13 Life Changing Principles From Benjamin Franklin

How do you decide what’s important to you on a day to day basis? How do you decide what principles to stand by and what moral code to uphold?

Today we are constantly bombarded by news and social media messages from all around the world. This 24-hour news cycle has changed the way we absorb information, and it has shifted the way we identify reliable content. In fact, it has even changed the way that we think about what is important and how we envision success.

If you’re like me, you find it difficult to cut through the noise and develop a clear understanding of what is truly important to you. The challenge of cutting through the noise has led me to go back in time to explore the writings of some of the leading thinkers and professionals of the past.

Here are Benjamin Franklin’s 13 principles he believed led to success:

1. Temperance

Eat not to dullness, drink not to elevation. Temperance is not a trait that comes easily to many people. We live in a world driven by consumerism and excess, and we are constantly being sold on bottomless brunches or all you can eat buffets. Still, there is a growing movement of temperance and minimalism, especially among young people. The growth of this movement is something to watch out for moving forward.

2. Silence

Speak not what may benefit others or yourself, and avoid trifling conversation. We live in an age of connectivity and “always on” engagement. Too often we’re caught up reading our Facebook News Feed and updating people on our every thought and action. Interestingly, we are seeing a push away from this hyper connectivity towards “digital detoxes” and the growing popularity of silent retreats.

3. Order

Let all your things have their places. With more information comes a greater need for order. If Benjamin Franklin were alive today, he would be blown away by the number of organisations, apps, and programs available to people looking to streamline their lives.

4. Resolution

Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve. Goal setting is a top priority for most millennials and young people, yet people still struggle to follow through on their resolutions. Once you make a decision about something you want to accomplish, try your best to stick to it by setting out a definite plan for accomplishing it.

“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” – Benjamin Franklin

5. Frugality

Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself. For example, waste nothing. Frugality isn’t sexy, but it is seductively addictive. While most people would prefer to live a life of luxury and drive luxury sports cars all day, the skill required to live frugally and within your means translates into an amazing strength of will and character.

Plus, it can actually be fun. Living within (or below) your means during good times is one way to ensure that you can survive when times are tough. There are a number of resources available online that provide advice on how to save money on everything from rent to food to transportation and leisure travel.

6. Industry

Lose no time. Always be employed in something useful, and cut off all unnecessary actions. Being busy for the sake of business is not helpful. Rather, being productive by doing only that which is useful to you or someone else is key to success. Always be looking for ways to cut out unnecessary actions.

7. Sincerity

Use no hurtful deceit. Think innocently and justly, and if you speak, speak accordingly. Being truthful and sincere in your thoughts, words, and deeds is one of the best ways to achieve happiness and develop stronger relationships with those around you. While you may look for ways to avoid telling the truth because it might be hurtful or damaging, consider what affect it will have on you if you constantly have to hide how you truly feel.

8. Justice

Wrong none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty. Effectively, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Don’t be rude.

9. Moderation

Avoid extremes. Forbear resenting injuries so much you think they deserve. Avoid becoming overly obsessive about any one thing or idea. Live a life of balance and moderation and you will be much better at making challenging decisions.

“Some people die at 25 and aren’t buried until 75.” – Benjamin Franklin

10. Cleanliness

Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation. Pretty straight forward, don’t be a slob.

11. Tranquillity

Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable. Try your best, then don’t worry, be happy. If you aren’t able to accomplish a goal but you’ve still tried your very best, there is no use worrying.

12. Chastity

Rarely use venery (sex) but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation. While this may seem like a rather antiquated principle, the power of chastity is not to be underestimated. There is a growing population of people who are self-diagnosed sex addicts or porn addicts. Addiction to pornography and sex can affect productivity and the ability to focus on long term goals.

13. Humility

Imitate Jesus and Socrates. Again, while this may seem rather dated, there is much to be said for emulating the lives of those who have lived simple and influential lives. Clearly, some of these virtues are more relevant than others, but most of the principles mentioned represent areas of personal development that nearly everyone on earth struggles with in one way or another.

Benjamin Franklin suggests that in order to develop yourself properly, you should focus on improving one quality at a time rather than trying to tackle all thirteen points at once. It is with this in mind that I urge you to take a look at your own habits and areas of interest and to choose one principle to focus on improving over the next week.

Which one of these habits will you implement first into your life and why? Comment below!

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https://addicted2success.com/life/13-life-changing-principles-from-benjamin-franklin/

Getting Your First Grey Hair – What It Means.

Recently I got my first grey hair. It’s on the side of my head and it’s very obvious. I’ve never had a grey hair before. I sat down and tried to think how my first grey hair made me feel. If the truth be told, it made me feel a bit fearful. Does this mean I’m getting old? What does old age mean?

These are the questions my first grey hair raised amongst many others. And guess what, if it’s not grey hair, then it will be baldness or wrinkles, or the triple McChicken Combo of all three.

Here’s what it all means:

 

You always think you’ll never get a grey hair.

When I was 21, I never thought I’d get grey hair. You know how it is. In your younger years, you think you’ll live forever. The concept of death seems so far away, and very unlikely. That’s why I smoked cigarettes and drank a lot when I was young and you probably did too.

The day you get your first grey hair, you realize you have been lying to yourself. It sort of reminds me of what it was like to take a sip of soy milk a few months ago that was full of mold. It should have been delicious until that disgusting taste hit the back of my throat.

Lying to yourself is the same. Figuring out that you misled yourself for short-term gain is not pleasant. In the end though, as Tim Ferriss says, you have to forgive yourself.

We all do dumb stuff before we get grey hair and even lie to ourselves. Your first grey hair is the realization that lying to yourself must stop. We’re all getting grey hair and we all will die at some point. That can be an awesome reality as you’ll see if you read on.

 

The “young indicator” keeps moving.

At eighteen, I thought I was old. At twenty-one, I thought I was older. At thirty, I thought I was an old man. The word “young” keeps changing its meaning as we age. My mentor is forty and he still thinks that’s young. My parents have friends that are in their fifties which they still call young.

The first grey hair brings to light the fact that young is just a label that we give meaning too.

“We can be forever young if that’s how we chose to live”

 

Grey hair doesn’t define you.

Why? Because you can get it at any age. In fact, you can even be born with it in some rare circumstances. The term “Silver Back” is cool ladies and gentlemen. The real point to address is that the color of your hair doesn’t define you.

Just like the color of your skin, the place you were born, your sexuality or the color of your phone cover doesn’t define you. Your grey hair can mean the best change in your life if you let it.

 

You’re no less of a man or woman.

Having grey hair doesn’t take away any of what you’ve created.

“You can change the world, be happy, be grateful and be successful with or without grey hair”

Grey hair doesn’t rob you of your freedom or take away your dignity.

 

Grey hair should remind you of time.

Whether we know it or not, grey hair reminds us of time. We associate grey hair with age even if it has nothing to do with it. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Being reminded about time and how short life is can help take you out of your routine.

That routine that makes you grind out each day the same way, while simultaneously forgetting who you are, who you want to become and the vision for your life.

Time is limited. Grey hair does not contain the same limitation.

 

With grey hair comes wisdom.

I only became the so-called Yoda of blogging (not my label) in the last year. The same year I got my first grey hair. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

Usually, by the time you get a grey hair or two, you’ve lived a bit of life. You’ve seen things. For example, I’ve seen loved ones die, people get stabbed, people lose their lives to drugs, people go to work and hate their jobs and so much more.

These experiences that you rack up by the time you get your first grey hair give you wisdom. That wisdom is designed to be shared so you can help others avoid these same pitfalls.

Grey hair should be a reminder of how wise you’ve become and what you want to do with the rest of your life while you continue to get grey.

Cheers to the second grey hair and the next one after that.

If you want to increase your productivity and learn some more valuable life hacks, then join my private mailing list on timdenning.net

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5 Simple Steps Which Will Enhance Your Confidence and Multiply Your Results

Darwin once said that “It is not the strongest or the smartest that survive, but those most adaptive to change.” With all due respect, I disagree. I believe that it is not the strongest, the smartest, or even the most adaptive people that succeed but it is the people who are the most confident.

In life, business, and entrepreneurship, the person who is most certain of their abilities and their potential is usually the person who succeeds. Nonetheless, there is a problem. Most of us were never taught how to be confident.

We learned all about the Pythagorean theorem, the Magna Carta, and Newton’s Laws of physics, but we were never taught how to increase our confidence in any area of our lives or how to cultivate the confidence required to pursue our wildest dreams.  

Luckily, there is a formula for increasing your confidence, and it’s much simpler than you might imagine. I’ve been helping men increase their confidence and chase their goals for the past five years and, after a significant amount of trial and error, I have finally unlocked a simple formula that works.

Here is the 5 step formula that will help you 10X the balance of your confidence account:

1. Accept that Confidence is a Skill and You Can Acquire It

Most people assume that confidence is a character trait or inborn element of someone’s personality, but this simply isn’t the case. Don’t believe me? I want you to think about the first time you ever drove a car. You were scared out of your mind, right?

You probably felt a rush when you first pressed your foot against the acceleration pedal. You likely had butterflies in your stomach the first time you merged onto a freeway. I can all but guarantee that you weren’t texting, drinking coffee, or eating fast food the first time you sat behind the wheel.

What about today? Do you still get butterflies in your stomach when you strap on your seatbelt and drive to work? Do you still feel apprehensive when you switch lanes on the highway or freak out when you have to park in a tight space?

No! Because you have developed the skill of driving; you have become confident in that particular skill. The same thing is true in every other area of your life.

Confidence, at its most basic level is simply an internal feeling of certainty that you have the knowledge, resources, and skills required to succeed at any given endeavor. Nothing more, nothing less. Therefore, the first step to increasing your confidence is to realize and accept that confidence is a learnable skill!

“With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.” – Dalai Lama

2. List Out the Current Balance of Your Confidence Account

Once you have accepted that confidence is an acquirable skill, you now need to acknowledge that you have already developed this skill in certain areas of your life.

I want you to pull out a pen and notepad and write down 10-15 skills or tasks in which you have tremendous confidence, big or small. Are you confident in your ability to have a great workout? Are you confident at your ability to paint, play the guitar, or write beautiful poems?

Are you confident about your ability to cook eggs without burning them, drive down the street without crashing, or successfully brush your teeth every morning? It doesn’t matter how big or small the item is, write it down!

The point of this exercise is to help you acknowledge that you are already confident! Once you have acknowledged you already have areas of your life where you are confident, it’s time to move to step #3.

3. Reverse Engineer

Now that you’ve acknowledged that you are confident, it’s time to figure out how you became that way. I want you to pull out a separate sheet of paper and create a list of all the ways that you developed your confidence in that particular arena.

For example, if you wrote: “I am confident in my ability as a Marketing consultant.” I want you to write out how you became a confident consultant (because I promise you were not truly confident when you started). Did you land one particular client that made you realize you could succeed? Was there a particular campaign that boosted your confidence and self belief? Did someone say something to you that made you believe you were a great consultant?

Figure out the steps you (unconsciously) took to become confident so that you can uncover your personal confidence blueprint and apply it to other areas of your life.

4. Realize Certain Actions Decrease Your Confidence

It seems like everyone in the world is encouraging you to pursue your dreams, set more goals, and stretch yourself with new projects. I’m not one of those people.

If you truly want to increase the balance of your confidence account, then you must realize that just like you can make deposits into your account by successfully completing tasks and improving yourself, you also make withdraws whenever you bite off more than you can chew, fail at a given task, or leave an important goal unfinished.

While you should never fear failure, if you are consistently setting overly ambitious goals, creating unrealistic expectations, or pursuing tasks that you know aren’t congruent with your deepest purpose, then you are subconsciously training yourself to believe that you cannot achieve success thus draining the balance of your confidence account. .

While I am a firm believer in setting big goals and shooting for the stars, I am also a firm believer in setting yourself up to win. Approach new goals and projects with a healthy dose of caution. Always ask yourself, “Is this the best use of my time” and “Do I have the resources required to truly pursue this project.”

5. Act “As If”

One of the most powerful tactics I have found for increasing my own confidence account was acting as if I had already developed the confidence I desired. When you “trick” yourself into believing you are already confident, successful, and where you want to be, your actions start to become more congruent with those goals and dreams.

“Fake it ’til you become it.” – Amy Cuddy

When you act as if you are already confident, you will naturally become more confident. While you might be hesitant about “faking it until you make it”, I promise you that this tactic is cliche for a reason…it works. Each morning when you wake up, I want you to look at yourself in the mirror and ask one simple question, “How would I act if I already had the confidence, skills, and mindsets required to achieve my biggest goals?” Then go act that way and the results will follow.

How do you increase your confidence when you need it most? Let us know in the comments below!

Image courtesy of Twenty20.com

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https://addicted2success.com/life/5-simple-steps-which-will-enhance-your-confidence-and-multiply-your-results/

4 Actionable Steps to Elevate Your Charisma

Do you ever walk around your streets or hang out with friends and family and wonder how some people are simply so likeable? You might love them or hate them yourself, but do you ever wish that you had that level of confidence?

Well, contrary to popular belief, nobody is born with charisma, it’s something that is learned. By boosting your charisma, you will automatically become more magnetic to other people. You’ll come across as being more trustworthy, more loyal, more persuasive and therefore enabling you to build deeper and stronger relationships with the people in your life.

Today, we’re going to explore four actionable steps you can take in order to train your mind to enhance your levels charisma, helping you to become the person you want to be in the life that you want to live.

1. Develop a Presence

Presence is considered the most important and essential aspect that contributes to charisma. If you’ve ever been in the surrounding area of someone that has a ‘presence’, you’ll know exactly what I mean when you feel drawn to that person, and you feel as though you can talk to them about anything.

In addition to this, being ‘present’ is also vital to charisma. Being in the present moment means that the person you’re talking to has your full attention, and your mind isn’t off wandering on what you’re doing at the weekend or what you’re having for dinner that night.

Being present and actually listening to what the other person in front of you has to say is a great way to build relationships with people as well as expanding your own horizons and knowledge. By being ‘present, you’ll create your own ‘presence’. However, it’s vital that you find balance as having too much ‘presence’ can lead to large and unwanted amounts of ego.

“The most beautiful thing you can wear is confidence.” – Blake Lively

2. Build Your Confidence

Of course, the second most important aspect when it comes to charisma is confidence. However, this is also considered one of the most difficult traits to build. The less confidence you have, the less charismatic you’ll be. In comparison, too much charisma and you’ll be perceived as arrogant.

However, at its core, confidence is all about how you feel in your own skin. By eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly and wearing the clothes that you want to wear can all contribute to how you feel about yourself. The more comfortable you feel, the more confident you’ll be.

3. Speak Truth to BS

Nowadays, thanks to platforms such as social media and the incessant drive to know everything about everything, false truths are evident in our everyday lives. However, even if we’re the ones lying or over-exaggerating a story, we can tell the other person doesn’t believe it, but it carries on anyway.

If you’ve ever been BS’d to, you’ll know how it feels when you know it to be false. However, a crucial aspect of charisma is admitting when you don’t know something in order to progress a conversation. Showing curiosity in what somebody is saying to you, listening to what they have to say and not giving the impression that you know everything about everything is one of the best ways to show your charisma.

More often than not, especially with how society is these days, acting in this way will surprise the people you’re talking to. If someone is speaking BS to you, although it can be an extremely hard conversation to have, speaking truth to them, i.e. calling them out on it, can help you build deeper relationships with these people which is an extremely charismatic thing to do.

You don’t have to be rude about it. If you’re talking about a political debate and someone quotes a figure, simply ask them where they heard or read that fact for proof. This level of curiosity allows you to drop the ‘defensive guard’ you would normally have up when BSing yourself and allows you to feel like you’re yourself when around other people. Live with purpose.

“If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life.” – Marcus Garvey

4. Master the Art of Conversation

In short, any charismatic person knows how to have and hold a conversation. They can start a conversation with anybody, steer it in any direction and, most importantly, can make the other people in the conversation feel comfortable.

These are the basic guidelines for having a proper conversation, and it can take practice if you don’t possess it already. However, it’s not impossible. If talking to a complete stranger scares the hell out of you, the only thing to do is bite the bullet and jump straight in. Once you realise you’ve got nothing to lose and can only gain conversational experience which will improve instantly, you’ll be able to get better and better over time until you master the art completely.

Of course, the best way to start a conversation is by being nice, rather than trying to overwhelm the other person with information or showing off, mentioned above. Avoid awkward silences, make eye contact, and you’ll see the rewards instantly in every conversation you have.

How do you boost your charisma? Comment below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/life/4-actionable-steps-to-elevate-your-charisma/

The Benefits Of Giving Up Lying.

I used to be someone that would lie. Let’s face it, many of us lie every day and think nothing of it.

The truth I’ve learned is that lying will kill your success. Lying is like putting up a giant sign that says “I’m messed up, please don’t talk to me or listen to me.”

“Never ever lie about anything to anyone. Counterintuitive, but this seems to be a huge social hack and people like you a lot more if you always tell everyone the truth, no matter how embarrassing or hurtful” – Serge Faguet

Quick Example:

Today I went to the market. There’s this one Fruit & Veg store run by a fifty-year-old dude and his three sons who are all teenagers. Every now and then they have deals.

The first deal was avocados a few weeks back which I bought from one of the sons. I got home and realized they shortchanged me.

The second deal was some oranges. One of the young boys weighed them and then tried to charge me for an extra kilogram. I could see in his eye that he was lying.

The third deal was today when I tried to get the mango deal. The same young boy then told me that I should have an extra one implying it was free to get rid of stock. He then charged me for all three. This time, I let him do the wrong thing. The bad news is I won’t ever visit them again even if they have the greatest deal of the century.

I also noticed that their store is always empty yet they have good produce and excellent prices. My guess is that others have figured out, that this family just lies.

 

Does lying really make you win in the long term?

Firsthand, I’ve seen the answer to be no.

Lying to gain more suggests that you don’t already have enough, and therefore have to cheat, to gain something you didn’t earn in the first place. Long term, you repel the people that could help you be successful, away from you. Lying makes you appear selfish and ugly at the same time.

 

There are no shortcuts.

“Lying is often used to gain progress that has not been earned”

If you steal or sell illegal drugs, then you are being dishonest. In the short term you may get that Lambo which you can do burnouts in, but in the long term, you’ll fail.

As humans, we’re wired to move away from liars and have fewer dealings with them. Deep down, we all hate being lied too. It’s a dreadful feeling that guarantees a once only misplace of trust (sometimes two, in my case of the market).

 

All liars eventually get caught.

You’ll eventually get found out. Technology is everywhere and it can now be used more than ever to bust liars. The only way forward in this fast moving, technological world is via the truth.

 

The truth will set you free.

Free from:

– Lack of fulfillment
– Doing the wrong thing
– Feeling bad about lying
– Failures
– Not being who you were meant to be

 

Lying then becomes a habit.

It’s sort of like being untidy. We hate it, it frustrates us but we keep doing it because it’s all we know how to do. We must break the pattern of lying.

Dreadful habits like lying take us further down the path of misery. What seems small at the start, becomes a giant boulder later on that can run over the top of us and squash us like a tomato – thus resulting in tomato sauce.

Our habits shape who we are today, and who we become – it’s so cliché I know!

 

Even small lies are a problem.

Whether it’s shortchanging someone twenty cents, saying you accomplished something you didn’t or lying about who else you’re sleeping with, it’s all messed up.

“Small lies lead to even bigger lies down the track”

The biggest liars we know all started out with little lies.

First, it was how much money they had.
Then it was how many partners they’ve had.
Before you know it, they’re lying to their own customers and stealing from them.

 

There is no need to lie. Honesty is easier.

The crap thing about lying is it’s hard. You have to remember all the BS you told people and there’s even greater risk you’ll get found out lying. Every lie you tell (especially those you repeat often) get told slightly different.

Our memories are already bad enough. We don’t need the burden of lying to hold us back as well as all the other struggles that life gives us.

3 benefits of giving up lying:

 

1. Not lying makes you vulnerable.

Being 100% honest can be challenging at times and it requires you to be vulnerable. Why? Because the truth often contains elements that are difficult to share with people. Things like:

– You may have been an addict
– You may have committed criminal acts
– You may have been massively obese
– You may have suffered from a health problem like acne

Sharing these truths requires you to be vulnerable and that’s a key ingredient in success. Vulnerability brings people closer to you and helps make you relatable. That’s why your social media feeds are now filled with vulnerable stories because deep down, we love them.

 

2. Not lying is rare, which is why you should do it.

“Doing what everyone else does is the fastest way to be mediocre”

You’ll never solve problems or do the impossible if you just settle for the crap most people put up with. Standing out and being the bright green horse is an awesome way to live.

Being honest requires you to be disciplined and stop the impulse of lying in its dreadful tracks. With this discipline comes a habit that will cross over into other areas of your life like food and exercise.

 

3. Honesty is damn sexy.

People are attracted to honesty. It’s addictive because true honesty is so rare. Honesty makes us feel comfortable, significant and drawn into these damn fine creatures that tell the truth.

 

***My story of lying.

I can admit that I used to tell a lot of small lies. I’m not proud to admit that. Then I took a long hard look at myself and was not happy with what I saw.

I saw someone who was tired, pissed off, unhealthy, anxious, depressed and everything else under the sun. I saw lying as being the seed for many of these frustrations in my life.

I experimented with being stupidly honest. I told the supermarket cashier when they scanned something and entered the wrong price (when it was in my favor). I told my people leader at work about every corporate card expense and refused to charge things to the company even when I could have.

I told my girlfriend every time my ex-girlfriend messaged me asking for favors.

As a result, people trust me. I am able to earn trust like it’s up for sale with a $0 price tag.
I don’t have to remember what I told people because the story is always the same – the truth.

In the last five years, I feel much better about who I am. I can honestly say that I’m trying to be the best version of myself and help people. This pattern of honesty has also made me attack goals that I previously ignored.

For example, I was never doing any charitable work and I told myself that I was. Charitable work has taught me so much about the people I used to put down in my own mind. Just because you are a prisoner, or homeless, or have tattoos, does not mean that you don’t deserve respect and to be listened to.

It’s time to cash in all those lies you tell and exchange them for the benefits of the truth.

The truth is the number one way to attract people into your life who can help you reach your goals.

If you want to increase your productivity and learn some more valuable life hacks, then join my private mailing list on timdenning.net

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4 Things You Can Do Right Now to Change Your Perspective and Live a Better Life

To everything in life, there’s always a positive and a negative side. The thing is, it’s so damn easy to focus on one over the other. Some of us tend to focus too much on the negative side – as you know, it’s usually easier to forget the positive over the negative.

But here’s the good news: you get to choose which side you want to focus on! It’s simply a matter of shifting your perspective or, in other words, shifting your thoughts.

Here are 4 things you can do to help shift your perspective:

1. Focus on the lesson not the issue

Easier said than done, right? Well if you’re reading this article to begin with, you are ready to embrace change. We all go through good and bad experiences along the road. We are either in control of them or not. But the necessary thing to remember is that, every experience is a good experience.

The key is to finding the silver lining. Once you know this, it is fully your responsibility to do so. Now, I’m not saying all experiences have positive aspects, but it’s what you think or make of them that matters the most.

There is always an opportunity to evolve.  If you look a bit closer, you will find a way to positivity more often than you think. Let me give you an example.

It’s a little personal, but it proves exactly what I’m trying to explain. I got diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder three years ago. Long story short, once I knew, instead of telling myself, “I’m a total emotional wreck, there is no hope” I thought, “Now that I have the knowledge, I will find the tools to help me find a solution.” And it felt so damn good!

Now, don’t get me wrong, this ‘positive’ perspective didn’t happen overnight. Good, efficient and long-term changes take time. But what I want to prove with this example is that you should take each problem or circumstance as a positive opportunity to change and to evolve.

At the end of the day, everything happens for a reason – you either have to find the reason yourself or it will become clear by itself after some time.

You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.” —Walter Hagen

2. Remind yourself that positive attracts positive

You most definitely know the quote, “Smile and the world smiles with you.” At this point, it’s almost evident how much gratitude is important. Expressing gratitude everyday will boost your positive attitude in so many ways.

Here’s an example of a really easy exercise you should start practicing: This can be done at night or first thing in the morning. When you wake up, ask yourself, “What are 3 things I am grateful for this morning?” or, when you go to bed, “What are 3 things that made me happy today?”

This will help your ‘computer’, that is, your mind – in escaping any negative ‘viruses’, that is, your thoughts. Being grateful unfolds in so many positive ways. It will help you have the right, positive energy which will attract positivity.

Because positive attracts positive! The more you focus on having a great day when you first wake up in the morning, the more you will attract it. You will start noticing small details that you hadn’t before, like the beautiful petals in your neighbor’s garden, or simply the way the sun reflects on your skin. It’s also part of living in the now… All yogis will tell you about it.

On the contrary, negative emotions just make everything seem even more negative and then it just becomes a vicious cycle. The important thing to bear in mind here is that your emotions determine your perspective.  In other words, if you control your emotions better, you will control the way you see things better. You have the ability to change – your inner strength will help you in changing focus.

3. Take some distance with any source of negativity

It’s so necessary especially when you start changing your everyday routines and thoughts. Escaping all sources of negativity will give more space to attract positivity. This also means attracting more positive situations and people.

Whoever is toxic in your life or seems to slow you down, you need to put a cross on. You don’t have the time or the space to keep them. This also works for ‘toxic’ situations. Are you working a 9-5 job that you hate? Quit.

When you decide to change your emotions and your perspective, you don’t have any more space for negativity. Simply put, don’t expect positive change when you are surrounded by negative circumstances. 

“If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

4. Reward yourself with positive self-talk  

You already took a positive action to read this article in order to become a better version of yourself. Give yourself a little tap on the back! It’s important to shift your thoughts, but it’s almost twice as important to give yourself rewards for it.

It’s not that easy to accept and to embrace a change of thoughts and of perspectives. Realize that what you’re doing is sign that you are taking good initiatives into becoming a better person. Not everyone does it! The world would be a better place if they did.

A simple change in how you look at things and events can completely change your life. Perspective is all about what you decide to focus on. If you decide to focus on negativity, chances are, your life will be negative. On the contrary, if you choose to realize all the good things going on in your life, the quality of your life will necessarily get better. It’s not about what happens but how you deal with what happens.

Remember, it won’t happen overnight. But if you want it enough, like for everything – you will take the necessary time and efforts to make it happen. And then you will never perceive things the same way you used to.Every day is a new chance to start again. Embrace it!

What are some things you do that help you change your perspective and put you in a more positive state? Comment below!

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https://addicted2success.com/life/4-things-you-can-do-right-now-to-change-your-perspective-and-live-a-better-life/

5 Simple Steps to Master the Art of Brainstorming

Everything that you see around originated from an idea. It is that idea that takes the form of anything, from a product or solution to deciding what you are going to do next with you life. Sometimes we get ideas that are so great that we even doubt if they came out of our own head.

Other times, we are plainly frustrated over the mediocrity of our ideas. There is an art behind coming up with really great ideas every time you brainstorm by yourself or with your team.

Here are five simple steps to master the art of brainstorming:

Step 1: Avoid the trap of the favourite idea

An idea enters our head, and it becomes our favourite idea. Although it could be a pretty good one, it blocks the incoming of any other idea — which could indeed be much better.

• Make a list of ideas for the given purpose. Do not pick one yet. Put your idea on the list and detach from it, no matter how good it seems at the moment. Then, move on to other possibilities.
• Break the brainstorming session into segments. Schedule other important work in between, so that you begin with a fresh mind. This is how you can avoid getting trapped in a single thought pattern.

“When you come to a roadblock, take a detour” – Mary Kay Ash

Step 2: Dumb down your standards

You might hold yourself in high regard. But in order to excel at brainstorming, you have to let go of your intellectual self. Realize that your critical mind cannot efficiently confront the situation in front of you. It is time to wake up the child within you.

• Include every single idea that enters your head, no matter how stupid it sounds. Sometimes, the most genius solution is hidden in a very stupid idea.
• Prioritize dumbing down. Dedicate an entire session or two to think about all the worst ways you can think of doing the task at hand.
• To dumb it down even further, consult someone not directly related to the project. That will add greater variety to your list.

Step 3: Let your ideas rot

By now you’d have a long enough list of ideas and absolutely no idea what to do with it. It is time to leave your idea list for a while. Go out hiking, or maybe just a coffee, if you are chasing a deadline. Carry your list ideas along with you.

This is the part where magic happens. This is where ideas intermingle and get refined. They also mix up with other experiences of your life. For example: In the 1980s, while Steve Jobs was working on the revolutionary Macintosh, it’s ‘just-plug-in-and-use’ feature was inspired by a newly born calf that started walking within a few minutes of its birth; a scene that Jobs had once witnessed. This is how life makes our ideas incredible by flowing in from unexpected places if you let it.

Just like different ingredients rot together and ferment to produce a great wine, our ideas also transcend into something else if you allow them to ferment. Life colours them in different flavours. They get refined. Stupid ideas combine with brilliant ones, making them even better. In a short while, you will have developed clarity over your ideas. And unworthy ones simply wither off.

Step 4: Find patterns

Once you are done with the process, the ideas on your list would not be the same as before. When you get back to them, they are not the same bunch of random thoughts. Interesting connections would have been formed among things in and out of the list. Pick up the ones that seem to be standing out. Figure out which other ideas seem to be supporting or enhancing the good ones.

“No idea is so outlandish that it should not be considered with a searching but at the same time steady eye.” – Winston Churchill

Step 5: Analyze the solutions

Then comes the last stage where you finally apply your critical mind that you had switched off in step 2. Analyse your results. List the pros and cons with each of the few selected ideas on a piece of paper. Look at the efficiency, scalability, implementability and other factors that might count in your scenario. And choose the best idea, which would be pretty obvious by now.

What not to do next

Once you have gone through the entire process, the solution you would have at hand shall be many folds better than the one formed directly through practical thinking. This time you thought as an artist. But being an artist has its cons.

Since you have set your brain on a stormy mode, it will keep coming up with ideas one after the other. This process will continue even after you have decided upon a particular idea. It is really like choosing the best rose from a 2 acre rose plantation. You have to understand that there is not one way to do something. Otherwise, the lizard brain will start using your perfectionism as an excuse to procrastinate.

Make a mental note for yourself before you begin the entire process that you are going to avail as much time as possible for a thoroughly elaborate brainstorming, but once you are done with that, you will shut down the thinking machine. It is time to put in the hard work to manifest your golden idea into a breakthrough reality.

What are some things you do to make brainstorming more effective? Comment below!

Image courtesy of Twenty20.com

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https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/5-simple-steps-to-master-the-art-of-brainstorming/

4 Ways to Remain in One Piece When Entering a Cut Throat Industry

Once again rejection knocks on the front door. It’s probably the 27th time within just a few weeks that another potential client, editor or customer has figuratively taken a hungry bite out of your soul and meticulously chewed it for a while before spitting it back out because of the unappealing taste.

There is only one thing that matters when this happens and that is how you handle it. Will you lay down, cry and get back to that safe, but unpromising 9 to 5 job that you despise? Or will you get back up, put on your boxing gloves and fight with your heart and soul for what you want? I suggest the latter option. Take it from someone who’s persistently tried to enter the realm of freedom that comes with being a freelance writer.

Here are 4 ways to stay strong in a competitive marketplace:

1. List your positive attributes

Innumerable rejections naturally take their toll on the human mind. Despite your first-rate efforts, admirable persistence and self-consciousness, eternally being exposed to this may lead to lack of conviction, fading passion and loss of focus.

The only thing you can do here is to stop beating yourself up, remove your sight from the long road ahead for a little while and think about how far you’ve come by listing all previous successes. However small or irrelevant you think they are, all of them matter. It can be a quality you like about yourself, an attitude your friends admire, a skill people praise, a good grade or why not even a hobby you’re exceptionally good at.

The point about this is to strengthen your mind, regain and maintain your confidence and most importantly, find countless reasons not to give up rather than listing all the things that have gone wrong. Most of the time it’s not about you, so it’s essential to not take it personal.

“The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.” – Arnold J. Toynbee

2. Take a break

You might be on the verge of breaking down and starting to contemplate about whether you should quit or not; Don’t. Instead, go and do something you particularly take pleasure in. Read a good self-help or fiction book, hang out with friends or spend a day strolling around the city and revisit your cult places or discover new ones. As long as you completely tune out from social media and your business and allow yourself to unwind for a couple of days. Or even a week if you feel like it is of vital importance.

A trip to an unexplored destination might just do the trick. Whether it’s a long car drive to the capital of the country, a train ride to an idyllic small town or flight to the neighbouring country or even across the globe. Bring some good reading, your kick-ass, self-titled playlist (we all have one) and hiking gear, and prepare for a treat for your soul while you take the time to unwind from your worries.

It may sound like the last thing you’d want to do, but trust me on this one. You’ll realize how much you needed it once you get back to your grinding with a fresh mind and revitalized spirit.

3. Get back in there

Your mind and body are now well rested and you’ve hopefully recovered from the door slamming and soul punching that took you down in the first place.

Start fresh – preferably on a weekend – and outline a few things, thoughts and goals that have to happen by the end of the following week. Don’t make the list too long or the tasks too demanding, otherwise you’ll get the urge to give up again, which is the last thing you want!

Split your tasks in between days. Monday may include calling to set up meetings throughout the week, the following day you might want to spend one half of the day working on your main project while the other half you’ll be enhancing your proficiencies by studying your line of work. Attending several meetings on Wednesday and attending seminars and networking within your chosen profession might be ideal for a Thursday and so on. I think you get it.

“I didn’t want an unsatisfying career. And I didn’t want to commit to one place – either one company or one location. I wanted to make my own decisions.” – Rocco Baldasarre

4. Regain focus, then maintain it

If you’ve not just read this and paid attention, but also actually executed all of these steps, you should be well on your way to regain focus. Now is the next challenge. To maintain it. It’s not as hard as most people think.

Create a clear vision for future goals, not just the title on your business card. You need to see, feel and even smell your true purpose. See yourself sitting in your own office overlooking the majestic city skyline, feel the pristine white sand lingering between your toes if you dream of having a job that includes traveling to exotic resorts, and smell the fresh paint as you decorate your newly built penthouse.

Once your mind is fully fixated on your final destination, get to work on it. Relentlessly, unapologetically and with such force that people start thinking you’ve gone mad.

What are some other ways to stay competitive? Comment below!

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https://addicted2success.com/entrepreneur-profile/4-ways-to-remain-in-one-piece-when-entering-a-cut-throat-industry/

3 Common Ways We Are All Using Social Media the Wrong Way

Social Media has been ingrained so much in our daily lives that our attention is fixated on it immediately after waking up, and right before falling asleep. Nonetheless, who can blame us, right? Times change and the state of our external environment should never be directly our fault. However, the things we can’t change also come with things we can change, such as our own choices and how to respond to what surrounds us.

You probably found this article through social media, and I want you to think about your intentions during that moment. Were you genuinely looking for information to further your knowledge? Or were you using it for other purposes that could sabotage your path to success?

Here are three ways you might be using social media the wrong way:

1. Using it to kill time

Time is the most valuable asset we have. You can always make more money, but you can never make more time. Rich or poor, tall or short, we all have the same twenty-four hours in a day. Since life is short, how are you using those short hours that you have? Assuming you sleep six hours per night, that leaves you with only eighteen hours left.

In those eighteen hours, how many are spent looking at funny memes or catching up on that show everyone else is raving about? You might think, “Oh, I just got done with work and have six hours left until it’s time to go to bed. I’ll go on Facebook until I fall asleep.”

You can accomplish multiple things in six hours. For example, writing a quality article takes me two hours. In six hours, assuming I take minimal breaks, it means I could write three articles. You can also use those six hours to gain more knowledge by listening to podcasts, reading books, or taking part-time classes which will get you closer to your goal.

It’s not wrong to entertain ourselves and occasionally scroll through social media, but if it becomes a habit to waste time just because we can, it will take you much longer to succeed. To do it right, only allot a certain amount of time for it per day, then commit to it.

“Time = life; therefore, waste your time and waste your life, or master your time and master your life.” – Alan Lakein

2. Allowing it to replace in-person human interaction

We’re busy creatures and do not have all the time in the world to meet all our friends in person. But what happens when we do have the time to spend with someone, and they’re actually in a nearby part of town?

For most people, their birthdays are displayed on their profiles, and while it feels good to have multiple notifications saying, “Happy Birthday!” on your timeline, nothing still beats actual one-on-one quality time with someone.

Relationships are one of the most important things in life, and success isn’t only about acquiring wealth or gaining power. Success is also about creating, nurturing and maintaining meaningful relationships bringing great benefits to everybody involved.

3. Allowing it to define your happiness

There you go again, stalking your ex’s Instagram pictures with their new partner. Look at them all happy and doing all the fun things you never did together. They look so in love, which probably means they are, right? Not necessarily.

I see it all the time. People posting like they’re having the best times of their lives and then all of a sudden I just hear that they’ve committed suicide or I find out that they weren’t actually happy.

We tend to filter out the bad parts of our lives on social media and let the world know only about the glamorous parts. I’m also guilty of this, since I like to post about the new clients I’ve landed for my business, the new articles that I’ve been featured in, and the new digital products I’ve finished.

Of course I wouldn’t want them to know about the hundreds of rejected business proposals, rejected articles and digital products which never sold a single transaction. Because why would anyone in their right mind do that? We always want to put our best selves online.

But thanks to enough experience, I’ve learned a life lesson that might take longer for others to know: Social media shouldn’t define your happiness. No matter how “empty” your feed or timeline might look like, it shouldn’t stop you from living life the way you want. Yes, we should consider the impact and visuals of our posts, but our self-esteem shouldn’t come from external validation.

“To be happy, we must not be too concerned with others.” – Albert Camus

Social media is not real life. The sooner we realize that, the less we’ll compare ourselves with others and truly appreciate where we are in our journey.

How are you making sure you use social media in a way not harmful to your health? Comment below!

Image courtesy of Twenty20.com

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https://addicted2success.com/life/3-common-ways-we-are-all-using-social-media-the-wrong-way/

5 Keys to Acquiring Wealth From One of the Richest Families in History

In relative wealth, the Rothschild’s were the richest family in history. Starting in the 1800s, Mayer Amschel Rothschild, along with his five children set up a banking empire that would spread across Western Europe and do business all over the world.

Some stories have postulated the Rothschild’s in a negative light, however there is much to learn from how they acquired their great wealth. Known for having the largest fortune in the 19th century, the Rothschild’s knew five keys to acquiring wealth which can still benefit us greatly today.   

Here are the 5 things you can learn about wealth from the Rothschild family:

1. Ally yourself with the wealthy and powerful

Mayer Amschel-Rothschild learned finance at an early age, but from there he went on to sell rare collectible rings to a wealthy and powerful man in Crown Prince Wilhelm of Hesse, who later went on to a higher title.

Allying with this powerful man who had plenty of reserve to spend on coin was monumental for Rothschild continued to do business and started banking with his client. The lesson comes in two-folds. First, take care of your customers, and they are likely to become your customers again. Second, sell to the richest buyers.

“To listen closely and reply well is the highest perfection we are able to attain in the art of conversation.” – Francois de La Rochefoucauld

2. Sell to the richest buyers

Selling to the wealthy and the nobility was a mainstay philosophy of the Rothschild family dynasty. It started with Mayer Amschel selling to Wilhelm of Hesse as noted before, but the whole family used this key to phenomenal wonders. In fact, there wasn’t anyone bigger that they could sell to and finance with their banks than governments. This is exactly what they did.

The Rothschild family provided value to smaller banks and individuals for loans, but most importantly for national governments when several went off to war against each other all throughout the 1800 and 1900s. These governments with their kings and monarchs were the richest buyers and paid huge sums of interest to build the Rothschild family fortune. If you want to find wealth, sell to those who have wealth and provide them and others with tremendous value.

3. Utilize the supply and demand equation

The Rothschild’s knew business and like many of a similar Robber barons of the 1900s, they controlled the resources that were in demand. This led to them gaining more and more wealth. Already allied with the monarchs and leaders of Western Europe, they were the financiers a country would go to if they needed to finance a war.

The demand was extreme at these times of need and the Rothschild banks were the ones that had the supply of funds necessary. Mayer Amschel did this by placing his five sons in five strategically placed locations around Europe. It is also rumored that the family would fund both sides of a war. While it may not be value in the sensical thought of it, the family filled a need and provided value that was much in demand and this affected millions of people.

If you want to get rich, be on the positive side of the supply and demand equation and make sure what you have is the best suited for your customer’s needs (demand). Supply decreases if you are one of a kind and can achieve for your customers what no one else can. This is when prices also rise for your services.

4. Partner with family or close associates

Part of what made the Rothschild’s so successful was that stood succinctly together in their enterprises. Mayer had a plan and a vision that he had his sons to follow through on magnificently. The brothers were together and aligned in their mission so they could really depend on each other. Sometimes it’s not the best idea to go into business with family, but the lesson is that if you can come to alignment with your trusted allies, then there is no limit to what you can accomplish.

I would also add that it is imperative to have this kind of trust and faithful execution from your employees or subordinates. Employ people you can trust and count on following through on the plan and the vision. When you find these types of people, there is no telling how far you can go.

“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.” – Stephen R. Covey

5. Stay humble

There is good reason you can’t find as much information about the Rothschild’s as some of the other industry leaders. The Rothschild’s didn’t court attention and instead went about their business without making frequent headlines for themselves. In looking for documentaries or a lot of information on those who acquired great wealth, you will find the majority of the information on Rockefeller, Carnegie, and J.P. Morgan, yet fewer on the Rothchild’s in comparison.  

The family built several enormous estates and fancy houses, yet there weren’t too many headlines about the family. What is important is that those who did business with the family knew about them and where to find them. The lesson here is that when you become wealthy, the whole world doesn’t have to know. In fact, this can be detrimental in itself. You can stay humble and still go about your business.

The Rothschild’s were a family that knew business and went about acquiring wealth so extraordinarily that great lessons can be found in how they made their accomplishments. Whether you run a small, medium, or even large business, these lessons can prove to be colossal in your success.

How can these keys help you in your business? Comment below!

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https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/5-keys-to-acquiring-wealth-from-one-of-the-richest-families-in-history/

Why You Need Non-Negotiable Core Values to Succeed in Life and Business

A few weeks ago, our city was blasted by Arctic air and temperatures plummeted to the -23 Celsius mark. While my family griped about how the extreme cold forced us to cancel planned activities and stay indoors, our neighbour Greg, went for his morning run like he did every morning, rain, shine or freezing.

You see for Greg, exercise – specifically his morning run – is a non-negotiable. As we get busier we sometimes get lost in chaos and lose focus of what is important. By setting and committing to doing those things that add meaning to our lives while helping us move closer to achieving our goals, we establish order and routine.

These non-negotiable tasks could be anything from walking the dog twice a day to volunteering at a local non-profit once a week. Committing to these non-negotiables is easier than you think because a non-negotiable is determined by a core or governing value.

“Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money but you cannot get more time.” – Jim Rohn

You see we act on these non-negotiables because they make us feel good. Let me explain: Core values guide your behaviour and decisions. If family is a core value, then you will prioritize time with your family over time playing racquetball with friends for example. These activities are your non-negotiables and they drive both your personal and professional success.

Here are my 3 non-negotiables and their related value:

• Meditation – I meditate for a minimum of ten minutes every day because meditation not only helps control my anxiety but it also helps me stay focused. My first core value is wellness.
• Writing – I write every day because it is part of my work but it is also something I enjoy doing. Writing has become a habit and my day doesn’t “feel right” if I haven’t written something regardless of length or substance. My second core value is creativity.
• Dinner with my family every night – My family is very important to me so while it’s easy as a business owner to come up with excuses as to why I need to “put in another hour or two at the office”, success will become meaningless to me if I lose the love and support of my husband and sons. My third core value is family

So how can you make non-negotiables a natural part of your daily routine?

1. Start out by identifying your core values

We all make decisions based on our core values whether we know it or not. The aim of this exercise is to bring our values to light so that we can consciously decide whether something is worth doing or not. Grab a notebook and pen, settle down in a quiet space, free from distractions and answer these three questions:

1. What do you most love about your life?
2. What qualities do you most admire about yourself? (For example, you’re compassionate, creative, hard-working etc)
3. How would your best friend or partner describe you in 3 words? Go on. Ask them.

2. Make a list of core values

Read through your answers carefully and choose the 5 core values that most resonate with you.  

Here are a few examples of core values: Love, beauty, creativity, community, diligence, empathy, faith, family, friendship, gratitude, health, honesty, impact, self-expression, service, visibility, wellness…

“Price is what you pay, value is what you get.” – Warren Buffett

3. Decide on your non-negotiables

Read through your list of core values and then write out your answer to the below question: What are the things that I absolutely won’t negotiate on and am committed to doing every day regardless of the date, season or conditions? Remember, you don’t want to complicate your life further or add to the busyness.  Try to keep things as simple as possible.

Here is an example:

Let’s say health is a core value but you haven’t been making the best choices thanks to that new burger bar down the road. You may want to start by stopping your daily visits to the burger bar and start making your own healthy meals at home.

If you work full time but hope to turn your side hustle as a wedding photographer into a real business, a great non-negotiable would be to market your side hustle every day on social media. This shouldn’t take longer than a few minutes every day.

As you write out your answer to this question you may also want to create two separate lists, one for PERSONAL non-negotiables and one for PROFESSIONAL non-negotiables. Aim for a maximum of 3 for each list.

Once you have completed these steps, commit to your non-negotiable tasks by making them a daily priority and watch as your life expands with meaning and success.

What are some of your core values? Comment below!

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https://addicted2success.com/life/why-you-need-non-negotiable-core-values-to-succeed-in-life-and-business/

10 Marketing Tips From Jim Rohn’s Marketing Genius, Kyle Wilson

Nearly every time management program on the market talks about creating a calendar, changing your habits, or creating to-do lists. They certainly do work, but personally, I can think of no better productivity hack than learning from experts. They know the ins and outs of their field so they know all the shortcuts and the pitfalls that so many people make.

Marketing is the lifeblood of any company, and when it comes to marketing a few names stand out. One such person is Kyle Wilson, creator of jimrohninternational.com.

Kyle was Jim Rohn’s business partner for 16 years and is also the co-author of The Chicken Soup for the Entrepreneurial Soul with Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, co-creator of Success Mastery Academy with Brian Tracy and has been involved in three Amazon best sellers, Passionistas, Little Black Book of Fitness and Mom and Dadpreneurs.

What I love about his advice is it’s not the here today, gone tomorrow type. It’s evergreen. It worked back then and it still works today.

Here are ten tips he shared with me that will help save you time in building your business:

1. The wheel

This is a concept he uses to analyze a business. Each spoke represents a product, a service or what he calls customer acquisition. To have a smooth running business you need to have a balance between all three. Just products and services make for a rocky ride.

“Either you run the day, or the day runs you.” – Jim Rohn

2. Teasers

Marketing is like dating in many ways. You want to tease people up front, rather than reveal everything. That’s why in the digital marketplace, Kyle suggests that you have teaser emails when cold pitching a company. Think of it like a trailer. You want to give people just enough to get them interested and see who raises their hands. That’s your most responsive list. You can always send another more detailed email to the others at a later time to cover all your bases.

3. Secret sauce

Every company needs to have a special feature or techniques that differentiates them from their competition. In business, they call it a “secret sauce.” Coke had their recipe. McDonald’s had their system. Apple had the Apple store which was the real key behind the iPod’s success and Apple’s meteoric rise. What is the one thing your business does better than any other? Once you have that, make sure everyone knows about it.

4. Knowing when to call it

Entrepreneurs often make the mistake of falling in love with their business. As a result, they stick with ideas longer than they should.

5. Reinvent yourself

So many people find themselves stuck in dead-end jobs struggling to make ends meet. It doesn’t have to be that way. Colonel Sanders at 62 built a multi-million dollar empire. Start today to build your better tomorrow. Which brings me to the next tip.

6. Books

Harry Truman said, “Leaders are readers.” Books are knowledge of people’s lives and experiences condensed into a few hundred pages. Here are three books Kyle recommends: Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, Jim Rohn’s The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle, and Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield.

7. Technology

If you’re ignoring tech because you think it’s too difficult, it’s a mistake. Kyle is a huge fan of Snapchat, Facebook Live, and Instagram stories. They’re all powerful tools that people should be using in their businesses today.

8. Joint ventures

This is something I’m familiar with being a Joint Venture Broker myself. Kyle would do all sorts of deals with other speakers to exchange books so that he had a variety of products to offer his list.

“If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.” – Jim Rohn

9. Good stuff

It’s not enough to have tons of products or services. In fact, it can actually be detrimental to your business, especially in today’s world of ultra-picky consumers. We can’t be everything to everyone. Instead, we must know what our strengths are and use them.

10. Meditation

There is so much noise in today’s social environment. Distractions abound which is why it’s so important for us to take a few minutes each day to get “grounded” as Kyle likes to call it. It might not sound like a marketing tip, but focus is critical to success. A clear mind allows you to do that.

There you have it. Ten tips from the marketing genius Kyle Wilson that will transform any business. But as G.I.Joe is famous for saying, “Knowing is half the battle.” The other half is up to you.

What is the best piece of marketing advice you have ever received? Comment below!

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https://addicted2success.com/entrepreneur-profile/10-marketing-tips-from-jim-rohns-marketing-genius-kyle-wilson/

The 3 Main Sources of All Your Excuses and How to Beat Them

Making excuses comes from a fundamental lack of concern regarding our responsibility. It’s just like when you used to excuse yourself from the family dinner table, you were saying that you didn’t want to be obligated to do something, namely, eat your vegetables or visit with Aunt Lucy.

Excusing ourselves from the table of real life responsibilities, however, places an unnecessary burden on others and ultimately comes back to limit our own potential. When we abdicate responsibility over a long enough stretch of time we eventually short-circuit our ability to be successful.

But by understanding the root causes of our excuses and how to eliminate them, we can empower ourselves to reach our potential. Although there are a million excuses out there, the causes of each ultimately fall into three major categories. Fortunately, each has a solution.

Here are the 3 main soruces of your excuses:

Source #1: Laziness

We humans really crave our comfort. Think of how many times you have come up with some reason to avoid going to the gym. Sure, once you start to develop your endurance and gain some momentum you begin to get motivated. But until then it’s easy to find excuses to not go. It’s far easier to sit at home on the couch and watch Netflix.

When we avoid things that we don’t really want to do and choose an easier option, it comes down to not seeing the value in it. We just don’t see how it’s worth it to expend the time and energy to endure the pain when an easier option exists.

We are conditioned in life to take the most comfortable route possible. Unless we see the value we just won’t commit. If we don’t see the urgency we can expect excuses to entire our lives.

This was the case for me in the past regarding planning for my future financial independence. I don’t know why, but at the time I never felt any urgency in this area. And, of course, I now regret those excuses. If only I had seen a greater value in it.

“Excuses sound best to the people makin’ them up” – Tyrese Gibson

Solution:

In order to see the value of something, we have to begin to focus on both the benefits and the consequences.  This covers the two opposite ends of the same spectrum.

In my retirement planning example, my focus on benefits might have helped me see that I would gain several things by not excusing myself from that responsibility. The first might have been that I would have a higher self-esteem for doing what I should have been doing anyway. Another might have been the ability to save up for a few nice trips when I’m done working. These are things that could have genuinely benefited me and that I could have seen the value of.

And by evaluating the possible consequences for making the excuses I might have come square-faced to the fact that I might have trouble retiring or not be able to afford some of the things that might be necessary as I begin aging more.

To beat the excuse of laziness we have to find urgency through a proper understanding of both the benefits and consequences of that which we are trying to excuse ourselves from.

Source #2: Fear

For many of us, our lives are dominated by fear. This is because we don’t see that there is anything higher than ourselves. We are self-focused.

In this kind of a state, if we are called to take on a risk whether that be financial, emotional, or even physical, we tend to throw up roadblocks in the way as excuses. In our minds, we are all there is so nothing could be so worth our harm.

But such a position brings a complete halt to our growth. We have to push through a little risk or our lives will remain stagnant. Although we might not ever entirely conquer our fear there is a way to gain the upper-hand on it and prevent it from fueling our excuses.

Solution:

Have you ever noticed how soldiers march forward in the face of impending harm with seemingly little concern for themselves? Where are their excuses to not push forward? They are overshadowed by something much bigger than them—purpose.

To overcome our fear and the excuses that go along with it we have to find a purpose that is greater than us. This takes the attention off of ourselves and onto something worth fighting for. When we have purpose in the true sense we become secondary to its fulfillment. To truly help us, this purpose can’t be about our own advancement—it must be about the service of others.

When we become other-focused in this way our values change. When we see others as more important than ourselves that is love. Who wouldn’t die for those they love?  Purpose will always eradicate the excuses that fear tries to bring us.

“Ninety-nine of the failures come from people who have  a habit of making excuses.” – George Washington Carver

Source #3: Pride

We sometimes abdicate taking responsibility for doing things because we are concerned about how our image might be affected. This is ego rearing its ugly head. This particular source of excuses comes down to how we view ourselves and how we want others to see us.

When we face the possibility that our association with something might put us in a less-than-favorable light we often avoid it. The ego is very protective of itself. It believes it is nearly perfect and it desires to keep it that way. So it seeks to excuse itself from anything that might threaten it’s image.

Did you ever have a fear of public speaking? There are surveys that report how some people would rather die than give a speech. Doesn’t that seem a little irrational? Other than falling off the stage there just isn’t any chance that a person is going to experience real harm speaking.

What people are really “afraid” of is looking bad in the eyes of others. They are experiencing the powerfully-limiting effect of pride and make excuses to avoid challenging the ego.

Solution:

To be free from the excuses that pride brings we have to eliminate the ego. This can be easier said than done. Our egos have been with us our whole lives, after all. But here is one trick that has helped me. Rather than make excuses to not do things like public speaking, try repeating this phrase to yourself: “Be real, not right.”

The least that we should expect of ourselves and others is to be authentic. But to allow ourselves to get to that point we have to be willing to be less than perfect—and that is what being real is all about. You will find that life is way more fun and people will enjoy you more as well. Remember, when your pride becomes a source of your excuses make the decision to be real, not right.

How many of your excuses come from these 3 sources? Comment below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/life/the-3-main-sources-of-all-your-excuses-and-how-to-beat-them/