5 Benefits You Will Experience Once You Become Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable

As human beings, we often view “stress” as a dirty word. We try to avoid it at all costs. But sometimes a little bit of healthy stress can push us forward out of our comfort zones and into extreme success.

One of the most detrimental things you can do for your career, business or life is stay too long in a place where you are comfortable. Personal and professional growth will inevitably make you uncomfortable, but that discomfort shouldn’t stop you. After all, a certain amount of stress and discomfort is required if you want to reach your full potential.
Here are five key benefits you will experience once you become comfortable being uncomfortable:

1. You will let go of perfection

No one is perfect. Once you embrace the power of feeling uncomfortable in life, you will let go of all the unnecessary pressure to be something you cannot be. You will lose the fear that has been holding you back from trying something new.

You will no longer be a prisoner to the fear of failure because you are ok with failing from time to time. Failure and rejection are a given, but once you accept and embrace it, you will welcome imperfection and all of the life lessons it brings with it.


“Beauty and ingenuity beat perfection hands down, every time.” – Nalo Hopkinson 

2. The risks you take will teach you about yourself

The more comfortable you are with feeling uncomfortable, the more aware you will become of what you are truly capable of. You never know how strong you actually are if you never try anything new.

You will want to reach new heights and will be more willing to take risks at something without knowing whether you will succeed. It will not matter if the result turns out good or bad. You will learn because you took the risk and bet on yourself, and you will improve for next time.

3. You will be more productive

When it comes to productivity, comfort is the enemy. Without a sense of discomfort, it is human nature to procrastinate or do the least amount we can to get by. Inside of our comfort zones, all of our drive and ambition is stalled. Pushing beyond personal boundaries will help you get more done in less time because it motivates you to succeed.

4. You will harness your creativity

Seeking new life experiences and learning new skills inspires us to learn more and challenge our old ideas. Creativity is intrinsically risky, but risks will no longer scare you. Uncomfortable experiences will push you to see problems from a new perspective and tackle challenges with a new and fresh energy.

5. Uncomfortable eventually becomes comfortable

Stepping out of your comfort zone and getting uncomfortable in life ultimately helps you deal with sudden and unexpected change. You will become accustomed to a certain level of productive discomfort, and it will become easier to challenge yourself because you now look at things differently.

Change will no longer frighten you. In fact, you will embrace change because you know that it improves you. Your comfort zone will expand, and the number of things that cause you fear will diminish.
How to get comfortable with being uncomfortable

If you continue to operate as you are right now, you will continue to get the same results you currently get. If you want more from life, the only solution is to do something you have never done. It is time to get uncomfortable. Here is how to start today:

1. Determine what makes you uncomfortable

What are the things that you are afraid to do because of a fear of failure? What is driving your fear of that situation? Identify the boundaries of your comfort zone so that you recognize situations that fall outside of it.

2. Set goals

In order to achieve goals, you have to step outside your comfort zone. Figure out what it is you want out of life. Visualize yourself there. How does it feel? What steps do you need to take to get to your end goal? What new skills will you require? Write it all down. Your goals are what will ultimately motivate you to take a chance on yourself.


“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” – Zig Ziglar

3. Take steps towards the uncomfortable

Make a decision to never run away from discomfort again. Take steps to stay uncomfortable a little longer each time until eventually those uncomfortable situations become comfortable. The first step is always the toughest. As you continue taking steps, you will build momentum, and it will become easier to continue forward movement. So seek opportunities to reach out beyond your personal boundaries every day.

Everything amazing about life happens outside of your comfort zone. When you push yourself beyond that safety net, you can achieve goals in life that you never thought you were capable of.

Becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable can help you conquer your world and get everything you want in life. Refuse to settle for what you have and continuously push the limits in order to achieve immense success and happiness. The only thing standing in your way is yourself.
How do you stay positive about your business? We’d love to hear! Leave your thoughts and tips in the comments below!

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5 Ways to Stay Productive While Working Remotely

Working remotely at first seems like a blessing, but without proper strategies that blessing can quickly become a curse. More freedom, in many ways, requires more discipline.

Many remote workers find that their productivity decreases after the first few months of working outside of an office. So it’s vitally important that workers implement strategies to stay ahead of the curve.


5 Ways to Stay Productive While Working Remotely

The good news is, with some structure in place, we can produce some of our best work while working remotely.


I’ve been working remotely on and off for the past two years, and by using the five strategies below, I’ve helped triple my company’s revenues and stay focused on my daily tasks at hand.

Here are 5 ways to stay productive while working remotely:


1. Set a Designated Start and Stop Time

When you work remotely, it can be easy to set your start time to when you wake up in the morning. This can be highly problematic.

We all want to sleep in, but it keeps us from interacting with our team and gives others the impression that you’re working your own hours (which can cause resentment).

If you’re working from the same time zone as your team, make your start and stop time the exact same as your co-workers, and be online and reachable for those hours.

Personally, I work in the Pacific Time Zone while my co-workers operate from the East Coast – so I start at 6AM and am online when they get into the office at 9AM EST.

It can be tempting to sleep in or leave early, but don’t give in. Don’t put things off now with the intention of getting them done on your own hours. Finish your work within your designated work hours and keep the pressure turned up. We all need a little structure in our work life – and the first place to add it is around your time.


2. Always Be Connected With Your Team

The list of benefits that come from working on site with your team is long. It allows us to collaborate and work together. Being able to bounce ideas off of teammates or getting advice on difficult tasks is invaluable.

That’s why when you’re working remotely, you need to try to come up with ways to supplement for the lack of quick access you’d have to teammates in the office.

When I work remotely, I’m always connected with my team during work hours to ensure I’m a part of the daily happenings.

With Slack, we can ask each other questions, vote on ideas, and be aware of what everyone is working on throughout the day. While Slack works great, you can also use software like HipChat, Skype, or Google Hangouts.

Just make sure that the rest of your team is on board, and that they keep you involved in the day to day happenings.


3. Keep a Running To Do List and Make it Public
Everyone has their own preferred way of keeping a to do list, and they’re all valid. What matters most is that you keep a to do list that you’ll actually stick to.

Personally, I like to log five things each day that I want to see accomplished, with the most important tasks kept at the top of the list. Gary Keller’s book ‘The One Thing’ does a great job of articulating that not all tasks are created equal. So give importance to the things on your list that matter the most.

To add further accountability to your to do list, try sharing your daily list with your team. We use Trello for task management within our office, and keep our daily to do lists within that platform.

It’s a great way to see what everyone is working on, and what they’ve accomplished at the end of the day. Give it a try – it’s sure to motivate you to cross items off before everyone leaves for the evening.


4. Have a Work Station

Too many times, remote workers think that it’s okay to work from bed, the couch, or somewhere else comfortable. If you want to get great, meaningful work done, you’ll need to set up a workstation for yourself.

It gets you in the zone, and tells your brain that while you’re in that specific station, it’s work time. This can be a hard strategy for remote workers, but I promise you’ll see an increase in productivity if you only work from one place.

It also means that you won’t be tempted to turn on the TV, play video games, or do anything else that you wouldn’t do while at the office.

If you’re serious about increasing your productivity while working outside of the office, don’t think twice about this strategy.

5. Limit Your Distractions

This folds into both points one and four, and it’s crucial if you’re going to be working out of the office.

If you’re working from home, it can be easy to start doing laundry or the dishes during your work hours – don’t fall victim to the trap. When you’re working, you need to make your work your number one priority.

Household chores can be done when you’re off the clock. Keep the TV off, and the YouTube browser window closed. Work as though you’re at the office when you’re working from home and don’t let your surroundings get in the way.


Summary

While these strategies might sound difficult to implement, they guarantee you an increase in productivity while working remotely. Bite the bullet and give them a try today.
How do you stay productive while working remotely? Leave a comment below.

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4 MUST KNOW Habits Of All Highly Successful People

The whole secret of personal success is to find out what your calling is, and then do it. The great question for success is, what are the habits of successful people? Why is it that some people have positive thinking patterns, while others do not? What determines your self-concept for success?

Many successful people have been interviewed over the years and asked the question, “What do you think about, most of the time?” Their answers are simple and consistent, and yet so profound that they can be life changing. In short, the habits of successful people revolve around positive thinking. They think about what they want, and how to get it.

Successful people have all concluded, one way or the other that the way your self-concept and mind is programmed from early childhood. Your self-concept plays a decisive role in almost everything you think, feel and accomplish as an adult. By learning these four habits of successful people, you too will become a successful person!

1. The Self-Concept

Your self-concept is the “master program” of your subconscious computer. It acts as your mental operating system. Every thought, feeling, emotion, experience, and decision you have ever had is permanently recorded on this mental hard drive. Once recorded, these impressions then influence the way you think, feel and behave from that point onward.

Your self-concept precedes and predicts your levels of effectiveness in every area of your life. Your self-concept explains why the mental laws have such an inordinate effect on your personality.

2. Habits Of Successful People Through Self-Concept

Once your self-concept in a particular area is formed, you always act in a manner consistent with it. You may have extraordinary ability in a particular area, but if your self-concept is poor in that area, you will always perform below your true potential. The habits of successful people are to have positive thinking and positive self-concepts in all areas of their life.

You have a self-concept for how well you speak in public. You have a self-concept for how popular you are. You have a self-concept for what kind of a spouse or partner you are. You have a self-concept for what kind of a parent you are. You have a self-concept for how well you perform in each sport or physical activity. You have a self-concept for how organized or disorganized you are. You have a self-concept for how well you manage your time and how productive you are. You have a self-concept for your ability to read, write and do mathematics.

In your business and career, you have a self-concept for every aspect of your financial life. Through positive thinking, you have a self-concept for how much you earn, and how hard you have to work to earn that amount of money. You have a self-concept for how rapidly you are promoted and how much your earnings increase year-by-year.

3. Your Comfort Zone

Whatever your self-concept, your habit of thinking with regard to money or any other area of performance, will become your “comfort zone.” Your comfort zone then becomes your greatest single obstacle to improved performance. Once you get into a comfort zone in any area, you will strive and struggle unconsciously to remain in that comfort zone, even though it may be vastly below what you are truly capable of achieving in that area.

The key to achieving your full potential and develop the same habits of successful people is for you to raise your self-concept in through positive thinking patterns. It is for you to develop new habits of positive thinking about what is possible for you. The way that you accomplish vastly more on the outside is by changing your thoughts and feelings about your potential in that area on the inside.

4. Program Positive Thinking For Greater Success

Your self-concept is your self-ideal. This is the ideal image or picture you have of yourself, as if you were already the very best person you could possibly be. Your self-ideal and self-concept is made up of your wishes, hopes, dreams, goals, and fantasies about your perfect future life, combined with the qualities and virtues that you admire most in yourself and in other people. Your self-ideal and self-concept is a composite through positive thinking of the very best person you could imagine yourself being, living the very best life you could possibly live.

High performing, successful, happy people have very clear self-ideals. They have clear ideas of what they like, respect and admire. They have clear ideals about the virtues, values and attributes of the superior men and women that they want to emulate. The most successful people have an uplifting, inspiring vision of what a truly excellent person looks like and how he or she behaves within their self-concept.
Your Potential Is Unlimited

You are a remarkable person, possessed of incredible untapped potentials and abilities. Whatever you have accomplished in life so far is only a shadow of what is truly possible for you. There are virtually no limits on what you can do, be and have except for the limits that you impose on yourself with your own thinking.

By following these four steps and by taking complete control of the development of your self-concept through positive thinking, you lay the foundation for the development that will enable you to accomplish more in the next few years than the average person accomplishes in a lifetime. By developing the habits of successful people you too will become a success.

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3 Tips To Upgrade Your Morning Routine

Having a morning routine is one of the best ways to kick-start a day in the most productive, positive and healthy manner and be energized and motivated throughout the whole day.

It takes time to form it as a habit. You begin by waking up earlier than you have to and investing that time in some activities that are good for your mind, body and soul. Over time, you add new elements to it like meditating, working out, creating your to-do list for the day, organizing things to save time later on, etc.

For some people, however, it never gets easier no matter how long they've been having a ritual to start the day successfully. Sometimes, it's still a struggle and you realize you can't become a morning person, don't find enough joy in this whole thing, aren't as effective as you should and feel upset because of all this.

If that sounds familiar, then here are some tips to deal with your morning routine struggle, and take your mornings to the next level by making the most of every minute:

1. Go to bed with intention.

In life you should always know why you do what you do. A reason becomes a purpose and makes everything easier and meaningful. To apply that approach to how you start your day means to decide to have a powerful morning routine the night before, go to bed with that thought in mind and prepare to prevent failing.

Here are some things you can do tonight for a highly productive and inspiring early morning:

Write down why your morning ritual matters to you and how it can change your life - doing that before sleep gets the message to your subconscious mind and you truly believe in the power of starting the day this way. You'll wake up motivated to do all the morning habits you desire.

Be excited about it - look forward to leaving bed earlier tomorrow morning. Remember that few people find the willpower to actually get up earlier than they have to and use that extra time to become more disciplined, organized, energized and productive.

Put your alarm clock on the other side of the room so that you'll have to go get it and thus avoid the temptation to close your eyes for 5 minutes more.

Prepare your clothes - keep them beside your bed to know what to do in the morning and make it more likely to dress up.

De-clutter - seeing chaos first thing in the morning will keep you in a bad mood for the whole day. Make sure you put everything back in its place, wash the dishes, organize your desk, etc.

2. Make the ritual more fun.

To look forward to waking up in the morning and make sure you do your whole routine, include activities you enjoy, or stuff that can't happen at any other moment of the day. 

Wanna take up a new hobby? Wake up an hour earlier and dedicate that time to it. Be it painting, learning a new language, creating a digital business, or taking a fun course online.

If you are looking for some peaceful me time, there's no better choice than the early hours of the day. Do some reading or writing, while listening to music or drinking your coffee or tea slowly and with a smile on your face. No one will be there to bother you and you'll keep that calm attitude till the evening.

3. See how others are doing it.

If you struggle with your morning ritual, take a look at what some remarkable people out there are doing first thing in the morning to stay motivated and steal an idea or a few. 

Read about the daily rituals of famous men in history, read blog posts from successful entrepreneurs and notice how they start each day. They'll all talk about how this is one of their best habits. Whatever you do, keep in mind you're working on yourself and thus being a role model. You inspire with your actions!

But if you don't take control of your morning, you'll still have a routine, it will just be a bad one. The average person wakes up with the last alarm, complains about having to be up at that time, doesn't have time to prepare for the day, leaves in a hurry, often forgets something, and begins the day in an awful mood. Don't become someone like that. Even if you're struggling with your ritual, keep working and making changes slowly over time. It's worth it!

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Motivation Vs Inspiration

Although many people often confuse inspiration with motivation, they are two VERY different things. In order for us to do anything, we need to be motivated. Whether it is getting up from bed in the morning, doing our daily chores, or pursuing a lifelong dream, if there is no motivation we would not do it.

There are two types of Motivation: External motivation and Internal Motivation. When we say motivation in the normal sense, what we mean is External motivation. An external push that we require to do something that we may or may not care about.

On the other hand there is Internal Motivation which is also referred to as Inspiration. This kind of motivation comes from deep within ourselves and is not dependent on any external physical expression. When you are in this place of inspiration you are naturally drawn to do whatever feels best. In order for us to achieve our goals and move steadily forward on our chosen paths we need to be driven from inside rather than outside, therefore this means that the goals that we set have to be INSPIRED goals. one of the fastest roads to inspiration is motivation.

There are two types of Inspiration: Passive and Active. Replicating or building on the success and ideas of others is Passive inspiration, whereas, the act of CREATING things, pursuing new ideas, goals and ambitions is Active inspiration.

Motivation is related to the inspiration that increases the eagerness or willingness to do something. Inspiration is the process by which the mental stimulation takes place. It makes one WANT to do or feel something.

Starting to make sense?

Motivation relies on tenacity, determination and drive, but Inspiration comes from some place inside you that is profoundly touched in some way. The word inspire means "in spirit," which pretty much sums it up. When you're inspired to do something, you're more in the spirit of doing it. There's something more than determination driving you. It's more like you were actually "destined" to do it.

Websters online dictionary defines both Inspiration and Motivation as follows:

in·spi·ra·tion: something that makes someone want to do something or that gives someone an idea about what to do or create.

mo·ti·va·tion: the act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something.

In looking at the two definitions, it is clear that inspiration is more of a person reaching a point of wanting to act. There is a true DESIRE to achieve a goal or dream, they are "compelled", whereas, motivation is more of giving people reasons to act.

In short, Inspiration is the "spark" that originates within, and Motivation is the "fuel" that causes the spark to grow into a flame.

EVERYONE is indwelt with dreams & ideas known only to themselves, YOU carry those dreams & ideas. Your feelings are indicators that let you know when it's time to bring the spark forth that will grow into the flame.

"As life takes us up and moves us around, our purposes expand, our priorities shift, our search continues for what is ours to do" 

- Carol Adrienne

Be Inspired, Be Motivated, it's time to share that spark with the rest of the world!

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How to Adopt A Productive Mindset

Everybody knows we live in an age of distraction. We have so many different things vying for our attention that it’s hard to focus on any one thing, let alone make progress on the multitude of tasks we have on our plates.

A lot of productivity advice would tell you that you need to cut out the distractions. If email or social media are distracting you, simply get away from them or use a program to block them for the amount of time you need to complete a task.

Here’s the problem: Being distraction-free doesn’t equal productivity. I’m a writer, and as a writer, I’m always working on building my platform and trying to connect with potential readers on social media. But there are times when I need to disconnect and just write.

How to Adopt A Productive Mindset

But just because you get away from the distractions doesn’t mean you’ll be productive with the time you have. As a writer, for example, it’s easy to justify doing anything other than writing as research or creative thinking.

We start to think that if we’re doing something, then we’re being productive. But you can work really hard at the wrong things, fooling yourself into thinking that you’re moving forward when you’re really just spinning your wheels.

The key to productivity is adopting a productive mindset and learning how to focus your creative energy on the things that matter.


1. Know Your Why

Leadership expert Simon Sinek says in his book Start with Why that “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” Sinek’s book is all about discovering the why that drives productivity and effectiveness.

There’s a why behind everything that we do, but it’s not always a conscious why. We eat breakfast in the morning probably because we’re hungry, but we don’t really spend a lot of time thinking about the purpose behind our desire to eat breakfast.

Having a productive mindset starts with identifying why you do the things you do.
Why are you writing that blog post?
Why are you contacting that client?
Why are you creating that product?

Questions like these force you to do some serious evaluation of your priorities because you’ll discover that the reason why you do some things isn’t a good enough reason to continue doing those things.

Knowing your why involves looking at your productivity strategy and identifying exactly what you hope to accomplish with all that you do and what motivates you to do it.


Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to move into the next step, which requires you to eliminate some of the things you do that aren’t aiding in your productivity.

2. Identify the Tasks that Make You the Most Productive

Any productivity system inevitably includes making a list at some point of all the tasks you have to do. This is good practice because it allows you to see on paper what you’re spending your creative energies on. It also forces you to see obvious disconnects between the more important things you do and the less important.

What are the tasks that make you the most productive?

Working hard isn’t enough to be successful at doing what you love because you can work hard at things that are only drying up your creative energy instead of creating results.

You have to identify the things that are most worth your time because they’re the most rewarding in terms of productivity.

If you’re a teacher and you want to learn how to better engage students in your class, researching engagement methods can be good, but there can also be a point when researching is only a practice in inactivity.

You have to identify what is going to be most productive for your context, which will likely include identifying the needs and interests of your students rather than reading about the strategies other teachers have used on their students.

Whatever it is you do for a living, identify the tasks that will make you the most productive in your professional arena.


3. Focus Your Creative Energy by Challenging Yourself

Once you have a list of the tasks that will make you the most productive, you need a strategy for actually completing those tasks. This is where going above and beyond the simple elimination of distractions is vital.

If you really want to get tasks completed, you have to challenge yourself. Tap into your naturally competitive nature and use it to your advantage.

Set a timer for a specific amount of time and challenge yourself to complete as much of a task as you can within that time frame. Of course, you want to complete the task well, so avoid using the timer as an excuse to do mediocre work.

Challenging yourself to complete a task in a certain amount of time assumes that you’ll be free of distractions.

Distractions would get in the way of reaching your goal.

A timed runner doesn’t stop to play a game or send a text message in the middle of a race because she realizes those distractions would only hinder her ability to reach her goal.

For a specific timing strategy, you might want to check out the Pomodoro Technique, which involves alternating between timed working on a task followed by a short break before the next dive back into the task.


“CHALLENGE YOURSELF EVERYDAY TO DO BETTER AND BE BETTER. REMEMBER, GROWTH STARTS WITH A DECISION TO MOVE BEYOND YOUR PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES.” – ROBERT TEW


4. Be Passionate About Results

A productive mindset requires a high degree of commitment to getting the job done. When the process makes you weary, it’s the results and your why that will drive you to keep going.

As a writer, it can be really easy to give up in the middle of a story because the process is starting to feel slow and unrewarding. But the story isn’t finished, and the only way I can see the result of a finished story is to keep going.

If you’re lucky, you’ll love what you do, but don’t focus too much on loving what you do because on some days, you won’t.

On those days, you still need to be productive, so when you’re not passionate about the process, at least be passionate about the results so that you’ll keep going to see the results in the end.

If you want to be more productive, you have to start with adopting a productive mindset. You’ll only make things happen when you begin to focus your creative energy on the things that matter.


How did you adopt a productive mindset?

And if you still haven’t done so, which of the points above do you think was most important?

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How To Be Motivated - Get Up and Get Going!

How to be motivated. No Kidding! If you are like me, then knowing and starting and maintaining your plan of life has been a tough go. Struggling through life with no idea what you wanted or, if you did, how to sustain that momentum to always be moving towards your dreams. Motivation and inspiration are tough things to keep focused on, especially when those tough days come along or disappointment shows its ugly face.

Today I want to talk about moving forward and reaching whatever it is you desire. No matter what that THING is. The perfect career, the perfect relationship, the perfect health, the perfect whatever. Here are some tips to taking steps in the right direction.

1) The most important thing that you must sort out is what is your vision, your dream, your desire... Similar to the story about the lumberjack who took time to sharpen his axe versus the one who just keep chopping and chopping. The person who takes time to think, plan and take the steps laid out in the strategy has a significant higher percentage chance of succeeding than the one who goes on faith, hope and no strategy or direction. Take the time to establish what it is you are wanting. Desire your perfect scenario in your mind. You then must put thought to paper or processor. Something that you can refer back to, amend, rewrite or just remind yourself of.

2) In your plan, be sure to set measurable goals, not only outcomes but timelines also. You must lay out a schedule of what and when you will do and complete things. Important thing to remember is to not beat yourself up if you do not attain the schedule. Just reschedule it and keep going. The key here is that you have a plan that you can follow and that you can refer to if you ever find you are unsure of what your next step should be. You should break down your goals into weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly. You can even go further than that if you like, do a 3, 5 and 10 year plan also. If you choose to expand you plan to this level (which I recommend), start with the further period out and work backwards. For example, your 10 year plan will help you establish what your 5 year should look like to accomplish the 10 year. Envision the end result of whatever timeline you create and work backwards on the steps needed to accomplish this.Then use this to create your daily plan, look at your weekly goal that you have established from longer term goals and establish what each day looks like.

3) And Finally, GO GO GO. take the steps you have planned, do the tasks, move move move. As mentioned, even if you don't achieve what you laid out for yourself, DO NOT STOP! Chances are you are that much closer to your goal, plus you have a plan and vision of what you are working towards anyways. Do not get stuck in negativity or self-defeating thoughts or actions, stay focused. The main thing that most successful people have in common, is their energy, they don't stop. Even if something happens, some hiccup or detour in the plan, they keep get up, get ready and GO!

I hope this helps. It really is this simple, but it takes commitment, planning and an ability to revisit your goals and dreams, to remind you of why you must get through the bad days, the challenges, the refusals.

Good luck and, as always, I wish you Great Health & Great Wealth.

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9 Easy Steps To Defeat Laziness

Everybody feels a little lazy at times. But laziness on a regular basis can have a severe unfavorable effect on your life. Laziness is a natural tendency. All animals incline towards comfort, or at least what's viewed to be comfortable. However, laziness is indulging in short-term convenience at the cost of long-term pain.

Do you understand anybody with a terrific life that's lazy? In time, the law of cause and effect holds true. Laziness has a long-lasting cost.

Beat laziness and accomplish more:

1. Discover a reason to get excited. Think about the advantages you'll get by getting it done. It might be the completed result that thrills you or that you're learning and growing. Perhaps showing self-discipline is something that you can get thrilled about. It's much more difficult to accomplish something if you're complaining about it.

2. Set a due date. When you have plenty of time to complete something, or no deadline at all, it's human nature to procrastinate. Setting a deadline in the near future can help to focus your interest and energy.

3. Develop smaller sized jobs from the main task. Every big job can be done in steps. Even building a house has steps. First the site needs to be prepared. Then the foundation is created, and the framing begins. The remaining steps are followed until your house is completed.

The total task might be big and challenging. However, the individual jobs, or steps, might be easier to handle.

4. Concentrate on taking the first step. When you get started, the momentum you have actually produced can carry you far. Action breeds further action. Sitting on the sofa tends to result in more sitting. Instead of stressing over the mountain of work ahead of you, focus on getting one easy job finished.

5. Find something that motivates you. It can be something as basic as a book of motivating quotes or a song that energizes you. You already know what inspires you. Utilize it to your benefit.

6. Consider the pain of not starting. We're good at imagining the discomfort of getting started, but attempt to imagine the opposite. Exactly what will take place if you continue to be lazy? What will it cost you in the future? What has it cost you so far? Instead of using discomfort as a need to lazy, use pain to produce action.

7. Remind yourself that the last few years have flown by. Laziness is frequently a chronic condition. A great deal of time has passed in the last 5 years, but how much have you achieved? Five years goes by quickly, especially when one day appears to be a copy of every other day. Life is wasting away. Get up and do something!

8. Reward yourself for taking action. Get something done and celebrate. You may not have done enough to reward yourself with a brand-new car, but you deserve to get excited and take pride in yourself and your accomplishments.

9. Be patient. It's common to believe that action comes from inspiration, but the opposite might be more real. Action results in more and better results.

As you achieve results, that breeds more motivation. Be psychologically tough and just get busy. You'll have a need to be motivated soon enough.

Avoid enabling laziness to keep you on the sidelines. It will take your time and limit your results!

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6 Strategies That Millionaires Use to Guarantee Success

Do you want to be a millionaire?

Sure you do! Who doesn’t?

We know that money can’t buy happiness, but in saying that, money is still useful. Money gives you the ability to continue doing what you love. The work that you are doing on a daily basis should be what you love doing. To be able to continue doing what you love, you need to be able to earn an income from doing it.

This is why I think money is actually really valuable and does have its place in happiness. The key is to earn that income from doing what you love, instead of earning that income stressing yourself out doing something you dislike.

This leads us to our first point below. In this post, I’ve distilled the 6 things that all millionaires do to ensure they succeed.



Millionaires Do What They Love

This is a key attribute of millionaires. You can become a millionaire from doing something you do not like, but you’ll never reach happiness. On the other hand, becoming a millionaire from doing what you love is what it’s all about… your whole journey will be wrapped in happiness.

The thing about doing what you love is that it’s not just a saying that you keep hearing over and over. It actually has a number of benefits.

Doing what you love will enhance your productivity, it will increase your motivation, it will enable you to be more focused and you will be more energised. This then has a flow on effect to all other areas of your life… that energy that you create within yourself will be fed to the world and those with a similar energy will be drawn to you.

I can’t stress it enough, but doing what you love and earning an income from something you are passionate about is fundamental to success, particularly if you want to be a millionaire.



Millionaires Set Goals

I’m surprised that most people do not actually set goals. I know a lot of people will think they have set a goal because they have a rough idea of an outcome in their head, but it’s not really a goal that has been worked through and really thought out. I sometimes continue to do this myself… and it’s pretty obvious when it happens because the goal is never achieved.

All millionaires set goals. They don’t just stumble onto success and their fortune (we’re talking self-made millionaires here). Millionaires have a clear vision for what it is that they want to achieve and how much they want to make.

If you’re wondering why you haven’t been seeing results like you thought you would, perhaps ask yourself whether your goal is really clear, written down and well thought-through.



Millionaires Make Themselves Accountable to Others

Millionaires surround themselves with supportive, engaging and energising people whom can keep them accountable.

Being accountable to others has been proven to be one of the most effective ways of staying on task and continuing to be productive.

Do you notice that when you have something in your diary, perhaps a meeting to attend, a social function to attend or an assignment that is due, that you become much more highly focused, disciplined and productive to ensure you are on time and delivering to your best abilities?

This is because you are accountable to someone else. It’s human nature that we do not want to let someone else down or to embarrass ourselves in anyway, hence why we show up and give it our all.

This is a core reason why I’m about to create a private community to keep each other accountable.

Surround yourself with a great team. Find a group or another person that can hold you accountable to your goals. Your success will be set to skyrocket.




Millionaires Take Massive Action

This is a pretty straight-forward one. Millionaires take action. In fact, millionaires take massive action.

When the above 3 elements are all present (doing what you love, clear vision and goal, being accountable to others) it’s hard not to take massive action.

The key thing is that if you do today what you have always done, then tomorrow you will get what you have always gotten. It’s about taking the steps in a new direction and moving towards your goal.

I really don’t want my articles on The Start of Happiness to become ‘shelf-help’. These articles I provide are to help you take action… so please, stay accountable to me and let me know that you’re going to take action on something that’s important to you.



Millionaires Get Coaching

Similar to staying accountable to others, millionaires get coaching.

Coaching is one of the most effective strategies for anyone looking to rapidly shorten their learning curve and accelerate their results. Millionaires love to learn and they love to test their limits. Coaching can be one of the best tools for helping them to do this.

I know from my own personal experience that the times I have been coached are the times that I have dramatically accelerated my learning and enhanced my results. There’s always a right time for coaching, and that time is always now.



Millionaires Invest in Their Own Education

Education is king when it comes to success in any area of life. Millionaires know this and millionaires realise the importance of investing in their own education to ensure they have the knowledge and capabilities to succeed.

As mentioned above, coaching is a great way of investing in education, however there are other avenues that millionaires also embrace when it comes to education such as books, courses or seminars.

Thinking about your own life, how do you invest in yourself? What (and who) are the sources of information you learn from? What new opportunities might there be to educate yourself and ensure you are successful in your pursuits?


Your Thoughts?

What are your thoughts on the 6 key things that millionaires do to ensure they succeed?

What strategies or behaviours do you think millionaires do to succeed?

What are you currently applying in your life?

Please, leave your comments below… I’d love to hear your thoughts!
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9 Pathways to Burnout and How to Avoid Taking Them

Feeling burned out?

These days, there are many more ways to end up feeling spent than just overworking. Look out for symptoms of burnout which may include a lack of focus, decreased concentration, increased general anxiety, lingering fatigue, and problems with sadness and/or lack of motivation.

You may feel like the more you work, the better off you are in your career, but there’s a point where the benefits depreciate, just like the diminishing returns concept.

9 Pathways to Burnout: How to Avoid Them

If you have a number of these symptoms and are interested in getting to the bottom of your burnout, please consider the following culprits for your current state of being.

1) Working Too Many Consecutive Hours

In our attempt to be productive, we often make the mistake of believing the more time we put in, the better. Rearrange your thinking and your schedule and make sure you schedule shorter work periods and significant breaks in between those work periods.

2) Neglecting to Diversify

When we have an important project it becomes easy to focus on that one project to the exclusion of all other things.

That singular focus can be a blessing. Of course, it can also be a real curse. If you find that your sole focus on one project is draining your creativity, change it up, add something just so your brain can get a break.

You may specifically want to choose something that involves helping out another person, which will help re-balance your outlook.

3) Forgetting to Enjoy

When we learned how to work, we were taught to maintain our focus and to put away ideas of play.

What can get lost in this way of learning is the joy of learning, the joy of working, and the joy of creating. Even if your project is daunting, try to find the piece of it that brings you joy. Who will benefit from the project when it is done? How might your life be better when it’s finished?

4) Over-Focusing On How You Feel

If we pay too much attention to how we are feeling during a difficult time or work period we may hamper our capacity to push the work through to the finish line. Observe how you feel. No need to deny your feelings.

But do remember the feelings you have upon completing your work will restore you to your happier self.

5) Perceiving Yourself As Not Being In Control

When we think of ourselves as being a worker serving someone else’s needs, it becomes easy to fall into a rebellious stance.

We push back instead of pushing forward. We might resent what’s ours to do. Change the emotional picture by envisioning yourself as the one in control — even if it’s only of your own actions. Regaining that sense of your own power will help you get through your tougher moments.

6) Letting Stress Mount

We allow stress to mount when we follow the cycle of our inner anxieties. We forget that talking to other people and sharing what’s on our mind eases our stress. We forget that we are not alone.

7) Taking On Too Much

One of the fastest ways to burn out is saying “Yes” to everyone around you and to every project offered to you. We all have limits.

We can only take so much. Know your limits. Look at your calendar right and check your reaction to it. Does it bring your stress? Or does it seem well-structured and sane? If you are over-scheduled, make a deal with yourself to say “No” to all new projects for one month or until your schedule opens up.

8) Feeling Responsible For Too Much

This category is related to the one about over-scheduling oneself.

But this category deals with the emotional weight of feeling responsible for taking care of everything in your zone of functioning. Not everything is up to you. Not everything rests on your shoulders. If you feel like everything does, then it may be time to seek professional help or some other type of effective support.

9) Wanting to Impress

Wanting to impress others is a never-ending game and a fast track to burnout.

There’s always another project. There’s always another person. There’s always another spin on things. Get out of the impressiveness game as soon as you can. Instead of trying to impress, focus instead on doing work that works.

Remedies for burnout are many. Find the right mixture of them for your own recovery.

Take action to take care of yourself as soon as you can do it. Look for what action will get you the most effective relief from your exhaustion and stress. Stop being the hero and running yourself into the ground. You’ll be very happy you did.

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