bythemethod.com blog

Quote

I demand more of myself than anyone else could ever expect.
Julius Irving

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Taken from the book 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People this list represents what scientists have discovered about successful people.

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Quote:

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”
Henry Ford

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Quote

‘It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, “Always do what you are afraid to do.” ‘
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Overview

Getting motivated for something in the long term is one of the hardest things we ever have to do. Here I offer some guidelines that might just help.

Introduction

There are two types of motivation: internal and external. Most forms of motivation tend to focus on the external.

External motivation includes things like: money, fame, holidays, houses, lifestyles etc. These can all be powerful motivators but unfortunately they are often only good for short term projects. The prospect of acquiring something can really give you an impetuous to get started but then things start to go wrong and you don’t meet your first target and everyone else is doing better than you and soon you give up.

So then what can we do to stop this kind of boom or bust mentality and what can we do to help ourselves stay motivated on a long term project? Read the rest of this entry »

Overview

In this post we explore a way of looking at your life that will help you to gain wholeness. Life as many parts and this is just one way of thinking about them. Within this view is that we find harmony in life through the correct ordering of things. People are made up of four aspects all of which are interdependant: body, heart, mind and soul.

How are we put together?

There is an approach to life that can help build happiness and success. It finds its roots in many of the major world religions and in ancient western thought and is also grounded in modern approaches to life management.

We are made up from four different aspects. These four combine to make the whole of who we are. Within life we should seek harmony within our self. Harmony is about achieving balance through everything being in its rightful place. However each aspect of life seeks to be dominant and will take control if allowed to do so. It is up to us to maintain control within ourselves.

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Learning to set goals can change your life. There are simple techniques that can make all the difference to success. Here I outline the SMART system of goal setting and add a little extra of my own.

Everyone sets goals whether they realise it or not: how you are going to get promotion, your plan to lose some weight or get fit, preparing for your next holiday etc.

However we all know that just setting the goal is not enough. Many people have good intentions and make good plans but goals and plans have to be acted upon to be of any use and few of us are successful at completing our goals.

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One of the most important traits of successful people is persistance. However this isn’t just any old ordinary persistance that keeps you going when things get a little difficult. This is defy the odds and ignore the doom-sayers and keep going even though common sense told you two years ago you shouldn’t have kept going.

Persistance always needs a little wisdom associated to it. If you are persistant in persuing a dream that is not realistic then it won’t matter how much effort you put in you will never succeed. However if you have a realistic dream and you persist with it you stand a great chance of success.

How do you know if your idea is realistic? If it’s a personal goal it needs to be something that your body and/or mind is capable of. If it’s a business goal then it needs to be something that people will want to buy. You might also seek out people you consider to be wise in these things and ask for their opinion (this doesn’t mean that bloke you met down the pub but someone who really knows their stuff).

So keep going. When everything is going wrong and you feel like their is no way you can win in this – it’s time to keep going. The successful people are those who kept going when others gave in. 

To be successful you need some control over the way your life works. If your life is out of control then your success will depend on someone else giving it to you. The chances of someone else giving you success are very slim. If you want to be successful then you need to take control of your life – you need to be proactive rather than reactive.

The reactive person simply reacts to situations as they develop. This means that they tend to spend most – if not all – of their time problem solving. Now of course being able to react and solve problems is a good trait but unfortunately this means you are spending all of your energy on keeping you where you are now. By all means cease an opportunity but really you need to start to make opportunities.

The proactive person is always working to create opportunities. They have a plan for what they want to achieve and they work hard to make it happen. At times they have to become a reactive person but they spend most of their time and energy in the pursuit of their goals.

You can become a proactive person by making a plan for yourself. Start right now by writing down some simple goals for yourself and then start working out how you are going to achieve those goals. Congratulations you are well on your way to being proactive.

We all need to discover our purpose. Our purpose defines who we are and why we exist. This quest for purpose is apparent in nearly every religion and philosophical system. The sense that there is something bigger than our own existence and that we somehow play a part in some great story that is being worked out. Even if you don’t have a faith in something no one can deny that our actions have a much wider impact than our own small part of the world. Who knows what influence we have on other people? A simple word of encouragement or even discouragement could have a profound effect on another persons life.

So how do we discover what our purpose is?

Your purpose is revealed in your talents. If you believe your talents are given you by a higher power then they are given for a reason. If you believe talents are based on your genetics or simple psychology then it is still your talents that defines what you can achieve in life.

If you want to know your purpose – and I mean your specific purpose – then work out what your talents are and you will have gone a long way to solving your purpose riddle.

Your purpose is in who you are not who you wish you were.