The Butterfly
A man found a cocoon for a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole.
Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and could go no farther. Then the man decided to help the butterfly. Read more
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How Google Brought My Business To Its Knees
If ever there’s a lesson to be learned in website optimization, this is it. Because Google, quite literally, brought my business to its knees.
I remember reading years ago (from Ryan Deiss or Perry Belcher) about the importance of correctly naming your images and image titles to optimise your search engine rankings. But, sadly, I didn’t really recollect this until a week or so ago.
Sadly? Yes. Because I inadvertently named and titled an image totally irrelevant to the message I was imparting in my post, which resulted in a flood of (unwanted) traffic that brought my entire web businesses to its knees because the server couldn’t cope.
At the end of April, I wrote a post about my fear of spiders (Wolf spiders, to be exact); but my message was about overcoming the fear itself and how anyone can do that if they have the right mindset. I had an incident with one of the big hairy beasts and, I thought, to convey to my readers just how scary they were I would include a big juicy picture of a Wolf Spider. I happily wrote my little post, plonked the picture in, aptly named ‘Wolf Spider’.
Let’s fast forward to almost 2 weeks ago (as I’m writing this, we’re almost at the end of August). I started noticing a spike in traffic to my blog, but as I was preoccupied in overhauling one of my main business sites I didn’t give it a second thought.
A few days go by and I receive an email from a prospective client, stating they signed up for my free eBook on one of my sites but it kept on coming up with an error message. Uh oh… I tried it, and yep, he was right. At the time, I was working on another site and it just so happened (almost simultaneously) that I couldn’t access it – totally caput!
I have a dedicated server that hosts about 15 of my sites – including my primary company website – so my heart skipped a beat and my fears were confirmed when I couldn’t access most of my sites!! My worst nightmare as my entire businesses are solely internet based.
Being after hours, I urgently dialled emergency support and the very helpful technician brought everything back on line very promptly… but he was unsure what had caused it. I was just thankful that everything was back on line!
It just so happens that the next day, I decided to do some analysis of my Google stats and was amazed at the spike of traffic I was receiving to my blog – not one of my primary sites! A 529% increase (and growing) each day! I started to receive warning messages from my server that my blog was going over limit in respect to traffic that I had allocated. Then within a day or two, the majority of my data-base driven websites were down again – for several hours – and continued to crash a few more times over the week. This was a nightmare for my business. No orders, complaints from clients because they couldn’t log in to download their purchased goods, emails because the project manager system was inaccessible… and it went on. This resulted in lost income and unhappy clients.
My blog’s traffic increased so exponentially that it was sucking a heck of a lot of extra Gigs a day! Now, my blog isn’t THAT intensive, so I knew something was going on. I thought, “Happy days; I’ve arrived! I’m a super mega star!!!” LOL (only joking!) 
But I knew something was up so I needed to delve back through my analytics.
So what did it?
Yes, you guessed it. That little teeny weeny Wolf Spider! And if you want to take a look at it, go here: http://www.tara-west.com/2010/a-big-spider-nearly-killed-me/
Here’s what I did wrong and how you can learn from my mistake:
- When naming your images include the keywords that relate to your post.
I named my beautiful spider image ‘wolf spider’, and it just so happens there’s a heck of a lot of folks in the world who are very interested in this hairy little fella. By naming my image ‘wolf spider’ (as well as the title of the picture), whenever anyone searched wolf spider in Google (worldwide), my little fella was right at the top in all his glory!
This is particularly important for WordPress-based websites that get higher ranking in the search engines compared to other websites.
Whilst I got a humungous load of extra traffic to my site, on the whole it wasn’t the right traffic I wanted to attract, as the folks who were searching for that type of thing were not necessarily looking to overcome fear (which is what my post was about). They were just interested in what it looked like and other information on the hairy spider.
To try and fix the problem, I had to rename the picture and title to something obscure (from memory 111), with the hope it would filter through Google as an error VERY SOON. As I am writing this post, it has now been taken off the first page; however, I am still experiencing a massive spike in (unwanted) traffic and I am trying to sort that out. How ironic that I wrote the post at the end of April, but it took almost 4 months to make it to above No. 1 spot (in images) on Google and only a few days to be bumped off first page! LOL Ah, the wonders and delights of search engines and optimisation.
- Check and double check your keyword accuracy.
The image name and image title alone didn’t just get me to that position on Google. It was also my post itself and the meta data I had included in All in One SEO Pack (oops!). Optimize, optimize, optimize. For the SEO plugin, grab it here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/
- Don’t name inconsequential graphics.
If you include a graphic that is of no consequence – such as a bullet, or similar – then name the graphic as something obscure. Ryan Deiss (or Perry Belcher?) recommends naming those types of graphics as 1.jpg, 2.gif and so on.
- Protect your site.
If you own a WordPress blog hosted under your own domain, as per this site, then install a plugin to protect your images and content.
This will ensure a) people don’t steal your bandwidth and other images that may either be original or images you have paid for; and b) steal your content – i.e. copy and paste and pass it as their own!
A plugin I highly recommend is Blog Protector: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/blog-protector/ If you want to check it out, just right click anywhere on this blog and you will see what I mean.
As always, when you install a plugin, double check all aspects of your site to check its compatibility. There’s nothing worse than installing a new plugin and a few days later, realising that parts of your blog aren’t working as they’re supposed to! To be safe, do a backup first.
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I’m happy to say that my sites have now been fully operational, with no hassles, for the last few days. I am still amazed that one tiny mistake caused such havoc with my businesses. Still, GREAT lessons to be learned and I hope you’ve gotten something out of it too… and, oh yes, at least I can now sleep easy 
Ah, the wonders and delights of operating in the online world
Happy blogging!
PS: Want to share your horror story about websites? Just add your comment below.
Popularity: unranked [?]
3 Steps to Defining Your Life Purpose
One way to truly know yourself and experience fulfilment is to get in touch with your Life Purpose. With the frenetic pace of life, business and career pressures, it can be easy to be distracted and start living a life that isn’t aligned with your purpose in life. Have you ever felt miserable and as if your life is going nowhere, or not in the direction you thought it would?
Your Life Purpose works hand-in-hand with your values and, the two combined, give you the unwavering belief in what you stand for and ensures you live your life by design, not someone else’s making – you are happier and fulfilled when doing what’s most important to you AND expressing it in every part of your life.
Richard Lieder, who wrote ‘The Power of Purpose’ said it best:
“Purpose is the conscious choice of what, where, and how to make a positive contribution to our world. It is the theme, quality or passion we choose to center our lives around.”
Here are 3 steps to defining your Life Purpose:
1) No-one can define your life purpose for you. Your life purpose is something within you which firstly begins in deciding that YOU matter – YOU are unique and different from everyone else and YOU are special. For 15 minutes each morning, take some time out to sit in a room free of distractions. Look upon this time as an opportunity to sit quietly and concentrate on just being in the moment. Observe your breath and let your mind empty itself of trying to sort out the day’s problems. Instead, focus on you and experience a comfort within yourself. This may not come naturally at first and you may find your mind filling with your ‘to do list’. When you do, stop, concentrate on an object in the room or the nice scenery outside and clear your mind.
2) To find out what matters to you and define your life purpose, it requires delving into your life from various angles to discover any matching themes. Block out an hour in your diary, then find a nice quiet spot to answer these questions. In doing so, listen to your inner intuition – the little voice inside you. What does it immediately say to you? Write it down and forget about making the words or sentences perfect. Just jot down what comes to your mind.
- What do you love doing in your spare time or when working?
- What activities are you currently doing that you enjoy?
- What do you naturally do well?
- What are your 10 greatest successes throughout your life so far? (Note: this isn’t what someone else thinks, this is what YOU think)
- What causes do you feel passionate about?
- What are the 10 most important lessons you have learned in life?
- What things do people normally ask your help for?
- If money was not an issue, what daydream would you be fulfilling right now?
- Imagine you are writing your own eulogy. What things do you want to be remembered for at the end of your life?
- Picture yourself at 80 or 90 years old. You are happy, content with life, and feeling very blessed at everything life has gifted to you. Your mind wanders to your family, your friends and other relationships and you give a happy sigh… your heart skips a beat remembering everything you have achieved in your life. Reflecting on everything your life has been made up of over the last 80/90 years, what matters to you most?
- How would your life be different today if you knew it was impossible to fail?
3) Once you have answered your questions it is time to look for the common themes that have emerged. What patterns do you see? What seems to matter the most to you? If you are unsure of what the patterns are or what they mean, then consider asking a family member, friend or coach to help you in defining the themes.
Once you have defined your life purpose, don’t let it sit in your head. Next step is to write your Mission Statement. By writing down your own personal mission statement that is your life purpose, you are giving yourself permission to live by your life purpose and providing a tangible reminder each day of who you are and how you are living your life by your own design.
A Mission Statement is made of three parts.
1) Your talents and values – this is the essence of who you are
2) What you wish to accomplish and what contributions you believe you bring to the world – yourself and others
3) Quantifying your life purpose – the measurable results you wish to achieve by living out your life purpose – i.e. how will you know when you are truly living your life purpose?
When writing your life purpose use positive words and eliminate such things as “I should”. There are no ‘shoulds’ in a life purpose… your purpose is made of ‘I will”. Express yourself in the present tense, even if you may not necessarily be living all aspects of your life purpose in the present tense, at this point in time.
For brainstorming purposes, this is a great site to view what other folks have come up with for their personal mission statement:
http://www.missionstatements.com/personal_mission_statements.html
Once you have written your Mission Statement that clearly expresses your Life Purpose, don’t hide it in a draw. Display it proudly on your wall where you can see it everyday. If you wanted to take it one step further – and why not? – then consider getting your Mission Statement designed and printed, then framed. The design could encapsulate in a visual way how you live your life purpose.
I just love what George Bernard Shaw has to say about a purpose:
“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognised by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”
Are you waiting for the world to make you happy, or are you going to design your own purpose and mission in life to make yourself happy?
Working with a coach can assist you in uncovering your true potential and accelerate your success. Get a free introductory session to learn more.
Popularity: 9% [?]
STOP Sabotaging Yourself!
Every day you allow your subconscious mind to take over every action and decision that you make. This impacts on the steps you take to move forward in your life, the dreams and goals you set for yourself, and the overall wellbeing of your present state.
By listening to the little saboteur – whose job, incidentally, is to stop you from moving forward – or listening to ingrained messages that are either negative or do not stimulate you to look for answers and solutions, you have allowed yourself to remain in a comfort zone… that muscle in your brain is getting no exercise.
Which is a real shame, as you CAN go farther than you’ve ever imagined. Because you DO have all the answers within you, you DO have all the solutions, and you CAN step out confidently with passion and purpose to gain anything you desire in life. Provided you give yourself permission to do so first, have belief that you can attain your goals, and train your mind to seek out the answers you need.
You are more intelligent than you give yourself credit for. Your mind loves to come up with solutions to your problems or needs, if you give it the permission to do so. By changing your thought patterns and the questions you ask of yourself, you give your mind an opportunity to play a game, to challenge itself, to kick into gear and provide you with insights and inspiration that can take you to the next level.
Here are 3 power questions to some common challenges or obstacles that will help you move forward in life:
1) “How Can I Afford It?” replaces “I can’t afford it”. By saying “I can’t afford it” you are insulting your own intelligence and training your mind to shut off any possibilities. “I can’t afford it” is a closed statement and you are, in effect, telling your brain to be quiet and shut up.
- Statement of Proof: Try this exercise. Hold in your mind a powerful image of something you would love to own or do that involves spending a lot of money you don’t currently have. Perhaps you would like to take an exotic holiday, drive a Porsche, start a business, buy a house. Whatever it is that is close to your heart, close your eyes and then see it in your mind. Whilst looking at that picture in your mind, say to yourself out loud “I can’t afford it”. What happens? How did you feel? Take note of your feelings and how your brain actually felt. Close your eyes and again see the image clearly in your mind. Say out loud “How can I afford it?”. What happens this time? How did you feel? What happened to your mind? Did you feel it jump up and down with excitement that it was allowed to race into gear to find out how you COULD afford it?
2) “If I could do it over again, what would I do differently?” replaces the statement: “I’m always doing things the wrong way”. I challenge you to remove the words “always” and “never” when talking about yourself – in particular, when you’re beating yourself up! Do you really believe that you never learn anything? Of course not! So how can you always be doing things the wrong way? Next time you hear yourself saying something like “I’m always doing things the wrong way” or “I never do anything right” or similar, stop and ask yourself “If I could do it over again, what would I do differently?” Let your mind objectively look at what you did and come up with solutions that will better equip you for next time.
3) “What’s the worst that could happen?” replaces “I’m frightened / scared I won’t be able to do it”. Sometimes our little saboteur likes to chime in and stop you from moving forward.
- Statement of Proof: Try this exercise. Hold in your mind a big dream or goal you have always wanted to accomplish but have been too scared to start. It may be a new job, trying something new in your business, commencing study, or relocating to the other side of the country. Whatever it is that you would love to do but have always held back, close your eyes and see that dream or goal in your mind. Let’s face it, if you haven’t taken steps toward that dream or goal, your little saboteur has been saying something like “I’m frightened I can’t do it” or “I’m not good enough to do that” or “I will fail”. Say out loud “I’m frightened I can’t do it” or something similar that has meaning to you. What happens? How did you feel? It’s not a nice feeling is it. Close your eyes and again see the dream or goal clearly in your mind. Say out loud “What’s the worst that could happen?”. What happens this time? How did you feel? Did your mind exult at being let out to play? Did you imagine a few scenarios? Were those scenarios small, big or huge issues? Are they really as big or huge as you think they are? If so, what steps can you take to make them smaller?
Can you start to see the shift when you ask your mind some powerful questions? Observe your speech and thoughts over the next few days and start replacing de-motivating words and statements with power questions.
If you catch yourself saying the same or similar things, write down a power question and stick it in a prominent place where you can see it everyday as a reminder – this could be on your bathroom mirror, your fridge, or in your wallet. When you hear yourself saying something negative, read the power question and see how it unlocks your mind for real, tangible transformation.
“First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.” ~ Napoleon Hill
What power questions do you like to use? What kicks your brain into gear? Please share in the comment box below as YOUR power question may help someone else
If you want better, greater and faster results then consider partnering with a Coach. Get a Free Introduction.
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Popularity: 9% [?]
7 Ways to Accept Yourself for Who You Are
Accepting yourself and your situation in life can be a difficult task. Do you tend to be more accepting of others’ mistakes than your own? If so, you’re being too hard on yourself!
Those people aren’t better than you! You were created with a unique set of talents that no one else has. Plus, everyone makes mistakes. We’re only human!
Becoming more accepting of yourself and loving yourself for the fine person that you really are can lead you to greater happiness and a more fulfilling life.
Here are some excellent techniques you can use to help you better accept yourself:
1. Focus on your positive qualities. Even though self-improvement is a good thing, it’s important that you identify and focus on your positive qualities, rather than concentrating on the qualities you feel negatively about.
- Maintaining this positive focus will not only help you better accept yourself, but it’ll also make it easier for you to attain your goals by utilizing your talents to boost yourself forward.
2. Consciously prevent negative thinking patterns. Negative thinking can really snowball fast if you don’t get ahead of it. It’s okay to be in a bad mood every once in awhile and have some negative thoughts; it happens to everyone. The trick is in learning how to push those negative thoughts aside and replace them with something positive.
- Replace your negative thoughts about yourself with affirmations. Affirmations are positive statements that affirm your positive qualities and help bring out the best in you. You can find affirmations in bookstores and on websites, or you can write your own. You can also download some positive affirmations and self-reflections on my site:
- I Am The Body In Motion That Stays in Motion
- Giving To Others Makes Me Rich
- If you believe in yourself, you can do it. It’s really that simple.
3. Accept your imperfections. Another part of being human is having some imperfections. Instead of dwelling on the things you can’t change, accept them for what they are. Making the best of your life starts with accepting your imperfections.
4. Use positive self-talk. Positive self-talk can help you achieve great things and change the way you think about yourself. Make it a point to give sincere compliments to yourself.
- Compliment yourself for the good things about your looks, your positive qualities, and every time you do something right. Do this each and every day until it becomes a habit.
- Recommended reading: “What To Say When You Talk To Yourself” by Shad Helmstetter:
5. Disregard what other people might think about your decisions. You’ll never make everyone else happy. If you try, you’ll soon discover that, not only will other people still be unhappy, but you’ll also be exhausted and unhappy yourself.
- Make your own decisions according to your priorities and be confident that you’ve done what is right for you.
6. Avoid worrying. Worrying will never help your situation. Rather than wasting your time by being engulfed in fear, take action to do what you can to make the situation better. If there’s nothing you can do to change it, focus on moving forward in other ways.
7. Try your best and accept that you’ve done what you could. Do your best every day and be proud of yourself for your efforts. Let go of any negative thoughts, such as being angry with yourself for not being able to accomplish an impossible feat.
- Even when you haven’t done your best, find a way to forgive yourself. Move on and commit to trying harder next time.
In changing the way you think about yourself, you’ll also change the way you see the world. Every day opens up new opportunities for you, and by utilizing positive thinking, you can make a real difference!
Popularity: 9% [?]
How To Stimulate Creative Expression
What if you could reach into the depths of your mind and extract ideas and thoughts… then, with the creative juices flowing, delight in the way your fingers race across the keyboard as the words tumble out?
Well, it is possible.
Banish the thought of writers block or any other type of block when you need to get your ideas out there and heard… or indeed, when you have an idea on the cusp of your mind that needs developing, or you wish to tune into your inner soul.
So what is the secret?
A synchronised brain and a super-learning state, which anyone can attain within a few seconds.
Normally, we go about our lives in a Beta brain wave state. This is when you are alert and cognitive. Then, dependable on what we are doing at the time, we move into other brain wave states, such as: Alpha, achieved when you are relaxed, in light meditation and starting to access your unconscious mind… the Alpha state is where super-learning begins because the brain is synchronised, can communicate better and has increased focus. Then you move on to Theta and Delta brain wave states.
Okay, Alpha… that sounds like a male thing, right? For all you fellas reading this, just because you’re Alpha doesn’t mean you’re in a super-learning state all the time Sorry to disappoint
How can you get into an Alpha super-learning state?
The secret to getting into an Alpha super-learning state is to listen to Baroque or instrumental music; which is usually at 60 beats a minute and arranged by the composer in a special key cycle. When you tap into this music you are harnessing all synergies in your brain that allows you to focus, increase your memory, have cohesive thought, and creative expression.
According to The Center for New Discoveries in Learning, learning potential can be increased a minimum of five times by using this 60 beats per minute music. A renowned Bulgarian psychologist, Dr. George Lozanov, designed a way to teach foreign languages in a fraction of the normal learning time. Using his system, students could learn up to one half of the vocabulary and phrases for the whole school term (which amounts to almost 1,000 words or phrases) in one day. Along with this, the average retention rate of his students was 92%. Dr. Lozanov’s system involved using certain classical music pieces from the baroque period which have around a 60 beats per minute pattern. He has proven that foreign languages can be learned with 85-100% efficiency in only thirty days by using these baroque pieces. His students had a recall accuracy rate of almost 100% even after not reviewing the material for four years. Ref: http://www.cerebromente.org.br
If you have children, you may also be interested to read about this study published in the European Journal of Scientific Research on the positive effect of classical music: http://www.eurojournals.com/ejsr_36_2_08.pdf
Even if you don’t like classical music, give this a go if you want to tap into the power of your mind. If you are feeling stuck for creative thought and expression, need to research your topic, and get the thoughts tumbling out onto the page, you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain
What music should you listen to for a super-learning state? Here are my suggestions:
My personal favourite is Vivaldi’s Four Seasons… with its melodic tunes, peaks and troughs it will focus your mind, allow you to concentrate, and spark your imagination. Before you know it, your fingers will ignite and be eagerly pecking at the keyboard!
Other well-known Baroque compositions include: Mozart’s Divertimento for Strings, Handel’s Water Music and Bach’s Brandenberg Concertos.
If you need to brainstorm an idea first, try Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #5, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, Chopin’s Etudes, or Mozart’s Piano Concerto’s #26 and #27. As a former classical pianist for many years, I can highly recommend Beethoven and Mozart’s Piano Concertos!
Go forth and create!
Popularity: 22% [?]
14 Simple Ways to Add Happiness to Your Day
I love simple things… it’s the simple things in life which can totally transform your day and turn it into one of sunshine (even if it is raining!).
Here are some easy ways to add happiness to your day:
1. Watch a movie. Grab a big bucket of popcorn and immerse yourself in your favorite movie.
2. Watch your kids or loved ones. Simply observe them and think about how much you appreciate the fact that they’re in your life.
3. Call your best friend. A phone call with a close friend is a great way to pass some time in a way that is comfortable and familiar to you. You can think about old times or enjoy planning something fun for the future.
4. Go out for ice cream. Okay, I agree, this one is a little naughty… but what the heck, you have to indulge once in a while, right?! And if you don’t like ice cream, grab your favorite treat instead.
5. Enjoy nature. Take a walk in the park and admire the different patterns and shapes on the trunks of the trees, or the flowers, or whatever catches your eye. Or what about just observing the beauty of the stars at night.
6. Take a hot bath. What a great stress buster! Light some scented candles to include the benefits of aromatherapy to the relaxing warmth of the bath.
7. Play a sport. Gather your friends and have a friendly competition. Sports are a fun way to get some exercise and relieve stress.
8. Zzzzzz. An afternoon nap may be just what you’re looking for. Even 15 minutes of shut-eye can help you feel more energized and happy.
9. Snuggle with your partner. Take the time to appreciate your partner and snuggle up for some couple-time. It’s a great way to reconnect, especially if you’ve been really busy.
10. Be lazy. Take some time to simply be lazy, with no responsibilities, and give yourself some me-time. Hmmm… how indulgent!
11. Listen to your favorite song. Crank up the tunes! And while you’re at it, why not put on your dancing shoes?!
12. Make casual conversation. Strike up some lively conversations with strangers. If you’re friendly and happy towards them, they’ll likely be the same to you.
13. Be thankful. Reflect on all the things that you’re grateful for in your life and write them down. You might be surprised at how long your list is! Sometimes changing your focus to what’s going right in your life is all you need to turn that frown upside down.
14. Enjoy time with your pets. Pets are part of the family too. Snuggle up with your pet for some quality time together.
And don’t forget; be entirely present in the moment to feel the joy travel through your whole being.
So what simple things did I leave off this list that YOU like to do to bring happiness into your day? Share it with me below!
Popularity: 100% [?]
Top 5 Success Traits of the Super Successful
Top Five Success Traits of the Super Successful and How You Can Develop These Traits Too.
Even though wildly successful people all share certain traits, they’re not super-human traits. You can identify and develop these traits if you truly want to succeed. Yes, with hard work and determination, you can become one of the super successful!
In your journey to achieve your goals, you’ll invariably have to deal with challenges, and even setbacks, from time to time. Every successful person faces some hardship along the way. However, it’s important to remember that those with the drive to succeed will stop at nothing until they achieve their success.
Here are the top five super success traits, along with tips to help you acquire them:
1. Strong beliefs in yourself and what you’re doing. Put your whole heart into your endeavors and truly believe that you can succeed in what you set out to accomplish. If you run into a snag in the road, find something positive you can learn from the situation and use that to keep moving forward. If necessary, develop a new plan to overcome the challenge.
- Think positively about yourself in all aspects of your life. In order to avoid being too critical, keep in mind that no one is perfect and accept that you’ll make mistakes just like any other human. As valuable learning experiences, mistakes can actually benefit you.
2. Being organized and having clear plans. Successful people are organized. They know what they want and how they’re going to get there. They develop clear goals with specific action steps to achieve them. Plus, they know where they are on that road to success at all times.
- You can develop this skill by starting with your general organizational skills. Start small by organizing your desk space. Then organize your notes. Move onto planning out your success by setting clear goals.
- What do you want? How are you going to get there? Make a detailed plan of achievable action steps that will take you all the way through accomplishing your goal. Then follow your plan. It’s your map to success.
3. Perseverance. Sometimes the difference between success and failure is pure perseverance. There will be times when you’re faced with difficult challenges. You may even feel like giving up. However, it’s important to find the strength within you to pull yourself through, even in these tough times.
- In order to develop perseverance, reflect on how you normally handle conflicts in life. Do you give up easily when faced with a challenge? Think of those times you gave up. What could you have done differently to encourage yourself to keep going?
- After reflecting on your normal mode of operation, start changing your mindset about challenges. Instead of bemoaning the challenge, seek a way to overcome it so you can complete your task. Do this each day, with even small challenges, and soon you’ll find yourself persevering through larger challenges with ease.
4. The drive to keep learning and achieving. Super successful people realize that they’re always students. They may be a master of a certain subject, but there’s always something new they can develop or learn. Once they achieve one goal, then they use their current knowledge to help them learn something else that brings them even more success.
- It’s okay to take a break to enjoy your success once you’ve achieved a goal, but always ask yourself what’s next. There’s always a way that you can expand your success.
5. No fear of failure. The super successful don’t waste their time worrying about failure. They know that everyone must take certain risks if they’re going to achieve success and that some ideas might not work out. You only fail if you give up or decide not to try at all. If you’re still trying, then you haven’t failed!
- Just as with the other traits, overcoming a fear of failure can be accomplished by starting small. Start out by taking some minor risks. See how most of them work out fine when you expect the best and seek solutions to the challenges? The more ideas you try, the more successes you’ll have, and you’ll feel confident about forging ahead without fear.
To attain the life of the super successful, the most important thing to remember is to always give your all. Adopt these success traits as your own, and soon you’ll find that nothing can stop you from achieving your goals!
Popularity: 24% [?]
A BIG Spider Nearly Killed Me!
I’m going to share with you one of my biggest fears… large spiders!
In fact, they’re the only thing to send me in such a panic that it has me racing the other way, unable to talk, heart palpitating, and in so much fear that I burst into tears. I’ve always been that way… since I can remember.
In my part of the world we have these huge, fearful looking spiders – the Huntsman and the Wolf (apt names, I reckon!). The Huntsman likes to crawl up walls and peer down at you from the ceiling (not a nice sight to wake up to!), whilst the Wolf will stalk you on the ground. To put it into perspective, when their legs are extended some Huntsman’s can be the entire size of my hand, and the Wolf as big as the palm of my hand. Not what you would call tiny!
Well, last week a Wolf Spider decided to see what was available in my house. When I saw it stealthily making its way across my dining room floor, what did I do? Yep, you guessed it. Ran. Picked up the phone to tell my dad there was an emergency and he better get round pronto to get rid of it! Thing is, I couldn’t talk! Didn’t matter anyway; no answer! DRATS! I would have to get rid of it myself!
So fly spray hugged to my chest, and my dog worriedly watching from the shadows, I bravely approached Wolf and, standing as far away as I could, promptly proceeded to empty half the can onto its body. It ran around going mad and I felt so sorry for it, I thought to myself “I’ll have to put it out of its misery and give it a quick death.” Out came the broom and, BAM, it was flattened. And I know, that sounds very terrible. In fact, I started feeling like a murderer. I’m not used to doing this dirty work myself.
For the rest of the night I had visions of it being Mummy Wolf and Baby Wolf Spiders fending for themselves out in the backyard. Then I envisioned that flattened spider as a REAL living species… it had a heart and, no doubt, it had feelings too. I felt awful, to say the least.
Let’s fast forward.
As I wandered into my kitchen last night I was greeted by another Wolf Spider… no doubt Daddy Wolf! It was standing right in my doorway, ready to pounce! I scuttled backward to grab the fly spray, heart pounding, when this voice inside my head said “Murderer!” I stopped in my tracks and wondered what the heck I was going to do! I just couldn’t kill it like the last fiasco!
I knew then I would have to conquer my fear and get it out of the house; alive! Either that, or live with this horrible feeling of murder on my conscience (I even hate squashing or killing bugs!).
And you know what happened? As soon as I thought that, I looked down at Daddy Wolf and thought to myself, “Well, I can run quicker than you can! I’ll just get a little closer and take a look at you.” So there I was, inching closer on my heels and I was starting to break out in a sweat. I actually felt physically ill. But I kept on going… inching closer and closer.
I was thinking for awhile I was a pretty good “spider whisperer” as he wasn’t doing a thing! All calm and just sitting there watching me… patiently.
I got a little closer. Then suddenly, he hunched up on all hairy legs ready to pounce! You can well imagine that I had a heart attack. Where were my ‘whispering’ skills? I grabbed the big
broom and dustpan I had next to me, and making a little dance (I didn’t want it running up my leg!) I flicked it into the dustpan. Whilst it lay there stunned marvelling at my Ninja moves, I slid the dustpan out the door with the long end of the broom handle! PHEW! Done!
And you know what? It felt SOOOOOO good! When I was close to Daddy Wolf, I could see so much to admire and it wasn’t really as scary as I imagined. And to top it all off, I didn’t have to kill it to get it out of my house.
I can tell you, I’m still not a big fan of large hairy spiders and will be taking measures so they don’t get in the house… however, if they do get in, I know that I can deal with it and
they aren’t going to gobble me up and I die a grisly death The thought is freeing and liberating.
Afterward, these questions popped into my mind that can apply to anything in life:
- What are you missing out on because you don’t have the courage to face the fear head on?
- What would happen if you DID have to face the fear head on? Go on… flip the fear and imagine THAT in your head. Would it be as bad as you think it is?
- Are your fears real or imagined?
Sometimes, we live out these fears in our head and we’ve never been in the ‘place’ where that fear is imagined.
For instance, with the large hairy spiders, I’ve never had to worry about ‘getting rid of it’ myself… I’d always imagined that it would jump on me and bite me and so on and so on, thus I
ran the other way, with no thought whatsoever to what the spider could REALLY do. Or even to the fact that it is a living species that I give a life sentence to, instead of thinking of
‘rehabilitation’ outside the house
When faced with my fear head on, I realised it wasn’t really as frightening as I imagined. Still frightening, yes. But not on the scale I imagined. Yes, the BIG spider DID nearly kill me… but only in my head. That spider was more scared of me than I was of him! I reckon I would get ready to pounce and attack too if a big giant suddenly appeared in front of me, looking all menacing!
This is what our fears are in our head. Big giants, standing over us; that in all reality are like fairytales that will disappear as soon as reason and ‘proof’ steps in.
So, I have a question for you…
… What one fear are you going to eliminate over the next 2 days? Are you going to take the challenge and stand up to it and fight the big giant?
Why not leave a comment right now to ‘put it out there’ on what fear you’re going to conquer. Then in a couple of days, drop on by and share with us all your experience in fighting the giant! I’d love to share in your excitement that YOU conquered the fear
PS: No, Daddy Wolf hasn’t come back into the house – YET… I reckon he’s learned his lesson
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Reprogramming Your Brain To Conquer Any Goal
Do you feel like you are always talking yourself out of success? As soon as you start to set goals for yourself, do you suddenly have nagging thoughts about how you aren’t up to the task or how you simply aren’t qualified to carry it through?
If you have ever experienced either situation, you need to change the way you respond to your inner dialogue. Instead of obeying your negative commands, you can use positive self-talk to counter the negativity and overcome nearly all anxious thoughts.
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Setting Goals and Sticking to Them with Positive Self-Talk
Are you initially filled with excitement when you first set goals for yourself? Are these thoughts then followed by self-doubt and self-defeating thoughts that stop you in your tracks before you even get started?
It can be difficult to make the most of your life when you are constantly talking yourself out of being a success. It can be frustrating and discouraging to have these thoughts constantly plaguing you. Many of us, in fact, don’t even realize we have them! All we know is that we don’t have the confidence to stick to our plans and reach our goals.
But there’s another way!
Positive self-talk is an effective way to set goals and ensure that you stick to them, even if you have never been able to do this before. The way this works is that you decide what goal is important to you, and then you plan the logistics of how you are going to attain this goal. When self-doubt starts kicking in, you will respond with affirmations that prove your success without surrendering to the negative pressure. Since you’re reading this article, it’s clear that you’re no quitter and you’re certainly not a failure, so start believing in yourself!
Re-Programming Your Brain
Affirmations are essentially positive statements that re-program your mind for the positive. The moment you have a self-defeating thought you’d be able to counter the negative with a motivating statement. An example of a positive affirmation is: “I am worthy of great success,” or “I am in the winner’s circle.” What this does is replace negativity with thoughts that will help you move toward your goals instead of further away from them.
Positive self-talk is easier to implement than you might think. You may not be aware of the severity of the negative dialogue currently within your mind. However, once you begin with positive self-talk, you will suddenly realize that you are self-sabotaging the goals you set for yourself from the minute that you make them. This process can open your eyes to exactly how much this inner conversation has been interfering with your life. You’ll feel hopeful that you can now set goals and surpass them.
Through positive self-talk you will be able easily set long and short-term goals for yourself. And when you use affirmations, you’ll have accessible tools to help you push yourself further than ever before. Learning to quiet negativity with positive thoughts is a great move toward setting and attaining future goals with ease.
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