Self talk, or auto-suggestion, is a way to get your mind into the habit of producing good and only good things. Below I’ll describe what it does and how to do it. You’ll be surprised at how simple it might be, yet so many of us ignore it. Perhaps because it seems too simple to be true? Maybe. But it is indeed simple and true!

If you think about it, all the good things and all the bad things we do start in one place; our minds. You can’t do anything good or bad without first conjuring it up in your mind.

Murderers self talk themselves into killing someone. A good and courageous person talks himself into doing good and helping others. Either way, it’s all in the mind.

What we say to ourselves in our minds, we say out of habit. We all know that we’re creatures of habit. Sure, we like change and can get accustomed to it, but all in all we’d like to just have a routine way of doing things. And that’s fine.

Just like we can form a habit of smoking or drinking, we can form a habit of doing many great things that we set our minds to.

Forming the habit of saying good things to yourself:

We tend not accomplish things because we think they are impossible. “It’s impossible for me to make a million dollars.” That’s a pretty common thing that someone might say to his or herself because the mind says that it’s too big. You say it to yourself and guess what? It won’t come true. What if you turned that way of thinking around? “I know for a fact I can make a million dollars – that’s not a big task. I have complete control over it.” You’d be surprised at the things your mind will conjure up to achieve this goal when you repeat this to yourself.

Repeat, repeat, repeat:

If you want to accomplish something, say it over and over again in your mind. It may or may not get boring after a while, but it doesn’t matter. You do it in order to form a habit in your mind and the way you things. Also, plenty of studies have shown that when you repeat something over and over again in your mind, it becomes infused in your subconscious mind so much so that you no longer think twice about accomplishing that goal; you just do it. It becomes a habit.

Write it all down:

If there’s a big or small goal you want to obtain, write it down. Write it down in one line, maybe just one sentence, and carry it around with you on a piece of paper. This is so simple yet it works wonders. Then pull it out of your pocket multiple times a day and read it a few times. Keep doing this until this positive self talk, whether it’s a quote or a phrase, becomes ingrained in your mind and you’ve formed a habit of thinking about it constantly. Consistency and repetition is the key.

If you keep doing this with anything that you set your mind to, you can literally accomplish anything. Whether you’re looking to lose weight, quit smoking, make a million dollars, get a promotion, etc., you just need to ingrain positive self talk within your mind.

I’m an advocate of work smarter, not harder, which I’m sure most of us have heard before. We hear this phrase, but sometimes it’s more difficult than we think to implement it in our careers and our lives.

I work full-time as an engineer, so time management is a must. Just like everyone else, I always seem to have too much to do with too little time. This is a very common problem, especially in our world of go, go, go.

I’m a big believer in a work/life balance. There are plenty of people that I work with who work 50 plus hours per week. They love their job and I love my job, but I sure as heck don’t want to live in my office.

People don’t have to get to work early and leave late to be successful in the workplace.

So what can we do to save more time, while becoming more successful in the workplace?

Condense Your To-Do Lists

One of my biggest strengths, but also weakness has been my to-do lists. It’s a strength because I write them so I don’t forget to do things. But it’s a weakness because I take it a little overboard and write my to-dos everywhere.

I have a notebook where I write things, I write to-dos on my work computer as well as my personal computer. I even put to-dos on my cell phone.

That’s when I realized that I needed to change something. It got to the point where I wasn’t getting a lot of things done because I would forget about checking one of my to-do lists. I know a lot of people who have this problem. That is why it’s good to condense your to-dos into one list. Preferably a list that you can keep on or around you all the time. I like to use my phone since it’s on me all the time. I put my work and personal to-dos on that list, as well as random thoughts.

Make Use of Every Resource Available to You

I think one of the first things everybody should do when they start a job is make use of every resource that you can. Get to know the most successful people at your work. Make good friends with them so that they can give you tips and tricks as well as the help you need. Doing this will catapult your career so you’ll be ahead of the pack. It’s good to do this when you start your career, but it can be done anytime throughout your career as well. This doesn’t just have to be restricted to career, but in anything you do. If you play an instrument, or run a business, get to know the successful people in those fields who will become your mentors. When you have good resources at your hands, you will save a lot of time when you need to retrieve information, and you will be the go-to person for resources from those who ask, making your more knowledgeable and valuable.

Work on One Thing at a Time

Multitasking is a huge part of our lives, and we are constantly finding ways to do many things in the shortest amount time.

Sometimes this can actually hurt us as well as our productivity.

One of my habits is working on a task for a project, checking my email, going back to the task, and then starting another task without having finished the first. I realized that this was actually hurting my productivity because it took more time for me to get back into the groove of my first task after I had stopped it to check email and start another task.

Instead, try starting a task and work on it for as long as possible. It’s especially efficient if you start with the most important task, or the task that needs to be done the soonest. Designate a block of time to it, where you will do that task and nothing else, like check your email.

After that time is up, check your email, then either get back to the first task or start a new one if you need to. Designating time blocks will not only help you to stay focused so you can get more dome, it will also help you to stay organized and work more efficiently.

It’s okay to let some things go

I know some people who feel like they need to get every single thing that they have written on their to-do lists. The list grows and grows, and it’s stressful to even look at the list. I’m guilty of this at times.

A lot of people I know work over-time quite a bit because their to-do list is huge. It seems like once an item is written down it has to be done no matter what. Whatever it takes. But one thing I’ve learned is that not everything on the list has to be done.

Crossing things off the list feels good when you actually do them, but you can get the same effect when you cross off things that either can be pushed off or eliminated all together.

By going through your list and crossing out less important things, you are opening up more time to the most important tasks. You’ll get done sooner, maybe even before the deadline, and impress your boss if you’re applying this to your career. You can use the extra time to get ahead and impress your co-workers and boss even more.

This can also be applied to many other aspects of your life. If you’re a mother raising children, for example, consider leaving a room or two alone for a couple of days without cleaning it. Maybe just pick up a few things, but cleaning the rest can wait. By doing this, you are able to get more quality time with your family and maybe even save yourself a little stress. Leaving the less important things will teach you how to prioritize and realize what’s important and what can wait.

Even implementing one of these strategies goes a long way in whatever you do. It’ll save you time and hassle, and help you to get more things done in a shorter amount of time. Hopefully we can implement all of these things and make them habits so that we can get more out of life.

How do you like to save time?

Sometimes we are very good at completing our goals, but sometimes we fall off the wagon and don’t know how to get back up. So how should we set and stick with goals?

Set goals…but set them before or after New Years.

Why should you set goals not on New Years? Isn’t New Years a great opportunity to start something?

In short, the answer is no. Here’s why…

Statistically, a great majority of people who make New Years resolutions and start their goals on New Years fail. We get excited about a goal, start it off, then a lot of people end up losing motivation and just give up until the next New Year. We tend to have this false premise that our big goals should start around the New Year. But to help yourself out a little bit…

Set your big goals before or after the New Year

Instead of going a long with the crowd, stand out from the crowd. How? Start laying out your goals well before New Years and start on your goals before the New Year. Even a month or two before. So say you start out with your goal, I’ll take the common losing-weight example, in November. You plan to lose 30 pounds in a few months by doing an exercise program and eating healthy.

When the Holidays roll around, maybe you’ve already lost half of that weight. Well by the time the New Year rolls around, you will be well ahead of everyone else. That’s right; you have a head start on your goals over everyone else. Not only that, New Year provides a great opportunity to get re-motivated so that you ‘get your second wind’ and tackle the rest of your goal (losing that weight that you have left) in no time, and with new-found motivation.

Setting your goals before or after New Years makes you independent.

If you think about it, by making it a point to set your goals different from New Year, you are being independent. You are doing things your own way on your own time, rather than what society says you should do. So if someone asks you what’s your New Years resolutions, you can proudly state that you’ve already started on your goals, and if you decide to start a few months from now, you can proudly state that you are careful to go against what people say you should do and start your goals later on when you are more prepared.

Now, in conclusion I’d like to state that I don’t think there’s anything wrong with setting and starting goals on New Years day…it works for some people. But for those who are looking for a little change, go right ahead and do things on your own time. You might just find that setting goals before or after New Years will provide you with the wherewithal to tackle your goals!

We can do so by getting involved, being more positive in our everyday lives, and surrounding ourselves with successful people just to name a few.

Pushing ourselves past our limits and standing out brings many positive changes to ourselves and those around us.

So check out my guest post and let me know what you think!

We all have dreams that we want to accomplish in this life. But sometimes the grueling reality of this thing we call “life” can get in the way of those dreams. Have you ever just stopped and wondered what would happen if life was as easy as we imagine it to be? I’m sure we all have at one point.

But here’s an exercise that I want you to do.

Get a piece of paper to write some things down.

What if you had enough money to do whatever you wanted? Basically, what if you pretty much had an unlimited amount of money at your hands? The ideas that things that come into your head, take the time to write some of them down. Sure, you won’t win the lottery or inherit millions from a long lost relative, but this exercise has some reality to it, which I’ll explain in a little bit.

You will probably write a lot of things down like “starting my own business,” “retiring to a private island,” “paying off all my debt,” and “giving a lot of it to charities that I love.”

By writing these things down, you’ve expressed your deepest wishes and heartfelt goals.

These are things that are very important to you. So now here’s the challenge; given that you won’t win the lottery or inherit tons of money, what can you do now to start making some of these dreams actually come true?

Maybe you can…

• Cut an unneeded expense and use that money to pay off debt like credit cards. Or maybe put extra towards your mortgage to get your house payed off sooner.
• Help a family member in need, so that you can be helpful to those in need.
• Boost your giving to charities.
• Read a book, or take a class that’ll help you learn a skill you’ve always wanted to learn.

I know that all of these things won’t be accomplished overnight without a bundle of cash, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not possible. It’s about taking the little steps like cutting unneeded things and putting those resources to your dreams.

Dreaming costs nothing; putting some of these dreams into action just takes a little time and resources, all of which is very possible. Even if you can’t do anything right now, you can keep your goals in mind and in your heart so that when you can act, you will.

And if nothing else, the exercise is “a pleasant thing to think about on a Monday.”

1. It’s contagious.

If you want others around you to smile, then smile first! Usually a simple smile will elicit some kind of response from a coworker and others around you. They’ll smile, then will want to smile more and then it will spread to other people. Those other people will be happier overall throughout the day and the good mood will spread throughout the workplace.

2. You’ll get sick less often

Some of you might be wondering how this could possibly work. Well it’s quite simple. You smile, your mood increases, which then releases endorphins and other good chemicals from your brain, which in turn leads to an overall better well-being. Being happier will help to ward off cancer and other diseases and make you a healthier, better person. If you’re feeling a bout of the blues, don’t be afraid to crack a smile; you never know how this could greatly increase your help, but it could only help and never hurt.

3. You’ll recover from bad times better

I know people who are going through rough times, but they find it in them to smile often. I am often astounded at how this really changes their whole outlook on virtually every bad situation. It gives me motivation to do them same, and it works. Even when I’m sad. I like to smile even during the rough times, and it gives me great optimism in my situation. So any time you’re going through rough times (which we all are), that should give you an excuse to smile even more!

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Smiling can change your life whether you think so or not. There are plenty of hidden benefits to smiling often. So just give it a try and make it a point to smile to others or even just when you’re alone. I guarantee you that you will reap the benefits immediately!

I wrote about how to deal with pain and grief, and how it can actually make us better people.

Life throws us many obstacles that are unavoidable. Sometimes we just have to know how to deal with those obstacles and overcome and learn from them.

Read the full article here: How Pain, Heartache and Loss Can Make You Better.

Are you looking to lose weight and be healthier but are struggling a lot? We all struggle in reaching our goals, but sometimes to reach them we have to switch things up a bit and get creative about reaching them. I would say this counts as being pretty creative. I would like to know the first person to discover that poking a hole somewhere in your body is beneficial.

I don’t claim to be an anatomist or a biology master, but I like to learn about these things then spread them on to you as something to think about.

Think of ear stapling as a kind of acupuncture

Acupuncture has been around for a very long time, so the concept that poking different parts of your body to provide some benefit is not a foreign idea. Some people swear by it, in fact I’d say that most people swear by acupuncture. Sort of like acupuncture, ear stapling involves placing a staple through different pressure points located on the cartilage part of your inner ear that supposedly connect to different parts of your body to accomplish various things. One thing that most people who get staples in their ears wish to accomplish is weight loss. When the staple pierces a certain part of your year, the idea is that the part of the ear that has been stapled is somehow connected to the part of your brain that controls appetite, or it’s connected to your stomach. It also helps to reduce stress levels, which leads to overeating. I have heard that people who got the staple have suppressed appetites and a different take on junk food. They steer away from it because it simply doesn’t appeal to them. How exactly this happens, I don’t know, but somehow these pressure points are connected to the rest of your body.

The procedure itself is very simple. The practitioner just uses a specialized staple gun and literally staples the cartilage inside your ear on the pressure point that connects to the stomach/appetite. It’s kind of like getting your ear pierced, but might be just a little more painful.

Cost and other requirements

Of course the cost depends on where you live but the cost can range from $55 to $100. Even if there is a set price established by the practioner, many people negotiate the price to get a lower one, which is especially effective in this economy. Ear stapling pros recommend that you get both ears stapled to maximize the weight-loss effect. And the cost above is for two ears. To me, not a very unreasonable price to begin with, and like I said you can probably bring it down a little bit.

There comes a point where you body and ear will get used the staple at some point, so when that happens (and usually they give you a timeframe) you just go back in and they do a quick adjustment. This assures that it has the maximum effect at all times. The amount of time required to keep the staple in your ear varies, but people usually keep them in for a few months, maybe 6 or more. During this time, you go in to get adjustments every few weeks. So it’s not that often.

Does it really work?

Now there hasn’t been an extensive amount of scientific research done to show how or why this might or might not work, but many people report success from getting some kind of acupuncture done. People who specifically go through ear stapling procedure have about a 90% success rate in losing some weight and improving overall health and well-being. Women tend to lose about 2-4 pounds per week while men lost between 4-10 pounds per week. That’s pretty good. And of course to maximize the effect even more, it is recommended that you eat health and exercise. The ear staple will have a ‘double whammy’ effect done together. But you know as they say with any product or procedure, results may vary.

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Here’s sort of a disclaimer here: I’m not advocating or saying anything against this procedure. I’m not saying that you should or shouldn’t do it.? All I’m trying to do is let you know that this procedure exists and help you learn a little more about it. I’m providing some information that you can take and do more research with. I think this is very unique compared to the regular diet and exercise programs that you see every day. Of course I think everyone should incorporate a good diet and exercise into your lives no matter what, but for people who cannot seem to lose the weight, this might be something to look into and see if it’s done around where you live.

Of course, with this procedure or any other procedure, it is always a good idea to do plenty of research and know exactly what’s going on. You should always know the risks involved and if it’s right for you. By puncturing a part of your body, you risk getting an infection. Proceeding with caution is always a good idea, but if anything it is interesting to learn and come out with more knowledge, whether you choose to go through such a procedure or not. It’s also worth knowing that there are creative ways to go about almost all situations. Do your research and proceed with caution!

I used to hate my job (not my current job). Really, I hated it. I used to do everything I could to make the time go by every day and no matter what I tried, the timed seem to mess with me and just go by slower and slower. It was not a good experience. I’m young so for me it’s really not good to hate my job. If I have 40 more years of this, what did I get myself into? So I decided that it was time to change things around so that I could face the next 40 years of my work life with a better attitude.

The first thing you will have to do is choose to be happy

I just wrote a post about how happiness is a choice rather than a reaction to what’s happening around you. Making the decision to be happy at work or anywhere in your life is a good place to start, because it will make the rest a lot easier. If you choose not be happy and choose not to do much about your predicament, then there is no point to do other things to try to make yourself happy. You must make the choice first! When I made my switch, I started to think positively. I started with, “you know what, this isn’t so bad. I have it made compared to many other people in this country and in this world. I have a lot to be thankful for.” I also began thinking about how lucky I was to even have a job given the state of the economy. I made the decision to think positive things about work every day. Like being able to support myself and my way of living, being able to make good money some of which I can give to those in need, and many other things. This made the rest of the process much, much easier.

Invest more of yourself into your projects

It’s like asking which came first, the chicken or the egg? Did you get a project that you hated and it brought your mood down, or was your mood about work already down and made you hate your project because it was work? Some of us may not even know the answer. But if you started by making the choice to be happy, then hopefully that will change your mentality and give you the means to put more in to your work. Start by showing a lot more interest. Learn more about the project, work until you complete an important task, and make use of all your resources to complete it. Even offer to help other employees take on a little extra work. This sounds weird, but trust me. When you do this you are investing more of yourself into the project. The more you put in, the more you get out. Job satisfaction has a lot to do with what goes in. I design buildings for a living. And it’s pretty cool. When I put my blood, sweat, and tears into the projects I design, then when I see them go up and I drive by them, I feel really proud that there is a lot of me in that building. It makes me feel good thinking, “did I really do that?” So put more into your work, and you will get a lot more out of it. This starts a snowball effect that carries on into other projects.

Avoid workplace negativity

Now you can be a little flexible with this one. I like to connect aspects of our life. Well this part is connected with changing your attitude to that you can help others to change theirs to be more positive. We all know that debbie-downer who always has something negative to say. That might even be you. It’s a bad habit that needs to be dealt with to help with your self-improvement. But if that person is really getting in the way of your growing self and attitude, just limit your contact with that person. If that person says those phrases like “same ole, same ole” or “another day, another dollar” then respond by changing those phrases to something more positive as I discussed in a previous post. So you can mix up avoiding those people, or if you can’t or choose not to avoid them, then be an example and try to encourage a more positive environment amongst your co-workers. That way you are not only helping yourself, you are helping to improve others.

Make some good friends

There’s nothing like workplace camaraderie. Well I guess there’s nothing like camaraderie anywhere, but I think the reason there’s something different about those workplace friends is because not only do you see these people more than your own family, but they’re all in the same boat as you. We’re pretty much all in the same boat in that we have to work, but they’re even more connected because you work in the same place. So if you had a negative attitude towards work, at least you know you weren’t the only one. But when you make friends in the workplace, it makes you feel better about going to work. You have someone to talk to during breaks and when you’re passing by each other down the hall. Hang out with them outside of work, too. Build that connection so that you have a better work experience. Making good friends also means you have more people to help you and more people that have your back when you need them.

We tend to spend a lot of time managing ourselves. Sometimes this can be stressful because after all, we have to live with ourselves 24/7 even if we don’t want to. But having a good friend/friends at work help us to shift focus from ourselves to someone else, which might help to reduce some of that stress and tension we cause ourselves.

Make your work area a little more lively

Put a plant or two in your cubicle/office. Keeping a dog in your workplace would just be awesome, but most of us can’t have a dog in our cubicles. Plants will have to suffice. But keeping a plant in your work area really livens up the place and improves your mood. Having plants in the workplace is actually scientifically proven to help lower stress and and improve overall health. They provide you with sense of rest since it you are, in a way, connecting with nature even while at work. There is research that actually says that it’s more beneficial to have a plant in your office than it is to have a window! So go to your local plant store and pick up a plant to take to work tomorrow.

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These are some fairly easy ways to make things better around the workplace. Some may not be as easy as others, but improving yourself is not always easy. If you make this effort and take these steps, I think it will be well worth it, and I think you will be more happy, productive, and hopefully you will not only like your job but love it!

How do you feel?

Do you currently like your job?

Challenges face employees all the time. We get paid to work through some of those challenges. Things can be really tough for new employees especially. I graduated from college in December 2009. I started working in March, three months after I graduated. I had been used to summer jobs since I started working, so I faced some new challenges as I was adjusting to the “real-world” and working full-time. One big challenge that recent grads face is finding a job in a very tough economy. This forces us to find ways to make ourselves more valuable and stick out from the crowd.? I’d like to share with you a few ways to get off on the right foot and make yourself more valuable at work, and why it’s important.

Warming up to the workplace is like warming up to a new person

We all meet new people all the time, and so we have to warm up to them. To warm up to people, we talk to them and get to know them. The more we learn about this person, the more comfortable and happier with them we become. The workplace environment is not much different. If you’re a new employee who managed to find a job in this economy, really get to know your environment.

Become aware and learn about the environment you’re in. If you work in a somewhat large office, get to know it as much as you can, before going ahead with new ways of doing things. Even if you have been with an employer for years, you can still learn more about the environment. That includes where things are, new and recent employees, and any changes that have been made. Knowing what’s going on around in the office shows your superiors that you are aware, diverse, and interested in knowing what’s going on. This tells your co workers that you care about other people and aspects of the company besides just the projects that you’re working on.

Some things that you might consider paying more attention to:

• How your co-workers, bosses, and clients dress. You don’t have to dress exactly as they do, but adjusting your business wear slightly to what your co workers or bosses are wearing subconsciously tells them that you’re on the same level and are interested in being successful. Just follow the dress code. Dress a little nicer for important meetings.
• Pick up the leadership traits of your boss. Going back to my leadership post, if you want to be a leader in general, but also in the workplace, notice what your boss or other successful employees do, and notice the way they act and complete tasks. Take note of some of these things so that you can implement them yourself to show that you are capable of doing a lot. Even if you don’t plan on becoming a boss, it’s still good to pick up their traits to make yourself more successful.
• Get to know the most successful employees and the ones with a lot of experiences. These people are great resources for when you need questions answered, and they know where to point you when you need help. By getting to know them you will also increase your chances of success since there were things that they did to get to where they are. If you mimic those things, then you’ll get there too.
• Remembering people’s names. This is another way to show that you really care about your co-workers and the company. I’m bad with names sometimes, but I’ve made it a point to remember my co-workers’ names.
• Refer to your employee handbook occasionally. This keeps you aware of the policies so that you don’t do anything to get yourself in trouble. There might come a time when you’re in a situation that requires knowledge of corporate practices, so this is another reason to stay on top of the policies.
• Be flexible and open to new things. I think this is a very important one because the world is changing rapidly. Technology is growing and employers need people to keep up with the changes. There was a man at my company that had been working there for 30 years. He was used to doing things the old way, without computers, and he was rigid in his ways. Eventually he got fired because by being rigid he was slowing down the work. Be open to learning new software or new technology. This makes you more valuable and adds value to your r?sum?.

Keeping some of these things in mind and implementing them will also help you to become happier at work. When you are more connected to your environment, you have more of a sense of belonging. This will motivate you to do a better job and learn more skills. When you learn more skills you become more valuable and successful.