How to cultivate the Discipline of Courage

Courage requires that you make yourself do what you should do, that you deal with your fears rather than avoiding them.  

a)   The biggest obstacle to success in life is fear of failure, expressed in the feeling that, “I can’t! I can’t! I can’t!”  

b) Courage is a habit, developed by practising courage whenever it is required. As Emerson said, “Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.”  

c)  Make a habit of confronting your fears rather than avoiding them. When you confront the fear and move toward it, especially if it is another person or people or situation, the fear gets smaller and you become braver.  

d) Repeat the words to cancel fear, “I can do it!” over and over, to build up your courage and confidence.  

e) Identify one fear in your life and then discipline yourself to deal with it, to confront it, to do whatever it involves, as quickly as you possibly can. The payoff for identifying a fear and confronting it is tremendous, it gives you the courage and confidence to go through your life and deal with every fear-inducing situation. 

The discipline of courage is really needed if we are to succeed in our lives and careers. 

Do share with us any experiences you have with courage when it came to taking a major decision in your life.

How to develop the discipline of Daily Time Management

Rule: “Every minute spent in planning saves ten minutes in execution.” The more you plan, the bet­ter you use your time, and the more you accomplish.  

a.  Begin by making a list of everything that you have to do. The best time to write your daily list is the night before so that your subconscious can work on it while you sleep. 

b. Organize the list by priority before starting work.  

c. Practice the 80/20 rule, which says that 80% of your results come from 20% of your activities. What are they?  

d. Use the ABCDE method to set priorities. This is based on considering the consequences of doing or not doing a particular task.  

A = Must do - serious consequences for non-completion

B = Should do – mild consequences for non-completion

C = Nice to do – no consequences for non-completion

D = Delegate – everything possible

   E = Eliminate – everything you can to free up more time

e. Organize your list by A-1, A-2, A-3, and so on. 

f. Start on your A-1 task first thing in the morning.  

g. Discipline yourself to concentrate single-mindedly on your A-1 task until it is 100% complete.

The discipline of good time management spreads to all your other disciplines. It has immediate pay­off in improved results, and long term payoff in terms of the quality of your life work, courtesy - Brian Tracy. 

Hope you enjoyed the good habit development; do follow this blog for the next discipline.

How to Cultivate the Discipline of Daily Goal-Setting

Today, we will discuss the Discipline of Daily Goal-Setting, a habit that will help us both in our personal, career and in every aspect of our lives. Focus and concentration are the essential qualities for career and personal success. 

a)  Start by asking, “What do I really want to do with my life?” Ask this question over and over again until you get a clear answer.  

b)  Imagine that you had ten million dollars cash, but only ten years to live. What would you immediately do differently in your life? 

c)  Imagine that you have no limitations. That you could wave a magic wand and have all the time and money, all the education and experience, all the contacts you needed to achieve any goal. What would you do then?  

d)  Buy a spiral notebook and write in it every day. Begin by writing out ten goals in the present, positive and personal tense. Begin each goal with the word “I” followed by an action verb. For example, you could write, “I earn $xx,xxx by December 31, 2007.”

e)  Every day before you start off, rewrite your top ten goals in the present tense, as though you had already achieved them and you were reporting on this success to someone else.  

Rewrite your goals without looking back to the previous page. Rewrite them from memory. Watch how they grow, de­velop and change over time as you rewrite them each day. Many people have said that the discipline of daily goal setting has transformed their life and far faster than they had even imagined, courtesy – Brian Tracy.

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How to Advance Your Career – Seven (7) Disciplines

There are seven (7) disciplines you must develop if you want to achieve all that is possible for you and your career. You can learn these disciplines through practice and repetition until they become automatic in your life. 

Discipline No. 1 - Goal Setting

Every morning, take 3 to 5 minutes to write out your top goals in the present tense. Get a spiral notebook for this purpose. By writing out your 10 goals at the beginning of each day, you will program them deep into your subconscious mind. 

This daily goal writing will activate your mental powers. It will stimulate your mind and make you more alert. Throughout the day, you will see opportunities and possibilities to move more rapidly toward your goals. 

Discipline No. 2 - Planning and Organizing

Take a few minutes, preferably the night before, to plan out every activity of the coming day. Always work from a list. Always think on paper. This is one of the most powerful and important disciplines of all for high performance. 

Discipline No. 3 - Priority Setting
The essence of all time management, personal management, and life management is contained in your ability to set proper priorities and use of your time. This is essential for high performance.

Discipline No. 4 - Concentration on your Highest-Value Activities
Your ability to work single-mindedly on your most important task will contribute as much to your success as any other discipline you can develop. 

Discipline No. 5 - Exercise and Proper Nutrition 
Your health is more important than anything else. By disciplining yourself to exercise regularly and to eat carefully, you will promote the highest possible levels of health and fitness throughout your life. 

Discipline No. 6 - Learning and Growth 
Your mind is like a muscle. If you don’t use it, you lose it. Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field. 

Discipline No. 7 - Time for Important People in your Life 
Relationships are everything. Be sure that in climbing the ladder of success, you do not find it leaning against the wrong building. Make time for your relationships every day, no matter how busy you get. 

Action Exercise 
These 7 disciplines will ensure that you perform at the highest level and get the greatest satisfaction and results from everything you do. Study these 7 disciplines and then make a plan for how you can incorporate each of them into your daily life. (Courtesy – Brian Tracy).  

I encourage you to follow and subscriber to this blog to help you master the habit of self-discipline and learn more on self-discipline. 

How to develop the Habit of Continuous Learning

“To earn more you must learn more.”Jim Rowan says: “Work at least as hard on yourself as you do on your work.”

a)  Read in your field 30-60 minutes each day. This will translate into one book per week, 50 books per year.  

b) Listen to CD’s in your car as you drive from place to place. This will amount to 500-1000 hours per year.  

c)  Attend seminars and take courses given by experts in your field. One idea from one course can save you years of hard work.  

d) The average income in America increases at 3% per annum. With compound interest, the average person doubles their income every 22 years. 

e) With the additional knowledge and skill you can apply to get better results, you increase your income at 10%, 15% and even 25% per year.

f)  10% per annum increase means that you double your income in 7 years and 2 months.  

g)  25% increase per annum means that you double your income in 2 years and 8 months. (Credit; Brian Tracy) 

Work on yourself as if your future depends on it, because it does. Continuous learning will make us to sacrifice our time for sleeping, leisure and family, however, the long term benefits far overrides the sacrifices we may go through today.  

Go ahead start reading that book, sign up for that online course; start listening to the language audio CD today and see where you get to by the end of this year.  

Do follow this blog, if you have enjoyed reading this post, for more tips and advice on developing self-discipline in your personal and career life.

How to start the Habit of Saving and Investing

Resolve today to get out of debt, stay out of debt and become financially independent. 

Your goal and everyone’s goal is to achieve financial independence as soon as possible in life. This requires continuous financial dis­cipline with every dollar you earn. The key is for you to save 10%, 15% and even 20% of your income throughout your life.  

a)  Because you are probably in debt already, begin by saving 1% of your income and discipline yourself to live on the other 99% until this becomes a habit.  

b)   Increase the amount of monthly savings to 2%, 3% and eventually 10% and 15%. Discipline yourself to live on the balance.  

c)  Rewire your thinking from “I enjoy spending” to “I enjoy saving.”  

d)  Delay; defer major purchases for 30 days.  

e)  Investigate before you invest. Two thirds of investment success comes from avoiding mistakes. Invest as much time in studying the investment as you invested to earn the money in the first place.

f)  Pay cash for as many things as possible. Get rid of your credit cards. When you pay cash, the amount you are spending is far more visible and painful.

“If you cannot save money, the seeds of greatness are not in you.”

W. Clement Stone

Dear friends and fans, cultivating the habit of saving and investing is a necessary discipline if we want to succeed and become wealthy. Therefore start investing today!!!

How to Cultivate the Discipline of Hard Work

Goal: Develop a reputation for being a hard, hard worker. 

“The harder you work, the luckier you get.”- Thomas Jefferson

a)   The average work week in America is 32 hours. 

b)   The average person wastes 50% of the workday in idle chit-chatting with co-workers, extended cof­fee breaks and luncheons, personal business, reading the newspaper and surfing the internet.  

c)    Rule: Work all the time you work!  

d)   Start one hour earlier, and immediately get to work.  

e)   Work harder, through your lunch hour, all day long; don’t waste time.  

f)    Work one hour later; be the last to leave. Use this time to wrap up all your work and plan your next day.  

g)   Three extra hours of work will translate into 6-8 hours of productivity.  

h)  Ask; what is the most valuable use of my time right now? Whatever your answer, work on that every hour of every day. 

i)    If you get distracted, or interrupted, repeat over and over, “Back to work! Back to work! Back to work!” (Credit: Brian Tracy)

Working hard will not hurt or kill us as individuals and employees. Therefore in order for us to succeed and become wealthy, fulfilled individuals, we need to work hard at whatever we are doing.  

Dear friends, in order for us to make it in this life, we need to be hard working and develop the habit of managing our time daily.  

You are welcome to follow this blog, to read more tips on self-discipline, personal and career development success. 

How to be A Master of Persuasion

Today I will like to share with you an article I received from Brian Tracy on how to become a master of Persuasion. This article will help us to learn how to persuade and influence our community positively.

Becoming a Master of Persuasion by Brian Tracy

Persuasion power can help you get more of the things you want faster than anything else you do. It can mean the difference between success and failure. It can guarantee your progress and enable you to use all of your other skills and abilities at the very highest level. Your persuasion power will earn you the support of others.

You Have Two Choices

There are always two choices: either you can persuade others to help you or you can be persuaded to help them. It is one or the other. Most people are not aware that every human interaction involves a complex process of persuasion and influence. And being unaware, they are usually the ones being persuaded to help others rather than the ones who are doing the persuading.

The Key to Persuasion

The key to persuasion is motivation. Every human action is motivated by something. Your job is to find out what motivates other people and then to provide that motivation.

People have two major motivations: the desire for gain and the fear of loss. The desire for gain motivates people to want more of the things they value in life. They want more money, more success, more health, more influence, more respect, more love and more happiness.

Human wants are limited only by individual imagination. No matter how much a person has, he or she still wants more and more. When you can show a person how he or she can get more of the things he or she wants by helping you achieve your goals, you can motivate them to act in your behalf. 

A Presidential Insight

President Eisenhower once said that, "Persuasion is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do, and to like it." You need always to be thinking about how you can get people to want to do the things that you need them to do to attain your objectives.

The Fear of Loss

People are also motivated to act by the fear of loss. This fear, in all its various forms, is often stronger than the desire for gain. People fear financial loss, loss of health, anger or disapproval of others, loss of the love of someone and the loss of anything they have worked hard to accomplish. They fear change, risk and uncertainty because these threaten them with potential losses.

Use Dual Motivation

Whenever you can show a person that, by doing what you want them to do, they can avoid a loss of some kind, you can influence them to take a particular action. The very best appeals are those where you offer an opportunity to gain and an opportunity to avoid loss at the same time.

Action Exercises

Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, before trying to convince someone of something, take a little time to think and ask questions to find out what it is he really wants. 

Then, motivate him to act by showing him how you can help him get it. Remember, people are motivated for their reasons, not yours.

How to develop the Discipline of Clear Thinking

Developing the discipline of clear thinking helps us to focus on our career and personal goals without wavering or changing our minds. This article will help us to develop the habit of thinking clearly when making career decisions.

Thomas Edison once said, “Thinking is the hardest discipline of all.”  

It has been said that there are three types of people. There are those who think (The small minority); there are those that think they think, then there are those who would rather die than think.

a)   Take time to think though the critical issues and problems in your life. Put aside long, unbroken chunks of time, thirty, sixty and then ninety minutes. 

   Peter Drucker said that, “Fast people decisions are usually wrong people decisions.” In addition, fast decisions with regard to your family, career, money or any other major issue are usually wrong decisions.  

b)  Sit quietly for 30-60 minutes to think. Practice solitude on a regular basis. “Go into the silence.” 

c) Whenever you practice solitude for more than thirty minutes, you activate your super conscious mind and trigger your intuition. You get it right from the “still, small, silent voice within.”  

d)  To think better, take a pad of paper and write down every detail of the problem situation you are facing. Sometimes, the right thing to do emerges as you write down the details.  

e)   Aristotle once said that wisdom (The ability to make good decisions) is a combination of experience plus reflection. The more time that you take to think about your experiences, the more vital lessons you will gain from them.  

f)  Go for a walk or exercise for 30-60 minutes. Very often when you are exercising, you will get insights or ideas that help you to think better and make better decisions. 

g)   Talk your situation over with someone else who you like and trust, and who is not emotionally involved; Very often, a different perspective can totally change your viewpoint.  

h)  Always ask, “What are my assumptions?” What is it that you are assuming to be true about the situation? 

i)  What if your assumptions were wrong? What if you were preceded on the basis of false information?  

Always be open to the possibility that you could be completely wrong in your current course of action. Be open to doing something completely different, courtesy – Brian Tracy. Don't forget to get your copy of the book on Goals!: How to Get Everything You want - Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible by Brian Tracy.