“Progress equals happiness.” – Tony Robbins

If there is one thing that nearly guarantees success in life, it is this: progress. No matter whether it is in your business, your marriage, health, or your finances, if you just make a little bit of progress towards your goals every day, you feel like you´re on fire. Your energy and passion increase, your happiness skyrockets, and you wake up every day like you are on a mission. You feel the energy and excitement that comes from chasing your vision of a better future and can´t wait to wake up again when you go to bed each night because you are so eager to create something new.

If you haven´t felt like this lately, it is time to supercharge your days with these 10 awesome strategies to becoming better every single day!

Wake up early to work on yourself

As Henry Beecher said, “the first hour of the morning is the rudder of the day.” I believe this to be absolutely true. How you start each day is likely how you end it. If you roll over five more minutes after your alarm goes off, watch TV while having an unhealthy breakfast, and then need to hurry to get to work on time, those are all habits that ruin your day before it even starts. They take away your energy, enthusiasm, and self-discipline, leading to nothing more than mediocrity.

But what if, instead, you started out your day succeeding? You wake up early, go for a morning run or walk, feel the gratitude for being alive, and read a book on your chosen profession while having a nutritious breakfast. While everyone else is still sleeping or at least half asleep, you are up, rocking the day and becoming a better you.

Think of the countless hours most people spend commuting to and from work each week. Instead of listening to the radio, why not increase your skills by listening to audiotapes? Simply by doing this, you can become an authority in your field in just a few years. Do you think that kind of morning routine would change the way you think and act throughout the day and therefore your results in all areas of your life? You bet!

See Also: Do These 5 Things To Wake Up Energized (And Productive) Every Day

Rewrite your goals every day

There are few things as powerful in getting you focused and enthusiastic about your vision for your life as rewriting your goals every day. Way too many people go through life, without any idea on why they are actually doing what they are doing. They are like the ship without a rudder, drifting aimlessly through life.

And even if they have set goals at some point in their lives, it is all too easy to forget about them, isn´t it? Do you even remember this years New Year´s resolutions or all the goals you set in your life at any other point? If not, how on earth do you want to achieve them?

Rewriting your goals every day is powerful because it zeroes you in on what you want out of life and how to get there. Greatness in anything requires an utterly obsessive focus on what you want and what you need to do every single day to make your dreams come true. A million dollar dream doesn´t happen overnight, and it will surely not happen without the necessary focus and determination to do whatever it takes to be successful.

Rewrite your most important goals every day, and when you do so, recommit to paying the price for their attainment. Anything you want comes at a cost of energy, pain, effort, and time. Commit to paying this price every day, and you will find yourself seeking out new challenges and following through rather than giving up.

Plan every day in advance

After rewriting your goals and committing to their accomplishment, the next step is to plan your day in advance before you get caught up in your work. If you want to accomplish greatly, it is absolutely essential that you focus on your non-negotiables – those tasks that would create the most value and that can only be done by you.

In nearly any job, there are only a few such key activities that create the most results. Your job is to find them and then pursue them rigorously until they are finished. Only in this way can you ensure that you get the most value out of your time. Once your high-priority tasks are finished, you can go on to less important tasks. Things that determine your success and failure must never be at the mercy of things that barely make a difference.

Focus on one thing at a time

In his great book Deep Work, Cal Newport makes the case that any time we interrupt out workflow by doing unrelated things, we lose enormous amounts of time. Not only does it take time to pick up another task and then come back to the first one, but we also lose focus and take a while to get into a productive state. By doing this, we jeopardize both the quality of our work and the time it takes to get it done. To avoid this, start the task you deemed most important in step 3 every morning and focus on it until you are finished.

See Also: 3 Tips for Being More Focused and Staying That Way

What gets measured gets done

The easiest way to make sure you are on the right track is to measure your progress. How many miles are you running? How many calls are you making, and how many products are you selling? How many hours do you spend working on yourself? Only when you see in black and white what you are actually doing or not doing are you able to track your progress and become better.

If your goal was to run 20 miles this week or to make 40 sales calls but the numbers don´t add up, you know there is something wrong. Now you have two choices: Admit to yourself that you are not doing what it takes to succeed and recommit or throw in the towel and quit. The choice should be obvious.

In either case, tracking your progress raises your awareness. You can´t lie to yourself anymore, saying you did enough when actually you didn´t. It´s all there in black and white for everyone to see. A great way to hold yourself accountable is to have other people check your progress. Whether that is your boss or your wife, find someone to hold you accountable and call you out if you are not doing what you said you would do.

The two magical questions

After each sales call, presentation, or any other significant performance, ask yourself these two questions: What did I do right? And what can I do better next time? Doing this allows you to be your own coach. Find out what you are great at and what you need to improve.

After a while, patterns should become obvious. For example, do you always lose your sales on a specific step? By something you say? Find your weaknesses and then systematically eliminate them. Always look for ways to improve and become better. Doing this alone could completely change the direction of your career.

Which one skill, if developed, would change your life/career the most?

No matter how great you are at what you do, there is always something you need to work on. If you can´t find anything, you should probably check again! The problem with our weaknesses is that we often like to avoid them. It´s like the student that has some bad grades in math and then decides that it´s not for him or her – and stops trying altogether. The problem with that is, ignorance doesn´t excuse failure. After all, just because you don´t like math doesn´t mean that it won´t show up as an F on your report.

The same goes for anything. Just because you are in terrible shape doesn´t mean you can forget about your health completely. In fact, it should be even more reason to double down and change your diet and workout routine! But sadly, that´s not what most people do. Instead of addressing their weaknesses, they tend to ignore them until it´s too late.

The good thing is, by addressing your weaknesses systematically, you can set yourself apart from the masses and constantly upgrade your skills. Ask yourself, which one skill, if developed, would change my life/career the most? Which one skill am I missing that is preventing me from further success right now? Asking these questions and then working on solutions may be hard work sometimes, but will surely pay off in an increased ability and therefore higher income in the long run!

Count your wins and losses

Every night before going to bed, I review my day. Where have I succeeded, where have I failed? What could I have done better? And how can I apply that tomorrow? What is the biggest lesson I have learned today?

Looking back and counting my wins and losses every day has become one of the most important rituals I have. It helps me learn more about myself and enables me to improve every day. I can only recommend reviewing every day to work on your skills and learn from your mistakes. Doing this, together with the techniques outlined before, can drastically change the course of your career and speed up your climb on the ladder of success!

 

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Staying motivated is one of the most difficult things for entrepreneurs. It is the lack of motivation that causes many entrepreneurs to quit.

Below are some tips on how some of the world’s successful entrepreneurs stayed motivated despite the ups and downs in the business.

Joe Martin, President of Merchandize Liquidators, LLC

Joe Martin, an Israeli-born, founded Merchandize Liquidators while pursuing a Business Administration degree at Florida International University. Hardworking and persistent to finish college, he opened Merchandise Liquidators to pay his way through college. Although faced with different challenges during the start of his business such as time and money for capital, it didn’t stop him from reaching his goal.

He was an international student during that period, which means he had to stay as a full-time student for legal reasons. The main issue he faced regarding his business was to convince major chain stores that he could get their closeouts on a consistent basis regardless of the lack of capital to buy goods and space to place it.

According to Joe Martin, socializing with the most successful people is the key to staying motivated. He says that when you socialize with people who are at a higher level of success than you, you get a mental push that will help you break the barriers that are stopping you from making millions.

See Also: 7 Power Habits of Great Leaders, Business Icons and Inspirational Achievers

Chase Jarvis, CEO at CreativeLive

Chase Jarvis, along with Craig Swanson, founded CreativeLive. Chase, a leader and a renowned creative himself, dedicated his company to providing an online space for visionary instructors to connect with creative professionals. He was not just the present CEO at CeativeLive, but also a director, an award winning photographer, and media maven. Furthermore, he created campaigns for Starbucks, RedBull, Nike, Apple, and other companies. He is also known for creating Best Camera, the world’s first photo application that lets the user share images to social networks.

Chase Jarvis first took the spotlight when he became the world’s best photographer at a young age. He went ahead to create CreativeLive which is the world’s biggest live-streaming education company.

Chase says that much of his success and motivation was from following his passions. He says that you should go after something that is dear to you and not random market opportunities. If you go for random opportunities, you will only be doing it for the dollars and thus you will not have the passion to stay with it.

Juanita Hines, Regional Consulting

Juanita Hines, passionate about helping people succeed, founded Regional Consulting. Because of her ability to help craft perfect resumes for her clients, she was known to be the “Resume Whisperer.” Her passion for helping has led her to start her company dedicated to professional empowerment by providing interview coaching and training in communities where no such opportunities were previously available.

Juanita also does a lot of speaking engagements at youth camps and schools. She also works with other non-profit organizations in encouraging students to start planning for their futures and assist professionals with insights on how to heighten their careers.

Juanita says that you should surround yourself with people who are striving to pursue their own success. This will encourage you to succeed in your own life as well.

See Also: 5 Women Entrepreneurs Who Failed Before Becoming Millionaires 

Tim Ferriss, best-selling author and CreativeLive instructor

Tim Ferriss, considered as one of “Most Innovative Business People, is also an author. He wrote “The 4-Hour Workweek, the 4-Hour Body, and the 4-Hour Chef”, considered as Wall Street Journal and #1 New York Times bestsellers. Furthermore, he is an investor and consultant in Twitter, Facebook, Shopify, Uber, Duolingo and much more. His podcast was also recognized as the “Best of 2015” by Apple and the #1 business podcast on iTunes.

Tim’s key to success and staying motivated is to choose your friends wisely. He says that the best advice he ever received and still keeps him going is that you become an average of the 5 people who you associate with most.

Will Curran, President of Endless Entertainment

Will Curran, who was only 17 during that time, started his interest in DJing. He found a need missing in the entertaining industry and went head-first into satisfying such need.

Due to his passion for putting on events, each mistake he made became building blocks to grow his company further. One of his discoveries during the journey towards his goal was how customers would start coming to him if he provided excellent customer service after which everything would fall into place.

Will says that you succeed by fighting the small battles. He says he finds joy in overcoming obstacles and celebrating even small wins. He rewards himself after all the jobs are well done. According to Will, you can get overwhelmed if you focus too much on the bigger picture.

Justin Palmer, Founder & CEO of MedSaverCard

Justin gets his motivation by thinking about his future freedom. He says that entrepreneurship requires a lot of hard work but if you concentrate on your business now, it will give you the freedom and resources for the years to come.

 

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Have you ever tried to define the comfort zone? It’s that place that you don’t like, but you’re afraid to change. You know you’re supposed to do greater things. You want to be more successful. You want to learn more. You need to make a change. Still, the comfort zone is like a disease that kills your ability to make that change. It frightens you with the assumption: “What if I fail?”

Why is this state of inactivity called a comfort zone? Why does it make you comfortable where you are, even though you’re not happy with your accomplishments? You feel comfortable because you know nothing unexpected can happen. You have a vision of how your day, week and year are going to end.

Sooner or later, we all get the call to action. Something inside is telling us that we were not born to be comfortable. We were made for challenges – both on a personal and professional level. At that point, you have two options:

• Honor the call and step out of that box, or
• Keep convincing yourself that you’re perfectly well as you are.

What are you going to do (or not do)? I challenge you to make a change. Do you want to be something more than mediocre in this lifetime? If that’s the case, I invite you to keep reading. Together, we’re going to make an effort to get out of the comfort that’s slowly killing us inside.

Long-Term Comfort Zone = Dead Personal Growth

After reading a few biographies of successful people, here’s the conclusion I came down to: They never stop learning. In order to bring a change in this world, one has to possess powerful beliefs, creativity, the will to learn, and the courage to take action.

Successful people turn learning into a habit. They perceive life as a journey towards growth, which they achieve through knowledge and personal progress.

How do they turn that philosophy of life into practice? They always take action. They consistently step out of their comfort zone. They expand their mental and physical boundaries and they keep making their lives better.

Sometimes they fail. Failure is part of the journey, and it’s not devastating as long as it doesn’t push you into a comfort zone. As long as you keep trying, you’ll go towards improvement.

See Also: 7 Power Habits of Great Leaders, Business Icons and Inspirational Achievers

Comfortable? It’s Fake Comfort!

Maybe the decision to stay away from change keeps anxiety at bay. However, this feeling of comfort is fake. Do you know how it feels when you blame yourself for something you haven’t done? At one point, you look back and you realize: “If I did what I was supposed to do back then, my entire life would be different now.” Each decision leads to a chain action that has consequences on your future. When you don’t assume responsibility for your future, that doesn’t mean you’re not affecting it.

Assuming responsibility for your own life means taking responsibility for your beliefs, actions, and thoughts. You can’t control all factors and you can’t completely direct the outcome of your actions. However, when you take full responsibility for everything you do and the consequences that follow, you are stepping out of that zone on the path towards accomplishment.

People who are deeply chained in the state of comfort find different ways to put the blame on someone else. God, karma, bad luck, and mostly – other people. They always find ways to justify their inactivity and blame someone else.

That’s what’s comfortable in this zone: the thought that it’s not your fault and there was nothing you could do. If you find yourself somewhere in that description, it’s time for a realization: You ARE responsible for what happens to your life.

It’s about time you start being responsible for your own actions.

Without Risk and Challenges, there’s No Great Accomplishment

Do you know why you keep hearing about the success of Bill Gates, Richard Branson and other great leaders? They constantly do something that gets them in the headlines. That’s because they can’t afford to stay in a comfort zone. Clint Eastwood started off as an actor, but he didn’t stop there. He felt like acting in a film or two to earn money for a good life wasn’t enough. That’s why he keeps challenging himself: the thought of staying in the comfort zone of peaceful retirement would destroy the chances for any other great accomplishments.

Famous people are not lucky. They are persistent. They did something to deserve other people’s respect. They did that because they were brave enough to take risks and set huge personal and professional challenges.

See Also: 9 Powerful Lessons from the Success Story of Bill Gates 

You’ll Find Your Motivation as Soon as You Step Out of That Zone

Our lives are fueled by action. When you have a lousy day, think: did you do something to improve it? Stepping out of your comfort zone is enough to find inner motivation. Start exercising or read a challenging book. Sign up for an online course. Start looking at job ads. Do something!

If you’re willing to be active throughout your life, you will find the inner drive that keeps you going. We live in a time when doing anything is easy. You can find any information and start learning about the things you’re interested in. You can book a plane ticket and go see the Northern Lights in person. In other words – you can start searching for happiness instead of waiting for it to hit you (which won’t happen, anyway).

How exactly can you step out of that comfort zone? It’s all about the mindset. When you believe you can do something, you’ll find the strength to do it. Once you realize that all your actions form your future, there’s no other choice: you have to do something in favor of your happiness.

Comfort is bad. It keeps you inactive and unwilling. Challenges, on the other hand, are beautiful. Go live!

 

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I love passion! I love purpose! I love making money doing what you love! I love all of that stuff and I do believe that everyone can do exactly that. However, finding the thing that you want to build your life around, that is passion-fuelled, that is purpose-driven, and that you love, is just the first step.

You also have to make this passion make you money.

And guess how you do that?! – PEOPLE! People are how you get from having a great big dream of what you want to happen to actually making it happen. Let me explain as I go through these 4 points.

What is the problem

So, you have taken the first step. You decided to make money doing what you love. You wake up with a spring in your step knowing that you have finally found the thing you want to drop dead doing.

Well, it will not be long before you realize that you cannot live on happy feelings alone – You have to bring some money in. And you bring some money in by solving problems for someone else.

You know what you want to do, great. But how does it solve a problem or meet someone else’s need? Why will they buy it from you? Do they know that they have a need for it?

Take a moment here to see how your thing aligns with their needs. If you can find an urgent, pressing need that they have, even better.

Listen, this does not mean giving up your ideas of how you want to spend your life. This means getting VERY creative on how you position what you want to deliver as a solution to a problem that they have.

If you have something completely novel, then you may need to spend some time trialing different ways to position your self in the marketplace – BE COMMITTED to this process and in time, you will get clear on how what you have solves their problem.

If you choose to put stuff out there that’s already in the market, then check your competition’s strategies. Notice any gaps in the way they deliver and also remember that you are unique and the way you do things will never be the same as anyone else.

Allow your novelty to shine through. Go to Amazon, see reviews, see what people complain about if your product or service is talked about online, go to forums, do the research. Decide how to position yourself as solving the problem.

This is one major key to making money doing what you love – YOU NEED TO SOLVE THEIR PROBLEM. As mentioned, this may take trial and error to figure out how to solve the problem but DO THE WORK! And please do not give up hope even when it seems long and tedious.

Communication

OK, so now you need to start communicating with people, online, offline, anywhere and everywhere. You need to express yourself and how you can help them in as many different ways as possible.

Brainstorm different ways to tell people about you. Guest blog, write articles, get active on social media, go to networking events, get featured on the radio, be on magazine fronts. Do not hold back. When you get an idea for how to spread the word about you, follow through! Don’t give yourself too much time to think about it. You can refine your approach later.

For now, just go all out. When you get ideas of results, you can then decide to change tactics as you see what is working and what is not. But for right now, simply go all out! Be everywhere, doing something.

And if you are just getting started, do not underestimate how much effort it is going to take you to get seen everywhere. Do not think it is too much and people will get fed up of you – It is not the truth! It is just your fear talking. You need to keep getting out there in as many ways as you can think of!

See Also: How Online Blogging Is Influencing Business Trends 

Capture

Ok, now that people start to notice you, your next point of business is to start to capture people into your world. You need to have a social media platform of your own – A business page or a group that you run and that you can invite people into. This is a safe starting point for more people.

And then you want to get them onto a mailing list of your own. As much as we live in a very social media-driven world, you have no idea which platform will still be here next year. If you have spent lots of time and money getting people onto the one platform that closes down, you lose your audience and honey, you need an audience.

You need to start building an audience from point zero so please do not read any of these points in a sequential fashion and think that you do this stuff one after the other. NO!!! You do it all at once. You start to build an audience even when you are not completely sure what solution you provide.

Yes, I know it seems contrary to what you thought but that, my honey, is why lots of people do not succeed in business. They think that it all needs to go along with the way we were all trained in school. No! In school, you were trained to be an employee and now you are an entrepreneur. Everything is somewhat contrary to what you learnt.

Start building that mailing list now.

Close

Every day, in some way, you need to be mentioning your product, service, art, books, music, whatever! EVERY SINGLE DAY!

I am appalled and horrified by the numbers of entrepreneurs, particularly online ones, who do not tell people how they can solve problems and then take it one step further and tell people exactly what to do to BUY something. Never assume that people will read through the lines and know what to do next, they will not. They will just assume you are entertaining, inspiring educating for no reason. They will love you but they will not buy from you.

And remember that people are very distracted! Life today is very busy. If you are not specifically telling them what to do next to buy from you, then they will simply not buy. You will, however, have created space for the next savvy entrepreneur who is offering what you are but has the wisdom to mention it repeatedly. You would have warmed the customer up!

And again, do not be disheartened by how much of an audience you have to build to start making consistent sales. Just simply get on with following all these key ways and get on with creating wealth for you and yours slowly but surely and consistently.

See Also: How to Ensure Growth in Small Business 

Yes, you can create a life making money doing what you love but it will take some hard, committed, focused activity from you. But hey, if you love doing it, is it really work?

Fight for, deliberately design the life you are born to live. Because you want to.

 

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Regardless of the nature of business one engages in, there’s no downplaying the importance of branding. The success of any entrepreneurial endeavor depends on the way it’s packaged and presented to the general public. There’s so much at stake with reputation that it’s of great advantage to put good effort into maintaining a positive public image.

When you are working and no one is looking, it’s an indication that something is off. You may write this off as a down-time period in business, but without rapid action, not only will you lose the few customers patronizing you to your competition, you’ll also lose any competitive edge you previously had over your competitors.

Five Reasons Why Your Brand Isn’t Getting Attention from Anyone

In any venture, there’s usually more than one causative factor that results to a problem. There are several possible reasons why you are recording low attention from your audience. Before you decide on a course of action to take, it’s imperative that you examine every observable flaw in order to effectively troubleshoot the problem.

Too much information

This should be the first point of call as most Entrepreneurs, in a bid to outclass the competition, churn out loads of information without considering how relevant it is to the receiving audience.

Before engaging on a marketing mission, you must keep in mind that the average audience has a limited attention span. In order to deliver your message across effectively, you need to get to the point while you still have their ears. As your business grows to a higher level, lesser effort will be required on your part as your brand begins to capture the audience on its own. But before then, you should stick the basics.

Inconsistency

Many Entrepreneurs are guilty of being inconsistent. One day, they are singing a particular song, and the next, they are on to another due to impatience. Sometimes, the audience needs time to assimilate your message before making a favorable decision.

When you change your message and tone too often, you leave your audience confused, making them lose confidence in your brand.

Customers need to understand that, not only can they trust you with their time and money, they can also depend on you to deliver exactly what you promised. If your business messages are fluctuating, there’ll be little or no room for trust, making you lose the attention of even the most dedicated patrons.

See Also: 5 Smart Ways to Boost Brand Awareness 

Lack of proper outreach

Having the best product(s) along with a killer marketing plan will have absolutely no effect if you fail to properly reach out to your audience. It should come as no surprise that people will pay no attention to your brand if they have no interest in what you are selling. To fix this, endeavor to reach out to your target clients and watch as you reel them in one after another.

The most popular media might look great but they may not necessarily be most suitable to reach your target audience. Before choosing to advertise on TV, ask yourself, do members of my target audience watch TV often? Perhaps they read newspapers more.

Poor reputation

It goes without saying that reputation is a key player in business. When your brand is known for quality services, more people will want to associate themselves with your business. Not only will a great reputation garner more attention for your services, it helps to improve your company’s profile.

With bad reputation, no one will be interested in what you are selling even if it beats the price of your competition. And that’s because people consider the bearer of a message just as much as the message itself. In such a situation, it’s important that you put a hold on your promotional campaigns and implement crises management strategies to cleanse your brand of the negativity surrounding it.

Lack of uniqueness

It’s not your fault that so many people are doing what you do. But, rather than follow the crowd, you need to add a little touch of uniqueness to yours, and carve a niche for yourself.

If you are going to be doing exactly the same thing that other brands are doing, you’ll probably have no audience. Ask yourself “What are those things that others aren’t doing?” Put on your creative cap and implement some exciting ideas that are hard to ignore.

In business, attention translates to sales or patronage in the long run. When people are interested, it’ll take very little or no effort to convince them to patronize you. It’s better to do little and get well deserved recognition, than do it all and have no one giving you a second look. Don’t just wait for people to give you their attention; sometimes, you need to command it.

See Also: 6 Tips for Designing the Perfect Logo for Your Brand

 

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Have you ever failed to do something, or failed to do it to the best of your ability because of fear? Unless you are some kind of superhuman, the answer is probably a definite yes. Whether it is fear of failure, embarassment, pain, or even success, fear can stop us dead in our tracks, preventing us from living our dreams.

Whenever we face some challenges in our lives, whether imagined or not, we have a choice to make: go on or give up. As the two popular acronyms tell us, FEAR can lead you to A) Forget Everything And Run or B) Face Everything And Rise. While this may sound cliche, it is true that your ability to face your fears and do it anyways will make or break you.

Whether it is running a marathon, giving a big speech, or telling someone you love them, life can sometimes be scary. It is only natural to be a little nervous and feel your hands getting sweaty and your heart beating faster right before an important event. In small doses, it is even beneficial because it prepares you for a peak performance by making you alert and focused. However, if you feel like you are controlled by your fears and can´t stop shaking at the thought of what´s going to come, it is time to learn how to control your nerves and face your fears!

Here are 6 tips to eliminate fears from your life!

Take Responsibility

The only way to truly face your fears is by first resolving to take absolute control for your life and everything in it! Your fears don´t control you, you let them control you. As long as you play the victim and make excuses, nothing will change.

The only way to overcome any challenge in your life is by owning it – by deciding that you, and only you are in charge of solving it. You can´t always control the events in your life, but you can always control how you respond to it. By taking responsibility for your fears, you also gain the ability to face them.

Think about this: What is the surest way to become afraid of something? Probably by avoiding something until you have the time to picture all the negative things that could happen a hundred times. By delaying your actions because of fear, you actually increase it. You lose self-respect and trust in your own abilities and start to doubt yourself. At the same time, your fear grows stronger and bigger because you have more time to think about it and doubt your capabilities.

The only way to finally get rid of your fear in such a situation is by taking responsibility for your life and deciding to face it no matter how frightening it may seem. Otherwise, you´ll keep running from it for the rest of your life!

Action Destroys Fear

While inaction feeds your fears, taking action will cure them. Do you remember the first time you jumped from the 10-foot diving tower? Chances are, you experienced fear at its finest: Sweaty hands, 150 heart beats per minute, nausea, and just pure nerves! You knew intellectually that you wouldn´t die but were still convinced that you wouldn´t survive this giant jump. You climbed up the ladder, stared into the deep blue of the water and finally, encouraged by all your friends or family, leaped down!

Chances are, that was also the last time you were afraid to jump from that tower. The next two or three times might have been uncomfortable for you but nothing compared to the first time. And once you jumped down that tower some more times, it just became fun, and you completely forgot about your fears!

The same principle holds true for facing any other fear. The more often you do, and the sooner you start to take action, the easier it will be to overcome it! Whenever you become aware of your fears, face them immediately. Don´t wait for tomorrow or next year to step up, but deal with it today!

The Disaster Report

I learned this technique from Brian Tracy, and have since found it a great way to put things into perspective. Sometimes, you can eliminate your fear simply by realizing how irrational it actually is.

Ask yourself, “What is the worst thing that can happen, realistically?” Find the worst possible consequence and decide to accept it. Usually, it doesn´t happen anyways. And even if it does, it won´t kill you.

How many times have you seen that someone was laughed at while giving a presentation? Probably never. But still, we often fear being embarassed like this terribly. Oftentimes, stress comes from denial – telling yourself that nothing bad could ever happen when in fact you know that you are lying to yourself. Accept the worst possible outcome and then make plans to prevent it from happening.

Power Posing

When you are afraid of something, what happens to your body? Your breathing becomes more shallow, your muscles tense up, and you stand smaller looking to the ground. You can literally see the fear in your face.

Now, the quickest way to destroy your fears is this: A change in your physiology. In 2010, Amy Cuddy, a Harvard Business School Psychologist famous for her Ted Talk on Power Posing, conducted a study that revealed how the way we stand actually determines how we feel. By standing upright in an “open and expansive” posture, we can change our hormonal levels in a positive way.

See Also: 10 Life-Changing TED Talks You Should See Today 

In her experiment, high-power posers experienced elevated levels of testosterone, lower levels of cortisol, and increased feelings of power and confidence. Simply by changing the way you stand, you can change how you feel.

Another great exercise to control your physical fear response is to focus on your breathing. When under stress, it is common to breath more shallow or hyperventilate, allowing less oxygen to enter your body. This increases anxiety and fear, therefore hurting your ability to think clearly.

Once you become aware of this pattern, you can actively combat it by focusing on your breath. Breath in slowly through your nose and feel the fresh air flowing into your belly, hold your breath for a moment and then exhale slowly through your mouth. You will find that this pattern of breathing allows you to eliminate the fear response and helps you relax instead!

Act as if

This strategy, also known as “fake it till you make it”, is often seen as negative, despite its positive effects. There is no shame in acknowledging that you are not perfect, but sometimes, acting as if you are already who and what you want to be can change the way you think and act, leading to better results.

Whether you are facing an important presentation or an argument with your boss, act like you are completely confident in yourself and your abilities. Act like you know your presentation will be amazing, stand and speak like you know what you are talking about, even if you don´t feel very confident in the moment. But by acting confident, you will start to think and act more like the person you want to be.

This strategy is not only useful when facing your fears, but also at any other point in you life. When you are starting out in your career, why not act like you are one of the top people working in your industry? Why not dress like them, think like them, and act like them? Why not read the books the most successful people read, listen to the same audiotapes, and act every day as if you are already successful? Pretty soon, you won´t have to act anymore.

See Also: 3 Actionable Steps To Help You Overcome Fears 

Visualize Your Success

As a competitive distance runner, I have used this technique for years now. Before you face any important events in your life, succeed in your mind first. Close your eyes and see yourself crushing your fears, overcoming obstacles, and doing the things you are afraid of. See yourself succeeding at everything you do, no limits!

Also, make sure to use as many sensory details as possible. “See” yourself standing in front of a huge audience, “feel” your heart pumping from excitement over your great performance, and “hear” yourself giving an amazing speech and receiving a grand applause. Succeed in your mind first, and then go out and destroy your fears forever!

 

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Consider yourself to be a bit of a Debbie Downer? A gloomy type predisposed to unhappiness, and there’s nothing you can do about it?

Good news: you may be only half right!

Psychologists agree that just 50% of our happiness is due to our genetic disposition. The rest is made up mostly by how we spend our daily lives, with a final 10% accounted for by the circumstances in which we live.

As the new year dawns, you can capitalize on that ‘blank slate’ feeling by making a few little changes to your day-to-day activities.

So roll up your sleeves, visualize your good intentions, and try tackling these nine scientifically-verified tweaks to shift your perspective 180 degrees.

Get fruity

Building up to your five-a-day last year was a great achievement for your body. But cranking it up to eight-a-day this year will be excellent for your soul.

Researchers at the University of Warwick discovered that within two years of making this change, your feeling of well-being can soar. Indeed, those who shifted from zero to eight fruits a day experienced an increase in life satisfaction equivalent to getting a new job.

Added bonus: your long-term health and happiness will also benefit. Chop it, squeeze it, blend it – just make sure you get to eight-a-day.

Take a trip to the real world

I don’t need to tell you about the pleasures of Facebook. But those dopamine hits that come with the little red dots do not last long: researchers at the Happiness Research Institute (well, who you gonna trust?) report that taking even a week off of social media can improve your happiness rating.

And those folk are based in Denmark, where they’re serious about fighting unhappiness.

See Also: Follow Your Bliss

Use your feet

Analysis of data from almost 18,000 18-65-year-old commuters over an eighteen year period showed that those who made the switch from driving to walking enjoyed improvements in health, happiness and concentration levels.

Even using public transport – with all its associated crowds and delays – will make you happier than taking the car. This is probably because you get to concentrate on your tunes, your book, or the folk around you, rather than gear-switching and road rage. Also, you have to walk a bit further to get to the bus stop or rail station in the first place.

If you travel too far to make ditching the car feasible, at least consider parking a little further away from your destination than usual and walking the last 10-15 minutes to work.

Staring at photos of cute animals is officially a good thing

M ± SE = 43.9±10.3%.

Got it?

It doesn’t matter: that equation is just the long-winded way of describing how much more effective at work looking at pictures of kittens and puppies can make you.

Researchers in Japan were fascinated by the power of kawaii – that specifically Japanese form of exaggerated cuteness – so they decided to mount a trial to measure just what a difference the kawaii experience can make to your day.

The feelings of happiness and excitement that cute pictures evoke are apparently connected to the levels of what we can achieve at work. So next time you’re feeling unproductive, try typing ‘happiest puppy in the world’ into Google to feed a bit more energy into the system.

Stay in bed

Recommended sleeping times are frustratingly arbitrary. One man’s refreshing seven hours is another’s rude awakening.

Wake up before you’ve got your fill of REM sleep – the type that comes late in the cycle – and you are actually interrupting the way your brain and hormones deal with the stress and anxiety of the previous day.

Scientists at the University of Surrey’s Sleep Research Centre agree: one extra hour each night can help you feel healthier and happier.

Plan a trip

Vacations are a bit like Christmas: often, it turns out the anticipation was the most exciting part of the whole thing.

Science can now back this up. It turns out that the optimism and pro-active research involved in planning a vacation can actually be the most stimulating period of the process. Often, the homesickness, stress and false expectations of actually making the trip can make you quite unhappy. And as for returning to work at the end of it…

So even if you have no actual intention of travelling in the near future, don’t forget to dream. Keep a Pinterest board or scrapbook of places you’d like to visit, and talk with your partner about your big ideas for the future. And if it never comes off, well – maybe you already did the best bit.

See Also: 10 Wonderful Benefits of Traveling

Give hugs more often

You don’t need science to tell you that hugs feel good.

But lest you relegate your need for physical contact to the realm of ‘guilty pleasures’, here’s neurologist Shekar Raman, MD to tell you it’s okay:

“A hug, pat on the back, and even a friendly handshake are processed by the reward center in the central nervous system, which is why they can have a powerful impact on the human psyche, making us feel happiness and joy… The more you connect with others — on even the smallest physical level — the happier you’ll be.”

Hang out with happy people

Happiness is tribal. It may be stating the obvious to say that spending time with a happy chum is likely to make you more happy: but the effect is bigger, and less intuitive than this. In fact, happiness travels along networks, so if the people you hang out with hang out with happy people too, you’re likely to feel the knock-on effects.

Try arranging a dinner party with your closest friends, and create a happy theme. Technically, this may make you a happiness vampire, but so what – you’re going to feed back into the system, right?

Turn that music up

Music makes you happy. Pick a tune you like, and crank it up as loud as the neighbors can bear it in the morning – your dopamine levels will soar, and you’re off to a good start for the whole day.

Being happy ain’t easy, and during the cold, dark winter days making an effort to exercise or socialize can be an intimidating prospect. With these bitesize cures, though, you can start to improve your general outlook – and prove to yourself that your natural gloominess is only half the story.

 

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February 14 is a day for all lovers all across the globe. However, in Korea, the 14th of each month is very important for couples and lovers.

Let’s find out all the special celebrations happening every 14th of the month and Korea’s Valentine’s Year.

Diary Day (14th January)

Januray 14 is known as a Diary day for Koreans. On this day, people exchange a blank diary with a loved one. If you receive one from your lover, you should write down your feelings and sentiments in its blank pages. You can also mention yearly goals, resolutions, and even annual tasks.

Valentine’s Day (14th February)

Valentine’s Day is virtually the same in every country. In Korea, however, it’s the women who buy gifts for the man. Women show their feelings by buying chocolates or roses.

White Day (14th March)

White day is celebrated in the 14th of March in Korea. This day is an opportunity for men to pay back their female gifters. Men usually buy costlier and more expensive gifts like chocolates, jewelry, and other gifts that their partner likes.

Black Day (14th April)

April 14 in Korea is known as Black day. This day is for single folks who aren’t in a relationship. On this day, single people meet each other wearing black clothes. They eat a Chinese Korean dish called jajangmeyon. This dish is made of pork, vegetables and a very dark soyabean sauce. They celebrate this season as a disappointing day reminiscent of a funeral ceremony.

Yellow Day (14th May)

May 14 is Yellow Day. During yellow day, people exchange yellow roses or other roses with loved ones. Couples go to the cafe and restaurants and spend quality time with each other. It’s also a good day to be with close friends and family.

Kiss Day (14th June)

Kiss day is the favorite day of Koreans. It is the best way to express their deep love. Couples and lovers celebrate this day by kissing each other. Obviously it is the best day for the people who have deeply fallen in love. It is actually the best romantic day for couples.

Silver Day (14th July)

 

Silver Day has a kind of engagement ceremony. On July 14, lovers exchange matching couple rings with each other. These rings are also called promise rings as they signify their commitment to each other.

Green Day (14th August)

Green Day is Nature Day. People meet and go to beautiful lush places to celebrate this day.

Green Day is one of the best times to have a family get-together. Families meet, eat, or drink soju while possibly wearing some green clothes.

Photo Day (14th September)

September 14 is Photo Day in Korea. As you can guess, it’s a day for selfies and going to photo studios. Couples, in particular, have fun doing memorable photo shoots.

Families and friends go to photo booths or call professional photographers to capture these moments. Some go as far as having a photo shoot party. They prepare photo props and have their pictures taken.

Wine Day (14th October)

October 14 is a special day for drinkers. During this day, couples and lovers meet to have a romantic wine party. They drink in public events or local bars.

Families and friends also get connected on Wine Day. They give a warm hug to the closest family members on this day.

Movie Day (14th November)

November 14 is popular and one of the Koreans’ favorite days. Koreans celebrate this day by meeting each other at the cinema and watching movies. Some people stay at home, rent DVDs and pop their own popcorn.

also arrange to cinema settings at home. Some people rent their DVD rooms to cut the cost of movie ticket.

Hug Day (14th December)

We end the year with a Hug Day. As you can guess, Korean people embrace the person they love. Couples meet to give each other hugs. Single people are not left out though and give their warm hugs to each other or to friends and families.

Do you have something similar in your countries, too?

 

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Most people know Bill Gates as the founder of Microsoft. He is the brain behind most of the computer technology that the world currently enjoys. The most important thing is to learn some lessons from his life.

Here are 9 powerful lessons you can learn from the success story of this great mind.

Be Competitive

Some of the attributes you can draw from the life of Bill Gates is that he was competitive, smart and persistent. Bill is a person who had the drive to win. You should try to be the best you can be whatever it takes so long as you succeed in the long run. You cannot achieve your dreams unless you call forth a very strong desire to succeed.

Be Persistent

Bill Gates is one of the most determined people on earth. He presents a person who would hammer his way until he got an ideal solution. Persistence calls for having a goal and fighting your way towards its accomplishment. The process can be very long and painful, but you have to fight your way through.

Read a lot

The parents of this great mind made a subscription to Fortune, and he took advantage to read a lot. You cannot become smart unless you read broadly. Bill Gates was a dedicated reader from his childhood. You will still find him writing about the books he reads on his website.

You can also get this advice from Warren Buffet. The best way to harness the power of knowledge is to read widely.

Focus

Bill was very curious when it came to studying everything in sight. However, he would concentrate on a single task at a time with a lot of discipline. You would find him sitting while clenching a marker in his mouth, rocking and tapping his feet, impervious to distraction. You cannot do this unless you have a lot of focus which comes with overcoming disruptions. You must appreciate the fact that it’s quite hard to do important works. The reason is that such actions require full concentration. You cannot carry out such assignments unless you overcome any distractions.

Carefully Pick Your Battles

According to the reality checks of Bill Gates, you should stop wasting time in places where you have little chances for success. Make sure you give full attention whenever the right opportunity surfaces. You may have limited resources, and you should be careful not to waste them. Assess each opportunity that comes your way and only pick the right ones. You can gain some of these insights through reading widely.

Make the Most of any Opportunity That Comes your Way

According to Bill, we have the skill and the energy, and we have all it takes to seize the opportunity. Make the most of any opportunity that you decide to take. You should spare no effort because if you allow it to pass, it may never come your way again.

See Also:  7 Power Habits of Great Leaders, Business Icons and Inspirational Achievers 

Be Efficient

According to Bill Gates, they staged nightly competitions just to squeeze a submarine – a small section of code in a program that performs a particular task with very few instructions. You should aim to be as efficient as possible while reaching your goal. You can avoid wasting your resources by improving your processes to allow you take the shortest route to your destination.

Be Intense

The intensity of Bill Gates was virtually unstoppable. Steve Jobs had the same level of intensity, and that’s why he asserts that there is power in intensity. Bill states that you cannot build momentum unless you are intense. Therefore, you need to put your soul and heart into what you do. The lone survivor movie has a quote that explains that you can over do anything in life that is worth doing. You can never succeed unless you are intense in all you do.

Build a Great Team

Bill is a person who never wanted to lose a talented individual. He would do all it takes to retain his entire team. You need other people to stand with you because you can’t succeed alone. Therefore, your goal should be to find great people and put their skills together to build a great team.

See Also: How to Save Your Startup by Hiring the Right People

Conclusion

You can apply these lessons from Bill Gates if you want to succeed in life. However, you should remember to balance all aspects of your life. You should not get obsessed with your goal to until you forget other parts of your life. This approach will guarantee you true and lasting success.

 

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Some people wait their whole life to start living… don’t be one of them.

If you’re past the big 50 feeling jaded and lifeless. Concerned about the world. Concerned about your world. Your finances, relationships, health or work…

Reading this list should spark at least one change. Kick-start your life with a new challenge and then the reward.

Look for an idea that will set you off along a different path. Plant it like a seed and let it develop into a full grown life change.

1. Never think of yourself as too old. You aren’t.

2. Never stop learning. If you’ve stopped, consider the break as a “time out” and start again. Watch Ted talks. Read about all the fantastic technologies that are being developed at breakneck speeds: 3D printing, mapping the human genome, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, robotics and big data. Plus, all the other things we aren’t even aware of.

3. Write a bucket list of 50 things to do before you die.

4. Plan to visit 50 countries – even a fleeting visit will do.

5. Consider becoming a “roving retiree”.

6. Accept yourself. Accept that your youthful physical perfection is fading replaced by a more perfect complete person.

7. Take up yoga.

8. Move more. Our body wasn’t designed to sit behind a computer screen or slouch around watching TV.

9. Exercise regularly. It has many benefits – healthier body plus a healthy, active brain equals a more fulfilled life … more confidence and self-esteem.

10. Activate your mind. Play mind games. Do a crossword puzzle. Play chess or bridge or scrabble online.

11. Do fun things. Get your children, or grandchildren, or friend’s children to teach you a computer game. Try “Minecraft”, “Lego Marvel Superheros” or “Batman”.

12. Subscribe to a free online course. Anything that takes your fancy. Sites like Coursera, Udemy, Alison Khan Academy offer many free courses covering just about anything you can imagine.

13. Practice mindfulness … Be in the moment.

14. If you hate your job, then leave it. It doesn’t have to be tomorrow but start making a plan … Build an escape plan or Plan B. Be daring. Think an “El Chapo” Guzman break-out-of-jail style!

15. Start a business.

16. Clear away some baggage like so-called “friends”, limiting thoughts, physical stuff, ideas and relationships.

17. Become more spiritual. Practice or follow whatever suits you best.

18. Listen more. You’ve possibly become an “advice monster”. Arrogantly believing “been there done that, so I know what’s best for you”!

19. Don’t believe the news or opinions of other so-called “experts”.

20. Acknowledge that you are responsible for your financial well-being. Not your husband, your wife, your partner and especially not your financial advisor. You never know what the future will bring and you are going to have to live it.

21. Start learning about your finances. Understand what you are told. Understand that the people who are providing you with information have been described by Nassim Taleb as “experts who are not experts”. They suffer from group think and run with the herd … with your money!

22. Take a good hard look at your life. Are you stuck in a rut? Take a short trip out of your comfort zone.

23. Be grateful for all you have.

24. The world is not limited to your neighbourhood. Explore more.

25. Rejuvenate your creativity. It may have hibernated waiting for a spring to bring it alive.

See Also: Top Tips On Training Your Brain To Be Creative 

26. Find something you love and pursue it.

27. Ignore the voices of naysayers (and the monkey on your own shoulder) as you consider your newfound freedom.

28. Become an authority on something you love. You don’t have to be a 10,000-hour expert. Just an “expert” who has studied 3 books and knows more than 80% of people. Remember: In a kingdom of blind people, the one-eyed man is King.

29. Acknowledge all the things where you are “better than most people”. Where YOU are already the one eyed man!

30. Accept that you’ve still got a lot of living to do. You are aged 50 In the western world where the average life expectancy is another 35 years for women and 30 years for men. For most people, this will be longer than your working life up to then!

31. The only barriers to your dreams is your thinking, “whether you think you can or think you can’t.”

See Also: 5 Barriers That You Need To Cross To Achieve Success This Year

32. Find a mentor. Find someone you look up to and respect. Find that mentor who will support you. You don’t have to do it all on your own.

33. Ask for help.

34. Don’t live your life for someone else. Not your husband or wife or partner. Not your kids and definitely not your friends. As James Altucher says “choose yourself”.

35. Realize that life is not all about money and possessions.

36. Don’t make excuses for where you are in life. You are there because of the best choices you made.

37. Keep on dreaming big. Life can start at 50.

38. Surround yourself with positive, supportive people. You are the average of the 5 people you spend your time with. They don’t have to be immediate friends, they could be online groups, mentors or coaches. For me, sitting here in the Philippines, I have online friends like Ramit Sethi’s Accelerator Group and Jon Morrow’s Serious Bloggers Only.

39. Never give up. Whatever life has dished up in the past, you don’t have to accept that’s your future.

40. Don’t put it off. There is time. There are choices. There are options. Don’t procrastinate. If you want to do it, you’ll find a reason. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.

41. Nothing happens until something moves. Don’t waste too much time inside your head. Only action gets rewarded. Take the first step.

42. You don’t need certificates or credentials. If you want knowledge, study for knowledge and not pieces of paper.

43. Forget about planning for retirement and start planning for life. Traditional retirement is a redundant concept that went out of fashion with defined benefit pension schemes. If you have one of these, beware. Many are insolvent and there will be many more in future.

44. Acknowledge that you have a lot to give. With the many things that you have experienced, you can help a lot of people.

45. You can always get better. You might not compare with the best, but there’s only one of them anyway.

46. Giving is better than receiving. Remember “sow so shall you reap”. Develop a “how can I help you” mentality.

47. There will always be someone stronger, prettier, cleverer, richer, poorer, weaker, uglier than you so just be the best you can be. But never put yourself down. Never believe you are worthless.

48. Never say never. It’ll come back to haunt you.

49. Read 50 Shades of Grey. For anyone whose relationship has turned a bit “grey” and lost its sparkle.

50. Identify your cognitive biases. There are many and we all have them. Recognise them, acknowledge them and combat them. A tiger can’t change his spots. But we’re lucky, we aren’t tigers!

51. Don’t rely on the government to look after you. The government is made up of millions of self-serving bureaucrats who have far bigger problems to solve like their own pensions, their legacy, their own stuff, to be worried about you. Your best guarantee is to be independent. Be fine without them.

52. Develop a “Plan B”. You never know what the future will bring.

53. Do something for 50 people. Small, big, time or money, kind word or deed. Then make it a habit.

54. Acknowledge that you teach people how to treat you.

55. Decisions are not binary. There are many choices – occasionally take a risk.

56. Connect with 5 school friend you haven’t seen or heard of since leaving school. Try Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn

Be positive. Be the best you can be. Be humble, be healthy, be grateful. There will be good times and bad, obstacles and opportunities. Be aware, be vigilant.

Make your mark. You owe it to the world.

 

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