Personal Development for the 21st Century

Choose Books for Financial Success

noreply@blogger.com (Antonia Harrison) — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 10:39:00 +0000

"Poor people have big TV’s. Rich people have big libraries." - Jim Rohn

See more at: http://www.verybestquotes.com/67-jim-rohn-quotes/#sthash.nC7EX0xO.dpuf

I'm Too Old To Start a Business at 50

noreply@blogger.com (Antonia Harrison) — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 10:22:00 +0000

People often tell me they are TOO OLD to start in business or even succeed in any venture. You are only too old if you believe that. If you believe that age is just a number and not defining reason then anything is possible.

Click here for some examples of people who found extraordinary success with new business "late in life": http://digitalsynopsis.com/inspiration/never-too-late-start-venture/

Ray Croc, the founder of McDonalds, sold paper cups and milkshake mixers until 52. Ariana Huffington started Huffington Post at 54. John Pemberton invented Coca Cola at 55.

Of course, no one is saying that these people started these companies and were successful with their first attempts. Some household names went through several businesses until they found the idea that took off. Some ideas are worth waiting for in the life of an entrepreneur.

Join Harold Fry on His Unlikely Pilgrimage

noreply@blogger.com (Antonia Harrison) — Thu, 29 May 2014 12:26:00 +0000

I can recommend the charming novel "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" by Rachel Joyce which was her first novel and The Sunday Times bestseller.

It is the story of Harold who receives a letter informing him that a former colleague, Queenie, is dying of cancer in a hospice. His attempts to write a goodbye letter fail miserably and on the way to the postbox, he decides, through a chance conversation, that a letter is inadequate and that he should walk more than 400 miles "to save Queenie's life". As if he could, but the story develops and he becomes a national hero, others joining in his walk for their own personal pilgrimage reasons. With time to think, he reassesses his life as does his wife waiting for him back home.

Not quite the pilgrimage road to Santiago de Compostela, Harold's journey can teach us something about our own journey in life, what is important, who is important. My library classified it as a Reading Well: Mind-Boosting Book and I certainly endorse that.

Amazon.co.uk Book: The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry
Amazon.co.uk: Kindle The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry
© Antonia Harrison 2014

Forgiveness is The Act of Unchaining Yourself

noreply@blogger.com (Antonia Harrison) — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 16:06:00 +0000

"To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you." - Lewis B. Smedes

Most of us carry around anger, resentment, jealousy, or some other negative emotion directed to others. Unless dealt with, they will eventually start to broadly affect the quality of our lives and those around us.

Forgiveness is the act of unchaining yourself from thoughts and feelings that bind you to an offense, imagined or real, committed against you. It is a commitment to a process of growth and change. The first step is to recognize the value of forgiveness and the positive impact it can have in our lives. When we forgive, we release the control and power of the offending person and stop playing the victim. We no longer define our lives by how we have been hurt and instead can define ourselves by how we have grown.

To read more, visit: http://humanityhealing.net/2009/04/gift-of-forgiveness

Visit The Secret and Law of Attraction to keep your mind focussed on attracting the life you want.

Failing Over and Over Leads to Success

noreply@blogger.com (Antonia Harrison) — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 13:02:00 +0000

"I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." - Michael Jordan

Stay hungry. Be focused and you'll achieve the things you want.

Happiness is an Attitude

noreply@blogger.com (Antonia Harrison) — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 10:26:00 +0000

Happiness is an attitude.

The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with her hair fashionably coiffed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.

After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she manouvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window.

"I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy. "Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room .... just wait."

"That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied. "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged ... it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it ... It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away ... just for this time in my life."

Source: Facebook

You Have $86,400 To Spend Every Day

noreply@blogger.com (Antonia Harrison) — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 14:09:00 +0000

Benjamin Franklin Asked Two Important Questions Every Day

noreply@blogger.com (Antonia Harrison) — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 08:47:00 +0000

This was Benjamin Franklin's daily planner:

There are two important questions:

1. What good shall I do this day?
2. What good have I done today?

Would they be useful questions to ask ourselves every day?

When planning each day, he considered "Prosecute the present study" which means to invest time for education, study or some form of self-improvement. If such a great man as Benjamin Franklin included this on his daily schedule, do you think it would benefit each of us?

Antonia Harrison is The Lifestyle Liberator offering freedom from bad habits, addictions and limiting fears through Hypnosis, NLP, Coaching and Personal Development. Based in Portsmouth (UK) she helps people worldwide on Skype at http://www.EnglishSkypeHypnotist.com

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The Pain of Discipline Now or the Pain of Regret Later

noreply@blogger.com (Antonia Harrison) — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 13:38:00 +0000

This morning I started a course of sessions with a Personal Trainer.

I have been going to the gym regularly, doing my cardio workout and machine-based exercises plus I take weekly swimming classes so I think I am pretty fit. I just want that extra "oomph" to lose a few kgs and tighten up some of the legs-bums-tums muscles that us women have a problem with, especially when we have had children so our abdomen muscles have stretched to a ridiculous size in relation to the rest of our body.

The good news is that my Personal Trainer, Dan, is very good looking and knows what he is doing. The bad news is that I ache and feel weary all over.

The easy option would be to give up now, go back to my previous exercise plan, but what would that achieve?

As Jim Rohn said,

"Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live."

Exercise is a discipline of both body and mind. I know that choosing not to do the exercise will mean that I cannot wear some of my favourite clothes this summer because right now they are too tight. Longer-term, I do not want to be one of the middle-aged women who have allowed the lbs/kgs to stick to my waist and thighs. There are many women younger than me in my health club who are very obese. At some point, they made the wrong choices and now they are trying to shed that weight. It is so much easier to have the discipline now rather than having to correct the lack of discipline later.

"We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment."

Are there areas in your life where you know that discipline is what is needed to help you achieve your goals? I can help you with my unique combination of Hypnosis, NLP Results Coaching and Personal Development to instill the motivation and determination to start the process and maintain the discipline to keep going. I help people worldwide through Skype so contact me today, the English Skype Hypnotist, to set out a plan for reaching your goals with discipline of steel.

Jim Rohn Wishes For You a Life of Wealth, Health and Happiness

noreply@blogger.com (Antonia Harrison) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 14:09:00 +0000

Here's a great wish from Jim Rohn:

"I wish for you a life of wealth, health and happiness; a life in which you give to yourself the gift of patience, the virtue of reason, the value of knowledge, and the influence of faith in your own ability to dream about and achieve worthy rewards." - Jim Rohn

Download 179 Personal Development MP3 and Audio Books for Only $29.95

noreply@blogger.com (Antonia Harrison) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 13:13:00 +0000

If you're like me, you enjoy listening to inspirational, motivational and informative talks by people in the personal development world. Reading books is great but sometimes time does not permit us to read all the books we want. So listening to those books, or at least key parts of the books, is the next best thing. In fact, if we are auditory people, more than visual, listening to a book can be the best way to take in the information.

Many audio books are available to purchase, usually for anywhere from $10 upwards to maybe $50. I ordered one book by Stephen Covey, the classic "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" then decided that listening to the audio book in my car would be the quickest way to access the information. A Google search led me to a site which offers 179 audio books and ebooks from many of the leading speakers in the personal development world. Here is the best part, these 179 titles are available as immediate download files for just $27.95. That is $27.95 for all 179 titles.

An amazing offer. I am busy downloading files as I write from these famous speakers and authors:

- Tony Robbins

- Zig Ziglar

- Stephen Covey

- Les Brown

- Wayne Dyer

- Louise L Hay

- Jim Rohn

- James Allen

- John Earl Shoaff (Jim Rohn's mentor!)

- Dale Carnegie

- Brian Tracy

- Norman Vincent Peale

- Robert G Allen

Famous titles:

- Rich Dad Poor Dad

- Think and Grow Rich

- The Four Hour Work Week

- The Richest Man in Babylon (recommended by Jim Rohn)

- The Secret

- The Science of Getting Rich

- The Silva Method

- Who Moved My Cheese?

There are several audio books on sex and relationships and even meditation audios and hypnosis MP3 downloads from:

- Paul McKenna

- Wendi Friessen

What is also amazing about this offer is that the site is often updated with new titles and the $27.95 purchase covers lifetime downloads. In fact, I subscribed with this one-off payment in 2011 when there were 135 titles and am still downloading new titles when added.

Yes, some of these titles are freely available to download in the public domain but you have to hunt for them AND I bet there are titles here that don´t come to mind but will be hugely worthwhile.

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I bought an iPod just for Personal Development and have downloads these inspiring and educational messages on to there so I can listen at the gym, at home on the iPod dock or through a Bluetooth transmitter in my car.

So, if you want to listen to classic inspirational and motivational thoughts, I recommend you visit Thanks2Net.Com If you want to test the site, there are three FREE downloads you can listen to immediately.

Shared by Antonia Harrison at Personal Development in the 21st Century

Celebrate That It's Monday

noreply@blogger.com (Antonia Harrison) — Mon, 27 May 2013 08:30:00 +0000

It is Monday morning which for many is greeted by groans of "yet another week at work".

How about another approach?

Think about the opportunities you can create this week.
What one new thing can you learn or start this week?
What can you do differently this week to make your work more rewarding?
Can you introduce a new idea or skill to your employer to make you stand out?
Whose company do you enjoy in your work?
Be grateful for the knowledge and skills you have developed which give you work.
Show gratitude that you have work with so many people unemployed or too ill to work.
Are you going home to a warm bed and food on the table?
Be grateful if you have all your limbs and senses, even if you don't.
Be grateful that you are alive for one more day on this amazing planet.

However bad your life might seem, if you live in the Western developed world, you have the good fortune of being in the top 12.5 % of the world economically. There are millions who are much poorer than you and yet they find something to be happy about.

It's Monday. Chance to start with a blank sheet of paper and create something special this week.

Antonia Harrison is a leading Hypnosis, NLP and Personal Development Coach helping clients to Freedom and Personal Change on Skype worldwide.

To Turn A Dream Into Reality Requires a Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Antonia Harrison) — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:25:00 +0000

Self-explanatory.

Writing down things to do on a list makes it easier to prioritize them because the overwhelm becomes clarity. From a list of tasks with deadlines you can choose which to do first and feel a sense of achievement when they are ticked off.

Having some dreams in your head might feel good but they will need some action from you if they are going to become reality. A whole project might require a plan of steps.

If you don't write down what you want to achieve it is more than likely that you will only complete the daily tasks because our brains can only cope with so much activity at a time.

Whilst is satisfying to tick off mundane everyday tasks when complete, it is even more satisfying and rewarding to tick off goals when achieved. Preferably ahead of deadline.

Antonia Harrison is a leading Hypnosis, NLP and Personal Development Coach helping clients to Freedom and Personal Change on worldwide.

Are You A Comet or a Meteor Shower?

noreply@blogger.com (Antonia Harrison) — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:39:00 +0000

I love this quote about challenge, taking ourselves out of the comfort zone:

“I have realized; it is during the times I am far outside my element that I experience myself the most. That I see and feel who I really am, the most! I think that's what a comet is like, you see, a comet is born in the outer realms of the universe!

But it's only when it ventures too close to our sun or to other stars that it releases the blazing "tail" behind it and shoots brazen through the heavens! And meteors become sucked into our atmosphere before they burst like firecrackers and realize that they're shooting stars! That's why I enjoy taking myself out of my own element, my own comfort zone, and hurling myself out into the unknown. Because it's during those scary moments, those unsure steps taken, that I am able to see that I'm like a comet hitting a new atmosphere: suddenly I illuminate magnificently and fire dusts begin to fall off of me! I discover a smile I didn't know I had, I uncover a feeling that I didn't know existed in me... I see myself. I'm a shooting star. A meteor shower.

But I'm not going to die out. I guess I'm more like a comet then. I'm just going to keep on coming back.” ― C. JoyBell C.

Sail Away From the Safe Harbour and Feel the Wind Daring You

noreply@blogger.com (Antonia Harrison) — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:38:00 +0000

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain

For those of us fortunate enough to live in the most economically developed countries, there really is no limit to what we can do but it is somehow easier to find reasons (=excuses) for why we can't, why we didn't. We say we tried but couldn't.

"Do or Do Not. There is no Try." - Yoda

Every now and then we produce a burst of activity and start to make progress towards our life’s goals but then, life gets in the way. The point is that if we don’t achieve what we want, we are hurting ourselves, denying ourselves a life of “what can be” by accepting “what is”. Some truly tremendous achievers refuse to even consider reasons why they can’t. They look only for solutions and learn how to improve.

Listen to Nick Vujicic, the man with No Arms No Legs No Worries:

Now tell me again, what you “can’t” do?

I believe Nick Vujicic is a tremendous inspiration to millions around the world with his positive attitude, his “can-do” approach and his wonderful sense of humour. He shows us how the impossible becomes “I’m-possible”.

Everything we do, or don’t do, has an impact on other people. Failing to provide financially for our families has obvious consequences to lifestyle and what we can offer our children. Sometimes what we could develop is a skill, a gift we have, and if we don’t we deny others a piece of our ability and unique flavour.

It is said that everyone has a book inside them. E L James wrote “Fifty Shades of Grey” as an e-book and just hoped that some people would like to read it. It has exploded into an international phenomenon and helped millions of women come out of their sexuality shells.

The talks over at TED (www.TED.com) bring new ideas in Technology Education and Design. These talks are available to view on the website and share with others. Learn something new, be inspired and spread the word.

We live in a world of opportunity where a shared message can go viral and explode around the world in minutes. It is up to us whether we wish to be heard or just want to settle down in front of the TV and put it off to another day.

What will you do differently today to impact your tomorrow?

© Antonia Harrison 2013

Antonia Harrison is The Lifestyle Liberator offering Freedom to live without bad habits, addictions or fears using powerful Hypnosis, NLP and Personal Development over Skype anywhere in the world. Visit www.AntoniaHarrison.com

Accomplish One Thing

noreply@blogger.com (Antonia Harrison) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:40:00 +0000

“You can accomplish a hundred other things but if you do not accomplish the one thing for which you have been sent, it will be as if you have done nothing.” - Jalal ad-Din Rumi was a 13th century Persian Muslim poet and Sufi mystic

What You Need To Succeed

noreply@blogger.com (Antonia Harrison) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:45:00 +0000

"In order to succeed you need inner strength, self-belief and true grit. Never give up on your dream even when times are tough. Aim high and you will achieve your goal". - Rebecca Adlington, Swimmer, Double Gold Medal Winner (GB) at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing

Self-Discipline is An Act of Cultivation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 12:48:00 +0000

"Self-discipline is an act of cultivation.
It requires you to connect today's actions to tomorrow's results.
There's a season for sowing a season for reaping.

Self-discipline helps you know which is which."
~ Gary Ryan Blair

Keep People in Your Life Who Bring Out The Best In You.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:39:00 +0000

Today a friend wrote to tell me of the hurt caused by siblings who keep attacking him in writing, dragging up his faults and wanting to make him feel guilty for past behaviour. He acknowledges some of the "accusations" but sees no point in dwelling on past mistakes. He certainly does not want to retaliate and point out their faults so prefers to break contact with them for a while.

I replied,

"You must do what you feel is necessary with regards to the family. I don't know why they feel it necessary to keep having a go at you and your faults as they see them. If they think you are such a bad person, why do they even want a close relationship with you? As an outsider looking in and having lived 40 years of a family feud, I don't know why they can't just let you go and have whatever contact that arises out of mutual will, not obligation. Keep above it and don't resort to mud throwing. That will only come back at you and you have enough to cope with as it is. Keep people in your life who bring out the best in you now and in the future and encourage you to rise to the best of your abilities and qualities, not people who want to drag you down and keep you rooted in the mistakes of the past. We all have them but don't need to be constantly reminded of our worst attributes. If they don't want to grow and build something positive, that is their loss."

I once attended a seminar where every time we committed the offence of shaming, blaming or justifying ourselves or someone else, in the room or otherwise, we popped a Pound coin into a collection pot for charity. Think about that. It might stop you in your tracks.

Change Your Perspective

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:25:00 +0000

Try looking at a situation from another view. All of a sudden things can appear quite differently.

Personal Development in the 21st Century

I Had The Strangest Dream Whilst Taking a Catnap

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:10:00 +0000

I had the strangest dream whilst taking a catnap during working hours.

Next to my bed was a carpeted seating area with lots of cushions. Outside of this was a small flat roof which was overflowing with rainwater although it seemed to me there had been no rain recently and it was pleasantly sunny. The rainwater did not go down the drainpipe presumably because it was blocked by leaves and I had not cleared the blockage. Instead the rainwater was coming into my bedroom via a ventilation brick. I saw the water which was a couple of inches deep and was moving the cushions away when I heard a sound in the adjacent store room.

I found there a workman and asked him what he thought he was doing and how had he got into my house? He replied, “Well, I’m working with Mark.” Mark was a carpenter who specialized in marquetry. I had hired him to do some decorative woodwork in my living room. At that point, Mark walked sheepishly into my bedroom, apologized that he had not told me that the other man would be there and he had used my key rather than first check whether I was at home.

Suddenly, I heard my son laughing and playing in the garden and remembered that he had a friend with him. I looked out of the window and saw them running out of the garden down a side road. I called out to him but he did not hear. I left the workmen and ran after my son and his friend.

At the bottom of the road were ordinary houses but today the area had been transformed into an outdoors convention of The Salvation Army, the people who wear uniforms and play religious music and preach the Gospel. They can often be seen in town centres around Christmas when people give them money for the poor. In fact, I saw a TV commercial for them yesterday hoping to raise money for families who could not afford to buy any Christmas presents, let alone the ones their children really wanted. Meanwhile my children will receive an excess of LEGO and other toys which they want.

There were some stands set up providing drinks and food for these people but not the loud, garish burgers and chips type of stalls. They were serving plain warm English food like stew and bowls of soup.

This chain of events is symbolic to me. First, I was sleeping during working hours. On the one hand I know I should not have been doing this although I accept that a short sleep is better than a couple of coffees when tired. I know tonight that I have two hours of driving and an evening of networking so want to be refreshed.

I thought it had been sunny and had not noticed the rain which was now overflowing. There is a financial crisis on which I tend to think of affecting other people, not me, due to my mindset. At the same time I am dipping into capital rather than doing the necessary work to create income through different sources.

I was spending money on decorative work rather than ensuring the foundations were strong ie allowing the flooding to happen by not clearing the drainpipes. Beauty is a high value of mine and I like to look at beautiful things. Sometimes I fail to see the reality because I am so focused on what I want to see.

My son and his friend were alone yet I was responsible for them both. Why was I sleeping instead of supervising them? I am often doing my things but not being there for my children, especially my younger son, as the older one receives more attention through help with his school studies.

The Salvation Army were gently, in a non-intrusive way, reminding me of my soul, my spiritual side.

All very vivid and clearly lots of messages.

©Antonia Harrison 2011 from Personal Development in the 21st Century

Top Five Regrets of the Dying

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:21:00 +0000

I saw this article about a a powerful book by a wonderful woman named Bronnie Ware which focuses in on the actual voiced regrets of people she encountered when they were dying. Powerful stuff – go and pick up the book! Here’s a small excerpt:

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.

People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learnt never to underestimate someone’s capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.

This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.

When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness.

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW

P.S. Did this article stir something in your soul (like it did with mine)? Let’s talk. I’ve worked with many clients who have the same questions — and we developed a successful plan to turn that around. If you’re not a client . . . pick up the phone and call me. You can find me at http://www.AntoniaHarrison.com

article by Rich Gee

Clarify Your Values

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:19:00 +0000

By: Brian Tracy August 28, 2011

Decide What You Stand For

What are your values? What do you stand for? What are the organizing principles of your life? What are your core beliefs? What virtues do you aspire to, and hold in high regard when you see them demonstrated by others? What will you not stand for? What would you sacrifice for, suffer for, and even die for? These are extremely important questions that are only asked by about three percent of the population, and that small minority tends to be the movers and shakers in every society.

Write Out Your Key Values

When I first began this values clarification exercise some years ago, I wrote out a list of 163 qualities that I aspired to. I think I eventually came up with every virtue, value or positive descriptive adjective that referred to personality and character in the dictionary. And I agreed with all of them. I felt that they were all important and I wanted to incorporate every single one of them into my character.

Focus on Very Few Core Beliefs

But then reality sets in. I realized that it is very hard to learn even one new quality, or to change even one thing about myself, let alone dozens of things. So I scaled down my ambitions and began narrowing the values down to a small number that I could manage and work with. Once I had settled on about five core beliefs, I was then able to get to work on myself and start making some progress in character development.

Select Your Five Key Values

You should do the same. You should write down the five values that you feel are the most important for you to live by. Once you have those five values, you then organize them in order of priority. Which is the most important value in your hierarchy of values? Which would be second? Which would be third, and so on?

Learn To Make Better Decisions

Every choice or decision you make is based on your values. Whenever you decide between alternatives, you invariably choose the alternative that you value the most. Because you can only do one thing at a time, everything you do is a demonstration of what you consider to be the most important at that moment. Therefore, organizing your values in an order of priority is the starting point of personal strategic planning. It is only when you are clear about what you value, and in what order, that you are capable of planning and organizing the other activities of your life.

Action Exercises

Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action: First, clarify your core beliefs and your unifying principles. Write them down and compare your life today with the values that are really important to you. How are you doing? Second, organize your values in order of their importance to you. Which of your values is most important? Which is second? And so on. Do your current choices reflect this order of values?

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* The Ultimate Self-Esteem Workbook.
* An Audio interview with Dr Joe Vitale from The Secret.
* A Mystery gift from Tony Robbins.

There is no point in my listing everything when you can go straight to the Self-Growth Giveaway site and see for yourself.

Antonia Harrison from The Secret and Law of Attraction and Personal Development in the 21st Century .

How To Be The Best Entrpreneur in the World

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 15:05:00 +0000

Editor’s note: James Altucher is an investor, programmer, author, and entrepreneur. He is Managing Director of Formula Capital and has written 6 books on investing. His latest book is I Was Blind But Now I See. You can follow him on Twitter @jaltucher.

Iʼm writing this white sitting in a hotel room. To my left is the Paciﬁc Ocean and all the magical San Francisco fog stuff people kept whispering to me about. About 12 ﬂoors downstairs Claudia is doing yoga in the gym.

About four feet directly behind me is a woman that is a complete stranger to me who is having an unbelievably long orgasm. Thereʼs a wall between us. Hold on a second while I take a glass and listen against the wall.

If there was no wall there then this whole thing would probably have been pretty awkward. I probably would not have been able to keep staring at the computer screen, for instance.

—

Sex is like driving. In polls, nine out of ten people think they are “above average”. Letʼs say for a second that “average equals median” (I donʼt want to get into basic math arguments in the comments). Clearly, then, itʼs impossible for nine out ten people to be above average.

Itʼs also like sales or negotiating or poker or being “a good judge of people”. Nine out of ten think they are above average.

Most people have overinﬂated views of their performance in a variety of areas.

Letʼs go back to Malcolm Gladwellʼs book, “Outliers” for a second. To guarantee being among the best in the world at something you pretty much need 10,000 hours of practice as per his “10,000 hour rule”. He cites the Beatles as an example. They were basically average, then they put in their 10,000 hours by playing 24 hours a day for a few years in German strip clubs and then they became the best band in history. You can argue Bobby Fischer was a fairly average chess player until he put in his 10,000 hours. Then he was the best in history. My friend Ylon made nothing in poker for ten years then suddenly made $3 million and was among the best in the world. He put in his 10,000 hours. (See, “My Year Where I Did Nothing But Play Poker”)

You donʼt have to be the best in history to be above average. But most things that are worth doing (being an entrepreneur, amassing a good amount of money as a result) have a very steep learning curve and then it ﬂattens out. So maybe 1000 hours gets you better than most people (above average) and then the next 2000-5000 hours gets you to be the best in your circle of colleagues (i.e. good enough to make a great living at it) and then from 5000-10,000 hours is the subtle refinements that are needed to be the best in the world. They require 5000 hours precisely because they are unobvious and subtle.

But thatʼs ok. Who cares about the other 5000 hours. Itʼs the ﬁrst 2000-5000 hours that are the most important. We need to feed our families and then be able to enjoy life. Not everyone needs to be the Beatles (who, its unclear if they were ever truly happy) or Steve Jobs (who was screaming on the phone at Eric Schmidt months before his death about how much he was going to sue Google for stealing the Android operating system). (See also, “10 Unusual Things I Didn’t Know About Steve Jobs”)

Based on my own experience being an entrepreneur and talking to hundreds of other entrepreneurs, 2000-5000 hours experience is whatʼs needed to be a successful entrepreneur. Successful enough to build a product people want, get revenues, sell the business.

Itʼs nice to have the 2000-5000 hours in your passion or ﬁeld of interest and then spend the next 10,000 hours focusing on how to be happy and healthy. This is my recommendation at least.

What do you do during those 5000 hours? How do you get better at something? If you are doing any of the below then you have my permission to clock in on the 5000 hours, but I think the below have to be done with balance. You canʼt do one without the others:

Experience. The Beatles would never have gotten good if they just read books about music. Tiger Woods started swinging the club (iʼm being literal) when he was three, etc. If you want to be an entrepreneur, start coming up with ideas now, ideas that are doable with limited resources. Start doing them, start selling them to customers, investors, acquirers. Just start.

Self-analysis. Thinking about what you are doing and coming to logical conclusions about how to be better. For instance, in poker, reviewing the hands you played that day and thinking of ways you couldʼve played them differently.

Tutor/Mentor. Every great chess player has had a teacher. I donʼt really think there are any exceptions to this. That probably goes for most games, sports, or anything thatʼs difﬁcult to get good at (race car driving, etc). Most entrepreneurs I know have had mentors. For myself, I worked at a big corporation before I was an entrepreneur. The corporation: HBO / TIme Warner, is one of the best-run mega-corporations out there. The corporation itself was my business mentor (“corporations are people, my friend” – Mitt Romney). Iʼve also spent a lot of time with one of the best unsung businessmen in history.

History. The Beatles clearly studied the music of Elvis. They probably also studied jazz from the 20s. My guess is they also studied the art of the fugue from Bach. Bobby Fischer once disappeared for a year (as a 13 year old) and studied every game played in the 1800s. When he resurfaced he had subtle improvements on obscure chess openings (the Latvian Gambit, for instance) that were last seen at high-level play in the 1800s. A great example of his knowledge of the history of chess is how he secured a draw in the last game of the Fischer-Spassky match when he transposed a complicated very modern Sicilian Defense into an old, drawish Scotch Gambit to secure the draw and win the match.

Talking. Associating with not just tutors but other serious students of the ﬁeld you are interested in is a good way to exchange ideas, synthesize the ideas you have about the ﬁeld you are in with the ideas you have, mate them, and come up with new ideas that neither of you wouldʼve thought on your own. The collaboration between Lennon and McCartney being a great example of this. The collaboration between Brin and Page being a modern entrepreneurial version of this. (See, “Why is Larry Page different than me and why didnʼt Google buy my company?”)

Failure. Learning from your accidents (“I will no longer drive through a Stop sign”) catapults you through the learning curve very quickly. My kids often give up instantly when they lose at something. Thatʼs ok. They just arenʼt interested. But once you ﬁnd something where you pick yourself up and you say, “I have to do better next time.” Then you know you are onto something – a passion, a dream, the ﬁeld where you can become a grandmaster, the ﬁeld where you can become an entrepreneur. Itʼs a secret you learn about yourself and you can be privately proud that at last you have found the area where very few people will be able to compete. 99% of people give up after a failure in a ﬁeld. Itʼs the best ﬁlter that will tell you that you will eventually succeed. Then, once you fail and want to learn from it – go to #2 above – Self-Analysis, and begin anew.

Explore. How do you get to be a great computer scientist? Study biology. How do you get to be a great investor? Study music. Ideas mate with each other and then evolution will get rid of the deformed offspring and keep the offspring that quickly adapt to the new generation of trials. The only way to have those offspring in your hands is to fully explore brand new ﬁelds and make the connections, correlations, causations between the ﬁeld of your interest and the new ﬁeld you are studying. I would like to get good at meditation, for instance. What I have found recently is that studying quantum mechanics provides unbelievable insights that I would not have dreamed of. Or being a good daily blogger – I found that studying the insights of Charlie Brown has been immensely helpful.

Balance - In the post, the Nine Ways To Guarantee Success, I list nine things that could get in the way of success for entrepreneurs but it really applies to any endeavor. Avoiding the nine obstacles of: sickness, doubt, vacillating, etc. Then the question is: why do I need to be great at anything. Canʼt I just get by? Sure, but then you probably wonʼt have as much fun in life as the woman with the forty ﬁve minute orgasm who is presumably sleeping blissfully just four feet from me.

Source: James Altucher