My Essay Blog

By discovering your unique strengths, determining your core values, and directing your future with ambitious lifetime goals, you can achieve amazing success. But be warned-if you don’t like change, you will like irrelevance even less.

So far, Steve Jobs has made a fairly sizable ding. He has achieved success (to the tune of over a billion dollars) through continuous innovation and sticking to his unique talents.

Whether your are about to start your career or already working your way up the ranks, you want to give yourself every possible advantage. You have a lot of decisions before you, no matter where you are in life. It is up to you to determine which path in life you will take - but how can you avoid walking down the wrong paths over and over again until you find the best one?

What are your unique strengths? If you don’t determine the where, how, when, and why of what makes you truly unique, making that ding in the universe won’t happen. What if you knew the Distinct Natural Abilities

My business experience has taught me one true thing: That maximizing your productivity, happiness, peace, or impact can best be accomplished if you clearly understand the 12 Rules of Time.

1. Have goals

Being more efficient with your time is irrelevant if you don’t know how you want to spend it. In managing time, the compass is more important than the clock. Know where you want to go and spend your time on the things that get you there.

Many people spend energy trying to be more efficient without first doing what’s important: setting goals. It’s like being lost on your way to a new city. Driving faster doesn’t help if you are going in the wrong direction. Figure out what direction to go in and head that way.

Once you’ve prepared it, your list of goals will reveal what is important to you.

2. Analyze how you spend your time

It is always good to know how you’re spending your time right now. You can track this by setting a timer to go off every 15 minutes; whenever it sounds, write down exactly what you are doing. Alternatively, divide your day into 15-minute blocks and record each activity you do.

Once you have your time logs, examine them. How do they compare to your goals? Are you spending time where your priorities are?

3. Keep a to-do list

This sounds too simple, but it really is the basis of all time-management systems. Your to-do list can be electronic, on fancy paper, bound in a notebook or loose-leaf. The key is to have everything you want to accomplish on one list. My to-do list might have a one-line item on it, such as “write annual report,” which refers me to a much larger file or even a file box on that item.

4. Prioritize your list

Once you have the list, determine which are the important items. Mark these with a highlighter, a red pen, or in any other way that makes them stand out.

I sometimes find my to-do list is too big. Every item on the list calls out “pay attention to me!”, even though most of them weren’t highlighted as important. In these cases, I take a blank sheet of paper and cover my to-do list and write down only the three or four most important items. Those are the ones to focus on.

5. Control procrastination

I use a number of tricks to break any lingering tendencies to procrastinate. For instance, I happen to like having a hard copy of my digital to-do list. I reprint it every few days as new items are added and completed ones dropped. It is at these times that I look for the items that I’ve marked as high priority, but which are just not getting done.

People often say I have great self-control. In truth, though, much of it is environment control. I control my environment to eliminate things that I might use to procrastinate. Take games off your computer, for example, sell your TV, and get rid of the busywork jobs that you use to avoid the important tasks.

I have developed one effective habit that has helped break me of procrastination: “Do the worst thing first.” At the beginning of every day, I do the one task that is causing me the most stress, and that I haven’t been getting done. Sometimes I just give it a quarter of an hour &ndash based on the theory that I can stand just about anything for 15 minutes. Frequently it is this short thrust that breaks me through.

If I still find myself procrastinating, I review my reasons for setting a goal. To create extra motivation to complete a task, I strengthen the reasons why it should be done. Similarly, many people reward themselves for completing a job.

6. Organize

Organization and time management are linked. I find that I get important things done when I have all the tools I need to perform the job.

The opposite of organization &ndash chaos, clutter, disorganization &ndash generally leads to busy work. If your desk is piled high, every piece of paper says “look at me.” You can end up doing a lot of work without ever getting to the important stuff.

7. Delegate

One way to expand your time is to get others to help you with it. The key to delegation is to hand off any tasks that someone else can do significantly faster or more easily than you can.

If you’re protesting that you don’t have anyone working directly for you to whom you can delegate tasks, no problem. Consider delegating to a peer, a superior, a supplier, or even a customer. Treat delegation like networking: who in your network would be best for the job?

In some cases you will need to invest up-front to train someone so he or she can take over a task from you. The long-term savings are usually worth the up-front time and costs.

After delegation, remember to thank appropriately. You might think people would resent being delegated to, but exactly the opposite is true. People like to be asked, especially if it is to do something that they’re good at.

8. Master efficiency tricks

The best trick I have found is “The Power of While.” What can you do while you drive? While you walk? While you clean? While you watch TV? I am a huge audio tape advocate and frequently listen to tapes while I am doing something else.

Being a techno person, I love all the organization software out there that allows me to keep my contacts, to-do lists and appointments. I also use gadgets such as cellphones, wireless e-mail, and personal digital assistants. Good use of technology can save you valuable time.

9. It’s OK to say no

Saying “No” can be the most powerful time tool you can master. When someone asks you to do something, ask yourself how important this is. Does it help you achieve your goals? Is this a task you would be better at than most people? Don’t always look for reasons to get out of things, but be strategic about what you take on.

This doesn’t mean that I always say no when asked to help out. But if I do say no, I am always polite and tactful, and try to suggest someone else who would do the job well.

10. Focus

Committing 100% focus and concentration on one task at a time can be very powerful. Eliminate distractions. Focus on the task. When you’re properly organized and prepared, when your energy and power are high, you can often complete a task in 20% of the time it would take when you’re distracted or open to interruption.

11. Build your efficiency bank

High efficiency is not possible if you don’t look after yourself. Eat right, exercise, sleep well and drink moderately. Mom knew best: all the things she said were good for you just happen to be best for your efficiency, too.

I also believe meditation can be a great way of building your efficiency. It could be transcendental meditation, Zen, or just finding a way to get into a relaxed state that lets you focus on the task you have to do. No matter how you do it, recharging your batteries gives you the power to do more during the times you need to be at your best.

12. Take care of yourself

It isn’t possible to be “on” all the time. Take the time you need to look after yourself &ndash body and soul &ndash so that you can reach peak efficiency when you need to. Have a list of things you like to do. Find out what activities energize you, and spend more time doing them. This will give you the power and energy to be more productive when you return to work.

Finally, a word of advice. If after reading this far you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, I suggest you go back to Rule 1 and add peace (contentment) to your list of goals. Time management is not about adding stress; it is about giving you the time to be the person you really want to be.

I am a firm believer that people should try to make the most out of each day that they are alive. We all have to die at some point and even though this may seem a little morbid it is true. Today or tomorrow could be our last day and therefore this is why we should be living each day to the full.

Each day I read and watch the local and international news stories which make me aware of some very sad events. People who are very young are dying each day in a variety of different circumstances and I am very much aware that I am not immune from one of these tragic events. No one can say for sure that they are going to live until lets say seventy years of age, most people I think presume that they will, which could be seen in some quarters as a good thing. Thinking positive they say is the right way to think, which I have to admit is something I also agree with.

My attitude is that I need to work to live where as other people seem to live to work. It is like they would rather be at work than at home having fun or spending time with their family. I know a number of people who have young children but who leave their house at around half six in the morning and do not return home until seven at night. This is not because they are poor but because they will take on any extra hours as way as overtime that is offered to them. I personally would rather spend time with my children than be stuck at work and feel that my life is enriched in this way.

When I am on my death bed in what I hope will not be for a long time yet of course, I want to be able to think and say to myself that I have no regrets and that I am happy with the way I have lived my life. At the moment I am lucky as I am able to watch my children grow and mature as people. From the work that I do, I am able to take my family on holiday each year and can afford to pay all of my bills. Some no doubt might say that I should work a lot more hours than I do, I would then be able to buy a better car and would be able to take my family on two holidays per year. What I would say in response to this however, is at what price would I be able to obtain this? I would have to sacrifice much of the quality time I have with my children, would not be able to take them swimming and to the park as often as I do for example. I hope and think that my children are very happy at the moment and this in my opinion is priceless. I will not compromise this in search for a better standard of car etc.

I used to constantly worry about what might happen to me in three or six months time. Will this or that happen? If it does how would I be able to cope? I am of course worrying in these situations about things that have not even and may never happen. This I have now realised is pointless and even very silly. I should be living for today, I should be making the most of today, I will think about tomorrow, tomorrow. I will deal with any problems that come my way in the best way that I can at the time when they happen, that is all I can do. By stressing about them before they happen will only stop me from enjoying myself on that particular day.

Now is the time to stop the stress, worry, fear and depression. There is a good chance that we only have one life, so lets enjoy it.

It’s almost that time of year again &ndash New Year Resolutions! Millions of people around the world are vowing to lose weight, quit smoking, stick to a budget, and more. How many will actually follow through with these changes? Probably not many. Have you done this before? Have you made promises to yourself and not kept them? You are not alone. Why does it seem so easy to make changes in our lives, until we actually begin to do the work?

Change is hard. Most of us don’t stop to think about that when we set goals. We start out filled with passion, fire and excitement. We feel invincible and know we can accomplish whatever we desire. We see the glorious outcome of our desires shining before us, and we are determined to make it happen. Then we begin to encounter obstacles along the way. We may struggle halfheartedly through a few of them, but eventually we find ourselves making excuses, procrastinating and losing interest in those same goals we were so excited about before. What happened?

Goal setting involves much more than making a promise to do something. We need to equip ourselves with the right tools and mindset to ensure our success. There are several things we need to think about before we set goals:

Why? &ndash What is your reason for wanting this particular outcome? It’s lofty to want to lose weight or quit smoking, but if you don’t have a clear, strong reason for wanting to do so, you will have no passion to fuel your efforts. What will you gain by making these changes in your life? What will you gain by not making changes? Oh yes, you are gaining something by keeping your bad habits around, or else you would have gotten rid of them long before now. Understand that, and acknowledge it. Be honest with yourself. Be clear about what you really want. Let’s say you want to quit smoking because you want to live a healthier life. Why? What will that do for you? It will improve your quality of life. Okay, why is that important to you? Keep asking yourself “why”, until you get to the “meat” of your desire. Be sure you understand exactly why these goals are important to you, and write it down. You will want to read it over and over again, especially when you feel your resolve crumbling.

Action Goals vs. Results Goals &ndash Most of us make the mistake of setting results-oriented goals, rather than action goals. This is an important distinction. Setting a goal to lose thirty pounds is not a goal at all. It is an outcome. The goal should be to exercise and eat right &ndash which will result in the loss of weight. We need to treat the problem, not the symptom. Make a note of the outcome you want, and then make a list of the actions that will get you there. Then make the actions your goal. Be specific. Rather than setting a goal to “lose weight”, decide how, when, how often, and for how long you will exercise each day. Decide what foods you will eat (or not eat), and how much of them. Set realistic and specific daily goals, and reward yourself when you accomplish them. Each day is an opportunity for victory.

Believe You Deserve It &ndash Many of us struggle with low self-esteem, and feel we don’t really deserve success. Unfortunately, if we don’t believe we deserve it, we will resist it when it arrives. We may do this unconsciously by sabotaging our own efforts, or we may outright refuse to even try. We must first understand and then truly believe that we do deserve success and happiness. In addition, we must be consciously open to receiving it. We’re so good at giving to others, but many of us won’t accept help or blessings for ourselves. Be willing to believe that you deserve to be successful and happy. Then be willing to accept that success when it arrives. Give yourself the gift of better health, inner peace, more organization, a better job &ndash whatever you are striving for in setting your goals. Affirm aloud to the universe each day, “I joyfully accept all of the abundance and success the universe has for me, NOW.” Remember that the more abundance you have, the more you will be able to help others also.

Commitment &ndash One of the greatest secrets of success is simply not giving up. When we look at successful people, they seem to have it so easy. What we usually don’t see are the years of hard work, dedication and commitment that got them to where they are today. Many of them struggled through massive obstacles and setbacks, sometimes having to start all over again repeatedly. Are you that committed to your goals? Will you persevere no matter what? Make a promise to yourself that you will continue working toward your goals, even if you aren’t seeing the progress you hoped for. Be willing to work hard and continue working hard, even when &ndash especially when &ndash the going gets rough. When obstacles arise, fuel your persistence with positive thoughts and keep moving forward. Let your determination glow hot and bright, and burn away all doubts and fears. Don’t beat yourself up if you make mistakes, simply get up and begin moving forward again.

Patience - Forming new habits takes time and practice. The good news is that countless people have proven it can be done. If they can do it, you can do it too. Give it your best effort, but don’t expect perfection from yourself. You may stumble and fall; you may grow weary of the battle. However, remember that anything worthwhile takes effort. Your goals and dreams are worth fighting for, no matter how fierce the battle, no matter how long it takes.

Most importantly, believe in yourself. Believe that you have the skills, ability and determination to make your dreams come true. That, above all else, will guarantee your success.

Would you like to start being more productive right now? Want to stop wasting precious time and move your projects to completion? This article will focus on how to be more productive from this point forward.

The key to becoming more productive with your time is to concentrate your efforts on the task at hand. So how do you begin to concentrate your efforts? The key is to eliminate distractions.

Distractions come from two sources. The first source is outside things, such as phone calls, emails, interruptions from other people and so on. Pick a time when you feel at your peak, and sequester yourself, for a period of time each day, to give yourself a real boost in productivity. Develop your own methods to “hide” from the outside world, for a period of time each day, and you will see your output grow.

The second source of distractions comes from within. Unfortunately, this is the hardest source of distractions to control. It is hard to shut yourself off from yourself. . The key culprit for us is multitasking. Many studies have been done at this point, that show multitasking reduces productivity, instead of increasing it. Our minds can only hold one thought at a time, and switching tasks causes us to lose focus and momentum, and forces our mind to play “catch-up” over and over again. To become more productive, you must master the art of focusing on one thing at a time and give it your best effort and attention, until it is done. If boredom sets in while you are working on your task, give yourself a SHORT break, and remind yourself of what the ultimate objective is for what you are working on and what the payoff is to you.

You need to make sure the task you pick to concentrate on, is in fact your highest priority item. Many of us fall into the trap of staying busy, vs. staying productive. One task may clear mountains of paperwork off your desk ,or you might be better served by moving just one piece of high priority/high payback paper. Use the 80/20 rule to help find the true “gems” in your inbox. The 80/20 rule says that 80% of the gains you receive, come from 20% of your efforts. Find out what that 20% of high payoff project are and make sure you concentrate on accomplishing them first.

And of course don’t forget the basics of time management. Say no to as many projects as you can to help streamline your workload. Try to “cherry pick” projects you know in advance hold high payback potential and try to pass on lower priority projects. Also delegate as much lower payback activity as possible. Calculate the value of your time and try to delegate low value activities, even if you have to pay someone. It is money well spent.

Increased productivity is as close as your next thought. Remember everything counts. Every action you take as well as those actions you don’t take can help you move towards your goal of increased productivity. Constantly remind yourself of your need to be more productive and discipline yourself to do the right thing. Don’t beat yourself if you have a setback, but be certain to reward yourself in someway, for each action that moves

your productivity up a notch.

What Is Personal Development?

Personal development used to be a course taught at business and vocational schools around the United States.

It was long since held that self-improvement was an essential aspect of succeeding in a more and more competitive marketplace that left little room for those who would not be able to pull their own weight &ndash usually because of self image problems.

Personal growth was considered to be the antidote to the possibility of failure very often experienced by job changers, vocation changers, and those who might embark on a new career at a more advanced age than most of their competitors in the marketplace.

Personal development was said to be effective in combining an individual’s innate wish for success with a change in the person’s mode of viewing her - or himself and also the way the person is portraying her - or himself to others.

NLP - neuro-linguistic programming &ndash is one of the favored tools of the personal development movement. Since it offers a wide variety of tools and techniques, this application itself promises success simply because of its superior adaptability to the needs of the person seeking personal development.

For example, for those will simply performance anxiety problems, a large number of exercises will make an accomplished introvert out of a phobic introvert who is sent into stammering or excessive sweating bits at the prospect of speaking in front of a crowd.

For the person suffering from extreme anxiety the idea of meditation &ndash well within the framework of NLP &ndash will quite often yield amazing results.

While traditionalists might scoff at the idea of personal development simply because it is such a subjective exercise, it is noteworthy that many people sear by it and attribute their business success to lessons learned and exercises attempted during a personal development seminar.

Perhaps the most important aspect to remember when discussing personal development is the fact that it seeks to capitalize on a person’s good intentions.

These intentions may be the wish to succeed in business the innate need to be useful, or maybe just the wish to further the role of leadership a person has taken within a corporation or business.

The goal is to draw out the good intentions and turn them into marketable objectives which the client will be able to realize and develop further, so as to ensure that her or his confidence will grow enough to pursue the next level of professional development.

For those who are gifted with a go-get-it attitude, this need may be hard to understand, but suffice it to say that in a world where corporate success is hard won, and abilities have to be proven time and again, those who may suffer from a lack of self esteem have often found themselves relegated to the sidelines.

If this is you, it is also important to understand that you do not have to be on the sidelines, but that you have everything it takes to make it up the ladder of success!

Author Charles Williams: For more information on Motivation and Self Improvement visit: .lsft.org

Your mind is the single most effective and essential tool to craft and program your thoughts, aspirations and goals. Consequently, when your goals are properly planned out, it will be very much easier to shape and design the life you want and ultimately the success you strive to attain. Yet, many people still do not even use their minds to set goals, let along take effective actions to achieve their goals.

I am highlighting the mistakes of not programming your mind to set goals because your mind triggers and identifies better when you are alerted to the detrimental effects of not doing something useful and essential. For example, when a student knows that she will not score well or fail in her examination if she does not study, she will work towards studying hard and smart to ace her examinations so as to avoid failure.

The same concept applies here: when your mind is exposed to the negative effects of not setting goals, you will be alerted to the importance of setting goals. Therefore, it is very important to know the worst mistakes you will make if you choose to ignore the significance of programming your brain to set goals and why these mistakes can be very costly to your quest for wealth and success.

When you do not set goals, you are clearly not identifying the purpose or reasons why you do certain tasks or things. You will probably just do those things for the sake of getting the job done and not take pride and enjoyment in doing them. You will have no sense of fulfilment and everything you do will seem like a hectic chore or burden.

This will in turn blur your mental vision and cause you to have no proper direction to steer towards your path to success. You will not know exactly where you intend to head, which proper ways you should take to reach there or how you can remain in the proper path.

Having no purpose or no proper direction is just the start of the horrendous journey to failure when you do not set goals. When you have no purpose or proper direction, this will lead your mind to be unfocused. An unfocused mind will move in too many directions, cause you to do too many things without actually completing all of them and steer you away from your intended purpose. You will then end up choosing and taking the hardest paths and performing the most ineffective actions that will in turn churn out the most undesirable results.

However, in my opinion, the most detrimental effect of not setting goals would be that it leads to procrastination. As you probably know, procrastination is the act of putting off the things that you should be doing to a later time or date. More often than not, you will end up not doing the things that you put off for too long. And not setting targeted goals to achieve on targeted dates will only increase your rate of procrastination and in turn lead you to failure.

Now that you have realised the negative effects of not programming your mind to set goals, how will you program your mind to craft a proper and effective goal-setting plan to achieve the success you want?

This article describes how your life is what you make of it. If you are willing to work hard to reach your ambitions and goals, there is no reason why should not attain them. In my opinion far too many people try to take short cuts or are too willing to expect free hand outs from other people or have the credit card attitude of buy now, pay later. I hope you enjoy the read.

One of my best friends whose name is Chris turned seventeen around a month before I did. For his birthday his father bought him a very nice and sporty looking car. Chris was very pleased and showed his new present to all his mates including myself. He was unable to take us out for a spin as he had yet to learn to drive. I thought what a great gift it had been and returned home to tell my parents.

I now had it in my head, that I also wanted a car for my birthday. Chris only lived a few doors away from my house and my parents looked out of the window to view his new car. I stated to them that I would love a car for my seventeenth and my parents started to laugh and replied with, I bet you would.

Despite this negative comment, I really believed they were only joking and was convinced that they would not let me down. My birthday arrived and I opened all of their gifts. The main present they had bought me was a pair of trainers. I have to admit they were a quality pair of trainers, however I wondered where they had hidden the car. The car was not hidden, it had not been bought.

An ungrateful young man went to bed, not best pleased. I then started to take driving lessons and on the second attempt managed to pass the driving test. I came home to inform my parents of the good news. My dad congratulated me and seemed proud of my achievement. I stated that I was also very happy, however in reality, what was the point if I had no car to drive. My father did not reply to this comment.

A couple of months later my eighteenth birthday was now approaching. My father told me that because this was quite a big birthday, he was planning to spend a bit more money on my presents this year. He asked me if I had any idea of what I would like. For the second year in a row, I replied that I would love a car. Yet again he laughed and stated that he had said a bit more, not hundreds.

I really believed that because it was in his words, a big birthday, and because I was now legally able to drive, that he would buy me a car. Guess what, he didn’t. Yet again I was not impressed.

I waited a couple of months and then tried the head on approach. I spoke to my parents and told them that I needed a car, they agreed. My dad stated that if I wanted a car, I should go and buy one. I replied that I had no money, and he stated that I should start to save up then.

I started to save and had to sacrifice many things. Eventually I bought a car. It was not exactly sporty but it was my pride and joy. I washed the car every weekend and am sure that I loved it ten times more than Chris loved his car, because I had earned it.

Whenever I want to achieve something in life, I am aware that I have to work very hard and am very grateful to the lesson my parents taught me, even though at the time it seemed harsh and cruel.

We live in a busy society. We may have demanding jobs, children, families and many other “important” things that hoover up all of our time, and before we know it, Christmas is looming once more and we’re muttering about another year just passing us by.

How many times do you say, “I’ll read that book later when I have more time” or “I’ll finish listening to that audio program when I have more time” or something very similar?

You may want to create the life of your dreams, but it just seems so very difficult with so many other things that just have to be dealt with. You may not have the time to spend an hour a day meditating and an hour a day working on your personal development and an hour a day working on your business. In fact, for some of us, we’re lucky if we can even find time to sleep!

However, the key is not the spend time “doing” personal development work, but to just do it!

This means live it; make it a part of your life; something that you do every moment of every day in everything that you do with everyone that you meet.

You can sit on the bus or train to work, close your eyes and work on releasing emotional blocks. You can become aware of what people are reflecting back to you about yourself in your conversations and interactions. Being aware of your problems brings you much closer to changing them.

You may want to find more time to listen to audio programs or some of my hypnosis CD’s. My hypnosis CD’s you can put on when you go to bed to listen to. You don’t need to use headphones to listen to them, nor do you have to be awake. The subliminal versions can be listened to anytime, even when you are working and doing other things; so you can still get the benefit of the programs.

For spoken word programs, what about listening to them on your commute to work? Or if you spend your evening sat in front of the television, turn it off and put one of these programs on instead.

Look at how you are using your time. How much of what you are doing is constructive and something you absolutely must do right now? Are there times you are not doing constructive things? Could you combine activities, for example, watch the television whilst doing something else working towards your future?

Everyone promotes their own time management system. Have a look at a few of them, try them and find something that works for you. This could even be a combination of different systems. It doesn’t matter so long as it saves you times, keeps your organised and helps you to get things done.

At the end of the day, you need to decide what is most important in your life.

Is it more important to do the ironing right now and make sure you don’t miss the latest episode of your soap opera?

Or is it more important to sit down and spend some time planning and working towards creating the life of your dreams?

Working on changing your life can appear to be very daunting, particularly if you are not in the best of places to start with. You look at everything that you want to change and want to deal with and wonder where on earth you are going to start.

In these cases it is best to “chunk” down the tasks and the goals you have in mind. This means break the big goal into smaller chunks, or take baby steps. Take it one step at a time, and before you know it, you will be where you want to be.

How many people get to their old age and say, “I wish I had spent more time at work” or ironing, or watching soap operas, or …

So what can you do to find more time

Look at what activities you are engaged in and decide which you can cut out for the sake of creating the future of your dreams Combine some activities so you are doing more than one thing at a time

Focus on what is important to you. Is half hour in front of a soap opera more important than a half hour working towards your future?

Prioritise creating the life of your dreams

Right now, stop saying, “I’ll start tomorrow” or “I’ll sort that out when I have time” or “I’ll deal with that later”. It’s never going to happen; never going to work. Just do it and make it happen right now.

The perfect situation for change will never happen. You will always find distractions, excuses and reasons not to make the changes or take the action. You can spend many miserable years waiting for that perfect situation and you know what? There’s never going to be a perfect situation, only the now.

As the advert for the trainers say, “Just do it”. That’s what you need to do too. Stop planning, putting off and thinking you’ll do something when you have more time. Just do it today

“We are all born with the same amount of time. Nobody will ever get any more than 24 hours in a day; nobody will get more than 365 days in a year. It’s your choice whether you will use this time to create an amazing life or fritter it away uselessly. It is this choice that makes the achievers stand head and shoulders above everyone else. What’s your choice? Jason E. Johns

“Plan your work for today and every day, then work your plan” Margaret Thatcher

“Look to this day … for yesterday is but a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision. But today well-lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope.” Sanskrit

I bet that you can’t tell me that Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote, “The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions.” That statement is very true, for there has never, in the history of humanity, been any discovery, innovation, or creation that was not first a spark of passion, curiosity, or devotion. Truly, the manifestation and realization of such discoveries, creations, and innovations is nothing more than the mastery of the creators’ passions.

“Passion” from the Latin Passus literally means, “to suffer.” This all-consuming desire to be, and to do is vitally important to success, for it is the source from which the successful person must draw his or her inspiration. Remember that everyone who succeeds in life typically gets off to a bad start initially. They pass through many heartbreaking struggles before they “arrive” at “success.” They literally SUFFER for not having achieved their passion. The turning point in the lives of those who succeed usually comes at the very moment of crisis, when they must choose to follow their passion, or surrender to mediocrity. Would you rather live your life’s purpose and become the person you were meant to be, or remain locked in lifestyle of tolerance and indifference, merely existing from one day to the next?

Without passion, you will never be inspired to act. Without action, you will never manifest your vision, and therefore, you will NEVER be successful! To truly live in a paradigm of conscious choice; a paradigm where you know your beliefs, your purpose, your goals, and you CHOOSE to act on them, then you must know that which stirs YOUR heart. This is crucial if you are truly going to create the reality you desire; a lifestyle built on your preferences and your goals.

Further, you must recognize that designing and creating the life that you choose requires that you first discover the purposes for behaving the way that you do. If you act without purpose, then you are likely to create a lifestyle that is hit or miss; a lifestyle that wanders about, and is based on old habits and reactions to circumstances, rather than creation. Inevitably, this eliminates the potential for success, as the truly successful consistently work toward the achievement of their vision.

Therefore, to genuinely create the lifestyle that you choose, you must face each challenge, each encounter, with purposeful choices. You must reprogram your thinking to “act”, rather than “re-act.” To choose solutions and actions that are directed toward the realistic goals of your vision that are workable in your everyday world. Find your purpose, and you will find your passion! Find your passion, and you will HAVE your vision!

So, what can you do, today, that will point you toward your passion, your purpose? You can begin by defining you vision and creating your own personal mission statement.

1. Allocate some time alone. You need to allow yourself space and time to think, reflect, and evaluate.

2. Select an important question from the list below, or use a powerful question of your own. Be sure that the question you choose has deep, personal meaning for you and causes your heart to stir.

• What motivates me?

• If money were not object, what would I do?

• What energizes me?

• If I had no responsibilities other than myself, what would my future look like?

• What brings me the most joy, pleasure or satisfaction?

• If I had only three months to live, what I do during that time?

• What is it that I REALLY want in life?

3. Once you have chosen your question, isolate yourself. Quite you mind. Take several deep, cleansing breaths and ask the question of yourself. Allow the answers to bubble up through your intuition. Do not force them, or search them out. Wait… Be patient… Ask the question again after a few minutes. Know that the answers will come! The answers are yours; they have always been yours; and they have always been within you!

4. Over time, ask all of these questions; but ask the questions one at a time. Record your answers in a journal or notebook. Give yourself permission to take a break between these sessions. Self-reflection can be hard work, and any progress is good progress! Congratulate yourself for work well done!

5. Once you have responded to the questions, consolidate your responses. Look for patterns or themes. These patterns and themes will become your personal mission statement. Share your responses with a coach or mentor so that you can merge his or her perceptions with your own. This is vitally important, as this will serve to establish your vision and affirm your purpose.

Having a mission statement will center your actions on the goals that YOU choose; on the lifestyle that YOU select. It will lead to your ability to direct your effort toward these goals, rather than wasting effort on things that do not meet your needs and your vision, and that do lead to success. This is your first step toward creating success and toward purposeful living.

Only one question remains. Are you ready to begin?