Research has found a connection between the power of the mind and what happens in our life and the results are speaking for themselves. The process to create what we want in our lives is called “manifesting” – the bringing of ideas and desires into physical form.¬† Manifesting becomes a self empowerment tool when it is applied to realizing our desires. This is done through the law of attraction.

Celebrities like Anthony Robbins, Harv Ecker, Oprah, Eckhart Tolle, Darren Jacklin and Tanja Diamond are using manifesting daily in their professional and personal lives to achieve outrageous results. This ability to manifest our dreams is not limited to the gifted; anyone can posses this ability, all it requires is an understanding of how to put it all together.

There are many different tools to use in manifesting. Some people use vision boards and cut out pictures of what they want, others use more exotic formats such as using sexual energy for the carrier of conscious energy.

Tantra is a spiritual philosophy, and one of the tools available in it’s studies, is the use of ritual and sexual energy to raise vibrational levels for manifesting your desires outside the bedroom.

To make a difference right now these steps can use in your life today.

Let’s start with some basics.

The law of attraction is a universal law which states that, “what is within, is without.”

It means that what is first created inside the mind will eventually become an outward reality. Our negative self talk and old programming can be powerful manifesting tools as well. If these are the things you are focused on you can well understand why you might be in the position you are today.

Ask yourself right now…

What do I believe about my life and circumstances?

What do I believe about myself?

Make a list of thoughts that run through your head about your life, relationship, money, your sex life, and other facets that are not where you would truly desire them to be.

Making an assessment is a really imperative start.

Once you can honestly look at what you are creating now in your life, you can start to use these next principles to change it all around.

To start manifesting follow this process:

Ask, Believe, Release and Receive.

Asking…In order to manifest your desires you must ask for what you want. Some people get stuck here and it is good to know that there are ways to get through the fog. Asking is not enough. You must be so crystal clear in your vision you can actually see, hear, feel, taste, touch and utilize all your senses when visualizing your desire.

Believing… It cannot be if you do not believe that it can be. The universe works in accordance with your thoughts, so if you really do not believe that you can do something then you cannot. Our internal dialogue can keep you from believing you are worthy, or that you can have what you desire. You are the only thing holding you back.

Releasing…This is a process of trusting the laws of attraction and your clarity and intent. Once you have achieved clarity and precise asking and believing of what you are manifesting you need to let go. Do not go looking for it, do not try to speed it up, do not spend time wondering where it is going to come from. The universe is more than capable of doing what you ask without your interference.

Receiving… You must be ready, willing and able to receive your manifestations, in your mind and in your spirit you must know that you deserve and that you are capable of bring your desires from the unseen to the seen. This can be tough for some people. Practice living what you desire. Own the car, or boat, have the boyfriend or girlfriend.¬† The process works, only doubt or lack of worth can hold you back.

Some tips from the pros.

Rule #1: Align the Desire With Making Progress In Your Spiritual Evolution.

Rule #2: Align the Desire For the Greater Good of All.

Rule #3: First Deserve, Then Desire.

To summarize, desires that are strong, spiritually oriented, and beneficial to others and which you have worked hard to realize are the one’s that the Universe is most likely to help with.

Living in gratitude each day of what you have right now and thanking your divinity is an excellent way to stay positive and in the moment while on your journey of manifesting your desires.

Remember that your breath in the world is impactful and that remaining aware and conscious of everything around you will allow you to see the opportunities that are constantly there. There are different types of formulas to follow out there in the world of manifesting. Some people enjoy ritual and trappings, some people enjoy the process of writing vision boards, journals or painting.

But no matter what format you use to start your process, we encourage you to do it today, right now.

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Tanja Diamond, The Tantra Teacher.
Sign up for a free ebook called Secrets from the Tantra Teacher.

http://www.learningtantra.com

All of us have been posed this question some time or the other. And we usually shrug off the question with flippant dismissal. Very few of us are ecstatic or gush about how swell life is. Many of us reply with weary sighs while some of us grimace with ill-concealed pain. What we are talking about here of course is not life in the sense of being alive and breathing, but the quality of life we live.

I often wonder about the quality of life we seek, and can’t help comparing it to food to see whether we have the recipe to make life tick.

Childhood to maturity

For most of us, childhood is when life is most enjoyable. Bereft of responsibility, we are taken care of, sheltered, fed, clothed, educated and kept in good health. All we have to do is savour every wonderful moment to the fullest. Whenever we take ill, all we have to do is lie back and recover. Nothing clutters the brain beyond the events of the day. It is often said that a child is happiest because he or she lives in the present with both mind and body as one unit.

When we are young adults, life begins to bloom as the mind and body are nourished with knowledge and metabolism, peaking to produce perhaps the finest co-ordination between the mental and physical states. Life is one great colourful flourish on the canvass of time. But what happens thereafter?

Youth moves on to maturity and we begin to gain “focus” on our lives and what direction we wish our lives to take. Ambitions and achievements take over from the spirit of adventure. Dedication and devotion to purpose replace daredevilry. Deliberate thought process prevails over impulsive intuition. Career quests overshadow the carefree spirit.

Coping with stress, chaos, work-life imbalances, pressures of the daily grind, people relationships, demanding targets, conflicting goals, aspirations and professional paradigms of an ever-changing world are daunting tasks that sap us mentally and physically! Burnout, suicide and divorce are some of the outcomes of such a life.

Life on a platter

There is no solution unless life resembles a balanced meal. And how is that so? Well, sometimes we assume life to be only that part which takes up most of our time. For the career chasers it is their vertical growth rate in the organisation or in their own business and for the homemaker, it is housework. All this reflects quantity and not quality. But not so with food!

Almost anybody I know has dined out at a restaurant. When choosing where to eat, we invariably look for not just good cuisine, but also the location of the restaurant, the parking service, the air-conditioning, the music, the décor, the ambience, the nature of its current clientele and so on. While all we really do is eat there. But the packaging and the surrounding benefits are so necessary and all so important to us. Then why do we judge life by just the food, or sometimes by just the main course?

Why not package life in a way that even the most miserable meal or career glows in the ambience of hobbies or career offshoots? Whenever I’ve sat down to order a meal, I invariably look for the accompaniments, and often enough it is these that decide the success of the meal. I cannot get into my steak, no matter how delicious it looks, without my baked potatoes, spinach and boiled veggies and that pat of golden butter oozing goodness. I know of a fellow who went berserk when he did not receive his pickles with the food. It simply shows that not always is the quality of food or for that matter, life, defined by just the main serving, but often enough, it is the tiny add-ons that really decide the lip smacking goodness of life.

Packaging the zing!

What are these add-ons that put the zing into life? This is for each one of us to find out individually. It can often be an absorbing hobby or sport or music or any parallel line of activity that brings in tangible fulfilment. Sometimes physical evidence of effort ploughed in, does not reflect as much as we desire, in our basic square meal in life. So we choose to bring in activities of our own, which meet this need.

I often offset my reverses or lack of results at work by creating my own successes, unto myself, if not to anybody else, through penning my thoughts and experiences into tangible form, either in prose or poetry. Energizing yourself becomes necessary to sustain the quality of living in the main life zones, usually career and family life. Somehow, if we were as fussy about the add-ons to our lives as we are in choosing the toppings for our pizza, life could become one big delight.

Not all of us are fortunate enough to choose a line of work or career that dovetails comfortably with our skills or education or interest. But aren’t we often told at the restaurant that the very item we wish to savour is not on the menu of the day? Do we leave the restaurant and seek another one where we find what we want, even if it takes all night? The chances are, we don’t and instead settle for the next best or whatever else is available.

We can make the best of the situation by either being open to the new experience of what gets served in our plate, or disguising what we have with a whole lot of sauces and condiments, hoping to reconstruct something totally new. Isn’t life often frighteningly like that?

If we could only pause to listen to the winds of fresh thought whispering through our minds, we would certainly have cause for celebrating the true quality of life!

How many of us are really prepared to go that extra mile to achieve this so-called goal, which ideally everyone is expected to be pursuing? As I see it, the goal is more in the desire form than in practice. Every goal has ladders and every ladder has steps. Every step necessitates a struggle or overcoming a shortcoming. One has to gauge correctly what is it that will make us go forward towards our goal. A sincere and impersonal guide and mentor are needed and they are extremely difficult to find or even recognize. Once the elements requiring correction en route are understood, a great effort is needed to retrain ourselves with new thought patterns and habits. Subconscious patterns, inculcated since the day we are born are deeply embedded in us and we have to literally fight against their hold on our everyday lives.

My personal perception is that most prefer to find a minimum sustenance program in life and stay within their comfort zones doing little to even accept the fact that it’s their own shortcomings that are keeping them back. Even when life gives us a knock or two and is kind enough to show us the way and the error of our ways, we find enough logic to rationalize and let the lesson slip into the comfortable slot of unpleasant occurring.

Take a struggling lawyer. He has passed out recently and raring to go. What can he do to advance surely and speedily? Perhaps become a junior with an already established lawyer and under his umbrella make a mark for himself? To arrive even at this juncture would need a certain modicum of language ability and study of legal texts and some luck. If he has it and he is taken in, the beginning is made. Would he be content with this? His job would be to take orders and work his heart out, quite often giving him tired muscles and a bruised ego. A junior is but a junior. Will he bear with it because of the learning process he is going through and grow or will his vanity refuse to take this position so low in the pecking order and quit and move into a situation closer to his comfort zone? And what could this be? An independent status, struggling to exist but at least his own boss!

Scurrying back into one’s comfort zone is a natural and primary tendency.  This is at all levels; mental, emotional and physical. Laziness influenced by arguments from our ego wins over effort most often. Change means learning and changing habits and this requires a concerted and very conscious effort. Is this sustainable in real life? Why disturb the status quo?

Take for instance the status of most marriages. Is it a made-for-each-other existence or a compromise where we learn to coexist for the comforts of a home? There are wives being battered but they continue to stay put. There are husbands being nagged to death but they continue to stay put. There are millions of people stuck in jobs and situations they hate but doing very little to take the next step that will take them to better their existence. How does one explain this? Simple: It is so much simpler to live and continue within one’s existing known comfort zones.

Let’s look around us. How many people are bothered to improve their communication ability yet never failing to complain that nobody understan

You can be stressed to the max on a bad day, yet, as long as life seems manageable, you don’t usually look for new strategies to get through it.¬†¬† The tendency is to pull yourself up by the bootstraps, grit your teeth and keep on going.¬† During prolonged or sudden tough times, though, normal defense mechanisms are not enough to keep you from feeling vulnerable and overwhelmed.

It’s when events are overwhelmingly beyond your control, that you either find new ways to cope or are pulled down by the undertow.¬† Your usual defenses are inadequate to protect from overwhelming long-term stress.¬† Stress can build gradually beyond tolerance level, or a surprising turn of events like those recently reported in the news can create the kind of vulnerability that demands openness to change.

The soft inner core of your being feels exposed.  This exposure opens a crack in the old armor through which an opportunity for renewed life can shine.

Here are six tips that can help you thrive in tough times?  .

Nourish Yourself – Let go of the bootstraps for a few moments, acknowledge your stress and be kind to yourself.¬† What nourishes you – inspirational reading, music, a cup of tea …?¬† Are there people or places, a favorite chair or spot in nature that provide sustenance?¬† Make nurturing yourself every day a priority.

Stay Present – Don’t project ahead. Take life one day, one moment at a time.¬† Tough times are more manageable when you pay attention to making decisions and taking action on only the next step.¬† Fearful preoccupation or worries about dire imagined future possibilities can leave you open to illness, accidents and errors in judgment that compound your problems.¬† Scale down, simplify your activities and concentrate your precious energy supply on only what is critically important right now.

Accept Support – This can be difficult for people who prize self-sufficiency.¬† Remember it is as virtuous to receive, as it is to give.¬† Without the receiver, the giver has no way to share their abundant gifts.¬† Don’t deprive your friends and family of the pleasure to help you when you need it.¬† Shared burdens provide opportunities for enhanced closeness and appreciation for one another.

Trust Your Resilience РChances are you have been through tough times before.  What natural strengths did you rely upon in those situations?  How did you make it through adolescence, Childbirth, Marriage, Divorce, School, First job?  What are your natural inner resources?  Trust that you have what you need to see this tough time through.    Visualize Success РSee yourself moving into a new chapter of life.  How do you want to write that chapter?  Creation begins in the imagination.  If you can think it, you can create it.  In order to be free to dream and hope for something new, you must let go of old visions, descriptions and limitations of the person you think you are or can become.

Forgive Past Errors РForgive past hurts, and people who may have inflicted them, knowingly or unknowingly.  This is not out of kindness to them, rather out of kindness to you.  After all, you are the one carrying the burden of these hurts.   Forgive yourself for mistakes or paths not taken.  Release the burden of the past so you can travel lighter in the present.

In times of crisis and radical change, remember that living means growing.  I have never seen anything in nature grow backward.  So, as bad as you feel, and as much as you doubt it, if you are alive you are growing.

Growth is creative.  So, take advantage of the opportunity in these tough times to re-create your life by nourishing yourself, staying present, accepting support, trusting your resilience, visioning possibilities and letting go of the past and perceived limitations.

Even though tough times are hard, they can also be the best times to explore ways to live more harmoniously with yourself and others.

Aila Accad

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Aila Accad, RN, MSN ‘The De-Stress Expert’ is a Speaker, Author and Transformation Coach. Learn more and contact her for speaking, and transformational coaching at: http://www.ailaspeaks.com . Sign up to receive her complimentary De-Stress Tips Newsletter and get “Ten Instant Stress Busters” e-book as a gift.

Sometimes when I try to explain my dream to my family and friends, I get blank stares. My enthusiasm does not find an eager audience. Most of the times, I try and avoid this situation by just keeping quiet about my dreams, but there are times when I can’t contain my excitement. I do understand that everyone operates from their belief system, just as I do. But how come the belief systems are different in the very same family in which we grow up? What exactly determines our belief systems? Is it the cumulative experience and influence of one lifetime or infinite life times?

Since I am a past life regression therapist, I know that our past lives do affect our present belief systems, but for most people this fact is difficult to digest. Most of us believe that our beliefs come primarily from our childhood conditioning. If we are told as children that telepathy does not exist, we will grow up believing it to be our truth. However, it is only a belief and not a fact. Most of what we believe is not based on facts in any case. Now suppose that as a grown-up you come across someone who can demonstrate to you that telepathy does exist. What will you do now? Will you accept this new truth?

Generally even when a fact is offered with proof, skeptic minds would try and block it. They try and skip to another reality zone, just to avoid changing their beliefs. It is a sort of automatic defense mechanism of the ego. Sometimes, when you are trying your best to explain something new to someone, they get a glazed look in their eyes. Their attention drifts off. They stop paying attention to you. This is their mind’s way of blocking out information that does not tally with its belief system. Only an open mind can absorb new information and evaluate it on its own terms.

So, now I have decided to share my dreams only with those people who believe in me. I am not here to change anyone’s belief systems, I am here to have faith in my belief system and evaluate it from time to time. I am here to discard beliefs that do not work for me any more and form experiential beliefs that always work. I do not believe that successful people are just lucky. I know that one becomes successful by believing in one’s dreams.

My motivation comes from setting big goals. Big goals to me mean goals that seem fantastic, out of reach, slightly scary, and not commiserating with the current appearances of reality. Say, for example, I had set a goal of becoming a life skills coach, when I was just a homemaker. It took me two years and various small steps of being a communication skills teacher, verbal ability instructor for management entrance exams, a columnist, a healer, and finally a life skills coach. Wow! It seems like a dream run. Throughout this period I stayed motivated by writing my goal in great detail, letting go of it in care of the universe, and taking small inspired actions when needed.

Such miracles happen in my life all the time. Invariably I am led to the right people, right opportunities and right know-how to achieve my goals. After one goal is achieved, I set another big goal. Right now my big goal is to be conducting my empowering workshops throughout the world. It does seem impossible to some, but to me it is my reality, whether I can see it in my present environment or not.

I stay motivated by my complete faith in the universe and its infallible laws. My motivation also comes from imagining a bigger, brighter, and more colourful life than I currently lead. I put my emotions into this picture and live it in my mind. Eventually I am led to take decisive action. This action is always inspired, and I do it to the best of my ability with gay abundance.

I have written my new life story keeping all areas of my life, viz, career, money, health, friends, family, personal development, recreation, and personal environment in right perspective. I run this story through my mind at least twice a day. Each run builds up a new momentum, and I feel excited about taking actions to reach my goals. I know people who live the kind of life that I live, and I also know people whose lives are full of boredom, discontent, and mediocrity. I feel grateful to the universe because my eyes and mind are open. I have discovered my potential. I have chosen my life of purpose and passion. I feel ecstatic. Life sure is beautiful!

Chitra Jha conducts empowering workshops throughout the world.

Maybe their suits or dresses were flashier.

Or they were slimmer.

Or their hair was less gray. (Or for you male readers, they had more hair than you!)

Or perhaps these people left their expensive, new Mercedes, BMWs and sports cars with the valet attendant while you “self parked” your tired, old automobile w-a-a-a-a-y in the back of the car park so that no one would notice it.

Does this mean they are any better or more successful than you are?

Of course not!

It all comes down to what I call – THE ATTITUDE OF YOUR MIND. The attitude of your mind affects many things including the expressions of your face, determines the actions you make, impacts your physical health and regulates your life.

At this point many of you, especially those who are “set” in your ways, may ask: “How can I change the attitude of my mind? How can I, after months and years of discouragement and of going through the motions, suddenly conceive and carry out a plan for doing something that will change my current situation and make my life more rewarding?‚Äù

The answer is that it can be done, and others just like you have done it.

Even if you consider yourself of AVERAGE ability, you can be successful, independent, free of worry, and be your own master, from this point forward, if you can commit to do these four things. Of course, it will take diligent and persistent practice for you to make these permanent and long-lasting positive habits. However, the rewards will be manifold!

1) Commit to remain forever dissatisfied with what you are doing and your situation today. Do not be like those who play the victim and blame others, the world and the universe for all of their woes. Take action toward what you want and spell out in detail when you want it.

2) When you have identified what you want to achieve, whether it be more love, better relationships and communication with others in your personal or professional life, a successful career, more wealth, better health or a full, rich life – always, always, always dream big and shoot for the moon. Remember, it is better to shoot for the moon and only reach the top of a mountain, than to shoot for the mountain top and wind up where you started.

3) Next, develop in your mind a belief that the word IMPOSSIBLE was not intended for you. A “can do” attitude will determine your altitude, every time.

4) Your final commitment is to build up in your mind the confidence that enables the mind to use its power. When you have confidence and the courage to step out of your comfort zone, you will always accomplish more in you life.

Author and poet, Bette Reese once said, “If you think you are too small to make an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room”.

So in conclusion, here’s the moral of my story to you…

“You are never too small. It is up to you, to make an impact.”

Okay, a show of hands, please!

Hey, that’s quite a lot of you.

Now, close your eyes and remember what it felt like to ride a bicycle for the first time. Maybe yours had training wheels that helped to balance the bike as you gained confidence riding on the sidewalk in front of your house. As your confidence expanded and also from observing the older children in the neighbourhood riding without any assistance, you then graduated to your first test without training wheels.

It was scary!

At the beginning came the wobbling of the tires and excited, hurried pedalling as you struggled to break free of your parent’s or older sibling’s guiding hand for balance. And, perhaps there were one or two falls with skinned knees and elbows along the way! However, through your determination, will power, desire and continued practice you soon sped forward on your own.

As you grew in size and age, you moved up to bigger and more complex bicycles and mastered them all. Some of you even learned to ride without holding on to the handlebars or perhaps did “daredevil” tricks jumping over ramps.

And, I’ll bet now that even if you haven’t ridden a bicycle in years, you could still do it.

Now, let’s take a look at success. For many people, success or being successful is just as scary as the first time they rode a bicycle. Naturally, many people want to be successful. However, there are few that truly have the motivation to put forward the needed effort and action, and make the necessary sacrifices to get what they want.

Here are four of my success strategies. Make them part of your “quest for success”.

1) Just as you did when you learned to ride a bicycle there is only one way to accomplish anything today ‚Äî set your mind to concentrate on doing it and let nothing interfere with your progress. Obstacles, whether they be training wheels on a bike or lack of resources (money, time, lack of skill, etc.) are quickly overcome by the person that sets out to accomplish their heart’s desire. Those who have the desire, ‚Äúthe fire in the belly‚Äù so to speak will outdistance and outperform those who do not.

2) No matter what anyone says, size does matter. When you first learned to ride a bike, you were a child. As you grew to adulthood, of course you were faced with greater and more challenging situations. On your road to success, remember this quote from my book The Power Of Concentration – How To Take Control Of Your Life:

“The ‚Äòbigger‚Äô you are, the smaller the obstacle appears. The ‚Äòsmaller‚Äô you are the greater the obstacle appears.‚Äù

Always look at the advantage you gain by overcoming obstacles, and it will give you the needed “size” and courage for the conquest – now and in the future.

3) Do not expect that you will always have a smooth road, free of potholes, speed bumps and detours. Parts of your journey are likely to be rough. The way you navigate the bad roads shows exactly what you are made of. Keep on with your journey and view with delight the smooth roads that are in front of you.

4) Do not let a setback stop you. Just like when you skinned your knees and elbows learning to ride, think of it as a mere incident that has to be overcome before you can reach your goal. Learn from it and use the lesson to move ahead.

Success is like riding a bicycle. Learn my strategies of success outlined above, and you will always be up to the challenge – regardless of the size.

In the seven or so years we’ve lived across the street from Albert and Laurie, we’ve chatted a dozen or so times – usually about the weather, or the cherry blossoms. We wave and we smile with sincere cheer. When my son was born, Laurie brought over apple cobbler. And that’s about the extent of our relationship. I can’t even recall their last name, but I remember what their kid was for Halloween, and I know that Albert sails.

And now I know that Laurie is having a hard time breathing.

Jump cut to Albert in front of my house, leaning against his garden rake. My eyes filled with quiet tears. “Albert,” I warned. “I’m going to hug you.” We hugged and talked briefly about treatment possibilities. And I offered to water their plants or bring over dinner. And that was that.

I did the math: when I’m Laurie’s age, about fifty, my son will be a teenager like hers is now. And I thought about how inconceivably ripped off I’d feel to be called out of this life in my mere fifties. I wondered if Laurie is regretting anything. I wondered if she’s happy with how she’s lived her life – if she’s felt…free.

And I noticed that I was asking those same questions of myself, actually. And just when I was about to go back on existential autopilot with, “people get sick, people die, that’s life,” I decided to allow myself to be affected. I decided that not only is life short, but MY life is short. And that being the case, I need to fill my cup with a little more delight and inspiration.

So this week, I’m taking my kid out of daycare early and we’re going to the art gallery. I’m going to burn some CDs for friends, just because, and I’m going to actually CALL some friends. (Radical…picking up the phone instead of pressing “send”). I’m going to give myself the space to think about truth and pop culture. I’m going to meander and weave and warble out some thoughts that have been sitting on the branches of my mind for awhile.

This means that I’m going to take a week off from blogging. My palms are kind of sweaty. It’s almost blasphemous for a serious blogger to not have daily content. Will my traffic slip? Will they still love me? Oi. And what timing! I’m featured in the May issue of Better Homes & Gardens (albeit in my last business incarnation), and I’m booking up my LA and Portland Fire Starter gigs. I should be diligently at the helm. Should be….should be….

My life is short, no matter how long it ends up being. It is bigger than web stats, my heart is larger than “should.” Inspiration lives beyond expectation. I’m going to inhale it more deeply, while I can.

In his book, Getting Engaged: The New Workplace Loyalty, author Tim Rutledge explains that truly engaged employees are attracted to, and inspired by, their work (“I want to do this”), committed (“I am dedicated to the success of what I am doing”), and fascinated (“I love what I am doing”).

Employees who have these essential traits within themselves, become the brand ambassadors of the company and make it an Employer of choice.

Different studies have been made inside and outside companies to know about the attachment/engagement of employees with the company and the results are like high current waves in a sea, which can lead to disaster.
Results show that only 29% of employees are actively engaged in their jobs. These employees work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company. People that are actively engaged help move the organization forward. 84% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively impact quality of their organization’s products, compared with only 31% of the disengaged. 72% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively affect customer service, versus 27% of the disengaged. 68% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively impact costs in their job or unit, compared with just 19% of the disengaged. Engaged employees feel a strong emotional bond to the organization that employs them. This is associated with people demonstrating willingness to recommend the organization to others and commit time and effort to help the organization succeed. It suggests that people are motivated by intrinsic factors (e.g. personal growth, working to a common purpose, being part of a larger process) rather than simply focusing on extrinsic factors (e.g., pay/reward). [Ref: Blessing White (April 2008). 2008 Employee Engagement Report].

Advantages of engaged employees
•    Engaged employees are of mindset to stay with the company, and contribute to the bottom line of the business.
•    Usually they execute better and have smiles on their faces.
•    There is a significant link between employee engagement and fostering environment for creativity for sustained profitability.
•    It builds passion, commitment and alignment with the organization’s strategies and goals.
•    Increases employees’ trust in the organization and creates a sense of loyalty in a competitive environment.
•    Provides a high-energy working environment.
•    Makes the employees effective brand ambassadors for the company.
It shows how imperative is employee engagement for sustainable growth of the organization, especially in today’s aggressive scenario, where attrition rate is getting high.

Key drivers for engagement
Employees have different thought processes which drive them towards getting involved with the company. Here are some key drivers.
•    The importance they have in the company in terms of policy making, decision making etc
•    Their career matrix, along with the challenges of work
•    The monetary aspects/benefits
•    Other factors like health, safety, security
•    How open are they to put up their points in front of management
•    How happy they feel when they come to their respective offices
•    Reward and recognition program
•    Effective leadership; leadership by example
•    Motivation towards work, by means of mentors, coworkers
•    An assertive feedback of their work and clarity of responsibilities

Practices for engaging employees
1.    Meetings: Meetings are the best way to know about the gamut of the company we are working into. These days Intranet also helps a lot to break the ice. The more employees know their company, the more they feel involved. It has also been observed that sometimes, employees spend a good amount of time on the intranet and are taking things forward. Employers can set their default home page as their company’s portal, and see the difference it makes. In the same manner, in-house magazine also works. Inviting employees to write their own viewpoint make them feel involved with the company.
2.    Skill update: Technical trainings/soft skills trainings/certification programs/higher studies always make employees feel prouder of the company they are working with. In today’s competitive world, the skill enhancement is the only way to survive happily. That’s why when companies take care of their employees upgradation, employees also feel engaged.
3.    Reward and recognition: Another way for connecting employees and to bring a smile on their faces. On-the spot appreciation, which can be for anything advantageous for the work place or for the entire company, or the recognition award given at some very special day for the stupendous performance or contribution, are some of the ways which also add in to the value of employee-engagement.
4.    Developing organization culture: These days companies are doing a lot of brain storming for developing their culture. Celebrating events is one of the ways to do so.

2009 was an eventful year with its fair share of ups and downs and nothing indicates that 2010 won’t follow suit, if not further test our mettle. As the economic downturn spreads and recession reaches our various shores and businesses, we will certainly feel the heat and the pressure (many of us are already facing it)…but that is how you turn coal into diamond…under extreme heat and pressure.

It’s just a matter of perspective…of seeing the world through a different lens. In the midst of adversity lies opportunity…and I do believe that these difficult times will provide us with great opportunities.
1.    opportunities to learn and grow from our mistakes, from others’ mistakes and from the tough experiences we undergo
2.    opportunities to revisit and rethink our way of being, doing and having – it’s a good time for introspection towards self-development
3.    opportunities to be more disciplined and laser-focused in whatever we do – so that we may achieve our goals and resolutions for the year
4.    opportunities for acknowledgement and gratitude for whatever we are blessed with.
So let us be ready and greedy for opportunities this year! As we prepare ourselves for a turbulent ride this year, my wish to you is to simply enjoy the ride! And in Jan 2011, as you look back on 2010, you will say, yes it was a hell of a roller-coaster ride, there were ups and downs, it was tough, I outgrew it and I enjoyed it!

Welcome back for the ride in 20010! Cheers!

Little did I realize then that I was hooked on to being different and yet being the same all the time.

Does that confuse you?

Let me explain. When I stuck my head inside me like an ostrich, whoa, I found a person – confused, desiring to be someone else, someone who was slim, svelte, spoke very well, oozing confidence, knew what to talk, spoke so knowledgeably that I silently gawped. So I plunged headlong and imitated, spoke like “Her’ adopted her values and attitudes. Headily I watched myself transforming into a miniature ‘She’.

I even had an invisible crown perched perkily on my head thinking here I was perfect and had arrived.

When suddenly I found I was all alone, isolated and bored.

What went wrong? Back into my vena cava I found my arteries pumping blood for nothing because it was not for Me.

So I took stock and found much to my surprise that I was not listening to Me!

There she was this young girl wanting, waiting, willing to talk and no one to listen.

I sat down, closed my eyes and shut my mouth and began to listen to Her.

Here is a replica of what I heard and listened to:

She told me how I was a beautiful person, until I started wearing a mask — especially for some else and some body else’s.

She told me that every one was different and special in their own ways, asking me to be gentle with myself and wanting me to focus on my good points. She urged me to reveal this face to the world. Be bold! She nudged.

She said go out listen to nature! Stay in contact with her and she will never cease to amaze you, she will reflect all your beauty which no one else can.

Do not believe all that you see or read in the newspaper! You are good enough!

If you can say ‘No’ to the aggressor without inflicting pain on the other, you are a woman my friend!

Don’t believe that every problem has only one solution – life is far too varied to stop at one.

Set your own value system, make the noblest thoughts you have, embody your life as you live it.

Cut out all the dross in your life and focus on what will survive even death.

Respect yourself and others will have no choice but to go along with you.

Show your human side to others else you can run the risk of seeming invulnerable  and end up making others inadequate, and making yourself seem so sufficient that they assume you would never need any help.

Send out good vibrations to all you meet, you will engender similar feelings. Imagine a circle of fabulous fragrance wherever you go.

Finally trust! Believe that what you are doing is right for you. Seek his Grace in all your actions.

Sure enough you will find yourself unleashed and raring to go.

Come open your eyes gently, smile at the world and embrace all who live in it for you are all that you have.

Look up any dictionary. You will find several definitions of failure there. These are:

• A failing to do or perform
• A state of inability to perform a normal action adequately
• A fracturing or giving way under stress
• A lack of success

Please examine all these definitions carefully. What do you find common in all these definitions? These clearly state that when it comes to achieving a goal, failure is nothing but a perception.

If you believe that you have failed, then you have. If you believe that you can’t succeed, you can’t. If you believe that you can’t possibly handle the pressure of achieving your goals, you can’t. If you believe that you are not successful, you aren’t. Failure has no existence beyond your mind. The moment you decide to stop working towards your goals, failure is born.

What would happen if you do not believe in any of that? What would happen if you carry on working towards your goals? What if you take one step at a time for as long as it takes? What happens to failure then? It no longer exists, does it? So there you are. Now do you agree with me?

If you have been working diligently, but not yet seeing any results; keep this simple statement in mind: ‘Failure has no existence”. Just keep going and you can never fail; because there is no such thing as failure for you.

Never count yourself out. Many a times, people give up without ever realizing it. Don’t stop when the going gets tough. Don’t let your motivation dwindle. Make a commitment to yourself, to make your goals happen. Never ever quit. Do not ever contemplate failure. Do not lose your inner determination.
Thomas Alva Edison’s words ring so true to this day, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” And he should know what he was talking about!
Let me share Edison’s life history with you. He had only three months of formal schooling, and he was partially deaf.  He ‘failed’ approximately ten thousand times while working on the light bulb. At the age of 67, his factory caught fire. While watching the smoke Edison remarked, “God has erased all my mistakes”. Three weeks later he invented phonograph. In fact, he was the greatest inventor of all times. He knew that failure has no existence. Follow Edison’s example and get going.

Set a general timeline for achieving your goals but do not get hooked on to a specific timeframe. Some circumstances always remain beyond your control; hence you can’t always be sure ‘when’ your goal will be achieved. If you get attached to a particular timeframe, you are setting yourself up for failure. It is better to get a general idea about by when you would like to see your goal accomplished. Take it one day at a time. Focus on making progress everyday. You will eventually reach the finish line. Don’t think of taking shortcuts; they don’t work.

Don’t ever view obstacles and setbacks as failures, because they are not. In fact, they have nothing in common with failure. The two are as different as chalk is from cheese. Whenever you face an obstacle, setback, or delay, it can mean only one thing; the time has not yet come for your goal to be completed. That is all! It does not mean that you have failed. It does not mean that you are weak. It does not also mean that you will never achieve your goals. It just means that you are not through as yet. You have got to keep moving ahead, finding a way around an obstacle.

Doing an honest, personal SWOT analysis helps in maintaining the morale during tough times; especially if you link it to a strong and powerful goal! It is easy to conduct your own SWOT analysis. Take a sheet of paper and divide it into four quadrants. Label each area as S, W, O, T. Look at each area and write down the answers to following questions:

Strengths:

• What skills and capabilities do you possess?
• Which areas do you excel in?
• What qualifications, accreditations, or experience make you unique?
• What do other people consider as your strengths?
• Which personal qualities, values and beliefs help you stand out amongst others?

Weaknesses:

• What are the gaps in your capabilities?
• What skills do you need to develop?
• Which areas of your life can you improve upon?
• What do other people see as your weaknesses?
• Which personal difficulties do you need to work through to reach your goals?
• What opportunities are currently available to you?
• What external circumstances can help you achieve your goals?
• Which people could offer you support in achieving your goals?

Threats:

• What obstacles are you currently facing?
• What external circumstances can hinder your growth?
• Which people could get into the way of your achieving your goals?

Such an analysis will clearly help you to understand that you possibly cannot fail, unless you decide to fail. This analysis will help you highlight the aspects of your growth story that you may not have ever considered. This will provide you with a different perspective on your personality.

So, go ahead, review your strengths, and consider ways to address your weaknesses. Develop your skills and capabilities. Review your opportunities and use them to your advantage. Think of ways to minimize or eliminate your threats. Such actions are a one way ticket to success. Failure has no role to play here, as it just does not exist. All that exists and always did are opportunities and challenges!

Let go of your false beliefs and expect success!

So I raised my eyebrows and held up a red leather vest. “Yeah…not very Jackie.” She admitted. “So what’s going through your mind when you’re shopping?” I asked. “Really put yourself in the scene. You’re standing at the clothing rack and the day-glo leopard print says exactly what to you?” Her eyes widened, “It says to me: ‘Your mother would hate this. Buy it!’” she blurted out.

Et voila! Mystery solved.

As it turned out, when she was growing up her mother dictated what was proper and not-so proper to wear. And even though she was now a grown up in her own big house with her own big job, her fashion decisions were based on little unconscious ways to rebel against her conservative mommy.

THE POWER OF PREFERENCES
Our preferences define us, yet we rarely think twice about why we’re actually attracted to something. “I like it, I want it, I need it, I gotta have it.” But, why?

Our personal fashion choices are often the most unexamined parts of our lives.

So tell me…
Why do you buy what you buy? Do a mental scan of your wardrobe. Think of the your most recent purchases, or your most-worn pieces, or the regrettables collecting dust in your closet. What motivated those choices? Were you feeling….elation? Rebellion? The deep craving to belong? The drive to appear powerful? Sentimental for the past? Sweet, sensual inklings? At one with the style gods?

Who do you take shopping with you? Not literally, but, psychically. Do you have your own what-not-to-wear committee on your shoulder? Are your inner style advisers jeering at you or cheering you on?

Do your clothes feel like friends or foe? Do you have to psyche yourself up to get into that navy suit that sucks the innovative thinking right out of you? Or do you look at that linen tunic and think, “Ahh, old friend, we work so well together?”

Every choice is an expression of what we believe. On a daily basis, we make material and aesthetic choices that tell our story. Bold. Understated. Glam. Earthy. We are constantly showing the world who we are – or who we think we are. And the world responds accordingly.

When you know the motivation behind your choices, you can make choices that support authentic self – decisions that free you, rather than restrict you. When it comes to genuine style, one size does not fit all.

The Union Human Resources minister Kapil Sibal — a man whom I respect and expect much from, announced that he is working on a 3-language formula as a ‘solution to the language problem.’ This formula involves students learning English, Hindi and a regional language implying one’s mother tongue. I am not sure if someone in say, UP will have to learn only 2 languages under this formula. Nehru had suggested that students in the north should learn any one southern language but he received no support. I wonder if Sibal has any such ideas.

However I have always maintained that it is the people in the natural course of daily life who can and have found a way out of this predicament. I have always admired the Indian spirit of adventure and enterprise that has resisted every attempt to repress them. Indians will do anything — migrate to any country on earth, take up any job under any conditions in order to survive and prosper. To an Indian, language is a tool to get going, exploit opportunities, stave off hunger and a leverage to prosperity.

For someone to talk of promoting a language as a tool of national integration — which is the argument for Hindi — is to assume that the average Indian has satisfied the ‘lower order’ needs in Maslow’s hierarchy. It also assumes that those who do not speak Hindi are not fully ‘integrated.’ I do not wish to get into details of the language debate here. Suffice it to say that not just the common man, but the highly educated elite will learn any language if it can help them climb the ladder to a better life. Don’t believe it ? Read the following extract from a news item:

Bridging the cultural gap, the IIM way
Rohit Bhan
Tuesday, October 06, 2009 (Ahmedabad)
China is now inspiring B-schools, as its dialects are centre stage in a new course at IIM Ahmedabad. It’s a 26-session course on Chinese business culture. Murlidhar, a student at IIM Ahmedabad, says, ”No matter where we go: the United States, Singapore, or Hong Kong, there are definitely going to be people from China. So to bridge the cultural gap in the near and short term, we are taking this course. Also, in the long term I see business opportunity could be explored there.”

It’s there for all to see — Indians will take to any language as long as it helps them to get ahead in life.

One more interesting aspect emerges from this news item. I have often been told that Tamil is a difficult language. It is another matter that a Tamilian may find Hindi equally difficult by the same logic. But I make a more important point….the people who say Tamil is ‘difficult’ will find that Chinese is far more difficult but will learn it any way because they know on which side their read is buttered. Ultimately many issues in India are bread and butter issues that surface in other garbs.

A final suggestion — how about some cross cultural training for us on understanding cultures of Indian states other than our own, the mannerisms and how to behave when we are in other Indian states? Anyone listening?

To many work is worship and that’s really fine, but one has enjoy what you do; and the only way to enjoy what you do is if you add value to work, and work adds value to you.

Here ‘value’ does not mean just the monetary pie; it means 360* value – to you as a person, as someone who aspires to grow in the chosen field, and in turn extended to your colleagues, your family, the society you live in. In a nutshell, your entire ecosystem.

We often here ourselves lamenting “I am just not happy with what am I doing” and yet we continue the same motions for years and years. The other common refrain is “I don’t know what I should do to enjoy work!

Do those statements sound familiar. If they do then listen up, this articlesis something you must read.

If you aren’t enjoying work, the first thing to note is that there is just no point in blaming all those around you – your present employer, colleagues, HR, your… I am sure you get the idea. You and only you are responsible! So what you need to do is to create your ‘world of work’… just exactly as you would want it to pan out.

Before you go on that it’s too late to make a change, remember  the oft repeated Chinese proverb says “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago; the second best time is now.”

One shouldn’t be scared of change. A lot of times we act like a well built ship that just waits in the harbor, refusing to explore the vast expanses, challenges, and eventual fruits of the sea, just because of fear. We use excuses such as lack of risk appetite, family commitments, a comfortable and cozy present and what not… the reasons can so go on as much as the human mind can imagine… rather than imagining good, most of the times, the ‘safe and comfortable’ psyche in us plays truant and forces us to image the worst!

Another thing we need to do is to give this “work” thing much more planning and thought. We need to do an honest appraisal of our personaity, formal qualifications, strengths and weaknesses, and above all, our innate qualities and habits. If we are honest to ourself  then it is certain that our ‘ship’ will sail to victory, even though the waters may be unchartered! By refusing to plan and think enough, we are just plain squandering the wonders life can show us, sans the slug and grin in just working for the sake of work.

Chose tremendous joy and happiness, and exposing your best to the world, just by a little mind-time… let that little time be a week, a month, 6 months or even a year…  It is such a great investment, and if it can lead you to greater heights in life and career, then why not spend that time? It is a worthy investment, one that will throw up a whole new perspective.

In the process, ‘work life’ is now at your terms, something you will enjoy and bring you sheer joy…  You go with the flow, and so there is no energy expended. With each step you will propel further with greater force and move ahead, sans any resistance!

So, are you ready for the long haul? A cheerful, successful and contended haul…. Yes, you are. So get going now…  Vroom!

It is vital to get things done, but it is equally crucial and imperative to leave a few non essential things, left undone. No constitution of the world gives anybody the right to throw in the towel and concede defeat. You should adopt an approach, to keep on trying till your endeavour is successful. If you want to be lucky in your job or profession, work harder at it. You will find that you luck is proportionate to the labour, you put in. Life is like a computer, where the output is dependent on your input. Grind and labour is the price of realising any goal. You can accomplish anything, if you are willing to pay the price and are fanatic about your success. You have a choice to grin and bear it; or smile and do it others smile and do it.

Intensity of purpose and the ability to stick to your effort is what makes you a genius.

You have to wait for your effort to show fruits. You cannot climb the top even though you have a ladder. You can ascend, to the top of the ladder step by step. In fact, anything worthwhile takes time to fructify. It takes time for a child to grow up and it takes time to build your house. It takes several years to get a Master’s Degree. It takes six months for a crop to yield paddy or wheat. You have to endure, on the path of persistence, to be a success.

What we persist in doing again and again, becomes easier.

It is not that the task has become simple or uncomplicated, It is because our ability to do the same augmented and enhanced. Do not form a habit of quitting. Most people focus only on what keeps us safe in our jobs and personal life. With this approach, higher levels of performance which involves some risk taking suffers. High performance is different from minimum acceptable standards. You have to build up the level of trust with the people working with you. If we do not recognise the good things, which happen to us every day, then every day is the same, as the previous or next day.

Appreciation, which is wonderful is the light, that dispels darkness. It is the appreciation, which cheers people, uplifts their spirits and makes them give their best. Irrespective of our status in life, we all want to be appreciated. I noticed that whenever I appreciated even the Prime Minister, I could sense a glint of pleasure on his face. Our small habits reveal as to what kind of persons we are. Basically, we all crave to be appreciated. But you must make sure that you live your values and honour the promises you make. At the same time you should examine your values, so that they are in alignment with the present environment.

Make straight talk, self-confidence, and simplicity a part and parcel of your life. These will never be outdated. For your own happiness, you need have a life style, where you live in harmony with your values. Persistently and relentlessly remain integrated with your passions and values. Do not base your conduct and your happiness, on the approval of others, if you have done your best. Free yourself from the prerequisite and restraint to have the approval of others, for each and every thing you do. If you do that you would tend to procrastinate. We all drag our feet or dawdle, whenever we face unpleasant, tedious, or distasteful tasks, hoping that the need to attend them might disappear or that someone else would come forward to take over the responsibilities. It never happens, as nothing moves, unless it is moved. Ask yourself : “What does my unconscious mind want me to know about this present moment? If I must attend to this task, why am I putting up a fuss about it?” Once we discern the reasons behind the procrastination, it becomes easier to tackle the same.

By nature and inclination, it becomes easier to be negative rather than positive.

Our efforts should be to replace the negatives with the positives. Remember that nothing in life is interesting, if you are not interested. Those who wish to sing will always find a reason and a song to sing. Anywhere you go if you like and appreciate people, you will find that everybody will be likeable. Make it a habit to note the good points of others, rather than focusing on their faults. We should do our best not to be cynics. The kingdom of heaven in the final analysis is not a place, but a state of mind. It is up to each one of us cultivate a heavenly state of mind.

“The things you are fired for are often the things that in later life you will be celebrated and given life time achievement awards for!” Francis Ford Coppola was canned for writing an “odd” and awkward script for the now legendary film Patton. The film was shelved, took years to make, and then went on to win an Oscar for best screenplay.

Meanwhile, Coppola was working on The Godfather and was also on the verge of being canned from that film. He figures the glory from the Oscar saved his butt from being fired from The Godfather…which as we all know, went down in movie making history.

If I hadn’t been rejected from art school, I’d never have written my first book. If I’d gotten that gig with the big publishing house, I wouldn’t have met The Dalai Lama. If I’d stayed in my last company, I wouldn’t be writing the White Hot Truth.

What’s “odd” is often revolutionary (change happens at the edges….beware the majority). Artistry rarely compromises, it just looks for a new place to express itself. “Good” will never, ever, ever be as deeply fine as giving it your all come hell or high water.

Thank God for failure. What failures are you grateful for?

I’ve been hammering on the same concepts with lots of folks. I am known to hammer. I’m clear that I am not a coach – I’m an adviser, so I can get away with being passionately opinionated.

MY 8 EMPHATIC SUGGESTIONS FOR ROCKING YOUR BUSINESS:

1. ONE STOP WEB SPACE: SIMPLIFY AND LEVERAGE. Stop thinking of your site and your blog as separate things. Just stop it right this instant. There needs to be a paradigm shift whereby entrepreneurs create ONE on-line space for themselves that includes the “brochure ware” that is the critical function of sites, and regularly updated, juicy, and informative content, aka, a blog. Having a site with a “BLOG” button that pushes users out to a totally different space (usually not even reflecting the aesthetic brand of your primary website) is like having one clothing store that just sells pants, and sending your customer down the street to your “other” store to buy a shirt. Keep your customers under one umbrella so that they can explore and utilize your universe. Create a seamless one-stop portal of all that you do so you are capturing the various interests of your visitors in one fell swoop: to read inspiring stuff, to buy a product, to hire you as a speaker or for a service you provide. The more they know, the better. If you architect it with logic and simplicity, you can accomplish a lot in one space. Having a separate blog usually screams “after thought.” Repeat: If you have more than one on-line space that is essentially talking about what you do or sell – collapse it all into one. This also helps with search engine optimization and ranking. And erase the word “blog” from your consciousness. Think in terms of regular, engaging content that you can deliver.

2. GIVE UP IMMEDIATELY. Stop doing what’s not working. It will feel amazing. It will free up energy to leverage the stuff that has the truest, greatest potential.

3. THERE IS POWER IN BEING SOLO If there is no “we” to your company – if YOU are it, then just say so. People are hiring you. You don’t hear me saying “We at White Hot Truth…” Of course, if you need copy writers, or web designers, finance people, I’ve got a crew I’m always referring to, but, me is me, not we.

4. TALK TO ME: WRITE IN FIRST PERSON. People are hiring you, paying attention to you, coming to see you. So they want to here from…YOU. This is the stale old 80′s approach: “Danielle is a former think tank executive and communication strategist, who now works with entrepreneurs to develop their careers.” This is the magnetic/heart approach: “I ran a DC-based think tank for futurists, helped put a few authors on the map, and now work with entrepreneurs to rock their careers.” Who would you rather hire? Besides, anyone you want to work with is smart enough to know that the third person copy is probably written by…You.

5. TURN THE MUSIC OFF. If you have music that automatically starts playing when people log on to your site – turn it off. It’s annoying. People are working in shared spaces, have their own music playing on i-Pods and radios, and don’t need the interruption. If you simply must have music, at least give users an obvious icon to click it off or adjust the volume.

6. WORK WITH A WRITER FOR A BIT, EVEN IF YOU’RE A GOOD WRITER YOURSELF. Working with a talented copy writer can create quantum leaps for you. They will “interview” you and tease out angles, bio points, and creative notions that you may not have seen yourself. The right writer is an essential creative partner when you’re packaging yourself and/or designing your services. In the past two weeks, I have recommend the following ladies at least four times: Grace Kerina, Lindsey Lewis, Emma Alvarez Gibson.

7. BUILD IN WORD PRESS. I’m religious about WordPress and refer to designers who are masters of it: Paul at twothirty, and Sarah at S.JoyStudios, and Kate at ThreeSquare Design. (it bears mentioning: I don’t get/accept kickbacks for any service referrals, ever).

8. BLOW YOUR HORN Look, I’m tellin’ you: you are amazing. I don’t care who you are, you’ve got something to give. You are likely an expert in something, a gifted contributor to some form of life or avenue of industry, you’ve probably been around the block a few times and as a result, have much to give. And if you’re a newbie starting out, you sure as hell have passion to burn. So sell it, baby, sell it. Stand in your place of knowing and contribution and give it. The world needs you.

Over the years you have managed to move up the food chain. You started changing your focus from being the most competent, professionally speaking, to other stuff that helped you climb the rungs of the organizational structure. The per capita frequent flyer miles of the continent have gone up because of you. You are mastering the golf stroke. You are no longer the innocent wide-eyed teddy bear. You are the political animal a lion tamer would dread. The corner office is in sight. You point to your beer belly that is now competing with Homer Simpson’s and laugh it off as a sign of prosperity (it still makes you a slob). Building those muscles. Learning is not on your agenda. When your coach tells you that your IQ and EQ points have not improved for eons, you are annoyed. That is so not true, you say. “I am the one who speaks at every seminar on the critical importance of building a learning organization (cool phrase, what!) and my favorite story to motivate the troops is on taking risks. You know, the lightbulb fellow, Edison did not get the filament right the first time either.” You will point out, as evidence, to those motivational quotes that are framed and put on your wall about why we should all aspire to be lifelong learners.

You show everyone the dozens of group photos of you and bunch of fat-cats from your weeklong training sessions on Leadership Development at the ski-resort and the 5 day seminar on “Life’s Lessons that Golf Taught Me”. Or that Team Building do at the place tucked away in the mountains which is famous for the sea-food grill … By the way, have you noticed in all the fat-cat photos, that it is the same bunch of guys who seem to be landing up for these paid holidays and generally speaking the same fat cats speak at EVERY seminar with the Powerpoint slides they made ten years back? Ever wondered why their ‘menu and venue driven’ training should be funded by the employer? Why??

Not saying for a minute that ALL training is only menu and venue driven. Not at all. That would be painting everyone with a broad brush. How do we differentiate the good guys from those with the horns and tail? If only individuals had to fund their own learning and development agenda with their own vacation days and their money instead of being paid for by the employer, there would be a sea change in the way people would view their own learning options. Instead of taking the ‘menu and venue’ based courses, you would choose what you truly need to be ahead of the pack. You, like all employees, would take those certifications to refresh your knowledge and those that you need to build your soft skills, to learn how to run a virtual team, to know what is the next big thing lurking around the corner waiting to snap at your ankles and render you obsolete. That is the only way to separate the wheat from the chaff or the lean from the mean. Have everyone fund their own effort at keeping their skills upgraded.

So what is the role of the employer in getting the new upgraded version 2.0 of me? Here is the deal. If the new improved me, results in my manager noticing the large shovels of contribution I have been heaping on to the company’s bottomline since, they will need to pick up the cost of that skill upgradation plus add some more to fund all the coffee I had while I was slaving away, credit back the vacation days (and maybe throw in a few extra), it would be a win-win. The employer would be only paying for what is visibly and in a measurable (not miserable) way adding to the bottomline. The employee would really think very hard about the courses that will add value professionally and then be at pains to show how it is showing up in the new improved behavior at work. No more menu and venue based training. Let that place famous for the sea-food grill appeal to the tourist and not masquerade as a training destination.

“I just don’t know what to do.”

Hmmm. Then what? If you just don’t know what to do, then what are you going to do? Probably nothing. If you declare you don’t know, then you won’t…know. You’ll just sway back ‘n forth in the lull of your status quo unknowingness. No need to change because you just don’t want to know. Knowing would change things. Knowing would require you to change things.

If you said to your commanding officer, “I just don’t know what to do,” you’d be scrubbing the latrine in short order. If you told your heart-broken significant other, “I just don’t know what to do,” it wouldn’t exactly foster the mojo or the trust. If the Opportunity Fairy fluttered your way and you told her, “I just don’t know,” then she’d be off to her next assignment. She might stick around if you showed some initiative, or asked for a night to sleep on it — anything to show your sincere interest in revelation.

Tough spot, painful circumstance….bloody seemingly impossible, grotesquely challenging, borderline hellish:

“I’ll figure this out.”

How’s that feel? Better, doesn’t it? More…possible. More upright. Wings ready to spread. Ears piqued to hear universal cues. Instincts at the helm.

Confusion is a marvelous, magical place. Suspending certainty is an act of enlightenment. And “Security,” as Helen Keller put it, “is mostly superstition.” I’m not talking about being certain (impossible) or being arrogantly presumptuous of what’s coming next. I’m talking about responding creatively to life. “I just don’t know,” is often a cover up for “I don’t want to grow.”

“I’ll figure it out,” may mean waiting quietly, even for a long time, on the will of heaven. It may mean turning over every single stone without rest until you find the answer or the escape hatch. It may mean praying until you sweat, surveying the experts, or forty days in the desert. But one thing’s for sure, if you declare that you’ll figure it out, the possibilities are endless.

A spokesman for BA, Mr Willie Walsh, said last month: “The combination of unprecedented oil prices, economic slowdown and weaker consumer confidence has led to substantially lower first quarter profits…But British Airways is well prepared and has adapted its plans in the event of further economic uncertainty.”

These reported performance figures for BA and their smooth denial of concern reminded me of the last time BA management hit the news. It was several years ago and Rod Eddington, the then chairman of British Airways, was responding on TV to concerns about the profitability of British Airways. He was having a moan about how the budget airlines were cutting into his market share, but he was still being quite bullish about the situation. He told the interviewer how, in the last three years, he had cut the operating costs of British Airways by 5% and that although the competition was tough they fully expected to maintain their market share.

What he did not say was that in the previous three years, to make that 5% saving, he had made redundant 16,000 members of his workforce. He must have had some idea of the consequences of those redundancies for the remaining workforce. How did he think they felt about it? Did he think they still felt good about working for British Airways? Did he think they still felt their jobs were secure? Did he think they felt proud of what had happened?

At the time Rod Eddington seemed supremely unconcerned by any of the consequence of his actions other than the ability to boast about the financial savings he thought he had made. The men and women who worked for BA had, in the main, been in their dream jobs. Pilots, who as schoolboys had dreamed of wearing Raybans while they lounged around in the cockpits of big jets. Cabin crew who used to dream of all the exotic destinations they would go to. Baggage handlers and support staff who at the time could use BA to nip over to Paris for the weekend for the price of a cup of strong coffee.

And then, by making 16,000 redundancies, Rod Eddington had at a stroke, completely changed the way that the remaining BA employees felt about what they did. He had changed their attitudes and behaviours from those of a proud group of motivated people, dedicated to the service of their customers, to a bunch of disillusioned job hunters. By making these redundancies, British Airways changed the behaviour of their whole workforce from a powerful group of people who were proud of what they did, to an apathetic, untrusting workforce who were only interested in where they could send their next CV.

In the latest twist of the BA failure saga, we read of the appeal from the current management for the workforce of BA to give the company one month’s work without pay to try to save the company. Since the days of Rod Eddington, management at BA have completely lost the loyalty of their staff by the way that they have behaved towards them, creating a morally bankrupt organisation. Make no mistake, this moral bankruptcy was caused by BA management. Now we see the current management attempting to cash a cheque against the BA account that they themselves have already emptied.

Is this BA management completely misreading the way that the workforce feels about the company they work for? Or is this a cynical manoeuvre by management to deflect the blame for the failure of the company onto the workforce? It is possible that the company will fail without these individual contributions from the workforce? The workforce must be aware that it is just as likely that the company will fail even after they have put themselves into personal debt to try to keep it afloat; the only difference being that when the company fails, even after the workforce have given their time for free, the workforce will be in an even worse position to support their families when the company goes under.

Either way, management have already broken the trust of the workforce and since no one in the management team appears to have offered to work for nothing, it seems even less likely that any of the workforce will be persuaded to stick their necks out. Do BA management truly believe that the workforce, working for nothing will save them or are they working a spin, which when the company goes to the wall, will enable them to say, “It was not our fault. We were let down by the workforce who would not support us.”

In this ongoing crisis we have to be very careful about what we do to survive and how that changes the way that our remaining workforce feel about they are asked to do. Ride roughshod over the workforce during the recession, because you can, and like BA, you will have a very hard time continuing to trade even when the rest of the world has resumed doing business. Or, take care of your people when they need it most and they will take care of you when you need it most. We can’t have it both ways. What goes around comes around.

What is it about speaking that makes it such a powerful marketing tool? Listed below are 3 benefits of public speaking.

Benefit #1: You build your Leads’ List quickly. People get an experience of YOU. They get to feel your essence – who you really are as an individual. That is how you earn their trust. When building your list of prospects (the MOST important part of creating your business!) people typically move through four stages:

1) From Suspect – they don’t know you and think you just want to take advantage of them.
2) To Prospect – they say “yes” to a free offer you’ve made and are interested in learning more about you.
3) To Client – they’ve spent money with you, even one dollar is a good beginning.
4) To Raving Fan - they buy just about everything you offer AND tell others that they must get to know you too.

When you go out and speak to a group, you will want to collect their email addresses and postal addresses. Offer to give them your free ezine or a special tip sheet or a CD of an interview that you’ve done, in exchange for their email address. My experience is that 95% -100% of folks will do this – after hearing you speak, they will want to get more from you. You’ve created a relationship and these folks aren’t Suspects, they are already Prospects! If they have purchased one of your information products, they are Clients and many will already be Raving Fans!

Benefit #2: Sales in the “back of the room.” I don’t know about you, but I always love browsing the information products (books, workbooks, CDs, home study courses) that are provided at seminars. I always buy at least one thing (usually more) because I am interested in the topic the speaker is talking about and hungry for more information.

A speaker is truly performing a disservice to her audience if she doesn’t give them more of what they want. AND, you can make a boatload of money selling these information products! You spend time to create them once, and then continue to make money with them for years to come.

Benefit #3: You are Living Your Life Purpose and Serving Others. You have good information to share (yes you really do!) and it would be a shame not to share that information with others. When you speak on a topic you are passionate about, you can literally change lives. One piece of information can encourage someone to take a baby step that leads to another and another – resulting in a positive life change.

Tom Antion is the man I go to for public speaking advice and tips. Check out his resource center, click here: http://tinyurl.com/lhusza

About the Author: Ann Ronan, Ph.D. is an author, speaker, certified career coach and self employment expert, and vision generator.

Ann delivers smart, simple ways for people to acknowledge what they love to do and do more of it. Her articles, products, and books have motivated and inspired readers in numerous print and online publications. She regularly leads coaching programs, tele-seminars and live retreats, bringing the message to audiences internationally that living a passion-based life will bring prosperity and success.

She was recently selected from a nationwide search to be featured in Discover Your Inner Strength. The book features best-selling authors Stephen R. Covey (Seven Habits of Highly Effective People), Brian Tracy (Million Dollar Habits), and Ken Blanchard (One Minute Manager).

Yet, they sell and many become best sellers. I wonder who buys these books and what do they do with them? If the books do work, there should be a gradual decline in demand for them as people would be succeeding in achieving their goals.

One reason could be that people read these books, but few bother to practice what is recommended. But I think there is a majority who do implement the suggestions but yet they continue to seek out the next self help book that comes along. Why is that?

My theory is that successful people have a formula, but there is nothing that should be considered a universal success formula.

Each one of us is unique and we have varying strengths and weaknesses in our abilities and personalities. Some of us are excellent in planning and leading a structured life, while some cannot function without a chaotic environment.

I am reminded of the Tamil silent film Pesum Padam which starred Kamal Hassan. In one scene when he is trying to sleep, he is unable to do so because he misses the cacophony of his old neighborhood. So, he makes a recording of the ambient sounds and plays it to fall asleep. Had he picked up a book instead, titled How to fall asleep! — can you imagine what would have happened? The book might have suggested all the usual things like avoid coffee or have a cup of warm milk closer to bedtime and so on. I am positive, that the book would not have had a chapter that deals with recording your neighborhood sounds and playing it back to fall asleep!

We are individuals made up of millions of components like looks, voice, height, education, etc and our personality is a sum total of all these elements. Therefore to leverage our personality to pursue success requires a very deep understanding of our constituents and the role each plays.

No doubt the self help books help by indicating possible action points to aid in a person’s development and success. However, for these to work, one needs to first understand oneself completely. Otherwise it would be like giving a map marked in Greek to someone who knows only English. One would feel that one knows where he is heading, but in reality would be completely lost.

For any self help book to be really useful one first needs to understand one’s own personal success formula.

A few things one can do towards developing the personal success formula are:

1. List all instances of achievements and success. It could be something small like wrangling a freebie at a store or a major achievement like earning a degree.
2. List all the elements that went into it in terms of effort, timing, your interaction, the reactions, how the reactions were managed, etc.
3. Look for common threads in all these instances and identify if you repeat the same knowingly or unknowingly.
4. Finally validate this by repeating the first 2 steps for all those times when things did not go well or you were unsuccessful.

This exercise would help identify and make you aware of the uniqueness that you bring to the table. It could something as simple as a smile or a sincere look. Maybe when you smile, your face transforms and communicates something powerful. Once a person has this insight and knowledge about himself then, applying self help action points becomes easier. And more importantly you will start to repeat some action points that enhance your uniqueness and eliminate the others that are counter productive. From this state of awareness, your personal success formula will emerge and take form.

People who know this and are scripting their success formulas also read self help books. It is just that they don’t blindly try to follow instructions. They pick and choose from each and craft their own success formula.
Lastly, one should never try passing on a personal success formula to anyone because most probably it might not work. Like I said, every successful person has a formula, but there are no success formulas.

I was focused on myself. Thinking through my week’s agenda. Stretching. Chance was not a huge interest to me at the time. He couldn’t form recognizable words yet, but his body language and excitement catapulted his little arm up to the sky when he saw a plane fly through the cloud above.

He was thrilled.

Chance caught my attention. My mind stopped whirling and focused on the boy. Then the plane. Back to the boy. I had not heard the plane. I had not seen the plane. I had not even looked up into the sky that day until his little hand guided my eyes up in the air.

Why did it take a one-year-old boy to direct me? I used to find faces in the clouds repeatedly, and I would follow a plane’s trail with my eyes until it disappeared. When did I stop counting planes?

Four. I found four planes in the sky in the next moment. Well, a few were actually helicopters but you get the idea. I was scanning the sky like a meerkat. I started picking up the noise too. I didn’t even need to see the planes to know they were near. How did I not hear those engines zooming by me minutes before?

Maybe it’s the chaos of the city. It could possibly be the massive amount of noise I consume every day. I’m not sure if I’ll hear the planes tomorrow, but either way, Chance brought clarity to my misdirected gaze today.

However, how does one inspire others?

Here are some simple ways you can use to inspire people to be their best:

Be a good example: People watch what you do more than they listen to what you say. Be someone worth emulating.

Care about others: People don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care. Ask questions. Take a genuine interest in people.

Encourage others: Everyone goes through tough times. When you support people and encourage them through these times, you’ll be inspiring them to see the best in themselves and in the situation.

Be inspired yourself: Look for people, ideas, environments and knowledge that you find inspiring and motivating.

Share from your own experience: You have more to share than you realize. Mine the rich experiences of your life and share your wisdom from your unique point of view. You may be the only one who can touch someone with your inspiring message.

Be vulnerable: Be willing to share your failures as well as your successes. Others will relate to you. They’ll understand that they’re not the only ones with challenges.

Tell stories: Facts tell and stories sell. They inspire, too. We learn best from parables and we all need to develop our own inspiring stories.

Be a good communicator: Increasing your ability to communicate effectively is a critical element for you to inspire others. Watch how you speak and what you say. Invest in your communication skills.

Challenge people: Many of us have had teachers who at times seemed more like tormentors than mentors. They challenged us to do our best, and we were better for it. Practice “care-frontation”. This means caring confrontation of others. Put care in front and life becomes much simpler!

Here are my best secrets for setting great WOW goals and achieving them.

Secret #1:

Create a vision for your ideal life first. Most people skip this step – don’t be one of them. Write it out in detail, including everything you would love to be, do, or have. Then create a vision board or two or three. You can have one for your business, one for your health goals and one for things you would like to have. You can have one for things you’ve already achieved to remind you of how far you’ve come.

Vision boards are not a “whoo whoo” deal. Ready for some science? Your brain processes over four hundred billion bits of information every second – you are aware of only about two thousand. What determines the information you pay attention to and what you skip over is that part of your brain called the reticular activating system (RAS).

It’s like a sentry at the doorway of your mind, sorting through all those bits of information bombarding you, deciding which best match patterns already established in your brain. It is the most intelligent and sophisticated alarm system known to mankind.

When you create that vision, with a clear, focused picture of what you want, this part of your brain kicks into high gear, and won’t stop till it finds what you’re looking for. All kinds of “miracles” and coincidences begin to occur to help you reach your ideal life.

Secret #2:

Set your first goal as something that makes you happy NOW and also leads to a future fulfillment. Chances are there is a big gap between your life now and your ideal life and that’s okay. Think about which elements of your ideal day which you must have; those elements that are desirable and those that are icing on the cake. Then ask yourself “What is the most important thing that is missing from my life right now?” If you can come up with a single, solid answer – that’s your first WOW goal.

Secret #3:

Brainstorm (ideally with 2 or more supportive people) and list EVERY step that needs to be taken to reach your Wow Goal.

Be very specific in listing each and every step, even if you don’t know how to do it. Knowing how is NOT necessary to reach your goal. For now, stay focused on your “what” not the “how.”

Next to each step, write the estimated completion date. When you have each step and date written down in detail, pull out your calendar and schedule each step. You may have to change your success dates, get extra help, or make a step simpler. Putting each step on your calendar is a great reality check that ensures you’ll reach your Wow Goal.

There is no “right” way to do this scheduling. I start out in January with a one year plan of where I would like to be in key areas of my life in December. I then break it down into monthly targets and then weekly. I end my Fridays at about noon by creating my schedule for the following week. I make adjustments – it’s not set in stone – I allow for the unexpected opportunities or challenges that pop up!

Secret #4:

The Biggest Secret: creating time for your action steps. Do you procrastinate? You’re not alone. Or maybe you’re the opposite and find yourself always “doing” but it’s mostly doing for others.

If you are serious about getting to your ideal life, you’ll have to take a frank look at how you are spending time now. For one week, record what you actually do with your time.

If you find a lot of time is “wasted” don’t beat yourself up. We all need time to unwind and to be self indulgent. The way to manage these “down” times, so they don’t derail your path to your ideal life, is to schedule them just like everything else.

It can be a block of time each day or a few times every week, but be consistent in the time/days you choose for yourself. Then take half of your designated “me” time to take actions towards your goals and use the remaining half for whatever you love doing….playing solitaire, reading a novel, staring into space, surfing the net mindlessly. You’ve earned it!

Bonus Tip: Each day take time to read, see, and feel your ideal life. And as you make decisions about how to spend your time….ask yourself “is this getting me closer to the life I was meant to live?”

A week later he returned, dropped by my home and gave me a wrist watch. I was pleased. After we shared some coffee and snacks, he got up to leave but not before asking me to pay him Rs 129.75. Yes Rs 129.75 !

I was taken aback but I paid him .

My neighbor once asked me to drop by at his office to give a talk on “Lateral Thinking” to his colleagues. I did so and enjoyed the tea and snacks that he offered me at the end of my one hour talk. I enjoyed the opportunity to talk on a subject that I am passionate about. A month later he again requested me to give a full day’s talk on the same subject but this time it was the senior management team that would my audience.
I again agreed and at the end of a grueling day my friend again offered me tea and snacks.

I came home furious.

In an experiment, psychologist Ariely divided a group of people into three subgroups. One sub-group was offered five dollars to participate in a task, another was offered fifty cents for identical tasks and the last was requested to do it for free. To the surprise of Ariely those who received 5 dollars completed 159 tasks, those who received 50 cents did 101 tasks, and those who did it free of charge performed 168 tasks !

What was happening in these cases ?

Let’s take the watch incident.
I was emotionally forced to request that my friend get me a watch. This, as far as I was concerned, was a ‘social’ transaction – I thought he was giving me a gift. Thus when he asked me to pay Rs.129.75, the exact amount it cost him, I realised that as far as he was concerned it was a ‘market’ transaction,

In the second instance I did the one hour talk as a social transaction. My friend also treated it as such, offering me tea and snacks. But the one day programme was to me a market transaction, after all I was a professional trainer and this was my only means of earning money. But he treated it as a social transaction .

In the experiment referred to, those who did it free of charge, (social norms) did it with more enthusiasm than those who were paid (market norms) .

Now look at another instance .

In our judiciary, there is a provision for free legal aid to be provided to these who cannot afford to hire a lawyer. I am told that some lawyers who are pressurized to take up such cases do so half-heartedly and in the process the poor litigant does not always get justice. Why? The lawyer – there are honorable exceptions – expect market norms to apply but the situation calls for social norms.

It seems that wherever the parties to a transaction are in actual or tacit agreement about the norms to be applied, there is no tension. But where the norms clash there is likelihood of a misunderstanding, to say the least.

There are instances where lawyers who are offered a small sum to take up a case show a reluctance to do so. But when they are asked to do so free of charge, out of compassion say, for a poor battered woman, they have done so enthusiastically. Apparently when money is offered, it brings market norms into play and if the money offered is small then the lawyer feels offended .

The case of gifts is interesting. Ariely writes that small gifts are treated by the recipient as part of social norms, hence the popularity of ‘honorarium’ in India . Psychologists say that even thinking about money can make a person apply market norms. This probably happened in the case of my traveling friend. Perhaps he was talking about money with his wife as he dressed up to visit me!

In business and even in government many people work for social and not necessarily market norms. The best motivators for many employees are often social norms.

Money cannot extract loyalty and creativity from an employee.

Doubt it ? Ask the poor parents of a soldier who died in the Kargil war.
When television journalists visited them at their hut somewhere in North India, the aged father, now with no able bodied person in the family told them, “I wish I had many more sons. I would have asked all of them to die for India.”

Persistence could communicate different meanings to different people, depending upon how it is interpreted, imaged and communicated – but by far it is the most singular differentiator and determinant for success in any endeavour. Just pick up any literature in goals and success – a Brian Tracy, Robin Sharma, Tony Robbins or a Brian Mayne – and be sure that this is mentioned.

And persistence is not about those huge and impossible tasks which we need to sweat it out to do. It is just having the mental strength and ability to ‘persist’ in doing that simple task that would lead to some accomplishment, set as a goal in one’s life.

To be just able to spend 30 minutes a day, consistently, in developing or nurturing a life skill, would lead to an achievement that would still be great and big enough to make a life difference. This could be hard exercising if one looks at a physical goal, writing 2 pages a day if it is a career and passion goal, or spending 30 minutes uninterrupted with spouse and son/daughter if it is a family goal. While it might appear to be a small thing at the outset, the key challenge here would be consistency – doing it everyday sans a break, and at the same time, and most important, in a ‘positive mental frame’.

Winning is a habit and outcome of persistence. And believe me, if one wants to win in life and all personal endeavours, being persistent will be the biggest differentiator.

Creating new habits is all about persistence. Just try to commit yourself to a new habit – as trivial as waking up 30 minutes early every day – the mental challenge and the accompanying physical challenge will be immense. You will need the power of the mind and a diehard commitment – a communiqué to the subconscious – to ensure that this happens.

The easier side in this is that you need to stretch only for 21 days and then it becomes natural – a habit that stays with you for life – and most importantly facilitates accomplishment in any area. I would suggest that everyone wanting to live life read and commit themselves to The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, the fable by Robin Sharma.

To make persistence a winning habit, I would urge – please, please strive to stretch your mind that extra bit to do something everyday. That something would be a key life skill or a winning quality in professional or personal life – anything you think is worth doing and trying.

Persist, create a winning habit and succeed! !

Without a seed of thought of success in the mind, no amount of gargantuan effort will invite success in reality. After all, isn’t all we need and want first created in the mind, and then subsequently in reality?  With that being so, how can ‘success’ be any different? To attain success, extend it, and multiply it to all facets of life. First and foremost, feel it in the mind.

So being a successful man, woman, son, daughter, boss, subordinate…is first thought and rehearsed in the mind. It is only this dress rehearsal in our mind that transforms itself into real success in every walk of life.

Nothing succeeds like success, is also putting the famous ‘law of attraction’ to work for us. One single and continuous thought of success in the mind, attracts more and more success in the mind, and that one thought in the mind manifesting to reality, attracts the manifestation of all thoughts of success into reality, thus creating successful lives for us.

Right now, commit to planting that seed of success thought in your mind. Think more success, attract more success. Fill your life with success. After all, nothing succeeds like success. Nothing will ever succeed like having success in our minds.

 ”The heart of motivation is to give people what they really want most from work. The more you are able to provide what they want, the more you should expect what you really want, namely: productivity, quality, and service.”

The topic motivation is extremely important for employers. Motivated employees can create a climate that is conductive to performance, do their best and help the organization to achieve the targets. While a stressed out and grumpy person with a frown on his face cannot perform well on work and so cannot help the organization to achieve their goals. I can share the example of one of my managers who enters the office with energy, enthusiasms and a big smile on his face. With same positive motivation he spends some moments with all of his team members, shares happiness, discusses new tasks, and new expectations. This is an extremely simple activity but it is the key of high motivation and morale of his team members.

Each employee gets motivated by different things. As the heart of motivation is to give people what they really want most from their work, it is very important to find out the “heart”. If some of them are interested in sports, provide them facility for it. If some want to go a hill station then arrange hill station trips on weekends twice a year. These all are very small things but vital for employees’ motivation.

Here are some steps and suggestions to find your employees’ heart of motivation.

1. Define your organizational hierarchy.

2. Measure your team members’ performance systematically without favouritism. Individual goals and targets must be realistically defined and discussed with team at the start of the year. Performance factors e.g. quality of work, target achievement, productivity, dedication, innovation, discipline, dependence of members etc. must be considered. At the end of performance evaluation all successes and failures of team member must be discussed with him/her to make a clear picture of his performance in his/her mind.

3. Also consider previous years’ performances while evaluating current year’s performance.

4. Allocate a certain amount of money to use for compensating the teams on good performance. For example, team members’ dinner on good work or target achievement.

5. Provide them proper feedback of their work.

6. Provide employees with ample opportunities to learn new and advanced skills. They should be supported by the company for higher/further education as well.

7. Get to know your employees, families, children, their birthdays, wedding anniversaries, hobbies, favourite restaurants and food. Do change the nature of relationship with your employees. Care for them, thank them and appreciate them.

8. Celebrate their birthdays.

9. Informal gatherings like trips, dinners, visits must be arranged by the company to improve communication between teams. Organize quarterly, two to three days’ trips.

10. Listen to and act upon employees’ ideas and suggestions. In the words of Roy E. Moody, a motivational speaker, “The greatest motivational act one person can do for another is to listen.”

11. Provide employees with appropriate authority to make decisions about how they do their jobs.

12. Policy for annual vacation with family supported by the company on draw basis must be introduced.

13. Introduce employee of the month, employee of the quarter and employee of the year awards to keep employees motivated.

14. Announce bonuses in team meetings so that all of the other members know who got some extra reward and why.

15. Start some in-house recreational activities like table tennis, badminton and volley ball.

16. Company policies must be defined, well communicated and user friendly.

17. Try to eliminate extra working by managing tasks, estimations, executions and trends. Late sitting due to work burden must be compensated with leave as well as monetary reward (bonuses based on productivity) and facilities (refreshment, dinner).

18. Organize monthly employee meetings for better coordination.

19. Sponsor your employees’ certifications/short courses. 

There are so many other small activities that can keep your team motivated. Sustainability of the motivation is very important and to sustain its high level you are required to establish reliable and comprehensive systems, policies and process in the workplace. It will ensure long-term motivation of your people to contribute to a desired development of organization.

Pleasure seeking  

When you’re focused on the rewards of what you’re doing, you’re in the driver’s seat of your life. Whether the reward is feeling powerful; or it’s the best cashmere that money can buy, or it’s a mental health day off of work, when your intention is fixed on moving forward you’re taking full responsibility for getting where you want to go. And when satisfaction is up to you, it’s much sweeter when you get it.

Pain avoiding

When your choices are based on deflecting or avoiding uncomfortable feelings, like embarrassment or regret or dislocation, you’re taking a back seat to your true power. When you’re focused on what you could lose, the possible winnings shrivel in direct proportion to your fear of loss. And even if you get what you supposedly want, you’ve still put yourself in a crazy game of dodging the bad stuff in hopes of getting the good stuff. As Lily Tomlin put it, “The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.”

The great fear motivators of human nature

• What other people think of me: I better do what’s expected.
• What other people want from me: I better give all that I can.
• What other people can give to me: I better be nice to get what I want.

If your to-do list is based on avoiding pain, you may as well hook yourself up to a laser that jolts you every time you dare to make a self-fulfilling decision. I’d rather be in the Bahamas. Zzzzzt! I should dump the chump. Zzzzzt! I was made for greater things than this. Zzzzzt!

Studies show that positive reinforcement with children fosters self-esteem and better problem-solving skills. Praise the good, deflect the bad. The power of accentuating the positive isn’t something we grow out of. In fact, the practice of cultivating positivity defines a life.

Positively powerful motivators 

If your choices elicit a full-on yes! to any of the following questions, then you’re choosing from a place of true creative power.

• Is this moving me forward?
• Do I feel more like myself?
• Does this clear the way for good stuff to show up?
• Will I sleep peacefully tonight?
• Would my kid (or grandma, or best friend) be proud of me?

The great shift from the pain motivation to pleasure motivation, is based on trust, of course. Trusting that when you say no to what doesn’t serve you, life says yes to your greatness. Trusting that you deserve to be fulfilled. Period. No justifications necessary. And trusting that you will get what you want by being true to yourself. The rewards are infinite…and they feel real good.

Here is a contrarian thought. Ignore your inherent weaknesses, and spend all the time and resources in honing your inherent strengths. You will do a lot of good to you, your life, and work. 

Many contemporary leadership lessons speak of the need to do what you are good at. Decisively identify your strengths and do something which is pretty close to your core competence.

You have a handful of a mix of shining gold coins, and some rusted old copper coins. You would do good to just ignore the rusty dusty copper coins and just put all your time and energy into how well you can exploit and make good of the gold coins on hand.  Wasting your time and energy on cleaning and making the rusty copper coins is really not going to move you up in life. You would be wasting your time. And the cardinal rule in managing time is – putting time to its best use here and now. So, your time is not going to be best used by cleaning the rust and dust of the copper in you. Just do not give any importance to the copper in you (weaknesses) and hone your gold (strengths) now and always.

Most of us have been taught and guided to convert our weaknesses into strengths… and believe me, if you have ever worked on any of your weaknesses for some considerable time, you will testify to the fact that it takes a lot of time with disproportionately small or miniscule results. So just for the sake of wishful thinking that we can completely overcome our weaknesses and even convert them into strengths (?), we expend so much energy… at times to the point of being frustrated.  By doing this, we lose precious time and energy – precious resources that should have been used in focusing on the positives within us and getting to the point of perfection.

So why are we speaking and doing so much to ‘work on weaknesses’.  Many business leaders I know have opined that working on weaknesses is not a great personal growth strategy. More can be achieved by getting more time and focus into what you are good at.

Pick up three to five things you are good at and make them to the point of being great! See the difference it makes in your life.

1. Put up with temporary disorganisation.

If you want to know whether you’re in a state of confused goal-building, there’s one way to tell: take a look at your desk. It’ll be an absolute mess. The confusion of this stage is always reflected in the confusion of your work space. Because you’re trying out different ideas and gathering lots of information, you’ll have odds and ends of notes, scraps of paper with ideas on, half-started plans, bullet lists of things to do. Don’t worry. This is totally normal. Just make sure you have a clear out frequently and don’t lose some of the great seedling ideas hidden in there.

2. Learn to live with frustration.

Along with confusion, the early stage of goal-building is also accompanied with frustration. Well, why are you surprised? If you want something and don’t see a quick and easy way to get it, you’re bound to feel frustrated. That’s OK. It’s just your inner child – who always got what it wanted when it wanted it – having a tantrum. The grown-up version has to be a little more restrained. Like Thomas Edison who calmly, patiently and without frustration, carried out over 1000 failed experiments before he discovered the right way to build a light bulb.

3. Grow roots.

I know you may not believe me, but the state of confusion is the most important stage of goal-building. This is the stage that determines whether you’re going to succeed or not. You may not believe that. In fact, you may long for a bit of clear daylight where everything is routine, not chaos, orderly not muddled, and plain sailing instead of hitting your head against endless brick walls. But, listen. Think of yourself as a plant that’s just been sown. How magnificent a specimen you’re going to be isn’t determined by above-ground growth, but by below-ground roots.

4. Keep asking.

“What’s The Lesson Here?”. Many people who go through the early stages of goal-building measure their progress by how much they’re advancing towards their goal. Don’t do that. After all, if you’re putting down roots, you’re probably advancing in all directions except the ones you’ll be finally moving in. Instead, measure your progress by what you’re learning. When you can learn from every day’s confusion and frustration, you’re making huge leaps forward. Not just in your knowledge and skills, but in your personal strength. That’s why writer Trevor Bentley describes the stage of confusion as “the height of wisdom”.

5. Keep your morale high.

If this all sounds too easy, take heart. Having been through many states of confusion and frustration on the route to my goals, I know exactly how it feels. Some days it feels like treading treacle. The rest of the world seems to be getting on with their lives while you’re stuck in no man’s land. All you want to do is give up and settle for something easier. Well, that’s OK… for a brief spell. But don’t give up. If you feel down – and it’s almost certain you will from time to time – give your morale a boost. Slow down. Chill out. Find some successes. And know with absolute certainty that one day soon you’ll come out of the state of confusion and be within reach of your goal.

6. Let the creative process work.

Getting through confusion is inevitable if you stick with it. Why? Because your creative brain will work it out for you. Imagine that your brain is an exact replica of the mess on your desk. Lots of bits of information all unconnected. While your desk won’t do anything about it, your brain will. It will try to find connections between all the dead ends. That’s why sooner or later, and often in an unguarded moment when you’re not expecting it, things will suddenly fall into place. That’s when you’ll get a eureka moment, an “ah-ah” insight, and a shaft of clear light that means you’re coming out of confusion.

Someone once said that trying to reach a big big goal – like making a million pounds (dollars, rupees…) – was no different from learning how to drive a car or play a musical instrument. It’s about learning to do something you couldn’t do before. The goal may be different in each case but the process is the same. 99 out of 100 people who start the process give up when confusion clouds their way. Why not be the 1 who doesn’t?

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Eric Garner is one of the foremost leaders in management and personal development with a personal guarantee to make you a better manager, trainer, and learner. His company, ManageTrainLearn, runs corporate training programmes in the UK and since 2002 has published a website at www.managetrainlearn.com that provides a wide range of exclusive digital learning products.

Rajasthan Royals started off as the underdogs and went on to win the Indian Premier League (IPL 2008 season). 2008 culminated with two significant achievements from the underdogs’ camp. India’s successful moon mission and Barack Obama!

Underdog theme continues to inspire every day. With AR Rehman being crowned as the Hollywood music king and lesser known crew from Slumdog Millionaire winning all the awards ever instituted in the international film circles, underdogs have added another feather to their cap!

Well, who exactly is an underdog? There are a few interesting theories on the phrase derivation of “underdogs” and “top dogs”, dating back to the 19th century stories on wood-sawing and dog fights. The latest derivation claim in 20th century relates to an article in the Sports Review on prize hunting or hunting dogs! Wherever it originated from, according to me, an underdog is the “who’s so what?” and a top dog is the “who is who”.

The audience love underdogs in a competition. You know why? There are two reasons, and these reasons have evolved depending on the political, social and economic climate of the time and place.

Reason 1: The audience consider themselves the master and want to see the underdog succumb to them to satiate their thirst for supremacy.

Remember the ancient Romans and their arena fights? Impoverished slaves used to fight the ultimate roman fighting machine (a knight) or a tiger. The slaves used to muster up even the last ounce of survival instinct to fight a losing battle and eventually succumb to the master!

Reason 2: The audience can actually empathize not just sympathize, with the underdog and root for it to become the top dog!

The American presidential election in 2008 is a classic example. People loved Barack Obama the underdog! The son of an African-American immigrant, father of 2 kids, who has struggled hard to be where he is, has no personal business affiliations, not just another candidate who claimed patriotism via war hysteria. The people of America could actually relate to him… because most of them had been there sometime or the other in their lives.

Apart from these reasons as to why any audience love underdogs in a competition, there is an important element which an underdog brings on board. It is the “power of possibility”! There is an ever lurking chance that the underdog might win and “upset” the party or as with changing times there is an immense possibility of crowning a new champion.

As it is rightly called the Champions League Football Tournament is a testimony to the fact that underdogs are interesting! The tournament has a complex structure and one can rest assured that only a true champion can emerge out of it! The year was 2004, the year of underdogs; the 3 of the final 4 playing for the cup were lesser known clubs. FC Porto, Deportivo La Coruña, AS Monaco. The 4th club was Chelsea. FC Porto won the cup! It was led by a then unknown man, José Mourinho! This underdog went on to become the top-dog in football circuit. He became a champion in his first season and a double premier league winner with the famous Chelsea football club, brand ambassador for Samsung mobile and the theme of many a best sellers capped by his authorized biography “Made in Portugal”. This champion is an inspiring example of the underdog to top dog story.

There are umpteen such stories that have been told so far and all have been massive hits at the box office and they will continue to be! Rocky, The mighty ducks, Waterboy,  Dodgeball: A true underdog story, Lagaan, Taare Zamin par, Slumdog Millionaire, just to list a few famous ones. Every movie went on to win Oscars or nominations at least! In a website for film reviews, Anthony Chatfield a freelance writer notes, “Underdog themed stories will never die. They capture an aspect of everyday life that we all feel at one point or another Рthat desire to belong and be respected…” It is so true!

We can now understand why people love underdogs and the value addition they bring on board. But who creates these underdogs? I think it is just a state of mind. It is purely a perspective of the “who’s who” about “who’s so what”!

Rajasthan Royals, ISRO, Barack Obama, AR Rehman, the crew of Slumdog Millionaire, José Mourinho listed in this article are all extraordinary. They always had high quality content! Over a period of time, the “who’s who” or pros become complacent and think that some entities in a competition both do not have the required talent or depth and hence don’t give them a chance of winning! What they fail to understand is that it is actually the underdog who filters the ordinary from the extra-ordinary and brings out the true champion.

Given that this is a perspective issue and not an actual problem of being the underdog, is it cool to be an underdog? And importantly, how do you know if you are an underdog?

In my opinion it is OK to be the underdog at times in a given system. During the process of working your way through the system, as an underdog, you have an advantage which no one has. Your innate talent mixed with the absence of “fear of failure” makes a charming cocktail, which, when served, rocks the system and catapults you to the rock star status!

You realize that you are the underdog when people around you consistently say that you have the talent and you don’t have any fear of failure! So, how long do you remain an underdog? Not long… the moment you achieve certain goals within a system and get recognized you are no longer considered an underdog! A fear of failure sets in and inhibits one from experimenting. Then, how do you become a top dog?

Underdogs enhance a competition; they inspire and enable people to aspire, they present unlimited possibilities! The connotation of underdog might not be all that positive, but definitely it is not negative. To become a top dog, you need to shed your fear of failure. Continue to experiment and learn, never underestimate your competition as underdog, for, underdogs are not someone whom you ignore, but someone you watch out for. I love to quote great leaders and opinion makers. One such quote from Mahatma Gandhi is “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” To turn yourself into a top dog, draw inspiration from underdogs!

So, next time you watch a movie or a game of football or if you are listening to sales pitch or evaluating a competition or interviewing prospective employees, look out for the underdog!

You might win yourself a champion!

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Sundararaman Viswanathan is engineer by qualification, manager by profession, aspiring writer and a wannabe entrepreneur at heart. He currently works as a Transition Manager, with vast experience in managing the support of mission critical IT systems.

(Flickr photo: grulla, by kekremsi)

You don’t feel like flying today, you say? You’re feeling life’s weight? If I say, “Chin up,” it may piss you off. It sounds trite, as though I expect you to down a placebo. Well, listen up.

You can’t fly without sticking your neck out.

Watch a bird in the moment before lifting off: head up, neck extended, chin high.

Don’t fold in on yourself in response to whatever heaviness life dishes out. Change your perspective through the tiny, simple step of raising your chin a fraction. If your chin resists, start by raising your eyes. Then untuck your chin from your chest. Then, millimetre by millimetre, crank it up.

Your lifted head sees further.

Looking down, all you see is the next shuffling step. A lifted head aligns your body, straightens your spine, improves your weight-bearing capability, allows your vision to find the horizon.

Rough times make big change feel far out of reach. So don’t reach that far. Reach one millimetre. Reach up. The rest will follow.

Inspire yourself. Lead with your chin.

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Grace Kerina founded www.HighlySensitivePower.com to provide tools and encouragement to empower sensitivity, including the Healthy Boundaries Handbook and the Creativity Prompts Compendium. You can reach her at grace@highlysensitivepower.com.

Break your goals

Take action; take massive action on the goals that you have set. When you have one step forward, that is progress. Confucius had a saying that “If you know something and you do not act upon it, it is as though you know nothing.” Don’t fall into the trap of NATO (No Action Talk Only). Receiving knowledge would be great and it would be power, but applying that knowledge would be real power. Action speaks louder than words. Samuel Langhorne Clemens better known as Mark Twain, the American author and humorist, had a saying “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” Every drop makes an ocean and a small leak could sink a great ship. When we have big dreams, we set big goals. Sometimes it is important to break them into smaller goals, going one-baby-step-at-a-time mode.

Don’t change your destination, just alter your course.

Confucius had another saying “When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” You cannot change the direction of the wind but you can always adjust your sail. One of the key principles is be adaptive to situations and adjust yourself and your goals. As the famous martial artist and film star, Bruce Lee had a saying “Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless–like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, and it becomes the teapot. Now water can ‘flow’ or it can ‘crash’! Be water, my friend.”

It is not only about finishing the race but running the marathon of life.

Slow and steady. Don’t rush into the solution, take your time. Confucius had yet another saying “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” Also remember not to be too slow. To get you started off in running might be difficult, but as you get the hang of it, always remember to maintain your momentum.

Do not be a soccer ball of other people’s opinion.

You might have heard of this story of the grandfather, boy and the donkey. The grandfather and the boy actually carried the donkey to their destination. People will always be there to share their opinion; you make the choice and decide. Stand out from the crowd and be different – It is better to be a somebody on a nobody’s island than to be a nobody on a somebody’s island. Mark Twain had another saying “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”

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Santhanaram Jayaram, is principal consultant for 2Be3 Consultancy & WSQ trainer. Currently lecturing in management, marketing and international business and training in the field of business communication, relationship management, work improvement team, problem solving & decision making,  innovation and laughter at work & customer service.

If you spend your time avoiding obstacles – you get frustration and “what ifs” and regrets.

If you are looking to live without a job, you may not even RECOGNIZE your obstacles!

Here are the top 3 obstacles my clients work through with me:

Obstacle #1:  You don’t know how.

Every new endeavor will require learning new things.  And that to me is exciting!  Don’t let the “how” derail you.

Here’s a secret.  Change the “how” to “what.”  What is it you want?  What do you need to do next?   It may take time to percolate…but you will get your answers.  Keep moving in the direction you want.

Here’s an example.  In 2003 I decided I wanted to go to Italy in 2004.  I didn’t know “how.”  I didn’t know how I would justify and pay for a vacation. I didn’t know which cities I’d visit.  I didn’t know how I’d travel solo with no Italian language skills.

AND I didn’t let those perceived obstacles stop me. I wrote it down on my goals list.  Then I told 3 people within 2 days, “I am going to Italy in 2004.”  It was a done deal.

I bought a guidebook on Italy.  I took out my passport and left it in plain view.  I put up a photo of Venice as the background setting on my computer so I could see it often.

And then…a brochure came in the mail from a professional career development organization I belonged to.

Their 2004 annual meeting was to be held in… Venice!

So now it was starting to come together.  I could write off most of the travel costs to a business trip.

I’d have a starting place with colleagues so I could get comfortable before venturing out on my own.

I had a beginning destination.  I booked the trip…went…had a fabulous time!

Obstacle #2.  Your ego and identity around work.

One of the biggest obstacles I faced when leaving my last job was my mighty ego.

I had worked a long time to get the title…the nice office…in a beautiful marble filled building…a prestigious organization…and yet I was miserable…

Not at first.…I loved the work for more than 15 years…but when it was time to go out on my own…I was worried about losing the prestige…who would I be if I was just Ann Ronan, on my own…working from home?

Well it didn’t take me long to figure out that who I was …was happy.  Now I really get that doing work that makes me happy is the greatest reward of all.

Obstacle 3.  Listening to the wrong people

Those who secretly long to be their own boss are often full of bad advice for people who are on the verge of taking the leap.

How many of you were encouraged to be self-employed when you were a kid?  Probably not too many!  It just wasn’t understood or valued by most of our parents and teachers.

Protect your dream early on…nurture it like a seed and be careful who you expose it to.

Those who love you most may not be able to support you at first…they are concerned and fearful for you.

Keep learning about self employment…keep taking your steps with the encouragement of those who CAN support you…and when your loved ones see your success…they will share in your joy.

Paying attention, doing the thing that needs doing and realization that it IS (you are in the middle of your dream!) are the three elements that are needed for “living the dream”.

Anything in life that happens starts with an idea. So let’s start with the dreaming part. We all dream, either aware of our dreams or just idly wishing in a daydream. In his book, The Three Only Things, author Robert Moss says that dreams are so more prevalent in history than we realize.  Great discoveries were made often in dream states by scientists.   We all have dreams, and some are significant and others are just leftover brain fluff from a long tiring day. Even daydreaming can lead to some brilliant ideas and aha moments. Sometimes, answers to huge problems come in dreams or warnings show us that we need to take a different path. Paying attention to those ideas or bits and pieces that come daily to our mind are crucial. Once you have the dream of what you want, you have to take some action. As Robert Moss states in his book, “What we can imagine has a tendency to become real in our bodies and our world.”

This is the big part of the equation, becoming real – emphasis on the word “big”. Planning, revising, editing, making mistakes, turning a matter upside down, just DOING it is the matter of manifesting your ideas into reality.   You have to have stamina, vision, incredible work ethics, and good old fashioned endurance to make things happen in the physical world. A good chunk of faith in your self is always a necessary ingredient to this process. Probably most important to this whole idea is to surround yourself with other people who believe in you and your dream! The energy of good vibes can never be discounted. Get those people on board your own train of grand plans, chugging along to wonderland!

The final piece is the most misunderstood, and sometimes someone else has to remind you of it. When do you know you arrived? Or do you ever get there? Or does it matter? How do you know you are “living the dream” when you are in the middle of it?

Does a fish know it is surrounded by water? Do birds know they are surrounded by air? Do you know if you are surrounded by all the things you have dreamed of?  Fish and birds may or may not know; we can’t take a poll and ask them. But when you are in the flow…you just know. Your energy is up, people want some of what you have got going on, and they want to be part of it. You attract more good stuff into your life, and despite setbacks and some difficulties, the direction always leads you into the next step, and into more ideas, and more growth, The old saying, “If you ain’t growing, you’re dying” is a perfect yardstick. 

A good question to ask yourself is, “What am I doing toward living my dream?”  The answer(s) may take you by surprise and turn your heart and head in a brand new direction!

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Margaisa the Fairy Godmother aka Peggy Barry Bartz owns A Rose in The Road, a multi-faceted company that encourages, entertains and enlightens hearts. Visit her web site www.aroseintheroad.com.

This idea is known as “the self-fulfilling prophecy”. When you believe the team will perform well, in some strange, magical way they do. And similarly, when you believe they won’t perform well, they don’t.

There is enough experimental data to suggest that the self-fulfilling prophecy is true. One unusual experiment in 1911 concerned a very clever horse called Hans. This horse had the reputation for being able to add, multiply, subtract, and divide by tapping out the answer with its hooves. The extraordinary thing was that it could do this without its trainer being present. It only needed someone to put the questions.

On investigation, it was found that when the questioner knew the answer, he or she transmitted various very subtle body language clues to Hans such as the raising of an eyebrow or the dilation of the nostrils. Hans simply picked up on these clues and continued tapping until he arrived at the required answer. The questioner expected a response and Hans obliged.

In similar vein, an experiment was carried out at a British school into the performance of a new intake of pupils. At the start of the year, the pupils were each given a rating, ranging from “excellent prospect” to “unlikely to do well”. These were totally arbitrary ratings and did not reflect how well the pupils had previously performed. Nevertheless, these ratings were given to the teachers. At the end of the year, the experimenters compared the pupils’ performance with the ratings. Despite their real abilities, there was an astonishingly high correlation between performance and ratings. It seems that people perform as well as we expect them to.

The self-fulfilling prophecy is also known as the Pygmalion Effect. This comes from a story by Ovid about Pygmalion, a sculptor and prince of Cyprus, who created an ivory statue of his ideal woman. The result which he called Galatea was so beautiful that he immediately fell in love with it. He begged the goddess Aphrodite to breathe life into the statue and make her his own. Aphrodite granted Pygmalion his wish, the statue came to life and the couple married and lived happily ever after.

The story was also the basis of George Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmalion”, later turned into the musical “My Fair Lady”. In Shaw’s play, Professor Henry Higgins claims he can take a Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, and turn her into a duchess. But, as Eliza herself points out to Higgins’ friend Pickering, it isn’t what she learns or does that determines whether she will become a duchess, but how she’s treated.

“You see, really and truly, apart from the things anyone can pick up (the dressing and the proper way of speaking and so on), the difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves but how she’s treated. I shall always be a flower girl to Professor Higgins, because he always treats me as a flower girl, and always will, but I know I can be a lady to you because you always treat me as a lady, and always will.”

The implication of the Pygmalion effect for leaders and managers is massive. It means that the performance of your team depends less on them than it does on you. The performance you get from people is no more or less than what you expect: which means you must always expect the best. As Goethe said, “Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be.”

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Eric Garner is Managing Director of ManageTrainLearn, the site that will change the way you learn forever. Download free samples of the biggest range of management and personal development materials anywhere and experience learning like you always dreamed it could be. Just click on http://www.managetrainlearn.com/ and explore.

With the countless negativity’s the world brings about, how do we keep motivated? Try on the tips I prepared from A to Z…

A – Achieve your dreams. Avoid negative people, things and places. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Consume yourself with the motivation to achieve tremendous results from everything you attempt

B – Believe in your self, and in what you can do. Motivation comes from within, if you trust in your abilities you will come out on top.

C – Consider things on every angle and aspect. Motivation comes from determination. To be able to understand life, you should feel the sun from both sides. Never say never, there is a way of accomplishing anything if you keep an open mind and never give up.

D – Don’t give up and don’t give in. Thomas Edison failed once, twice, more than thrice before he came up with his invention and perfected the incandescent light bulb. Make motivation as your steering wheel. The only way you lose for sure is when you quit.

E – Enjoy. Work as if you don’t need money. Dance as if nobody’s watching. Love as if you never cried. Learn as if you’ll live forever. Motivation takes place when people are happy. Maintain a positive attitude under any circumstance. Fill your mind with positive thoughts and the whole world will be your playground.

F – Family and Friends – are life’s greatest ‘F’ treasures. Don’t loose sight of them. So often we look past our greatest treasures, remain motivated to always seek the treasures in your family bonds.

G – Give more than what is enough. Where does motivation and self improvement take place? At work? At home? At school? When you exert extra effort in doing things. Try to give more than what is asked of you, this shows true self motivation.

H – Hang on to your dreams. They may dangle in there for a moment, but these little stars will be your driving force. Dreams keep us motivated to go after the things that excite us in life. Holding onto your dreams shows a strength in your character of positive expectations.

I – Ignore those who try to destroy you. Don’t let other people to get the best of you. Stay away from toxic people – the kind of friends who hates to hear about your success. Surround yourself with positive people and you will all keep each other motivated to seek out the positives in life.

J – Just be yourself. The key to success is to be yourself. And the key to failure is to try to please everyone. Believe in your strengths and live by your positive terms.

K – keep trying no matter how hard life may seem. When a person is motivated, eventually he sees a harsh life finally clearing out, paving the way to self improvement. Motivation keeps you striving for the best, hang onto the values brought on through positive thinking.

L – Learn to love yourself. Now isn’t that easy? You cannot give love to others unless you love yourself. Learn how to motivate yourself into working on your own personal development. You will never grow as a person until you learn to take responsibility for your own self improvement.

M – Make things happen. Motivation is when your dreams are put into work clothes. Motivation is one of the strongest characteristics you can have. When you live your life filled with motivation you become a person who really gets things done.

N – Never lie, cheat or steal. Always play a fair game. A person with a good moral standing will go further in life than an unmotivated cheat. Never look for short-cuts to good things, this will lead to missed opportunities and challenging possibilities.

O – Open your eyes. People should learn the horse attitude and horse sense. They see things in 2 ways – how they want things to be, and how they should be. Life is full of possibilities, keep the motivation to go after the wonders in the world.

P – Practice makes perfect. Practice is about motivation. It lets us learn repertoire and ways on how can we recover from our mistakes. Maintaining the motivation to work hard towards the things you truly want out of life will bring you more rewards than sitting back and expecting things to happen.

Q – Quitters never win. And winners never quit. So, choose your fate – are you going to be a quitter? Or a winner?

R – Ready yourself. Motivation is also about preparation. We must hear the little voice within us telling us to get started before others will get on their feet and try to push us around. Remember, it wasn’t raining when Noah build the ark. The boy scout motto is “Be Prepared” and this is a way of life we should all adapt to.

S – Stop procrastinating. Nothing kills motivation more then procrastination. Choose to spend your time accomplishing positive things in your life.

T – Take control of your life. Discipline or self control jives synonymously with motivation. Both are key factors in self improvement. When you know what you want out of life and you are motivated to work towards the attainment of your dreams, you will accomplish more then the average person lacking motivation.

U – Understand others. If you know very well how to talk, you should also learn how to listen. Yearn to understand first, and to be understood the second. Understanding another persons problems in life and being motivated to offer help to others, builds your own character.

V – Visualize it. Motivation without vision is like a boat on a dry land. Your mind can bring you whatever you desire in life. Visualize success and success will be yours, visualize defeat or loss and failure will encompass your life. Maintain the motivation to visualize success and achievements.

W – Want it more than anything. Dreaming means believing. And to believe is something that is rooted out from the roots of motivation and self improvement. When you have strong wants this leads to the motivation to attain what you truly desire.

X – X Factor is what will make you different from the others. When you are motivated, you tend to put on “extras” on your life like extra time for family, extra help at work, extra care for friends, and so on. Set yourself apart from others, stand out in the crowd, hold your head up high with pride and conviction.

Y – You are unique. No one in this world looks, acts, or talks like you. Value your life and existence, because you’re just going to spend it once. Use the fact that you are one of a kind to excel at everything you do in life. True motivation is for you and you alone, use it to move forward in life, show your uniqueness.

Z – Zero in on your dreams and go for it!!! Never lose your motivation to go after your dreams because living your dreams means you are living your life.

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The level of our personal motivation is usually determined by the strength of our own personal development. If you are interested in more relevant information to help you with your own motivation please visit:
http://www.positive-thinking-for-you.com/
http://www.nlp-self-help.com/

Here are some possible reasons why. Perhaps you can relate to some of them.

1. You’re stuck in the “pay off”. What is the pay off for staying where you are now. I knew of a woman who complained constantly that her husband never paid any attention to her. She was diagnosed with cancer and all of a sudden her husband was at her side, tending to her every need. Shortly thereafter, she became cancer free and her husband went back to his old ways, much to her dismay. Months later, the cancer was back and so was her husband. My point:  you may be saying that your desire is to be wealthy, but if wealth is not showing up in your life, then take a good look at “what is”. There may be some clues there as to why.

2. You’re afraid to hurt or lose someone you love. Who would you hurt / lose if you suddenly became rich? Would you be making more money than your parents did and would that offend or hurt them in some way? Would you be in an entirely different financial bracket from your friends and feel that they would resent you or even worse, abandon you?

3. You’re addicted to the drama. You complain about the struggle but you re-live it over and over again. Does it make you feel alive, on some level? A friend of mine recently became debt free and when I asked how that made him feel, he told me that he felt empty inside. No struggle, no drama, no reason for living. Unfortunately, that is true for many of us. How about you?

4. You still have feelings of “not good enough”. Have you ever felt like a small child standing outside of a candy store. You look in the window at all of that candy just waiting there to be devoured, but you don’t feel like you will ever be able to walk inside that door and take it. You see others going in and out of the candy store, but you feel it could never happen for you.

5. You feel safe “playing small”. Playing small is comfortable. Playing big would require you to move out of your comfort zone. It may require that you put yourself out there and that can be a scary thing. Are you ready to, as they say, feel the fear and do it anyway?

6. You believe that “money is bad and / or evil”. This belief is reinforced by the media at every turn. It would be hard to escape not feeling just a little like this. However, it may serve you well to remember that Mother Teresa created lots of money, without which she would not have been able to accomplish what she did and change the world.  Think about that.

7. You “get in your own way”. You decide to move forward towards your dreams, you set some financial goals, you begin to feel hopeful, and then you sabotage yourself at every turn, with your thoughts, words and deeds, which are totally contrary to what you have chosen. The sad thing is that you probably don’t even realize that you are doing it.

And you are not quite sure how to change it.

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From Veronica Hay – The Prosperity Poet and The Insights and Inspirations Hub

Yes, the bad weather did leave its mark on the big, strong mountain – an erosion here, an erosion there but that didn’t make a difference. The snow made its home on the mountain, yet it never complained of feeling cold but was rather proud of the beauty the snow added to it. When the snow melted away, it took with it the mountain soil – a souvenir of the mountain. The strong winds too would take with them something from the mountain, but still the mountain stood there big and strong, beautiful and radiant.

The little girl wondered why we couldn’t be like the big strong mountain. In spite of all our troubles, no matter who tramples all over us, if we could be like the big, strong mountain, how nice it would be – no tears, no sorrows and no complaints. In the stillness, she heard a little voice say to her:

Yes, you too can be like the big, strong   mountain, but for that my dear, you have to weather the storms in your life first, experience the pleasant and unpleasant and learn from it. Remember, no one can do any harm to you unless you allow it. If you are cool and calm in all your moments, then you too can be like the big, strong mountain.

–

Arpita Ghosh conducts various  training modules on communication skills, goal-setting,  developing leadership skills, Life is A Blank Canvass – Create Your Own Picture, Follow Your Heart and many others at college and corporate level.

So here we are back to our flat bellied world, only to find that we have purged more than necessary from the system. We have had to let go growth-steam , production- rhythm , momentum of change, motivation to experiment, learning ladders of progress, tenets of teamwork, enrolment of ethics, relationship realty, partnerships and scores of nutrients that are needed to fill the system with sustainable growth and competitive advantage. And all because the enema of deflated vision, along with powerful doses of survival laxatives impartially wash out all elements in the tubes!

Weakened at the knees of stability and glassy-eyed from the spasms of painful “detoxification” of the business blueprint of growth, one can be excused at despairing at the shrunken and emaciated remains of a thriving life. Blown away and blown apart are the lives of thousands and for countless generations onwards this effect will snowball to create the greatest revolutions of economic life on the planet. What do we do with this sick world? Well the best thing is to dig in your heels on the slopes of the downturn and force through a U- turn.

Let’s look at what we can all do to chip in during these tough times. My guess is that it is very similar to what we do when we are really sick. We get a diagnosis done, medicate as advised, support the recovery process, stay in the groove keeping hope of recovery alive, get back up as soon as we can, allow recovery to complete the journey beyond the sensation of wellness, plant flags of our learning on the way ahead, learn new ways to be more resilient and forecast how to deal with future illnesses resident on the journey, achieve a new fullness of health which promises to be more resilient and immune to the bacteria of breakdown.

Translate this to the times of today, and we can look beyond the “medication” which is in progress, and work out the steps from supporting recovery to future new health. The organization and the individual can work in tandem to produce the armour we require.

What the individual can do

•    Use the time available to get back into shape – health, knowledge, skills and abilities.

•    Enroll your hobbies into your mainstream of life – the future may lie there instead.

•    Recast your lifestyle – critically examine what you need and what are the excesses that can be cut away.

•    Repair and renew the life you have – revisit old practices like walking instead of driving , visiting instead of emailing ,  using cost effective public systems  in transport and communication instead of costly private luxuries, budget-shops instead of glitzy malls with expensive distractions, more meals at home instead of fast food take-aways and glamorous dining at starred restaurants, a quiet and enjoyable  sip of wine at home with the family at dinner, rather than the wallet shaking pub-crawling crave, living with the fashion statements already in your closet rather than the ones in magazines and showroom windows, more polish on the shoe leather instead of new leather – old leather is so much more comfortable, and well… you complete this list!

•   Invest in the future rather than spend for the present, because the future is still available. So educate yourself further with well-chosen courses that add value to your future, certify your knowledge and pick up additional skills by examining what your natural talents and abilities can do for you.

•   Provide yourself with options by creating them from the “meta-markets” of your life-skills. For example, if you are a good teacher, learn to become a professional life-coach, a trainer, a counselor. Or if you sing well, train your voice professionally, if you are knowledgeable and skilled, learn to teach and pass on the baton of success to others, if you like gardening,  learn to landscape, if you draw and paint, then start offering your skills to printing and publishing houses, learn and certify yourself in computer animation courses, if you like cars and bikes, learn how to repair them, learn how to design them, if you like playing with colour, learn how to apply it in industrial design and interior decoration and so on.

•    Combine incomes, skills and lives – get back to community living.  Try the new-old way of sharing with family or creating sharing families with friends. Let your networking skills create synergistic skill and life networks that live the practice. It will help you build organizations for the future. You may never need to “get back to work”!

What the organization can do

Well to begin with the organization jumbo-jet can pull full throttle on the twin-engines of good governance and corporate social responsibility. These are those very engines of growth they have touted and won awards for in the “good times” and must now fly in their passengers (read employees, channel partners, vendors, stakeholders etc.) in the “bad times”. Because the passengers are on board since they have already bought their tickets which paid for the fuel and carriage, and cannot be simply jettisoned because the pilot and crew are incompetent to perform to full emergency measures!

This would call for measures such as:

•    Counseling the employees what to expect of the future in this business.

•    Increasing the level of in-house expertise through training and development activities in a focused manner to support and sharpen skills directly related to business.

•    Stepping up motivation by involving close examination of the hygiene and motivational factors and what strengthening of these would result in better performances.

•    Conducting talent identification processes to identify what talents other than those aligned to business are available and counseling employees how that can use their talents to cope with the future.

•    Creating creative “brain-shops” in the organization to examine extreme and diverse ways of leapfrogging or re-scaling or reframing and reinventing business life cycles.

•    Cutting the flab from business spend across the organization rather than simply cutting salaries and jobs.

•    Investing more in focused operations like R&D and product distribution rather than advertising and promotional gimmickry.

•    Moving from cost-cutting to cost-reduction as a design not a mere measure.

Together the twin clasp of individual and organizational effort to stem the hemorrhaging flow of talent, competence, capability and opportunity can help restore some of the equilibrium to the violent see-sawing of life today.

None of the suggestions offered are all consuming or exhaustive, nor do they prescribe fortune filled futures, but they do allow you to dig in your heels and gouge the hell out of the downslide to slow you down enough to craft the U-turn after which the real hard work begins – going back up the hill!

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Dexter J Valles, business and life trainer renowned for his programs under the “At the Steering Wheel of Life” and “Winning Edge” banners, is CEO of Valmer International, a Mumbai-based management consultancy. Contact him at www.valmarinternational.com or http://valmar.page.tl

Along your journey you will experience failure.     You have to be able to pick yourself up and continue.

There are times when you have to stand alone. Other people will distrust you. They will challenge you. There are people in this world who will even try to get you to compromise your values or get you to change your success goal. They may not be doing so intentionally or they may be fearful that if you grow, they will be left behind.

You will face deep disappointment.There are going to be times when the promise was there, you were about to get hold of that deal that would tip you over the edge to success, or meet the right person. But it was just at the wrong time. It is easy to get depressed at such times, to become miserable with the cards you’ve been dealt.

A friend of mine used to be miserable and depressed, but now he’s completely turned his life around and is depressed and miserable instead.

Others will resent your progress.Every time you make some progress, there will be some people who don’t like it. We learn in physics that motion causes friction. Your progress towards your success causes friction too – causing some people you pass by to get hot under the collar.

One definition of commitment is “hard work and determination whatever the circumstances.”

Ken Blanchard distinguishes between being interested in something and commitment to something:

“When you’re interested in something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.

Staying on the road

If you’ve been on your own journey for any length of time, some if not all of this you know. Yet, there are many people who’ve achieved their success. And many who’ve achieved things far greater than you set out to achieve. So how do you achieve your success?

# First of all – you need to know what ‘success’ is for you. Whether you see ‘success’ as being your goal, or the journey towards a goal.

Now count the cost of your ‘success’. All of it. The time, the effort, the mental anguish, the miserable days, the depressed days, the friends and enemies you accumulate on the way.

Determine to pay the price. The journey for any worthwhile goal is long, troublesome and difficult. It will not happen overnight. Don’t believe the short-cut secret silver bullets. Expect it to be difficult and you won’t be surprised (except pleasantly). Face up to the fact that anything worth having is going to be a struggle.

Keep a good attitude. Yes the journey is tough. Yes, it’s difficult. Yes you should have achieved it all so much more easily. Tough! Life is difficult! Now get back up on your feet, and smile at the world. I may not be where I want to be, but I’m a whole lot better than I used to be. I will prevail and I will cross my finish line.

Strive for excellence. A great craftsman invites you to inspect his work and admire the intricate details and want to explain in detail how it was done. A sloppy person, on the other hand, hides their work. Shoddy workers blame their tools, the materials or someone else.

You want to achieve your success. You know that you have talent and you know you have the skills. Do you have the commitment to keep on keeping on?

Talent alone is not enough. Talent is the gift God gave you. Skills are what you used yesterday.

Commitment is what you put in today to create your masterpiece and have success tomorrow.

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Develop your leadership advantage online at http://gainmore.learnertoolbox.com
Take the GAPPS assessment and focus on the development that’s will benefit you the most, right now.

If you have ever watched the film “A Wonderful Life”, with Jimmy Stewart, you will see how the butterfly effect works. The film by the same name, “The Butterfly Effect”, is also a great example of this powerful law.

In the first film a man is down on his luck and tries to commit suicide. When an angel appears and rescues him, the man makes a wish that he had never been born or existed. The angel grants him his wish. The man then views and interacts with the world as though he had never been born and sees how people, places, events and outcomes have changed because he was not there to change them through his interaction with them. Even small things he had done made big changes because in this reality he had not done them!

The second film shows how one man can time travel to his own past. Merely by looking at a picture from his past he can enter that time and the body of his former self while retaining all his knowledge about the present. He then uses this ability to make small changes that have a dramatic effect on his world when he returns to his own time.

Both these films show how small events can dramatically change future events.

Using the same principle you can make small, minor and almost insignificant changes in your life now that will have a dramatic effect on your future through the butterfly effect. A stone thrown into a pond will create small ripples that travel far!

How many times have we heard of a person who buys a lottery ticket on a whim and wins a fortune? This small act had a dramatic and huge impact on all areas of their life! Although this may be an extreme example, that is not common, ordinary small changes can have just as much of an impact over time.

Paul Burrell, butler to the Queen and princess Diana, had the chance to join a cruise ship or Buckingham Palace. His mother hid the cruise acceptance letter and gave him the acceptance letter from Buckingham Palace. This one small event changed a man’s life forever!

Paul Burrell went from an almost enviable life of eventually working down the mines in his home town, with poverty and hardship all around him, to working directly for the Queen, then Prince Charles, then Princess Diana. Now he is a multi-millionaire television celebrity!

From little acorns grow mighty oaks!

Likewise, how many small events, decisions and actions that you have taken have shaped the life you are currently living?

Make your mind up now to set small personal development goals and take action. The small actions you take now will have huge impact on your future. Imagine what huge actions could do for your personal development and your future life?

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The most important driving force of any successful and contended individual is his or her ‘vision statement’. And this statement can be made by the person at any point in life, by thinking and writing down what he/she thinks are important and priorities to life…on the personal front, family, work, friends and so on. On giving the values and priorities a considered thought, they shall be written down in the form of a ‘personal vision statement’ or ‘credo’.

Once this is done, this will be the beacon that will guide each and every action of the owner of the ‘vision statement’.

The time spent on making a ‘vision statement’ for yourself, will be worth more than its weight, not in gold, but the most expensive metal in the world. Just think of the fact that at every point and step in any facet of your life, you will be subconsciously guided by your ‘vision statement’ of which you and only YOU were the author.

Let me give a simple example of my own case. About a couple of years ago, on reading extensively about the value of personal written vision statements, I just spent about a day thinking of what my priorities in life would be, and what value systems would guide me on-course. Concluding the thought process, this was the ‘vision statement’ written down.

“…will be a successful man who will nurture his family with love and affection, provide them a better and comfortable future. He will embark on any step that will directly or indirectly contribute to this mission. He will live life with integrity, full of smiles, and radiate the same wherever and however he is. His career will be full of creative contribution to the positions he shall hold. He will become famous for his writings.”

Once I wrote this, and kept a few copies of it with me, I went through it time and again, probably for a few months. In hindsight, I can state emphatically that I have been guided by this ‘vision statement’ in all my deeds – be it at home, at the workplace, or anywhere and anything done, for that matter.

Think of what you want to do, what you want to accomplish, what will be your guiding values in each of your actions and steps…. And put down this, in the form of a concise vision statement.  This ‘vision statement’ can change and evolve, and be written and re-written time and again, by introspection.

Write your vision statement NOW. And see success and accomplishment in all you do…success and accomplishment as defined and set forth by you. Because that is what is your command to your mind, body and soul to act on consistently.

So today, and just now, please sit down and think of what should be your vision statement. Consult your parents, your spouse and kids if need be and make sure that you have a written vision statement before you retire for the day.

Make a few copies of your ‘vision’ statement, and leave it in places which you will see it often, may be 2 to 3 times a day. Carry a copy of that in your wallet. Make a public commitment – be it to your spouse, friends, and confidante about your vision.

The result of this easy and simple exercise will be there to see for the rest your life…and you/your family shall soak in nothing but accomplishments, happiness, satisfaction, success.

–

Muralidharan is an HR practitioner and a recruitment professional. A strong believer in spreading cheer and positivity, Murali currently works out of Chennai and is a voracious reader and a prolific writer.

The secret of success is known to both successful and unsuccessful.
Then why do we have to be told how to succeed?

By one and all?

Have you ever pondered and mulled over this aspect of life science?
I have.

The quote above was the reason to do so, as the word “volition” jumped out at me, years ago, when it was presented to me by a senior, through a very powerful presentation.

There I was referring to the dictionary to learn its meaning, later in the day.

The word had a good positive ring to it when it was pronounced emphatically so I had to know what it meant.

It turned out to mean…”will”…a very common word.

Here is what it literally means:

Volition: The mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses or decides. Will.

•    The act or an instance of making a conscious choice or decision.
•    A conscious choice or decision.
•    The power or faculty of choosing; the will.

Having now understood what it means, allow me ask you now three questions.

•    Did you have the volition to succeed when you did succeed?
•    Didn’t you have the volition to succeed when you did not succeed.
•    Finally, do you now have the volition to succeed?

If you do not dismay, as you know the secret…you may have been wary of it all this while, but now you will get to know, for sure.

As one thing is for sure…”The only thing that stands between you and success is you”.

Success has got ‘u’ built into it by default.

You have/had the volition within you always, maybe lying dormant within you…you need to stir it up consciously now and then.
That’s all.

Get to do that consciously and constantly.

From “Got to do it” mode…you need to get to “Get to do it” mode…now!
As it is always now or never.

Therefore to succeed, as a habit, do it now… As, nothing succeeds like success!

With a little bit of reverse engineering you will realize that life is all about choices and not chances.

It’s the choices you make that drive you to action, or for that matter, inaction too.

Inaction is akin to inviting peril. Inaction invariably is preceded by procrastination and callousness. Identify their onset as soon as you can and then…jettison them immediately.

Once done, come and join me to “Kick the tire and light the fire” of the engine of action.

Action is driving yourself in the direction of results, both positive as well as negative.

With results happening, you are on the path of progress…progressing from the rabbit path, to a muddy track, to a road, onto a highway leading to a taxi track reaching out to a runway…to take off!

From the dumbbell called confidence.
To succeed.

Succeed…and  then land…back again on this runway, or for that matter any other runway, anywhere in the world, once you are deft and confident at doing just that…again and again. On the wings of patience, perseverance and a positive attitude.

Through repetitive attempts, you will too.

Fly.

As “they can fly because they think they can” is another quote that I have lived with ever since I was 20. Without fear of getting grounded or for that matter stuck in a quick sand—or worse, back-tracking over the same old ground(s), over and over again.

Attempt is a temptation that you need to be tempted to attempt.
That’s a conscious choice you have to make.

Whenever I look back at all that I have done and achieved I have narrowed down to the choices I made that lead to success…to the degree I desired.

Nothing more nothing else.

When I decided to hang up my gloves, it was a conscious thought and a deliberated action on my part, as I had had enough of that success.

I knew what I was doing and was ready to face the consequences too.
I did too.
No regrets.

As, here I am addressing and sharing thoughts/experiences with all of you, to tickle you to succeed, and get wherever you decide to go after.
Who knows, whether I would have been able to do the same, as an active combat pilot, had I not hung my gloves?

Then.
I am loving it here…and that’s true success for me.

Hope this piece of my “thoughtscape” helps you define, design, align, and spur you into action(s) too, to succeed as a habit…so that you do get to where you need to…so that you do love it as much as I love what I am doing, now a days.

As I made a choice, once I got to know and understand the power of choice coupled with, the power of now!

That understanding finally led me to understand the process of success.
So please make the right choices…don’t hold back on them ever.
If you don’t choose, you tend to snooze and if you snooze…you get to lose.

Choose now…set your choices as your goals…write them down…and then do not forget to assign time lines to each and every choice you make…as time lines breathe life into those very nascent thoughts that will finally spur you into action

Thoughts lead to Actions.
Actions begin with choices.
Right choices reach you to right results.

Right results = success = wealth, power and happiness.
Success = steely resolve + firm commitment + rock like determination = Volition = will (will+power)

–

Arun alias Axee is an ex-combat pilot turned executive life coach. He is actively involved with Brian Tracy in a novel learning initiative, iLearningGlobal.biz/axee. Contact him at emarshalarun@gmail.com.

Just a bit further down the highway, another sign appeared. A similar, nondescript road, this time to the left, it led to “Wisdom”. Interesting, two important paths, but in different directions.

If I had to choose a direction, what would I choose? What would you choose? Does one travel down the path of opportunity to reap what rewards may lie ahead? Do we hope that if given the opportunity, we will gain the wisdom we need to make the most of it? Or do we need wisdom first? If we were to travel down the path of wisdom instead, would we be wise enough to seek out the opportunities life has to offer without having to travel down opportunities path?

Questions swirled in my head yet as I pumped my car full of gas; wisdom…opportunity…opportunity…wisdom? As I traveled back down Highway One to return to the interstate, I was reassured by the journey that I had chosen.

Wisdom was now located to the right and opportunity to the left, proving indeed that both lie in each direction, in all directions. Both to be discovered; to be found on any given path. The road, whatever road it maybe, Interstate One or a metaphorical prose links all other roads together.

What I learned? Make sure you have a full tank of gas. No matter if you chose to turn right, go left or just continue on straight ahead, you’ll need a full tank of gas.

–

Amy is the Director of Career Services at Herzing College Online and teaches career development courses for the online campus. Email her at achastek@onl.herzing.edu or visit http://www.herzingonline.edu.

Don’t know and can’t wait to find out? Well let me give you 3 ways to figure it out NOW. Before I give them to you, I want to give you a framework.

First of all, do not get stopped by the “I can’t make money doing that” mantra. Save it for later.

2nd, I’ll let you in on a secret…I still haven’t decided what I am going to be when I grow up and I never will. What I do know is that I plan to do as many things that I can!

3rd, when you think that living in the status quo, in a job you despise, is good to do because you can’t afford to take a risk –think again. What are your risking if you don’t go for the quantum leap of what you truly want? The risk is that you won’t get what you really want out of life.

Here’s step #1:

Get out a piece of paper, journal or computer sheet and make a list of everything you love to do. Be as specific as possible….a not so good example is I love the way the sun feels on my face is not as good as I’d like to spend parts of my day working in the outdoors in a sunny climate.

Step #2

Picutre this. You’ve got 5 lives to live – you get to do it over 5 times and each time explore a different passion to the fullest. (You may need only 3 or you may need 10 – choose what works for you).

What would you do with each one? (Secret – you may be able to do these all in one lifetime.
That information will come later in a teleconference!)

My example: In one, I’d be a famous writer and speaker. In another I’d lead tours of spiritual sites in Europe. In another, I’d be a sex therapist. In one I’d be a hermit and live on an island and read and write.

The best part is, you get to include all your interests in just one of your lives – they are all key parts of your essential self. And even better is, you can change your mind. Your lifeplan five or ten years from now may be quite different as new interests appear and old ones fade.

Step #3:

Look for the themes that keep popping up – highlight them. Brainstorm work you can do that use these things you love to do. You may start with a spin-off of your current occupation – I did that with a grant writing consultant business. You may have found a shortcoming in the products or services of others that you can improve. You may have asked “Why isn’t there…?”  You may have seen an observed need. You may be able to teach, write and speak about your interests. The possibilities are endless!

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Ann Ronan, Ph.D. is an author, speaker, and self employment expert. She regularly leads coaching programs, tele-seminars and live retreats, bringing the message to audiences internationally that living a passion-based life will bring prosperity and success. Visit her website http://www.authenticlifeinstitute.com.

There is a duality that exists in our society about change.  On one hand, we are a country that was formed due to a drive for change and as a result, we are a change dependent nation.  We count on new everything.  We expect new cars, computers, bodies, presidents and attitudes.  On the other hand, we ignore it, we avoid it and in doing so, we don’t help each other move through change.

There are multiple factors feeding into this issue.  Before I go into them, let me say that change is a process.  The change and transition process are well studied and there are very effective things a person can do to maximize the opportunity that change represents.

The main reason change is so hard to do is it usually represents some kind of habitual behavior.  Habits help us cut down on the energy and effort it takes to function each day.  Some habits are great, like brushing your teeth.  Other habits are bad, like over eating.  We are clueless about some habits like interpersonal skills.  We know we don’t obtain great results with some people, but often we don’t know why.  Even our thoughts are habits, such as being defensive or happy.  Habits serve a purpose, but aren’t always helpful.  Habits also can be a very unconscious drive that we don’t even give much thought to, we just do something a certain way.

Your first step toward change is to be conscious of the NEED to change.  Easier said than done.  This means you first must recognize an issue, then you need to really “get it” at your emotional and rational core.  You must become emotionally impacted by the need for change.  For several years I packed around some extra pounds and clearly knew I was overweight.  At the same time, I was totally fine with it and did nothing.  So, on one level I knew I had an issue, but it didn’t make it into my core being what the issue or motivation for change would be.  When I finally made the decision, it wasn’t a “lightning bolt” but rather tiny little steps in that direction.  I’ve had other changes to make that did strike me and instantly I started making a change.  In this regard, you may need patience with yourself.

The rule of thumb about habits is that is takes 21 days of repeated action to start forming a new habit.  It doesn’t sound like much, until you try doing it.  Because the new thing is not a habit, it means you have to consciously make yourself do something.  Because it’s not a habit means you have to remember to do the new thing at the appropriate time.  For most of us, it will mean you have to develop a system of some sort to reinforce this new action until it becomes a habit.  A system is simply something you build into your daily routine that will trigger you to do certain things.  It can be setting the timer on your watch or writing a sticky note and putting it on the refrigerator.

Another aspect to consider is the payoff you receive.  Our actions reflect what works for us even if those actions aren’t positive or healthy.  Somewhere along your life path, you thought or acted a certain way and got some kind of pay off.  One of our most common issues is having negative beliefs (thoughts) about our self.  The process might go something like this: You miss a question on a test.  You say “I’m so stupid”.  The payoff is that you don’t have to “take credit” for missing the question because YOU’RE STUPID.  Of course, you missed it!  The payoff is subtle.  The payoff here is both a rationalization and lack of responsibility.  You may have a habit that you no longer even know what the payoff is.  Self examination is usually required as part of the change process.

Lastly, there is often a social aspect to change that will make your change a challenge.  Depending on the change, the people around you can make it difficult to make changes.  We are all part of social fabric and when one thread attempts to change, the fabric will reinforce the previous behavior.  Change of one person in a group usually means the entire group changes to some degree.  You are multiplying the change by the number of people in your personal network by the impact of your change.

It’s important to point out that change does present opportunities.  It’s an enticing but much over looked outcome of change.  Sometimes, it doesn’t always look like there might be an opportunity but eventually most people do recognize the good that came by making change.  I have talked with numerous people over the years that were devastated by losing their jobs but in the long run found it was just what they needed to go on to do the next great thing.

If I was going to leave you with one Pearl of Wisdom about making change, it would be to learn from your changes.  If you use each change that comes your way as an opportunity to fine tune your process and attitude going forward, you will become masterful.  Share your wisdom about change with others.  If there is one thing you can do for the next generation it would be to honor change at a personal level the same way we honor new innovations.

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Dorothy Tannahill Moran

http://www.nextchapternewlife.com

dorothy@nextchapternewlife.com

http://www.nextchapternewlife.blogspot.com

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