Determination Creates Power

Consistently doing what you need to do to succeed, with total focus and resolve, is incredibly difficult.

That is why the ability to work hard and respond positively to failure and adversity is so crucial. Resolve, willpower, and determination help successful people work hard and stick to their long-term goals.

For example successful people are: 

• Great at withstanding temptation.
• Able to overcome fear in order to do what they need to do.
• Do not set priorities; they do the things they decide are most important.

It is no coincidence that the above are some of the qualities of remarkably successful people.

Let Your Past Inform Your Future

The past is valuable. Learn from your mistakes, the mistakes of others, then let if go.

Easier said than done? It depends on your perspective. When something bad happens to you, see it as an opportunity to learn something you did not know. When another person makes a mistake, do not just learn from it, see it as an opportunity to be kind, forgiving, and understanding.

The past is just training; it does not define you. Think about what went wrong but ,only in terms of how you will make sure that next time, you and the people around you will know how to make sure it goes right.

See Your Life And Future Totally Within Your Control

There is a quote often credited to Ignatius: "Pray as if God will take care of all; act as if all is up to you." 

The same premise applies to luck. Many people feel luck has a lot to do with success or failure. If they succeed, luck favoured them, and if they fail, luck was against them.

Most successful people do feel good luck played some role in their success. But they do not wait for good luck or worry about bad luck. They act as if success or failure is totally within their control. If they succeed, they caused it. If they fail, they caused it.

By not wasting mental energy worrying about what might happen to you, you can put all your effort into making things happen. You cannot control luck, but you can definitely control you.

Learn To Ignore The Things You Can Have No Control Over

Mental strength is like muscle strength, no one has an unlimited supply. So why waste your power on things you cannot control?

For some people, it is politics, for others, it is family or even global warming. Whatever it is, you care, and you want others to care.

Fine, do what you can. Vote. Lend a listening ear. Recycle, and reduce your carbon footprint. Be your own change, but do not try to make everyone else change. It is hardly unlikely that they will.

Do Not Resent Instead Celebrate The Success Of Others

Many people, I guarantee you know at least a few, see success as a zero-sum game. There is only so much to go around. When someone else shines, they think that diminishes the light from their stars.

Resentment takes a massive amount of mental energy, which can be better applied elsewhere.

When a friend does something awesome, that does not preclude you from doing something awesome. In fact, where success is concerned, birds of a feather tend to flock together, so draw your successful friends even closer.

Do not resent awesomeness. Create and celebrate awesomeness, wherever you find it, and in time you will find even more of it in yourself.

Never Stoop To Complaining, Criticising or Whining

Your words have power, especially over you. Whining about your problems always makes you feel worse, not better.

So if something is wrong, do not waste time complaining. Put that mental energy into making the situation better. Unless you want to whine about it forever, eventually you will have to make it better.

So why waste time? Fix it now. Do not talk about what is wrong. Talk about how you will make things better, even if that conversation is only with yourself.

And do the same with your friends or colleagues. Do not just serve as a shoulder they can cry on. Friends do not let friends whine, friends help friends make their lives better.

Do Not Focus On Others Only Try And Impress Yourself

 No one likes you for your clothes, your car, your possessions, your title, or your accomplishments. Those are all things. People may like your things, but that does not mean they like you.

Superficially they might seem to like you, but what is superficial is also insubstantial, and a relationship not based on substance is not a real relationship.

Genuine relationships make you happier, and you will only form genuine relationships when you stop trying to impress and start trying to just be yourself.

You will have a lot more mental energy to spend on the people who really do matter in your life.

Consistently Revisit Your Long Term Goals

If you want to lose weight; when you are mentally tired, it is easy to rationalise that you will start changing your eating and exercise habits tomorrow. It is exactly the same if, as a manager of a company you want to have a better relationship with your employees; when you are mentally tired, it is  much easier to rationalise that you really need to work on that report instead.

Mental fatigue makes us take the easy way out -- even though the easy way takes us the wrong way.

The key is to create tangible reminders that pull you back from the impulse brink. A friend has a copy of his bank note taped to his laptop as a constant reminder of an obligation he must meet. Another keeps a photo of himself on his refrigerator taken when he weighed 50 Kilos to serve as a constant reminder of the person he never wants to be again. Another fills his desk with family photos, both because he loves looking at them and to remind himself of the people he is ultimately working for.

Think of moments when you are most likely to give in to impulses that take you farther away from your long-term goals. Then use tangible reminders of those long-term goals to interrupt the impulse and keep you on track.

Or better yet, rework your environment so you eliminate your ability to be impulsive. Then you do not have to exercise any willpower at all. If you cannot say no to checking your social media accounts every few minutes, turn them off and put them away for a couple of hours at a time so you do not have to be strong enough to say no.

Count Your Blessings

Before you turn out the light every night, take a moment to quit worrying about what you do not have. Quit worrying about what others have that you do not.

Think about what you do have. You have a lot to be thankful for. 

Feeling better about yourself is the best way of all to recharge your mental batteries.

With thanks to Jeff Haden https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/8-habits-of-people-with-exceptional-determination-and-willpower.html

Attitude Is Everything

One of the most important steps you can take toward achieving your greatest potential in life is to learn to monitor your attitude and its impact on your work performance, relationships and everyone around you.

Most people usually do not have a good handle on their attitude. That is a mistake because attitude is everything. It governs the way you perceive the world and the way the world perceives you.

We all have a choice. We can choose an inner dialogue of self encouragement and self motivation, or we can choose one of self defeat and self pity. It is a power we all have. Each of us encounters hard times, hurt feelings, heartache, and physical and emotional pain. The key is to realise it is not what happens to you that matters; it is how you choose to respond.

Your mind is a computer that can be programmed. You can choose whether the software installed is productive or unproductive. Your inner dialogue is the software that programs your attitude, which determines how you present yourself to the world around you. You have control over the programming. Whatever you put into it is reflected in what comes out.

Many of us have behaviour patterns today that were programmed into our brains at a very tender age. The information that was recorded by our brains could have been completely inaccurate or cruel. The sad reality of life is that we will continue to hear negative information, but we do not have to program it into our brains.

The loudest and most influential voice you hear is your own inner voice, your self critic. It can work for or against you, depending on the messages you allow. It can be optimistic or pessimistic. It can wear you down or cheer you on. You control the sender and the receiver, but only if you consciously take responsibility for and control over your inner conversation.

Habitual bad attitudes are often the product of past experiences and events. Common causes include low self esteem, stress, fear, resentment, anger and an inability to handle change. It takes serious work to examine the roots of a harmful attitude, but the rewards of ridding ourselves of this heavy baggage can last a lifetime.

Here are Strategies to Improve your Attitude

Self Coaching Through Affirmations 

Affirmations repeated several times each day, every day, serve to reprogram your subconscious with positive thinking. An affirmation is made up of words charged with power, conviction and faith. You send a positive response to your subconscious, which accepts whatever you tell it. When done properly, this triggers positive feelings that, in turn, drive action.

Self Motivation Through Discovering Your Motives

Discover what motivates you, what incites you to take action to change your life. Basic motives include love, self-preservation, anger, financial gain and fear. Self motivation requires enthusiasm, a positive outlook, a positive physiology (walk faster, smile, sit up), and a belief in yourself and your God-given potential.

The Power Of Visualisation

Studies of the psychology of peak performance have found that most great athletes, surgeons, engineers and artists use affirmations and visualisations either consciously or subconsciously to enhance and focus their skills. Nelson Mandela has written extensively on how visualisation helped him maintain a positive attitude while being imprisoned. 

Attitude Talk For Positive Internal Dialogue

Attitude talk is a way to override your past negative programming by erasing or replacing it with a conscious, positive internal voice that helps you face new directions. Your internal conversation, that little voice you listen to all day long acts like a seed, in that it programs your brain and affects your behaviour. Take a closer look at what you are saying to yourself.

The Power Of Words

Once released to the universe, our words cannot be taken back. Learn the concept of WOW watch our words. What we speak reflects what is already in our hearts, based upon all the things we have come to believe about ourselves. If we find ourselves speaking judgmental and disparaging things about our circumstances or those around us, we know the condition of our hearts needs to change. You can create a direct path to success by what you say. 

The Power In A Positive Greeting

When people ask me how I am doing, I say, “fantastic.” Most people enjoy working and living with others who try to live life for what it is, a beautiful gift.

Enthusiasm: Vital Tool For Staying Motivated

Enthusiasm is to attitude what breathing is to life. Enthusiasm enables you to apply your gifts more effectively. It is the burning desire that communicates commitment, determination and spirit. Enthusiasm means putting yourself in motion. It is an internal spirit that speaks through your actions, from your commitment and your belief in what you are doing. It is one of the most empowering and attractive characteristics you can have.

Connecting To Your Spiritual Environment

The ultimate level of human need extends into the spiritual realm. Just as we feed our bodies in response to our primary need to survive physically, we need to feed our spirit because we are spiritual beings. Many people find powerful and positive motivation in their faith. 

Lighten Up Your Life With Humour 

Humour is a powerful motivator. The more humour and laughter in your life, the less stress you will have, which means more positive energy to help you put your attitude into action. There are also health benefits to lightening up.

Exercising Will Keep You Motivated

One of the best ways to move to a more positive and motivated frame of mind is to exercise. A regular exercise routine can provide relatively quick positive feedback in the form of weight loss, muscle development and a sense of doing something positive for yourself.

Seek your personal and professional success by using the tools in this attitude tool kit. It is no secret that life seems to reward us most when we approach the world with a positive attitude.

With thanks to Keith Harrell http://www.success.com/article/why-your-attitude-is-everything

Smiling And Laughter Medicine For The Soul

"You do not stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing" - Lifehack

Smiling and laughing can have a positive effect on your well-being, but as you make the transition from child to adult, you often tend to lose the habit of indulging in these behaviours. A good example of this is a children’s playground: You often see the children running around, constantly laughing and smiling as they enjoy living in the moment, while the parents sit around the edge, full of the stresses that modern life can bring, with the occasional grin breaking their otherwise serious facial expressions. Adults can benefit from taking a lead from children and making more room in life for smiling and laughter.

Research has shown that there a number of health benefits contributed to smiling and laughing. In addition to improved health, these simple facial expressions and common human behaviours can have a distinctive positive affect on other factors all areas of your life. When you smile and laugh, a number of physiological changes occur in your body, mostly without you being consciously aware of it happening.

The Benefits of Smiling and Laughing

Neurotransmitters called Endorphins are released when you Smile

These are triggered by the movements of the muscles in your face, which is interpreted by your brain, which in turn releases these chemicals. Endorphins are responsible for making us feel happy, and they also help lower stress levels. Faking a smile or laugh works as well as the real thing, the brain does not differentiate between real or fake as it interprets the positioning of the facial muscles in the same way. This is known as the facial feedback hypothesis. The more we stimulate our brain to release this chemical the more often we feel happier and relaxed.

Endorphins make us feel Happier and less Stressed

They also act as the body’s natural pain killers. For sufferers of chronic pain, laughing and smiling can be very effective in pain management, as can laughing off the pain when you bump an elbow or fall over.

Whilst the release of Endorphins is increased, the stress hormone Cortisol is reduced

Cortisol is more active when we feel stressed or anxious and contributes to the unpleasant feelings we experience, and by lowering it we can reduce these negative feelings.

Laughing expands the Lungs, stretches the Muscles in the body and stimulates homeostasis 

This exercises the body, replenishing the cells with a lungful of oxygen and gaining all the benefits of exercising the body.

A good Laugh can be an Effective way of Releasing Stress

A good laugh can help you release emotions, especially those emotions that you might bottle up inside. Everything looks that little bit better after a good laugh and life can be seen from a more positive perspective. Smiling and laughing have positive social implications as well.

Smiling is an attractive expression, which is more likely to draw people to you rather than push them away

Smiling makes you appear more approachable. Interaction with others is easier and more enjoyable when smiles and laughs are shared, and these behaviours are contagious, making others feel better too, and make you a more appealing and attractive person to be around. This in turn will have a positive effect on your well-being.

A Happy, Positive expression will serve you well in life.

This is particularly true in challenging situations such as job interviews: a smiling, relaxed persona indicates confidence and an ability to cope well in stressful situations. This will also be of benefit in your career, building healthy relationships with colleagues and being seen in a favourable light by your employers.

How to Smile and Laugh more often

There are simple ways to bring more smiling and laughing into your day:

Smile and Laugh regularly. 

As mentioned, your brain does not know the difference between a fake or real smile, and by doing so more often you will feel better, and become more likely to smile and laugh more spontaneously.

Watch Funny films, TV and Theatre shows

This is a excellent way to inject some instant humour into your life. By avoiding negative programs and news broadcasts, you can also balance your viewing, making it more positive and lighthearted, with more opportunity for a chuckle or two.

Spend time with Friends and Family who make you feel Happier

Surrounding yourself with happy, fun-loving, optimistic people will bring out your happy side, and their behaviour will rub off on you as you subconsciously mimic their behavioural patterns.

Find things to Smile and Laugh about

Once you start consciously looking at all the things that are funny and uplifting, you will be more aware of them, in tune with them, and more ready to engage in a spontaneous smile or laugh.

With thanks to Jennifer Smith 

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/7-benefits-smiling-and-laughing.html

Believe In Yourself

Believing in yourself is a critical step on the path to success.

Sometimes the difference in whether you succeed or whether you do not, comes down to one simple thing, believing in yourself. Have you ever thought about how much of a difference believing in yourself makes to your quality of life? Think about it for a minute. If you do not really believe that you can do something, you are not going to give your full effort and, without your full effort, your chances of successfully achieving your goal are greatly reduced. Also, if your goal requires help from others, you then need them to believe in you. If you do not believe in yourself; why would they believe in you. Every successful goal that you ever achieve will have one common thing, that you believe in yourself.

Why believing in yourself is so important

A strong belief in yourself can bring you all these benefits and more:

• You recognise your ability to accomplish goals.
• You are optimistic about the future as you set goals and achieve them.
• Deep down inside, you know you can do anything.
• You treat yourself kindly.
• You feel uplifted and more satisfied with life.
• You are motivated to get things done.
• You have faith, no matter what.
• You see and enjoy the abundance around you.
• Others feel attracted to you.

Would you love to enjoy these qualities of confidence and well-being on a daily basis? The good news is you can! There are actions you can take to fortify your belief in yourself.

Believing in yourself made easy

Whether you feel lacking in this area or just want to strengthen your belief for the extra benefits, try these ideas to further develop your self-belief:. 

Have confidence in your own abilities to get something done

Be your own best cheerleader and encourage yourself to get your tasks done. Learn to break down your challenges into small steps until you know that you can do it.

I learned this tactic when my business was struggling. I knew what I wanted to achieve in the long run but I lacked confidence in my ability to make it happen. So, instead of being overwhelmed by the big picture, I got into the habit of setting 90 day plans to bring myself closer to achieving the big goal. I would then break the 90 day plan down into monthly targets and finally, daily actions. I could then focus on the daily actions which I had enough confidence to pursue.

Believing in yourself can be difficult when you are facing a big and daunting goal but when you break it down into bitesize actions, it becomes so much easier. 

Create dreams

Whether it is getting the career you want, obtaining more training, meeting someone you admire, traveling to a faraway place, setting a goal to save a million dollars, or connect with your dreams.

We often get put off from pursuing our dreams because we do not believe in our ability to make them happen. What we forget is that it takes time to achieve a big goal/dream. In the time it takes to achieve that goal/dream, you also have the time to acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to achieve it. Do not base your beliefs in tomorrow’s success on the abilities you possess today. Believe in your ability to learn and grow. 

Establish goals and go for the gold

Believing in yourself means you are motivated to get things done. Get into the habit of setting goals (both short-term and long-term). Then, you can take active steps to achieve them. With every goal that you achieve, no matter how small, your confidence will increase. Believing in yourself is not some miracle of fate; it comes from creating a track record of achievement. That track record starts with setting goals.

Treat Yourself Well

Treating yourself with a nurturing nature and the understanding that you are a deserving human being is an important aspect of developing belief in yourself.

As you begin to see yourself as worthy of being treated with respect, others begin to get that message too. For those who do not get that message, will come to the realisation that they should have no place in your life.

Treat yourself with respect and care and then demand the same from others.

Ensure motivation is high

Remember the childhood story about the little engine that could? When you want to accomplish your tasks with excellence and achieve your goals, it is an incredible testament to your level of motivation. Build momentum to fuel your motivation.

To ensure your motivation for your biggest goals, take the time to understand why you want to achieve them. You should also regularly take the time to visualise your life as it will be once you have achieved the goal i.e. you will be living the benefits.

The old saying that where there is a will there is a way is very true. When you reinforce your motivation like this, you will create an iron-clad will to achieve your goal and you will find a way to make it happen. Believing in yourself is that powerful. 

During the tough times, keep the faith

No one is immune to experiencing rocky chapters in their life. But if you believe in yourself, you can meet these challenging phases with a positive, solid fortitude. You will push forward, move through the trying moments and know you will come out on the other side smarter, stronger and surer of yourself.

During the tough times, remind yourself of how you have gotten through tough times before. Think about how you had the resilience and toughness to get through it. Summon that resilience and you will soon start to fight back.

Then, as with the first step in this article, focus on what you can do on a daily basis to come out on the other side of the difficulties. You will gain even more confidence as you take each step, but you must start with some self-belief. 

Recognise the bounty you have

Regardless of what stage of life you are living, search for the good all around you. Get the most you can from each moment. Live in the moment and be determined to focus on, and, be grateful for, all of the good things that are in your life.

When you are feeling down it is very tempting to think that your life is 100% bad, but that is rarely the case. Learn to compartmentalise i.e. if one area of your life is not working, do not automatically assume that every area of your life is bad; keep your sense of disappointment solely for the area where you are underperforming.

Then focus on each area of your life and spend a little time being appreciative for all the good things e.g. if you are struggling at work you may remind yourself of your successes such as:

• Your loving partner and kids
• Your great friends
• Your performance at the gym
• Your ability to look after your health

You could literally be grateful for anything positive in your life. The important thing is that you take the time to recognise the positives and appreciate them.

Also, do not wait for something to go wrong before you find something in your life to be grateful for. Take a little time each day to practice gratitude and whenever you achieve any success in your life, no matter how small, celebrate it.

Believing in yourself is one of the most powerful choices you can make and, it is a choice. In the face of adversity, any of the seven steps, outlined above, can prove to be difficult, but they are choices which you can make. If you dedicate yourself to fostering self belief and set aside a little time each day for working on it; you will soon find that you have greater resilience when the tough times come. You will stand strong, safe in the knowledge that no matter what life throws at you, you will be able to work through it. Practice these strategies and you will discover the sheer joy and comfort of knowing you can do whatever it is you choose when you believe in yourself. 

With thanks to Carthage Buckley

http://www.coachingpositiveperformance.com/believing-in-yourself-critical-step-path-success/