Change the Way You Speak to Yourself and Increase Your Chances of Success

A lot of people I speak to really want to break away from the normal 9 to 5 and to be fair most of them take the first tentative steps towards making this life changing move, they may have thought of a great way to make money or brought a book on how to start your own business or attend a seminar by someone who has done just what they would like to do, they may have even paid for a course that takes them step by step through the process of setting up a great money making system.

I know when I decided that I wanted to break away from the rat race I did all of the above and much more, spending thousands of pounds in the process BUT like most people, I never really got beyond those first few steps, in fact it was over TEN YEARS before I actually did grab the bull by the horns and put something into action. The amazing thing was after all that time it was one of the first ways to make money I learned of that I acted on and I have never looked back since.

So why do we do this? Why don't we take action if we want something as bad as we say we do? Why do we sit and procrastinate instead of doing something about it?

Well we usually come up with a number of excuses:

I'm not intelligent enough.

I didn't have a good education/get good grades/go to college. etc.

I haven't got the time.

I can't afford to do it.

I am too old/young.

I've never done anything like this before.

Or we put things off...

I will start Friday/next weekend/next month/when I have that week off work. etc.

I also know from experience one of the main reasons is fear!

Fear of failure!

Fear of change!

Fear of the unknown!

Fear of what other people will think of us!

The list goes on but generally comes back to that one irrational emotion;

False Evidence Appearing Real

The good news is we CAN do something about it, The bad news is its going to take a little bit of effort to address the problem. But don't worry its nothing complicated and its something that everyone can do.

What we have to do is change our mindset and to do this the first thing we need to do is change the way we speak to ourselves and this is what I'm going to be concentrating on today.

From very early on in life we talk to ourselves and what we say and how we say it has a big influence on how we react to the situations we find ourselves in as an adult. Over time we ( or the people around us/society in general ) brainwash ourselves with all kinds of limiting thoughts and notions of what we should do and what should make us happy.

So after a while all this self talk and outside influence helps to program our subconscious mind into accepting that we should be happy with what we do and what we have. After all you have a job/food on the table/ a roof over your head/ a car etc. so you should be satisfied with your lot right?

But is this really YOUR definition of happiness? Are you really satisfied with your lot?

I'm guessing that as you are reading this the answer is a resounding NO!

Well then it's time to admit to yourself that you are unhappy with where you are at this moment and that you are no longer going to accept life as it is. It's time to make your life what it can be and more to the point what it should be.

According to psychologists how we view life and more importantly how we view ourselves is largely set in stone by the time we are six years old. Just think about that for a while, everything we do in life, every decision we make, how we talk to ourselves and what we expect to achieve for ourselves is largely influenced by what kind of life we lived and what kind of experiences we had in those first few years!

Kind of scary eh?

So what does this mean?

In short it means that most of us talk to ourselves in a negative and unhelpful manner and this in turn restricts what we do or achieve with our lives.

Throughout the day we are talking to ourselves constantly either out loud or in our heads. Some of this self-talk is good - your dreams, your wants, your desires, your family, your friends, the little things that make you smile to yourself.

BUT some of it is negative and this stems from those experiences we were talking of earlier, those limiting influences that have got you nowhere. This kind of self-talk is what holds you back, it restricts you, brings you down and stops you from doing the things in life that you dream about.

This kind of self-talk is destructive and needs to be avoided at ALL costs. You must be aware of everything you are saying to yourself, whether it be out loud or in your head and when you find you are speaking to yourself in a negative way STOP!

Listen out for the positive things you say and concentrate on these instead, this is the kind of self-talk you have to nurture and as you do the negative self-talk will die back.

Once you allow the positive self-talk to flourish you will find great things start to happen with you as a person, to the way other people see and treat you and with your life in general.

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What Are You Searching For?

I have not yet met anyone in my world travels who didn't want a little more inner peace. And, I have never encountered anyone who would trade a little money to rid themselves of their stress and worries.

So, is this what each of us is secretly or overtly searching for? Well, to be truthful I'm not sure. People who say they want less stress continue to pursue wealth, fame, power, position and more stuff. People who say they want to be happy often seem to sabotage this goal with poor choices, bad judgment and emotional immaturity. And people who say they want more inner peace still harbor old emotional baggage, replay old slights and hurts and let other people control their behaviors, attitudes, emotions and even their thoughts.

If we are truly searching for any or all the items listed above one would have to wonder whether we are just giving lip service to these goals, desires and dreams or if we really want them but just don't seem to know where to find them, how to achieve them or how to keep them.

I too have been guilty. I am just like you in that I would like a little more happiness and a little less stress yet when it comes to doing what is necessary I often fall short.

Sure, I have read all the books, hundreds and hundreds of them, attended the seminars, had personal coaches, spent hours and even weeks setting and planning my personal goals and dreams and spent more hours than I can remember praying and meditating and yet, here I sit from time to time, still questioning whether all this reading, study and searching is worthwhile.

During my years of study, research and searching I have come to a few conclusions.

1) Many of the people who supposedly have it figured out, don't. 

2) Many of the people who preach and teach this stuff to others and get paid handsomely to do so, don't have a clue. 

3) Some of the people who you would least expect to have the answers often do. 

4) Even many of the religious fanatics, diehards or steadfast believers in God still struggle with the same issues, questions and challenges as those who have never set foot in a church or Synagogue or read the Bible.

Why is this? Are we doomed as a species to just search and never find or discover the true meaning of our life or as the title says, why we are we here?

Humans have been asking for centuries; why am I here, where am I going and what am I supposed to do with my life while I am here?

One could get easily discouraged and feeling a little sorry for themselves spending years contemplating simple questions like these.

Have you ever asked yourself any of these searching questions whether in times of doubt or discouragement or happiness and contentment? Success or failure? 

Do you have any answers yet, or are you like most of us, that you just keep on trudging ahead through life one day at a time just earning, spending, working and playing?

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Do You Have The Right Mindset?

I think we can all probably agree that your actions lead to your results. If you want different results, you need to change your actions. If actions lead to your results, what leads to your actions?

Your Big Why

Your big why is, or will be, the most important reason for your success. If you plan to have success, the question that you need to answer for yourself is why do you need the success? What is the reason you get up and get at it each day? What motivates you to accomplish your goals? You need to be very clear on this and focus on it.

My big why has changed a little over the years, but the one that got me going was to help my dad. I lost my mom to cancer when I was really young and my dad raised me and my brother and sister by himself. I have zero complaints about my childhood because he was such a great parent. I owe a lot to him. Being a single parent and one income family, it was difficult for him to even think about his retirement. He was unable to successfully plan for his retirement and is still working today. I want to help him enjoy the latter years of his life and help him, if he would ever allow it, with his retirement.

Fear

I am reading the series Harry Potter right now and I think that is where I heard this quote. "Courage isn't not having fear but is acting in spite of fear." Everyone has fear of the unknown, and taking chances certainly has some unknown results. Fear is the number one career killer, and what separates successful people from average people is acting ANYWAY. This comes back to your big why. Is your big why strong enough to force you to act in spite of your fears? If not, get a new big why, so that fear does not murder your potential.

The Law of Attraction

I am a big, big believer in this. It started with the movie The Secret and has exploded from there. I have studied this and truly believe in its power. If you have no idea what I am talking about, you should start by reading or watching The Secret.

The idea here is that if you can make your mind truly believe something, it will happen. Good ways to use this resource is by affirmations. There are entire books written about how to use affirmations, but you want to put a goal in your mind, like it is already yours, by repeating it to yourself over and over and over... Vision boards are another great way to use the law of attraction. I have vision boards in my house that I look at frequently. These boards are loaded with things that I want. Your goals need to be realistic to you or you will not have much luck convincing yourself that it is yours; so start small and work your way up.

Investment or Expense?

Many people think subconsciously that money they invest in their business (like marketing) or money they spend on themselves (like education) is an expense. What I want you to believe is that these are actually investments. The reason for the distinction is that, investments pay you back with interest and expenses are gone forever. So many small companies end up failing because when things get tight, they cut their marketing budget. If things get tight, they might want to increase their marketing or become more efficient, because that is what brings in the business. Never cut the marking budget, unless you need to slow growth. Cutting that budget can be fatal. As far as investing in yourself, I believe you should continue to educate yourself constantly, but especially when you are not consistently reaching your goals. You should probably consider investing at least 10% of your personal income back into your own education until you are consistently reaching your desired results. With that being said, I am very proud to say that my company offers lots of solid educational opportunities free of charge. Now there really are no excuses.

Fake it Until You Make it

When you are trying to start something new or expand on what you are doing, there is a time in the beginning where you really don't know what you are doing. It is during this time that you are vulnerable, which of course brings fear and can potentially stop your actions. If you fake it and pretend you know exactly what you are doing, you will quickly learn what to do and how to act. That, and your confidence, will attract the people that you need to help you accomplish what you are seeking. I am not saying to lie to anyone, but you can easily lean on others experiences and act with confidence to get the job done. By not faking it, you will have a lot of hesitance and will attract more objections and more things that will hold you back.

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How To Be Lucky And Create The Life Of Your Dreams

Have you ever thought that a person was just luckier than you or that great things always came to them? Do you think it’s possible to make your own luck? Learning how to be lucky is easier than you might think…

I am going to introduce you to seven of the most helpful ways to be lucky, all of which are learnable by you.

Each of these luck factors can be quickly incorporated into your life and can literally double your effectiveness and your results in a very short period of time.

Now you can truly create your own luck!

1) Clarity
The first of these factor in making your own luck is simply, “Clarity.”

Clarity simply means that you know exactly what it is you want and is perhaps the most important luck factor of all, at least at the beginning.

The more definite you are about what you want, the more alert and aware you will be of opportunities and possibilities to achieve it faster.
Become Absolutely Clear About What You Want

All successful people are absolutely clear about who they are and what they want, and what they need to do to get from wherever they are to wherever they want to go.

Unsuccessful, unhappy people, on the other hand, are usually quite fuzzy about what it is they stand for and believe in, and what it is they really want from their lives.

As the old saying goes,


“You can’t hit a target you can’t see.”

So-called “lucky” people seem to be very, very clear about their goals and the steps they will have to take to achieve them.
Write Down Everything You Want To Accomplish In The Next 12 Months


One of the simplest things you can do to change your luck is to simply take a piece of paper and write down a list of at least 10 things you want to accomplish in the next 12 months.

This doesn’t seem like a very complicated exercise, but less than 3% of adults will ever engage in this exercise in their lifetimes.

And this 3 % will end up at the top of every organization or company that they work with.

It has been said that success and prosperity begins with you, a pen, and a piece of paper.

97% of people walking around today have no written goals at all.

The very act of putting pen to paper and determining the 10 things that you want to accomplish over the next 12 months moves you immediately into the top 3% of people living today. All it takes it 3-5 minutes.
Think About What You Want And How To Get It

Here is an important part of how to be lucky…

Lucky people are those who, when they hear a good idea, they ask, “I wonder if it would work for me?”

Unlucky people, on the other hand, when they hear a good idea, like writing down 10 goals, always ask themselves, “I wonder whether it would do me any good?”

The difference between the lucky person and the unlucky person is that the luck person is always asking, “How?”

When the lucky person thinks of something that he or she wants, the lucky person always asks, “How can I achieve it or acquire it?”
Activate Your Brain


The attitude of always asking how seems to trigger both your subconscious and your super-conscious mind so that you are constantly seeing possibilities and getting insights that will help you achieve it.

But when you ask, “Whether,” you seem to shut down your creative capabilities.

In your brain is small finger-like organ called the “Reticular Cortex.”

This reticular cortex is like a telephone switchboard. It controls the messages that are allowed to hit your eyes, ears and other senses.

Since you are bombarded by hundreds and thousands of messages, from all sides, continually, this reticular cortex enables you to focus and concentrate on those elements in your environment that are relevant or important to you, and ignore the rest.

The reticular cortex is activated by a clear goal, command, desire or even a fear on your part.

For example, if you decide that you want to get a red sports car, and you are really excited about the possibility of a red sports car, you will start to notice red sports cars everywhere.

Even a red sports car turning the corner two or three blocks ahead of you will be picked up by your reticular cortex and broadcast to your conscious mind.
Are Successful People Just Luckier Than Others?

What we know about successful people is that they are continually thinking about the things that they really, really want, and as a result, they are commanding their reticular cortex to make them more sensitive and aware of opportunities and possibilities to achieve those goals.

Unsuccessful, or unlucky people, are always concluding that these goals are probably way out of their reach and they unwittingly send the signal to their reticular cortex’s not to pay any attention to ideas or opportunities that crop up in their environments.

One of the ways that successful people are described is, “He or she always seems to know exactly what he or she wants and is determined to get it.”

Unsuccessful people are described as people who have no idea what they really want.

The person with absolute clarity, this key luck factor, will seem to attract far more possibilities and opportunities than the person who has no idea.
Become Absolutely Clear About Your Goals

So, imagine that this luck factor is like a dimmer switch in darkened room where you are going to throw darts.

As you become absolutely clear about your goals and aspirations, the dimmer switch is turned on to full brightness and the dartboard becomes crystal clear in every detail.

Your likelihood of hitting a bullseye on such a dartboard is vastly greater than if you were throwing darts from a great distance in a darkened room.

2) Activity

The second luck factor is the factor of activity.

High levels of activity, especially pro-activity, increase the number of things that you do and thereby immediately increase the probability that you will do the right thing, at the right time, in the right way.

For example, if you won a prize once you had flipped 100 heads in coin-flipping contest, the very best way to assure that you won that prize would be to flip the coin the greatest number of times in the shortest time period.

And if you did, and you won the prize, it would not be a matter of luck at all. It would merely be a matter of the frequency that you attempted to flip heads.
Activity Begins With Self-Reliance

Activity begins with an attitude of self-reliance…

All high-performing men and women are both extremely action-oriented and extremely self-reliant. They look to themselves for the solutions to their problems.

They realize that no one is coming to the rescue.

When you see yourself as completely in charge of your own life, your own career, your own health, your own family and your own finances, you stop looking for others to do things for you.

You start making progress instead of making excuses.

You accept that you are where you are and what you are because of yourself.

If you want to be or do something different, it is up to you to make the necessary changes, starting immediately.

If you want to be luckier, develop a bias for action. Develop a sense of urgency. Take action. Get on with it. Move fast.

The faster you move, the more energy you have. The faster you move, the more experience you gain and the better you get.

The faster you move, the more results you accomplish and the more successful you will be.

3) Mastery


Another great way to get good luck is mastery, and it always has been.

Knowledge and know-how are the keys to success. You will always be paid in direct proportion to what you do, how well you do it, and the difficulty of replacing you.

We have moved from the era of manpower to the age of mind power.

Your level of knowledge and skill in your chosen field will determine your luck and success in that field as much or more than any other quality.
Become A Master In Your Area

Today, people are paid not for position or seniority, but for performance and results.

The better you are, the luckier you will be.

Your job is to resolve to join the top 10% in your field and then pay any price and invest any amount of time necessary to get there.

The luck factor of mastery can do more to help you be a great success than perhaps any other factor.

On the other hand, you can have every opportunity in the world, but if you are not really, really good at what you do, the opportunities will fall through your fingers.

4) Energy

Energy is another key way to get luckier.

All successful people seem to have far more energy than unsuccessful people.

They get up early in the morning and they start faster. They work longer hours through the day and into the evening. They invest time in themselves and in their careers on evenings and weekends.

The writer Stephen Leacock once said in this good luck quote,


“I believe in luck, and the harder I work the luckier I get.”

The harder you work, the more you get done.

The more you get done, the more you come to the attention of people who can open doors for you and help you to rise up even further and faster.

There is nothing like a reputation for hard work to put you on the fast track in any career you choose.

5) Personality

Personality is a key in learning how to be lucky.


The more positive, optimistic and cheerful you are, the more people will want to be around you and help you in any way possible.


Lucky people also tend to be happy, positive people.


They get along with others and they have wide networks of friends and contacts in a variety of different areas.


The more people you know, and who know you in a positive way, the more likely it is that you will know the right person at the right time to open the right door to the right opportunity.


You will find that almost every incident of luck in your life seems to be accompanied by a person who is standing there at the moment, with either a piece of advice or with a hand on an open door.


Many people’s entire lives have been changed by a casual comment or by a friendly acquaintance who has given them a key piece of information or an opportunity that has enabled the lucky person to make more progress in a couple of years than many people make in a lifetime.


Be Nice


The word most commonly used to describe successful people is the word “nice.”


When you develop a reputation for being a nice person, people will want to help you.


And the key to being a nice person is to practice the golden rule.


Treat other people the way you would like them to treat you.


In every case, a positive person activates the Law of Attraction and draws people and circumstances into his or her life in harmony with his or her best interests.


The more likable you become, the more luck you will experience.


6) Honesty And Integrity


Honesty and integrity are the most required and most respected qualities in both friendship and leadership.


The people that you like and trust the most in your life are the most important people that you know.


Shakespeare wrote in this good luck quote,


“To thine own self be true, and then it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not be false to any man.”
Being true to yourself is the very essence of personal integrity.


This means that you always tell yourself the truth.


You live in truth and you deal with the world as it is, not as you wish it were.


You practice absolute honesty and deal with reality in a straightforward way.


You see yourself as you really are, and your situation as it really is.


You never try to fool yourself.


And you never try to fool others.


Be Truthful


The essence of integrity is truthfulness.


This means to live in truth with yourself and then to live in truth with others, under all circumstances, no matter what the temptation might be to do otherwise.


Truthfulness is both rare and extremely valuable as a human quality.


When you resolve to be impeccably honest with yourself and others, you put yourself into a group apart from the ordinary.


You establish a foundation of high character that will open doors for you and keep those doors open, no matter what happens in the short term.


Honesty and integrity are the absolute requirements for success in business at any level, in any industry.


When you become known as a person of honor, of quality, of truth, you will attract luck into your life the way that honey attracts bees or the way that the moth is attracted to the flame.


7) Intensity


Perhaps the most obviously identifiable quality of a highly successful person is, “Intensity of purpose.”


Always, the person who wants something longer and harder than the other is the one who will eventually win out in a competitive world.


The more you want something, the more likely it is that you will learn what you need to learn and do what you need to do to achieve it.


You will work longer hours and try more different things.


You will read more books, listen to more tapes, and attend more different courses.


You will meet more people and cover more ground.


You will dramatically increase the probabilities of being the right person in the right place at the right time.


And when you back your intensity of purpose with the quality of persistence, you become like an irresistible force of nature.


How To Be Lucky In Life


The fact is that, if you are absolutely clear about what you want and you engage in a high level of activity to achieve it, you will experience more luck than the average person.


When you make a conscious decision to master your field and back it with high levels of energy and enthusiasm, you will move ahead further and faster than anyone around you.


When you become a positive, cheerful person, who is known for your high character and integrity, you will put yourself on the side of the angels.


And when you back every desire and goal with unshakable confidence and persistence and keep on keeping on, no matter what the adversity, you will turn out to be one of the luckiest people alive.


You make your own luck, you create the life you want. And as a result, your future will be unlimited! Part of being lucky involves mastering your time. When you master your time, you create your own luck in your life. 

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Why Every Successful Person Sets Goals

Have you ever heard of any successful people, super achievers or elite performers who don't set goals at all?

Honestly I have not.

Goal setting is an important aspect in both your professional and personal lives. Without having goals to strive for, we won't be able to measure our success or achievements. We won't be able to spot our weaknesses and improve ourselves. We won't be able to target our strengths and fully unleash our potential.

While setting goals is crucial to getting what you want in life, what other amazing benefits do this simple act bring you that make all the successful people love?

#1 Control and Certainty

By regularly setting goals and achieving them you are taking control of your life.

This is an empowering mindset, attitude and behavior to have because you are acknowledging that life doesn't 'just happen to you'. There is a lot that is within your control when it comes to creating the ideal life you want and working towards the direction that's right for you.

#2 Optimism and Positivity

Apart from being certain about the future you're heading, setting goals and taking action to achieve them will influence you to have a more positive and optimistic outlook.

This vibe of positivity will help you build stronger mental resilience, which is essential to help you keep going when things become tough or when you got hit by challenges.

Instead of feeling down, depressed or defeated by the hardships, your resilience, optimism and mental toughness will ensure that you see the temporary setback as it is and pick yourself up using your personal power to find a creative way to overcome it.

#3 Wellbeing

Through goal setting you will have created a long-term plan for your life. In your mind, you've created a vision of what you want and worked out a way to get there.

This sense of purpose gives you a feeling of hope that you can achieve what you want. These are all positive emotions which have powerful effects on your mental and physical wellbeing.

Stress levels will be reduced, as will the likelihood of depression emerging. While you are working towards achieving your goals, you will increase your levels of focus and your ability to use it at will to help you get the results you want.

#4 Getting Into Flow State

The regular setting of meaningful goals ensures that you maximize opportunities to utilize the power of flow.

This miraculous flow state occurs when:

you have a meaningful goal;

position yourself away from external distractions;

have all the necessary resources at hand;

have matched the task to your abilities so that it contains enough challenge to keep you motivated and engaged but not too little so that you become bored; and

immerse yourself in the task completely.

Getting into the flow state not only helps you achieve goals, but it also drastically elevates your productivity, relieves stress and increases happiness. The benefits of the flow state have been recorded by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the Hungarian positive psychologist who wrote the famous book <Flow: The Psychology of Happiness>.

By having goals, you are increasing your chances of success. You are also taking positive steps to creating the life or business that you want.

While it seems to take a lot of effort setting goals at the beginning, the benefits you experience will far outweigh any time spent creating, monitoring and meeting them. If you desire to become a more productive, optimistic and proactive, then you should definitely follow what other successful people do - setting goals.

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8 Simple Tips for Increasing Your Luck in Life

Luck is described by definition as “the things that happen to a person because of chance; the accidental way things happen without being planned.” So speaking in the strictest technical terms, there’s really nothing you can do to change your luck.

But that doesn’t stop most of us from trying!

Whether you believe in the power of changing your own fortune, you’re superstitious, or you simply take a different view on what exactly constitutes luck, odds are you’ve tried at one point or another to influence what happens to you seemingly by chance.


8 Tips for Increasing Your Luck in Life

Ultimately, arguing whether or not it can truly be done won’t get anyone anywhere.

Here are some simple tips for successfully increasing your luck in life.

1) Avoid Discouragement

One of the simplest keys to facilitating good luck is not to succumb to discouragement due to bad luck.

Move Me Quotes is a wonderful place to look for people who like to find inspiration and new perspectives from famous figures. And at that site, a list of quotes for positive thinking has a few different selections that speak to this idea of avoiding discouragement.

Perhaps best among them is John Wooden’s wise, almost Yogi Berra-esque quote: “Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”

In other words, if you strive to make the most of a situation, even if it’s not an ideal one, you tend to increase the odds of things working out well in the long run. This is certainly one way to look at luck.


2) Collect Friends & Allies
Not all luck has to do with other people, but a great deal of what we’d call good fortune in life really comes down to good favors from good friends.

This is not to say that you should look to network your whole life simply to build up group of acquaintances who might one day facilitate “luck” when you need it most.

But by making and maintaining friendships, being kind to family members, neighbors and colleagues, etc., you can certainly put yourself in a better position to receive help if and when you need it one day.

Whether or not you call it luck is up to you, but the fact remains that receiving assistance from a friend in a time of need is better than the alternative!


3) Always Throw Your Hat In The Ring

The idea here is that if you don’t at least give yourself the opportunity to get lucky, you definitely won’t get lucky.

This is arguably the most significant thing to keep in mind in attempting to improve your fortunes—so much so that it’s even mentioned with regard to activities with notoriously long odds for luck.

At Lottoland, an online source for various online lotteries, there are a few different magazine articles that have been written about how to improve your shot at winning a lottery. One such article talks about odds and ends while referencing the famous Norman Vincent Peale quote, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you’ll land among the stars.”

The idea there is that by aiming for a jackpot (the moon) you can sometimes also put yourself in the running for smaller prizes (the stars). The same principle holds up pretty consistently as a metaphor for everyday life.

4) Keep Your Eyes Open

This one is straightforward: a lot of people with optimistic outlooks and “lucky” histories will tell you that one of the keys to good fortune is seizing good luck when it’s available. Sometimes a lucky turn is right in front of us, and we’re either unable or unwilling to see it.

5) Face Your Fears

“Fortune favors the bold” is a common saying, and some may view it as a relatively hollow one. Yet when you think about it as a psychological perspective rather than a recipe for good fortune, it begins to make a lot more sense.

Inc. took on this topic in a piece on different ways to actually increase your luck, and clarified that the idea of fortune favoring the bold largely comes down to the idea of facing our fears. When you take on a task that scares you or makes you apprehensive, you may not be any likelier to fully succeed.

But because you were apprehensive to begin with, you’re more likely to view any degree of success as a lucky outcome.


6) Prepare For Optimism

Many would argue that the foundation of good luck is an optimistic outlook.

In other words, people who are inclined to be optimistic are simply more likely to view a given event or outcome as a bit of good fortune, rather than something neutral. So it’s possible that the best way to position yourself for good luck is to practice optimism.

This could mean anything from getting more sleep and focusing on personal well-being, to trying to be kinder and more enthusiastic.

7) Believe In Routine

Superstition is closely related to the belief in luck, but it usually just comes down to routine.

To get an idea of just how important this is to some very successful people, just take a look through this list of superstitious athletes including Michael Jordan, Wade Boggs, and Serena Williams.

Williams in particular goes about her business on the tennis court according to an extremely strict routine of little things, such as how many times to bounce a ball before a serve.

She’s mentioned slipping up on this routine as a reason for some of her losses over the years, and whether or not that’s the case it’s easy to see the psychology of it. When you believe in routine to this extent, sticking to it can make you feel lined up for luck.


8) Trust The Little Voice

A lot of discussions about luck ultimately come down to the idea of trusting your gut.

To some extent, this lines up with the idea of facing fears and being bold; often it’s the gut instinct that wants to be bold, and the reasonable mind that prevails and encourages more conservative action.

Aside from the idea of just being bold, the idea here is to trust your gut, or listen to the little voice inside your head that tells you, before you even have a chance to think about it, what the right decision is. Instinct is a valuable ally, and one that can often lead you down a path of good fortune.


There are still no guarantees for luck in life. If there were, we wouldn’t call it luck! But by paying attention to these tips and enacting the suggestions in your day-to-day life, you may find that you stumble across a little bit more luck in the future.

Have anything to add to this article? Leave a comment below.

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Why Hardworking People Won’t Always Be Successful

You’ve probably heard it before; put in the hard work and you’ll eventually become successful…

They lied to you…

It takes a lot more than hard work in order to become successful in life. Yet most people assume that the harder they’re working, the better off they’ll be. Forgetting about all the other factors that are involved.


Why Hardworking People Won’t Always Be Successful

Hard work is necessary to achieve a goal, but it is not a defining factor. Here are several things to bear in mind as to why hardworking people aren’t always successful in life:

1. You Need to Work Smarter

In order to be successful, a person needs a great plan and well-balanced attack to execute the plan. None of that suggests working harder is helpful. It may actually work against someone. The key is to work smarter, not harder.

For instance, someone can work really hard to lose weight, but what matters more is understanding your body’s physiological capabilities.

You can’t just assume that you can go jogging for 30 minutes a day or stop eating carbs and magically shed pounds. That might not be what your body needs or how it reacts.

Runners understand the idea of efficiency. It takes a lot of endurance to make it through a marathon, half-marathon, even a 5K. Although, there is a lot more to running than just slogging through the miles.

In order to finish the race, you have to know where to hold back and reserve for the more critical moments. Technique and planning will make the run easier and more valuable of an experience.

2. Be Natural

Forbes published an article showing how hard work may not help, but actually hurt in a lot of cases. Passion will drive people to do more and more for what they love. However, that shouldn’t include people that are simply better at what they do.

There is something to be said for innate ability.

Some people were meant to be faster runners or longer distance runners. Some people were meant to be musical prodigies. Other people were meant to stock market wizards.

Not that naturally gifted people don’t have to work hard. But people in the wrong field end up working harder to compensate for not being a natural. Work in areas that you are naturally pre-disposed to do and success will come much easier.


Psychologist Elyn Saks wrote a book called ‘The Center Cannot Hold‘, which basically considered all the limitations that hold people back even with all of their best efforts.

Just because we work hard to overcome hurdles doesn’t mean we can hurdle the 1250 foot Empire State Building. Some things just aren’t going to happen and a smarter person will temper expectations and know where to best invest efforts.


3. Be Well-Positioned & Channel Inner Drive

A lot of people spend the best years of their careers with the assumption that hard work always pays off in the end. They put in long hours and pass on vacations to get ahead. Then expecting there will be some reward, such as a raise or promotion at the end.

In reality, the more a person volunteers to do things, the more of a mule they become, the less smart they appear. Meanwhile, the slacker that just shows up to please the boss and has great staff relations is the person that gets promoted and becomes successful in the company.

Some jobs just come with an inherent self-sacrifice role. Different jobs take much different levels of dedication and sacrifice.

The nonprofit sector has traditionally sent workers into an endless void of self-sacrifice, presumably for the amount of good the job does versus the amount of revenue available.

Somewhere along the line, people determined that’s not always best for a company’s mission. An organization can’t make much of a difference in an industry relying on haggered workers that never sleep and subsist off of energy drinks.


4. Consider the Value
Non-profits are starting to realize that what’s good for for-profits may help them too. When one worker does the work of two people, it undervalues the product or service. The net result will be underpayment.

Companies give and apply for grants, fund operations and staff employees based on labor data. So if they find something that worked for a budget last year, they will stick with it. It is important that the data show an accurate picture of what it takes to get a job done.

Customers and colleagues need to know what kind of service or product to expect. Where proper staffing creates a more valuable product, a good marketing plan highlights the product.

No matter what the business is, or how much work it takes, if no one knows about it, then the work is mostly for naught.

Staying on top of current trends like video marketing and trade-show interactionhelp highlight the effort and convert into deliverables. Or whatever measure will ultimately translate into success.


5. Develop More Finite Skills

Almost anyone vying for a position or a promotion works hard. Hard work is not a unique qualifier. Experience and capabilities, however, are unique qualifiers that need to be highlighted first and foremost.

Creativity and efficiency are also invaluable intangibles that may not show up in the resume, but will show up in the output. A person needs a versatile skill set of all the intangibles, hard work is only one of those intangibles.

A person needs to develop skills and then strengthen them through hard work in order to become successful. The hard work does not become the success by itself. By no means should the hard work be overdone.

The burnout factor is a huge obstacle for success. A person only eyeing the prize and not the process is not likely to be successful.


6. Take Luck When You Can Get It

As I used to tell my students when I was a teacher, winning takes 40% approach, 40% planning, 15% hard work and 5% luck. Sometimes despite all your best efforts, you just aren’t destined to win.

The 1981 Cincinnati Reds won the most games of any major league team that year, yet didn’t qualify for the playoffs. It was a weird situation, but sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way. Luck certainly will help put you over the top.

Make the best of bad luck situations and re-channel energy into a better game plan and the odds will eventually work out in your favor. Former Boston Celtic, Von Wafer, is figuring this all out the hard way as he sends pleas into the Twitter-verse for another chance:


“WISH I HAD THIS MENTALITY AT A YOUNG AGE. I DON’T CARE HOW TALENTED YOU ARE. IF YOUR MIND IS NOT IN THE RIGHT PLACE TALENT CAN ONLY GO SO FAR.”


Summary

Here’s a short breakdown of the points covered in this article:
Work smarter
Be natural
Be well-positioned & channel inner drive
Consider the value
Develop more finite skills
Take luck when you can get it
Have anything to add to why hardworking people won’t always be successful? Leave a comment below.

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8 Simple Tips for Increasing Your Luck in Life

Luck is described by definition as “the things that happen to a person because of chance; the accidental way things happen without being planned.” So speaking in the strictest technical terms, there’s really nothing you can do to change your luck.

But that doesn’t stop most of us from trying!

Whether you believe in the power of changing your own fortune, you’re superstitious, or you simply take a different view on what exactly constitutes luck, odds are you’ve tried at one point or another to influence what happens to you seemingly by chance.



8 Tips for Increasing Your Luck in Life

Ultimately, arguing whether or not it can truly be done won’t get anyone anywhere.

Here are some simple tips for successfully increasing your luck in life.


1) Avoid Discouragement

One of the simplest keys to facilitating good luck is not to succumb to discouragement due to bad luck.

Move Me Quotes is a wonderful place to look for people who like to find inspiration and new perspectives from famous figures. And at that site, a list of quotes for positive thinking has a few different selections that speak to this idea of avoiding discouragement.

Perhaps best among them is John Wooden’s wise, almost Yogi Berra-esque quote:“Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”

In other words, if you strive to make the most of a situation, even if it’s not an ideal one, you tend to increase the odds of things working out well in the long run. This is certainly one way to look at luck.


2) Collect Friends & Allies
Not all luck has to do with other people, but a great deal of what we’d call good fortune in life really comes down to good favours from good friends.

This is not to say that you should look to network your whole life simply to build up group of acquaintances who might one day facilitate “luck” when you need it most.

But by making and maintaining friendships, being kind to family members, neighbours and colleagues, etc., you can certainly put yourself in a better position to receive help if and when you need it one day.

Whether or not you call it luck is up to you, but the fact remains that receiving assistance from a friend in a time of need is better than the alternative!


3) Always Throw Your Hat In The Ring
The idea here is that if you don’t at least give yourself the opportunity to get lucky, you definitely won’t get lucky.

This is arguably the most significant thing to keep in mind in attempting to improve your fortunes—so much so that it’s even mentioned with regard to activities with notoriously long odds for luck.

At Lottoland, an online source for various online lotteries, there are a few different magazine articles that have been written about how to improve your shot at winning a lottery. One such article talks about odds and ends while referencing the famous Norman Vincent Peale quote, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you’ll land among the stars.”

The idea there is that by aiming for a jackpot (the moon) you can sometimes also put yourself in the running for smaller prizes (the stars). The same principle holds up pretty consistently as a metaphor for everyday life.

4) Keep Your Eyes Open

This one is straightforward: a lot of people with optimistic outlooks and “lucky” histories will tell you that one of the keys to good fortune is seizing good luck when it’s available. Sometimes a lucky turn is right in front of us, and we’re either unable or unwilling to see it.

5) Face Your Fears

“Fortune favours the bold” is a common saying, and some may view it as a relatively hollow one. Yet when you think about it as a psychological perspective rather than a recipe for good fortune, it begins to make a lot more sense.

Inc. took on this topic in a piece on different ways to actually increase your luck, and clarified that the idea of fortune favouring the bold largely comes down to the idea of facing our fears. When you take on a task that scares you or makes you apprehensive, you may not be any likelier to fully succeed.

But because you were apprehensive to begin with, you’re more likely to view any degree of success as a lucky outcome.


6) Prepare For Optimism

Many would argue that the foundation of good luck is an optimistic outlook.

In other words, people who are inclined to be optimistic are simply more likely to view a given event or outcome as a bit of good fortune, rather than something neutral. So it’s possible that the best way to position yourself for good luck is to practice optimism.

This could mean anything from getting more sleep and focusing on personal well-being, to trying to be kinder and more enthusiastic.


7) Believe In Routine

Superstition is closely related to the belief in luck, but it usually just comes down to routine.

To get an idea of just how important this is to some very successful people, just take a look through this list of superstitious athletes including Michael Jordan, Wade Boggs, and Serena Williams.

Williams in particular goes about her business on the tennis court according to an extremely strict routine of little things, such as how many times to bounce a ball before a serve.

She’s mentioned slipping up on this routine as a reason for some of her losses over the years, and whether or not that’s the case it’s easy to see the psychology of it. When you believe in routine to this extent, sticking to it can make you feel lined up for luck.


8) Trust The Little Voice

A lot of discussions about luck ultimately come down to the idea of trusting your gut.

To some extent, this lines up with the idea of facing fears and being bold; often it’s the gut instinct that wants to be bold, and the reasonable mind that prevails and encourages more conservative action.

Aside from the idea of just being bold, the idea here is to trust your gut, or listen to the little voice inside your head that tells you, before you even have a chance to think about it, what the right decision is. Instinct is a valuable ally, and one that can often lead you down a path of good fortune.



There are still no guarantees for luck in life. If there were, we wouldn’t call it luck! But by paying attention to these tips and enacting the suggestions in your day-to-day life, you may find that you stumble across a little bit more luck in the future.

Have anything to add to this article? Leave a comment below.

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