Did you know that 95% of everything you do is determined by your habits?

From the time you get up in the morning, to the time you go to sleep at night, your habits largely control and dictate the words you say, the things you do and the ways you react and respond.

Successful, happy people have good habits that are life enhancing.

Unsuccessful, unhappy people, have habits that hurt them and hold them back.

One of the most powerful positive habits you can develop is the regular practice of zero based thinking. On a regular basis, ask yourself this question:

“Is there anything in your life that, knowing what your now know, you would not get into again today, if you had it to do over?”

For example, is there any relationship – business or personal – that you would not enter today?

What about your business?

• Are there any of your current products or services you would not offer today, knowing what you now know?
• Is there a market to which you are selling that you would not enter?
• Are there customers you would not take on?
• Employees you would not hire?
• Processes you would not adopt?
• Channels of distribution you would not use?
• Sales and marketing strategies you would not follow?

Have you invested time, energy, emotions or money in any relationship or venture to which you would not commit today, knowing what you now know?

If you answer “yes” to any such question, there automatically follows another obvious question:

Why are you still involved in this relationship, strategy, investment or whatever?

No one with a degree of common sense begins something that does not at least appear to make sense.

When we enter a relationship, hire an employee or make an investment, we do so because we are convinced it will benefit us.

Over a period of time, our needs change.

So do our circumstances.

What made sense yesterday may not necessarily make sense today.

Yet often, we are so busy that we fail to recognize these changes and, out of habit, we find ourselves perpetuating an outdated or outmoded status quo.

In applying zero based thinking, you expose these habitual parts of your life.

Then you can ask a second question:

What are you going to do about it?

Normally, there is one answer: eliminate it from your life. Then move on.

This practice of zero based thinking and taking appropriate action requires courage and commitment.

You must be brutally honest in your self-assessment. And you must be resolute in your determination to change.

Begin now, and make it a habit to regularly ask yourself the zero based thinking question,

“Knowing what I now know, is there anything I would not get into again today if I had to do it over?”

Then take action to eliminate these from your life.

The results can be quite extraordinary, as you eliminate negative, non-functional or even dysfunctional aspects of your life, replacing them with new, positive aspects.

You will have higher energy. You will enjoy greater peace of mind. And you will be far more productive.

The purpose of this blog post is to help focus your attention on those areas of your life that will change your life forever.

This act of observing – focusing upon – these critical life elements ensures maximum return on your investment of time and energy.

Why you ask – well because you are worth it

YOU ARE WHAT YOU DO…

The beginning of a habit is like an invisible thread.

Every time you repeat the act you strengthen the strand.

You add to it another filament with each repetition, until it becomes a great cable
and binds you irrevocably to each thought and act.

First you make your habits and then they make you.

Your thoughts lead you to your purpose.

Your purpose always manifests into action.

Your actions form your habits.

Your habits determine your character, and your character fixes your destiny.

Your habits are either the best of servants or the worst of masters.

Humility and Knowledge

In order for personal growth to take place, you should be humble enough to recognize and accept that there are always areas where improvement is needed.

This sense of humility will create honest introspection that can make us more aware of the characteristics and behaviors we need to improve on.

This kind of humility puts ego aside, creating an open-mindedness to accept constructive criticism.

When we can humble ourselves this way then tremendous personal growth can begin to take place in our lives.

With a spirit of humility we can:

• Lose self-centeredness
• Better understand yourself and why you do the things you do
• Better understand your behavior and accept the need for change
• Recognize your mistakes and accept responsibility for your actions
• Recognize the goodness in you
• Become more understanding of others
• Be more forgiving

Humility is the beginning of knowledge.

It is the start of that mindset to gain more wisdom and improve and grow self.

The know-it-all attitude is laid to rest, enabling honest introspection, which promotes growth.

Do you want to stay poor ?

Well do you?

Heres the thing. It takes a selfish person to stay poor.

Not being poor but staying poor.

Yes, lots of people tend to think of poor people as being kind, and wealthy people as being greedy and selfish, but I believe that the truth of the matter is the longer you stay poor, the more selfish you really are.

Let’s think about this a little before you start throwing things at me for calling poor people selfish.

Is this you? – you run out of money right before payday…

You are only one paycheck from being homeless as they would say…

You think only about yourself and those closest to you…

How will you eat, how will you pay the rent, how will you make the car repayment, how will you get to the next payday?

Now sometimes you show your kindness by helping out one person here or there, as long as it doesn’t stop you from eating.

But really – are you changing the world? NO.

Mostly your everyday actions are pretty selfish; thinking about you and yours.

You aren’t thinking about starving people in Africa – after all there are starving people in your own house!

Yet rich people are selfish and greedy, right?

Some people may give a donation to the causes, but for many people they need a donation themselves.

Now lets look at those folks who have money so they aren’t struggling ? Yeah, rich people.

Have you ever stopped to think how many diseases their money is curing?…

How many people’s lives their money is saving…

Nope, because they are the greedy ones…

My niece asked me about this one day. She said ‘ why do you say that it takes a selfish person to stay poor?’

I said ‘Okay, lets look at it this way.

If you are poor who can you help?

If you cannot buy food for yourself and your family, who can you help?

If you don’t know if you will have a place to live soon, who can you help?

She said ‘no one’. I said ‘exactly’…

We live in America, the land where there are one million new Millionaire households every year…it takes someone who is really all about themselves to stay poor.

After thinking about it for a few minutes her face lit up as she had another question

Well, she said – what about Mother Teresa?

Well Mother Teresa was backed by the Roman Catholic church, and everyone knows it has millions in money and property, so really she helped millions of people through this money from the Roman Catholic church so I’d say she really wasn’t poor…

If all she had to work with was a paycheck could she have made the same impact on the world?

You can say yes, but I believe the real answer is no.

She could only help millions because she could afford to spend her time doing that…she wasn’t worried about the money to help them, or how she would eat.. it was all taken care of for her.

The world is waiting for you to make your unique impact on it.

How can you help anyone if you can’t help yourself, so why don’t you choose today to make a greater contribution to this world and the people around you?

Steps To A Better Life

Asking and wishing for what you want doesn’t always mean you get it.

We all learn that lesson as children.

Learning how to ask is a lesson many people never properly learn.

Knowing how to ask for what you want can mean the difference between getting it and just continuing to want it.

Even more important than knowing how to ask, is knowing what you’re asking for.

Understanding what you want and the reasons you want it can give you valuable insight to the thought process that is necessary to achieving your desires.

Asking for riches without know what you want those riches for may not bring you the happiness and satisfaction you anticipated.

Realizing why you want money can help you understand what your real desire is.

Do you want it to provide security for your family, or because you really want the power money buys.

The goals here are different.

And while obtaining one, doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t get the other, it also doesn’t mean you will either.

Asking for another job is good example.

Why do you want another job?

Is it a second job you want? Or one that pays more?

Or are you really wanting a job that you can enjoy doing?

Not knowing why you want another job, can lead to dissatisfaction when you get what you asked

Work Ethics To Live By

Now that its mid November we are getting ready for the festive season and then the New Year 2010. So I thought I’d get in early with some suggestions about planning for 2010

As you look to this new year, perhaps one of your goals or resolutions is to create a better work experience for yourself.

So here’s my suggested work ethics you should live by.

• If you fail to plan, then plan to fail.

  One of the worst mistakes many people make is failing to plan.

  In doing so, you actually plan to fail because without a plan, you won’t get very far.

  If you don’t already have a business plan, sit down and write out some of your goals and plans right now.

• Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you.

  Believe it or not, the Golden Rule is still very much applicable in today’s world.

  While many people choose not to live by it (some people don’t even know what the Golden Rule is anymore!), the Golden Rule can help you create long-lasting relationships as well as nurture others.

• Don’t wait—get things done NOW.

  One of the biggest problems is procrastination.

  It’s just way too easy to put things off and tell yourself that you’ll get it done tomorrow.

  The problem is that tomorrow rarely comes.

  Plus, you end up with a desk stacked full of stuff that could have—and should have—been taken care of long ago.

  Get it done NOW!

• Keep your word.

  If you say you’re going to do something, then do it.

  If you promise a client you’ll be finished with his project in three weeks and it turns out you’ll need more time, just tell him so.

  You’ll find that you’ll be much more respected for following up, rather than ignoring the situation and hoping the client will fall off the face of the earth.

  Remember: you’re only as good as your word

Please consider these suggestions and I hope that they will make your planning easier and more effective.

DEALING WITH PANIC ATTACKS

- part 3

Continuing on from the previous posts – today is the final part

Aromatherapy is often recommended to help in dealing with panic and anxiety. Lavender is recognized as having an especially calming and soothing effect when you smell it. You can find essential oil of lavender at many stores. Keep it handy and take a sniff when you start feeling anxious.

Try putting a few drops of lavender essence oil into some oil (olive or grape seed oil will do) and rub on your body.

Prepared a mixture and store it in a dark glass bottle and keep it with you in case you need it. You can even prepare several bottles at a time, so that they are quickly available to you in case you need one you can even prepare a small one to carry with you.

Other essential oils known to help panic and panic attacks are helichrysum, frankincense, and marjoram. Smell each of them, and use what smells best to you, or a combination of your favorite oils mixed in olive or grape seed oil.

Preparation BEFORE a panic attack happens is the best. When you’re not in a panicked state, make a list of the things that you’re afraid will happen. Then write out calming things that tell you the opposite of your fears. So now you have a list that shows the balancing things to you fears. Then you can repeat these things to yourself when the panic starts to come.

Make a list of things to do in case of panicked feelings, so that it will be ready for you when you need it. Fill it with lots of soothing messages and ideas of calming things to do. I find this to be a very helpful tool and am never without my small notebook that has these positive affirmations in it.
Panic can be a very scary thing to go through, especially if you’re alone. Preparing for when the panic comes can really help reduce the panic, and even sometimes help to prevent it.

I hope this series has helped you and that you can see how this is part of a personal growth learning.

DEALING WITH PANIC ATTACKS – part 2

Continuing on from the previous post – today is part 2

If you daily voluntarily seek to have a panic attack, you cannot have one.

Try in this very moment to have a panic attack and I will guarantee you cannot. You may not realize it but you have always decided to panic. You make the choice by saying this is beyond my control whether it be consciously or sub-consciously.

Another way to appreciate this is to imagine having a panic attack as like standing on a cliff’s edge. The anxiety seemingly pushes you closer to falling over the edge. To be rid of the fear you must metaphorically jump. You must jump off the cliff edge and into the anxiety and fear and all the things that you fear most.

How do you jump? You jump by wanting to have a panic attack.

You go about your day asking for anxiety and panic attacks to appear.

Your real safety is the fact that a panic attack will never harm you. That is a medical fact. You are safe, the sensations are wild but no harm will come to you. Your heart is racing but no harm will come to you. The jump becomes nothing more than a two foot drop! It’s perfectly safe.

Anxiety causes an imbalance in your life whereby all of the mental worry creates a top-heavy sensation. All of your focus is moved from the center of your body to the head. Schools of meditation often like to demonstrate an example of this top-heavy imbalance by showing how easily the body can lose its sense of center.

The key to overcoming panic attacks is to relax. That’s easy to say but difficult to do. A good way to do this is to concentrate on your breathing making sure it is slow and steady. One of the first signs of a panic attack is difficulty breathing, and you may find yourself panting to catch a breath. When you focus on making those breaths even, your heart rate will slow down and the panic will subside.

Breathing more slowly and deeply has a calming effect. A good way to breathe easier is to let all the air out of your lungs. This forces your lungs to reach for a deeper breath next time.

Continue to focus on your out-breath, letting all the air out of your lungs and soon you’ll find your breathing is deeper and you feel calmer.

Ideally, you want to take the focus off the fact that you are having a panic attack. Try to press your feet, one at a time, into the ground. Feel how connected and rooted they are to the ground.

Use all of your senses to take full notice of what you see, hear, feel, and smell in your environment. This will help you to remain present.

Panic is generally associated with remembering upsetting events from the past or anticipating something upsetting in the future.
Anything that helps keep you focused in the present will be calming.
Try holding a pet; looking around your room and noticing the colors, textures, and shapes; listening closely to the sounds you hear; call a friend; or smell the smells that are near you.

The final part will be in the next post

DEALING WITH PANIC ATTACKS

(part 1)

A friend of mine who is also undertaking personal growth and self improvement recently asked me a question that got me thinking.

The question was with going outside your comfort zone do you ever panic. This got me thinking about being comfortable about being uncomfortable and where do “Panic Attacks” fit in the picture.

If you have panic attacks, it may help to comfort you that you are not alone! You’re not even one in a million. In America, it is estimated that almost 5% of the population suffer from some form of anxiety disorder.

For some, it may be the occasional panic attacks that only pop up in specific situations-like when having to speak in front of others, while, for other people, it can be so regular and continual that it inhibits them from leaving their home.
Frequent panic attacks often develop into what medical physicians refer to as an “anxiety disorder.”

There are many ways of coping with an anxiety disorder.

Some may not work for you, but others just might. It helps to know some of the most common coping techniques for dealing with panic attacks when they begin.
Your first step is to recognize when a panic attack is about to begin. When you have enough of them, you start to really pay attention to the tingling sensation, the shortness of breath, and the disconnection from the real life around you.
Many people wonder what that disconnection is like. They have a hard time understanding it. Those of us who have panic attacks are all too familiar with it. It’s like you can look at a solid object and seeing that it is there. You know it’s there, but a part of your mind doubts that it really IS there.
You may find yourself reaching out to touch that object just to be sure. You feel like you’re not a part of the world around you. It’s as if you are just a spectator in your own life with no control over anything around you.

Believe me, this is a horrible feeling.

So how do you start trying to combat your panic attacks?

What if I told you the trick to ending panic and anxiety attacks is to WANT to have one.
That sounds strange, even contradictory, doesn’t it? But the want really does help push it away.

Does this mean that you should be able to bring on a panic attack at this very moment? Absolutely not! What it means is that when you are afraid of something – in this case a panic attack – it will more than likely appear and wreak havoc.

When you stand up to the attack, your chances of fending it off are much greater.

If you resist a situation out of fear, the fear around that issue will persist.

How do you stop resisting-you move directly into it, into the path of the anxiety, and by doing so it cannot persist.

More later ….

Some Nice Things to do for Yourself

Does it ever happen to you that you suddenly feeling tired and rushed all the time?

Do you feel that you are always giving in to everyone else and rarely seem to get anything in return?

Well if thats the way things are going for you I have a surprise for you – here are about nice things you can do for you today. Why you may well ask – well here’s the thing its something that we may not often think about or say to ourselves and I believe that we should because you are worthy of them and deserve them:

1. Head to the gym. One of the first things that goes when we neglect ourselves is our body. Buy yourself a gym membership, then visit regularly. A few trips to the gym every week is not only good for your body, but you’ll be able to work out all your frustrations, as well.

2. Keep a journal. Journaling is a great place to vent about all your frustrations, too. It’s a safe place, for your thoughts and eyes only, where you can write about everything happening in your life. If you keep a journal only for such a purpose, you can burn it or shred it after all the pages are filled. It’s a healthy, disposable therapy session.

3. Take a Yoga class. Yoga is known for its healing and calming powers. There are often Yoga classes for beginners, which are great to teach you the basics of Yoga. Sign up for one and try it out.

4. Schedule a spa day. Sometimes you just need to unwind and relax with no worries and nobody around. Call your favorite spa and schedule some “you” time there.

5. Buy yourself some flowers. Flowers brighten anyone’s day. Why wait for someone else to give you flowers? Buy yourself a bright, pretty bouquet and place it on your desk or somewhere nearby. A simple, inexpensive bouquet of flowers can do wonders to brighten your mood.

6. Lay off the junk food. Practice healthier eating habits by ditching the junk. Instead of that mid-day candy bar, pack yourself a healthy snack of nuts, fruits, or raw veggies with dip.

7. Drink more water. It’s a fact that most people don’t hydrate enough. Buy bottled water to have on hand. It will be much easier to say no to another soda if you can grab a bottle of water to go.

Remember you are a very special person and worth it.