Why Motivational Poems Can Boost Productivity and Provide the Winning Edge
Motivational poems are not just the mushy love stuff you’re thinking of. Nope. These types of poems are quality quotes on steroids. Many people are stumbling onto the power of poems – reaping needed motivation for turbo productivity and goal achievement. Are you willing to be left out or do you want to take advantage too?
Here’s the thing – you can’t rely on just any type of poems. You need the type of poems that inspire you, touch your emotions, and push you onward. This is exactly the type of weapon you want in your arsenal. You see, we all face challenges in life so you need to provide yourself with a motivational edge. Poems, unlike quotes, provide more in-depth wisdom and insight you can tap into to help yourself through anything. More importantly, since variety is the spice of life, motivational poems serve as a unique motivation technique to keep how you motivate yourself interesting and exciting. For example, the next time you feel ready to give up, rely on these motivational thoughts:
Don’t Quit:
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill,
when the funds are low, and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out,
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worse,
that you must not quit.
- Anonymous
I recommend you save these words for the next time you are at a low. Let motivational poems inspire and encourage you. The really nice thing is you can find inspiring poems that cover all aspects of life – relationships, success, productivity, goal achievement.
Now it’s your turn to take advantage of motivational poems. Don’t be left behind or at a disadvantage. This motivational technique is right at your fingertips and so very easy to use.
Kim Brevard is a self improvement and motivation enthusiast determined to motivate people to get what they want out of life. Visit her self improvement and motivation site for unique ideas and perspectives on personal growth and motivation.
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Time Management: 11 Tips
Work more efficiently and be more productive using these time-management tips:
- Use a timer.
Pick one item on your to-do list,
set your timer for 15 minutes and get to work. Don’t worry about finishing, just get
started. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and get nothing done at all. Tackling tasks in
small chunks helps you stay focused. - Delegate.
Don’t be afraid to enlist the help of others
to complete projects that are time consuming or monotonous. Whether you have to
hire a professional or your 10-year old son, do it. - Set goals.
It’s much easier to get something done if
you know exactly what it is you’re working toward. Set long-term goals first and
then determine the short-term goals that will serve as stepping stones toward the
larger goal. - Sort mail immediately.
Mail can quickly become
beastly, taking over every nook and cranny. When you get your mail each day, open
it directly over the garbage can. Most likely, the bulk of it can be dropped right in.
For the rest, determine what action needs to be taken and deal with it
appropriately. - Make an appointment with yourself.
Schedule at
least one hour each day for “catch up” tasks such as work overflow, returning phone
calls, answering emails etc. If you pencil time into your calendar, you’re less likely
to let the mundane (but necessary) tasks pile up. - Become friends with your voice mail.
Don’t be a slave
to the phone. It really is OK to let voice mail get it once in a while. - Have an assembly line mentality.
Complete like tasks
together such as returning phone calls, answering email, sending out invoices etc.
You’ll be much more productive. - Work when you’re most alert.
Figure out your most
productive time of day and set your work schedule accordingly. - Use checklists.
For tasks that must be completed on
a regular basis, make and keep simple checklists to ensure you don’t overlook
important steps in the process. - Give everything a place.
Don’t waste your time trying
to find things that seemed to have disappeared. Organize your workspace so that
every item has a home. It’ll make locating and storing items a snap. - Be prepared.
Reserve 5 minutes at the end of each
day to review your schedule for the next. That way, you’ll have no surprises.
Amy Andrews is the owner of SimplyComplete.com, where businesses & individuals hand off their “got-to-dos” so they can focus on their “want-to-dos.”
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If You Write It, It Will Come – 10 Goal Setting Techniques To Use When Writing Down Your Goals
10 Goal Setting Techniques To Use When Writing Down Your Goals
Im sure you have heard at one time or another that you should write down your goals. Chances are you may have even done it at some point in your life. While the act of writing down your goals is important, even more important is your overall approach to goal setting. It may not be enough to simply write down a goal, especially if you end up forgetting about it. Below are 10 goal setting techniques to use when writing down your goals.
1. Be Specific: The more specific you are when writing down your goals the more likely you are to achieve them. Our subconscious mind is extremely powerful, and we all have the ability to guide it. It is for this reason that you must outline exactly what you want. When you write down a goal think of it as instructions to your subconscious. The more specific you are the better. If you just write down a goal such as “buy a house” you really have given your brain very little to work with. The more specific you are, the easier it will be for your brain to accept it, and as a result you will start taking the action necessary to achieve it. By providing detailed instructions – such as “Buy a Mediterranean style house near the beach with six bedrooms, a pool, large back yard and 4 car garage” – your brain will assume you are giving it directions to achieve exactly what you want. Simply writing buy a house will get lost in the shuffle and put aside while you focus on goals that seem more specific.
2. Stay Positive: Write your goals in a positive rather than negative manner. Avoid writing stop being lazy or dont go to work late. Instead, write be active or go to work on time. Your subconscious will not differentiate between a negative and a positive command and will accept the instructions in their entirety without judgment. So even though your intentions may be good your mind will still hear words like stop, lazy, dont, and late which all have a negative connotation. The more positive you keep your instructions, the more positive your results.
3. Hold Yourself Accountable: Tell the people close to you about your goals. This doesn’t mean you should go around telling everyone you know how rich you are going to be. It means that you should tell a few people who are close to you about the goals you have set. By telling them what your goals are you are making a statement. You are putting yourself and your credibility on the line. It is very easy to slack off and become lazy when you are the only one who knows about your goals. When you tell other people, especially the people who know you the best, you make yourself accountable. It is amazing how much people are willing to do to save face. No one wants to be embarrassed by not doing what they said they were going to do.
4. Make Them Visible: Put your goals in a place where you can see them. It does you no good to write down a goal then put the paper you wrote it on in a drawer or file where you will never see it. It is kind of like making a grocery list then leaving it at home when you go to the market. Post your goals in a prominent location where you will see them everyday. I keep mine on the wall that I see while I am sitting at my desk. The purpose is simple…repetition is the mother of learning. The more you see your goals the more you condition your mind to achieve them.
5. Wording is Everything: Avoid weak words and use present tense when goal setting. NEVER use the word try. To me, one of the weakest words in the English language is try. The word, by its very nature, is limiting. It prepares you for failure rather than success. Do not use other words that give you the ability to put off achieving your goal. Writing I will loose weight or I am going to loose weight implies that it will happen in the future but it has no urgency. The subconscious mind thinks it can put off a goal that does not seem urgent. Write your goals in present tense, first person, as if they are currently truesuch as I am losing weight or “loose 2 pounds every week.”
6. Visualize: Part of conditioning your subconscious mind is the conscious act of visualization. Once you have written down your specific goals take time out of the day to focus on seeing them happen in your mind. If you want to travel to the Bahamas, for example, think about actually being there. Picture yourself sitting on the beach enjoying your favorite drink or sailing on a yacht in the crystal blue water. The more detailed your visualization is the better. This is best done in a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed, but you can really do it any time throughout the day. Think of it as constructive daydreaming.
7. Break Them Down: You should break down your goals into daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals. I prefer using this method rather than using short term or long term because it is not specific enough. By setting specific target dates for your goals, you are telling your subconscious when you want to achieve them. It will also allow you to have some order to your goals, so that they do not all blend together. Obviously, daily goals are going to be very different from goals that will take a year or more to complete. Think of this practice as a way of maintaining control over your goals. It makes sense to do this, as any profitable business sets goals in the same manner.
8. Make an Association: After you have written down your specific goals find something that will inspire you to achieve them. Find an object or picture that will remind you of each specific goal. For example, if you want to a car find a picture of that car and post it right next to your written goal. Even better would be to find a physical object to represent your goal. If, for example, you want to buy a new house then you can find a doorknocker that will represent that goal. Then, when you accomplish that goal, you can use that same doorknocker at your new home. Be creative with this goal setting technique!
9. Re-write: You must re-write your goals regularly. Just like we as people change over time, so will our goals. Make it a habit to re-write your goals as often as you can. Take this opportunity to update your goals and make them even more specific. Feel free to rephrase goals you have yet to achieve as sometimes that makes all the difference.
10. Read, Read and Read: The last technique is arguably the most important one. You must read your goals EVERYDAY. By now you should realize that goal setting is really about conditioning your subconscious. By reading your goals (preferably out loud) you are literally telling yourself to achieve them. I cannot emphasize this enough. When you read your goals you are not just reminding yourself about them…you are commanding action. If you just take away only this rule I have done my job. Read your goals everyday and I assure you will have great results.
If you follow all of the rules above I am confident you begin to take the action necessary to achieve your goals. Remember, goal setting isn’t complicated…it just needs to be done the right way!
William Saleebey is a filmmaker, writer, entrepreneur and internet marketer. He specializes in createing content rich sites that generate traffic on the internet. If you would like to know more about the type of sites he builds the best source is the company he uses to build them. It is an all-in-one site building, hosting and marketing step by step system that is unmatched on the internet. If you’re looking to build a web site, create an online business, or just want to generate a second income on the internet check out: http://www.make-a-web-site-that-gets-traffic.com
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Ideal Week Gives You An Ideal Life
The concept of the ideal week is to ensure you remain focused on the most important content of your week without becoming easily distracted from the game plan by outside influences.
It’s the start of a flexible master plan that of course you can change if needed. But the idea is that you go into the week knowing the activities you need to do – to be both work productive and life productive.
And that’s an interesting concept, because most people get the diary idea of putting the work appointments or school commitments, or even the children’s sporting activities into their week, but have they thought to include their own personal ‘me time’ in there?
One important thing to remember is that 7 ideal days don’t make up an ideal week, nor do 4 ideal weeks make up an ideal month and so to end with an ideal year. That’s because in a week there are a number of irregular activities that need to be locked in first.
Some things won’t be negotiable, like the time for a sales meeting or the Saturday soccer game.
So to create the idea week you need understand this theory.
A teacher stood in front of the class and held out an empty bowl. She then filled it with large rocks, and asked the students if they thought the bowl was full. They answered yes?
She then took a large amount of small pebbles and put them into the bowl, is it full now she asked, they nodded. She then took a bag of sand and poured in into the bowl, is it really full now she asked again, the students were wising up now and seeing the bowl over flowing with sand, they did all agree, now it was completely full.
Lastly she took a jug of water and poured it all into the bowl. Now at last it was truly full. And what is the lesson she asked the crowd.
They looked blankly.
The real lesson she said ‘was that to fill the bowl you need to put the big rocks in first!
And that’s what planning an ideal week or month is all about! Before you clutter it all up with ‘busy stuff’ you need to plan the big rocks in first!
What would those big rocks look like?
I believe that they would be things like, firstly ME time, then family or partner time
Daily Exercise is essential, because without your health, all the wealth is pointless.
Time for friends. I make a time on Thursday nights and Sunday mornings to make contact with distant friends, to ensure that these friendships don’t fade due over time?
Date night is another favourite for me, every Friday at 4pm date night starts in our home, this is family time together, off to the beach, or a movie inside with popcorn, or Dinner under the table for a change! Everyone gets a chance to contribute their ideas and we all run with the concept of the week.
Best of all with this idea it creates a sense of tradition and what I call family ‘Folklore’ stories and photographs to be reminded of in the future.
After this you can put the external bookings in, work commitments and the other items I mentioned a minute ago.
When you book these work commitments in think firstly of what is real Dollar Productive Activity. Prioritise that first into the most productive part of the day, first up until lunch time.
Other administrative duties can be scheduled later on, and of course neither should ever steal away your ‘me Time’ each day!
Start today to plan out an ideal week, share this with your partner and family, even you work colleagues if that will get them to understand you priorities at this time. Review your ideal week regularly to ensure it is still current and effective.
Another good way to look at the really big picture and start to plan an ideal life is to have a look at my website www.Onehundredthingstotrybeforeyoudie.com , and there you will find a list of things that people have contributed to the big life list.
Have a look and see how many you have done, and would like to do.
Grant Thorpe is an internationally recognized achievement based Business Coach, Mentor and Professional Speaker.
His specialty as a coach is working with high performing entrepreneurs, business owners, CEOs, corporations and salespeople from around the world. With a business coach, you will heap success on success until you gain the balanced and rewarding life you desire and know you deserve. Read more about the results Grant Thorpe can achieve for you on his website at http://www.grantthorpe.com
“He can give you the how, enable you to sidestep the distractions and define, focus on and achieve the things that really matter to you”.
Grant Thorpe is also the author of the book ‘Easy Million Dollar Idea’, download your free copy from http://www.easymilliondollaridea.com
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What is Manifestation and Is It Possible?
What is manifestation? It is an art of making your deepest desires materialize. Sit back and relax, visualize what you want in your life. Many people do not believe this is possible, try and you could be surprised.
Manifestation is an intention placing a desire, wish or goal and focusing on this specific desire daily or as many times a day as you can. Sorcerers have practiced manifestation for gain, healing and enlightenment, using incantations as well as meditation and this manifested in the real world.
You are now asking the question of how can I manifest my dreams, how can I make my wishes come true, do you have to have special qualities like being psychic, or practicing a craft of sorts. No not at all – this is a natural science and it is inborn in all humans – it is called the “Law of attraction”.
You are really short of cash, and you want a new car, but do not have the amount of money required for the car. You should know exactly what type of car, what colour the car is, and all the finer details you want such as a sun roof, radio, air conditioning etc. The picture of this car would go into a lucid dream space your “subconscious” in other words you are broadcasting a signal into space “universe” and what goes out must come back.
Manifestation occurs with precise vibration. A thought or focus change can immediately take you into a different space. Most people do not have control of their thoughts. But when you want to manifest an item or situation you become aligned in you’re though process and you focus on this specific thing you want, the vibration you have created will manifest in time.
The saying goes be careful what you ask for, you might just get it. This is so true, many times we are hell bent on something we desire, and directly or indirectly we will manifest this into our lives. You have to be vibrational aligned with yourself and the desired object and then manifestation will occur, as manifestation is thought itself.
You don’t always need money for what you want, just by putting out the correct vibration and holding this intention, the object you desire can manifest in various different ways, like someone could give you the object you desire. So in other words do not make money the object of what it is you want. Manifestation is based upon vibrational match.
The stronger your vibration is and the clearer your intention is towards the object you are seeking the faster you will manifest. All you are working with is pure energy and vibration – which in turn brings you the desired item. Now are you still asking and wondering what is manifestation.
Find out more about how to manifest good things into your life and begin to make the law of attraction work for you.
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Goal Setting Theory
This article offers a concise goal setting theory which intends to act as a motivating factor when starting the process of goal setting. Seeing how powerful it really is, will likely get you started too. Setting and achieving goals is powerful! Although we know it is, some of us hesitate to set goals in life, because it seems hard, boring or limiting. And sometimes we plainly do not know what we want, which makes it even harder!
To write down what you strive for is a well known and reliable method to reach what you want. Goal setting is often associated with results in sports, career and finances. And no doubt there are numerous examples of how well it works in those areas! Remember however, that it is the principles that work and these can be used by anybody and be applied to any imaginable area in life; work, family, relationships, health, leisure and so on.
The purpose of the study referred to below is to show the power of goal setting. It is one of the most famous studies ever done on this topic, and many similar studies have subsequently been carried out throughout the years.
Goal Setting Study at Yale 1953
In 1953 a study on goal setting was conducted at the prestigious Yale University in the USA. The study was conducted among the graduate students, and it was found that only 3 per cent of the participating students had taken the necessary steps towards successful goal setting. The remaining 97 per cent of the participants had not set any specific goals, except for expressing a general wish of becoming a lawyer, a doctor etc.
20 years later there was a follow up study conducted among the graduate students of Yale in 1953. They were asked about their health, about their general life situation, if they were happy etc. Most of the answers were very subjective. BUT one area was measurable – their wealth – and the results were amazingly unambiguous:The possessions of the 3% who had specific goals exceeded the possessions of all the remaining 97%!
Setting specific goals work…and now the goal setting theory behind it:
1. Write down WHAT you want to achieve. Be as specific as possible.
2. Write down WHY you want to achieve this. Be as specific as possible.
3. Find out what you need to know in order to reach your goals.
4. Write an action plan for your desired outcome. Be as detailed as possible.
5. Add dates for WHEN each goal will be completed.
For now, I will leave you with Jim Rohns definition of what a good goal should be:
S.M.A.R.T.
S: Specific
M: Measurable
A: Attainable
R: Realistic
T: Time sensitive
I will add more details and examples on goal setting theory and other ideas that have arisen during my personal goal setting as this site progresses.
Kourosh Kavian is an avid learner of personal development and the study of success. He is totally into helping others achieve success in every area in life. Please visit:
http://www.personal-development-inside-out.com
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Does Listening to Motivational Speakers Really Make a Difference?
Their names are icons of American Optimism. They are synonyms of Success. They walk in notoriety. They are admired by hundreds of thousands and even millions not only in the United States, but around the world. Ziglar, Tracy, Rohn, Waitley, Canfield, Hansen, Robbins, Covey, Alessandra, “Tremendous” Jones, White, and many more. The Old Guard of Positive Thinking, inspirational, motivational, can-do speakers and writers such as Carnegie and Nightingale passed their baton to a new generation years ago. Some of the old-timers in the current group have already begun to pass the baton to a younger group such as Maxwell, Gitomer, and Widener. This new and improved group also includes many women such as Frapp, Podesta, and Jiminez.
But for all their good press and positive feel-good message, does what they have to say really make a difference? Personal Develop is an $8 Billion dollar industry in America. But at the end of the day, will you be a better person because you listened to them? Will listening to them make you more successful in your career? Will you make more money? Will your relationships really improve? Can you really become a better leader just by listening to these experts?
You might be surprised to find out that “yes” it does make a difference. I think Earl Nightingale said it in his classic seminar, The Strangest Secret “We become what we think about most of the time.” Now, as simple and practical as that may seem, consider the implications of it for a moment, not just in the realm of motivational speaking, but in all walks of life. What does a surgeon spend a great deal of his time thinking about before he becomes a surgeon? Answer: surgery. What does a scientist spend his time thinking about most of the time before becoming a scientist? Answer: science. What does a theology professor spend his time thinking about most of the time before becoming a professor? You guessed it: theology. What does a millionaire spend his time thinking about before becoming a millionaire? Making money.
So, it only stands to reason that this basic principle of most of success and positive thinking genre is true. We become what we think about most of the time. So, if you want to change your life, you have to change your thinking. OK. That makes sense. But, do you become a doctor just by thinking about it? Of course, not. You think about it and are motivated to follow a path and think about it almost obsessively. The Success Gurus are saying something a little bit deeper than to just change the content of your thinking. They are actually saying that you need to change the process of your thinking. In other words, your mind has to be retrained. Your mind was trained to think as a child. You had very little control over it. Perhaps you had good training from your parents, teachers, and peers. Perhaps you had lousy training from people who thought you were not worth the time or effort. Maybe they even constantly belittled your or put you down. Maybe they told you things like you would never accomplish anything, or called you a quitter or a loser. Every time you failed at some task, instead of thinking of that failure as a lesson learned, you just had your old training reinforced.
Unfortunately, we live a world where far more people are beaten down than are lifted up. Imagine what your life would be like if you had a few more people in your corner believing in you and encouraging you. What dreams could you accomplish.
As we said earlier, we are not responsible for the early training we received. However, we are responsible for our lives. We do not have to let incorrect training guide us forever. If it was wrong, we need to shed it and replace it with something that works for us.
Consider Matt Morris. Matt’s parents divorced when he was 4 years old. That leaves enough scars. A year later his father broke into his mother’s home and killed her boyfriend. He was sent to prison. Matt grew up and failed at every business venture he tried. By age 21 he was living in his car. But he believed he could change. He invested in himself and in positive motivational materials. Today he is the owner of one of the largest and fastest growing self-help sites on the internet, Success University. His company has thousands of customers from over 146 countries. With America’s passion for personal development, Matt’s site is ranked as the #1 Personal Development site on the web today. He is now a multi-millionaire with a passion to help others to achieve success.
So, what is the appeal of the Success University and the whole Success Motivation genre? Primarily, that it helps a person change his/her thinking process and also learn some practical principles that can make a real difference. Because these speakers all have their resources and they are entertaining and usually fun and interesting to listen to, people can receive daily encouragement, daily inspiration, and daily teaching in some specific area. Just listening to a CD everyday on during the daily commute to work, a person can receive the equivalent class time of a college degree in only 2 and years. In other words, anyone can become an expert on any subject in the world, while driving to work. That is truly amazing! Because of the advances in technology, we can use ipods, pda’s, smart phones, laptops, home entertainment centers, dvd’s, car cd players, home computers, wii’s, ps3’s, as listening and learning devices. Because of mp3’s and mpg’s and audiobooks, anyone can carry around the wisdom of the universe in their pocket.
Does it really make a difference? The millions of followers of these self-help experts would give enthusiastic testimonials to that fact.
I can say from personal experience that it has made a difference for me. The people and relationship principles I picked up just from reading How to Win Friends and Influence People as a teenager have helped me throughout my entire life. The Leadership Principles I picked up from John Maxwell have helped me in my business. The motivation and relationship principles I learned from Zig Ziglar have become guiding principles of my life.
When I was going through a very difficult time in my life and it seemed that everyone in my immediate surroundings was looking at me with disdain and contempt and didn’t believe in my leadership, it began to be very tempting to just through in the towel. I was beginning to give in to the negative majority that didn’t believe we could accomplish the task before us. I could literally feel myself sinking down, being pulled down by their opinions. I remember seeing a Tony Robbins infomercial. He had a new program. I didn’t care how much it cost, I just knew I had to get it. I needed someone to believe in me and tell me I could do it, even if he didn’t know me personally. It helped me turn a corner in my life and in my organization. We went on to complete the task and see success. But we would never have accomplished it if I had not been able to change my thinking and my perspective first.
I recently came across the best Success Library every assembled in one place. Success University has combined the principles of distance learning and personal development and created an incredible and amazingly affordable resource. It includes the greatest motivational speakers and trainers of modern times. What makes it unique is that not only can a person get the continuing education of a lifetime, but they also have the opportunity to benefit financially while they learn. I have loved it since I found it and I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for the best of the best and the most affordable price around.
So, why not consider investing in yourself first, so you will be able to make a difference in your family and your world.
Dr. Kelly Carr
http://www.MentoringCoach.Info-Ape.com/articles/career-life-coaching.php
http://www.amazinglifenow.com/amazingpersonaldevelopment/index.htm
Dr. Carr and his family live in scenic Chandler, Arizona where he writes and works as a pastor. If you would like more information about Success University send a blank email to mailto:successukcarr@aweber.com and you will receive the “Success University Secrets E-Mail Course” free of charge and the Classic Motivational Ebook “Acres of Diamonds” by the Adventurer and Founder of Temple University, Russell Conwell. This ebook also contains a link to the original audio by Dr. Conwell.
Books
A Guidebook for Searchers Revelation: Book of Mystery and Majesty
The Wedding Vow Kit
The Wedding Rehearsal Genie
The Wedding Income Toolkit for Ministers
Degrees
D. Min. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Th. M. Dallas Theological Seminary
B. S. Liberty University
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5 Steps to Staying in Shape at Your Computer
Have you ever sat at your computer for hours at a time? I mean hours and hours at a time. Have you skipped lunch? Have you eaten at your desk? How productive are you with no break at all? Have you ever felt fatigued after working all day?
Most people work at their computers 8 to 10 hours a day. That is 40 to 50 hours a week. People work harder and harder. They think they are productive with working straight all day long. Some people feel that they get more done. However, our bodies are designed to move. The long hours on your computer causes your muscles to stiffen. Your body becomes fatigued. Your productivity therefore starts to go down the drain.
What can you do to energize your body? What can you do to be more productive? Here are 5 steps in staying in shape at your computer.
1. Stretch your body. Stand up, raise your hands above your head and reach for the ceiling. Hold this stretch for 5 seconds. Then repeat it 3 more times.
2. Shoulder rolls. To loosen those tight, stiff shoulders, stand up and bring one arm backwards then the other arm. Repeat 5 times.
3. How about your neck? Sit up straight and hold your head high. Relax your neck. Gently touch your right ear to your right shoulder. Hold for 5 seconds. Then touch your left ear to your left shoulder. Hold for 5 seconds. Repeat this 3 times.
4. You only have one back. Take care of it. Stretch your back while you are sitting in your chair. Slowly bend your upper part of your body between your knees. Hold for 5 seconds and sit up. Repeat this 3 more times.
5. Breathe, Breathe, Breathe. Take a few slow and deep breathes in and out.
By staying in shape means moving your body. You will get your blood flowing. You will clear your mind and get more done. Take a break once in the morning and once in the afternoon. It is your choice. Choose to become more productive.
Amanda Young, founder of The Time Mastery, specializes in helping people get more done in less time in business and personal life. To learn more on how to get more done today visit http://www.thetimemastery.com
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A Beginner’s Guide to Goals and Goal Setting
Whenever we talk about goals and goal setting, the waters can become a bit muddied. This is because there can be so many varying aspects of this general topic. And, focus (staying on track, so to speak) is a definite part of this topic. So, staying focused on this topic, as well as staying focused on your goal is vital.
What do we mean by focus in relation to goals? Well, you need to make sure that you are constantly, continually keeping this goal in front of you. Make a part of your daily routine to go over your goals and work toward attaining them.
I could devote an entire article to just this subject, and I probably will. However, suffice to say that you need to stay focused on your goal.
In this article, I am going to give you some basic aspects about goals and setting goals. With this information, you should be able to begin to set some worthy goals and work toward their achievement.
Let’s get to it.
Goals need to be:
1. Specific. You need to have a definite “destination” that you want to arrive at. Now, please realize that success is a journey, not a destination-so, you never truly arrive. That’s because you are always moving, either forward or backward, in relation to a larger goal. What I mean by specific is that you need to know exactly what you want to achieve. The more specific that you can be, the better. It’s not enough to say “I want lots of money”, or, “I want to lose weight”. How much money, exactly, do you want? How much weight, exactly, do you want to lose? Asking yourself these questions until you arrive at a specific target helps you to create a more vivid mental image of the goal and what it will look like when you achieve it.
2. Attainable. The goals that you set need to be ones that you can actually attain, or achieve. This is all about personal talents, skills, abilities, etc. I’ve heard it said that if you can see it, you can be it. While this is true, you need to remember where you are in relation to the desired result. If, for example, you are 300 pounds overweight, it might not be so attainable to decide to lose those 300 pounds in a week. Miracles do happen; yet, it’s a good idea to keep your present circumstances a bit in view when setting those goals. Setting an unattainable, or unrealistic goal can often thwart your self image and future attempts at other goals. That brings us into another area of setting goals, that of making the goal:
3. Measurable. You need to have a way of determining that you actually hit your target. This, of course, is tied in with making your goal specific. It also has to do with seeing how close you came to your goal in instances where you may come up short. If you set as a goal that you wanted to lose 2 pounds each week for six months (a total of 12 pounds in six months), and you ended up losing 9 pounds, then you fell short-but would you have lost that 9 pounds without setting the goal? This gives you a bit of a positive push toward refining your goals and possibly adjusting your future actions.
4. Dated. Your goals need to have a date on them. You need to decide on when you want to achieve what it is that you want to achieve. When you set a date, you give yourself a bit of a deadline. This helps to create a sense of urgency, instead of a laissez-faire attitude about reaching this goal. That, “whatever” attitude will allow you to continue on a path without any true direction. With the deadline, however, you begin to hold yourself accountable to reaching the goal within a specific amount of time.
5. Believable. If you don’t believe, really believe that you can do it-do you really think that you will do it? Believability is necessary to set goals that you can accomplish. When you believe, in your own mind, with certainty, that you can accomplish a certain task, you are more enabled to reach that goal. This also, is a topic that deserves to be examined in further detail.
6. Impactful. This goal that you set needs to be something that will impact your life; something that will create a more positive experience for you and/or your loved ones. This, I believe, boils down to the age-old principle that everyone wants to know what’s in it for them. If there’s nothing in it for you (something that MATTERS to you), then your enthusiasm will surely wane when challenges arise. Or, you may not even take the goal serious enough to even begin to work on it. And this brings up another aspect of goals and goal setting; these goals need to be…
7. Your own! When someone else sets a goal for you, you usually do not commit to it as deeply as you do when you have set the goal for yourself. Yes, there are times in your life when others will set goals for you, and the secret there is to MAKE THEM YOUR OWN. You need to find a way to “buy” into those goals and find out what’s in it for you. By doing this, you personalize those goals into your own and will work more diligently at realizing their attainment.
8. Broken down into smaller, bite-size pieces. Take that Major Goal and break it up into specific action steps that are more achievable. As you move toward the Major Goal, you will see that the steps you have taken are not as daunting to you as the vision of that Major Goal.
Of course, there is more to goals and goal setting, but this brief introduction and overview will surely help you in creating the life you desire.
Chickey Motivational Institute
http://www.thefourpillarsoflife.com
http://www.thefourpillarsoflife.blogspot.com
Using the Four Pillars of Life, I help you to become a better you!
Principles of success, affirmations, conscious and subconscious improvement are all part of my focus.
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Time Management for Writers – Controlling Time, Without the Sci-Fi
OK, so if I actually knew how to control time, I wouldn’t be doing this; I would be off getting a note of next week’s lottery numbers. We can, however, look at how to better manage the time available to us. It occurred to me that one of the blockers for many people getting into writing or trying to finish a text is finding time to do it, especially amateur writers trying to fit writing into an already hectic life. So why not take some basic pointers from the world of business and apply them to your home life and your writing?
This is based upon a short tips article I wrote a while back on Helium.com that I’ve expanded further and tried to apply to the writing discipline. There are lots of ways you can try and manage your time better and many people will tell you alternative ways but I have stuck to six ways to help manage your time and be more efficient that I have always found work for me.
1. Divide your day into time slots if possible and allocate slots to activities.
Look at all of the broad activities or types of activity that you need to do on a daily basis. Allocate time slots to each activity and keep to it. From a writer’s perspective, decide when in the day you want to do your writing. Try and ensure that everything else you have to do can be done outside of this time and leave the slot free to get on with your writing. If, like me, you’re not a professional writer, you’ll most likely have to approach this the other way around by identifying when in the day you could reasonably expect to be able to write and then plan all of the other activities to ensure you don’t encroach on this part of the day.
2. Always keep a list of your ‘things to do’ – when you get each one done, cross it off the list and remember to keep adding the new tasks as they come up.
From the writer’s point of view, this is much more about making sure that the non-writing things don’t blindside on a lazy Sunday afternoon when you were about to get started on an important article. You should, however, be similarly organized in the practical or administrative tasks that relate to your writing. By being methodical in the small tasks that you need to do, you will find you can clear them a lot more quickly and, if things are written down, you can avoid too many unpleasant memory-related surprises.
3. Most people feel productive at certain times of the day and less productive at other times. Try and figure out which times of the day suit you best and work with it.
Have a look at the Where, When and How to Write section of freewritingadvice.com for some more information on identifying your productive periods, as this will influence what work you do at what times of the day. Knowing your productive periods in the day helps enormously with point 1 – dividing your day into time slots.
4. Be methodical wherever possible. Don’t go off on flights of fancy.
Make sure that there is a reason and a benefit to what you are doing, otherwise you may just be adding to your unproductive time – do the important stuff. It’s all too easy to find something that you’d like to do rather than what you need to do. If you avoid being sidetracked from your planed workload, you can be more effective in the long term and you will get time to do the things you want without feeling guilty about it.
5. Understand the difference between urgent and important!
This can be quite difficult. The temptation is to see everything that’s urgent as important, because it’s urgent. By making the distinction, you can concentrate mainly on what’s important and you will start to see that maybe some of the urgent stuff isn’t just as important as you might have thought. Ruthlessly prioritize the things you need to do, so that the time slot you allocated (remember point 1?) is effective and hits the important stuff. Things that are important and urgent will obviously be at the top of your list and you can clearly see what needs to be done first.
6. Wherever possible – delegate! This allows you to focus on a few tasks being done properly rather than a multitude of tasks being half done.
Yes, this is hard, if not almost impossible to do at home, but if you can get some assistance with the mundane to make time for your writing; try and do so. Maybe you want to trade help with someone to allow them to allocate a part of their day similarly to whatever it is they want to do. You help them, they help you – it just might work!
Do you want to get started as a writer? Do you want to improve the standard of your everyday writing? If so, visit freewritingadvice.com for punctuation, language and grammar tips as well as articles on creative, non-fiction, article and even technical writing.
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