If you were to ask successful people how they achieved their status, most of them would cite the ‘importance of time management’.

Although this concept is often mentioned in books or television, only a few realize what this is really all about.

So how does effective time management deliver success?

Let’s start with the definition of Effective Time Management. You can define time management in several ways. It is usually associated with lots of things but the simplest way to define personal time management is “using time to its maximum potential.”

Personal time management works like economics. Its main objective is to properly allocate your scarce resource, which is time, so you can maximize your accomplishments within a day, or period of time. Proper allocation of time therefore becomes critically important.

Why the Importance of Time Management?

Practicing time management intelligently on your schedule is the best way to…

• Improve your productivity

• Allow you to eliminate losses

• Plan each day effectively

• Allocate time for more important tasks

• Learn to refuse excessive workloads

• Ensure that your long-term goals are not neglected

These strategies, though not clearly understood by most people, will help you attend to your daily tasks. Meanwhile, it also improves the quality of your output for that day.

Effective Personal Time management is like any other management process. It must be monitored and reviewed regularly. If you find out that there are flaws within your management process, this must be immediately addressed in order to achieve maximum efficiency.

Long term objectives are also addressed in effective time management.

Often neglected due to the lack of specific deadlines, plus the fact that it is considered a future goal, there is no pressure associated with it. However, in order for your Personal Time Management to work, you must consider your long term objectives along with your daily goals.

Therefore set your long term objectives within a measurable time-frame.

Always measure, monitor and revise your daily, weekly, and monthly objectives on a frequent basis. Typically, revise day/week objectives on a daily basis, and revise monthly objectives on a weekly basis.

One effective method of time management that has proven to be useful for many people is the Posec Method.

Posec stands for “Prioritize by Organizing, Stream-line, Economizing, and Contributing.”

The Posec method is loosely based around Abraham Maslow’s theories regarding the “Hierarchy of Human Needs”.

To Prioritize means to put first things first. It gives the individual a realistic tool for setting priorities as they pertain to one’s own unique needs and life goals. Sort your objectives into urgent, important, regular, and non-essential tasks.

Organizing involves making a plan to work on goals that will help the individual feel more stable and secure. This is a plan for meeting the individuals most basic needs, based on your prioritized list of tasks with the basic needs being met first.

Stream-lining applies to those ‘dirty’ little jobs that no-one wants to do, but everyone must do, categorized as chores. This involves managing and maintaining one’s stability and security.

Economizing refers to things that should be done, or things that are enjoyable, but which also may not be urgently in need of being done. Lower on the list of priorities.

Contributing involves social contribution. What you give back to the world, when your basic goals are met, is based on Maslow’s understanding of the human psyche. Giving back enhances a person’s feeling of worth within the group.

The Posec method offers clear guidance in personal time management, according to everyone’s own unique agenda. The importance of time management is that it helps you to get things done on a regular basis, thus relieving the stress and anxiety we can all do without.

Sincerely,

P.S. Leave a comment to share with all of us your time management experiences, so we may also gain the benefit. Take a look at this free ebook to take the subject one step further!

Related posts:

1. Time Management Skills To Defeat The Time Robbers
2. Anger Management Techniques To Use In Stressful Situations

I am often asked the question ‘how do I become empowered because I’ve tried, but it doesn’t work for me’.

The answer is usually complex and different for each individual, but I’ve come up with a road map that should work for most, with a little tweaking.

Let’s talk about Conscious Creation

…which is when you have the self awareness, that you create the reality you experience. This may sound like an obvious concept to you, but to most people this is rocket science.

People are so wrapped up in their daily lives, they are simply unaware that they create their own reality through their thoughts, habits, and choices.

Before you can become empowered, you must understand this and raise your conscious awareness to its highest potential.

It’s About Choice

…meaning living a life of your choice and not one of another’s choosing. It means listening to your gut instincts which, deriving directly from your subconscious, are usually right.

These are direct communications from your soul, the heart of you, so listen to your heart to understand your inner most needs and desires.

By following your instincts you therefore live life on your own terms, which both empowers you and makes you feel good about yourself.

Developing Confidence in Ones Own Abilities

…is achieved by identifying then gaining the knowledge required to set in action plans that achieve a desired result. The desired result can be anything from passing an exam, to influencing events to a satisfactory conclusion.

Power is the outward projection of knowledge and skills to overcome obstacles. Thus you can gain a higher esteem at work, in society, or in your group of friends with self confidence.

Gaining Control over Yourself

…is all about mastering fear and developing the courage to take the necessary action.

No actions = never achieving anything in life…therefore it is essential to control especially, the fear of failure.

You see, the identifying and accumulating of knowledge part, is utterly useless without the taking action part.

Whenever you identify that action is required, you must act speedily and decisive – it’s all important. If you fail to act then in a couple of days it might not seem so important anymore.

Bang, opportunity lost and action plan in tatters.

The Areas of Empowerment

…range across all areas of life, but the area of focus will depend on an individuals priorities.

You can look at;

• the Abundance in your life, or the lack of it
• re-aligning your Relationships to redress the balance of influence in your favour
• your Life Position and take it in a new direction
• correcting a Health issue, like stopping smoking or losing weight
• controlling a particular Emotion like anger
• improving your Spiritual well-being

Your area of focus depends on you.

The 1-Hour Empowerment Assessment

…you can use to assess in which area of life you want to change, identify targets, and where you have deficiencies.

Start a two column list, head the left-hand one ‘What do I have in my life’, head the right-hand one ‘Where I want to be’.

Start a more specific list of all the areas where you give away your power to someone or something.

Now make a separate list of what action you will take to regain your power, and redress the balance in your favour.

When you have finished you will have before you, a blueprint for improving and empowering your life which only took you about an hour to define.

The top and bottom line is, you need to own your choices before you can become empowered, but don’t be overwhelmed by it all, just tackle one area of your life at a time, easy does it, until one day before you know it, you are a fully empowered individual.

Sincerely,

P.S. Be sure to leave a question or comment below and I’ll answer it as soon as I can.

Related posts:

1. How Can Self Empowerment Help Me?
2. Fruitful Self Empowerment

Raising Self Awareness…

What is individual power, and are we even aware that we impart so much of it to others who use it to manipulate and control us. Whether it be in relationships or in the workplace, we very often open ourselves up to the abuse of others whom only have their own self interests in mind.

When you find yourself in this scenario, what can you do? Very often there is no-one to turn to but yourself. This is when you need to impose your own character in to the scenario to balance the equation. This is when self awareness and empowerment techniques become invaluable to you…

Self empowerment is all about becoming self aware and taking responsibility for your life choices away from someone or something, and imposing your individual will as a right. It is our right to determine our own future through freedom of choice.

So that said, let’s see how self empowerment works…

Conscious Creation…means raising individual conscious awareness such that you realize that you create the reality you experience. No-one and nothing else has this responsibility. Without this awareness it will be impossible for an individual to reach their full potential.

It’s About Choices…and living the life of your choice. Gut instincts are usually right because they derive directly from the sub-conscious – your spiritual home, your divine spark.
Use them, make choices based upon them, because if you delay you  may later dismiss them as a whim or even suggest to yourself that, ‘you know what, that wasn’t such a great idea after all’. What a waste of ones uniqueness.

Gaining Control Over Self…through intellectual knowledge in itself is not doing, it means nothing without actions. Taking quick decisive action based on garnered knowledge is all important.
One of the main reasons some people are not big on taking action is the fear of failure. Fear of failure = no action = never achieving anything. Banish fear and everything changes.

“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment” ~ Marcus Aurelius

Having Confidence in Ones Own Abilities…comes from accumulating knowledge, then applying your knowledge to manifest a desired result.
The outwardly projection of knowledge and skills to overcome obstacles, or influence events in life or work, to gain a higher esteem in your group/office/society is one definition of power.

Areas of Empowerment…range from relationships, business and work, to health and spiritual wellbeing, to emotions, abundance, and changing your life around. You can empower any or all areas of your life to regain control.

1-Hour Empowerment Assessment…begins by getting yourself a notepad and listing all the areas where you are giving your power away to someone or something.
Then divide a page into 2 columns and head one ‘What do I have in life’, and the other ‘Where you want to be’. Make a list in each to determine where you are now, and to see how far you have to go.

Next, make another list detailing the actions you intend to take to regain your power, and to define your boundaries. The desired result is for you to own your choices, the responsibility is yours alone,

This is a nuts and bolts assessment that should only take you about an hour to complete. After this follow through on your action list, remember action is everything because it defines who we are.

Sincerely,

P.S. For more information and help in finding your way back to your power, check out my earlier path to freedom post which you will find very useful.

Related posts:

1. 6 Steps To Self Empowerment That Work
2. Fruitful Self Empowerment

If you are a career builder, it will pay you to bear in mind this quotation;

“Personality can open doors, but only character can keep them open.”
~Elmer G. Letterman

A pleasant disposition and a willing competency is key to winning the best jobs in any company, as Napoleon Hill confirms…

“The best job goes to the person who can get the job done without coming up with excuses or passing the buck” ~Napolean Hill

Political Astuteness is something that you may not learn in school; however, it plays a significant role in success in business;

“Man is by nature a political animal.” ~Aristotle

Taking Control

It’s important to keep in mind that you are responsible for your own career. Don’t expect the human resources department to plan your career. In fact, don’t expect anyone else to be concerned about it either.

Remember, companies are in business primarily to make money. Dress for success to draw a clear distinction between yourself and your colleagues. You should dress just a cut above your current level.

Above Everything, Have Integrity;

“If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.” ~Alan Simpson

You will find that the concentration of integrity increases the higher you go in an organization. Remember who you work for and always support your immediate superior and the Company.

It’s true that where your treasure is, your heart will be also. There will be ample opportunities on a daily basis to bash your employer. Resist those opportunities. Keep in mind that (1) you chose this company, (2) they pay you, and (3) you can leave if you want. The leaders of the company will not be impressed by your ability to complain.

Make your boss and your boss’s superior look good. As a practical matter, you are most likely working to take your boss’s job. Hopefully, your boss will be promoted, which will leave a vacancy. If your boss sings your praise indeed, you will most likely follow him up the ladder.

Who are the Leaders of the Company? Find out the background of the company executives. What career path did they take? Chances are, they will value those credentials above others. Take note of great people in the company and get connected to them. If possible, find a way to work for them. If not, establish a network with as many of them as possible. The best possibility is to ask one of them be your mentor. You will be surprised how many people will be interested in helping in this regard.

Learn the Rules

“Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you.” ~Spanish Proverb

Watch what you write or say. Assume that anything you write or say will be read or heard by everyone in the company. E-mail makes it easy to respond emotionally. Before you respond to an irritating e-mail, take a minute to calm down, then write your response. If you have a tendency to send harsh messages, save a draft and review it sometime later to ensure the tone is business appropriate.

A corollary to this principle is Happy Hour – don’t go! There is a huge risk of saying something you shouldn’t say, getting out of control, or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. You should stay out of office politics. Don’t say anything bad about anyone, ever. It always goes around and kicks you in the butt!

Arrive early and leave late, but not too late. You want the reputation of a hard worker, but not one that can’t get their work done. This principle also applies to taking work home. Over the long-term, you want to have a life outside of work. Maintaining a work/life balance will keep you engaged in your job; therefore, more productive.

Always say, “Yes!” to a request from leadership. For your boss, there are ways to provide better solutions without damaging the relationship;

“Always do more than is required of you.” ~General Patton

Give people credit. Don’t take credit for yourself. This is important for a variety of reasons. First, you need people to help you get things done. Second, when people recognize people who work for you, you get the credit as well. Third, it’s the right thing to do.

When It Comes to Your Career;

1. You’re Responsible

2. Remember Who You Work For

3. Learn the Rules

As Bill Karnes put it;

“Eagles don’t flock; they fly alone. And eagles soar above the rest of their world. So, too, do people who start things, who lead groups or who otherwise set themselves apart from the crowd.”

To be one of these you must have integrity and character, so if you feel you lack any one, be sure to cultivate it immediately.

Sincerely,

P.S. Check out the related posts below if you’re just finding your career.

Related posts:

1. Aligning Your Career Pathway With Your Passion
2. How To Discover Your Right Career Pathway

Do you often run out of time?

Does time appear fluid, sometimes there is plenty, yet at others there just isn’t enough?

What effective time management can do for you, is to organize your tasks into the available time thus levelling out this apparent fluidity, giving you more control over your work-life balance of time.

As you have seen in the video, lost time is lost forever, it is the only commodity we cannot replace, so by investing in time management skills you will make the most of the time available to you.

Start a to-do list then identify your priorities, and what time to alot to each task.

It has been suggested that the average person has 300 hours of projects waiting to be completed at any one time, covering the workplace, home, education, relationships, and leisure activities.

How in hell do you start to prioritize these, especially when you would prefer to do the enjoyable parts first, and to leave the awkward tasks to last!

Well I’ll tell you…

…you have to trim the list by giving up some of the things that are not so important, then you sort the list so that the most urgent tasks go to the top and get done first, namely you have to prioritize.

The more ruthless you are, the more you will get done, and the more at ease you will feel.

Have you ever heard of the 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle named after Vilfredo Pareto. It applies to many areas including demographics, mathematics and nature, but we are only interested in how it affects your efficiency right now.

Ok explanation coming up…

…if you have a to-do list of 10 items, 2 of those will be worth more than the remaining 8 items together. Put more clearly, 80-percent of your results will be produced by 20-percent of your things to do. It is these 20-percent of tasks we have to identify and move up to the top of the to-do list to improve your efficiency and success.

All tasks will fall into one of these four categories I will reveal to you today…

• Important and Urgent
• Not Important but Urgent
• Not Urgent but Important
• Not Urgent and not Important

The more urgency a task has, the higher up your list it goes. And the more important the task, the more time you alot to it.

An urgent task will be one that will have major consequences if it should not be done right away, therefore always analyze the negative effects of a task to determine it’s priority.

Important tasks are usually the ones that keep a well oiled machine running effeciently, they always need doing but they won’t cause the machine to break down, unless continually neglected.

The non-urgent and non-important tasks should be delegated or out-sourced as much as possible.

Please remember that you will only regain control of your work-life balance of time if you stop adding to your to-do list, so get rid of the clutter, banish the trivial, and start a to-do list, calendar, and organizer straight away.

Sincerely,

P.S. If you are in need of tackling your time management and improving your work life balance, you should take a look at my special free report Time Management Tactics to become efficiently successful.

Related posts:

1. The Importance of Time Management
2. 7 Tips To Increase Your Productivity
3. Anger Management Techniques To Use In Stressful Situations

When an individual is dealing with anger issues, usually their emotions evolve when put in stressful situations. If a difficult incident pops up, often their only way to cope with it is to put up their defensive side.

Becoming angry is probably easier than dealing with the circumstances. This is unfortunate since anger doesn’t solve anything. Once it subsides, the problem is still there.

There are anger management techniques which people can used when found in stressful situations.

If there is a friend or family member who is easy to talk to and understanding, it might be good to talk to them. When an individual becomes angry they are incapable of seeing the other side of the problem. Talking to someone may help them by sharing their side of the story. The friend or family member may be able to help them sort through their issues and make them look at the situation from the other side. This anger management technique may work well for some people.

Another great anger management technique is to write down thoughts and feelings during a fit of anger. The angry individual may feel as if nobody understands or cares about their problems. Sharing may only cause extra conflict. Lashing out will get them nowhere. Writing or journaling may help people with anger issues. Without anyone to talk back or object to what they have to say, it may be help to get their feelings off their chest.

Using writing as an anger management tool may also help in the future when trying to find the triggers which cause the angry outbursts. Being able to look back over the information written may provide the person with reasons for their anger through reading about similar incidents.

Taking a vacation, spending some alone time is another good anger management technique. Removing oneself from the environment which seems to frustrate and irritate them may be a wise idea. Being able to get away and reflect on their actions may help an individual to look at things differently. Given space and time may be positive for a person with anger issues.

Some people suggest prayer and meditation as anger management technique. Both of these suggestions involve very personal practices for an individual. Given a chance to pray and be alone with one’s thoughts is a good way to release tension and let the pressures of life wash away. Letting go of feelings of anger and negative thoughts would definitely make a positive change in a person’s life. Through prayer and meditation a person is able to dig deep into their minds and souls for answers to their problems and comfort for their broken spirits.

There are lots of anger management techniques which people can practice when the going gets tough. Tips such as breathe deeply, exercise, get more rest, get out in nature, find humor in the situation and play or listen to music. These are all recommended as anger management techniques for the person who finds themselves in stressful and confrontational situations.

Sincerely,

P.S. There are some great techniques and tips to be found at http://www.anger-management-techniques.org/ for help and advice.

Related posts:

1. The Importance of Time Management

A successful life is what we all aspire to, but most of us fail to ever realize, right?

I have often heard the quote by Christopher Morley…

“There is only one success…to spend your life in your own way”

…and it’s too true.

Most of us become stuck in a so called ‘normal life’, a life that comprises a mundane routine of repetitive tasks that re-endorse the normal life, every day, and every week.

A routine full of tasks that suck – equals a life that sucks wouldn’t you agree?

Tasks like…

• Rising at insanely early hours 5 days per week, 50 weeks per year

• Keeping up a boring job with pay so low you have to bend over to pick it up

• Driving bumper to bumper or catching a jammed bus/train full of BO and bugs

• Being nice to a boss who takes the credit for your hard work

• Working a 70 hour week so you see too little of the family

…why do we put up with it?

Well I’ll tell you.

Because it is all we know, it’s how we have been brought up, it’s how our parents lived, and because of this…it’s our doom to follow suit.

Believe me, I know what it’s like.

I was with the same company for 26 years before I decided to do something. Strange how we cling to what we know, it’s like a comfort blanket.

It wasn’t like an event happened where I decided I had had enough. It was just time for a change.

Not a new job, going through the same routine except with a different set of bosses, in another place – not appealing.

No, I had a complete change in my perspective on life. I decided that I would be my own boss and take control of my life.

It wasn’t until much later that I discovered I had gone through, what Bob Proctor calls, a paradigm shift.

I can’t say I even knew what a paradigm was? It sounded like it belonged to quantum physics to me!

It wasn’t like being hit around the head with a wet fish, a flash in the dark, or anything like that.

The shift came as a result of years of thinking there has to be more to life than this!

And there is. I have to tell you folks, that we get hoodwinked from an early age into falling into line with what society expects, then bingo, before we know it we’ve taken up the mundane routine.

Bang – there’s no going back.

Except there is. You would be wrong to think that change is impossible. Frightening yes, impossible NO!

Anyone can have a paradigm shift like me. To change your pattern of thought all you have to do initially, is to open up your mind to the possibility that there might be a better way.

Then you have to take action. Find and assimilate as much knowledge as you can find about…

• Different ways of thinking, and using your thoughts to create a vision for the future that you approve of

• How to build up your self esteem

• How to draw up a plan of achievable goals

• The importance of taking regular action to tick off the goals so you move perceptibly towards your future vision

• How to eliminate negetivity in your life until you are surrounded by a group of supportive friends and family

It took me years to act, and then it only came about by accident and good luck.

It still amazes me today how I found the courage to actually change my life – because I hadn’t made any preparations at all.

I might never have made the shift and that, I now know, would have been a tragedy!

I am reminded of a famous quote,

“There is only one failure, and that is not to have tried at all.”

Think on those words and you will realize that, you cannot fail.

So if you feel like a salmon – always going upstream against the current, then start making preparations towards your own paradigm shift. Once you start thinking differently you will find it easy to swim away from the rat race.

Fear the ‘normal life’ by all means, but you should not fear the future, because the future is where hope lives with all it’s endless possibilities.

Sincerely,

P.S. Unlike me, you have the opportunity to make the much needed preparations for a successful future, because I have identifed for you that change is possible, and I have also identified the tools and training you need to gain the mindset that leads to a successful life. Keep probing…

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