Know Your Own Value And Believe In Yourself

If you truly wish to be successful in life and in your business then it is important to have a sense of your own value. We tend to dismiss or take for granted the many successful achievements throughout our lives. Graduating from high school, buying a house or raising a child all require a degree of skill and discipline, yet we never really think about those sorts of achievements and how they might have made us a better person or someone who others look up to.

Recognition of these sorts of achievements is important for helping build our self confidence. A lack of self confidence or self worth is one of the major dream killers. You may have wanted to be a pilot but decided against taking lessons because you thought that it might get a bit scary up there. Perhaps you wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer but you didn’t end up going to college because your family members told you “no-one in our family has ever been a doctor or a lawyer”. Some people might take a statement like that as a challenge, but many would also see it as an indication that their family and friends don’t believe in them… and would give up on that dream.

You need to put other peoples opinions and influences aside and think about what you have already achieved in your life and what you would like to achieve in the future. Consider that there have probably been many people who had exactly the same hopes or goals as you have, and many of them achieved those goals. If those people didn’t honestly believe that they could achieve everything that they set out to accomplish then they most likely would have failed. Common sense tells us that if you don’t believe you can leap over a fence then there’s a very good chance that you are going to hit that fence fairly hard and end up in a crumpled heap.

Professional sports people are an excellent example of what can be achieved with self belief and hard work. You don’t get to the top of your sport by constantly telling yourself “I’ll never be the best”. When Muhammad Ali loudly proclaimed “I am the greatest” he wasn’t just giving lip service to self confidence – he genuinely believed he was the greatest boxer on the planet. Most athletes who compete at the Olympic Games are there because at some point they realized that they had become good enough at their sport to compete amongst the best athletes in the world. They realized their potential and set about a plan of action to take them to that pinnacle.

Your capability to achieve whatever you desire lies within. Most of the barriers that are placed in the way of a good goal or dream are usually put there by our own minds or by people who have no real interest in whether you succeed or not. Some of them may even be envious of your enthusiasm and positive outlook. As the great business philosopher and personal development speaker Jim Rohn once said – “The few who do are the envy of the many who watch”.

Filed Under Motivation Tagged With motivation, personal worth

Take Control Of Your Life

Something that most of us rarely think about is the way in which external influences affect our lives. Every day we are bombarded with information from televisions, radios, cell phones, computers, friends, associates and customers. On it’s own, one piece of information has little effect on how we think or act. However, the cumulative affect of all of this information over a period of years can have a profound effect on who we are and how we view ourselves and the rest of the world.

News and current affairs programs deliver an overwhelmingly negative message. They mostly highlight stories of death, destruction, deception and fraud. Rarely do they provide stories of triumph or heroism. The main reason for the imbalance in positive versus negative content is simply that negative stories sell much better than positive stories. Many more people will rush to see a large building on fire than those that would go to see the guy who raised $10,000 for the local hospital. Have you ever noticed how most people, when asked how they are, will have a brief positive answer or a long negative answer? If they are okay then they will probably just say “I’m, okay” or “I’m good thanks”. Ask the guy with the bad back though and he will probably spend the next 10 or 15 minutes telling you about the operations he has had to endure and how limiting his back pain is. We find it much easier to talk about the negative aspects of our lives than we do the positive things.

So how does this really affect us and how do we take control so that we can screen out the negative and embrace the positive? We can never completely screen out negative influences and we shouldn’t ever try to do that – life has negative aspects that we all must be able to endure and overcome. We can seek to balance things out though, so that there are more positive influences and experiences in our day to day lives than negative ones. A good place to start is by cutting down on the news you watch or listen to each day. The vast majority of news has no direct affect on your life other than perhaps to re-inforce a negative view of the world in general.

If you are truly committed to improving your lifestyle and becoming a better person, then you need to focus on the things that matter by embracing the activities that assist you in achieving your goals, and rejecting the activities that prevent you from achieving those goals. Negative news, commentary and influences do nothing to assist you, so shutting them out, or at the very least reducing the time you spend on them is a very logical and positive change. Listening to personal development audios, reading motivational books or watching videos is a great way to get a daily dose of positive influence. If you have to commute to work each day then your car can become your mobile classroom.

Filed Under Motivation Tagged With influence, motivation

About Scams and Scammers and Taking Action

Having a fairly high profile in the online world has its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand it increases your sphere of influence and allows you to affect what many people are thinking or doing. On the other hand it sometimes attracts negative reactions and comments. You’ve probably heard the saying that if you aren’t attracting at least some criticism then you are doing something wrong. That’s fairly accurate and I think you will find that some of the people who you really admire have attracted criticism at some stage in their career.

The words ‘scam’ and ‘scammer’ do seem to be thrown around a little too liberally. Many of the people I have worked with or alongside have at some point been called various names and quite often the criticism comes from people who are frustrated with a lack of success, or disappointed with the support they have received and are looking for somewhere to vent. That’s not to say that scams don’t exist – there are plenty of people out there who are quite willing to take your money and give you nothing in return. A good example of that was the ‘ponzi’ scheme that landed Bernie Madoff in federal court.

Quite a few online marketing related products have attracted negative reviews, but generally speaking those reviews appear a year or two after the release of the product. That’s usually because the products or techniques have a limited shelf life for taking action. If you look at how the Internet has evolved over the past 10 years there is a definite cycle where a particular strategy works exceptionally well for 1-2 years and then the search engines make some changes or the focus shifts and the strategies that were generating income for everyone who was using them are now only working for the people who were quick to take action.

With that in mind, it really is important to take action straight away rather than waiting until the focus has shifted to other techniques or strategies.

Filed Under General Tagged With scammers, scams, taking action

Self Motivation

Most of us have heard an inspiring or motivating speech at some time in our lives. Those types of speeches are great, and they do sometimes get us motivated for a little while, but generally speaking, they don’t change our lives.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons that two people can listen to the same great speech and one of them will leave the venue saying ‘wow, this is really going to change things for me’ whilst the other will say ‘I’ve heard it all before’. The difference is in their expectations. The first person sees the speech as a springboard. He has taken in some techniques and ideas and will now use those ideas for his self motivation plan. The second person expected to have his life changed for him by the speech.

It doesn’t work like that.

A great speaker can certainly help immensely in pointing you in the right direction to improve your life, your income or your lifestyle. The speaker can’t do it all for you though. Self motivation requires action on your part and if you aren’t ready for some activity and discipline then you will likely end up sitting in front of the television for a few hours each night, occasionally wondering what ‘might have been’.

The purpose of a great motivator is to plant a few seeds. Just a few thoughts that take root and then blossom into life changing activity. The speaker is the catalyst that starts you on a new road that could lead to a lifestyle that you only ever dreamed of. It may sound a little far fetched or over the top, but there are many people out there whose stories started with a serious struggle until their course was changed by a few seemingly simple ideas.

Self motivation starts with desire and goals. A desire for something better than what we have now and a destination, or goal, that we need to focus on. Without any goals you are like a ship with no sail – adrift at sea and being pushed in whichever direction the current happens to be flowing. Goals give you your sail back – they give you a direction and a destination. They also provide the motivation.

Goal setting is a skill that can assist your self motivation, or work against it. If you were to say ‘I want to be making $150k per year within the next five years’ and then do nothing toward achieving that goal, then the chances are that by that fifth year your self motivation will be either very low or completely gone. You planted the seeds, but didn’t give them any water – and they withered and died. You can’t just ‘manifest’ a better life by thinking about it. You need to have a plan in place to achieve your goals – and as you approach the achievement of your goals, your self motivation will probably increase exponentially.

Self motivation is a force that has driven many of the greatest achievements throughout the ages. If you can embrace it and apply discipline, study and activity you really can achieve just about anything.

Filed Under Motivation Tagged With discipline, motivational speaker, self motivation

It’s All In The Mind

You’ve probably heard people say those words many times in your life, but have you ever really stopped to think about what it really means or whether it is really true?

You may be surprised at just how much of an effect your mind and the way you process thoughts and experiences has on your life. There are literally millions of people who only achieve a fraction of what they are capable of, and the only hurdle in their way is their mind.

Napoleon Hill, author of the classic ‘Think And Grow Rich’ said ‘What the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve’. There’s a big clue right there in that quote. What if the mind never conceives? What if you never think about the things in life that you really want and how you might go about getting them? That’s the trap that most people fall into. They simply go on with their lives, accepting that what they have right now is all that they are meant to have in life. After all, they were probably told by family and friends that our main aim in life should be to get a good job, work for forty or fifty years and then retire. And if you’re lucky, you might even get a gold watch!

That’s where a second force comes into play that works hand in hand with your mind – influence. A good, though fictional, example of how influence and your thoughts can limit your success is in the film ‘The Truman Show’. In the film, Truman Burbank lives his life, not knowing that he is actually in a very large television set. From his point of view, that television set is his entire world. Truman is influenced by news reports of ‘the dangers of travel’ and other stories about how good it is to stay home. These things work to deter him from wanting to explore outside his small world.

Exploration is one of the keys to success. It’s important to explore new ideas, new social contacts and opportunities. Without that exploration you may very well find yourself on a treadmill – where it seems that you are moving forward when, in fact, you are exerting some effort but not actually going anywhere fast.

Now might be a great time to start thinking outside your current ‘world’. Think about what you would REALLY like to be doing and the things that you might need to do to turn some dreams into reality. Start planning something really big instead of accepting something much smaller than what you are capable of.

After all, life is about enterprise and achievement. It’s about being all you can be!

Filed Under Motivation Tagged With influence, power of the mind

Your Goals Should Be Smart

Goal setting is as easy as thinking about, or writing down, a list of things you want or things you want to achieve. That’s only half of the story though. Millions of people set goals every year – right around midnight on December 31. We call that a ‘new years resolution’ and around 95% of people abandon those goals within the first 24 hours.

If you are really serious about your goals then you need to refine your goal setting process and put in place a plan to achieve those goals. A system that has become popular is the S.M.A.R.T. system. Whilst it was originally developed for project planning and development, it works just as well for setting personal goals.

S – Specific

Make your goals specific. Goals such as ‘I want more money’ or ‘I’d like to lose weight’ aren’t specific and they are easily forgotten. Instead, set a target weight or a target amount of money.

M -Measurable

Find a way to measure the progress of your goal. If you can’t measure your goal then you’ll never know if you have achieved it. If your goal relates to income, then keep good personal financial records so that you will be able to see your progress toward that goal. If your goal relates to weight then that’s easy – you just need to weigh yourself from time to time. The important point is that you need to be able to measure your progress.

A – Achievable

Your goal should be something you can achieve. It can be big and audacious, but it also requires your commitment. Think about your goal and the effort that will be required on your part to achieve it. If it’s too big, cut it down into smaller chunks. If you are still confident that you can achieve it then just go for it!

R – Realistic

Make sure it is something that is within your reach. Goals should push you and stretch your limits – whether that be the limit of your willpower, or the limit of your strength, if it doesn’t test your resolve or require some sweat then you won’t get much satisfaction.  On the other side of that coin, it shouldn’t be something that is so difficult that it is out of reach. Realistic goals push us to our limits sometimes , but are very attainable if we have the necessary commitment and discipline.

T – Time Sensitive

Goals should always have a time frame or a deadline. Without a set time frame you can find yourself becoming a little bit lax with your goals and, if unchecked, that can go on for months or years. There’s a big difference between saying ‘I’m going to make $100k per year sometime’ and ‘I’m going to make $100k per year within the next 3 years’. With no time frame you could still be chasing those same goals in ten years time. Put a realistic time frame on your goals and you have a reason to try to achieve them as soon as you possibly can.

Filed Under Motivation Tagged With goal setting, goals, S.M.A.R.T.

The Cumulative Effect Of Life

Have you ever watched a snowball rolling down a hill? The further it goes, the bigger it gets and the more it accumulates. Life is the same – as we roll through life we accumulate.

The challenge is to accumulate in a way that leads to good health, good relationships and a better lifestyle. Bad habits might not seem at all harmful today, but what about the accumulated effect of those bad habits over five years or ten years? This is a trap that many people fall into without even realizing. Unless you are conscious of the things that may be harming your health, your relationships or your wealth, you can end up accumulating a lot of regret and a lot of debt over a period of years.

The key in all of this is to be aware that life is a numbers game. If your expenses are a little higher than your income then you will gradually fall behind on paying your bills. If that cream cake you eat each day, without any exercise, causes you to gain one pound in weight each month then after ten years you can expect to be around one hundred and twenty pounds heavier than you are today. Both of those problems have simple answers. In the first problem you can either reduce your expenses or increase your income. In the second you can cut down on the number of cakes you eat each week and set aside some time to do some exercise.

Once you have that awareness of your bad habits, or the things that may be doing damage to your health or lifestyle then it is entirely in your hands whether you fix those problems or allow them to drive your life in the wrong direction.

Now would be a great time to take responsibility for where your life is today and where you are headed. Unless you have allowed other people to make every decision in your life up to this point in time, then the major influence on your life and lifestyle has been… you.

By taking responsibility you are relegating any excuses to the past and moving forward with  complete control over your future health and lifestyle. It is a very empowering feeling, knowing that you can tear up your ‘life’ script from the past five years and write yourself a new, healthier and happier future.

Take some time out today to go over any bad habits you might think are holding you back and develop a plan to change those bad habits!

Filed Under Motivation Tagged With bad habits, life accumulates

When The Student Is Ready…

You’ve probably heard the old saying ‘when the student is ready the teacher will appear’.I sometimes wonder if that’s true – or perhaps the teacher was there all the time, but the ‘student’ had blinkers on and didn’t recognize him?

It’s not difficult to get into a routine that, over time, causes harm to ourselves or our finances. Without a teacher we can be oblivious to this very gradual force that is slowly diverting us away from the goals and disciplines that are necessary for success. Take, for example, the guy who eats three big burgers every week and never exercises. If he does that for one week there is no real harm done. If he does it for 10 years then the effect is going to be devastating.

Without a teacher or a mentor he probably won’t realize the harm he is doing until it is way too late. It’s not hard to just accept our current situation as being ‘just the way it is’. That’s one of the great challenges in life – to think outside your current box. To ponder the possibilities and strive to be everything you possibly can.

One of the dignities of being human is that we can make choices in the way we will lead our lives. If you have ever seen the giant sequoia redwood trees in the California forests you would agree that they are majestic. Each and every one of those trees grows as high and as big as they possibly can. They don’t have a choice. We, on the other hand do have a choice. We can be all that we possibly can be or we can be part of what we can be.

A teacher or mentor can help you stay focused on your goals and grow as tall as you can, in life. Ask any of the top business people, sports people and celebrities how they achieved their goals and I’m sure that nearly all of them will give at least some of the credit to a mentor, coach or teacher. Your mentor isn’t shackled by years of bad habits, poor decisions or the accumulated apathy that may have been holding you back from achieving your goals and dreams. They can very quickly identify the areas where you need to lift your game.

Life is about enterprise, achievement, setting big goals and then doing everything you possibly can to achieve them. It’s about leaving a legacy that your children, family and friends will remember. Even if you didn’t manage to achieve every single one of your goals, it would be nice to be remembered as the person who always gave 110% in everything he or she did.

Filed Under Motivation Tagged With life coach, mentor, motivation

How To Motivate Employees

A question I’m often asked by business owners is ‘How do I motivate my employees?‘.

The first question I ask the business owner is what THEIR motivation is. Motivating your employees is certainly a worthy pursuit, but that motivation needs to start at the top -with you, the business owner. You need to be enthusiastic and motivated about your own business so that you can demonstrate your own commitment to achieving your businesses goals. You do have goals don’t you?

So let’s look at some of the methods that some businesses use to motivate their employees.

1. Fear

You would be surprised how common this one is. Some employers use fear tactics such as the threat of a pay cut or termination of employment to try to motivate their employees to work harder or do better. Others simply yell as a way to try and motivate their employees. These methods work some of the time – but usually only in the short term until the employees fear turns into resentment. Fear is definitely not a good long term motivator.

2. Recognition

Almost everyone likes some form of recognition. Whether it be a mention in the company newsletter, an employee of the month program or even a few kind words from the boss. There are few things quite as satisfying as being told you are doing a great job.

3. Cash

Surprisingly, cash isn’t the most effective motivator. Cash bonuses can be effective in keeping your employees motivated, but not necessarily in making your employees MORE motivated. To increase employee motivation you are going to need a program with a little more depth than a cash bonus.

So What Does It Take?

So, if fear, recognition and cash aren’t the ideal motivators then what is it that a business owner needs to do in order to motivate their employees?

First up, you need to set a good example. If you’re not motivated and enthusiastic about your business and its future then that’s going to be pretty obvious to your employees.

Your motivation program should allow the employees to share in the success of the company. This can be done in several ways. If your company is listed on the stock exchange then you could give each employee a number of shares and perhaps increase that shareholding if an employee is named employee of the month. You could set aside a percentage of your monthly or yearly profits that will divided amongst your employees. Be creative and come up with your own program that helps grow your business AND rewards your employees.

Make sure your employees are happy. Zappos is recognised as one of the most employee friendly businesses out there and one of the core reasons for this is their business culture that encourages employees to be involved in the business, to be creative and adventurous and to have a little bit of fun. They don’t pay the highest salaries and they don’t offer some of the perks that other companies offer. Instead,  Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh has as one of the Zappos core values the concept of ’employee happiness’. That may seem a little strange but the Zappos culture is all about making employees and customers ‘feel really, really good’.

Be proactive  about employee complaints. In many businesses employees simply won’t voice their concerns or complaints for fear of stepping on toes, being labelled a ‘whiner’ or attracting the wrong sort of attention from the management. The reality is that if your employees have something to complain about, but they aren’t telling you, then it may well be  doing damage to the overall morale in your business. You should be looking for signs that employees are unhappy. Don’t just be the boss – be a friend and mentor and encourage other management staff to be the same. If an employee looks unhappy then the chances are that they have an issue  – and a simple question such as ‘You don’t look very happy today, is something troubling you?’ can reveal issues that you otherwise would never have become aware of.

These are just a few of the things that you can do to improve employee morale and really motivate your employees to help you grow your business. Never forget that motivation starts with the business owner, so if you want a motivated workforce then you need to have your own head in the game!

Filed Under Motivation