Thought Power

What do you think about thinking? Most of us probably think we do a lot of it, but we don't. True, for most of us, there is an endless stream of chatter drifting through our consciousness. But self-talk isn't thinking. It's just commentary. It's just an automatic regurgitation of opinions and beliefs. That automatic commentary is often negative. It weighs us down and impedes our progress.

By thinking I mean the conscious formulation of ideas. Thinking suggests deliberate thoughts that serve a purpose. So little true thinking takes place that it caused two great minds to make the following comments. "Most of one's life is one prolonged effort to prevent oneself thinking." (Aldous Huxley, 1894 ~ 1963). Some would argue that we avoid thinking to avoid thinking about death, but that's another subject.

As to be expected from George Bernard Shaw (1856 ~ 1950), his comment on our dislike of thinking is in a humorous vein, "Few people think more than two or three times a year. I have made an international reputation for myself thinking once or twice a week." The talented character actor and screenwriter Paul Fix (1901 ~ 1983) also put a humorous spin on the subject by saying, "The only reason some people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory."

When we think before we act, or consider the consequences of our actions, we can prevent a great many disasters. Thomas Secker (1693 ~ 1768, former Archbishop of Canterbury) put it this way, "Some persons do first, think afterward, and then repent forever." But it needn't be that way. We have the power to think before we act. At the very least, we can think after we act. That way if we make a mistake, we can learn from it.

One of the most powerful forms of thinking is reflection or contemplation. Simply put, it is careful thought, or thinking things through. In other words, we weigh the pros and cons or benefits and liabilities of a particular course of action. However, we don't want to overdo it. For as British Statesman Edward F. Halifax (1881 ~ 1959) said, "A person may dwell so long upon a thought that it may take him prisoner." At times, any action is better than no action. After all, if we make a mistake, we can learn from it and move on, but not to act at all is to remain frozen in time.

If you are unhappy with life, change the way you think about it. In other words, change your perspective. Change the way you see things. Learn to see the good that surrounds you. Sometimes we are so busy looking for flaws, imperfections, and problems that that is all we see. "Very little is needed to make a happy life;" taught Marcus Aurelius (121 ~ 180 AD), "it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking." Doug Horton adds an interesting twist, "Life is good when we think it's good. Life is bad when we don't think."

Our thoughts are a source of power. They can ennoble us or denigrate us, generate happiness or create misery, or set us free or enslave us. Thoughts are a creative force. You see, we become good by thinking about goodness and cause trouble to others and ourselves by thinking about trouble. Sid Madwed makes a serious point in a lighthearted way in this verse, "Thoughts are funny little things, They can make paupers or make kings."

Yes, constructive thinking is a life skill that leads to opportunities and personal growth. What can be more fun than wrestling with the infinite possibilities in our midst? Or more fun than trying to figure out our role in the overall scheme of things? Many exciting adventures await those who are willing to take the time to stop and think, for the fruits of thought are decisions, actions, and results. We can multiply the power of thought by using pen and paper. For writing down our thoughts helps us to focus on them. It allows us to capture our thoughts and all the directions in which they flow. Also, our notes provide the opportunity to amplify, clarify, modify, and simplify what's on our mind. Notes also serve as records to which we can refer to once again in the future.

Another way to unleash the power of thought is to ask questions. But they need to be the right questions. Ask, "How can I solve this problem?" Don't ask, "Why did this happen to me?" Ask, "What are my options?" Don't ask, "Who or what can I blame?" Walter Duranty makes a good point, "The problem with most people is that they think with their hopes or fears or wishes rather than their minds."

To be truly powerful, we must grasp the truth that no one or no thing has any power over us other than that which we give to it with our own negative thoughts. The miracle of thought power is this: a single positive thought can destroy an army of negative thoughts. Often, a single word is enough to change one's life for the better. For example, let's say that over several years, Tom has said thousands of times to himself, "I can't speak before large groups." But one day, through a flash of insight, he adds a single word to that sentence, saying for the first time, "I can't speak before large groups YET." That one word changes the meaning of the sentence so it now means, "I CAN speak before large groups WITH PROPER TRAINING." So, Tom enrolls in a public speaking course or joins Toastmasters International, taking the first steps to transforming his life. Can you see how changing our thoughts changes our lives and changing the way we look at things changes the world we live in. In a word, our thoughts govern our world.

Explosive power can be released when we combine the power of thought with the power of imagination. By joining the two forces, we can create our life vision and the dreams that we wish to pursue. By following our dreams, we create a life of adventure. To help us along the path to GREATNESS (title of the following poem), here are some thoughts to think about:

GREATNESS
A man is as great as the dreams he dreams, As great as the love he bears; As great as the values he redeems, And the happiness he shares.
A man is as great as the thoughts he thinks, As the worth he has attained; As the fountains at which his spirit drinks And the insight he has gained.
A man is as great as the truth he speaks, As great as the help he gives, As great as the destiny he seeks, As great as the life he lives.
-- by C.E. Flynn

Motivation: Dictating The Terms For Yourself

The importance of the word named “motivation” conveys lot more than it seems to have. Anything and everything that have to be done won’t be materialized unless and until it is supplemented by the crucial entity named “motivation”. Motivation is not something that could be manufactured, instead it has to come from within, rather, has to be cultivated.

It won’t ever be an animated reality if I mention that it is because of this motivation that world progresses even a fraction of a second. So, in a micro sense, each human needs to be motivated for every deed of his to be done. If you understand that the greatest or the ever discussed topic in psychological arena is motivation related aspects, its importance is conveyed and taken for granted.

Though we state that motivation is more or less a mental concern, it should not be stated that the physical well being and fitness have hardly any role to play. Moreover it could be stated that, motivation related problems are cancerously growing among the youth. This is so severe a scenario that they have to have a serious look at the mental status, physical well being and attitude. People, who are addicted to habits like smoking, alcohol consumption etc, should treat motivation as a pivotal entity in recovering themselves from those habits.

People who find it difficult to change their habits or people who continuously fails in motivating themselves to move forward to achieve their desired goal would find hypnosis as an effective solution. Hypnosis could very well be stated as a process of changing the well settled habitual mental status of people which help them in uprooting the so called status, to lead a better living. In whatever one does, motivation holds the key. The situations could be as diverse as it can be like meeting the deadline when given a job, stopping a bad habit like smoking or consumption of alcohol, reducing the weight drastically etc..

It should be reiterated that motivation finds its root in beliefs. If you have a strong faith in yourself, or if you have strong belief that some particular thing could be done within the stipulated time, you starts working hard on it. You are motivated to toil hard since you have the faith or belief that, it could be done. But at any point of time, if your belief or faith got hurt by any means, you are letting yourself down and where is your motivating factor? You find it difficult to dictate the terms for yourself. Here, hypnosis is so relevant. Statistical analysis shows that over 90% of people can be hypnotized. To motivate yourself, hypnosis can very well help you for sure. In this technologically advanced world, you only need to be choosy in selecting the media you need to get hypnotized. Compact disks, MP3 s etc are available in the market which essentially deals with hypnosis related to motivation issues.

It is so amazing to study that, which attribute of human mind caused him to be under motivated; the same attribute helps him to prepare himself for hypnosis, and come out successfully. That attribute, being the delicacy of human mind forms the leanest of all the bridges between an under motivated and a motivated mind set.

How To Stop And Overcome Procrastination

There are various reasons as to why people procrastinate… lack of confidence, fear of failing, low self-esteem, lack of focus, lack of skills or just simply plain lazy. Whatever the reason is, it’s got to be stopped otherwise you will always feel regretful. You will also feel that your life is very disorganized and scattered. Nothing important seems to get done and you will feel that you have no goal in life. Procrastination can ruin your life.

Let’s look at some of the most common reasons people procrastinate and tips that can help you overcome procrastination.

Lack of Confidence

Well, lack of confidence is normally due to lack of knowledge and skills to do something. The only solution to overcome this is to learn and build confidence. Lack of confidence is like a table without the legs. In order to be stable, a table needs to have four legs. Similarly, to have confidence, you need knowledge. This is easy to achieve as long as you are willing to start learning.

Fear of Failure

This is normal as most people are risk averse. People don’t like to take risk and experience changes in their life. Most people prefer to be in a comfort zone. However, in today fast-changing world, the comfort zone is actually the danger zone. Most successful people take calculated risk, it is the only way to get ahead in life. Of course, any risk - no matter how calculated it is - comes a chance of failure. But successful people are not afraid of failure, they understand that failure is part of success. They learn from their failure and then they gather energy to multiply their success.

Lack of Focus

We all know that success needs motivation and hard works… but more importantly it needs you to be laser focused! In order to accomplish something great, you need to put your mind to success. If you don’t put your mind to it, no matter how hard you work or how motivated you are, without focus, you will always feel that you are wandering around and missing out the goals. So, you must set goals, plan and focus on those activities that will move you closer to your goals. That’s the only way you can overcome procrastination and start edging towards your goals.

Lack of Self Esteem and Motivation

Lack of self-esteem prevents you from completing the easiest task. Why? Either because you do not feel you are worthy of the challenge, or because you feel you are not good enough to complete it. Motivation is a good place to begin. Start with an easy task first; then gradually work your way up to full completion. Your confidence will build; you will feel more positive about what you can accomplish, and you will be less likely to avoid the next task at hand.

Last but not least, if you procrastinate because you are simply plain lazy then I have three words for you… “don’t be lazy!”. If you’re lazy, nobody can really help you except yourself. Another good way to deal with laziness is to associate yourself with other people who are not lazy. Hopefully they can help influence and perk you up.

The Secret of Law of Attraction - How to Have the Positive Vibes

If you have heard about the law of attraction and want to know how to apply it to improve your life, you have come to the right place. In this article, I will share with you what I have learnt about the law of attraction and how to use it.

Firstly, let’s define the word “vibe” because it’s the key to effective use of the law of attraction.

A vibe is defined as a particular kind of feeling or mood. So for example, if you say that you have a good vibe about something, that means you have a good FEELING about it. The key word here is “feeling”.

Now, the law of attraction simply states “like attracts like”. For example, let’s say you’re now overweight and want to have a slim body and you believe that you will FEEL great if you have a slim body. So you start to pay attention and energy to whatever that can get you that slim body you want. Now, provided that you’re taking the right actions, very soon you will see results and have the slim body you want.

So the law of attraction says that you will attract whatever you give your attention and energy to, regardless positive or negative. In other words, if you give attention to positive things, you will attract positive things. If you give attention to negative things, you will attract negative things. Clear?

In order to use the law of attraction effectively, first you need to identify your DESIRE or the things you want to attract. Please note that just having your desire is not enough, you also need to be transmitting positive vibes around you. This is where most people find it difficult.

For example, if you say that “I am a millionaire” or “I have a successful business”, it doesn’t mean that you will be trasmitting positive vibes. Why? Because if you’re not a millionaire or you don’t have a successful business, you don’t FEEL good about saying it because they are not true. If you don’t feel good, you will be sending out a negative vibe.

So how do you ensure that you’re always sending out a positive vibe?

Here is the trick, you need to change each statement so it makes you FEEL that it’s TRUE. For example, instead of saying “I am a millionaire”, say “I am in the process to become a millionaire”. Instead of saying “I have a successful business”, say “I am in the process to have a successful business”.

The key point to remember here is that in order to transmit a positive vibe, you need to say something that you feel good about. In fact, you can always change words that you don’t feel good about into words that you feel good about. That’s the key in using the law of attraction effectively.

How Does The Law of Attraction Work?

The law of attraction is based on the premise that our universe is made up of “energy”. From the study of Quantum Physics, we know that atoms are the building blocks of the universe. And every atom consists of energy that vibrates at a certain frequency.

For example, the difference between an atom of lead and an atom of gold is that the atom of lead has energy that is vibrating at a different frequency to the energy of gold. The reason why the same particles of atoms grow together is because they are vibrating at the same frequency.

In fact, every human being is also vibrating energy at a particular frequency. This includes our thoughts and feelings. So if we want to attract the things we want, we also need to send out the vibration of thoughts at the same frequency as the things we want.

What we think determines what we believe; what we believe influences what we choose; what we choose defines what we are; and what we are attracts what we have. This is the basis of “Like attracts Like” and it is the way the law of attraction works.

So how do you apply the law of attraction? Well, the best place to start is with your current thinking process. Remember, everything starts from your thought. So the simplest way to attract what you want is to hold a mental picture of what you desire as long as possible and as often as possible.

In summary, your thoughts are vibrating energy (whether postitive or negative); you can atract anything you want by focusing your thoughts on the very thing you want. Everything else will be taken care of by the law of attraction. Remember, you are what you think you are and what you are attracts what you have.

Is Your Glass Half-Full or Half-Empty?

Our mind generates two kinds of thoughts: positive and negative thoughts. If our mind is full of positive ideas on dealing with everyday life, our way of thinking also becomes positive. Likewise, if we let negative ideas to rule our lives, then we may suffer from negative thinking. Both of these kinds of thinking have power over us. It’s now up to us which thinking we choose to empower us, since both may shape our future and create our destiny; only, bringing different results. Now, which do you prefer?

Is your glass of water, half-full or half-empty?

Power of Positive Thinking
(The Glass is Half-Full)

Although you can see that the glass is half-empty, you chose to see it in a positive way. It is still half-full, anyway. The absence of half of the volume of water didn’t even bother you. What mattered was that it still contains water. If this is how you answered the question above and how you justified your answer, then you have a positive way of thinking.

Positive thinking is a way of looking at the brighter side of life. Everything is good, beautiful, and light. There are no worries, problems, or fears. In short, all you see and believe in is, well, positive. I guess that’s already the most suitable word in describing this way of thinking, which is why it is the term being used.

So, how does the power of positive thinking works? How can it create reality? Do we only have to think of positive things and then will it happen right away? That positive thinking really is powerful may be somehow hard to believe at first, that’s why we may ask certain questions like those above. Because the mind is working on the information you send it, positive thinking leads to positive reality. This is how it works. Yes, we do have to really think of positive things. But it doesn’t stop there. Remember the ever-famous cliché “Do your best and God will do the rest”? You know, it’s true. Aside from believing in and having faith in something we want to happen, we have to do something about it. You can’t ace an exam just by sitting on the couch and watching TV days before taking it, can you?

Power of Negative Thinking
(The Glass is Half-Empty)

Some of the water spilled. Someone drank on my glass of water. Or there isn’t enough water on the pitcher to fill the glass. Whichever reason, still my glass is half-empty! It may not be enough for me. It may not quench my thirst fully. And darn that person who drank some of my water!

Geez… Is this how you react to a glass of water which is half-filled, or in this case, half-emptied? If you are, your mind is full of negative thoughts. You even cursed a person who drank some of the water in your glass which you are not even sure of. You are filled with opinions that something bad has happened to the water. What’s worse is, they are not even proven to be true and yet you believe them.

Negative thinking, the exact opposite of positive one, is a way of looking at, not necessarily the bad, but definitely not the good things in life. Everything that has happened is due to some undesirable cause. Or if something is not yet happening, you think of something bad that might take place. Your mind is full of worries, fears, discomforts, and you keep asking questions with what if’s.

This kind of thinking is also powerful. It is generated by the mind isn’t it? And the mind is empowering, right? Therefore, negative thinking has its own power. Yes, the same power as positive thinking – power to mold our personality, power to shape our future, and power to create our destiny. The only difference is the outcome it will bring about. So, if positive thinking brings positive reality, does negative thinking bring about negative reality? You Bet!

Work From Home Advice For Newbies - Important Self Evaluation Tips And Soul-Searching Questions To Consider.

Many people are interested to work at home and earn money these days. However, before you start evaluating a home business opportunity (especially if you are a newbie), start by EVALUATING YOURSELF first! Do some soul-searching and find out what you really want for your life. Earning money working at home is not as easy as it sounds. There are many challenges that could make it more difficult than having a day job.

Self evaluation to understand your strengths and weaknesses is the first step in deciding a work from home opportunity. This is because most self-employed or home business owners failed because they are lack of focus and self-discipline; NOT because the opportunity isn’t good enough.

Below are some self evaluation tips and soul-searching questions that you need to consider carefully before deciding to quit your day job and work for yourself… especially if you are a newbie and have never ventured in any home business opportunity before.

1. Are you a self-motivated type of person? Self-motivation is definitely a very important ingredient as you must be able to motivate yourself to work without anyone telling you to. When you’re your own boss, there can be myriad of things that can get in your way. If you’re not self-motivated, you will always find yourself putting off doing the works you’re supposed to do. And at the end of the day, you will feel that you’ve accomplished nothing and feel very guilty. This can make you feel very depressed and lead you into a stressful life!

So if you are not a self-motivated kind of individual, earning money working from home is a NO-NO for you.

2. Understand that there is NO “instant gratification” when it comes to doing business at home. You won’t get a constant paycheck at the end of every month like you normally have in your day job. You can become very discouraged very fast when you realize that there are large amount of works (with small rewards) you need to do initially. Of course, it is possible to earn good money with a home business but, you need to remember that it will take hard work, time and persistence to achieve success.

So in the beginning, you must be willing to accept hard works with little rewards. Building a home business is like an investment… firstly, you need to know where to invest your money and secondly you need to be patient to allow your investment to grow over time. Similarly, when building your own personal business, you need to invest your time heavily on activities that will bring in sales and revenues. And you need to continually do it over and over again until you achieve success.

3. Can you set goals and stick to them? Setting goals is important in any business, if you don’t set goals, you won’t be able to stay focused. So if you feel that you don’t have the goal-setting skill, you will need to brush up on this area first before jumping in and wasting your time evaluating any home business opportunity.

4. Are you treating it as a business or a hobby? If you treat your business like a hobby, you’re likely to be disappointed with the results! Unlike a hobby, a business needs to be worked at seriously and professionally. A business cannot allow any personal thing to get into its way. I’m sure you’ve heard this popular phrase: “It’s not personal, it’s business!”.

5. Are you financially responsible? This quality is important for any business owner. When you’re your own boss, you’re a finance manager. You’re responsible in managing and controlling your business budget. For example, when you start making some money, you need to be able to invest and spend the money wisely. Often times, you will want to put that money back into your business to help it grow and expand further.

These are just few things you need to consider carefully before you start telling yourself that you want to quit your day job and start earning money from home on your own. Make sure you really know what you want to achieve in your life. What is your personal mission in life? Ask yourself some soul-searching questions and answer them honestly.

So, take the time to do self-evaluation and soul-searching first before making a final decision to quit your day job and work from home. Hope this article is useful for you.

How To Build Persistence?

Persistence is one of those dynamic powers that can make you a winner when all else fails. Persistence is worth more than a dozen fancy sounding self help tips. It is a colossus of power. Nothing can stand in its way and nothing can stand in your way when you use it as prescribed in this article.

Persistence is known by a number of names such as constancy, tenacity or endurance. However you refer to it, understand that the process and the way it is used is the vital information to know. Persistence is one of the most universally admired qualities by all people.

Do you know why?

The reason is because it is so rare to find.The sad fact is that most people do not persist in their pursuit of anything and as such, they lack self-confidence. Due to this, they respect the man or woman who does persist.They admire the one who day after day works at their own plans until they are brought into reality.

What is your persistence like?

You can judge yourself quite easily.To do so just think of some of the things you wanted to have and what you wanted to attain a year ago. Now then, how many have become a part of you, or, at least, are within sight? Perhaps the most impressive thing to anyone from any walk of life is seeing another person persist in spite of their failures and knock backs. Especially the way in which certain people persist when it seems they are apparently getting nowhere.

Such people have developed a different concept to the word failure. They relate to it differently and do not let anything stop them.All the time they are building their own power of self-confidence within. Actually, such people are assured of success from the very start.Their endurance alone supplies everything else necessary to complete their journey toward their destination. It maintains their confidence, holds their focus, sustains their patience, and energizes their desire to achieve.

Perseverance can be related to building.The process of placing one brick on top of another, not perfectly, not with exact skill, not with total mental clarity, not even with complete confidence that it can be done. It consists of a series of quiet placements that will always develop definite form within a reasonable time.

Thankfully, persistence is one of the easiest of all personal powers to develop to your full strength. It responds quickly to the person who seeks it out and it can be used to full effect by you. If you really believe that your persistence will pay off, you will have no problem going all the way to the end, in the face of any obstacles.The great truth is that you can believe in your own endurance to reach your goal and it will reward you in due time. It always does, in one way or another.

Persistence comes from knowing the outcome of the efforts you make.You can build and cultivate the habit of persistence by using statement like “If I persist in – then I can expect”.

Know that if you persist in any endeavour you will soon come to the realisation that you are moving forward. Understand that you are building character with the action you take and regardless of the outcome, self-confidence is being built.

Action comes with persistence and action demands courage and facing whatever may stop you.As you move toward your goal and take passionate action, new ideas and systems of thinking will be born. A cumulative effect will be built and internal resolve will be created.
Persistence is an old law of success, but it applies today more than ever before.

Be someone who persists no matter what.

An Amazing Power of Your Mind - What the mind can conceive, it can achieve!

Our mind triggers our body to do what it says. That is why, with the right power of the mind, it becomes easy to achieve what we want. If we wish to ace an exam, get noticed by the professor, or lose weight in a couple of weeks, and we think that it can really happen, our mind will activate some power in our body to be responsible in making things happen – our will power.

This power is the actual process of converting our thoughts into reality. So, if we wish to ace and actually believe in acing an exam, our act of studying and preparing for such exam is caused by our will power that was triggered by the mind. Also, if we believe that the professor will notice us, our acts of preparing ourselves and perhaps reciting in class are what our mind tells us and what the will power does. Or in other cases, if we want to lose weight, our acts of engaging in different kinds of exercises and eating a well-balanced diet are due to the will power that is governed by the mind.

I Can Look Good, Feel Good, and Be Good!

True beauty can not be seen only in the outside appearance of an individual, but in the inside, as well. It is an innate quality, a way of being, a manner of acting. A common misunderstanding in this concept is that it refers to the perfection of the physical characteristics only. Where, in fact, to achieve balanced beauty, the inner and the outer features of an individual must blend together in such a way that it is bounded by love, happiness, social grace, and self-expression through all bodily movements.

Achieving true beauty is not as hard as it may seem. As a matter of fact, to think beautiful is to be beautiful. That’s right! All you need is the proper attitude towards believing how good you look and feel, and it will eventually show that you are, indeed. The seeds of beauty are one of the most precious seeds of thought you can plant and cultivate in your mind. Just by thinking and saying, “I look good,” you sowed the seeds.

After sowing these seeds, cultivation must begin. Cultivation is comprised of the responsibility and the commitment on your part to make beauty a reality in your life. This takes time and work, especially that it needs to work on all the aspects of your being – physical, emotional, mental, and aesthetic. Cultivating the thought, “I look good” requires self-analysis, goal-setting, discipline, dedication, and patience until you can finally say, “I feel good. I am good.”

What is essential in achieving good looks, feelings, and vibrations is to love yourself above everything else. Respect and love for your unique self and an understanding of your nature are the first steps in building respect, love and understanding to others. Only when you feel good about yourself will you begin to like and love yourself. And only when you begin to love yourself will you become a vital and interesting person for others to see. The secret is to develop a friendly relationship with yourself. If you would not want yourself as a friend, who would want to?

It’s really not that difficult, is it? So, go on. Tell yourself and other people that “I can look good, feel good, and be good. Therefore, I will.” What the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve indeed!

How to Control Your Thoughts

“People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success.” - Norman Vincent Peale.

Eliminating all negative thought from your consciousness is not easy these days and it will not happen overnight. However, as you become aware of your thoughts, you will begin to recognize them as either positive or negative. Most of us spend our days with thoughts running in and out of our brain and we don’t stop to analyze them. Now is the time to begin analyzing your thoughts.

As you begin to feel negative thoughts and energy, change them to positive thoughts immediately. Words or thoughts like I can’t, I don’t, I won’t are all negative. Replace them with, I can, I do, I will. For example: Instead of thinking, “I don’t want to get stuck in traffic,” think “I do want to get where I’m going quickly and I will handle what ever comes my way with patience and intelligence.”

Another technique you can use to control your thought is by interrupting your thoughts with positive affirmation. For example, when negative thought comes around, interrupt your thought with positive affirmation by talking to yourself or saying out the words “No Worry, Be Positive” repeatedly. The beauty of this technique is that you get a definite sense of shifting a negative thought to something that is positive and uplifting.

If you find negative thoughts are overwhelming you, evaluate why you’re having so many negative thoughts. Try not to judge yourself for having the negative thoughts, merely try to understand them. Once you understand why you’re feeling so negatively you can take steps to move towards a more positive outlook.

You now have the tools to turn your life in a powerful and positive direction. There is nothing that you can’t handle. You are in control of your life and in control of your moods. Positive thinking is a skill and as you improve upon your ability to think positive, you’ll find it will become second nature. As your ability to become completely positive grows, few of life’s challenges will feel overwhelming. You will feel in control most of the time and you will learn to believe that your health and your life are determined solely by you.

Tips For Overcoming Stress, Anxiety And Panic Attacks

We are all living in a very hectic world these days; it feels like the time is ticking away faster and faster. Works and family responsibilities are overwhelming us at times. Hence, it’s no surprise that stress and anxiety creep in our lives. Nobody could eliminate stress completely; what we could do however, is learn to control and manage stress before it takes control of our lives.

Stress and anxiety are the major cause of panic attacks. If not dealt with, it can have a devastating effect on our life. Especially for people with A-type personalities, the perfectionism they seek in everything they do never quite measures up to their expectations. Please understand that no one is perfect; humans are all imperfect living in an imperfect world. Don’t stress it out and make yourself crazy, just take it all in your stride.

There are many different ways to deal with stress; just some simple exercises can help stop the onslaught of stress. For example, just focus on breathing properly can take away the anxiety from your mind and bring you back to a calm state. Anytime when you feel stress, put your left hand on your stomach and start to breathe deeply and slowly; you should feel that your stomach expands when you breathe in air; that’s the right way to breathe.

Going outside for some fresh air can also help. Walking or running for 20 minutes can release endorphins which help relieve stress. Listening to classical music also helps as it lowers the blood pressure, and brings calm within.

Sometimes, however, stress reveals itself in other ways. Fear, feelings of presssure, inability to focus and palpitations; all these are symptoms of stress that can lead to anxiety, panic attacks, and the fright or flight syndrome.

For example, you are fearful when speaking in front of a group of people; anxious when a plane’s taking off; nervous during your wedding day, etc. There is really no absolute cure for fear and anxiety. To overcome it, you will have to face your fear; admit that you are fearful, seek to understand it, and do the right thing anyway. Develop faith that you will eventually conquer your fear and anxiety.

If stress is getting you down, examine the cause. Determine the origin, talk to a friend or discuss it with a professional or a loved one. Stress, if not acted upon, can cause serious health problems. Learn to live and cope with it at all costs, if you can.

Remember that there is no such thing as “stress-free” life as stress is always around us; unless of course if we are already dead. As long as we are still breathing, we’re susceptible to stress and anxiety. What we can do however, is to develop a “stress-proof” life. There are many successful self-help techniques you can learn to stop anxiety and panic attacks on its track.

Time Management - The Key To A Balanced Life

Time management is basically about being focused on the important things. The Pareto Principle - a.k.a. the '80:20 Rule' - states that 80% of efforts that are not time managed or unfocused generates only 20% of the desired output. However, 80% of the desired output can be generated using only 20% of a well time managed effort. Although the ratio '80:20′ is only arbitrary, it is used to put emphasis on how much is lost or how much can be gained with time management.

Some people view time management as a list of rules that involves scheduling of appointments, goal settings, thorough planning, creating things to do lists and prioritizing. These are the core basics of time management that should be understood to develop an efficient personal time management skill. These basic skills can be fine tuned further to include the finer points of each skill that can give you that extra reserve to make the results you desire.

But there is more skills involved in time management than the core basics. Skills such as decision making, inherent abilities such as emotional intelligence and critical thinking are also essential to your personal growth.

Personal time management involves everything you do. No matter how big or small, everything counts. Each new knowledge you acquire, each new advice you consider, each new skill you develop should be taken into consideration.

Personal time management should not be a daunting task. It is a very sensible and reasonable approach in solving problems big or small. A great way of learning time management and improving your personal life is to follow several basic activities.

One of them is to review your goals whether it be immediate or long-term. A way to do this is to keep a list that is always accessible to you. Always determine which task is necessary or not necessary in achieving your goals and which activities are helping you maintain a balanced life style.

Below are some important steps you must always remember in order to manage your time and achieve the important tasks.

• Learning to say "No". You actually see this advice often. Heed it even if it involves saying the word to family or friends.
• Pat yourself at the back or just reward yourself in any manner for an effective time management result.
• Try and get the cooperation from people around you who are actually benefiting from your efforts of time management.
• Don't procrastinate. Attend to necessary things immediately.
• Have a positive attitude and set yourself up for success. But be realistic in your approach in achieving your goals.
• Have a record or journal of all your activities. This will help you get things in their proper perspective.

From the moment you integrate into your life time management skills, you have opened several options that can provide a broad spectrum of solutions to your personal growth. It also creates more doors for opportunities to knock on.

If you can't remember anything what you've read so far, just remember this one: "Time management is about getting results, not about being busy".

Four Effective Time Management Techniques

If you have always felt that time is running out, this article is for you. It explores four essential techniques of effective time management.

People all over the world are getting more busier and busier with their lives these days. Thanks to the advanced information age, we’re living in a world that has gotten more demanding of our time than ever. Without effective time management, we won’t be able to use our time productively and would always feel like we’re running out of time.

Let’s explore the four essential techniques of effective time management:

1. Planning and setting priorities.

You will be able to manage your time more effectively if you set out a PLAN first. With a plan to follow, you are more organized and focused. You will know exactly what are the tasks you need to do and complete. No more time wasting and you will feel more accomplished and released at the end of each day. Without a plan, you don’t know what are the things you should be focusing on and accomplished. You don’t know where you are supposed to be going. If you don’t know where you’re going, it doesn’t matter where you arrive at. You may not like your destination and at the end of the day you’ll feel that you’ve been wandering around, wasting time and accomplishing nothing.

2. Decide what are the most important things to do today.

This will help you focus your energy on what is important to you according to your plan instead of what others think is important. You will feel that you are in control of your life and your time, you accomplish the things that are important for you. It will also help you to finish your tasks on time.

3. List those important things IN ORDER in your diary.

This will ensure that you always remember what to do and avoid missing out on important tasks. It also helps you to check and track your progress. Effective time management is all about focus and organization. With a solid plan and list-to-do, you’re able to increase your chances of success multifold.

4. Work through your list in order.

Again, this will ensure that you tackle important taks in a focused and organized manner. Focus on and finish one task at a time according to your plan and list-to-do, do not jump around between different tasks. Doing so can make you lose your focus, make mistakes and end up having to redo and spend more time doing the same tasks. Remember that the essence of time management is NOT to waste time!

These are the essence of effective time management. Use and apply them daily and you will never feel like running out of time again.

Morality and Psychological Health

The first and most obvious consideration in the relationship of rebelliousness to morality and psychological health is one which by now has passed from iconoclastic protest to virtual stereotype. Nonetheless, it should not be disregarded. It is simply this: rebellionresistance to acculturation, refusal to "adjust," adamant insistence on the importance of the self and of individuality - is very often the mark of a healthy character. If the rules deprive you of some part of yourself, then it is better to be unruly. The socially disapproved expression of this is delinquency, and most delinquency certainly is just plain confusion or blind and harmful striking out at the wrong enemy; but some delinquency has affirmation behind it, and we should not be too hasty in giving a bad name to what gives us a bad time. The great givers to humanity often have proud refusal in their souls, and they are aroused to wrath at the shoddy, the meretricious, and the unjust, which society seems to produce in appalling volume.

Society is tough in its way, and it's no wonder that those who fight it tooth and nail are "tough guys," I think that much of the research and of the social action in relation to delinquency would be wiser if it recognized the potential value of the wayward characters who make its business for it. A person who is neither shy nor rebellious in his youth is not likely to be worth a farthing to himself nor to anyone else in the years of his physical maturity.

A second consideration which is certainly no news to most people, but which tends to get lost to psychologists who use phrases like guilt feelings, hostility, and anxiety, is that the healthy person psychologically is usually virtuous in the simple moral sense of the term. Psychologically healthy people do what they think is right, and what they think is right is that people should not lie to one another or to themselves, that they should not steal, slander, persecute, intrude, do damage willfully, go back on their word, fail a friend, or do any of the things that put them on the side of death as against life.

This probably sounds like old-time religion, and in fact I am willing to be straightforwardly theological about this. I think there is an objective character to guilt, and when a person is false to his nature or offends against the nature of others then he is in sin and the place in which he has his existence is well described by the word "hell."

I take "sin" here to be descriptive of the state of separation from the most basic sense of selfhood, or what some existentialist philosophers have called "the grounds of being." In whatever terms it is put, the fact is that a person is most alive and is functioning in such a way that he knows who he is and you know who he is and he knows who you are when his thoughts and actions are in accord with his moral judgment.

The corollary is that when you do what you think is wrong you get a feeling of being dead, and if you are steeped in such wrongful ways you feel very dead all the time, and other people know that you are dead. There is such a thing as the death of the spirit.

Many of the people whom we know as patients in our mental hospitals or as prisoners in our jails are in a condition of spiritual death, and their only hope is that someone can reach out to them, break through the walls of their isolation, recognize them.

I think that too much has been made of the word love in this connection, for usually it connotes a feeling on the part of the person who is to give the love. The essence of the act of love as I understand it is the act of attention, and the affect that accompanies it in the person who is paying attention may be love, hate, sadness, or what have you.

A real fight is an act of attention, a genuine condemnation is an act of attention, an understanding of final defeat is an act of attention. These as well as their positive counterparts are on the side of life, and the person who experiences them is in communication with other living beings and offers to them the possibility of community.

The sort of philosophy of psychotherapy that prescribes blandness, nonjudgmentalness, and essential indifference on the part of the psychotherapist is simply a form of human debasement. Paying attention, caring, and being there yourself is all that counts.

One of the therapists there is clearly an incompetent by all standards. Everything he does is wrong. After about six months of his residency, however, it became apparent that many of his patients were unaccountably getting better.

Among his aberrant behaviors were such gross actions as telephoning a patient's foreman at work and telling him to stop bullying the patient, suggesting an unusual sexual technique to another patient whose wife was apparently frigid, and bluntly suggesting to a third patient that he should give up his job as an automobile repairman and get into the dispensing of food.

The climax of the latter case was especially gruesome to the clinic, for the patient opened a doughnut shop of his own and on his final appointmerit appeared with a dozen doughnuts of his own making which he presented as a gift to the therapist, who without any insight at all offered them around to various other therapists and his supervisor of whom had difficulty, swallowing them.

Goodness knows I am not suggesting, in recalling the case of this incompetent fellow, that all psychotherapists go forth and do likewise, for he was he and we are we. But I will say that he was alive, even though so obviously misguided; to his patients, the only thing that was of consequence was that he cared about them and that he thought there was something different they could do which would be right.

Impossible Is Nothing! - How Not To Limit Your Imagination And Aim High

Everyone, at some point of his or her life, has dreamed of being somebody special, somebody big. Who hasn’t dreamed of being rich, or successful, or happy with our relationships? Often, we dream big dreams and have great aspirations. Unfortunately, our dreams remain just that - dreams. And our aspirations easily collect dust in our attic. Instead of experiencing exciting adventures in self actualization, we get caught up in the routine of living from day-to-day just barely existing.

But you know what? Life could be so much better, if only we learned to aim higher. The most common problem to setting goals is the word impossible. Most people get hung up thinking I can’t do this. It’s too hard. It’s too impossible. No one can do this.

However, if everyone thought that, there would be no inventions, no innovations, and no breakthroughs in human accomplishment.

Remember that scientists were baffled when they took a look at the humble bumblebee. Theoretically, they said, it was impossible for the bumblebee to fly. Unfortunately for the bumblebee that no one has told it so. So fly it does.

On the other hand, some people suffer from dreaming totally outrageous dreams and not acting on them. The result? Broken dreams, and tattered aspirations.

If you limit yourself with self-doubt, and self-limiting assumptions, you will never be able to break past what you deem impossible. If you reach too far out into the sky without working towards your goal, you will find yourself clinging on to the impossible dream.

Try this exercise. Take a piece of paper and write down some goals in your life. Under one header, list down things ‘you know you can do’. Under another header, write the things ‘you might be able to do.’ And under one more, list the things that are ‘impossible for you to do.’

Now look at all the headers and try to strive every day to accomplish the goals that are under things ‘you know you can do’. Check them when you are able to accomplish them. As you slowly are able to check all of your goals under that heading, try accomplishing the goals under the other header - the one that reads ‘you might be able to do.’

As of the items you wrote under things I could do are accomplished, you can move the goals that are under things that are ‘impossible for you to do’ to the list of things ‘you might be able to do.’ As you iterate through this process, you will find out that the goals you thought were impossible become easier to accomplish. And the impossible begin to seem possible after all.

You see, the technique here is not to limit your imagination. It is to aim high, and start working towards that goal little by little. However, it also is unwise to set a goal that is truly unrealistic. Those who just dream towards a goal without working hard end up disappointed and disillusioned.

On the other hand, if you told someone a hundred years ago that it was possible for man to be on the moon, they would laugh at you. If you had told them that you could send mail from here to the other side of the world in a few seconds, they would say you were out of your mind. But, through sheer desire and perseverance, these impossible dreams are now realities.

Thomas Edison once said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Nothing could be truer. For one to accomplish his or her dreams, there has to be had work and discipline. But take note that that 1% has to be a think-big dream, and not some easily accomplished one.

Ask any gym rat and he or she will tell you that there can be no gains unless you are put out of your comfort zone. Remember the saying, “No pain, no gain”? That is as true as it can be.

So dream on, friend! Don’t get caught up with your perceived limitations. Think big and work hard to attain those dreams. As you step up the ladder of progress, you will just about find out that the impossible has just become a little bit more possible.

Forgiveness Clears The Blockage From The Past

Holding grudges, both consciously and beneath the surface, will seriously erode your energy and prevent you from being able to fully focus on manifesting your desires. Fortunately once you acknowledge the need to forgive, the rest is easy.

Most people resist the idea of forgiveness because they want to hold on to blaming others for their problems. However, even when others do play a hand in the “negative” events of our life, we can never fully move pat such events without mindfully forgiving and letting go.

And most of us carry around considerable burden from our past. We may not consciously remember a grudge but still be holding it tightly.

If you have ever seen an old acquaintance and immediately become bitter about a past event that you hadn’t even thought of for months or years, you have experienced firsthand the human ability to refuse forgiveness. The fact is we must make a specific effort to forgive and let go in order to release harmful and negative energies.

And forgiveness need not involve a conversation, or any type of interaction, with another person. True forgiveness and letting go take place completely in our minds and actually have little to do with people outside of us.

One great way to achieve forgiveness is to write the person you are holding hostility towards a letter explaining that you no longer hold them in any way accountable and that you wish them the best of love and happiness in life. Be sure to put honest emotion into the letter, and then feel free to throw it away once you’re finished.

Again, there is no need to even communicate with the other person. This is about you and not them.

If you can’t think of anyone you might be holding a grudge against, you could say out loud that you wish to forgive and release from responsibility any parents, family members, friends from past and present, employers and coworkers, customers, and businesses that you have ever had a disagreement with. Also decide to be aware each day of resentments and hostilities as they arise and be prepared to forgive and let go when the need arises.

In doing this, also be sure to address any angers you might hold against the universe, God, or whatever you use to refer to the events of life. Many people go through life feeling they are victims of circumstance, and this is an enormous obstacle to achieving any type of happiness and prosperity. By consciously forgiving the universe for anything you have previously felt victimized for you will free up massive amounts of creative energy.

And most importantly of all, you need to take the time to forgive yourself. All of us become angry with ourselves from time to time. While it’s healthy to hold high self-expectations, it is very damaging to resent yourself for perceived failures and mistakes.

Tell yourself that every experience you’ve had in life is taking you in the direction you want to go. Refuse to believe in the myth of “wasted time” and understand that your journey is a process of learning and growing.

Let go of anything you are holding against yourself, and allow your true greatness to surface. This is one of the most important steps you will ever take on your path to abundance and happiness.

Train Your Mind For A Happy And Successful Life

A well trained mind will always provide you great opportunities to work better and achieve a lot of success in life.

The wise men have always said that “the mind is like a bad neighborhood-never go there by yourself”. In case, your mind has not been trained, it would definitely prove to be a bad neighborhood.

Fortunately, there are several techniques available these days to train your mind such as meditation, NLP etc.

You must remember that our minds keep absorbing several thoughts, responses and behaviors from the environment around us. These entire patterns may affect us in different ways.

There are times when most of the thoughts we tend to absorb don’t go well with our goals. Hence it becomes very necessary to train our minds in order to give out equal response to what we require.

If you don’t have a cure of what should be done in order to train our minds, don’t worry. Here are some great tips on what should be done in order to achieve a well trained mind:

- Segment intending

This is a simple and best way to train your mind. This process will also help you to accomplish a lot on a daily basis.

Here is how to go about it:

- Step one

You need to decide the time period for your segment. Now, this time period can be of any length. However, remember that it should not exceed more than a half or one hour.

- Step two

Now, decide on your aim for that particular segment. This can be a whole list of tasks that you want to accomplish, a state of being or may be both if you wish.

- Step three

As soon as the segment start time arrives, you need to start your segment no matter what. Don’t have any second thoughts.

- Step four

In case, you get interrupted during your segment, you must decide whether the interruption is significant enough for your segment. In case, it is not just ignore it and keep up the good work. You need to keep your segment work going.

Practice all the above mentioned steps throughout the day. Remember that each segment that you practice is a kind of training period for your mind. Here, your mind is learning to help you in whatever task you undertake. The technique of segment intending also works with a friend. You can easily keep yourself on track if there is a friend helps you to do so. You would definitely notice that your mind is getting more responsive.

Of course, there are other techniques you can follow to train your mind such as stimulating your brain via doing activities that fill your mind with enthusiasm, doing regular physical activities, focusing on memorizing things, reading books on varied topics, adopting a creative hobby, learning new words, discussing on various topics to exercise brain, popping out ideas, developing an aim in life, sleeping well and using the invincible power of medication.

As you start enhancing your brain power, you will identify a new and improvised confidence in yourself.

Never Say Never

“Girl, I wouldn’t even put up with that mess.”

You’ve heard it before and most likely have said it on an occasion or two. Well, I have learned that if you live long enough, life will make you recall that statement. Life sure caught up with me and I have had to recall and eat many statements that came out of my mouth in my younger, more carefree days.

Older folks would say, “She’s just wet behind the ears”. I never really understood what that meant. But I was wet all right… more like saturated.

Thinking back, I can remember listening to a girlfriend rant about what her husband did and how stupid she was for staying. Tears rolled down her face as she sobbed uncontrollably. She needed support; her heart was heavy.

“But I Love him” she said while she blew her nose.

All I could think of was, “Love don’t got jack to do with it”

Today, I’ve had to kick myself on a few occasions. Today…I am a different person.

It was a humid, sticky mid August afternoon in 2005…a typical normal, hot August afternoon. But normal it was not. At least it wasn’t for me. My life would never be the same.

Looking at the summons for my husband to appear before the judge for child support was more than I could handle at that time. We, as a team had just gotten caught up on our bills since his return home 7 months prior. To say it was a testing period for me was an understatement. The saying goes; If it’s not one thing it’s another. For me it went like this; If it’s not 5 things it’s 25 things. This was so relevant for my life.

There were days I would just literally scream and cry. It was as if the enemy had just zoomed in on me and I was his target for things I couldn’t even begin to explain. But it was evident: I was chosen to carry many, many crosses. Some crosses didn’t even belong to me. I had to send those back. The ones that were not mine had to get a RETURN TO SENDER stamp.

On this day, I looked at the summons and the name of the child that the support was being requested for. My breath became very short and at that moment, I needed air. It seemed like the room started to spin. My eyes began to fill with tears, my heart felt as if it was going to jump out of my chest. My knees buckled. I had to sit down.

I was all alone.

After I found a chair, my stomach started to turn and dizziness came over me like a rushing wind.

The enemy wanted me to lose my mind.

“How?”“Why?” These were the questions that began to surface in my mind.

It was bad enough to have a baby by a married man but to name the child after him was inexcusable to me. A junior? I would never do that. That to me was just mean. This was beyond my comprehension. I guess because I think differently.

I dialed my Pastor’s phone number. No answer - just voicemail. I dialed my 1st Lady. She answered. She knew who I was from the caller id. It was as if the words would not come out.

“Nicole” Silence. I couldn’t answer. I was in between sobs. “Nicole” The words finally came out but they were muffled. I began to blurt out what just happened.

“My God,” was her first response. “Okay, now let’s get it together,” was her second.

She was not having the pity party thing. For one thing - I was too far away from her (as my church is over 90 miles from my house). Second – she knew my potential. It’s a blessing to have mentors around you that see where you’re going before you see it or believe it. Our Pastors were sent to us for what we have had to endure. Pastors Clifton & Vicki Coward of Agape International Ministries Worldwide in Richmond, Virginia have been that bridge for us.

Pastor Vicki went on to encourage me and give me what the word has promised me.

Then, I called my girlfriend Lena. I remember the day like it was yesterday. Summons in one hand, phone in another, and standing outside on our deck. I was pacing back and forth at this time. She immediately began to pray. She was at Farm Fresh at the time. A few weeks later, she told me she was praying so loudly in the store that she had to go outside before the people put her out. (LOL)

For over a year I would not talk about it. I couldn’t. I would literally get sick just thinking about it. The pain was so deep…it was like an open wound that would try to close but couldn’t. As soon as I thought I was all healed, something would happen and those feelings would resurface and the tears would start flowing. Even my heart would begin the racing all over again. Panic and anxiety, were the twins out to get me. Sometimes I would think, “This is just too much for me to handle.” But the word of God says he would not put more on me than I can bear.

The child support was a subject by itself. Our household went without on many occasions because of the child support. At times, I thought it was so unfair. My children went without. That by itself really bothered me. But I would never voice it aloud. We as wives have the power to build up or tear down. It’s our choice. I knew what it was when I accepted my husband back.

This is a decision I made. No gun was put to my head. Don’t get me wrong. My flesh wanted to lash out. My flesh wanted to go up one side of him and down the other. I wanted to point fingers, accuse and blame. But my spirit would say, “BE STILL”.

One of my very favorite scriptures is Isaiah 61:7 – You shall have double for your shame”.

I quoted that scripture over and over again. The word, the peace of God and my Pastors – are what kept me during that period in my life.

Today, the little boy is a part of our family. He and our baby girl are just a year apart in age but you would think they are twins. They absolutely adore each other. I run around the house, play hide and go seek, and act goofy with him just like I do with my own. And he is the cutest little button. (He looks just like my husband).

By sharing this part of my life, my hope is to open a door for women who have had to endure similar circumstances. If your husband has had a child out of wedlock while married to you, please contact me. I want you to know that you are not alone. I would like to start a support group, especially for women who are being faced with this. The easy part is leaving. It’s harder to stay and endure.

Self-Motivation - You Have the Power Within You to Succeed

Introduction

Self motivation is the ability to motivate yourself, to find a reason and the necessary strength to do something, without the need of being influenced to do so by another person. Inner peace has nothing to do with externals, which is why self motivation techniques fill a necessary gap.

Yourself

If you want to improve your self motivation or self esteem or improve yourself in any way, you need the desire and will to do it. You need self motivation to achieve, because if you don’t encourage yourself to accept opportunity and challenge, who will?

The very fact that you are here and trying to improve yourself shows that you are motivated. Start by setting small goals. Remember to give yourself positive rewards for each achievement.

Make a commitment to what matters to you; act on your priorities and your values; express to yourself and to others what you want and need in your life. What are your likes and dislikes?

The key to success is to be yourself; the key to failure is to try and please everyone. Success is defined not by what other people think of you, but what you think of yourself.

Success

The best way to bring success to yourself is to genuinely desire to create value for the rest of the world. It instantly begins with devising a plan for your success. Each small success will lead you to larger ones and you will finally reach the moon. Go ahead; reach for it! Opportunities for success are all around you. You just have to open your eyes and look; and listen. You will discover that even successful people do certain things each day to stay motivated.

You will find it easy to give your self motivation a boost with successes in your daily, weekly or long term activities. Self improvement results to inner stability, personality development and success. By making an effort to feel grateful, you’ll realize how competent and successful you already are. Fully appreciate the smaller things in life.

Goals

Training yourself to take any small step towards your goals is a great self motivation technique. Breaking this into small steps makes this even easier. Write down your goals and stick them on your desk or wall so you can see them. Create your self-awareness and latent skills to reach your goals.

Enjoy the self-assured confidence that comes from within, knowing you are achieving those goals that matter the most to you. Remind yourself of your goals and take some time to appreciate how far you’ve come in reaching them. You will notice the positive difference!

Conclusion

Keep a positive attitude: There’s nothing more powerful for self motivation than the right attitude. It gives you joy, the impetus to push further, and a sense of power. Self- Motivation is not an accident or something that someone else can give you — you are the only one with the power to motivate you. You have within you the unique power of deciding your destiny.

Author: Scott Allen Barker

7 Ways To Appear Smarter In Everyday Life

I am here to dispel a myth: While I am intelligent, I have not yet reached the level of Einstein. There you go. Now, could you please explain that to my family, friends, coworkers, and business associates.

I am not here to brag about how smart I am. This post merely exists to show you how you can look like a member of Mensa to the average American, with a minimum of effort.

1. Learn to use Google. Are you one of those people who Google stuff all the time, and yet never seem to find anything? What do you do? You go to a professional Googler, like me, and they find “used bungee cords” in a matter of seconds. How?

We know how to talk to Google. While Google is getting smarter, it still has a hard time knowing exactly what you want. If you type in the word “colour”, Google still does not recognize that it is the exact same word as “color”. Google can only process the information we give it.

How many of you have ever used the advanced search portion of Google? Probably 10% or less, and yet that is how you can drill down to what you really want. Is the page less than 10 days old, do you want it in a PDF or Word document? The more you tell Google, the better results you will get.

There are tons of resources online that will show you how to search more accurately. Just Google it.

2. Use spell check, but don’t depend on it. I wish I had dollar for every time I used “their” when I meant “there”, and vice-versa. Also, watch out for “too” and “two”, “who’s” and “whose”. It is also helpful to know the difference between “its” and “it’s”. Spell check will let all these past without a whimper, because they are all spelled correctly. A firm grasp of the meaning of these words will help you evade embarrassment, and give you a more polished image at work and play.

3. Know the difference between “i.e.” and “e.g.”. Want to see a film called “Revenge of the English Majors”? Misuse these, and I can guarantee you a front row seat. Many people use “i.e.” interchangeably with the term “for example”. This is technically wrong. The term i.e. translates from the Latin as “that is”. If you wanted to say “for example”, “e.g.” would be the appropriate abbreviation.

4. Have a basic idea of where things are in the world. When 50% of college aged kids can’t find New York state on a map, you know we’re in trouble as a nation. If you can tell someone that “Niger” is in Africa, then you will be considered a Geography genius.

5. Collect general knowledge, or as most people refer to it, “useless information”. “Useless information” is something of a misnomer. It is only useless if it is never used. You never know when you might need that obscure fact about the gross domestic product of Germany, or how to open a beer with your belt loop. So take great pains to obtain it, and use it to benefit your fellow man.

6. Don’t be afraid to break stuff. We are afraid to mess things up in our culture. You will find that you will accomplish much more than other people by overcoming the fear of screwing things up. Most people don’t build their own computers simply because they are afraid of damaging the parts. I babied every part as I gingerly put my first PC together. Now, I use “fragile” RAM as everything but a Frisbee, and it still works. Experience will teach you what you can and can’t do. So go ahead, take a plunge into the deep end.

7. Don’t be afraid to say “I have no idea”. If I could pass one thing on to you, it would be this. Once you know all this stuff, it becomes harder to admit that you don’t know everything. It’s even harder to watch a person who wanted an answer “right now”, go back to their cube with a dejected look on their face. In the long run, people will respect you for it.

General Conditions of Thought

There are multitudinous conditions of concrete thought of an accidental sort, both physiological and psychological; and there are certain other conditions given in the very structure of thought itself. Only the latter concern us here. And as consciousness is the absolute condition of all thought, it seems as if a discussion of consciousness were a necessary preliminary to the theory of thought.

This seeming, however, is misleading. Since consciousness is an accompaniment of all mental states, it is easy to think that it is a distinct element by itself. This is a logical illusion. The spatial figures also in which we speak of consciousness lead to the fancy that consciousness is something which contains other mental states, or which furnishes the stage for their operations. But in fact consciousness is no simple, homogeneous mental state antecedent to objects, or apart from objects; it arises only in connection with particular objects, and is nothing by itself. When consciousness is empty of objects there is nothing left.

Consciousness may, indeed, exist in varying grades of clearness, from a vague sense of subjectivity and objectivity up to the distinct consciousness of self and the definite apprehension of an object; but in every case the vagueness of the consciousness is the vagueness of the apprehension; and an attempt to make the consciousness more distinct could only direct itself to making the conception more distinct. If there be a vague, undifferentiated, unrecognized somehowness of feeling which we choose to call consciousness, it is plainly nothing for intelligence so long as it remains in this state. In order to attain to rationality this general consciousness, which is a consciousness of nothing, must in some way become a consciousness of something. Hence the question, How we come to rational and articulate consciousness, is identical with the question, How we get objects of thought and knowledge.

Thought, as apprehending truth, exists only in the form of the judgment. The presence of ideas in consciousness, or their passage through it, is neither truth nor error, but only a mental event. Truth or error emerges only when we reach the judgment. The fundamental conditions of the judgment, therefore, must be fundamental conditions of thought itself. These are three: the unity and identity of the thinking self, the law of identity and contradiction, and the fact of connection among the objects of thought.

The first is the condition of any rational consciousness whatever. The second is the condition of our thoughts having any constant and consistent meaning. The third refers to that objective connection which thought aims to reproduce, and without which thought loses all reference to truth. As the first relates to the constitution of the subject, it might be called the subjective condition; the second might be called the formal condition; and the third, as relating to the constitution of the object, might be called the objective condition. Or, without too great inaccuracy, they might be called, respectively, the psychological, the logical, and the ontological condition of thought. The name, however, is of no moment, provided we understand the thing.

We consider first the unity of the mental subject as the condition of thought. Let us take the judgment a is b, where a and b are any two particular states of consciousness. How is this judgment possible?
The answer is, It is possible only as there is a conscious subject M, which is neither a nor b, but embraces both in the unity of its own consciousness. Then, by distinguishing, comparing, and uniting them in the unity of one conscious act, it reaches the judgment a is b. But so long as we have only the particular states a and b, they remain external to each other, and the judgment is non-existent and impossible.

A demurrer is sometimes raised against this conclusion. That the external juxtaposition of particular thoughts can never become a thought of the particulars in their mutual relations is manifest. A conception of all the parts of a watch in separation is not a conception of the watch. The conception of the watch is not a congeries of component conceptions, but it is rather a single, unitary conception. In like manner, it is urged, the judgment is also one. It is not built out of particular states, and needs nothing beyond the one judging act itself.

This claim is subtle rather than profound. There is a clear conception of the impossibility of building complex conceptions out of simple ones by mere juxtaposition; but along with this there is a confusion of logical simplicity with psychological simplicity. Psychologically, no doubt, the conception of plurality is as truly a single act as the conception of unity. The conception of a watch is as truly one as the conception of a single wheel. But logically the one conception has a plurality of elements; and there can be no true thought until the unity of the conception is distinguished into the plurality of its implications. Over against the plurality we must affirm a unity; and, equally, over against the unity we must affirm plurality.

Analysis is as necessary as synthesis. The judgment, then, may be psychologically one, but logically it involves the distinction of a and b as well as their union. Without this distinction the judgment is impossible. And for this logical distinction and union alike we need something which is neither a nor b, but which comprehends and acts upon both. This something we call the self. By it we mean not anything sensuously or imaginatively presentable, but only that unitary and abiding principle revealed in thought, and without which thought is impossible.

The judgment as an act is unique and lonely. Physical images only serve to obscure it, or, rather, contradict it. The field of consciousness is spaceless and partitionless. Our objects are separated, but not in space or time. They are united, but not spatially or temporally. The relation is logical, not physical, and does not admit of being pictured. The attempt to construe it to the imagination misses its true nature, and leads to that mechanical externalism which seeks to build up mind from without. How the judging act is possible is the unparalleled mystery of consciousness. But then it is a fact; and the unity of the thinking self is not an hypothesis for its explanation, but its analytically necessary condition. Without this a and b fall asunder, and the judgment is impossible.

Over against the plurality of coexistent particular states the self must be one; over against the plurality of successive particular states the self must be both one and abiding. The latter necessity is as manifest as the former. For if we suppose the particular states to be in time, they vanish as fast as they are born; and if there be nothing which abides across this flow and unites the past and the present in the unity of its continuous and identical existence, once more the judgment becomes impossible.

We conclude, then, that the unity and identity of the thinking self is an absolutely necessary condition of the simplest and most elementary judgment.

This account of the matter is not accepted by all. A very general claim of the sensational and physiological school is that a simple passive consciousness is possible which is made up of particular units of feeling or impressions; and these impressions, when united by association, are supposed to give us the judgment as a matter of course. On this view there is no unitary self which judges; but there are particular impressions grouped by association, and this grouping is the judgment.

Life Is About Making Choices And Decisions

Life is like a road. There are long and short roads; smooth and rocky roads; crooked and straight paths. In our life many roads would come our way as we journey through life. There are roads that lead to a life of single blessedness, marriage, and religious vocation. There are also roads that lead to fame and fortune on one hand, or isolation and poverty on the other. There are roads to happiness as there are roads to sadness, roads towards victory and jubilation, and roads leading to defeat and disappointment.

Just like any road, there are corners, detours, and crossroads in life. Perhaps the most perplexing road that you would encounter is a crossroad. With four roads to choose from and with limited knowledge on where they would go, which road will you take? What is the guarantee that we would choose the right one along the way? Would you take any road, or just stay where you are: in front of a crossroad?

There are no guarantees.

You do not really know where a road will lead you until you take it. There are no guarantees. This is one of the most important things you need to realize about life. Nobody said that choosing to do the right thing all the time would always lead you to happiness. Loving someone with all your heart does not guarantee that it would be returned. Gaining fame and fortune does not guarantee happiness. Accepting a good word from an influential superior to cut your trip short up the career ladder is not always bad, especially if you are highly qualified and competent. There are too many possible outcomes, which your really cannot control. The only thing you have power over is the decisions that you will make, and how you would act and react to different situations.

Wrong decisions are always at hindsight.

Had you known that you were making a wrong decision, would you have gone along with it? Perhaps not, why would you choose a certain path when you know it would get you lost? Why make a certain decision if you knew from the very beginning that it is not the right one. It is only after you have made a decision and reflected on it that you realize its soundness. If the consequences or outcomes are good for you, then you have decided correctly. Otherwise, your decision was wrong.

Take the risk and decide.

Since life offers no guarantee and you would never know that your decision would be wrong until you have made it, then you might as well take the risk and decide. It is definitely better than keeping yourself in limbo. Although it is true that one wrong turn could get you lost, it could also be that such a turn could be an opportunity for an adventure, moreover open more roads. It is all a matter of perspective. You have the choice between being a lost traveller or an accidental tourist of life. But take caution that you do not make decisions haphazardly. Taking risks is not about being careless and stupid. Here are some pointers that could help you choose the best option in the face of life’s crossroads:
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Get as many information as you can about your situation.

You cannot find the confidence to decide when you know so little about what you are faced with. Just like any news reporter, ask the 5 W’s: what, who, when, where, and why. What is the situation? Who are the people involved? When did this happen? Where is this leading? Why are you in this situation? These are just some of the possible questions to ask to know more about your situation. This is important. Oftentimes, the reason for indecision is the lack of information about a situation.

Identify and create options.

What options do the situation give you? Sometimes the options are few, but sometimes they are numerous. But what do you do when you think that the situation offers no options? This is the time that you create your own. Make your creative mind work. From the most simplistic to the most complicated, entertain all ideas. Do not shoot anything down when an idea comes to your head. Sometimes the most outrageous idea could prove to be the right one in the end. You can ask a friend to help you identify options and even make more options if you encounter some difficulty, but make sure that you make the decision yourself in the end.

Weigh the pros and cons of every option.

Assess each option by looking at the advantages and disadvantages it offers you. In this way, you get more insights about the consequences of such an option.

Trust yourself and make that decision.

Now that you have assessed your options, it is now time to trust yourself. Remember that there are no guarantees and wrong decisions are always at hindsight. So choose… decide… believe that you are choosing the best option at this point in time.

Now that you have made a decision, be ready to face its consequences: good and bad. It may take you to a place of promise or to a land of problems. But the important thing is that you have chosen to live your life instead of remaining as a bystander or a passive audience to your own life. Whether it is the right decision or not, only time can tell. But do not regret it whatever the outcome. Instead, learn from it and remember that you always have the chance to make better decisions in the future.

Self Improvement And Success Often Go Hand In Hand

How do you handle the ups and downs that life throws at you? We all experience bad times in our life. To continue improve ourselves and move ahead, we should not dwell on the problems or mistakes we made. We should instead learn from our mistakes and use them as an invaluable experience to move on with our life.

One of my favorite self-improvement movies is “Door to Door”. Based on a true story, this movie is about a door-to-door salesman (Bill Porter) who is afflicted with cerebral palsy. Despite his medical condition and had been told by many people that he was not employable, he didn’t allow that to stop him from pursuing a career and became one of the best door-to-door salesman. Despite the pain of his medical condition, he would walk eight to ten miles a day to meet his customers. His story touched the heart of many of his potential customers.

I highly recommend anyone to watch this movie, it’s a very inspiring story. It shows that anyone can achieve success if they can just focus on what they can do, have a never-say-die attitude and refuse to give up despite facing many challenges.

I believe self improvement and success always go hand in hand. Here are some tips to help you in your self-improvement process.

1. Stop thinking or viewing yourself as a failure. This may sound cliche but it’s very important as everything starts in your mind. How do you think other people would view you if you always feel that you’re a failure?

2. Learn to accept yourself. Don’t compare yourself (your look, figure, etc.) to others. Self acceptance is not just about having nice figure, slender legs, or great abs. Concentrate on inner beauty.

3. Don’t succumb to failure. Learn from Thomas Edison, although he failed more than 1,000 times at making the light bulb, he didn’t feel stupid, doomed or succumb to his failures. Instead he said that he had successfully discovered more than 1,000 ways to make a light bulb.

4. Take things one at a time. Slef improvement and success is a process, don’t focus on the prize before you pay the price. Success always comes with a price tag. So, make sure you pay the price first before expecting the prize.

5. Set meaningful and achievable goals. These are the fuel that propel you forward, it motivates and aspires you to get up every morning and achieve the best. People who don’t have meaningful goals in life will be wandering around and wasting time everyday.

When you’re willing to accept change and go through the process of self improvement, you are a step closer to suuccess. You should always remember that there is no such thing as over night success. Treat it as a learning process and be willing to learn and improve. Like this quote says “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

We are all here to learn our lessons. Our parents, school teachers, friends, colleagues, neighbors could all be our teachers. When we open our doors for self improvement, we increase our chances to head for the path of success.