A New You, NOW!

Be Thankful for Your Blessings: 5 Ways to Practice a Daily Appreciation Ritual

2010-11-29T12:26:00.000-08:00

By Jack Canfield

The practice of giving thanks is commemorated today in America as a national holiday. But if you want to live an abundant life, appreciation shouldn’t be confined to a solitary day. It should be incorporated into your daily living.

Appreciation is one of the highest emotional states you can be in. It is the state of abundance. The Law of Attraction states that like attracts like. If you are grateful for what you have already received, you will attract more for which you can be grateful.

Many people find that it requires great diligence to cultivate an attitude of appreciation. We are culturally conditioned to focus on what we don’t have, rather than appreciating what we’ve already received.

"There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread."
- Mother Teresa, Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize

Appreciate the Smallest Blessings

Activate your gratitude by acknowledging the gifts most people take for granted.

If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes in your closet and a roof over your head, you are better off than 75 percent of the world’s population.

If you eat three meals a day, you are far better off than the 1 billion people on the planet who eat once a day at most. Celebrate these simple blessings.

Do you have a phone? Be grateful – millions don’t. How about a car that allows you to travel to work or to explore the country? Is your family healthy? Do you have a computer and Internet access to stay in touch with the world, get access to education, and perform work for which you are paid? Do you have clean water to drink?

These daily conveniences are gifts that most people in the world do not enjoy.

Daily Appreciation Habits

Here are five easy ways to make appreciation part of your daily routine:

1. Take 7 minutes each morning to write down all you appreciate in life. Starting your day this way primes you to be receptive and grateful for everything your day will bring.

2. Appreciate at least 3 people every day. Most people enjoy receiving verbal appreciation. But written notes are also nice because they can be saved and re-read. (For ideas on expressing appreciation, grab your copy of The Success Principles and review principle 53; Practice Uncommon Appreciation.)

3. Play the Appreciation Game. As the saying goes, “Every cloud has a silver lining.” Look for the good in all situations. When my wife was in a car accident a few years ago, she could have chosen to berate herself or question her judgment. Instead, she focused on her gratitude for suffering only minor injuries and for the help she received from other drivers.

4. Carry a physical token of gratitude in your pocket, such as a stone, crystal or some other small item. As you reach into your pocket throughout the day and feel the token, use it as a reminder to stop, breathe and take a moment to fully experience the emotion of gratitude.

5. Appreciate yourself. We all need acknowledgement, but the most important acknowledgement is what we give ourselves. In addition to celebrating your big successes, acknowledge your small daily successes too.

During this month’s Ask Jack call, I assigned the Mirror Exercise as homework. Your subconscious mind needs positive encouragement to pursue further achievements and to change any negative beliefs you hold toward praise and accomplishment. This powerful exercise requires you to appreciate yourself for the day’s accomplishments while talking to yourself in a mirror. For more detailed instructions about how to use the Mirror Exercise, click here.

It may not feel natural at first to focus on appreciating what you already have. But by faithfully practicing the Daily Appreciation Habits outlined in this article, you’ll begin to change your conditioning.

Giving thanks should be more than an occasional exercise once year. Let it become a daily discipline that allows you to attract more of what you want from life. I invite you to experiment with this discipline over the next 30 days and watch your blessings multiply!

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Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Give Thanks With a Grateful Heart

2010-11-23T10:43:00.001-08:00

By Todd Smith
This week we will observe Thanksgiving Day in the United States of America—a day when family and friends gather for a time of celebration and feasting. Soon your turkey and stuffing will be in the oven and pleasant aromas will fill the kitchen. Before we begin our celebration, let’s take a peak back four centuries ago when Americans celebrated their first Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Day Long Ago

For 66 days a sailing vessel called the Mayflower carried 102 pilgrims across the stormy Atlantic Ocean and landed at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts on December 11, 1620. During that first cold winter, 46 pilgrims died. In the spring of 1621, the Wampanoag Indians taught the pilgrims how to cultivate the land—growing corn, beans, and pumpkins which helped them survive. At harvest time the colonists were so grateful for their bountiful crops that Governor William Bradford organized the first Thanksgiving feast, inviting their neighbors—Wampanoag Indians. With joy and thanksgiving, they expressed their gratitude and appreciation to God for their bountiful harvest.

Many years later, in 1789, President George Washington wrote a proclamation, recommending to the “people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God . . . Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November . . . that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country . . .”

Thanksgiving Day Today

So it has been that for over two centuries. Thanksgiving Day has become a joyous festival celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm. People have gathered together to thank God for His past blessings and to enjoy the warm fellowship of family and friends.

However, over the last 50 years Thanksgiving Day has lost its original significance. For many people, it has simply become a time when families come together to eat turkey and watch football.

As we prepare to celebrate this Thanksgiving with our family and friends, I encourage you, regardless of where you live in the world, to stop and reflect on the things for which you are grateful.

In our busy and demanding lives, it’s easy to focus on our challenges and overlook the things we are truly blessed to enjoy. It’s easy to lament what we don’t have, rather than appreciate what we do have. We would all benefit from the words of Epictetus, a stoic Greek philosopher, who said, “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

When we focus on all the positive things in our lives, we will find more joy, satisfaction, and happiness. Our lives will take on greater meaning and our hearts will be filled with love and gratitude.

My Challenge to You

1. Make a list of all the things for which you are thankful. Stretch yourself to make a list of 50 people, things, or events. This can include the names of family, friends, co-workers and others whose relationships you value. Include your religious affiliations, your pastor or priest. Include our country and the servicemen who are protecting our land and our rights. It can also include your physical being, material possessions, and conveniences we so often take for granted. Parents, let me encourage you to have your children participate in this exercise.

2. After making this list take some quiet time and reflect on everything you have listed. In the words of Thornton Wilder, “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”

3. Express your gratitude to the people you’ve listed. It could be a hand-written note, a personalized email, a text message, or a phone call. Whatever method you choose to use, make it personal and heartfelt. Let these people know how you feel about them and how special they are to you.

If the weight of your challenges makes it difficult to give thanks, reflect back how the pilgrims must have felt. “The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than those who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.” H. U. Westermayer.

Don’t take anything you have for granted.

Instead express your gratitude for all your many blessings—great and small.

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About the Author: Todd Smith is a successful entrepreneur of 30 years and founder of Little Things Matter. To receive Todd’s lessons, subscribe here. All Todd’s lessons are also available on iTunes as downloadable podcasts. (Todd’s podcasts are ranked #29 in America’s top 100 podcasts and #1 in the personal and development field.)

Tis the Season for Giving

2010-11-20T07:14:00.001-08:00

I had the pleasure of watching "Oprah's Ultimate Favorite Things" TV episode yesterday for the very first time. I was immediately interested when she said that the folks in the audience were there because they had given so much to their communities and the world.

The audience members didn't know they were about to receive when the show first started. Within a few minutes of opening the show, Oprah Winfrey transformed her set into Santa's Workshop complete with toys, a life-size gingerbread house, and a train with Santa and his elves onboard. It was also snowing in the studio through much of the show. It was a truly delightful scene.

When the audience members found out that they were on the Favorite Things show, they started celebrating and crying and hugging one another. It was fun to see everyone so excited and they hadn't even be given anything yet! I loved that part.

Throughout the hour, Oprah gave away 3-D TVs, tennis shoes, cashmere sweaters, fancy candles, jewelry, kitchen goods, and even a 7-day cruise. I had so much fun watching the audience's reactions and feeling what it would be like to be Oprah and to be able to give so much to so many.

Seeing Oprah's generosity and the audience's appreciation has inspired me to give more. And, she's doing it again on Monday! I'm looking forward to watching the show and sharing the joy of giving.

Gratitude and Appreciation as a Secret for Success

2010-11-15T18:01:00.000-08:00

by Jack Canfield

The best attitude you can possibly aspire to express year-round is one of gratitude and appreciation.

Being truly grateful for what is already present in your life will automatically and effortlessly attract more good into your life.

Make a conscious decision to appreciate and acknowledge all that you have already been blessed with. These emotions are of the highest vibrational frequency, and through the Law of Attraction they will attract even more to be thankful for.

Try to be grateful for even the difficult and challenging situations that arise in your life.

It is often through these situations, that we experience the most profound spiritual and emotional growth. You can learn to view each apparent obstacle as an opportunity to develop a new quality, strength, skill, insight or wisdom and be grateful for the lessons. Each challenge is an opportunity for growth and expansion.

Rise to these occasions, and appreciate all that you are learning in the process. Keeping your attitude positive and appreciative through these times will not only help to avoid attracting more of these difficult situations into your life - it will also create a field of positive energy that will attract more of what you do want.

"Of all the attitudes we can acquire, surely
the attitude of gratitude is
the most important,
and by far the most life-changing."
- Zig Ziglar

A Token of Gratitude

Try carrying a small token, stone, crystal, or some other meaningful object with you each day in your pocket. Throughout the day, each time you reach into your pocket for your money or keys it will serve as a tangible reminder to stop and think of something you have to be grateful for. This is a great way to increase your awareness of all that you have to be appreciative of.

Take a moment to breathe, and really feel the emotion of gratitude. This simple mindfulness technique helps to raise your vibrational frequency and keep you in a state of constant gratitude.

Your Gratitude Journal

Start keeping a daily Gratitude and Acknowledgement journal. This is a necessary and valuable tool in the development of your growth and awareness. This book is not intended to be a long, drawn out “diary” sort of thing, just a short, simple list of things you are grateful for on that particular day. This is a place to honor and appreciate the good in your life.

Gratitude:

Each evening, before going to bed, take a few minutes to review your day. Think about the day’s events. Become aware of how many good things actually happened on that day, and remember to appreciate even the challenges that you encountered. Select the five things, or people, or events that you are most grateful for. There is no right or wrong here, just whatever, or whoever you are sincerely grateful for on that particular day. It may be the warm sun on your face, a cool breeze, a kind word, a friend, or just feeling good about what you got accomplished that day. It may be the way you handled a particular situation that would have thrown you into a tailspin in the past.

Anything you are grateful for. As you write them in your journal, feel the gratitude and appreciation. Give thanks.

Acknowledgement:

Take a moment to acknowledge the changes that are occurring for you personally. Write them down. Acknowledge just how well the Law of Attraction is working in your life. Write down any specific event where the Law of Attraction was at work- the parking space you envisioned, the meeting you wanted to schedule, the bonus check you received, the grade you wanted, the person who said yes when you asked them out.

Miracles can and do occur on a daily basis. They are happening all around you. Honor them, and notice them. Through acknowledgement, you will become more and more aware of the amazing synchronicity that is already at work in your life.

Make the time you spend in contemplation and writing in your Gratitude and Acknowledgement journal a sacred part of your daily routine.

Your continued expressions of joy and gratitude will draw even greater joy, love and abundance into your life.

You will begin to notice a change in your perception of each day‘s events. You will become more aware of the positive things that happen all around you every single day. Your focus will shift, your energy will shift, and you will begin to appreciate how blessed you already are. And … the Law of Attraction will respond to the higher vibration you are creating.

Enjoy the journey.
Live each day in joy and gratitude.

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Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

130 Time Management Tips

2010-11-09T15:44:00.000-08:00

By Todd Smith

One of the most important keys to personal and professional success lies in how you spend your time. Each day contains twenty-four hours, but how we spend those hours is what separates people who enjoy lives of happiness, fulfillment and success from those who experience lives filled with frustration, disappointment, and often failure.

When Olympic athletes train, no detail of their performance is overlooked—from computerized motion studies to the fabric of their clothing and the customization of each shoe. Mastering time management is much the same. In order to work smarter but not harder, you must examine—and be willing to make changes to—everything you do to improve effectiveness, efficiency, and performance.

This special report outlines 130 simple, easy-to-implement, time-management tips and techniques. Some have universal applicability. Others are specifically related to career, communication, or technology.

Remember that the first step in becoming an effective time manager is to have the desire to be more productive and smarter with how you use your time. It must be something that is important to you or you won’t do what is required to develop solid time-management skills.

Understanding, practicing, and maximizing how your time is spent is a journey. Proficiency won’t happen overnight but, as is the case with all of the Little Things, repeated effort will be rewarded. By becoming more effective and efficient, you’ll take control of your workload rather than your workload taking control of you.

Let’s get started.

1. Determine your hourly rate. If you have a goal to make $100,000 a year working 40 hours a week, your rate would be $48 an hour or 80 cents a minute. You will NEVER make this amount of money until such time as you start valuing your time at $48 an hour or 80 cents a minute. How much do you want to earn? Figure out your hourly rate and start valuing your time accordingly.

2. Identify your productivity patterns. Identify the times of the day when you are most productive and focus your energy on doing your most important activities during those times. You will find that you are able to get more work done in a shorter amount of time and your sense of accomplishment and satisfaction will grow.

3. Establish a calling schedule. Schedule your personal and low-priority business calls during windows of time when your energy level is at its lowest. Since talking on the phone is one of the easiest things to do, it’s best to schedule your calls during your lull periods.

4. Focus on what you can control. Don’t waste time worrying or thinking about things you can’t control. The negative energy and time spent is a huge time waster. Instead, focus your time on the things you can control that lead you on the path to achieving your goals.

5. Refine your systems. Look at everything you do with frequency and determine if there is a more efficient way to perform your daily activities, such as how you prepare meals, fill up your car with gas, read and respond to emails, clean the house, get ready in the morning. When you look for the little things you can do to improve your productivity, your time savers and time wasters will become obvious.

6. Overcome procrastination. If you are serious about achieving your goals, you must become a Do-It-Now person. You will never achieve any worthwhile goal if you are a procrastinator. If you struggle with procrastination, devote some time to figuring out why. Once you know the cause of the problem, you can concentrate on a solution that will help you use your time productively.

7. Establish a routine. Routines increase productivity. It’s easier to identify shortcuts and efficiencies when we are familiar with what needs to be done. Routines make it easier to do the things you know you should do.

8. Move with purpose. Successful people are always in motion. They don’t stand on moving sidewalks or walk slow. They move with a purpose and get to where they are going.

9. Keep your energy high. We all agree that we are more productive when our energy levels are high. Exercising, eating right, getting our rest, and enjoying an occasional healthy energy drink or cup of coffee will help. Listen to your body; pay attention to everything—those things that either give you energy or draw energy from you.

10. Think positively. Where your attention goes, so goes your emotional energy. When you think of negative things, your energy and productivity drop. Maintaining a positive attitude is one of the most essential ingredients to your productivity.

11. Create an action plan. Just as you would not be successful in building a home without a set of blue prints, it’s doubtful you would be successful in achieving any significant goal without an action plan. A well-developed action plan clarifies everything you need to do to achieve your goal, outlines a prioritized sequence of steps, and serves as a method for measuring your progress.

12. Focus on your goals. If you struggle with staying focused and on task, start each day by reviewing your goals. Take the time to create a collage of pictures to visualize the life you can experience if you achieve your goals. This powerful technique will keep you motivated and focused on doing the correct activities.

13. Structure your time according to your goals. Your time should always be spent doing things that help you achieve your goals and bring fulfillment to your life. Plan your days and determine how you will use your time most productively to accomplish your goals.

14. Take pride in what you do. When you complete a task with excellence, you not only take pride in what you do, but you also save time by not having to repeat the activity. You will also find that people’s respect for you will grow.

15. Keep a To-Do List. There is no time-management tip more important than keeping a prioritized daily To-Do List. It removes the guesswork from how to spend your time and with whom to spend it. A To-Do List helps reduce stress, clarifies what you should or shouldn’t be doing, and keeps you from forgetting things.

16. Do what requires the most discipline first. As you plan your day, make sure you block out time to do the things first that require the most discipline. Whether it’s prospecting, exercising, or writing a proposal, do it first. If you commit to doing the hardest things first, you not only do them with greater consistency, but you also feel great the rest of the day.

17. Schedule effectively. Efficient scheduling involves looking at the time available to you in a day, an afternoon or a week, and planning how you will use it to achieve your goals. When done well, it helps you understand what you can realistically achieve with your time and it minimizes stress by avoiding over-commitment.

18. Sunday strategy session. Devote an hour on Sunday to plan and mentally prepare for the upcoming week. Verify appointment times, check family commitments, and make any necessary decisions about the days ahead so you can hit the ground running on Monday morning. If you have projects that must be completed, block out times in your schedule to work on these tasks.

19. Combine errands. As you plan your day, schedule to run all your errands at the same time. Also consider the most time efficient route to get them all completed in the least amount of time possible.

20. Mail it. Remember: time is money. Never waste your time dropping off something that could be mailed or shipped for less money than the value of your time.

21. Delegate tasks. The best use of your time is in doing things that only you can do. Identify things on your To-Do List that don’t have to be done by you. Can you delegate some of the items to co-workers? Can you outsource projects? Can you have your spouse mail a package for you? Can you have your children make copies, stuff envelopes and apply stamps?

22. Communicate your schedule. After you’ve taken time to plan and organize your schedule, don’t keep it to yourself. When you need people to do something for you, let them know in advance so they can schedule their time accordingly. You also want to communicate your schedule with the people who rely on you so they know when you are available. This saves time for everyone.

23. Keep a notepad or recorder handy. Save time by writing down or recording future To-Do items and tasks when you think of them. A small pad of paper in your purse, a recorder in your car, or a portfolio that goes wherever you go is all you need.

24. Maintain one calendar or appointment book. Keeping an appointment book improves your productivity and reduces the risk of forgetting things. If you have more than one calendar, combine them. Maintaining multiple calendars can be confusing and is a sure-fire way to miss appointments and deadlines.

25. Keep an activity log. One way to begin using your time more efficiently is to know how it’s being spent. Just as you track expenses for financial budgeting purposes, it’s wise to maintain an activity log to assess productivity. Keep a time journal or download inexpensive time-tracking software from the Internet. Try this: for one week, record how you spend your time. You will be amazed at how much time is spent on things that won’t help you achieve your goals.

26. Use a stopwatch. Use a stopwatch to measure the amount of time you are spending each day on the tasks that help you achieve your goals. It’s easy to confuse activity with accomplishment. By measuring how much time you are investing on productive activities, you will see how much time you are wasting on unproductive activities.

27. Make use of down time. Down time is time spent waiting at the doctor’s office, waiting in the school pick-up line, or anywhere else you need to be but aren’t otherwise occupied. Plan ahead and use this time wisely.

28. Make your breaks productive. Do you need to schedule a doctor’s appointment, check on a friend who’s going through a challenging period, or confirm the kid’s schedule? Start looking at your breaks as periods of time when you can knock out some of your personal To-Do List items.

29. Reduce the time you spend eating lunch. Consider how you can reduce the amount of time you allocate to lunch in the middle of your workday. How about packing a lunch and eating at your desk?

30. Touch it once. If you read an email, respond immediately. If you open a letter, act on it, throw it away, or do something with it so you don’t have to touch it again. Rather than putting your glass and plate in the sink, put it in the dishwasher. Set a goal to only touch things ONE time.

31. Be smart about multitasking. Multitasking can improve efficiency in some areas such as returning and scheduling calls during your drive time, or listening to a self-development audio while exercising; however it can also reduce productivity because you can’t effectively focus on two things at once. It can also be disrespectful. For instance, returning emails while talking to someone on the phone or scanning your phone for messages during a meeting. Ask yourself, “Is my multitasking helping me or hurting me?”

32. Manage interruptions. Every time you are interrupted you lose 10 minutes of productivity. This is the amount of time it takes you to return to the original state of focus before the distraction occurred. Turn off electronic notifications, close your door, and silence your phone when you need an uninterrupted block of time to work on your tasks. It may be difficult at first, but establishing boundaries will help you accomplish more in less time.

33. Don’t stop everything. When you get interrupted because someone has something that needs to get done, don’t stop everything you are doing to do it now. Consider what you are working on and other priorities and place it where it belongs in the sequence on your To-Do List.

34. Turn off unnecessary notifications. Every notification you get on your computer or phone is an interruption that diverts your attention, stymies productivity, and annoys those around you.

35. Set email boundaries. Use self-control and only check email two to three times a day (unless you are in a business that requires you to continually monitor your emails). Constantly checking and returning emails is a time waster.

36. Limit social media use. Unless you are using social media to grow your business, limit the amount of time you spend on such sites as Facebook and Twitter. If it is part of your business-marketing efforts, determine the return you are getting on your efforts and decide if the return is worth the time. Be honest with yourself; if you are spending too much time on these sites, set boundaries and stick with them.

37. Allocate the appropriate amount of time. If you allow people 30 minutes of your time to discuss something, it will take 30 minutes. If you give them 20 minutes, it will take 20 minutes. Determine how much time you should allocate to someone’s request, and tell them up front how much time you have blocked out.

38. Don’t give away your time easily. When someone asks for a block of your time, be clear on their purpose before committing. Knowing that people are often selfish and focus on their own needs and desires, make sure their purpose is consistent with how you should be spending your time.

39. Maximize drive time. CDs, MP3s, and Bluetooth devices make wonderful car companions. With these devices you can safely use your drive time to listen to self-improvement audio programs or return your calls.

40. Spot time wasters. As you go about your day, be on the lookout for unproductive activities. Find ways to eliminate them or approach those things differently.

41. Create a not-to-do list and honor it. When you agree to do things you later regret (because it was not the best use of your time), make a mental note and avoid doing them in the future.

42. Get overwhelmed. Sounds weird, right? While you don’t want to stay overwhelmed for an extended period of time, there is lot you can learn from these periods. Study the times when you are overwhelmed to determine why you are overloaded and how you can be wiser and more productive with your time.

43. Take time to recharge. A constant state of stress and overwork slows you down. Make sure you schedule time to refresh and recharge your batteries. This includes taking one day off each week when you can rest and do what you enjoy with the people who are most important to you.

44. Tell people your preferred method of communication. For most of us, email is our preferred method of communicating because of its numerous time-saving benefits. Having people communicate with you via email allows you to return emails at times that are most convenient for you.

45. Avoid using text messaging. There is a good reason that only 3% of all professionals prefer texting as their preferred method of communication. Every text you receive is an interruption that hinders productivity. The best way to prevent people from sending you text messages is to not initiate communication with them via text messages. If someone sends you a non-urgent text, respond by email. If they continue to send you non-urgent text messages, request that they send non-urgent messages via email.

46. Schedule calls through email. If you need to speak with someone, consider sending a quick email asking for their availability to talk during a couple of windows of time when you are available. You’ll accomplish two things: you won’t interrupt them, and you’ll avoid playing phone tag.

47. Record a clear voicemail greeting. Your voicemail greeting should ask people to leave a detailed message with the purpose of the call and the best time to return it. Then you’ll know when to call back or whether you can deal with the issue by email.

48. Leave a message. If you call someone, you obviously had a reason for placing the call so don’t hang up without leaving a clear and detailed message stating the purpose of your call. If you are requesting a return call, indicate the windows of time you will be available to receive the call.

49. Be clear and concise. When you communicate with people orally or in writing, get to the point quickly while still being cordial. This will save you time and improve the impression you make on others.

50. Introduce yourself. When you call someone’s home or place of business, introduce yourself, such as “Hi, this is Mark Williams. Is Pam Johnson available?” Now the other person does not have to say, “May I ask who is calling?”

51. Don’t return missed calls. If someone calls you but does not leave a message (unless it’s a family member or close friend), don’t call back. If their call was not important enough to leave a message, then there’s no need for you to return it.

52. Improve phone productivity. When someone requests to speak with you, let them know how much time you allocated for the call before diving into the subject of the call. This generally helps them get right to the point.

53. Know when to end a call. When the purpose of a call has been met, politely end the conversation. Don’t allow calls to drag on with unnecessary small talk.

54. Don’t answer unscheduled calls. If you are in the middle of a project and your phone rings, don’t stop what you are doing to answer the phone, unless it’s important. Instead, let it go to voicemail and return the call between projects or during windows of time you have designated for returning calls.

55. Economize your conversations. Be mindful of the time you spend in non-essential conversations. Water-cooler discussions or a lengthy phone chat is time you could be working on your planning, goals, or action items.

56. Give people instructions. If someone needs to get back to you with important information, ask them to send you a short email with the answer. Or, if they are calling you back, ask them to please leave the answer on your voicemail, if you don’t answer.

57. Update your speed dial numbers. You can easily gain efficiency by making sure that the numbers you call most often are at your fingertips. Take the time to program them into your cell or office phone line.

58. Calling vs. email. We’re so used to firing off an email that we sometimes forget it may be faster and easier to call. Even if you can’t reach the other party, leaving a voicemail message may take far less time than composing an email. If it’s a subject that you know will require back and forth communication, a call may be more efficient.

59. Use an email client. Email programs such as Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, Windows Mail, Mac Mail, or Mac Entourage can improve productivity. With these programs, your emails are downloaded onto your computer, allowing you to respond to emails when you are offline and return them when you are online. These programs also offer numerous time saving benefits.

60. Check one email Inbox. Even though you may have multiple email addresses, have all your emails come into one email Inbox. This option is available with all popular email clients, such as those listed in the previous point.

61. Don’t hit the refresh button. Unless you are waiting on something important to arrive in your email Inbox, don’t hit the refresh button on your email program or on a social media site simply because you want to get the fresh content or to feed your social networking addiction. Red alert: big time waster!

62. Organize your websites. Make “unsorted bookmarks” a thing of the past. Use a free bookmarking service (delicious.com for example) to store, organize, and tag all your bookmarked sites and access them from any computer.

63. Use a portable digital assistant (PDA). An electronic PDA can save you loads of time when you learn how to use its features. It has the advantages of convenience, connectivity, and capability that expand with user knowledge.

64. Map it. Take advantage of free Internet mapping services or a GPS device in your vehicle to help you find the shortest route to where you’re going and avoid delays. Many of these programs help you locate businesses you may need to visit on the same route to save you time.

65. Use templates. Reduce formatting time with user-friendly templates. Find them online or create your own for your most commonly used documents.

66. Leverage technology. The number of devices and software programs available is growing each day. Whether you’re a “gadget geek” or a “networking newbie,” there are countless programs to help you be more efficient with your time. But beware there are an equal number that are time killers.

67. Two computer screens. If you work in multiple applications or programs, using two computer screens to save time from opening and closing multiple screens may be helpful.

68. Create a filing system that suits you. Not all filing systems are created equal. What makes sense to one person may not be intuitive for you. Evaluate the best technique for your situation.

69. Maintain an orderly office. An organized office is an efficient office. Keep things in order so you don’t have to waste time searching for items later.

70. Put personal items where you can find them. Put your keys, purse, wallet, sunglasses, and other things you use regularly in designated spots.

71. Don’t start projects you are not committed to finishing. One of the biggest time wasters is spending large portions of our lives pursuing side projects that we eventually abandon. Before you take on any part-time business, hobby or project, do your research. Learn what’s involved and identify the amount of time that it will take to be successful.

72. Harness the power of your team. When you are faced with a large project or anything that takes a great deal of time, don’t forget about the other members of your team. Consider who you can enlist to help. When you provide others with opportunities for participation, it helps them grow and saves you time.

73. Leverage knowledge. Don’t rely on trial and error for new tasks or projects. Find someone you can learn from who has done it before, or do your research before diving into unfamiliar territory.

74. Break it down. All big things are made up of little things. Break down large projects into manageable parts that can be readily accomplished. This fuels your fire and improves productivity.

75. Avoid working on one project more than three hours. Working on one thing for a long period of time stifles productivity and reduces the joy and fulfillment you gain from what you do. Proper planning and not over committing makes this possible.

76. Plan for the unexpected. Unexpected tasks are undesirable. They’re also inevitable, so don’t stretch yourself so thin that something unexpected throws you completely off course. Build some flextime into your schedule and projects.

77. Measure how long projects take. You can’t improve what you don’t measure. If you want to improve your efficiency, you must have a baseline from which to measure. Once you have a measured baseline, take a look at the different ways you can improve the time it takes to accomplish tasks or projects. Measuring also helps you predict how long tasks will take which improves your ability to schedule your time more accurately—all of which reduces stress in the process.

78. Being productive on gloomy days. We all have them—those days when it is very difficult to focus on our most important projects. If you have some flexibility, use these days to do your busy work that doesn’t require you to be mentally and creatively on top of your game.

79. Get on a roll. When you get on a roll, you get more done in less time and your results improve.

80. Meeting preparation. To make the most of meetings, put together an agenda with a specific block of time for each point, and send it to everyone in advance. This allows people to think about the agenda items and generally results in a more productive meeting.

81. Start meetings the right way. At the beginning of the meeting, review the agenda and the amount of time allocated for each item. Let everyone know that staying on task and schedule is important.

82. Manage your meetings. Poorly run meetings are time wasters. Show your respect to all parties by starting and ending on time. Also make sure all parties are giving their undivided attention. This means NO side conversations or cell phones in the room.

83. Don’t get side-tracked in meetings. It is easy to get side-tracked in meetings. If something comes up, determine if it is more important than the other items remaining on the agenda. If it is not, make a note of the discussion point and return the discussion to the items on the agenda.

84. Schedule breaks during meetings. If a meeting is going to last two hours or more, put a break in the agenda. Request that no one leave the room until the scheduled break, unless it is an emergency.

85. Do you need to meet in-person? Driving to and from appointments and meetings can be very time consuming. If possible, schedule conference calls or video-conferences through Skype or services like Gotomeeting.com. Although these can be time savers, remember that relationships are best built in-person.

86. Improve your proficiency. Make better use of your time by improving your proficiency in an area that requires your regular attention. The better you get at something, the less time it will take.

87. Explore shortcuts. You might know one way to get from Point A to Point B, but is there a shorter route? Ask an expert, or do some research to determine if there’s a more efficient way to accomplish a task.

88. Re-evaluate processes. Over time, processes have a way of evolving. And sometimes, they devolve! New technology, developments, and external influences all affect changes in processes that need to be tested every once in a while to ensure they are still efficient and accomplishing what they need to do.

89. Keep an idea file. If a new idea or inspiring thought comes to you while you are working on something else, file it away (electronically or on paper) in one location. Doing this keeps you on task while it saves valuable bits of information in the Idea File for later use. Schedule time periodically to review your file for new ideas.

90. Nip problems in the bud. Be proactive and address problems while they are small and manageable rather than putting them off to deal with later. When left to fester, problems grow and often take more time and energy to solve.

91. Learn to say no. Over commitment takes you away from your core tasks and is a drain on your productivity. Know your priorities and your limitations; only commit to the things within them.

92. Study best practices. What can you learn from someone else? A lot! Benchmarking (comparing and measuring your practices and performance against other successful entrepreneurs or organizations) is the process of being humble enough to admit that someone else is better at something than you are, and being wise enough to learn how to improve upon it yourself.

93. Know your limits. Don’t waste time on unproductive tasks. When something comes up that is out of your area of knowledge or expertise, find some help or an alternative way to get it done.

94. Stifle the perfectionist in you. Learn to work at your highest level of performance without obsessing over perfection. Set realistic expectations for yourself and your work. Know when a task is finished and when it’s time to move on.

95. Improve your decision-making process. Establish a decision-making process that allows you to quickly and accurately make good decisions. Being able to look at situations and quickly make the right decisions will improve your productivity and help you live a more successful life.

96. Avoid putting off making decisions. When you have a decision to make, seek to understand the facts, consider your options along with the pros and cons of each, and make your decision. Agonizing and putting off decisions is an emotional drain and time killer.

97. Don’t rehash old things. Rehashing things from the past that you can’t change is a waste of time. What’s done is done! If you feel that an unfavorable decision has been made and that you have information that was not previously considered, then appeal the decision with humility and respect.

98. Keep a pen and paper next to your bed. If you think of something while you are in bed, write it down. This keeps you from having to get out of bed or trying to remember it in the morning.

99. Start your day earlier. Since we are prone to being tired in the evenings, we often watch TV or chat with our friends on a social site. It would be wise to go to bed earlier and get up earlier. Even if it’s only 30 minutes, you will be amazed at how much more you can get done in an extra 30 minutes in the morning when you are refreshed.

100. Limit alcohol consumption. Drinking too much alcohol before going to bed not only keeps you from getting a good night’s rest but it is also a productivity killer the next day.

101. Don’t eat before going to bed. Eating before going to bed activates your body’s digestive system and impacts your quality of sleep.

102. Take the stairs. In addition to being the healthier alternative, taking the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator can be faster!

103. Fill up your gas tank. Filling up your gas tank reduces the frequency of stopping for gas.

104. Gas station multi-tasking. While filling up your gas tank, clean the trash out of your car, wash the windows, or go to the bathroom. If the pump doesn’t have a lock that prevents you from having to hold it, consider using a tennis ball. It works great!

105. Get in the shortest line. Whether you are coming to a stoplight or approaching a toll booth or checking out at the store, look for the shortest line. If you are in a store with long lines, get in line while looking around for a new lane that is about to open.

106. Ask for your check in advance. After you have ordered food at a restaurant, ask your server for your check. Paying your bill before you are finished eating gives you the opportunity to leave when you are done instead of sitting around waiting to pay the bill.

107. Don’t check your luggage. Always try to pack light and carry your luggage on the plane. This reduces time spent checking in and saves a considerable amount of time at your final destination.

108. Phone first. How many times have you arrived at a restaurant only to find it closed, or you went shopping for something and found the store was out of inventory? Save time by calling first.

109. Have it delivered. Save errand time by looking for free shipping where available. Even if you pay for shipping, you will spend less on shipping than what it will cost you in time, gas, and car maintenance.

110. Buy in bulk. For things that have a long shelf life (office supplies and household goods), anticipate a 6- or 12-month supply so you don’t have to restock often.

111. Save time through meal planning. If you are responsible for planning meals, save time each day by planning in advance. Know what you will prepare for each meal during the week, put together your grocery list, and only go to the grocery store once a week.

112. Cut down on waiting time. You can reduce waiting time if you schedule appointments first thing in the morning or right after lunch. This seems to be when most medical offices and businesses are closest to adhering to the scheduled appointment times. You may also consider asking what time of day is best to schedule your appointment to avoid waiting.

113. Shop online. Shop smarter by researching prices and availability. You can save a trip and avoid crowds by ordering online, especially for items that you use regularly and don’t have to try on before purchasing.

114. Personalize your news sources. Decide how you like to get your news and what is most efficient. You probably hear the same stories through multiple channels so figure out which ones you can eliminate to free up more time.

115. Exercise regularly. Exercising is not only healthy, but it gives you more energy and improves your ability to focus so you can tackle your tasks more effectively.

116. Coordinate family schedules. Busy families take time. By coordinating schedules, you can find ways to reduce travel time and opportunities to combine tasks.

117. Assign meal nights. If you have children, assign nights when they are in charge of making dinner. This helps them learn how to cook and prepare for their future, and it frees you from having to prepare every meal.

118. Assign laundry days. If you have children, teach them how to do their own laundry, and then assign days when each person has access to the washer and dryer. This not only keeps you from doing everyone’s laundry, but it will also ensures that the washer and dryer are available on the day you schedule to do your laundry.

119. Prepare the night before. Get everything ready for the next day—make your lunch, iron your clothes, and set out the things you want to take with you the next day. This improves both your evening and morning productivity.

120. Assign household chores. There is no reason why you and your spouse should do everything in the household. Look at the chores that need to be done each week and assign some of them to your children. Even if you need to increase their allowance, having them do the chores saves you time.

121. Limit television time by using a DVR. Watching television can be enjoyable and even help relieve stress, but don’t overdo it. The average American watches television more than five hours a day. Set a goal that limits how much time you will spend watching television each week. Because about 1/3 of any TV program is commercials, consider getting a DVR or other device that allows you to fast forward through all the commercials. With a DVR you can also record your favorite programs and watch them during the time you designate.

122. Cook once, eat twice. Maximize your meal preparation time by preparing enough for two meals. Freeze it or pack it in your lunch and save time.

123. Maintain an orderly living space. Put things away when you are finished with them and clean up messes as they occur.

124. Simplify your wardrobe. Speed up the morning routine by building a simplified wardrobe. Interchangeable suits, neutral basics, and versatile shoes and jewelry make the “what to wear” decision much quicker. Also consider giving the clothes you don’t wear to a local charity so you aren’t faced with so many choices when you dress.

125. Pay your bills once a month. Paying all your bills at one time each month, rather than paying them throughout the month is a big time saver. A good date to select is the 25th because it allows you to meet all your first of the month obligations. If paying bills on the 25th means you will be paying a bill late, call the company and change your billing cycle.

126. Consider paying bills online. Paying bills online can be a big time saver.

127. Don’t use a debit card. Using a debit card increases the time spent balancing your account. To simplify your accounting, use a credit card that you can pay once a month. This is assuming you are a financially responsible person.

128. Use cruise control. Determine the maximum speed you are willing to drive and then set your cruise control. This gets you to your destination in the fastest time possible.

129. Do things that make you feel good. There is no doubt that you are more productive when you feel good. You walk with a bounce in your step and feel like you can tackle almost anything. Notice the little things that make you feel good, like keeping your home and car clean, reading or listening to something positive, or crossing things off your To-Do List.

130. Reward yourself. When you complete tasks and have the discipline to do the things you know you should do, take five seconds to recognize yourself. Increased confidence and motivation go a long way to building your self-image and increasing productivity.

If you want to achieve more in your life, both personally and professionally, while at the same time enjoying the journey, you must focus on using your time in the most productive ways possible.
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About the Author: Todd Smith is a successful entrepreneur of 30 years and founder of Little Things Matter. To receive Todd’s lessons, subscribe here. All Todd’s lessons are also available on iTunes as downloadable podcasts. (Todd’s podcasts are ranked #32 in America’s top 100 podcasts and #1 in the personal and development field.)

The Invisible Power of Authenticity

2010-11-04T07:13:00.000-07:00

By Todd Smith

Reflect on the experience of meeting someone for the first time and feeling an immediate connection. What was it about this person that you found attractive?

Think of a salesperson you really liked. Did this person try to impress you or was he or she a sincere, quality person who took the time to get to know you and understand your needs?

My guess is that in both situations, the person you connected with was being genuine or authentic.

The Face of Authenticity

Authenticity is the degree to which one is true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character, despite outside pressures. It’s living with integrity. Being authentic means you are being faithful to internal values rather than external ideas from the world. When you put on a mask to please others, you are being false to yourself.

Nathaniel Hawthorne warns us about this: “No one man can, for any considerable time, wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which is the true one.”

To help us clearly understand the concept of authenticity, let’s explore some of the adjectives and attributes used to describe an authentic man or woman: sincere, genuine, believable, vulnerable, factual, reliable, transparent, loving, caring, real, truthful, and faithful.

Lack of Authenticity

Today, more than at anytime during my lifetime, people can sense when someone is not being authentic. One of the primary reasons is because people today are less trusting. Not only are we less trusting as a society, we are more discerning as individuals because of our accumulated negative experiences. Our internal integrity meter, that tells us if someone is being fake or real, is very sensitive.

Over the last three years, most of us have had our teeth kicked in. Because of Wall Street’s greed and our government’s lack of oversight, our home values have plummeted, our investment portfolios have tanked, and millions of people have lost their jobs.

This has given all of us a greater sense of who can and who cannot be trusted. We immediately perceive when people are focused on their best interests and not ours. We discern when someone is trying to pull something over our eyes with their sales pitch. Bottom line—we can tell when someone is not being real or authentic with us.

What Authenticity Is Not

Being authentic is not akin to “that’s just who I am.” It is not a free pass to interrupt people, demand your own way, or disregard the use of discretion because that’s how you really are deep down inside. It does not mean you can dress like a bum, tell people how you really feel about them or not be friendly over the phone because you are just being you.

If anything, your desire to be authentic should be all the more reason to rid yourself of the behaviors that others would find unattractive or offensive and instead work towards becoming the best you can be.

Rewards of Authenticity

Being authentic can be empowering. You will know that you are living a life with purpose, using your talents and skills productively, and doing it peacefully and harmoniously while contributing to the lives of those around you.

To take full advantage of this movement towards authenticity, we must focus on growing and developing ourselves. We need to become the type of people who attract success into our lives—not people who try to fake our way to the top.

When it comes to building trust and connecting with others, nothing is more persuasive and powerful than just being real. I’m convinced that the people who work the hardest on growing themselves will be those who have the advantage in the years to come.

My Challenge

I want to challenge you to put down your shield and start trying to connect on a deeper level with people. Show a genuine interest in people and the things that are important to them by listening and asking questions. Smile more, love more, encourage more, and show your appreciation to those who do things for you.

I also want to encourage you to be true to yourself. Be happy with who you are—wrinkles and all. Feeling comfortable in one’s skin and being true to one’s self is one of the most beautiful traits one can possess.

Lastly, be happy with what you have. Stop trying “to keep up with the Joneses” or the people at the country club; start being happy with who you are and what you offer the world.

One of the most famous literary quotations speaks to authenticity:

“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” William Shakespeare in Hamlet.

People who are authentic connect faster, are more trusted, and build deeper relationships than those who are superficial.

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About the Author: Todd Smith is a successful entrepreneur of 30 years and founder of Little Things Matter. To receive Todd’s lessons, subscribe here. All Todd’s lessons are also available on iTunes as downloadable podcasts. (Todd’s podcasts are ranked #32 in America’s top 100 podcasts and #1 in the personal and development field.)

Beware of the Green-Eyed Monster

2010-11-02T11:34:00.000-07:00

By Todd Smith

Two of the most destructive emotions are envy and jealousy, both of which stem from the same source: our own insecurities. As we dive into this lesson, let’s first make sure we are clear on the definitions of both terms.

What is Envy? (Source: Wikipedia)

Envy is best defined as an emotion that occurs when a person lacks another’s (perceived) superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it.

Envy can also derive from a sense of low self-esteem that results from an upward social comparison threatening a person’s self image: another person has something that the envier considers to be important to have. If the other person is perceived to be similar to the envier, the aroused envy will be particularly intense, because it signals to the envier that it just as well could have been he or she who had the desired object.

Bertrand Russell said “Envy is one of the most potent causes of unhappiness. It is a universal and most unfortunate aspect of human nature because not only is the envious person rendered unhappy by his envy, but also wishes to inflict misfortune on others.”

What is Jealousy? (Source: Wikipedia)

Jealousy is an emotion and typically refers to the negative thoughts and feelings of insecurity, fear, and anxiety over an anticipated loss of something that the person values, such as a relationship, friendship, or love. Jealousy often consists of a combination of emotions such as anger, sadness, and disgust. It is not to be confused with envy.

Writer and speaker, Jennifer James explains it this way, “Jealousy is simply and clearly the fear that you do not have value. Jealousy scans for evidence to prove the point – that others will be preferred and rewarded more than you.”

As you can see, the meanings of jealousy and envy overlap. Both emotions have been associated with the color green: the common expression, green with envy and Shakespeare’s words in Othello, “O! Beware my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-ey’d monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.”

The bottom line is that both are negative feelings that can lead to unproductive and damaging behavior. If you want to live a happy, successful and satisfying life, you must be aware of and guard yourself against these destructive emotions.

Becoming the Best YOU Can Be

Wanting a fancy car just like your neighbor’s, feeling like you should have received the company promotion rather than your co-worker, thinking that everyone around you is more financially secure, or believing that you can’t attract good friends or a marital partner are just a few examples of how jealousy and envy can play a role in our personal and professional lives.

Being envious or jealous focuses on the other person’s “things” or circumstances that seem more attractive to you than yours. Instead of looking at what you are lacking, look at what you have that everyone else is lacking and accept yourself for who you are.

If you are going to live life to it’s fullest potential while enjoying the journey, you’ll need to make it a priority to develop your sense of self-worth. Not only do we all look different, we are different. We all have different strengths, skills, talents, gifts and abilities that are unique to us. It is simply not reasonable to think you can have them all, nor is it necessary. Each one of us has strengths AND weaknesses.

My experience has taught me that the only way you will be happy is if you are happy with who you are. If you lead a life focused on comparing yourself to others, you will likely end up unhappy, unfulfilled, unloved and unsuccessful.

On the other hand, when you focus on developing your unique strengths, talents and abilities, your self-image will grow, your insecurities will fade away and you will find great fulfillment, satisfaction and enjoyment in life.

Oprah Winfrey said, “I was once afraid of people saying, “Who does she think she is?” Now I have the courage to stand and say, “This is who I am.”My challenge

Look to others for what you can learn from them, both good and bad, but never wish you were those individuals. You can compare your results to the results of another, but never compare who you are as a person to another person.

Start focusing on what makes you special. Look at your distinguishing traits and develop them. Become the best at what you offer the world.

When you find yourself feeling envious or jealous, stop to identify the source and clear the old voices and experiences.

If you find yourself feeling jealous because you feel you may lose a friendship, relationship, boy or girlfriend, or spouse, instead of focusing on your jealousy, focus on what you can control—the value you can bring to the relationship. Remember, relationships break down when one person is no longer meeting the needs of another.

Stop counting other people’s blessings and start counting your own.
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About the Author: Todd Smith is a successful entrepreneur of 30 years and founder of Little Things Matter. To receive Todd’s lessons, subscribe here. All Todd’s lessons are also available on iTunes as downloadable podcasts. (Todd’s podcasts are ranked #30 in America’s top 100 podcasts and #1 in the personal and development field.)

What Are All of the Things You Want to Be, Do, and Have in Your Lifetime?

2010-10-28T05:32:00.000-07:00

It's not enough to simply want something. In order to make your dreams come true, you need to be clear about what you want. If you're wishing for a new car, know what kind of car, what color, what model, etc. Writing your goals can make a huge difference in your life.

Make a list of everything that you want to be, do, and have. Don't judge yourself or make a decision on whether or not it's realistic, just brainstorm a list of everything you desire.

To help get you started, download a free 101 Goals List from DreamsComeTrueJournal.com.

Defining Your Core Values

2010-10-21T09:56:00.000-07:00

By Todd Smith
Little Things Matter

Companies traditionally define their core values, mission and vision statements that influence their decisions and client relationships, but individuals also benefit greatly by identifying their own personal core values.

Your core values are a series of words or phrases defining who you are and what you stand for. They represent the internal navigation system for your life and the filter through which you process all of life’s decisions. They are the values you would fight for and the attributes you hope others say about you in your absence or after your death. They become key elements of your personal brand and define your character.

Think of the last time you did something that you knew deep down inside was wrong. How did you feel? That feeling was a result of your actions being inconsistent with one of your core values. Psychologists tell us that nothing creates internal stress and guilt more than when our actions are incongruent with our values.

If you will take the time to establish and live by a set of core values congruent with the context of this lesson, you will make better decisions, enjoy healthier relationships, be happier, and enjoy a more peaceful and satisfying life.

Your core values can be single words or short phrases such as:

Accountability
Authenticity
Coachable
Communication
Consideration
Creativity
Discipline
Encourager
Excellence
Fairness
Faithfulness
Family
Friendliness
Fun
Goal-oriented
Gratitude
Health
Humility
Integrity
Loyalty
Leadership
Open-mindedness
Optimism
Productivity
Respect
Responsibility
Self-control
Stewardship
Unselfishness
Wisdom
Win-win attitude

In the most basic sense, core values are the characteristics, traits and qualities in which you place a high value. They form the foundation on which you conduct yourself each day. They shape your personality and distinguish you from everyone else.

I have a document titled, “Todd Smith’s Brand.” This document clearly articulates my vision, mission, purpose, core values, and other characteristics that describe who I am and what I like.

By defining these things, along with my personal and professional goals, I know what I stand for, what I want, where I want to take my life, and how I want to be viewed by the world. As a result, I am able to quickly make wise choices.

I want to challenge you to take 30 minutes of quiet time to sit down and put into writing the words or phrases that define your core values. This list can include the things that describe your values today and the person you want to become tomorrow.

If you have previously established a set of core values for your life, would you please take a couple minutes to share the impact your core values have had on your life in the comments sections below this post?

Your core values give direction to the words you speak, the actions you perform, and the path you walk each day.

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Click here to visit the site and/or comment on this post.

About the Author: Todd Smith is a successful entrepreneur of 30 years and founder of Little Things Matter. To receive Todd’s lessons, subscribe here. All Todd’s lessons are also available on iTunes as downloadable podcasts. (Todd’s podcasts are listed #32 in America’s top 100 podcasts.)

Invest in Your Success

2010-09-07T18:28:00.000-07:00

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When Success is Slow, What Can You Do?

2010-09-03T05:04:00.000-07:00

by Jack Canfield

Pop Quiz: Can success be sped up? Is there an antidote to slow outcomes despite arduous planning and actions taken? What's the secret for seeing huge results right now?!

I get versions of these questions frequently from people who feel frustrated at sluggish progress in their success journey - despite all the know-how and principles they rigorously employ.

Let's get one thing straight...

When we admire someone's success, or even our own, we often focus on the end result and not so much on the effort (and time) that it took to get there. This can cultivate unrealistic expectations, especially the idea that overnight success can happen through careful strategy and an execution of sound advice.

The truth be told, success typically follows a series of little events and achievements that can seem to take an eternity, that include a few disappointments along the way, and that challenge everything about you to the core - your stamina, courage, integrity, and even your willingness to keep going.

If you focus on what's not working, guess what: You're likely coming from a place of aggravation as your mind wraps around all that is wrong.

You may even have negative thoughts like "I'm not good enough," "It will never work," or "Something must be wrong with me."

What this mentally does is engender more of these counter-productive feelings. And given what we know about the Law of Attraction, you attract what you are feeling. So negative experiences, people, and results will beget more negative experience, people, and results. There's not much success in that.

The key is to focus on what IS working.

To do so, I recommend two simple practices: journaling and meditation.

Maintaining a journal (I call it an Evidence Log, Results Journal, or Gratitude Journal) is a great way to steer your attention to the positive and continually renew your vision for yourself.

Start each day with reflections on what you are grateful for in your life (list them out!) and end each day with notes on what went right (again, write them down), however small they may seem.

Spend time each day in quiet contemplation, prayer or meditation.

Meditation can be a powerful tool for arriving at solutions to problems and shifting your attitude so you can attract success sooner rather than later. The magic of meditation is its ability to essentially shut down the outer layer of your judgmental, highly-critical brain and allow your unconscious mind to take over. This is where you enter a deeper state of inner peace and joy, tapping into a higher level of creativity that will help usher in the results you want. (Don't know how to meditate? Lots of books and materials are available to guide you through this practice. It's easier than you think.)

Let's say you're doing ALL these things, but you still aren't happy with your results...

I'll ask you then, are you taking real ACTION?

You may be taking the actions you are used to taking. But if you keep doing what you've already done, then you'll keep getting what you've always gotten. It's a matter of practicing some new behaviors. Shake things up a bit and see if you can take new actions or modify existing ones.

Remember the Rule of 5.

Every day do five specific things that take you toward your goal. Change up the five actions regularly and be open to feedback so you know when you're off course.

Lastly, I want to remind you about patience.

It's natural to underestimate how long a certain goal can take, especially a profound one. When I set a goal to become a millionaire, the year was 1983. How long did it take? Eleven years. It took time for Chicken Soup for the Soul to hit the bestseller lists. You could say our tenure on the New York Times list was more than a decade in the making. That's a lot of patience for someone who initially wanted overnight success.

So, yes, patience is a virtue. But keep at it, and in no time, you'll be only one week, or one day away from your ultimate success.

Remember... be GRATEFUL, reflect on what IS working and continue to take ACTION!
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Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com.

Use Feedback to Your Advantage

2010-08-20T07:50:00.000-07:00

by Jack Canfield

As you begin to take actions toward your goals, your dreams, you’ll soon realize that not every action will be perfect.

Not every action will produce the desired result.

Not every action will work.

Making mistakes, getting it almost right, and experimenting to see what happens are all part of the process of eventually getting it right.

Thomas Edison is reported to have tried over 2,000 different experiments that failed before he finally got the light bulb to work. He once told a reporter that, from his perspective, he had never failed at all. Inventing the light bulb was just a 2,000-step process. If you can adopt that attitude, then you can be free to take an action, notice what result you get, and then adjust your next actions based on the feedback you have received.

There Are Two Kinds of Feedback

There are two kinds of feedback you might encounter – negative and positive. We tend to prefer the positive – that is, results, money, praise, promotion, raise, awards, happiness, inner-peace, etc. It feels better. It tells us we are on course and doing the right thing.

We tend not to like negative feedback – lack of results, little or no money, criticism, poor evaluations, complaints, unhappiness, inner conflict, pain, etc.

However, there is as much useful data in negative feedback as there is in positive feedback. It tells us that we are off course, headed in the wrong direction, doing the wrong thing. This is priceless information!

In fact, it’s so valuable that one of the most useful projects you could undertake is to change how you respond to negative feedback. I like to refer to negative feedback as information for “improvement opportunities.”

Ways of Responding to Feedback that Don’t Work

Though there are many ways you can respond to feedback, some responses simply don’t work.

Caving in and quitting:
How many times have you or someone you know received negative feedback and simply caved in over it? All that this does is keep you stuck in the same place. It’s easier not to cave in if you remember that feedback is simply information. Think of it as “correctional guidance” instead of criticism.

Getting mad at the source of the feedback:
Think about it… How many times have you reacted with anger and hostility toward someone who was giving you feedback and it was genuinely useful? It may temporarily make you feel better to get angry, but it doesn’t help you become more successful in your quest.

Ignoring the feedback:
We all know that people who turn down everyone’s point of view but their own. The sad thing is, feedback could significantly transform their lives, if only they would listen.

Ask for Feedback

Most people will not voluntarily give you feedback. They are as uncomfortable with possible confrontation as you are. So to get honest and open feedback, you need to ask for it and make it safe for the person to give it to you. In other words, don’t shoot the messenger!

The Most Valuable Question You May Ever Learn

In the 1980s, a multimillionaire businessman taught me a question that radically changed the quality of my life. This magical question can improve the quality of every relationship you are in, every product you produce, every service you deliver, every meeting you conduct, every class you teach and every transaction you enter into. Here it is:

“On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the quality of our relationship (service/product) during the last week (month/semester/quarter)?”

Here are a number of variations on the same question that have served me well over the years...

“On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the meeting we just had? ... me as a manager? ... me as a parent? ...this class? ...this meal? ...my cooking? ...our sex life? ...this deal? ...this book?

Any answer less than a 10 always gets this follow-up question:

“What would it take to make it a 10?”

This is where the really valuable information comes from. Knowing that a person is dissatisfied is not enough. Knowing in detail what will satisfy them gives you the information you need to do whatever it takes to create a winning product, service, relationship or result.

Is All Feedback Accurate?

Not all feedback is useful or accurate. You must consider the source. Some feedback is polluted by the psychological distortions of the person giving you the feedback. For example, if your drunk husband tells you, “You are a no-good bleep,” that is probably not accurate or useful feedback. However, the fact that your husband is drunk and angry, is feedback you should listen to.

Remember, feedback is simply information. You don’t have to take it personally. Just welcome it and use it. The most intelligent response is to say “Thank you for your feedback. Thank you for caring enough to tell me what you see and how you feel. I appreciate it.”

Look for patterns in the feedback you get, too. As my friend Jack Rosenblum likes to say: “If one person tells you you’re a horse, they’re crazy. If three people tell you you’re a horse, there’s a conspiracy a foot. If ten people tell you you’re a horse, it’s time to buy a saddle!”

For more on Using Feedback to Your Advantage, review Principle #19 in The Success Principles. It’s one of the core principles you can apply to your life.
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Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Acknowledge and Appreciate Yourself

2008-08-31T11:01:00.001-07:00

by Jack Canfield

Pop Quiz: When was the last time you acknowledged and appreciated yourself?

That's right: YOU. Not your spouse, not your children, or not your boss, co-workers or friends. Just YOU!

Seriously, think about it.

And if it's been so long since you last pat yourself on the back, then I want you to take the time right now to acknowledge and appreciate yourself for everything you've accomplished today, throughout the year, and in life. Ask yourself: How many times have you succeeded in the past month? The past year? The past 10 years? Are you able to recall your successes as easily as your failures and missteps?

This is not a selfish and egotistical act in the least. By taking the time to stop and appreciate who you are and what you've achieved--and perhaps learned through a few mistakes, stumbles and losses--you actually can enhance everything about you. Self-acknowledgment and -appreciation are what give you the insights and awareness to move forward toward higher goals and accomplishments.

In working with top leaders and thought philosophers of our time, I will tell you that among their secrets of success is a regular practice of acknowledging and appreciating what they have. It can offer an oracle into the future because it not only tells you where you are but it also helps clarify where you want to go in life. Whatever that might be. The road then becomes easier to navigate--easier to see from the distance and walk confidently step by step.

Don't forget to think about big and little accomplishments. Many people under-appreciate the minor things they do successfully every day . And yet they can recall in detail all the times they have failed or made mistakes. That's because the brain remembers events more easily when they are accompanied by strong emotions.

For example, you might vividly recall a graduation, losing 10 pounds, having a child, winning an award, or landing a highly sought after position. But see if you can identify just as many minor, more subtle successes, such as your intimate conversation with your spouse last night, the re-connection you established with an estranged friend last month, the quality time you were able to spend with your children today, how you checked off all your list of To Dos for the weekend, how you learned a new task at work, or got your kid to school on time.

These may seem like minor acts in the grand scheme of life, but they are what make us feel whole, happy, and accomplished along the journey toward those larger, and much more deeply satisfying moments.

Acknowledging your mistakes also has it pluses, but we often don't have trouble recalling or mulling over those. The point is, if you don't acknowledge your successes the same way you acknowledge your mistakes, you're sure to have a memory full of blunders. And a mind stuffed with negative chatter about the gaffes of life won't fuel your energy, nor your confidence, creativity, and motivation to keep going.

Consider this, too: if you only remember the mistakes and failures, you won't be as ready to take risks that will lead to your successes. Build your self-esteem by recalling all the ways you have succeeded and your brain will be filled with images of you making your achievements happen again and again.

Give yourself permission to toot your own horn and don't wait for anyone to praise you. Here are two suggestions:

1.)Record Your Personal History. Take time to write your achievements down. Start when you were very young and think of all your achievements since then. Don't just pick the major milestones; write down all the things you take for granted. For example, if you list your college degree, write your appreciation for having the opportunity to go to college and forge friendships that will last a lifetime.

You can also create a log of success every day and review it when you are faced with a new challenge. By writing it all down daily, you're securing it in your long-term memory and it will become a part of what makes you tick. It can even become a source of positive reminders and affirmations for when you're feeling down, as well as a personal record of you that becomes your legacy.

2.) Celebrate Yourself with Mementos. Surround yourself with reminders of your successes. Put up pictures, articles, trophies, awards and other pieces that bring your attention to your success. Make your environment speak to you about your achievements. Be proud of them!

By the way, showing appreciation for yourself and accomplishments has many rewards that go far beyond boosting your own self-confidence.

Appreciating yourself is creates a cascading affect--your heightened confidence will spill over into other aspects of your life. Watch what happens when you gain that special trust in yourself. You'll attract opportunities, experience more fulfilling relationships, and have no trouble reaching loftier goals.

Remember, people like to be around those who have a healthy self-esteem and who are achieving their goals. Commit to acknowledging your achievements and your brain will begin to tell you the truth: that you can do anything!

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Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Utilizing The Law of Attraction

2008-07-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

by Jack Canfield

The law of attraction states that you will attract into your life--whether wanted or unwanted--whatever you give your energy, focus, and attention to.

You are constantly giving off vibrations of energy when you think and feel. These vibrations can be picked up and received by other people. That's why people say, "he has good vibes," or "he gives off bad vibes." You are constantly giving off vibrations -- literally!

If you're feeling excited, enthusiastic, passionate, happy, joyful, loving, appreciative, abundant, prosperous, relaxed and peaceful, you are giving off positive vibrations.

On the other hand, if you are feeling bored, anxious, worried, confused, sad, lonely, hurt, angry, resentful, guilty, disappointed, frustrated, overwhelmed, stressed out, or depressed, then you are giving off negative vibrations.

The law of attraction states that the universe responds to whatever you are offering -- by giving you more of whatever you are vibrating. It doesn't care whether it is good for you or not; it simply responds to your vibration.

If you saw the film The Secret, you saw this explained in great detail.

The problem is that most of the time, you are not aware of what vibration you are offering. You are simply responding to things outside of you--current events, the news, how people treat you, the stock market, how much money you are making, how your children are doing in school, whether or not your favorite sports team wins--and then having a feeling that is either positive or negative.

When you are simply responding unconsciously to what happens around you, you tend to stay "stuck" in your current condition. This is why most people's lives never seem to change very much. They get stuck in a repeating cycle of recreating the same reality over and over by the vibration they are sending out.

It works like this... First you observe what you currently have and are currently receiving in your life. You call this your "reality." You respond to what you observe with a feeling, positive or negative, which then gives off that vibration to the universe. The law of attraction then responds to this vibration and brings you more of what you were vibrating. This keeps the cycle going over and over, until you choose to change it through the exertion of your will. You are a victim of your lack of awareness of the law of attraction.

The Process of Intentional Creation

It is possible to get out of this vicious cycle and create what you want instead of continually recreating what you already have. It is a simple three step process that you can begin immediately.

If you've been implementing the action steps I coach you through in The KEY to Living the Law of Attraction, you have already begun this process.

Step 1: Identify what you truly desire & eliminate the negative

It is important to focus on what you want rather than what you don't want. You must state it in the positive and filter out the words don't, not and no. Remember, your mind works in pictures and if you say I don't want to be mad, you are creating the picture and thus the vibration of being mad. You must create the opposite of what you don't want.

Step 2: Raise your vibration level

Your job in stage two is to create a vibrational match for that which you say you want to have. How would you be feeling if you already had those things--the perfect job, the perfect relationship, the mount of money that you want to have?

Your job is to identify what makes you feel good and do more of it, then learn not to tolerate your negative feelings.

Affirmations are an important component in raising your vibrational level to what it is you want. Remember, the law of attraction does not respond to the words you use or the thoughts you think. It simply responds to how you feel about what you say and how you feel about what you think.

For information on how to create even more effective affirmations, review chapter 10 in The Key to Living the Law of Attraction, where you'll find my guidelines for creating effective visualizations.

Step 3. Release it and allow it.

In this third step you simply release your affirmation, your vibration, and your feelings to the universe to take care of your "request" or "order" as I call it. But you have to abstain from any doubts. If you doubt you can have it in any way, then you are not allowing it. You are pushing it away and you end up with contradictory messages to the universe

It is only when the contradictory thoughts, talk, and images are removed that your desired results will manifest. The faster you remove your resistance, the faster your dreams can be realized.

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Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Good Things Come to Those Who Ask

2008-07-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

by Jack Canfield

Asking for what you need is probably the most underutilized tool for people. And yet, amazing requests have been granted to people simply because they've asked for it!

Whether its money, information, support, assistance, or time, most people are afraid to ask for what they need in order to make their dreams come true.

They might be afraid of looking needy, ignorant, helpless, or even greedy. More than likely, though, it is the fear of rejection that is holding them back. Even though they are afraid to hear the word no, they're already saying it to themselves by not asking!

Do you ask for what you want or are you afraid of rejection?

Consider this: Rejection is just a concept. There is really no such thing as rejection! You're not any worse off by hearing no than you were before you asked. You didn't have what you asked for before you asked and you still don't, so what did you lose?

Being rejected doesn't hold you back from anything. Only YOU hold yourself back. If you are told no, ask for what you'd have to do to get it, or ask again at another time when the circumstances have changed. Ask if they know someone else who might say yes. When you realize that there's no merit to rejection, you'll feel more comfortable asking for things. But you may need a bit of help learning how to ask for what you want.

First, ask as though you expect to get it.

Be confident in your request coming from a perspective that there's no reason why you wouldn't get it. Or they say no, you can ask them why, or what you would need to do to get a yes. You might need to form a better business plan before you will get a loan. You might need to take a course in computers before you will get a promotion. You might need to spend more quality time with your family before you will get the loving support you need. By getting this feedback you are able to make adjustments and ask again with better chances of getting a yes.

Second, assume you can get what you want if you only ask for it.

You want a window seat? Assume all you have to do is ask for it. You want an ocean view? Cheaper tickets? A scholarship? A better deal? Just ask for it as if that's all you have to do to get it.

And finally, be specific about what you want or need.

Do you want to make $5,000 more a year? Then don't just ask for a raise. Ask for $5,000 more a year. Vague request produce vague results. Don't just ask for more time with your spouse; ask for a date on Friday night. Don't ask for help on a project, ask for what you want that person to take care of.

Getting a good perspective on rejection and learning how to ask will make a world of difference for you as you work toward your goals. Practice asking and you'll get very good at it! You'll even speed your progress by getting what you need, or improving yourself in order to get it later.

Make a list of what you need to ask for in all areas of your life, and then start asking!

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Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Is Your Life Working?

2008-03-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

by Jack Canfield

Success depends on facing facts.

It depends on realizing what's making you achieve success, and then realizing what is stifling your success. Sometimes recognizing the things that aren't working in your life can be painful. You might try to rationalize them, make excuses for them, or hide them. But truly, these things will keep you from the life you want to be living.

Do you want to be active and strong? ... Then you have to stop making excuses about your weight and lack of exercise.

Do you want to be in a loving relationship based on friendship and respect? ... Then you have to stop rationalizing why your mate is so unsupportive.

These things can be painful to look at because the truth is that you have to do something about them in order to make it work in your life.

You'll have to say no to the second helping of dinner and the dessert to follow and go through the awkward stage of getting into shape. You'll have to confront your mate about the areas that need work.

Plain and simple, you will have to do something uncomfortable.

Successful people do not waste time in denial. They face situations head on. They look for the warning signs, they find out why things aren't working, and they go about fixing them.

You, too, must be willing to recognize bad situations and decide what the appropriate action will be to remedy it. You will have to deal with circumstances that are uncomfortable and challenging in order to achieve your goals.

To make it easier, learn to seek these situations out.

Keep your awareness on the feedback you are getting from life and decide to address the situations immediately.

Commit to finding out why things aren't working and learn what will fix them. Once you start the process it will be much easier to continue. Once you tackle one thing in your life that isn't working, you will gain confidence to tackle some of the harder situations. But you must decide to take action.

Trust that making changes to the situation will ultimately bring about the best results.

Sure you might go through a bit of discomfort during the change, but in the end you will triumph! Trust that you won't make matters worse by owning up to what is not working in your life, and going about fixing them.

If you confront a partner about what you want, you will either get what you want or you will know that you need to leave to get what you want. But you will not get what you want if you do not change your situation!

So are you ready to admit the things that just are not working out?

Relationships, a job you thought would be wonderful, your finances, your diet? Make a list of the things in your life that are working against your success and ask how the situation can be improved. Commit to tackling just one of those issues and be brave.

By facing what is not working, you can only improve your life!

I'll be back in two weeks with another edition of Success Strategies. Until then, see if you can discover ways to immediately implement what you discovered from today's message into your life.

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Jack Canfield, America's Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

How to Create an Empowering Vision Book

2008-03-14T13:17:00.000-07:00

You are the author... just add dreams!

In a previous edition of Success Strategies we discussed how tapping into the powers of the brain with visualization so it will begin to function as if your goals are already attained.

Your brain will work tirelessly to achieve the statements you give your subconscious mind. And when those statements are the affirmation of your goals, you are certain to achieve them!

Creating a vision book is probably your most valuable visualization tool!

This powerful visualization tool serves as your image of the future, a tangible representation of where you are going. It represents your dreams, your goals, and your ideal life.

Because your mind responds strongly to visual stimulation--by representing your goals with pictures and images you will stimulate your emotions... and your emotions are the vibrational energy that activates the Law of Attraction.

Create a personal vision book that clearly depicts the future you wish to create.

Find pictures that represent or symbolize the experiences, feelings, and possessions you want to attract into your life, and place them in your book. Have fun with the process! Use photographs, magazine cutouts, pictures from the Internet--whatever inspires you. Be creative. Include not only pictures, but anything that speaks to you.

Consider including a picture of yourself in your book. If you do, choose one that was taken in a happy moment. You will also want to post your affirmations, inspirational words, quotations, and thoughts here. Choose words and images that inspire you and make you feel good.

You can use your vision book to depict goals and dreams in all areas of your life, or in just one specific area that you are focusing on.

Keep it neat, and be selective about what you place in your vision book. It's a good idea to avoid creating a cluttered or chaotic book--you don't want to attract chaos into your life.

Use only the words and images that best represent your purpose, your ideal future, and words that inspire positive emotions in you. There is beauty in simplicity and clarity.

If you are working on visualizing and creating changes in many areas of your life, then you may want to use more than one vision book. You might use one vision book for your personal goals and another for career and financial goals. You might even want to keep your career vision book at the office or on your desk as a means of inspiration and affirmation.

How to use your vision book.

Try keeping your vision book on the nightstand next to your bed. Leave it standing in an open position as often as you are comfortable with, and spend time each morning and evening visualizing, affirming, believing, and internalizing your goals.

The time you spend visualizing in the evening just before bed is especially powerful. The thoughts and images that are present in your mind during the last forty-five minutes before going to sleep are the ones that will replay themselves repeatedly in your subconscious mind throughout the night, and the thoughts and images that you begin each day with will help you to create a vibrational match for the future you desire.

As some time goes by, and your dreams begin to manifest, look at those images that represent your achievements, and feel gratitude for how well the Law of Attraction is working in your life. Acknowledge that it is working.

Don't remove the pictures or images that represent the goals you've already achieved.

Achievement of the goals in your vision book are powerful visual reminders of what you have already consciously and deliberately attracted into your life.

I recommend you write down the date you created your vision book. The universe loves speed, and you will be amazed at just how quickly the Law of Attraction responds to your energy, commitment, and desires.

Much like a time capsule, this book will document your personal journey, your dreams, and your achievements for that particular year. It will become a record of your growth, awareness, and expansion that you will want to keep and reflect back upon in years to come.

Final thoughts on using your completed vision book:

Look at your vision book often and feel the inspiration it provides.
Hold it in your hands and really internalize the future it represents.
Read your affirmations and inspirational words aloud.
See yourself living in that manner.
Feel yourself in the future you have designed.
Believe it is already yours.
Be grateful for the good that is already present in your life.
Acknowledge any goals you have already achieved.
Acknowledge the changes you have seen and felt.
Acknowledge the presence of God in your life.
Acknowledge the Law of Attraction at work in your life.
Look at it just before going to bed and first thing upon rising.

I hope I've inspired you to create your own vision book and start implementing what you learned from today's message.

See it. Feel it. Believe it!
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Jack Canfield, America's Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

The Formula that Changes EVERYTHING

2008-03-01T06:58:00.000-08:00

by Jack Canfield

It seems that everywhere you turn these days, you hear people talking about the economy.

What's interesting is that some people are scared to death about it, while others couldn't be happier. While I don't claim to be an economist, I do know one important fact. The economy is the same for everyone, it's how you respond to it that determines how you feel about it.

It's yet another example of what I've been teaching for years. . .

E + R = O
(Events + Responses = Outcome)

The basic idea is that every outcome you experience in life (whether it's success or failure, wealth or poverty, wellness or illness, intimacy or estrangement, joy or frustration) is the result of how you have responded to an earlier event (or events) in your life.

If you don't like the outcomes you are currently experiencing, there are two basic choices you can make:

1.) You can blame the event (E) for your lack of results (O).

In other words, you can blame the economy, the weather, the lack of money, lack of education, racism, gender bias, the current administration in Washington, your wife or husband, your boss's attitude, the lack of support, and so on.

If you're a golfer, you've probably even blamed your clubs!

No doubt all these factors exist, but if they were the deciding factor, nobody would ever succeed. For every reason it's not possible, there are hundreds of people who have faced the same circumstances and succeeded.

It's not the external conditions and circumstances that stop you -- it's you!

We think limiting thoughts and engage in self-defeating behaviors. We defend our self-destructive habits (such as drinking and smoking) with indefensible logic.

We ignore useful feedback, fail to continuously educate ourselves and learn new skills, waste time on the trivial aspects of our lives, engage in idle gossip, eat unhealthy food, fail to exercise, spend more than we make, fail to tell the truth, don't ask for what we want, and then wonder why our lives aren't working.

2.) You can instead simply change your responses (R) to the events (E) until you get the outcomes (O) you want.

You can change your thinking, change your communication, change the picture you hold in your head (your images of the world) and you can change your behavior (the things you do.) That's all you really have any control over anyway.

Unfortunately, most of us are so run by our habits that we never change our behavior. We get stuck in our conditioned responses-to our spouses and children, to our colleagues at work, to our customers and our clients, to our students, and to the world at large.

You have to gain control of your thoughts, your images, your dreams and daydreams, and your behavior.

Everything you think, say, and do needs to become intentional and aligned with your purpose, your values, and your goals.

If you don't like your outcomes, change your responses.

Here's an example of how this works:

Do you remember the Northridge earthquake in 1994? I do! I lived through it in Los Angeles. Two days later I watched as CNN interviewed people commuting to work. The earthquake had damaged one of the main freeways leading into the city. Traffic was at a standstill, and what was normally a 1-hour drive had become a 2-3 hour drive.

The CNN reporter knocked on the window of one of the cars stuck in traffic and asked the driver how he was doing.

He responded, angrily, "I hate California. First there were fires, then floods, and now an earthquake! No matter what time I leave in the morning, I'm late for work. I can't believe it!"

Then the Reporter knocked on the window of the car behind him and asked the driver the same question. This driver was all smiles.

He replied "It's no problem. I left my house at five am. I don't think under the circumstances my boss can ask for more than that. I have lots of music and Spanish-language tapes with me. I've got my cell phone. Coffee in a thermos, my lunch-I even have a book to read. I'm fine."

Now, if the earthquake or the traffic were really the deciding variables, then everyone should have been angry. But everyone wasn't.

It was their individual response to the traffic that gave them their particular outcome. It was thinking negative thoughts or positive thoughts, leaving the house prepared or leaving the house unprepared that made the difference. It was all a matter of attitude and behavior that created their completely different experiences.

If we all experience the same EVENT, the OUTCOME you get will be totally dependent upon your RESPONSE to the situation.

If you want to take control of how you respond to life, you'll start noticing that your outcomes will be more along the lines of what you have always hoped. Remember, you control your destiny so make it a fantastic one!

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Jack Canfield, America's Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Tap into the Powers of Your Brain

2008-02-15T17:25:00.000-08:00

by Jack Canfield, America's Success Coach

Your brain will work tirelessly to achieve the statements you give your subconscious mind. When those statements are the affirmation of your goals, you are certain to achieve them! Stating these goals can be tricky however, and your subconscious mind needs things put a certain way.

You need to be specific with yourself. The more specific you are with your goal the more your brain has to go on to make them happen.

Remember, vague goals produce vague results. Don't be afraid to be detailed with what you want! Write it all down as if you were putting in an order. Your subconscious will make it happen for you by steering you toward those opportunities.

Your goals might seem a bit overwhelming at first glance. But look again! Do you see how your goals can be broken down into a series of steps? What needs to be done first and next and after that? Keep writing the steps until you reach the goal.

Here's a fun fact to help you attain your goals: your brain does not know the difference between actually doing something and just visualizing something being done. Your brain processes the two the same way!

Have you ever imagined yourself making a total flop out of yourself moments before you really do? That is because your brain really experienced it when you visualized it. Your brain will work to make happen whatever is being inputted.

What do you daydream about? Do you visualize yourself being successful? Do you visualize other people judging you? What you think about, you bring about!

Make it a habit to spend time visualizing your goals in detail as if you are living them right now. Do it every day, several times a day! Your brain will begin functioning as if your goals are already attained. You will start being the person you want to be simply because that is what is being processed in your brain. Your brain will make you notice all the resources available to you that you never noticed before. You will attract all the things you need to accomplish your goal.

Don't visualize what it will be like, visualize what it is like!

Live it right now in your mind, everything in the present tense. What does it look like right now? What does it sound like and smell like? How does it feel? Create these detailed images and show your brain what it all looks like already complete. Your brain brings to your awareness only the things that match your beliefs about yourself, others, and the world. Everything else it filters out. When you visualize your completed goals in detail, your brain filters out everything that doesn't pertain to those goals!

Write down your goals, break them down into achievable bits and every night visualize them completed. Then every morning visualize them completed. Take the time that is necessary to go through each goal in detail. Trust this process, the power of your brain has been greatly undervalued in the achievement of your goals!

In the next edition of Success Strategies I'll take you through, step-by-step, how to create your own empowering Vision Book

Until then, see if you can discover ways to immediately implement what you learned from today's message.

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Jack Canfield, America's Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Success Begins with Believing

2008-02-02T12:11:00.000-08:00

by Jack Canfield, America's Success Coach

In a previous edition of Success Strategies, I talked about how in order to be successful, we must first define what success means to us, and that means getting CLEAR about what you want, writing it down, and thinking BIG!

If you are going to be successful in creating the life of your dreams, you have to believe that you are capable of making it happen. You have to believe you have the right stuff, that you are able to pull it off. You have to believe in yourself. Whether you call it self-esteem, self-confidence, or self-assurance, it is a deep-seeded belief that you have what it takes - the abilities, inner resources, talents, and skills to create your desired results.

Ultimately, you must learn to control your self-talk, eliminate any negative and limiting beliefs, and maintain a constant state of positive expectations.

Control Your Self-Talk
Researchers have found that the average person thinks as many as 50,000 thoughts a day. Sadly, many of those thoughts are negative -- I'm not management material... I'll never lose weight... It doesn't matter what I do, nothing ever works out for me. This is what psychologists call victim language. Victim language actually keeps you in a victim state of mind. It is a form of self-hypnosis that lulls you into a belief that you are unlovable and incompetent.

In order to get what you want from life, you need to give up this victim language and start talking to yourself like a winner -- I can do it... I know there is a solution... I am smart enough and strong enough to figure this out... Everything I eat helps me maintain my perfect body weight.

You Are Always Programming Your Subconscious Mind
Your subconscious mind is like the crew of a ship. You are it's captain. It is your job to give the crew orders. And when you do this, the crew takes everything you say literally. The crew (your subconscious) has no sense of humor. It just blindly follows orders. When you say, "Everything I eat goes straight to my hips," the crew hears that as an order: Take everything she eats, turn it into fat and put it on her hips. On the other hand, if you say, "Everything I eat helps me maintain my perfect body weight," the crew will begin to make that into reality by helping you make better food choices, exercise, and maintain the right metabolism rate for you body.

This power of your subconscious mind is the reason you must become very vigilant and pay careful attention to your spoken and internal statements. Unfortunately, most people don't realize they are committing negative self-talk, which is why it is best to enlist another person -- your success partner -- in monitoring each other's speaking. You can have a signal for interrupting each other when you use victim language.

Use Affirmations to Build Self-Confidence
One of the most powerful tools for building worthiness and self-confidence is the repetition of positive statements until they become a natural part of the way you think. These "affirmations" act to crowd out and replace the negative orders you have been sending your crew (your subconscious mind) all these years. I suggest that you create a list of 10 to 20 statements that affirm your belief in your worthiness and your ability to create the life of your dreams.

Of course, what to believe is up to you, but here are some examples of affirmations that have worked for others in the past:

I am worthy of love, joy and success.
I am smart and make wise choices.
I am loveable and capable.
I create anything I want.
I am able to solve any problem that comes my way.
I can handle anything that life hands me.
I have all the energy I need to do everything I want to do.
I am attracting all the right people into my life.

Believing in Yourself is an Attitude
Believing in yourself is a choice. It's an attitude you develop over time. It's now your responsibility to take charge of your own self-concept and your beliefs. It might help to know that the latest brain research now indicates that with enough positive self-talk and positive visualization combined with the proper training, coaching, and practice, anyone can learn to do almost anything.

You must choose to believe that you can do anything you set your mind to - anything at all - because, in fact, you can!

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Jack Canfield, America's Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Decide What You Want

2008-01-07T12:49:00.000-08:00

by Jack Canfield

In order to get what you want, you must first decide what you want. Most people really foul up at this crucial first step because they simply can't see how it's possible to get what they want -- so they don't even let themselves want it.

Don't sabotage yourself that way!

What scientists now know about how the brain works is that you must first decide WHAT you want, before your brain can figure out HOW to get it. Once you lock-in your desires, your mind and the universe can step in.

Are you ready to get started?

Be Willing to Dream BIG Dreams
As soon as you commit to a big dream and really go after it, your subconscious creative mind will come up with big ideas to make it happen. You'll start attracting the people, resources, and opportunities you need into your life to make your dream come true. Big dreams not only inspire you, they compel others to want to play big, too.

Set Goals That Will Stretch You
Another value in giving yourself permission to go after the big dreams is that big dreams require you to grow in order to achieve them. In fact, in the long run, that is the greatest benefit you will receive from pursuing your dreams -- not so much the outer trappings of fulfilling the dream (an expensive car, impressive house, loads of money and philanthropic opportunities), but who you become in the process.

As I've seen many times over, the outer symbols of success can all be easily lost. Houses burn down, companies go bankrupt, relationships end, cars get old, bodies age and fame wanes, but who you are, what you have learned, and the new skills you have developed never go away. These are the true prizes of success. Motivational philosopher, Jim Rohn advises that "You should set a goal big enough that in the process of achieving it, you become someone worth becoming."

Service to Others
Something else you'll discover is that when your dreams include service to others -- accomplishing something that contributes to others -- it also accelerates the accomplishment of that goal. People want to be part of something that contributes and makes a difference.

Turn Your Dreams into Goals and Objectives
Once you are clear about what you want, you must turn each item into a measurable objective. By measurable, I mean measurable in space and time -- how much and by when. For instance, if you were to tell me that you wanted more money, I might pull out a dollar and give it to you, but you would probably protest, saying "No, I meant a lot more money -- like $20,000!" Well, how am I supposed to know unless you tell me? Similarly, your boss, your friends, your spouse, your brain -- God, the Universe -- can't figure out what you want unless you tell them specifically what it is. What do you want -- exactly -- and when do you want it by?

Write Your Goals Down
Write your goals down in detail, and read your list of goals every day. This will keep your subconscious mind focused on what you want. For an even more powerful approach, close your eyes and focus on each goal and ask yourself, "What is one thing I could do today to move toward the achievement of this goal?" Write down your answers and take those actions.

I recommend writing down a minimum of 3 goals in each of the following 7 areas:

1. Financial Goals
2. Career/Business Goals
3. Free Time/Family Time
4. Health/Appearance Goals
5. Relationship Goals
6. Personal Growth
7. Making a Difference

To help your reticular activating system begin finding YOUR wants in unexpected places, take time now to decide what you want and start writing!

Remember, don't hold back!

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Jack Canfield, America's Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Acknowledge and Appreciate Yourself

2007-12-11T12:31:00.000-08:00

by Jack Canfield

With the year coming to a close, it's time to acknowledge and appreciate yourself for everything you've accomplished today, throughout the year, and in life.

How many times have you succeeded in the past month? Are you able to recall your successes as well as your failures and missteps?

Many people under-appreciate the little things they accomplish every day. And yet they can recall in detail all the times they have failed or made mistakes. That's because the brain remembers events more easily when they're accompanied by strong emotions.

You might recall graduation, losing 10 pounds, winning an award, or landing a highly sought after position. But do you include in your successes how you had a really great talk with your spouse, how you spent quality time with your teen, how you got all your list of things done for the day, how you learned to change your own oil, or got your fussy child to take a nap?

If you don't acknowledge your successes the same way you acknowledge your mistakes, you're sure to have a memory full of blunders.

Acknowledge your own success. Toot your own horn and don't wait for anyone else to praise you!

If you only remember the mistakes and failures, you won't be as ready to take risks that will lead to your successes. Build your self-esteem by recalling ALL the ways you have succeeded and your brain will be filled with images of you making your achievements happen again and again.

Take time to write your achievements down. Start when you were very young and think of all your achievements since then. Don't just pick the big things, write down all the things you take for granted. You can also create a log of success everyday and review it when you are faced with a new challenge. By writing it all down everyday, you're securing it in your long-term memory and it will become a part of what makes you tick.

Surround yourself with reminders of your success.

Put up pictures, articles, trophies, awards and other pieces that ring your attention to your success. Make your environment speak to you about your achievements. Be proud of them!

People like to be around those who have a healthy self-esteem and who are achieving their Goals. Commit to acknowledging your achievements and your brain will begin to tell you the truth... that you can do ANYTHING!
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Jack Canfield, America's Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Practice Uncommon Appreciation

2007-12-02T18:25:00.000-08:00

by Jack Canfield

If asked, could you name the five wealthiest people in the world, or five people who have won the Nobel Prize, or the last five Academy Award winners for best actor and actress? The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. When the applause dies, the awards tarnish, and achievements are forgotten; no one cares about who won which award.

But if I asked you to list five teachers or mentors who believed in you and encouraged you, five friends who have helped you through a difficult time, five people who have taught you something worthwhile, or five people who have made you feel appreciated and special - that's much easier to do, isn't it?

That's because the people who make a difference in your life aren't the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They're the ones who care. If you want to be remembered for being important to someone else's life, make them feel appreciated.

Appreciation as a Secret of Success

Another important reason for being in a state of appreciation as often as possible is that when you are in such a state, you are in one of the highest emotional states possible.

When you are in a state of appreciation and gratitude, you are in a state of abundance. You are appreciating what you do in stead of focusing on, and complaining about, what you don't have. Your focus is on what you have received... and you always get more of what you focus on. And because the law of attraction states that like attracts like, the more you are in a state of gratitude, the more you will attract to be grateful for. It becomes an upward-spiraling process of ever-increasing abundance that just keeps getting better and better.

Think about it. The more grateful people are for the gifts we give them, the more inclined we are to give them more gifts. Their gratitude and appreciation reinforces our giving. The same principle holds true on a universal and spiritual level as it does on an interpersonal level.

Keeping Score

When I first learned about the power of appreciation, it made total sense to me. However, it was still something that I forgot to do. I hadn't yet turned it into a habit. A valuable technique that I employed to help me lock in this new habit was to carry a 3" x 5" card in my pocket all day, and every time I acknowledged and appreciated someone, I would place a check mark on the card. I would not allow myself to go to bed until I had appreciated 10 people. If it was late in the evening and I didn't have 10 check marks, I would appreciate my wife and children, I would send an e-mail to several staff, or I would write a letter to my mother or stepfather. I did whatever it took until it became an unconscious habit.

And remember... take time to appreciate yourself, too!

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Jack Canfield, America's Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

You Are Who Your Friends Are

2007-11-14T12:06:00.000-08:00

by Jack Canfield

It's important to acknowledge the power of positive thinking. This goes not only for yourself, but also for the people you surround yourself with.

Attitudes are catchy. Whether they're positive or negative, they're rubbing off on you. If you're around people who complain, judge, spread negative gossip, blame others, and play victim roles, chances are you do, too. (ouch!)

Who are you around most? Are they achieving their dreams or complaining about their circumstances? Do they look up to others who are go-getters and high achievers, or do they make fun of them and roll their eyes? How do they treat you?

If you're spending time with people who don't support your dreams and goals, it's seriously time to look at whom you call your friends!

Successful people surround themselves with successful people. Plain and simple. They want to be around others who're achieving goals and making things happen. They want to know their secrets and strategies for winning. They're not embarrassed to be hanging out with people who are studying for success and making good money.

You, too, need to surround youself with positive influences. Join the clubs that other successful people are in, learn what they're learning. It doesn't matter from what walk of lifeyou are coming from. Show up and transform youself into an acheiver! Success isn't just for those who have had it easy, who came from supportive homes or had expensive educations. They're are so many successful people who rose up from very poor conditions and and overcame obstacles to acheive the goals they set their sights on.

But they didn't get there by hanging out with negative energy-drainers!

Have you been limiting your success by letting yourself be influenced by other people's negative energy? Make a list of all the people you spend time with and make a note of the kind of personality they have. How many negative people are you around every day? How many people on your list are achieving their dreams, supporting yours and taking responsibility for their lives? You're better off spending time alone than with people who hold themselves back with a victim mentality.

Simply stop spending time with the negative people on your list. Join the clubs that will put you in with a positive circle of friends. Set a new standard for yourself and don't become friends with people who fall below that standard. Invite your old friends to come with you and you'll know who has potential and who to stop being around entirely.

You have to take responsibility for this area of your life. Look around you at the people you call friends. Does it make you proud? Are you selling yourself short? Or are you on the right track?

Keep successful people around you and you will be successful! Be around people who can accomplish their goals and you will accomplish yours, too! The choice is yours to make.

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Jack Canfield, America's Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

The Cycle of Completion: Making Way for Success

2007-10-29T12:28:00.000-07:00

by Jack Canfield

Do you live in a state of mental and physical clutter? Do you have a bunch of unfinished business lurking around every corner?

Incomplete projects, unfinished business, and piles of cluttered messes can weigh you down and take away from the energy you have to move forward toward your goals.

When you don't complete tasks, you can't be fully prepared to move into the present, let alone your new future. When your brain is keeping track of all the unfinished business you still have at hand, you simply can't be effective in embracing new tasks that are in line with your vision.

Old incompletes can show up in your life in lots of different ways... like not having clarity, procrastination, emotional energy blocks and even illness. Blocked energy is wasted, and a build up of that energy can really leave you stymied!

Throw out all the clutter and feel how much easier it is to think! Make a list of areas in your life (both personal and professional) where you have incompletes and messes, then develop a plan to deal with them once and for all. Fix and organize the things that annoy you. Take your final steps in bringing closure to outstanding projects. Make that difficult phone call. Delegate time-wasting tasks that you've let build up.

When you free yourself from the mental burden of incompletes and messes, you'll be AMAZED at how quickly the things you do want in life arrive.

Another area where you'll find incompletes in your life is in your emotions. Are you holding on to old hurts, resentments, and pain? Just like the physical clutter and incompletes, your energy is being drained by holding on to and reliving past pain and anger.

Remember, you'll attract whatever feelings you're experiencing. So, if you're stuck in revengeful thinking and angered in muck, you can't possibly be directing energy toward a positive future. You need to let go of the past in order to embrace the future. Letting go involves forgiveness and moving on.

By forgiving you aren't releasing the other person from their transgression as much as you're freeing yourself from their transgression. You don't have to condone their behavior, trust them, or even maintain a relationship with them. However, you DO have to free yourself from the anger, from the pain, and from the resentment once and for all!

When learning to forgive, make sure to complete the cycle. Acknowledge your anger, your pain, and your fear. But also own up to any part you've played in allowing it to happen or continue. Make sure to express whatever it was that you wanted from that person, and then see the whole event from the other's point of view. Allow yourself to wonder what that person was going through and what kind of needs he/she was trying to fulfill at the time.

Finally, let go and move on. Every time you go through this process you're learning how to avoid letting it happen again!

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Jack Canfield, America's Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Where Are Your Habits Leading You?

2007-10-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

by Jack Canfield

You are an accumulation of your habits. From how you get out of bed, how you shower, how you dress, how you walk, sit, and talk, how you respond to the world, how you act in front of others, and how you think; you're living out your habits.

Habits are necessary. They free up your mind so you can concentrate on how to survive day to day. You don't have to think about how to drive your car so you can be on the look out for danger while you are driving. You don't have to think about how to walk so you can concentrate on where you're going.

Unfortunately, habits can also keep you locked in self-destructive patterns, which will limit your success. To become successful, you will need to drop bad habits and develop new ones that are in line with the life you want to live.

People don't suddenly appear in the life they want to live, habits determine their outcome!

What are the habits you have that are keeping you from achieving your goals? Really be honest with yourself here... Are you always running late? Do you return phone calls within 24 hours? Do you get enough sleep? Do you follow through on your promises? Do you plan out your day?

Imagine what your life would be like if all those habits were their productive counterparts.

What would your life be like if you ate healthy meals, exercised and got enough sleep? What if you saved money, stopped using credit cards and paid cash for everything? What if you stopped procrastinating, overcame your fears, and began networking with people in your field? Would your life be different? I bet it would!

So, my suggested action step for you is to write down some productive habits you could adopt and visualize in your life, step wto is to 'act as if' you were living these new habits right now!

I'd like to help you get moving toward creating more successful habits, so I'd recommend you develop four of your new success habits each year, one for each quarter.

Once you pick the new habit you're ready to adopt, next you'll want to create a method that will support your new habit.

Here are some ideas... You could write it down on a card that you keep with you and read several times a day. You could make it a part of your daily visualization. You could also enlist the help of an accountability partner who has habits to change.

It's important to make a 100% commitment to your new habit, so be specific about the steps that you're willing to take in order to drop an old habit and adopt a new one. Don't be vague about how you will change your habits. Spell it out for yourself so you can recognize situations that motivate you to act out your new habit.

Just developing four new habits a year will dramatically shift your life to be more in line with your vision. And the more in line it becomes, the easier the other habits are to replace because your perspective is shifting and you can see more clearly how your old habits aren't serving you anymore.

Make the decision. Make the commitment. Then watch your new, positive life unfold!

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Jack Canfield, America's Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Practice Uncommon Appreciation

2007-09-17T16:36:00.001-07:00

by Jack Canfield

If asked, could you name the five wealthiest people in the world, or five people who have one the Nobel Prize, or the last five Academy Award winners for best actor and actress? The point is, none of us remembers the headliners of yesterday. When the applause dies, the awards tarnish, and achievements are forgotten, no one cares about who won which award.

But if I asked you to list five teachers or mentors who believed in you and encouraged you, five friends who have helped you through a difficult time, five people who have taught you something worthwhile, or five people who have made you feel appreciated and special - that's much easier to do, isn't it?

That's because the people who make a difference in your life aren't the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They're the ones who care. If you want to be remembered for being important to someone else's life, make them feel appreciated.

Appreciation as a Secret of Success

Another important reason for being in a state of appreciation as often as possible is that when you are in such a state, you are in one of the highest emotional states possible.

When you are in a state of appreciation and gratitude, you are in a state of abundance. You are appreciating what you do in stead of focusing on, and complaining about, what you don't have. Your focus is on what you have received... and you always get more of what you focus on. And because the law of attraction states that like attracts like, the more you are in a state of gratitude, the more you will attract to be grateful for. It becomes an upward-spiraling process of ever-increasing abundance that just keeps getting better and better.

Think about it. The more grateful people are for the gifts we give them, the more inclined we are to give them more gifts. Their gratitude and appreciation reinforces our giving. The same principle holds true on a universal and spiritual level as it does on an interpersonal level.

Keeping Score

When I first learned about the power of appreciation, it made total sense to me. However, it was still something that I forgot to do. I hadn't yet turned it into a habit. A valuable technique that I employed to help me lock in this new habit was to carry a 3" x 5" card in my pocket all day, and every time I acknowledged and appreciated someone, I would place a check mark on the card. I would not allow myself to go to bed until I had appreciated 10 people. If it was late in the evening and I didn't have 10 check marks, I would appreciate my wife and children, I would send an e-mail to several staff, or I would write a letter to my mother or stepfather.

I did whatever it took until it became an unconscious habit.

I challenge you to discover ways to immediately appreciate someone in your life, starting today!

For more on this topic, read Chapter 53 in The Success Principles. It will give you great suggestions and ideas on how you, too, can find ways to appreciate those in your life.

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Jack Canfield, America's Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Utilizing the Law of Attraction

2007-08-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

by Jack Canfield

The law of attraction states that you will attract into your life—whether wanted or unwanted—whatever you give your energy, focus, and attention to.

You are constantly giving off vibrations of energy when you think and feel. These vibrations can be picked up and received by other people. That’s why people say, “he has good vibes,” or “he gives off bad vibes.” You are constantly giving off vibrations.

If you’re feeling excited, enthusiastic, passionate, happy, joyful, loving, appreciative, abundant, prosperous, relaxed and peaceful, you are giving off positive vibrations.

On the other hand, if you are feeling bored, anxious, worried, confused, sad, lonely, hurt, angry, resentful, guilty, disappointed, frustrated, overwhelmed, stressed out, or depressed, then you are giving off negative vibrations.

The law of attraction states that the universe responds to whatever you are offering -- by giving you more of whatever you are vibrating. It doesn’t care whether it is good for you or not; it simply responds to your vibration.

If you saw the film The Secret, you saw this explained in great detail.

The problem is that most of the time, you are not aware of what vibration you are offering. You are simply responding to things outside of you—current events, the news, how people treat you, the stock market, how much money you are making, how your children are doing in school, whether or not your favorite sports team wins—and then having a feeling that is either positive or negative.

When you are simply responding unconsciously to what happens around you, you tend to stay “stuck” in your current condition. This is why most people’s lives never seem to change very much. They get stuck in a repeating cycle of recreating the same reality over and over by the vibration they are sending out.

It works like this… First you observe what you currently have and are currently receiving in your life. You call this your “reality.” You respond to what you observe with a feeling, positive or negative, which then gives off that vibration to the universe. The law of attraction then responds to this vibration and brings you more of what you were vibrating. This keeps the cycle going over and over, until you choose to change it through the exertion of your will. You are a victim of your lack of awareness of the law of attraction.

The Process of Intentional Creation
It is possible to get out of this vicious cycle and create what you want instead of continually recreating what you already have. It is a simple three step process that you can begin immediately.

If you’ve been implementing the action steps at the end of each principle I coach you through in The Success Principles: 30-Day Journey Audio Course, you have already begun this process.

Step 1: Identify what you truly desire & eliminate the negative

It is important to focus on what you want rather than what you don’t want. You must state it in the positive and filter out the words don’t, not and no. Remember, your mind works in pictures and if you say I don’t want to be mad, you are creating the picture and thus the vibration of being mad. You must create the opposite of what you don’t want.

Step 2: Raise your vibration level

Your job in stage two is to create a vibrational match for that which you say you want to have. How would you be feeling if you already had those things—the perfect job, the perfect relationship, the mount of money that you want to have?

Your job is to identify what makes you feel good and do more of it, then learn not to tolerate your negative feelings.

Affirmations are an important component in raising your vibrational level to what it is you want. Remember, the law of attraction does not respond to the words you use or the thoughts you think. It simply responds to how you feel about what you say and how you feel about what you think.

For information on how to create even more effective affirmations, review pages 75-80 in The Success Principles, where you’ll find my “Nine Guidelines for Creating Effective Visualizations.”

Step 3. Release it and allow it.

In this third step you simply release your affirmation, your vibration, and your feelings to the universe to take care of your “request” or “order” as I call it. But you have to abstain from any doubts. If you doubt you can have it in any way, then you are not allowing it. You are pushing it away and you end up with contradictory messages to the universe

It is only when the contradictory thoughts, talk, and images are removed that your desired results will manifest. The faster you remove your resistance, the faster your dreams can be realized.

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Jack Canfield, America’s Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

The Person Responsible For Your Success

2007-08-03T12:35:00.000-07:00

by Jack Canfield

It’s time to meet the person who has been responsible for the life you live right now.

This person has created your income, your debt, your relationships, your health, your fitness level, your weight, your attitudes and your behaviors. Who is it? To introduce yourself, just walk to the closest mirror and say hello! This person is you!

Although one of the popular myths out there is that "external factors" determine how you live, the truth of the matter is that you are in complete control of the quality of your life.

It’s time to look at the life you’ve created and determine what is working and what is not. Certainly there are wonderful things happening in your life, whether it’s your job, your spouse, your grades, your children, your friends, or your income level.

Congratulate yourself on these successes; you are creating them for yourself! And then take a look at what isn’t working out so well. What are you doing or not doing to create those experiences?

It’s time to stop blaming outside factors for your unhappiness.

When you realize that you create your experiences, you’ll realize that you can un-create them and create new experiences whenever you want. But you must take responsibility for your happiness and your unhappiness, your successes and your failures, your good times and your bad times. When you stop blaming, you can take that energy and redirect to focus on creating a better situation for yourself. Blaming only ties up your energy.

It’s also time to stop complaining.

Look at what you are complaining about. Really examine it. More than likely it is something that you can do something about.

Are you unhappy about something that is happening? Make requests that will make it more desirable to you, or take the steps to change it yourself. Making a change might be uncomfortable to you. It might mean you have to put in more time, money, and effort. It might mean that someone gets upset about it. It might be difficult to change or leave a situation, but staying put is your choice so why continue to complain? Face the facts that you can either do something about it or not. It is your choice and you have responsibility for your choices.

Successful people take 100% responsibility for the thoughts they think, the images that visualize and the actions they take.

They don't waste their time and energy blaming and complaining. They evaluate their experiences and decide if they need to change them or not. They face the uncomfortable and take risks in order to create the life they want to live.

Taking responsibility requires you to first decide to believe that you create all your experiences. Second, to pay attention to yourself, your behavior, and your life experiences. And last, to face the truth and deal with what is not working in your life. You have to be willing to change your behavior if you want a different outcome. You have to be willing to take the risks necessary to get what you want.

Isn’t it a great relief to know that you can make your life what you want it to be? Isn’t it wonderful that your successes do not depend on someone else?

Commit to taking 100% responsibility for your every aspect of your life. Decide to make changes, one step at a time. Once you start the process you’ll discover it is much easier to get what you want by taking control of your thoughts, your visualizations, and your actions!

_____________________________________

Jack Canfield, America’s Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Give the Benefit of the Doubt

2007-07-26T20:44:00.000-07:00

It's easy to jump to conclusions and make assumptions about other people's intentions. It's often better to give the person the benefit of the doubt. For instance, if someone you meet doesn't smile at you, they probably aren't mad at you. They could have missed you or maybe they didn't have their contacts in and couldn't see well enough to recognize you, maybe they were going through something difficult in their life and were preoccupied with their own thoughts. If you're ever unsure of someone's intentions, simply ask them in a non-critical way and you'll have the answer.

The World is Speaking to You, Are You Listening?

2007-07-20T08:31:00.001-07:00

By Jack Canfield

The world is constantly communicating with you through feedback. Feedback comes in many forms and it is very helpful in moving you toward your successes, if you choose to respond to it.

Think about feedback as your goals talking back to you. When your actions are not in line with your goals, you will know it by getting results that are not in line with your goals. Your goals are telling you that you have fallen off course.

If you want to have a wonderful supportive relationship but your spouse is angry with you for neglecting your share of the household responsibilities, what do you do? Get mad at your spouse for being upset? Your goal of having a supportive relationship is telling you that you’ve gone off course. To get back on course you listen and take the appropriate action, start helping out around the house!

Therefore, it’s important to note that there really is no such thing as “negative” feedback. Feedback is simply information about your progress, about your course of action, about your abilities and attitudes. It is up to you to interpret this information to help you improve yourself and your situation.

Successful people learn to use feedback to their advantage. They put their awareness on what kind of results they get with certain actions. If the response is good, they continue. If the response is not what they want, they make adjustments. Feedback is that simple, and learning to listen to feedback and respond to feedback will keep you on track to achieve your success.

When feedback is telling you that what you are doing is not working you have a choice as to how you will respond. You can either see it as an opportunity to improve yourself and correct your behavior, or you can see it as the world ganging up on you and insulting you. You can quit trying to reach your goal when feedback keeps telling you what you’re doing isn’t working. You can get mad and criticize it right back. You can simply not listen to the feedback you are getting. But those are not effective ways to respond to the information you want to have guiding you in the appropriate direction!

So how can you become successful in dealing with feedback? The answer is to ask for it and to create a safe space for people to tell you what they are seeing. Don’t be vague about what kind of information you want. Ask for it in specific terms. Ask how you are limiting yourself, how you can improve, and what it will take to get back on course. Don’t be afraid of what you will hear. Once you know the truth, you can set about taking action to improve. Everyone will be better for it.

Make it a habit to ask for feedback!

Even when things appear to be going pretty well, there is always room for improvement. Ask how you can make things even better. When you get feedback, take an honest look at it and see if it rings true with you. Obviously, someone telling you you’re a lazy piece of chopped liver could be feedback that isn’t accurate. However, if ten people tell you you’re a lazy piece of chopped liver, it is probably time to re-evaluate the path you're on.

Learn to recognize feedback for what it is. Trust your gut feeling about things, listen to what others are saying, and look at the results of your actions. Feedback is a powerful tool to keep you on the road to success.

_________________________

Jack Canfield, America’s Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Create a Dream Book

2007-07-16T15:00:00.001-07:00

One of the best ways to help create success in your life is to visualize yourself accomplishing your goals daily. A fun way to do this is to collect images from magazines that represent your goals and dreams and put them together into a scrapbook.

For example, if one of your goals is to spend more time with your family, you could select images of families on vacation.

Arrange your images however you'd like and paste them into your scrapbook. Look through your Dream Book daily to help crystalize your goals and demonstrate the rewards of following through.

Transform Apprehension into Anticipation

2007-07-11T10:42:00.000-07:00

Ever had an experience where you're anxiously waiting to hear a result? Whether you've waited five minutes or five years, the apprehension can really get to you. Transform your nervous anxiety into a calm anticipation.

First of all, whenever you find yourself wondering about the result and becoming anxious, take several deep breaths.

Then, visualize the result you desire coming true. Feel the relief of having an answer to your question. The result is going to be whatever it's meant to be and any additional stress or anxiety on your part isn't going to make it any different.

Remember that you are a valuable and talented person with many wonderful qualities and facets in your life. One result isn't going to dramatically impact your being. Lastly, just sit back and relax.

Summer Cleaning: Clear Out the Clutter

2007-07-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

The weather is hot and the days are longer. It's the perfect time to do some house cleaning. With longer days, most people feel energetic for more of the day and night. Use some of your excess energy to tackle some clutter in your home. We all have things that we've accumulated that are no longer useful or meaningful to us. Use 30 minutes or so each day when you get up or when you get home from work to start weeding out the things that you no longer want or need so you can make room in your life for growth.

The best place to start is by ridding yourself of anything that is simply a reminder of a hurt or disappointment. These items constantly remind you of negative things in your past and can hold you back. Also donate or throw away things that serve as mementos of unhappiness, neglected promises, and poor judgment. You definitely don't need these things in your home or your life. Getting rid of them will also help clear some emotional clutter.

The clutter in your home and mind can prevent you from taking full advantage of the opportunities that life has to offer you. When your home is organized and full of things that bring you joy and happiness, your life will feel less stressful because your peace at home will carry through into other areas of your life.

Learn from Your Life Experience

2007-07-07T11:40:00.001-07:00

It's easy to get caught up in trying to be perfect. But, the reality is that everyone, no matter how smart, wealthy, beautiful, happy, etc., makes mistakes every now and then. The important thing is to learn from them. Perfectionism is unhealthy. Strive for balance by continually improving with the goal of personal satisfaction, not perfection.

Use your life experience as a springboard into your ideal future. When something goes differently than you imagined, think about what happened and plan what you would do differently when faced with a similar situation in the future.

Don't waste time beating yourself up about what you did or didn't do this time. Just use the information and the experience to grow and do better next time. Life experience is a great teacher, as long as we are ready and willing to learn.

Daily Disciplines for Effortless Success: Six Steps for Activating "The Secret" in Your Life

2007-07-05T16:43:00.000-07:00

by Jack Canfield

The first step to using Law of Attraction as presented in the movie The Secret is to clarify exactly what you want.

Remember—determine, write down and talk about what you do want, not what you don’t want. Be as specific as possible. Once you have clarified what you want, do the following each and every day.

1. Morning Intention, Visualization and Releasing

As soon as you wake up in the morning, take about 5 minutes to focus your mind on your desires, goals and intentions. Start by sitting in a comfortable position, closing your eyes and visualizing your desires and goals as already being fulfilled. Spend 30 seconds to a minute on each of your core desires and goals. You can also take a few moments to visualize your day going exactly as you would like it to.

When you do this, you will often find negative limiting beliefs that are the result of negative programming from your childhood will come up. You may hear thoughts like “I could never afford that,” “there’s no way I’ll ever get that,” or “who am I kidding?” coming up. If you do, use one of the many releasing techniques that are available (see the list below) to release the negative thought. Don’t fight or argue with the thought; just release it.

Remember to also spend several moments feeling the feelings you would feel if you had already manifested your desire in your life. The intensity of the feeling is what fuels the intensity of the attraction.

Powerful releasing techniques:

The Sedona Method by Hale Dwoskin: www.sedonamethod.com
(Hale will be sharing his techniques when he speaks at my summer training
Breakthrough to Success.)

The Work by Byron Katie: www.TheWork.com

The Emotional Freedom Technique: www.emofree.com

2. Use External Images to Keep you Focused on Your Desires and Goals

To keep yourself focused on what you want to manifest surround yourself with visual images of the things and experiences you want to attract into your life. There are many techniques you can use for this.

1.) Cut out pictures of the things you wish to own (like your ideal car or home) and pictures that represent the experiences you want to have (like the perfect relationship, your ideal job, perfect health, being at your ideal weight, more joy, inner peace or balance in your life)to remind yourself of how you want it to be. Tape them up where you will see them every day—on the mirror, the refrigerator, or your bulletin board. You can also scan them into your computer and make them into a screen saver or a continuously running PowerPoint program.

2.) Combine your pictures and words that you cut out into a collage on a large piece of poster board.

3.) Make a Dream Book by putting the pictures into a 3-ring binder pasted onto the pages or slid into plastic page protectors.

When you look at any of these pictures, do what Bob Doyle, who is featured in The Secret teaches— think the thought, “THIS IS MINE NOW! THIS IS WHO I AM!”

3. Think a Better Feeling Thought

Start paying attention to the many times during the day that you have emotional responses (to other people, experiences, or your own thoughts) that are not in alignment with having or producing your desires. Pay special attention to when you feel disappointment, resentment, frustration or anger about your experiences and circumstances.

Remember, it’s your feelings (which are created by your thoughts, opinions, and beliefs) that are attracting your current circumstances. You must make a vibrational shift by changing your thoughts to ones that make you feel better (i.e., raise your vibration). Remember that you must become a vibrational match for the things and experiences that you want to attract into your life.

It is especially important to focus your thoughts and behaviors on things that cause you to feel joy. Focus your thoughts on thoughts that bring you joy (your lover, your best friend, your grandchildren, your favorite vacation spot) and your actions on doing the things you love to do (pet your cat, work in your garden, listen to your favorite music).

4. Have an Attitude of Gratitude

It is critical to take time each and every day to focus on what you are grateful for. Some people do this in the morning before or after they visualize their desires; others prefer to do it in the evening. Focus on all of the things in your life (most of which you take for granted) that you are grateful for—your health, your children, your job, the nice weather, electricity, running water, a nice stereo system, your flower garden, your pets, your friends).

No matter what your situation, there are always things to be grateful for. The more you focus on what you are grateful for, the more things and experiences you will attract to be grateful for. You may wish to carry a “gratitude rock” like the one Lee Brower talks about in “The Secret.”

5. Take Action

There are two kinds of actions you can take. Obvious actions are things like, if you want a better car, going to test drive all of the models you are interested in and choosing the exact car you want to have, and saving 10% of your income in a “car account.” If you want to be a doctor, apply to medical school.

There are also what I call “inspired actions.” Once you begin to do the things described above, the universe will start responding by sending people, resources and opportunities you need to manifest your desired result. You are going to find that you have inspired ideas; you must act on them. You must follow those gentle proddings from the universe. Often these intuitive impulses will have no seeming connection to achieving your goal, but if you follow them, they will lead you down a path of wonderful fulfillment.

Here’s a quick way to know if the actions you’re taking are taking you closer to the fulfillment of your dreams and desires. If you are feeling joy while you are doing them, then you are on the right path. Remember, joy is your internal guidance system, just like the GPS system in a car, telling you are taking the right actions. Follow your joy.

6. Acknowledge That it is Working

If you start to see something change for the better, acknowledge that it is happening. Appreciate it. When you find the perfect parking space, acknowledge it. When you get the table you want in the restaurant, acknowledge it. When you receive unexpected income, acknowledge it. When you meet someone who can help you achieve your goal, acknowledge that Law of Attraction is working. The more you acknowledge that it’s working, the more it will work. It’s that simple.

If you are attracting things into your life that you don’t want, remember the Law of Attraction is still working. Instead of thinking or saying, “It’s not working,” ask your self, “What am I focusing on, thinking about, talking about, feeling or doing that is attracting this into my life?” If you want to know what you are thinking about, notice the results you are producing in your life. To change those results, you will first have to change your vibration by changing your thoughts and feelings.

While there are many techniques that are variations on these themes that you can apply, there’s nothing else you have to do.

____________________________________________

Jack Canfield, America’s Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

5 Quick Ways to Declutter Your Office

2007-07-03T09:57:00.000-07:00

As you prepare for the Fourth of July holiday, declutter your desk so you can rest and relax tomorrow and return on Thursday to a clutter-free environment. Here are some quick tips to get you started:

1. Remove all paperwork from the top surface of your desk before you leave the office. You can file papers that are no longer active projects, discard any junk mail or other items you don't need to keep, and organize active projects in the order of priority and store them in the top of a drawer for easy access when you return to your office. Your desk will feel much more welcoming without stacks of papers to greet you.

2. Return all desk supplies to their proper locations. It can be distracting to walk back into your office and have office supplies spread all over your desk from your last use. Simply return each of the items to their "homes" before you leave each day. You can store your pens in a pencil cup or in a desk tray in a drawer. Stash your stapler and tape dispenser somewhere convenient, but out of the way. This way, everything will be readily available when you need it.

3. Make sure your trash can is located in a place where it can be seen by whomever empties it. If it's tucked completely under your desk, it may not be emptied while you're away and you could return to an unpleasant odor coming from your office.

4. Put all food items away. If you keep a box of cereal at work for quick snacks, store it in a drawer or cabinet. This is so your snack of choice is conveniently hidden from coworkers and bosses and yet still conveniently available to you when you need it. It's also a good idea to help keep potential pests that may be attracted to your food out of your office.

5. If you must keep paperwork or folders or anything else on your desk, stack them neatly so that you can easily jump back into your project when you return from your holiday. You'll feel more confident tackling tasks when you look and feel organized.

Have a very Happy 4th of July!

Free Yourself from Bitterness

2007-06-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

It's easy when things go differently than we hoped to be negative and become bitter. The more useful and healthy option is to choose to use the experience to improve yourself and your future. Numerous studies have shown that bitterness and negativity hurt you mentally, physically, and emotionally, not to mention financially because of the distraction it causes. When you focus on what you want to happen in the future (instead of what didn't happen in the past), you focus your energies and actions on bringing your ideal future to life.

Maximize Your Efforts: How to Select a Mentor

2007-06-27T16:47:00.000-07:00

Not everyone is qualified to give you advice in every area of your life. It's important to select mentors who have experienced success in the area with which you'd like their help. For example, if your goal is to improve your finances, you'd wish to speak with a mentor who has mastered that area of their lives, not someone who is always broke.

Here are a few guidelines to consider when choosing mentors (from "Mentored by a Millionaire" by Steven K. Scott):

Determine the specific dream or area of your life for which you want a mentor.
Create a list of potential mentors for each dream or area you've chosen.
Starting with the mentors at the top of your list and working down, write down the status of your current relationship with each one.
Write down everything you know about that person through either your personal experience with them or second- or third-hand knowledge.
Research everything you can about your potential mentors.
If your potential mentors are mere acquaintances or strangers to you, do you know anyone they know?
Prepare to contact a potential mentor on the phone or in writing with a brief proposal or request.
Make the contact.
Follow up and show your appreciation.
Go to the next person on the list.

Ten of Our Favorite Books (That You Might Like, Too!)

2007-06-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

A friend of ours recently graduated from high school. In order to celebrate her achievement, we gave her a gift card to spend at a bookstore and provided a list of books that my fiance and I have found most valuable over the years. These are a few of the books (in no particular order) that have had the biggest impact on our personal lives and professional careers. We thought you might enjoy them as well.

1. The Power of Focus
By Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Leslie Hewitt

2. The Four Agreements
By Don Miguel Ruiz

3. Watership Down
By Richard Adams

4. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
By Stephen R. Covey

5. The Richest Man in Babylon
By George S. Clason

6. Ender's Game
By Orson Scott Card

7. Who Moved My Cheese?
By Spencer Johnson, MD

8. A Confederacy of Dunces
By John Kennedy Toole

9. The Body
This is the book on which the film, “Stand By Me” is based.
By Stephen King

10. The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World
By John Robbins

Celebrate Your Victories and Give Thanks

2007-06-22T11:53:00.000-07:00

by Jack Canfield

Research has shown over and over again that the more you acknowledge your past successes, the more confident you become in taking on, and successfully accomplishing, new ones.

As you stay the course and begin to realize your goals, you need to do two very important things:

1.) Celebrate your successes, and ...

2.) Express your gratitude to everyone who has helped you along the way.

Let’s look at a few of the ways you can acknowledge your positive past.

Celebrate Your Victories

In order to justify all your sacrifice and persistence that is required to create the life of your dreams, you have to enroll your family, your friends, your colleagues and co-workers, your employees, your clients and, most importantly yourself, to pay the price.

In order for them to do that, there need to be payoffs along the way. Every time you reach a milestone on the path to ultimate success, and every time you achieve a major goal, you need to celebrate by doing something fun and nurturing.

Have an Attitude of Gratitude

Take the time to thank everyone that has helped you achieve your goals. Write them a letter, call them, send them an e-mail or send them a present. It can be as simple as a hug and a thank you — to something as elaborate as letting someone use your summer vacation home for a week.

The Power of Acknowledgment

When you take the time to thank someone, they feel acknowledged for their contribution and will be more likely to want to help again.

Your Inner Child

A big part of creating more success in life is rewarding yourself when you succeed. So, it’s important to reward your inner child as well. Every time you work hard to meet a goal, the part of you that just wants to have fun has to sit still and be good. However, just like any kid, if it knows it will be rewarded later with a treat, it will hang in there with you.

How can you reward your inner child?

• Take a 20-minute walk after an hour or two of concentrated work
• Go for walks in the morning with your spouse, friend, or significant other
• Take 20 minutes to listen to music and daydream
• Take most weekends totally off
• Take several weeklong vacations throughout the year
• Get regular massages
• Engage in daily meditation, exercise and yoga
• Take music lessons
• Go to movies, concerts and plays
• Listen to comedy tapes and watch the Comedy Network
• Listen to motivational audio programs when driving

Thank Your Higher Power

Finally, it is important to thank God, or however you perceive the Higher Power, for all of the abundance that comes into your life. Start with the little stuff — another day of life, healthy children, a sunny day, people who love you, family and friends. Be thankful for the birds, your pets, the clothes you have and the food you eat.

And be especially thankful for any additional blessings that come into your life. Take time each day to say a prayer of thanks when you first arise, before meals, and again at night before bed.

Having an attitude of gratitude opens up the channels for even more abundance to flow into your life.

The more grateful you are, the more you will attract things to be grateful for.
______________________________

Jack Canfield, America’s Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com.

Think First: Seek Positive Resolutions to Arguments

2007-06-20T12:30:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when we're in the heat of the moment of an argument, we may say things that we regret later. In these situations, before you take an action or make a statement, ask yourself: "Will the action I am about to take improve our relationship or hurt it?" If the answer to your question is "hurt it," then choose a different action that's more in line with your long-term goals.

Always consider whether your actions and statements move you closer to resolution or further away from it. If you stop and think before taking an action or saying something you might regret, you can increase the chances of getting what you want and positively resolving the disagreement.

Enjoy the Silence

2007-06-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

Clear your mind with a few minutes of quiet time for yourself each day. Use the time to think, meditate, read, and/or reflect. When everything seems to be moving at an ever-increasing hectic pace, it can seem difficult to carve out a few minutes for yourself. It's the crazy busy days on which this personal quiet time is most important. Start with just five minutes of down time a day to gather your thoughts and relax.

Be Picky and Proud of It

2007-06-18T11:59:00.000-07:00

I recently started sorting through some of my old things from my childhood. I have stored them in plastic bins for several years now and am now ready to make decisions about what to keep and what to sell/donate/throw away. While going through my old toys, I was getting sentimental about some of them. Then, I remembered some good advice: let go of objects that remind you of memories you'd rather forget. This enables you to make more room in your life for things that matter the most to you.

Although it can be difficult, it's an incredibly liberating experience to shed sentimental objects that you don't really want to keep. Here are a few criteria you can use to make the decision to keep or let go:

Let go of anything that doesn't touch you in a positive way
Keep only what you have space for
Let go of anything you feel ready to shed, and continue moving forward.

It's okay to be selective with what you decide to keep. It's much better to keep several items that bring back positive memories and mean a lot to you than to keep a whole room full of stuff that's no longer meaningful or useful to you.

The Secret of Success: Smile!

2007-06-15T14:35:00.000-07:00

Smiling not only makes you look and feel happier, a study from Oxford University found that smiling promoted trust between strangers and boosted cooperation. In addition, a long-term study conducted at University of California at Berkeley suggested that women who had big smiles in their college yearbook photos taken 30 years earlier went on to have the most successful relationships and careers. So, go ahead and smile!

Overcome Negative Thinking with a Simple Trick

2007-06-14T13:06:00.000-07:00

We all have occasional self-doubt and negative self-talk. If we don't stop it soon after it begins, our negative thoughts can go on and on, damaging our self-image and diminishing our self-esteem.

Here's a simple way to combat negative thinking: whenever you find yourself having a negative thought, simply say to yourself afterwards, "but it really doesn't matter." For example, if you had a thought like "My car looks filthy today," you would then say "but it really doesn't matter."

This is a great way to keep your negative thoughts in perspective. Using this technique will stop you from catastrophizing about things that really don't matter. By keeping your thoughts in perspective, you free your mind to focus on more important (and positive) things. Give it a try!

Words of Wisdom

2007-06-13T14:39:00.000-07:00

I'm back from vacation and had a wonderful time! I saw this quote by John Wooden and would like to share it with you:

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."

- John Wooden

Plan Your Next Vacation Getaway

2007-06-04T09:51:00.000-07:00

My fiance and I are going to Virginia to visit family this week. Start planning your next vacation now at GoSightsee.com. Have a great week!

Be Proud of Who You Are

2007-06-02T16:13:00.000-07:00

Diminishing your accomplishments and talents only depletes your energy and your self-esteem. If other people are intimidated by your achievements, that's their problem, not yours. Putting yourself down or pretending to be less than you really are will not help the situation. Always be proud of who you are.

Exercise = The Cure to So Many Problems

2007-05-31T13:14:00.000-07:00

Although exercise challenges your body and utilizes a lot of energy, it's one of the best ways to fight fatigue. Exercise is simultaneously relaxing and energizing which can relieve exhaustion. Because of its powerful effect on energy, exercise is now being used to fight depression and chronic fatigue. When you exercise, you are increasing your circulation, moving oxygen to your muscles, expending calories, burning fat, and relieving stress. Give it a try and feel the difference.

Never Give Up! The Power of Determination

2007-05-30T10:27:00.000-07:00

Today I'd like to feature a great article from someone I greatly respect and admire, Jack Canfield:

Never Give Up!
The Power of Determination
by Jack Canfield

In a previous issue of success strategies, I talked about the importance of taking action toward your goals, dreams and desires. But one of the most important qualities you will need to develop in order to continue taking action is persistence.

You must be persistent in your disciplines and habits; perseverant in the face of adversity, hardship and challenge; and determined to achieve your dreams, no matter what.

There will be many times when you will want to quit, give up, and go back to doing something else, but the one quality that will guarantee your success is the willingness to stick with it, to see it through to the end -- to refuse to settle for anything less than your dream.

The longer you hang in there, the greater the chance that something will happen in your favor. No matter how hard it seems, the longer you persist, the more likely your success will be.

Adversity and Discouragement Is Inevitable
No matter how well you plan and how well you execute your plan, you are bound to meet with disappointments, adversity and failure along the way to your ultimate triumph. Sometimes, you'll encounter what seem like overwhelming odds. And sometimes, the Universe will test your commitment to the goal you're pursuing.

The going may be hard, and may require you to refuse to give up while you learn new lessons, develop new parts of yourself, and make difficult decisions.

And, adversity is what gives you the opportunity to develop your inner resources of character and courage. Adversity is a great teacher. It will test you and make you stronger. But you have to hang in there and not give up!

More than 4000 years ago in China, Confucius wrote: "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

How to Deal with Obstacles
Whenever you confront an obstacle or run into a roadblock, you need to stop and brainstorm three ways to get around it, over it, or through it. For every obstacle, come up with three different strategies for handling the potential obstacle. There are any number of ways that till work, but you will only find them if you spend time looking for them.

Always be solution-oriented in your thinking. Persevere until you find a way that works.

_____________________________________

Jack Canfield, America's Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

What Would You Do with 15 Extra Days Per Year?

2007-05-29T07:58:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel like there just aren't enough hours in the day to accomplish your goals? Here's an easy way to reclaim your personal time. The average American watches over five hours of television each day. If we reduced our TV time by just one hour a day, we would have an extra 15 days and 20 hours each year! That's enough time to accomplish a lot of your goals.

Next time you feel like you don't have enough time, take a look at the time you spend watching television and consider using those hours toward a more useful achievement. Television isn't bad and most of us enjoy watching it sometimes. By simply reducing your viewing habits by one hour a day, you can change your life for the better.

With all that extra time, you could write a book, spend time with your family, get in great shape, remodel your home, take an incredible vacation (or several!), etc. Think about what you could do with an extra 15 days and 20 hours each year and make the choice to use your time toward your highest priorities.

5 Things You Can Do Today to Change Your Life

2007-05-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

Stop settling for less than you deserve.
Eliminate negative words from your vocabulary.
Focus intently on what you want (instead of what you want to avoid).
Avoid toxic people and things that drain your energy and enthusiasm for life.
Try something new/take small risks each day.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

"The Grandma Test"

2007-05-24T10:58:00.001-07:00

Whenever you find yourself faced with a difficult situation in which it would be easier to lose your temper or respond in a negative way, take a moment to submit your potential response to "The Grandma Test." Ask yourself how you would feel if your grandma knew what you were doing. If you feel good about the action, you can proceed. If not, you can imagine an alternative that is more in line with something you wouldn't be ashamed of in the long run.

It works because people usually love and respect their grandmas and don't want them to think negatively of them. This is usually enough to refocus your energy and behavior on doing something that is positive for you in the short- and long-term. Using this test as a guide will help you take the high road, particularly in challenging situations.

Powerful, Positive Language

2007-05-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

Does the language you use reflect your true intentions? Often we use sentences like "don't forget...". It's actually much more effective and positive to state the same information in a more powerful way, "remember...".

Changing your everyday language can have an amazing impact on your life. By stating your wants, needs, and feelings in positive terms, you train your mind to be more positive. A good way to begin this process is to simply notice when you use sentences in the negative form. Then, correct yourself whenever you hear a negative statement by changing it into it's positive form. Here are a few examples:

Instead of	Use
"Don't forget"	"Remember"
"I can't"	"I prefer not to" or "No thank you"
"Don't hesitate"	"Feel free to"
"Don't delay"	"Act now"

Once you've implemented this change, you'll begin to automatically think in positive terms. Thinking and speaking powerfully and positively will enhance your self-esteem and transform the way that people respond to you in the world for the better.

A Whole New Day - Give It Your Best!

2007-05-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

Today is a bright new day full of opportunity and hope. Make today the best it can be by using your time toward accomplishing your goals. Break each goal down into smaller goals that would need to be accomplished in order to achieve the larger goal. Then, break each smaller goal into action steps.

For example, if one of your top goals is to lose 10 pounds, your goals may look something like this:

Goal: Lose 10 pounds by Labor Day

Smaller Goals and Action Steps:

Work out three times a week every week starting today
- Check out workout DVDs from the local library today
- Buy two 3-lb. hand weights to use at home
- Clear space in the living room or den to work out with workout DVDs
- Visit health websites for ideas and motivational stories
Replace two fast food meals with healthy salads and whole grain breads each week
- Purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at the market each week
- Pack a healthy lunch and snacks to take to work or school each weekday
- Research healthy grains and shop for delicious and nutritious breads

It's a whole new day! Give it your best and work toward your goals. Use your time wisely and you'll go to bed tonight bursting with pride for your accomplishment and for doing what's needed to achieve your top goals in the long run.

The Power of Affirmations

2007-05-18T12:41:00.000-07:00

According to the book, Live Your Dream, "an affirmation is a firm, positive sentence designed to convey a message from your conscious to your subconscious mind. It asserts something you know is true, even though it may not have manifested in your life yet. When the subconscious mind receives this message, it goes to work on a subconscious level to align with it and bring it about."

Try some of these affirmations and create some that are tailored to your life and your particular goals. Read these positive affirmations to yourself several times a day and anytime that you feel less than confident in a particular area.

I am happy and healthy.
I have financial abundance.
I am living my dream.
I choose activities that support me in living my dream.
I bring forth the best in myself and others at all times.
I am honest in all of my relationships.
I deserve good things.
I deserve to be loved and respected.
I expect only good things to happen.
I deserve the best.
I share the best of myself with others.
I rise confidently to meet the challenges and greet the opportunities available to me.
I live in a home of my dreams.
I allow myself to lovingly support my family and friends in their growth.

Remember the Good Times

2007-05-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

A dear friend of my family passed away suddenly earlier this week. Although I'm very sad that this wonderful person is no longer with us in this world, I am content knowing that he made a positive difference in many people's lives throughout his life. Luckily, I expressed my gratitude to him and how fortunate I felt to know him on a regular basis. It comforts me to know that he was aware of the positive impact he had on my life. Whenever I get down about our loss, I re-focus myself on remember the good times we had. Remembering someone for how much they meant to you and shaped your life keeps them with us.

Let it Go

2007-05-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

One of the best habits to get into is to learn how to let go of things that didn't go "right" or didn't turn out the way you originally expected. By hanging on to those negative thoughts and feelings, you continually beat yourself up and are constantly focusing on the past. Get into the habit of acknowledging that something didn't go as planned, determining what you learned from the experience, and figuring out what you'd differently when faced with that situation again. In doing so, you're adjusting your focus from the past to the present and the future. Have the confidence to know that everything happens for a reason and you will be better as a result of the experience.

Celebrate Your Achievements

2007-05-11T15:17:00.000-07:00

Dedicate some time this weekend to think about what you've accomplished and celebrate your achievements. Whether big or small, our achievements are something for which to be proud and take credit. Reward yourself for your hard work and dedication. Even a small treat such as a relaxing 30-minute bath will help you take pride in and own your accomplishments. Do something great just for YOU. Have a wonderful weekend!

Visualize Success

2007-05-10T10:17:00.000-07:00

Take time every day to imagine your ideal future. Even if you only have a few minutes right before falling asleep, visualizing your future success can help you remain focused on your goals and take action toward their achievement.

Imagining your future happiness is easy and fun to do. Simply close your eyes and day dream about what you'd like to be, do, and have. You might visualize your dream home complete with the furniture and artwork that you love. If your goal is to improve your health, you can see yourself fit and active. The most important part is to focus on the details, the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings you have as a result of your success. Visualize your success daily and experience the life of your dreams!

Relax Without Guilt

2007-05-09T09:03:00.000-07:00

Give yourself permission to relax without guilt. For example, when you watch television, consciously choose that activity. Feeling guilty and chastising yourself about what you “should” be doing robs you of energy and ensures that you won’t enjoy yourself. Allow yourself to rejuvenate in the way you choose and you’ll be prepared to make any necessary changes to keep yourself on the right track with the direction of your life.

7 Steps to Setting Boundaries

2007-05-08T09:38:00.000-07:00

Do you often agree to things when you know you should just say no? In most cases, setting firm boundaries with others actually improves your relationships with them. People will have greater respect for you when you are strong enough to say “no” when it’s in your best interest. Not only will people be less likely to impose on you, but you’ll also feel proud and secure knowing that you made the choice that was best for you.

How to Set Boundaries in Your Own Life:

Choose your approach carefully.
Take time to consider your response. It’s much better to respond than to react.
Practice the appropriate response.
Practice both the best- and worst-case scenarios so you’ll feel prepared.
Use a neutral voice, take a powerful stance, and make direct eye contact.
Remain calm and get your message across politely but firmly.
Make your request clear and concise, then ask for a response.

If you always strive to create win-win solutions, you’ll be much more effective in establishing boundaries and resolving conflicts.

Tips for Managing Your Energy

2007-05-07T13:53:00.000-07:00

Managing your energy expenditure and renewal throughout the day can improve your mood, your physical wellness, and your ability to concentrate. It’s important to ensure that you’re getting the proper nutrients to product adequate energy for your body each day.

One thing that works for me is to eat something every 3-4 hours. The best snacks are healthy foods such as fresh fruits, peanut butter, granola bars, etc. By eating a little something every 3-4 hours, you keep your blood sugar levels from roller-coastering out of control.

Another idea is to make sure that you’re drinking enough water. Water is necessary for the proper functioning of our bodies and minds. Take a bottle of water with you everywhere you go. Then, you’ll never be caught unprepared and will dramatically increase your water intake.

Immediate Gratification vs. Long-Term Success

2007-05-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

To be successful, we must achieve our goals one step at a time. This requires disciplining ourselves to bypass immediate gratification and make choices that are consistently focused on our long-term success. This will rarely be easy, but it will always be the "right" decision to make. If we concentrate on making positive choices with the long-term results in mind, we’re much more likely to get what we desire in the future.

Remember Your Fans

2007-05-01T16:19:00.000-07:00

My fiance and I attended the LA Times Festival of Books over the weekend. I was really excited to hear a particular famous author/personality speak. Following his session, we waited in line again in order to have our book signed. While the cameras were rolling, this personality was gregarious and engaging with his fans. However, once the cameraman left, we were disappointed to see the disinterested way in which he treated his fans.

When we got up to the table where he was signing, I said "hi" and was about to compliment him when I noticed that he wouldn't even look at me, much less look me in the eye. He did respond with a cursory "hi," but never bothered to look up at me or the people in front of or behind us in line.

I was very disappointed by his behavior. I realize that it's difficult to always be "on," but the signings only last an hour. Some of his fans waited hours to get good seats for his session and even more time to meet him in-person and have their books signed. Although I'm careful not to judge people based on a single interaction, his behavior sent a very negative message to his fans. It definitely doesn't make me want to run out and buy more of his books. I'm wondering whether I even want the signed one I have now since it's tied to a negative experience.

We all get so caught up in our own lives sometimes that it's easy to forget about our own fans, the people who supported us and helped us get to where we are today. We all have "fans" in our lives that we occasionally take for granted. But, the truth is, we wouldn't be where we are today if it weren't for our fans. It often only takes a minute to be kind to someone. Do the right thing in your life and always remember your fans.

Tame Mail Clutter Once and For All

2007-04-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

We all receive more than our fair share of junk mail. Most days of the week, our mailbox is overflowing with junk, even though we’re on the DMA’s opt-out list.

Here are some quick and easy strategies to help you tame your daily onslaught of mail clutter:

When you check your mail, immediately sort, recycle, or discard any junk mail. This would include all store ads for stores in which you don’t shop, charity solicitations in which you’re not interested, and marketing materials for products you do not want.
Next, place all credit card solicitations (that you’re not interested in) into your shredder. You’ll want to do the same with anything of a sensitive nature that you don’t want to keep.
File anything that needs to be filed right away (preventing a pile from forming).
Open all of the bills and write their due dates and amounts on the front of the envelopes. Empty any junk or advertising fillers from the envelope and discard them. Place the bills into their envelopes and keep them in a designated place for payment.

By processing your mail each day, you’ll save yourself time and energy. You won’t have to deal with piles of unopened mail or bills that are paid late due to disorganization. Employ these strategies to cut back on your mail clutter today.

Realign Your Actions to Match Your Values

2007-04-25T10:10:00.000-07:00

As you are going through the process of improving your life, check in with yourself to see how you’re doing and determine if any adjustments are needed. These questions will help you determine if your actions are aligning with your values. If not, your answers will help you specify areas to work on to bring you balance.

Am I taking good care of myself? (eating right, drinking enough water, exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, etc.)
Does my schedule reflect my priorities?
Am I tolerating any person, place, or thing that’s draining my energy?
Am I living within my means, saving, and investing?
Am I fueling my body, mind, and soul with healthy sources of energy?
Am I strengthening my connections with the important relationships in my life?

Use these questions to help you keep on the path to achieving your dreams. Remember that at any given moment, you don't have to be 100% balanced across every area of your life. It's the long-term feelings of balance and contentment that really matter.

Attract Positive Energy with Gratitude

2007-04-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

The more you are thankful for what you have, the more you will have to be thankful for.
– Zig Ziglar

Say "No" Without Feeling Guilty

2007-04-23T09:35:00.000-07:00

It seems today that we all have too many commitments and demands on our schedules. Whether at work, school, or home, we are all faced with numerous requests for our time and energy. Some requests may be reasonable and may actually be for something we’d enjoy. But, there will always be those requests that we’d like to decline but we may not know how.

Here’s how to say “no” without feeling guilty:

Decide the reasonableness of the request. Is the request realistic?
Evaluate your internal dialogue in order to respond from a position of strength.
Say “no” as the first word.
Give one honest reason…only one! Don’t give excuses, these put you in a position of weakness.
Realize that the requester can react however she/he would like. But, you still shouldn't comply with a request that doesn’t work for you.

You are the guardian of your time and energy. Put yourself first.

Simplify Your Life

2007-04-20T10:06:00.000-07:00

According to Elaine St. James, “one of the reasons we keep our lives so complicated is so we won’t have to listen to our inner voice telling us what we need to make our lives work better.” When you simplify your life, you make room to concentrate on what is truly important to you.

Ask yourself:

What is complicating my life right now?
What can I do to simplify these things and move forward to accomplish my goals?
What is relevant to the life I really want to have?

Reduce Calls From Telemarketers

2007-04-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

Do you receive too many telemarketing calls? If so, you can decrease the number of calls you receive by adding your name and phone numbers to the national Do Not Call registry.

When you receive a call from a telemarketer, simply tell them, “Sorry, we don’t accept telephone offers. Please remove us from your list.” If you’re receiving too many charity calls that you are not interested in, politely tell the caller, “We don’t contribute to any organization through telephone solicitations.”

Reduce Your Stress

2007-04-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

When you consistently take time to breathe, center, and relax yourself, you’ll be in a much better position and state of mind to embrace the challenges and opportunities in your life.

The Power of Influence

2007-04-17T09:36:00.000-07:00

What influences you in life is critical. You are ultimately the result of who you spend time with and the environment that influences your life. Take an assessment of the people, places, media, etc. that you spend time with regularly. How do each of those make you feel? If you consistently leave the interaction feeling down or worse than you did before it, you may want to make some changes. Choose influences that are conducive to getting what you want from life.

Carpe Diem

2007-04-16T15:52:00.001-07:00

I was deeply saddened to learn about the tragedy that occurred at Virginia Tech earlier today. Several of my friends and family members graduated from Virginia Tech. Having grown up in Virginia only a few hours away from Blacksburg, this one really hits home for me and my family. It's senseless violence like this, combined with the daily onslaught of negativity in the world that reaffirms my belief that we all need to be reminded of the good things in life on a regular basis. By focusing on the positive, we live our lives in such a way that we appreciate the moment.

It's so easy to get caught up in our day-to-day routines and inadvertently take life for granted. The error of our ways becomes obvious when we witness tragic events in which innocent people lose their lives. Suddenly, the little things that sometimes irritate us, seem so inconsequential as we are reminded that it's our friends, family, and loves ones that really matter.

My heart goes out to the Virginia Tech students, parents, faculty, community, and everyone else who is directly or indirectly affected by this tragedy. My hope is that we will all take this opportunity to embrace life and "seize the day." Tell someone you love them today. Do something special for a friend or loved one. Be kind to everyone around you. Ultimately, we never know how much time any of us will be here, but we do know that it is limited. The best thing we can do is to start using that time wisely right now.

You Have the Right to...

2007-04-16T09:52:00.000-07:00

It's funny how sometimes we can doubt our ability to make good decisions despite a track record of success. We can even feel guilty about deciding differently from someone else in a situation. Despite the doubt and guilt we have been socialized to feel, you have the right to follow your heart, trust your gut, and do what feels right for you.

Virginia Satir was an author and psychotherapist who is known for her contributions to family therapy. Here's a "Bill of Rights" she created to describe all of the rights you have. Take a look at it and refer back whenever you feel down or are unsure about trusting your instincts.

You have the right to...

To make other choices besides the choice merely to run away.
To say "no" when you feel unready or unsafe.
Not to be molested by fear.
To feel all your feelings, both good and bad.
To believe you're probably not guilty.
To make mistakes.
Not to have to smile when you're in pain and crying or feel hurt.
To end conversations with people who put you down or humiliate you.
To be healthier than those around you.
To grow and change.
To be relaxed, playful, and frivolous.
To get angry, even at someone you love, without fearing that you, the other person, or the relationship, or the world will dissolve.
To do stupid things without having to believe you're stupid.
Not to be ashamed for what you don't know or can't do.
To set limits of what you will do and not do, of what you will accept and not accept, and to be selfish."

Eternal Optimism

2007-04-13T11:50:00.000-07:00

Practice eternal optimism: find peace in the knowledge that everything happens for a reason. No matter what obstacles you face in your life, you have the choice of how to respond. Take positive action and remember that something that looks like a “bad” thing right now could turn out to be something really “good” in the future.

The Power of a Positive Attitude

2007-04-12T09:40:00.000-07:00

Your attitude towards the way you approach everything in your life determines whether you ultimately succeed or fail. Choose to create and live in a win-win world. You are the one who chooses your beliefs and your attitude. If you change your beliefs for the better, you can change the way the world perceives you. An attitude of abundance and gratitude will attract positive reactions to you in the world.

Sharing Your Dreams

2007-04-11T08:44:00.000-07:00

Although it can sometimes feel risky, vocalizing your dreams can help connect you with ways to achieve your goals. Be courageous and tell people that you’re working on improving your life.

Talking about your goals will increase your excitement and enthusiasm, strengthen your resolve to change your life for the better, and make you more accountable for achieving your goals.

It may also present unforeseen opportunities. When you share your dreams with others, you open yourself up to the possibility that they may be able to help you.

Commit to Positive Change

2007-04-10T11:52:00.000-07:00

If you commit to positive change, you’ll achieve your goals and enjoy a rich and meaningful life in the process. Think about how you will benefit in the long run if you take action now. Knowing that you’re doing the right things for your future will help you enjoy yourself along the way. Commit yourself to changing your life in ways that will guarantee your future success.

How Do You Define Success?

2007-04-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

Success can be defined in many ways. Success is sometimes defined as:

Obtaining financial freedom
Achieving a life-long goal
Developing meaningful relationships
Finding a soul mate
Improving your health & well-being
Enjoying a healthy work-life balance

The definition of success is very personal and can evolve over time.

How do you define success in your life?

Destiny: Chance or Choice?

2007-04-06T08:45:00.000-07:00

When you think about your "destiny," do you believe that you have the power to influence your fate? Or, do you believe that your future is predetermined?

I really like this quote about destiny by William Jennings Bryant:

“Destiny is not a matter of chance;
It is a matter of choice.
It is not a thing to be waited for;
It is a thing to be achieved.”

If you believe that you can influence your destiny, you're much more likely to pursue things in your life that can positively impact your future. Give it a try...you have more control and power over your life than you may think.

Read more about destiny.

Relax...You're Only Responsible for You

2007-04-05T10:05:00.000-07:00

You are only responsible for yourself (and your children, if you have any). It’s easy to get trapped in a position where you worry about everyone else and try to help them fix the problems in their lives. This is a no-win situation.

When you take on their issues, you have less energy to devote to yourself and achieving your goals. It also jeopardizes your friendship because your friend may not like the solutions you recommend and could blame you for her problems, which helps neither one of you.

Take the burdens of others off of your shoulders. Ultimately, people need to solve their own problems. The best way to help people is to let them come up with their own solutions for their problems. Otherwise, they won’t take responsibility for their actions and will blame you (who is only trying to help) for the outcome.

One approach is to listen to your friends as they talk through their problems (but don’t take them on yourself!). You can reflect back what you’re hearing, such as: “It sounds like a frustrating situation,” and let them come up with the solutions. Save your time and energy and help your friends by enabling them to help themselves, a true win-win solution.

Celebrate Abundance

2007-04-04T08:27:00.000-07:00

When you’re daydreaming about what you’d like to accomplish in your life, look at other people’s successes and imagine how you might feel if you were to experience the same type of success. For example, if your dream is to go to Law school, think about how you would feel if you were a recent Law school graduate.

It’s important not to compare yourself to others in a negative way. There should be no jealous feelings because there is enough success to go around for everyone. We all benefit when someone else succeeds. We can learn from their successes and they can learn from ours.

There is always enough love, success, money, and happiness for everyone. By embracing an abundant attitude, you free yourself from the shackles of jealousy and envy, both of which are toxic emotions that will hold you back. Break free of those chains by celebrating the success of others and always seeking to learn from their experiences.

Design Your Life

2007-04-03T09:42:00.000-07:00

What would your life be like if you were doing what would make you completely happy? You deserve to be in love with and feel passionate about your life. There are so many people in the world who are unhappy and believe that they must stay trapped in their current lives. Unfortunately, they haven’t realized that they are the ones keeping themselves trapped and holding themselves back from really living. Choose to live differently today and enjoy your life.

Live the Life of Your Dreams

2007-04-02T15:11:00.000-07:00

When was the last time you felt genuinely excited and happy about some meaningful aspect of your life? Every day you live is an opportunity for you to feel passionate about your life and take action. You are capable of much more than you are experiencing today. Have the courage to dream of a more fulfilling life so you can work to make those dreams a reality.