Six Self Help Tips To Achieve Maximum Success In Life

The every day competition to win over others has developed a kind of self-centric attitude in every individual. But in this race, man has forgotten that he needs to win himself before conquering the world. The more mankind is heading towards modernization, the more it is being entangled with problems. In such circumstances, peace of mind is the only thing that one should aspire for from all his efforts. But, where can you get peace? Is there an easy way out to restore mental calmness, self satisfaction and success in life?

These questions have puzzled many people and prompted them to find their peace of mind in religious options, psychological treatment therapies or alcohols. But, as long as you are not satisfied with your inner self, it is almost impossible for you to get true success in life. And the best way to overcome all your worries and get going with your life is `Self Help`. This is the theory that has transformed inherent personalities of many people and helped them achieve success. The concept has also molded many disappointments into achievements. So, what self help is all about? How it can help you achieve success in your life? Well, the discussed tips are some of guidelines that can help you improve your self-esteem and achieve your objective of life.

1. Have faith in yourself:

Believing in the self is an inspiring and active force of life that can take you to places. Unless you trust yourself, no one else will trust you. Have faith that you have the ability to do something. This `self help` will help you find your ways to overcome many hurdles. When you believe that you have the potential to achieve your goals, you can unleash your strength and give shape to your dreams.

2. Recognize and nurture your strengths:

All of us have a special ability that can make us stand out among others. But, unless you realize that special quality, which is your forte, you can hardly give efforts to improve it. Therefore, instead of brooding over things that you lack in yourself, exercise your strength to make it stronger and more useful for you.

3. Judge yourself, but not based on others` opinion:

Often, people feel disheartened if someone gives negative remarks on them. Try your best to keep yourself away from this feeling. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Be proud of what good qualities you have and judge yourself based what you know about yourself. This is a crucial self help tip that can save you from depression.

4. Prioritize things you love to do:

Spend as much time as possible doing things that you really enjoy. Of course, here I mean doing constructive things that aids to your self-esteem and self development. Often, people excel doing their favorite activities. For instance, you can perform your best when you are in a job that you love to do. This self help will make you feel better and you will come closer to your success.

5. Select your friends group carefully:

People surrounding you make a lot of difference to your life. Often, they affect your lifestyle, thinking and activity. Hence, it is vitally important that you select right kind of people in your circle. They should contribute to your success and vice versa.

6. Positive thoughts attract positive result:

Your thought has a direct impact on your actions and the results you get. Think positive and speak positive thoughts to yourself. Focus your thoughts on things that your desire to achieve. You will find the energy of self help dragging success towards you.

Your achievements of life depend mostly on your efforts. Hence, boost your self-esteem and lead a successful life with the self help tips.

Stress Is Killing You! It's Time For A Change

Stress is found everywhere. Life for people in the modern age is increasingly stressful. Unemployment, gas prices, children, long hours at work...the list goes on and on and on.

Most of us know we are stressed and maybe you do a pretty good job of keeping it under control most of the time. No matter how calm you may appear, simply hiding your stress is not really helping you.

A study published in 2007 by the Semel Institute for Neuroscience, University of California about the relation between psychological stress and immune-related diseases found that elevated stress levels will make you very sick and could eventually kill you.

There are two types of stress that affect your life. Long-term stress is the type of stress that you endure on a daily basis. All of the things that come up in life contribute to your long-term stress. Acute stress is caused by more specific events. Marital strife, public speaking, and accidents all cause acute stress. It has been believed for decades that acute stress didn't really affect us as much as long-term stress. However, in the 2007 study it was discovered that both long-term and acute stress have profound and lasting effects on your immune system and disease.

Chronic stress has been found to cause systemic coronary inflammation. People who have low levels of stress and depression also have a low risk of major cardiac events. Those who have higher stress and depression have significantly higher risk of a major cardiac event. Taking care of the cardiovascular system should be priority #1 for each and every person but sadly it is not. You are more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than any other cause.

Stress can be a significant cause in many types of illness. People who are chronically stressed are much more likely to have heart attacks and strokes. Stressed people have more cancer and other conditions like high blood pressure and severe arthritis.

Stress is one of the main ways to make sure you don't live as long as you should. Controlling the stress in your life should be a high priority if you are on a quest to live a long and healthy life.

So, what are some ways to control the stress? Here are a few tips that help me and I'm sure they can help you.

Tips to beat stress:

1.Slow Down: This is quite possibly my favorite. People who know me know that I am a rather slow person. I am also a very low stress person. It wasn't always this way. I learned long ago that I am in complete control of my life and the pace at which I live it. Ask anyone, I eat slow. I drive slow. I talk slow. I make decisions slow. What's the rush anyway? Why stuff your face so quickly? Why drive so fast and get angry and waste gas? Is it really worth saving two minutes? Don't jump from of thing to another at lightning speed. Very few choices must be made right now. Take your time. Live a little. Don't be so uptight all the time. This one tip will amaze you if you can teach yourself the habit of slowing down.

2.Evaluate and Prioritize: Take time now and then to evaluate what is causing you the most stress. What are the top three reasons you are stressed? Eliminate them. Period. It's not worth wasting your life full of stress and unhappiness. Do you hate your job? Think about the things in your job causing the most stress then start looking for one that doesn't include those negative points. Are you in the career you have always really wanted? Why not? Change it! I know that sounds scary but sometimes you just have to get some courage and go for it. Start going to school and prepare yourself for your real career and start living your real life. Never let any career, relationships or debts hold you down. Simplify. Start selling all your stuff. Get rid of the debt. Learn a new trade. Free up your life!

3.Take time to relax: Everyday just take some time for yourself. Forget the house. Forget the bills and the kids. Forget the boss. How is your life going? Are you getting where you want to be? What are some things you want to do this week? This month? This year? Before you die? Life is not about running the rat race. Life is about living and experiencing. Life is about envisioning what you want and then taking it. Sometimes it seems easier to ignore all these issues. But you can't ignore them. They sit in the back of your mind. Eating away at you like a cancer.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain

5 Crucial Zig Ziglar Quotes Business Owners Should Memorize

Zig Ziglar passed away November 28th, 2012, but his legacy will live on in many books and countless recordings.

I wanted to share 5 of the "cream-of-the-crop" quotes from Zig Ziglar, which all business owners and professionals should have memorized (or tattooed somewhere memorable, if you're in to that). They have helped me shape how I view myself and my own business.

Here they are, and why they're so boss.

1) "If you learn from defeat, you haven't really lost."

It's so easy to get frustrated and give up. Some statistics say that 90% of start-ups fail in their first years. Some of these are due to business factors, but many of them are from succumbing to small defeats. It's become a maxim to learn from your failures, and Zig Ziglar points this out beautifully: anytime you gain experience, you gain. Period.

Of course, sometimes we don't ever get to the point of losing...

2) "If you wait until all the lights are green before you leave home, you'll never get started on your trip to the top."

We like to make sure all of our ducks are in a row, but sometimes that kills us. A "Ready, Fire, Aim" approach may be better than spending so long aiming that you never get to shoot...

3) "Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become successful."

And here, of course, is the reason why it's better to take aim quickly, but then fire and worry after about hitting closer to the mark. We learn though failure because we learn through experiences. Again, so long as you're learning, you win.

4) "The greatest good we can do for others is not just to share our riches with them, but to reveal theirs."

Another way to win is to help others. Like rocks in a tumbler that polish each other, we can help polish others who will in turn polish us, leaving both parties better off than when they met. And that's important, because...

5) "You can have everything in life that you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want."

All that matters in life is helping people. I'm in sales, and at the end of the day, my main goal is just to help my customers do business better. And if I can help them do what they want to do, in the end, I'll get what I want. Again Win/Win.

Summarizing Zig Ziglar's Philosophy In One Sentence...

If I had to summarize Zig Ziglar's philosophy in one sentence, it would be: Always aim for a win/win scenario. That's the thread of all of these quotes, and if you're aiming in a way that means you can't fail, then the sky is the limit!

You Can Turn Your Mistakes, Magically, Into Opportunities

If you are like me, then you are human, and you make mistakes. Mistakes, however, are an opportunity if you seize that opportunity; and by doing just that you can become a master at overcoming your mistakes:

- Take the time to evaluate the mistake and then learn from it. A great way to evaluate is to look at what went right and what didn't.
- Take ownership of what you did that was incorrect or wrong.
- By taking ownership of your responsibility you are able to accept that you made the mistake.
- And finally, you can use your evaluation and learning to better yourself.

When you truly acknowledge and accept your responsibility and role in mistakes can you access the magic or treasure of the mistake.

As an entrepreneur, I am sure, you are more than familiar with mistakes. You probably have made both small mistakes and BIG mistakes along the way. Mistakes may, for some, put them right out of business or scare them out of business.

When you are in business, it is like walking through the jungle. You have to be prepared to be in the jungle and survive. You have to have thick skin, courage, perseverance and more. I bet you have had some customers that were close to totally impossible. Or a competitor that always seemed to be 3 steps ahead of you. If you do any marketing well, then you have made many mistakes. Because marketing success is all about learning from what didn't work.

This is the joy of an entrepreneur: the excitement of learning, the control to make mistakes and the willingness to be courageous and take risks. You persevere and you learn, continuously. Your positive attitude is essential in building a thriving businesses and enduring the lessons that you have to learn along the way.

Mistakes can be spun, magically into new income, new revenue

One way to do this "spinning into money", is to share your experience with others. Other people can benefit from your learning and their tension eases as they realize that they are not alone. You can also create your own coaching program to provide coaching, based on your experience to other businesses. An entrepreneur that is courageous can share their own personal mistakes, pointing out the challenges that they faced and how they overcame them, creates a synergy with other business owners. Suddenly, you are a speaker and coach, and people are following you, because you have risen to the level of expert.

Connect, connect, connect!

As an entrepreneur, you have to connect with other people. Your contacts and connections are vital when you see your sales slowing or if you decide to start a new business venture. Networking is just part of business. It gives you additional venues for sharing your expertise and sharing your advice.

WOW, the customer:

It is critical throughout your business to WOW your customers. "WOW" is all about service delivery, quality and customer service. Maybe you have had a challenging staff person that wasn't especially good at customer service. You know that that is essential for your long-term success. You have to take action with the employee to improve their performance, or change their responsibilities.

It becomes an opportunity to update your customer service policy and to re-train staff. You can also evaluate what can be automated: answering services, Q & A page on your website, automated messages.

Mistakes and challenges make it impossible for you to not look at your business. By taking on the opportunity you are able find the magic of the mistakes. What can you improve? Systems? Process? Policy? Operating a business with a constant process for improving your services, your products and your business, creates a thriving business. Use each mistake to review the process or policy and make the changes you need to, to improve it.

Your magical mistakes can set you apart from the competition. Customers will appreciate that you are constantly making your business work better. Using excuses instead of making magic will stall your business. You won't stand out as a mover and shaker. Of course, we would all like that perfect business model and business operation but the real way to get there is just what we have discussed here. Take mistakes, evaluate them, take out the lessons and improve yourself, your business, your operations, and a s result you will thrive!

Happiness: Can You Say Yes? 11 Practical Steps To Make It Really Happen

Think about it ... every single thing we do is intended to make us happier. And yet sometimes we get diverted and do things that actually move us away from this goal.

We all have the potential for genuine happiness. There is no gene or DNA marker that determines who will be happy and who will not. We make choices throughout our lives, and the result of all these choices combined, determines our level of happiness. Make the right choices and happiness can be yours.

Here are just a sampling of some of the tactics we can employ in an 11-point road map to help guide us toward genuine happiness:

1. Look For The Positive In Everything: There is an old saying that nothing is inherently good or bad--what makes it one or the other, is merely our reaction to it. Find the positive and you will be happier. Those who soar against all odds, do so because they look at the positive that could come out of their situation, how ever bad it may seem to others.

2. Accentuate The Positive: We all grow up with a "positivity imbalance"--the result of society's norms and rules being based on restriction and punishment more than approval and reward. From a young age we are taught what we must not do instead of what we may do. Even in day-to-day life, there is more negative influence that positive. Luckily you can work to improve the balance. Celebrate the positive and work to get more of it. When you achieve something, congratulate yourself! Look for things you find uplifting, that make you happy. Get more of that! At the same time, reduce your exposure to negative input, whether it is the daily news, or people you don't feel good around. You know your buttons...make sure the positive ones are pushed more than the negative.

3. Practice Good Selfishness: When we were young we were taught that putting our interests before those of others is wrong. This is particularly true for women, many of whom sacrifice their dreams and ambitions to help others achieve theirs. It is also common in the corporate world where the good of the company is considered more important than the good of the individual. It is good to help others, yet we should have boundaries to protect ourselves from being manipulated or abused by others. You are important, and if you don't look after yourself physically, emotionally and spiritually, you cannot expect anyone else to do so.

4. Listen To Your Feelings: All feelings are good. Every feeling occurs for a reason: it is delivering a message. Sometimes that message is pleasant, other times not. Our tendency is to distract ourselves from unpleasant feelings, often through smoking, drinking or drugs of one kind or another. When you feel bad, avoid distracting yourself, and identify the reason--there is some need which is not being met.

5. Give Of Yourself: The more you give, the more you receive. There is probably no scientific study proving this to be so, but unconditional giving is hugely rewarding. It seems that the more of yourself you give, the greater the thrill and uplifting effect on your psyche. Help the needy. Give time if you can. Give anonymously!

6. Make It Happen: You have the ability to make things happen using your mind. Top sports stars, and business people use it; so can you. There are many ways of doing this; one of the common methods is to use visualization--getting a picture in your mind of whatever it is that you want to happen. It does not have to be a visual picture; it could be a feeling, a smell, a sound, or any combination of the senses. Imagine finding the perfect parking near the entrance as you arrive at the supermarket or mall ... the sky is the limit, but persevere! We are not used to utilizing this tool, so it takes practice.

7. Accept The Things You Cannot Change: We resist things we don't like, and often expend a tremendous amount of energy on this resistance. Whilst this can be good, and has resulted in tremendous advances through history, we should work to understand those things we cannot change, and then move on. Rather use the saved energy on something more worthwhile and productive. This is not to say that you should complacently accept anything. If you truly desire change, you should work towards that change; but spending time worrying about something without actively working to change it is unproductive and damaging to your well-being.

8. Take Responsibility For Your Choices: Everything that you do, or don't do, is because of choices you make (or don't make). It is easier and convenient to blame outside causes for things that go wrong in life, but your life is the sum of all the choices you make along the way--sadly, sometimes that choice it to let somebody else make a choice on your behalf. If you tend to blame other people or things, it may be scary to take responsibility for what happens in your life, but it is really quite liberating because instead of seeing yourself as an effect of outside forces, you realize you are the cause of everything good you achieve. Don't abdicate responsibility for your life.

9. Schedule Regular "Self Time": Spend some time analyzing where you are in life, your strengths and weaknesses. How can you turn the latter into the former? Think about your views on everything from your job to global warming and the existence of aliens--then work out why you feel the way you do. Is your reasoning sound? The better you understand yourself, the better you understand the world.

10. Make Time To Meditate: We spend almost all our time thinking of the past or planning for the future. We seldom spend time in the present. It has reached a point where, for most of us, it seems impossible to keep our focus on what is happening right now. Your meditation could be formal meditation or prayer, but it could be as simple as merely focusing on each breath as it goes in and out for five or ten minutes, dismissing past and future thoughts as they arise--and they will!

11. Remove Your Limitations: When we fail, usually the reason is simply because we don't believe we are able or worthy of whatever it is that we fail to achieve. Most often, this belief is actually false; the result of negative programming received since childhood. The truth is that most of us are able to do most of what we really want to do ... you just have to believe. The best way to start is with small things, working your way up as you notice the limits dissolving.

The more successful you are at assimilating the concepts and processes described in these eleven points into your life, the more genuinely happy you will be, and the happiness will last!

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Happiness Drivers - Three Key Findings to What Makes People Happy

Contrary to what advertisers would have us believe, what makes people happy does not come from getting more things, perennial youth, extra income or drinking a certain brand of beer. According to massive research done in the new field of positive psychology, authentic happiness (the kind that doesn't fade or change with circumstances) comes from within ourselves in the forms of self-esteem, social interactions, humor, free time and giving ourselves in service work or volunteering. These "drivers of happiness" are inherent qualities within our psyches and can be developed to produce tangible results; not only of greater happiness but also the trickle-down benefits of greater productivity, longevity, health and personal fulfillment in remarkably short periods of time. Happiness doesn't arrive by adding more possessions or events to our lives, rather it's the product of our mindset; it's the meaning we give events, what we choose to focus on, what beliefs we choose to embrace, how we react to daily challenges all play significant roles in determining our base level of happiness. Everything we need to increase our happiness is readily available to us - there is no need to "get" anything more to be happy now.

The science of happiness is now providing us with volumes of outstanding empirical data that supports the outlook of the mystics, sages and saints of the ages - that happiness comes first, and having the mindset and experiences of happiness is what creates the conditions that will attract the external "things" we want and think will make us happy. It's not the other way around.

Most of us are in the habit of delaying our happiness, thinking that when we have the ideal partner, income, physique etc., then we'll be happy... at the same time, we mistakenly assume that the state of happiness is a luxury item and not a necessity. As an example, when under the stress of time constraints at work or school, one of our first reactions is to jettison time spent with family and friends and to hunker down in isolation to get the job done - a reaction that would seem to increase available time and attention to spend on the problem before us. In fact, this reaction contributes to feelings of being alone, isolated and helpless; we become unhappy and stressed out and because we've removed ourselves from one of our most substantial happiness boosters, our social support group, we greatly diminish our problem solving abilities. Not the happy solution we would like!

Three key findings in the science of happiness as defined by Dr. Dan Gilbert of This Emotional Life are:

a) We can't be happy alone
b) We can't be happy all the time, and
c) We can be happier than we currently are

With these findings, we can now embrace new habits that will help us thrive and experience greater happiness by fostering 1) a greater social support network 2) developing greater acceptance and fewer rules about how life should be 3) deciding that our happiness gets top priority! Here are a few ideas to help with developing these new habits:

1) If we can't be happy alone, then we simply must be the one to take the initiative in nurturing new and existing relationships - you can't wait for people to come to you. Our personal and professional lives give us ample opportunity to sincerely connect with others on a common ground - we all want greater happiness. On a daily basis, take a moment to appreciate what others do for you and let them know; a simple thank you, an email or phone call to say "Thanks, I like what you do, how you make me feel, the results you produce..." is always appreciated! If you're too shy to initiate an exchange, join a support group and meet new people there. Volunteering and service work are outstanding means to make new contacts, and it also gets us out of our own stuff.

2) We can't be happy all the time does not mean we have to suffer when we're not happy. When things happen that aren't to our liking, instead of wasting time and energy struggling with internal dialogues about how things "should" be or the "right" way for someone to behave, let go of the mental efforts to try to fit the world to suit your opinions. You can't change the past. And if you aren't happy now, what makes you qualified to tell others how to live? Start to challenge your beliefs about how things "should" be; are these really your beliefs or hand-me-downs from childhood? Give some attention to the assumptions and rules your life operates under - write them out and if they're outdated (as most will be), get rid of them and develop new ideas, beliefs and habits to better suit who you are today and where you want to be tomorrow.

3) We can be happier than we currently are is wonderful news! Our brains remain plastic as we age and we can learn new tricks, develop new habits and stimulate new neural synapses to increase our daily happiness. Of course, no one is going to do this for us, we must do the work ourselves - and our personal happiness has to start getting a higher ranking on our priority lists. A simple way to do this is by becoming more aware of how much we already have to be grateful for; every night journal about three new things you feel grateful for and why you're grateful for them. By writing out the "why" you'll connect to your motivating emotions and as you get juiced up about how these things make you feel, you'll naturally increase your personal resonance levels; like attracts like. The better you feel, the more you'll focus on what makes you feel good, and an increase in what makes you feel good will be the end result.

Learning to increase our happiness levels requires the same commitment, vision and dedication to repetition as developing any skill - make practicing these new habits easier by reducing your resistance. As you prepare for bed, set your intentions for tomorrow and get clear on what actions you'll take on these three key findings into what makes people happy; be specific on how you intend to expand your social support network, to release beliefs and conditions that unnecessarily restrict you and to develop an attitude of gratitude. Write out your happiness goals and review them often, and remember that the greatest return on happiness is received when we help others to be happier in life.

Four Straightforward Speed Reading Exercises That Will Boost Your Reading Speed

Doing speed reading exercises frequently is the sole approach you'll increase your word-per-minute rate and improve your overall reading speed. There are a selection of paid courses that give these exercises, but these are expensive and will price up to 100 dollars. However who says you have ought to pay to attempt to to speed reading exercises? You'll be able to improve your reading speed by doing these speed reading exercises on your own - and they won't cost you a penny! 

The Hand Technique

For these speed reading exercises, you will would like a text that is simple to read. Together with your finger, trace the house beneath the words as you browse them. The thought behind this exercise is to help you change to various reading speeds by using your finger as a pacer. Start out together along with your regular reading speed and slowly increase the pace of your finger as the days go by. In just 2 weeks, you will notice a rise in your reading speed.

The Sweep Reading Technique

One amongst the foremost important exercises is the sweep reading technique. The trick is to be in a position to work out a large chunk of words at one look, and additionally the sweep reading technique can teach you how. Simply just like the hand technique, you may wish to use your finger as a result of the pointer. But instead of tracing the house beneath the word, you have got to do a faster, downward sweeping motion at the center of the text. This technique will train you to browse words by large chunks rather than one word at a time. 

The Card Technique

One of the most important pitfalls of students is that they cling on to the dangerous habit of back skipping, or wanting back at words they solely scan but didn't comprehend. The exercises like the card technique are designed to increase your reading speed and your reading comprehension, whereas eliminating the unhealthy habit of back-skipping. For this you will would love a taking part in card or another piece of paper. Use the cardboard or paper to cover each line of text you merely finished reading. As you perform these speed reading exercises, attempt to browse as quickly as you can, however not too quick on neglect comprehending the text.

The Zigzag Technique 

The zigzag technique is additionally among the most vital speed reading exercises that you must apply regularly. Once we have a tendency to were young, we were taught to read from left to right and to create bound we tend to never skip a word. This is fine, however it additionally slows down our reading as a results of finish up lingering too long on details that have already been explained. Zigzag speed reading exercises will teach you to browse in an exceedingly zigzag pattern thus you will be able to simply scan and decide out the foremost important points of the text.

Bear in mind that speed reading exercises ought to be practiced everyday so as for you to receive the enhancements they promise. When you're doing your speed reading exercises, situate yourself in an exceedingly snug place free from distractions and noise. Build certain you decide on a text that's straightforward to scan; otherwise, your speed reading exercises will solely finish up frustrating you.

Five Benefits of a Personal Development Plan

How a person spends his time says a lot about the type of person he is. Regardless of who you are or what you do, you will have access to exactly 24 hours. Some people choose to spend it on physical activities that improve their bodies. Others choose to spend it answering crossword puzzles or reading novels. A number of people spend most of it developing their finances. With only a limited amount of time, it can become hard to maintain a balanced lifestyle that caters to all your individual needs. Even if all your time is devoted towards self improvement, it can become a hassle to keep track of which aspect of the self you should improve next. If you're having such trouble, now might be a good time to engineer a personal development plan that can properly cover all the bases. Here are five great benefits of planning your personal development.

1. A Stable Financial Situation
The key concept in a personal development plan is balance. It doesn't seek to develop each area of your life at the same time. There are going to be times when you might need to prioritize one aspect of your life over another. If you have an excellent social life, but a floundering financial situation, a personal plan might be a great way to help you realize this. Self improvement extends beyond improving your body through diet and exercise. It's also about making sure that you're financially stable. It's quite common to include a financial plan into a development plan. Your financial status, after all, is part of your personal identity.

2. Great Physical Health
People who have workout schedules make faster progress than those who don't. A knowledgeable gym member would work out different muscle groups each day to make sure that his muscles develop at the same pace. A personal development plan performs a similar function. But instead of just keeping track of which muscle group to work out, you can use a personal plan to set goals, schedule activities and track your progress. With such an organized system, your self improvement efforts will surely be enhanced.

3. Sufficient Rest
According to studies, people who get less than 6 hours of sleep each night don't perform as well academically or professionally. On average, how many hours of sleep do you get each night? Not having enough sleep, is not just a time management problem. For the most part, staying up late is a bad habit. This unhealthy sleeping pattern has developed over several evenings of staying up late and pushing the limits of your body. If you want to achieve self improvement, make sure that you get sufficient rest. This can't be done overnight, but you can use your personal development plan to slowly reprogram your biological clock towards healthy sleeping habits.

4. Peace of Mind
Every person has to deal with stress and anxiety. Unfortunately, not everyone is emotionally or mentally equipped to be able to resolve such issues with ease. Sometimes these negative emotions trouble a person so much that it affects his quality of life. Self improvement is also about resolving such issues. Having a personal development plan may not solve these issues entirely, but such a plan forces you to confront these issues and take the first steps towards healing.

5. Opportunities for Romance
Hollywood may have given you the impression that love comes to those who wait. But the reason why romantic movies are so popular is because it feeds a fantasy. Unfortunately, events depicted in movies are too good to be true. You need to devote some type of effort to find the love of your life. If this area of your life is lacking, there is nothing wrong about wanting to develop it. There are self improvement methods devoted to this area of your life. Learn how to be a better conversationalist. Overcome your fear of rejection. Get some fashion tips. Simplify and summarize all these goals with a personal development plan.

These benefits may not be as obvious to you when you start your self improvement process. However, as time passes you'll slowly realize how much your personal development plan has increased your quality of life. In any case, the process itself is beneficial because it encourages you to step back and take a good look at your own life. It reminds you of what you could miss out on when you're too focused on only a single aspect of your life. The more you know about your current situation, the more likely you are to improve upon it.

A Step By Step Guide To Personal Development

Humans can change their life by changing their attitude. Personal development is a process that helps gain more control over thoughts and mind. The process need to be well thought and organized to be triumphant. This article will serve as a guide to fully completing and planning your venture for improvement. According to experts, thoughts and mind can be controlled through personal improvement. It helps modify and reprogram our minds to serve our requirements. Importantly, it makes our mind very capable and flexible. It actively changes our brain structure by reprogramming and conditioning our mind in better ways.

The initial step to personal development is self evaluation. Take into consideration all the weaknesses and strengths. In this way, ensure to be totally honest and unbiased. Bear in mind that this will serve as the base for the complete process. Thus make certain that the outcomes are true and accurate. Ask for opinions from those who are very close to you. It is because we do not notice every part about ourselves. It may be noticeable from other person's point of view. The second step is to determine. Yes, determine weakness and strengths that you want to develop. It is important to prioritize the needs.

Now after formulating a strategy or plan to improve self, strategize it. As you are already aware of what aspects you want to develop about yourself, plan particular interventions and state the goals clearly. Evaluate your goals at the end of the complete process. Nevertheless, the key step to personal development is 'putting into action'. This is the trickiest part. It is because you have already done with the planning and this is the phase to put that into actions. Keep in mind, this is the trickiest part so do not give yourself chance to commit errors.

Even a small error may increase the chances of being unsuccessful. The final step is appraisal. In this stage, goals that need to be met are verified. Do not let it upset you. In such case, retrace the taken steps. In case of being unsuccessful, reformulate the plan and go through the complete process repeatedly to achieve success in personal development. Nevertheless, following these steps will assist you in attaining your aim to attain the quest in personal improvement. Keep in mind, the way of self improvement is personal. As a result, make your own technique to develop self with these significant steps.

Each one has their own approach. These steps are more of a guide that one can make use of. Also, keep yourself motivated. Put your imagination power in practice. Many studies have revealed that imagining oneself taking an action is a best way to motivate oneself to take the step in near future. So visualize methods regularly to reprogram behaviors and thoughts. One of the excellent examples is professionals rehearsing mentally prior to a match or game. In this stage of personal development, stop blaming self. This is the most common trap and we happen to programmed to move blame to outside factors.

Need Creative Solutions? Need New Ideas? Get Out and Move

Here's an all-too-common problem: You are stumped for a solution to a problem. You need new ideas and you need to turn on your creative mind.

Next time you find yourself in this situation, try this method for coming up with new ideas:

1. Write out a list of open-ended questions that describe the problem you are trying to solve. The more thoroughly you write about the problem in the form of questions, the better your answers will be.
2. Next get outside and take a walk. Really you can be flexible here, you can also go hiking, running or hop on a bike. The main two ingredients you are looking for are fresh air and exercise.
3. Often your ideas will come to you while you are walking and you will hardly be able to wait until you can get back to write down your new ideas.
4. At other times, it will seem as if your solutions are just on the edge of your mind, but not yet clearly in focus yet. When this happens, come home and start doing some non-stop writing in a journal you keep. This means you write down everything that comes to mind and you don't stop writing until you have written for ten minutes (a kitchen timer is a great tool for this).
5. If you came up with your new idea when you wrote, then run with it. Otherwise, simply review what you've written, also review the list of questions you wrote before you took your walk, and highlight a few segments that seem almost on target. Then if need be, write again for another ten minutes.

Almost inevitably, your solutions and ideas will have come to you before you get to this stage. On the off chance that you still have little to show for your efforts, get with someone else and do some brainstorming.

Ideas need time to grow, but the change between sitting at a desk "thinking" and getting out and moving your body is an idea generator that you should find works at least 90% of the time. When you add the non-stop writing exercise, you are bordering on a sure thing.

NLP in Action - How To Create Super Motivation (Part Six)

By now I REALLY hope you are getting excited about the NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) techniques we have discussed in the first five articles of this series. This is truly powerful information that can help you create instant motivation to do any task or activity, no matter how badly you avoided it in the past.

To summarize, so we have learned how to transfer the positive, pleasurable emotions and feelings we have from one experience, and link it to another task or activity, which we have previously avoided or put off doing.

In most cases, this technique works very effectively and the links are created in less than half an hour. But occasionally, the target activity represents so much unpleasantness or pain in the mind of the individual, that massive amounts of pleasure must be associated with the pleasant experience in order to create the proper trigger.

So where do we find this massive pleasure? Sometimes, for whatever reason, a person I am working with, simply cannot call to mind an experience pleasurable enough to meet the need. When this happens, I usually use a method called "stacking."

Before I can explain stacking, let's recap how the NLP technique of creating triggers works:

1. Create a visual image of yourself doing the target behavior that you normally avoid doing. Along with this visualization, create a trigger to associate with this action by doing something like pinching your right earlobe. Do this for a few minutes until you firmly associate pinching your right earlobe with this visual image of yourself studying.
2. Now visualize yourself doing the thing you enjoy doing or an experience you have found intensely pleasurable. As you hold this image in your mind, create a second trigger by doing something like pinching your left earlobe. Do this for a few moments until pinching your left earlobe causes you to feel the pleasure you normally associate with this pleasurable activity or experience.
3. Merge these two visual images together by pinching both earlobes at the same time. Allow the two images of your pleasurable activity and the activity you avoid to flash back and forth until they create a single impression. At this point, if the pleasurable image is sufficiently pleasurable, pinching both earlobes should create a pleasant feeling when you think about doing the task you formerly avoided.

So now we are back to our question of what to do if the pleasurable image is not sufficient to offset the unpleasant one? The answer is "stacking."

All that is needed is for you to pull more than one pleasurable experience from your memories and add them, one after the other, using the same trigger (we've been using the example of pinching your left earlobe, but it really can be any physical stimuli). Keep pinching your left earlobe (or whatever stimuli) with each pleasurable experience you visualize and they will soon stack up to create a stronger pleasure response than the negative associations you now have with the task you are avoiding.

Remember to use the same stimuli each time so that when you pinch your left earlobe, ALL of the pleasurable experiences flood your brain with associations at the same time. What will then happen is that you will be able to merge all of these experiences with the target activity you have been avoiding in the past, and you will be more than able to offset the negativity of that activity or task.

There is still much more to learn about establishing NLP motivational triggers. I hope you are now realizing how powerful these methods are and how they can help you to create instant motivation for yourself to do anything. Until you read the next article in this series, I hope you will give thought to what this technique alone can do to transform your life.

See you next time.

NLP in Action - How To Create Super Motivation (Part Five)

Instant motivation is a reality. As we have seen in the previous four articles in this series, the science of NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) can offer you ways to link a task or activity you do not like to do (and thus put off or avoid doing whenever you can) to an activity you find intensely pleasurable. This linking actually enables you to experience much of the same pleasure when you are doing the thing you previously avoided doing.

Once this link is made, your biggest problem will be getting yourself to stop doing this once-dreaded activity.

In our previous articles, we have imagined that you are a college student with real issues getting yourself to study. At the same time we have imagined that you are obsessed with skiing. Every year you cannot wait for winter to come and the first snow to fall so you can get on the slopes.

In our example, we have shown how you can create triggers to transfer some of that same pleasure you get from skiing to help you enjoy studying more.

In many cases this NLP technique of creating triggers works just this easily and you can complete the process, and create the motivating links, in less than a half hour.

But what if you cannot recall anything you enjoy as much as our imaginary student enjoys skiing? Remember, the key principle for this technique to work is to link more pleasure to this target activity than you previously found pain in it.

Let me put this another way. Whenever you find yourself avoiding or putting off a task or activity, the reason you are avoiding it is because you associate something unpleasant or "painful" with this activity.

In order to conquer this avoidance behavior, you must create a link in which the pleasure from another experience surpasses the pain or unpleasantness of the activity you have been avoiding.

Many of us, unfortunately, either cannot call to mind an activity that gives us this much pleasure, or else our ability to visualize is limited to the point that we cannot re-create the sensations of pleasure when we attempt to hold this thing in our minds.

Fortunately, NLP researchers have identified three ways to overcome this problem, all of which we will discuss in greater detail in future articles of this series:

1. The first technique is called "stacking." This simply means that if one single pleasurable element is not strong enough to offset the pain of the avoided activity, we use several pleasurable elements and "stack" them until they combine to provide enough pleasure that we can link to counteract the avoided behavior.
2. The second technique is multi-sensory visualization. When someone cannot create a visual image that is pleasurable to suit our purposes, often the reason is that the visualization is flat and dull. It is as if the person can only visualize in black and white, with no sound, smell or feel. But with a few simple instructions, most people can be taught to use more senses (colors, sound, smell, feel, etc.) when they visualize, creating a more substantial emotional impact as a result.
3. The last technique is hypnosis. Almost anyone has a great wealth of pleasurable experiences stored in their brains that can be used to offset almost any unpleasant association. The problem many people have is with their recall. Fortunately, a few simple instructions in self- hypnosis is usually enough to help these people access these pleasurable experiences.

In actuality, this problem of finding pleasurable experiences powerful enough to offset the discomfort associated with the target behaviors is a very easy one to solve. In the next several articles, we will discuss how it is done.

NLP in Action - How To Create Super Motivation (Part Four)

Are you getting excited yet?

If you've read the first three articles in this series, you are probably beginning to realize how easy it can be to create super motivation to get yourself to do anything, regardless of how much you have avoided doing this thing, how much you tend to procrastinate doing it, how much you internally resist doing this activity or behavior.

In the first three articles, we have talked about how to create links between the activity you wish to get yourself to do (the target) and something you already derive a great deal of pleasure from.

We've been using a hypothetical example of imaging you are a college student who has a great deal of difficulty getting yourself to study. At the same time, you also LIVE to ski. You cannot wait for winter to come and the snow to start falling, because when it does, you head for the ski slopes and stay until the last snowflake melts.

We have then used the NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) technique of creating triggers for your studying and for skiing. In the example given in the article 3, you pinched one earlobe when you visualized yourself studying and the other earlobe when you visualized yourself skiing. By pinching both earlobes at once, you were able to create the same pleasurable sensations you feel when you ski, when you study.

Obviously there is some fine-tuning to be done before you can master this technique completely, but you now have all the basics.

But before we go any further, let's add one more final step.

You still have to reinforce the triggers you have created. You do this by pinching both earlobes simultaneously. When you do this, both the image of you studying and the image of skiing will flash back and forth for a while. Practice this step for a while and practice it every day for several weeks. Your goal here is to link studying so deeply with the same pleasurable sensations of skiing that whenever you pinch both earlobes at the same time, you cannot help yourself from studying.

Before long, your biggest problem will be stopping when they start to close the library on you. (I am of course only using the college student and skier examples as working analogies for this article, but the technique will work for you regardless of what type of behavior you are trying to create motivation for you to do).

Also, please note that all the examples we have used so far have been about creating motivation for behaviors you want to do, or want to stop procrastinating on. There are different methods to be used for behaviors you want to stop, which we will discuss in future articles in this series.

But what if you cannot think of something you enjoy doing as much as our hypothetical college student enjoys skiing? Remember, the pleasure that you are drawing from ( ie the skiing) must be greater than whatever pain you perceive is in the target activity you want to motivate yourself for (ie the studying).

In other words, if our college student didn't derive greater pleasure from skiing than the "pain" he or she perceived was associated with studying, this whole exercise would not have worked. Fortunately, NLP practitioners and researchers have discovered a technique called "stacking" which solves this problem.

We will discuss how stacking works and how you can use it in a future article.