Tuesday 24 April 2012

MOTIVATION FOR STUDENTS

Studying
1.            If you believe everything you read, better not read.
Japanese Proverb
2.            Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labeled ‘This could change your life’.
Helen Exley
3.            Wear your learning, like your watch, in a private pocket: and do not pull it out and strike it, merely to show that you have one.
Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
4.            He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
Chinese Proverb
5.            Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.
Alexander Graham Bell
6.            Study while others are sleeping; work while others are loafing; prepare while others are playing; and dream while others are wishing.
William Arthur Ward
7.            Wise people learn when they can; fools learn when they must.
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington
8.            Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning.
Albert Einstein
9.            It’s not that I’m so smart; it’s just that I stay with problems longer.
Albert Einstein
10.          I am often amazed at how much more capability and enthusiasm for science there is among elementary school youngsters than among college students.
Carl Sagan
11.          Students now arrive at the university ignorant and cynical about our political heritage, lacking the wherewithal to be either inspired by it or seriously critical of it.
Allan Bloom
12.          No man can teach another self-knowledge. He can only lead him or her up to self-discovery – the source of truth.
Barry Long
13.          If we make a couple of discoveries here and there we need not believe things will go on like this for ever. Just as we hit water when we dig in the earth, so we discover the incomprehensible sooner or later.
Georg C. Lichtenberg
14.          Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for.
Socrates
Success
15.          Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.
Thomas Jefferson
16.          Keep steadily before you the fact that all true success depends at last upon yourself.
Theodore T. Hunger
17.          The surest way not to fail is to determine to succeed.
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
18.          Success is sweet: the sweeter if long delayed and attained through manifold struggles and defeats.
A. Branson Alcott
19.          The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.
Vince Lombardi
20.          Everyone has a fair turn to be as great as he pleases.
Jeremy Collier
21.          I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure–which is: Try to please everybody.
Herbert Bayard Swope
22.          To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first.
William Shakespeare
23.          Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.
Robert Collier
24.          The ability to concentrate and to use your time well is everything if you want to succeed in business–or almost anywhere else for that matter.
Lee Iacocca
Action
25.          It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, “Always do what you are afraid to do.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
26.          The most important thing is to keep the most important thing the most important thing.
From the book “Foundation design”, by Coduto, Donald P.
27.          Nothing’s ever built to last but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth building
Unknown
28.          Without inspiration the best powers of the mind remain dormant. There is a fuel in us which needs to be ignited with sparks.
Johann Gottfried Von Herder
29.          We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.
Aristotle
30.          You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
Eleanor Roosevelt
31.          Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
Albert Einstein
32.          Believe with all of your heart that you will do what you were made to do.
Orison Swett Marden
33.          Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
34.          You cannot dream yourself into a character: you must hammer and forge yourself into one.
Henry D. Thoreau
35.          The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.
Paul Valery
36.          Press on – nothing can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Perseverance and determination alone are omnipotent.
Calvin Coolidge
37.          You will never leave where you are, until you decide where you’d rather be.
Dexter Yager
Destination and Confidence
38.          Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is.
Vince Lombardi
39.          Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.
Harriet Tubman
40.          If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.
Yogi Berra
41.          Some men give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; while others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than before.
Polybius
42.          The virtue lies in the struggle, not in the prize.
Richard Monckton Milnes
43.          To reach a port, we must sail—Sail, not tie at anchor—Sail, not drift.
Franklin Roosevelt
44.          Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.
Seneca
45.          Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
Confucius
46.          Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.
Lanston Hughes
47.          There are two things to aim at in life; first to get what you want, and after that to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind has achieved the second.
Logan Pearsall Smith
48.          You never will be the person you can be if pressure, tension and discipline are taken out of your life.
Dr. James G. Bilkey
49.          You see things; and you say “Why?” But I dream things that never were; and I say “Why not?”
George Bernard Shaw
50.          Your imagination, my dear fellow, is worth more than you imagine.
Louis Aragon
51.          Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding, find what you already know, and you’ll see the way to fly.
Jonathon Livingston Seagull
Prepare for Future
52.          To those of you who received honors, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you too, can be president of the United States.
George W. Bush
53.          I have taught my students not to apply rules or mechanical ways of seeing.
Josef Albers
54.          Be generous with your colleagues and your competitors. When people learn that they do well whenever they work with you, they will be more willing to come to you with opportunities.
Michael Masterson
55.          When our thousands of Chinese students abroad return home, you will see how China will transform itself.
Deng Xiaoping
56.          The educational resources provided by a child’s fellow students are more important for his achievement than are the resources provided by the school board.
James S. Coleman
57.          The mission for the day is to encourage students to think beyond traditional career opportunities, prepare for future careers and entrance into the workplace.
Allen Tate
58.          We need to find; the courage to say ‘NO’ to the things and people that are not serving us if we want to rediscover ourselves and live our lives with authenticity.
Barbara De Angelis
59.          Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.
St. Francis of Assisi
60.          My students frequently ask what their next project should be. My advice: immerse yourself in the music you love and you will find what you want to do; you will discover your next project.
Lukas Foss
Self-Discovery
61.          If You Can’t Find Anything To Live For Then You Better Find Something To Die For.
A Hewitt
62.          People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering.
St. Augustine
63.          So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains. And we never even know we have the key.
Lyrics from Already Gone, peformed by the Eagles for their 1974 On the Border album
64.          Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.
Lao-Tzu
65.          Ninety per cent of the world’s woe comes from people not knowing themselves, their abilities, their frailties, and even their real virtues. Most of us go almost all the way through life as complete strangers to ourselves – so how can we know anyone else?
Sidney J. Harris
66.          It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.
Edmund Hillary
67.          We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
68.          The secret of concentration is the secret of self-discovery. You reach inside yourself to discover your personal resources, and what it takes to match them to the challenge.
Arnold Palmer
69.          Resolve to be thyself; and know that he, who finds himself, loses his misery.
Matthew Arnold
70.          To the question of your life you are the answer, and to the problems of your life you are the solution.
Joe Cordare
71.          All men should strive to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why.
James Thurber
72.          After all these years, I am still involved in the process of self-discovery. It’s better to explore life and make mistakes than to play it safe. Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.
Sophia Loren
73.          What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
74.          He who has an opinion of his own, but depends on the opinion and tastes of others, is a slave.
Friedrich G. Klopstock
75.          If you aren’t sure who you are, you might as well work on who you want to be.
Robert Brault
76.          Man’s main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality.
Erich Fromm
77.          Your vision will come clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside dreams, who looks inside, awakes.
Jung
78.          You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself.
Alan Alda
79.          The man who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.
Muhammad Ali
80.          Your distress about life might mean you have been living for the wrong reason, not that you have no reason for living.
Tom O’Connor
81.          You will recognize your own path when you come upon it, because you will suddenly have all the energy and imagination you will ever need.
Jerry Gillies
Taking Opportunities
82.          Every person that comes into our life comes for a reason; some come to learn and others come to teach.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
83.          Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
Thomas Edison
84.          Put yourself in a state of mind where you say to yourself, ‘Here is an opportunity for me to celebrate like never before, my own power, my own ability to get myself to do whatever is necessary.’
Martin Luther King, Jr.
85.          Life’s ups and downs provide windows of opportunity to determine your values and goals. Think of using all obstacles as stepping stones to build the life you want.
Marsha Sinetar
86.          The meeting of preparation with opportunity generates the offspring we call luck.
Anthony Robbins
87.          When written in Chinese, the word “crisis” is composed of two characters. One represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.
John F. Kennedy
88.          A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities, and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.
Harry Truman
89.          With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose.
Wayne Dyer
90.          When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.
Helen Keller
91.          Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, “What’s in it for me?
Brian Tracy
92.          Most successful men have not achieved their distinction by having some new talent or opportunity presented to them. They have developed the opportunity that was at hand.
Dale Carnegie
93.          If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.
Milton Berle
94.          The golden opportunity you are seeking is not in your environment, not in luck or chance, not in the help of others. It is in yourself alone.
Orison Swett Marden
95.          It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.
Charles Darwin
96.          It is no disgrace to start all over; it is usually an opportunity.
George M. Adams
Achieving Great Things
97.          Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement.
Henry Ford
98.          Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation.
Robert H. Schuller
99.          I claim to be an average man of less than average ability. I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have, if he or she would make the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith.
Mahatma Gandhi
100.        Achievement seems to be connected with action. Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.
Conrad Hilton
101.        The best job goes to the person who can get it done without passing the buck or coming back with excuses.
Napolean Hill
Plus
1.            All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts.
James Allen
2.            Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
Robert Francis Kennedy
3.            He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would accomplish much must sacrifice much.
James Allen
4.            Winners compare their achievements with their goals, while losers compare their achievements with those of other people.
Nido Qubein
5.            The major value in life is not what you get. The major value in life is what you become.
Jim Rohn
6.            Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.
Dale Carnegie
7.            Someone has defined genius as intensity of purpose; the ability to do; the patience to wait. Put these together and you have genius, and you have achievement.
Leo J. Muir
8.            It is hard to fail but is worse to have not tried to succeed. In this life we get nothing save by effort.
Theordore Roosevelt
9.            I long to accomplish a great and noble task; but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.
Helen Keller
10.          That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.
Abraham Lincoln
11.          Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.
William Jennings Bryan
12.          To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
13.          You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.
Albert Einstein
14.          You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.
Zig Ziglar


Read more: http://www.afterschoolafrica.com/2012/04/101-motivational-quotes-for-students-and-learners.html#ixzz1sJ2xwOjD

Thursday 6 October 2011

DETERMINATION/COMMITMENT

A need for determination and commitment


Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.” - Peter F. Drucker

“Great organizations demand a high level of commitment by the people involved.” - Bill Gates

Desire is the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.” - Mario Andretti

“The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.” - Vince Lombardi

“When work, commitment, and pleasure all become one and you reach that deep well where passion lives, nothing is impossible.”

“There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstance permit. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.”

Photo by Turtblu taken from this source

Related posts:

Find your strength and act promptly

Motivation is what gets you started.
Habit
is what keeps you going. - Jim Rohn

What is your motivation?
It can be money, fame, purpose, commitment or contribution. Whatever it is, it helps to have a goal that drives you.

“Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.”

Elbert Hubbard said "It isn't more book learning we need, or instructions about this or that, but a strengthening of the backbone, to act promptly, to get going to do the thing we know we ought to do."

Photo by duncandavidson taken from this source
Related posts:

Have a meaningful life

No horse gets anywhere until he is harnessed. No steam or gas drives any machine until it is confined, and no man gets anything until he is committed to a goal.

The poorest of all men is not the one without gold, but without a goal. Life to him has no meaning -- no reason for living.

"If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else." - Lawrence J. Peter

You got to be careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there.

Photo by Gunna taken from this source

Ultimate Success Formula?

Man alone, of all God's creatures, can change himself for the better.

Anthony Robbins in his Personal Power II tape, says that the following are The Ultimate Success Formula:
  1. Know your outcome.
  2. Get yourself to take action by deciding to do so.
  3. Notice what you're getting from your actions.
  4. If what you're doing is not working, change your approach.
What is your view about this success formula?

Anyway, I find it very similar to Six Sigma phases of Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control (DMAIC).

Photo by vmaurin taken from this source

Monday 22 August 2011

The Power of Focus: How to Hit Your

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  • One thing that separates achievers from others is the belief they have in themselves. So, if you have the urge to become successful, the primary thing that you need to work on is to believe in yourself. This will pave the way for you to develop confidence in yourself, and improve your chances of attaining the success you seek.
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    But why is it essential to believe in yourself, and how will this kind of thinking help you to achieve the success that has been eluding you so far?
    One common mistake that parents and teachers make is that they instill a lot of negativity in the children under their care without realizing what they are doing. This negativity reinforces later in the person life, the feeling that they can’t achieve the success they long for. So everything they think of, hits the obstacle of an “I cannot do this” response that is automatically generated within the person’s mind.
    This negativity in the mind is the prime reason why many people are not able to achieve their goals even though they have many big aspirations and dreams to make it big and become successful in life.

    Since they have this negativity ingrained within their minds, they are not able to believe in themselves and set forth on their journey towards success. So they end up feeling despair that they are not able to achieve their goals and they start playing the “blame game” or seek excuses as to why they are not successful. As a result, their dreams remain a distant fantasy that they believe will never materialize.
    So in order to achieve your goals and aspirations it is absolutely essential to shed the negativity that you are harboring in your mind and aspire towards attain them by reinforcing the negative thoughts you hold with positive thoughts and attitudes. However, this is not possible unless you start believing in yourself and see yourself as an achiever that is capable of reaching great heights no matter what.
    So, make the decision today. Start believing in yourself and work towards achieving your goals with a positive mindset. Do you want to live the life of an average person or would you rather excel and live the life of a successful person? The answer lies within you.
    In this article called The Power Of Focus, Mark Victor Hansen shares with us how or hansen, he discovered the power of focus at a young age. His father who came to the United States at the age of 17, taught him that if wanted something bad enough he could get it by focusing the power of his mind on what he truly wanted, that sooner or later he would manifest it in his life.

    If you want something enough, and you keep your mind focused on it, you will eventually achieve it.
    This was brought home to me at a relatively early age by my father. My dad came to the United States from Denmark in 1921 at the age of 17. My father was impressed by the United States as a land of opportunity. Here you could want something, work for it and get it. He worked hard and while we were never rich, we also were never poor.
    When I was nine years old, just old enough to ride a bike well, I got a job delivering newspapers. From my newspaper route I earned enough money to buy a bicycle magazine.
    My goal was to get a bicycle. I had an ideal bike in mind. I wanted this bike with my whole heart, mind, body, and spirit. I cut out a picture of the bike, and kept it next to my bed. Nightly, I went to sleep dreaming about it. I could see that bike. I could feel it. I believed it.
    But when I went to my father and asked for the bike, he didn’t understand my desire. After some discussion, he said, “You can have it when you’re 16 years old.” I said, “Can I have the bike now if I earn the money myself?” I’m sure he never dreamed that a nine-year-old could earn the equivalent of $725-so he had little to lose, and he agreed.
    I wanted that bike so badly that in my mind I owned it already. I had engaged my mind power.
    Inside every mind are abilities that go beyond the normal. These abilities are tapped when we have a white-hot desire. We then figure out how to get whatever we really want to get.
    A Will and a Way

    I saw an ad in Boy’s Life magazine promoting the sale of Christmas cards. Instantly I believed that I could sell the cards. I immediately went to my mother, who was a phenomenal saleswoman. She had charisma, beauty, a radiant smile, a sincere interest in people, and she was a master storyteller. I asked her if I could sell. She said, “Not only can you sell, but I’ll teach you how! It’s important to have a smiling face, see a lot of people and ask everyone to buy your greeting cards. But it’s most important to use the ‘alternate choice’ close. Ask your potential buyers, “Would you prefer one or two boxes
    of Christmas cards?”
    So I began. I approached my neighbors in the winter of 1957 with deep snow on the ground. I went door to door every day, and when a mom answered the door, I would wipe my nose on a mitten and ask her if she’d like to buy some cards. How could she refuse a cute little kid with a runny nose? Generally she’d say, “Young man, come in here. We can’t let you stand out in the cold.”
    Once I got inside, I knew the sale was made. I would explain that I was earning money for my own bicycle. Then I’d ask, “Mrs. Shaw, would you prefer one box or two?”
    I was a great salesman. But I didn’t want to sell 376 boxes of Christmas cards. I had no desire to be the number-one salesman for American Greeting Cards. I didn’t enjoy going door to door in the cold. I was only interested in getting my bike.
    Focusing Produces Results
    From this experience I learned the importance of working hard to get what I want. And I learned how to handle money. I learned that if I wanted something and focused my energy on it, I could tap into my mind power. My mind power would show me the way and instruct me in what to do, so that I could have exactly what I wanted.
    I learned that focusing my energy works. First we visualize what we want, then we achieve it. Visualization is seeing with your mind. It is one of the most powerful principles available for creating your future.
    The Power of Focus: How to Hit Your

    Learning to focus on ONE THING

    Learning to focus on ONE THING is quite possibly one of the best things you can do to invest in yourself. This is probably one of THE MOST overlooked areas of self improvement.

    You would think focusing on one thing is easy to do, but it’s actually pretty hard.

    To illustrate my point of how hard it is for people to focus, let’s focus on one of the things that a majority of people would like to accomplish:

    Make substantial income.

    The ways to make substantial income are endless. Here are just a few examples.

    Opening your own business Selling merchandise on Ebay Flipping houses Buying apartments to create passive cash flow Investing in the stock market Network marketing FOREX Writing a bestseller book Becoming a famous actor/actress Getting a high paying job

    We are constantly bombarded by ways in which to make substantial income whether through word of mouth, TV, radio, Internet, or by looking at other people who have made substantial income.

    To illustrate: the typical John Smith hears the rave on how real estate is the way to go. He buys the books, goes to the seminars, tries a few deals out that doesn’t do too well, and then tosses his hands up in the air and decides real estate is not for him and it’s not the way to go.

    Now he hears the market is hot, so he calls up his broker for stock tips, reads Buffet’s books, subscribes to magazines. After buying and selling a few stocks, he realizes it’s not for him.

    Now he hears people becoming millionaires on Ebay so he decides to do that. Contacts a few wholesalers, sets up a store, sells some items, but the business doesn’t really take off. Same result. Why is John Smith experiencing the same results of not creating substantial income over and over again?

    It all comes back to lack of focus.

    Let’s look back at some of the people who have learned how to harness the power of focus. Warren Buffet, when you hear his name, you think investing. Donald Trump, real estate. Thomas Edison, inventions. Tom Cruise, acting. Jay Leno, comedy.

    The pattern here is that all these people have chosen to focus on one subject and to keep at it.

    Google prided itself on being THE search engine. It now has ventures in pay per click advertising, video search, Google Earth, Froogle, etc. By establishing itself first in one venture, it was able to launch several other ventures without having to go through the monumental effort of establishing itself again.

    Some people might say Donald Trump makes substantial income via book writing and TV shows too. But that’s AFTER the fact that he made it big by focusing on real estate.

    You will find that if you focus on one single subject and excel at it, many other doors will begin to open for you.

    That last sentence is very important so I will reiterate it again. You will find that if you focus on one single subject and excel at it, many other doors will begin to open for you.

    Let me give you an example that will hopefully illustrate the power of focusing on one subject.

    Focusing on one subject is analogous to building your own staircase.

    The longer you keep focus on a subject, the more stairs you can build.

    Let’s say you keep focusing on a subject by reading about it, asking people about it, practicing it, whatever it is, so long as you’re focused on that one subject. You will soon have focused enough on learning that subject that you effectively built your first stair.

    Now you get to stand on that stair and look around.

    You’ll probably see things you’ve never seen before when you were at ground level.

    You’ll probably see things from a different perspective than when you saw them on ground level.

    Now that you’re on higher ground, you’ll have access to things you never had before because they were previously out of reach.

    Other people may be able to give you a helping hand on their respectively built staircases, since you are now within reach because of your newfound height.

    Keep focusing again on the same subject, and now you’re be able to build another stair and another stair, probably more faster than before as now you have access to resources to help you build faster that you previously did not have. As you climb higher and higher with each step you build, you will find more and more opportunities at your disposal.
    Now let’s say you don’t focus and skip from subject to subject. It’s the same as you building half a step and destroying it. Then building another step halfway and then destroying it.

    You’re always going to stay at ground level. You’re always going to stay at ground level. No, that’s not a typo.

    By focusing on one subject, you will start to capitalize on all the experience and knowledge you gain from it. And once you master that subject, you will have built stairs that will take you to heights that you’ve never been before and opportunities that would have never been available to you at ground level.

    Let’s use another example to illustrate.

    John Smith loves to play tennis. He’s not good, but he loves to play. So he practices, day and night. Gets lessons. Reads books. Watches professional players. Asks for help. Plays pickup games. Enters tournaments.

    Now he’s at a pretty good level. He can now teach neighborhood kids for money. He can enter tournaments and win prizes. He can play professionally. He can write a book. He can organize teams at the local park, and be an instructor there. He can publish beginner videos. The possibilities are endless. All because he decided to focus on one subject and to master it.

    That’s the power of focus.

    However, in order to fully utilize the power of focus you must choose a subject that you love to immerse yourself in. If you abhor Shakespeare, no matter how hard you try to focus, you’re not going to focus and master it.

    For most people, choosing that subject is the hardest part. Once the right subject is chosen, mastering it follows easily. If you don’t choose the right subject, mastering it will prove to be difficult. That’s why it’s so important to find what you love to do. If you haven’t already read my essay on how to find what you love, please do so here.

    So let’s say you found the subject you want to focus on.

    I guarantee your mind will start to stray.

    It’s easy to stray with all the distractions we have today. Internet, TV, magazines, cell phones, etc. What we don’t realize is that these distractions can lead off on tangents that will steal our focusing power. We may have chosen tennis to be our subject of focus, but we see the World Cup playing on TV and decide to switch to soccer. No. We must stay focused on the subject at hand.

    Above my computer on my desk, I have a quote printed out in big bold letters that reads “STAY FOCUSED ON THE SUBJECT AT HAND”. I then have another quote printed under it that I think sums up the gist of this article.

    “Do not scatter your powers. Engage in one kind of business only, and stick to it faithfully until you succeed, or until your experience shows that you should abandon it. A constant hammering on one nail will generally drive it home at last, so that it can be clinched. When a man's undivided attention is centered on one object, his mind will constantly be suggesting improvements of value, which would escape him if his brain was occupied by a dozen different subjects at once.” – Barnum & Bailey.

    Choose the subject you wish to focus upon wisely and then focus upon it, and only it. Do not stray and you will find a myriad of opportunities that will come about due to your constant focus.


    [Stay focused] [Stay focused] [Stay focused] [Stay focused] [Stay focused] [Stay focused]


    If you are ever tempted to stray, remember the staircase you are building.

    Invest in yourself and make it happen.

    Tuesday 19 July 2011

    PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS

     

      Personal Effectiveness

    Personal Effectiveness Skills Training

    Find the next available Public Personal Impact Course
    Personal Effectiveness

    Most people want to feel useful in their lives. They want to feel as though they are making a contribution of some kind.

    If you're employed, then work is one of the more important places where you will want to feel useful, valued and appreciated.

    When things are going well, your life feels effective and efficient and you're capable of handling whatever the workday throws at you.

    However, when things are not going quite so well, when too many demands are made on your time and you can't seem to see what's needed, then you may begin to feel ineffectual, de-skilled and pretty useless.

    On top of that, one of life's little ironies is that it only takes one small incident, one conflict, mistake or reprimand; something overlooked or a problem not sorted out to feel that everything you do is useless.

    It's not true, but human nature being what it is, most people tend to focus on what's wrong rather than what's right.

    When this happens, it's actually possible to feel so ineffectual that you become ineffectual.

    This is how negative reinforcement happens.

    In other words, one blip may create just that much extra stress that the rest of your work is affected; and then one blip, one small error or mistake, turns into many and you really do become a liability.

    In reality all those skills and abilities you have when things are going well don't go away, they just go to ground for a while.

    The trick is to get them back again before it all goes 'pear shaped'.

    Knowing what you do well, what you can rely on, what qualities you have are essential to maintaining your personal effectiveness.

    Being able to identify what makes you feel aligned, motivated and energised will also reinforce and build your confidence, so that when those blips come along (and they will), you can deal with them effectively.

    Personal Effectiveness Training