5 Must-Read Success Principles

5 Must-Read Success Principles: "

There’s an old Swedish proverb that goes, “God gives every bird a worm, but he doesn’t throw it into the nest.”

Success is not something that’s given to you; it’s something that you become.  It’s something that you go after and change into.

Success comes when you follow the principles of success.

Today I want to discuss five life-changing principles of success that will strategically position you to succeed and live the life of your dreams.

5 Must-Read Success Principles:

1. Do Your Best

“Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.” ~Og Mandino

Your todays are the building blocks of your tomorrows.  Give each day your very best and you will have built your very best life.

The key to being your best is to build the habit of giving your best in everything you do.  Don’t rush; spend your time giving quality to all you do and you will create a future that you will be proud of.

2. Choose

“Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.” ~Wayne Dyer

John Donne said, “Be thine own palace, or the world’s thy jail.”  The choice is yours!  If you choose to see the “bad” in everything then that’s exactly what you’ll see.  I know it’s crude, but if you look for a “bugger,” then you will find one.

Choose to be optimistic; you are much more likely to succeed if you believe that you will succeed, much more likely.

3. Be Confident

“Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.” ~Norman Vincent Peale

If you don’t believe you will succeed, why would anyone else, you know you best, you know if you’re capable of succeeding or not.

I’m not saying that you should be arrogant, but you should be confident in your abilities.  Why not you?  Why not now?  If someone else can succeed, then that’s just proof that you can succeed as well.  Be confident in your abilities and set out to achieve your dreams.

4. Work

“Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.” ~Thomas Jefferson

Solomon said, “Idle hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.”  No one succeeds without hard work.  There’s no such thing as success without hard work.  No butterfly flies without first struggling to get out of the chrysalis.  To fly, you must first struggle, you can’t fly into flying.

5. Make a Difference

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” ~William James

You make a difference.  One person with determination, persistence, and a “no-give-up” attitude will accomplish more than a thousand people who are merely interested in success.

What you do makes a difference; how you do it makes a difference, so do-what-you-do to the best of your abilities, leveraging the wisdom of others, and in time, you will succeed.

Thank you for reading and be sure to share this article with your friends.

This article was written by Mr. Self Development, a motivational author.

"

Do you hate your job or are you just misusing your downtime?

Do you hate your job or are you just misusing your downtime?: "

I’ve only had two “real” jobs in my entire life. The first was as a hospital janitor, hauling around body parts and garbage in big gray carts whenever I wasn’t mopping or buffing floors. The second was as a barista at Starbucks. I passionately hated both jobs.

Why? Because I’m an inherently creative person. I feel most at home when I’m writing blog posts, playing music, creating designs or brainstorming novels. I don’t think it’s possible to get any further from creativity than taking a job as a janitor or a barista. You’re just taking orders and selling your sweat.

But did I really hate those jobs? Or did I hate that I was smothering my creative side?

Scapegoat Jobs

Doing what you love is actually hard work. It takes quite a bit more effort and more motivation to create something you absolutely love than it does to follow orders for a paycheck. This is one of the reasons people keep jobs they hate. In fact, I believe this is the reason people convince themselves that they hate their jobs. It’s the perfect scapegoat.

Why haven’t you written that novel you’ve always talked about? Why aren’t you baking as much as you’d like? You’ve always wanted to learn how to play the guitar, why haven’t you? Whatever your goal is, if you’re employed the excuse tends to be, “I just can’t find the time.” You spend so much of your day at your 9-to-5 that you just can’t possibly fit in all the things you want to do. Right? Well, ask yourself this:

How long will it actually take you to do the thing you want to do?

If you’re anything like me, the things you most want to do can be accomplished in small chunks that might take 10 to 30 minutes. If you watch any television at all, if you take any kind of break from your job or any other unavoidable responsibilities, you have no excuse to not be doing the things you want to do.

But you don’t do them. One of the most common reasons for this is that you might be afraid that once you’ve started you’ll find out you suck at it–the fear of failure. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you might be afraid of succeeding. What if you actually are good at it? What if you want to continue pursuing it? What if it means leaving your safe, comfortable job or the people you love?

Either failure or success at what you love means your life is interrupted with discomfort and uncertainty. Few people like that.

How to Like Your Job

In my case, I hated my job at the hospital and my job at Starbucks not because I actually hated the work or even the environment. It was because I had no creative outlet, nowhere to write or take photographs or play music. But the reason I didn’t have that outlet is because I didn’t want it.

That might be what’s happening to you, too.

If you want to start liking your job, here’s my advice. Whatever you want to really be doing, do it. Don’t think about it or plan for it, just do it and feel good about doing it. Set aside just 10 minutes of your day (more if you can) and have fun. Realize that those feelings of fear you’re experiencing are based on completely unreasonable assumptions. If you find out you aren’t so great at it, you can get better. If you are good at it, it doesn’t mean you have to quit your job right away.

You can do what you love to do without radically changing the life you have now.

If you’re a secretary who dreams of being a web designer, you don’t have to quit your job and go back to school. Ten minutes or more per day with a Dummies book while keeping your job as a secretary will move you forward faster than starting from scratch ever would. (Believe me, I took the hardest path to becoming a web designer.)

Doing what you love doesn’t require major upheavals in your life. All you need are baby steps. Stop blaming your job for holding you back. You’re holding yourself back. If and when you want to do the things you always dreamed of, that job you think you hate can fund your growth and gradually push you forward into the life you always wanted.

"

The Art of Self Motivation

The Art of Self Motivation: "The true leader is the one who is more self motivated out of the group. If you can’t motivate yourself there is no way that you will be able to motivate subordinates. Sometimes the leader motivates by actions rather than words. When you look at the leader on athletic teams you will note that ...

"

How I learned to give without any expectations

How I learned to give without any expectations: "

By Christopher Foster of The Happy Seeker.

It’s one of the most important lessons life has to teach. To give a gift and then let it go without any expectations.

I’m an author, and some years ago I wrote a book called The Raven Who Spoke with God. It’s a story about a brave young Raven who is true to his integrity and follows his dream against heavy odds.

I was very proud of this book. One day, when I finally got it published, I went down to the local post office to send out some promotional copies. I couldn’t wait to see the joy and delight on the faces of the people who would receive my fine and touching story.

There weren’t many people in the post office. I did my business, came home, and shortly after the phone...

"

Is Dunya Haram for us? Here’s how to Balance Deen and Dunya

Is Dunya Haram for us? Here’s how to Balance Deen and Dunya: "

Sometimes we find people working for this worldly life and pretend to have forgotten that one day they will die and be brought to account…

Then there are others who do great deeds with the Hereafter in mind, but completely neglect their financial and familial responsibilities.

So, how can reconcile between dunya and akhirah, between not completely depriving ourselves of the delights Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) has put on this earth while keeping our focus and efforts on Paradise?

As always, we get any guidance we need from The Noble Qur’an and Sunnah; here we go:

Three persons came to the Prophet’s home (sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and asked about how he (sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) worships Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala). When they got the answer, they thought since he is a Prophet, Allah Ta’ala has forgiven him, and that they are just ordinary people and need to step beyond what the Prophet (sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said – they wanted to fast without breaking it, pray all night without sleeping, and refrain from marriage for their whole lives. The Prophet (sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) explained, however, that what they described was not his path. The Prophet (sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) is the best of examples and the best of us, yet he fasted but also broke his fast, he prayed night prayer but also slept, and he did marry; we should stick to his Sunnah, the Straight Path. (Muslim and Bukhari)

Islam does not ask for us to live in isolation, to cut ourselves off from society, or to completely deprive ourselves of what Allah Ta’ala has made halaal (permissible). Are religion is not one of extremes – we shouldn’t be excessive in our eating, we eat to sustain ourselves; we shouldn’t be excessive in our spending, but we are not tight-fisted or miserly.

The key is to always have akhirah on top of our mind and list of priorities; we can (and should) have families, but they shouldn’t distract us from our Islamic duties; we can seek lawful means of living, but we leave and turn our back on it when prayer or Jum’uah comes. (Note: Keep in mind activities like working can turn into good deeds by changing our intentions to be independent and provide for our families, etc. Now, we should know that we can get reward by putting food in your wife’s mouth. If you change your intention to please Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala, then you’ve unlocked the key to gaining good deeds through the daily acts you do)

Our connection with Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) is a fuel and a light for our dunya activities.

“Improve your secret and private life, and Allah will improve your public and social life. Make matters well between you and Allah, and Allah will make matters well between you and people. Work for the Hereafter and Allah will be enough for you in your worldly concerns” [Imam Sufyaan AthThawri, rahimahuAllah]

“This dunya (world) is like a shadow, run after it and you will never be able to catch it, turn your back against it and it has no choice but to follow you” [Ibn Al-Qayyim]

Some lessons from The Qur’an to ponder upon:

1. Qarun’s people said to him: “Do not exult. Indeed, Allah does not like the exultant. But seek, through that which Allah has given you, the home of the Hereafter; and [yet], do not forget your share of the world. And do good as Allah has done good to you. And desire not corruption in the land. Indeed, Allah does not like corrupters.” (Quran, Chapter 28, # Verse# 77)


2. So fear Allah as much as you are able and listen and obey and spend [in the way of Allah ]; it is better for your selves. And whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul – it is those who will be the successful. (Quran, Chapter# 64, Verse# 17)


3. O children of Adam, take your adornment at every masjid, and eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He likes not those who commit excess. Say, “Who has forbidden the adornment of Allah which He has produced for His servants and the good [lawful] things of provision?” Say, “They are for those who believe during the worldly life [but] exclusively for them on the Day of Resurrection.” Thus do We detail the verses for a people who know. (Quran, Chapter# 7, Verses#31-32)


4. [The people of understanding are those] Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], “Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire. (Quran, Chapter# 3, Verse# 192)

Deen should be our number one priority. Islam is simple, balanced and the middle path, the key to success in this life and the next.

About the Author:

Ahmad El-Shaf’ei studied Islamic Studies in English at Al-Azhar University, and has also studied at other institutions in Cairo, Egypt. He enjoys writing tips that uncover the simplicity and practicality of Islam and how it is the key to success in our modern life. He hopes this Ummah can return to being the leader it once was.

"

Six Must-Ask Interview Questions

Six Must-Ask Interview Questions: "Six Must-Ask Interview Questions




Interviewing can be a gut-wrenching process. Most books on how to interview list hundreds of questions you need to be ready to answer, but few talk about the questions you need to ask.

Take more control at your next interview by asking some pointed ...

"

Do You Fall Into the Trap of Overthinking?

Do You Fall Into the Trap of Overthinking?: "

I was looking up something in Professor Sonja Lyubomirsky’s excellent book, The How of Happiness, and I came across an interesting passage. (I’d marked it, so clearly I’d read it before, but I didn’t remember it well.)

Many of us believe that when we feel down, we should try to focus inwardly and evaluate our feelings and our situation in order to attain self-insight and find solutions that might ultimately resolve our problems and relieve unhappiness. Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, I, and others have compiled a great deal of evidence challenging this assumption. Numerous studies over the past two decades have shown that to the contrary, overthinking ushers in a host of adverse consequences: It sustains or worsens sadness, fosters negatively biased thinking, impairs a person’s ability to solve problems, saps motivation, and interferes with concentration and initiative. Moreover, although people have a strong sense that they are gaining insight into themselves and their problems during their ruminations, this is rarely the case. What they do gain is a distorted, pessimistic perspective on their lives.

One of the tensions within happiness — at least for me — is the tension between constructive attempts at greater self-knowledge and pointless rumination.

Once I started paying more attention to my habits of thinking, I began to do a better job of refraining from overthinking. When I find myself thinking in circles, I find an area of refuge, say, or I re-read one of my favorite works of children’s literature — my favorite emotional comfort food. Or, if it’s nightime, I go to bed early. Things really do look better after a good night’s sleep, and often something that had me agitated the night before seems much less worrisome the next morning.

Have you found any helpful strategies to keep yourself from overthinking?

* * *

If you’re in a Happiness Project group, please do fill out this six-question survey. I’m going to post a list soon, and I want it to be as complete as possible. Thanks!

Volunteer as a Super-Fan, and from time to time, I’ll ask for your help. Nothing too onerous, I promise. Sign up here or email me at gretchenrubin1 at gmail dot com. If you’re already a Super-Fan, thanks again. I so appreciate your help.

"

7 Not So Obvious Habits To Maximize Your Productivity

7 Not So Obvious Habits To Maximize Your Productivity: "

I was a big fan of productivity, and, in some respects, I still am. I’ve been a very early adopter of GTD, and, for years, I did my weekly reviews with the discipline of a zen monk. But, eventually, I hit a roadblock. GTD is about getting things “done”, but in life we have much more to experience than “doing”. We feel. We dream. We enjoy stuff without the pressure of an empty inbox. And, most of the time, we simply are. We’re existing. And that’s ok.

So, I confess I fell out from the GTD wagon. Gradually, I developed my own framework, which evolved from a productivity-based approach, to a life management based approach. I’m using it for about a year now and, as much as I can tell, so far, so good. If I compare what I accomplish now with what I used to accomplish a year ago, I’m stunned. Not only because I “do” much more than before, but because I actually live more.

But enough with all this shameless self-promotion intro. I understand that my framework may work perfectly for me, but may be of little, if any, importance for you.

So, instead of doing a presentation of the Assess – Decide – Do framework, I chose to isolate only 7 simple tips for today’s post. They don’t need any framework to be integrated with and they can be implemented by anyone, with a little bit of awareness. Try them for a week, one for each day of the week.

As a matter of fact, they’re even organized as such. As you will see, there’s a reason why each tip is assigned to a specific day, but then again, if you feel this isn’t really your Monday cup of tea, for instance, feel free to rotate them as you see fit.

1. Monday – Ignore The Unimportant

I firmly believe that the art of ignorance should be taught in schools. We live in such an information-rich society, our focus is so deeply challenged by dozens or hundreds of stimuli each and every second, that we have a really hard time focusing on what really matters.

Especially on Mondays, when all the previous week unprocessed stuff seems to crash on us, try to apply this. Focus only on what matters. If you have a presentation to finish in one hour, cut out everything – and I mean: EVERYTHING – that is not connected to it.

Slash out Twitter, Facebook, email. Turn off the music. Close the door after putting a big sign with “Abandon hope all ye who enter here” on the other side. In time, you’ll become better at this. The hidden frustration that “you’re missing something” will fade away.

2. Tuesday – Reward Yourself Constantly

Each tiny task that you finish is an achievement. We forget too often that our big successes are in fact big chains of small tasks performed on a daily basis. So, in order to keep this chaining process running, put a little reward at the end of each small task.

Tuesdays are great for this habit, because they’re the first link after the week hast started. Just do something nice at the end of each task. Listen to your favorite tune or read your favorite blog (and that would be, of course, Stepcase Lifehack) for the next five minutes.

As much as we won’t want to admit it, that Pavlov guy was right. And I’m not talking about the dogs here. I’m talking about you. Because you gotta be your own Pavlov and the dogs will be your productivity habits. Train them constantly. And, if need will be, feed them some sugar every now and then.

3. Wednesday – Negotiate The Expendable

It’s the middle of the week, and, by now, there must be some garbage accumulated. Some stuff that you don’t really need to do, but, somehow, it’s still in your to do list. It’s a perfect time to negotiate that stuff. Does it really need to be on your to do list?

The pressure of constantly doing, delivering, accomplishing made us forget that we do have this option too in our arsenal. I’m talking about negotiation. “Talk” with the task. Or with the person at the other end of the task. Does it really need to be done right now?

I compare this negotiation process with taking out the water from a gulf. If you’re lucky, you will see an ancient shipwreck. That’s your task. It’s not a yacht anymore, it’s a shipwreck. You will start to realize that what you thought is important, may not even be there anymore. It’s just the ghost of the task.

4. Thursday – Reuse Past Approaches

This comes from a long history of programming. I’m still doing it, this programming thing, by the way, because I enjoy it so much. Just try to look at what you have to do and compare it with previous experiences. Like “Have I done this before?. How did I do it?”

Thursdays are perfect for that, because you now must have a consistent “week work history” to dig through. And, allegedly, you’re also pretty much at the top of your potential. From now on, it will start to go downhill, somehow.

So, try to identify similarities in your work before you will do the same thing twice, just because you don’t remember doing it before. Pay attention to the circumstances, because they’re never the same, but isolate what you can repeat.

5. Friday – Ask For Help

If I would have a dollar for each time I didn’t ask for help when I should have, I would certainly be a millionaire. Seriously. Being “productive” has this aura of “I’m doing all the stuff by myself. I’m so cool.” Well, maybe you’re cool, but you don’t have to do anything by yourself.

You have a unique set of skills. Other people have their own unique set of skills. If you combine your set with their set, it’s absolutely obvious that you will get far better results than by using only yours. It’s just simple mathematics here.

And Fridays are perfect to test this habit, because, admit it, you’re a little bit tired. And it’s also a good pretext for some social interaction. Isolate some task that you know somebody else may be doing better than you and ask for their help.

6. Saturday – Switch Workplaces

Ok, we don’t have to work on Saturdays. As I told you, you can just put this tip on any other day of the week. But I chose Saturdays because they are perfect for traveling. Short trips around the town, seeing some new places, meeting some new people.

Try to do the same with your workplace. See if you can work for a day somewhere else. From home, or from a coffee shop. Or even in another office. Or, if you can’t live your office, on a different chair. Just change something in your surroundings.

All our habits are shaped by our surroundings. The more you’ll change the surroundings, the better and more consistent your habits will become. This constant stimulation will summon energy resources that you didn’t even know you have.

7. Sunday – Change Deadlines Into Livelines

I kept this from my GTD routine, you know, the weekly review. I did this on Sundays, trying to project the next week. I still try to have a look at the week just before it starts.  And now, a little bit of explanation about the word “liveline”.

I stopped use the word “deadline” long time ago, because it has “death” in it. The “task slasher” approach. I don’t do this anymore. Because crossing off tasks from your to do lists will eventually end up with crossing off your entire life from your to do lists. Rushing straight to your own death, one crossed task at a time. Change this perspective. A deadline is not the end. Make it a liveline. Make it a beginning.

And by that I mean something connected with something else. A new start. Think in terms of new beginnings not in term of endings. If you really need to reach the end of something, use the word “milestone”. And replace “deadline” with “liveline” every time you can.

It will be enlightening, believe me. :)

"

10 Benefits Of Being Organized: From Chaos To Freedom

10 Benefits Of Being Organized: From Chaos To Freedom: "

This is a motivational post. The simple truth is that being organized can bring you more time, money, success and happiness. We happen to have a great organizer to help you to get organized in no time.

Getting organized with Swift To-Do List 7 is really easy, and has many benefits:

1. You will upgrade your brain to version 2.0

If you take all the work-related stuff and to-do’s from your head and place them in Swift To-Do List 7, a wonderful thing happens – suddenly, your mind has 100% resources available and 100% focus just for the current task at hand.

2. You will advance in your career faster

Stop wasting time on tasks with zero impact and go straight to the juicy, meaty stuff that really matters and that can move you forward in your career. This is possible only when you are organized using a great task list manager like Swift To-Do List 7 that allows you to prioritize your tasks.

3. You can double or triple your productivity

With less time and mental resources wasted, you will have more time for the important stuff. The real game changer comes from your upgraded brain though – if you can finally fully focus and always know what to do next, you can double your productivity easily. If you are unorganized or stressed, you are much less productive than you think.

4. You will be more motivated

Success brings motivation. It is so much easier to achieve success when you are organized! In fact, work can sometimes feel like fun.

5. You will have more time

It’s really simple: If you are more productive, you get more done, and you have more time.

6. You will have more money

We all know that time is money. But success brings you money too. This can be a really significant benefit.

7. You will eliminate any possible stress

With all your tasks and notes in one place, safely stored in reliable task list management software like Swift To-Do List 7, there is nothing to worry about. You can even use inbuilt reminders and recurrent tasks to make sure that you will never forget anything again. Liberate yourself from clutter and stress.

8. You will reach your full potential

If you get organized, you can achieve much more than if you are limiting yourself by being disorganized.

9. You will be able to achieve your goals more easily

All the benefits work together and give you more power to do what you truly want, and that is the real freedom.

10. You will love your work and life

How can you NOT love your life when you are successful, happy and without stress?

With the right attitude, Swift To-Do List 7 can literally change your life. I personally use it myself every day not just to run and manage our whole business, but to take control of my own life.

"