January 30, 2009

Responding or reacting, which should I choose?

Filed under: School of Self Improvement @ 3:54 pm

What should I do respond or react? Responding is positive and reacting is negative. When you choose to respond to situation you stop and think what your next move should be. When you react, you make a quick judgment and sometimes choose wrong thing to do. Now which do you think you should use more often, responding or reacting?

When you stop and think about it responding is much more effective and shall give you more positive results than negative ones. If you choose to react to situation you’ll find that you get more negative results than positive, why because you don’t take time to think you just react. Someone pulls out in front of you in a car, and you start to beep your horn, not knowing if this will make that person mad or not, and we all know that in this day and age road rage is very common.

Now if we would have chosen to do nothing and just sit back and take a deep breath and think about the situation. Then decide that we were not going to get mad and that we where just going to let it go, and this entire move saves our life because the guy driving the other car would have gotten so mad he could chase us down and killed you.

I know this is in extreme example but it does happen, and people are killed every day for far less. That is one example why we should respond instead of react. Reacting breeds anger, hate, and feelings that are negative, responding may not always breed love but by what it does do, it gives us a chance to think about the situation and then decide what makes the most sense and what we have really wanted to do.

This will in turn help us to make the right decision. So now which do you think, you should choose responding or reacting the choice IS yours. That is one example of why you should respond instead of react. Responding breeds love and happiness, and the people that choose responding shall by far be the happier more loving person and shall go farther in this world.

People that choose reacting have less control over themselves and the judgments that they make, and will surely end up paying for it with the roadblocks in this life. How do I learn to respond? Good question, when something happens to you any kind of stuff that makes you mad, stop take a deep breath and try to understand what you think you should do and take each action that you so choose.

What can be the possible outcomes of all your choices, and then with a clear head choose the one that best fits your situation and choose it. You will find that doing this helps to make the right decision many more times than reacting ever could. Is this easier learned or said then done? It Is very hard when someone makes you mad or someone pulls out right in front of you in your car, it’s hard to learn not to respond instead of react, but with practice you can stop and think about your decision and how it makes you feel and act accordingly.

This just takes practice, is very achievable, and in the end shall make you a much happier person and that is what we are trying to achieve. What should I choose responding or reacting? I can tell you from experience that your life will be much more difficult if you choose reacting instead of responding, you will have a lot less fun and that you will have trouble at every corner possible.

You will not stop and think about your decisions, you would just go ahead and react, and this breeds negativity, which is always bad. Do you want to make your life tougher, than it needs to be, or would you like happiness calmness and peace, love, happiness, and joy? I can tell you and can assure you that responding instead of reacting will help you to reach your goals quicker and you will have far fewer setbacks and this is what we want in our quest in Building The Perfect You.

So which are you like? Responding or reacting the choice IS yours you decide what best fits your life and what will further your life and make it better, easier, and more fun to enjoy what is going on around you.

The choice is up to you decide which is that you want responding, which is positive, or reacting, which is negative. I would surely hope that you would choose responding because the benefits are endless and you shall never be happier than when you will ever be in the responding mode, so please choose responding because reacting only breeds negativity pain hurting and the wrong decisions.

To respond is positive, to react is negative, and I believe if you look around today, you will clearly see that most people react, and you see the shape that the world is in. I must also point out that the people that are successful and make a mark in this world are the kind that respond and will go farther and succeed more often than the people that react.

So if you are not where you want to be in this life stop the and look and see if you are responding or reacting, because if you are not where you want to be, it could be just because you have been reacting instead of responding. So now is the time to start responding and throw away your old self, hide the reacting, put it is far back in your mind as you can and push responding to the front. You will find that your life is much more successful and it is much more meaningful this way and I am sure that you can see that responding not reacting is a way to go, don’t you agree?

Market Your Business with Promotional Videos

Filed under: Marketing Info, Publishing Hub, Video World @ 1:58 pm

Videos are a useful tool to market your company’s products and services. Naturally there are countless other kinds of marketing strategies from article writing to blogging, from press releases to RSS. However, nothing says “cool, connection, and creative” like a commercial video.

More and more businesses of varying sizes are producing Web videos about their offerings. They’re not only just posting them on their company websites, but they are adding them to their blogs. To gain worldwide 24/7 exposure, videos are being published to loads of video-sharing websites like that of YouTube and Google Video. And why not ? it is free, easy-to-do, and can have a massive impact, in a number of cases, on the traffic it generates to your firm’s website.

There are countless reasons why short format videos are an efficient way to promote your firm. Visit Vidify.co.uk for cost-effective video production and distribution services.

Promotional videos benefit from an extensive distribution: Videos by their very nature are easy to “package” which makes them suitable to fit into a mixture of different distribution channels. You can add them on your website or blog, otherwise you can store them onto your notebook & run them over & over again at a chosen show. You can upload them to dozens and dozens of World Wide Web video-sharing sites. You can burn them onto DVDs & give them away or sell them. You can even dispatch them by email.

Videos on the Web are an effective way to communicate. As our understanding with technology changes, so do the ways in which companies like to cooperate with others. Most individuals are visually oriented meaning that is how they best understand and work with their world. This makes promotional videos the ideal marketing strategy to speak to today’s clients.

These are just a number of the many reasons why professional videos might be a successful way to market your organisation’s services. Learn more about this topic to see how you could make use of your own time, assets, and energy to communicate with your target clients in a fresh and motivating way.

The Seven Keys to Motivation

Filed under: School of Self Improvement @ 12:08 pm

Motivation. It’s a complicated subject that is studied by
many and understood by few. Virtually every aspect of
human life — from the mundane to the life-changing — is
guided, swayed and altered by motivating factors.

For instance, what to have for dinner may be motivated by a
desire to lose or gain weight. Whether or not to attend a
business seminar may be motivated by the speakers,
location and cost. When and where to buy new clothing may
be motivated by a long list of personal preferences as well
as the changing seasons and weather conditions.

Even reading this article is a motivated behavior. Do you
like the style of writing? Are you curious about the subject
matter? Do you have a desire to learn new information? Do
you have enough time to finish reading? If the answers are
no, you probably won’t continue reading!

But since you have continued, you are obviously motivated.
You want to learn more about how to get and stay
motivated, and how this motivation can help you become a
better business owner.

THE BUSINESS OF MOTIVATION
Motivation is one of the most powerful driving forces in the
workplace. It can mean the difference between tremendous
success and failure.

Motivation stems from two sources. The first part of
motivation is external or extrinsic (outside the person)
sources. Other motivating factors come from internal
forces, which are mainly your thoughts, patterns and
collective experiences.

However, humans are unique, so what motivates Jack will
not necessarily motivate Jill. You — and only you — will be
able to determine what works.

Take the time to examine what internal and external factors
are motivating you as a business owner. What can you do
to enhance and refine your motivation to make yourself
more productive and more fulfilled?

Here are seven keys to motivation that may prove helpful.

1. INSPIRATION
Inspiration is critical to getting and staying motivated. If you
are not interested in your business, your motivation level will
never be high and you won’t be able to sustain interest for
very long.

On the flip side, if you are energized and excited about the
work you are doing, you will have more persistence, energy
and intensity.

Take an honest look at your inspiration level. Are you
excited about going to work or is it an obligation? You would
be surprised at the number of people who choose a
business that looks good on paper, but in reality does not
interest them in the least. These individuals will grow
weary
and uninterested pretty quickly because they have no
inspiration or passion to sustain them during the difficult
times they will encounter as a small business owner.

If you don’t really enjoy your work, then think how you can
re-focus your small business to better match your needs.
Or consider making a change entirely. That’s pretty drastic
advice, but inspiration is that important.

2. SETTING GOALS
Short and long-term goal setting is vital for any business
owner. If you didn’t set goals, you would be adrift with
nothing to strive for and no charted course to follow.

How could you possibly be motivated if you were unsure
about the direction of your company?

Take the time to put your goals in writing. A business plan
may sound daunting, but it is really nothing more than
goals, strategies, implementation and a budget. Write your
own business plan and update it at least annually. Include
“mini-goals” that can be accomplished in a matter of hours,
days or weeks as well as the more ambitious “grand-goals”
that may take years to complete. Refer to this plan
throughout the year.

But can a business plan really help motivate you? Yes!
Written goals will make you feel more professional and
certainly more connected to your business. It will also free
you from having to reinvent your business goals every single
day.

3. NETWORKING
Another key factor in getting and staying motivated is
networking with other small business owners. One person
can’t move huge mountains. However, when a number of
people begin working together the mountains are suddenly
only small hills — simply challenges waiting to be
surmounted.

In fact, the isolation of working alone is of one the most
difficult parts of being an entrepreneur. Mutual support is
motivating. So, make it easier on yourself by connecting
with others either in your community or online. Even when
businesses are not related, you will often find common
ground and ways to work together.

Many successful entrepreneurs report that finding the right
networking group was a turning point in the growth of the
business. Working together, a networking group can help
its members generate more qualified sales leads and solve
problems faster and more efficiently. Sharing ideas,
expertise and experience is also an invaluable aspect of
networking groups. And, don’t forget about sharing costs,
possibly by buying in bulk or with joint marketing projects.

Your own personal team of business owners will help
re-energize you when the burdens of running your own
business seem too much. With your networking team to
rely on, you can accomplish more in less time and probably
have more fun in the process. Certainly, you will feel less
alone.

4. REWARD YOURSELF
Small business owners will always have to work hard, but
all work and no play is a huge mistake. Your motivation will
soon begin to fall if you never take any time away from the
demands of running the business.

So, plan frequent rewards for yourself. No, it doesn’t need
to be a trip to Hawaii (although this is a great idea). Your
reward can be as simple as a lunch out with an old friend, a
matinee with your significant other, an afternoon of
shopping or a relaxing massage.

If your budget and time will allow, take a few days off for a
short trip or simply schedule a vacation from work for a few
days. Make it a real vacation — even if you don’t leave town —
so no checking email, voice mail or the fax machine. You
need to get away, unwind and renew yourself. This “down”
time to regenerate will help improve your attitude and
perspective. It sounds corny, but you will come back to your
business with a new sense of motivation.

5. EXERCISE
While it isn’t always immediately apparent, there is a
powerful connection between the mind and the body. It is
vital for every small business owner to take breaks and
exercise — everyday. If your body isn’t healthy, your
motivation will certainly suffer.

These exercise breaks don’t have to be huge blocks of time,
and you needn’t spend money joining a gym or hiring a
personal trainer. Start by walking briskly for 30 minutes
before, during or after work. After you have incorporated a
walk each day, then try doubling the time or doing two walks
each day.

Whatever works for you is best, but the important thing is to
start. You will begin to feel better.

After the walking is part of your routine, add some basic light
weights. Buy a tape or go online to find out how to properly
use the weights so you won’t injure yourself.

You can keep the weights under your desk, and use them
for just a few minutes at a time. Buy a timer the next time
you are at the grocery store. Set the timer for for three
minutes to start and then add a minute or two until you’re up
to 10 or 15 minutes each day.

Some small business owners have a television at work and
they schedule a CNN break along with their weights. This
way, they are catching up with world and local news while
simultaneously getting some moderate exercise.

8. ORGANIZE
Organization is critical to motivation. How can you feel good
about your work, when you can’t find important papers or
you are constantly late returning messages? Your
business will falter and your motivation will suffer.

Some people just can’t get organized. If you are one of
them, then consider bringing in someone — a business
friend, family member or professional — to help you get the
clutter and mess cleaned up. You will be amazed at how
this one important step will help you get back on the
organizational track. Don’t stop there. Now really get
organized by creating business systems that will help you
streamline your operations.

The real challenge will be keeping yourself on track by
maintaining these systems. For many, it is a daily
challenge, but if you use your organizational systems you’ll
be free to think about other important issues.

7. MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKERS AND AUTHORS
As small business owners, it seems we are bombarded
with motivational ideas and materials– tapes, books, CD’s,
seminars, workbooks, videos and more. Why are there so
many different motivational products, authors and
speakers? Because people are buying these materials.
Used effectively, they are effective and therefore they sell!

However, there are so many different motivational gurus that
it is often difficult to see through the clutter to find someone
that makes sense for you — someone who can get you “fired
up” about working and improving your business.

Try talking to your mentor or networking group members to
see who they might recommend. Start being aware of the
motivational industry and how it might help you become
more enthused and positive about your business. Do some
light research of your own to find some authors and
speakers that interest you.

Before you invest in motivational materials, you can probably
find some inexpensive ways to obtain the materials. Check
out your local library, tune into your local PBS station, buy
materials with a networking friend, visit used bookstores or
buy used materials online. Don’t make a huge investment,
because you will probably want to sample many different
viewpoints.

But do these materials really work? Yes, but only if you
make the effort. Just like exercise, you have to work the
muscles — in this case your mind muscles.

It is up to you to take that information and apply it to your own
life and business. Really use the motivational ideas over a
period of time and you will begin to see results.

KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING
Motivation is what moves us forward in our daily and
business lives. Take the time to examine your motivating
factors and use some of these keys to improve your focus
and renew your enthusiasm. If you keep on track, the
motivation momentum can’t help but carry you forward.

Nancy Wurtzel is the founder and of All About Baby, an
ecommerce company that offers personalized and
memorable gifts for children. In addition to a wide product
selection, All About Baby also featured helpful and
interesting site content. In addition to running her own
business, Nancy consults with other small business
owners providing advice about growing their ecommerce
sites.

January 27, 2009

High Protein Diet

Filed under: Assistance @ 1:36 am

The high protein diet has been started by many people and has become very popular today. This diet is good for everyone and anyone who tries it will benefit from eating this way- high protein foods and diet. You will be able to increase muscle, lose weight, lose fat and stay trim.

When foods are high in protein they are low in cards and saturated fat. So, by eating high protein foods, your body is benefiting from the lower amounts of cards and fat and you will lose weight.

High protein diets are also known as low-carb diets. There are many different types of high-protein diets, but all suggest taking in 30 to 40 percent of your calories from protein. Foods such as sugars, pasta, bread and potatoes that are all high in carbohydrates should be limited. This is where the ‘low carb’ comes in with the diet. High-protein/low-card diets are said to lower the amount of carbohydrates your body take in and this will force the body to burn fat for energy.

When you eat foods that are high in protein, this usually raises your sense of fullness and you tend to be less hungry. There are some benefits of this type of diet. You can enjoy delicious protein-filled foods like steak and hamburgers and not worry about feeling guilty afterwards. Vegetables with lower carbohydrates are encouraged and enjoyed, like greens and tomatoes.

Here is a sample of a typical day’s diet with high protein:

Breakfast- steak & eggs, coffee or tea

Lunch- tunas salad on pita bread & almonds

Dinner- salmon with broccoli

Snacks- mixed nuts, peanut butter

The high protein diet is popular and everyone who tries it will benefit from it, from losing weight to gaining muscle. While raising protein intake you automatically lower fat and carbohydrate intake. Both of these will be great benefits to your body.

January 25, 2009

Gambling Pastimes Gamblers Enjoy Playing: Guide to Betting House Taking a Chance

Filed under: Lady Luck, Living + Recreation, Lucky Lotto @ 11:16 pm

Assuming you haven’t caught on to betting house gambling, do please read on…

Asian Stud

Most commonly a betting house is a house that organizes gambling. Clients are encouraged to take a chance by having a bash at coin operated machines or trying out alternative gambling games. Gambling saloon games in the main include mathematically derived odds constituting them which promise the casino retains dominion above the clientele. A large amount of betting establishment games can instigate you to get hooked very speedily. An example is the simple 1 armed bandit, a coin operated instrument with 3+ reels that circumvolve when a crank hitched to it is moved. The contraption by and large will spill winnings referring to a combination of emblems presented on the panel of the instrument. Regretfully, gaming hall games suggest an apparition of ascendancy, thereby hoodwinking the gambling aficionado — the victim is given over options, but in actual fact they do not truly level the gamer’s statistical negative odds. This is brought about by the the betting hall never refunding the full amount as expected. This modus operandi is notoriously noticeable in famous casino games such as five card stud poker, craps, roulette or blackjack.

Seven-card stud is truly an immensely popular casino pastime. The gamers, studiously guarding their either fully or partially covered hands, wager in a principal pot that is then paid out to the last player controlling the leading combination of cards. (Obviously, the bluffer may actually win as well!) Analogous to five card stud poker, blackjack is likewise a highly popular casino pastime. A generous portion of its approval is by virtue of its particular mix of luck and craft and decision making, and a process named “counting”. It is a skill by which gaming enthusiasts will dramatically force the probabilities of the game to render them an advantage by both betting and fundamental actions in agreement with the cards shown. Craps is a well-known casino pastime where punters bet money on the throw of dice. Visitors bet on the end result of one roll, or on a sequence of spins on 2 dice. Contrary to blackjack, there just isn’t any probable long term winner system people could exploit to improve the chances. Roulette is an immensely popular casino based game; a croupier whirls a roulette wheel encompassing a set of thirty seven (European roulette) or thirty eight (applies to Vegas roulette) uniquely tagged pockets in which the rolling pellet must settle, which defines the final winning number If our punter wagers on a particular number which actually makes it meaning they’ve got a lucky hand, the return is going to be 35 to 1, the original pledge being rebated. Thus it is increased by a factor of thirty six.

So be very much vigilant notwithstanding as many of such betting saloon betting games should be considered extra dependency building. Myriad lives have been wrecked by reckless gambling and whereas it admittedly may be enjoyable, strive to regulate oneself.

Fantastic Fridges Online

Filed under: Tech World @ 7:05 pm

If you should be surveying the market – place for a good bargain on fridges and freezers browsing on the world wide web might well be an amazing practice to conserve time and money. Don’t choose to spend your treasured time looking around several high street retail shops in search of the greatest bargains – simply sit down at your laptop and log on and a whole brand spanking new world of fridges awaits you on the internet. Fridges online can save you money.

In spite of this, with multitudinous on line retailers how do you conceivably look into which store can make sure you don’t squander your money on fridges while nonetheless ensuring you acquire an outstanding quality appliance. As best practice if you buy your new appliance from an outlet on the high-street then you certainly should not in reality have any notable qualms about securing your fridge from their web site, and as folk should all realise that you can often ordinarily find cheaper price tags on the web.

Reading over a comprehensive buyers guide is always a good place to begin when scanning for fridges – they are regularly crammed with a great wealth of information and furthermore effectively raise points you conceivably might well not have considered independently. Theses important considerations include but are not limited to; power consumption, further features & storage capacity among further things.

Do not choose to regularly go with the ‘cheapest price’ – uncommonly often the first cost you observe on a web-site could not include VAT or home delivery charges furthermore, once you reach the payment point in the process you conceivably will be charged a lot more than you first imagined.

What date do you need it by? Not all online options guarantee fast delivery and if your current fridge has recently broken down you may not desire to wait five weeks for your brand new one. So be sure to consistently find out what your estimated delivery date shall be.

Be sure to find out the return policy – fridges are a difficult item to buy; sometimes they seem great in the showroom or on a web-site but once you get it to your house you find it doesn’t match your home at all. Therefore, you should always be careful.

January 24, 2009

10 Things To Do This Summer

Filed under: School of Self Improvement @ 6:00 am

Looking for a summer project? How about working on who you are, and what kind of life you really want to live? Here’s some ideas.

1. Focus on the “who”, not the “what”.

If you find that you’ve been stuck in a goal for a while, try restating it in “who” terms instead of what. For example, instead of saying “I want to lose 10 lbs.”, say “I want to be someone who is at a healthier weight for my age.” Instead of “I want to spend time with my kids”, say “I want to be someone who is a devoted parent.” Then ask yourself what actions would be fit with your desire to “be” instead of “get”.

2. Control-ability.

Get clear on what you can really control and what is out of your control. You can’t control world politics, but you can vote. You can’t control terrorism, but you can be prepared in your own home. You can’t control the construction crews on the freeway, but you can control how much time you allot for a trip. Knowing what you can control and exercising that, and letting go of what you can’t, reduces stress related feelings immensely.

3. Be Generous.

You know you haven’t worn that shirt in 2 years. Someone needs that shirt to keep warm on the streets this winter, don’t let it just sit idle in your closet. Live from abundance, not lack. You’ll have other shirts. Share. Feel good about yourself for helping others less fortunate.

4. Give it a home.

The biggest culprit for chronically lost items in the home or office — keys, remote, phone, scissors, batteries — are that they don’t have a home. Just like teenagers, if you know where they are going to be, you don’t have to waste time looking for them!

5. Establish routines.

While they sound boring and confining, routines are actually freeing. Instead of being worried and anxious on Monday morning wondering if your credit-card bill is late again, you’ll feel calm knowing that you always pay bills on Wed. evening, so you have nothing to be concerned about. Routines take the stress out!

6. Analyze it.

Did you know that a full 80% of your problems come from 20% of your life? It’s true! Determine what that 20% is that’s affecting so much of your life, and start working to make it more efficient and orderly.

7. Consolidate.

Consolidate means to “merge, combine, unite, join”. Look for something in your life that is scattered and consolidate — group of small bills, hand lotions, hobby supplies. I’m using consolidate in this case to mean either to literally combine as all into one container, but also in collecting like items together. Instead of spreading your collectibles all over the house, combine them into one beautiful cabinet for impact. Consolidate toys or reading material/bills/papers by type. You’ll be able to see the duplicates easily and free up some time and space.

8. Do the opposite.

If you find that you’re constantly having to run to the next room to retrieve a pair of (for example) scissors, that’s a clue that you need to *add* a pair where you need them. This is the opposite of consolidate. Just be careful with this one, and make sure that you really use the item enough to make it worthy of taking up the valuable real-estate in your home or office or closet.

9. Predictability

We can’t know the future. No one can. But about everyday things, it’s usually pretty easy to make a fairly accurate prediction of what consequences of your actions will be. A first ‘mistake’ is simply a learning experience, finding out information that you didn’t have originally. A second ‘mistake’ is not exercising your skill of predicting. Practice predicting, and make informed choices to go in a direction you want to.

10. Assign Value.

A big mistake I see in my coaching clients is not assigning a true value to your time, to your energy, to your money, and to the “real estate” (space) of your home or office. Realize that for each thing you say Yes to — from a pair of shoes to watching a movie — you have said No to something else. Always ask yourself – is this *valuable* enough to me to bump something else from my closet, my schedule, my money?

Make Summer 2005 your best yet!

Professional Life Coach Kathy Gates specializes in helping people who are ready to create a simpler, less stressful, more joyful and meaningful lifestyle. Visit http://www.reallifecoach.com for information, products and services, and sign up for a free newsletter.

January 23, 2009

Foreign Currency Exchange Rates on the Internet

Filed under: Economy + Finance @ 4:42 pm

Are you looking around attempting to locate the very best foreign currency exchange rates? The world wide web is an amazing way to weight up what is on offer & find the optimum offering. Though, it’s surely not exclusively about looking the optimum exchange rate – sneaky fees, commission and transfer costs could all make a winning rate quickly scandalous value.

In this unhappy time of planet wide economic fluctuation you should associate with an established business which you can completely trust – to not only acquire you the best exchange rate achievable at the sad period but furthermore to provide you with support and advice. Foreign Currency Direct has been recognised in such well thought of news papers as The Sunday unhappy time and The Observer as a well thought of enterprise with whom to do business with when securing foreign currency. Thus, you can be secure in the knowledge you will be working with a professional, honest and appreciably thought of business. Foreign Currency Direct will ensure your foreign currency exchange rates transaction goes as smoothly as possible.

Dealing in foreign currency will often be a hard business – the currency rates consistently waver, consequently, if you do not have access to the most recent numbers & accomplished experience you might wind up losing a princely sum of your investment. Foreign Currency Direct are unrivalled when it comes to working with currency exchange rates – operational ever since the year 2000 the firm has progressed from strength to strength.

Foreign Currency Directs exchange rates are calculated by using live, constantly updated interbank’ prices (the price at which one specific institution sells to another) that are constantly quoted in real time, making them significantly more competitive than those offered by non-specialist banks and building societies.

The only thing you have to do is register an account with Foreign Currency Direct & you could start trading currency – you can get exchange rate quotes by phone, if you take the offer you shall obtain an email, fax or postal conformation of the contract.

Actions Follow Thoughts

Filed under: School of Self Improvement @ 3:07 pm

For the umteenth time I picked up and started reading my favorite book of inspiration, “Light From Many Lamps.” Whenever I need a boost I reach for this book. When my first wife was battling cancer 25 years ago, I fell asleep every night after reading the words of inspiration by the many authors included in this book.

One author, James Lane Allen, in particular has a message especially appropriate for salespeople and entrepreneurs, so I thought I would share it with you today.

Here’s what James Allen, author of, “As A Man Thinketh” has to say about the power of your thoughts . . .

“A man is literally what he thinks, his character being a complete sum of all his thoughts.

As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them . . . act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits; thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry.

A man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild: but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will fall therein; and will continue to produce their kind.

Just as the gardener cultivates his plots, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless, and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts.

By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardner of his soul, the direction of his life. He also reveals, within himself, the laws of thoughts, and understands, with ever increasing accuracy, how the thought forces operate in the shaping of his character and destiny.

Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to be the creature of outside conditions, but when he realizes that he is a creative power, and that he may command the hidden soil and seeds of his being out of which circumstances grow, he then becomes the rightful master of himself.

Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit.

A man will find that as he alters his thoughts towards things and other people, things and other people will alter towards him. Let a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished at the rapid transformation it will effect in the material conditions of his life. All that any man achieves
or fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts.

Into your hands will be placed the exact results of your own thoughts; you will receive that which you earn; no more, no less. What ever your present environment may be, you will fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts, your vision, your ideal. You will become as small as you’re controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration!

The thoughtless, the ignorance, and the indolent, seeing only the apparent effects of things and not the things themselves, talk of luck, of fortune, and chance. Seeing a man grow rich, they say, “How lucky he is!”

They do not see the trials and failures and struggles which these men have voluntarily
encountered in order to gain their experience, have no knowledge of the sacrifices they have made, of the undaunted efforts they have put forth, of the faith they have exercised, that they might overcome the apparently insurmountable and realize the vision of their heart.

In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, and the strength of effort is the measure of the result. Chance is not! “Gifts,” Powers, material, intellectual, and spiritual possessions on the fruits of efforts; they are thoughts completed, objects accomplished, visions realized.

The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart – this you will build your life by. This you will become.

Keep your goal for ever in your mind . . . because as a man thinketh., so is he!”

Isn’t that some powerful stuff? I suggest you print it and save it.

Actions do follow thoughts. So think right and do it right!

Start selling more . . .

Jim Meisenheimer - EzineArticles Expert Author

Jim Meisenheimer publishes The No-Brainer Selling Tips
Newsletter, a fresh and high content newsletter dedicated
to helping you grow your business and multiply your income.

Use this link to sign-up for Jim’s F-R-E-E No-Brainer Selling Tips Newsletter and to get your copy of his Special Report titled, “The 12 Dumbest Things Salespeople Do.”
http://www.meisenheimer.com

Don’t Let Motivation Cause You to Fail

Filed under: School of Self Improvement @ 1:10 pm

Yesterday my teenage son Matt came home with a less than stellar report card. (Yes, even peak performance experts sometimes have trouble motivating others.) Now Matt is by no means stupid. The reason he got poor grades is because he did not do the work that was required for some of his classes. Why didn’t he do the work? According to him, he didn’t feel motivated to do it. After having a loud discussion with him (translation: I was ranting and raving), I realized that Matt is no different than many people in his erroneous idea about motivation and success.

The impact of motivation on success is highly overrated. Motivation has very little to do with success. Successful people do not wait to feel motivated to do things that need to be done. They take action whether or not they feel like it, and this continuous action towards a goal is what results in success.

Realize What You Are Losing

If you are not doing what you need to do, you are paying a price for it. It could be the constant stress of knowing you should be doing something but not doing it. It could be the subtle feeling of realizing that by your inactivity you are not achieving what you know you can achieve. Many people have a vague idea of what their inactivity is costing them, but they try to push away these thoughts because they are very uncomfortable. I am suggesting that you not only don’t push away these thoughts, but that you experience them fully.

Think about what your lack of action is costing you and notice how miserable this feels. Am I telling you this because I am sadistic and want you to feel bad? No, I am urging you to do this so you connect with this discomfort. Feeling this pain will often spur you to give up your excuses and move. Most people will do more to avoid pain then they will to move forward towards pleasure. Recently, my toe has been causing me some problems. This has been going on for several weeks. I know I should have gone to the doctor to get it checked out, but I didn’t want to take the time to do it. However, the pain has been getting worse and is now preventing me from participating in some activities that I enjoy, so I finally made an appointment to see him. Pain catches your attention.

Are you experiencing the pain of mediocre revenues in your business because you are not doing enough marketing and selling? Have you been having conflict with your team because you have not effectively dealt with a difficult employee? When you experience enough pain, you will be surprised how motivated you will be to take action.

Focus on the Pay Off

If you don’t particularly like the task that you have to do, don’t focus on how miserable you might feel at the moment. Instead, focus on the pay off that you will receive as a result of your work. People who are successful in any area of their lives usually focus on what they will get out of their activity.

I have been a size four since I was 15. Most people who have problems with their weight will often comment that I am lucky to be so thin. I tell them that I exercise a minimum of one hour at least five days a week. Their next remark is usually, “You must love to exercise.” No, I don’t love to exercise. I would much rather get up and make a pot of coffee. To me there is almost no greater delight in life than enjoying a cup of freshly brewed coffee first thing in the morning. That’s my exercise pay off. As I am in the process of exercising, I count the minutes left that I have to do it before I can have my cup of coffee. Does this sound simplistic? Maybe, but it works. This simple strategy has motivated me to work out consistently for many years.

What is your pay off? Is there something that you really enjoy? Tie it into the task that you know you should do, but that you have been putting off. Make the pay off be the carrot that drives you to action.

Don’t Worry About Perfection

One of my biggest blocks in getting started with doing something is that I’m afraid I won’t do it right. This is usually in connection with something new that I don’t have a lot of experience with. I want to do a good job and I don’t want to mess it up. So what happens? Nothing. I focus so much on my fear of making a mistake that I often do nothing at all.

When you are starting a new project, don’t worry about doing it right initially. Just do something. There is a common principle in physics that states, ‘A body at rest tends to stay at rest, a body in motion tends to stay in motion.’ Get moving. Recognize that you will need to make adjustments along the way. Making adjustments is part of the process of learning how to be successful in any new endeavor. As you begin to do the new task, you will find out what else you need to know. You will discover additional information that will help you achieve your outcome. Don’t focus on the success or failure of each step. Be concerned with taking the most intelligent action at any particular moment and make whatever changes that are necessary. Action, not perfection, creates results.

Develop a Plan

Sometimes we have a new idea but it seems so overwhelming that we do nothing. Create an action plan for a project and then just do one step at a time. I wanted to create an electronic newsletter for more than two years. On a regular basis, I felt the guilt and self-recrimination that comes from knowing that I should do it but not taking action. I am technologically challenged so the entire project seemed more than I could handle. Finally, I decided to create an action plan. I would find other successful electronic newsletters and see how they were put together. I would determine ways to distribute the newsletter to subscribers. I would find ways to let others know about my newsletter. I focused on completing each step and within two weeks, I sent out my premiere issue of Peak Performance Pointers. When I finally broke the task down into simple action steps, I was able to get it done.

Motivation Comes From Action

An interesting thing about lack of motivation is that when we begin a project that we have been putting off, we finally start to feel motivated. Motivation often comes from the doing. When we start something and see it begin to take shape, it becomes exciting. Once we get started, we often find it difficult to stop until the project is completed. As we work on accomplishing a new idea, it is easier to focus on the end result and this creates even more motivation to get it finished. So recognize that if you are waiting to feel motivated to do something, start to do it and then the motivation will kick in.

Many people erroneously believe that successful people are super motivated individuals. Nothing could be further from the truth. While it is wonderful to feel motivated to do something before you begin it, don’t let motivation cause you to fail. Take action towards your goal and you’ll be filled with more motivation than you can handle.

Della Menechella is a speaker, author, and trainer who inspires to achieve great success from the inside out. She is a contributing author to Thriving in the Midst of Change and the author of the videotape The Twelve Commandments of Goal Setting. She can be reached at della@dellamenechella.com. Subscribe to free Peak Performance Pointers e-zine – send blank e-mail to mailto:subscribe@dellamenechella.com.

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