Motivation

How to Cultivate Confidence – Tim Sanders

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Confidence is rocket fuel for your business life. Confident people have a come-this-way charisma that generates a following.  When you possess total confidence you are willing to take risks. When you have it, you propel yourself and your team forward into the future.

Problem: Most people don’t cultivate confidence – it just lands on them due to favorable conditions.  I call this spot confidence.  Good times make for confident people.  Bad times crush them, along with their daring point of view. The secret to unbreakable confidence is a lifestyle of emotional/mental diet and exercise.

  1. Feed Your Mind Good Stuff. Stop reading negative information, listening to negative people or watching cable network news. You are loading up with fear. Replace that information with studies about the future or an improved you. You’ll soon emerge as a solution provider instead of a Chicken Little.
  2. Exercise Your Gratitude Muscle. Gratefulness is a muscle, not a feeling. You need to work it out daily.  Every morning, give thanks to two people that helped you yesterday and one person that will assist you today. This will focus your mind on what you have, and you’ll soon realize you are not alone.

By Tim Sanders, author of Love Is The Killer App: How To Win Business & Influence Friends.

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Getting Things Done vs. Making Things Happen

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Getting things done is not the same as making things happen.

You can…
…reply to email.
…pay the bills.
…cross off to-do’s.
…fulfill your obligation.
…repeat what you heard.
…go with the flow.
…anticipate roadblocks.
…aim for “good enough.”

Or you can…
…organize a community.
…take a risk.
…set ambitious goals.
…give more than you take.
…change perceptions.
…forge a new path.
…create possibility.
…demand excellence.

Don’t worry too much about getting things done. Make things happen.

By Gina Trapani who blogs about software and productivity at Smarterware. Her new book, The Complete Guide to Google
Wave, is available to read online for free.

The 19 Es of Excellence – Tom Peters

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Click on the image to enlarge and read the text properly. Download this amazing new e-book by Seth Godin: What Matters Now

Favorite Quotes on Time

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The key is in not spending time, but in investing it. Stephen R. Covey

Make use of time, let not advantage slip. William Shakespeare

This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it. Ralph Waldo Emerson

A man who dares to waste one hour of life has not discovered the value of life. Charles Darwin

Once you have mastered time, you will understand how true it is that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year – and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade! Anthony Robbins

If you want to make good use of your time, you’ve got to know what’s most important and then give it all you’ve got. Lee Iacocca Continue reading →

17 Things You Should Know About Stress!

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We are all affected by stress at some level or another, though we don’t like to admit it. Stress can be positive when it helps you achieve your goals, or implement a change in your lifestyle. But it’s obviously negative when it results in anxiety, depression and illness. This article can help you identify, prevent and deal with stress.

CAUSES OF STRESS
Most common causes of stress are:

  1. Work-related: This includes deadlines, overload of work, conflicts with the boss or co-workers, job insecurity, lack of recognition etc.
  2. Money-related: Financial crisis, credit card debt, mortgage, loss of job or just lack of money to do the things you really want
  3. Relationship-related: Lack of communication, understanding and trust with your partner, parents, kids or close friends
  4. General lack of fulfillment: Unfulfilled dreams and ambitions; failure in job or relationships
  5. Attitudes that cause stress: Certain traits and ways of seeing the world can cause stress. E.g. Pessimism, perfectionism, addictions, poor communication, anger, obsessing and other such negative behavior.

SYMPTOMS OF STRESS
One or more of the following symptoms could mean that you are going through stress:

  1. Headaches: Certain types of headaches can be related to stress.
  2. More frequent colds or flu: There’s an inverse relationship between stress and immunity, so if you’re under too much stress, you may be getting sick more often.
  3. Sleep problems: There are many ways that stress affects sleep. Too much stress can rob you of sleep and make the sleep you get less restorative.
  4. General anxiety: Anxiety does serve an important function for survival, but if you’re feeling anxious much of the time, it could be because you have too many stressors in your life.
  5. Fuzzy thinking: Your body’s stress response pumps your body with hormones that make it possible for you to fight or flee quickly. But when triggered in excess, this stress response can actually cause you to think less quickly. Continue reading →

4 Tips for Instant Happiness!

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The happy cobbler“If you want to be happy, be.” Leo Tolstoy

Feeling sad, depressed or unhappy? Does life look gloomy, and the world seems dreary? Try one of the following tested and proven tips to achieve an instant shift in your emotions and feelings:

1. Be grateful for the things you usually take for granted…

  • Being alive and healthy
  • For the basic stuff: food, water, clothes, shelter, electricity…
  • Your skills: reading, writing, thinking, driving, writing, and other
  • People in your life: family, friends, people you love, people who love you, those who had a positive influence in your life

2. Make someone happy…

  • Compliment people: for their appearance, intelligence, skills…
  • Appreciate others: for what they do for you, for their helpfulness… your family, co-workers and others; say ‘thank you’
  • Listen without interrupting, without offering advice, without judging Continue reading →

The Tears of the Desert – Paulo Coelho

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0911 desert

A beautiful piece from ‘Like a Flowing River’ by Paulo Coelho:

A friend of mind returns from Morocco with a beautiful story about a missionary who, as soon as he arrived in Marrakesh, decided that he would go for a walk every morning in the desert that lay just outside the city. The first time he did this, he noticed a man lying down, with his ear pressed to the ground and stoking the sand with one hand.

‘He’s obviously mad,’ the missionary said to himself. But the scene was repeated every day, and after a month, intrigued by this strange behavior, he decided to speak to the stranger. With great difficulty, since he was not yet fluent in Arabic, he knelt down by his side.

‘What are you doing?’

‘I am keeping the desert company and offering it consolation for its loneliness and its tears.’

‘I didn’t know the desert was capable of tears.’

‘It weeps every day because it dreams of being useful to people, and of being transformed into a vast garden where they could grow cereal crops and flowers and graze sheep.’ Continue reading →

An Inspiring Video by Times of India

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This is the second video of the Lead India campaign by Times of India. Very inspiring!

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Life – Destiny or Choice?

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0910 PuneLast week I did a road trip from Mumbai to Pune and back. The journey was almost five hours each time, so I got to know the drivers very well:

One of them was a 30-year old who had been driving different vehicles for different companies ever since he got his driving license at the age of 18. He just made enough money to support his old parents and younger brother’s education. He had no ambitions, and believed he was destined to be a low-paid driver. When I asked him whether he had considered saving up to buy his own car or taxi, he gave me many reasons why not. He was unclean, drove recklessly and kept complaining about the government, roads, other reckless drivers and life in general. He bumped his car into another near Pune but didn’t accept his mistake.

The other was a 35-year old who had a similar background – poor parents, no education – but a completely different life. Continue reading →

5 More Reasons to be Grateful!

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0910 Buddha

Did you know?

  • 923 million people in the world are hungry!
  • 16,000 children die every day due to hunger – that’s one every five seconds!
  • 880 million people live without adequate supply of water!
  • 1.4 billion people live below the poverty line (USD1 per day)!
  • 200 million people are unemployed. And at least 20 million more were estimated to become unemployed in 2009!

If we are not one of the above, we have at least five more reasons to be grateful. We can choose to take all the good things for granted; we can continue to complain about the imperfections in our lives and other people; we can focus on all the things that we don’t have. And we are sure to be unhappy, miserable and stressed. Or… we can choose to be happy; we can start acknowledging and being grateful for all the goodness in life, and everything that we do have.

What are you grateful for, today, right now?

[Photo of Big Buddha in Hong Kong]

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Take our Stress Poll…

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Lewis Pugh’s record-breaking swim across the North Pole!

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0910 lewis pughYou must watch this video in which Lewis Pugh talks about his record-breaking swim across the North Pole. He braved the icy waters (in a Speedo) to highlight the melting icecap. Watch for the astonishing footage and his commentary about the childhood dream, purpose of this swim, and the physical and mental preparation:

Watch the video here.

Makes you wonder about the power of the human will. Question is, what are we going to do with that power?

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Inspiring Quotes by Paulo Coelho

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0910 pagodaNo one can avoid defeat. That is why it is better to lose a few battles in the fight for your dreams than to be defeated without even knowing why you are fighting. (By the River Piedra…)

We are allowed to make a lot of mistakes in our lives, except the mistake that destroys us. (Veronika Decided to Die)

If we pay close attention we will come to realize that no day is the same as another. Every morning brings with it a hidden blessing. (Unpublished)

Absolute freedom does not exist; what does exist is the freedom to choose anything you like and then commit yourself to the decision. (The Zahir)

Start to do something. That way, time will be an ally, not an enemy. (The Fifth Mountain)

[Photo of the pagoda in Tung Chung, Hong Kong]

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4 Reasons Why You Can’t Achieve Your Goals

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0909 everest

I have wondered about these questions for many years: Why most people can’t fulfill their dreams? Why most goals are not achieved? Why most plans don’t work out? Why so much action doesn’t produce the desired results?

Working with thousands of salespeople and sales managers for over 20 years, I have learnt that there are only four reasons. Whether it’s about your career, health, money, relationships or any other goals that you fall short of, it must be because:

  1. You don’t really want it. Whatever ‘it’ is that you are after. Are you having sleepless nights thinking and planning for it? What if you don’t get it? Will you settle without it? Do you have a specific time frame in mind? These questions can help you determine if you really want something badly enough. Otherwise, it’s not even a goal – just one of those wishes which may or may not be fulfilled. And you will be OK either way.
  2. You don’t believe it’s possible. It’s an inner voice that tells you, you can’t do it. ‘I can never lose so much weight.’ ‘I don’t think I am made for this.’ ‘It’s just not worth it.’ You believe you don’t have what it takes – the talent, opportunity, looks or whatever.  Continue reading →

Change Anything That’s Causing You Unhappiness

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0909 sunset

“Every day, God gives us a moment when it is possible to change anything that is causing us unhappiness. The magic moment is the moment when a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ can change our whole existence. Every day, we try to pretend that we do not see that moment, that it does not exist, that today is the same as yesterday and that tomorrow will be the same too.

However, anyone who pays close attention to his day will discover the magic moment. It might be hidden in the instant that we put the key in the door in the morning, in the moment of silence after supper, in the thousand and one things that appear to us to be the same. This moment exists, a moment in which all the strength of the stars flows through us and allows us to perform miracles.”

By Paulo Coelho in By The River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept.

More stuff on having a great day: Great day or lousy day? and Make Today Count!

“It’s Not What You’ve Been Given…” by Eddi Reader

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You must know someone like him; he was tall and strong and lean

With a body like a greyhound; and a mind so sharp and keen

But his heart, just like laurel; grew twisted around itself

Till almost everything he did; brought pain to someone else

It’s not what you’re born with; it’s what you choose to bear

It’s not how big your share is; it’s how much you can share Continue reading →

Inspiring Quotes: Paulo Coelho on The Journey

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When every day seems the same, it is because we have stopped noticing the good things that appear in our lives. (The Alchemist)

It is necessary to run risks, to follow certain paths and to abondon others. No one can make a choice without feeling fear. (Brida)

Profound commitment to a dream does not confine or constrain: it liberates. Even a difficult, winding path can lead to your goal if you follow it to the end. (Maktub)

Man needs to choose, not just accept, his destiny. (The Fifth Mountain)

Inspiration from Aimee Mullins: Another Athelete on Prosthetics!

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TED has become a regular source of inspiration for me. You can watch and learn from so many wonderful people!

Aimee Mullins was born without fibular bones, and had both of her legs amputated below the knee when she was an infant. She learned to walk on prosthetics, then to run — competing at the national and international level as a champion sprinter, and setting world records at the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta. Aimee built a career as a model, actor and activist for women, sports and the next generation of prosthetics. She tells her story in this inspiring video:

Inspiring Quotes: Paulo Coelho on Chance

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It’s not difficult to rebuild a life. All we need is to be aware that we have the same strength we had before, and to use it in our favor. (The Fifth Mountain)

Life always waits for some crisis to occur before revealing itself at its most brilliant. (Eleven Minutes)

No one knows what is going to happen in the next few minutes, and yet people still go forward, because they have trust, because they have faith. (Brida)

The secret lies in the present – if you pay attention to the present, you will be able to improve it. And if you improve the present, whatever happens afterwards will eb better too. Each day brings us Eternity. (The Alchemist)