Showing posts with label habit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label habit. Show all posts
Friday, 26 February 2016
Saturday, 30 January 2016
Friday, 29 January 2016
Read More - Get Into A Reading Rhythm
Source: http://ureadmorebooks.blogspot.co.uk/
Many people ask me how do I manage to get through so many books?, and my response is that I have a reading routine and rhythm. I'll share my recipe with you. Try this for one month and see how much progress you make. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. A sitcom generally airs for a half of an hour at a time with dramas and soap operas airing for an hour or more. Instead of watching the sitcoms or drama programs, turn the television off and use the time to read. That's right... READ.
Let's say that you watch three sitcoms for a half of an hour each. Choose three books that you are currently reading or would like to read. Read each book for a half of an hour each (the same time you would have spent watching the sitcoms). Set a timer if you need to in order to keep you on track. At the end of the thirty minutes, change to the next book and begin reading it and at the end of that thirty minutes, move to the third book. If you do this once a day for a month, you will be absolutely amazed at the number of books you will complete in that time and ultimately in a year.
It's not that we don't have the time to read, it's more like we don't TAKE/MAKE the time to read. If television is not your thing and you spend an inordinate amount of time on the computer or on social networks, the same recipe will apply; just insert the word computer in the blank where I have TV above. In fact any other time consuming activity will work to fill in the blank. In other words, I am asking you to substitute reading for one of the other activities.
I cannot express the myriad benefits of you doing this here in this post. If you cannot do the ninety minutes, start off with thirty minutes and work your way up. Give up one sitcom to read a few chapters in a good book. Research says that anything done for thirty days becomes a habit (good or bad), so give it a try and watch how quickly you increase the number of books you have read in a week, month, and year's time. I dare you to challenge yourself. Happy Reading!
http://ezinearticles.com/?Get-Into-A-Reading-Rhythm&id=9026839Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9026839
Friday, 8 January 2016
12 Characteristics of People Who Are the Best at What They Do
Do you have what it takes to be the best?
What does it mean to be the best? What are the characteristics common to successful people, achievers, doers—the ones who find ways to become the very best at everything they do?
Would you pass the “Best” test?
Here are 12 questions to find out if you’ve got what it takes to rise to the top:
1. Are you an optimist?
You can't get to the top if you don't think there is a top, or if you think you can't make it. Optimists always believe things can improve or be done better. This pushes them to be their best.
2. Do you have a vision?
Visionaries can see ahead of the pack. Their eyes aren't locked on the here and now. They see the bright future and what things will look like when they reach their destiny. While working hard for today, they live for the future. They “begin with the end in mind.”
3. Do you relentlessly pursue excellence?
The status quo is not for the best. They want to experience the best and be the best. That means giving their best. They go the extra mile so that in everything they do, in everything they say and think, they are striving for excellence.
4. Do you have a lifelong habit of personal growth?
They don’t want to stay at the level they are at. They want to grow in their work, their intellect, their spirituality and their relationships— in every area of their life. And they discipline themselves to put themselves in situations where they grow. Personal growth doesn’t “just happen.” People must choose to grow.
5. Do you welcome competition?
Like the lead runners in the race with someone on their heels, the best know that the competition is right behind them. They love it because they know the competition keeps them from becoming lazy or complacent. The competition pushes them to go faster and achieve more—to remain the best by forging ahead.
6. Do you strive to be a leader?
Someone has to lead—it may as well be the best. People who become leaders get there because they want to. They want make a difference. And they want to be equipped with the skills necessary to lead others to a better place.
7. Do you leave a legacy?
Leaders aren't in it just for themselves, though they will surely reap the rewards of being the best. They build things that last beyond themselves, things that can be enjoyed by others as well. They leave a mark for future leaders to see and use.
8. Do you know how to prioritize and execute your goals?
Just like weight loss boils down to eating right and exercising, personal management boils down to prioritizing and executing. First prioritize your activities—the important stuff goes on the top. Then execute—do them. The best have habits and discipline that get them to the top, by doing the best things and doing them first.
9. Do you focus on building relationships?
Success does not come alone. Everyone who achieves greatness does it with the help of countless others. How do the best get others to help them? They treat them with respect. They embrace them. People become the best because they help other people, and people like them.
10. Do you make excuses?
When they fail, they admit it and move on. They get back up and do it right next time. They let their actions speak louder than their words. They stand tall and do it better next time. No excuses, just results.
11. Do you strive for “good” or “best?”
Yes, they could say, “This is good." But that would mean they have settled for less than the best. Many people think that good is good. Good is not good. Good is the enemy because it keeps us from the best. What will it be: good or best? The best choose the best.
12. Do you dare to dream?
While others live the mundane and settle into a life they never bargained for, a rut, the best dream of a better life. And then they take the necessary risks to achieve their dreams. They live by Teddy Roosevelt's quote: “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
So, do you have what it takes to be the best?
Thursday, 3 December 2015
The Road to Excellence
In his book The Five Things We Cannot Change, author David Richo writes, "The Zen poet Basho says: 'All who have achieved real excellence in any art possess one thing in common, a mind to obey nature, to be one with nature throughout the four seasons of the year.' Individual plans are therefore secondary to the larger purposes of a flowing universe."
Source: http://livingwellforsuccess.com/
I wish to impress upon you that excellence arises when we develop this mental discipline and collaborate with nature's laws.
To attain excellence we must foremost be acquainted with its qualities. For example, success is measured against others achievements while excellence is an individual pursuit.
Leadership expert Robin Sharma says we should strive to be our best to attain excellence, "Be so ridiculously great at what you do that the world cannot help but give you an audience."
In a similar vein the comedic genius Steve Martin said, "Be so good they can't ignore you."
Excellence is accomplished by providing more than expected. Not only do we exceed other's expectations, we enrich their lives by being of service and adding value.
There is much discussion these days regarding achieving success. Thought leaders offer wavering advice on strategies to climb your way to the top. Yet, as we pursue excellence, success is there to greet us if our actions are firm.
Consider the following formula for excellence:
Excellence ® Personal Growth ® Results ® Success = Prosperity
In discussing excellence I'm reminded of those who surpass our wildest expectations. They are: Olympic athletes, music performers, artists and dancers to name a few, having accumulated 10,000 hours of deliberate practice.
"It is a lifetime accumulation of deliberate practice that again and again ends up explaining excellence," states Cal Newport in So Good They Can't Ignore You.
Excellence invites us to become the centre of our universe. We live life defined by smaller acts of distinction once we have mastered our inner domain.
"Achieving excellence is one part human participation, but the other part is some kind of divine intervention that I am yet to fully understand. It is these types of questions that make me believe that life really is worth living, despite all the pain and gnashing of teeth we must go through," states Sport Psychologist and Leadership expert Stan Beecham.
The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus considered excellence to be natural, in that we inherently seek pleasure and avoid pain. In the Ancient Greek language, the word Areté means excellence of any kind and signifies moral virtue.
Human excellence is the psychological basis for carrying out the activities of a human life in a positive manner; to that extent human excellence is also happiness. Similarly, we can see excellence is characterised by moral virtues. The moral virtue relevant to fear, for instance, is courage.
Likewise, it was Aristotle who said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
To live a life of excellence we must identify with our core values and live them as best we can. To live according to our highest virtues while aware of the complexity of our human nature. To know oneself at a deeper level, we overcome the restraints of our unconscious past to realise inner freedom.
Source: Source: https://www.atkearney.com
In a similar vein, honouring our emotional wellbeing is paramount for living an authentic life. This is recognised by our commitment to honour our self-worth rather than be dictated to by disempowering states. We refuse to be defined by our limiting beliefs and challenge them when they no longer serve us.
Many people Navigate Life unaware of their limiting beliefs and accept them as the fabric of their being. Yet through our understanding of brain neuroplasticity and epigenetics, we know nothing is fixed or permanent including our thoughts.
It would be remiss of me to get this far into the article and not mention the work of Carol Dweck who states, "This growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. Although people may differ in every which way-in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments-everyone can change and grow through application and experience."
So, by adopting a growth mindset we surge towards excellence and the springboard to success.
Excellence is attained when we let go of thoughts and beliefs which no longer harmonise with our deepest being. If they don't allow us to live to our highest moral code, we must dispose of them in place of those that uphold our best conduct.
To live a life of excellence is a call toward wholehearted living, irrespective of our comparisons to others.
It is our authentic power that permits mutual co-operation with ourselves and others. We answer the call of our inner spirit when we pursue integrity and nurture our commitment to support our highest position.
It is well known that success can lead to complacency, because we are lulled into settling once our goals and objectives are met. In contrast, excellence is marked by continued improvement instead of being outcome focussed. This is what Carol Dweck refers to when she argues the case for developing a Growth Mindset instead of a Fixed Mindset.
Lastly, the path to excellence is lined with many detours, failures and setbacks. The greatest inventors of our century had countless failures and disasters, yet these blunders did not discourage them from eventual success.
Therefore, an unwavering passion and commitment is paramount for attaining excellence.
Let us not be blinded by the promise of success, rather we pursue excellence for what it brings to our life.
Afterall, success is a destination while excellence is an enduring journey of self-discovery and blinding detours.
May those detours lead you to the highest excellence throughout your life.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9234275
Thursday, 19 November 2015
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