Blog for Self Improvement

It seems we all hear so often how important it is to become successful. It is what drives many people through their life journey. How do you define success? Does it relate to becoming wealthy? Gaining prestige? Building a business from nothing into something of great value? Feeling important? Creating a respectable image?

These are certainly noble aspirations. It's normal to desire prosperity and recognition, but is that what is really important for life to be successful? There are several ways to view the journey of life so let's examine these three ways: being motivated, being inspired, or being stagnant.

Motivation is an ego-driven process of making things happen in your life. We've been taught the principle of an indelible determination that makes you climb right over the obstacles, never giving up. With this drive, nothing gets in the way of your goal! We've been taught this is the road to success and it is vital that we envision what we want and go after it with all our gusto. There are thousands of motivational seminars, books, audios, and videos that share the secrets to getting motivated and accomplishing your dreams. With motivation a person grabs an idea and works and perseveres until they achieve their goal. Many individuals have been incredibly successful from this approach. It does take a lot of extra work to accomplish, but the end result is what counts in this approach.

An inspired journey is quite different. In this journey the individual is grabbed with an idea so that it takes hold of them and leads to an inspired end result. Inspiration is the reality of Spirit working through you. In other words, you are being led in the direction that Spirit knows is good for you and the benefit of others.

Inspiration always flows from the universal energy of love. It is not something that is forced or pushed in any way; it simply flows effortlessly. Most of the time, when moving from inspiration, the ultimate goal or outcome is unknown. It is a guidance that comes from within, spirit-driven, and simply asks for faith in the move into unknown territory. It always involves surrendering your will - something very difficult for most people to do.

All of my books come in this way. My second book, The Realness of a Woman, was not even in my thoughts, but one morning while I was showering I heard a voice that said I was to write that book. I simply said "okay" without having any idea what would be in the book. Every word on the 340 pages came through Divine guidance and it would often surprise me what I had written. This is inspiration. It also means simply agreeing, or surrendering, and waiting for the next step to unfold. Yes, it takes a lot of faith and trust, but every time I allow inspiration to flow, the end result is better than I could have ever imagined. It allows you to live in a state of total bliss and inner happiness, and it always requires that you get out of the way so Spirit can work!

Stagnation is another way people live their lives. Webster says that a stagnant life is one that is lacking in activity and interest, that it is sluggish and dull. This is the life many people live when they allow their job to control their life. There are bills to pay and commitments to others, so they work day after day in a job that doesn't fill them up. So this person drifts along, existing in their life similar to a robot, doing what they know to do.

A life of stagnation is not a happy life. You may find external things that make you feel happy for a while, but the novelty soon wears off and you're on to another pleasure, or at least wishing for one. In a stagnant life there is often a feeling that something is missing, or perhaps the feeling of not enough. The reason is that this person hasn't found their passion in life and therefore cannot feel fulfilled no matter what they do. This lifestyle is where most people live and eventually die. It is as if they are coasting through with life happening to them. This life is one of smallness.

Everything in life is about choice. If you don't consciously make a choice, a choice will be made for you. Many times an individual doesn't even realize they actually can make a choice, and so often I've heard the comment as someone is offering a defensive explanation, "I had no choice." My friends, you ALWAYS have a choice!

So I ask you to review the three ways you can live your life - through motivation, through inspiration, or through stagnation. The choice is yours and yours alone. Your greatest power is the power of choice. Which direction is the path you want to travel? One of these lifestyle choices is how you are living your life right at this moment. Maybe you like your life and maybe you don't, but if you want it to be lived differently, you have to make the choice to do it.

Right now, without doing another thing, think about these three ways to live. Which one do you think will bring you the greatest rewards, give you peace, and the most happiness as you show up for it?

I live my life through inspiration. I tried stagnation for many years but was miserable, restless, unfulfilled, and disenchanted with life. I made a choice to become motivated, and I did that too. I reaffirmed with positive affirmations every day and both read and listened to motivational information. I even worked with a motivated person, and I can tell you from my personal experience that it was a lot of hard work with little compensation during that time. In recent years I chose the inspired lifestyle, and my life became extraordinary. Things flowed into my consciousness that sometimes elated me and other times scared me, but I listened and followed the guidance that came. The end result? I am happier than I've ever been. I've written three books and more are on the way. I overcame my fear of speaking in public. Money has showed up in just the right timing to pay for whatever I was guided to do. I am at peace every day and know everything is working in Divine order. Amazing things keep showing up in my life that I could never have orchestrated. I work hard when I know I've been guided to do something, but there is always balance in my life now that didn't exist before. I have found that by focusing my thoughts on what flows to me with ease, I have time to complete everything that is important. My life has become extraordinary and every day is a joyous experience. I wish this for you!

Take a moment and decide what you want your life to be like: motivated, inspired, or stagnant. It's your choice!

Carolyn Porter, D.Div.

Empower Productions, Inc.

www.drcarolynporter.com
info@drcarolynporter.com

Carolyn Porter, D. Div., is an Inspirational Speaker, Author of multiple books, ebooks and audios, Spiritual Wholeness Coach, Energy Facilitator, Health Store Co-owner, whose passion is to help individuals move beyond their self-imposed limitations and become all they are meant to be. In this place they can create an extraordinary life with endless possibilities.

Everyday we deal with many changes that directly or indirectly affect our lives and the lives of our loved ones. Whether it is in our thoughts or actions, we simply can’t ignore the fact that we have to make constant changes to better adapt to our environment, and ultimately make the most of every given situation.

Changes can be viewed as short term or long term adjustment made to improve a situation or to achieve certain predetermined goals. As much as we want to embrace changes with a positive attitude, but changes could also be seen as something threatening and unpleasant. Whichever angle you look at changes, a good understanding of any situation will keep your mind objective to undertake changes in the most positive outlook.

Changes come in various forms. The most essential changes take place in our everyday lives such as in the area of decision making, career development, family planning, health care and so on. These changes are within our control as we can determine the outcome by choosing the desired course of actions amongst all other alternatives to a situation. For example, a young lady who wants to excel in her career must choose actions that will help her further develop her career skills. In choosing the right thing to do, she must first identify her strengths and weaknesses, and then decide upon the area of improvements that will eventually pave her corporate ladder in years to come.

On the other hand, there are many changes which are unpredictable and unexpected. These are changes which occur when we are not ready to make a shift from our comfort zone. Usually, such changes are called for in times of a crisis or turn of event that could affect our lives or the lives of our loved ones drastically. If the situation is left unattended, the consequences could be detrimental to all involved. For example, if one of our aged parents passed away due to a sudden heart attack, we have to help the other parent to cope with the grief period. If proper care is not given immediately, the surviving parent may face serious health problems.

Naturally, changes which are within our control are more likely to be accepted; while changes that are beyond our control will demand greater courage and boldness in us. How then are we to cope with changes in life? What could be done to make changes more acceptable and pleasant?

I have devised a simple yet effective method in which the process of change is made possible when applied overtime. I called this method “I Can!” An acronym that represent the 4-steps process of producing a change: Identify Create-Assess-Never Give Up!

The first step, “Identify”, is a crucial step where you identify the situation at hand from all perspectives. This is when questions are raised to gain better understanding of the situation, such as: Who is affected? Why is this happening? and so forth.

The second step, “Create”, is when you explore alternatives to cope with the situation you are facing. After weighing the pros and cons of the alternatives, you must create the course of actions – changes – which you are ready to commit.

The third step, “Assess”, is a time where you assess the effectiveness of the actions which you have taken earlier. This step is important to see if your changes are working towards solving the situation or not. If the results are undesirable, you must then evaluate the factors that contributed to the results and find ways to solve it.

Lastly, you must “Never Give Up” no matter how great the challenges and difficulties you faced when coping with the various changes in your life. Remember that you have started the race and must aim to reach the finishing line. Everyone is cheering for you; your parents, spouse, siblings, children and friends. It is not how fast you run but how well you finish! They want to see you win and succeed.

A change indeed is an imperative part of growth for everyone. Despite all the hardship we had to face when bringing about a change, all your effort will be well paid off when your goals are achieved, and faith strengthened; ready to face with greater wave of changes in life.

About the Author: Author, Sarah Taylors, manages a directory that provides women related information and links to websites that sell products & services for women consumers. There are also many good and interesting women related articles which you can read for free. Visit her directory to find out more: Women's Appeal Directory.

Source: http://www.easyarticles.com

Self hypnosis is a great tool for goal setting and self improvement. Most people are surprised at how easy it is to learn self-hypnosis. And self-hypnosis, in turn, makes a lot of things much easier.

Self hypnosis is usually thought of as a person listening to an audio tape, mp3, or other mass-produced media, intended to induce a willingness to absorb suggestions centered around a specific topic such as weight loss, stop smoking, etc.

Unfortunately, this kind of hypnosis is generally prepared by someone who has never met the person being hypnotized, often presenting unwanted, even unpleasant imagery and suggestions.

For example, if you sunburn easily, that last thing you want to hear about is a slow walk on a sunny beach. In this case, the "self" in self hypnosis simply means that you listen to it by yourself.

How do you incorporate self improvement to hypnosis?

To be able to go about self improvement, there are certain aspects in you that should be addressed. Using hypnosis, the negative aspects that are serving as hindrances to improvement are eliminated.

A true self hypnosis would necessarily be designed and created by the very person who will ultimately use and benefit from it.

Unlike the mass-produced hypnosis, this hypnosis is made for the exact purpose the person wishes, including the precise words and phrases that mean the most to that particular person.

The true self hypnosis is thus crafted by the person to suit his or her own needs. The benefits derived could only be accomplished with such a personal, one-of-a-kind hypnosis. In this case, the "self" in self hypnosis really does mean that you are hypnotized by yourself!

Below is a short view of the self hypnotic process. Though lots of variations of this method have been used, these are the basic steps you have to go through in order to hypnotize yourself to accomplish self improvement.

1. Position your goals from the most important goal to the less important. If possible, your goals should be measurable.

2. For each goal, you should formulate fitting suggestions which means you have to convert your goals into specific instructions to your subconscious mind on how to achieve each goal.

3. Relaxation. Use the first minutes of your self hypnotic session to get as relaxed as possible. Try to forget all your worries and problems.

4. Start your hypnotic initiation phase by saying and repeating out loud the hypnotic words you have chosen, thinking of these words or listening to a hypnotic tape or CD customized for your hypnotic and goal fulfillment needs.

5. Apply the hypnotic suggestions you have made for reaching the specific goal you work with, say them out loud, think them or use a tailored hypnotic tape or CD.

Before you start up your self hypnotic exercises you should make a time schedule for it. Do your hypnotic sessions every day, five minutes a day is enough. Repeat your suggestions as often as possible during the day.

Measure your progress. Are you closer to your goal now than you were before you started? Ask yourself. If you answer negative to these questions, you have to rethink and reorganize your train of thoughts.

This is the only way you can find out if this method is really helping you in achieving your self improvement goals.

One reason many of us find it difficult to delegate is that we've been sorely disappointed in the past.  "No one can do it as well as I can" is simply not true.  Given the opportunity and proper motivation, others will raise to your expectations with more creative, productive approaches to any task at hand.

Supervisors and managers can easily delegate, repeating the patterns of being disillusioned.  However, there is a difference between simply being a supervisor or manager and being a highly effective leader.  The title doesn't make an individual a leader.  Actions--consistent, meaningful, well-thought-out actions make the leader.

A sign of a truly effective leader is that he can motivate an individual or group of individuals in wanting to accomplishing a task.  This means that they involve all of their capabilities (imagination, insight, curiosity, enthusiasm) to not only accomplish the job, but they exceed expectations.

"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea." ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Leadership mastery comes in continually challenging yourself to come up with new ways to motivate.  Clients tell me "I just don't know what's wrong with this individual. I've told them precisely what to do over and over again and they still can't get one simple job done the way I want it done in a timely manner!"

You've heard it said that the definition of insanity is 'doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.'  If your team is not living up to your expectations where is the disconnect?  Is it with them?  More likely it is with you and the manner in which you are communicating your wishes.

Do they have responsibility in asking for clarification and doing their job to the highest level imaginable?

Absolutely, yet the buck stops with you.  There is no shortage of books on motivation, yet I believe the simplest technique is to know the individuals within your team.  Who are they?  What do they value?  What motivates them as individuals and as a team?

Many leaders make the mistake of thinking all individuals are motivated by what their leader is motivated by, be it money, competition, excellence or accomplishment.  In taking the time to observe, ask questions and really getting to know the individual, you can save hours, weeks, years of disappointment on both sides.

This week take a deeper look at all individuals you lead (including your children.)  What do they really want?  Have you simply delegated tasks to them, or have you stirred up their own internal motivation?  How can you motivate them in a manner that has more to do with them than you?  In doing so, you'll create win/win scenarios, a much more exciting environment in which to work, socialize or play, and you'll have set the bar for them to exceed your expectations.. Have an outstanding week and enjoy your discoveries.

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Have you ever had a conversation with someone and noticed midway that your mind is somewhere else and you have no idea what they just said? Or sat at your desk, hands on the computer keyboard and realized you've done nothing for the last ten minutes?

So often we allow our minds to be taken over by "unauthorized" thoughts, like a territory under foreign occupation. We live on auto-pilot, going through the motions of the day without fully enjoying or at least focusing on activities. Then, because our attention is so loosely tethered, we immediately react to external stimuli rather than making a conscious decision – responding reflexively to an email instead of concentrating on an important report. In reactive mode, we're less grounded and more vulnerable to stress.

To achieve flow, peak performance and productivity, I work with my clients to develop and train the "attention muscle:" the ability to be keenly aware and in control of what they're thinking, feeling and doing. Here are a few exercises, the mental equivalents of bicep curls, to beef up your focus and concentration.

DO A SPOT CHECK. Develop the habit of checking in on your mind and what it's thinking. Is it producing useful ideas for the presentation you're preparing, or preoccupied with your friend's snide comment last night? Probe around a bit to uncover any running commentary that might be creating anxiety - they may be so ingrained in your mental landscape that you don't notice they're there.

MAKE A 'WHAT'S ON MY MIND' LIST. The best way to get things off your mind is to put them down on paper. Sometimes this alone is enough to quiet the chatter. If you still can't stop ruminating, give yourself five minutes to scribble down all your stream-of-consciousness thoughts about a particular topic - why that snide comment annoyed you, what prompted it, how you could have responded, etc. Then tell your mind, "Okay, that's enough for now," and put it aside.

DETERMINE YOUR FOCUS. Now that you've got your full attention, decide where you want to direct it by setting mini-goals. Before making a phone call or writing an email, ask yourself: "What am I trying to achieve?" or create some urgency by seeing how many slides of your presentation you can do in 30 minutes. Train your attention to stay put. Okay, so that worked for five minutes but you keep getting distracted. First, notice when your mind wanders off and see if you can gently coax it back to the task at hand, without making a big deal of it - getting angry or critical usually doesn't work. (Just like it didn't when I was a child and my mother used to walk by the living room where I was (silently) practicing the piano and yell out, "Concentrate!")

Then, narrow even further your point of focus. Make a bullet point list of what you need to say in that company-wide email. In an endless conference call or meeting? Home in on each person when they speak and see if you can, without judgment, rate the qualities in their voice such as "warmth," "irritation," or "interest" on a scale of one to ten.

Developing your attention muscle is an iterative process not a one-time fix. The reward is that by devoting your full attention to the moment at hand, you will be able to delve deeper and gain greater satisfaction in everything you do.
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Peak performance specialist Renita T. Kalhorn is a Juilliard-trained pianist with a top-tier MBA and a first-degree martial arts black belt. Leveraging the power of "flow," she helps entrepreneurs and corporate professionals to achieve extreme focus and reach the top of their game at work. Claim your complimentary copy of "Find Your Flow! 21 Simple Strategies to Banish Tedium, Reduce Stress and Inspire Action" at

http://www.intheflowcoaching.com

Do you want to improve something about yourself? There are many people that do. This is where self improvement will help you.

It doesn't matter what you want to improve, what matters is that you recognize the fact that no one is perfect and can always benefit from self improvement of any kind.

There is one thing that you have to do before you start any self improvement. You need to sit down and figure out the things that need improvement.

When you know these it will make it a lot easier for you find the self improvement program you need. Here are some examples of things that a lot of people may want to improve on.

One: Your ability to create motivation or punctuality.

Two: The ability to grasp new information.

Three: Being better able to communicate with others.

Four: Knowing how to dress properly for a function that is special.

These are just a few of the things that some people want to see improvement on. You are the only one that needs to know what you need the self improvement for.

You do not have to let anyone else know if you are uncomfortable with it. That information is only important for you.

So how do you start self improvement? You need to take the time to find a self improvement program that is right for you. It is not hard to find them and you don't even have to pay to get them.

You just need to get online and do a quick search to find them. You don't even have to use a whole program for self improvement if you don't want to. You can find free articles and other resources that you can use to put together your own program.

One thing that you need to know that is important is that when you start yourself improvement you will want to set goals. For example, do you want to lose 10 pounds?

Then write that down and be sure to write a time line for yourself. This will give you a goal to reach for and a certain time limit to do it in. If you want to have success with your self improvement program then this step is very important.

One other important thing that you need to know is that not all of the techniques for self improvement will work for everyone. You want to pick the techniques that you believe will work the best for you. This is why it is a good idea to put together your own self improvement program.

These are all very important things that you need to know about self improvement if you want to be successful with it. A self improvement program can definitely help you improve yourself but only if you take the time to actually do it.

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When we look at a certain object, a painting for example – we won’t be able to appreciate what’s in it, what is painted and what else goes with it  if the painting is just an inch away from our face. But if we try to take it a little further, we’ll have a clearer vision of the whole art work.

We reach a point in our life when we are ready for change and a whole bunch of information that will help us unlock our self improvement power. Until then, something can be staring us right under our nose but we don’t see it.  The only time we think of unlocking our self improvement power is when everything got worst. Take the frog principle for example –

Try placing Frog A in a pot of boiling water. What happens? He twerps! He jumps off! Why? Because he is not able to tolerate sudden change in his environment – the water’s temperature. Then try Frog B: place him in a luke warm water, then turn the gas stove on. Wait til the water reaches a certain boiling point. Frog B then thinks “Ooh… it’s a bit warm in here”.

People are like Frog B in general. Today, Anna thinks Carl hates her. Tomorrow, Patrick walks up to her and told her he hates her. Anna stays the same and doesn’t mind her what her friends says. The next day, she learned that Kim and John also abhors her. Anna doesn’t realize at once the importance and the need for self improvement until the entire community hates her.

We learn our lessons when we experience pain. We finally see the warning signs and signals when things get rough and tough. When do we realize that we need to change diets? When none of our jeans and shirts would fit us. When do we stop eating candies and chocolates? When all of our teeth has fallen off. When do we realize that we need to stop smoking? When our lungs have gone bad. When do we pray and ask for help? When we realize that we’re gonna die tomorrow.

The only time most of us ever learn about unlocking our self improvement power is when the whole world is crashing and falling apart. We think and feel this way because it is not easy to change. But change becomes more painful when we ignore it.

Change will happen, like it or hate it. At one point or another, we are all going to experience different turning points in our life – and we are all going to eventually unlock our self improvement power not because the world says so, not because our friends are nagging us, but because we realized its for our own good.

Happy people don’t just accept change, they embrace it. Now, you don’t have to feel a tremendous heat before realizing the need for self improvement.  Unlocking your self improvement power means unlocking yourself up in the cage of thought that “its just the way I am”. It is such a poor excuse for people who fear and resist change. Most of us program our minds like computers.

Jen repeatedly tells everyone that she doesn’t have the guts to be around groups of people. She heard her mom, her dad, her sister, her teacher tell the same things about her to other people. Over the years, that is what Jen believes. She believes its her story. And what happens? Every time a great crowd would troop over their house, in school, and in the community – she tends to step back, shy away and lock herself up in a room. Jen didn’t only believed in her story, she lived it.

Jen has to realize that she is not what she is in her story. Instead of having her story post around her face for everyone to remember, she has to have the spirit and show people “I am an important person and I should be treated accordingly!”

Self improvement may not be everybody’s favorite word, but if we look at things in a different point of view, we might have greater chances of enjoying the whole process instead of counting the days until we are fully improved. Three sessions in a week at the gym would result to a healthier life, reading books instead of looking at porns will shape up a more profound knowledge, going out with friends and peers will help you take a step back from work and unwind.  And just when you are enjoying the whole process of unlocking your self improvement power, you’ll realize that you’re beginning to take things light and become happy.

Success is more than economic gains, titles, and degrees. Planning for success is about mapping out all the aspects of your life. Similar to a map, you need to define the following details: origin, destination, vehicle, backpack, landmarks, and route.

Origin:  Who you are

A map has a starting point. Your origin is who you are right now. Most people when asked to introduce themselves would say, “Hi, I’m Jean and I am a 17-year old, senior highschool student.” It does not tell you about who Jean is; it only tells you her present preoccupation. To gain insights about yourself, you need to look closely at your beliefs, values, and principles aside from your economic, professional, cultural, and civil status. Moreover, you can also reflect on your experiences to give you insights on your good and not-so-good traits, skills, knowledge, strengths, and weaknesses. Upon introspection, Jean realized that she was highly motivated, generous, service-oriented, but impatient. Her inclination was in the biological-medical field. Furthermore, she believed that life must serve a purpose, and that wars were destructive to human dignity.

Destination: A vision of who you want to be

“Who do want to be?” this is your vision. Now it is important that you know yourself so that you would have a clearer idea of who you want to be; and the things you want to change whether they are attitudes, habits, or points of view. If you hardly know yourself, then your vision and targets for the future would also be unclear. Your destination should cover all the aspects of your being: the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. Continuing Jean’s story, after she defined her beliefs, values, and principles in life, she decided that she wanted to have a life dedicated in serving her fellowmen.

Vehicle: Your Mission

A vehicle is the means by which you can reach your destination. It can be analogized to your mission or vocation in life. To a great extent, your mission would depend on what you know about yourself. Bases on Jean’s self-assessment, she decided that she was suited to become a doctor, and that she wanted to become one. Her chosen vocation was a medical doctor. Describing her vision-mission fully: it was to live a life dedicated to serving her fellowmen as a doctor in conflict-areas.

Travel Bag: Your knowledge, skills, and attitude

Food, drinks, medicines, and other travelling necessities are contained in a bag. Applying this concept to your life map, you also bring with you certain knowledge, skills, and attitudes. These determine your competence and help you in attaining your vision. Given such, there is a need for you to assess what knowledge, skills, and attitudes you have at present and what you need to gain along the way. This two-fold assessment will give you insights on your landmarks or measures of success. Jean realized that she needed to gain professional knowledge and skills on medicine so that she could become a doctor. She knew that she was a bit impatient with people so she realized that this was something she wanted to change.

Landmarks and Route: S.M.A.R.T. objectives

Landmarks confirm if you are on the right track while the route determines the travel time. Thus, in planning out your life, you also need to have landmarks and a route. These landmarks are your measures of success. These measures must be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time bound. Thus you cannot set two major landmarks such as earning a master’s degree and a doctorate degree within a period of three years, since the minimum number of years to complete a master’s degree is two years. Going back to Jean as an example, she identified the following landmarks in her life map: completing a bachelor’s degree in biology by the age of 21; completing medicine by the age of 27; earning her specialization in infectious diseases by the age of 30; getting deployed in local public hospitals of their town by the age of 32; and serving as doctor in war-torn areas by the age of 35.

Anticipate Turns, Detours, and Potholes

The purpose of your life map is to minimize hasty and spur-of-the-moment decisions that can make you lose your way. But oftentimes our plans are modified along the way due to some inconveniences, delays, and other situations beyond our control. Like in any path, there are turns, detours, and potholes thus; we must anticipate them and adjust accordingly.

Time management is basically about being focused. The Pareto Principle also known as the '80:20 Rule' states that 80% of efforts that are not time managed or unfocused generates only 20% of the desired output. However,  80% of the desired output can be generated using only 20% of a well time managed effort. Although  the ratio '80:20' is only arbitrary, it is used to put emphasis on how much is lost or how much can be gained with time management.

Some people view time management as a list of rules that involves scheduling of appointments, goal settings, thorough planning, creating things to do lists and prioritizing. These are the core basics of time management that should be understood to develop an efficient personal time management skill. These basic skills can be fine tuned further to include the finer points of each skill that can give you that extra reserve to make the results you desire.

But there is more skills involved in time management than the core basics. Skills such as decision making, inherent abilities such as emotional intelligence and critical thinking are also essential to your personal growth.

Personal time management involves everything you do. No matter how big and no matter how small, everything counts. Each new knowledge you acquire, each new advice you consider, each new skill you develop should be taken into consideration.

Having a balanced life-style should be the key result in having personal time management. This is the main aspect that many practitioners of personal time management fail to grasp.

Time management is about getting results, not about being busy.

The six areas that personal time management seeks to improve in anyone's life are physical, intellectual, social, career, emotional and spiritual.

The physical aspect involves having a healthy body, less stress and fatigue.

The intellectual aspect involves learning and other mental growth activities.

The social aspect involves developing personal or intimate relations and being an active contributor to society.

The career aspect involves school and work.

The emotional aspect involves appropriate feelings and desires and manifesting them.

The spiritual aspect involves a personal quest for meaning.

Thoroughly planning and having a set of things to do list for each of the key areas may not be very practical, but determining which area in your life is not being giving enough attention is part of time management. Each area creates the whole you, if you are ignoring one area then you are ignoring an important part of yourself.

Personal time management should not be so daunting a task. It is a very sensible and reasonable approach in solving problems big or small.

A great way of learning time management and improving your personal life is to follow several basic activities.

One of them is to review your goals whether it be immediate or long-term goals often.

A way to do this is to keep a list that is always accessible to you.

Always determine which task is necessary or not necessary in achieving your goals and which activities are helping you maintain a balanced life style.

Each and everyone of us has a peek time and a time when we slow down, these are our natural cycles. We should be able to tell when to do the difficult tasks when we are the sharpest.

Learning to say "No". You actually see this advice often. Heed it even if it involves saying the word to family or friends.

Pat yourself at the back or just reward yourself in any manner for an effective time management result.

Try and get the cooperation from people around you who are actually benefiting from your efforts of time management.

Don't procrastinate. Attend to necessary things immediately.

Have a positive attitude and set yourself up for success. But be realistic in your approach in achieving your goals.

Have a record or journal of all your activities. This will help you get things in their proper perspective.

These are the few steps you initially take in becoming a well rounded individual.

As the say personal time management is the art and science of building a better life.

From the moment you integrate into your life time management skills, you have opened several options that can provide a broad spectrum of solutions to your personal growth. It also creates more doors for opportunities to knock on.

We are often told that success requires motivation, desire and ambition, but there is another important ingredient, and this is inner detachment.

I hear you now saying, "What has inner detachment to do with success? Isn't detachment a state of indifference? How can one attain success with such a state of mind?"

These are erroneous assumptions! Inner detachment is not indifference! I am not speaking here about asceticism or abstinence. One can lead a normal, ordinary life, and yet display inner emotional and mental detachment.

I want to make it clear. True emotional and mental detachment is not a state of indifference, apathy or lack of energy. One can be loving, happy, helpful and energetic, and yet possess and display inner detachment.

True inner detachment manifests as the ability to think clearly and to be immune to what people think or say about you. It enables you to have more control over your moods and states of mind, and therefore enjoy inner balance, harmony and peace. It also helps you handle more efficiently your daily affairs of life, as well difficult situations or emergencies.

This is a state that comes from inner strength and inner peace, and not from apathy and indifference. It coexists with self-control, self-discipline and a focused mind. It brings inner calmness and tranquility that external circumstances cannot disturb or upset.

You will surely agree that all the above-mentioned qualities and abilities are important for the attainment of success!

Not everything always turns out as planned or expected. Plans sometimes do not work out, people don't behave as expected and unforeseen obstacles might stand in the way. All this can dampen one's spirit and weaken the motivation, ambition and faith, but a state of emotional and mental detachment will prevent all that. A person possessing detachment will not be affected or daunted by obstacles or failures and will try again and again.

While others become immersed in self-pity or in thoughts about failure and missed opportunities, the person who possesses detachment will be working on a new venture or trying a different approach. A state of inner detachment helps to forget failure and focus on the future and on success.

Lack of detachment is attachment, which means, among other things, clinging to old or outdated behavior and ways of thinking. Attachment manifests as fear to make changes, to progress or try doing things in a different way.

Lack of attachment is detachment, which equals to inner freedom and the ability to make and accept changes, take advantage of opportunities and adopt new habits.

Detachment goes with the ability to weigh the pros and cons of situations, circumstances and actions in an impartial way, and to make rational decisions, which are not based on moods. It helps to keep a clear and focused mind, and to recognize opportunities that others might not see.

Now you might be wondering whether it is possible at all to acquire this ability. Yes, it is possible, but this requires training and inner work. You will find below a few suggestions to help you start. Don't underestimate these suggestions. Follow them, and you will gain inner detachment, inner strength and inner peace.

1. Pay more attention to your thoughts, feelings and state of mind. A heightened awareness of your thoughts and feelings shows you where you need to develop and progress.

2. Remind yourself every now and then how important it is to be calm, relaxed and in control of yourself, your mind and moods, especially when you feel agitated or unfocused.

3. When you desire to say or do something that is not really important, wait a few seconds before talking or acting.

4. When aware of anger arising in you, delay your reaction for a few seconds.

5. Learn not to take everything said or done too personally.

6. Here is another thing you can do. It is very simple, but in most cases real hard. Try sometimes, not always, to switch off your TV in the middle of your favorite program. Though a very simple act, it requires real inner strength. If you can do so once in a while, you will be able to manifest more and more emotional and mental detachment, which will help you on your road to success and achieving your goals and ambitions.

© Copyright Remez Sasson

Remez Sasson teaches and writes on positive thinking, creative visualization, motivation, self-improvement, peace of mind, spiritual growth and meditation. He is the author of several books, among which are "Peace of mind in Daily Life", "Will Power and Self Discipline", "Visualize and Achieve" and "Affirmations - Words of Power".

Visit his website and find articles and books filled with inspiration, motivation and practical advice and guidance.
Website: http://www.SuccessConsciousness.com

Books: http://www.successconsciousness.com/ebooks_and_books.htm

In the age of instant gratification, it has become increasingly difficult to maintain concentration. Whether you're in another marathon meeting or on a critical sales call, it is important to stay engaged. With the temptation of instant messaging, Blackberry, cell phone, the Internet, or even day dreaming; it is more of a challenge than ever to stay focused on the task at hand.

Why are we so distracted?

We have become a society that is inundated with interruptions. There are two driving forces that converge to make Americans even more susceptible to a lack of concentration than others. First, we are capitalists. Businesses want to sell you something as often as possible. So, wherever you are, there are advertisements tempting you to open your wallet. Second, we are addicted to technology. Related to our consumer-driven economy is a focus on having the latest and greatest technology. We are intense in our desire to have the coolest gadgets.

This has created an entire generation with an attention span of about 30 seconds. This is how we have been conditioned. Like an athlete training for an important competition, it is possible through repetition to be conditioned to exhibit specific behaviors. With the Internet, TiVO, text messaging, e-mail, and changing billboards; our attention is being divided more than ever. We have acquired an ability and a need to switch rapidly between activities. However, this ability is often counter to what is required to be successful.

The Formula for Focus

In the same way, you have been conditioned to switch your attention between tasks rapidly, you can condition yourself to concentrate for increasing periods of time. There are two methods that will increase your ability to concentrate in as little as 15 minutes a day: interval and resistance training.

Interval Training.

Step One: Go into a quiet room with no distractions.

Step Two: Sit down comfortably in a chair with a back. Close your eyes and place your palms on your thighs.

Step Three: Inhale deeply, hold for a couple of seconds, and then exhale. Repeat this action for 2-3 minutes paying special attention to path that your breath takes. Follow it in your mind's eye through your nose or mouth down your through into your lungs, then back out. Focusing on your breathing helps to clear your head. This is also an effective exercise to calm you down when you are nervous as well. Once you have established a clear connection of your mind to your breathing, move onto step Four.

Step Four: Breath normally for about 10 minutes keeping your mind clear. At first, it will be very difficult to keep thoughts from overwhelming your attention. This is normal. This is a sign that you are breaking the habit of a short attention span. Over time, you will be able to keep your mind focused on what you want for longer periods of time.

Resistance Training.

This method is less formal but just as effective. It is analogous to lifting weights. The more you lift, the stronger you become. Keep this image in your mind as I explain the process.

Step One: Engage in a project that will take longer than 15 minutes to complete.

Step Two: Set a timer for 15 minutes. Step Three: Work exclusively on this project for the full 15 minutes. You will be tempted to check your phone, your e-mail, get a drink of water, etc. Don't allow yourself to be distracted. If you are, just pick right back up where you are an continue. You can practice this process multiple times during the day. This method works by engaging your ego. By setting a target, you will tap into your desire to win, which will temporarily put off your emotions.

So there you have it, by using these methods, you can improve your ability to concentrate in just 15 minutes a day!

By: Bill Tyler

Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Bill Tyler is Co-Founder of Bubble UP! maker of The Bubble Planner, The Left-Handed Planner, My Daily Bubble for Women, and other unique time management tools. He has written several hundred personal development articles.

It is the natural right of every human being to be happy to escape all the miseries of life. Happiness is the normal condition, as natural as the landscapes and the seasons. It is unnatural to suffer and it is only because of our ignorance that we do suffer. Happiness is the product of wisdom. To attain perfect wisdom, to comprehend fully the purpose of life, to realize completely the relationship of human beings to each other, is to put an end to all suffering, to escape every ill and evil that afflicts us. Perfect wisdom is unshadowed joy.

Why do we suffer in life? Because in the scheme of nature we are being forced forward in evolution and we lack the spiritual illumination that alone can light the way and enable us to move safely among the obstacles that lie before us. Usually we do not even see or suspect the presence of trouble until it suddenly leaps upon us like a concealed tiger. One day our family circle is complete and happy. A week later death has come and gone and joy is replaced with agony. Today we have a friend. Tomorrow he will be an enemy and we do not know why. A little while ago we had wealth and all material luxuries. There was a sudden change and now we have only poverty and misery and yet we seek in vain for a reason why this should be. There was a time when we had health and strength; but they have both departed and no trace of a reason appears. Aside from these greater tragedies of life innumerable things of lesser consequence continually bring to us little miseries and minor heartaches. We most earnestly desire to avoid them but we never see them until they strike us, until in the darkness of our ignorance we blunder upon them. The thing we lack is the spiritual illumination that will enable us to look far and wide, finding the hidden causes of human suffering and revealing the method by which they may be avoided; and if we can but reach illumination the evolutionary journey can be made both comfortably and swiftly. It is as though we must pass through a long, dark room filled with furniture promiscuously scattered about. In the darkness our progress would be slow and painful and our bruises many. But if we could press a button that would turn on the electric light we could then make the same journey quickly and with perfect safety and comfort.

The old method of education was to store the mind with as many facts, or supposed facts, as could be accumulated and to give a certain exterior polish to the personality. The theory was that when a man was born he was a completed human being and that all that could be done for him was to load him up with information that would be used with more or less skill, according to the native ability he happened to be born with. The theosophical idea is that the physical man, and all that constitutes his life in the physical world, is but a very partial expression of the self; that in the ego of each there is practically unlimited power and wisdom; that these may be brought through into expression in the physical world as the physical body and its invisible counterparts, which together constitute the complex vehicle of the ego's manifestation, are evolved and adapted to the purpose; and that in exact proportion that conscious effort is given to such self-development will spiritual illumination be achieved and wisdom attained. Thus the light that leads to happiness is kindled from within and the evolutionary journey that all are making may be robbed of its suffering.

Why does death bring misery? Chiefly because it separates us from those we love. The only other reason why death brings grief or fear is  because we do not understand it and comprehend the part it plays in human evolution.  But the moment our ignorance gives way to comprehension such fear vanishes and a serene happiness takes its place.

Why do we have enemies from whose words or acts we suffer? Because in our limited physical consciousness we do not perceive the unity of all life and realize that our wrong thinking and doing must react upon us through other people a situation from which there is no possible escape except through ceasing to think evil and then patiently awaiting the time when the causes we have already generated are fully exhausted. When spiritual illumination comes, and we no longer stumble in the night of ignorance, the last enemy will disappear and we shall make no more forever.

Why do people suffer from poverty and disease? Only because of our blundering ignorance that makes their existence possible for us, and because we do not comprehend their meaning and their lessons, nor know the attitude to assume toward them. Had we but the wisdom to understand why they come to people, why they are necessary factors in their evolution, they would trouble us no longer. When nature's lesson is fully learned these mute teachers will vanish.

And so it is with all forms of suffering we experience. They are at once reactions from our ignorant blunderings and instructors that point out the better way. When we have comprehended the lessons they teach they are no longer necessary and disappear. It is not by the outward  acquirement of facts that men become wise and great. It is by developing the soul from within until it illuminates the brain with that flood of light called genius.

1. Give something away – How does it feel to give something away that cost you a great deal. It feels good, doesn’t it? That is when you are giving from a cheerful heart. Purpose in your heart to give something valuable away each day. It can be, your time to help somebody, it can be money to help somebody or charity or it can be a word of encouragement to a stranger. This will contribute to your quest for living a happier life.

2. Do a kindness – Have you wander how little kindness put smiles on people faces. Like holding the door for someone, letting ladies first, greeting someone because you want to than just a fake grin on your face, picking up somebody’s item that he or she dropped and running after them to give it to them. No matter what be kind anyway. You will feel good and you will be on your way to living a happier life.

3. Give thanks always – The Bible says we should give thanks to God in everything. I know sometimes it is very difficult to do that, but you just try it. Especially in very difficult circumstances. You will feel better. When you are able to do that, you give God the authority to take control and work his will. Whatever the situation is, do your best to give thanks.

4. Work with vim, vigor and have a great attitude – Every morning, if you are able to wake up for another day, you should purpose in your heart to work with vim, vigor and have a great attitude. Whatever you do each day follow this basic principle and you will be amazed how you will enjoy working. You are going to work anyway so why don’t you do it to enjoy.

5. Visit the elderly and learn from their experience – I once heard it from one of my mentor’s John Crowe of BWW that experience is the best teacher especially if it is not your own. The elderly folks are there for our benefit and they will love our company. Purpose in your heart to spend time with them. Chat and learn from their experience. After all it is free and they are looking for people to share with.

6. Look intently into the face of a baby and marvel – Have you ever looked into a baby’s eye? If you have not, try it. It will amaze you. That is when you will marvel at the creation power of God. To imagine that you were once like that will blow your mind out.

7. Laugh often—it is life’s lubricant – They say it takes more energy and muscles to frown than to smile so I decided I am going to smile more. Try this, anytime you see somebody who looks serious, give them a genuine smile and see how your smile will melt away their seriousness and put a smile back on their face. It is amazing how this work.

8. Pray to know God’s way –The best way to know God’s way is through His word, the Bible. The Bible says commit your ways to the Lord and He will direct you path. There is nothing as sad as person who has come to the end of his life and wander why God put me on earth. We are all here for a purpose. Pray to God for His direction. Seek Him for his ways and purpose for your life. It is never too late. If you don’t know why you are here, then I entreat you to sincerely pray to him for His way.

9. Plan as though you will live forever—you will – Great people who have impacted humanity lived by this principle. That is why we still remember them. They lived not for themselves but for others. They served and served to the best of their ability. They lived to accomplish their goals and dreams. None of us was born to a life of mediocrity; we are all born for a life of greatness. Those who accomplish great things did what others will not do. They find the purpose for their life and live it to the best of their ability. You too can live forever through your works if you will pursue your goals and dreams with all you got.

10. Live as though today is your last day on – Time will not wait for you so live each day with a purpose and urgency. Have goals and items to accomplish each day. Have a game plan for the day. Live the day and don’t let the day leave you. If you will work daily on your goals and dreams, at the end of life you will know what the Good Lord put you here for. Living a happier life is daily task. It is a choice we make daily.

To download your free ebook on living a happier life by accomplishing your goals and dreams .

About the Author: Kwame Ofori-Atta is an experienced marketer, who has written a number of informative articles on the topics of Making Money Online and Living A Successful Life.
http://www.charlesclicks.com
Source: http://www.easyarticles.com

Do you find that you are constantly missing goals you have set for yourself even when you know perfectly well that you could have achieved them?

Well you are not alone. There are three main reasons that you may be failing to achieve your goals:

1. You did not really want to achieve the goals in the first place

2. You wanted to achieve the goals but you did not have the skills to achieve them.

3. You wanted to achieve the goals, you had the skills, but something totally outside of your control happened to stop you from achieving them.

Let’s go through these reasons one by one.

1) You did not really want to achieve the goals in the first place:

People often set goals for themselves that they do not really want to achieve. They might set a goal to lose 20 lbs within 6 months but do not really want to change their behavior in order to be able to achieve the goal. This is quite simple to understand and resolve. When you decide to set yourself a goal think about what you have to do in order to achieve that particular goal. If at the time you find it more painful to take all the necessary actions to achieve that goal than your perceived enjoyment in or benefit from achieving that goal, then the likely outcome is that you won’t really go for it. And in life, not really going for something generally means not achieving it at all.

2) You wanted to achieve the goals but you did not have the skills to achieve them:

Hey, it is Ok to have great goals for yourself. It is often said that once you really decide to do something the universe will make ways for you to achieve it. Or that once you are ready for something the teacher will appear. Well, both statements are true to an extent. The universe will help you and open doors for you when you are ready. The teacher might even appear when you are “ready”. But you have to have learnt how to walk so that you can go through those doors and get to the other side. You also have to be willing to do the homework that the teacher sets you. So, once you decide to achieve a certain goal, help yourself by learning everything you can about how to achieve that goal. Having at least some of the required skills will multiply your chances of achieving your worthwhile goals.

3) Something totally outside of your control happened to stop you from achieving them:

This is what most people claim to be the reason they do not achieve their goals. This is called making excuses for your failures. Don’t feel ashamed if you do this. We all do this to an extent. We make excuses for not really making the effort to achieve what we have said we would. And since we do not want to admit that we are lying to ourselves we find external events to blame for our lack of effort. Yes, this is very common and quite normal. It is so common in fact that we don’t even feel bad anymore about lying to ourselves that we are lying to ourselves. You have to start taking responsibility for your actions or lack of actions. Once you start to take responsibility and stop blaming everything and everyone else, you begin to gain RESPONSE ABILITY. Failure to fully understand this powerful concept may stop you from fully realizing your full potential.

So what is the bottom line?

The bottom line is that if you are constantly missing your goals then we must conclude that your conscious and subconscious are not aligned. When you state a goal to yourself, at a superficial level you probably believe everything you are saying. However, at a deeper level, the level we call your subconscious, things are a little bit more complex. Your subconscious looks at your history, your experiences (both real and imagined), and your beliefs. It then tries to compare this with the goal you have just set for yourself and projects the outcomes into the future.

If your subconscious feels that your goal is not realistic and that going for it might cause you too much pain, it will arrange for obstacles to stop you. If your subconscious feels that, in its’ estimation, your latest goal is possible, it might assist you in achieving it. Why do I just say that it might assist you rather than it would assist you? Because your subconscious also looks at your record in following through with your decisions, especially decisions you make that require you to go outside your comfort zone without all the skills and everything else in place. If your record in taking the required actions despite your fears is good, then your subconscious will assist you in continuing to go outside your areas of comfort. In other words, your subconscious will assist you in going after goals that you have not already achieved before because you have developed a habit of going after goals that you have not already achieved before.

It is an amazing thing. On the one hand, your subconscious will determine what you can achieve in the future by looking at what you have achieved in the past. So we might say that your past determines your future to a large extent. On the other hand, your subconscious looks at your ability and willingness to tackle what you have not achieved before. It looks at how you have handled failure in the past. If your subconscious determines that you can handle failure, that you have decided not to be devastated by the results of going after something bigger than your past, then your subconscious will willingly assist you in stretching yourself. Your goal becomes an adventure for both your conscious and your subconscious.

Your conscious might make the initial decision. But it is your subconscious that determines what is possible. So the way to change your ability to achieve your goals is to actively bring your conscious and subconscious together. Make sure they agree and are aligned together. If not then either abandon the goal and find something else more agreeable, or start to train your subconscious to believe that you will go for your goal with intensity and that you are man or woman enough to accept the results no matter what. You can only achieve this by taking action to achieve your goals even when you are afraid. Don’t worry; we are all afraid, but taking action becomes easier with time and practice.

And Finally:

Your subconscious loves you and is an integral part of the whole you. However, it is almost like an independent best friend or a loving parent. It loves and cares for you so much that it will do whatever it can to protect you from pain in the best way it knows. This could be either by stopping you from achieving your goals or by helping you achieve your goals. You have the power to influence which decision your subconscious makes. Align your conscious and subconscious and life will become much easier, more successful and more fun.

Copyright © 2008 by Alexander Michaels

Author of Secretes Of Self Mastery, Broke to Millionaire In 90 Days and Relationship Marketing.

By: Alexander P. Michaels

Source: http://www.articledashboard.com

Alexander Michaels is an author of a wide range of self-development books and courses. You can see more of his books at www.selfdevelopment.org and www.broketomillionairein90days.com.

There are particular moments in life that when you wish you could depend on anybody’s self improvement advice. But even if they gave it to you with the best intentions, in case anything goes wrong, you are always going to blame those persons.

That is why specialists strongly advise you, every time you find yourself at a crossroads, to always take the decisions by yourself.

The question arising is: how can we know how to take it and which is the best solution?

No matter how young or old you are, you must have gotten to a point in your life when you have to take a big decision, which will probably affect your entire existence.

There is no doubt that there are certain moments in life when you feel helpless and disoriented and believe you could use some self improvement advice in order to figure out how to proceed with your life.

The answer is never simple. However, there is one self improvement advice that can be of great help and employed regularly will have great results.

It is called meditation and it has been used for centuries in certain rituals and by ancients civilizations. Even in old and famous books, like the Bible, people are invited to meditate, to discover and fight the evil in us and by knowledge to gain control over our decisions and our lives.

How do we proceed when meditating?

First of all, you need to be away from any source of distraction. You cannot analyze your deepest feelings and thoughts and watch a movie at the same time.

Secondly, you need to ask yourself a series of questions that will help you to better determine who you really are. The questions should relate to everyday aspects.

What do you like doing?  

What made you most proud of yourself during your entire life?

What is it that you always wanted to do and you never found the time?

What role does money play in your life?

What is it more important for you, you family life or your career?

How much do you depend on others?

If you are worried about a certain decision, let all the questions be related to that issue. If you are just confused when asking the questions, think about the common topics that one has to deal with during his life.

Do not forget to write down the answers. Try to concentrate and to be sincere. After all, nobody will judge you.

All these questions will help you determine exactly where you stand and what is it that you want form life. All you have to do is to get the right interpretation of your own replies.

In order to do that, help yourself to a coup of tea or your favorite coffee and take the time to analyze them thoroughly. Mark with a red pen whatever you find pride worthy answers and with a black one the things that do not make you proud.

Post the list somewhere where you can see it more than once a day, or post it in more than one place.

You will notice that, step by step, even unwillingly, the black things on your list will start turning red. Do not forget to renew the list when most of it has turned red! It is the best way to always be aware what your expectations from life are.

Take this simple self improvement advice and see the positive results for yourself.

Do you want your life to be getting better and better? I know, I know, that's a silly question. I know I want my life to be steadily improving, and I suspect just about everyone else does too. What a lot of people don't know, is that there is a very simple technique which makes that easy. The method is so easy to use and straightforward that this article will be rather short. It's just that simple.

I was reminded of this technique when I saw it show up as one of the steps in Mark Joyner's Simpleology program. That is just the latest incarnation, as it has been used by focused and successful people through history from great religious men to presidents.

It is the continual process of self-review. I know you were expecting some fancy name with a trademark and what I gave you sounded really boring, but hear me out.

What you do is to regularly (generally at the end of each day) think back over your day and write down the things you did wrong and what you can do in the future to keep from making the same mistakes. In the Simpleology program this is used to help analyze places where you are wasting time or reducing your energy, but the technique can be applied to anything.

Religious: I have read of great religious men of the past asking themselves each night how they could have been purer. If they had allowed some base thought in their minds, they would work to keep it from happening again.

Health: What better choices could you have made in what you ate, how you exercised, or the activities you engaged in?

Financial: Did you spend money you shouldn't and how could you have used it better? What decisions could you have made to put yourself in a better financial position?

Social: Did you say something you wish you hadn't? Made some unwelcome joke or discouraging comment? Did you not say something you should have?

You get the picture. This technique is adaptable to any area of behavior you are focused on. Not only that, but you don't have to use it for some specialty. If you have a clear picture of the person you want to become, merely ask yourself what decisions you made that day that don't draw you towards being that person. Figure out how you can avoid making that same mistake or a similar one in the future.

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! Don't forget to use this technique the other direction to help you reinforce positive behaviors. Whatever your goal is, ask yourself if you did anything that took you towards it, and figure out how to repeat that success.

I know, I know this all sounds so simple and self-obvious, but think of all the people you know who make the same mistakes over and over again. How many people do you know who seem to be on an endlessly repeating cycle of bad finances, bad relationships, bad morals, or whatever other area they struggle in? How many times have you wished that they could just see the same couple mistakes they make over and over again and fix them?

All of us can benefit from this little technique, even if our poor choices aren't major ones. In fact it is especially helpful because the little decisions which keep us from improving are not obvious so we don't automatically work on them, and the decisions which take us forward may not have caught our attention so we don't repeat them.

The best part about this little technique is that it isn't like those major goal setting sessions where you organize your life and try to change the entire course of your future in a single four hour euphoria-high session. That kind of overhaul can have it's purposes, but your enthusiastic plans and goals are normally forgotten within days, until desperation drives you to do it again (i.e. New Year's resolutions). No, this is a little habit that takes maybe five minutes an evening and keeps you on a steady even keel of continual improvement.

Try it for a month or so. If you aren't used to keeping a journal, it might feel weird, but just do it for a few minutes each night and then review your entries every month or so. You will find your negative behaviors steadily decreasing and your positive ones increasing, and you will get your wish of a life that gets better and better each day.

Meredith Keeney is a motivational writer and publisher of The Right Path newsletter, a free bi-weekly ezine that helps you achieve your dreams. Check out http://www.TheRightPath.bravehost.com!

Affirmations are great tools that can help you overcome fear, build your confidence, develop an abundance mind-set and more.  The problem is that many people aren't sure exactly how to write effective affirmations.  Do they always have to be in present tense?  Can they contain "negative" words like can't, won't, not, and so on?

There are plenty of differing opinions on the right and wrong ways to write effective affirmations, but the bottom line is that an affirmation can be considered effective if it works for YOU!  The whole point of affirmations is to shift your thoughts and emotions to a more positive place so you feel more confident, happy, secure, abundant, or anything else you're trying to accomplish.

Take a look at the sample affirmations below for starters and feel free to use them if they resonate with you.  If not, try altering them slightly until they trigger the mind-set and emotional state you're trying to attain.

Affirmations for Healthy Weight and Body Image:

- Today I love my body fully, deeply and joyfully.

- My body has its own wisdom and I trust that wisdom completely.

- My body is simply a projection of my beliefs about myself.

- I am growing more beautiful and luminous day by day.

- I choose to see the divine perfection in every cell of my body.

- As I love myself, I allow others to love me too.

- Flaws are transformed by love and acceptance.

- Today I choose to honor my beauty, my strength and my uniqueness.

- I love the way I feel when I take good care of myself.

- Today my own well-being is my top priority.

Affirmations for Self-Confidence and Self-Belief:

- Fear is only a feeling; it cannot hold me back.

- I know that I can master anything if I do it enough times.

- Today I am willing to fail in order to succeed.

- I believe that I have the strength to make my dreams come true.

- I'm going to relax and have fun with this, no matter what the outcome may be.

- I'm proud of myself for even daring to try; many people won't even do that!

- Today I put my full trust in my inner guidance.

- I grow in strength with every forward step I take.

- I release my hesitation and make room for victory!

- With a solid plan and a belief in myself, there's nothing I can't do.

Affirmations for Abundance and Prosperity:

- I open to the flow of great abundance in all areas of my life.

- I always have more than enough of everything I need.

- Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!

- Today I expand my awareness of the abundance all around me.

- I allow the universe to bless me in surprising and joyful ways.

- My grateful heart is a magnet that attracts more of everything I desire.

- Prosperity surrounds me, prosperity fills me, prosperity flows to me and through me.

- I exude passion, purpose and prosperity.

- I am always led to the people who need what I have to offer.

- As my commitment to help others grows, so does my wealth.

- My day is filled with limitless potential in joy, abundance and love.

Affirmations for Life Purpose:

- The better I know myself, the clearer my purpose becomes.

- My unique skills and talents can make a profound difference in the world.

- Today I follow my heart and discover my destiny.

- I am meant to do great things.

- I am limited only by my vision of what is possible.

- My purpose is to develop and share the best parts of myself with others.

- Today I present my love, passion, talent and joy as a gift to the world.

- I need not know the entire journey in order to take one step.

- I fulfill my life purpose by starting here, right now.

- My life purpose can be whatever I decide to make it.

Affirmations for Inner Peace:

- All is well, right here, right now.

- Peace begins with a conscious choice.

- Today I embrace simplicity, peace and solace.

- A peaceful heart makes for a peaceful life.

- I trust the universe to deliver my highest good in every situation.

- By becoming peace, I create peace in every experience.

- I am filled with the light of love, peace and joy.

- Peace comes when I let go of trying to control every tiny detail.

- Where peace dwells, fear cannot.

- Today my mission is to surrender and release.

Affirmations for Opportunity:

- Today I open my mind to the endless opportunities surrounding me.

- Opportunities are everywhere, if I choose to see them.

- I boldly act on great opportunities when I see them.

- My intuition leads me to the most lucrative opportunities.

- An opportunity is simply a possibility until I act on it.

- Some of the best opportunities are made, not found.

- Today I see each moment as a new opportunity to express my greatness.

- I expand my awareness of the hidden potential in each experience.

- Let each of my experiences today be a gateway to something even better.

- Each decision I make creates new opportunities.

Affirmations for Love: