Listen Very Carefully

If we are to rise above our fear and pain we must have the energy for it. Trying to deny our mistakes and keep them hidden from others is a waste of that precious energy.

As we’ve already observed, we are perfectly imperfect. Mistakes are inevitable, but they can be real assets if we are willing to learn from them. Acknowledging them freely is the first step in turning our perils into pearls.

What can we learn from mistakes if we’re willing to acknowledge them? Of course the most obvious payoff is that they teach us what doesn’t work. Being wrong will often alert us to another perspective or point of view. Mistakes also force us to develop new behaviors and coping styles—expanding our repertoire. 

Tonight Show host Johnny Carson was a master at deliberately “making mistakes” in his nightly monologue as a way of exercising his adlibbing skills. Learning what doesn’t work, seeing additional perspectives, or developing new coping skills are all priceless assets when we are going through inevitable changes in our lives. And when it comes to expanding repertoires and gaining new perspectives, we have no
greater resource than humor.

Be like Johnny Carson. Make mistakes on purpose.

Ask dumb questions. Wear mismatched socks. Push the elevator button after it’s already lit.

I call this deliberate foolishness. Acting in this way provides many benefits:

1. You will get used to feeling foolish. It’s an exhilarating feeling.

2. You will enjoy knowing that others will misjudge you and feel a false sense of superiority over you.

3. Being foolish is a good stress reliever.

The Only Way to Succeed

There is only one way to improve your life. There is only one way to succeed. There is only one way to make positive changes in your life. The answer is work. You have to be willing to get out there and put in the time and effort. You have to be willing to face failures and carry on. Less than 1% of success results from luck or chance alone. If you are ready to work hard, there is little that you cannot achieve.


The Gift

Accomplishments that are given to you will not be satisfying. Image that you want to be a star athlete in the NBA. With a snap of my fin-gers, you have the talent, and have already won several champion-ships. You do not, however, have any recollection of gaining those tal-ents, of training, or of improving your skills. You were simply given the ability. Would you feel satisfied? Maybe, at first, but after time you wouldn’t value your talents because you didn’t work for them, you didn’t really accomplish anything. The moral is that you have to put in hard work and effort in order for you to feel satisfied and successful when you reach your goals.


The Real Success Stories

You’ve heard about those success stories. One day a man has an inno-vative idea and the next day he’s a millionaire. This perception of suc-cess and fortune is very misleading. What you hear about is the glam-orous lifestyle, the wealth, and success. What you don’t often hear about is how hard that man or woman worked, and how many sacri-fices they made to get where they are today. Remember that the suc-cess stories you hear have hard work, dedication, and perseverance at their core.


Free Day

Give yourself a free day to rest and relax. If possible, use a weekend so you won’t have to miss any work. The hard part isn’t in taking a break, but in letting go of stress and worry as you do so. When you take a break from work and worry, don’t let problems creep into the equa-tion.


Your Notepad

Carry a small notepad with you wherever you go. Great ideas and thoughts jump in and out of your mind every minute. To make the best of these revelations jot them down in a small notebook. At the end of the day, page through your notebook to elaborate on ideas, or eliminate some altogether. You never know what you’ll be able to come up with when those key thoughts are captured on paper.

What decisions have you made?

Without a decision, there is not direction in our activities…

Why am I telling you this and some of these other things? You might be thinking… “I thought this article was about motivation!?”

Well… Motivation can be found, but motivation by itself will not lead to a bountiful harvest!

You can be really motivated to do things, but if the actions you are taking are misguided, the results will be useless or even damaging. This is why the
decisions you make are so important. And it’s also why the right decisions are so important.

How do you make a decision of what direction to take with your business online? How do you make a decision to reach for the type of success that right for YOU?

So many people don’t take the time out.

If you were to take 3 days off and focus on your decisions about where you are going, you may find yourself at your destination A LOT faster.

Many of us don’t take the essential time we need to concentrate on our decisions as a whole.

We will make a small decision here and there, but how do they affect the big picture?

Decisions can be looked at like a river…

The main river that we follow though life is the one that is supposed to take us to our destination. All our rivers look different. Some are smooth as
glass… some winding… some littered with rapids.

Some of them take us through beautiful country, while others take us through waste lands and terrible environments.

All our rivers also are fed by streams and smaller rivers… these are things that affect our decisions. Some go unnoticed and just blend in… not really
affecting the flow; pure enough to blend with the current mixture and current…

Others push in quickly and disrupt the flow… maybe the river will carry with it periodic disruptions in the flow… swells… an increase in current and rapids.

Some may bring poison… some life.

Then along the way, there are bends and twists in the river that might push us to the banks and tempt us to jump ship. You may come to a part of a river the splits in different directions… sometimes we have time to think about our direction, other times the current
is to fast and we must make a quick decision that will echo throughout our lives… Negative or Positive.

In order for us to make decisions… accurate decisions… beneficial decisions, we need to have the End Decision… we need to know…

We need to decide what our destination is.

Otherwise… the river itself will have more influence on our lives than it should.

Why am I telling you this again? What do decisions have to do with motivation?

Everything!

Because once we grab onto motivation, it feeds on results and the results come from the decisions we make…

Misty Copeland - I will what I want

Source: Misty Copeland - I will what I want

Pessimism is Not a Choice

Many people think having a negative attitude is just another way of looking at life, or being ‘realistic.’ I couldn’t disagree more. When the choice between being positive and negative receives equal praise, we are looking at the picture all wrong. Being negative is something you should want to change. Being positive is something you should strive to become. One is not an equal to the other. One is the valley, while the other is the peak.


You Can Change

The most important thing to remember about your attitude is that it can be changed. “That’s the way I am, and that’s how I will always be,” doesn’t hold up to what I have personally experienced and seen in other people. You can change every aspect of who you are for better or worse.


The Root of the Worry

An unrealized goal could be causing subconscious negativity towards nonrelated areas of your life. For example, if you have continued to smoke after trying to quit for years, that stress and frustration could carry over into other areas of your life. It is important to find the source of your attitude problems. You may be trying to find solutions to a cause that isn’t responsible for your ultimate attitude.


What Are You Missing?

Make a list of things that you desire in your life, but have yet to attain. This may bring to your attention the real reasons for negativity or moodiness.


Laugh

Laugh at yourself. Laugh with others. Laugh out loud. Laugh to your-self. Laugh when you watch movies. Laugh when you watch television shows. Laugh when you hear jokes. Laugh when you tell jokes, but only if they’re funny. Laugh in the morning. Laugh in the afternoon. Laugh in the evening. Laughter is the best medicine for your physical, mental, and emotional health.


Put Things in Perspective

No matter how bad you think you have it, someone, somewhere, has it worse. It’s not a happy thought, but it can help to put your problems in perspective. Remember to look at the big picture when it comes to your problems. You will still need to deal with them, but your attitude towards these problems will be positive and you will have a greater amount of understanding.

Breaking Habits

BAD HABITS ARE HARD TO DROP and even harder to live with. When the correct steps are taken, a bad habit can be stopped dead in its tracks. It doesn’t matter what habits you have; you can change. You can take the bad and replace it with good. The next section offers tips that help you to drop bad habits and pick up new ones. By putting these ideas to work for you today, you will eventually break free of unhealthy and negative tendencies and replace them with healthy, positive activities.

Three Weeks to Completion

When you feel like you’ll never be able to drop your bad habit, re-member this; it takes approximately three weeks to break an old habit. That means you cannot expect instant results and immediate success. You have to be willing to put in the time. Knowing that it takes three weeks should help you to maintain your motivation and positive attitude throughout the process. Be patient.

Temptation

Take steps to eliminate habit temptation from your life. If you are try-ing to lose weight, eliminate fatty foods from your groceries. If you are trying to stop smoking, make sure your home is free of cigarettes. Simply eliminating the temptation from your daily life will go a long way to helping you break the habit.

A Great Resource

Write out the reasons why you want to break your bad habit. This list will serve as motivation whenever you need it. When you are feeling weak, you can take a look at your list and remember why you started the process in the first place.

Just the Facts

Get the information about your bad habit. One tool they use to warn children about the dangers of smoking is a picture of a smoker’s lung. The more you can learn about the negative side of your habit, the eas-ier it will be for you to say no. They say that knowledge is power, and that sentiment holds true here. As your knowledge and education in-creases, so too will your motivation to break the habit.

The Reverse Reward

After talking with individuals who are trying to give up a bad habit, I have come across a common obstacle that I like to call the Reverse Reward. They reward themselves with the very thing they were trying to give up. For example, someone who is trying to eat healthier, after doing so for a week, eats junk food as a reward. This is crazy thinking, and it happens all the time! Do not reward your improvement with the bad habit you are trying to give up.

The Smart Reward

Reward yourself with something that contributes to your plan. This may take some creativity, but with enough thought you can come up with quite a few ideas. If you are trying to get in shape, reward your-self with a healthy meal. The right reward system will get you motivated and help you reach your goals.

My Friend's Professor Uses This To Motivate His Students.

First class, the "Lone Wolf"

Second class, the "Quirky Mage"

Third class, the "Royal Successor"

Carrot and Stick Approach of Motivation

Carrot and stick approach of motivation is based on the 'principles of reinforcement'.

Comes from the old story that the best way to make a donkey move is to put a carrot out in front of him or jab him with a stick from behind.

In motivating people for behaviour that is desirable, some carrots, rewards, are used such as money, promotion, and other financial and non-financial factors.

Some sticks, punishments, are used to push the people for desired behaviour or to refrain from undesired behaviour.

"Though in various theories of motivation, the terms carrot and stick are avoided, these still form the basis of motivation if administered properly.

Points to be taken into consideration while using it:

1). Punishment is effective in modifying the behaviour if it forces the person to select a desirable alternative behaviour that is then rewarded.

2). If the above does not occur, the behaviour will be only temporarily suppressed and will reappear when the punishment is removed. Further more, the suppressed behaviour may cause the person to be fearful and anxious.

3). Punishment is more effective if applied at the time when the undesirable behaviour is actually performed.

4). Punishment must be administered with e)treme care so that it is does not become reward for undesirable behaviour. A punishment, from one point of view, may become a reward for the person concerned.

The mixture of both carrot and stick should be used judiciously so that both have positive effects on the motivational profile of the people in the organisation.

2015 Will Be The Sh*t If I Make It

1. Sleep earlier, rise earlier - get off your phone, set a time, create a habit.

2. Read more - and not just shitty fanfics. Read them too. But read. Read classics, read newspapers, read magazines, read fictional books, read joke books. Just read.

3. Stay away from people who do not deserve you - you are worth a lot more. F*ck their shitty opinions.

4. Eat well - and I don’t mean diet. I mean, eat well. Eat healthy, indulge every once in a while, but don’t go overboard. Eat for your health and not for society.

5. Create a plan that will be enjoyable for exercise and just do it - no f*cking around this year

6. Study well - an hour every single day. Just one hour of uninterrupted, that’s all it will take. Apprendre et travail dans Francais - Je ne sais pas si ce est juste, pardon a mon francais suiveurs

7. Learn new VOCAB - because why the fuck not? Write down your new words that you learn while reading, use them in conversations; expand your vocab, because when you are sitting in the exam room, you’ll be glad you have.

8. Plan an outing once a week - have something to look forward to, to be excited for. Experience new things.

9. Set small goals - 3 small things to do every day, and don’t sleep till you have them done. 3x365 knowledgeable achievements will be worth it - trust me

10. Meet new people - don’t be so quick to judge.

11. Love yourself - I’m still trying to figure this one out, but I’m beginning to feel like I am worth it.

12. Art - practice makes perfect. Work, and when you can’t work, learn. Discover artists and their pieces, their inspirations, their style. Document it. There is always something to do to improve, whether it be through practice or research.

13. Stick to these goddamn goals. 2015 will be the sh*t if I make it.

Words That Motivate

Many people wonder how they can become successful.This quote explains what becoming successful means in the most simple terms. Truly successful people have integrity, a strong work ethic, a desire to succeed, and tenacity to keep working even when it seems that things aren’t going well. They don’t give up easily, rather they keep moving forward regardless of the number of timesthey are knocked back.

• Be honest
• Work hard
• Don’t give up

Self-Reflection Questions:

I.Do I always act in an honest way? Do I show integrity?

II.Do I give my employer an honest day’s work for what I’m paid?

III.Am I determined to succeed without giving up?

Many people are so focused on achieving their goals that they don't enjoy the process or the journey along the way. Yes, it’s true that we set goals with the hope that we will achieve them, however there’s more to life than merely meeting a goal. We must become better people as we strive to meet and exceed the goals we’ve set for ourselves.

• Set attainable goals.
• Work hard to achieve those goals.
• Take the time to learn and grow along the path to your success

Self-Reflection Questions:

I.Am I aware of my growth as I work toward my goals?

II.Have I set attainable, realistic goals?

III.Am I determined to follow through at any cost?

This idea may seem unusual especially since many people are only concerned with themselves. The truth is, if you reach out to help others attain their goals, they will be more willing to help you reach yours. 

There’s an old saying, “What goes around comes around.” You may be surprised how true this is.

• Be helpful when others need it.
• Maintain an attitude of abundance and community.
• Accept help from others when they offer it.

Self-Reflection Questions:

I.Am I only concerned with myself and my goals?

II.Am I willing to help others, even if it won’t benefit me?

III.Do I allow others to help me?

Confidence Building

Confidence does not only affect people in certain area or people of a certain age group. It's a world wide problem that people of all ages can have. When one is facing self doubt or low self esteem it can ruin their day, stop you from having fun and maybe even prohibit you from achieving your goals. You can make yourself feel worse than anyone else can.However to regain your confidence, confidence building exercises may help give you that boost you need.

Some of the most common confidence problems include, being afraid to do public speaking, being afraid to engage in a conversation with others, not being able to say no to others, not believing in your self, and also being afraid to go out there and take risks because your lack of confidence is holding you back.

However through hard work and determination confidence is an achievable skill. When frequently practiced, confidence building exercises can be an excellent way to help you build your self esteem or deal with your confidence issues.

Some confidence building exercises include standing up closing your eyes and imagine a circle which you can step into and do things that you would have never dreamed about doing. Take for example public speaking, you would say goodbye to all your thoughts that are not confident, take courage and step into your circle. With every step you take in the circle your confidence should grow. Another confidence exercise involves learning different breathing techniques so that you can relax and control your fear. Hypnosis is another technique you can use to relax and will also help you become more assertive.

Confidence problems are something that no individual should have. By continuously doing some confidence building exercises you'll slowly but surely get over your fears and be that person you deserve to be.

When You Want To Make A Change

A few tips on making changes in your life:

Opening note:

It's your life. Nobody else's. The purest form of motivation can only come from within yourself. The truest form of acceptance and self-worth can only come from you. True happiness can only come from yourself. If you ever want to truly make a change, you need to accept responsibility for your self-worth, your happiness, and your own will to succeed.

Beginning:

So, you're struggling with school or a job. You're overweight. Your room is a mess. You have very little self-esteem. You're shy and have few friends. You know a change needs to happen and maybe you've tried and failed in the past.

Little secret: People making the most lasting improvements when staying within their comfort zone, but pushing the boundaries of it - expanding it.

So, where do you start?

1. Your room/house. It's something within your grasp right now and it shouldn't be too expensive to buy cleaning supplies.

• When you clean your messy home, it will give you a sense of accomplishment, especially if the mess was really bad.
• Depending on how bad it is, you can be done within a few hours. Two days maximum unless your house looks like an episode of Hoarders.
• The result will be a clean, nice-smelling house. This means you will be living (for at least the next few days) in a nice environment. When your house is a mess, it's just another thing on your to-do list and the chaos and disorder of it may cause you stress or dismay. The clean environment will give you one less thing to worry about, and a positive environment to spend your time in.

2. Your clothes/personal hygiene.

• If you feel dumpy, go buy some new clothes and perfume/cologne and make sure you're taking care of your personal hygiene.
• I don't care how unattractive you may think you are, there are clothes out there that will flatter your body shape and look really good on you.
• What's the point of this? When you look in the mirror and see how great you look in that new outfit, you get a confidence boost.
• When you look and smell good, you generally feel good as a result plus people will get a better impression of you and will actually be more likely to be open to the idea of talking to you. Call it shallow if you will, but it's the way people work. To your average person, when someone looks or smells weird, it indicates to them at some level that something is wrong with you and they should stay away. It's just animal instincts.

3. Your attitude.

• Everything from here takes an attitude change. You need to be happy, confident, and committed if you want to progress.
• Happiness: smile more. Seriously. Just force it. Smiling releases positive endorphins that will actually make you feel happy, as well as making you more approachable.
• Anxiety: You can't let it rule your life and you can't always eliminate the things that cause you anxiety. Learn to deal with it. Do breathing exercises, listen to calming music, and learn to use logic when you feel yourself getting worked up over nothing.
• Confidence: Wear your new clothes. Smile. Stand up straight. Hold your head high. Copy the way confident people walk. These things subconsciously will trick you into feeling confident. If you make it a habit, your fake confidence will develop into real confidence and people will find you even more approachable.
• Discipline: when you commit to something, do it. do it consistantly every day for 30 days. Then it will become a habit. Don't expect it to be easy and keep your end goals in mind. Don't think "Ugh this is so difficult... This takes so much effort..." think instead "This is difficult, but it will all be worth it when I reach my goal." and then push through it.

4. Your job/school

• Apply all of these things.
• Use the confidence you've practiced to socialize with coworkers or classmates and make connections.
• Use your discipline to get your work done and excel.
• Use your happiness and anxiety techniques to stay calm when you're having a stressful day or facing a challenge.

5. Your health.

• If you're aiming to get healthier, make a plan and stick to it.
• Exercise discipline and self-control by counting calories and working out consistently.
• Exercise confidence by being unafraid to jog down the street or go to the gym.
• Don't let your fear keep you from reaching your goals. It could be a fear of failure or it could be a fear of change... or even a fear of being attractive, as ridiculous as it sounds.
• Always consult a physician before starting a diet or exercise regimen so they can make sure you're ready for it and help you pick the best route of action.
• If you have concerns about your physical, mental, or emotional health, seek help from a professional. Something you've been ignoring for a while could be an actual threat to your health. Something you're concerned about could really be nothing to worry about, but you can't know for sure. Better safe than sorry.

Inspiring Sketchbook

Why do we cling?

Have confidence in your ideas!

I’m evolving. Are you?

Face fear

Get off your phone! These moments are your own.

How would you live your life if you only had a handful of days left?

We’re all small people.

Today Is a New Day

Inspiring Sketchbook by Chris Collins

How to motivate yourself?

Technically, there is nothing like motivation exists. But it’s a combination of things which usually involves certain kind of fear or some intense dreams and desires of an individual.it a kind of mental battle that involves your opinion regarding your capabilities and potential. In order to get self-motivation we just need to take care of three basic steps that are firstly getting focused for your goals; secondly developing a certain level of confidence in yourself and lastly maintaining a perfect direction to achieve it.

How to get focused???

Stop thinking much about the fears: we all are some where guilty of getting more negative thoughts than the affirmative ones. Fear is harmful as it drains and exhausts your energy. It always keeps you in a state of perpetual worry.

Plan some rewards for you: results doesn’t comes easily. Set up some smaller checkpoints in your ultimate goal. Encourage yourself on these small successes.

Ideas for gaining self-confidence:

Assume the glass half full, not half empty: flush out the negative thoughts in you. Feel gratitude for what you are having. Thing positively is the necessary part for achieving the goal.
Use the trick of visualization: take out some time to visualize your goals. Plan out its ladder. Work on the strategies required to fulfill the dream.

How to direction yourself?

Maintain the level of excitement: it’s really important to stay enthusiastic about your desires. As it will push you to put better efforts and hard work. It will work as a charger that will make you dynamic with your work. It will surely cutoff the monopoly and boredom of your life and its failures.

Get support of the like-minded peoples around you: there are only a couple of people that really resemble like you. get be-friended with them and take their help in order to get directional. They will present you with lots of resource, ideas and motivation.

5 Keys For Successful Studying

It is often seen that the students nowadays are not much satisfied with their studying technique because of which they suffer a lot during their exams. Most of them think that they will study overnight just before a big test. But in reality it should be the crucial part of their daily routine. Being a student, with the beginning of the session till the last day when you are done with your final exams, you must incorporate some studying hours for each day. Students must have a multifaceted approach towards learning any subject. Mugging up the things will not help you out in long-terms.

If you really wish to study in a successful manner to perform well in your exams and to actually gain some knowledge, you should definitely use the following keys to improvise your studying habits.

Go through the entire syllabus:

A syllabus is basically a contract between the teacher and the student that make you aware about your assignments on which basis you will be graded. So it is important to make yourself aware of the purpose of each class and its requirements.

Set up a time table:

Once acknowledging you with the syllabus now is the time to plan out the calendar and manage studying time of all the subjects. Make sure you are giving more attentions towards those subjects in which find difficulty.

Go through the study material:

Make a rough sketch of each and every lesson by randomly going through the material. Make notes about it. Try to underline or highlight key words and significant stanzas and paragraphs.

Enrich your vocabulary:

Go through the glossary and dictionary in order to find in words and their meanings.

Rewrite your notes again:

Writing the notes again will save the lesson from your temporary memory to permanent memory.

Self Confidence

Self confidence and things to know about it

Self confidence is when a person can confidently take the decisions of his life and can put forward his views without any hesitation. Self confidence is extremely important in everyone's life. It is a driving force that helps a person to lead a better and confident life.

Self confidence comes on its own when a person achieves his goals. Having the right knowledge about your subject also helps you gain confidence. In a business, presentation is really important. How you deal with the audience and how efficiently you convince your clients is what paves your way to a higher level. Self confidence cannot be taught to anyone. Though motivation by the company owners to the employees is in form of incentives and rewards often prove to be a great source of encouragement. Believing in ourselves is the key to success. Everyone has talents but all that needs to be done is use those talents in a good way to achieve some target. While you interact with people, it is really important that you take care of your body language and the speech. Someone who is confident about his work gives out the best while on the other hand if you have got a phobia of stage then you will land in nothing giving your boss a chance to fire you.

There are instances in a business when you will have to deal with clients coming from different countries. For this, you need to be self confident and self motivated; you should know that you got the power to do it. A good orator will never let his boss or company down. On the contrarary, the bosses or the owners of the company should make sure that the employees get whatever they need. This motivates them to achieve big results and boosts them with self confidence. Lack of confidence will not only let you down but discourage you from doing any further projects and reports.

Self-confidence- the first step to success

We all are living in 21st century. Each day brings a new challenge for every individual. They not just have to tackle it but also have to perform their level best in order to survive in the cut throat competition of today’s era.

The most important thing that is essential for every person in order to perform well is their self-confidence. It fills you with the positive vibes and makes you more productive towards your work. If the person has the confidence in his or her work then they will surely succeed.

We can also connect it with the physiological theory of universal attractions. According to this theory, our mental state and our thoughts have a great impact on our present and future. As the universe attract the energy from us and repels back the same kind of energy. It totally depends on the individual that whether he is generating some positive energy or the negative one. Positive energy will only be generated if the person is full of self- confidence and trust for himself. Negative thoughts will not even touch him and he will surely excel in his field of work. So never try to let yourself down. There is always a second chance. There’s no need to get depressed with the failures. Later on these failures will become to pillars of your success.

But you have to take care that the level of confidence in you should be in your control means always make sure that have not reached upto the scale of overconfidence. As we all know excess of any thing is dangerous, overconfidence could be a reason for your downfall.

So in order to have a satisfactory life, it is crucial to work hard which has no other substitute and develop a certain level of self-confidence in yourself in order to appear with flying color and make your  parents and loved ones feel proud of you.