Tag: Project 365

Here are a few weak points in regards to to-do lists:

• A to-do list doesn’t account for time. When we have a long list of tasks, we tend to tackle those that can be completed quickly in a few minutes, leaving the longer items left undone. Research from the company iDoneThis indicates that 41% of all to-do list items are never completed!
• It doesn’t distinguish between urgent and important. Once again, our impulse is to fight the urgent and ignore the important. (Are you overdue for your next medical appointment?)
• To-do lists contribute to stress. In what’s known in psychology as the Zeigarnik effect, unfinished tasks contribute to intrusive, uncontrolled thoughts. It’s no wonder we feel so overwhelmed in the day, but fight insomnia at night.

Instead, we should focus on scheduling our priorities, such as reviewing your Spanish common words, practicing the drums, or writing 500 words for your upcoming book.

What doesn’t get scheduled, doesn’t get done. So when creating a to-do list – create your schedule to complete it as well. But this also stands for your goals. Schedule time for your goals, to progress and remain consistent and you will.

It’s much harder to bounce back when you take failure to heart too much and make it about your value as a person. Your importance to those who love you does not change when you fail; your potential to make a difference in the lives of those around you does not change. If anything, your potential increases with every failure experience you have, since the most painful events in life often give us the most valuable experiences and dramatic growth. Experiencing failure makes us more compassionate, and that also increases our capacity to make a difference in the world.

How can you make sure you don’t take failure too personally? Remind yourself—literally, tell yourself—that deep down, you are still you. The failure was just a thing that happened, like a hundred other things that have happened to you. Maybe you did some things that didn’t work out, but if you compared notes with every ridiculously successful person out there, you’d find they all have similar stories to tell. Since you survived, you can still thrive!

Remember to breathe! Often when we are rushed or stressed, or have been through a trauma, we breathe shallowly and unevenly, which hampers our thinking and increases our anxiety. Stop from time to time and check your body to see how deeply you are breathing, and take a deep breath to reduce your stress levels and reset your brain waves.

So, when you fail, begin from exactly where you are, look for opportunities, take a deep breath and get back in the game, knowing that you are learning valuable lessons along the way, having great new experiences and living life to the fullest!

Invest In Books

• Fun Fact: People who make $35,000 or less per year read for entertainment 79% of the time. People who make $160,000 or more per year read for entertainment only 11% of the time.  People who make $160,000 or more per year read two or more books per month in areas specifically targeted to help them grow personally and/or in their careers.

Invest In A Coach/Mentor

Do you know all of the small details or the possible pitfalls? Do you know where making a tiny change could result in a huge return? Do you know where you are just beating your head against the wall and need to stop? No? But guess who does: someone who has already been there. When you hire a great coach, you will save yourself years of frustration and thousands of lost dollars. They will lead you, correct you, encourage you, and show you a vision bigger than your own.

Invest In Relationships

When you are climbing the ladder of success, don’t leave behind those you love most! Lift them into their own success and enjoy the climb together. Invest in relationships because they are worth more than the most precious of diamonds.

Invest In Health

Investing in your health has three main benefits:

• You’ll feel much better: greater energy, a zest for life, and finally enjoying how your body performs.
• You’ll inspire others
• You’ll live longer: success does you no good if you are dead. When you invest in your health, you’ll be around for more years to enjoy and share your success with those you love.

The idea that a degree and a life-long job will bring success no longer rings true. If you want success, you have to make it happen. Make the investment today and reap the rewards.

Wake up today and with the intention to prove the world that you are the capable person you are. Wake up today with the willpower to create the person you wish to be in the future. Whether it will be 5 years, in 10 years and in 20 years. Don’t wait for tomorrow, don’t wait for the right time – as there is never a right time, but the time you have now. 

Dale Partridge of thedailypositive.com & startupcamp.com posted a small motivational message this morning which when reading makes you think and question what are you really doing with your life. 

The person you’ll be in 2020 is based on the books you read and the people you follow today. – Dale Partridge

He further goes on to say: 

WAKE UP. Nobody intends to have a mediocre life. It’s the end of 2015. Are you where you expected to be 5 years ago? Stop following meaningless accounts on social media. Stop dreaming about how your life could be, would be, or should be. Stop being so busy that you lose the time to learn. Remember, an average life is just a series of average choices. Here’s my advice on breaking free. Read these 3 bestselling books in the next 30 days: 1. How To Win Friends And Influence People 2. Essentialism 3. People Over Profit. Today is a chance for you to get your life on track. 

This got me thinking and to the point that what if you don’t read any books? How will this define you in 2020? He isn’t trying to say that if you don’t read you will be a nobody – but more so the influence you follow now will most likely be the core essence of the person you are in 2020 and who you are and what you do. If this is true, you need to ask yourself… How do you want to be in 2020? What will it look like? At the end of the day you are the one in control – so don’t just spend the next 5 years and blame it on books… You need to take action, you need to create the awesomeness you are and are to be – but the books will help you get there!

Can I remind you that life is a learning curve. Just remember we don’t need to be perfect. We don’t need to live free from mistakes. If you are determined to improve yourself and to become better, then you are already halfway there. You may not be happy with your career, your relationships, with who you are, but you still have the chance and the opportunity to have a brighter future. If you are doing all you can to become better, then maybe you’re doing better than you think you are.

Maybe you won’t have a better day today than yesterday, or maybe you will. However doing everything and anything you can do work towards making your day a success and better than yesterday should be your priority.  We’ve all climbed mountains we thought we’d never surpass. We’ve been confronted with challenges that have tested us on so many levels.Yet, here we are, still standing. If you’ve fallen down and picked yourself up, recognize the amount of strength that it took. Acknowledge that you’ve overcome so many adversities you once thought you couldn’t and how you’re so much stronger than you knew. Remember how far you’ve come!

Take a step back and just reflect on the progress you have made. You may not be the best at a specific skill but you’re trying your best. You’ve made improvements and that’s what’s important. Don’t spend time comparing yourself to others – you are your own unique person with your own unique skills and talents. Compare yourself to the progress you have made. If you’re making consistent progress, then give yourself a pat on the back, because you’re already heading in the right direction and that’s what matters.

Understand that life consists of hill and valley cycles. This doesn’t mean that you react positively to good days and feel down-in-the-dumps on the not-so-good days. It means being optimistic that the good day ahead will carry you through the very difficult days, without suffering excess stress. Those negative thoughts that harbor unhelpful beliefs only hold you back from achieving. So monitor your thoughts. When you’re aware that they are negative, change them immediately into positive thoughts. You’ll be amazed at how much happier and confident you’ll feel.

If you are feeling anxious – Remember that when you’re calm, you are in control. You’ll think through the problem with more clarity. Make time to listen to relaxing music, or sit quietly and visualize a place where you’ve been that evokes calm and contentment. It will help you focus on what’s really important.  Remember, you need to be the one to empower. 

The crucial thing is not what actually happens as you travel through life (in this case Monday), but how you respond to what happens.

It’s all about having a vision outside yourself.

It all starts with this first step.

Without a bigger vision and purpose that is greater than yourself, you’ll quit at the initial stages of difficulty, as you will inevitably be knocked down. In contrast, when you’re achieving something for a purpose outside of yourself, the pressure of accountability alone will push you further than a purpose that is self-centered.

For example, if you’re learning a language in order to have a deeper connection with your life partner, you’re much more likely to persist because your relationship is on the line.

Or, if you’re trying to lose weight, think about how confident, joyful, and happy you will feel. But more importantly, think about how that will affect the loved ones around you.

Shifting from a self-centered goal to a bigger purpose that affects those you love helps you focus on what you will get out of it, instead of how hard it is.

Inside you is a giant, a bigger and better version of you. Most people accept a vision of themselves that is simply too small by conforming to the smaller visions of those around them. Becoming the best you requires having a bigger vision of who you are and of what you are capable.

Whether it’s starting a new business, learning a new language, or mastering an instrument — we love to start things without finishing. One of the biggest reasons why we never achieve our goals is due to a lack of motivation and persistence.

We start out with an abundance of optimism about the journey, without being fully prepared mentally for the inevitable obstacles ahead.

As Tony Robbins says, “Success in anything is 80% psychology, and 20% mechanics.”

Here are six powerful ways to become more persistent, so you’ll never quit again.

1. Have a vision outside of yourself

It all starts with this first step.

2. Build a support team

As the popular saying goes, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

3. Have a growth mindset

In order to achieve our goals, we often have to get out of our own way.

4. Schedule it

The most successful people in the world, including billionaire entrepreneurs, Olympic athletes, and world-class learners, all use schedules to prioritize their day.

5. Teach Others

Have you ever taught something you learned to someone and found it easier to remember in the future?

6. Have stakes

Why are we less likely to be late to a business meeting than a meeting with our friends? Because the former could get us fired. As humans, we’re naturally more motivated to commit when there is a consequence or a stake, even if it’s a friendly one.

It is time to make a choice. One that you could be proud of. One that you could tell your kids to make one day. That choice? The choice to make progress, not excuses. To pursue your dream life. To be who you really are. Isn’t now the time to be the real you? Have a go: 

• What would happen if you just went for it? – 
• Who are you? – Write down a list of what’s important to you about life
• Who are you really? – What was important to you before other people told you what was important to you?
• What’s your deepest, most secret desire?
• If you knew you couldn’t fail, what’s the benefit of not beginning?
• If not now, when?
• Who’s permission do you need?
• What’s stopping you?
• Who or what is holding you back?
• If you don’t know what you want, why on earth aren’t you trying to find out?
• When you know what you truly want, will you actually do anything about it?
• What’s important to you? – Make a list. Be honest with yourself.
• What’s really important to you? – Seriously. Be honest. Otherwise, this is pointless.
• If you wrote a list of everything that’s important to you, would you even be on it?
• If you don’t prioritize yourself, how will you ever be happy?
• What’s the excuse you use the most?
• When will you stop using your excuses?
• Do you feel good when you know you’re using excuses?
• Will you ever get what you want if you keep making excuses?
• Why won’t you just be honest with yourself?
• How long can you go on doing what you’re doing? – 6 months? 1 year? 5 years? If you don’t take action and do something different, nothing will change.
• When you’re totally honest with yourself, what will happen?
• Do you choose comfort over happiness?
• If any of these have resonated, are you gonna make an excuse or actually do something about it?

“It takes 20 years to become an overnight success” – Eddie Cantor

Whether you have noticed it already or not, individuals who tend to be blessed and luckier carry with them a unique work-ethic. You may only see the outcome of their success, but what goes on behind the scenes may make you question what it truly means to ‘work-hard’. You may have previously questioned why certain individuals seem to possess more luck than you. However, the fact is that these individuals have created each and every opportunity by following a precise process — and there is nothing stopping you from reaping these same benefits.

So how do they do it? 

• They Never Stand Still

• They Remain Positive at All Times

• They Aren’t Afraid to Fail

• They Have a WHY

• They Show Up…Every Day

Now there is a little more to it then the simplicity of the above 5 points. But these are the traits and the qualities in which the hard-working follow. If you can adopt as many of these five traits of hardworking individuals as possible, you will soon be attracting more opportunities in your daily life.