Empower Women to Personal & Financial Success

How to Achieve Everything You Want in Life

September 25th, 2008 by gregburrus in Goal Setting | No Comments →

“How many times have you set goals, only to see them remain incomplete….”

Stop whatever you are doing and write these words on a piece of paper that you can keep with you at all times. It is a quote from Napoleon Hill

“Dream big dreams; Only big dreams have the power to move men’s souls.”

By following a simple daily technique you can achieve everything you want in life.

What stops you from achieving everything you want in life? Here are a couple of things for your consideration.

Procrastination - is one main reason people do not achieve their goals. Nearly everyone is guilty of procrastination from time to time(although we sometimes use other names for it - well excuses really) even the most motivated are subject to it on occasions.

Stop yourself in your tracks and ask of yourself ‘Is what you are doing at this precise moment taking to toward or away from the goal you have set?’ Possibly your procrastination has come about because the goal you have set is too small. Your thought processes are - well that can be achieved that at any time at a drop of a hat so I will do it later.

Big joke - you are procrastinating nothing less. If it is a goal on your list it is a vital part of your major overall goal, and when achieved it will take you to the next stage of your main goal, the one that gives you motivation.

The second reason you procrastinate is the BELIEF you have in achieving the goal. This is such a large subject that requires discussion in another article.

It’s just too easy to put off something that doesn’t have a lot of appeal even if you were to achieve it.

BIG goals drive you to do things you would never do for major goals — in many ways they almost pull you through the obstacles you are likely to meet on the way to achieving them.

Because with big goals you plan and also want to achieve them so much they become part of your being. For example say your major goal is to move to a four-bedroom house in a better part of town. A minor goal you may set is a new suite of furniture for your new house. Compared to your main goal it is easy to dismiss the minor goal as insignificant - yet let look at it a different way.

Achieving the goal of the new suite of furniture, having it in your home now and sitting on it helps to bring your major goal into sharper focus. Just sit there and imagine it as if you were in your new house and you are enjoying the confort of the new suite, suddenly it will become an integral part of your overall goal.

What is one of the main secrets of high goal achievers? First they write their goals down. I’ll bet you have never heard that before???? But have you done it??? The fact is that writing goals down is so powerful it increases your chance of success by at least 1000%.

Their second secret is that their goals are always BIG. There’s no power at all in small goals. When the goal isn’t big enough, it’s too easy to give in to the obstacles that appear in your life. It’s very difficult to maintain the persistence that all great achievement requires when the goal is small and ordinary.

How big is BIG? If it doesn’t make you a little nervous, you know that feeling in the pit of your stomach; if it doesn’t take your breath away the first time you think about it, it probably isn’t big enough. These physical symptoms are the result of a chemical change in your body caused by your thoughts. When your goal is big enough that the thought of it causes your body to undergo physical changes then you are on the right path. Even more when the thought of MISSING the goal causes a feeling a nausea in the pit of your stomach you are pitching it just right.

Set yourself time to sit down on your own and with pad and pencil ask yourself what do you want in every part of your life for the next 12 months to 5 years. No matter what you think of just write it down without questioning your ability to achieve it, that is the subject of another article.

6 Keys to Overcome the Fear of Failure

July 25th, 2008 by gregburrus in Success | Comments Off

The fear of failure does more than keep us from success. It prevents people from enjoying a huge part of life. Often, the fear of failure developed over a period of time and was most likely triggered by a need for acceptance and approval by those who are important to them.

People who were raised in a negative environment, where they received little praise for their efforts, are prime candidates. While striving for positive recognition and encouragement, they soon learned that no matter how hard they tried, it was not good enough.

The resulting low self esteem fed their negativity. In time, they developed a fear of failure and now are reluctant to try anything new. When this carries over into adulthood, they begin to lose any hope of succeeding.

Fortunately, there are keys to overcome the fear of failure.

1. Recognize the relationship between lack of success and fear of failure

It’s common to confuse lack of success with fear of failure. Lack of success: didn’t succeed for any number of reasons. Fear of failure: fear of failure leads to lack of success

Take a close look at the amount of effort you’ve applied to your endeavors. Try to spot the point when you stopped trying and see if you lost confidence. Chances are, you did. How long did it take for you to reach that point? If possible, try to capture the thoughts that went through your head when you did lose confidence.

2. Determine how much effort you apply before you give up

After a lifetime of failures (lack of success), people tend to lack patience and persistence. As a result, projects do not receive the attention necessary to make them succeed. Such people come to expect failure. Knowing your level of input reveals how easily you feel overwhelmed or stressed.

3. Set a relaxation schedule that corresponds to #2

Unrelieved stress leads to more stress and negativity, and an even stronger fear of failure. Find a fun activity that relaxes you and puts you in a positive frame of mind. Exercise this activity regularly to ease the tension. If you can only work for 30 minutes before feeling stressed, take a break every half hour. Pushing forward while under stress will lead to poor outcomes that reinforce your lack of success and give reason to your fear of failure.

4. Take small steps

Break projects into small, easily achievable steps, rather than tackling the entire project at once. Stop work when you begin to feel stressed and overwhelmed. Come back to it after your relaxation exercises. You will become re-energized, refocused and more positive.

5. Work on activities you know you are good at

People tend to feel more confident and self-assured while doing activities they know they are already good at. Venture into new areas of those activities to build even more confidence. Later, when your confidence is boosted, you can transfer that effort into the tasks that trigger your fear of failure.

6. Find ways to boost your self-esteem

Low self esteem is often at the root of fear of failure. As self esteem is improved, the fear of failure weakens. Rather than expecting approval and acceptance from others, learn to like yourself and your abilities. In essence, you end up approving of yourself and what you can do. The opinion of others loses its importance.

Focus on these six keys and in time, you will begin to see your confidence grow and your fear of failure disappear.

Developing Your Will Power

July 25th, 2008 by gregburrus in Persistence | No Comments →

Developing your will power is directly related to your success in life. No one can over-estimate the power of your will to do.

Most people do not fail because of a lack of education. History is filled with uneducated or poorly educated millionaires who didn’t let this supposed shortcoming hold them back. On the contrary, what they may have lacked in education was obliterated by their overpowering will to succeed, no matter how many times they failed along the way.

It is the lack of determination and will power that is the true reason so many people fail. Just as an athlete trains for a physical game that takes concentrated effort, the mind must be trained with the proper skills to win in life.

The process of obtaining this self-mastery — the complete command of your mind’s powers — is a gradual one. It involves determination and the daily task of making it a habit. Once you have self-mastery, the cost of obtaining it will bring a real sense of accomplishment and a realization how minimal the cost really was in the long run.

You don’t need to be a genius to succeed — just make yourself do the thing you need to do when it has to get done, whether you like it or not. This is one of the best lessons you can learn.

When Henry Ward Beecher was asked how he could accomplish so much more than others, he replied, “I don’t do more, but less than others. They do all their work three times. Once in anticipation, once in actuality, and once in rumination. I do mine in actuality alone, so I end up doing things just once.”

Beecher could concentrate his mind on what he was doing at a given moment. Then he’d go do something else and concentrate on his new task. One of the secrets of a successful life is the ability to focus all of our energies on one thing at a time.

Don’t waste time worrying as it only crowds your thoughts with worthless clutter. Focus on what you’re doing when you’re doing it, and stop worry before it stops you. Worry is an energy vampire. It reduces your chances for success and it can make life miserable for those around you.

Learning to focus your efforts is the only way you will achieve the success you’re capable of achieving. The earlier in life you learn this simple fact, the more likely you will overcome everything that slows you down and prevents you from reaching true success in everything you do.

Here’s a recipe for a wasted life — just go about every day trying to do too many things all at once. Splitting yourself up into a hundred little parts leads to nowhere.

Yes, there are some people who like to juggle a number of tasks, and they may be good at it, but for most of us the need to concentrate on one task at a time is imperative to getting the job done. It’s not the amount of work you get done in a day or week or even a year, but it’s your persistence in constantly moving forward that will get you where you want to go.

Keep at it! And remember …

Focus, Focus, Focus.

The Power of Persistence

July 25th, 2008 by gregburrus in Persistence | Comments Off

Napoleon Hill, one of the first great self help gurus, thought that persistence was so important that he devoted a chapter to it in his landmark book “Think And Grow Rich.” Chapter IX refers to persistence as “The sustained effort necessary to induce faith.” He called persistence the eighth step toward riches. However, another sentence on page one of this chapter really defines how important persistence is. That sentence is: “There may be no heroic connotation to the word “persistence,” but the quality is to the character of man what carbon is to steel.” Persistence strengthens the character of a person so much that he can do whatever it takes to reach his goal or complete the task he has undertaken.

Throughout history, there have been many examples of this. Dr. Jonas Salk, who found the vaccine for polio, persisted with his research even though he failed 200 times before he found a vaccine that worked. Thomas Edison kept working at creating a light bulb even though he failed more than 10,000 times. His persistence paid off and we use his invention every night to light our homes after the sun goes down.

If you read autobiographies, you will learn that most famous and wealthy individuals failed numerous times before they were successful. Each time their persistence allowed them to gain what they were striving for. The power of persistence is that all individuals who persist long enough will eventually reach their goal. No other characteristic has that power. A persistent trickle of water running slowly over the same place on a rock for a long period of time will wear away the rock. Even though water is not as hard as stone, through persistence, water will always win. That is the power of persistence. Persistence at something will always win.

So, how can you make persistence a habit that you always use? These four little steps will create this valuable habit:

1. Have a specific goal and support it with a burning desire for fulfillment.

2. Have a definite plan you follow and take continual action on that plan.

3. Do not listen to any negative or discouraging suggestions. Also, do not let any negative occurrences dissuade you from continuing your action.

4. Find a mentor who will encourage you in your endeavors and who will push you when you slow down.

It doesn’t matter what it is you are trying to do, if you follow these four steps you will be successful in everything you do. These steps are what you can use to improve your wealth and obtain power, fame, recognition and freedom of thought. These steps will change your dreams into reality.

Motivational Tips To End Procrastiation and Self Doubt

July 25th, 2008 by gregburrus in Motivation | Comments Off

Self doubt and lack of motivation are the cause of personal failures in the lives of millions of people. Not living up to your true potential can lead to anger and depression. Overcoming procrastination and building a positive self image is not impossible. There are some very practical steps you can take that will lead you to personal success and keep you motivated.

Fear of failure (or success) and a lack of energy leads to procrastination. People who procrastinate become frustrated and generally accomplish nothing. To change this negative behavior, you must first identify the things that cause you to procrastinate in the first place. Feelings of fear, rejection, and unworthiness take a real toll on your self-esteem. Taking steps to improve your self-esteem will make a huge difference in your energy level and will motivate you to make other positive changes in your life.

Human beings are motivated by two things: pleasure and pain. Make a list of the things you would like to accomplish and how you will reward yourself when you do reach your goals. When you are making your list, be sure to include the consequences you will suffer by procrastinating.

Keeping the reward in mind will make it easier to stay motivated. Overcoming irrational fears and phobias are crucial to your self-esteem and energy level. The act of procrastinating itself creates self-esteem issues. Guilt, stress, and anxiety are results of low self esteem and lack of motivation.

Procrastination is a habitual behavior. You can break the cycle of self doubt and procrastination if you make the decision to do so. Keep a list of the things you need to accomplish, both long and short term goals, and reward yourself for each thing you cross off your list. It is not easy to break old habits, but it can be done and soon you will find that the new behavior is second nature.

Keep in mind that your emotional health is closely related to your physical health. A sensible diet and exercise will do wonders for your self-image.

You will find that when you make an effort to change your negative behavior you will have more energy and your self-esteem will soar. Procrastination will no longer control your life and you will be motivated to accomplish your goals. You can change your self-image and become a highly motivated individual if you take the time to find out why you lack motivation and take steps to improve your self-esteem.

4 Tips to Staying Motivated in the Midst of Failure

July 25th, 2008 by gregburrus in Motivation | Comments Off

Most successful people have failed miserably. That’s right. At one time or another they have flopped, fell short, missed the mark, struck out and goofed up royally. However, the difference between these people and the rest of the world is that when they failed, they made a choice to use the experience to better themselves…to become stronger.

Are you determined to reach your goal? Do you really believe you can achieve what you set out to accomplish? With determination and belief, you too can make the same choice to turn a failed situation into a winning one. How? By choosing to adapt a positive perspective and engage in edifying self-talk. Here are four opportunities to stay motivated in the midst of failure:

“The Only Direction is UP” or “It Can’t Get Any Worse”

Feel like you’ve hit rock bottom? Don’t beat up on yourself too badly. To experience disappointment, heartbreak, embarrassment and/or self-doubt is to be human. However, to wallow in this state for too long is downright destructive. Tell yourself that it doesn’t get much worse than this point of failure and let yourself know that the only place left to go is “upward.” Use the failure as motivation to start climbing back up. When you do this, you will see that instead of running from failure you will look it in the eye and overcome it.

“I Have a Chance to Do Better Next Time”

As long as you’re breathing, there’s always room for improvement. Choose to use your failure as motivation to do better the next time around. When you remember your goal and envision reaching it, you will be super-charged to find ways to develop yourself. For example, if you need to do better in school, make (and follow) a consistent study schedule. If you are intent on a promotion at work, take classes to increase your skill-set. No matter what the failed task consists of, you can use it to motivate yourself to get more done.

“Hmmm, I May Need to Change Direction”

Does it seem like you’ve come to a roadblock? Then the solution may just be detouring and moving toward your goal in a different way. When something does not work out as planned, you need to re-evaluate the route you are taking. So review the situation, re-group and get on a track “around” that roadblock. The track may be a different one, but it may also be a more successful one.

“This is Not the End of the Line”

Know this: everyone fails from time to time but failure is not the end of the line unless you allow it to be. You blundered, you tried, you failed and it hurts. Allow yourself time to grieve it but then let it go so that you can get back to the business of reaching your intended goal. Your goal IS your motivation. Remind yourself that the only positive option is to seek ways to turn the situation around. Then tell yourself that in the morning, you will begin again!

To Be Successful, You Must Stay Motivated!

July 25th, 2008 by gregburrus in Motivation | Comments Off

If you surveyed 50 people asking each their definition of success, chances are you would receive fifty different answers. Even so, there are certain steps everyone must follow in order to be successful. One of the most important is - staying motivated.

Do you have a new job? Have you started your own business? Are you in the process of earning a degree? Do you have the desire to lose weight? If one of these scenarios are a recent event in your life, you are probably still excited about the opportunity. That also probably means you are motivated, as well. Excitement and motivation, often, work hand in hand.

But, how do you stay motivated after several weeks or months have gone by? How do you maintain the same level of excitement that you had when you began your new adventure?

There are many things you can do to stay motivated. It is important to set aside a few minutes or more, each day, in an effort to keep your motivation level at its highest. There will be days that you may feel less motivated then usual. Let’s face it; we all have a bad day now and then. So, by doing all that you can to maintain a positive attitude, your “down days” will probably be few and far between.

Read a book. There are hundreds of books that have been written on the topic of motivation. Visit your local bookstore or library and browse the shelves. Ask the clerk or librarian for author and title recommendations. Both will be happy to help you.

If you have a busy schedule, don’t despair. Set aside 15 or 20 minutes each day. Even if you only read a few pages, during that time, it WILL help to keep you motivated. I do it and can attest to the fact that it really DOES work!

If you are in the process of achieving a goal such as weight loss or top salesperson, make a “dream board”. A dream board is a poster, of sorts. If a trimmer figure is your goal, cut out pictures of the new wardrobe you will someday buy.

If you dream of out-selling your peers, find pictures of your dream home or vacation destination… of the new car you would LOVE to drive. Make a collage with these pictures and hand it somewhere where you will see it each day.

There are many other things you can do to stay motivated. Believe in yourself. Stay healthy. Maintain a positive attitude.

You will be amazed at what you can achieve!

Motivation’s Effect on Mental and Physical Health

July 25th, 2008 by gregburrus in Motivation | Comments Off

Many studies have been done to research the effects of motivation and mental health. As the implications of helping those with negative self-esteem, depression and anxiety are immense this is certainly an area of research that deserves a great deal of attention.

Psychology Online reports on a study investigating the differences between INTERNAL and EXTERNAL MOTIVATION. The report states that “Although our society is largely extrinsically-motivated by external rewards such as money, fame and power, research has indicated those who are intrinsically-motivated by inner desires for creativity, fulfillment and inner satisfaction are psychologically healthier and happier.”

How can this help you?

The study of health psychology seeks to understand how our ability to cope with stress can help us to prevent illness and promote health. Some of these coping mechanisms are naturally inborn but may be taught to those who lack them. Motivation is one of the tools that researchers are trying to use as a combatant of negative stress reactions.

Motivation is something that we use every day. It’s what enables us to survive - to get food because we’re hungry, to go to work to pay the bills or to educate ourselves in order to pursue a higher goal in life.

How we respond to life’s demands can affect our overall health. How are you classified?

The same report on Psychology Online identified those who respond to life with negativity or anxiety as most likely to deal with the physical affects of anger, guilt, nervousness, frustration and fear. These emotions can cause hypertension and high blood pressure which can lead to heart attack or stroke. Other complications include ulcers, arthritis, asthma and kidney disease.

Some therapists suggest that by using positive self-talk and trying to restructure the WAY we look at events can offset the physical and mental effects of dealing with negative or stressful events in life.

Interestingly, people who tend to focus on themselves as the controller of their fate - in fact ’self-motivated’ - are more likely to feel a sense of control when stressors affect them. Instead of blaming something or someone else they have the motivation to deal with a problem and look for a reasonable solution. This positive behavior helps them to achieve goals and find personal contentment.

Therapists try to teach patients how to emulate this positive reaction to stress and use their motivation as a source of empowerment. Learning to manage stress and using motivation to set goals, work through a problem or fix it can in turn promote better mental and physical health.

Motivated to Succeed

July 25th, 2008 by gregburrus in Motivation | Comments Off

All of us, no matter where life leads us, need to be positively motivated to succeed. That is especially true when things are not going our way and when business projects that we have undertaken just do not seem to come off as expected. This is the point when fear can creep into our thinking and that nagging little voice says, this is not going to work.

So what do you do. Well first, steer clear of negative people. Sometimes these people can be your nearest and dearest, but this is not the time to confide your doubts and fears to them. Seek out positive, enthusiastic people from your acquaintances, family or friends. Assume their positive and confident outlooks on life. Find and read good motivational books. Think success and go back and re-tackle the issues that are holding back your project. Often it is just a matter of tweaking aspects of the operation to get it moving. If you have done the research properly there has to be a reason that things are not going right. Persistence will pay dividends in the end. If you have the desire to succeed this will inevitably provide the driving force and energy required to get you to where you need to go. This is personal motivation in action. This is the energy and desire working together to achieve a positive result.

It is very easy to get down and depressed when things do not go your way. It is very easy to give in to fear and despair, but these attitudes only lead to less success. Talking with negative people increases depression and loss of motivation. In a sense we are what we think and we do need to motivate ourselves to achieve.

In a way it is harder to claim the positive because it requires energy but being negative saps energy, while being positive generates energy. Being positive generates motivation and enthusiastic motivation produces results. Nothing is a lost cause, it just requires thoughtful restructuring at worst or minor tweaking at best. You just need the motivation and enthusiasm to carry it through.

Life can be hard but look for the positives in everything, even the difficult situations. Have a joy for life, mix with positive, energetic people. Allow their enthusiasm and motivational attitudes to penetrate the shell of depression that is clogging your life. Develop goals and regain the motivation and drive in your life.