Although this bumper sticker had a humorous twist to it, the truth is that it really hit home. I used to procrastinate when I was at school and it got me remembering how much time I actually wasted.

Anthony Robbins has very strong words to say about procrastination. He calls it the ‘silent killer’. It kills your time, your energy and, in most cases, your emotions.

Have you ever procrastinated? The chances are that you have. 95% of people have procrastinated and 20% are chronic procrastinators who waste over 10 hours a week procrastinating! That means they lose over 1 working day each week procrastinating.

As we enter a new week, try this exercise. The main reason why people procrastinate is that they overwhelm themselves with too much to do. They literally don’t know where to start.

To overcome this, try to do only 2 crucial tasks each day. Once you have handled 2, then go on to 3. Build this like a muscle that gets stronger, as opposed to overloading yourself on the first day so that you have to procrastinate.

This is one of the lessons from the excellent guide ‘Breakthrough Procrastination in Just 5 Days’. This guide is only $7 and will help you overcome procrastination this week. Get your copy of the Breakthrough Procrastination here.

The truth behind this Buddha is very interesting.

During the 1700’s, Thailand was conquered by the Burmese. The Thai monks did not want these Golden Buddhas to be taken as spoils of war and decided to cover them in clay.

For over 250 years, these Buddhas were simply seen as old relics made of clay, until one night in the 1960’s.

A group of restorers were moving one of these Buddhas and accidentally dropped one. A small crack formed in the Buddha and the restorers were very concerned.

At night, they were shining a torch on the Buddha and realised that light was reflecting back. They carefully examined further and realised that the entire Buddha was made of gold!

This story reflects perfectly with all of us. We often judge others by rules, prejudices and opinions and forget to realise the true person beneath.

Take some time today to see the ‘Golden Buddha’ within everybody and see how much easier it is to respect, admire and learn from everyone that you meet.

There was a piece about a new cruise ship, that is now the largest in the world. What is amazing is that the Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas is only 4 Millimetres longer than the previous ship that held that record.

In life, the margins of success are often that small. In Sports, milliseconds separate the world’s fastest athletes. In Racing, one tenth of a second in a lap can make the difference. The margins of success are often that small and, more importantly, the winner wins because he puts just that tiniest bit more effort in.

As we enter a new week and a new month (I like to call November Yesvember!), commit to giving your best. Commit to realising how small the margins of success are. Most importantly, commit to giving your best, so that you are on the right side of the thin line between success and failure.

On another note, I just read a special report from my good friend from New Zealand, Mike Ling. In this 33 page report, Mark goes over 3 really powerful exercises that I recommend you do.

Get Mike’s free report here.

If you do not look forward to Mondays then you are not living according to your purpose and, most likely, do not know what your purpose is.

Here are 5 key questions that can help you find your purpose:

1) If money was not an issue, what would you do? Would you write a book? Travel? Build an organisation? What would you do if you did not have to work for money?

2) What do you spend your spare time doing? If you love watching movies, why not become a movie critic? If you love helping people, why not become a coach? If you love food, why not become a restaurant critic? If you enjoy something in your spare time, the chances are that you would enjoy doing this all the time.

3) What did you want to be when you were younger? What did you want to be before you knew about money and mortgages and the opinions of other people? What was your childhood dream and why not create it today?

4) What would you do if you just had 6 months to live? Would you stay in your same job? Would you try to build something for your children? Would you try to leave a legacy? What if you only did have 6 months to live?

5) What would you do if there was no box? We have all heard about thinking outside of the box. What if there was no box? What hours would you work if you could set your own hours? What days? What months? Where would you work if you could work anywhere in the world?

Although these questions may seem simple to answer, spend some time to reflect upon them. Living according to your purpose is to live according to the laws of the universe. To do what you love and make the difference that you want to make is the greatest payment anyone can enjoy.

To learn more about finding your purpose, I highly recommend The Dawson Method, that takes you through all of the stages in finding your purpose in detail.

Here are 5 tips to boost your confidence:

1) Make a To-Do List: One of the biggest reasons for stress and worry is poor planning and organisation. Take a few minutes to write down what you need to do this week. Keep this list with you and try to tick off as many things as you can. You may not be able to tick off everything. Don’t worry, you can always do that the following week. What you will find, however, is that you spend less time stressing and worrying and that freed-up time is very useful for getting more things done.

2) Do Something That You Have Been Putting Off: There’s always something that we have been putting under the carpet, hoping it disappears. This could be a report, a difficult phone call or an important conversation you know you need to have. By doing this, you will feel a huge weight lifted from your shoulder and a sudden increase in confidence.

3) Start Every Hour Happy: Have you noticed that when you start your day positively, things often go well. I suggest that you expand this concept. Start each hour happy with a nice piece of music, by looking at some art or just some pictures from recent vacations. We are far more productive when we are happy, so focus on being happy and see how much more you achieve.

4) Give Yourself A Treat To Look Forward To: Is there a movie you have been wanting to watch or a new restaurant you have been wanting to try? Why not make a deal with yourself that if you have a good week, you will treat yourself? By giving yourself a reward, you will make the journey through the week a much more enjoyable one.

5) At The End Of Each Day, Think of 10 Victories: Before you go to sleep, think of 10 things you did that day that you feel proud of. By doing so, you will go to sleep in a calm way and be fully charged the next morning.

These are just 5 ways towards healthy self-confidence. If this is something that you feel has been holding you back, have a look at Dr. Robert Anthony’s Self-Confidence Creator.

Wishing you all a successful week!

In The Science of Getting Rich, Wallace D. Wattles teaches us that most people focus on where they have been and what they have become. They allow their past into their present.

Instead, Wattles tells us that we need to focus on the future and who we want to become. By doing this, we allow the future into our present and, ultimately, the opportunity to create the future how we want it.

Wayne Dyer once said something very profound. He said that most people do not live 10 years in a decade. Instead, they live the same year over 10 times. They have the same experiences, the same situations, the same problems and the same challenges over and over.

By learning to look forward and putting your focus and your energy towards going forward, each day will be a new experience, let alone each year.

One of the ways that I use this law is to imagine the Roman god, Janus. This god is famous for having two heads. One faces forwards, towards the future. The other faces backwards, towards the past. I constantly ask myself which way I am facing? If I am facing forwards, I know I will grow. If I’m facing backwards, I know I will just repeat a past experience.

Take some time today to apply this wisdom from The Science of Getting Rich. Spend more time looking forwards and see where it takes you.

Here are 5 ways to ensure the last 100 days are more effective than the previous 265.

1) Get clear on your goals: Most people either do not set any goals or set too many. Goals are designed to help you focus, so it is crucial that you set between 5 and 10, at the most. What 5 to 10 things are you committed to achieving in the next 100 days?

2) Break your goals down: With 100 days, why not chunk your goals down into smaller, manageable time frames. Segment the next 100 days into 10 sections of 10 days, so that you can plan your time and resources better.

3) Focus on 1 or 2 areas of your life: Most people try to improve every part of their life in one go. This is not possible and it is not effective. Instead, in each segment of 10 days, give one or two areas all of the focus. By doing this, you will soon have a manageable control over every area of your life.

4) Get excited: The truth is, we’re about to enter the best period of the year. We have holidays, parties, bonuses and family time to look forward to. Be positive and look forward to what’s ahead because that perspective will ensure that you don’t get bogged down by negative emotions and behaviours.

5) Motivate yourself daily: My favourite quote of all time is from Zig Ziglar. He said that motivation does not last, but neither does showering. That is why he recommends it daily! Spend a few minutes each day reading to something motivational or inspiring. The Goals Guy 100 Day Challenge program is perfectly set up to do this and the short video on the page always motivates me.

Good luck with the next 100 days!

In Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill teaches us that “temporary defeat is not failure”.

This lesson is very powerful because it separates those people who are in control of their life from those who are not.

Successful people realise that failure is a part of life. They realise that some days may not go as planned, some unexpected obstacles can get in their way and, ultimately, some people may not live up to their expectations.

They treat this as a learning experience and change the situation by changing their thoughts, actions and expectations.

Some people, however, let failure defeat them. They start to question their own ability, they start to blame over people and they simply add this as another reason of why life just is not fair.

As a result of this, this temporary set-back leads to permanent failure because it creates a snowball effect of disappointment after disappointment and failure after failure.

The next time you are faced with a temporary defeat, do not allow it to turn into failure. See it as it is, change your actions and let it be nothing more than a learning experience, as Think and Grow Rich teaches us.

Here are 3 powerful ways you could practice today:

1. Visualize with your Imagination

We all remember when we were children. Whether we were creating different worlds with our toys or telling stories, our imagination knew no boundaries. As adults, our imagination is limited by the rules and limits that we have created for ourselves. By removing these rules and limits when you visualize, you will find that enthusiasm and imagination that you once had as a child.

2. Visualize with Emotion

The ultimate goal of any visualization exercise is to feel good. Many people get very focussed on having a clear image in their heads when they visualize. As a result, they do not feel the emotions that they ultimately want to feel. The next time you visualize, put your focus on the emotion you are feeling and the images will come to your mind much easier.

3. Use Different Senses

When most people visualize, they focus only on the images that they see. Try to use your other senses when you visualize. What do you feel kinaesthetically? What do you hear? What do you smell? What do you taste? The more senses you involve, the greater the visualization will be.

In order for visualization to work, it needs to be a habit. A great way to do this is to create a mind movie in which you can live and relive your visualization over and over, until it becomes reality.