June 30th, 2009 by aaks
I have this overpowering urge to see all that is not in the visible range. I agree with what economists have to suggest to me that my rationality is not limitless. In fact I thank this universal realisation (of ‘bounded rationality’ and the fact that we know so little) because I feel it, in a way, liberates me. It liberates me from being judgemental. I can never be accused of ‘lack of prudence’ in my decisions. I have a natural defence mechanism working all the time for me.
Okay, may I then attempt to extend it a little further? Of course, that is what freedom does to you you end up doing more than what was originally expected of you. So I allow my brain to work overtime as though it needed constant scrubbing and re-coating along with the friendly oxygen which apart from regenerating the new cells also kills (rusts?) the unused/dead ones.
And then another realisation dawns on me (I give myself a pat on my back; I am really good at this cleaning and effacing business) – I don’t need to be consistent in anything that I do. I am not biologically and socially built to be like that. I must keep swinging in my constant search for the unknown (hey, I never proclaimed those limits to my thoughts and that rationality stuff; I was only told about it and made to believe that this really was the case). So I guess, I can be proud to be a fickle moron.
But then what do I do till the time I don’t find those unknown variables. Of course, I have then become consistent which I never intended to be in the first place. I guess there is room for every expression and I am happy that I could bring in a worthy candidate called ‘consistency’ into my otherwise highly volatile self…..Eureka!! (I would have loved to have some ‘unknown to the world’ expression of my own but you see, I cannot always let my rationality and mood swings cloud my deep admiration/respect for Archimedes)—- That’s it!!!…. I can keep swinging and still remain consistent (only momentarily though; don’t take these moments to be the earthly ones; here we are talking about things that are extraterrestrial; you see we can’t be as trivial as a ‘recipe of 5 elements’).
So enjoy; tell the world that you are ‘moody’ and take pride in that. We have just arrived at some defence mechanism which is totally out of this world (hey do not ever forget that you are not part of this ill-informed crowd who have yet to realise their selfJ). This (defence shield) is much more efficient than any other missile defence system (of the likes of ‘patriot’ and stuffs like that) that humankind could ever imagine of. This is your armour against all the volleys and missiles which may sound like– ‘you lazy brat!’, ‘you inconsistent dunce’, ‘you worthless daydreamer’ and so on.
MAY WE ALL REST IN PEACE…. I surrender.
Manik
Jan02, 2009
manikbatra@rediffmail.com
batra.manik@gmail.com
a computer engineer and an mba in rural management
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/motivational-articles/swinging-consistency-998658.html
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June 30th, 2009 by aaks
Have you ever wished that you had the power to get the things that you want? It’s a common daydream, but most people don′t believe that it’s actually possible, so they never even try. What they don′t realize is that most things are attainable with a little effort and the right kind of negotiation.
Think about what it is that you want… Now consider what (or who) you think is keeping you from reaching that goal. Is your boss unapproachable? Does your family seem unwilling to hear your ideas and opinions? Do you find yourself at odds with co-workers over the best way to get things done? Maybe you’re afraid to ask the bank for a loan or to get your spouse to agree to a specific vacation destination. All of these obstacles are removable with the help of a little dance called negotiation.
Are you dancing to the same beat?
Of course, before you can start to dance, you’ll need to make sure that you’re dancing to the same beat as your negotiation partner. Finding the right beat means that you’ll need to identify the common underlying values. Once you identify the underlying values that you both share, you will then be dancing towards the same vision — one that will create a satisfactory solution for both parties.
Sharing the same vision makes it much easier to create situations that produce the results that we want. It means that you′re now working toward the same end result — the big picture of what you both want. This shared vision might sound something like: having a more harmonious relationship or being more effective or increasing productivity in the office. Once you define your shared vision, you′re ready to start the dance. Like any dance, effective negotiation is made up of a series of steps; steps that anyone can learn and perfect over time. The steps to the dance sound something like this: you put your right foot in and you shake it all about. Oops, that’s a different dance ;o)
Let’s start again,
Step 1 – Right: put your right foot in by coming up with specific things you each can do that will help create your shared vision– offer your opinion about what you want to see happen and the steps that need to be taken to get there.
Step 2 - Left: put your left foot in by asking them for their reaction to your strategy. Ask specifically if it works for them or if you missed something important in your plan. Remember, your shared vision has to be mutually satisfying. (Without some careful choreography here, you’re likely to step on some toes. Be sure to hear them out in full before responding.)
Step 3 - Right: put your right hand in by asking them to figure out a strategy that covers what they want, one that would provide the perfect results in their opinion. (If they don’t know where to start, feel free to throw out some ideas about what you believe they want.)
Step 4 - Left: put your left hand in by reviewing how this new strategy satisfies your shared vision. Is it completely agreeable for both of you, or is something you value still left out?
*Repeat:* Now, take what you’ve discovered so far and keep repeating these four steps as many times as it takes to come up with strategies that are completely satisfying to both of you.
Step 5 - Shake…hands. Make agreements about the specific actions you each will take to create your shared vision for implementing the plan. As soon as you’ve made agreements you think will work for both of you, go on to Step 6 and create accountability for your agreements.
Step 6 - Put your whole-self in by creating accountability for your agreements. You do this by setting up a specific time for a follow-up meeting. At this meeting you’ll discuss how your agreements are going and the things that might be missing from the strategies or agreements you created. Without accountability, you can’t know if the plan you put in place is actually working. If it’s not working, by the time you haphazardly find that out, resentment may have built up on either side.
Of course, the accountability meeting presents another opportunity to practice the Negotiation Dance once again. Have you ever watched ballroom dancers and marveled at the smooth, effortless way they glide across the floor? This incredible synchronicity doesn’t happen overnight, it takes years of practice. The more you practice the Negotiation Dance, the better you will become, and the easier it will be for you to get the things that you want on a regular basis.
The Negotiation Dance is just one way we′ve found to support successful, satisfying relationships and gain the self-confidence to get what you want. For more suggestions, sign up for our free thought-provoking and motivational Weekly Action Tips eMail series at: http://www.FocusedAttention.com/cmd.php?ad=081030.
Each tip offers practical advice for creating the relationships that you really want.
Or visit us our blog at: http://www.NewAgeSelfHelp.com
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/motivational-articles/your-stepbystep-guide-to-a-win-win-negotiation-1001925.html
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June 30th, 2009 by aaks
Control Your Thoughts
Envision Success
We previously discussed the importance of having clearly defined goals. These goals will reflect your destination and journey toward attaining what you define as success. You should be able to feel and see your picture of success. Decide what will assist you to adjust your focus toward reaching your desire. Where is your home? What car do you drive? Are you thinking about long term residual value? Place a picture in your mind and focus on it. Place another picture in your mind having accomplished your daily tasks. Do this daily and it shall become habit.
Intend and Expect Positive Results
I like to use the old farmer analogy when discussing intentions and expectations and how I′ve come to understand it. A farmer spends many hours, days, weeks, months and years to perfect and harvest crops which will eventually produce a profit. It is well understood that time will pass before we see a tangible result. However, we know that there will be produce for future distribution and potential profit. A successful person will adopt similar habits that the farmer has. Properly weed out or remove negative obstacles and plant seeds of positive intent. This may take time but it is extremely iportant to understand that positive input will create positive results. Expect things to come your way. The farmer doesn’t stress, he just knows that crops will be plentiful because he has a solid plan and envisioned years in advance. Set positive intentions now and it will grow and unfold for you in the future.
Future Depends Upon Your Now
Whether you understand it or believe it or not, what you are doing at this moment will determine where you will be 90 days from now. You have to focus on your present activity and remain in that zone. Make a conscious effort to concentrate on present activity. Do not drift off into “outer space” or shift to things that are counter-productive. You can shape your success and shift your strategy if what you are doing isn’t presently working. If what you have been doing is productive, focus on it even more and you will achieve twice the amount of work in less than half the time you were initially investing. the key is to focus on what you are presently doing. You know things are working if you are feeling good about your results.
If You Don’t Control Your Thoughts, Opinions Will Get You
No one has ever perfomed an outstanding duty without receiving criticism for it. The opinions of others have killed more inspired thoughts and ideas of children, men and women than all guns, swords, and weapons of mass destruction combined. It is very important to be aware of the feedback you are receiving from business associates, relatives, and well meaning friends. Take time and consciously evaluate the iformation you receive. Many statements that sound factual could actually be the opinion of some well-spoken person. A fact can be supported, an opinion is something that has no substance; it is just someone else’s point of view about something. It’s up to you to decide how you wish to respond to the feedback. Facts produce tangible proof while an opinion does not. An opinion cannot produce a result or inspire action. During your journey, you will encounter many who will offer advice and expertise. The success conscious individual will review his plan (this should happen repeatedly) and remember the purpose. Only you can define yourself and if you listen to what each and every person says, you will have allowed someone else to think and decide your future outcome. If you don’t hit your goals, it will be because you allowed someone else to do your thinking for you. Search for people that you can learn from. Find mentorship, take notes and gather information. Once you′ve collected data, move forward toward carrying out your plan, adjust your plan, or disengage your plan and start fresh. Do this because it is your decision to make, not someone else’s.
Seth Bradley is a professional recruiter in the healthcare industry and has been in sales for 15 years. He has also owned and operated import businesses nationwide generating direct sales for Fortune 500 companies. Sign up for free newsletter at http://www.setpacenow.com/ or send questions to info@setpacenow.com. Free newsletter signees will also receive a copy of ebook: Setting the Pace: How to Lead the Pack, Serve Others, & Produce Superior Results, in an instant download.
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/motivational-articles/how-to-control-your-thoughts-and-dismiss-negative-opinions-1003664.html
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June 30th, 2009 by aaks
In sixty years of existence, I have experienced several events that made me ~literally~ drop my jaw. Since the day they unexpectedly showed up in my life, I have been mesmerized and fascinated by those events. With the blood of an artist and the mind of an analyst, I unveil the conclusion I came to. Read on, and you be the judge.
In one of my first incursions as a brand new SCUBA diver, I rested at the sea bottom 50 feet under in a staggering environment and inspiring scene of plants, coral, and multi-color fish all living in crystal-clear water. It felt as if it all was brought in from another planet.
Suddenly, a curious six to seven inches flat-bodied fish yearned for a taste of me touching my leg several times; but he did not hurt me. Up close, I could observe the bright yellow color of his body which I have never seen on dry land. His eye was a perfect deep black circle from which two lines in a similarly deep black were separating from each other stretching towards the edges of his body graciously growing wider as both reached his tail.
I still question myself if evolution creates impactful and tasteful combination of colors and design by shear coincidence or simple twists of fate. I was churning thoughts when a strong feeling jolts me: “There is someone out there who created all of this”. I could not afford to be breathless, but it felt like I was about to stop breathing. I then began ascending to the surface breaking half of the SCUBA diving rules I was supposed to follow.
Far and away from that part of the world, I was visiting the tallest mountain in Spain. It is a volcano in the island of Tenerife inactive since 1908. After playing in the snow for a week-end, I began to descend toward the warm shores of the island. Suddenly, a glance in the rear-view mirror showed me an image with shapes and colors like a Monet painting.
WOW ! The view was impressive and imposing. I had to stop my car.
To my left ~and well above the road~ the mountain was a silhouette against a deep blue sky. A bright moon was painting with silverish light the mountain’s darker side. To my right, and looking down the mountain’s slope, flat clouds looked like a gigantic lake of cotton surrounding the mountain. On the horizon, the reddish-orange sun was tinting the surface of that lake of cotton.
That day, I could afford to be breathless. I was mesmerized and fascinated by dramatic magnificence of such imposing scene when the strong feeling jolted me again: “There is someone out there who created all of this”. Someone who designed, created, and then presents us with overwhelming creations for us to get His message: “I’m here”.
Years go by, and my life unfolds. Other similar experiences occurred like reminders. Systematically, they led me to the same conclusion and the inescapable feeling that jolts me every time: “There is someone out there”.
It took sixty years of my life for a woman to show up in my life to explain to me that the receptiveness I had to those experiences was intended. She goes on saying that the strong feeling that jolted me during those events was accurate: “There is someone out there”.
She unveils to me that such being ~that flawlessly designs and so perfectly creates~ is the same being who promises a brand new life. Unlike we are taught ~she continues~ that new life is not in a limbo where we will get painfully bored for eternity. No, it is not. It is a new life on Earth. It is a new life without illnesses, without people that hate others, and without wars. It is a new life where food, sparkling water, and clean air will all be plentiful. It is a new life where wickedness stands no chance to succeed.
She distinctively points out that such life is meant for the righteous, the honorable, the obedient, and the worthy people who act on those qualities and LOVE dominates every minute of their lives. I concluded that she meant the gift of such life is meant for people who rightfully deserve it.
“He promises all of it in writing” she said before she vanished from my life as mysteriously as she showed up in it.
Would it be possible that whoever is out there
is a big and fat liar offering us such a superb
life with no intention of giving any of it to us ?
Yes, it is possible; but… is it likely ?
Be a wise judge. Your own judgment
will affect what might happen to you.
* George Josserme
* Editor-in-Chief
* The View
A man reaching his mature years is beginning to convincingly see
and to realize that life, beauty, and feelings of love may not be a
product of evolution as scientists claim.
They may be creations that belong to someone who is out there.
Someone who does not lie.
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June 30th, 2009 by aaks
From our experiences growing up, we all have different ideas on how to make money in the world.
But even with these ideas, most of the times starting out, we have no idea if they will work out or not. We’re afraid of failing so we let are dreams disappear and settle for the next best thing.
This type of approach is common in most people that begin to face adversity.
Realize that even with every failure we make, it is a lesson that we can learn from that will eventually lead you towards your goal only if you make the decision to be persistent enough to make it through the end.
If you went bankrupt today, would you consider that a big problem? Imagine if you went bankrupted today, how would it affect you? Would you give up?
Here are five people, each who went bankrupt, and made it to success despite failing numerous times.
Henry Heinz
Heinz began by selling vegetables to his community as a kid since his family tended a garden. He was successful in doing that, and then narrowed it down to horseradish, the best horseradish in town.
With the goal in mind that someday he would build a business selling the things he had a passion for, he and a friend created the Heinz Noble & Company selling horseradish.
In 1875 however, the company went bankrupt as a result of not being able to pay his workers due to the popularity of horseradish, driving the price of it down.
Despite being in a great amount of debt, Heinz didn’t give up. He started another company called F & J Heinz, this time producing tomato sauce. The company manufactured quality ketchup and became an instant success, allowing Heinz to recover from bankruptcy and turning his company into a multimillion dollar corporation.
Because of his persistence of turning his idea into reality, today we enjoy one of the most delicious and quality ketchups - H & J Heinz Company Ketchup.
Milton Hershey
Hershey started out working for a printing press, but realized that type of work didn’t suit him.
Afterwards, he worked for a candy maker for four years, and developed a passion for different types of candy, realizing this time that distributing quality candy to the world would be his dream.
He started his first candy-making business in Philadelphia, but it failed. He then started another candy-making business in Chicago, but that failed as well, and one in New York, which also failed again.
Doing all of this caused him to go bankrupted, and his family had a hard time helping him pay some of the debts that he owed for his early attempts. Under a lot of pressure and criticism, he decided not to give up.
He created one more company called the Lancaster Caramel Company, this time using a caramel recipe he had learned from his past hoping that this recipe would work. It finally did and people loved his caramel chocolates.
From the money he had earned, he then went onto to create the Hershey Company using fresh milk available to him to create milk chocolates.
Today, we enjoy that very milk chocolate formula from one of the most delicious milk chocolate bars ever created - the Hershey Chocolate Bar.
Henry Ford
Ford started out with the reputation of a watch repair man. Having a talent and always ambitious to fix things and make them better, Ford began experimenting with gasoline engines. He created his first automobile called the Fordricycle and kept on thinking of new ways to improve it.
His dream was to be able to offer a reliable and affordable automobile to every American. He then started a business around cars when the Detroit Automobile Company was launched.
The company failed however, as the cars was of low quality and the cost too much.
He tried again with the Ford and Malcomson, Ltd. but failed again when sales were too slow and the owners of the car parts demanded their first payment from Ford, since he was using their parts to make cars.
On the brink of going bankrupt, Ford tried his best to persuade the owners to join his company. They finally gave in.
With a third attempt, he created the Ford Motor Company. Within a couple of years, Ford and company came up with higher wages, better production with the creation of the assembly line, and better cars, including the Model T and Model A.
He was able to turn the company into a multimillion dollar corporation and provide one of the most reliable and affordable brand of cars that we have today - Ford Cars.
Walt Disney
Disney started out working with what he loved to do, draw, and got paid drawing pictures for his neighbor, a retired doctor. He carried his love for drawing until high school, where in between, he was influenced by motion pictures.
He wanted to become an artist, drawing comic strips for the newspaper, but no one wanted to hire him.
It was until his brother gave him an opportunity to work at an art studio. He took the opportunity, where he created ads for newspapers, magazines, and movie theatres.
After the art studio job was over, Disney worked for the Kansas City Film Ad Company making commercials based on cutout animations. He then created an animation studio that produced animation called Laugh-O-Grams, successfully airing at a local theatre.
Problems arose however when Disney’s Laugh-O-Gram studio was loaded with too my debt because of the salaries he had to pay to all his employees.
As a result of all the debt Disney owed, the studio went completely bankrupt and he was left with nearly nothing.
He decided to move, despite all his debt, to pursue his dream of producing great animation to the world. From Hollywood, California, he was able to create his greatest works and his company went on to become a multi-million dollar corporation.
Since then, we have enjoyed all the works that Disney has given to us, from his cartoons and movies, to his theme parks and hotels.
Donald Trump
Finally, we have Mr. Trump. This ambitious man started out working after college to creating many million dollar projects that involved real estate.
He was very successfully early in his career buying and creating million dollar projects and eventually selling them to make million dollar profits. These included apartment complexes, hotels, convention centers, and casinos.
However, during the recession of 1989, he was unable to cover the debt of casinos, especially the one billion dollar Taj Mahal.
By 1991, he had lost control of his most valuable assets including the Trump Plaza Hotel and declared bankruptcy, being $900 million dollars in debt.
Taking a decade to recover from his debt, he eventually was able to erase it all through incredible deal makings and a line of other successful projects.
Trump is now not only a billionaire who owns many famous hotels, casinos, and real estate property, but also a well known celebrity with the popular reality TV show, The Apprentice.
Despite each of these people going into financial troubles, debt, company problems, and bankruptcy, they were still persistent enough to make their business work out - Heinz with produce, Hershey with candy, Ford with automobiles, Disney with animation, and Trump with real estate.
We are all used to their product names now, and even though they are all famous, there was a time where they were just normal, common, everyday people.
The only difference between what separated them and everybody else who failed in business was that they had big dreams and decided to be persistent enough to make those dreams happen.
You may be facing difficult times right now or your business is not going your way you planned, but just remember that these five people were able to come out of adversity despite bad starts, low sales, and even total bankruptcies.
Take a lesson in persistence from successful people. They don’t just become successful right away. It may take a couple months or it may take years and years of trying.
And even when the world is giving you all the signs to stop, if you just say to yourself, “No, I will make this happen no matter what until the very end,” eventually, you′ll see that it will.
Tristan Lee is a writer who enjoys helping others with self-improvement and personal success. Read more of his self-improvement posts at his blog, http://www.tristanleesblog.com/.
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/motivational-articles/a-lesson-in-persistence-we-can-learn-from-heinz-hershey-ford-disney-and-trump-998460.html
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June 30th, 2009 by aaks
My inner voice says I am truthful, my inner voice says I am great and my inner voice says I have to do some extraordinary work. My inner voice always resists me, if I do some mischief. We have to be honest with ourselves. Conflicting with self on normal, ethical issues means wasting valuable thoughts in inner conflict. Nothing is more painful, than fighting of our own thoughts among themselves. When I become indecisive, confused and get depressed, I ask myself “What to do”? Though I can listen to my inner voice still I am helpless, under the slavery of short term excitements, joys, funs and amusements I am deviating and disobeying. I want to rise gain and again, but I am weeping, I cannot, as if my past Karmic influence is holding me back, I want to fly, relive from past mistakes, but still cannot, “is there anyone who can help me at this state”? Many mistakes in my life has been committed knowingly or unknowingly, consciously or unconsciously. My inner voice losing it pitches, getting thinner and thinner within the noise of disobedience. Still, when I am alone, it is louder than ever before, now I am afraid of something danger going to happen with my life.
My inner voice is much more precious and wiser than any intelligent and wise man talk. But I am helpless, how can I obey to it. My inner voice is not getting tired of guiding me, it is sleepless and is emerging within dream to warn and correct me. But I am ignoring my own inner voice. Beyond my faith the words of the inner voice are as valuable as the words of any great man or preceptors. I need to acquire moral courage to listen to my inner voice to transform myself. I understand self transformation is difficult but to keep harmony with my wise friend the “inner voice” I have to. It is the force which wants to make my life worthwhile, ever happy and invaluable. My inner voice is not only helpful but also best friend of my life, I cannot afford to ignore any longer.
Inner voice is our moral teacher and moral force to guide our life towards higher destiny, a life where there are goodness, tolerance and cooperation for all. Oh inner voice I love you and I respect you and I will comply with you all the time.
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/motivational-articles/one-day-i-was-listening-to-my-inner-voice-998464.html
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June 30th, 2009 by aaks
There will be days where you don’t want to do anything involving that dreaded four letter word - work. Whatever type of work you do in order to get to a specific goal you have in mind, sometimes we need that burst of energy to combat that “lazy,” “procrastinating,” “I-don’t-want-to-do-it″ voice in our heads.
Everybody goes through this; it’s common, but it’s important to understand how to quickly get yourself into gear so you are taking action. One of the best ways is to motivate yourself. Here are ten effective methods you use whenever you feel like you need motivation.
Looking to the Future
Knowing what it is that you want in life gives you motivation. You should have a vision of your ideal life. Where you want to travel? Where do you want to live? You could be cruising on Yacht in one of the beautiful beaches of the world. You could be living in a mansion with a beautiful, loving spouse and kids playing around you. You could buy that dream car you’ve always wanted ever since a teenager. Make a collage and post it on the wall. Don’t be afraid to let other people see it if it’s something that motivates you to do your work. It’s for you, not for anybody else.
Going Outside and Run
Yes, run. It’s very healthy for you in fact. By running you’ll be stimulating blood to your brain and allowing more oxygen in your body, letting you think better. But the point is to get you away from all this swirling chatter going inside your mind at the moment and just enjoy whatever is going on outside. Maybe you can just jog around the neighborhood and see people watering the grass, kids playing outside, people talking and help each other, etc. There’s more to life than being stuck at work and sometimes getting your adrenaline running while seeing something else besides your work is a simple yet powerful source of motivation.
Getting Inspiration from Gurus
Everybody has role models. There are many inspiration people out there that have overcome feats in way worst situations than you. I mean Donald Trump is a good example. He was over 900 million dollar in debt at one point, but after ten years from that experience, somehow managed to pull himself out to become one of the wealthiest people on earth today. It may take some work to looking into their biography, but it’s worth it. Find out who inspires you that works in the same field you are in and read up on them. Post a picture of them on your wall and use their pathway to success to help you give you motivation whenever you are feeling down.
Just Taking Action
Believe it or not, some people think it’s ridiculous that one needs motivation to get to work. If you just take action, you might find that motivation will come to you when you are deeply in tuned with what you are doing. You will feel the momentum! An example might be turning something you hate doing and then diving straight into it and turning it into an obsession. And as you are taking action and “in the moment”, you may gradually be more aware of all the little things that you never noticed before, which might interest you, give you more motivation to dive deeper into your work, and perfect it.
Stimulating Pain
Some people can’t feel motivated if they don’t feel pain or a sense of desperation to do something. These would be times of need, when there is no other option but to work. This type of “urgency” gives a person a burst of energy to get things done. You can create pain by going back and remembering the painful consequences you had to deal with when you needed to get something done or if you don’t get something done such as getting yelled at by someone you’re afraid of or the feeling of living out in the streets and having no home.
I remember my freshman high school basketball coach was one of the scariest people on earth; every time he barked, we would listen. He turned what I thought was going to be a fun basketball experience into a physical living nightmare, but it motivated each of us to struggle, work, and fight for our lives, or we would be punished at even more and eventually be cut from the team. Sometimes discomfort may be the best motivators of all, since if we feel to comfortable with ourselves we lack discipline and don’t want to talk action at all.
Competition
Are you blood thirsty to be the best? Do you have that killer instinct to out compete your opponents? In every field of work, when more than one person is trying to achieve the same thing, there is always going to be competition no matter what. Some people are afraid of it, others use it to motivate them to become better and work harder. Maybe it’s time for you to be aware of who is your competition right now, the ones that you see and don’t see, and put it on your wall, so you know you’re objective is beat them, to get ahead, to win. Go into the “survival-of-the-fittest″ mode and use that drive to make you take action whenever you think about competition.
Music
It’s a no brainer that music affects our mood. If you put on a blues song, you’ll feel sad. If you put on a jazz song, you will feel relaxed. If you put on pop song, you will feel happy. If you put on a motivational song, you will feel motivated. And how many songs are there like this that you can find? Millions. People have different preferences of songs that affect them; you just have to find a song that motivates you. Songs that have made me motivated usually have a fast beat. If you enjoy hip-hop, try listening to “Changes” by Tupac or “Opportunity” by Eminem.
Creating Laughter
Laugh your way to motivation. Life doesn’t always have to be serious, nor it does it always require a an awe-inspiring, perfectly crafted way to get motivation. Sometimes all you need is just a good laugh, shrug off your worries, and you’re good to go. Imagine something funny in the past that was so stupid that it made you laugh, or if your good at improv, take any current situation and turn it into something so ridiculously pointless that it makes you laugh as well. Use self-deprecation, act stupid, be an idiot for once, pretend your work is funny and just wants your attention, then make fun of both of you guys. Use humor; it’s a wonderful feeling.
Small Bits
One little, small, single, tiny… step goes a long way. When you feel you like you can’t even get yourself to get to work, just do one thing that can, even if it’s the littlest thing possible. Then, reward yourself every time you take small step. Give yourself a pat on the back. It’s supposed to be a psychological effect to trick you mind into thinking you′re doing more work than you actually are, but then end results are that you are already doing work so why not just go forth with it.
For example, I used to hate doing math homework in high school. Many times I’d procrastinate and put it off to the side. I found that if I just took the energy to just open my backpack and flip it to the page of my homework and just look at it for a few seconds; I knew I could at least do the first three problems. From there, I could do the next one, then the next one, and before I knew it, I would subconscious be in the process of doing my homework.
Knowing Why
Finally, do you know why you are working? Or are you just blindly working for no reason? We all do things for a reason and sometimes if you know exactly why you are doing what you do, it will be enough to motivate you. Maybe this beyond materialism, maybe it has to do with helping a love one, or getting yourself out of an ugly situation, or maybe it just has to do with personal growth. What is your purpose? Whatever it is, make sure your why is something that makes you desire it and motivates you whenever you think of it. This will help you take action.
What Motivates Me?
There isn’t one thing that specifically motivates me. I usually get motivated by random things that happen to be around me during that specific time. But the one thing that usually always help motivate me is knowing what is going to happen if I do something. What is going the outcome or the result of something. What is going to be inevitable.
For example, I know if I take the time to read a book I will educate myself and learn something new. Sometimes reading isn’t always fun, but I know it’s inevitable that I’ll at least get something out of it and that is enough to motivate me to take action. And if you keep doing something enough times, you know, what will be the result of not only for the short term but in the long term? Look ahead. I mean, sometimes motivation is necessary to give you that quick burst of energy but, ultimately you want to use it produce an inevitable outcome that you know will happen ahead of you. Don’t rely on needing motivation every single time just to get something done.
Find a way to make your work into a consistent habit and you’ll soon realize that you won’t need that much motivation to do something; you’ll motivation will die down but you’ll be able to do what you need to get done. That, in my opinion, should be the reason for motivation - not just having a “high” and forgetting about the next day, but using it a crutch to make your actions a consistent habit so you can always take action without always thinking, “I need motivation today in order to get to work.”
Tristan Lee is a writer who enjoys helping others with self-improvement and personal success. Read more of his self-improvement posts at his blog, http://www.tristanleesblog.com/.
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/motivational-articles/ten-effective-ways-to-motivate-yourself-998505.html
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June 30th, 2009 by aaks
I’ve always been fascinated by extraordinary people, and what makes them who they are. Is it born talent? Is it innate ability? Is it pure genius? Is there something that separates world experts and geniuses from ordinary people, in which ordinary people cannot achieve no matter how hard they try?
A couple months ago, I went to the bookstore and there was a book that caught my eye, even though it was only in white cover with black font and a simple bronze star on the top right hand corner. It was the title, which you’ve may have heard before, called Outliers - The Story of Success - by Malcom Gladwell. Before falling asleep yesterday, the book was on my desk and I just flipped through it, rereading one of the most insightful chapters that I have come across in a while, called the 10,000 hour rule.
The chapter describes the journey process of how one becomes a world class expert. A world class expert can be generally defined as someone who is widely known for being the top of the class, for being the best, for being able to perform in ways that separates them for everybody else, especially at an age that no one expects them to.
For example, it talks about how there was study on comparing average violinist students, to good violinist students, to the best violinist students - students who had potential to be world-class soloists.
At the age of five, these students all practiced around 2 to 3 hours a week, about 20 to 30 minutes a day. At the age of eight, while the average to good students were still practicing at about the same pace, the best ones started to excel, playing at 6 hours a week by age nine, about 45 minutes a day. Then they started playing 8 hours a week by age twelve, about 1 hour a day, 16 hours a week by age fourteen, about 2 hours a day, and at the age of twenty, they were hitting 30 hours a week, about 4 hours a day, just on playing a musical instrument.
It goes on to talk about the Beatles, arguably one of the best rock bands in history. It tells the story about how, before they came to the United States that they had been already playing together for seven years. This was a period of time of where they started out as a high school band into a popular public band. But it all started out with a lucky opportunity through connections of random people that brought them from playing London to playing for the strips clubs of Germany.
For example, in Liverpool, London, the Beatles had only done 1 hour sessions for public, but in Hamburg, Germany, they had to play many times for 8 hours sessions, 7 nights a week. Usually, they played about 5 to 6 hours per night on stage everyday. Before even going to America, they had already performed lived about twelve hundred times - way more than many bands get to perform on stage in their entire careers.
The chapter talks about currently the wealthiest person on the planet today - Bill Gates. How he came to make a software program that almost every single person on the planet who owns a computer uses - Windows - isn′t a form of genius work, but of incredibly amount of work to getting to getting to that point.
Bill got the opportunity to use learn programming on a time-sharing computer system in 8th grade, something that most Americans did not even have access to at this time, which was around the late 1960’s, since it had just been invented.
During a seven month period as a high school student, Bill averaged eight hours a day and seven days a week in the computer room. All he did was program, program, and program; it was his obsession. He went there at night, he went there on the weekends, and at it would be a rare occasion where he and his friends did not program for 20 or 30 hours a week.
Between 8th grade and the end of his high school senior year, these 5 years, he experience with programming in a time-sharing terminal, he had experience working in C-Cubed offices, he had experience working at a computer center at the University of Washington for ISI (Information Sciences Inc.) working sometimes from 3 to 6 in the morning, and he had experience working for a technology company TRW as a programmer.
People who hear that anybody who purposely drops themselves out of Harvard is insane, but the people who make these kind of decisions know what exactly they’re doing. They know something that millions of people don’t know. By this time, when Bill dropped out as a Harvard as sophomore, he had already been programming nonstop for seven years. To say that he wasn’t confident to start his own software company from his lifetime passion, rather than studying more in school, would be something insane not to do for a person like him.
And what do the world’s best violinists, the Beatles, and Bill Gates have in common? Yes, they are the best at what they do, they are famous, and most of the times, they are wealthy, but for a reason. These people spend hours practicing, starting from a young age, and by the time they hit their early twenties, they have accumulated a period of practice time that most other people never even come close to - 10,000 hours.
This is the number that experts say it takes to reach true mastery. And all these people either took advantage of a lucky opportunity given to them at the time or created their own opportunity through endless practice - something that upon first glance no one would know until it they demonstrated their talents.
So what can the 10,000 rule teach us? It teaches us that if we want to be the best at something, at the top of our game, it’s not about special talent. It’s about putting in the hours and hours of practice until it is something that just becomes a part of us.
And even if we are at an age when we think it’s too late, it’s really never too late to learn something new or become extremely good at something. All of the people above started out taking about thirty minutes a day doing something, which increased to an hour a day, then two hours a day, and so forth.
From composers such as Mozart, to legendary chess players such as Bobby Fischer, these genius didn’t start out as genius. They took about 10 years of 10,000 hours to become who they are. Studies show that there’s no such evidence that “genius″ most of us think are born with magical, innate talent. They just practice much, much, much more than everybody else who’s doing the same thing.
An ordinary person may see an expert as somebody “out of reach”, but an expert sees an ordinary person, and knows exactly how much hard work they put into it to be where they are. So I guess the question is, everybody who wants to be “the best,” who wants to be a guru, a master, a expert, to be at the top, are they willing to seriously put in the commitment, the work, the training; all this to accumulate about 10,000 hours of practice to be at the top, to be the best, to be the next genius?
Tristan Lee is a writer who enjoys helping others with self-improvement and personal success. Read more of his self-improvement posts at his blog, http://www.tristanleesblog.com/.
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/motivational-articles/the-10000-hour-rule-998531.html
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June 30th, 2009 by aaks
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” - Steve Jobs
Having started, run and lead various companies as entrepreneur since I was 15 years old, I have learned many things about being an entrepreneur; often via the hard way…. Some of my own business ventures were very successful, some unsuccessful, and one even resulted in my personal bankruptcy (at the age of 21), however all of them made me very rich and happy! They made me rich and happy in enriched knowledge and experience; my failures and success allowed me to learn more, build new valuable relationships, get new ideas, get more insights & inspiration and apply my lessons learned to become more successful!
A lot has been said, written and published about the key qualities of successful entrepreneurs: e.g. passion, creativity, leadership, vision, self-confidence, relationship building, innovation, organization skills, communication and coordination skills. Based on my own experience I would like to share and highlight some other key qualities and insights that will help an entrepreneur to succeed. Just ask yourself the following questions…
1. What is your personal mission statement in life?
As Stephen Covey wrote in his popular book “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, the second habit he talks about is “Begin with the End In Mind”. He recommends formulating a “personal vision statement” to document one’s perception of one’s own vision in life. What do you want to accomplish in your life? One effective way to write your personal mission statement is to visualize the day when you die. What do you want your loved ones and friends to say and remember about you? Another approach is to write your own obituary. Without a clear personal mission statement, you will quickly lose focus and direction in your business. Without a personal mission statement, you won’t be able to find a passion or desire for success. As one of my fellow coaches and friend Denis likes to state: “There are two important days in your life: the day you were born and the day you knew why!” So what do you want your life to be about? What’s your mission and what’s the big picture?
2. Are you self-motivated?
Perhaps one of the most crucial qualities for people who are self-employed to succeed. Without self-motivation, you will always find yourself putting things off. You won’t be able to accomplish anything as there is no one there to motivate you or watch over your shoulder when you’re your own boss. So if you are not a self-motivated kind of person, working for yourself or being an entrepreneur is definitely a risky business for you. You can mitigate this risk: get a business partner, get a coach & mentor or ask a close friend to help and stimulate to motivate yourself! If you think you are not self-motivated enough, make it part of your self-development plan: coach yourself to improve in self-motivation! Success guaranteed!
3. Are you persistent?
Understand that there is no “instant gratification” when you’re running your own business. You won’t get a paycheck every month like you do in a 9 to 5 job. Initially, you may need to work very hard for little rewards.
If you’re not persistent or don’t fully believe in yourself and in your business, you will have find yourself given up very quickly. Of course, it is possible to earn good money by running your own business, but you need to remember that it will take hard work, time and persistence to achieve true success and happiness! Like Sir Winston Churchill said: “Never, Never, Never Ever Give Up!” So whenever you fail or make a mistake take the lessons learned and get back on your feet to apply these lessons learned and use your enriched experience to succeed faster and better!
4. Are you financially responsible?
A very important quality for all business owners. When you’re your own boss, you’re a CEO, accountant and finance manager. You’re fully responsible for managing and controlling your business budget. When you start making profits, you will need to know how to manage it wisely. Often times, you will want to put a portion of your profit back into your business to help it grow and expand further. Or you want to build up a solid cash position to finance a possible acquisition. Successful entrepreneurs actively manage their P&L (Profit & Loss) balance sheet, especially their cash position! They focus on two things to improve their financial performance: A) Increasing their profits. This is only possible through either:
- Increasing revenue, or
- Cutting costs and cost avoidance.
B) Growing their business. This is only possible through the following 4 methods:
- Increasing acquisition of the right type of clients (through organic growth or M&A)
- Increasing margins
- Increasing the frequency of purchase of your clients
- Reducing the attrition of the right types of clients.
5. Are you hungry for success?
If you want to be an entrepreneur, you have to think and behave like one! You have to think and act as a leader, as a CEO and as a warrior! Understand that business is not the same as hobby where you can take it lightly. If you treat your business like a hobby, you will never be able to achieve true success. A business needs to be worked at seriously and professionally, you can’t allow personal things to get into your business. Remember what the headline in Donald Trump’s Apprentice show says? “It’s Not Personal - It’s Just Business!”.
6. What is your exit strategy?
As successful entrepreneur you will need to lead your business from start to finish. So where do you draw the finish line? When and how do you want to exit your company? Do you want to sell it? If so, when and to whom? Do you want to list your company? If so, when and at which stock exchange(s)? Do you want to merge it? If so, with which company? Do you want to hand it over to one or all of your children? If so, when and to which one(s)? For what price and under which conditions will you hand your baby over to someone else? What’s behind the finish line? Imagine you have set your exit strategy and then… you’ve successfully executed your strategy: you’ve exited your company! Then what? What’s next? As part of your exit strategy I advise you to dream/imagine/decide what you want to do with the successful experience and reward(s) of growing and selling your own company. It will drive, inspire and motivate you to create your follow-up plan! Make it part of your bigger picture!
7. What is your company worth?
A successful entrepreneur knows the value of his/her company at any point in time! He/she also knows what kind of unique value he/she wants to create, which is often based on their exit strategy. Why is this so important? Knowing what your company is worth versus your ideal exit strategy, timing and desired sales price, will determine if the time is right when you have an opportunity to sell/merge/list your company at any point in time. If you know that there still is huge growth potential to create more unique value, you might decide not to sell or you could include this value in your desired sales price. As long as you know what your baby is worth. Knowing what the value of your company is also drives you to focus on creating and maximising value. This could be your brand value, goodwill, revenue, profit, client base, intellectual property, market share, market capitalisation, etc. For each industry and market there are specific metrics and criteria which can be used for calculating the value of a company. I advise you to research and analyse these and then to use them to optimise the unique value of your own company.
8. Who is your coach and mentor? Successful entrepreneurs, leaders and CXO’s often have one thing in common; they have a coach and mentor! A coach and mentor can help you to get the best out of yourself. A professional coach can help you with your self-development to deepen your learning’s, increase your performance and enhance your quality of life. A senior and seasoned mentor can help you to succeed in your particular industry/market by sharing some of his/her lessons learned, experience and by leveraging his/her network. A coach & mentor can be one and the same person. Preferably they are two persons: you find yourself the best certified coach and an experienced mentor. Investment? Mainly time! Return on Investment? Huge!!! You can find passionate coaches and mentors who will help you for free or for a reasonable hourly/monthly fee. See also: Can You Afford NOT To Invest In A Coach And Mentor?
I hope these insights and qualities will help and inspire you to succeed as entrepreneur faster and better! Of course there are many more qualities and insights which can lead to success as entrepreneur; find them, explore them and use them to succeed! “
If you nurture your mind, body, and spirit, your time will expand. You will gain a new perspective that will allow you to accomplish much more!” - Brian Koslow
Make this a Positive & Fruitful day….unless you have other plans!
Thanks, warm regards & success,
Patrick Driessen
© Patrick W. Driessen. All rights reserved.
Patrick Driessen is a visionary, entrepreneurial and intuitive executive leader, author, executive coach, mentor and inspirational speaker with a passion to help other people succeed! His stories are most often thought provoking, inspirational and motivational!
For more information, please see: http://www.patrickdriessen.com
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/motivational-articles/8-qualities-for-entrepreneurs-998550.html
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June 30th, 2009 by aaks
How many times do you say you’re going to get something done but it never happens? How many times have you put a goal on your wall but it just sits there for months as it is forgotten until a new goal replaces it? How many times do you want to take action in that moment but a feeling drags you down from doing so? If you’re experiencing this, hopefully this post will help you take more action consistently.
You see we subconsciously go through our everyday lives doing the same exact thing over and over again once that alarm clock rings. You may be a person who gets up at 5 AM before the sun rises to do some jogging around the neighborhood and takes an hour to cook and eat breakfast, or you may be a person that continuously hits the snooze button for hours until it’s time for lunch.
It is constantly the thoughts we think about, the actions we take, and what we do in life, that defines who we are. There are probably hundreds of things - negative and positive - that you go through and would like to change but can’t. Things such as the way you deal with other people, your work routine, your goals, your resistance to temptations and distractions, and your emotions and feelings.
Consciously, we want to change for the better, but that takes action, and usually this action is ignored by our subconscious mind. For example, say you wanted to start to work on a project that you have in mind and you want to start. You tell yourself, “Start. Begin!” But your body says, “Relax. Do it later.” Usually if your subconscious supportive of your body, then you’ll end up procrastinating.
Procrastinators are people who lack self discipline. They let their bodies do their thinking for them rather than let their consciousness do their thinking. If they are lying in bed and their body is in a feel-good state, then it will be quite hard for this person to get up upon command. If they are a person who enjoys the feelings the body gets when being distracted by other people, then they will have a hard time getting back to work upon command. To get out of bed requires change, an uncomfortable change, and to get back to work rather than seeing what your friends are up to requires “an uncomfortable change.”
The key to taking action is thus training yourself to take action regardless of how you are feeling. It is the ability to do not to feel. You have to be always someone who is always looking for the answer, the outcome, and ultimately, the result of a specific action. When you are stuck somewhere and you begin to feel emotions get a hold of you, don′t go hide and don′t quit accept the problem and take action. Move forward!
To take action, even when you don’t want to take action, you should use self talk. Talk to yourself and command yourself like a father commands a son, like a boss commands a worker, like a high school basketball coach commands the team. I′m sure you’ve been commanded before, and it makes you feel uncomfortable, but the result is you take action. Whether it is a father, a boss, or a coach, you take action because you respect these people, so you should also respect yourself when you give yourself commands.
When you say, “Go do it,” go do it. When you say, “Start now,” start now. When you say, “Take action,” take action. You can create your own motto, whatever you want it to be, but never, ever, say you are going to do something and not follow through. If you say something - the words that you use to take action - you must follow through with it, otherwise you’ll never break the habit and be who you are.
Once you break the habit, perhaps the most difficult thing to do at first, whether it’s cutting down a cigarette a day, jogging an extra ten minutes, getting out of bed when the alarm clock rings, or just working the task that you assigned yourself to do, it’s crucial that you take the action to doing it, and doing it until it is done.
You may groan when there is change and you may feel very uncomfortable, but I can almost guarantee that the nine out of ten times you continuously take action at something that you don’t like to do or have problems doing, you will cross a point of being extremely proud of yourself.
This is the point when you have commanded yourself to take on a particular challenging action, accepted that challenge, and have done it so much that you no longer have to command yourself to do it anymore because it has finally become a habit of yours. You will no longer need to use force because the action has become part of your daily routine and most importantly, part of you. When you get to this point, taking action will become easy and natural.
This is what habitual action means, and I hope you can take anything that you have trouble doing and turn it into an action that becomes a habit.
As the great psychologist and philosopher William James once said, “Sow an action and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.”
Tristan Lee is a writer who enjoys helping others with self-improvement and personal success. Read more of his self-improvement posts at his blog, http://www.tristanleesblog.com/.
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/motivational-articles/habitual-action-998555.html
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