CAREER DEVELOPMENT, GOALS, SUCCESS UNIVERSITY

You have to motivate yourself in order to motivate others. If you do not know how, then it is time to browse through some self-improvement books.

Here are some of the highly recommended titles:

1. 21 Indispensable Qualities of Leadership: Becoming the Leader Others Will Follow by John C. Maxwell

Why do some people consistently inspire others to follow their lead? In this self-improvement book, the author identifies the top traits needed: character, charisma, commitment, communication, competence, courage, discernment, focus, generosity, initiative, listening, passion, positive attitude, problem solving, relationships, responsibility, security, self-discipline, servanthood, teachability, and vision.

Maxwell breaks down leadership qualities into easy to understand character qualities. Character is what defines a leader and these traits are what people of character have. This is a must-read for leaders in any position.

2. Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham

This book helps you find your strong points and encourages you to work to make those stronger. You can also take the personal survey that is in the book.

3. Five Patterns of Extraordinary Careers by Spencer Stuart

This is a remarkable book about how to stand out and have a better career. One lesson learned: It is better to ask for forgiveness after the fact, than it is to ask for permission ahead of time.

4. Who Moved My Cheese? By Spencer Johnson

Of course, what book list would be complete without this self improvement book that is all about change?

5. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey

Another must have in your self-improvement book collection. If you like to read books, you are practicing one of Covey's habits, "sharpening the saw."

6. How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci Discover Your Genius: How to Think Like History's Ten Most Revolutionary Minds by Michael Gelb

This self-improvement book helps you to think more creatively and be more artistic. These factors are important no matter what position you may be in right now.

7. The Brand You 50 Re-imagine Pursuit of Wow! by Tom Peters

This is a motivational book urging readers to achieve more.

8. What Should I Do With My Life? by Po Bronson

A self-improvement book that tells you that it is okay not to know what you want to do. That even the people whom we think are completely happy may not be actually happy. You make your own happiness, it all depends on how you deal with it.

9. Rhinoceros Success by Scott Alexander

This is incredibly quick to read. The book is all about leading. It is also about doing the unpopular to make a difference and stand out as a leader. Be a rhino!

10. Advanced Rhinocerology by Scott Alexander

This is a nice sequel to Rhinocerous Success! Leaders are often under attack from all sides and it is important to watch your own back because often nobody else will.

These are just some of the more popular self-improvement books you can check out whenever you want answers to questions you have been keeping inside for too long.

Posted by Leon Edward at 07:10 AM | Permalink

Willpower – this is an essential factor in achieving success.

Discouragement and lack of motivation may hinder you from reaching your objectives. You alone can devise techniques that will help keep the fire within.

Cut out a picture of it and post it at a conspicuous place at work or at home where you can see it often. When you feel discouraged, this will remind you of your goal and will help you keep your focus.

Psychologically speaking, putting something in writing somehow makes it more powerful. In fact, certain cultures put premium in honoring contracts. In the contract, you may also include a certain reward that you receive once you have accomplished the task. After all, everyone likes to be rewarded for completing a good job.

In the workplace, a simple pat on the back, "good job", or "thank you" may do the trick to give the person the additional push to carry on. Unfortunately, these may not always be readily available. Considering that these are also essential in keeping oneself motivated, you must learn to find a way to get that encouragement on your own by rewarding yourself.

Abusive people lower your self-esteem and bring you down. Get these negative people out of your life. Surround yourself with positive people. Imitate their examples. Smile and think happy thoughts.

Rather than wait for things to happen, try to be proactive and MAKE THINGS HAPPEN. Inactivity leads to idleness and stagnation. It hinders your potential to reach your goals.

If this still seems to falter, get training or education. Oftentimes, not knowing how or where to start is frustrating. Knowledge is power. You should know how and where to start. It will provide the extra drive needed to hit the mark.

Having enumerated all these tips and tricks to attain self-motivation, there is one last thing that you must try.

Whatever it is that you have been meaning to do or wanting to achieve, JUST DO IT!

Aim high and go for it! Actually getting your hands dirty best solves the problem of lack of motivation. By "forcing" yourself to just do it, your momentum will pick up gradually. Before you know it, you have finished the task. Divide and conquer is the key.

Lack of motivation happens to all. You must encourage or challenge your self for no one else will. It is most important to keep your eye on the goal, find ways to keep going, and in no time, you shall reap its benefits.

Initially, you may be just doing it just for the material reward. Eventually, you will realize that the fulfillment, satisfaction, and self-achievement to be derived from reaching your goal is more important. These provide an enjoyable high that will keep the drive within constantly burning.

Posted by Leon Edward at 08:13 PM | Permalink

In an episode of the animated TV show Teen Titans, two teen superheroes wonder how they can change the TV channel without the remote, until one of their fellow titans shouts: "Simple. You just get up and change the channel."

Change in business is rarely so easy. And to an entrepreneur whose plans are blocked by employees who won't modify their mindsets, it can seem almost impossible. But changing people's attitudes and values are frequently required for sweeping organizational change, such as switching a company's business model or moving from a 'seat of the pants' enterprise to one run by more formal systems.

Fortunately, many entrepreneurs have been there before, so the process of accomplishing change by changing people's minds is now well-understood. A four-step process based on research by consulting firm McKinsey & Co will help you understand this better.

1) Convince people of the need for change.

Assume you'll face obstacles, and find out what's behind the resistance. Are they averse to risk? Do they feel their jobs will be threatened? Are they just unconvinced there's a need for change? Objective data can soothe fears. When employees see the logic of your actions, they will become willing to try new procedures.

2) Recognize and reward the behavior you want.

On the other side, punish – or at least don't reward – undesirable behavior. There are many ways to do this, from changing bonus structures to instituting new employee awards tailored to your new goals. Don't assume money is the only – or best – motivator. Financial rewards can be seen as buying cooperation, or some form of bribery. Non-financial rewards can be more effective.

3) Provide role models for change.

The way, employees can see someone they admire engaging in the desired behavior. Don't expect your people to follow someone else. The leaders of the change effort should not be external consultants but the senior leaders in the organization themselves. They should be the ones out front, teaching, leading and facilitating.

4) Make sure your people have the necessary skills to implement change.

Learning the new skills required for major organizational change is likely to be different from the ordinary training project. You have to get people to un-learn they old behavior and then learn new behavior.

Reluctant students can block learning, as well, of course. You can increase their willingness by modifying the environment in which they learn, but don't just spruce up the company classroom. Instead, apply the polish to your products, services and overall company image – especially as viewed by your employees. When workers see change in these important elements, they realize that they will have to change, too, and they'll be more agreeable to acquiring new skills.

While you're changing people's mindsets, don't neglect your own. Business change is hardly ever as easy as surfing to a new TV channel, and it's always hard right after you've gone through change. The bad news is, you might be successful. That's when you get into trouble, because the biggest task is maintaining momentum. Change isn't a event; it's a process.

Posted by Leon Edward at 09:06 PM | Permalink

Pain may sometimes be the reason why people change. Getting flunked grades make us realize that we need to study. Debts remind us of our inability to look for a source of income. Being humiliated gives us the ‘push’ to speak up and fight for ourselves to save our face from the next embarrassments. It may be a bitter experience, a friend’s tragic story, a great movie, or an inspiring book that will help us get up and get just the right amount of motivation we need in order to improve ourselves.

With the countless negativities the world brings about, how do we keep motivated? Try on the tips I prepared from A to Z…

A - Achieve your dreams. Avoid negative people, things and places. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

B - Believe in your self, and in what you can do.

C – Consider things on every angle and aspect. Motivation comes from determination. To be able to understand life, you should feel the sun from both sides.

D – Don’t give up and don’t give in. Thomas Edison failed once, twice, more than thrice before he came up with his invention and perfected the incandescent light bulb. Make motivation as your steering wheel.

E – Enjoy. Work as if you don’t need money. Dance as if nobody’s watching. Love as if you never cried. Learn as if you’ll live forever. Motivation takes place when people are happy.

F – Family and Friends – are life’s greatest ‘F’ treasures. Don’t loose sight of them.

G – Give more than what is enough. Where does motivation and self improvement take place at work? At home? At school? When you exert extra effort in doing things.

H – Hang on to your dreams. They may dangle in there for a moment, but these little stars will be your driving force.

I – Ignore those who try to destroy you. Don’t let other people to get the best of you. Stay out of toxic people – the kind of friends who hates to hear about your success.

J – Just be yourself. The key to success is to be yourself. And the key to failure is to try to please everyone.

K – keep trying no matter how hard life may seem. When a person is motivated, eventually he sees a harsh life finally clearing out, paving the way to self improvement.
L – Learn to love your self. Now isn’t that easy?

M – Make things happen. Motivation is when your dreams are put into work clothes.

N – Never lie, cheat or steal. Always play a fair game.

O – Open your eyes. People should learn the horse attitude and horse sense. They see things in 2 ways – how they want things to be, and how they should be.

P – Practice makes perfect. Practice is about motivation. It lets us learn repertoire and ways on how can we recover from our mistakes.

Q – Quitters never win. And winners never quit. So, choose your fate – are you going to be a quitter? Or a winner?

R – Ready yourself. Motivation is also about preparation. We must hear the little voice within us telling us to get started before others will get on their feet and try to push us around. Remember, it wasn’t raining when Noah build the ark.

S – Stop procrastinating.

T – Take control of your life. Discipline or self control jives synonymously with motivation. Both are key factors in self improvement.

U – Understand others. If you know very well how to talk, you should also learn how to listen. Yearn to understand first, and to be understood the second.

V – Visualize it. Motivation without vision is like a boat on a dry land.

W – Want it more than anything. Dreaming means believing. And to believe is something that is rooted out from the roots of motivation and self improvement.

X – X Factor is what will make you different from the others. When you are motivated, you tend to put on “extras” on your life like extra time for family, extra help at work, extra care for friends, and so on.

Y – You are unique. No one in this world looks, acts, or talks like you. Value your life and existence, because you’re just going to spend it once.

Z – Zero in on your dreams and go for it!!!

Posted by Leon Edward at 08:23 PM | Permalink

Most successful people have failed miserably. That's right. At one time or another they have flopped, fell short, missed the mark, struck out and goofed up royally. However, the difference between these people and the rest of the world is that when they failed, they made a choice to use the experience to better themselves...to become stronger.

Are you determined to reach your goal? Do you really believe you can achieve what you set out to accomplish? With determination and belief, you too can make the same choice to turn a failed situation into a winning one. How? By choosing to adapt a positive perspective and engage in edifying self-talk. Here are four opportunities to stay motivated in the midst of failure:

"The Only Direction is UP” or “It Can't Get Any Worse"

Feel like you've hit rock bottom? Don't beat up on yourself too badly. To experience disappointment, heartbreak, embarrassment and/or self-doubt is to be human. However, to wallow in this state for too long is downright destructive. Tell yourself that it doesn't get much worse than this point of failure and let yourself know that the only place left to go is "upward." Use the failure as motivation to start climbing back up. When you do this, you will see that instead of running from failure you will look it in the eye and overcome it.

"I Have a Chance to Do Better Next Time"

As long as you're breathing, there's always room for improvement. Choose to use your failure as motivation to do better the next time around. When you remember your goal and envision reaching it, you will be super-charged to find ways to develop yourself. For example, if you need to do better in school, make (and follow) a consistent study schedule. If you are intent on a promotion at work, take classes to increase your skill-set. No matter what the failed task consists of, you can use it to motivate yourself to get more done.

"Hmmm, I May Need to Change Direction"

Does it seem like you've come to a roadblock? Then the solution may just be detouring and moving toward your goal in a different way. When something does not work out as planned, you need to re-evaluate the route you are taking. So review the situation, re-group and get on a track "around" that roadblock. The track may be a different one, but it may also be a more successful one.

"This is Not the End of the Line"

Know this: everyone fails from time to time but failure is not the end of the line unless you allow it to be. You blundered, you tried, you failed and it hurts. Allow yourself time to grieve it but then let it go so that you can get back to the business of reaching your intended goal. Your goal IS your motivation. Remind yourself that the only positive option is to seek ways to turn the situation around. Then tell yourself that in the morning, you will begin again!

Posted by Leon Edward at 03:07 PM | Permalink

If you surveyed 50 people asking each their definition of
success, chances are you would receive fifty different answers.
Even so, there are certain steps everyone must follow in order to
be successful. One of the most important is - staying
motivated.

Do you have a new job? Have you started your own business? Are
you in the process of earning a degree? Do you have the desire
to lose weight? If one of these scenarios are a recent event in
your life, you are probably still excited about the opportunity.
That also probably means you are motivated, as well. Excitement
and motivation, often, work hand in hand.

But, how do you stay motivated after several weeks or months have
gone by? How do you maintain the same level of excitement that
you had when you began your new adventure?

There are many things you can do to stay motivated. It is
important to set aside a few minutes or more, each day, in an
effort to keep your motivation level at its highest. There will
be days that you may feel less motivated then usual. Let's face
it; we all have a bad day now and then. So, by doing all that
you can to maintain a positive attitude, your "down days" will
probably be few and far between.

Read a book. There are hundreds of books that have been written
on the topic of motivation. Visit your local bookstore or
library and browse the shelves. Ask the clerk or librarian for
author and title recommendations. Both will be happy to help
you.

If you have a busy schedule, don't despair. Set aside 15 or 20
minutes each day. Even if you only read a few pages, during that
time, it WILL help to keep you motivated. I do it and can attest
to the fact that it really DOES work!

If you are in the process of achieving a goal such as weight loss
or top salesperson, make a "dream board". A dream board is a
poster, of sorts. If a trimmer figure is your goal, cut out
pictures of the new wardrobe you will someday buy.

If you dream of out-selling your peers, find pictures of your
dream home or vacation destination... of the new car you would
LOVE to drive. Make a collage with these pictures and hand it
somewhere where you will see it each day.

There are many other things you can do to stay motivated.
Believe in yourself. Stay healthy. Maintain a positive
attitude.

You will be amazed at what you can achieve!

To your Success and Wealth,

Leon Edward

 http://www.Leaders-Success-Wealth.com

P.S. 

Immediate Access to dozens of Streaming Audio & Video Courses on Success, Wealth, Motivation, Personal Development, Goals, Leadership, Comunication, Intenet & Network Marketing,from the greatest speakers, authors and educators of all time. Free 14 Day Trial - Click Here...

Posted by Leon Edward at 10:47 AM | Permalink

Many studies have been done to research the effects of motivation
and mental health. As the implications of helping those with
negative self-esteem, depression and anxiety are immense this is
certainly an area of research that deserves a great deal of
attention.

Psychology Online reports on a study investigating the
differences between INTERNAL and EXTERNAL MOTIVATION. The report
states that "Although our society is largely
extrinsically-motivated by external rewards such as money, fame
and power, research has indicated those who are
intrinsically-motivated by inner desires for creativity,
fulfillment and inner satisfaction are psychologically healthier
and happier."

How can this help you?

The study of health psychology seeks to understand how our
ability to cope with stress can help us to prevent illness and
promote health. Some of these coping mechanisms are naturally
inborn but may be taught to those who lack them. Motivation is
one of the tools that researchers are trying to use as a
combatant of negative stress reactions.

Motivation is something that we use every day. It's what enables
us to survive - to get food because we're hungry, to go to work
to pay the bills or to educate ourselves in order to pursue a
higher goal in life.

How we respond to life's demands can affect our overall health.
How are you classified?

The same report on Psychology Online identified those who respond
to life with negativity or anxiety as most likely to deal with
the physical affects of anger, guilt, nervousness, frustration
and fear. These emotions can cause hypertension and high blood
pressure which can lead to heart attack or stroke. Other
complications include ulcers, arthritis, asthma and kidney
disease.

Some therapists suggest that by using positive self-talk and
trying to restructure the WAY we look at events can offset the
physical and mental effects of dealing with negative or stressful
events in life.

Interestingly, people who tend to focus on themselves as the
controller of their fate - in fact 'self-motivated' - are more
likely to feel a sense of control when stressors affect them.
Instead of blaming something or someone else they have the
motivation to deal with a problem and look for a reasonable
solution. This positive behavior helps them to achieve goals and
find personal contentment.

Therapists try to teach patients how to emulate this positive
reaction to stress and use their motivation as a source of
empowerment. Learning to manage stress and using motivation to
set goals, work through a problem or fix it can in turn promote
better mental and physical health.

To your Success and Wealth,

Leon Edward

 http://www.Leaders-Success-Wealth.com

P.S. 

Immediate Access to dozens of Streaming Audio & Video Courses on Success, Wealth, Motivation, Personal Development, Goals, Leadership, Comunication, Intenet & Network Marketing,from the greatest speakers, authors and educators of all time. Free 14 Day Trial - Click Here...

Posted by Leon Edward at 10:04 AM | Permalink