How to Become a Leader

A short video from Brian Tracy Total Business Mastery seminar on the importance of leadership. Learn how to be a leader, the best leadership styles, and the shared qualities of the best leaders.

7 Leadership Lies You Need to Stop Believing

Image credit: berkley.patch.com

We live in an age that seeks quick fixes and easy answers. Sometimes leaders abdicate their thinking to others and accept "prevailing wisdom," which is often an oxymoron.

I grew up, like most, accepting many things at face value. It wasn't until I started giving important issues like leadership a second and third thought that I realized I'd been believing what turned out to be some serious leadership myths.

Here are seven leadership lies and why they simply aren't true:

1. "All managers are leaders." Truth: some managers can lead and others don't or cannot. Management is a subset of leadership, not its equivalent.

Managers are good at setting up, monitoring and maintaining systems and processes. They hire people. But if they can't bring out better performance in people and take the organization beyond where it is, they aren't leading.

Leadership always involves change, improvement and growth.

2. "Some are born leaders." Truth: even someone with a predisposition to lead must learn the skills of leadership.

A young person who is 6'6" might have the predisposition to play basketball, but he or she still needs to learn the skills before they can play successfully.

Leadership might be more latent in some than others -- and you can't always tell -- so focus on what is developing someone's behaviors, not their biological background.

3. "Leaders always have the right answers." Truth: leaders ask the right questions and know where to find the best answers.

If your people always come to you for answers, you're stunting their ability to think. And if everyone in your company keeps asking the same questions, I assure you, you're not that innovative.

Without questioning and curiosity, leaders simply manage by using familiar answers long after the marketplace has started asking different questions. It isn't about knowing the answers as much as it is about knowing who to ask and where to look.

4. "You need a title to lead." Truth: to lead you only need to know when it is appropriate to do so and how to do it.

When I stay at a hotel, the majority of people I encounter -- from the front desk to housekeeping to foodservice -- have no formal title or power over people, yet they are responsible for creating my experience there -- good or bad. Good staff willing to take the lead are as important (and probably more) than the official leaders at the top.

Leadership is about making things better, and the best organizations teach everyone to take responsibility for leading.

5. "Leaders are focused." Truth: Leaders create a shared focus.

If your team isn't focused, it doesn't matter how focused you are on doing what matters. A manager is usually focused, but a leader creates shared focus and doesn't waste resources by allowing team members to do work that doesn't matter.

Being focused is about self-responsibility and discipline. Creating shared focus is about engaging others in the leadership agenda and making it specific to their jobs.

6. "Leadership is about ambition." Truth: leadership is about the greater good.

There's nothing wrong with ambition, but it primarily serves the ambitious. If what you're doing serves only you, you almost certainly aren't leading.

When others are served better as well -- customers, colleagues, vendors, the community -- that is the sign of effective leadership.

7. "Anyone can lead." Truth: Nobody can lead if they lack the desire to do so.

You can't make people lead any more than you can make a horse drink once you've led it to water. Desire is the sine qua non of effective leadership.

And you, Mr. or Ms. Leader, cannot become better without the same desire. I've observed that nobody improves by accident. Getting better is about getting past the common thinking, lies and misconceptions and digging for wisdom. Once you know the truth, it can set you free and make you a better leader.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228109

How to Stay Focused and Reach Your Goals

In this video, Alex Anderlessa talks about how you can stay committed and focused on reaching your goals.

8 Tips for Finding Focus and Nixing Distractions

Do you find yourself getting to the end of the day and wondering where the time went? Maybe you started out prepared to accomplish some very specific tasks, but somehow you just didn't get to them. Putting out fires and dealing with lesser issues can pull people away from longer-term goals. But if that happens every day, chances are you won't be in business much longer.

Here are eight ways to prevent letting distractions damage your productivity:

1. Make and post a list: There's no point in making a list if it ends up under all of your unopened mail at the end of the day. Post it right where you will see it every time you look up, answer the phone or turn to your computer. By keeping it within your field of sight you can also keep it top-of-mind.

2. Shut your door: I know this seems like the opposite of good management practice. Aren't you supposed to be available to employees when they have a problem? Well, if you aren't focusing on your business they will definitely have a problem -- finding another job. Right now as an entrepreneur it's company first, employees second. And maybe if they can't reach you they will take some initiative and solve their own problems.

3. Stand up when someone comes into your office: This means that your visitor can't sit down and most people will get tired of standing and leave when their business with you is done. If someone is particularly long-winded despite standing, come around your desk and walk them out the door and down the hall. Then excuse yourself and head back to your office.

4. Limit outside attention grabbers: How often do you check email, Facebook, your cellphone? Do you take your own calls or leave that to a front-office person? Can potential suppliers get instant access to you when they walk in your office door? Every one of these is pulling you away from your main business. Schedule specific times to address these outside issues so that you have uninterrupted time to do your real job.

5. Get to the bottom of procrastination: Putting something critical off may be a matter of emotion rather than distractions. Are you afraid that you don't have the skills to accomplish something important to your business? Do you feel that you don't have enough information to do a good job? Are you nervous about the next step after your current project? Really spend time with a pencil and paper looking at the reasons why you aren't tackling something and then figure out how to fix them.

6. Take small bites: This is anti-procrastination advice but it's true whenever you have a hectic work day and don't seem to get to those large projects. If you get started, you can accomplish more than you think with an extra 15-20 minutes every now and then throughout the day. Don't wait for large blocks of time to get started or you may never get to it.

7. Clear your desk: if you're ready to dive into a large project, clear your work area of other smaller duties. It's so easy to catch sight of something that will only take a couple of minutes and stop working on the big stuff to address the little things. Don't let visual distractions cost you important focused time.

8. Just do it: Close your door, turn off your phone, clear your desk and get started. Put a sign outside your office door with something like, "If it's not bleeding, burning or quitting, tell me tomorrow." If you remove all excuses and distractions, you may actually accomplish some of your main business goals even sooner than you expect.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223812

WHERE GOOD IDEAS COME FROM by Steven Johnson

One of our most innovative, popular thinkers takes on-in exhilarating style-one of our key questions: Where do good ideas come from?

With Where Good Ideas Come From, Steven Johnson pairs the insight of his bestselling Everything Bad Is Good for You and the dazzling erudition of The Ghost Map and The Invention of Air to address an urgent and universal question: What sparks the flash of brilliance? How does groundbreaking innovation happen? Answering in his infectious, culturally omnivorous style, using his fluency in fields from neurobiology to popular culture, Johnson provides the complete, exciting, and encouraging story of how we generate the ideas that push our careers, our lives, our society, and our culture forward.

Beginning with Charles Darwin's first encounter with the teeming ecosystem of the coral reef and drawing connections to the intellectual hyperproductivity of modern megacities and to the instant success of YouTube, Johnson shows us that the question we need to ask is, What kind of environment fosters the development of good ideas? His answers are never less than revelatory, convincing, and inspiring as Johnson identifies the seven key principles to the genesis of such ideas, and traces them across time and disciplines.

Most exhilarating is Johnson's conclusion that with today's tools and environment, radical innovation is extraordinarily accessible to those who know how to cultivate it. Where Good Ideas Come From is essential reading for anyone who wants to know how to come up with tomorrow's great ideas.

Metaphorical Thinking

Using Comparisons to Express Ideas and Solve Problems

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© iStockphoto/alexs

"Time is money." How often have heard that statement? Probably many times and in various contexts. By thinking about time as money, you can create some powerful images. Time wasted is money down the drain. Time well spent is an investment. The seconds are ticking away.

A direct comparison between two unrelated or indirectly linked things is called a metaphor. And as we see in the example of "time is money", metaphors can create strong images that can be used to great effect in everyday communications and thinking. The manager who stands up in front of his team and says, "We need to finish this work quickly", creates considerably less impact that the manager who opens his comments using the metaphor: "As we all know, time is money."

The English language is littered with metaphors, and this is testimony to the their power.

So metaphors can be used to improve communications: They can add impact or can help you explain a difficult concept by association with a more familiar one. Metaphorical thinking can also be used to help solve problems: Use and extend metaphors to generate new ideas for solutions.

Metaphor tips 
The simple metaphor format is "A is B", as in "time is money". Metaphors can also be indirect or implicit: "That's a half-baked idea". This metaphor compares ideas with part-cooked food – without mentioning the food!

And, by the way, metaphors sometimes get mistaken for "similes". A simile makes a comparison too, but uses the word 'like', as in "time is like money"; "the idea is like half-baked food". Similes often sound more powerful than metaphors, even if the idea is the same.

Explaining Complex Ideas

By associating an unfamiliar idea with one that is commonplace, you can spark better understanding of complex ideas. Let's say you want to explain the concept of the business cycle. You could use lots of words, definitions, and drone on for five or ten minutes leaving the audience bored and confused. Then you could use graphs and diagrams, to help improve understanding and interest.

Or, you could explain using a metaphor: The business cycle is a pendulum, swinging back and forth from peaks of prosperity, down through economic troughs, and back up again.

The metaphor captures the essence of the business cycle – the listener immediately relates to the continuous back and forth movement. The vivid image helps people understand and also remember the idea. So, simply and in just a few words, everyone suddenly "gets it": To use another metaphor, the light bulb suddenly goes on.

Creating Impact

Metaphors are great for creating impact and making something memorable. So making use of them is a technique often used in marketing and advertising. But it's just as effective for making impact in your presentations, speeches and even in everyday discussions.

With metaphors, you help people get the idea quickly and efficiently. Here's a marketing example: In a pitch to sell a vacuum cleaner, you could go on and on about how great the new cleaner is and why people should buy it. But, see how much more impact can you create with metaphors: "This vacuum cleaner is so powerful, it can suck the light out of a black hole". The vivid image helps your product and pitch stand out, and so can help you make that sale.

Tip:
Make sure your metaphors are understandable to your audience. If there's any risk that your metaphors will sound like jargon, think again. The secret is to use a metaphor that instantly rings true with your audience.

Communication

1. Identify what you are trying to communicate.
2. Determine the essence of the message.
3. Think of other instances in life where that same characteristic, idea, emotion, state, etc. applies.
4. There may be many metaphors for the situation you are describing – choose the one that will best relate to your audience.

Thinking Outside the Box

When you use a metaphor to link two ideas together, you are combining elements that have little or no logical connection. By breaking the rules of logic in this way, metaphors can open up the creative side of the brain – the part that is stimulated by images, ideas, and concepts. So metaphorical thinking can help you with creative problem solving: To use another famous metaphor, it helps you "think outside the box".

Take the problem of how to cut production costs. You could attack the problem logically, and research new technologies or analyze inefficiencies in the production process. You might come up with some cost saving, but will you hit the jackpot?

Problem solving often starts with brainstorming and bouncing ideas back and forth with your team. Brainstorming is great for getting the creative juices flowing; it can open up a floodgate of ideas (. more metaphors!) However, people may still be constrained by the images they have of the current problem, or by their preconceived notions about the potential solutions.

When using metaphors for solving problems, you link the problem to something seemingly unrelated. Doing this allows your brain to see the issue from a completely different perspective – one that you may not even have known existed. If the problem is how to cut production costs, you could use the metaphor of someone wanting to lose weight. The next step is to generate solution to the problem of losing weight rather than the problem of shedding production costs. As you identify various solutions to the metaphorical problem, you can then relate these back to the real problem. Chances are, you will come up with something creative ideas for solutions.

Here are the steps for using metaphorical problem solving, using our product costs example:

1. First identify the metaphor for your problem or challenge.
2. There's no "right metaphor" – the ideas can be as unrelated as you like. If the problem involves increasing something, make sure the metaphor relates to an increase as well, otherwise it can become too difficult to visualize.
3. Increase sales > Build larger muscles
   Decrease recruitment costs > Lower the price of bread
   Attract more investors > Harvest more corn
4. So here's the metaphor of our example:
5. Problem: Cut production costs
   Metaphor: Lose weight
2. Now it's time to generate solution ideas for the metaphorical problem, in this case, losing weight. Brainstorming is a good way to facilitate this.
   
   • Count calories
   • Exercise
   • Monitor food intake
   • Limit intake of certain food categories
   • Fill up on low calorie foods
   • Drink lots of water
   • Join a slimming club
3. Then, the next step is to see how the solution ideas for the metaphorical problem might relate back to the real problem:

Solution ideas for the metaphorical problem	Solutions ideas relating back to the real problem
Count calories	Control expenditure on inputs
Exercise to burn calories	Use up all of their inputs (recycle, remanufacture, etc.)
Monitor food intake	Control inputs
Limit intake of certain food categories	Save costs by carefully choosing certain suppliers
Fill up on low calorie food	Find low cost substitutes
Drink lots of water	Flush out duplicate processes
Join a slimming club	Share ideas and support with other similar departments

Tip:
Don't get too hung up on how well the metaphorical solution ideas map back. Metaphors that map too well can stifle the creativity you are trying to generate! The whole idea is to generate solutions ideas that you may not have otherwise thought of, so just let the ideas flow without too much scrutiny.

4. Use the solution ideas you have generated for the metaphorical problem to find a workable solution to the real problem.

Key Points

Metaphors are powerful shortcuts to instant and memorable understanding. They evoke vivid images and allow us to "see" things from a new perspective, and so are useful tools for creative problem solving. Use metaphorical thinking to help explain complex ideas, create impact in your presentations, and think outside the box.

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCT_93.htm

How to Have A Terrific Day - Motivational Positive Thinking Video

In this fast-paced positive attitude training video, top motivational speaker Ed Foreman recommends a series of easy to implement strategies for overcoming the daily bombardment of negativity surrounding us. You'll learn the basic habit patterns of winners, techniques for overcoming worry, how to help others to have a more positive attitude, and dozens of ideas to make sure that every day is a terrific day. Whether you are in sales, service, management, or any other capacity in business, maintaining a positive attitude is critical for success.

When it comes to motivating and teaching people how to have a consistent, positive attitude, Ed Foreman is one of America's best! Serving corporate America for more than 40 years, he has been a full time management consultant and motivational speaker in high demand. As a trainer, Ed Foreman regularly addresses corporations and associations across America conducting his highly acclaimed positive attitude training seminars. In addition, he has been positively featured on CBS 60 Minutes, and has been inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame. Through his down-to-earth, humorous style, and no-nonsense approach, audiences consistently give him rave reviews. At 71 years young, Ed Foreman is living proof of the benefits of living a positive lifestyle.

- HOW TO MAINTAIN A POSITIVE ATTITUDE EVEN WHEN TIMES ARE TOUGH
- DEVELOPING NEW HABIT PATTERNS WHILE BREAKING THE OLD ONES
- CREATING MORE BALANCE, VITALITY, AND MEANING IN YOUR LIFE
- REMOVING NEGATIVE FACTORS THAT STOP YOU FROM ACHIEVING MORE
- HOW TO AVOID WORRY, LOWER STRESS, AND FEEL BETTER
- AND MUCH MORE...

Positive Attitude Keeps You Alive

Robert Kowalski on the relationship between attitude and heart health. A positive oulook can keep lower the stress level on the heart.

11 Tips for Maintaining your Positive Attitude

Maintaining your positive attitude is critical when you want to achieve anything… or just to improve the quality of your life. Most success literature will talk about the power of positive thinking and how important it is. It’s often easier said than done.

Today we’ll look at 11 tips for maintaining your positive attitude no matter what’s going on in your life.

1. You Determine Your Reality

It’s important to realize that you determine your reality by the way you react to the outside world. When something happensyou get to choose whether it’s a positive or negative experience and react accordingly. Losing your job might be a disaster or it might be the opportunity for bigger and brighter things… you choose what it will mean to you.

2. Start Your Day Strong

Most of the population have to drag themselves out of bed and this sets a negative frame for their entire day. Positive people create a morning ritual that reinforces how great life is and how happy they are to be alive.

I used to wake up and immediately turn on Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life“ to get me into state. Now I start my day by reading or listening to something positive. Whether you have 1 minute, 15 minutes or an hour to dedicate to your ritual you can start the day in whatever state you prefer.

3. Exercise Is The Natural Feel Good Drug

Exercise is a great way to maintain your positive attitude because of all the positive chemicals it releases into the blood stream. I used to exercise in the morning (after Bon Jovi) and this is often recommended as a powerful way to start the day. Now I exercise by doing activities I love (kung fu and dancing) most evenings but even a walk around the block with inspiring audio will help.

4. Use Books, Audio And Videos To Overload Your Brain With Positivity

There are millions of amazing books, audios and videos for you to absorb from people who are inspiring and living the life of their dreams. Tap into their positive emotions and their experience by learning how they think and what they do to create the lives they want. You can do this in the morning or while exercising, eating, commuting, cooking, cleaning… there’s always time for positivity.

5. Your Language Shapes Your Thoughts

Little changes in your language can change the way you think and how you act. Whenever someone greets you and asks how you’re doing do you answer with “fine” or “not too bad?” Think about just what this language is communicating to others… and yourself.

I always answer with “great,” “fantastic,” or “amazing.” Not only does this remind me that life really is great but it usually surprises and lifts the state of the person I’m talking to as well.

6. Hang Out With Positive People

It is often said that you will have a similar level of health, income and lifestyle as the 5 people you spend the most time with. So if you want to be fit then starting hanging out with fit people… want to start a business then hang out with business owners. And if you want to be positive make sure you’re hanging out with positive people.

7. Show Your Appreciation For Others

By appreciating others for a job well done, their outfit or their smile you start to cause a positive chain reaction. Don’t you feel great when you receive a compliment from someone else? Well if you want to receive more then start giving them out and watch what happens to the people around you.

8. Garbage In, Garbage Out

This is an expression from programming where the result is only as good as the input. So if you’re feeding yourself with negativity all day long then it’s pretty obvious you’re going to be feeling negative as well. A lot of the media including news and TV thrive on negativity so put yourself on a negativity diet (including people) and watch how much easier it is to maintain your positive attitude.

9. Stop Negative Thoughts In Their Tracks

It’s hard to be a constantly positive person and negative thoughts are going to bubble up from time to time. These will be more frequent in the beginning but decrease as you practice the tips we’re talking about. When you start to notice negative thoughts you can use a pattern interrupt to stop them in their tracks.

The idea is to interrupt your current thought pattern and change your state. My most successful one is The Smurfs theme song. Whenever I start to feel frustrated, sad or angry I simply start humming the tune and pretty soon a big silly smile comes over my face.

10. Live With Gratitude

So many positive things happen during our day and we often ignore them while letting one negative comment or event ruin our mood. It can help to keep a gratitude journal where you jot down things you are grateful for each night or during the day. If you’re reading this then you probably live with a roof over your head and food in your belly which is a daily struggle for most of the world… so it should be easy to find tons of things you’re grateful for.

11. Recharge Your Batteries

A key to maintaining your positive attitude is taking the time to recharge your batteries. This might mean taking a few hours on the weekend to read a positive book or taking a few weeks for a holiday. If you’re not in the position to travel you can always have a Home Holiday where you simply switch off from the outside world and spend time doing things you love.

How To Use These 11 Tips

You now have 11 tips for maintaining your positive attitude but they are no use to you unless you implement them into your life. So pick the easiest tip or the one that you really love and introduce it into your life starting right now. Then over time start implementing the other tips and watch your positivity soar.

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/11-tips-for-maintaining-your-positive-attitude.html

Strive for Excellence

Strive for excellence - Compassion CEO Wess Stafford talks about building excellence by focusing on fundamentals.

20 Ways to Strive for Excellence in Life

Most of us are trying hard to juggle it all in life: career, work, family, self-care and then some. We believe that in order to be our best selves, we should “get the most out of it”, and be on the ball in all fields of our lives. Although this article deals with excellence, you might be surprised that I am not urging you to be at the top of the game in every single aspect of life. Instead, I would like to invite you to excel in those fields where you really can make a difference, so that when you move on, you shall have left behind a better world for those who follow.

This is an invitation to find your voice and leave a mark in the world; an invitation to surpass the average and aim for higher levels of excellence; an invitation to tap into your talents more deeply than before and turn yourself into a radiating powerhouse. It is time to live your purpose in life and share your unique, beautiful gifts with all other beings.

In essence, excellence is the very opposite of perfectionism. Perfectionism is losing your true self in the demands of society, and trying to emulate a person who is not you and whom you can never become. Excellence, on the other hand, is becoming the center of your own universe, and from that grounded, centered position, shining your light into the world by using your unique talents.

Living a life of excellence takes effort, but at the same time is rewarding and gives you energy so that you can keep up your work. Here are 20 ideas that you can implement to strive for excellence:

1. Identify your values

To make the right choices in your life, you need to know what truly matters to you. Keep a list of your core values, and write your observations on how you and others live according to these values as well. Revisit your list often to focus your energy on what you value most in life.

2. Stand up for a cause

Sometimes we’ll hear something in the news that seems to pull a string deep inside of us—we feel that the cause at hand is truly worth to fight for. Express your opinion, and become active. Whether it is protecting animal rights, fighting street harassment, or ending the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, find what truly makes you tick and throw your weight into the battle.

3. Truly listen

Connect to others by listening to their story. Hold your advice and similar experiences, and go deeper into the experience the other person is telling you, sensing his/her emotions and reactions. In this way, you will learn more about other people; about their needs and values.

4. Feel your emotions

Stop muffling your emotions underneath a big blanket and putting your fake-happy-neutral face all the time. Learn from children, who are sad, happy, excited and tired over the course of less than an hour. Feel what truly goes on within yourself,and simply accept it.

5. Be a cycle

Ebbing and flowing, turning in cycles and circles—that is the rhythm of both our planet and our lives. Society, however, seems to think that life is a ladder that we need to climb, step by step. Instead of trying to go up, up, up all the time, learn to live with the cycles of the moon and the seasons, and feel the waxing and waning energies in yourself.

6. Meditate

Meditation is the single most powerful personal development tool out there, so practice it daily. Cling to your meditation practice when times get busy and the going gets tough: those are the moments when you need it the most.

7. Journal

Let your thoughts out on a sheet of paper or your screen, and use your journal as a place to reflect on your day, your progress in life and all observations from the day that might need to leave your mind so that you can relax.

8. Define your limiting beliefs

What is holding you back? What cultural conditioning is keeping you from stepping out from the crowd? Do you think you can’t do it because you’re too old, because you haven’t gone to college or because you are a woman? Define your limiting beliefs, and then release them into the wide open.

9. Practice gratitude

Learn to be grateful for all positive experiences that come across your path on a given day. Keep a list of 10 things that you are grateful for, every day. When dark days are upon you, be grateful for your health, for life, for your pet… anything that can give you a little spark.

10. Smile

Light up your face and the heart of another person with a smile. Sadly enough, smiles nowadays can be misinterpreted as an attempt to seduce someone, an expression of naivety, or even dumbness. Put smiling back where it deserves to be: an expression of joy and positive feelings and a way to connect with other humans.

11. Show compassion

Stop judging others when they make mistakes or hurt you. Instead, try to put yourself in their shoes, and think: “There I go, being rude/inattentive/etc.”. By thinking along these lines, you understand how all human beings are similar; how we all have are flaws and bad moments that can be forgiven.

12. Learn from your dreams

First, learn how to remember your dreams. Then, start toanalyze the symbols that occur in your dreams and explore your subconsciousness. I don’t believe in the lists of dream symbols that you can find online—I think that every person’s subconsciousness makes different connections between our experiences, and thus brings forth these symbols from a different background in each individual.

13. Teach

Use your unique gift to teach others. Spend time with people who try to learn your language, share a craft that you master, organize a workshop about a new software package at work or volunteer at a local school—the options for teaching are as abundant as the diversity of talents among us all.

14. Face your demons

What happened in your past that left a rotten piece in your heart? When you feel like the time is ready, fasten your seat belt and face your demons. Only when you can address the darker parts of yourself can heal your past and move more freely into your future.

15. Take up a difficult task

Step forward when a difficult task is handed out. Lean into the opportunity, choose the spotlight, be realistic, and discuss with your boss/mentor/guide what you are about to take on. Ask others for advice and help, and don’t beat yourself up when you make a mistake.

16. Celebrate your body

Your body is beautiful, regardless of your size, shape, and medical condition. Celebrate your body by giving it wholesome foods, time to exercise (just like caring for your dog means letting him out for a walk), and additional care, such as massages and sauna visits.

17. Honor your intellect

Find the boundaries of your understanding, and explore from there. Take up an online course, join a conversation group, solve difficult puzzles—anything that gets your mental machinery going and feels like a challenge is a good way to honor your brain.

18. For give

Forget past transgressions and forgive yourself, your loved ones, and everyone else. A very powerful way of letting go of grudges and negative feelings is to practice a meditation on forgiveness and loving-kindness.

19. Focus on being, not on having

Consumerism is the blood of our economy, but with scarcer resources, the time has come to define ourselves based on who we are instead of what we have.

20. Ask yourself every day: “Did I give the very best of myself to the world?”

Stand in front of the mirror and ask yourself: “Did I give the very best of myself to the world today?” If the answer is “yes”, explore what motivated you and how you feel at the end of the day. If the answer is “no”, don’t beat yourself up, but reflect on what happened today that took you out of your balance.

How do you strive for excellence in life?

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/20-ways-strive-for-excellence-life.html

Tips for better sleep - How to get a good nights sleep

Tips for better sleep - How to get a good nights sleep

If stress is keeping you awake at night, here are some simple tips to help you relax and get better sleep, courtesy of family and lifestyle correspondent Ylonda Caviness.

20 Amazing Facts About Dreams that You Might Not Know About

Dreams. Mysterious, bewildering, eye-opening and sometimes a nightmarish living hell: dreams are all that and much more. Here are 20 amazing facts about dreams that you might have never heard about.

Fact #1: You can’t read while dreaming, or tell the time

If you are unsure whether you are dreaming or not, try reading something. The vast majority of people are incapable of reading in their dreams. The same goes for clocks: each time you look at a clock it will tell a different time and the hands on the clock won’t appear to be moving as reported by lucid dreamers.

Fact #2: Lucid dreaming

There is a whole subculture of people practicing what is called lucid or conscious dreaming. Using various techniques, these people have supposedly learned to assume control of their dreams and do amazing things like flying, passing through walls, and traveling to different dimensions or even back in time.

Fact #3: Inventions inspired by dreams

Dreams are responsible for many of the greatest inventions of mankind. A few examples include:

• The idea for Google -Larry Page
• Alternating current generator -Tesla
• DNA’s double helix spiral form -James Watson
• The sewing machine -Elias Howe
• Periodic table -Dimitri Mendeleyev

…and many, many more.

Fact #4: Premonition dreams

There are some astounding cases where people actually dreamt about things which happened to them later, in the exact same ways they dreamed about. You could say they got a glimpse of the future, or it might have just been coincidence. The fact remains that this is some seriously interesting and bizarre phenomena. Some of the most famous premonition dreams include:

• Abraham Lincoln dreamt of His Assassination
• Many of the victims of 9/11 had dreams warning them about the catastrophe
• Mark Twain’s dream of his brother’s demise
• 19 verified precognitive dreams about the Titanic catastrophe

Fact #5: Sleep paralysis

Hell is real and it is called sleep paralysis. It’s the stuff of true nightmares. I’ve been a sleep paralysis sufferer as a kid and I can attest to how truly horrible it is. Two characteristics of sleep paralysis are the inability to move (hence paralysis) and a sense of an extremely evil presence in the room with you. It doesn’t feel like a dream, but 100% real. Studies show that during an attack, sleep paralysis sufferers show an overwhelming amygdala activity. The amygdala is responsible for the “fight or flight” instinct and the emotions of fear, terror and anxiety. Enough said!

Fact #6: REM sleep disorder

In the state of REM (rapid-eye-movement) stage of your sleep your body is normally paralyzed. In rare cases, however, people act out their dreams. These have resulted in broken arms, legs, broken furniture, and in at least one reported case, a house burnt down.

Fact #7: Sexual dreams

The very scientifically-named “nocturnal penile tumescence” is a very well documented phenomena. In laymen’s term it simply means that you get a stiffy while you sleep. Actually, studies indicate that men get up to 20 erections per dream.

Fact #8: Unbelievable Sleepwalkers

Sleepwalking is a very rare and potentially dangerous sleep disorder. It is an extreme form of REM sleep disorder, and these people don’t just act out their dreams, but go on real adventures at night.

Lee Hadwin is a nurse by profession, but in his dreams he is an artist. Literally. He “sleepdraws” gorgeous portraits, of which he has no recollection afterwards. Strange sleepwalking “adventures” include:

• A woman having sex with strangers while sleepwalking
• A man who drove 22 miles and killed his cousin while sleepwalking (how is this even possible?)
• A sleepwalker who walked out of the window from the third floor, and barely survived

Fact #9: Dream drug

There are actually people who like dreaming and dreams so much that they never want to wake up. They want to continue on dreaming even during the day, so they take an illegal and extremely potent hallucinogenic drug called Dimethyltryptamine. It is actually only an isolated and synthetic form of the chemical our brains produce naturally during dreaming.

Fact #10 Dream-catcher

The dream-catcher is one of the most well-known Native American symbols. It is a loose web or webs woven around a hoop and decorated with sacred objects meant to protect against nightmares.

Fact #11: Increased brain activity

You would associate sleeping with peace and quiet, but actually our brains are more active during sleep than during the day.

Fact #12: Creativity and dreams

As we mentioned before, dreams are responsible for inventions, great artworks and are generally just incredibly interesting. They are also “recharging” our creativity. In rare cases of REM disorder, people actually don’t dream at all. These people suffer from significantly decreased creativity and perform badly at tasks requiring creative problem solving.

Fact #13: Pets dream too

Our animal companions dream as well. Watch a dog or a cat sleep and you can see that they are moving their paws and making noises like they were chasing something. Go get ‘em Buddy!

Fact #14: You always dream—you just don’t remember it

Many people claim that they don’t dream at all, but that’s not true: we all dream, but up to 60% of people don’t remember their dreams at all.

Fact #15: Blind people dream too

Blind people who were not born blind see images in their dreams but people who were born blind don’t see anything at all. They still dream, and their dreams are just as intense and interesting, but they involve the other senses beside sight.

Fact #16: In our dreams we only see faces that we already know

It is proven that in dreams we can only see faces that we have seen in real life before. So beware: that scary-looking old lady next to you on the bus might as well be in your next nightmare.

Fact #17: Dreams tend to be negative

Surprisingly, dreams are more often negative than positive. The three most widely reported emotions felt during dreaming are anger, sadness and fear.

Fact #18: Multiple dreams per night

You can have up to seven different dreams per night depending on how many REM cycles you have. We only dream during the REM period of sleep, and the average person dreams one to two hours every night.

Fact #19: Gender differences

Interestingly, 70% of all the characters in a man’s dream are other men, but women’s dream contain an equal amount of women and men. Also men’s dreams contain a lot more aggression. Both women and men dream about sexual themes equally often.

Fact #20: Not everyone dreams in color

As much as 12% of people only dream in black and white.

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/20-amazing-facts-about-dreams-that-you-might-not-know-about.html

Self-Motivation Tips

Self-Motivation Tips from Jessica Harlow

8 Steps To Continuous Self-Motivation

Many of us find ourselves in motivational slumps that we have to work to get out of. Sometimes it’s like a continuous cycle where we are motivated for a period of time, fall out and then have to build things back up again.

A good way to be continuously self-motivated is to implement something like these 8 steps from Ian McKenzie.

Keep a positive attitude: There’s is nothing more powerful for self-motivation than the right attitude. You can’t choose or control your circumstance, but can choose your attitude towards your circumstances.

How I see this working is while you’re developing these mental steps, and utilizing them regularly, self-motivation will come naturally when you need it.

The key, for me, is hitting the final step to Share With Others. It can be somewhat addictive and self-motivating when you help others who are having trouble.

My 8 Steps

I enjoyed Ian’s article but thought it could use some definition when it comes to trying to build a continuous drive of motivation. Here is a new list that is a little more generic:

• 1. Start simple. Keep motivators around your work area – things that give you that initial spark to get going.
• 2. Keep good company. Make more regular encounters with positive and motivated people. This could be as simple as IM chats with peers or a quick discussion with a friend who likes sharing ideas.
• 3. Keep learning. Read and try to take in everything you can. The more you learn, the more confident you become in starting projects.
• 4. Stay Positive. See the good in bad. When encountering obstacles, you want to be in the habit of finding what works to get over them.
• 5. Stop thinking. Just do. If you find motivation for a particular project lacking, try getting started on something else. Something trivial even, then you’ll develop the momentum to begin the more important stuff.
• 6. Know yourself. Keep notes on when your motivation sucks and when you feel like a superstar. There will be a pattern that, once you are aware of, you can work around and develop.
• 7. Track your progress. Keep a tally or a progress bar for ongoing projects. When you see something growing you will always want to nurture it.
• 8. Help others. Share your ideas and help friends get motivated. Seeing others do well will motivate you to do the same. Write about your success and get feedback from readers.

What I would hope happens here is you will gradually develop certain skills that become motivational habits.

Once you get to the stage where you are regularly helping others keep motivated – be it with a blog or talking with peers – you’ll find the cycle continuing where each facet of staying motivated is refined and developed.

My 1 Step

If you could only take one step? Just do it!

Once you get started on something, you’ll almost always just get into it and keep going. There will be times when you have to do things you really don’t want to: that’s where the other steps and tips from other writers come in handy.

However, the most important thing, that I think is worth repeating, is to just get started. 

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/8-steps-to-continuous-self-motivation.html