The One Time You Should NOT Express Positivity

By Lolly Daskal

OPTIMISM and positivity are beneficial to leadership in almost every circumstance. You won’t find many who would dispute that thought.

We know the best kind of leadership requires seeing the glass as half full.  

We know that even in the most challenging times and difficult circumstances, it’s important to concentrate on what we have rather than what we lack.

We understand the importance of gratitude – not just as a response when things are going especially well but as a daily practice.

It’s not that happy people are thankful, it’s that thankful people are happy.

We know positive thinking and an optimistic attitude can actually change our reality for the better. In the words of the old adage, “Think good, and it will be good.”

A daily practice of gratitude and positivity can benefit you even when things get so bad that you can’t see a good outcome or any seed of hope.

You can assure yourself that, even if you can’t currently comprehend it, there’s a lesson or a stubborn thread of grace in there somewhere.

There’s one situation, however, when positivity and gratitude don’t work – when, in fact, they can actually be destructive.

That’s when you try to apply them to others.

It’s understandable, the urge to apply something so helpful to someone who’s hurting. But however well intended, it simply doesn’t work.

A distraught or grieving colleague or client doesn’t want to hear “There must be something good in your life to be grateful for.”

Or “It must have been meant to be.” Or “I know you’re disappointed but things work out for the best.”

When someone is suffering, it’s cruel to suggest that it’s all a lesson designed to make them a better person.

And it’s downright arrogant for us to tell them this is good for them, or that it’s the way it’s meant to be.

Our job is not to philosophize about another’s pain, but to alleviate, relieve and lessen it.

True leaders know that when they see someone suffering, there’s only one acceptable response. They roll up their sleeves and ask, ‘What can I do to help?

Here are some ways you can be of service to someone who’s hurting:

* Listen. One of the most important traits in leadership is the ability to listen. The best leaders, the skillful ones, know the importance of listening more than they speak.

It’s especially important to listen to people who are trying to make sense of difficult events.

* Show support. If someone’s going through a tough time, the most meaningful thing you can say is I’m here for you.

Simple words, but when they’re backed up with action they share a burden – and they reassure the person that they’re not alone.

* Convey empathy. Adopting a human approach to your leadership sets an example that helps you build an entire culture of empathetic leaders.

People will admire your approach and work harder for you knowing that you respect their personal needs.

* Connect with caring. Gone are the days when people expect leaders to sit behind a closed office door and dictate from power.

The best leaders today get to know their people on a personal level as well as professionally. They care, and they show that caring by connecting, communicating and demonstrating compassion.

* Lead from within: A positive is not the best answer for every situation. As a leader, you need to let each situation involving one of your people bring forth the best of what you have to offer in the terms of how you listen, how you support, how you care and how you connect.

Learn more about the gaps that exist in positivity in my National Bestseller book:

‘The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness.’

After decades of coaching powerful executives around the world, Lolly Daskal has observed that leaders rise to their positions relying on a specific set of values and traits.

But in time, every executive reaches a point when their performance suffers and failure persists. Very few understand why or how to prevent it.

Article source: http://ow.ly/vROg30fpDsq

How to Find Your True Passion in Life with Jack Canfield

By John Lee of YourBestYouEver.net

ASK any number of people to name their ‘true passion in life’ and a number of them will immediately know what to say.

Some will adore making music. Some will love to draw or paint. For others it will be ‘sealing the business deal’, teaching the young or caring for those who are vulnerable.  

For the majority, however, the answer is likely to be much less certain, often simply because their unique talents were not so obvious at an early age.

But all is not lost, as explained in the video below, by best-selling author, speaker, coach and star of movies such as ‘The Secret’ and ‘The Keeper of the Keys’, Jack Canfield.

In the recording, Jack outlines how each of us has a ‘unique life’s purpose’, which may be connected to what we do for a living ... or something altogether different.

He outlines the three simple questions you need to ask yourself to identify your true passion and how the answers you come up with can shape a new vision.

From here, it’s one simple step to start moving towards your life’s purpose and achieving true and lasting fulfillment.

Check out the video. Simply click on the link below to be taken to the original recording:

==> http://tiny.cc/2tdsny

Steps To Getting ANYTHING You Want

By Nick James

YOU’VE heard of the Law of Attraction.

If you’re like most marketers, you’ve also poo-poo’d the Law of Attraction, too.

After all, it’s just new age hocus pocus malarkey, right?

You can’t sit on your duff and attract a new television to yourself. 

Visualize, Visualize, VISUALIZE!

 (Well, actually you can, with the help of your credit card, Amazon and the mail delivery system, but that’s not what we’re talking about, is it?)

I’m going to prove to you that the Law of Attraction is indeed very real.

And I’m going to do it by simply having YOU prove it to YOURSELF once and for all.

Are you ready?

The first thing to know is that the universe is already delivering to you exactly what you’ve asked for.

Imagine a line of self-driving delivery trucks coming down your street. These trucks cannot be stopped – they will make their deliveries to you whether you want them to or not.

And these trucks will never stop coming, either, for as long as you are alive.

What you can change, however, is WHAT they deliver to you.

If your thoughts are on your lack of sales, lack of subscribers, lack of JV partners, lack of affiliates, your website crashing and so forth – that’s exactly what you’ll experience.

However, if you think of all the new subscribers you’re attracting through your marketing methods, how well your website is converting thanks to your testing, how easily you attract affiliates and JVs – then that’s what you’ll get.

“But I already do think about the things I want!”

I agree, you do. But maybe not as much as you think about the things you DON’T want.

And it’s actually a bit more complicated than that, too.

You see, if you only think consciously about what you want, but you don’t program your sub-conscious mind as well, then you still won’t get what you ordered from those trucks rolling down your street.

This is where it gets confusing, doesn’t it?

What is the subconscious? And how do you program it to work with you, instead of fighting what you want?

You might think of your conscious mind as the part of the iceberg that’s above water – the part you’re familiar with.

The subconscious mind is the much larger portion of the iceberg that’s beneath the surface – and also the part that reacts to currents and ‘steers’ the iceberg in the direction it winds up going.

The trick is to program the subconscious mind to take you where you want to go, and to bring into your life the things and people you want in your life.

Program your subconscious correctly, and everything is easier.

Program it incorrectly, and you feel like you are continuously attempting to swim upstream against a diabolically strong current that inevitably prevents you from getting where you want to go.

It’s important to note here that your subconscious mind is already being programmed all the time – by your thoughts, the media, movies and television, advertising, your friends and family and so forth.

Isn’t it about time YOU took charge of your own programming to get the success you seek in online marketing and every other aspect of your life?

Here’s how:

Step 1: Write down exactly what you want, in full detail.

Instead of writing, “I want more affiliates,” write, “I want 20 active affiliates who sell a total of 1,000 copies of my program in the next 60 days.”

Step 2: Visualize yourself already having obtained what you desire.

This is fun and something you should do several times a day or more.

Play full-color movies in your head of yourself already having attained your desire.

Your subconscious doesn’t know the difference between what it sees in your imagination and what it sees in the real world.

That’s why when it keeps seeing movies of you having 20 active affiliates and selling 1,000 copies of your program in 60 days, it will think this is reality and work to make it happen.

Step 3: Don’t watch or listen to anything – real or imagined – that contradicts your new belief.

If you want to sell 1,000 copies of your program, but you watch a TV series where the main character is always failing at everything he tries, this is going to sabotage your efforts.

Be very careful what you watch, read and listen to. Consider going on a complete news fast, refusing to watch or read anything negative for the next 30 days.

You might be surprised at how much more positive you feel, and how much easier it is to attain goals.

That’s because you’re removing negative influences on your programming, which allows the positive influences to have their way.

Step 4: Make your own mantra or affirmation summarizing your goal.

This affirmation is going to imply you already have the outcome you seek.

Start the affirmation with either, “I have...” or “I am...”.

In the case of our example, your affirmation might be, “I have 20 active affiliates who easily sell 1,000 copies of my program in 60 days.”

Make sure your affirmation is in the present tense or else your subconscious won’t understand it.

Also, don’t use a negative word, because your subconscious won’t hear it.

For example, if you say, “I do not get refund requests,” your subconscious will hear, “I do get refund requests” and it will go to work to make sure you get plenty of refund requests. Ouch.

Step 5: Create reminders.

Set a timer on your phone that goes off periodically throughout the day to remind you to say your affirmation and play your movie in your head.

See yourself already in possession of what you seek.

Step 6: Do affirmations.

OK, if you’re squirming right now and saying, “I don't want to!” then I understand.

You probably tried affirmations in the past and found it too boring to continue.

Here’s how to make it simple for yourself: Write out a list of affirmations that support your desired goal.

Record yourself saying these affirmations and loop it 3 to 5 times to repeat those affirmations. Then play this recording several times per day as you do other things.

Hint: It’s especially useful to play it as you’re falling asleep.

Step 7: Time to kick things up a notch.

You’re going to speak as though you have already attained your goal.

Yes, I mean speak to others. If that sounds a little too crazy right now, then practice speaking it out loud to yourself. Then, when you’re ready, talk to friends, family, etc.

For example, in our 20 affiliates – 1,000 sales example, you’ll be saying things like, “I’ve got 20 new active affiliates who are promoting my new program like crazy.

In fact, I’ve already made 1,000 sales!”

“Wait! Isn’t this lying?!”

Think of it as time traveling. When you do reach this goal, you will be saying these things for real. You’re just saying them a little early, that’s all.

Now, I know you’re going to try to skip this step. Don’t. Speaking things into existence is powerful.

After all, don’t gods speak entire worlds into existence? If they can do that, you can speak your goals into being as well.

Now then, once you’re doing these 7 steps, just keep doing them until you reach your goal. Then repeat the entire process.

I suggest you start with a small goal that can be achieved fairly quickly and work your way up to larger goals.

Realize, of course, that you will HAVE TO DO STUFF along the way to make your goals happen.

But here’s the magic – by using this system, things will be a lot easier. The people you need will appear when you need them.

Things that need to fall into place for you will fall into place. It feels a lot like magic, but it’s not. It’s simply a matter of energy and focus.

You are focusing your energy to send out a call into the world for what you need, and the world cannot help but answer.

Remember that long line of trucks making deliveries to your home? Now you can determine what gets delivered (and what doesn’t.)

So what have you got to lose? And more importantly, fellow online marketer, what have you got to gain?

The world needs what you have to offer. And by using this system you’ll be able to help all kinds of people while simultaneously getting everything you want, too.

Truly a win-win for everyone involved.

Discover how to engage and excite new customers into taking action and spending money with you by using these simple free marketing tips from Nick James, The Internet Business Coach http://www.Nick-James.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9772113

11 Habits of Wildly Successful People

By Barrie Davenport & liveboldandbloom.com

THE truth is, a large part of what we accomplish in life is governed by our habits.

Habits can lead us to think and act in specific patterns, as they rewire our brains with neural pathways that make the behaviors almost automatic. 

Discover how you can be 'Wildly Successful', too

Because our habits are so powerful, it is important to pay close attention to the ones that have the biggest impact.

While luck and genetics play a role in your long-term success, there are certain learnable behaviors that will make you more likely to be successful in all your endeavors.

In fact, some “keystone habits” can compel you to perform other positive behaviors, creating a string of good habits that can significantly improve your life.

Many of these positive habits don’t require a major life change – which is hard to pull off without employing dozens of habits.

Instead, making a few small changes to your daily routine can potentially result in an unexpectedly large payoff.

People who are wildly successful – like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey – understand the secrets of developing these small daily habits.

Here are 11 habits of successful people that you can adopt in your life:

1. They practice willpower

When you are working toward a goal, it is important to think about what you want vs. what you want right now.

Successful people have the strength to finish what they have started without procrastinating.

When you want something and have a clear long-term goal, you will make it happen.

Some of the world’s greatest achievers are people who have a laser focus on their goal and are therefore consistent with their efforts.

2. They read

We know that reading has considerable benefits, from improving your overall health and well-being to expanding your capacity to have strategic decision making.

People who read are constantly learning about new things, whether it is the biography of someone who was successful before them or just the current events in the news.

Reading can also help improve writing skills and alleviate stress.

3. They have a morning routine

Developing a morning routine and sticking to it gives structure to your day and allows you to have the energy to accomplish everything that is important to you.

Some common morning routines include:

• Gratitude meditation
• Exercising
• Journaling
• Mapping out your MITs for the day
• Responding to important emails

4. They don’t sweat the small stuff

People who are successful don’t waste their time worrying about small matters that do not have an impact on their long-term goals.

Instead, they let those things slide or put them aside to deal with later when they are not trying to focus on their work.

Time is a very important variable in the things that we are able to accomplish and the people who choose to spend their time wisely are able to be more successful than those who waste time worrying about irrelevant matters.

5. They wake up an hour early

There is another hour that you can use in your day to accomplish great things, but you may have slept through it most of your life.

Waking up an hour earlier than usual will take some time to adjust to, but once you do, you won’t want to go back to sleeping in.

Early risers tend to be more dedicated and optimistic than those who choose to sleep in, and they are able to anticipate upcoming problems and conquer them more efficiently.

This is a crucial element to success in the business world.

6. They complete THAT task first

There is always that one task that you really don’t enjoy doing, but you absolutely have to in order to continue with your work.

Maybe that is calling a certain client that you have to talk to on a regular basis or creating a report that is just tedious.

Reprioritize your to-do list by placing your most dreaded task at the top of the list.

Rather than allowing it to loom over you all day while you are getting other things accomplished, save yourself the stress and get it over with first.

This will provide you with a sense of relief and allow you to be more willing and able to complete any trivial tasks that follow.

Remember, you usually have the most energy in the morning when you are feeling the most rested.

7. They find their mantra

What is your core motivation for being successful?

Is it so you can provide for your family, or retire early and travel the world?

Remember your motivation and create a mantra that will help keep you going during times of stress.

Repeat your mantra to yourself each morning while you are taking a deep breath and relaxing.

This will help you feel more motivated and focused throughout the day.

8. They make sure to set aside time to get exercise

Exercising not only gives you a boost of energy, but it also helps to keep your brain sharp and your stress levels low.

Exercising will help you feel ready to take on any issue that comes your way.

It is best to get your exercise over with in the morning, because studies have shown that you are less likely to skip your workout if you do it first thing in the morning before you have time to make an excuse to put it off.

Even if it is just a fifteen minute run in the morning, get some physical activity and get your body moving.

9. They keep their space organized

Whether it is their desk at work or where they handle business at home, there is no clutter or unnecessary items filling the space of people who are successful.

They throw away old papers and excess items that are not used on a regular basis because these things only add a distraction.

Take some time each day to clean up your working space and organize your papers and projects from the day.

This will help set you up to be ready to work the next day without having to deal with any clutter.

10. They are self-confident

Self-confidence is born when one is able to master their skills and their talents.

This is a slow process that builds a sense of trust in yourself, letting yourself know that you know what you are doing and that you are good at your job. This is a key element of success.

It is important to realize that being self-confident also requires a sense of self-awareness. Successful people know who they are and have a defined vision.

But while they know their strengths, they are also very aware of their weaknesses.

This allows them to know when they need to seek outside help with a project or get a second opinion.

People who have the most success are aware of the instances in which they need to rely on someone else who may be more equipped to handle a specific problem than they are.

11. They contribute to others

One of the habits of successful people that may seem counterintuitive is to give to others.

People who are successful make it a habit to provide other people with things of value.

Whether that is intangible items such as knowledge or support or tangible things such as money and books, looking for ways to give, rather than get, is an important thing that successful people do.

Research has shown that giving makes people happier than receiving and if you are genuinely happy with your life and the person that you are, you are more likely to be successful.

If any of these habits intrigue you, choose one to focus on for the next few weeks. It can take about four to six weeks for a new habit to become automatic, depending on the difficulty of the habit.

Determine the actions you need to take to develop the habit. Set a consistent time of day, every day to work on it, using a trigger or cue (a previously established habit like brushing your teeth) to remind you.

Create accountability by telling your habit plans to someone else or reporting on your efforts on social media. If you miss a day, just pick up the next day, and don't beat yourself up.

Once your first habit feels solid, move on to another so that you build a series of positive habits that will make you wildly successful too!

Article source: http://tiny.cc/o249my

Living in the Now

By Tim Taylor

“If you do not create change, change will create you.” – Unknown

ARE you living in the now?

What does the phrase even mean?

You might think: “We’re here and it’s now – so the answer has to be ‘Yes’, right?”

Well no, it’s not that straightforward. 

Are you present in the now and focused on the future?

Picture it this way ... you’re in the driver’s seat of your car – hands on the wheel – cruising down the motorway at a steady 70 (ish) miles an hour, (you’re a law-abiding citizen after all!).

Your eyes are fixed on the road ahead; your wife is asleep next to you and the kids are in the back, playing Candy Crush on their ’phones.

You’re on ‘autopilot’ and your mind wanders; it’s really not the way it should be.

A loud cough from the back seat shuts down your auto pilot and you’re back in the present, aware of a slight vibration through the steering.

You glance in the rear-view mirror to make sure everything is OK then eyes right: through the side window you catch sight of your dream car as it rumbles past.

You let out a longing sigh.

So, what has this to do with ‘living in the now’ and ‘being present’? Bear with me.

Think about each of the windows in a car; every one gives a different view.

Through the front screen you can see you’re moving forward – you have some idea of where you’re going (you have your goal).

You’ve planned your route or – better still – you already know your route. If you look constantly in the rear view mirror – to the past if you will – you could miss valuable opportunities.

Looking out of the side windows. Living in the now gives you a different perspective, it gives you time to savour the moment.

Imagine all you heard was the exhaust’s roar as the dream car thundered past, its shiny tailpipe disappearing into the distance... you’d have completely missed the moment.

When you’re at the wheel and conscious of everything that’s going on around you, you’re in control; you’re in pursuit of your goals and you’re living in the now.

But can you control your whole journey? What if something goes wrong? There are bound to be obstacles along the way; interruptions are inevitable on the journey we call life.

The sound of a female voice breaks through the quiet of the cabin, waking your sleeping wife. It’s your SatNav; it tells you there is an accident ahead and traffic is beginning to tail back.

You’re there, in the present (the now) so you start to consider rationally, the options available.

Do you wait in the impending queue; pull off at the next junction or the next service station to stretch your legs and get a coffee?

By staying in the present moment, you can take charge, make choices and effect changes.

Suddenly vehicles ahead are breaking, a queue quickly forms. Are you still present?

If you are, you accept the situation, it’s too late to change it; you remain calm and relaxed.

You might reprogram the SatNav; check how far the next junction is; listen to the traffic news for insights into the situation.

If this was your journey – what would you be thinking, how would you be feeling now?

Or... you begin to berate yourself.  You didn’t think the incident was so close; you start fretting over how long you’ll be queuing; you smack your palms on the steering wheel in frustration.

Your focus is no longer in the present, it’s in the past (think rear view mirror).

You curse your decision not to take the last exit; tell yourself you should have taken a different route or even that you shouldn’t have left home at all.

You’re no longer in the present, you’re living in the past. Auto pilot kicks in again, you can’t stop the voices in your head: “You’ll be here for ages”, “We should have left yesterday...”

At this point there are a number of actions you can take.

You could keep looking behind you – living in the past – a lot of people do, but they end up with regrets and even while you’re thinking this, your focus has slipped.

Your mind has wandered from what is happening now and you’re angry you weren’t paying better attention.

Your face flushes with embarrassment; you’re angry at yourself but you start snapping at your wife and kids.

So what could be the possible outcome?

It’s easy to miss opportunities – to lose focus; lose faith; start doubting your abilities and blaming those around you – both in business and personal life.

Going back to that car journey, your frustration with the situation spills over and before you know it, you’re niggling at your wife.

You claim you never wanted to travel today. It’s her fault you’re stuck in traffic and pretty soon, you’re shouting, she’s crying and the kids are playing up because of the unrest.

Now you’re really distracted. Your stress levels are rising and you’re really not paying attention to what’s going on. A car cuts in sharply to the lane in front of you.

Your wife yells “Brake!!!”, jolting you back to the present. What happens next?

I’ll let you decide the outcome but it’s hard to see anything good coming from this. In fact, that’s the very reason why retaining the capacity for change is important.

Too many people waste their time looking in the rear view mirror... don’t be one of them.

In America in 2011, there was a large national survey – across all age groups – that looked at just this.

The paper was called Regrets of the Typical American published by Roese and Morrison in Social Psychological and Personality Science.

The main sources of regret (reflecting on the past and not changing) were, in order:
1. Romance
2. Family
3. Education
4. Career
5. Finance
6. Parenting
7. Health
8. “Other”
9. Friends
10. Spirituality
11. Community
12. Leisure
13. Self

There are far-reaching consequences to not living in the now; as the quote says:

“If you do not create change, change will create you.”

So think about how you might change; to the way you react to situations, to circumstances and the way you make decisions.

When you’re the one to initiate change – by making choices with full awareness – you’re prepared and ready to deal with whatever life throws at you.

Retaining control over how you react to different situations will help you remain calm and avoid angry outbursts.

As in the car journey – by staying present, focussing on available options, making decisions (managing change) and staying with that choice ’til another opportunity presents itself can only lead you to a more balanced and relaxed state of being.

I’m not saying you’ll float on your own personal cloud, like some mystical guru, impervious to the troubles and strife of everyday life.

You will still get stressed. You will still get hacked off. You will still have ‘down days’ but how you control your thoughts and the choices you make are what matters.

You are ultimately in control and it is your choices that will return you to a calmer state.

Having spent 30 years working with companies and individuals to develop strategies enabling the achievement of desired outcomes, I am here now to help you through.

We’re in this together to find solutions by taking a holistic view and, most importantly, this article is for you.

So, ask questions, communicate ideas, celebrate your success, share your disappointments and find encouragement and support without judgement.

Contact me asktim@perceivepolishperfect.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9595458

3 Pertinent Ways to Shift Your Limiting Money Beliefs

By Chris Atley

BELIEFS. They are the underlying operating system for how we make our decisions and therefore what we decide to do and not do.

They live in our subconscious mind, which does not have the ability to accept or reject information.

Meaning, any time we have an emotional reaction to something, the belief around it is automatically accepted into our subconscious mind.

Unless we are using our conscious mind (which can accept or reject information), to vet what goes in there.

Most people don’t realize they can do this, and what happens if they don’t!

So if deep down we don’t feel worthy of success, we will see life and make designs form this lens.

We must first get clear on what is in there, and then reprogram it with new empowered beliefs if what’s in there isn’t so great.

My motto is that we need to be of service first and foremost always in our businesses.

When we can accept and trust the universe always has our backs, and is going to show-us more and more people and opportunities to serve, we can relax, have fun and be of complete service.

We’re not worrying about money in this place or where the next client is going to come from. The money is secondary.

However, if we aren’t open to receiving money, we will create all kinds of problems for ourselves.

For example, when I first started looking at my own money beliefs, I realized deep down I believed rich people were in some way arrogant and selfish.

I was sabotaging the success I said I wanted because I had a value conflict – I didn’t want to be that type of person.

Here are 3 things you can do now to become aware of your beliefs around money and start shifting them too.

1. What do you believe about money and success? What were you taught by society, your culture and influential people in your life while growing-up?

2. What would you like to believe instead? What is the new empowered belief you would like to have in place for the old? Repeat this over and over and OVER!!!!

You will start to reprogram your subconscious mind by creating new experiences that support this new empowered belief i.e. things will start happening in your external world that support this new belief! YAY!

3. Find role models who are at the level you want to be at, who also share the same values as you. This will help you reframe how you are seeing successful people.

As Tony Robbins said, “Money just magnifies who you are already. If you’re an ‘a-hole’, it will make you a bigger ‘a-hole’.

“If you’re kind and loving, you will spread more love and kindness.”

I totally agree.

Have fun exploring, and get ready for financial abundance!

PS If you are doing really well in your business, but still always seem to just have enough to get by with your current expenses and lifestyle, there is more digging and shifting to be done.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9630732

Cultivating Mental Toughness

By Raman Kuppuswamy

“CONCENTRATION and mental toughness are the margins of victory,” said Bill Russell.

In fact, mental toughness is the most important ingredient for achieving goals in life because during the course of your journey towards your life’s goals, the chances of you facing bumps are very high.

Not only that, this trait will help you acquire resilience, determination and willpower so you can persist till you reach your goals.

Do you have the 'Mental Toughness' to achieve your goals?

Mental toughness gives you the ability and strength to push, despite opposition and hurdles. So, it is imperative that you must try cultivating the trait.

But before that, let us understand what we mean by mental toughness.

What is mental toughness?

Mental toughness can be described as the attribute that allows you to handle the difficulties you may face in your life.

A few experts firmly restrict this attribute to the sports field. But a number of other experts believe that this attribute pervades every area of our life.

Peter Clough and Dough Strycharczyk – researchers who authored the book, ‘Developing Mental Toughness’ – say that this attribute is:

“The quality which determines, in large part, how people deal effectively with challenge, stressors, and pressure... irrespective of prevailing circumstances.”

According to these researchers, this trait consists of a few critical components and they are challenge, control, commitment and confidence.

As far as ‘challenge’– the first component – is concerned, you must view challenges, not as obstacles, but as opportunities.

The crux of ‘control’ – the second component – is to believe that you have complete control over your destiny and life.

‘Commitment’ is nothing but possessing the capabilities needed for sticking to tasks and ensuring you complete them, regardless of the hurdles you may face.

‘Confidence’ is believing in your capabilities. Clough and Strycharczyk firmly say that mental toughness and the skills related to it apply to every area of life.

Research proves that the attribute has a genetic link. At the same time, experts suggest that people can learn and strengthen their mental toughness as well.

But how can you cultivate this trait?

1. Believe that you have the ability for achieving your goals

A study conducted in 2002 revealed that top performers – and especially elite athletes – always possess extreme self-belief.

This means that they firmly believe they can succeed. In other words, if you believe in yourself and keep encouraging yourself positively, you can achieve your goal, regardless of what it is.

2. Prefer intrinsic motivations to external rewards

External rewards – like popularity, money, etc. – are certainly nice but intrinsic motivations are better because they come from the ‘within’.

This means you will love doing things just for doing them. When you love doing things, you will push harder and try to perform better.

In fact, mentally tough people love doing things in which they are interested and their success in their tasks come from intrinsic motivations and not because of external rewards.

This means that they love the challenges they may face while doing things and overcoming those challenges is the real reward for them.

3. Mentally tough people do not get upset when they encounter setbacks

Mentally tough people rebound even when they encounter setbacks, and while doing so, they move ahead with stronger determination and resolve.

They innovate to find out new ways for overcoming such phases.

4. They are self-directed

This means that they do not let things happen. Instead, they focus on creating the life they’d like to lead.

They set goals and take appropriate action for going beyond their goals and achieving them. In other words, they learn the process of setting goals and pursue the goals relentlessly.

5. They keep their focus even if there are distractions

Distractions are bound to be there in everyone’s life, but mentally tough people do not allow them to spoil their focus. Remember that it is impossible to always have everything right.

Even if other things need your attention, you must focus only on your goals and work towards achieving them.

6. They are committed

Commitment is a major ingredient that helps in cultivating mental toughness. Remember the words of Winston Churchill who said:

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

So, you should always remain committed to making the right efforts for achieving your goals.

Raman Kuppuswamy offers copywriting services of the highest quality.

Please visit http://www.addscopywriter.com/ to know more about him. Click on “web presence” on the site to see samples of the contents he has crafted.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9723966

How to Meditate: A Guided Meditation with Jack Canfield

Posted By John Lee of YourBestYouEver.net

If you’ve ever tried your hand at meditation and looked on line or at your local book store for help and inspiration, you’ll know there’s shed loads of information out there.

Some is complex. Some is fairly simple. And some is so far ‘out there’ you feel like you need a Master’s Degree in Metaphysics before you can even think about getting started! 

Let Jack Canfield show the art of meditation

Yet meditation is the simplest of phenomena and, in fact, an everyday part of our lives, in much the same way as ‘trance’ within the practice of hypnotherapy.

Whenever you get lost in a book or movie, for example, or find yourself day-dreaming as you gaze into the flames of a cozy fire... you’re in trance. And meditation is not dissimilar.

Take a look at the video below – featuring American author, motivational speaker, corporate trainer, and entrepreneur, Jack Canfield – and you’ll see how simple and useful it can be.

You may know Jack from movies such as, ‘The Secret’ or ‘The Keeper of the Keys’, books like the ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ series or his numerous other self-improvement programs.

And if you do, you’ll know he always manages to strip away the confusing and complex to offer straightforward and very practical help in every subject.

Here, he takes you through his own four-part, guided meditation that’s easy to implement, very practical and refreshingly empowering – all in just eight minutes.

Better still, Jack also takes a look at what exactly meditation is, why it’s an important tool for everyone and the huge benefits it can bring to your life.

The entire video’s only 18 minutes long. So take a look. Just click on the link below to go to the original recording.

http://bit.ly/2tcau2m

Mastering Manifestation

By Chris Atley

I definitely believe what we give out we get back. If we give out a positive, happy vibe, we will get more back to feel positive and happy about in our lives.

If we give out a stressed-out, overwhelmed energy, we will get more back to feel stressed-out and overwhelmed about. 

Have you 'Mastered Manifestation'?

From a law of attraction/vibration perspective – we put out an energy (positive or negative), and we therefore receive more opportunities that are either positive or negative (depending on what we put out).

I have found that with the law of attraction, it’s not so much that we attract more positive or negative circumstances/opportunities, etc., it’s that we see more positive or negative circumstances/opportunities, etc.

What we want is always there for us; we just don’t always see it because we’re operating at a lower more negative – as some say – vibration.

I prefer heavier. Picture a denser, thicker energy, as opposed to a lighter energy. Negative thoughts carry a heavy energy.

So what does this mean for business?

Well, say you have a financial goal you want to hit over the next 6 months.

The way to make it happen is already there for you and your vibration needs to match each next step so that you can see it.

Feelings of unworthiness or ‘not good enough’ will block you from seeing it.

It’s literally like turning on a light switch where you can suddenly see a world full of opportunities that are fun and exciting!

What’s interesting is a lot of my clients end up seeing opportunities to take them to the next level that were literally right there the entire time, but they didn’t feel good enough to notice them.

It’s such a great shift to witness.

I want to take this concept a step further though...

A lot of people get hung up on what they’re creating and why.

So for example, if something someone perceives as “bad” happening in their lives, they start to judge themselves and wonder why they're creating it. Why is that showing-up?

This is for the people who recognize they are responsible for everything showing up in their lives – good or bad – and who are working on taking control of their emotions and what they are in fact creating, so that they can create a life they love.

The revelation though, is that they’re not creating anything good or bad. It just is.

It’s us that assign a positive or negative value on things that happen. We’re taught through family, cultural and societal belief systems on what is right and wrong.

We have assigned the value and created the rules. Our belief systems then dictate our perception. Our perception creates our thoughts and therefore our feelings about people/circumstances/events.

So what we’re really projecting and getting back is the thought about something, not the actual circumstance.

Stuff is going to happen in life and business. It just will. So the whole “Mastering of the law of attraction” thing, is not about creating the “Perfectly positive” life.

Whatever that is anyway.

It’s about changing how we think and therefore feel about these situations.

If we’re feeling negative, the most “positive” event could occur and we would find everything wrong with it.

On the flip side, if we’re feeling positive, we can see the blessings and have gratitude instead for the exact same event.

The event didn’t change, we did. So it’s really not about what we’re creating, it’s about how we’re seeing it.

We have a choice with everything that shows-up – we can react or respond, with sometimes the best response being no response at all (which involves being secure and confident with who we are).

The more we “let go” of our attachment (rules and expectations), to these events/people/circumstances, the more we can neutralize our emotion.

We therefore give out peace and we see more and more peace around us regardless of what is happening in our environments. Even on the shittiest of days.

The truth being we can either respond with love and create feelings of expansion, or we can project fear and shrink into littleness.

This in turn will dictate if we see more love or more fear in our lives.

If we truly believe we are bigger then our circumstances – that there’s more to this world beyond what we can see, and that we truly are unlimited eternal beings – we can let go a heck of a lot easier and realize most of this stuff doesn’t matter at the end of the day

Namaste xo

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9652383

7 Toxic Thoughts That Are Sabotaging Your Success

By Lolly Daskal, President and CEO, Lead From Within

YOUR thoughts are powerful. It may sound far-fetched to say that what you believe will come true and what you think about will come to you.

But it’s not really such a stretch. Your thoughts are directly connected to your actions and therefore to your outcomes. That means they play a significant role in your success or failure.  

Are toxic thoughts holding YOU back?

Good thoughts give you confidence and empower you to act; negative thoughts can keep you quiet and hold you back.

Even successful people find the wrong thoughts can lead to derailed plans and stalled momentum, and they learn to steer clear of toxic zones.

As you direct your own path away from unsupportive, harmful thinking toward positivity, here are six areas you definitely want to avoid:

1. The necessity of perfection. Anyone who thinks they must be perfect is setting themselves up for failure.

When perfection is your goal, you will always be left with the feeling that you’re not measuring up, and in time you’ll come to see yourself as a failure.

Everything you do creates your future, and it doesn’t have to be perfect to lead you toward success.

2. Not being good enough. Everyone at one time or another has moments of self-doubt.

But if it becomes a constant state of mind or something that weaves through a lot of your thoughts – if you’re spending a lot of time thinking you’re not good enough, smart enough, talented enough, or skilled enough – you’re not taking responsibility for working on yourself to improve the value of what you have to offer.

Successful people identify their strongest skills and talents and use them to reach their highest potential.

3. Comparing yourself with others. It’s a constant temptation, seeing how we measure up to others.

But the reality is that everyone is different. No one else has your particular gifts and outlook, your particular background and challenges and interests.

And you can’t learn anything about yourself by looking at others.

Successful people know there’s no sense in comparing yourself to anyone else; instead, spend your time and energy creating the best possible version of yourself.

4. Needing to always be right. It feels good to be right. But the truth is we’re all sometimes wrong, and that’s OK. There are times we need to learn from our mistakes and maybe experience a little humility.

Left unchecked, the need to be right can do a lot of damage: it can affect your relationships, your business and your leadership.

Sometimes you’re right and sometimes you’re wrong. Remembering that and taking it all in stride helps us succeed – and it makes us better people.

5. Worrying about what other people think. People will always have opinions about you. Either they’ll believe in you or they won’t.

Truly successful people understand that regardless of what other people think of them, they can do what it takes to succeed.

They can take the bold steps and risky actions required for success. Don’t take other people’s opinions to heart, because who you are and what you can accomplish come from within.

6. Allowing the past to determine the future. If you think that who you were and what you did in the past will determine your future, think again.

People grow and change direction. Who you were yesterday isn’t who you have to be tomorrow or even today. Even if you’ve failed in the past you can succeed in the future.

Have the confidence to keep trying. Successful people don’t allow anything in their past to erode their ability to create a successful future, because they know life is full of second chances.

7. Believing your destiny is out of your hands. So many people feel that their fate is predestined.

The truth is your destiny is something you can mold – the power lies within you, and allowing yourself to believe otherwise is just a way of not taking responsibility.

Sometimes things will be difficult, sometimes things will be challenging, but at all times, you have the power to create your own success or failure.

Your destiny is in your hands, heart and mind.

Instead of allowing your thoughts to sabotage you, treat them as you’d treat any powerful force:

Use them responsibly for good, keep them out of harmful situations, and let them help serve you so you in turn can serve.

Article source: http://tiny.cc/3hzuky

Undone: How to Change Our Procrastination Patterns

By Leo Babauta and zenhabits.net

PROCRASTINATION starts from an avoidance of something from fear, then becomes a pattern that hardens into a habit.

We reinforce this procrastination habit through years of practice, and it hurts us in so many ways in our lives – not only with work tasks, but much more.  

Do you have a 'procrastination habit'?

The procrastination habit affects:

* Dealing with our finances head-on

* Health habits (putting off exercise, for example)

* Dealing with our health problems (putting it off makes it much worse)

* Relationships (putting off difficult conversations)

* Creating, art, meaningful work

* Decluttering and simplifying

* Being on time (and being late can cause us stress)

* Learning new things

And much more.

Those are just some of the most visible examples, but we procrastinate all day long, by checking our phones, favorite websites, email, messages, news, watching TV, playing games, and … well, you all know your favorite procrastination techniques.

So the question becomes, how do we stop hurting ourselves, after all these years? How do we start to unravel our hardened procrastination habits and create more helpful patterns?

The answer is to start thinking of these hardened patterns as grooves.

The Grooves of Our Habits

When you first procrastinated, you didn’t have a hardened pattern. You had a choice.

You could do your homework (or pick up your toys, perhaps), or you could put that off until later and do something else that’s perhaps more fun.

You felt fear or resistance with one task, which made the other option more appealing. You chose the easy route, and that felt good in the moment.

There was immediate reward. There was difficulty later, but that was something future you had to deal with.

All other choices like this were rewarded with immediate gratification. So by repeating this choice over and over, you start to wear a groove into the ground.

After a while, the reward isn’t even needed … the groove becomes so much easier to follow, and getting out of the groove is so much harder.

The longer we keep sticking with the groove, the harder it is to change.

Habits are grooves. You stick to the old ones, until you’re willing to put in the effort to get out of the grooves and make new choices.

How do you get out of the groove you’ve made? Conscious effort.

How to Change Your Patterns, or Get Your Groove On

The steps of breaking out of a groove are simple, but they require concentrated effort:

1. Decide that you’re tired of the old groove. The old groove isn’t serving you. It’s hurting you.

When you decide you’re tired of hurting yourself with this particular pattern, you’re ready to change. Assess whether you’re ready right now.

2. Commit to conscious change. When you’re ready to stop hurting yourself with the old pattern, make a commitment to practice and to be very conscious in changing your groove.

Making the commitment to someone else, or a small group of friends or family, is a powerful way to commit.

3. Set aside time for deliberate practice. You’re not going to change your groove haphazardly. You have to practice consciously and with deliberate effort.

Set aside a small practice period each day – just 5 minutes to start with. Don’t put off the task of blocking off your practice period – remember, you’re deliberately practicing a new pattern!

I recommend 5-10 minutes every day of the week, first thing in the morning before you check email or your phone or computer. Have a reminder where you will see it first thing in the morning.

4. Set an intention for your practice. Before you start, tap into your reason by remembering why you’re practicing. In what ways is this hurting you in your life?

Is it hurting your career, health, happiness, relationships, finances, meaningful work, your loved ones? Set an intention to practice in order to make these things better.

5. Set yourself a task. Pick something you’ve been putting off (but perhaps not your hardest or most uncomfortable tasks to start with). Commit to doing that task for just 5 minutes.

6. Let yourself do nothing else, and watch your patterns. Sit there and do nothing but that task, or do nothing at all. Notice when you have the urge to switch to something else, to get up and get away.

Those are your old patterns showing themselves, which in itself is hugely valuable. But just observe the urges, without acting on them but also without judgment.

They’re just urges, just feelings that arise, not anything to worry about. Just watch, don’t act, just sit and face the urges. Then return to the task. Over and over, until this is your new groove.

It’s possible to create new grooves, new patterns, that serve you better. I’ve done it dozens of times in my life, perhaps more than a hundred in the last decade.

I’m no stronger than anyone else, and so if I can do it, you can too.

The Undone Course

I’m launching a new video course today [April 3^rd, 2017] in my Sea Change Program called Undone: Reprogramming the Procrastination Habit.

I invite you to join us in this 4-week course, by joining Sea Change today.

Sea Change is my monthly membership program for changing habits, learning mindfulness and changing your life. Each month, we focus on something different, and this month it’s procrastination.

What you’ll get with this course:

1. Two video lessons per week

2. Exercises to work with your procrastination patterns mindfully

3. A challenge to do these exercises a short time six days a week for the whole month

4. A weekly check-in for the challenge so you stay accountable

5. A live video webinar (for Gold members) and the ability to submit questions for me to answer

I encourage you to join me and have your efforts to change your old patterns supported by me and more than a thousand other Sea Change members.

Join Sea Change today and start the course.

Article source: https://zenhabits.net/undone/