Uncategorized

Perception is Reality, but Authenticity Counts in the Long Haul

May you be intelligent, provider of wealth and

protector of the path of truth.

We talk a lot about leadership and entrepreneurship. We write often about sharpening your best tool. You! But, not nearly as much specifically about getting the work done. Important aspects of leadership involve keeping yourself focused and on-task to carry your job or vision to completion. Everyone supplies, or should supply value in their workplace. This you do either by the hours of work you provide as an employee, or with the products and services you sell in your business.

In this fragile economy, if you are an employee, a great performance review may not be enough to guarantee a promotion or even enough to help you keep your job. If you are self-employed, one or two high-quality products or services may not be enough on their own to help you stay afloat.

Give First Mentality

The “Rock” says this stuff so much more eloquently than I can. His tagline as a wrestler, in case you don’t know it, is, “Do you smell what the Rock’s been cooking?”

Value is in the eye of the observer. It is said that perception is reality. That’s not exactly accurate. But, is it true that what people perceive is what they believe to be true. Just think of how much more you would pay for an umbrella in a heavy downpour, as opposed to a sunny day. People who seem fairly easy to get along with and trustworthy with assigned tasks are more useful to their manager than someone who produces a lot of chaos, stress or dissension in team meetings. Now, the people causing the stress may have some valid points and positions, but they are for naught if they are not also perceived as getting the work done. So it stands to reason that they are also perceived as being less valuable if they miss deadlines, especially important ones, on a regular or habitual basis.

Authenticity counts

A product, any product, will be more useful to a consumer if it truly adds value to their lives, and is not destined to find its place among all of the other trinkets on the shiny toy junk pile. In these times, consumers are becoming increasingly desensitized to ads. People are on the lookout for BS. They have become increasingly wary of the bonus offers, the upsells and the added cost of necessary add-ons. They are seeking authenticity. That is what people put a premium value on these days. Authenticity.

Given the expanded competition in the job market, you need to become the best salesman of what you uniquely have to offer to a situation. You need to establish your value to your company in order to get and keep your line of work, as well as to move up to higher positions, if that’s what you want to accomplish.

These same principles hold true for our human capital as well. Do you add value and bring authenticity to the lives of people with whom you work?

Buyers are wary

In terms of products, consumers are feeling whipped and worried and are guarding their buys more cautiously. On the other hand, there seems to be a virtual flood of sales offers. Customers are being more careful at picking out the products and service they perceive to be the most useful to them, and those that they perceive to have the most value.

And worker bee or boss, the item that you need to get best at selling and offering is you. Again, back to human capital, especially in social media, people are looking for authentic connections, not just more sales people.

Once you have found ways to improve your most important product, you, and improve the sensed value of what you bring to the proverbial table, now you need to put yourself in your “customer’s” shoes. Who is your customer? You significant other, family members, manager, boss, investor. As workers and business owners, you must learn to make yourself essential to your team by demonstrating that you are interested in making valuable and useful connections.

Whether you own your own business, or a a salaried employee, the most important product that you have to offer this world is you. You do have a shelf life, though. What’s keeping you from stepping up your game, seeing your true worth, and being your true self?

Doc

Photo Credits: Aedes via Compfight cc , bortescristian via Compfight cc

Getting closer to work-life balance

balance

Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of

balance, order, rhythm and harmony.

Thomas Merton

How do they do it? You know those people who work full time and seem to manage to have things rocking along well at home too. They have a secret. That secret is that they work to maintain a good work-life balance. You have, of course, heard the expression “all work and no play makes Jack a very dull boy?” Well the same goes for all play and no work. Focusing too much of any one area of your life, and neglecting the rest, is a sure way to make yourself and the people you care about crazy.

The good news is that you can have better in both worlds. You can work hard and still find time to enjoy your family and friends, and your life. You must take the initiative and decide that you need to create a better balance for yourself.

How?

You will need to adopt a few essential strategies. And, no, it is not always simple, especially in the beginning. Work-life balance is about finding new ways to balance the demands of your work with the demands of your personal life. You actually can be successful and happy doing both; or at least happier.

Establish A Flexible Schedule

The more rigid you are, the less likely it is that you will be able to develop a work-life balance that is actually successful for you. You have to understand that there will be times when work requires more attention and other times when your personal life requires more attention. It is certainly much easier to balance the two when you allow a little flexibility in your schedule. Always leave a little bit of room for the unexpected. That way you are never taken completely by surprise.

Balance Your Workload

As much as you can control this situation, you will need to be sure that you take on enough work to keep you busy, but not so much work that you constantly feel like you are a heartbeat away from overwhelm, and that can’t create some better balance in your life. Take on additional tasks at work only when you feel up to it, and you know your family time won’t be impacted by you coming home late a couple of nights in a particular given week. Likewise, don’t overbook yourself with family and friend events unless you can balance your personal obligations with your work ones successfully.

Prioritize Your Activities

There are going to be times when you just cannot get everything done. Amazing, I know. Don’t panic! As long as you have prioritized your activities you will be able to ensure that you are able to take care of the most important things ones first, and you can always catch up on less important activities at a later time.

Delegate

This is extremely hard for most people. But, any seriously successful work-life balancer knows that you simply cannot succeed unless you know how to delegate. Know who you can turn to in a time of need and who has a skill-set that is compatible with your actual needs, so that when the occasion arises you can dish out some of the items on your plate to others. Notice that the sentence doesn’t read if, but when.

Delegation isn’t just for official ‘work’ tasks. You can also delegate personal tasks including the laundry and other chores. Work-life balance is easier to create when you schedule enough time for your personal interests and work tasks. You can do this by organizing your schedule and taking great care not to overburden your plate at any particular time.

Also remember that to achieve a successful work life balance you must put your personal life at or near the top of your priority list.

If work is your only priority, then you cannot succeed at both. Finding meaningful and challenging work is an important aspect of any quest for work-life balance. The good news is you don’t have to give up one or the other. You can manage to work and still raise your family and do the things you love, and be successful!

Photo Credit: ViaMoi via Compfight cc

How to lead better

lead the way

A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision

comes from passion, not position.

John Maxwell

You know the question. Are leaders born or made? The answer is Yes.

Some people are born with some innate talents that lend themselves to making them good leaders. But these traits do not guarantee that a good, much less great leader will emerge. A leader is formed, and the whole process begins inside the most dangerous place you will ever encounter, your own mind.

How can you become, be seen as, transform yourself into a stronger leader who inspires others, drives people toward excellence, holds people accountable, and instills a sense of trust? The first important step is that you need to study and learn what makes a great leader, great, in the first place. The next step is to learn yourself and master you. You are your brand, your product, your sales item. Are people buying into what you are selling? If not, take a step back and breathe. Here are some areas that you may need to give attention to after honestly evaluation who you are, and what you bring to the table.

1. Control yourself

Every leader in history who has ever been perceived as great, for the long haul, has had to become a master of self-discipline and willpower in order to remain focused on the bigger picture. If you don’t have set goals, or you do not possess the drive to achieve them, how can you expect to be able to lead others to attain theirs?

Follow through in everything you do. As challenging as this will may be, you need to be disciplined enough to be where you need to be, be there when you need to be there, whether you want to be there or not, and come prepared. By being strong enough in your resolve to resist the temptation of giving up, you are setting an example for others to follow.

You must learn to choose your emotional response to all situation very carefully. Sometimes, as difficult as this may be for you, you will need to practice the art of silencing your inner thoughts, especially when they are inappropriate to the situation in order to continue to set a more positive and productive example.

2. Know and project your goals

If the people you are trying to lead do not completely understand the deeper meaning in their work, they may not be able to share your vision or work ethic. In every step of the way, communicate with your team members to make sure that everyone is on the same wavelength and so that everyone knows what is expected of them.

Get, and keep your team involved in the planning process and in the implementation of your ideas. This helps everyone have a greater sense of ownership toward the final result.

3. Praise highly and criticize constructively

The way you praise and criticize others can make all the difference in being able to lead your team effectively.

Be certain that you publicly praise the people who do excellent work for you. You will give that person a sense of accomplishment and the drive to continue to do better.

When someone does something wrong, offer constructive criticism, but do it privately. Offer concrete suggestions and solutions to how they can improve the process and take the time to answer any of their questions. They are much more likely to accept your input more willingly if they know that it is done to help and not to cause harm, or maliciously.

4. Know your people

You cannot really lead a group of people, especially if you are just starting out, unless you have begun to understand their hopes, dreams, struggles, pains, and goals. All of the good intentioned chatter in the world mean nothing to them unless you have a true sense of the people that you are working with.

Talk to your team members and get to know them. Getting to know each other on a personal level will help strengthen the bonds between you. They will want to do better for you because you are more than just a “boss.”?

But, remember, it is much like parenting. Be their leader, first, and their friend second. You are their leader and that means that sometimes you will have to make difficult decisions. These decisions should not be affected by personal relationships.

5. Make the hard call

There will be times when you will have to bite the bullet and make some unpleasant decisions. Firing, demoting, and holding people accountable for their actions can be very difficult at times. As a leader, it is your responsibility to handle these matters.

Regardless of where your leadership role takes you, believe that you can be a strong leader. Remember that in order to lead others, you must be disciplined yourself. After all, your actions will usually speak much louder than anything you can ever say.

In order to gain the respect of others, strive to lead by example in every area of your life.

Thoughts?

Photo Credit: Pulpolux !!! via Compfight cc

If you can change your point of view, then you can change your life

wing and a prayer

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity;

an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

Winston Churchill

Think for a moment. If you were to place second in a writing contest, would you be jumping for joy and push yourself for even better results the next time, or would you be discouraged and find an excuse not to join in and try again?

In life, you will always be faced with choices to make. You may choose to have a pessimistic point of view and live a chronically self-defeated life, or you may choose to take the more optimistic route and be rewarded with a more challenging and fulfilling life.

Why you should nurture an optimist’s point of view

Optimism has been linked to positive mood and good morale, to academic, athletic, military, occupational and political success. It has also been linked to popularity, good health, and even to a longer life.

On the other hand, given the current state of affairs in the world, both in the States and abroad, the rates of depression and pessimism have never been higher. Depression affects adults as well as younger people. And, the elderly are affected even more. The most common age of onset of depression has dropped from 30 to 15, and some people are afflicted with periods of depression for their entire lives.

What’s the reward?

Optimists expect the best

The defining characteristic of pessimists is that they tend to believe that bad events will last a very long time and undermine everything they try to do, and that they are usually at the center of the fault.

The truth is that optimists are confronted with the exact same hard knocks of this world. What makes a huge difference is the way in which they explain their misfortune. It’s the total opposite. They tend to believe defeat is just a momentary or temporary setback> they believe that whatever is happening is confined to this one case, and that it is not their fault.

Optimists tend to focus on and plan for the ‘problem’ at hand; the problem right before them. They use ‘positive reinterpretation’ to get through. In other words, they are much more likely to reinterpret a negative experience in a way that helps them learn and grow. Such people are unmoved by a bad situation. They perceive it as a challenge and try harder to overcome it.

They won’t say things that a pessimist would rapidly fall into. You will never catch an optimistic person saying, “Things will never get better,” “If I failed once, I must not be any good at this, so I may as call it quits,” or “If I am experiencing misfortune in this part of my life, then it will spread out into my whole life.”

The positive expectancies of optimists also predict better reactions during transitions to new environments, unexpected tragedies and unlikely turns of events. If they fall, they will stand up again. They see opportunities for growth rather than obstacles that lead to quitting.

People respond positively to optimists

Optimists are proactive and less dependent on other people for their happiness. They do not feel the need to control or manipulate other people. They usually draw people toward them. Their optimistic view of the world can be contagious and influence those people they come into contact with.

Optimism seems to be a socially desirable trait in all communities. Those who share optimism are generally accepted, while those who spread doom and gloom, or panic and hysteria everywhere they go, are treated unfavorably, and often avoided.

When the going gets tough, optimists get tougher

Optimists typically maintain higher levels of subjective well-being during times of stress than do people who are less optimistic. In contrast, pessimists are likely to react to stressful events by either denying that they exist, or by avoiding dealing with problems head on. Pessimists are more likely to quit trying when life’s difficulties arise.

Optimists persevere. They just don’t give up or give in easily. They are also generally known for their patience, inching their way one step at a time closer to their goal or elusive dream.

Optimists are healthier and live longer

Medical research has shown that simple pleasures and a positive outlook can cause a measurable increase in the body’s ability to fight off disease. Optimists’ health is unusually good. They age well, and are much freer than most people from many of the physical ills of mid-life. And, they get to outlive those prone to negative thoughts.

So why not try being a little more optimist today? And think positively as you move toward a more fulfilled life.

Two men look out through the same bars:

One sees the mud, and one sees the stars.

Frederick Langbridge

Thoughts?

Photo Credit: johnb/Derbys/UK. via Compfight cc

Musings + Affirmations: I study my behaviors to make myself better

I study myself more than any other subject.

That is my metaphysics, that is my physics.

Michel de Montaigne

Affirmation: I study my own behaviors to make myself better.

Having intimate knowledge of myself facilitates my efforts at self-improvement. Knowing who I am allows me to see my strengths. It also allows me to see my shortcomings and enables me to work at decreasing or eliminating them.

I have in mind a mental blueprint of the person I wish to be.

I take the time necessary to reflect on my words and actions, and to determine if those behaviors exemplify this person. I look at that blueprint every day and take the necessary steps to match my actions with it.

I acknowledge that I sometimes simply react instead of thinking first. I am human. I can get so worked up by others or by unpleasant life situations that my feelings overshadow my goal.

I am a conscious being. I am instantly aware when I disappoint myself by giving into the negative emotions. When that happens, I take the steps needed to renew my focus. I realign my actions with my blueprint and all is right and well with my world once again.

Today, I vow to remain on course and aware of the person I want to be.

I commit to carefully assessing my actions to ensure that they are aligned with my behavioral goals.

Homework/ Self-Reflective Questions Journal Prompts:

1. Do I truly listen to the feedback from others about my behaviors?

2. Is there room for improvement where my behaviors are concerned?

3. How many times do I allow myself to make the same mistake?

Photo Credit: Bert Kaufmann via Compfight cc

Don’t look back too often…

626-Cibenko-1024x768

Improve your concentration

concentration

At some point you start seeing the difference

between what you really want, and what is your priority order.

I feel that today I know what I want.

That’s the problem with perspective,

as well as focus and concentration.

Nick Cave

One of the biggest issues that keep people from achieving many of their goals is their lack of concentration. Lapses in your concentration encourage disturbances that can get in the way and stall out your progress. If you wish to progress along your road to success, it is absolutely imperative you learn how to concentrate. Here are a few easy to learn and easy to implement exercises that may help you get a better handle on things.

1) Silence or Noisy?

Most people cannot concentrate when it is too noisy, while others work better with music playing or even in a crowded room. If you are not sure which style best suits you, then try out the different environments. How can you do this? Take a notepad and a pencil or pen, or your electronic tablet if that’s what you write with, and try to write a letter or a blogpost if you blog, in all the three circumstances in a set amount of time. Give yourself 10 minutes. That is all you will need to determine which of these environments best feeds your concentration. How? Check not only for length but also for the development of ideas.

If you are not a writer, take a book you’ve been meaning to start. Now write out a few notes describing what you’ve read. Give yourself 10 minutes again. Once again, check for length and depth of ideas you gathered from what you just read.

2) Focal Point

Every morning, before you leave for work or on the way, stare at any object for ten minutes. You can do this while in the toilet, car or bus. You will find this difficult, but whatever happens, do not take your gaze away. Hold it. Wait. And then, as the minutes pass you will find yourself beginning to deeply meditating about things that happened to you yesterday or the challenges you have to face in a few minutes. Congratulations! You have just conquered the art of meditation.

3) Deep Breathing

When you first start out, you can do this while staring at the object from tip #2. But if you want to move toward real concentration, do this as a separate exercise. Sit down on the floor. If its hard, get a cushion. Don’t get stuck in the minutiae of how to get this done. Close your eyes. Breathe. Count the number of inhales. When you have reached 100, start counting backward but this time count the exhales.

Mastering this technique will take you some time, but once you conquer this, move on to some other kinds of things like, simple mathematical calculations, naming the months of the year backward or alphabetically. After that, make up exercises as you like. If any of these seem to stressful and disrupt your breathing and/ or concentration, then that is not a technique that you can use right now; perhaps in the future.

4) Movement

Focus on an animal. It doesn’t matter what you choose- a cat, dog or even an ant or a bird. Watch and follow their every movement as if they existed in a vacuum. Study every tiny spot on their body. The point of this exercise is to learn how to diversify your concentration in such a way that movement does not distract you from your goal.

Try a few or all of these tips and you will start enjoying life to its fullest because you will be able to focus on the things that you want to focus on and ignore those things that are disruptive.

Thoughts?

Photo Credit: lecates via Compfight cc

Mastering your stress

stress

The greatest weapon against stress is our ability

to choose one thought over another.

William James

What is stress?

Stress is an emotional and physical response that you show toward different pressures in your life: from the workplace, school and other institutions. Stress reactions include the inability to focus, concentrate, headache and fast heartbeat. Almost everybody has some kind of stress in their life. What is important though, is how we choose to respond and deal with it.

How can you master your stress? Shift!

When working to overcome stress, it is important to recognize first the stress is present, to some extent in every walk of life, every career. So, quitting your job should not be your first response. Stress can affect you personally or individually, and it can also hamper the productivity of teams.

Your work environment may be a major stressor for you, but this is not something that you can always easily control or change. So, instead of trying to control the work environment, you can control your work (to some degree), your response and yourself. You can take one step at a time toward reaching the final goals. The question then is, how do you go about working around stress?

You can reduce the risk of being stressed out by shifting how you see things to a new perspective. What does that mean? A concrete example would be learning to let go of situations where you have absolutely no control. Use that time and negative energy that you usually pour into stressing about and worrying over the things which you cannot control, and transform it instead into positive energy. You need to use the full force of your mind and change your focused energy toward other things which you can control.

Knowing yourself helps you become familiar with your own emotions and responses, and offers insights into how to control them. This shift in attitude helps you to more easily overcome and manage your stress. There are things which you can change, and these are the places you should expend your energy. And there will be things that are simply beyond your control.

Three simple steps

Actually there are simple steps that you can help you deal with most of life’s stressors. Failing to adequately and properly deal with stress during its initial stages may eventually lead to chronic stress condition. Chronic stress is listed among root causes of frequent headaches, ulcers, indigestion, high blood pressure and heart issues.

• Saying “no” to commitments that would require time and energy that you do not have to give, or (and this is tougher) that you do not want to give.

• Get healthier, physically and mentally

Exercise, especially stretching and breathing exercises.
Meditation
Eating healthier food

• Asking help from other people to lessen the burden.

To deal with stress, you can reduce the stressors in your life to avoid feeling the effects of stress.

Stress prevention

In addition to working on your stress reduction, you also need to pay attention to stress prevention going forward. Stress prevention removes, or at least significantly decreases, the possibility of stress happening. Obviously you cannot avoid every stress in life, but you can approach life in a more prepared fashion.

With this two methods, stress reduction and stress prevention, it is important that you develop the ability to identify which of your emotions are primarily stress-driven. This goes back to knowing yourself well. You can begin to isolate some of those attitudes and/ or learn how to react better to the stressors.

You have to know and understand your limits. After understanding your limits, you would have to learn how to say no. It is different that you know your limitations, but still accept whatever other people say to you.

Working to remove the stress from your life, will help improve your focus. It will encourage peace, tranquility and spirituality within you. You can incorporate stress reduction and prevention in daily life.

With a little personal work, you change your entire outlook and perspective in life.

Thoughts?

Photo Credit: meaganmakes via Compfight cc

What makes you tick?

I don’t think I could ever give up music.

It’s what makes me tick.

If there was no music, there would be no writing.

Maggie Stiefvater

The Army has advised you to go out and be all that you can be. And, while most people try to ascribe to that notion, they are often left with a feeling that there is something more. Some still aspire to look inside for something deeper and more meaningful.

The aspirations you developed as a child continue to live within you, even if you have stopped actively seeking them. Most stop seeking them because they either think they have run out of time, or they have forgotten how to listen to their own heart-beat and rhythm.

Here are a few questions to help you rekindle your flame…

1. What do I really want?

This is a question for the ages. There are so many things that you want to do with your life, and seemingly so little time to get it all done. There do not seem to be enough hours in any given day for it all. Here’s a clue. Find something that you are really good at, and this can help you make small steps toward improvement. Your diligence is the key to knowing that “it” is worth it.

2. Should I consider changing?

The younger generation feel that they taken redefining ‘self’ to a whole new level. But this is not necessarily so. Think back to your teenage years. What were the problems that you worried about then? Acne? Whether to have sex or not? Partying? Drinking? So, how does all of that fit into your current lifestyle and mental framework? How did you define yourself then? How do you define yourself now?

If history has taught you one thing, it is that life is constantly changing. It changes around you, and it makes changes to you. The things that caused you sleepless nights way back then, or even last year, probably have minimal significance to you at this moment because you have already changed and your outlook has changed.

3. Am I comfortable with what I’m doing?

There is almost always an easy way and a right way when it comes to deciding things like what goes with which shoes, or purse, or shirt. It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon (yes, one of my favorite expressions) to see yourself as someone unique, or else you will see yourself as exactly the same as everyone else in everything you do. Variety brings in very interesting and exciting questions to be experimented with.

4. Have I done enough for myself?

I know it is not a popular notion, but I want you to really think about it. Have you done enough for yourself lately? Or is there something more that you want to do? Discontentment in every aspect of your life can be very dangerous, even in small doses. But by taking small steps toward dong things for yourself, appreciating yourself, rewarding yourself you will suddenly find that you are less stressed and find opportunities to do stuff you could never imagine doing.

5. How much can I have?

I suppose in this case there is no such things on having things too much or too little, but it’s more a matter of considering how badly you actually need it.

6. What motivates you? What Really Makes You Tick?

This is an question and answer set that you have to sort out for yourself. There are so many things that can make people happy, and that move their hearts. But to choose one of the many be the hardest part. It’s not like you can’t have one serving of your favorite food in a buffet and that’s it. Just try it piece by piece.

So? What really makes you tick? You can be just about anything you have always wanted to be. But cutting your dreams short because it looks like attaining your goals may be very difficult is already giving up before you even begin your journey.

Always remember, that self-improvement is not just about the physical or philosophical change you have to undergo, but it is about something deep inside of you, waiting to be unleashed.

Your passions no longer stirred by what you are doing? Step just a little outside of your current comfort zone.

What moves you? Figure out a way to do that!

Set your muse free…

Thoughts?

Photo Credit: mtsofan via Compfight cc

Why you need to develop your own mission statement

mission statement

I have found that great people do have in common an immense belief

in themselves and in their mission.

They also have great determination as well as an ability to work hard.

At the crucial moment of decision, they draw on their accumulated wisdom.

Above all, they have integrity.

Yousuf Karsh

Why you do I need one?

Your personal development and motivation is one of the keys to a successful and happy life. You have a better chance of arriving at your intended goal or destination if you have in mind how you will get there and who you will be when you arrive. And, if you want to feel fulfilled from day to day, then you need to know what makes you tick. To get to where you want to be, you will need to be able to meet your goals and even exceed a few of them, and with a personal mission statement you will be that much closer to being in the proper position to do that.

Most businesses have mission statements. Unfortunately, for most businesses it becomes a mantra which garners no more attention than reciting the pledge of allegiance from memory does for most people. But for you, they can be a great way to make it known to yourself and to others just where you want to be and what your true goals really are. When you know your goal you can be continually working toward them. If you simply bumble and tumble through life, you will not remain on course with the same amount of steadiness. Everyone can benefit from a mission statement and if you want to get where you are going, today you are going to start by writing your own.

What it is?

Your personal mission statement is not just about getting what you want out of work or out of the people around you. It also needs to speak to giving something back to the world and to your loved ones. A mission statement will help you to find out just where you stand in the world and help you to find out just what you should be doing for the sake of those around you. Take your time with this project and see how you can change the world for the better. If you know that there is more that you could be doing for the entire world, or even for a few people in your corner of the world, then this will help you realize those dreams as well.

Your personal mission statement will help you to evolve into the person that you have always dreamed of becoming. If you are sick and tired of being sick and tired, and of being the kind of person who simply lets things happen to them, then a mission statement is for you. Using this tool you will become a person to reckon with, a powerhouse of determination and skill. This statement is going to change your entire life for the better and it will begin to do so immediately. As soon as you take the step to start writing it you are going to begin to grow and evolve in ways that you ever thought possible.

Where do I start?

If you come here often, then you know the drill. Start with just a simple pen and paper. Sit down and write about the person you are today. Do you like yourself? Do you like where you are, what you are doing? Do you think that there are areas in your life that could use a little improvement? Write about it and be specific about how you are going to make those changes.

Don’t forget to also focus on your strengths and your abilities. Write how you want to change and in what areas of your life as well as about the goals that you want to see yourself meet over time. Which goals are short term ones and which are long terms goals? Write down all of the personal tings that you want to see happen and change in your life and you will change from that day forward.

The way forward is best traveled with the use of a road-map. You will only know where you are going, if you are making progress, and when you have arrived by taking the time to get to know yourself better and discovering your mission in life.

Thoughts?

Photo Credit: mattbatt0 via Compfight cc