13 questions that will change your life

When things aren’t going quite the way you’d like them to, it’s often the result of not asking yourself the right questions. Some questions are hard to confront because you’re afraid you won’t get the answer you want, others because you really don’t want to know the answer.

But the best things in life don’t come easily, and turning away from life’s toughest questions is a sure path to mediocrity. I believe that Socrates said it best:

“The unexamined life isn’t worth living.”

Socrates’ observation also applies to business. When Eric Schmidt was CEO of Google, he famously said, “We run this company on questions, not answers.”

Life, like business, runs on questions, not answers. Let’s take a closer look at some of the tough questions we should be asking ourselves regularly.

How do people see me differently than I see myself?

Have you ever heard a recording of your voice and thought, “Is that what I really sound like?”

Because of the way the sound of the voice travels through the human skull, we never hear ourselves the same way that everybody else hears us. The same is often true for the way we behave. We interpret our behavior in terms of how we think we come across, whereas everyone else sees the real thing.

A 360° assessment is a great way to gain this perspective. It gathers feedback that is constructive, anonymous, and accurate. If you forego the 360 and solicit feedback in person, make certain you ask for feedback that is specific, avoiding broad questions and generalizations. For example, you’re more likely to get an honest and accurate answer to, “How well did I handle myself in the meeting when everyone disagreed with me?” than to, “Am I a good boss?” And be careful to show that you’re receptive to the feedback. If you flip out or get defensive every time somebody speaks their mind, they’re going to stop doing it.

What/whom did I make better today?

That’s another way of saying, “Leave things better than you found them.” Ending each day by asking yourself what or whom you made better is a great way to keep yourself grounded and focused on what really matters.

Am I being true to my values?

Do you ever get that nagging feeling that something is a little off in your life? This often happens when little behaviors creep up on you that violate your values. If spending quality time with your family is one of your primary values, but you keep staying late at work, there’s a conflict. If you want that nagging little voice to go away, you’re going to have to do something about it.

If I achieved all of my goals, how would I feel? What can I do to feel that way as I work to achieve them?

The ability to delay gratification in pursuit of your goals is one of the most fundamental prerequisites for success, but delaying gratification doesn’t have to mean being miserable until you cross that finish line. You can achieve more—and have more fun doing it—if you let yourself feel some of that pride and pleasure along the way.

What haven’t I taken the time to learn about?

It’s a big world out there, and it’s getting bigger all the time. Scientists have theorized that it once took 1,500 years for the accumulated knowledge in the world to double; now it only takes a year or two. Don’t get caught behind.

In what areas of my life am I settling?

When you settle, you accept less than you’re capable of. Sometimes we settle in dead-end jobs. Other times we settle for unhealthy relationships. If you don’t ask yourself where and why you’re settling, it’s hard to stop it.

What do I want my life to be like in five years?

Lewis Carroll once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” The corollary is that, once you have your destination in mind, you can plan your route. Five years is the perfect timeframe: It’s not so far in the future that you can’t imagine yourself there, but it’s not so close that you can’t do anything about it.

What would I do if I wasn’t scared?

From a survival perspective, fear has its purpose. It’s what keeps us from sticking our hand in the washing machine or any of the million other things that could get us hurt or killed. But fear has a tendency to get carried away. Instead of keeping you safe, it keeps you from improving your life and living your dreams.

Who has qualities that I aspire to develop?

When people have qualities that you admire, it’s a great exercise to reflect on these qualities and think about ways that you can incorporate them into your repertoire.

What problem are we solving?

Have you ever been in a meeting and suddenly realized that not everyone was having the same conversation? Not because people were talking over each other, but because they had different ideas about the purpose of the discussion. Sometimes it helps to put the topic on the whiteboard when you’re having a meeting. This makes certain everyone knows why they’re there.

What’s stopping me from doing the things that I should be doing?

It’s easy to shrug your shoulders and say, “I don’t know what to do,” but that’s just an excuse. Most of the time, we know exactly what we should be doing; we just aren’t willing to move the obstacles out of the way.

Will you be my mentor?

It’s an intimidating question to ask, but few people will turn you down. Everyone likes being looked up to, and it feels good to share our knowledge with others.

What’s the most important lesson I’ve learned so far in life? Am I living that lesson?

Sometimes life lulls us back into complacency and we’re forced to learn a powerful lesson twice. The trouble with this is that it’s just as much of a rude awakening the second time around.

Bringing It All Together

Asking the hard questions can be extremely uncomfortable. But we don’t learn and grow by sticking with what’s comfortable.


Source

How to Retire by 20 | Kristen Hadeed | TEDxUF

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  This has to be interesting almost 3 million views.

7 Universal Keys to Stirring Body-Mind-Spirit into Daily Attunement of Success, Joy, Abundance, and Freedom!

Napoleon Hill wrote Think and Grow Rich based on the simplicity of accessing the subconscious mind through commitment of desire, enthusiasm, faith, and gratitude.

There is a process of planting positive seeds of expectation into the sub-conscious mind. One can truly “think and grow” by simply documenting one’s intentions into a personal journal each new sunrise, affirming the statement to the universe, and visualizing its manifestation with the inner eye.

Key #1

An Affirmation is a positive statement made in the present tense and accepted in the conscious mind as a seed to fully blossom in the garden of the subconscious mind.
My affirmation: “I awaken all senses to universal attunement each new sunrise and greet the heavens with love and light”.

Key # 2

A Promise is a personal commitment to completion of an action, deed, event, or behavior
My promise: “I will live this day as if it is my last and cherish each new breath and heartbeat”.

Key #3

A Goal is a visualized aim, with objectives, intentions, an end result expectation
My goals: “I nourish all seeds of creative thought with faith, hope, belief in the value of all dreams and visions”

Key #4

Visualization is a mental picture imprinted in the mind’s eye and repeated incessantly to tie imagination to reality.
My vision: “I see wonderful blue skies and sunny days with every aspect of my life”.

Key #5

Acknowledgment is the expression of appreciation and gratitude or the recognition of the existence of truth of something
My acknowledgement: “I chant songs of thanks and praise as my grateful heart fuels appreciation for all gifts bestowed by the unlimited universe of creative energy”.

Key #6

Belief is a mental attitude of acceptance or assent without the intellectual knowledge required to guarantee its truth
My belief: “My mind becomes empowered by constant repetition of positive thoughts and the best is yet to come”.

Key #7

Self – the inner personal image (positive or negative) one has of this entity called “me”.
My self: “I am a positive powerful being blessed with talents that deserve to be richly rewarded”.
Choose one or all seven statements each day to awaken your sunrise with affirmations, visualizations, and a grateful heart attuned to the universe.

Find that quiet place, state your power thoughts, record them onto a journal. “Ask and you shall receive”.

The universe will acknowledge your positive vibrations a thousand fold!




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INVEST IN YOURSELF - Motivational Video

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What you believe you are worth?

10 Steps to Master Anything

I vomited in an alley on the way to my first public speaking event.

When I finally stood in front of the audience of 50 people, I was sweating with anxiety. I stuttered through the first 10 minutes. I could barely recall what I wanted to say. I remember standing there, sharing a story I really cared about while simultaneously realizing I was being terrorized by my own mind as I imagined everyone thinking I was an idiot.

Fast-forward to the present day. I spoke to more than 60,000 people in arenas, convention centers and hotel ballrooms in 2017. Videos of me speaking have been viewed more than 200 million times online.

Clearly something changed in my life.
How do you go from having zero skill to mastering your craft? It’s not just about putting in the hours. It’s about the right kind of practice and monitoring your progress along the way. It turns out any skill can be gained quickly through what I call progressive mastery.

Here are the 10 steps to progressive mastery I followed to learn public speaking.

1. Determine the skill you want to master.

Narrow your focus. I chose specifically to master the skill of extemporaneous speaking.

2. Set specific stretch goals on your path to developing that skill.

My goal was to give a 60-minute talk without any notes. I began with a full outline, then went to just one page of notes, then to just five bullet points. After 10 speeches, I went to zero notes.

3. Attach a high level of emotion to your journey.

I always reminded myself why it was important to speak with excellence, and in turn, I allowed myself to get frustrated and fired up to improve.

4. Identify the factors critical to success, and develop your strengths in those areas.

I had discerned that the most important components of a great speech were a few emotional stories, three clear teaching points and a motivational call to action. I practiced those elements and didn’t try to do anything else.

5. Develop visualizations that clearly show what success and failure look like.

Every morning for years, I would lie awake and imagine myself giving a strong speech. I imagined the good and bad, and how I could improve.

6. Schedule challenging practices developed by experts.

I didn’t have a coach, so I read books written by public-speaking experts and practiced as if they had taught me.

7. Measure your progress and get outside feedback.

After every practice, I wrote about what felt good, what I didn’t like and how I could improve. Then I gave free speeches for my friends and to nonprofit organizations to get more practice.

8. Socialize your learning by practicing or competing with others.

Even though I wasn’t ready, I took a class on debate so I could practice speaking and competing with others. Knowing who won in a debate helped me further discern what I should work on.

9. Continually set higher goals so you keep improving.

I set targets to speak to 100 people, then 1,000, then 10,000. I also set goals to tell more jokes and to allow myself to cry onstage.

10. Teach others what you are learning.

I regularly mentor new speakers, and I taught a college course on public speaking.


Source

 

Rich Dad Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki's Top 10 Rules For Success (@theReal...

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Top tips from Rich Dad Poor Dad.

Change Your Life in 19 Minutes with Earl Nightingale

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Do you have 19 mins to change your life?

4 Straightforward Steps to Success

Here are four simple steps to find your way to more success than you could ever imagine:

1. Collect good ideas.

My mentor taught me to keep a journal when I was 25 years old. It’s the best collecting place for all of the ideas and information that comes your way. And that inspiration will be passed on to my children and my grandchildren.

If you hear a good health idea, capture it, write it down. Then on a cold wintry evening or a balmy summer night, go back through your journal. Dive back into the ideas that changed your life, the ideas that saved your marriage, the ideas that bailed you out of hard times, the ideas that helped you become successful. That’s valuable, going back over the pages of ideas you gathered over the years, reminiscing, reminding yourself. So be a collector of good ideas, of experiences, for your business, for your relationships, for your future.

It is challenging to be a student of your own life, your own future, your own destiny. Don’t trust your memory. When you listen to something valuable, write it down. When you come across something important, write it down. Take the time to keep notes and to keep a journal.

2. Have good plans.

Building a life, building anything, is like building a house; you need to have a plan. What if you just started laying bricks and somebody asks, “What are you building?” You put down the brick you’re holding and say, “I have no idea.”

So, here’s the question: When should you start building the house? Answer: As soon as you have it finished. It’s simple time management.

Don’t start the day until it is pretty well finished—at least the outline of it. Leave some room to improvise, leave some room for extra strategies, but finish it before you start it. Don’t start the week until you have it finished. Lay it out, structure it, put it to work. The same goes for the month ahead—don’t start it until you have a plan in place.

And, the big one, don’t start the year until it is finished on paper. It’s not a bad idea, toward the end of the year, to sit down with your family for the personal plans, to sit down in your business for the professional plans, to sit down with your financial advisor to map out money plans. Plan out your calendar, your game plan, for all of life’s moving parts.

The reason why most people face the future with apprehension instead of anticipation is because they don’t have it well designed.

3. Give yourself time.

It takes time to build a career. It takes time to make changes. It takes time to learn, grow, change, develop and produce. It takes time to refine philosophy and activity. So give yourself time to learn, time to start some momentum, time to finally achieve.

I remember when Mama was teaching me a little bit about the piano. “Here is the left hand scale,” she said. I got that; it was easy. “Here is the right hand scale.” I got that, too. Then she said, “Now we are going to play both hands at the same time.” “Well, how can you do that?” I asked. Because one at a time was easy… but two the same time? But I got to where I could play the scales with both hands. “Now we are going to read the music and play with both hands,” she said. You can’t do all that, I thought. But you know, sure enough I looked at the music, looked at each hand, a little confused at first, but finally I grasped it. Then I remember the day when Mama said, “Now we are going to watch the audience, read the music and play with both hands. Now that is going too far! I thought. How could one person possibly do all that? By giving myself time to master one skill before we went to the next, I got to where I could watch the audience, read the music and play with both hands.

Life is not just the passing of time. Life is the collection of experiences and their intensity.

4. Change yourself.

Learn to solve problems—business problems, family problems, financial problems, emotional problems. The best way to treat a challenge? As an opportunity to grow. Change if you have to, modify if you must, discard an old philosophy that wasn’t working well for a new one.
The best phrase my mentor ever gave me: “Mr. Rohn, if you will change, everything will change for you.” I took that to heart, and sure enough, the more I improved, the more everything improved for me.

You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.





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The Professional Growth Opportunity You're Overlooking Every Day

Have you had that moment? The moment when you start a new job and realize you’ll never know 10% of the people that work there? Let alone all of them. Or when you realize the startup that you joined as employee number 42 three years ago now has 700 people and you barely know anyone?

Most of us can relate to this on some level: We stop making an effort to meet and befriend our co-workers once it starts to feel like too much work.

But, let me stop you right there. This way of thinking—and behaving—is a giant mistake. 
Relationships are the most valuable part of your professional identity and one of the most important things that you take with you when you leave a job. If you fail to make a good impression, you leave an opportunity on the table.

Even if your organization employs thousands of people, it’s important to find ways to connect with as many of them as possible. While there’s no one right way of doing this, I’m here to tell you about just one easy trick.

Be the person who engages in a conversation on the elevator.

Awkward, you say? Sure, on occasion it can be. But once you get used to it and strike up a few chats (some meaningful, others merely perfunctory), you’ll wonder why you ever rode up with both eyes glued to your phone. Aside from these exchanges being personally rewarding, here are the top three reasons it benefits you as a professional:

1. You Stand Out

Most people don’t notice the hundreds of interactions they have with strangers throughout their week. Between meetings, deadlines, and our smartphones constantly vying for our attention, we’re too busy to notice much else.

While this might not matter while you wait on line for your iced latte, it’s a different story in the workplace, a place where you want to be memorable. Being the thoughtful person asking about someone’s day, giving them a compliment, or striking up an engaging conversation is something people tend to remember.

I’ve been surprised by how many different opportunities have stemmed from these ad-hoc conversations. In one particularly good one, I was able to set up a coffee meeting that led to being a featured presenter at the country’s leading hourly workforce conference a few months later. In another 50-floor elevator ride, I was offered an introduction to a major foundation and potential grant-maker for a nonprofit organization I co-founded.

2. You Build the Network You Need to Get Stuff Done

One of the more frustrating parts of working at any company is dealing with tedious tasks. From getting your expense report in on time, to upgrading software, to sending out meeting notes, you might have days where you wonder what you actually got done.

While we can all wish we never had to perform a single administrative task ever again, the reality is that most of us have to pull our weight to ensure that things run smoothly. Unfortunately, this can create animosity between co-workers who view each other as bottlenecks or slackers.

I’ve found that it’s a broad internal network that has been the most valuable in resolving these process challenges quickly and amicably. Through these spur-of-the-moment elevator connections, I’ve been able to meet people across all levels.

Often this simple foundation is enough that people will want to help you the next time you interact. Even at large companies all it takes to cut through process and get stuff done is knowing who to reach out to.

3. You Create Deeper Relationships

These days, the boundaries of your personal life and professional life are often blurred. Some people see this is as a negative, but, in reality, the most effective work relationships have always blended the two.

The sooner you break the boundary of purely professional, the sooner you can build a stronger partnership. I’ve found that elevator conversations help me do this quickly.

You’re typically forced to talk about something outside of the job parameters—if for no other reason than not having enough context on each other’s roles. I find that the conversation frequently moves to discussing upcoming vacation plans, hobbies, and where to get the best Greek salad for lunch.

However, to me, the standout conversations are the ones that move into a space of vulnerability, where you might learn about someone’s aspirations or a struggle they’re having. These create a surprising amount of what I think of as moments of connection, which at the very least, leave a lasting first impression.

When these moments are established, it’s easier to conquer challenging circumstances—at the company, team, or partnership level.


Talking to people on the elevator might sound simple, but it’s been one of the most professionally and personally valuable things I do on a daily basis.

Ready to give it a try? If you really want a challenge, try to spark a conversation so engaging that you hold the elevator doors open to continue it.



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Louise Hay’s Morning Meditation

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How do you feel after this?

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