become a Lifetime Learner.

The last step is to become a lifetime learner. A lot of people feel that once they completed their schooling that they do not need to learn anything else. While the most successful people are lifetime learners. These people are always finding ways to learn more in their chosen field and learning more about how they can improve themselves through self-help books and courses.

Hand in hand with learning is teaching what you have learned to others. By teaching others what you have learned it ingrains deeper into your mind. Whenever you learn something you need to start doing what you have learned. This makes it a part of you. Which you can claim as your own.

I am sure that you may think of more steps to success, but these seven steps will help you start down the road to your own success.

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

Read More

The Law of Success

Lesson Ten in Napoleon Hill's book The Law of Success is entitled Accurate Thought. Hill writes, "The term 'accurate thought' as used in this lesson refers to thought which is of your own creation."

Your conscious thinking mind has the ability to think any thought you choose. It is the only power that you have absolute control. Your subconscious mind is the intermediary between your conscious mind and the infinite intelligence. Whatever you think about becomes translated into physical reality or physical form. The subconscious mind will act on negative or positive thoughts, constructive or destructive thoughts. These thoughts may come from the outside world if you accept them or from you yourself as the generator. Your subconscious mind does not judge your thoughts, it simply creates your reality based on them.

When you become clear on your definite chief aim (discussed in detail in lesson one), and you have faith and believe you will achieve your goal, infinite intelligence will direct you to the object of your desire at the proper time and manner.

A farming analogy is helpful to understand these concepts. Think of your subconscious mind as the soil or field in which you sow the seed of your definite chief aim. Your positive and focused thoughts are the fertilizer to awaken the seed to grow and mature. Continuous faith is like sunshine and rain. Negative or destructive thoughts such as hatred, jealousy, envy and greed are like weeds that choke the growth of your goals.

If you have faith and expect your goal to come to fruition, it will come. Do not wish for it to come true, but rather cultivate a strong desire for it. Have a clear picture of what you want and the end result. With focus and belief, your subconscious mind will impel you to take action that moves you ever closer to the desire you have created.

Hill suggests writing out your definite chief aim on paper making several copies. Read this paper several times a day especially in the morning and before going to sleep at night. This repetition and persistence imprints your goal clearly to the subconscious mind.

Because people have the power to think negative or positive thoughts, your ability to control your thoughts is of utmost importance if you wish to achieve success in your life. Hill states it well when he says, "If there is a possibility that every thought you release during this life will step out, in the form of a living being, to greet you after death, then you will need no further reason for guarding your thoughts more carefully than you would guard the food that you feed your physical body."

To think clearly, you must separate facts from information and then important or relevant facts from unimportant and irrelevant ones. Use important or relevant facts towards the obtainment of your chief aim as long as it does not interfere with the rights of others. The accurate thinker does not accept all he sees and hears. It requires sound character to become an accurate thinker and to rise above any habit of belittling or criticizing other people. Become a person who builds instead of destroys. Guard the environment that feeds you suggestions and make sure it is in alignment with your focus and goals.

Finally, your success in life will largely be a matter of persistence and understanding how to use the power of your thoughts. Your thoughts attract or repel people, events and circumstances that are in harmony with your prevailing thoughts. You have the power to master your thoughts to achieve success in your life! This is one of the sixteen lessons of success by Napoleon Hill.

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

Read More

Online Business: Tackling the Obstacles That Prevent Your Success

Jackie Joyner-Kersee has been voted as the Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated for Women magazine. She won 3 golden and 3 other medals in 4 different olympics in heptathlon and long jump. She has said that the secret behind her success was this: "Those who know the why, beat the how."

So when you decide to pursue success in the world of online marketing, that is the first thing to make clear: what are your motives to do this in the first place. The more clear you can be, the better. I'm advising my students to make themselves a Treasure Map to describe the things that keep them moving forward. The map can be made the old fashion way, using magazine scraps, scissors and glue, or computer programs. Technique is not relevant. Much more important is to keep it at sight. I recently saw a study which revealed that if you write down your goals, you are 40% more likely to reach them than if you just hold them in your mind. The map itself however will not be enough, you will also need a plan that takes you to the "destination" in your map.

Fear is the most common obstacle that causes procrastination. To beat that fear you need to ask yourself: "What is the worst thing that can happen?". If the answer is related to personal insecurity, embarrassment and humiliation, I have a surefire solution for you to tackle them: choose to do something no-one has ever done before. Or at least nobody from your circles. That way you can be absolutely certain that people who predict your failure cannot know what they are talking about and therefore you don't need to care about their opinion.

When it comes to the risk of losing money, unfortunately that is unavoidable for an entrepreneur. Therefore you must set the boundaries beforehand and determine the exact amounts you are prepared to invest on your business, and then do it. This amount will grow along with your company, and so does the risk. That is something you must get used to.

While the basic investments of an online business are relatively small, they can grow quite big if you don't have a plan to follow and you end up spending on trifling products and programs. With a smart and solid plan you can avoid falling into that trap.

If the worst thing that can happen has to do with your health, you must consider it with the uttermost care. Irreparable damages happen far too easily and even minor health issues often multiply, because of extra worrying and sleepless nights. These issues can never be taken lightly and you should always keep in mind the instructions you get when going to an aeroplane: "If the cabin pressure drops, you must put the oxygen mask on yourself first before helping others."

You must put yourself first and stop thinking that it's selfish. It's everything but, because you cannot help anyone if you "stop breathing". Not your customers, employees, friends nor family, who all may be relying on you.

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

Read More

How's Your Recovery Time?

In life, as with running, the shorter your recovery time the more successful you will be. With running, recovery time is the time needed for your heart rate to get back down after a burst of speed during speedwork. Speedwork is a common activity for those runners that want to get faster, and improve their race time. It's often done on a track to make the results more exact. You run around the track a couple times at a certain speed, rest/recover for a period of time then do it again. Your fitness level is a direct reflection of your needed recovery time. The shorter the time you need to recover the better shape you're in.

Just as recovery time is a reflection of fitness level in the running world, it's a reflection of success in life. The most successful people have the shortest recovery time after:

• Set-backs, failure, major or minor changes. These events tend to stall many a life, sometimes even permanently. Successful people don't stay down for long. They always get back up. The most successful people, get back up the quickest.


• Success. Surprisingly, many people can get as stuck on a past success as they can on a failure. This too can stall a life. Successful people pause to celebrate the success, but they know when it's time to start running again.

A few tips to help shorten your recovery time after a set-back:

• Keep everything in perspective. Sometimes you need to step away from something to see it for what it really is. Ask yourself: What's really important here? What's really at stake? Will this matter in 10 years? Few situations come with life or death consequences. I can think of situations in my own life that didn't look good at the time, but ended up being a necessary route to the best result. In retrospect, I wouldn't change anything because all roads led to where I am now.


• Accept it and move on. It's important to learn from your mistakes, but you can't live there. Understand that Plan Z days happen. That's the day when the other 25 plans didn't work. Everyday is new, whether yesterday is deemed a success or failure. Your life story is still being told. The sooner you can accept what's happened, the sooner you can write a better future.


• Control the grey matter between your ears. Choose your thoughts wisely. They're your filter, determining your direction and ultimately your destination. "Whatever is true... if there is any excellence... think about these things." Philippians 4:8(ish) How often do you not only think, but meditate on something that may or may not even be true? Waste-of-time! Spend your time thinking about what will make a better tomorrow.

The same tips apply after a success as well. Success can distort your perception of yourself just as much as a set-back can. Make sure you always have people around you who keep you grounded. People who will give you balanced feedback. There's always something new to learn, develop, change and a new goal to conquer. Celebrate your success, but keep moving forward.

For the best results, be intentional about reducing your recovery time. View each day as the next step in your training for success. How's your recovery time?

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

Read More