Is This The Key To Success?

 By: David Dutch

Photo: brandeis.edu

I want to discuss a key that is vital in your quest to achieve you life goals.

Ask any successful person what was it that enabled them to reach goals that to the ordinary person appeared beyond comprehension, they will tell you they took action. If you do not take action on a goal or a dream it will eventually die.

Being decisive and taking action fortunately is a skill that can be learned. Successful people do the opposite to unsuccessful people in as much as they make decisions quickly and change them slowly, if at all, unsuccessful people make decisions slowly and change them quickly.

Unsuccessful people want everything in place BEFORE embarking on a goal achieving journey; they continually ask 'What If Something Happens?' Successful people ask 'What if it doesn't happen?'

Top achievers do not wait until every 'I' is dotted and every 't' is crossed before they decide to take a course of action. Once they feel they have enough information to make a decision that is just what they do, they then use the time on their journey to modify plans, take different directions, even stop and re-consider. But they took the initial action to get going, un-achievers procrastinate and are subject to inertia.

It was Dr Martin Luther King who said, 'Take the first step; You do not need to see the whole staircase before you, just take the first step in faith.'

You see there is no shame in failure. To successful people failure is only finding out that what they were doing needed modifying, they learn from the experience.

I have experienced both situations, although I have always been known as a person who makes decisions quickly, embarking on some activities that were doomed to a lack of success. But each time I did not succeed another lesson was learned what I was doing was not the correct way to reach the goal I wanted. Time for analysis and modification - so what at least I was going toward my goal not sitting hoping something would happen.

There were times in the past however when I used to blame anything around me, people, events situations for my lack of success, I always had an excuse. You know what is the wonderful thing about our minds?

We cannot tell ourselves lies. Think about it, when you are looking to blame someone else for you lack of success isn't that an outside thing, don't you just know deep inside yourself that the responsibility really lies at you own door.

Remember when you point a finger there are always three fingers pointing back.

There are three types of people in the world as far as I am concerned.

Those that make things happen; Those that sit back and watch what is happening and finally those that say 'Uh! What happened?' To which group do you belong?

Fortunately for me I learned to take responsibility for my own actions, and everything that is in my life NOW is a direct result of ME bringing it into my life, no one else - ME!

There again it is amazing how little effort you need to exert to start off making things happen in your life. As you start toward your goal you attract more and more energy that drives you toward success.

Getting into action helps you maintain action; it's the simple law of physics, once a body is moving it is easier and easier to keep it moving.

I can only use the analogy of driving a car, at first as you press the accelerator you move slowly but the law of physics takes over and the car moves easier and easier with less pressure on the accelerator (Gas pedal for our American colleagues).

Look at your goals you have written down. Just take one of them and decide to take action on it NOW! Ignore the fact that you haven't planned out the finest detail, ignore the number of times your negative self tells you it cannot happen Just DO IT! Choose a reward you will give yourself when the goal is achieved; no matter if it is just a goal to clear the garden of weeds, take action and you will quickly learn that the only way to achieve a goal is to take action in the first place.

As Marting Luther King jnr said "Take the first step in faith" this is where you can take your first step but only if you take ACTION!

Are YOU tired of watching other people succeed when you find it difficult? - After 20 years of helping people succeed David Dutch has written a guide that guarantees you can savour success within 30 days. Your First Step To Financial Freedom His Free report filled with hints; tips, ideas and secrets to successful goal achievement is on on the same link.
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Gaining Mastery Over Your Emotions

By: Roseanna Leaton 

Photo: amyapplebaum.com

Something happened yesterday which prompted the writing of this brief article. I experienced a very real sense of frustration relating to dealing with something which I could not control. I nearly reached a total melt-down point yesterday after five days of intermittent internet access whilst trying to deal with the testing of a new website.

If you can imagine the scenario; there are some parties to the job based in Serbia, some in the UK and others in the USA. We rely upon Skype, which is internet based, to communicate, and the new website, needless to say cannot be tested without being online. We're also running behind schedule, although this wasn't particularly bothering me, I didn't think; I learned a long time ago that where websites are concerned they get finished when they get finished.

It was interesting however to note that this whole scenario over the last few days finally triggered off emotions which I thought had dissolved. My brain had evidently stored and saved a whole host of experiences which made a good "pattern match" with "computer-internet-website building-problems" and they all came flooding back to me, along with a lot of really frustrating emotion. The current experience instinctively triggered off these stored emotions and wham! Melt-down (well, almost).

This is a great example of how our minds work. There are many occasions when you think you have come to terms with something fully, but all you have done is put it to the back of your mind. And there those emotions sit, waiting patiently, until you happen to confront a similar type of experience once more, and it is as if a dam has been breached and it all comes flooding back to you.

This ability of your mind to store emotional experiences and then release them in response to a familiar trigger is in fact a defense mechanism. Your mind has been put on "high alert" as a result of your emotional reactions in the past and certain circumstances have been "red flagged" as threatening to your health and equilibrium.

This brain mechanism was essential when the threat was a bear or a tiger that might be licking his lips as he contemplates his dinner. But in the modern day, the types of threat have changed and this automatic instinct to "red flag" can sometimes be more of a hindrance than an asset.

If you want to really resolve underlying emotional issues, you have to do more than just put them to the back of your mind. You have to find a way in which to change the emotional attachment to the experiences. An adaptation of the NLP fast phobia cure will do exactly this. It really doesn't take long at all to drain the water from these muddy emotional pools and replace with fresh, clear and sparkling water...so long as you use hypnosis.

Hypnosis is a state of relaxation which allows you to take a step back and to access the inner workings of your mind. With hypnosis you gain access to your subconscious mind and you can gain mastery over emotions which would otherwise be free to flood your mind in response to the slightest trigger.

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis downloads for health, success and well-being.

P.S. Are you fed up with emotional turmoil? Grab a free hypnosis mp3 from my website.

With a degree in psychology and qualifications in hypnotherapy, NLP and sports psychology, Roseanna Leaton is one of the leading practitioners of self-improvement. Grab a free hypnosis mp3 from http://www.RoseannaLeaton.com and peruse her extensive library of hypnosis downloads to help gain emotional mastery.
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Overcome Barriers to Success

 By: Noelyne Jones

Photo: finearttips.com

The first step in how to overcome barriers to success is to identify what is a barrier to success? What is it that stops you achieving what you want?

One of the main barriers to success is fear. In fact the way you handle the fear that you will inevitably feel when stepping out of your comfort zone, pushing out your boundaries, starting new projects, developing will shape the level of your success or lack of it. Many people are put off in the initial stages through a fear of the unknown. For example, not taking a job offer or promotion because it means living in a different part of the country or another country. To ensure success you will need to move out of your comfort zone into the stretch zone and this will involve some emotional challenges. Most people feel some level of fear when starting a new opportunity so it is about learning to manage that fear and use it to your advantage.

Do not want to do what it takes. This is where you want success but are just not prepared to take action. This can be linked to fear or lack of self belief and confidence. It may also mean that the goal you have set is not compelling enough. You have a lack of motivation as the incentive to achieve is not big enough. Your reason why or the what is in it for me is not enough to make you really want to do what it takes. This can lead to an attitude of not understanding why you should take action particularly where the goal is set by someone else e.g. in workplace. Many people give up at the first hurdle and fail to persist in the activity. Often if they had just kept going success was just around the corner waiting patiently for them.

Any form of resistance to action will limit your success. If you are faced with unwanted challenges you may not want to take action and instead focus on how unfair life is and stick your head in the sand hoping that the problem will go away. A lack of flexibility in your approach and not being prepared to change direction when the evidence points to different action. Stubbornly sticking to a course of action. Doing what you have always done and so getting what you have always got.

Lack of certainty about your direction can lead to internal self doubt and uncertainty resulting in poor decisions and mediocre outcomes. A lack of understanding as to what you need to do and fear of asking anyone for help. You could be unclear about the outcome you are hoping to achieve, a lack of clarity about the end and what that will be like. If you do not know what you are aiming for how will you know when you have got there? Also a lack of information and research at the outset will affect the outcome.

A lack of self belief and confidence in your ability to succeed will of course affect the outcome and how quickly you achieve it. Negative self talk and feelings of inadequacy are not a resourceful state to be in. You place limits on yourself and make things harder by having beliefs about your ability that are anything less than positive. A closed mind, pessimistic or negative attitude will lead to missed opportunities and a lack of success. On the flip side of this you can also set yourself up to fail with unrealistic goals and expectations, setting the bar too high. Thinking that you can do more than you are actually capable of.

Believing that you can do everything yourself and then not asking for help when you need it. There are limits to what one person can achieve and if you want success you normally need help from other people. If you do not have a team or network of people to turn to you could end up feeling alone and a lack of support. Equally if you have too much going on at once so you end up with a lack of focus. You are keeping too many plates spinning at once instead of focusing on the priority. Going to too many meetings without a clear aim of what you want to achieve

Making assumptions about a situation by allowing first impressions and your own personal prejudices to affect your decision making. If the first impression or prejudice is totally incorrect you could end up looking foolish and also miss opportunities through dismissing either the person or situation without finding out the truth or reality. A lack of understanding of a person or situation can lead to poor relationships and a break down in communication.

If your working environment is not conducive to effective performance with too many distractions, insufficient resources or poor quality equipment and a lack of relevant skills will limit your success. A lack of honesty with yourself and others too will affect your decision making and results.

These are my experiences of why people are less than successful. In the next article I will cover solutions to the barriers.

Noelyne Jones

Noelyne Jones the Personal Achievement Specialist is the Training and Development expert who specialises in overcoming low confidence and self-esteem, banishing procrastination and removing all fears and doubts so that you can get the life that you want. Find out more at http://www.noelynejones.com

Free Special Report click here http://www.howtoovercomeyourfears.com

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10 Tips to Wake Up Your Creative Mind

By Dr. Ben A. Carlsen

Photo: jonathanfields.com

We're all creative. Our individual creativity is present to greater or lesser degrees, but we all have the capacity to be more creative. Creativity is a force which enables us to develop and expand our concepts, come up with innovations, recast old ideas, and problem solve. This creative capacity is important to your physical and mental health, your business success, and financial well-being. Here are some tips to wake up your creative abilities:
1. FRESH EYES - Look at things with a new perspective, child-like without all of the baggage of preconceived notions and past experience. This is a powerful way to increase your creativity. It will take practice to limit your inclinations to judge from prior experience and past practices.
2. EXERCISE - Yes, physical exercise will help awaken your mental capabilities as well. Often while engaged in exercise you will find that you will come up with new ideas, and as your physical well-being improves your mental acuteness will too.
3. REST - Just like exercise, rest is also important. You will be less creative when you're exhausted, tired or burnt-out.
4. VARY YOUR ROUTINE - Take a different way home. Don't go to the same restaurant every Friday. Cultivate variety and spontaneity.
5. PUZZLES - Mental exercise is important. Often puzzles, video games, or other challenges will stimulate your creative "juices."
6. QUESTION EVERYTHING - Ask yourself why? Preconceived ideas, standard approaches, and thinking you already know the answers are counterproductive to creativity.
7. MEDITATION - Some people have the ability to meditate, clear their mind, and reduce stress through this practice. Try it.
8. DISCIPLINE - A disciplined mind does not mean a rigid one. Scatter-brained, unable to focus individuals do not exude creativity, and if they do come up with a creative thought it will soon be lost in the disarray and confusion of their thoughts.
9. CONNECT - A variety of experiences, friends, associates, and activities will help you develop an alert, expansive, and creative intelligence. Piggy-back on existing concepts. You will not know or understand the applicability or usefulness of inspirations without connections.
10. DON'T GIVE UP! - Discouragement and setbacks are common and to be expected. "Throwing in the towel" will only result in failure and continue a negative cycle. Who knows? - Your next idea may be your best one.
Copyright © 2010, Dr. Ben A. Carlsen, MBA. All Rights Reserved Worldwide for all Media. You may reprint this article in your ezine, newsletter, newspaper, magazine, website, etc. as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, leave my name and bio box intact, and you follow all of the EzineArticles Terms of Service for Publishers.

Dr. Ben A. Carlsen, MBA, is author of "Bites of Business" http://bitesofbusiness.com
He is an experienced consultant, leader, management expert and educator. Carlsen was Chairman of the Los Angeles County Productivity Managers Network, Chair of the Marketing Managers Association, and President of the Association for Systems Management (So. California Chapter). For more info visit: http://drben.info

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It Takes Courage to Develop Confidence

 By: T.c. North

Photo: advancedlifeskills.com

When you think about doing something new or challenging, most likely some part of you will be afraid of failing or of being embarrassed or hurt. Courage helps you take on challenges. The bigger the challenge and the greater the risk, the more courage you need. Each time you’re successful at that challenge, you develop more confidence and need less courage. Courage and confidence are two ends of a continuum.

Here’s an example of the courage to confidence continuum in my life. In my early 20s, I was an exercise physiologist in a wellness clinic. Robert, the physician and the clinic owner came to me one day and said he’d just received a call from the owner of Phidippides, a local running store. Robert said, "He asked me if my exercise physiologist would give a talk on aerobic exercise. It will be a small group, probably five to 10 people in their store. Would you like to give this presentation?" Most people don’t know this about me, but I was a shy, off-the-charts introvert, so my response was, "No! I don’t do public speaking!"

Robert, who turned out to be one of my great life teachers, then very authoritatively said, "TC, sit down." So I did and he continued, "I recommend you take this speaking engagement and all the others ever offered to you, and then create some more." I couldn’t believe what he said! Robert’s suggestion sent a wave of terror through my body, beginning at the top of my head and continuing down through my feet completely engulfing my body. But despite my terror, I listened to Robert and managed to say, "OK."

Three months later, I showed up at the running store for an audience of six people. I sat in a chair because my legs felt like jelly and I knew they wouldn’t hold me. I faced my audience and read my 10-minute presentation word for word off a yellow piece of paper that quivered so hard everyone could hear it. Now I have attended over a thousand presentations and to date, my first presentation was the worst presentation I’ve ever been to!

This first presentation may have sounded like a disaster, but it was actually quite glorious. When I got into my car afterward, I was ecstatic. I raised my arms into the air, looked up and yelled with joy, "YES, thank you God!" Why was I ecstatic? Because I hadn’t died. For the three months leading up to that speaking engagement, it felt like I would die if I gave that talk. This is how irrational our mind can be and why it’s important to learn to gain control of our emotions. Giving the talk was also an enormous personal victory for me because I had the courage to go face to face with one of my greatest fears: public speaking.

More than 30 years later, I’ve now delivered over 400 presentations and have gained more confidence with each one. Today, I’m a confident professional speaker, trainer and coach; I love empowering audiences with the techniques that can increase their courage and confidence. I’ve moved from the courage end of the continuum to the confident end as a speaker, but it took me a ton of courage over a number of years to become a confident speaker.

There are some fairly easy ways to jump-start strengthening both courage and confidence, and there are other processes that will take months and years. I’ll address both in future articles, which include topics such as accessing a reservoir of courage that you don’t know you have, immediately accessing your most confident self,— even how to program your brain to be more courageous or confident in the future, and many more techniques to develop more courage and confidence and to overcome fear.

My articles include proven techniques that I’ve taught Olympic athletes, professional athletes, entrepreneurs and sales professionals, as well as many people who just want to be more courageous and more confident. Everyone can have more control of their courage and confidence. You can … if you chose to. Do you?

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage."
— Anais Nin

Dr. North consults with companies to create high-performance sales and leadership cultures to increase both top and bottom lines. In his presentations he teaches sales professionals and leaders the same mental success strategies he has taught Olympic and professional athletes. Dr. TC North also coaches highly motivated individuals, and groups of entrepreneurs, sales professionals and solopreneurs. Learn more at http://www.CourageAndConfidence.com
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How To Cast Out Negative Thoughts Now And Forever

 By: Jon Fraser

Photo: blackmagicremoveswithquran.com

Would you like to know how to banish negative thoughts and low self esteem forever?

If like me, you suffer from low self esteem and negative thoughts, which means that you often lack self confidence in times when you need to be in a social situation...it can hold you back from achieving your ambitions.

Maybe someone else has given you some suggestions, but you don't agree with them. You often do not have the self confidence to tell them you don't like what they are telling you. You’re just not in favour of what they have said.

This often means that you will miss out on meeting and talking to people you would really like to get to know better.

You put up with things as they are instead of throwing down the gauntlet and changing your ways into a positive thing.

If you can banish your negative thoughts and low self satisfaction it can alter your life incredibly.

So, how do you get from being shy or timid, to being a confident, sure of oneself, trustworthy being?

First if all you need to address controlling your own mind and the thoughts it conjures up. You have to understand that it is you, and you alone, that is responsible for the thoughts, feelings and images that you let flow into your mind and your sub consciousness.

Nobody but you is responsible for your life and how you live it from this day onwards. No more can you be a victim of circumstance, take action and control. Realise that you are the one controlling your own destiny.

Start to fill your mind with well-intentioned images. Do this just before you go to sleep, first thing in the morning before you get up, and a at least a dozen times during the day when you have time to relax by yourself.

Say to yourself that you are a free, determined person. See yourself going through the day making decisions, telling people what you want; talking to all the people you love.

Feel how worthy this is, fill your thoughts with these visions so that you are right in the throng of things... YOU are there and it is tangible.

You need to do this quite a few times daily for several weeks before it takes any real effect, but in time it is guaranteed to happen.

If you feel any destructive thoughts arising at any time during the day, be strong, push them aside mentally, and see how they will disappear away into thin air. And then see those positive images to reaffirm the new person that you know you are : You are full of self-confidence.

There's more that you can do to learn how to build self-esteem and reduce those negative feelings; Why not learn how to take your destiny in your hands and begin to feel great about yourself?

To learn more powerful and revolutionary self-esteem secrets that will put a spring in your step, visit http://www.Yourconfidencetriggers.com now for a complimentary video showing you the key to becoming more self-assured, confident and powerful overnight.

To learn more powerful and revolutionary self-esteem secrets that will put a spring in your step, visit http://www.Yourconfidencetriggers.com now for a complimentary video showing you the key to becoming more self-assured, confident and powerful overnight.
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Fear of Failure: Discover The Seven Faces

 By: T.c. North

Photo: soydanbay.com

I recently surveyed successful entrepreneurial CEOs in one of my workshops. Amazingly, I found that 100 percent of them wanted more courage and confidence in at least some situations, and 100 percent knew they had fears that were blocking their success. They later stated it was a relief to know that all of their colleagues had fears and they weren't alone. Does it help you to know that you aren't alone and that highly successful CEOs experience this as well? In this article, I'll share one of the most common fears that blocks the success of business leaders, entrepreneurs and sales professionals, as well as thoughts on how to resolve its different faces.

Seven Faces of Fear of Failure

Fear of failure is one of the most common fears I encounter when helping leaders through their blocks to success. It's a tricky fear though, because it has many faces - some obvious and some not. Here are seven of the faces of fear of failure.

1. Not giving 100 percent. The fear is if you give 100 percent and fail, then you're a failure. This is the most devastating form of fear of failure because it seems uncorrectable, like you're permanently flawed. Correct this thinking by reframing your thoughts or changing your beliefs. A reframed thought for an entrepreneur could be: "I will give 100 percent to the success of my business. If it doesn't succeed, I'll take what I learn and either modify the business or start a different one with a greater chance to succeed." Most leaders have had a major failure along the way, and they use their failures to learn how to better succeed.

2. Procrastination. This face is more obvious. When you're afraid to fail and you think you might fail, you put off doing things so you don't have to face failing. One simple way to address this is to define a small action and do it. The success of the action will build a little momentum and confidence. Continue to take one small action (step) at a time until you have enough courage and momentum to forge forward.

3. Anger. Instead of dealing directly with fear, you express it as anger so no one sees the fear (possibly even you). We guys are great at this one; we aren't afraid of anything, right? Anger in this situation is actually a protective response when we're afraid. My recommendation: Get over it and find the courage to deal with the fear directly. Expressing anger that's covering up fear usually creates a new set of problems.

4. Crying. Crying is a fairly normal response to fear of any kind, including fear of failure. Most children do it openly, but for adults, it's usually best to do in private. It's not for everyone and, like anger, it's a cover for the primary emotion of fear. Crying can be cathartic, but after a good cry, you need to deal directly with the fear.

5. Rationalizing. This happens a lot in business development (for example, the leader or the sale rep who says, after losing a big deal, "I didn't have much of a chance anyway"). Stop deceiving yourself! Stop making excuses. You'll win some and lose some, but the only way to win big deals is to play big, play all out and learn from winning and losing. That's what world-class athletes and top business people do.

6. Withdrawal. If the fear is so big it immobilizes you and you withdraw, you may not be ready for this level of challenge. Either let this one go, or find someone to work with to help you find the courage and develop the skills you need to increase your confidence and your chance of success.

7. Avoidance. You don't put yourself in situations where you think you could fail. This is a sure way to live your life as an underachiever. Work to reframe your thoughts so that you win by giving 100 percent effort to achieving what you're avoiding (focus on the process, not the outcome).

We all try to protect ourselves from failure. Ironically, this keeps us underachieving, one of the things we fear. All highly successful people have failed, usually more than others, because they take more risks and, therefore, they both fail and succeed more than others. All fears can be dealt with. Make a commitment to your greatness; commit to find ways to deal with fear.

Dr. TC North coaches highly motivated individuals, and groups of entrepreneurs, sales professionals and solopreneurs. He is available for keynote speaking and corporate training engagements. Dr. North also consults with companies to create a high-performance sales and leadership cultures to increase both top and bottom lines. Learn more at http://www.CourageAndConfidence.com
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