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Reaching Your Goals: the 5-Step Process for Success

Make greater progress by following this formula

We must all suffer one of two things:                                       
the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. -Jim Rohn

Are you 100% satisfied with where you are in your life? Things couldn’t be more perfect?

Or, if you are like the vast majority of us, are there things – a LOT of things – that could be better…or at least improved upon?

Assuming you do want change, and you are able to see those improvements in your life, what would your life look like a year from now? How about five years from now?

Got that successful “future you” and improved life situation pictured in your head? Good! Now, here’s the tricky part. How do you get there from here?

Remember all those New Year’s resolutions that came to naught? “I’m going to lose thirty pounds this year,” or “This is the year I am going to get my finances in order!”

But it didn’t quite happen.

If it were so darn easy to decide on a goal and make it a reality, this whole life thing would be a piece of cake – that somebody else baked for us.

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Big Promises: Why Some Don’t Live Up to the Hype

Here’s Why You May Not Be Experiencing a Promised “Breakthrough”

Have you ever had a friend recommend something
that they thought was “awesome” or even report that they experienced a breakthrough?

It was something you were eager to try out… yet when
you did, you were underwhelmed?

Then, just about the time you are ready to assign “yah, right…” to then next “this was ah-mazing” claim, you are shocked because, well, it actually was.

Here’s the question: Why is it that, sometimes “great” promised claims turn out to be a bust, and other times they are, to use the word of the old Tony the Tiger commercial… GREAT!

And perhaps more importantly, how do you avoid two equally fatal mistakes:

  1. Falling for every grandiose claim, OR
  2. Turning into a cynical, skeptical critic (who misses out on some great things because you doubt everything).

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4 Surprising Hero Stories That Are Sadly Unappreciated

Have You Been an Under-Appreciated Hero?

Hero stories emerge in surprising places

Hero stories rise in unexpected situations

Dave Sanderson was on yet another flight (he flew over 100 times a year). Like clockwork, he knew what came next.

So, just like most of us do, he tuned out when they go over safety details at the beginning of the flight.

Yet this time the information would save a life. (more…)

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2 Reasons Why Greater Success Might Be Eluding You

Are You Using All the Resources Needed for True Success?

spinning wheels success

Courtesy: Jen Cohen

Have you ever wondered, “Why am I working so hard but not seeing greater success?”

It is not an uncommon experience. You work really hard toward a goal, hoping to see greater success as time goes on. But, instead you experience frustration and disillusionment from coming up empty handed.

Why is it that some people see greater success from their efforts… and some don’t?

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Pushing Through the Grind Zone and Not Giving Up

The hero journey is tough yet rewarding. Keep going.

So here you are. Tired, annoyed, 
disgruntled. You’ve been trying,
and trying, and trying some more.

You’ve worked overtime, spent months working on the same manuscript, endless nights with coffee and a night lamp to study for that one class. And still, nothing. Nada. Zilch.

Nothing to show for your hard work except the bags under your eyes and your dreary aura. You’re stuck in the grind zone. There’s no resolution in sight; all that’s laid out in front of you is more work, on top of more work, with some more work to top it all off.

Shouldn’t there be some reward… by now? Some encouragement, “you’ve made it this far, keep going!” At least some sense of, “halfway there!”

You remember the time you left the starting line on this dream of a better something. You thought to yourself, “Sure, it’ll take hard work and dedication, but it’ll be worth it when I accomplish this.”

But, now you aren’t so sure. The finish line is nowhere in sight. Should you even keep going?

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Emotional Intelligence: 4 Benefits to Boost Success

This Skill is a Difference Maker at Work and in Life

Have you ever looked back on a Emotional intelligence lacking in this personconversation you had and thought, yeah, I definitely should have handled that better?  Yep… me too.

A friend of mine told me of her recent regretful
incident:

“I called my daughter’s dad to set up a trip
for her to visit him. And he made a couple
of comments about the cost of the flight and
the dates not working for him.

I was instantly mad.

To my credit, I knew what was happening at the time. But like a car whose brakes go out, I couldn’t stop the wreck. I started shouting my “extremely valid” points and making snarky remarks.

With neither of us wanting to deal with each other at that point—we hung up. It was an epic fail.”

Have you ever been in a situation like this? You were able to identify that you were feeling emotional… but felt helpless to stop it?

The great news is that when you learn (yes, it is a process) how to better manage your emotions by raising your “emotional intelligence,” things turn out MUCH better.

Read on to discover 4 compelling benefits from increasing your emotional intelligence (EQ).

“EQ has twice the power of IQ to predict performance [success]. EQ is also a better predictor than employee skill, knowledge, or expertise.” – Gerald Mount

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Affective Forecasting: Wrongly Imagining the Future

Research reveals things are rarely as bad (or good) as we imagine

Affective forecasting of our feelings in the future

Try this experiment. Imagine something you fear, even dread happening to you. Something really bad. Go ahead… I’ll wait.

Now, imagine those worst fears actually happen this coming week. What would your life be like 6 months from now? A year later?

Now, it’s time for our experiment to go to your happy place. Imagine one of your “dreams come true” happening this coming week. What would your life be like 6 months from now? A year later?

Now, take both of those imagined futures, good and bad, and throw them out the window. They are dead wrong.

Here’s the problem: research has revealed that you and I have a mental distortion in our perception of the future.

It confirms we humans have a huge problem accurately predicting how certain events, good or bad, will impact us… especially how we will feel in the future because of them.

It gets worse. Your inability to accurately forecast your future quality of life based on the impact current events have on you is undermining the quality of your decisions and your life TODAY. Read on to learn what you can do about it.

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Fear in Decision Making: How This F Word Messes You Up

3 Ways Fear Can Negatively Impact Your Decisions

Consistently making good decisions is not easy.

As a student of decision making, I have discovered LOTS of reasons you and I make lousy, or shall we say “less than optimum” decisions. I have undoubtedly experienced all of them many times over. You have, too.

There is one reason we need to talk about that is extremely frustrating to deal with… especially when others around you do it. So much so, that you are tempted to utter an F word.

This cause of poor decision making is also a 4-letter F word… FEAR.

If not addressed, fear will not only affect your decisions today but will also reduce your ability to improve your decision-making abilities in the future. Not good.

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The Benefits of Laughter: An Effective, Free Stress Fighter

We all need more vitamin L every day :)

Benefits of a good laughter“Laughter is an instant vacation.” – Milton Berle

“A good laugh and a long sleep are two
of the best cures for anything.” -Unknown

 

Most everyone loves a good laugh. Well, except certain grumpy, uptight people who never smile… you know who you are 🙁

But did you know that laughter has many, many health benefits, too? This includes dealing with stress.

Over 350 studies have established a ton of benefits that come to us when we laugh. There are just 4 benefits in particular that might surprise you.

1. Laughter releases potent endorphins. A good laugh releases a dose of endorphins, our feel-good hormone. Here’s why that is great news: endorphins help counteract the negative emotions and stress we experience in daily life. The effects of these endorphins are heightened… when we laugh with others.

Hmm… do you think that’s why we instinctively make a joke to lighten the mood in certain situations, to experience some relief?

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5 Dumb Decisions (Hilarious!): How To Avoid Bad Decisions

These Key Areas are Leading You to Make Bad Decisions

Dumb decisions madeHave you seen a dumb decision being made by someone?

Isn’t your first thought: What were you thinking?

But, I also have a second thought: How can I avoid a bad decision? …so others don’t think the first thought about me. 🙂

Here are 5 really funny, but dumb decisions that prompt the first question.

… then I want to show you 2 ways to avoid bad decisions in the future. (more…)