Are You Waiting For The Right Moment To Move Forward?

2016-09-262016-09-23 ~ adminlife

Why Waiting for the Right Moment is Often a Mistake

Are you waiting for the perfect time to launch your grand plan? We don’t like to wait in line, but we’re more than content to wait for some other things. Diets are commonly started on a Monday, or the first of the month, or the first of the year. It’s rare that someone chooses to start a diet right this very minute.

The same mindset applies to starting a business, going back to school, learning to play guitar, writing a book, or having a difficult conversation. We believe that challenging objectives require optimal conditions.

But all that’s really required is the courage to get started. Waiting is often an excuse when we feel fearful or uncertain.

The idea that perfect conditions are necessary is flawed:

Life is much too short. Eventually, we all run out of time. No one can wait forever. That doesn’t mean to be impulsive and throw all caution to the wind. It does mean, however, that it would benefit you to act soon.
Life will always get in the way. Waiting for the right moment is like saving the money you have left over at the end of the month. You’ll never have any time to spare, just as you’ll never have any money left over.

Make time for the important things you want to do or accomplish. The longer you wait, the harder it can be to get started.

Waiting is passive. Each day is filled with unique moments. It’s not necessary to wait until the perfect storm of opportunity, convenience, and motivation finally occurs. You can create special moments whenever you choose. Plenty of good moments are happening each day, but you’re failing to make the most of them.
You don’t learn anything while you’re waiting. You’re not enhancing your skills or gaining any experience when you’re inactive. Make the most of right now and you’ll be better prepared for the future.
Avoid regret. Do you really have the time to spare? Those that wait too long are filled with regret at the end of life. Do you want to look back on your life and think, “If only I would have …”

Few things are worse than regret, especially when you’re no longer in the position to do anything about it. You might still be able to climb a mountain or learn to play the piano at the age of 80, but it might be easier when you’re 45. You’ll also have more time to enjoy it!

Taking action results in a more exciting and fulfilled life. Taking action and failing is better than doing nothing at all. Even in failure, you’re learning, taking risks, and living life to the fullest. You’re better prepared for the future and gain a new perspective.

Make your life interesting and fulfilling by deciding that right now is a good enough time to get started.

Waiting results in a lack of control. While you’re passively waiting for the perfect situation to occur, you’re giving away control of your life. One common symptom among those with depression is the belief that they lack control over their lives. Why wait? Take action now to create the life you want and take back your control.

Valuing yourself will result in valuing your time. When you value your time, you’ll begin to make the most of it. Every moment is important because you’re important. Avoid waiting any longer for the perfect moment to finally arrive. Get started today and create your own moments.

To your success

Michael W

Don’t Quit – How To Keep Going

2016-09-232016-09-21 ~ adminlife

How to Keep Going When You Feel Like Quitting

The most successful people have an uncanny ability to keep going when everyone else would quit. Your success is tied your ability to keep working after you have the urge to quit. Quitting is a bad habit, and it’s often learned at a young age. Learn how to continue making progress no matter how strong the urge to quit grows.

Consider the reasons you feel like quitting in the first place:

You lack energy. A lack of energy isn’t just a reason one might quit a marathon. It’s also a common reason for quitting other pursuits. Exhaustion can be physical or mental. To help counteract your exhaustion:

Get a full night of sleep.
Get better control over your schedule.
Streamline your life.
Eat more nutritious foods.
Learn how to relax.

You lack focus. Too many distractions can result in the desire to quit. Are you trying to accomplish too many other things? Some people can deal with more goals than others. If you feel overwhelmed, narrow your focus to your most important goals.
It’s not that important to you. Do you have a good enough reason to keep going? Why are you doing this activity in the first place?

Remind yourself of why it’s important to keep going. Maybe the best motivation you can find is setting a good example for your children. Maybe the most important issue is self-respect. Find a good reason to continue.

Understand the reasons you feel the desire to quit. It’s natural to want to quit. And most people do. Will you be one of the few that’s able to persevere? It’s just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other until you’re finished.

Persevere when you want to quit:

Revisit your original purpose. Is that motivation enough? If it’s not, you’ll need to find a new reason. If you can’t think of one, that might be a sign that you should be doing something else. But don’t give up too quickly. Look deeply. You’ll almost certainly find a compelling reason to continue.
Create small successes. Nothing is more motivating than success. Set yourself up for regular success by setting easy goals that move you forward. These baby steps can result in the momentum you need to carry you to the finish line. Just focus on the immediate task and forget about the rest.
Focus on the endpoint. The path might not be enjoyable, but the end result should be. Keep your eye on how great you’ll feel when you’ve reached the end. By focusing on the endpoint, you can maintain your motivation more easily. Visualize your ideal endpoint twice each day.
Stay on schedule. Once your motivation begins to wane, it’s easy to lose track of your goal. Other activities seem to take over your schedule and it becomes easier to procrastinate. So, make a schedule that will ensure you stay engaged. Make time so you don’t have an excuse to quit.
Ask yourself how you’ll feel if you allow yourself to quit. Quitting sounds good in the short-term, but we usually regret it later on. How will you feel in a week, month, or year from today if you let yourself quit?

Learn to keep going, no matter how strong the desire to quit grows. This is the best indicator of your ability to be successful. You will eventually succeed if you can continue moving toward your goal. You don’t have to quit just because you feel the urge to stop.

To your success

Michael W

The Pareto Principle And Your Life

2016-09-212016-09-19 ~ adminlife

Practice the Pareto Principle and Reap the Results You Seek in Your Life

The 80/20 Rule, or Pareto Principle, probably isn’t new to you. The Pareto Principle is the idea that 80% of your results come from 20% of your actions. You wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time. The top 20% of sales people make 80% of the sales. It’s a powerful concept that can be used to change your life quickly.

Use the 80/20 Rule to create the life you desire:

Realize that your instinct is to focus on the 80% of your options that provide minimal results. The Pareto principle isn’t for the weak-hearted. The easy, comfortable actions we prefer are those that provide little in the way of results. The most meaningful actions are less comfortable.

For example, switching to fat-free doughnuts isn’t too hard, but it also won’t lead to a lot of weight loss. Leaving the dinner table when you’re still a little hungry each night for 6 months is more challenging, but will make a huge difference.

It can be applied to nearly any area of your life. 80% of your happiness comes from 20% of your actions. What if you arranged your life so you could spend more time on that 20%? By the same token, 80% of the grief in your life comes from 20% of the people in your life. What if you could limit or eliminate them from your life?
The 80/20 principle saves a lot of time. By focusing on the actions that make the biggest difference, you can save a tremendous amount of time.

It’s all about efficiency. Consider each part of your life and make a list of the most important actions you take. These are the vital few actions that make most of the difference.

Ask yourself the important questions, using the 80/20 principle. Then, you’ll have enough information to make a huge change in your life. You know what makes you happy, who makes you happy, and what creates your success. You also know which things and people are obstacles to these objectives.

Which 20% of my activities cause 80% of my stress?
Which 20% of my activities lead to 80% of my happiness?
Which 20% of my friends do I enjoy the most?
Which 20% of my friends cause the most pain?
Which 20% of my skills account for 80% of my success?
Which 20% of my beliefs cause 80% of my grief?

Begin to apply the principle to your life. What are you trying to accomplish? Let’s imagine that you own a business and want to apply the Pareto Principle.

20% of your employees do 80% of the work. You’d better treat them well to ensure they don’t leave!
20% of your employees cause 80% of the problems. You might want to show them the door.
20% of your customers provide 80% of your profits. Cater to these customers.
20% of your actions created 80% of your customers. Focus on those actions to gain new customers.
20% of the actions you take provide 80% of the value you’re creating at work. Spend more time on that 20%.

The 80/20 principle can be applied to any part of your life you wish to change. You’ll save a tremendous amount of time and get more accomplished. Ensure that you’re spending your time on the activities that can create the biggest impact.

To your success

Michael W

Expand Your Comfort Zone To Grow

2016-09-192016-09-16 ~ adminlife

13 Ways to Expand Your Comfort Zone

You’ve been told countless times that you must go beyond your comfort zone if you want to accomplish anything worthwhile. You may have noticed that’s a scary place to be. But there are ways to expand your comfort zone gently. It doesn’t matter how you get there, as long as you complete the journey.

Expand your comfort zone and your life:

1. Start slowly. It’s the bigger changes that tend to stimulate feelings of discomfort. The thought of doing 50 pushups for the first time in five years is daunting. The thought of doing one isn’t a problem.

Create small changes and then increase those changes over time. This is a great way to keep discomfort at bay.

2. Eat something new. Most of us are a little hesitant to try a new food, but it’s a non-threatening way to stretch your comfort zone. Try a new restaurant or a new fruit from the grocery store.

3. Read something completely different than your usual fare. If you’re a man, a book on feminism might be just the ticket. If you’re Christian, a book on the Muslim faith might shake things up a bit. Read something you would ordinarily never read.

4. Take a new route to work. Better yet, don’t look at a map beforehand. Follow your instincts and see where you end up. Hopefully, you’ll make it to work on time.

5. Unplug for an entire day. Turn off your phone, the internet, and the television. This will be more uncomfortable than you think.

6. Sit in a different place. Sit on the couch instead of your favorite chair. Choose a different seat at the dining table.

7. Strike up a conversation with a stranger. It doesn’t have to be a twenty-minute affair. If you can maintain a conversation for 30 seconds, consider yourself successful. There are plenty of people in the world available for practice.

8. Ask your boss for a review. Tell your boss you’d like to sit down with him and review your performance. It might do wonders for your career and will stretch your comfort zone.

9. Apply for a new job that’s a step up from your current position. You might feel like a bit of an imposter, but that’s okay. Worst case? You might get the position and a new career. Your bank account might even benefit.

10. Call someone you haven’t spoken to for at least six months. Just pick up the phone and do it. You’ll feel great about it afterwards.

11. Travel out of the country. If you’ve never travelled outside your home country, you might be in for quite a shock. The food, people, and culture can all be different. Apply for a passport and consider where you’d like to visit.

12. Give yourself a thrill. Tackle something that makes you a little fearful. Go skydiving or ride a roller coaster. Give a speech. Take a dance class.

13. Sit by yourself in silence. This can be tougher than you think. Turn off all your devices and just sit alone with yourself. Avoid allowing yourself to daydream. Just stay with yourself for at least 30 minutes.

Expanding your comfort zone opens up numerous possibilities. Think about how your life would change if your comfort zone were larger. It’s possible to accomplish this without the pain you might imagine. Stretch your comfort zone a little each day.

To your success

Michael W

Why Self Awareness Matters

2016-09-182016-09-15 ~ adminlife

Self-Awareness: Why it Matters

What is self-awareness? The dictionary defines self-awareness as “knowledge and awareness of your own personality or character.” When you’re self-aware, you have an accurate and clear understanding of your personality, strengths, weaknesses, and beliefs. You know what makes you tick. Self-awareness also includes an understanding of how others perceive you.

Lacking self-awareness can lead to a very confusing and frustrating life!

Your level of self-awareness can influence your relationships, career, and happiness:

Self-awareness is necessary for taking control of your life. The direction of your life is determined by your thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and reactions. Self-awareness is the principle way of understanding and manipulating these things.

Self-awareness highlights faulty beliefs and emotional reactions that stand in your way and gives you the power to make adjustments.

Self-awareness illuminates the real reasons for past failures and challenges. We often dismiss our failures as bad luck or a lack of proper timing. It’s much more likely that you failed to perceive the situation, others, and yourself accurately. It’s much easier to see the reason behind relationship, work, and other struggles when you can look at yourself clearly.

Do you consistently struggle at work or in your relationships? It’s only logical to conclude that you’re doing something ineffectively.

Those who lack self-awareness are puzzled by their negative outcomes or blame others exclusively.

Self-awareness is a critical quality for leaders. One study concluded that a high degree of self-awareness was the best predictor of success for executives.

Executives that have an understanding of their weaknesses are able to build a team composed of members that fill those weaknesses.
A lack of self-awareness puts a limit on your leadership abilities.

Self-awareness is the foundation for personal progress. Without it, any personal development efforts will be severely hampered. Building greater self-awareness won’t happen overnight, but it can be developed.

How to Develop Self-Awareness

Build your self-awareness one step at time:

Write your own manifesto. Think about and then document your views on life, your goals, and your intentions. You might be surprised by what you write. This is a great first step for understanding yourself and your beliefs.
Make a list of your strengths and weaknesses. How do you know? Are you certain? Avoid jumping to conclusions. You may have always believed that you’re a hard worker, but are you? To whom are you comparing yourself? Provide yourself with proof before you make any decisions.
What would others say about you? Consider how your partner, children, friends, family, co-workers, and boss would describe you. What would they suggest you improve about yourself? Then ask them and see how accurate you are. Do you know how others perceive you? Find out how perceptive you are.
Meditate. Meditation is all about developing a better awareness of the present moment and yourself. Meditation is an ideal activity for enhancing self-awareness.

Meditate at least once each day. Spend the rest of the day paying attention to yourself, others, and your surroundings. You can develop a higher degree of self-awareness by just paying attention.
Question yourself throughout the day. “What am I attempting to achieve?” “What emotions am I currently feeling and why?” “What are the people around me feeling?”

Self-awareness is the cornerstone of success and self-improvement. Without self-awareness, the knowledge you possess can’t be applied effectively. It’s necessary to understand your beliefs, habits, strengths, and weaknesses to make a personal change. Avoid assuming that you’re self-aware. Give it some time and thought.

Life is easier when you’re self-aware. You can start building your self-awareness, and reaping the benefits, today!

To your success

Michael W