SUCCESS IS SIMPLE

Are you determined to become a mega success story?

Then this article will show you the simplest formula for reaching heights of success you've only dreamed about.

Remember that simplicity is not the same thing as ineffectiveness, for true power lies in simplicity. As the saying goes, "Common sense is not always common practice."

Let's begin.

Psychologist Arnold H. Glasgow has said, "Success is simple: do what's right, the right way, at the right time."

That's a simple concept, yet very profound.

The quote lays out three easy steps to simplify success, but those steps must be integrated to work effectively ' you can't afford to skip even one of them.

The first step is to do what is right. If you skip the FIRST and most important step, you're eliminating your chances to succeed.

But how do you know what is right for you?

Simply put, the decisions you make every day must match with your true purpose in life. Every action you take must enhance and solidify who you are and what you were meant to accomplish in this life.

When you have a purpose, your actions naturally become more powerful because they are focused and united to fulfill a sole objective. Consequently, you achieve faster and better results.

The second step is to do it the right way. If you skip this step, you'll find yourself in a never-ending loop of trial and error where you'll just keep re-inventing the wheel, instead of re-inventing yourself.

It has often been said that the easiest way to become successful is to find someone who is already successful and follow in his footsteps.

Take that advice and learn from the best. Look for successful people who have reached the same level of success you want to reach, and learn from both their mistakes and their accomplishments. Imitate their lives, learn their methods, and discover their secrets.

The third and last simple step to success is to choose the right time. Take small actions every single day that lead you toward fulfilling your purpose. Prepare yourself so that when the right opportunity presents itself, you'll be ready to seize it and ride it to unimaginable levels of success. The right time to start taking action is NOW. Even the smallest action can make a big difference. Don't worry about the magnitude of your every move; focus instead on the collective power of all your small actions combined.

"Success is simple. Do what's right, the right way, at the right time."

Do what is right by discovering your true purpose in life.

Do it the right way by learning from the best.

Do it at the right time by taking small actions and preparing yourself to seize opportunity when it presents itself.

Can success be that simple?

It can be if you start NOW!

STRESS

Stress is a part of daily life. Everyone has stress. Some people appear to have more stress than others. Stress is one way we react to specific events in our life. There are times when you might feel that too much is happening at once and feel overwhelmed. Other times, you feel the pressure of time or a deadline and realize you need to take care of something before it is too late. Having been in a similar situation before will create anxiety. How we perceive a situation will effect how we respond to it. There is good stress and bad stress.

Good stress can be a motivator. Knowing that you have an obligation to address and a timeframe. That type of stressor puts you into action in order to meet a deadline. Or you might be in an unexpected situation where you need to make a split second response in order to avoid danger. This could be slamming your foot on the brake to avoid an accident. Anticipation of a competition or performance will cause tension and nervousness prior to the event. This nervousness is due to an increased flow of adrenaline going through your body. Your body is preparing for the “fight or flight” syndrome. The release of adrenaline prepares your body to take the steps to deal with the situation, including improved focus, strength, stamina and heightened alertness.

People also have bad stress in their lives. Whether we perceive a situation as being stressful or not depends on previous experiences. One person might see being in a multi tasking job as very stressful, feeling overwhelmed and becoming anxious about their work. Another person might find multi tasking enjoyable because they continue to stay busy and time goes by faster. Your body is capable of dealing with stress for short periods of time. When the stress is ongoing i.e. dealing with a divorce or bankruptcy, this can wear a person down. Long term stress contributes to feeling tired, overwhelmed and contributes to lowered immunity.

The body’s reactions to stress

Once you view something as being stressful, whether positive or negative, your body reacts to that perception. The response is a survival technique and a defense mechanism. The reaction is referred to as the “fight or flight” response. Either you are going to fight the attacker or you will choose to flee from the threat. This includes increased heart rate and blood pressure, perspiration, hearing and vision become more acute and hands and feet might become colder since blood is being directed to larger muscles in preparation for a fight or to flee. Your body is being prepped to handle the situation. When the threat is over, your body will return to normal.

If your body has difficulty returning to normal, then you would experience stress overload. This is when you stress out too much or have ongoing stress in your life and never get a chance to relax. Pressure in your life might be too intense or go on for too long without a break. People that have experienced trauma are likely to have stress overload. If trauma is not resolved then you might become hypervigilant, a sense of being overly aware of possible danger. You might always be “on guard.” Stress overload has an emotional and physical effect on the body. This could include panic attacks, depression, sleep problems, physical pain i.e. headaches and allergies as well as abuse of alcohol or other drugs. Having unresolved trauma will effect your perception. Situations that might not have caused tension prior to the trauma can have the ability to create anxiety after the trauma. Becoming aware of how your perception has changed and seeking support to address the trauma issue can be helpful to reduce ongoing stressors and to reduce anxiety. Seeking counseling that focuses on cognitive perceptions will help to decrease hypervigilance and will help to reduce the likelihood of continuing to be retraumatized. In addition, your body has memory of the event as well. Being able to release that reaction to the memory of the event from your body will help to reduce stress overload and triggers.

Stress and control

Stress is contributed to the desire to be in control. This not only includes control over yourself, but control over other people and your environment. Trying to control others and your environment, however, is impossible. You only have control over your own thoughts and actions. In order to relieve stress and anxiety it is important to let go of trying to control things outside of yourself. We are unable to foresee the future and cannot control what events will happen next. Focusing on future potential problems contributes to anxiety. On the other hand, people are able to prepare for things that might occur and have a plan of how you would like to respond to events. This could be as simple as having a repair kit in your car for getting a flat tire or preparation for an interview and the questions that might be asked during the interview process.

Part of living life is that things always change. Change is normal. How you perceive something will impact how you react to it. This is where the fight or flight reaction occurs. You can decide to be proactive and address the situation. Making a choice to take care of things when they occur. Or you can expend a lot of energy avoiding issues and letting them build. Taking action will actually help to reduce stress and anxiety in the long run. In addition, there will be a feeling of empowerment as you begin to deal with problems as they arise. Trust your intuition and creatively think of all ways you could resolve the issue at hand. Even if you try to tackle a problem and don’t succeed, you could then view this as a temporary setback. Review what happened and try to approach it differently. Setbacks can be temporary. Find who your friends are and develop a support system. Another option is to seek counseling in order to have someone that is impartial as part of your support system. You don’t have to always take care of problems by yourself. Ask your friends, counselor or other support persons what they think about a situation. They might have ideas that you would not think of on your own. Learning to address problems as they occur will help you to change your perception of things from problems to challenges. Doing so will continue to help you build your sense of self esteem and empowerment. Identifying challenges as they occur, developing a plan to deal with the challenge, asking others for their point of view, taking action and keeping focus on the goal you are working toward will help to strengthen your resiliency.

Steps to reduce stress

Each one of us is a unique individual and we all have different experiences throughout our lives that affect our perception. What might be a stressful event for one person, might not be viewed as stressful for someone else. In addition, some activities are more stressful than others. Self care including eating well and getting enough sleep are important for stress reduction. Making time for doing activities that are relaxing is preventative to reducing stress overload. Relaxation is important, but there is no one right way to relax. Some people find that sleeping or going to the beach is relaxing. Others choose to be involved in an enjoyable activity or hobby as a way of relaxing. The goal is to find an activity that allows you to escape from everyday worries and problems. There is no right way to do that. Relieving stress can be done by meditation, exercise or doing an activity. Making the time to care for yourself is a priority that helps to reduce stress overload.

As you focus on making positive change in your life that will help to reduce stress and anxiety, be forgiving of yourself if you don’t resolve your problems immediately. Being critical of yourself is very easy to do, especially when people close to you have been critical of you for a long period of time. That critical voice can be very loud when you don’t get it right the first time. A suggestion is a positive response to the changes you are trying to make and to be forgiving of yourself when things don’t go perfectly as planned. These are some suggestions that might work or to come up with your own.

 “As things develop, I will, through listening to guidance from my unconscious, adapt to changing circumstances and grow with them.”

 “I may not get what I want when I want it; I trust that things will work out in their own good time, for my ultimate benefit, as long as I remain calm and peaceful.”

 “I may not get what I want at all, and yet, in remaining calm and attentive, I may discover something else that I need even more than what I thought I wanted.”

How you perceive a situation will affect how you respond. Whether you choose to address the issue or to avoid it. If you have a negative perception then you are more likely to experience anxiety and not be able to effectively take care of the problem. This will then reinforce that you have no control over the outcome and reinforce the perception of being helpless. On the other hand, a positive perception will help you to find a way to deal with the challenge you are presented with. If you choose to take responsibility for your feelings and actions then you are more likely to have a positive outcome. This will reinforce the sense of resiliency and empowerment. Breaking old patterns of behavior is difficult, especially when trying to do it by yourself. Being willing to look at yourself and to identify changes you would like to make takes a lot of energy and time. The more effort you put into making a positive lifestyle change, the greater the feeling of accomplishment you will experience. Develop a support system, whether family, friends or a counselor. Having someone that helps you to make positive change will increase the likelihood that the change will be long term instead of temporary.

IMPROVE YOUR SELF CONFIDENCE

Self confidence is akin to a tool. It provides you with a sense of certainty, and helps you to manage your fears. Self confidence is usually built up through a history of positive experiences, and with an improved sense of self confidence you will find that your esteem and mental state will be greatly improved as well.

If you find yourself unable to summon up courage to voice your own opinion, or to tell someone to back off when you need to, then it is probably a sign that you need to improve your self confidence. Here are 4 easy tips that will help you do just that.

Tip #1: Set Goals

The first step in gaining self confidence is to set realistic and achievable goals for yourself. These goals should not be unachievable nor out of reach, but should be a challenge for you so that you can improve. No goal is too small, as every little step counts and works towards achieving the next bigger goal. With set goals, you will be able to push yourself to exceed your comfort zone, and it will give you something concrete to work towards.

Tip #2: Control your Feelings

Feelings are strong emotions that can have a big impact on our self confidence. Emotions associated with fear, anxiety or distrust can undermine our self esteem, whilst others like happiness and excitement can increase our self confidence. By being able to control your emotions so that you do not fall prey to negative emotions, you will be able to project positive emotions. This makes it easier for you to act and appear more confident.

Tip #3: Have a Mentor

Pick someone that you trust who will be able to give you the type of guidance that you are looking for. Make sure that it is someone who will not be afraid to push you to achieve your goals, and hold you accountable if you are not reaching them. It can be a friend or a family member, or a professional even.

Tip #4: Take Action

Do not allow yourself to procrastinate as you need to take active steps in order to build confidence. It is often a vicious cycle if you insist on waiting for your confidence to improve first before taking action to help you grow your self-confidence. Based on the goals that you have set for yourself, set aside an hour or so everyday to work on doing activities that will help you to achieve those targets.

Stop yourself from worrying about being unprepared, or not confident enough to approach new activities. Whilst it is normal to worry, it is important that you do not do so excessively. There are many possibilities open to you, and you need to be receptive to developing your own self-confidence.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

Part of being an empowered person is having intimate knowledge and awareness of yourself as an individual, including your strengths, talents, weaknesses, capabilities and limitations.

How well do you know yourself? You’d be surprised how many people don’t know themselves at all! If you’ve spent the majority of your time focusing on the people around you, you may not have a clear self-image, which can lead to feelings of inner disconnection and disempowerment.

On the other hand, when you know yourself well you are empowered in that knowledge. You feel confident, self-assured, centered and strong, which enables you to live purposely and make more beneficial decisions.

Getting to know yourself is easy to do with a consistent investment of time and focus. Basically, you’d start just like you would if you wanted to get to know another person better – you’d spend quality time with them! By spending frequent quality time with yourself, you’ll gain a clearer idea of who you are.

Start by considering your interests and passions. Grab a sheet of paper and jot down some of the things you enjoy doing now, or have wanted to explore in the past. If you’re not sure, think about the things you did when you were younger. Have you always had an interest in creative activities like art and photography? Did you belong to any clubs in school? Have you always wanted to take foreign language classes or travel to exotic places?

Eventually you’ll want to devote time to exploring these activities because they’ll help you to grow more fully into yourself as a person. However, for now simply explore your dreams, passions and interests on paper.

It’s also a good idea to get an idea of your personal values using this same process. What is most important to you? Honesty, love, compassion, service to others, family connections, making a positive difference in the world? Jot down some ideas about the things that really matter to you. Through these values you’ll get a clearer idea of the type of person you are.

Eventually you’ll want to be sure that the majority of your daily activities are in line with these values. For example, does your job support your value of honesty, or are you required to “fib” or act in ways that are contrary to your values? This is important because you will never feel truly empowered until you are living in alignment with your core values!

Another great way to get to know yourself better is through journaling. When you journal, you are connecting with a deeper part of yourself: your authentic self! Start by writing down some of your inner thoughts and insights about yourself. If you’re not sure exactly what to write, try asking questions like these:

• Who am I?
• Why am I here?
• What is my life purpose?
• What am I here to contribute to the world?
• What do others think of me?
• Is that who I really am?

Don’t worry about getting the answers right – the important thing is to explore your personality and get a clearer idea of who you are. Open your mind and let the answers spill out onto the page.

Getting to know yourself is a process that will continue throughout the rest of your life, but the more connected you become with your inner self, the more confident, self-assured – and empowered - you’re going to feel.

THE GREATEST BENEFIT OF SUCCESS

When you think of success, do you immediately picture monetary wealth, luxury homes, and fancy cars? Do you think of the respect and prestige you’ll receive when you’ve made your mark on the world? Or perhaps you imagine the sense of pride you’ll feel when you accomplish your objectives?

As great as those benefits can be, they cannot come close to matching the evolution of inner growth and personal mastery you experience along the way. While success is often viewed as an outer process of setting and achieving goals, it is much more a journey of inner development that changes you on a core level.

If you want to make sure you enjoy the greatest benefit on your journey to success, be sure to keep a strong focus on the following:

1) Continuously expand your vision of what is possible for your life. A successful person knows that they are capable of much more than they ever thought possible. While they may start with smaller objectives to get their feet wet, they have an idea that those goals will grow in magnitude as they shift their perception of limitations.

Be sure you’re always thinking about ways to expand your horizons, and be and do more than you previously thought you could. If you keep your focus on the point just beyond where your known capabilities end, you’ll keep setting your sights just a little bit higher.

2) Stretch beyond your comfort zones at every possible opportunity. In addition to believing you are capable of more, you should strive to prove it as often as you can. Don’t just dream big and plan big – act big! Take bigger risks and trust your heart to lead you to the most beneficial opportunities to show what you can do.

With every giant step forward you take, your confidence and self-mastery will grow in proportion.

3) Let your success show in the person you become, rather than your accomplishments. Rather than trying to impress others with what you can do (and have done) – let your character and demeanor convey your power in every interaction with others. You’ll find that people usually care less about what you’ve done than who you are.

A truly successful person never has to say a word about their accomplishments, because it’s written all over them.

The greatest thing about this inner journey to success is that it automatically causes the floodgates of prosperity to open and shower you with other benefits, like money and prestige. Of course, by then they’re just a nice bonus to the greatest benefit of success – who you’ve become along the way.

DISCIPLINE YOUSELF TO SUCCESS

When working toward goals or striving for success in any endeavor, self-discipline is one vital quality you need to have. Most of us cringe at the thought because it brings to mind instant visions of sacrifice, difficulty and strain.

However, discipline doesn’t have to be so hard. The problem occurs when you try to go from having no self-discipline to forcing yourself to undertake a heavy load of responsibility. Talk about pressure!

Below are three easy ways to become more disciplined with a minimum of discomfort:

1) First, change your attitude about discipline. One reason you may not be disciplined is because you think the activities or chores you need to do will be unpleasant in some way. The most common reaction to thoughts like that is to put the activities aside or avoid them until you feel ready to handle them.

Instead, pump yourself up and get motivated to get them done as soon as possible! Look forward to the challenge and keep affirming how great you’ll feel when you’re finished. Focus on the sense of personal accomplishment you’ll gain with every task and you’ll be much more likely to stick to your plans.

2) Make self-discipline a gradual process. Rather than trying to force yourself into submission with a big list of tasks or activities, go a little easier on yourself to start.

Identify one small task or activity that you can use for practice. Make it something fairly easy to accomplish each day, and then make sure you do it. If you have to, post notes of encouragement everywhere or wear an elastic band around your wrist as a reminder. If possible, get this one task out of the way first thing in the morning before you do anything else. Make it your highest priority and it will soon become a solid habit.

Then, begin adding more tasks or activities – or increase the size or frequency of the original task so you’re doing more each day. Little by little, keep increasing it like that and eventually you’ll find that you’re doing the things you set out to do without excuses or procrastination.

3) Commitment. If you’re not fully committed to achieving your goals, you’ll probably have a harder time pushing yourself to work on them. Make a solemn vow to yourself that you will do what it takes to work on your goals every single day. Write a list of important action steps and make it your mission to do one or more of them each day. Re-commit yourself as often as necessary to make sure you stick to your plans.

More than anything else, self-discipline is a favorable result of a series of wise decisions that you make each day. Choose to be disciplined, choose to be successful – and you will be!

HOW TO QUIT SMOKING

First off, consult a medical professional if you smoke or if you have any other addictions that may have deleterious effects.

If you smoke and have been thinking about quitting, or have tried quitting, then this article is for you. If you don’t smoke, but have some other addiction, then I also encourage you to read this article, as it’s theory can be used to quit other substances as well.

Quitting smoking is not all that difficult, if done properly. So many people fail to quit because of a lack of proper planning. Fail to plan and you plan to fail, as the saying goes. So how will you go about getting away from those tasty cancer sticks for good? If executed with the proper plan, quitting will not be agonizing, though you will experience some discomfort.

I'll skip telling you about how bad cigarettes are for you because you already know. You are bombarded with that information constantly.

I won’t tell you that you need to try some new nicotine patch or gum, or some other pill. These products just give you more of what you don’t want: nicotine. They are just a way for the drug companies to make more money. Don’t let them sell you on these. Quitting smoking requires no purchases.

So many people fail to quit each year because of a lack of planning. "I’m going to quit smoking" is not a plan. Not at all. Most of the time it does not work. This is because it is the goal, not the plan. If everyone who ever said or thought that actually quit, their would be very, very few smokers in our society. In fact, I suspect that the tobacco industry would have been reduced to a negligible size altogether. However, the tobacco industry remains massive because people do not quit through a strategic plan. These people are the bread-and-butter of the cigarette manufacturers.

Quitting smoking presents a challenge for two reasons:

1) Nicotine withdrawals. Nicotine is everything to the tobacco industry. Without nicotine, cigarettes would be no more addictive than chewing gum.

2) Taking smoking out of your day will be taking out an activity that is associated with taking a break, relaxing, or interacting socially with other smokers.

If we will be successful, we will have to address both of these challenges with a rigorous plan, but before I get to that plan I will go over the mind-set that is required for permanent termination of your habit.

This mind-set is made up of 3 parts:

1. Know that you will quit smoking. Think about this one for a while. Get used to envisioning yourself as a non smoker.

2. Know that you will have to quit eventually, or accept the likelihood of the onset of a terminal disease.

3. Know that the sooner you quit, the easier it will be to do so.

Let’s go over that last one a little. Often, as a smoker, you will have a cigarette sooner rather than later simply to avoid the onset of a craving. Cravings can be quite uncomfortable, as any smoker will tell you. So, you become proactive in your approach in that you will have the cigarette before the craving becomes uncomfortable. If you have one now, then you won’t need one as badly later on, so your thinking goes.

The problem with this way of thinking is that it is exactly wrong. The nicotine has tricked your subconscious mind into such rationalizing. The reality is that each and every time you have a cigarette, you are reenforcing your addiction and thus making it stronger. If your cigarette smoking has resulted in an addiction, then it follows that with every cigarette you have you are increasing the addiction. In the long run, there is no such thing as having a cigarette to alleviate craving. Sure, you are making yourself feel satisfied by having the cigarette, but the satisfaction is temporary. With every cigarette you have, you will crave the next one that much more. This progression can be very subtle, which is why nicotine addiction can creep up on so many people. They become addicted before they know it.

>From this logic follows the required mind-set in which you will know that the sooner you quit, the easier it will be to do so. Never the less, you should not start the quitting process until you have mentally prepared yourself by mulling over all three steps for a while until you get used to them, with an emphasis on step #1. (Envisioning yourself as a non-smoker).

Now that we have the proper mind-set in place, we may go about formulating a plan for addressing your addiction to the drug itself (nicotine). If you've tried quitting in the past and failed, nicotine was what drew you back to smoking. Therefore, we must eliminate your cravings for nicotine.

We will do this through a process of gradual reduction that will follow a mathematical algorithm.

The first thing that you need to do is to figure out how many cigarettes you smoke per day. This number is important, as it will be the starting point of our plan. You may be tempted here to just come up with an estimate, but I want you to be more precise than that.

You will start by taking a small piece of paper and taping it to your box of cigarettes so that you can make a simple marking with a pen for every time you smoke. You may also just carry a piece of paper around with you, but I find attaching it to the box to be more effective because you'll never be without it when you want to smoke. Do this for 1 week, then add up all of the cigarettes that you smoked all week. At the end of the week, divide the total number of cigarettes you smoked by 7 to get your average. If you are one of those people who smokes significantly more on the weekends or your days off, then it’s okay to calculate two separate averages.

Here’s the formula: Take the average number of cigarettes that you smoke per day and multiply that number by (.05). This will tell you how much 5% of the total amount of cigarettes that you smoke in a day is. If you smoke 10 cigarettes per day then 5% of that will be one half of a cigarette. For 30 cigarettes your number will be 1.5 cigarettes, and so on. It really doesn’t matter if you smoke 5 cigarettes per day or 40, you just need to know what 5% of that number is.

Once you have your numbers calculated you will start a gradual and consistent reduction in your smoking. You will do this in increments of 5% per week. This number will remain 5% of the original number of cigarettes that you smoked. If 5% of the original number of cigarettes that you smoked was 1 cigarette, then you will reduce your smoking by 1 cigarette per week, every week. Simple.

If your 5% number comes out to a fraction of a cigarette, for example ½ of a cigarette, then you will still reduce your smoking by that much. Simply take a pair of scissors and cut off half of a cigarette before you smoke it. Cutting the cigarette is important so that you are not able to smoke more than the program calls for. Also, I recommend that you cut all of the necessary cigarettes as soon as you get the pack. This will take some calculating in advance, but it will be worth it.

You will have to figure out what part of your day the cigarettes will be taken from. For starters you should pick a part of the day when you’re most busy so that you won’t be able to ruminate over the missing carcinogen.

Once you get down to about 1 cigarette per day, you may have to continue on with the gradual reduction by either progressing to ½ a cigarette per day, or 1 cigarette every other day, or even ½ of a cigarette every other day. The important part is that once you have quit, you will have quit for good. However gradual the process is in getting to quitting will be okay as long as it will lead you to total cessation of the habit.

Now that the plan for addressing the nicotine addiction is in place, we may formulate a plan for addressing the second challenge of quitting smoking. This is that in quitting smoking you will be deducting an activity from your life. Getting the subconscious mind to give up an activity that it is used to can be difficult unless you take the proper steps to help yourself along.

If you will be deducting from your life by quitting smoking, and quitting smoking becomes difficult as a result, then it follows that something ought to be added to your life for compensation purposes. What this something is will be up to you, but it needs to be an activity that's productive and enjoyable in some way. This may include reading, exercising, meditating, a new hobby, or simply devoting more quality time to your family. I find that activities which involve some form of exercise work best. Cigarettes stimulate the body and mind, and so does exercise, but in a much healthier way.

Choosing something healthy to add to your life in place of smoking will not only enrich your quality of life, it will make quitting much easier by addressing the needs of your subconscious mind. On the subconscious level you will feel less like you are at a loss and more like you have improved your general well being. The subconscious mind does not really care all that much about cigarettes being bad for you. It just cares that they bring you some level of pleasure, which is why you continue to smoke. You can help your subconscious mind feel less cheated by replacing the nicotine with something else that brings you joy.

It's also important to note that your change needs to be documented on paper through out the entire process. Keep a journal or a log detailing the number of cigarettes that you are allowed each day. This log should be small and mobile so that you can easily carry it with you in your pocket or purse.

Writing the process down on paper is important on two levels. The first is that it will allow you to keep an accurate count, and the second is that writing goals and procedures down on paper facilitates their accomplishment. If you take the time to write out a plan, you will be using more of your conscious power and your objective will thus have more energy behind it.

So there you have it, the easier way to quit smoking. Notice that I did not title the article, "The Easy Way To Quit Smoking". I used the word easier because no matter what our approach is, quitting permanently will take some effort on your part. I have found that anything in life worth accomplishing does take effort. I can promise you though that quitting smoking for good will be worth your effort in the long run. Not only will you improve your health, but the sense of pride you'll get from the accomplishment will be tremendous. You'll feel empowered and confident, ready to concur your next goal.

So go ahead, quit for good. You'll be glad you did!

THE UNKNOW FACTS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING

The issues about global warming and the effects of global warming are continuously under debate. Somehow the debate has made its way into virtually every aspect of our lives. There is even thought that the issues about global warming are also applicable to the beliefs that other beings from other planets were forced to make themselves to Earth as their planet began to deteriorate, due to global warming.

It is all around us. It is on the weather stations. It faces us when we decide to purchase a new car or even a cleaning product. The real issues come when trying to learn about global warming. There is a lot of conflicting information on the internet and there is not one group that can agree on all aspects of the global warming debate.

Over the past century, with out a doubt, global temperatures have risen. While the rise in temperature has been only a degree or so, the concern is whether the Earth's temperatures will continue to rise and what impact that will have on the environment. The controversy about the warming of the earth is a result of conflicting evidence.
The fact that global warming also occurred in the prehistoric era is a scientific point. Some think a large meteor hitting the planet caused an big change in the earth's temperature. Is that what killed the dinosaurs? Science cannot prove this conclusively yet. The political and industrial lobbies further complicate conversations about global warming. The contention of these groups is that, we currently do not know enough about the effects of global warming to limit industrial emissions.

When will we know the full facts about global warming and will the global warming issue be resolved anytime soon? Unfortunately the answer is no. There will continue to be studies performed and there will always be a measure of doubt clouding the minds of citizens around the world. Perhaps, when enough data comes through, we will be able to make a determination based on scientific fact rather than theory. Until then we can continue to monitor the progress of scientists and try to do our part in conserving the environment.

TARGET ACTION PLANNING

Most businesses pride themselves on their brilliant strategies. However, ask how they translate strategy into tactics to generate results and they will predictably go silent.

What they lack is simply a goal- and priority-setting system to bridge strategy and tactics that creates action and accountability.

Target Action Planning (TAP) is a technique you can use when your company is embarking on a new initiative or effort with which it has little or no experience. This might be the development of a new market, the building or modifying of a distribution channel or the launch of a new product or concept, each of which spawns a new process in the organization. It may even support a newly created role among your staff.

Use TAP when your company needs to evaluate, assess and fine-tune its workload and priorities. TAP involves assessing the skills, resource allocation and priorities of your business and how closely they align with your strategic directives.

Every company needs an effective system that aligns its people and departments with the common goals that correspond to the Critical Success Factors (CSFs)—the things that, if not done, will result in the company’s failing. TAP aligns company resources and provides the means to negotiate (cross-departmentally) for resource priority and allocation. This is a key area that plagues many organizations.

TAP brings balance, coordination and integration to the organization and minimizes personal agendas.

The seven steps of Target Action Planning

Step One: Define current tasks, priorities and projects for yourself and the employees who will use the TAP system

This list includes anything that is currently consuming company time, energy and effort. This is simply a definition phase. No assessments or judgments are made. Generate a document, using the following example, for each of these tasks.

The Target Action Planning (TAP) Document

Task or project (defined in 5 words): ____________________________

Status of task: ______________________________________________

(New assignment, work-in-progress, close to completion)

Target date for completion of task: _____________________________

Name of the employee managing this task: _______________________

Resources need to complete the task,

particularly cross-departmental or external company sources:

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________


Step Two: Prioritize each of the projects or tasks identified in Step One

Rank each task as high, medium or low priority from the perspective of the individual or group that put the TAP document together for that task. Discuss CSFs with your staff during this ranking process. Most of us dedicate 70% or more of our time to “operational tasks,” things that are not necessarily critical to the business. The CSFs, however, usually correspond to the strategic initiatives that drive the business. Ask your staff what they believe to be the CSFs that support the business as a whole, their group’s function, and their individual function.

Step Three: Conduct a brainstorming exercise with your staff

You need to clear the slate so you can look at the picture without the constraints and priorities that revolve around your company’s current workload and tasks. Completely ignore, for now, what has been captured and ranked in Steps One and Two. (That information will resurface in a later stage in the process.) This step allows you and your people to think freely, both inside and outside the box. Bring up topics such as the company’s positioning and messaging, changing trends in the market, buying influences, the competitive landscape, assessment of the opportunity base, customer satisfaction (and retention), the effectiveness of your sales and distribution channel, acquisitions, and strategic alliances with third-party resources.

Sort out and document all output from this brainstorming session, grouping the entries in common categories—for example, market issues or sales-related considerations. The resulting list of priorities is your Hit List.

Step Four: Define the key areas of focus derived from the brainstorming session

Rank the items on the Hit List from most significant to least significant in terms of value and impact. Then, classify each entry as high, medium or low priority. At this stage, you need to get tough. Scrutinize your Hit List. Trade-offs may be required, but your final list should represent a valid picture of your company’s top priorities.

Each item on the final list will be compared to the Hit List captured in Step Three. They will either be a match, a pure mismatch, or in the “gray zone” (which means uncertainty) compared to the scope of key items discussed in the brainstorming session.

At this point, decide the fate of each item on the Hit List: commit and do it, reprioritize it and do it later (decide on a target start date) or eliminate it because it is not critical.

When you are done, the TAP process will have generated the undisputable priorities for your company.

Step Five: Compare the results of Step Four (what your company SHOULD BE doing) with the input from Steps One and Two (what your company IS doing)

This could be an eye-opener. You may discover that your people have been focusing on the wrong things—things that do not fuel CSFs.

Have your managers determine what (and to whom) they will delegate from their original task list to make room for more important priorities.

Step Six: Develop a new TAP document for each high- and medium-priority item on your Selected Final Hit List

The TAP document is a working action plan for a specific task or priority. A successful TAP document defines the task or project, the person responsible for it, and the team or cross-departmental resources that will be needed. It sets a realistic target date for completion, outlines specific details about what the task will produce or generate, and lists the specific steps necessary to complete the task. It also gives a clear definition of the expected results.

Step Seven: Implement the program

Conduct an orientation and kick-off session for your new priorities. Start slowly, tackling less challenging priorities and building from there. You want your people to taste success early and often.

Target Action Planning is simple, elegant and effective. How well does your company currently bridge strategy and tactics?

Are you ready to take a serious look at TAP and apply it to your business?

LEARN JAPANESE

My quest to learn how to speak Japanese began with the Anime movies, Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, by the renowned Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki. These amazing movies were the catalyst that propelled my interest in the Japanese culture and hence, my desire to learn Japanese fast but in the most proficient way possible.

I was determined to learn a language that most of my fellow North Americans either have no interest in or find it too challenging. Why? Japanese not only sounds significantly different from English but the Japanese letters, (Hiragana) that represent the sounds that make up the Japanese language and is central to the Japanese writing system, are very different. Because of this, I was even hesitant to learn basic Japanese but I put my fears aside and proceeded to find the best way to learn Japanese. After weeks of researching the Internet and networking by word of mouth, I found an amazing course that teaches you to speak Japanese online. So, here's a brief overview of this course to help you in your goal to learn Japanese easily.

First, there is a 31-lesson Interactive Audio Course that covers everything that you need to know to learn Japanese quickly and to become part of a Japanese community. Second, their software: the vocabulary software is a word building game designed to help you learn about 1000 Japanese words and to cover 20 different topics. You can also use this game indefinitely because it allows you to add your own images. The audio software will help you overcome the most difficult aspect of learning Japanese and that is the comprehension. The Hiragana Software learning game helps you to easily recognize and memorize the Hiragana character set used in the Japanese writing and pronunciation system. Third, there are the Grammar Newsletter Series that provides you with 31 illustrated Grammar Lessons and examples. These are invaluable cultural informational tools with explanations of written Japanese and of popular Japanese grammar. The visual tools of this series are unique to this product and their value is priceless enabling you to learn Japanese easily.

Finally, there is also access to a Learner's Forum and Support system that is staffed with fellow students, natives and Japanese teachers. This provides you with extra free resources to further assist you on your quest to learn to speak fluent Japanese.

I am pleased to say that I am able to watch Miyazaki’s movies in their original Japanese and I look forward to visiting Japan one day. Thank you, Hayao Miyazaki for opening up the door for me to experience, acknowledge and respect the Japanese culture.

WHO AM I ?

Having been a coach for many years, in addition to having been involved in the training of at least 1400 coaches worldwide, I have come to the conclusion that one of the greatest skills that we, as coaches, possess and need to perfect is the ‘art of the question’. In fact, one could say that another definition of a coach is Master Questioner.

It is important to remember that the quality of our life is determined by the quality of questions we ask ourselves. Some people ask themselves very mediocre questions indeed. For example, “What time shall we go to down the pub?” Others look at someone who has achieved great things and ask themselves “Why not me?”. It is similar to the difference between “I can’t afford it” and “How can I afford it?”

As coaches we have two responsibilities towards our client. The first is to provide them with a first-class coaching experience through the effective use of questioning skills. The second is to educate them in the techniques and benefits of self-questioning, helping them to realise the importance of regularly asking key questions.

Of course when it comes to asking questions we can get very sophisticated and clever indeed. We can use questions with suppositions and presuppositions. We can use open and closed questions, we can get involved in nested loops, we can use hidden questions and open questions and in fact we can make ourselves feel and look very clever indeed.

However I learned a long time ago the importance of simplicity and it is my opinion that the greatest coaching question of all is “Who am I?”

This question is very often ignored. Why? Because it is easy to ignore; it can take us on an uncomfortable journey and one we might prefer to avoid. And yet it is essential if we wish to understand our core, the real person, the immutable, incorruptible and authentic ‘me’. The “me” we are really meant to be.

This question is the one that helps people come to a deep and satisfying realization of who they really are. So this is one of the key questions that we must teach our clients to ask of themselves on a regular basis. ‘Who am I?’ Again and again.

True happiness and fulfilment in life is only achieved when our actions and goals are congruent with our core values. Yet the sad truth is most of us do not really know what our core values are. Unfortunately we take on board the values of others, the values that are impressed upon us by the media that constantly bombards us, and the values of the people we work with and the companies we work for. It is rare that the values that we attach to ourselves are our true values. The inner conflict that this creates is one of the underlying causes for the level of unhappiness and depression in today’s society.

You see our values are in fact the mirror of who we really are yet few of us look deep enough into the mirror to see the truth. Many thousand years ago there was a word written above a doorway in ancient Greece. The word was “ Knosti” and it was written above the doorway of the Delphic oracle. It is as true today as it ever was those thousands of years ago. It simply means “ know thyself”

There is an old adage that says that if you don't know where you're coming from then you don't know where you're going. The same is true here, if you don't know who you really are how can you possibly know what you really want out of life, what is truly important and how do you know where you are headed. I learned a long time ago that most people don't really know what they want in life, but are prepared to go through hell to get it !!!

Being able to answer the question “Who am I?” with clarity and honesty will start the process that will make a profound change in the direction your life takes. This in turn will affect those close to you; your family, your friends, and your work. The way to make a real change in the world today is simply to do it one person, one mind at a time. Start with the person who is closest to you - yourself of course!

HOW DO I ASK THE QUESTION?

It is important that when we ask ourselves the question “Who am I?” we allow time for the answers to come. The truth may have to percolate up through a number of layers, and this takes time. You may have to ask yourself this question a number of times. For example, you may ask “Who am I?” and the answer may come back ‘I am a teacher’, ‘I am an electrician’, ‘I am a solicitor’ etc. The truth is you are none of these things. You see you are not what you do! You are far more than that.

So when you ask yourself the question “Who am I?” and you get an answer, you may then need to ask again “and who else am I?” And again “Who else am I?”.

It is morally essential that we eventually find out who we are. So many of us wander through life in a kind of emotional and spiritual amnesia, deadening our response to life by producing images of ourselves that are far from the truth.

I recommend that when we engage in this important process that we do it in a place of solitude and stillness in order that we can be truly present for the answer. We cannot really experience anything without being present with it. True presence requires that we be attentive to what is happening in the here and now. It is our responsibility to be aware.

EXERCISES

EXERCISE ONE – Six months to live

Imagine that you have just come back from a visit to your doctor where you have been informed that you have an incurable disease and only six months to live. However, during these 6 months you will be perfectly healthy, fit and active. Now write down what you would do, who you would see, where you would go and, very important, who you would spend your time with - and why. Would you change any aspect of your life right now? Would you continue to work in your job/career? If not, why not?

Explanation: This should very clearly point you in the direction of what is important or even essential in your life. It is so easy to procrastinate but you need to attend to these things right now. It is obvious that these things are extremely important to you, so you should endeavour to achieve them as soon as possible – as a matter of urgency.

EXERCISE TWO - Direction

This exercise will provide you with excellent pointers towards the direction in life in which you should be heading. It is important that you sit quietly with pen and paper, and write clear, specific answers to the following questions. Do not be influenced by others, or let negative thoughts distort your answers. Please give due time and consideration to this exercise; it is not uncommon for its completion to take several hours.

1. Imagine that there are no barriers whatsoever to you achieving anything you want in life, what and where would you most want to be? Would you be President? An opera singer? Perhaps a great athlete, or successful businessperson?

2. What in the past has given you the most satisfaction and pleasure?

3. The following list of words generally encompasses what we desire in our life. Write clearly your own definition of what each word means to YOU.

Wealth
Happiness
Health
Success

Explanation: If you do not really know what it is you want in life, then how can you possibly achieve it? The answers you provide in this exercise will lie at the very heart of your final goal list. They will guide you towards what makes you happy and has true value in your life.

WHO AM I AT WORK?

It amazes me when I see the leaders of major companies like BAT (British American Tobacco) being hailed by the business community worldwide as paragons, and real exemplars of how business should be run. Yet, there are tens of thousands of people dying every month around the world because of their product. Society is putting on pedestals men and women who create products that kill, purely for profit. I sometimes wonder if the inmates have taken over the asylum!

However, what price has been paid by these decision-making men and women?

Like so many others in similar scenarios being played out in corporations all around the world, these individuals are subjugating their own values for those of the company they work for. If only they would ask themselves “Who am I?” we might see a profound and radical change in the thinking of these leaders.

I have found that when I have worked with men and women in these positions and supported them in answering my question “Who are you?” I have enjoyed watching them travel slowly towards a true realisation of self. It is at this point that they have started to make a change, to really make a difference within their companies. Making and carrying out decisions that are based on power rather than force. Making a positive difference in the lives of the employees and thousands of customers of that corporation.

Much is said about corporate social responsibility; it is a phrase that is bandied about with gay abandon and in some cases a solomneous that belies the real truth, which is that most people follow and adopt the company culture, ethics, morals and values rather than expressing their own thoughts. This leads them to do things that are not congruent with their own core values.

Therefor there is a great need for all of us to get back in touch with our core values, because the truth is that in most of us these are highly commendable. It 's just a case of getting back there and re-remembering who we are.

DO I EVEN KNOW WHO I AM?

If we are not sure of who we are right now then how much more difficult it is to try and work out who we really want to be in the future. Especially as the media does such a fantastic job of indoctrinating us into believing what we really should be. From advertisements on television we know we should all be young, slim, good-looking, tanned, without spots or glasses. From numerous magazines we learn that by paying a lot more attention to ourselves and spending lots of our hard earned money (and in some cases, yet to be earned money) we can really make ourselves young, sexually desirable, good-looking, and successful.

The result of this is that we end up setting goals for ourselves that have actually been foisted on us. Not ones that are congruent with or even based on our own true core values.

IN CONCLUSION

For many years I believed one of the greatest coaching questions of all was “What do you want?”. This question can be asked in so many ways, you can come at it from so many angles and for several years I believed this was the question of questions.

However, long ago I realised that for some of the reasons stated above this is not the great question it ought to be because, as we have seen, we don't really know what we want at all.

I now know with a deep and profound sense of knowing, that there is a higher question, a more important question, a question that reaches deep down to the core. That question is “Who am I”??

You see coaching is about performing at your best through the individual and private assistance of someone who will challenge stimulate and guide you to keep growing.

Essentially it is about helping you to reach self actualisation - a point at which you not only truly know yourself but within this knowledge possess a feeling of comfort with and understanding of the person you discover.

Coaching (or if we don’t have a coach, self-coaching) is indispensable if we want to really reach our full potential, to be all that we can be, to truly reach a point of self transcendence.