How to Enjoy Your Job

Do you get a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach every Monday morning? Are you counting down the days until the weekend? If “TGIF!!!” is your most frequent Facebook status update, there is a good chance you secretly despise your job.

I interviewed Joanna Penn, author of How to Enjoy Your Job… or Find a New One! for practical advice on transforming an unfulfilling job into a more satisfying experience. As a business IT consultant for the past 12 years, she knows all about “cubicle life” and how hard it can be. In her book, she draws on extensive research as well as her own personal experience to help others find enjoyment at work.

One of the most common complaints people have about work is boredom. How can people cope?

First, you have to decide on the “why” behind what you are doing. If your job is a career, one you want to invest in and pursue long-term, then you must take charge of your own self-development. Be an active participant. Ask questions and volunteer. Take extra courses that you can to add to your resume and use as a networking opportunity. Most companies have some kind of budget for training and education, so be proactive and ask. You are your own best asset and you need to be responsible for developing yourself.

You may also have to get out of your comfort zone in order to challenge yourself. One of the biggest jumps I made in my early consulting career was when someone more senior got into trouble and was laid off. I volunteered to take his place at the client site the next day, and I had to work really hard to stay one step ahead but I certainly wasn’t bored any longer!

If this job isn’t what you want to be doing long-term, then boredom may be something you have to put up with short-term, but don’t get into a routine of accepting it. Set your target for when you want to be gone from that position and work towards that goal

Stress is another huge problem. Do you have any stress management tips for people who feel completely burned out?

My biggest tip for stress management is to move to working four days per week. This one change impacted my life hugely. Realistically, we can’t give up the day job but just that one “release-valve day” makes an incredible difference. Sacrificing one-fifth of the income is absolutely worth it for quality of life. In the three years since I have been working this way, I have reduced my stress migraines from every two days to every few months and also written four books in my spare time — as well as starting my own business. I am happier and more fulfilled and I work more efficiently, achieving a full-time workload anyway which keeps management happy.

You won’t realize how powerful this is until you try it, and you don’t know unless you ask your manager whether it is allowed. That extra space gives you time to think about what you really want to do with your life without the pressure of resigning in anger.

What advice do you have for workers who feel unappreciated?

This is so pervasive in corporate culture, it’s desperately sad! I know I work harder for someone who praises me, and most people just want that appreciation. You can start by being someone who appreciates others first. LinkedIn is a great site for recommending people, so why not recommend a few colleagues or any managers that actually do reward their employees? By praising others, you will find it comes back your way.

Again, it’s also good to identify where your feelings stem from and what you want to be praised for. Write down a list of what you’re good at and what you should be rewarded for. Keep this in mind for your ideal job and make sure it becomes a criteria for your next career move.

What about difficult co-workers? How can you prevent them from driving you crazy?

It’s important to remember that we can’t change other people. Try to nail down exactly what it is that bothers you about the person or situation. Is there a way you can physically move desks so it is not so much of a problem? A friend of mine used to wear earbuds as if he was listening to an iPod all the time (even though the music wasn’t turned on) so a colleague would stop talking and distracting him. His action solved the problem without causing a scene.

Focus on what you can control and look at the reality and severity of the situation. If someone is bullying or harassing you, then you must act and you have every right to. But if someone has bad breath and bashes their keyboard all the time, you have less of a right to complain. You can only adjust your own working situation.

Not every person is a great fit for every job. What suggestions do you have for people who are a mismatch?
This used to be me, and it’s true for a huge number of people out there. We fall into jobs and find ourselves still there years later, unhappy with what we’ve achieved. But whatever age you are, there is time to change. The first thing to do is to look at what you’d like to do instead. Many people fail at this initial step because they don’t go deep enough. Look at what you enjoyed when you were younger and didn’t have to worry about money. Look at what you do for fun. What are you passionate about?

Then you will need to go through a period of time when you learn about this new thing. Maybe you need to retrain, maybe you need to volunteer. Making time to develop a new career path also changes your focus on how bad your job is. Your energy turns to positive creation instead of negative despair. This actually makes your job more enjoyable in itself because you have more of a purpose and you feel like you are going somewhere with your life.

In your book, you refer to the idea of “learned helplessness.” Can you explain how learned helplessness influences the way people approach work and make choices in daily life?

Basically, the idea of learned helplessness is that when we get used to things being the way they are, we stop trying to get out. There may be a door open to new possibilities but we don’t even see it because our minds can only see one part of the reality. It’s ultimately about control. We think that we have no control over the situation so we stop even trying. It is critical to realize that you do have control in order to escape this thinking. There are actually unlimited possibilities out there; you just need to lift your head up to see them. Sometimes things take longer than expected as well, but wouldn’t you rather be in a different career in five years than still where you are now? The only way to get there is to decide what you want and start making steps in that direction.

As an example, I always wanted to write novels, but for many years I believed I was the academic one in the family, not the creative one. I was truly miserable just being an IT consultant with no creative outlet, feeling increasingly angry at what I was becoming. So I decided to learn about creativity, and I started to say an affirmation – a positive statement about myself – on my commute every day. 

That affirmation was, “I am creative and I am an author.” Four years later, my first thriller novel reached the Amazon bestseller charts and I was running a business called The Creative Penn to help other people fulfill their dreams of writing a book. I am still a part-time IT consultant, but I have a growing business on the side and I certainly believe I’m creative! What affirmations do you need to make in order to start this process?

If people are unwilling to leave a dead-end job, what can they do to add more happiness to their life?
Sometimes you need to stay in a job for a period of time, maybe in order to provide stability for your family or because you have to wait a while to achieve your other goals. There are ways to make life better in the meantime, and as one example, I’ll come back to creativity again. As children, we create all the time but as adults we lose that joy and pride in having something to show for our time. 

Try skipping some TV shows and start a creative project or take a class. Push your comfort zone and try pottery or drawing. Go to a modern art gallery at the weekend and just look. Take some photos and make a collage for your kids. It doesn’t matter what, just stop watching TV and do something better with your spare time. This new creative outlet will help you experience a sense of achievement, gain new friends and broaden your horizons. It will also help change your mindset.

by Sarah Nagel

Bring Love To Work

    “Work is love made visible.” – Kahlil Gibran

Love and work are not topics we necessarily talk about together, but if we let it work can be a wonderful way to express ourselves…and show love to those around us!

Whether you are waiting tables or a brain surgeon, any job you do is about serving others and making their life better on some level. We have all had experiences where someone working in their job has lifted us up and made a difference to our day or brought us down and made our day worst.

A friend of mine told me a story once about a shop assistant he had observed in a large department store in London. It was the shop assistant’s job to answer customer queries all day long. At any one time, he would have queues of people waiting to ask questions and they were often ready to let off steam about something that had gone wrong! My friend saw that the assistant was consistently calm and happy, answering each customer in turn without getting flustered or overwhelmed. My friend managed to strike up a conversation with the shop assistant and asked him his secret. The shop assistant told him that meditation helped him to stay focused and centered so that he could be present and serve each customer to the best of his ability.

This is an inspiring story that points to something important: we always have a choice about who we are going to be at work, regardless of our job. We have all met wonderful people cleaning floors and people who are not so wonderful who have amazing jobs. So whatever your job, how do you bring love to work?
 

You Have A Choice

Put your best foot forward each day. Even if you dislike your job, you can do your best today and help people around you. Remind yourself of this often. It can be easy to lose sight of if your day takes a turn for the worst or if you have a run in with your boss! If something unpleasant happens at work, do your best to deal with it straight away and then move on. Wallowing or complaining about a situation without taking action won’t change it.
 

Be Prepared

Set yourself up for your work day. Take care of your own needs and put a little extra time into getting yourself feeling good before you go to work. If you go into a work with a hangover or after giving yourself ten minutes to get ready, you are not going to be feeling your best! I make time to exercise in the morning before work and have a good breakfast. It helps me to get myself centred and ready for the day ahead.
 

Be Grateful

Be grateful for your work. Even if you don’t like your job, there will be something you can be grateful for if you take the time to look (even if it’s just the pay). Being grateful doesn’t mean you have to stay in a job you don’t like but it will help you to develop a more positive mindset when you are there. Have a look at your work and see if you are taking anything for granted? You don’t like your job, but enjoy being with your colleagues? This is something to be thankful for. When I have practised gratefulness it really had allowed me to develop a more useful outlook and be happier at my work.
 

Enjoy Each Day

Make a decision to enjoy each day. It really is as simple as that. Your mindset makes a huge difference to your experience. I have had jobs which I have disliked, but taking one day at a time and trying to enjoy each as much as possible, always helped. Make the best of the situation you find yourself within and spread that enjoyment to those around you.
 

Be Present

Like the shop assistant that my friend met, if we can learn to be present and deal with each moment as it occurs, we have a lot more love and energy to give. Practice being in the moment and dealing with the task in front of you like the shop assistant. Often, our unhappiness at work comes from thinking that our situation should be different. Stop resisting and start engaging with your work.
 

Smile

A smile goes a long way and can help you feel better as well as having a positive influence on those around you. Smile often!
 

In Closing

Obviously, the more that you genuinely do enjoy your job, the better. Strive to find work you love. It becomes less of an effort to find pleasure in your work and express love, when you really enjoy your work. Your work then truly does become as the quote at the top of this article says: love made visible.

So, how do you bring love to your work?

by Jen Smith

Happy Employees: How to Create Them

Tulisan ini kami persembahkan buat perusahaan yang punya tingkat Turn Over tinggi. Semoga beberapa tips yang ada bisa memberikan alternatif solusi dari permasalahan yang dihadapi.

 

It’s expensive to train employees but it’s even more so to lose one. Figures don’t lie. Although employee turnover in the US is at a low 1.4 percent, the fact remains that the cost of losing an employee may cost a company 25 to 250 percent of his annual income.

Managers always face the challenge of ensuring that their employees remain productive and happy with their jobs. But how can one tell happy employees from unhappy ones?

 
4 Signs Employees Need Your Attention
 

1. An employee usually comes in late or often calls in sick

A happy employee comes to work on time and doesn’t call in sick often. If an employee is satisfied with his job, he doesn’t have any reason for chronic tardiness and absenteeism. But if this pattern suddenly changed in your employee, consider this a warning sign.

Check if your employee has a valid reason like a death in the family or some personal problems. If your staff is regularly giving you flimsy excuses like “I got stuck in traffic” or “I had an errand to do,” he or she might be seeking greener pastures elsewhere. They may be attending job interviews or networking with friends who have job leads.

An unhappy employee may also literally get sick with the mere idea of going to work. Common sicknesses include stress headaches or stomach problems.
 

2. Your employee takes longer breaks

There’s nothing wrong with occasional lunch-outs and coffee breaks. It’s an effective way for an employee to bond with his office friends and provides a fun respite from the hustle and bustle of the daily grind.

But if your employee is spending more time with his coffee and lunch breaks than working, then it’s time to call their attention and see if there’s anything wrong.
 

3. Your employee is no longer productive or his level of productivity declines
Unhappy employees are notorious clock-watchers. They come in late and they can’t wait to get out of the office. When a staff’s performance starts to decline, a manager must realize that the employee may be unsatisfied with his work. Set a one-on-one meeting with your staff and see where the dissatisfaction is coming from.

If he’s dissatisfied with work, give him the opportunity to work on other projects that he may be interested in. A manager must be able understand the sentiments of his employee so that he can give the proper motivation.
 

4. Your employee withdraws from others
Happy employees tend to socialize more with their work colleagues. They have a sunny disposition and work well with others. If an employee’s enthusiasm changes, his immediate superior should be concerned. Withdrawal from others can be a signal that an employee is having emotional and/or social problems.

Unhappy employees also have the tendency to be more annoyed or irritated. When the smallest thing annoys your employee, he may resort to raising his voice or pick a fight.
 

4 Tips for Having Happy Employees

Organizational climate surveys are regularly conducted by large companies to assess the overall satisfaction of their employees.

As a supervisor or a manager, you can also do things to ensure that your staff’s morale is up. Contrary to misconception, monetary rewards are not the solution to happy employees. Sure, these are always appreciated but the most important thing for an employee is to have a sense of pride in his work.
 

1. Provide Clear Career Path

Employees want to know if they have a future with the company. An employee must be involved in projects that both challenge and excite him. Training and development should also be provided to allow him to learn new things and expand his knowledge.
 

2. Recognize the Importance of Work Life Balance

A manager must realize that employees are also fathers, mothers, daughters, friends, etc. No employee wants to stay in the office beyond working hours when he can spend that time socializing with his friends or spending time with his family. A manager must be sensitive to time and allow his staff to focus on other things.
 

3. Appreciate & Recognize

It is man’s nature to seek appreciation and recognition. When your employee does a great job, commend him for a job well done. When he suggests a brilliant idea, make sure he is credited for it. Rewards are also a great boost for employee morale. It can be an additional bonus or something a little simpler like a pizza party.
 

4. Listen & Give Constructive Criticism

Employees are most happy when they know that their boss listens to them. It gives them self-importance and encourages them to think of more creative and helpful ideas. And when an employee makes a mistake, his manager must not embarrass or criticize him in public.

Satisfied employees make for a productive and effective company. A sympathetic ear, the right motivation and sincerity can do wonders for an employee’s morale.

How do you create happy employees? Got tips that you can share?

By Rocelle del Callar

8 Ways to Forget About Work…and Have Fun!

By Jen Smith

Tips bagi kawan-kawan yang bekerja di Offshore atau Remote Area seperti Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Irian atau daerah lain yang jauh dari pusat keramaian, dengan harapan anda bisa mendapatkan keseimbangan antara dunia kerja yang rutin dan cenderung monoton dengan sosialita, hingga anda bisa keluar dari lingkaran rutinitas tersebut.

Switching off from work is something many of us find difficult. We want the work-life balance but can find our minds are still consumed with thoughts of work when we are not there. Here are some tips to help you switch off:
 

1. Create a Ritual

Mark a line in the sand to signal the end of your work day. This is important whether you work from home or away. If you wear a uniform at work, you could change when you arrive home. Having a shower is another great way to wash the work day away. If you have an hour’s commute home you could decide that you will allow yourself time to ruminate over the day and upon arriving at home, you “switch” off. Find some way to delineate the work day from your leisure time.
 

2. Unplug

Unless it is part of your contract or job, get in the habit of unplugging from work when you are not there. You don’t have to be connected 24/7. Turn off your phone and laptop. We might think that being continuously available is what is expected of us, but often we are the ones who put these expectations on ourselves. If your boss or colleagues do expect you to be at the end of the phone or email outside work, set a new boundary around your home time. Explain what you are doing and how it will work and what you are willing to do, you don’t have to be inflexible. Be clear and assertive. Your actions could help change an unhealthy workplace habit.
 

3. Create Boundaries

Having friends at work can be a good way to enjoy your time at work and get on in your field, but at times it may be necessary to create boundaries and step back. If you are finding that all of your spare time is spent with people from work it could be time for a re-balance. It is great to get along with your peers but it will make it harder to switch off from work if all of your spare time is spent with them. You could put a night or two aside a week for socializing with workmates and ensure your other evenings are spent with people outside work, doing things unrelated to your job.
 

4. Create Exciting Plans

Having exciting things planned that you can look forward to outside work makes a big difference to your mindset. If you find it hard to switch off after work, sitting in front of the television all night or talking about how much you dislike your job won’t make things any better. Arrange to meet up with some friends or start a new hobby. Schedule time each week for these plans and make sure you are continually making enjoyable plans outside work.
 

5. Cultivate Healthy Habits

Cultivating healthy habits like exercise or meditation is a great way to enhance your ability to switch off from work (and other parts of your life if needed) and increase your overall sense of well-being. If you don’t currently exercise, have a look and see what you could do. Even a walk each day can make a huge difference to your ability to switch off — and your overall fitness. Do some research and find out what interests you.
 

6. Delegate

If you find it hard to ask for help, learn to let go and spread the workload. Trust other people to do a good job while you are not at work. If you are a manager or business owner, train someone in your team that you trust to take the reins when you are not there. If people are trusted and treated well, they will usually step up and impress.
 

7. Find Work That Fits
When I am doing work that fits and inspires me, I have less to switch off from; being at work becomes enjoyable. Yet when I have done work that isn’t “me” or that I enjoy, there seems to be more to get out of my system at the end of the day and more to unwind from. Find work that you enjoy and that suits you and you’ll have less to switch off from.
 

8. Work Less

If there is any way you can go part time and work less, it will help you to switch off and have more time for your own pursuits. Something as simple as working out how much you usually earn a day and seeing if you can save that amount elsewhere is a good place to start.  If you can find a way to save a day’s earnings per week, it could mean that you could ask to work a four day week without it having an impact on your finances.

How do you switch off from work?

How to Achieve Anything

By Tina Su

Is there a goal you want to accomplish, but just cannot find the time to start it? It might be something trivial like, to reduce the amount of TV watching, or time spent browsing the Internet. It might be, to become an early riser, or to quit drinking alcohol, or to start a home business. Whatever it is, what is keeping you where you are instead of reaching your desired destination?

I have several such targets in my life that I often think about, but rarely take action on. Each time I’m reminded of one of them, I would guiltily say, “I really should do [blah]“, and then forget about it until the next time guilt creeps back into my head.

One such target I have is to exercise. I’ve been talking about wanting to get in shape for about two years now. I even setup an arbitrary goal of doing a triathlon to get me excited. I did start to go running shortly after setting the goal, which lasted for about a week, before I became distracted with another target.

I like to think of myself as a pretty disciplined and motivated person – I mean, I write about this stuff! But, something about this particular target has been very psychologically challenging for me to take consistent action on. And I want to understand it.

Overcoming the mental blocks and actually taking action towards this outcome has been my focus over the past few weeks. I am proud to announce that I have been doing 5-mile walk-runs, every other day, successfully for fourteen days now.

I’m confident that since I have kept it up for two weeks, then surely, I can keep it up for a month. And if I can consistently do it for a month, I will have habituated the activity into my daily rhythm and be able to keep it up indefinitely.

The point of this article isn’t about running, but rather, extracting lessons from achieving a goal, and applying them to other areas of our lives.
Analysis of ‘Why It Didn’t Work’

Looking back over past failed attempts at this target, I realized that I didn’t have enough reasons to keep myself motivated, thus I wasn’t fully committed to making the change. Here are some observations:
1. Excuse: “I don’t have enough time”

I used to assume that it I was working too much and simply did not have the time. Well, I’ve come to learn that “I don’t have the time” is the biggest lie we can tell ourselves to justify for the lack of action towards activities that can (sometimes) significantly improve the quality of our lives. If we added all the time we spend on unimportant and not urgent things – like web browsing or TV watching – we would have the time, easily. We do have the time!

I used to tell myself, “When I leave my day job, I will have much more time to pursue the things on my lists, which I don’t have time for now.” Things like exercising.

You’d think, now that I’m in a position to create my own schedule (or lack thereof), surely, I should have enough free time to exercise. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I still don’t have enough time. It’s become obvious that without a measurable target and a reasonable plan, life has a way of magically inserting random (often unimportant) activities to fill up our day. The same items on my list while I had a day job are still on the list.

We don’t have time for things, until we create time for these things. If something is important enough to us, we will find the time, regardless of how busy we are. End of story.

It’s a matter of finding the compelling reasons why something is important to us – enough of a nudge to drive us to lasting change.
 

2. Focus on Pain

The more I focused on the uncomfortable factors associated with exercise, the less motivated I became, and the more excuses I made to skip workouts – before I stopped completely.

Here are my favorite excuses to justify not exercising:

• It’s hard! I can’t breathe.
• My leg hurts
• It’s cold outside
• It’s raining (I do live in Seattle, after all)
• It’s late, if I go jogging, I won’t have enough time to do X.

3. Lacked Motives to Action

Although I kept telling myself that I should go jogging, I wasn’t fully clear on why I wanted it. I wasn’t overweight, and didn’t have an explicit incentive to get active. I didn’t have the motives to justify the necessary action for a vaguely defined goal.

Did you know that we will do more to avoid pain than we will to gain pleasure? In this case, the affects of not doing it, was not painful enough to drive me to get it done. In my mind, the pain of doing was greater than the pain of not doing.
 

4. Language, Focus & Priority

The goal was a should and not a must. “I should go jogging”, I would say , when it’s better to say, “I must go jogging, in order to gain the energy I need”. When something is a should, it is wishful thinking, and we don’t get it done. When something is a must, it becomes a priority that deserves our attention. Because the target was a should, I never gave it the focused attention necessary for it to become a reality.
 

The Art of Change: From Desire to Result

The actual change happened very quickly – the moment I decided to change. Instead of thinking about it, and silently beating myself up for not doing it, I just did it. It was beautiful!

Sometimes, the best motivators are the ones we find when we hit a personal low point. My low point came a few weeks ago, when I realized that I hadn’t been outside for seven days straight (Eeeek!). I felt groggy, my body was aching, my energy level was low and I felt a slip in my grip on clarity.

When my clarity is threatened, I start to take notice. I now had a strong motive. I got up instantly and went for a run – a long one.
 

The System of OPA

OPA is a trick I picked up from Tony Robbins, which when applied, will assist us in achieving the results we desire. It stands for:

• Outcome (O) – Having a clear vision.
• Purpose (P) – Focus on results and purpose.
• Action (A) – Create a massive action plan for meaningful results.

Let’s expand on these and apply them to the jogging example.
 

O, Outcome

Most of us have vague ideas on what we want. We know roughly the direction we want to go, but because we aren’t clear on the vision of our destination, we get pushed into whichever direction the wind is blowing. Without a vision, we will obsess over “the how”, and will often overanalyze and fail to take action, or take ineffective action.

In the jogging example, “wanting to go jogging” is not the ultimate vision. The ultimate outcome I am seeking is actually mental clarity and physical energy. One activity that contributes to this outcome is regular exercise. Additionally, because I am focused on the desired outcome and not on the how, I have realized that there are other things I can do which will contribute towards this outcome, such as deep breathing, swimming, and yoga.


What is the ultimate vision for what you want? Be specific in describing the outcome you desire.
 

P, Purpose

Knowing what we want isn’t enough to give us the push towards massive action. We must know why we want it. Why is it important that we achieve our desired result? When we achieve this outcome, what will it bring us? Without strong enough reasons, we simply will not be moved into action.

In the jogging example, my reasons for wanting mental clarity and physical energy are:

• To feel physical wellbeing. To live fully and consciously.
• To have the clarity to write articles that serve others. To empower and inspire readers towards a fuller life with more joy and passion.
• When I have energy, I can get more out of my day. I can do more activities which will benefit my personal wellbeing, and in turn make more contributions to others.

Why must you achieve the target outcome? What are the reasons most important to you? What does achieving the outcome mean for you?
 

A, Action

Armed with your clear vision of the outcome and with the burning reasons why it is important to you, come up with an action plan for achieving the results you seek. Once you have your action plan, take one small action immediately. Then commit yourself towards taking some action regularly (everyday if possible) towards your target. Regardless of how small the action may seem, it will move you one step closer to your outcome, and – importantly – help build the momentum you will need to reach your destination.

In addition to knowing what you want, why you want it, and having a battle plan, the following are tips to overcome potential pitfalls on the road to lasting change.

Quantify & Measure – What gets measured gets managed. It’s important to be able to quantify results, so that we can evaluate our improvements and effectiveness. For my jogging example, I got the Nike sport kit for ipod nano – which allowed me to measure distance ran, duration and calories burnt. Once I had the numbers after each workout, I just wanted to beat them! As if playing a video game and trying to beat the top score.
    

Know Your Excuses - List out all the excuses you’re known to use in order to avoid action for a particular result. Now come up with an antidote for each excuse. Even without an antidote, at least, now you’re aware of which excuses might come up, and you’re ready to ignore them. For myself, “I am committed to going jogging every other day, regardless of weather, or how late in the day.”
    

Focus on One Target at a Time – When we try to focus on many results at the same time, rarely will we succeed. When we focus on one thing at a time, we can devote our undivided attention and energy on realizing the single result, thus giving it a higher chance of actualization. Move on to other targets only after we’ve successfully reached or habituated the current target. I’ve found it helpful to write the targeted outcome on a piece of paper, and posting it on a wall where I can see it regularly.
     

Change Your Language – Turn ‘should’ into ‘must’. The language we use carries with it energy. Notice that if you must do something, suddenly you feel a sense of urgency and priority? What is that thing that you’ve wanted to complete, and if you got it done will improve the quality of your experience? Now say, “I must do <insert activity>, because it will give me <insert reason>.” See how much more energy this sentence has, versus “I really should do <insert activity>.”

Consistency – When cultivating a new habit, consistency is more important than quantity. Have you noticed that when we skip a routine activity even once, it’ll be harder to get back into it? And the more we skip, the easier it is to skip it again the next time. Before we know it, we no longer have the habit which we’ve worked hard to create.
     

Fun Ingredient - Find ways to make the experience fun and enjoyable. For example, I will listen to motivational audio books or personal growth seminars when I run, and it really enhances both experiences. This added enrichment to the running experience, makes me look forward to the activity.
     

The 30 Day Challenge – If you can repeatedly do an activity for 30 days, it will become a habit, and will integrate automatically into your routine. Take it one step at a time, first commit yourself to following something for 7 days, then extend it to 14 days, then 21 days and 30 days. If you can do it for 30 days, you can likely continue it indefinitely (if you want to).
     

Change Your Questions – If you’re not getting the kind of results you’re looking for, perhaps it’s the questions you are asking yourself. Ask questions which lead to possibilities instead of limitations. Here are some examples of the limiting questions vs. more resourceful alternatives:
       

•         Why can’t I do this? Vs.
•         How can I make this work?
•         Why can’t I make more money? Vs.
•         How can I add even more value?
•         Why is this happening? Vs.
•         What can I do to help change this?
•         How can they do this to me? Vs.
•         How can I use this?
•         What is wrong in my life? Vs.
•         What am I grateful for?

Parting Words

We are the ultimate author of our life story. Within each of us, we hold the power to change anything in our lives, and in doing so, experience more joy and fulfillment. Lasting change starts with a change in the way we think – a clear vision for our desired results, meaningful reasons why we must have them, and building momentum towards massive action to make our visions a reality.

With meaning, understanding, awareness, and conscientious planning; we can turn massive responsibilities into actual possibilities, we can incorporate healthy habits, we can realize dreams, and we can live more deliberately and intentionally shape our own destiny.

Thank you for listening to my jogging story and allowing me to share my own life victories, regardless of how trivial they may seem. Through observing this experience, the jogging example accentuated some simple fundamental principles of achievement that can be applicable to other outcomes in our lives. I wish you success!

* What are some outcomes you would like to see in your life? Share your thoughts and stories with us in the comment section. See you there!

How to Focus + My Goals

By Tina Su

Do you feel overwhelmed by the number of things you want to focus on? Yet, you find it hard to make real progress forward? Perhaps, it’s time to slim down your list and focus on just one or two larger goals. I too didn’t know how to focus until an unexpected conversation with my husband exposed my problem. This is that story.

For New Year’s Eve last year, Jeremy and I were looking for something to do—a traditional party with an actual countdown, mingling with strangers, getting dressed up in swanky outfits, holding champagne, kissing at midnight, etc.

I felt so relieved when we were invited to such a party. “Finally, we’re not going to be orphans this year,” I thought. However, the Universe had other plans for us; something sweeter, something better.

The plan was to put Ryan to bed, have dinner, and then go to the party. As we were having dinner, one conversation after another, we ended up on the topic “What do you want in the New Year? What are your goals? What do you want to focus on?”

What started as a simple ten minute conversation over dinner grew into a two hour long, delicious sharing of our hopes and dreams for the future. It was one of the most honest conversations we’ve had. It was beautiful and worth savoring every breath.

One thing that became apparent was how scattered I was in what I wanted. My husband Jeremy had to stop me with “Oh wait, that’s too many things to focus on at once” as I listed all the things I wanted to focus on this year.

Despite my best efforts at simplifying my goals and my understanding that the more we focus on, the more diluted each goal becomes in its realization, I had too many “wants” and sometimes they conflicted with one another.

Using his supreme focus and sharpened managerial skills, Jeremy gently guided me in reorganizing my goals such that they were sorted in a hierarchical structure—with one big goal at the top to focus on, and lots of little goals that went underneath the big goal.

For my business, I had two big goals that were the most important which I will be focusing on. After examining all the loose goals, we determined that any career related goal had to fit under one of the two big goals. If they didn’t, I wouldn’t be working on them.

Too many loose goals become a distraction, taking energy away from what matters most. If you don’t have a definite goal, you won’t know what you should be focused on and will end up drifting wherever the wind takes you.

It makes sense: We only have a limited amount of time each day. If we give attention to one thing, that means we now have less attention to give to another thing. Real results are produced as a product of focused attention. Scattered attention, attention focused on too many things can never produce real results.

I often violate this rule, especially last year, when I didn’t have any definite focus. I was floating around. Whenever something came along that sounded attractive, I would dive in and try it out. In the end, they were all distracters. As a result, I didn’t produce much. My heart wasn’t in it and my attention was being split into too many parts for any one part to become potent.

In the year 2010, I dabbled in wedding photography, internet marketing, consulting business, and the good mood blogging contest—all things which were nice to-haves, but took me away from what I wanted most: to create products that can help people, and to grow this happiness blog.

In chapter 1 of Napoleon Hill’s 1925 classic “The Law of Success”, he talks about the vital importance of having a definite purpose —the thing you want to focus on. The thing you want most to become realized.

Here’s a related quote from that chapter,

“Until a man selects a definite purpose in life, he dissipates his energies and spreads his thoughts over so many subjects and in so many different directions that they lead not to power, but to indecision and weakness.

With the aid of a small reading glass, you can teach yourself a great lesson on the value of organized effort. Through the use of such a glass, you can focus the sun’s rays on a definite spot so strongly that they will burn a hole through a plank. Remove the glass (which represents the definite purpose), and the same rays of sun may shine on that same plank for a million years without burning it.“

 

Wow.

Thinking back to the times when I succeeded in producing concrete results, whether it was my first online business selling apparel, or graduating from university, or starting my blog, or even winning the good mood gig contest, I was completely focused, completely fixated, unwavering, razor sharp, focused on the end result (and on nothing else).

“Ah, that’s the key I’ve been searching for, ‘focus’, and having a ‘definite purpose’,” I thought to myself.

I sat back, and watched as Jeremy excitedly helped organize my goals, and to simplify them, so that I can actually focus on just one or two things instead of fifty.


At an hour to midnight, Jeremy said, “You know, we can either go to the party and mingle with a bunch of people we don’t really know or—while the topic is fresh—we can go grab our laptops and organize our goals in a share doc, so we can keep each other accountable. And afterwards we can watch a movie and open a bottle of wine. What do you think?”

It was so delicious an idea that there was only one possible answer: Of course, I would rather spend the night doing something personal and meaningful with my life partner.

Since, I had already gotten ready—all dressed up with my hair done and makeup already applied—which I pointed out to Jeremy long enough for him to say “Oooh, ahhh, pretty”, I ran upstairs like a little kid to change into warm comfy house clothes.

I then marched into my office, sat down at my desk, opened a Google doc and started typing. A few minutes later, Jeremy came in with two glasses of freshly opened red wine and his laptop. He sat at the reading chair—where I could see him in the dim shades of the reading lamp.

I had my goals organized in three major categories: professional, personal wellness and couple goals—as per Jeremy’s clever suggestion.

If you are curious, my two professional goals were: product creation and increase site traffic. From that moment on, I made a commitment to myself that everything I work on will fit into one of these categories. If not, I will not do it unless I choose to.

For my personal wellness goals, I had several loose goals. But the number one goal is to live consciously to the best of my ability by redirecting negative thoughts so that I am not stuck in a painful place caused by dwelling on the past or a nervous place caused by worrying about the future.

For couple goals, I wrote down the first thing that came to mind, “alone dates once a month”. I am so silly, I was in complete logical mode and was thinking about the actions to do, instead of the end goal those actions provided.

When Jeremy added his goals to the shared Google doc and it refreshed on my screen, I quickly scrolled to the bottom to his Couple Goals section. He wrote, “End 2011 with a closer relationship than 2010” and under that, he had “2 date nights per month” and “listen instead of argue.”

I almost died when I read that- died in a land of happiness, a land of roses and rainbows. Jeremy is just so sweet. He’s always been so much more genuine about our relationship than I and so much more thoughtful. I have a lot to learn from him.

I looked over at him, there beyond my open laptop screen, under the warm lights of that reading lamp, with a kind of fondness that is indescribable. Tears welled up in my eyes. Those simple words on the screen meant and conveyed so much to me.

I jumped up from my desk , skipped like a bunny over to the reading chair in utter joy, and landed promptly in his lap. I pushed his laptop aside, snuggled up real close and said, “I love you babes. Thank you.”

In the end, we didn’t do countdowns, or have champagne(we don’t even like champagne). Instead, we had the gift of a night, beyond anything I could have planned—a focused roadmap for this year, wonderful wine, delicious popcorn, priceless moments of connection, and a phenomenal documentary called “The Cove”(which I highly, highly recommend. Beautifully written, moving, uplifting and heart-warming).

 

Now that is a beautiful start to a new year.

What are your goals for this year? What do you want to focus on?

Consider, going through your list and pick just one or two things to focus on. Give it your whole attention and I am sure your focused attention and dedicated action will cause it to come into reality. I am reminded of a saying, “Where attention goes, energy flows.” It’s all a matter of deciding where to put our focus, and then allocating our time towards action for the fruition of that which we are focused on.

The same formula can be applied towards parenting or to improve a relationship. Focus, focus, focus is the key.

Remember, it is not possible to focus on many things. Pick just one and focus with all your attention to make it a reality, before moving on to the next thing.

Which one to focus on? That’s up to you. What does your heart tell you? What inspires you the most and gives you the most reward? Which goal gets you most excited about your future? Pick that one.

Goal Setting Secret – How to Achieve Any Goal

By Scott Young

This article looks at how a deliberate shift in our views on goal setting can net drastic cumulative results in the long run.

Whether it’s career goals or personal goals, we’ve all been there – setting aggressive and sometimes overtly ambitious goals, chasing after it, hitting road bumps and eventually become de- motivated to never see the goal come to fruition.

Nobody likes to be stuck in a plateau. You might spend months working hard towards a goal without seeing any progress. It can be incredibly frustrating to feel your motivations go unrewarded.

How you react to a plateau will decide whether you’re going to eventually be successful. While many people react by burning themselves out or quitting, some people continue showing up, every day. The people that show up, through sheer patience, will eventually break through their plateau.


Why Get-Rich-Quick Schemes Fail

I see this as a blogger. A new writer will start a blog, often with great content, but after 8 months they stop blogging. Some expressed ideas that the blog would become their future business, so they can’t claim they weren’t committed. While they stopped writing, the soon-to-be successful bloggers continued to write, every day.

I see this as a gym-goer. Every January the gym is full. After a few weeks it’s quiet again. People purchased year-long memberships to use them for 3 weeks. Sure, they can claim they were too busy, or that they didn’t really need to exercise, but that’s a rationalization. While they quit, the truly healthy people continued to show up, every day.

I see this as a student. There are a lot more pre-med students than medical students. There are more people at the beginning of an academic program than at the end of it. While some people cram for exams the last minute, other people develop studying habits that last them their entire degree program.

Getting rich quick doesn’t just fail because the methods are scams. They fail because the people they attract were never interested in what it takes to succeed to begin with. They wanted an immediate solution to a problem that requires a lifetime of dedication.


The Secret to Goal Setting: Deliberate Slowness

Instead of offering the fastest path to success, I want to offer the opposite: the slowest path to success. Instead of promising you can get rich quickly, I’d like to suggest that you can get rich over several years or decades. Instead of promising to lose 14lbs in a week, I am suggesting that you can be healthy for a lifetime.

Deliberate slowness to goal setting isn’t a popular mantra these days. In a fast-paced world, everyone is looking for shortcuts. They want to know how the superstar managed to becoming incredibly successful in a few months. They don’t want to hear about the person who meticulously planned her success for a decade.

However, despite it’s lack of glamor, deliberate slowness with goal setting is a more effective mantra. It forces you to stop craving the immediate acquisition of your goal, focus on the process and get down to the doing. This focus on process makes it more likely you’ll keep your goals once you achieve them. More importantly, a focus on process allows you to actually enjoy the path to success instead of viewing everything as an obstacle towards it.


What Are You Going to Master in 10 Years?

Think about your plans in terms of the next decade, and not the next few months. When you think in terms of a decade, your strategy changes. Instead of trying to frantically push effort into the current moment, you focus on the continuous behaviors you need to succeed. Instead of trying to achieve a goal for the moment, you focus on how to sustain it for a lifetime.

Malcolm Gladwell, in his excellent book Outliers, proposes that it takes 10,000 hours to master any skill. Virtuosos and computer hackers alike all need to put 10,000 hours of work in before they reach true mastery of their craft. If you spent 3 hours a day, for almost every day of the year, it would take you a decade to master a skill.

Instead of looking for the quickest route, look for the most sustainable route. Don’t worry about what will get you there immediately, look at what will keep you there in five to ten years.

As a blogger, this means continually outputting content, on a regular schedule. My own website (ScottHYoung.com) has over 700 articles in the archive, most of which still gain traffic and comments to this day.

As a gym-goer, this means sustaining the exercise habit, rather than adopting radical workout strategies. I’ve been going to the gym 3-5 days per week for over four years. Instead of taking on every dieting fad, I try to maintain a simple diet that is both healthy and sustainable.

My goal setting aims for the long-term. I don’t subscribe to the motivational advice saying you should manufacture unlimited confidence in yourself so you can achieve any goal. I think the downside of this approach is that whenever your false confidence doesn’t meet reality (which often happens) you crash and find it more difficult to put in the effort. I’d rather set highly realistic goals and commit to investing the energy in them day after day, year after year.



Building the Foundation

Beneath any skyscraper there is a large foundation. In order to build upwards, you first need to dig downwards, otherwise you’re resting on uncertain ground. The same is true of life. Before you can try to radically shift your blogging strategy, experiment with your gym routine or juggle a double course load, you need to build a foundation.

That foundation is your habits. The things you do, regardless of your motivation or feedback, every day and every week. I write articles for my website twice per week, regardless of whether my traffic spiked or it crashed. Regardless of whether I made a thousand dollars or a dime. I write because writing is the foundation of my work, and it comes before everything else.

If you can build the proper foundation, you can build almost anything on top of it. Because your foundation will continue to put effort in for you, even when you’re stuck in a plateau, too busy or exhausted, it is the most valuable part of your goal setting strategy. With a foundation, you can then try all the experiments and tricks you want to use to speed your success.

Figure out what you would need to do, every day or every week, in order to sustain your goal. What’s the bare minimum output level you’d need to meet. Once you define this level, make it a habit. Commit to it for at least thirty days without stop. Then commit to continuing it for another ninety days.

Once your foundation is set, you are far less likely to quit out of exhaustion or frustration. You can experience virtually any setback, and continue to show up, every day.

 

Goal Setting Motives – Lifestyle? Or Means to an End?

One major difference between people who continue and those who quit, is the way they approach their goals. The people who continue see the path to their goal as part of a lifestyle. The people who quit see the path to their goal is just a means to reach their objective.

If you go to the gym, is that because going to the gym is part of your lifestyle, or only because you’re trying to lose thirty pounds? Are you blogging because writing every day is part of your life, or is it just a stepping-stone in order to become wealthy?

Integrate your goals into your lifestyle. While part of this is the same as setting habits, it’s also an attitude. Ask yourself whether you would continue to work this hard, once you’ve reached your goal? If the answer is no, then you probably won’t be able to continue in the long run. If you get stuck or your goal takes longer than you realized, you may never reach it.


Set Aggressive Goals, Realistic Deadlines

Set big, world-changing goals for your life. Just be patient with the deadline. I’d rather have world-changing goals for myself that I foresee taking decades, than minor goals I anticipate accomplishing well ahead of schedule.

Your deadline is more than just a motivational tool. It also frames how you view your goal. Setting longer deadlines forces you to pick sustainable, deliberately slow strategies for success. Setting unrealistically short deadlines forces you to cut corners, take shortcuts and scam your way to the top.


Goal Setting Sustainability

Sustainability is a popular word for the environment. It means choosing solutions that will continue to work in 50 years, just as they work today. But, sustainability also applies to your life and goal setting. If you take on paths that aren’t sustainable, you’re violating the principle of deliberate slowness.

Ask yourself how long you can continue this current path. When will you give up after not seeing any results? If the answer is less than “forever”, your strategy isn’t sustainable. If there is a clearly defined quitting time, you aren’t pursuing a sustainable strategy.

I’m not saying you need to continue the same strategy forever. But, if you have the potential to do so, then you greatly increase the odds that you won’t quit for the wrong reasons.


Don’t Pursue Half-Committed Ventures

The side-lesson of deliberate slowness is that you shouldn’t pursue half-committed ventures. If you want something, you should be committed to realizing it whether it takes only a month or a decade. If you aren’t willing to wait ten years to complete your goal, then you probably don’t have the persistence it takes to see it through to the end.
 

When Deliberately Slow is Surprisingly Fast

In my life, I’ve taken on goals from a deliberately slow perspective. When I started my business, I set my first important income goal for three years, not six months. When I started exercising my fitness targets were measured in months, not weeks. When I set out changing habits, I did so, one at a time, for at least one month each.

Talking to a short-term thinker, and my approach seems painfully slow. They will point out how I might be able to double my business in a few months, or increase my strength within a week.

But if you actually look at the track record, deliberate slowness is the faster approach. If you only focus on one habit change per month, you can completely rewrite the behaviors of your life in less than a year. Three years to build a business looks painfully long in the future, but after it’s done, people comment on how amazing your success is.


Just Do It. (Every Day)

The current motivational mantra is “get started.” Nike says, “Just do it.” Guy Kawasaki’s book focuses on the Art of the Start. But I think a better mantra than get started would be to “show up, every day.” Instead of just trying to get started, show up every day so that you have a chance to finish.

* What are your goal setting secrets to achieving your dreams? Share your thoughts and stories in the comment section. See you there!

Goal Setting Success – Charlie Brown Method

by Logan Parker


If you’ve been into personal development for longer than 5 minutes, you’ve been sold on the benefits of goal setting.

You may or may not have been told about the studies done in the 1950s where they tracked the graduating class of Harvard and 25 years later they found out that the 3% of people who had written a goal were richer than all of the rest 97% who didn’t – COMBINED. [Editor's Note: A similar 1950s' Yale study was proliferated and then debunked by The Fast Company in 1996.

So you try goal setting.

And at first, it seems massively exciting, because you’re convinced that your success is on its way.

But for some reason, your goals didn’t work, and in the end, you either fell short – or you completely failed to achieve your goal…

If you’re following me on this, and you’d like to learn to really set goals effectively so you actually achieve your outcome, then you may want to try an approach I call The Charlie Brown Method for goal setting and achievement.
 

The Charlie Brown Method of Goal Setting

 

One of the TV shows I used to love was LOST.  I’d love the mystery and suspense of the show, and every week I’d kick back on my couch, and get an emotional “hit” from all of the excitement and drama of the show.

But in my mind, I always knew that the show was not real. It was just TV.

I knew the show wasn’t real, because I didn’t have an experience of being on a weird island, so even though I watched that show over and over, I never started to feel like I was on the island – that would be weird.

I had an experience on lying on my couch staring at a TV.

So even with all the excitement of the show, over time, I started to feel more and more like a vegetable.

On the other hand…

When I was in high school, I took an acting class, and so I had to play Charlie Brown in a monologue.

Now, in order to play Charlie Brown perfectly, I had to become more like him. This was my goal. So I had to analyze him deeply.

I had to contemplate 3 main things. I had to figure out the things Charlie would:

1. See himself doing: Including the pictures he would make in his head.
2. Hear himself saying: Including the voices in his head
3. Feel himself feeling: In the real world, and the emotions in his body.

Once I figured those things out, I was able to play Charlie Brown PERFECTLY.  I didn’t even have to remember my lines, I just KNEW what Charlie would say in a given situation, and I said it.

 

How Charlie Brown Applies to Goal Setting

When you set goals, more than likely, you are doing it in a passive way – just like how I used to watch LOST.

Fine, you wrote them down, or repeated them, but did you experience them? Could you feel what succeeding would feel like, hear what you’d say to yourself and how? And see clearly what it would be like to succeed?

This is the Charlie Brown Method for goal setting. When you set a goal, it’s not enough to “logically” know what your goal is. If you want REAL leverage on your mind’s power to manifest your goals, then you must experience the goal visually, auditorily and emotionally.

If you miss any of these steps, then you’ve set yourself up for delusion.

That would be like me watching the show LOST and suddenly believing I was on the show. (Picture hanging out with that guy?)

So here is the step by step process to goal setting:
 

1. Figure out your goal

• Hint: you must state what you WANT, don’t make a goal to avoid what you DON’T WANT.
• Be as specific as you can about the goal.
• Make sure you have control over achieving the goal.
• Take the time to think about when you might NOT want to have that goal achieved. Don’t be like King Midas where everything you touch turns to gold; think about the consequences. If your goal is to improve your relationship with your mother, the consequence might be that she wants to move in with you! Just be clear on when your goal won’t be awesome, because everything has a drawback.

2. See what you would see

• Visualize exactly what you would see when you achieve your goal, but also see exactly what you would see to let you know you are making progress. Often people write majestic goals about making millions, but they have NO IDEA how to know if they’ve made any progress, then they just spin their wheels.
• For example, if your goal is to lose weight, then you might need to see yourself thin, but also see yourself in the gym working out, then see yourself looking at your watch and realizing you’ve been there for 2 hours – or see your calendar and realize you’ve gone to the gym 6 days per week for the last 3 months.
• What pictures would successful you see in their head?
• Make sure you have control over these images. Don’t visualize something over which you have no control.

3. Hear what you would hear

• Hear exactly what you might say being the successful person whose achieved your goal. As a bonus, pay attention to the tone of voice you use to say it.
• Hear what you would say to yourself in your head, and how.
• Make sure you are in control of the things you hear. If you want to be attractive to other people, for example, don’t hear them compliment you, hear yourself speaking confidently!

4. Feel what you would feel

• Feel what you would feel in the real world if you had your goal. Would is be a big check in your hands?
• Feel your emotions in your body. Would it be joy? Pride? Self respect? Really make the effort to feel the emotion.
• Part of the reason the Charlie Brown Method works, is because your mind is both emotionally compelled to move forward, and it knows what to look for. One of my mentors calls the mind “Google for goals”.

But you have to enter in your search query with a surgeon’s precision! Hence the Charlie Brown Method.

So try the C.B. Method on one goal and see how it works, then share what you learned in the comments below!

How to Keep a Sharp Mind and Good Attitude

We all want to keep our minds sharp and fresh. By working to keep your mind sharp, you can improve your attitude. Nothing angers a person more than not being able to remember important things or events. By having a sharp mind you can figure situations out more effectively and make wiser decisions. There are numerous ways to keep your mind sharp while keeping a good, well-rounded attitude.

 

Steps

1. Heed this next statement: No matter how sharp a mind you may have, no one can remember everything. Therefore, don't beat yourself up trying. Learning to write things down helps.
2. Everyone has some type of special talent, so find out what yours is and use it. Be open to trying different things. You could find a hidden talent that you are not aware of. Do you learn from sound and voice pitch or from pictures?
3. Maintain a regular exercise program. It will help to relieve tension. Relieving tension alone can improve your thought patterns. The less tension that you have the sharper your mind will become. You will begin to develop a better attitude as time goes on. You should find a program that works for you.
4. Some people find that writing poetry can be relaxing plus it is a great way to express yourself. Not everyone writes poetry so find your own mode of self expression. Try sewing, playing a musical instrument, or gardening. Get a Diary and express your thoughts.
5. You are never too old to learn. Don't let learning stop just because you're out of school. Go to your local library to gain more knowledge. It is a great place to relax, gather thoughts, and focus on studying. If you have any spare time, carry a book over to the park or stop in at a family restaurant. It all aids in building a sharper better mind, and improves your attitude.
6. You should treat yourself as well as you treat others. It will improve the way you think. You will be a happier individual with a sharper mind and better attitude. Try buying yourself a small gift while out shopping for others. It is always good to give, and being generous is nice, but charity should begin at home. Remember, too, that generosity involves more than just material things and satisfaction is not achieved by consumption.
7. Figure out for yourself the true meaning of what is important in life. In doing so you will build a sharper mind and a better attitude. For where others may have failed and so never know the true meaning, you may succeed. Search deep inside for your inner self.
8. You are truly blessed if you have common sense. There is nothing like good old common sense, for without it how can you possibly achieve having a sharp mind?
9. Use your mind more instead of using a calculator or adding machine. This is to say, especially, on simple things that you can easily total up in your head or on a piece of paper. Many people haven't done long division since grade school; give it a try sometime.
10. Stay focused on making your own decisions. Don't let other people try to make decisions for you. Be firm about speaking for yourself. And don't be afraid of expressing your opinion. Everyone has an opinion and the right to have one. Who knows, your opinion may catch on.
11. You should jog, run, ski, play ball, fish, write, garden, or whatever makes you happy. Doing things that you enjoy will help you to keep your mind fresh and clear and your attitude at its best.
12. Learn some basic memory techniques. To start off with, you could find some books written by Tony Buzan (Mind Maps) or Dominic O'Brien: both of them are top people in the memory world.
13. Learn from everything you do. When mowing figure out the most efficient route, When reading try to read faster, every detail make look a little better, try to write neat, try to never use spell check, and so on. Because if you are constantly learning you will succeed in life, and you will surpass your fellow workers.
14. Learn to improve your mental ability in domains such as logic, problems solving, mental orientation and corrective thought process. It allows one to improve upon rationality and with rationality comes right attitude towards situation....

Tips

1. Sit down and think it out, what can you do to keep a sharper mind and a better attitude? You'll be amazed at what that you figure out for yourself.
2. Don't let others rule your life, for that will make you sad and dull your mind.
3. You can simplify arithmetic to do calculations quickly and easily in your head. Let us say that you need to add 433 and 433, well 33+33=66 and 4+4=8. So you'll come up with a total of 866.
4. Learn to round off numbers while grocery shopping. Try not using a calculator. Although, one may shop on a budget. If something is .69 cents, simply round it off to .70 cents in your head. I always come close to the exact amount (dollar-wise) at the check out register. This works unless you totally avoid looking at your grocery list, which is not recommended.
5. Drink plenty of water. Drinking little water every 30-40 minutes works well.
6. Have a great time with wikiHow. It will aid in keeping a good sharp mind and a good positive attitude. Writing is like food for the brain.
7. Make yourself a special mental note that being sharp is smart.
8. Thinking positive is not only healthy, but it builds a stronger mind with that well adjusted attitude.
9. Negative thinking never gets anything done; it is just setting yourself up to fail.
10. Sleep is very important to keep a sharp mind and good attitude. But laying in bed tossing and tumbling isn't any fun. So do something to assure that you are tired enough to sleep well. A few hours of good sleep are better than those broken up hours of slumber.
11. Try to keep your alcohol consumption to a minimum, and stay away from drugs because they suppress your mental clarity
12. Try using your opposite hand to do everyday things, especially writing and printing. Sit down and start writing on a piece of paper using your off hand. It will probably start out like scrawl, but you will gain better control, become more aware of your tense shoulders and body, and able to use both sides of your brain. This exercise is also used for epileptic patients.
13. Watch out for people that try to do your thinking for you. However, keep your mind open for good advice. When you have a sharp mind, you'll recognize good advice.
14. Don't be a people pleaser, for the wrong kind of people will take advantage of you. If you stay sharp, chances are that won't happen to you.
15. Practicing different strategies to keep your mind sharper is good, but such strategies should be used in a relaxed way. One should enjoy while doing it but should not do under any compulsion.

 

edits by:Mary Anne C., Tom Viren, CampSpot, Zach Meyer (see all)