Stress Relievers: 25 Ways to Reduce Stress

We all experience stress from time to time. When stress gets to be too much, it can take a toll on our health and wellbeing. That's why effective stress relievers are essential in restoring inner peace and physical health. Here is a growing list of stress relievers that can help you feel less affected by stress in your life.


Guided Imagery

Practicing guided imagery is a fun and simple way to take a break from stress, clarify what you want, and build optimism. It's a relatively quick pathway to mental peace.

Self-Hypnosis

Self-hypnosis provides a simple and relaxing route to changing habits, relaxing your body, altering your thought patterns, and more. Because all of these can be stress relievers, self-hypnosis is well worth the effort.

Autogenics

Autogenics allows you to change your physiology with your mind, and reverse your stress response easily.

Journaling

Journaling can be used in several different ways, all of which can relieve stress. Because journaling is proven by research to bring several health benefits in addition to stress relief, this stress reliever is highly recommended.

 Meditation

Meditation brings short-term stress relief as well as lasting stress management benefits. There are many different forms of meditation to try--each one is unique and brings its own appeal.

 PMR

Progressive muscle relaxation, or PMR, is a technique that allows you to relax all of the muscles in your body, group by group. Beginning sessions take several minutes, and allow you to feel physically and emotionally relaxed when done. With practice, you can achieve full-body relaxation within seconds.

 Yoga

Yoga incorporates breathing exercises, meditation, and light exercise. One session brings initial stress relief, and continued practice brings greater resilience to stress. It's one of the more potent stress relievers.

 Breathing

Breathing exercises provide convenient and simple stress relief in that they can be used anytime, anywhere, and they work quickly.

 Playing Games
Enjoying a good game with a group of friends, or playing something relaxing online can take your mind off of your stressors, and can lead to a more relaxed state. Games are stress relievers that work well because people enjoy them enough to use them regularly.


 Sex

Within a healthy relationship, sex can be a fantastic stress reliever, as it incorporates several other stress relief ingredients--breathing, touch, social connection, and a few others--and brings a rush of endorphins and other beneficial chemicals with orgasm. It's another one of the more "fun" stress relievers that can also be quite effective.

Laughter

The physical act of laughing releases tension and brings positive physiological changes. Finding ways to work more laughter into your day can be an effective route to stress relief.

Biofeedback

While biofeedback requires some special equipment, this stress relief technique can allow you to become more aware of and consciously alter the physiological changes that come with stress. By using your mind to relax your body, you can relax your mind to a greater degree as well, creating a positive feedback loop.

Music Therapy

Music can alter your physiology in ways that help you to relieve stress. It's an enjoyable, passive route to stress relief. Formal music therapy sessions can help with a variety of stress-related issues.

 Take a Walk

Exercise is a fantastic stress reliever that can work in minutes. Taking a walk allows you to enjoy a change in scenery, which can get you into a different frame of mind, and brings the benefits of exercise as well. Learn about the other benefits of walking as a stress reliever.

 Plant a Garden

Getting outside and enjoying the scenery is just one of the ways that gardening can contribute to stress relief. Read about the other stress reliever benefits of planting a garden.

 Time Management

Honing your time management skills can allow you to minimize the stressors that you experience, and better manage the ones you can't avoid. When you are able to complete everything on your "to do" list without the stress of rushing or forgetting, your whole life feels easier.

 Listen To Music

Finding a music therapist isn't the only way music can help as a stress reliever. Creating playlists for various moods (a cathartic mix for when you want to process feelings, an upbeat mix for when you need more energy, etc.) can help you to relieve stress passively, enjoyably, and conveniently.

 Eat a Balanced Diet

A poor diet can bring greater reactivity toward stress. A healthy diet can bring greater physical and emotional wellness. Find some simple go-to meals and snacks, and feel less stressed in your daily life.

 Learn Assertive Communication Skills

Relationships can be great stress relievers. Knowing how to keep your relationships healthy through effective communication is one of the best investments of time and energy for stress relief.

Enjoy Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy has proven benefits for stress relief--it can help you to become energized, more relaxed, or more present.

 Reduce Caffeine Intake

Consuming caffeine too late in the day can affect sleep quality, which impacts stress levels. Consuming too much caffeine in general can make you more emotionally reactive to stress. Learn how much caffeine is too much.

 Drink in Moderation

Speaking of knowing limits, maintaining careful limits with alcohol is particularly important. One glass of red wine at the end of the day can bring relaxation, but too much alcohol can obviously bring a host of other problems.

 Don’t Procrastinate

Putting off a stressful or labor-intensive project can only increase the stress you experience. Learn how to stop procrastination can allow you to get done what you need to do, without the added stress of rushing for a deadline.

 Drink Green Tea

Sitting with a glass of green tea and planning for the day ahead, or reflecting on the day behind (remember--decaf at night!) can provide you with a nice break and a taste of peace. You'll experience the health benefits of green tea as well.

http://stress.about.com/od/tensiontamers/a/stressrelievers.html

Steve Jobs and the Seven Rules of Success

Steve Jobs' impact on your life cannot be overestimated. His innovations have likely touched nearly every aspect -- computers, movies, music and mobile. As a communications coach, I learned from Jobs that a presentation can, indeed, inspire. For entrepreneurs, Jobs' greatest legacy is the set of principles that drove his success.

Over the years, I've become a student of sorts of Jobs' career and life. Here's my take on the rules and values underpinning his success. Any of us can adopt them to unleash our "inner Steve Jobs."

1. Do what you love. Jobs once said, "People with passion can change the world for the better." Asked about the advice he would offer would-be entrepreneurs, he said, "I'd get a job as a busboy or something until I figured out what I was really passionate about." That's how much it meant to him. Passion is everything.

2. Put a dent in the universe. Jobs believed in the power of vision. He once asked then-Pepsi President, John Sculley, "Do you want to spend your life selling sugar water or do you want to change the world?" Don't lose sight of the big vision.

3. Make connections. Jobs once said creativity is connecting things. He meant that people with a broad set of life experiences can often see things that others miss. He took calligraphy classes that didn't have any practical use in his life -- until he built the Macintosh. Jobs traveled to India and Asia. He studied design and hospitality. Don't live in a bubble. Connect ideas from different fields.

4. Say no to 1,000 things. Jobs was as proud of what Apple chose not to do as he was of what Apple did. When he returned in Apple in 1997, he took a company with 350 products and reduced them to 10 products in a two-year period. Why? So he could put the "A-Team" on each product. What are you saying "no" to?

5. Create insanely different experiences. Jobs also sought innovation in the customer-service experience. When he first came up with the concept for the Apple Stores, he said they would be different because instead of just moving boxes, the stores would enrich lives. Everything about the experience you have when you walk into an Apple store is intended to enrich your life and to create an emotional connection between you and the Apple brand. What are you doing to enrich the lives of your customers?

6. Master the message. You can have the greatest idea in the world, but if you can't communicate your ideas, it doesn't matter. Jobs was the world's greatest corporate storyteller. Instead of simply delivering a presentation like most people do, he informed, he educated, he inspired and he entertained, all in one presentation.

7. Sell dreams, not products. Jobs captured our imagination because he really understood his customer. He knew that tablets would not capture our imaginations if they were too complicated. The result? One button on the front of an iPad. It's so simple, a 2-year-old can use it. Your customers don't care about your product. They care about themselves, their hopes, their ambitions. Jobs taught us that if you help your customers reach their dreams, you'll win them over.

There's one story that I think sums up Jobs' career at Apple. An executive who had the job of reinventing the Disney Store once called up Jobs and asked for advice. His counsel? Dream bigger. I think that's the best advice he could leave us with. See genius in your craziness, believe in yourself, believe in your vision, and be constantly prepared to defend those ideas.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220515

Personal Development Is Easy

I recently had a client tell me I was repeating myself. It’s actually quite difficult remembering exactly what I say to each and every client as I usually have about 50 ‘live’ clients at any one point in time and speak to 15 or so per week..


After the first session or so I don’t like taking too many notes because it’s impossible for me to be note taking and be fully engaged in the conversation.

Therefore, I realize I may repeat a story, metaphor of heaven forbid one of my terrible jokes from time to time. In fact I’m sure I do this on a semi-regular basis, but most people are too polite to point it out to me.

This conversation was somewhat different though because I knew perfectly well I was repeating myself.

I was talking about getting back to the basics of controlling thoughts. I’d just said to the client something along those lines:

“The language you use is simply a manifestation of your thoughts you’re having, and if the language isn’t changing then neither are the thoughts”

Hearing the same thing over and over again can be frustrating I realize that. However, as the saying goes, repetition is the mother of skill. We are a product of what we have done over and over again through our lives. What we do today is practice for what we do tomorrow, so we either change today or we don’t change at all.

Imagine you’re learning to ski. You’re with a group of beginners high in the Rockies and the instrictor is attempting to teach you the basics. All of a sudden you spot an enticingly steep mogul field over to your left. You haven’t paid all that money to wuss about on the kids stuff and in your blissful incompetent ignorance you start to snowplow your way over toward it. You know, just to ‘give it a go’

There is a scream from your instructor to stop as she hastens toward you. You both arrive at the edge simultaneously and as you look down you realize it hadn’t been such a good idea after all. She advises you that it will be at least a week or so before you are capable of taking on the tougher slopes.

The following day you’re getting a little better and feeling a lot more confident Once again you spot another slope with a sign at the top :

Death Run - Expert Skiers With Lots Of Insurance Coverage Only!

“Woo-hoo baby this is more like it."

Once again you snow plough your way to the top of the run. The instructor sees you do this and stands watching with amusement as you gingerly approach the edge. You teeter at the top for a while summoning up your courage and then set off down the vertical sheet of ice with all the elegance and control of Bambi after half a dozen Margarita’s.

You wake up in the local hospital with both legs in plaster and aching all over. Your instructor has stopped by to say hello and wish you a speedy recovery. After a brief conversation it seems she knew damn well you couldn’t cope with that slope and an accident was imminent. You start to get agitated and ask why the hell she didn’t tell you.

“I told you yesterday you weren’t ready for the tough runs” she replied with a big smile on her face, “I didn’t think I needed to say it again”

I think it’s fair to say the instructor was negligent and didn’t demonstrate much duty of care toward you. It doesn’t matter how big a moron you have been and how much testosterone you had coursing through your veins, she should still have warned you and tried to prevent you from risking your life.

So I explained to the client the reason for me repeating myself was because this was the basics, and we need to get the basics right first if we are to move on. We were trying to unpick thirty or so years of negative self-talk and you cannot change that overnight.

It has been built up my repetition and it will be knocked down with repetition.

She came back with, “There really isn’t that much to all this is there?”

And you know what? She was right, because there isn’t. Self development and improvement isn’t complicated at all.

If you understand your values and are prepared to live in alignment with them. If you have a supporting belief system. And if you are conscious of the language you use (especially internally), everything else is easy.

If that is, you’re prepared to put the work in and that can be the repetitive part. It isn’t enough knowing what to do, you have to do it. If your car is making a strange noise from under the hood and you’re not sure what it is, what would you do?

I suspect you wouldn’t take it to a garage and get them to diagnose the problem, but not mend it. Knowing the noise is a shock absorber failing isn’t much use to you unless you actually change it.

The same goes for self-development. It isn’t enough to know your language is not supporting you and that’s why you feel crap. You want to be able to change it and make changes for the better. Otherwise you may as well stay in blissful ignorance.

http://bizymoms.com/business/Article/Personal-Development-Is-Easy/896

The difference between succeeding and failing

The difference between succeeding and failing is miniscule.

Here's what I mean...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8NW4XHEgYg

Enjoy!

My 12 Rules For Success In Life And Business

Few days ago I decided to throw on paper some rules for success I’ve
discovered and implemented in my life over the years. I’ve come up with
about fifty rules, many of which are very similar or duplicate, many that
are not so impactful.

Here I share with you twelve rules I picked which I consider to be the most
important and actionable. I believe these are necessary to use in your life
and business to achieve great results and get the most out of life. I think
of this rules as a cheat sheet that you can take out when you encounter
any situation and check what to do.


1. Never say “I can’t” and ”It’s hard”.

You may be thinking what difference does it make what I say.

In my experience it makes all the difference.

When you say “I can’t” it creates a habit of saying “I can’t” and you will be
saying it more and more until you truly start to believe that you can’t do it.

I’ve seen many times people persuade themselves into thinking all sorts of
things. Persuading yourself that you “can’t” and that “it’s hard’ is the worst
mindset you could get.

To deal with this problem be conscious of whether you are saying it. Catch
yourself saying it and quickly replace it with “I can” and “it’s easy”.


2. Always think that you can and you will be right.

Henry Ford said it best:

“Whether you believe you can, or you can't, you are right”

Nothing is impossible.

This is the basic of the basics. The biggest change in my life occurred when
I realized I could do anything I want if only I invested enough time and effort.

I believe this is the most important thing for success - knowing, beyond
a shadow of a doubt, that you will succeed no matter what.

Next time when you think that you can’t do something ask yourself - Why
can’t you do it? Many people throughout the history have done things no
one had done before them. They were pioneers in whatever areas. That’s
how we got all the inventions today. That’s how we got world records, first
man ever to climb Mount Everest. Why not be that man?

But, you don’t need to do something no one has ever done before to be
successful. Do something good that many people have done before you.
If someone has already done it - it’s easy. Just follow his steps and do
what he has done and you will get there for sure.


3. When you fall – immediately get up.

This is a no-brainer and one of the most important if not the most important
rule. One of the simplest definitions of success is getting up one more time
than you’ve fallen down. As Rocky said “It’s not how hard you can hit but
how hard you can GET hit and keep moving forward”.

It is so easy to stay down and give up and so hard to persist and move forward.
It hurts to persist, but if you give up you will be in pain forever. It is extremely
tempting to give up, to take the easier way out. The danger of going to the
other side is lurking constantly. We need to remind ourselves all the time why
are we doing what we are doing and keep moving forward.

Also, if you give up once, you will give up again, you will always give up,
it creates a habit of giving up.

If you persist, it creates a momentum, a habit of going forward and you will
always go forward.


4. Everything you do, do it the best you can, give your 100%.

This is the simple but often overlooked rule and in my experience hardly
anyone applies it. So many people just want to “get by”, to get the job
done, without making the effort. If you are already doing something why
not make the effort and do it the best you can. That would immediately
put you above your peers who won’t make that effort.


5. If you want something - go get it, nothing ever comes free.

This is for all those waiting for something to happen. Waiting for someone
to give them something. Waiting to win the lottery, for government to give
them job, for economy to get better.

How come some people don’t mind the economy? How come some people
are successful no matter what?

They don’t wait for anything to happen – they make it happen. You think you
are better than others and that you deserve more? – Go out there and prove it.


6. Accept responsibility for everything that happens to you –
- never complain, never explain.

This one is tightly connected to the previous one.

When you complain about something you only succeed in creating negative
energy. Nothing is going to change with complaining. Instead, if you have
energy to complain, put it into something productive. If you think something
is wrong then take responsibility, go change it, or just forget about it. You
won’t achieve anything with complaining.

Another common consequence of not taking responsibility is blaming others.

It is much easier for people to find someone to blame than to admit and
accept that they are not good enough and that they are the problem. It
can be incredibly hard to accept and admit your shortcomings. But, it is
the only way to improvement.

The biggest problem with blaming others is that you will persuade yourself
that it’s not your fault. You are right but others are wrong. You are perfect
others are flawed. It’s always someone else’s fault.

Needless to say, by believing you don’t have a problem you will never solve
it. By believing you are perfectly fine you are unable to see the flaws and
work on improving yourself. In such circumstances you are doomed to stay
where you are and not move an inch. It’s a surefire road to failure.


7. Don’t cry about loss, nothing ever lasts forever.

This is something I don’t see often discussed but I feel it is essential for happy life.

All too often we burden ourselves heavily when we lose things. Juice spills,
glass breaks, shirt tears, computer stops working, show gets canceled.

What do you achieve by doing it, what is the purpose?

It is gone, it stopped existing, accept that and move on.

I’m no scientist or something but this I know - one of the basic principles
of the universe is that everything must have a beginning and end. That’s
how things work. Even our planet will not last forever. Don’t let what you
don’t have prevent you to appreciate what you have.


8. Appreciate what you have, be happy about it.

Many people often say “If I had this thing I’d be happy”. Then they get
that thing and immediately forget about it. Again they say “Now, if I only
had this thing I’d be really happy”. It’s a never-ending circle. We have
probably all done it at some point.

As soon as we get what we strive for we immediately forget about it and
focus on the next thing we don’t have. That’s a deadly mindset that is
very common and to get out of it you need to step back and recognize it
when it appears so you can effectively eliminate it.

See what you have. It is good to write it on paper. If you do that you will
see that you have much more than you thought you had, and much more
than the majority of people have.

Having a family is one of the greatest things in the world and one of the
most under appreciated. Next time your parents or kids make you angry,
think about people who would give everything they have just to have kids
and about people who never knew their parents but they so wish they did.

On the flip side, don’t let being content with what you have stop you from
wanting to improve and get more. In other words, you need to be both happy
with what you have and want to improve, to get more, to be even happier.


9. Always think positive and look for good in everything.

Positive thinking.

You don’t do the world nor yourself any favors by thinking negative.

Everything has at least two sides to it. Nothing is inherently good or bad.
It is what we make of it. Choose to see the good side of everything and
you will see great changes in your life.

There is already so much negativity in the world. Don’t add to it. Instead,
be a beacon of light and think of the best even when things look the
worst. By shining like that you will help not only yourself but also your
family and people around you.

Also, only by thinking positive and being open to the world will you see
opportunities that are everywhere around us and be able to act on them.


10. Take those shots. You miss every shot you don’t take.

This is the quote I heard from Michael Jordan, considered to be one of the
best of all time in his area. It comes to the basic principle of taking action,
taking chances, taking shots.

All too often we hinder ourselves in our actions. You want to do something,
your brain comes up with thousand reasons why you shouldn’t do it and
thousand horrible things that could happen.

You have to get out of your comfort zone. It’s not easy, but there’s no
other way. Give yourself a little courage. Think rationally about what’s the
worst that could happen. Chances are, it’s not nearly as bad as you thought
it would be. Act as if it were impossible to fail. If you can say “I don’t care
what happens I’m gonna do it”, you win.

Then, you realize that you are still standing, that nothing happened of the
things you thought it would. Now you can do it again and it is a bit easier,
then it creates a momentum and every next time it gets easier and easier
until it becomes the integral part of you.


11. Don't fear difficult moments, the best comes from them.

It’s those hard times when we grow the most. it’s those challenges that
we have to overcome to improve. It’s when hurts the most you need to
work the hardest to succeed. Embrace difficulties, work to overcome them,
learn from them and become a better man when you emerge victorious.


12. Shoot for the Moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.

This may be a bit controversial and many probably won’t agree. Often you
will hear to set realistic goals. Even some of the most successful
self-development authors say to set realistic goals. But what goals are
realistic? How do the others know what is your limit? How do you know
your limit unless you push it?

I say don’t be afraid to dream big.

The biggest issue with so called “unrealistic” goals is the fear that you won’t
be able to achieve them.

What if you don’t hit your goal? Won’t you get disappointed and give up?
Should you give up on it since you didn’t reach it when you though you
should? Absolutely not. All you need to do is set a new deadline! That’s the
beauty of it. If you don’t reach the goal you set a new deadline and
continue working towards it.

If you set a goal you may succeed in reaching it or not, but if you don’t
set it I guarantee you that you won’t reach it.

Without big dreams, even the unrealistic ones, we wouldn’t have many
things we have today. By daring to dream big many people have achieved
greatness and history remembers them.

In this poetic manner I finish my list, please say what you think about it,
do you agree, disagree, what would you add to it.

Best of luck,

Zak Exel War Room Member

http://www.warriorforum.com/mind-warriors-success-power-self-improvement/601136-my-12-rules-success-life-business.html

How to make a motivational board

Everyone needs help from time to time keeping our goals on track. A great item to use to keep your goals on track is a motivation board. Keep your motivation way up on achieving your goals. Use the easy steps to make a motivation board today.

1 Cover the cork board with the fabric that you have chosen to be the background to your motivation board. Pull the fabric tight across the front of the motivation board. Staple the fabric to the back of the board to keep it in place. Remove the excess fabric.

2 Write down all of the goals that you have in a notebook. No goal is too large or too small to be considered for a motivation board. Dedicate at least 30 minutes to this step.

3 Choose four to five goals from the list that you made to be used on your motivation board. You will want to choose some long and some short term goals to use on your motivation board. This mixture of goals will help to keep you motivated.

4 Go through the stack of magazines and find one to two pictures that represents each goal. Cut these pictures out for your motivation board. A great example of this is if one of your goals is to buy a house, then find a picture of a house that you like.

5 Use the markers on the construction paper to write a description of each goal for the motivation board. Also write some inspirational phrases. Some great phrases to use are, "If you believe, you can achieve" and, "You can do anything if you put your mind to it." Cut each of these writings out for the motivational board. Vary the colors of the construction paper that you use.

6 Scatter the pictures and phrases all around the motivational board. Staple these items to keep them in place.

7 Hang your new motivational board in a place where you will see it everyday.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2308065_make-motivation-board.html

How to Create Your Personal Development Plan

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.

“I don’t much care where –” said Alice.

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”

Do you know where you’re going? Where do you see yourself in a year, five years – and perhaps ten years down the road? In the years where I have planned out what I wanted to accomplish, I invariably achieved what I set out to do – and it has consistently been more than in the years when I didn’t plan.

So from my personal experience, it’s true – if you don’t know where you want to get to, it doesn’t matter which way you go.

Do you have hopes and dreams you’re chasing? If you do, but aren’t sure which way to go – perhaps a personal development plan will help you figure that out, and help you get there.

Why Put Together a Personal Development Plan?

“He who fails to plan is planning to fail.”

– Winston Churchill

You may have previously read this discussion on writing down your goals, where I point to research showing that it has a measurable effect, increasing the likelihood of success. In addition to the research, three big reasons I like having a personal development plan include:

• Clarity. Knowing what I am trying to accomplish gives me a clear idea of what I’m working on.
• Define The Why. Oftentimes, along the way I’ll come across tasks and situation that I simply don’t enjoy doing. Having a personal development plan shows me why I’m doing what I’m doing.
• My Compass. I’m a very driven, ambitious person – but if I don’t have a plan of what I’m trying to accomplish, I end up expending energy in many different directions. A personal development plan keeps me headed towards consistent goals.

What Do I Put In A Personal Development Plan?

“Success requires a wel-articulated goal. It is not a product of wishful thinking.”

– 7 Simple Steps by Jonathan Wells

The answers to this question are varied. For me, the broad answer is this: I write down what I want, and I write down how I plan to get there.

That’s the overarching purpose, but I’ll give you some specific examples of what to include in your personal development plan as well. Some of these items I added after recommendations from my mentors. One thing to note though is there are no hard and fast rules – your personal development plan is all about you, and what you want to accomplish.

Personal Development Plan Example Sections

• Your Life Purpose. What were you born to do? What is the meaning of your life?
• Your Dreams. Those far reaching thoughts and hopes that inspire you to action.
• Short, Medium and Long Term Goals. Some people like weekly, monthly, others like yearly and beyond. I like to have a mix of them, but at any given time I like to have at least some goals I can accomplish in the span of a few months. This lets me see that I have measurable progress towards my goals.
• Your Beliefs and Values. What do you stand for? And perhaps, what do you wish your actions showed you stand for?
• Your Ideal Self. I like to write down “Ideal Sid.” I have a description of the type of person I want to be – the way I act around people, the way I spend my days, and I have some specific things such as how ideal Sid responds to criticism, how ideal Sid deals with negative people, and how ideal Sid deals with failure. I don’t always act the way I idealize I should, but it gives me something to shoot for – and most often, this section is not accomplishment or achievement driven. It’s mostly about my interactions with people.
• Mistakes and Lessons. Very often I’ll make mistakes along the way. I don’t write them down to beat myself up over them – I write them down because we learn so much from our mistakes.
• Success and Milestones. Just as I note my mistakes, I also celebrate my successes.

Personal Development Plan Template for Goals

One of the areas many people struggle with is setting goals. That is a whole other article in and of itself on how to effectively set goals, but lets talk specifically in the context of a personal development plan. How can you get a good overview of the direction you want your life to head? Once you’ve settled on your life purpose and your big dreams, you should sketch out some goals in the most important areas in your life, at regular intervals. I like to go ten years out, but three or gives years is great too. A very simple personal development plan template for goals might look like this:

Goal Area	One Year	Three Year	Five Year	Ten Year
Career
Finances
Physical/Body
Social
Personal

For each box, answer these questions:

• What specifically do I want to accomplish?
• Why?
• Who can help me?
• How do I get there? (What actions do I need to take?)

Personal Development Planning Tools

In addition to the information above, consider other tools to help you with your personal development

• Events. Especially for career and education goals, are there seminars you can attend? Conferences? Meetups where people similar to you gather?
• Classes/Books/Educational material. Sometimes the first step is finding the resources we need. You may want to start by checking out some of my personal development product reviews.
• Mentors and Supporters. Who can you reach out to that can help you with your goals? For many of my personal goals, I’ve formed individual mastermind groups towards a specific purpose. If you’d like me to mentor you – you can contact me for coaching, or receive free training below:

http://sidsavara.com/personal-development/personal-development-plan

How to Build Self-Discipline

Discipline is freedom. You may disagree with this statement, and if you do you are certainly not alone. For many people discipline is a dirty word that is equated with the absence of freedom. In fact the opposite is true. As Stephen R. Covey once wrote, “the undisciplined are slaves to moods, appetites and passions”. And in the longer term, the undisciplined lack the freedom that comes with possessing particular skills and abilities – e.g. to play a musical instrument or speak a foreign language.

Self-discipline involves acting according to what you think instead of how you feel in the moment. Often it involves sacrificing the pleasure and thrill of the moment for what matters most in life. Therefore it is self-discipline that drives you to:

Work on an idea or project after the initial rush of enthusiasm has faded away

• Go to the gym when all you want to do is lie on the couch and watch TV
• Wake early to work on yourself
• Say “no” when tempted to break your diet
• Only check your email a few of times per day at particular times

In the past self-discipline has been a weakness of mine, and as a result today I find myself lacking the ability to do a number of things which I would like – e.g. to play the guitar. But I have improved, and I can say that it is self-discipline that got me out of bed this morning at 5am to run and then write this article. Believe me, I would love to be curled up in bed right now, but this desire is subordinated by my inner sense of purpose.

If you struggle with self-discipline, the good news is that it can be developed. For example, it is only in the past two years that I have trained myself to wake early. The following are what I have found to be the five traits of self-discipline:

1. Self-Knowledge

Discipline means behaving according to what you have decided is best, regardless of how you feel in the moment. Therefore the first trait of discipline is self-knowledge. You need to decide what behavior best reflects your goals and values. This process requires introspection and self-analysis, and is most effective when tied to written expression. I highly recommend taking the time to write out your goals, dreams and ambitions. Even better, write out a personal mission statement. I found that writing such a statement gave me a greater understanding of who I am, what I am about and what I value. Dr. Covey has an excellent Mission Statement Builder on his site.

2. Conscious Awareness

Self-discipline depends upon conscious awareness as to both what you are doing and what you are not doing. Think about it. If you aren’t aware your behavior is undisciplined, how will you know to act otherwise?

As you begin to build self-discipline, you may catch yourself being in the act of being undisciplined – e.g. biting your nails, avoiding the gym, eating a piece of cake or checking your email constantly. Developing self-discipline takes time, and the key here is you are aware of your undisciplined behavior. With time this awareness will come earlier, meaning rather than catching yourself in the act of being undisciplined you will have awareness before you act in this way. This gives you the opportunity to make a decision that is in better alignment with your goals and values.

3. Commitment to Self-Discipline

It is not enough to simply write out your goals and values. You must make an internal commitment to them. Otherwise when your alarm clock goes off at 5am you will see no harm in hitting the snooze button for “just another 5 minutes….” Or, when initial rush of enthusiasm has faded away from a project you will struggle to see it through to completion.

If you struggle with commitment, start by making a conscious decision to follow through on what you say you’re going to do – both when you said you would do it and how you said you would do it. Then, I highly recommend putting in place a system to track these commitments. As the saying goes, “What gets measured gets improved”.

4. Courage

Did you notice the sweat dripping from the man in the picture at the start of this article? Make no mistake, self-discipline is often extremely difficult. Moods, appetites and passions can be powerful forces to go against. Therefore self-discipline is highly dependent on courage. Don’t pretend something is easy for you to do when it is in fact very difficult and/ or painful. Instead, find the courage to face this pain and difficulty. As you begin to accumulate small private victories, your self-confidence will grow and the courage that underpins self-discipline will come more naturally.

5. Internal Coaching

Self-talk is often harmful, but it can also be extremely beneficial if you have control of it. When you find yourself being tested, I suggest you talk to yourself, encourage yourself and reassure yourself. After all, it is self-talk that has the ability to remind you of your goals, call up courage, reinforce your commitment and keep you conscious of the task at hand. When I find my discipline being tested, I always recall the following quote: “The price of discipline is always less than the pain of regret”. Burn this quote into your memory, and recall in whenever you find yourself being tested. It may change your life.

http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/self-discipline/

Great leadership quotes and inspirational quotes

Some of these quotes are available as free motivational posters.

"People ask the difference between a leader and a boss.... The leader works in the open, and the boss in covert. The leader leads and the boss drives." (Theodore Roosevelt)

"The marksman hitteth the target partly by pulling, partly by letting go. The boatsman reacheth the landing partly by pulling, partly by letting go." (Egyptian proverb)

"No man is fit to command another that cannot command himself." (William Penn)

"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." (President Harry S Truman)

"I not only use all the brains I have, but all I can borrow." (Woodrow Wilson)

"What should it profit a man if he would gain the whole world yet lose his soul." (The Holy Bible, Mark 8:36)

"A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline." (Harvey Mackay)

"Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple, learn how to look after them, and pretty soon you have a dozen." (John Steinbeck)

"I keep six honest serving-men, They taught me all I knew; Their names are What and Why and When, And How and Where and Who." (Rudyard Kipling, from 'Just So Stories', 1902.)

"A dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant may see farther than the giant himself." (Didacus Stella, circa AD60 - and, as a matter of interest, abridged on the edge of an English £2 coin)

"Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful." (Samuel Johnson 1709-84)

"The most important thing in life is not to capitalise on your successes - any fool can do that. The really important thing is to profit from your mistakes." (William Bolitho, from 'Twelve against the Gods')

"Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be, For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud: Under the bludgeonings of chance my head is bloody but unbowed . . . . . It matters not how strait the gait, how charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul." (WE Henley, 1849-1903, from 'Invictus')

"Everybody can get angry - that's easy. But getting angry at the right person, with the right intensity, at the right time, for the right reason and in the right way - that's hard." (Aristotle)

"Management means helping people to get the best out of themselves, not organising things." (Lauren Appley)

"It's not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred with the sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause and who, at best knows the triumph of high achievement and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." (Theodore Roosevelt.)

"Behind an able man there are always other able men." (Chinese Proverb.)

"I praise loudly. I blame softly." (Catherine the Great, 1729-1796.)

"Experto Credite." ("Trust one who has proved it." Virgil, 2,000 years ago.)

http://www.businessballs.com/leadership.htm

16 Rules for Success in Business and Life in General

Forbe’s calls Bob Parsons “The Reluctant Billionaire”. As GoDaddy.com’s CEO & Founder, Parsons has spent his entire life working to make more, do better and achieve as much as possible in life’s pursuit of happiness. He’s gone from decorated combat Marine to technology marketing genius/philanthropist, now heading up the largest domain & hosting company in the world.

In his own ambitious, no nonsense style, Bob has come up with these 16 Rules for Success in Business and Life in General. They are worthy of featuring, so with Bob’s permission, I’m sharing them with you.

1. Get and stay out of your comfort zone.
I believe that not much happens of any significance when we’re in our comfort zone. I hear people say, “But I’m concerned about security.” My response to that is simple: “Security is for cadavers.”

2. Never give up.
Almost nothing works the first time it’s attempted. Just because what you’re doing does not seem to be working, doesn’t mean it won’t work. It just means that it might not work the way you’re doing it. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn’t have an opportunity.

3. When you’re ready to quit, you’re closer than you think.
There’s an old Chinese saying that I just love, and I believe it is so true. It goes like this: “The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.”

4. With regard to whatever worries you, not only accept the worst thing that could happen, but make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be.
Very seldom will the worst consequence be anywhere near as bad as a cloud of “undefined consequences.” My father would tell me early on, when I was struggling and losing my shirt trying to get Parsons Technology going, “Well, Robert, if it doesn’t work, they can’t eat you.”

5. Focus on what you want to have happen.
Remember that old saying, “As you think, so shall you be.”

6. Be quick to decide.
Remember what General George S. Patton said: “A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow.”

7. Always be moving forward.
Never stop investing. Never stop improving. Never stop doing something new. The moment you stop improving your organization, it starts to die. Make it your goal to be better each and every day, in some small way. Remember the Japanese concept of Kaizen. Small daily improvements eventually result in huge advantages.

8. Take things a day at a time.
No matter how difficult your situation is, you can get through it if you don’t look too far into the future, and focus on the present moment. You can get through anything one day at a time.

9. Measure everything of significance.
I swear this is true. Anything that is measured and watched, improves.

10. Anything that is not managed will deteriorate.
If you want to uncover problems you don’t know about, take a few moments and look closely at the areas you haven’t examined for a while. I guarantee you problems will be there.

11. Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you’re doing.
When you look at your competitors, remember that everything looks perfect at a distance. Even the planet Earth, if you get far enough into space, looks like a peaceful place.

12. Never let anybody push you around.
In our society, with our laws and even playing field, you have just as much right to what you’re doing as anyone else, provided that what you’re doing is legal.

13. Never expect life to be fair.
Life isn’t fair. You make your own breaks. You’ll be doing good if the only meaning fair has to you, is something that you pay when you get on a bus (i.e., fare).

14. Solve your own problems.
You’ll find that by coming up with your own solutions, you’ll develop a competitive edge. Masura Ibuka, the co-founder of SONY, said it best: “You never succeed in technology, business, or anything by following the others.” There’s also an old saying that I remind myself of frequently. It goes like this: “A wise man keeps his own counsel.”

15. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
Lighten up. Often, at least half of what we accomplish is due to luck. None of us are in control as much as we like to think we are.

16. There’s always a reason to smile.
Find it. After all, you’re really lucky just to be alive. Life is short. More and more, I agree with my little brother. He always reminds me: “We’re not here for a long time, we’re here for a good time!”

http://coleruddick.com/16-rules-for-success-in-business-and-life-in-general/