The One Surefire Secret That Can Help You Succeed

Everyone wants to be successful in life but only a small percentage of people manage to become successful, why is that?

Is it because people don’t work hard? No, some people work really hard and they never reach what they want

Is it because they didn’t try?
No, lots of people tried to succeed and failed

So what is the secret to success?
And how can you become successful even if you face lots of obstacles in your daily life?

Ask any successful person about the secret of his success and he will tell you the same thing. Success is all about trying enough number of times until you manage to find out the right way that works

Need a proof?

If this sounds weird or if you want a hard proof that reaching success is all about trying enough number of times then read the following real life examples:

• Thomas Edison failed nine hundred ninety nine times before he succeeded in inventing the lamp On the 1000th trial!!!, right after doing that people asked him, how did you manage to bear all that criticism and keep going? He answered each time it didn’t work I never said “I failed” but I only said I discovered a new way how to not invent the lamp
• Henry Ford lost all of his fortune 6 times and each time he bounced back and rebuilt his empire.
• Walt Disney’s idea of creating a cartoon character called “Mickey Mouse” was rejected more than 5 times until he managed to find someone who supported the idea and then Mickey came to life.
• English novelist John Creasy got 753 rejection slips before he published 564 books and became a famous writer!
• Most people know that Warren buffet the richest man in the world made his money from investments but what the majority of people don’t about Buffet is that his tutor recommended that he chooses another career other than finance because he believed that it doesn’t suit him!

Maybe those people were exceptions?

Do you think that those people were exceptions and that you can’t be as persistent as them?

No they weren’t, because you did that too long ago! Remember when you were learning how to walk? How many times did you fall? Why did you keep going? Because it this point you believed that its possible and that’s why you never stopped trying

I want you to watch any child trying to hold a door knob for the first time, you will find that the child will hold the objects incorrectly many times before it manages to find out the right way.

That’s how the learning process works, we learn through negative feedback which means that we have to do wrong things in order to learn how to avoid our mistakes the next time

So why do people fail to succeed?

Those who fail aren’t the ones who don’t try hard enough
They aren’t the ones who are pessimistic
They aren’t the ones who don’t try

But they are the ones who give up after few failures because they don’t understand that reaching success is only a matter of trying and tying until something works for them.

If Walt destiny lost hope long ago Mickey, Disney land and the Walt Disney corporation wouldn’t have came to life and I wont have even mentioned his name in this post

Now imagine the kind of things that would never exist in this world if you gave up too soon!!

Success is all about the number of tires!
And if you need any more proofs just ask any successful person

Written by M.Farouk Radwan
The founder of http://www.2knowmyself.com, The Ultimate source for self understanding

Read more in: Guest posts, Personal Development.

Knowing how to set goals is important, but what everyone really wants to know is how to achieve their goals and dreams. In this article, author J. Wolsey Riggs offers an alternative approach to the SMART goals system – the EASIER Method of Goal Achievement.

When I was a kid learning how to set goals, all I ever heard was “make sure your goals are SMART… Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely.” The problem was, trying to make sure I set SMART goals usually left me tired, frustrated, and unsure of my ability to even set a goal properly. Even when I did manage to meet the SMART goal criteria, I felt abandoned when it came to figuring out how to go about achieving it. Goal setting quickly became a burdensome, frustrating practice – and I soon realized that I needed an easier way to incorporate this powerful personal development tool into my life. Lucky for me, I found one!

Years of research in the field of human potential (and goal setting in particular) has shown that those who consistently achieve their goals follow a very specific pattern of behavior – so specific, in fact, that once I show you what it is, you will be able to see that anyone that had achieved anything has completed the same exact process – including you!

In short, once goal-achievers intend to do something, they:

Spend time each day envisioning what their life will look like after they have achieved their goal. Second, they assess where they stand in relation to that goal from time to time. Then, after creating an honest assessment, they begin strategizing how they are going to get from “where they are” to “where they want to be”. Next, they implement their strategy, and begin working towards the achievement of their objectives. As they meet (or fail to meet) those objectives, great goal-achievers take time to evaluate their progress, and finally, they surround themselves with people they trust and report their successes and failures in a timely manner. When you line the process up, it looks like this.

Goal-achievers:

Envision
Assess
Strategize
Implement
Evaluate, and
Report

As I alluded to earlier, the really good news about this unique tool is that we’ve literally been using it since the day we were born – which means it’s something to be mastered rather than something that must be learned. If you’re still having a hard time understanding that you’re already using the EASIER Method, take a moment to think about a goal you achieve on a daily basis: like getting home from work at 5:30 so that you can see your beautiful wife (or handsome husband, whatever the case might be). When working through this goal, you:

Envision what it will be like when you walk through the front door and into the arms of your loved one (“Man, I can’t wait to get home and hug my honey! He/She’s always so warm and cuddly!”).

Assess when you’ll need to leave, and how long you have until the moment you can leave the rat race and head for greener pastures (“It’s 4:30 now, and I can’t leave until 5 if I want to have a job in the morning. If I’m going to make it home by 5:30, I’ll need to…).

Strategize as to what the best route will be (“… avoid the highway, because at that time of day, it’s bumper-to-bumper traffic. I’ll take the back roads instead, and stop by the flower shop on my way.”).

Implement your strategy with the hope that it will help you achieve your goal (“5:00! Time to get out of here!”).

Evaluate your progress along the way (“Darn! I wasn’t planning on this construction! I’m going to have to go a bit faster once I get through this traffic if I want to make it home on time!”)

Report your progress (“Hi, honey. Boy, am I glad to see you; it was a tough day at the office! Oh, these? They’re flowers – yes, for you! I know, I know, I shouldn’t have.”)

You see? You’re an EASIER Method expert without even having tried! Now you just need to consciously apply the EASIER Method to all your goal setting efforts, and not just the habits you “achieve” on an everyday basis. For example, let’s say you want to use the method to find a new job. Your first EASIER Sheet might look something like this:

The Goal: To obtain a new position by July 1st, 2008.

Envision: For 5-10 minutes each day, I will find a quiet spot and think about what my ideal work situation will be like. In addition, I will repeat to myself throughout the day the positive affirmation “I find great fulfillment in my work” (or some other affirmation you feel comfortable with).

Assess: My current strengths, skills, and talents are: (list here).

The skills I need to acquire or develop in order to qualify for my ideal position are: (list)

Strategize:

1. I will spend 15 minutes a day researching open positions.
2. I will send 5 resumes to potential employers each week, and follow up by calling each potential employer to check on the status of my inquiry.
3. I will send an email to my network of friends and associates, and ask them to help me in identifying and procuring a position.
4. I will spend x amount of time per week developing the skills and talents I currently lack that will be necessary for the responsible performance of my new job.

Implement: I will implement my strategy immediately, and

Evaluate: my progress once a week between now and my deadline.

Report: I will report my weekly progress to (somebody who supports your pursuit of a new job, and whom you trust and love).

While you will certainly need to hone this sheet, and tailor it to your specific needs and wants, you would be well on your way to achieving your aim within the time frame set out. Similar sheets have already been used to successfully balance budgets, lose weight, start businesses, improve marriages, increase monthly income, and even rid a house of a mouse problem! The sky’s the limit for what you can achieve, once you understand the process of goal achievement.

As you strive to create the life of your dreams, remember: smart people might set SMART goals, but there’s an EASIER Way to do everything! Happy goal getting!

J. Wolsey Riggs is a guy who really loves helping people learn how to set and achieve goals. He is the co-creator and #1 fan of the EASIER Method of Goal Achievement. To learn more about the method, please visit www.easiermethod.com, or http://easiermethod.blogspot.com.

Read more in: Guest posts.

The word Love is now used merely to describe a game. It has become a corruption – almost a form of spitting on the sacred. Passion, lust, and attachment, disguised as divinity.

Nobody knows the meaning of Love these days. A heavier, stronger version of “like” – that’s all it is. Who has known the real thing, who has felt what it is truly like? A mere handful.

Selfishness in love’s clothing

What we call love is ultimately just selfishness. It is mere chemistry and biology. We see a partner, we think they are attractive, and our body calls for us to reproduce, but wait!

That is too crude. We must have rituals, games, courtship. One must chase, the other must run. We must pick the best mate out of those available. And so the whole game has developed. But at its core, it is just a biological urge, dressed up nicely.

Sometimes, love is about reputation. How good they make <em>you</em> look in front of your friends. How good they make you feel. What they can do for you. How much they earn. Familial love is often seen as purer, and that is true, but often it is just as contaminated.

Other times, love becomes a knife held at their throat. Your father has to provide for you; your mother has to buy you a car; your girlfriend has to sleep with you; your boyfriend has to buy you a ring. Because of that one word, that one corruption.

Love is a state of being

Love – Love, with a capital L – it is just the opposite. There is no clinging, no attachment. It thinks nothing of getting, merely of giving. A lover thinks only of himself, herself, but a Lover thinks only of the other.

Love is so rare, simply because we have not been taught the right way to achieve it. Or, to put it another way, we have not been taught who to love.

How can we give what we don’t have? If you reach into your soul, and find only unhappiness, loneliness, anger, anxiety – how can you give out Love?

That is why all our love is plastic, counterfeit. We give a fake love, hoping that someone will give us the real thing in return. But that will never happen, for they are doing the same thing.

Finding the state of Love

How do we find Love? We have to start within. And doesn’t that sound shocking! It goes against everything we’ve been taught!

Love your country; love your religion; love your parents; love your friends; love your enemies. Who has ever said to a young boy, an infant girl – Love yourself?

I was recently reading the scientific figures on depression, low self-esteem, and loneliness. They have been called epidemics. Epidemics! A word normally reserved for diseases and plagues.

Aren’t all of them the results of a self-hatred? Sometimes it can be a subtle, deep, self-dislike. Sometimes it is an overt self-hatred. But the numbers speak for themselves, it is so widespread!

The four levels of being

Undo all the poison. Undo the unhappiness. Start with acceptance, and let turn into Love. Love yourself, on all levels, so deeply that all of that silliness begins to melt away.

How do you talk to yourself? Psychologists say all of us have an inner critic. The little voice in our head that tells us we’re too fat, too thin, too stupid, too ugly, too old. It constantly bombards us with criticism; it causes all our fears and anger and sorrows. Change that around. Talk to yourself lovingly. Forgive yourself for all your mistakes, for your past. Love yourself on the level of thought. Love even the critic – disagree with it, but don’t fight it, for that is just more self-violence.

What do you do with your emotions? When you are sad, angry, scared, anxious – what do you do? Do you run and hide, try to distract yourself, or drown it in alcohol? Or do you simply despair and give up? Love your emotions, welcome them. Feel them; let them be there, without acting on them. Whatever it is, simply relax into it. Drop your resistance to them. Love yourself on the level of the emotions.

And next, the body: It is our temple, and yet we neglect it, we abuse it. Take care of your body. Exercise, eat right. Try this, one of the most powerful exercises. Stand naked in front of a full length mirror. And simply send love to each part of your body. Scan it slowly, from top to the bottom. Love everything: the scars, the illnesses, and the fat. Imperfections don’t exist, except in our thoughts.

And lastly, on the level of energy. Play with it. Fill yourself up with a loving energy, swirl it around yourself. Let it dance across your skin, let it fly across the room and bounce off the walls.

The bad, and the evil

This is a common question: What if I am a hateful person? What if I have hurt someone before, how can I love myself? Won’t that mean I would go out and do it again? And the answer is simple: You hurt others because you yourself are in pain. Once you fill your being up with love, what will overflow? Don’t you want to find out?

And another question: What if I am ill? What if I am bed-ridden? How do I love that? How can I love something that is causing me so much pain? And the answer comes in the form of more questions: What is healing to your body? What is healing to your soul? Sadness and self condemnation – has that worked for you? Isn’t it time you tried joy and laughter?

Happiness, peace, everything that we seek within – they simply come when we find acceptance and love for ourselves.

The end of all sorrows

Once we have satisfied our basic survival needs, what is the source of all our misery? The Buddha asked himself the same question, and the answer was simple: Attachment.

Attachment. When our lovers leave us, why does our heart break? When we get old, and our bodies begin to get slower, softer, weaker – why do we suffer?

Simply because we have become attached to them. And this is the biggest lie – that love is the cause of our attachment.

False love, the love of the lonely masses, is attachment. Real love – that is freedom! A man that loves himself deeply begins to love all of existence. A woman who has found the peace within will be happy anywhere and everywhere.

We’ve all seen the celebrities – so many are rich and beautiful, and yet depressed and angry. We’ve all seen the man working the low-paying job, but he carries a song in his heart. Happiness comes from within, from finding Love. Beyond basic survival needs, it has nothing to do with your external circumstances.

And when you Love so deeply, how can you ever be attached to anything? You love the time spent with your lover, you love the time spent alone. Where is the heartbreak? You love the clouds as you sit on the bus, you love the wind in your face as you speed down the highway in your fancy car. Where is the misery at being poor?

Love is freedom.

About Albert Foong:
Albert runs UrbanMonk.Net, a practical personal development blog that has enhanced the lives of many readers, moving them out of suffering and into a life of joy, love and success. It draws upon ancient spirituality, modern psychology, real life experiences, and everything in between.

Read more in: Guest posts.

Hi everyone, the following is a guest post by Andrew from PersonalHack.com, the personal development and transformation blog.

If you’re just getting started with your new personal development blog and would like to be featured on my pages, please contact me to submit your article for consideration. Usually, I’m more than happy to post your articles on my pages.

It’s so easy to get sucked into the mainstream lifestyle. It’s almost natural for us to look around at what everyone else is doing and like sheep follow the rest of the herd. What’s interesting is that the American mainstream lifestyle isn’t very optimistic.

Here are some quick stats for you…

Percent of non-institutionalized adults age 20 years and over who are overweight or obese: 66.3
Percent of non-institutionalized adults age 20 years and over who are obese: 32

Source: CDC.gov

50% of deaths in America are cause by heart disease. Heart disease is easily preventable by maintaining a healthy lifestyle, eating nutritious foods, and regularly exercising.
Source: World Health Organization

Top 20% of income earning households in American hold about 80% of the wealth, leaving the bottom 80% of household (the mainstream) with only 20% of the wealth.
Source: UCSC.edu

The average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day
Source: Nielsen Co

Only 14% of Americas say they are “really satisfied” with their jobs.
Source: Conference Board

Growing up I was the strange kid. As a young boy I never really enjoyed playing video games. I tended to find most social gatherings very mundane and boring. I remember I used to find most polite day-to-day conversations very boring and mundane. As a result during junior high I ended up attracting bullies and trouble makers for best friends.

Why bullies? Simply because they had the most interesting action filled lifestyles. Also having them as alliances didn’t hurt. While many of them were foolish, and got in lots of trouble, they were the most alive, their lifestyles were very honest. They always talked back to teachers and said what everyone else wished they could say. They did whatever they wanted without any regard to the rules. They always had the most exciting stories.

The reason I was attracted to bullies was because I always wished I could be one, but couldn’t let go. I just couldn’t let go of all the rules and regulations. I couldn’t let go of the mainstream way of doing things. I was always scared of getting in trouble. I was always scared of being too different. I was paralyzed by fear, yet at the same time I never liked being average, I found it very boring and predictable.

Fast forward to today, I have embraced my own unique values and preferences. I’m constantly tweaking my lifestyle to align with those values and preferences. I’m constantly making sure I’m living in my own reality instead of buying into the mainstream. As the above stats show the mainstream lifestyle will leave most Americans overweight, financially poor, not very happy with their jobs, and spending a lot of time watching others on TV. Do you realize that you can star in your own award winning TV-show by watching less TV and going out more, building a more exciting social life? Just some food for thought.

When I recently quit my 9-5 job and told my former coworkers that the 9-5 thing just doesn’t work for me, most thought I was very foolish and stupid. Am I saying you should quit your 9-5 job without another one lined up? Absolutely not. It took me 6 months to finally decide to quit my former job. I also don’t have a family that I have to provide for or a mortgage that I have to pay. Interestingly with how low job satisfaction rates are, it’s not surprising that 81% of Americans want to start their own companies.

How many people do you know in your social circle who actually even attempted to start their own company? I can bet you it’s not 81%. I have a lot of interest in entrepreneurship and try to network with many entrepreneurs, yet in my social circle only 25% of my friends have attempted to start a company one day. The problem is most people put it off until they are 30+ years old, have a significant other, have gotten their MBA, have a mortgage to pay, and need the security of a regular paycheck. This is the traditional & mainstream way of starting a business. Obviously since 81% of Americans never actually try to start their own business more importantly most aren’t even satisfied with their current jobs, it’s obvious that once again the mainstream way isn’t working.

Be different. It’s that simple. I’m not saying just do the opposite of what everyone else does just to be different. I’m saying actually take the time to find out what you care about the most, what you value, what excites you the most and then build a lifestyle that aligns with that. This isn’t a quick process, and has to be done one day at a time. Also it’s a lifelong process, because one’s values and preferences change.

Does traveling sound exciting? Well start planning your next trip. You don’t have to take it next week, but at least set a date in the future and start looking at ticket and hotel prices. Don’t just keep saying I love traveling and I will travel to this and that city one day and keep putting it off like most people. Are you struggling to maintain a healthy lifestyle? Have you tried to work out regularly in the past yet always give it up after a weak or two?

Start making more new friends with healthier lifestyles who workout regularly. The more time you’ll spend with them, the more you’ll start living a similar healthy lifestyle automatically. Start making friends at the Gym so that you are excited about going there frequently and catching up with them. Sign up for some personal training sessions. It’s much harder to skip a workout especially after paying a personal trainer for it.

Question the mainstream. It’s easy and almost natural to go along with flow, and to never stop and ask questions. Here is quick example for you. You know how it’s always been said that it’s much easier and quicker for a child to learn a new language than it is for an adult. Well that is very false. Usually it takes a child several years to learn a new language in school. However an adult can learn a new language in 2-12 months.

For related posts visit PersonalHack.com

Read more in: Guest posts.

As you know by now, Gleb has started guest blogging on this site and thankfully I have been asked to participate.

My name is Mark McManus, I own Build Your Life To Order – a personal development blog with a strong emphasis on health/fitness, wealth, happiness and spiritual matters. Gleb is also posting over at my site today, it’s an article called How To Achieve Your Maximum Productivity.

Okay, so how do we acquire the wealthy mindset. Firstly, understand that riches come to those with the right mindset, it’s not solely about finding the right strategies. For proof, just look at lottery winners who become wildly rich but still have a poverty consciousness. These people go broke in a few short years again. Below are 5 tips that I recommend you internalise and live if you seek financial independence.

Save On Autopilot!

Have money deducted from your wages automatically – An absolute must. You must not even see this money. If you are in a relationship, open a savings account in both your names and decide on an amount that you each will get deducted and transferred to the new account.

Some people recommend 5%-10% but I recommend more. Unless you are on a very low wage I’m sure you can manage more. Personally, myself and my partner Tracy, put away about 25% of our joint income into our savings account and we don’t even miss it. It’s very nice to go online every now and then and see it building up!

Invest These Savings!

Invest your savings! Don’t just look at the money you have saved, do something with it. Consider each pound/euro/dollar you have as an employee of yours, and send them out to work. Whether it’s real estate, stocks, foreign exchange, or something small and local you must have your money earning you more money. If this isn’t your cup of tea, at least put your money into an Individual Savings Account where you’ll get 5% or more interest rate. Note that if you aren’t getting at least 2%– 2.5%, inflation will ensure that your money is actually decreasing in value all the time.

Bad Debt

Don’t pay interest on liabilities! A liability is something that you buy that costs you money. A prime example is a car. People take out loans on cars, which if you’re not rich, is not financially smart. Think about it, your paying interest i.e. you’re paying more than what the car is actually worth, for something that is continually decreasing in value! If you must buy liabilities, whether it be a car or a horse, pay for something you can afford outright or do without.

Good Debt

Do pay interest on assets! An asset is something that earns you money. I own a piece of real estate that is earning me anywhere between £5000 – £12,000 a month since I acquired it. Now, I pay the bank interest on the loan that I took out, but do you think I’m worried about that? Of course not. When your asset is giving you more back than the repayments you have to make, you’re in positive cashflow – a good place to be! This is what’s called ‘Good Debt’.

Be Smart With Uncle Sam!

Be Tax Savvy – Whether your chosen field is real estate, stocks or owning your own business, read up on the tax implications and how you can soften the blow. There are many very legal ways to avoid having to pay tax or greatly reduce it. All rich people become tax savvy, it’s another must. If you’re a beginner, search on Amazon for books, I was amazed at how many great, practical books there are on this matter. Money you acquired is better in your pocket than the government’s, right?

I hope you enjoyed my article and that you will give Build Your Life To Order a visit sometime. Please subscribe to my feed if you would like to see more articles like this too.

Mark McManus

See also:

• Book review: When Money Talks, Listen!
• The biggest misunderstanding about money and success

Read more in: Guest posts.