5 Most Common Reasons People Fail To Achieve Their Goals

When it comes to setting goals, a lot of people thought that all they need to do is to write down the goals, and then everything will come true automatically. This is not how it works. Most people fail to achieve their goals because they don't work on their goals.

Studies have shown that as high as 80% of people who set goals fail to reach them. It is not that goal setting does not work; it is the people who set goals do not work.

There are many reasons why people fail to accomplish what they want in their life. And below are the 5 most common reasons people fail to achieve their goals.

1. They give too many excuses

Yes, one of the most common reasons people fail to reach their dreams and make their goals come true is because they give too many excuses.

They will tell you that they don't have the time, something happened and they have to delay doing the work, or they will tell you that it is too hard to do.

Whatever reasons they give, those are plain excuses used by most people to justify the reasons why they are can't achieve what they want in life.

If you want to produce remarkable results and accomplish outstanding success in life, stop giving excuses.

When you say you can't do it because of something, do you know that there are people out there who face similar or even worse situation than you, but they go ahead and do it anyway?

So the next time when you want to give reason to justify why you can't or fail to achieve your goals, think twice.

In fact, most successful people who went on to accomplish amazing results in life are those that did it despite all odds. People like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, and Michael Jordan, they were not scholars or coming from rich families.

However, these people chose to work hard on their dreams and keep moving forward regardless of all the odds stacking on them.

Thus, stop giving excuses and start looking for solutions and work on your goals. Things will never change unless you take the responsibility and change yourself.

2. They procrastinate and do nothing

Are you taking action that will move you forward to your goals and your dreams? If you are like most ordinary people who do not do anything about what they want in life, you will never accomplish your goals or live your dreams.

Action is the bridge that connects your dreams and your reality. If you want to bring your dream to life, you must close the gap by taking action.

Sadly, most people say that they want to be successful, but they are not doing anything about it. Always remember this, you are what you do, not what you say you will do.

Don't just say that you want to achieve your goals or to be successful, say like you mean it and do it. Take consistent action and do something each day to progress toward your goals.

You don't have to work 24 hours a day. All you need to do is to take small and consistent action every day. Commit to doing 5 little things that will move you toward your goals.

If you follow through and take 5 small action steps, no matter how small the steps are, within a year, you will have accomplished 1825 small victories.

Can you imagine how these 1825 small victories can make you progress and change your life?

Therefore, be consistent and take action each day.

3. They don't know how

Whatever you want to achieve in your life, someone else out there has already accomplished it.

If you want to lose fat and get slim, there are people out there who have done it. If you want to invest in the stock market and be a millionaire trader, there are people out there who have done it, and they can teach you how to do so as well.

Hence, not knowing how to achieve what you want is not a valid excuse. Search for solutions, find the answers, read books, learn from others, attend seminars and workshops, and get yourself a mentor or a coach to guide you.

Just like what Anthony Robbins said, "Success leaves clues."

You have to study and learn the proven method that will get you the results the fastest. If you keep running west to see the sunrise, you will never make it.

So learn from other experts out there and make it your habit to read and improve yourself constantly.

4. They set the wrong goals

Do you know that most people make a big mistake by setting the wrong goal? They set something that they don't want. And as a result, they find it hard to come up with motivation to work on it.

Make sure you set the right goals that you want. The problem with most people is that they are influenced by people around them and the society.

People want to chase for wealth, fame, and power because they have been conditioned to think that these are the things that make them successful.

The problem with this is that if you set the wrong goals, you will never feel driven to pursue them.

Most people have the motivation in the beginning, but as they go along, work on their goals but are not seeing any result, they lose faith and motivation. Eventually, they will give up because their goals are not what they truly want to achieve.

The solution here is to set something that can connect with your calling. Set a goal that you really want to achieve in life where your goals make you feel complete.

"People are not lazy. They simply have impotent goals - that is, goals that do not inspire them." - Anthony Robbins

5. They give up half way

Another common reason people fail to reach their goals is simply because they give up somewhere along the journey.

When you give up, you fail. A quitter will never win, and a winner will never quit. If you study the success story of extraordinary people, you will notice that they are able to create remarkable results because they persist and they choose not to give up even when the situation is tough.

Successful people are persistent and determined with what they want. They will never give in or give up on their dreams and their goals.

They are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their targets. And you have to be the same.

"If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it." - Michael Jordan

Plus-You Can Now Join Our FREE Mastering Success Facebook Community at www.masteringsuccess.group

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What Is Your Goal Challenge?

Setting goals seems to be the talk of the town these days. They never seem to go out of style because they make the difference between success and failure.

Setting up a goal challenge for yourself is one of the best ways to get up to speed with your own life. Why is that? Because we all love a challenge. Challenges force us to bring to the table the forces of motivation that we all have.

Are you up to the task? If we want something bad enough how hard a worker would you be to get it? I know I wanted to have a new bike when I was a teenager. The only way I knew how to earn money is through a local paper route.

Seems easy enough but I had to wake up way before school started, fold the newspapers and then deliver them before the sun came up. But I did it and I made enough money to get the bike I wanted.

I know it doesn't sound like much of a goal to you but to me at the time it was one of the best times of my life.

Fast forward to later in life where I wanted more in life than just a bike. I was working full time and going to college to get my degree so that I could qualify to take a test for promotion purposes. It took me 4 years but I did it. I made the grade and entered a career I was proud to be part of.

I couldn't do any of those things unless I made up my mind to do it. I created my own goal plans and challenged myself to meet the demands.

Call them professional goals or personal goals because to me they are both the same. Goals make us whole. Goals make us feel better. Goals help us define our character and allow us to enter a world only the successful people have.

We can be in the upper echelon of people who feels good every single day. Goals are easy to define and even to set up. It's easy to write down the steps to achieve what we want out of life.

The hard part is starting and maintaining motivation is to keep doing what we have to do. Once we achieve even one goal then we know we have the power within us to achieve even more.

That's the beauty of goals where if we do one then anything we write down and define we can achieve.

How dedicated are YOU to getting what YOU want out of life? 

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How To Handle With Your Negative Thoughts

Do you often find yourself overwhelmed with negative thoughts? Do you even notice that you have a habit of contemplating on the worst case scenarios? Are you paralyzed by fear and unable to take action on things you know you should do?

And most important, have you ever questioned yourself on how you can stop yourself from being so negative?

Maybe you've just allowed yourself fall into the habit of seeking solace in negative thoughts. Whether we realize it or not, there's a comfort in negativity that's just not always there in a positive outlook. Does that sound paradoxical?

Being positive requires courage. It's an ability to accept mistakes fully and claim ownership of them.

It means living in a certain amount of discomfort. It means leaning towards your edge of comfort zone and expanding it daily. It means choosing what's possible instead of what's known.

The truth about life is that personal growth can only occurs when we grow through discomfort and find the next place of discomfort to navigate.

That's fine when we look at someone who tends to drown themselves in a kind of helplessness, but most people get scared when they experience anything remotely involving a negative thought. They have a negative thought that feeling discomfort means they are about to become depressed and they won't be able to get out of that emotional state.

Such people would do well to stop attaching themselves to random emotions. The emotion might come and go, but has no effect on the person unless they choose to grab hold of it.

Either way, the biggest mistake people make is to see negativity and positivity as polar opposites.

Black and white. Right or wrong. Yes or no.

The world is full of multiple shades of grey, and a healthy approach would be to remain mindful of 2 facts:

#1 Everything has flaws, no matter how perfect it seems from the outside. 

#2 Every flaw has positive features, no matter how defected they look from the outside.

By remaining realistic this way, it's much easier to experience emotions as steady, rather than disruptive mood swings.

So, forget about just trying to make yourself be positive, like jamming a square peg into a round hole.

Instead, begin looking at everything that's positive as a force for good in your life, and everything that's negative as a minor stimulus for you to grow.

How your emotions affect you depend on how much you actively allow them to do so.

Don't allow something temporary take hold of how you feel generally about something. A momentary, impulsive behaviour on the part of your friends wouldn't influence you to cease your friendship forever, so why would you allow a momentary feeling of negativity influence you to maintain a negative outlook of the world for the rest of your life?

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The Power of Habit

Aristotle once said, "we are what we repeatedly do" and this shows the power of habit. If we are repeatedly doing things that lead to greater success, then we will be successful but if we are repeatedly doing things that hinder our success then we will not get what we want in life.

Create a Habits List

Before creating a to do list think about creating a 'habits list', this is a list of the habits you want to create and a tracker to help you track those habits. Let's say for example that it is your goal to lose weight. In order to lose weight you need to exercise regularly and so onto your habit tracker you would put exercise and then each day that you exercise you would tick off that item on your habit tracker and know that you have taken a step closer to your goal. If you just had to exercise once though it wouldn't be much help so you need to make a habit of exercising at least three times a week.

How Long Does It Take to Form a Habit?

Some people say 21 days, others say you should aim for three times that amount. Personally, I think it is better to aim for three times that amount because if you give yourself a break too early then you may find that the habit is easily broken and it is too easy to fall back into bad habits. By challenging yourself to practice this habit for longer you are ensuring that it becomes a part of your life and you are less likely to give it up as it becomes part of you.

Breaking Bad Habits

In addition to creating good habits, if you want to really achieve success then you also need to break bad habits that are hindering you from becoming all you can be. Let's go back to the weight loss example and say you have a habit of getting take-aways for dinner every night. If you want to lose weight then exercising in itself is not going to be enough, you need to learn to develop healthier eating habits and that means breaking the bad habit of getting take-aways all the time. Learn how to do meal preparation and plan healthy foods that will promote weight loss.

"We are what we repeatedly do" and so we need to create habits that are going to help us achieve success. It is not enough to simply do something once and hope it will bring you success, you need to do it repeatedly. Create habits that will help you become the person you want to be.

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Are You Getting in the Way?

Getting out of our busy mode and into our heart occasionally, I'm certain that many of us would find at least one moment during our day where we could pause, reflect on a situation, and see something that we can do to make a difference in someone else's life.

The pace of life and work has increased a lot and I daresay we don't give as much thought as we could to the circumstances of other people's lives. Sometimes, we're so caught up in our own struggle that we don't think we can even afford the time to "give" our time, suggestions, talents, to others. And yet, if we do, we are rewarded.

We are often times, throughout our lives, able to experience richness, synchronicity, and reward through small acts of generosity. This isn't even about money, although sometimes the rewards will impact our financial status as well. And yet, we fail too often when we are so self-absorbed or consumed by our own situation thinking we'd give up too much by helping.

So, this is just a gentle reminder for all of us to pay attention to at least one "little thing" that will make a difference for someone else. Try to make it for someone you don't know well or don't know at all; family and friends are too easy and natural.

What do you think you could do to make a difference? I would absolutely love to hear from YOU! 

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7 Tiny Things You Can Do To Feel Confident In Any Situation

Feeling a little jittery about an upcoming appointment or interview? Nerves can get the better of even the best among us, and therefore having a simple and effective strategy to find your way around them can be very helpful. Here are 7 simple and tiny things you can do to feel more confident in a situation.

Take a Moment before Stepping In

Before stepping into a meeting, interview or even a social gathering, right at the door take a brief pause to collect yourself and your thoughts, reaffirm your poise and gracefully move forth into the experience before you. Realigning yourself helps make sure you are more integrated and focused to meet whatever it is that lies ahead of you, no matter how expected or unexpected.

Establish Eye Contact

Body language doesn't just give hints to the confidence levels of a person, but can actually be used to reaffirm these as well. Establishing eye contact is a pivotal aspect of being self-assured and confident. Make sure to meet everyone with a bright, confident and composed look, and to maintain the eye contact through your engagement.

Smile with Your Heart

A wonderful and beaming smile can help you find your way into the heart and favors of practically anyone you meet- whether in a work situation or otherwise. But not any smile will do; only a genuine smile helps you appear calm, confident and appealing. So smile with your heart, and smile wide.

Breathe Deeply

Shallow breath usually accompanies the most panicky and challenging situations. Therefore if you are not breathing right- that is deep into your torso- then your body is bound to stay a little on edge, if not in panic. To appear more confident, relax your body and consequently your body by breathing properly.

Uncross Your Arms

Crossed arms are a clear defensive stance; but they don't just put off the other person, they also hold you back from the situation or challenge at hand. Uncross your arms and really open up to your experience and you will not only look more confident, but feel more confident as well.

Appreciate Your Self

A lot of our doubts anchor in our own self- criticism, slowly eroding away our self-esteem, confidence and belief. To perk your confidence levels up, take some time to appreciate your self- not just for the successes and results you may have enjoyed, but also for the efforts and passion you pour into your every day.

Don't Lose Perspective

It is easy to get carried away by the momentum of a moment, and to forget the bigger picture. Just how much someone else's opinion matters in the long run, or just how crucial a meeting is to the bigger picture can go a long way to making you feel more relaxed and therefore focused. Remember no matter how big it might seem today, there is always greater to accomplish and more to enjoy.

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4 Ways To Simplify Your Life Right Now

In a period of information overload, there's never been a better time to simplify life.

The raging struggle of modern existence can lead to inner turmoil if we're unaware.

The key to living an inspired life is to simplify it. To gain clarity on what's important, let go of unnecessary conditions and tune into what you value most. Most people chase material possessions believing they'll be happy, only to realise it makes matters worse.

The more clutter in your life, the less capable you are of knowing what's important to you since you are distracted by insignificant issues that vie for your attention. Naturally, you react to what is taking place before you instead of what's essential.

Health, relationships, family and living my purpose are central aspects to my life nowadays. It's taken an entire lifetime to reach this point, yet it's well worth it. That which brings you joy and happiness require the least effort.

I'm drawn to the quote by Henry David Thoreau who said, "As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness."

The Law of Least Effort functions according to the principle of simplicity. Given that we evolve from nature, it makes sense to adopt this way of being in our life.

The following are four valuable points to implement right now. Apply them gradually and don't be discouraged if you don't see results at first. It requires patience and persistence for something of value to yield results. Akin to a plant, the initial stages begin with the seed sprouting beneath the soil, invisible to the naked eye. Yet, with nurturing and time, it grows into a healthy plant and so too with your habits.

1. Surround Yourself With Remarkable People

These include: friends, family, romantic partners, co-workers and those who offer you support and encouragement. Significant people are those who encourage your personal growth. They are your humble ambassadors in times of need and don't desert you through crisis. The company of such people leads to simplified living because your needs are met through close connections.

Great people inspire and strengthen you, not drain your energy. Energy vampires rob you of your vital force, so be aware them. They want to gain something and are unwilling to offer anything in return. Steer away from them, they will deprive you of your long term happiness.

2. Let Go Of What No Longer Serves You

I've written about this in earlier articles. Letting go of what no longer serves you is essential to simplifying life because we free ourselves from what consumes our energy. This includes: people, things, places, relationships, travel, behaviours or habits. If it doesn't bring you joy, remove it from your life or distance yourself from it. However, don't fill the void with something else, simply allow it time to recede, so you have less to focus on. In doing so, you free up mental and emotional resources for more important matters. Create a space for something wonderful to appear and trust it will take its place, since Nature abhors a vacuum.

3. Focus On Experiences, Not Things

The lie that happiness comes from material possessions is one many fall victim to. Sure, it might offer happiness for a short while, although once it wears off you yearn for something more.

Newspapers are filled with stories of people who inherit millions of dollars, only to find themselves more miserable than before. This is not due to money per se, rather the stress associated with managing large sums of money. Accumulating material objects amplifies insecurities already present in a person.

Focus on experiences and surrounding yourself with friends and loved ones. Travel more, perform random acts of kindness, do charity work if that appeals to you. The key is to find fulfilling experiences that embody who you are. For example, I enjoy creative hobbies and feel lively when engaged in these endeavours. Find time for these activities and you'll be happy and content.

4. Be In Tune With Your Nature

When you're in tune with your nature, you connect to your source. I'm not talking about religion or spirituality, yet something greater. You are the expression of Mother Nature in all her glory. Everything from your thoughts to your body reflects the infinite powers of universal intelligence. Stay connected to your source and you'll feel the aliveness of the universe permeate through you.

How do you stay in tune with your nature? Here are steps to consider:

Be kind and compassionate to yourself and others

Think empowering thoughts

Live a healthy life

Eat whole food close to its original state

Balance your giving and receiving

Create fulfilling relationships

Be of value in your local community

Respect Mother Nature

Be of service to others

Be at peace with yourself

Think globally, act locally

We're on the verge of a new way of life, uniting spirit and matter to become conscious creators of our destiny. The old paradigm is gradually falling away to make way for the new. This isn't about a new world order, for it's much simpler than that. It's an expanding of consciousness and fading of primitive thinking, once dictated by our primal urges.

The changes herald a new way of perceiving the world via our sixth sense. People are harnessing their intuition to make sense of the world around them. Be willing to upgrade your model of reality to coincide with the change. Remove preconceived ideas about how life should play out since these concepts keep you trapped in the past.

Simplifying life brings immense joy because we need little to make us happy. Economic studies in Australia suggest households on a combined income of $40k per annum are no happier at this threshold. In the US, the figure is $75k, which confirms we needn't accumulate vast amounts of wealth to be happy.

Mother Nature is more intelligent than we give her credit for. She provides us with the inner wisdom to make sense of our lives, yet we're controlled by our impulses instead of focusing on what's meaningful. Don't succumb to the out-there model that suggests your inner needs originate from outside circumstances.

Make a vow to simplify life and reduce your impact on the environment. Reduce your waste and non-renewable resources.

Strive to live a clean and uncluttered existence.

The reward is a conscious life imbued with simplicity, instead of what you believe will make you happy.

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8 Harsh Reasons as to Why You’re Still Broke

Okay so you’re broke, perhaps in debt, and just really wanting to have a career that you love and can be proud of? One that will make you good money? Well then maybe this is for you.

We all want to make a lot of money, but for most people who have this common goal they struggle to ever get anywhere near where they want to be, and all it raises within them is doubt. Doubt of why it’s not happening for them but is for others. Here’s 8 reasons as to why you’re still broke.

1) You Give up too Easily

The first half a year, or year of starting a business, a website, a career or whatever it is you want to do is a test. You’ll be tested on your commitment and love to do what it is you’re doing.

Within this time you will experience struggles, and failure, but this is all part of the test and if you want to prove that you’re in this for the long run, and that you deserve to have the things you want, then you need to do what must be done to prove yourself worthy.


2) You’re Lacking Motivation

There are far too many people in this world that sit around saying “I wish I was rich”, “It’d be nice if we had a pay rise” and all the other garbage that they just expect to come to them. You don’t just wake up one day and find someone’s deposited a hundred grand into your bank account.

The wealthy people in this world aren’t wishing for things and just hoping they’ll come into some money. They’re the people who spend less time wishing and more time doing. If you really want something then you need to go out and put your heart and soul into it.

Don’t just think to yourself that someone kind will just come along and give you what you want.


3) You’re in Love With Your T.V

My dream car is a Lamborghini Murcielago, in a less common color like blue or green. It’s just one thing I’ve always had in my mind ever since I was younger playing the ‘Need for Speed’ games. Anyway, one day I was looking for the perfect one on Google images, as you do, and I found a quote that really spoke to me.

“Why haven’t you ever seen a Lamborghini commercial before? Because the people who can afford them aren’t sitting around watching T.V.” The truth is, if you’re sitting around watching T.V for most of the day or evening, then you’re basically watching what’s going on in other people’s lives instead of going out and creating a life of your own.

T.V is not real life. Turn it off and start living.


4) Sleep is Your Best Friend

If you really want to be rich and successful, but you’re still getting more than 8 hours of sleep, then you’re wasting valuable time. 6 to 7 hours sleep is perfectly fine, but if you’re not getting up early enough in the mornings you could be missing opportunities to make money or improve upon yourself.

When you go to sleep tonight, place your alarm clock next to your bedroom door and set it to go off an hour earlier than normal. When you get up to turn that annoying sound off, you’ll be up out of bed and facing your bedroom door.


All you have to do is walk out of the door, make yourself a cup of coffee and have an extra hour of working on yourself! Whatever it may be. The laziest thing you could do is to turn that alarm off, turn around and then get back into your bed.


5) You’ve Adopted Bad Habits

All that smoking, drinking, watching T.V, browsing Facebook and other crap you’ve been doing, isn’t going to have an amazing effect on your life. If you’re going to grow as a person, then some discipline needs to be gained in these areas, in order for you to have strength of body, mind and soul.

Kick the habits, and start trying to actually improve your life.

6) You Hang out With the Wrong Crowd

They say that you become just like the 5 people you spend the most time with. Which should make you question yourself whether you’re current friends are actually good for you. Sure they may be a great laugh, and that’s a good thing.

But do they have any dreams, goals or aspirations?


7) All Talk no Action

Are you familiar with a process where you have this amazing idea pop into your head, and instead of then proceeding to work on it, you start adding more thoughts onto the idea you already have.

At the end of your life, you end up with this incredible idea that you’ve thought through for so many years, but it’s useless because you have no time left to take action on it.

The wealthiest place in the world is the graveyard. It’s where so many ideas and inventions come to die. Champions don’t start out with a perfect idea. They start out with an idea and make it perfect through the hard work that they put in.


8) You Have no Plan

Having a plan isn’t exactly essential to become wealthy and successful, but if you’ve been broke up until now then perhaps you should think about creating one for yourself.

Where do you want to be in a few years time? Do you still want to be where you are or do you want to be in the job of your dreams, earning a great amount of money?

If it’s the latter, then you’ll need a plan of how you’re going to be able to get there. Do you know what you need to do to make this dream become a reality? Then write it down, and split it into small baby steps.

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3 D's of Productivity Success Values to Adopt Now

Our values drive our behavior. We also choose our values. Why not choose the best ones? Some values support our faith, others how we manage our money, still others how effective we are at achieving our dreams and goals. These I call Success Values. Let's look at which Success Values help us be more productive.

First, what does it mean to be productive? We generally think of productivity as being able to get more done in less time, also known as being efficient. Productivity is not necessarily about cramming more work into less time. What does it matter if we get more done if they're the wrong things?

Real productivity is about getting the right things done at the right time. These three Success Values will help you with maximizing real productivity in your life.

Discipline - This one is obvious. We have to be able to set priorities and do them when we're supposed to. Ultimate discipline is being able to force yourself to do what you don't want to do when you don't want to do it. On a more practical level, discipline means doing what you've planned to do or what must be done. Discipline is the key to all Success. It's what helps you get on track when you're off-track. It helps you create your plans and execute them.

Dedication - Dedication to your goals is next. Achieving your goals will be hard, presuming your goals are truly worthwhile. Easy goals don't need dedication and really aren't worth concentrating on either. Hard goals, that stretch us and make us become better than we were are the ones worth pursuing. Those are also the ones that sometimes make you want to quit. That's where dedication comes in. You have to be committed to the outcome you're after. You have to be willing to throw all of yourself into your goals when necessary.

Discernment - Discernment is how you know when it's necessary to throw all of yourself into your goals. Sometimes, we get too caught up in the pursuit of our goals that we lose sight of the bigger picture. Our lives get out of balance because we let too much attention get focused on one area of our lives. Being able to discern what's important is key to true success. Knowing when it's OK to be unbalanced in our focus is just as important knowing when it's not. Sometimes we have to spend our time in a single area temporarily. What's important is knowing when to stop.

These Success Values are, of course, not the only ones that apply to productivity. They are a really good foundation to build on though.

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10 Bill Gates Tips to Becoming Successful & Wealthy

Bill Gates is the richest man in the world, after founding Microsoft in 1975. He is now worth $76 billion, as Microsoft has risen to create the number 1 operating system brand Windows, which has been re-developed several times.

Microsoft also created Xbox, which has become one of the most popular, if not the most popular gaming system in the world.

I’ve scoured the net and compiled a list of 10 Bill Gates tips that he has given to people at one point or another in his life time, to show them what it takes to become successful and wealthy. He is the wealthiest man in the world after all, so you’d be pretty stupid not to listen to what he says!

1) Start as Early as Possible

Bill Gates was only 13 years old when he started working with computers. When you start something at an early point in your life, you become molded around it. Not only will you have a chance of becoming successful sooner than most people, but you would also be less likely to want to give up.

If you’ve had a dream that you start working towards when you’re young, you will be more immune to people telling you what you can or can’t do. By the time you’re an adult and people actually start to take more notice of what you’re working towards, you will be stubborn enough to just ignore them.

The time that you’re most influenced by others is when you’re younger, so if you’ve seen things on T.V or on the internet where others have become successful, this will be imprinted in your mind and you won’t have doubt about what you can or can’t do.

2) Enter in Partnerships

Bill Gates was very fond of forming partnerships with people, people who were the top dog and that made Gates become the ‘Sidekick’. He was happy with this, because it unlocked new opportunities for him and the potential to learn from other successful entrepreneurs who could teach him a thing or two.

Not only that, but it meant that he built relationships with people that would definitely be able to help him out with his future endeavors.


3) You Will Not Make $60,000 a Year Right out of High School

Let’s be honest, you’re not going to make $60,000 a year straight out of high school, so if for some reason you think you will, stop kidding yourself. No matter how much education you have, you still need experience to work your way at the top.

You won’t get appointed CEO of a multi-national company just because you have a degree in business management.

That’s a position that you need to earn, by either starting your own company and working hard to take it to the top, or working your way up within a company and proving yourself to people.


4) Be Your Own Boss as Soon as Possible

Bill Gates became a boss at a fairly early age. He deserved it, and it put him in an excellent position with pure control over his success.

“IF YOU DON’T BUILD YOUR DREAM, SOMEONE ELSE WILL HIRE YOU TO BUILD THEIRS.” – BILL GATES

5) Don’t Whine About Your Mistakes, Learn from Them

“IF YOU MESS UP, IT’S NOT YOUR PARENTS’ FAULT, SO DON’T WHINE ABOUT YOUR MISTAKES, LEARN FROM THEM.” – BILL GATES

What is the pointing in blaming other people for your mistakes? Who are you trying to fool? Your mistakes are on you, they are not anyone else’s fault, so stop blaming other people just to try and rid your conscience of guilt.

Mistakes are made to be learnt from. You now know what or what not to do in the same situation when it rolls around for a second time and believe me, in most cases it will roll around again.

6) Be Committed and Passionate

I think this is always included by every entrepreneur as a good bit of advice. You need to be committed to what you love and have great passion for what you do.

The successful people in this world make it look so easy because they absolutely love what they are doing. If you’re finding things too stressful and too hard, then I’m not sure you’re working on the right thing.


7) Life is the Best School, Not University or College

No matter how many books you read, no matter how many tests you take, nothing from university or college can properly prepare you for life in the real world.

“IF YOU THINK YOUR TEACHER IS TOUGH, WAIT UNTIL YOU GET A BOSS. HE DOESN’T HAVE TENURE.” – BILL GATES

Real life jobs and bosses does not just involve you studying and them teaching you. It’s real life work that you need to be able to carry out, otherwise you will be fired. End of.


8) Be Nice to Nerds

“BE NICE TO NERDS. CHANCES ARE YOU’LL END UP WORKING FOR ONE.” – BILL GATES

It’s true, people who you’d probably class as ‘nerds’ are actually the ones who will work the hardest, be the smartest, and be determined to succeed.

If you’re horrible to nerds then you’re basically taking your chances with fate, because you could easily end up working for one, or even apply for a position at a company who is run by someone you know and have been horrible to in the past.

Still think you have a chance of getting the job?


9) TV is Not Real Life

“TELEVISION IS NOT REAL LIFE. IN REAL LIFE PEOPLE ACTUALLY HAVE TO LEAVE THE COFFEE SHOP AND GO TO JOBS.” –BILL GATES

You need to stop getting sucked into Television and believing that what you’re seeing in some cases may actually be what people do in real life.

Real life is tough and anybody who’s anywhere near successful will not be sitting around in coffee shops all day talking to their friends. They will be out working the grind to pay their bills and improve their financial situation.


10) Life is Not Fair

“LIFE IS NOT FAIR. GET USED TO IT.” – BILL GATES

No matter how hard you work in life, there will always be times where things don’t go your way, perhaps through no fault of your own. Things that you cannot control. You will get knocked down, but you need to be able to stand up.

Life isn’t fair. It’s a test, a game, a risk. If you fall down and don’t bother getting back up, you don’t deserve to be successful. Winners know that life isn’t fair and they will keep getting back up until they’ve made it.

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10 Ways Reading Enhances Personal Development

As a tween, I loved the Nancy Drew Mystery Series. I wanted to be like Nancy Drew. She had such a good head on her shoulders, even though she was constantly facing danger and never quite “hooking” Ned, the handsome guy whom the wealthy beautiful Helen was always throwing herself upon.

Through those characters, I was able to gain insight into the types of people I encountered in my daily life – character types – good, bad, selfish and unselfish, etc. This series probably began my love affair with books that continues today.

In high school, of course, we read all of the classics – To Kill a Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet, The Grapes of Wrath, Moby Dick, Hamlet, The Glass Menagerie, Crime and Punishment, The Great Gatsby, A Tale of Two Cities, and more.

Why Reading Enhances Personal Development

I don’t remember ever not liking a book we were reading. That continued in college too. And as an adult, the love affair continues, although some non-fiction is added to the list now and then.

But fiction is the great teacher – contributing to our own personal development in at least the 10 following ways:


1) Insight into Human Nature

We meet every possible personality through reading, and we gain understanding of what motivates the behaviours of people.

We can study the characters that appear on those pages, watch them as they react and respond to one another, deal with conflict, and expose their strengths and weaknesses. We gain perspective on such things as unselfishness, greed, ambition, egoism – the types of personality traits we encounter in real life.

Through analysing these characters in literature, I have developed better methods of dealing with people in my world.


2) Problem-Solving

One of the great things about literature is that the main character always has a conflict and problems to solve.

How those problems are solved, and the process that is used, gives us great training on solving problems (often how not to solve them) with which we are faced in life.

Of course, Romeo and Juliet did not solve their problems well, and we learn from this play the dangers of impulsivity – a good lesson for teenagers. Avid readers come to learn how to avoid the mistakes that fictional characters often make.


3) Imagination

As we age, many of us lose the imagination that so entertained us when we were children.


When we are taken to new places and meet unique people, our imaginations are stimulated. We place ourselves in those surroundings and imagine what they must be like. Science fiction does that for me, as do historical novels such as A Tale of Two Cities.

James Michener was a master at stimulating the imaginations of his readers – we are able to put ourselves there, geographically and historically, as his saga unfold. Nurturing our imaginations allows new ideas and divergent thinking.

4) Vocabulary and Language Skills

Avid readers have much larger vocabularies than those who avoid the past-time. And the reading of good books provides models of good language and writing. Research shows that the language development, both oral and written, that is fostered from reading books, results in better learning all around.

Adults who have read a lot and who continue to read are able to grasp complex written material far easier, and they are better writers overall. These are career skills which are difficult to learn later in life.


5) Relief from Stress/Escape

The mental and physical effects of stress are well documented. To relive stress, we engage in a number of activities – physical exercise, meditation, and, yes, reading. Studies have shown that blood pressure is reduce during the act of reading.

And reading allows us to focus on something other than our stressors and problems. A good story line carries us away to another place – a much healthier form of escape than alcohol or drugs.


6) Readers Develop Empathy and Tolerance

Empathy is the ability to place yourself “into the shoes” of another and see a problem, a circumstance, and a behaviour from their perspective.

As we do this in our reading, so it transfers over to real life. We learn to be less judgement of others, understanding that we have not had the experiences that have formed their personalities.


7) Readers are More Interesting People
The exposure to history, politics, the law, and unusual places, becomes a store of knowledge that we hold in our memories.

This knowledge base allows us to converse on a variety of topics, both socially and professionally. People with large bases of general knowledge are more highly valued in the professional world.


8) Readers Gain a larger Perspective

Ignorance of other cultures, religions, and ethnicity fosters hostility and fear. Knowledge and understanding of all of these fosters communication, acceptance and tolerance.

Given the global perspective which all of us must develop, reading is the next best thing to actual experience. And when we do face actual experiences with cultures, belief systems and other ethnicity, we have the understanding to establish solid and mutually respectful relationships.


9) Readers See Cause/Effect Relationships

Seeing cause-effect relationships is a critical thinking skill that is highly valued. Through fiction, we are able to see how choices that people make have an impact not only on themselves but on others around them and sometimes on society as a whole.

Readers come to understand the need to consider all of the possible effects when hard choices need to be made.


10) Readers Have Important “Alone Time”

The world is a busy place. We spend our days surrounded by others, inundated with stimuli that bombard our senses and our minds. Sometimes, it is difficult to shut down all of that stimulation and get the rest we need.

When we read, especially at the end of the day, our worlds becomes quiet. Our brains begins to settle down and prepare us for rest. Readers have a much easier time falling asleep at night – who doesn’t need a good night’s sleep?



The benefits of reading cannot be over-stated.

They are intellectual, psychological, and healthy. But even more than that, reading takes to places in our minds that we would never go otherwise. Read on!

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5 Strategies to Keep Your Compliments and Build Your Confidence

5 Strategies to Keep Your Compliments and Build Your Confidence

How do you feel when someone pays you a sincere compliment? Great, right?


That compliment has more to offer than giving your spirits a momentary boost. You can put that simple compliment to work for you in ways you might never have thought of. Let's explore further.

1. Keep your compliments.

When someone compliments you, write it down. Value it and keep every single compliment that anyone ever pays you. Put it in a journal, a Compliments Catalog, if you will. Or keep a special file or folder online. Whatever method you use, record every compliment verbatim.

2. Embrace your fabulousness.
Positive feedback can be harder to accept than negative. Really make an effort in the moment to take the commendation in. It's a tribute to your skills, expertise, and effort. Accept it as the gift that it is.

The value of this feedback is more than making you feel good in the moment. When you're able to embrace it, you increase your confidence. Re-read it later, maybe at a time when you're feeling down or about to go into a big meeting or call. Any time you feel disconnected from yourself and need to be reminded.

Re-reading your compliments help you sustain your confidence level and your motivation. It's a lot easier to maintain than to build back up, so put your energy into maintenance.


3. Spread the joy.

Let people know the positive feedback about you or your business. To be respectful, check with the complimenter first, and if they're OK with it, share the joy. Social media or your website are great places to let people know what others have said. It's called, 'social proof.' Proof that others think you're exceptional. It'll raise your respect quotient and your online capital.

4. Amp up your bio.

Include recurring compliments in your online bio on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Or in the bio you provide to someone who is introducing you as a speaker.

You can take this even further in your marketing. Stories are valuable marketing currency we can all use to share our businesses with each other. Sharing stories of how you helped a client (or team member or supplier) allows for more and valuable connections with your audience. People will take notice if your bio is different and personal. Include a brief story behind a testimonial you received.

5. Pay compliments forward.

You can have an impact on other people's confidence too. When you have a great experience with them or their business, let them know. Then they can start their own compliments journal. You'll deepen your connections and expand your impact with some simple words of sincere praise. It's a valuable gift to others.

Value your compliments. You can use them in many ways to boost yourself and your business.

Here's one from me to you: I think you're brave and smart. Ready to embrace that?





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14 Reasons to Reach Out to Successful People

It used to be a lot harder to reach out to successful people;

That’s a given, right?

However, regardless of what you want to talk about with your role models and people who inspire you, there’s so many benefits of reaching out to them.

Why should you reach out to successful people?

If you’re a dreamer, and you follow others who achieved dreams similar to yours, then imagine how much could come from you conversing with them. They might just be able to help you in a ridiculous number of ways.

14 Reasons to Reach Out to Successful People

Here’s an awesome list of benefits of reaching out to successful people. There’s so much good that can come from simply shooting someone you admire an email. The possibilities are endless, so read this and see what you think.

1. You Can Learn a Lot from Successful People

The key reason why most people would want to reach out to successful people, would be to learn from them.

If you’re able to talk and converse with someone who has been successful in an area you’re enthusiastic about, that’s huge. They possess the knowledge needed to become successful at what you love to do.

Ask them questions, learn from them. Become more knowledgeable on the one thing you see yourself doing in the future.

2. They Are Almost Always Willing to Help

The great thing about those that are successful is that they often have a very generous mind-set. Most successful individuals will love to help other people. That’s normally how they’ve managed to get to where they are.

Despite everything you might have been told about the wealthy being greedy and only wanting to help themselves, it’s usually the complete opposite.

So don’t be afraid to reach out to someone you look up to, just because you think they’ll be annoyed with you asking questions and won’t want to help.

3. You Can Easily Make Crucial Connections through Them

Just because you send an email or a message to one person doesn’t mean the conversation has to end there. Someone you speak to is likely to know others who may be in a better position to help you or give you advice.

Naturally, they’ll introduce you to these people. It may end up being a crucial connection for you in the future, all thanks to you reaching out to someone completely different entirely.

Just goes to show it pays you try and communicate with successful individuals, no matter how likely you think they are to be able to help you out.

4. Nowadays, It’s Easy to Reach Out to Successful People

Gone are the days where you’d have to try and find your role models in person to try and grab a minute of their time.

Now, it’s much simpler. All you have to do is get their email address, or social media info, and it becomes possible for you to reach out. And let’s face it, it’s not exactly hard to get someone’s email address or Facebook info.

There aren’t really any excuses for not being able to speak to people who inspire you. Unless of course, they just don’t reply. Which is sometimes likely, but that’s why you reach out to more than one person.

5. Successful People Are Inspirational People

As we’ve briefly been saying in the points above, successful people are people you find to be inspirational. Being inspired by others can do wonderful things for you, and that’s probably why you look up to the individuals in question in the first place.

If you’re trying to be an entrepreneur, and you see others who are already successful entrepreneurs, it’s easy to be inspired by them.

Being able to have a conversation with them only enhances this feeling, and inspiration is definitely something we all need more of.

6. Surround Yourself with People You Want to Be Like

They say you become like the 5 people with whom you spend the most time. If you spend your time with negative people, you’ll become negative. If you spend your time with successful people, you’ll become successful.

It’s not exactly guaranteed, but the studies are there.

So naturally, having conversations with people you admire and want to be like, will help you become more like them. Understand the traits they carry, the way they speak and communicate, the attitudes they have and the knowledge that can quickly be passed on to you.

7. Its Very Motivating to See an Insight to A Successful Person’s Life

It’s a tremendously motivating experience to get a wider inside peek at the life of someone who’s successful.

Maybe they end up telling you stories that give small glimpses of some of the things they do on a daily basis. The places they go, the cars they drive, the activities they get up to.

That has to be motivating for you to see right? Knowing that you could one day have access to what they have.

I’ve recently been interviewing people for the Wealthy Gorilla podcast, launching very shortly. It has given me an opportunity to talk with successful individuals and let them share their story with myself, and soon with any Wealthy Gorilla readers when it goes live.

Trust me, their stories are motivating.

8. They’ll understand What You’re Going Through

A successful individual, 9 times out of 10, will have been through everything you’re going through right now.

Maybe you’re suffering from setbacks, disbelief, lack of results, exhaustion, money issues. Talk to someone who’s been there and come out on the other side.

It may just give you the inspiration you need to overcome any challenges in your way. Plus, since they’ve experienced the same hardships, they’ll be empathetic towards you, and more likely to want to help you.

9. It Becomes Easier to Learn From Your Mistakes

When you decide to reach out to successful people, you are making the decision to reduce your learning curve, and be able to learn from any mistakes you make earlier on.

When you have no one to look up to, and you have something you’re setting out to achieve, you only have your own knowledge to go from. Your friends can’t help you. They most likely don’t know what you’re talking about.

So being able to pick up knowledge from a mentor or role model along the journey you’re on, is a huge bonus.

10. You’re A Lot Less Likely to give up on Your Dreams

Most people decide to give up on their dreams thinking that they’re impossible. That they can’t be done, and it’s just not meant to be.

What if you were able to have an actual conversation with someone, telling you they’d achieved dreams rather similar to yours? You’d probably rethink your decision to quit right?

The excuse you gave yourself to give up is no longer valid. Before you give up on your dreams, it makes sense to try and speak with someone who’s in a similar position to the one you want to be in.

11. You Get to Experience Different Traits That Are Important for Success

I think I mentioned in one of the points earlier on that you really do get to understand more about the different traits and attitudes successful individuals carry when you converse with them.

This is an incredibly valuable experience for you because you are shown the qualities and habits you must adopt to become the individual you seek to be like, and to have the life you desire to live.

12. It Doesn’t Take a Lot of Time

Let’s be real here, it doesn’t take long to send an email. After reading through the complete list of reasons to reach out to successful people here, it’ll be clear that the time spent sending emails will 100% be worth it.

There’s not really any reasonable excuse for not reaching out to someone.

13. You Can Practice Your Communication Skills with Them

If you can communicate like a successful and confident individual would, then that puts you in a good position for making new connections, and gives you a vital skill when it comes down to your own success.

You’re able to pick up on how they communicate and reciprocate in a similar fashion, to better your level of communication in the eyes of a successful person.

14. it’s A Confidence Booster

I can’t tell you how much of a boost in confidence you receive, when someone who’s and huge inspiration to you, and clearly has a busy life, is taking the time you communicate and converse with you.

Not only does the boost in confidence come from the fact they’re taking time out of their busy schedule to talk to you. It also comes from the fact you’re speaking to someone who’s done what you dream to do.

They’ve made it possible, and maybe they were once exactly where you are now.

How to Reach Out to Successful People

We now know all the amazing reasons why we should reach out to successful people. Shortly, we’ll also go into several ways of finding people to reach out to, if you don’t know anyone already.

Now, let’s quickly list the steps of how to reach out to successful people:

1. Get their contact information

The first step to reaching out to someone who’s successful is finding their contact information. This process will alter depending on where you found the people to reach out to. If you found them through a website, you should be able to extract their email from the site.

2. Send them an initial message

Send them an initial message, introducing yourself and that you’d love to teach more about a specific interest your both share.

3. Keep it short

Keep the initial message short. There’s nothing people hate more than being emailed and essay that contains someone’s entire life story.

Keep it short, keep it sweet.

4. Ask for a more substantial conversation possibility

Ask if there’s a possibility of having a more substantial conversation in the future; maybe through Skype or in person. Just a scenario where the person can set aside some time to talk to you in more detail.

Where to Find Successful People to Reach Out to?

I mentioned earlier on in the article that it’s become far easier to reach out to successful people in recent years. So where can you find them? And I don’t mean where you can find their info, I mean where can you find them in the first place.

Here’s several ways to find successful people to reach out to:

1. Personal Websites

Doing simple google searches on the topics you’re interested in can easily bring up the websites of successful individuals within those areas.

2. YouTube Videos

Many role models have risen from YouTube, and if you’re reading this article you’re probably an avid viewer of motivational videos on YouTube.

Again, simple searches can bring up the channels of people who you’ll be inclined to reach out to.

3. News Articles

Regardless of where you see it, on TV, on the internet, or in the newspaper, news articles featuring a certain individual’s story might be appealing to you.

4. Social Media Searches

Hashtags are probably your best friend on social media. Using them well and with your interests included can bring up profiles of people you’d be very inspired by.

I’ve recently been adding people on Facebook, with whom I share many mutual friends. Through this I’ve been able to connect with many successful individuals. Which brings me to my next point.

5. Mutual Friends

It doesn’t have to be through Facebook, in person still works powerfully today. You may be aware of friends who know individuals you might like to reach out to.

If you’re friends know any individuals who work high up in companies, are entrepreneurs, or successful in your desired profession, ask them for an introduction.

6. Speaking Events

Speaking events are going to attract large numbers of like-minded individuals, and plenty of opportunities normally present themselves during these events to introduce yourself to others.

Summary

We’re coming towards the end of the article on why you should reach out to successful people. This is the part where we recap in short all the points we’ve made throughout the article, and how you can start to take advantage of this information.

Here are the 14 reasons to reach out to successful people:

You can learn a lot from successful people

They are almost always willing to help

You can easily make crucial connections through them

Nowadays, it’s easy to reach out to successful people

Successful people are inspirational people

Surround yourself with people you want to be like

It’s very motivating to see an insight to a successful person’s life

They’ll understand what you’re going through

It becomes easier to learn from your mistakes

You’re a lot less likely to give up on your dreams

You get to experience different traits that are important for success

It doesn’t take a lot of time

You can practice your communication skills with them

It’s a confidence booster

How to reach out to successful people:

Get their contact information

Send them an initial message

Keep it short

Ask for a more substantial conversation possibility

Where to find successful people to reach out to:

Personal websites

YouTube videos

News articles

Social media searches

Mutual friends

Speaking Events

In Conclusion

To conclude the article; there’s so many benefits to reaching out to successful people. In fact, we consider it a must if you’re someone who’s really trying to achieve big things.

It makes no sense to talk to people who’ve already achieved similar things to what you’re trying to achieve, in every way.

Do you often reach out to successful people?

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