SUCCESS FORMULAS (Part 14)

Sub-Topic: CAPITALIZE ON YOUR FREE TIME.
Self-affirmation requires getting in touch with your personal history. Is it of critical importance to know what happened to you along the way and to figure out what you must do take full advantage of all that you have to offer. Can you identify ways that other people, early in your life got in the way of your coming to an understanding and acceptance of yourself? In the first years of schooling, teachers seem to make a systematic effort to discourage children’s explorations into self. A child draws a house. The teacher says, “That is not how a house looks.” The child draws the house again, this time the way the teacher thinks it should look. The house is a “good” house, but it not the child’s house. It would not be fair to say that children are never given a chance to draw their own house. Sometimes they are allowed to try. But, in time they will draw the “right” (adult approved) house. It’s not just in forcing compliance that the real damage is done. Somehow there always seem to be restrictions whenever a hint of freedom exists. For example, teachers appear to have little appreciation for play. They insist in structuring play into games-rules supposedly provide the order needed to avoid what some would consider being chaos. In all this structure, the child forgets how to “play” and then later in adult life can only recall remnants of the joy, the abandon of the natural, free play he or she experienced in times past. In the process of stealing away play, teachers have instilled a lifetime message: “Everything must have identifiable outcome. Nothing should be done just for the doing of it.” The consequence of taking this message seriously (and the child has little choice in the matter) is that the self becomes consistently constrained and restricted at a critical time in his development. And as the child grows older, the opportunity of discovery and creating new and different rules becomes increasingly more difficult to resurrect.

It should be pointed out that when we talk about play we are not necessarily referring to the activities of the playground. Playing is a state of abandon-part and parcel of the invitation we have to ourselves. Doodling is an example. Children “doodle.” They don’t intend to draw a picture; rather they are anxious to see where their scribbling takes them. It is an experience the self needs if, in later years, it is going to be integrated and free to express itself with assurance and confidence. At some point, doodling shouldn’t be necessary. We see, however, that it still remains an activity of many “grown ups.” The majority of young people are simply forced into accommodations, adjustments, and compromises that fall far short of providing the basis for a sense of personal accomplishment, either in the present or in later life. The public educational system holds a hard line in maintaining the status quo. To challenge the system is to incite the wrath of all. This state of affairs is what ultimately brings us to the incredible reluctance to allow ourselves, our family members, our friends to take chances on where the ‘freed self’ might take us. In fact, almost anything that allows the expansion of personal prerogatives seems to be threatening to a great many people. I didn’t always succeed but that never stopped me from trying. Listen and accept positive reinforcement. Don’t listen to the negative.
There are those that will say that you “can’t”. Ask them why not. You’ll find that more often than not the reason will be “because no one else has done it” or it “doesn’t fit the conformed norm.” That’s not a dead-end; that’s a challenge. Don’t let negative people drag you down. Great ventures start with small ideas. Don’t be afraid to experiment. Keep your eyes open, your mind working and your body ready for work. You don’t have to hit a home run the first time, but you’ll never hit a home run if you don’t learn to swing. Dedicate your “free” time to what you know.
##SAM#WHATSAPPTEACHINGFORUM#

SUCCESS FORMULAS (Part 13)

Sub-Topic: SUCCESS CONTROL CENTER.
Society teaches that if you work hard and did the right thing, eventually, your ship would come in. Success is not an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, direction and skillful execution. It wasn’t mysticism or magic; created a plan and put that plan into motion. What determined accomplishments is common sense; it’s just not common practice. I don’t perform magic. I had a goal and I pursued it. Forget about all the hocus pocus—stay focused! I stayed focused on my own personal goal and thus far, I have achieved each one successfully. The greatest portion of success is a person’s mindset. You have to look at yourself as successful and imagine the world around you changing to accommodate your success. Nine times out of ten, your plans for success will involve other people. In order to achieve success, you have to get others energized. And for that, you have to have faith in your dreams. After all one person can have the dream; but only a team can deliver. You have to wake up every day knowing that your dreams will come true.

Believe that the place in life you dream about is promised to you. Instead of operating a thought process, you have to operate the action process. Successful people do operate based on what others say. Ten percent of the people in the world listen to themselves, while the rest listen to everyone else. I used a quote from Harry Truman earlier that is even more appropriate here: “If you don’t have your own goals, you are doomed to work toward someone else’s.” You are working towards a goal. If you are not working toward your own goal, then you must be working towards someone else’s. Whose goal are you working toward? In television, everything from McDonald’s to Starbucks is presented to the audience through the power of suggestion, appealing to the subconscious mind. Dictators of nations are able to take over an entire country because they have a great number of people working for them who believe in them. They can convince enough people to support them; they can overthrow whatever government is in place and install their own. Democracies work in a similar fashion, except that they hold elections and the person who has convinced the most people becomes the president. The point here is that leading a nation, like everything else in life, is based on believing in you and convincing others to believe. The first person you have to convince is yourself, which can sometimes backfire against you.

Have you ever toyed around with the idea of being sick?
Have you called in to school or work, playing sick to get the day off?
During one of those times, did you ever get sick?
Sometimes, we can be so convincing that we convince ourselves, even into sickness! That’s how strong words are. When you tell yourself that you can’t do something, repeating: “I can’t! I can’t! I can’t!”-chances are you won’t. Whatever you think, you are right! Thousands will doubt you, but you can believe them or believe yourself.
"Don’t take it personally when people refuse to believe in your dreams. It’s difficult for people with low self worth to see value in others. When people doubt your ability, they are in essence telling you what they are not capable of doing. If they can’t make it happen, how could you expect them to believe in you."
For an individual who does not get worried about losing and is always willing to take bigger risks, it might just be the first chapter of a long success story of self-confidence. How else did two college drop-outs and respective founders of Microsoft (Bill Gates) and FACEBOOK (Mark Zuckerberg) amass phenomenal technology industry fortunes? With three qualities of success that are logical thinking, analytical ability and never-say-die attitude. I believe positive thinking... if somebody else can do it, you can do is a powerful internal motivator.
##SAM#WHATSAPPTEACHINGFORUM#

SUCCESS FORMULAS (Part 12)

Sub-Topic: SELF-MADE INDEPENDENCE.
An entrepreneurial mindset is re-emerging. New-breed entrepreneurs are no longer obsessed with lack of opportunities, but with creatively creating their future out of nothing into something. Necessity is the mother of invention! Becoming self-made, gives you a fighting chance. If it is your dream to become successful, achieve financial independence, earn a lot of money and become a millionaire. Become an entrepreneur! History is full of entrepreneurs who saw a need, met it and made a fortune in the process. More than half of the world’s self-made millionaires are entrepreneurs or self-employed professionals. Of course, there is another side to it. Those who have squandered away their life’s savings did so, trying to start or run a business!
So, why is it that some people succeed in business, while the rest fall flat on their faces?
What makes an entrepreneur successful?
What traits and characteristics best describe that unique person who directs his rags to riches story through sheer grit, perseverance and enterprise?
Here is what people, businessmen themselves, have to say about what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur.
👉They are fast moving and flexible and adaptable.
👉Entrepreneurs are persistent and determined to succeed because their own money and ego are at stake.
👉Successful entrepreneurs are passionate about their business. Their overwhelming passion for their work helps them overcome exacting challenges and find solutions for insurmountable problems that come in their way.
👉You don’t need to possess an MBA or PhD to succeed in your own business. In fact, there are a lot of entrepreneurs who did not even finish secondary education. And not all of them are geniuses. Studies show that most self-made millionaireshave average intelligence. Nonetheless, these people reach their full potential and achieve financial and personal goals in business because they are open to learning new things.
👉Entrepreneurs think of problems as opportunities for improvement and sources of new ideas. With the traditional employment track seemingly on the decline, entrepreneurship is fast becoming a catching trend.
👉Running your own business is a creative, flexible and challenging way to become your own boss and chart your own future.
But, before you take the plunge, do understand what it will demand of you and whether you are prepared to give what it takes. The lure of entrepreneurship is undeniably strong for many but it is important that you go into it for the right reasons. ✍Being miserable in your job does not automatically make starting your own business the best idea in the world. In fact, it could be the worst reason of all to get into business. Do remember, finding another job is certainly far easier than running a business. But if taking into account everything that’s been said above, are you still sure that you have courage, determination and foresight to become a successful entrepreneur. Go on, take the bull by the horns and go for it.
The aspiring person in the mirror must ask the right questions: “Am I the type”? Remember you will be your top employee! Rate yourself objectively. Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. If you need retraining, do so or hire somebody more competent. Be Committed! Successful entrepreneurs make it their mission to commit to their venture. Work is their heart and soul. You may need to forego luxuries like a regular pay packet, holidays and almost certainly sacrifice your weekends.
Be a type ‘D’—someone with desire, drive, determination and discipline. Never say, (you) never can! It is not just enough to have good ideas; you should have the tenacity to follow through. Believe in your product/venture and work hard to make your people believe in it too. Know as much as you can about the various aspects of your business. Create a business plan (after the prerequisite market research) and stick to it.
👉No amount of determination and discipline can help you if you do not have the knowledge of how to run a business successfully. Have a great backup. While you may like to run the show alone, you most definitely need the support of others like your spouse and friends. They can provide you with the advice and encouragement needed to keep you going.
Cultivate the resources above and you’ll be well be on your way to success.
##SAM#WHATSAPPTEACHINGFORUM#

SUCCESS FORMULAS (Part 11)

Sub-Topic: INCOME GENERATION FITNESS.
Whatever your profession–you will never be able to stand idle or underutilized. Dynamism is the new catchword and anyone who deals with the problem of constant upward mobility requires being ‘mentally fit’ to keep up. It isn’t enough to be merely ‘good’ at one’s work, field or trade; one requires excelling to make the difference. To do so, one has to be totally up to date with the latest that is happening in one’s chosen field. The biggest issue faced by the people today–it is immaterial what your discipline happens to be or how old you are.
Yesterday’s skill-set and yesterday’s knowledge has no value. One doesn’t have to be necessarily ‘with it’ but aware and current. You need mental aerobics and skill-set calisthenics to stay ‘in shape’ for the future. Doing this is not the easiest thing to do but one’s options are limited to progress moving forward. It is not the high-tech world that is changing; it is the happening thing in every field and trade. New methodologies are shooting up in every area. Don’t become susceptible to obsolescence. Your need to stay ‘fit’ is far more urgent than anything else. What you learned in school or otherwise has little validity in today’s world of quantum leap changes. In every walk of life the emphasis is placed on getting into your gym-shoes to redefine your mental and physical fitness. Pointers to stay ahead should include the following regimens to enhance and reinvent yourself. Insure yourself by continuous learning: Most professions have courses going on all the time. Online seminars and workshops are held all the time; attend them as you might to your fitness regime.

The self-learn programs do actually help...it just depends what you personally gain from them. They are, like your daily physical workout, repetitive perhaps, but they help keep you from a system’s failure! Keep your eyes and ears open: Never neglect to pay attention to anything new that is happening in your profession. Online and industry magazine research will prove invaluable. This helps you to clarify your thoughts on the innovation and it helps to extract information that they may have which perhaps would not have come to you any other way. Invest in the future. Networking is the new mantra that has become the chant of developmental gurus. Attend industry events listed in the local Chamber of Commerce web sites, read the latest from the best sources, in short, be seen and be noticed! Look at what’s happening outside your window! You may not be affected by changes happening in other agencies and other industries. This is the time for you to apply the lessons from what you can see happening outside your workplace. Figure out ways and means to be a jump ahead of the curve to start a business venture of your own. When you apply your mind to it, you will see that obsolescence is an issue that you need to factor into your career plans. Changing jobs is no answer; studies have revealed that skills learned on a job can be more successfully transferred to start your own business venture as a career-alternative. A fresh mind enhances your personal economic outlook and income generation strategies. You need to have that edge, that knowledge-base that puts you on the cutting-edge. If you ensure that you will not merely survive, you will thrive.
##SAM#WHATSAPPTEACHINGFORUM#

SUCCESS FORMULAS (Part 10)

Sub-Topic: NEVER LOSE YOUR CHILD SPIRIT.
Look at the energy of children: the skipping and the silent singing. They haven’t got a care in the world. Then take a look at the glum faces of adults. Where does all this energy disappear to from childhood to adulthood? Adults are burdened with responsibility and worry because people’s freedoms are suppressed by society-at-large. Societal pressure and systems ensure that people have to follow the adult conventions such as get a car, get a home and try to pay for them. We end up traveling between different types of buildings trying to finance other buildings: going to the office in our car to pay for our home. Grown-ups waste their energy by spending it on busyness not business. They spend too much of their efforts getting in a position to get something done, rather than doing that something. They justify and defend. They waste their energies on trivial things such as playing politics and worrying about the wrong things, for example, paying the mortgage.
Adults need to recapture the sheen of youth: not with cosmetics on the outside, but with energy on the inside. We need to f ind true motion, not just go through the motions. Children glow the most and have the most energy. To be energetic, adults must keep growing and learning too. The best way to create energy is to spend it. If you have got to the stage where getting up in the morning and going to your current job no longer motivates you, but instead you have to drag yourself reluctantly out of bed, then you cannot expect to feel happy and contented.

To regain your energy, you must recognize those things that you are currently spending your energy on which are wasteful and then do something about it, such as change job or where you live to get out of the rut. When you get bored somewhere, move on. Variety is the spice of life. The good news is that the best way to feel motivated and energetic is to be discontented yet purposeful. When there is a difference between where you currently are and where you want to be, creative dissonance occurs. We need to know where we want to go and should regularly compare where we are today with where we want to be and take steps to get there. This process means we consider the present and the future and live life for today but without losing sight of tomorrow. “Enjoy the present but take good care of the future; you will spend the rest of your life there”. This is constructive discontent a little stress can be a good thing, when it’s not too much. You should harness it to work out how to get where you want to go and use your desire to be there to focus on getting there. Fire in your belly is the best form of stimulant there is.
Purpose fuels motivation. Spending your energy doing business not busyness in turn creates more energy. Pursuit in itself will generate the necessary fuel to get you where you want to be. So go for it! Keeping fit is important for short and for long term reasons. In the short term, not having blood and air flowing throughout your whole body from head to toe can cause drowsiness and tiredness. In the long term, this could lead to real health problems such as not sitting up straight leading to stomach or back problems. In our structured life, the car is driven everywhere even to mail a letter at the end of the street and more and more creature comforts such as food and television are available more and more conveniently from the sofa or the Internet. In such a world, exercise often takes the form of going to the sports center or gymnasium with the other adults. I personally believe that ideally exercise is carried out for more than just for the sake of it. For example, many people go to the gym just because they think they ought to, even if they find it boring and repetitive. Instead, it is better to find a healthy sport or activity that you enjoy that has the added bonus of enhancing fitness. Exercise is very important. Try not to take it for the sake of it, do something you truly enjoy and get something out of.
##SAM#WHATSAPPTEACHINGFORUM#

SUCCESS FORMULAS (Part 9)

Sub-Topic: FACE IT TO FIX IT.
In our journey of life, we all have problems. There are enough problems to go around. The trick is how we look at them and whether we react the right way in order to solve them. Too often, people are looking at a problem without even realizing that it is a problem. Understanding is half the battle when it comes to problem solving. You must first understand what a problem is before attempting to identify it or even resolve it.
Let’s examine what Webster says about problems: prob•lem a: a question raised for consideration b: a source of distress c: difficulty in understanding. Now that you can identify problems in your life, you can go about the business of solving them.
For some, problem solving is as easy as thinking. For others, problem solving requires a process. Don’t Personalize The Problem. Problem solving means not personalizing a problem, realizing that we will all go through our trials and tribulations. Life is like a rollercoaster—it has its ups and downs. If you de-personalize the problem, it becomes a problem instead of your problem. Then you can step to the problem with the perspective of: “This too shall pass.” Once you have placed a problem in its proper perspective, it becomes easier to resolve. The difference is as simple as saying “My business is having difficulties—what can I do to solve them?” as opposed to saying: “My business is going under.” With the first statement, there is a clear problem there that can be resolved. With the second statement, failure is a foregone conclusion and at that point, problem solving is useless. The old question of whether the glass is half empty or half full is a pure reference to perspective.

Learn From Your Problems “The present is a product of the past. If you’re living for now, today- without any relationship or respect for what happened yesterday- you put yourself at risk for repeating the same mistake.” —Mos Def. When life gives you lemons—make lemonade! How many times have you heard that phrase? I’m sure you’ve heard it more than a few times. The real issue is whether you have internalized it or not.
Are you sitting around depressed and sucking on life’s lemons, complaining about what has happened or are you moving forward with that knowledge under your belt? We not only learn from the situations that life presents us, but from the people who are a part of those situations as well. That means that we should pay close attention to the type of people we meet, because more than likely, we will meet those types of people again later in life. If we have paid attention, we will know how to deal with them. If you understand what happened yesterday, it is less likely that it will go on today. I believe that if we learn enough about what we have been through and about the people we have been through it with, we can actually ward off future problems, solving them before they occur. If you understand clearly what happened before, you can prevent it from reoccurring.
To me, life is a classroom. It doesn’t matter if the situation involves family, friends, relationships or business—there is always something to learn. Once I have examined a situation and I have processed it all internally, I have graduated from that class and have a degree in that situation. When I encounter that situation again, I will be able to work from the inside out.
For example, a child learns that when he touches a hot stove, pain will follow. As the child grows older, the hot stove is avoided, so that the pain can also be avoided. Business situations are no different. If you are in business with someone who has cheated you out of money, the best thing to do would be to end the business relationship. Sometimes, you can even learn from what has happened in the immediate past. Once you have analyzed the problem and placed it in its proper perspective, you can formulate a plan of attack and attack the problem.
Think of yourself as the general of a great army of soldiers, dedicated to attacking the enemy at all costs. Remember, this is your life at stake and your success depends on your actions
##SAM#WHATSAPPTEACHINGFORUM#

SUCCESS FORMULAS (Part 8)

Sub-Topic: KEEP ON KEEPING ON.
It is important to pay attention to your true destiny because you may believe that you are failing for other reasons, when the failure is simply destiny telling you that you are on the wrong path!
Destiny is not something you create; it is something that you discover. Once you discover your purpose, your destiny, you have to align yourself with it or you could end up on a path of self-destruction. There are few things worse than the feeling of failure. Failure directly attacks our ego, our sense of who we are in relation to the world. We feel impotent, inadequate, depressed, destroyed and isolated. The structures, pillars, the patterns of our life become shaken. Failure can be experienced in many ways. A business can fail, you can lose your job, fail at school, under perform at work, get passed over for promotion, fail in love. Most people don’t want to talk about it. Failure is the `f’ word: you don’t discuss it, you don’t go anywhere near a person infected by it (it may be contagious). You don’t even write about it: There are hundreds of books/ articles on success; hardly any on failure. Any risk implies the possibility of failure. When we dare new things–changing a job, starting or expanding a business, beginning a relationship–we risk failure. Every time we reach out, we’re off balance and poised to fall. But to grow, we have to keep reaching out.
Handling failure is difficult because there is often no guidance on how to cope. When someone dies, people rally around you. When your business dies or the lost of your home to foreclosure, you feel all you’re all alone.
There are two kinds of failure:
1. The sudden death or the outright failure.
2. And the living death or the hidden failure.
In the first kind, failure is obvious and visible–there’s no hiding the fact that you’ve gone bankrupt, been fired or passed over for promotion or failed in a relationship.
The second kind is less obvious: It’s when you’re not performing at your job `temporarily’ or a relationship is on the rocks and you’re hoping it will work out. Don’t become preoccupied with fear of failure and disapproval which can deplete energy levels. Maintain normal anxiety and fear of failure and disapproval within bounds to utilize them to create energy and momentum. Outright failure brings with it the opportunity for a fresh, clean start. Hidden failure, on the other hand, drags you down and makes a comeback more difficult. Most entrepreneurs or strivers are born optimists, refusing to think about the possibility of failure. They believe “success is just around the corner” or that “the tide will turn”. I thought winning was about persisting “Every gambler knows the secret to winning is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep...You gotta know when to hold, know when to fold ‘em.” Reckless persistence enables ordinary people with only a dream and a handful of dollars, overcome impossible odds. However, it is reckless persistence that also ruins lives, breaks up families and spoils one’s chances of future entrepreneurial success.

Running a start-up business is like learning to ride a bicycle. Every time you fall, you pick yourself up; but you have to be careful you don’t fall so hard you can’t get up again. They have an expression in prizefighting: “everyone has a plan until they’re hit.” You’ve just been hit ...the getting up is up to you.
The world is an integration of opposites. There can be no day without night; without evil, we wouldn’t be able to differentiate the good. “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same... Yours is the world and everything in it.”
##SAM#WHATSAPPTEACHINGFORUM#