SELF IMPROVEMENT AND MOTIVATION

Most of our social, economic, and political problems are rooted in the desire to get something for nothing, multiplied in intensity by the twin emotions of envy and resentment. Just as the lowest common denominators of human nature are greed and laziness, the fastest and easiest way to justify an attempt to get something for nothing is to proclaim that those who have what you want do not deserve it, and you do. The Two Worldviews There are two general ways of looking at the world. A person can have a benevolent worldview or a malevolent worldview. A person with a benevolent worldview looks at life and the world honestly and realistically, recognizing that there are many problems and deficiencies, but for the most part, it is a good place and definitely preferable to the alternatives. People who have a benevolent worldview create everything good and worthwhile in society. Stinkin' Thinkin' People with a malevolent worldview, on the other hand, are primarily negative and cynical ...

You have heard the question, "How do you eat an elephant?" The answer is, "one bite at a time." This metaphor applies to achieving any big goal, as well. How do you achieve a huge goal? You accomplish it one step, one task, one measure at a time. Identify Your Most Valuable Task Ask your boss, "What one thing do I do that is more valuable than anything else?" Whatever his or her answer, look for ways to perform more and more of that task and to get better and better at doing it. It is absolutely amazing how much you can accomplish if you break your tasks down into bite-sized pieces, set deadlines, and then do one piece at a time, every single day. Continuous and Never Ending Improvement If you want to increase your hourly rate and your income, look for ways to get a little bit better at the most important tasks you do, every single day. Read one hour per day in your field. Listen to audio programs on your way to and from work. Take additional courses whene...

During the Persian War, the building on the Acropolis of Athens was burned by the invading Persian forces. Following the war, which ended in 479 b.c., the Athenians began rebuilding their city, which culminated in the construction of the Parthenon, the greatest of all Greek temples of the Classical Age. Dedicated to Athena, goddess of wisdom and patron deity of the city of Athens, the Parthenon stood more or less intact for some 2,000 years until the middle of the seventeenth century, when it was partly destroyed in a war between the Turks and the Venetians. The Metaphor The career or business you are building is as important to you as was the Parthenon to the Greeks. It took many years of painstaking planning and excruciatingly hard work to affect this magnificent temple. The same is true of your own business. A level of commitment that was quite extraordinary was essential to the ultimate success of the Athenians' undertaking. No less is required of you. Like the Parthenon, your ...

Enormous amounts of money are spent every year in market testing. Many thousands of prospective customers are surveyed extensively to determine whether or not to bring a product to the market. In spite of the most extensive interviews and surveys, fully 80% of new products or services fail within the first year. Your time and money are extremely valuable to you. You cannot afford to waste them by investing them in producing a product or service that fails in the marketplace.   Save Yourself Every dollar that you spend in market testing will save you many dollars of losses later on in the marketing process. Develop a prototype, model or description of the product or service that you can show to others. With a model or prototype, you can demonstrate it to a prospective buyer. You can try it out for yourself and make sure it works.   Determine Costs Get accurate prices and delivery dates from suppliers, especially if you are purchasing the product for resale. Determine all the costs invol...

One of the most powerful determinants of the future success of your business is the little understood phenomenon of word-of-mouth communication. Fully 90 percent of dissatisfied customers will not do business again with the company that fails to meet their expectations. The same study also concluded that, on average, each dissatisfied customer will share his dissatisfaction with at least nine other people. What this means is that the dissatisfaction of just one disgruntled customer ends up poisoning the minds of forty five other people.   Creating a "Golden Chain" of Referrals A satisfied customer will share "delight" or "amazement" with nine of his friends and relatives and associates, who will in turn pass the good news on to five others. In his book Word-of-Mouth Marketing, Jerry Wilson claims that the number of customers who will tell a positive story of their experience with you, your company or your product is one-tenth of the number who will share a...

Willingness to Share One's Blessings He who has not learned the blessed art of sharing has not learned the true path of happiness, for happiness comes only by sharing. And let it be forever remembered that all riches may be embellished and multiplied by the simple process of sharing them where they may serve others. And let it be also remembered that the space one occupies in the hearts of his fellowmen is determined precisely by the service he renders through some form of sharing his blessings. Riches which are not shared, whether they be material riches or the intangibles, wither and die like the rose on a severed stem, for it is one of Nature's first laws that inaction and disuse lead to decay and death, and this law applies to the material possessions of men just as it applies to the living cells of every physical body.   Creed for Riches I give thanks daily, not for mere riches, but for wisdom with which to recognize, embrace, and properly use the great a...

Most of our social, economic, and political problems are rooted in the desire to get something for nothing, multiplied in intensity by the twin emotions of envy and resentment. Just as the lowest common denominators of human nature are greed and laziness, the fastest and easiest way to justify an attempt to get something for nothing is to proclaim that those who have what you want do not deserve it, and you do. The Two Worldviews There are two general ways of looking at the world. A person can have a benevolent worldview or a malevolent worldview. A person with a benevolent worldview looks at life and the world honestly and realistically, recognizing that there are many problems and deficiencies, but for the most part, it is a good place and definitely preferable to the alternatives. People who have a benevolent worldview create everything good and worthwhile in society. Stinkin' Thinkin' People with a malevolent worldview, on the other hand, are primarily negative and cynical ...

You have heard the question, "How do you eat an elephant?" The answer is, "one bite at a time." This metaphor applies to achieving any big goal, as well. How do you achieve a huge goal? You accomplish it one step, one task, one measure at a time. Identify Your Most Valuable Task Ask your boss, "What one thing do I do that is more valuable than anything else?" Whatever his or her answer, look for ways to perform more and more of that task and to get better and better at doing it. It is absolutely amazing how much you can accomplish if you break your tasks down into bite-sized pieces, set deadlines, and then do one piece at a time, every single day. Continuous and Never Ending Improvement If you want to increase your hourly rate and your income, look for ways to get a little bit better at the most important tasks you do, every single day. Read one hour per day in your field. Listen to audio programs on your way to and from work. Take additional courses whene...

During the Persian War, the building on the Acropolis of Athens was burned by the invading Persian forces. Following the war, which ended in 479 b.c., the Athenians began rebuilding their city, which culminated in the construction of the Parthenon, the greatest of all Greek temples of the Classical Age. Dedicated to Athena, goddess of wisdom and patron deity of the city of Athens, the Parthenon stood more or less intact for some 2,000 years until the middle of the seventeenth century, when it was partly destroyed in a war between the Turks and the Venetians. The Metaphor The career or business you are building is as important to you as was the Parthenon to the Greeks. It took many years of painstaking planning and excruciatingly hard work to affect this magnificent temple. The same is true of your own business. A level of commitment that was quite extraordinary was essential to the ultimate success of the Athenians' undertaking. No less is required of you. Like the Parthenon, your ...

Put your energy where it will do the most good. Put your energy into those things you can do right now to make a difference. Worry will get you nowhere and will drain the value out of your moments. Achieving the status of victim is not an achievement worth having. Instead, take the challenges and use them to positive advantage. With the very real power of your thoughts, bend your life's energy so that it flows ever forward. There is enough time and there are plenty of resources for creating true greatness on your own terms. Fully feel the possibilities and bring them steadily to life. Make thankful use of what you have when you have it. Focus what is, through your imagination, into the best of what you know can be. See the immense value of who you are and what you have right now. Transform that value into a living expression now, and it will always be with you.   People Often Say That Motivation Doesn't Last. Well, Neither Does Bathing - That's Why We Recommend It Daily.   ...

I think this happens to many successful people. We trade our dreams for good jobs and the security that success brings to each of us. This is what happened to those people I talked about earlier. They were successful by any measure. They knew and had put to practice much of Napoleon Hill's philosophy with good results. Nevertheless, they had been blindsided by success and had lost the vision to achieve their dreams. Someday, they are likely to look back at successful and meaningful lives and, as with those who have failed, may whisper... "I could-dah been a contender!" "I could-dah! A Solution There is a reason, of course, why this happens to so many people----they lose their focus. Napoleon Hill explained how to stay focused by using the power of the sub-conscious mind. He wrote that we could enlist this power by thought and suggested that we write our goals down to read and ponder twice a day. Theologians suggest this as well. To strengthen faith and co...

Self-discipline begins with the mastery of your thoughts. If you do not control your thoughts, you cannot control your deeds. Therefore, in its simplest form, self-discipline causes you to think first and act afterward. Almost everyone automatically does exactly the reverse of this. People generally act first and think later--unless they take possession of their minds and control their thoughts and deeds through self-discipline.   Control of the Emotions Self-discipline will give you complete control over fourteen major emotions listed below. Seven of these are positive, and seven negative: Positive Emotions Love Sex Hope Faith Enthusiasm Loyalty Desire Negative Emotions Fear Jealousy Hatred Revenge Greed Anger Superstition All of these emotions are states of mind and are, therefore, subject to your control and direction. You can see instantly how dangerous the seven negative emotions can be if they are not mastered. The seven positive emotions can be destructive too, if they are ...

There are seven disciplines you must develop if you want to achieve all that is possible for you. You can learn these disciplines through practice and repetition until they become automatic. Goal Setting Every morning, take three to five minutes to write out your top goals in the present tense. Get a spiral notebook for this purpose. By writing out your ten 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. 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 . Priority Setting The essence of all time management, personal managem...

Over the years, exhaustive research has been done on top teams. There seem to be given characteristics or qualities of peak-performance teams that you can incorporate into your own business. Here they are: Shared Goals and Objectives In a smoothly functioning team, everyone is clear about what the team is expected to accomplish. The goals of the team are shared and discussed by everyone. Each team member gives his or her ideas and input into how the goals and objectives can be best achieved. Each person feels like a part of a larger organization. Shared Values and Principles In excellent teams, there is regular discussion about the values, principles, and behaviors that guide the decisions of the team. The leader encourages values such as honesty, openness, punctuality, responsibility for completing assignments, quality work, and so on. Everyone discusses and agrees on what they are. Shared Plans of Action In this phase of team building, you go around the table and have each member of ...

It has been said that, "Money may not be the most important thing, but it's way up there with oxygen." The fastest and easiest way to get the things you want as quickly as possible is almost always to have enough money to be able to buy them, whatever they cost. For this reason, the desire to acquire money, quickly and easily, and as much as possible, is a major motivator of human behavior. But it is not usually money that people really want. Freedom Sometimes I will ask my clients why they want to acquire a lot of money. After thinking about their answer for a couple of minutes, they finally conclude that what they want more than anything else is "freedom." In reality, they see money as a means to achieving the freedom they really desire. They define freedom as having enough money so they can get everything they want. Having enough money will enable them to be completely free from worry about safety, security, leisure, love, respect and fulfillment. They see ha...

The purpose of a negotiation is to enter into an agreement such that both parties have their needs satisfied and are motivated to fulfill their commitments and enter into further negotiations with the same party in the future. This is a foundation law of negotiating, and it applies especially to negotiations where you will be dealing with the same party again. In business, it is quite common for people to be in and out of business transactions and negotiations with each other over many years. This fundamental futurity must be kept in mind at each stage of each negotiation. First Purpose Let's break this law down into its constituent parts. First, "the purpose of a negotiation is to enter into an agreement." It is assumed, but not always true, that both parties want to do business together. If one does not and is merely negotiating for some other purpose, the other party can be at a considerable disadvantage. Second Purpose The second part says, "such that both partie...

The very best times you will ever have at any job or company are when you are getting along wonderfully well with your boss. On the other hand, the very worst times you will ever have at any job are when you are not getting along well with your boss. And the major reason why employees have problems with their bosses is because of a lack of clarity about what exactly is to be done, and to what standard, and in what order of priority. It is important to your boss that you are making the appropriate decisions for the company and completing your job. In order to make decisions effectively, you must know the three types of decisions. Three Types of Decisions There are three types of decisions in any organization or family. When decisions involve other people, it is important that everyone is clear about what kind of a decision is under consideration. Command Decisions These decisions have to be made by the boss or the person in charge. These decisions are so important that one person is sol...

Statistics Suggest That When Customers Complain, Business Owners And Managers Ought To Get Excited About It. The Complaining Customer Represents A Huge Opportunity For More Business.     You are filled with valuable experience. The things you've done and learned and seen and lived through have left behind a unique and powerful substance of experience that is yours alone. What a shame it would be for all that to go to waste. It is yours to make use of, yours to build upon, and yours from which to grow. By making this present moment count, you also make all the past moments count even more. You cannot live in the past, yet you can continue to draw upon the value you created there. Right now, you can benefit greatly from the things you've already done, whatever they may have been. By tapping into the value of your experience and doing something positive and productive with it, you extend and expand upon that value. Use this day to invest your wealth of experience into effective ac...

The best salespeople prepare thoroughly before every call. This principle is so simple that it is often overlooked. The hallmark of the true professional is thorough preparation, reviewing every detail, before every sales meeting. The very best salespeople are those who review their presentations and study the details of their products and their sales materials repeatedly prior to every new sales contact. The Customer's Situation The salesperson with the best knowledge of the customer's real situation will be the one most likely to make the sale. The more time you take to thoroughly understand your prospective customer and your prospective customer's situation, the more likely you will be in a position to sell at the critical moment. Sales Professionals Plan their questions in Advance There is a direct relationship between the quality of the problem focused questions that you ask a customer and the likelihood of a sale taking place. The only way of assuring that your...

ADD VALUE There is always a way to create value. Success belongs to those who see the opportunities and take the actions that create new and useful value. Whether the situation is gloomy or bright, there is always a way to add more positive value to it. With vision, commitment, focus, persistence and sustained effort, opportunity turns into achievement. The world changes quickly, and tactics that once were successful may no longer be as effective. Yet there are new and exciting opportunities for achievement being created every day. Real, solid value never goes out of style. There is always work to be done and there are always problems to be solved. Where there are challenges to be overcome, there is opportunity. And the world is filled with challenges. Decide to meet the challenges, to solve the problems, to offer real improvements, and to change life for the better. Get in the habit of adding value, and you'll be in the habit of creating success.   CHANGING CONDITIONS Accept,...

IMPORTANT OF GOALS The most important thing you can do to achieve your goals is to make sure that as soon as you set them, you immediately begin to create momentum. The most important rules that I ever adopted to help me in achieving my goals were those I learned from a very successful man who taught me to first write down the goal, and then to never leave the site of setting a goal without firs taking some form of positive action toward its attainment.   NEGATIVE ASSUMPTIONS Negative assumptions drive negative experiences. Negative assumptions can become so thoroughly familiar and ingrained in your thinking that you don't even realize they're there. Assumptions guide your perceptions, and your perceptions determine the way you respond to each situation. It's important to make sure those assumptions are not working against you. When you come upon a situation that seems negative, challenge yourself to explain to yourself why you consider it to be negative. There's a good...

ACCOMPLISH The truth of the matter is that there's nothing you can't accomplish if: (1) You clearly decide what it is that you're absolutely committed to achieving, (2) You're willing to take massive action, (3) You notice what's working or not, and (4) You continue to change your approach until you achieve what you want, using whatever life gives you along the way .     FUTURE CONSEQUENCES One action, taken now, can have powerful consequences far into the future. That fact can be a blessing or a curse, depending of course on what the action is. Time will magnify whatever you do. So even in the smallest matters, do what is right. The direction and purpose of each effort are much more important than the size of the effort. For over time, all your efforts will add together to exert great influence on your life and your world. Your future consequences are being born right now. This is a moment of great opportunity. Point all your actions, large and small, important and...

Ricardo is perhaps best known for his theory of comparative advantage of nations, which postulated that specialization leads to wealth, and self-sufficiency leads to poverty. Such a proposition was initially regarded as preposterous—and often still is by those who do not truly understand the principle. Through his research, Ricardo demonstrated that trade between two countries can be mutually profitable, even when one country is more productive than the other in every commodity that is being exchanged. England and Portugal Ricardo used trade between England and Portugal as a prime example. Portugal could produce both wheat and wine more cheaply than England, giving Portugal an absolute cost advantage in both commodities. Delving deeper into the economics of these two countries, Ricardo found that one unit of wine in England cost the same amount to produce as two units of wheat, while in Portugal, the production cost of one unit of wine was the same as 1.5 units of wheat. Lost Opportuni...

When you set off toward a new destination or goal, like taking off in an airplane, you will have an idea of both your departure time and your arrival time. You will set a schedule for yourself and expect to arrive pretty much on schedule. But as soon as you take off, you will experience what pilots call "unexpected headwinds." The situation in your life is similar. As soon as you embark on a new journey, you will experience headwinds as well: everything will cost twice as much and take three times longer than you anticipated. You should estimate how long you will take to achieve certain milestones and then triple that time to get the actual time period required. Types of Headwinds Headwinds in your business and personal life will come from several sources. Your primary source of headwinds will be other people. They will disappoint you, cheat you, betray you, and fail to live up to your expectations, and turn out to be incompetent or indifferent. Your customers will be a major...

The future belongs to the risk takers, not the security seekers. Life is perverse in the sense that the more you seek security, the less of it you have. But the more you seek opportunity, the more likely it is that you will achieve the security that you desire. Action is Everything If learning about success was all that it took to do great things with your life, then your success would be guaranteed. The bookstores are full of self-help books, each one of them loaded with ideas that you can use to be more successful. The fact is, however, that all the best advice in the world will only help you if you can motivate yourself to take persistent, continuous action in the direction of your goals until you succeed. Self-Discipline is the Core Quality The single most important quality of success is self-discipline. Self-discipline means that you have the ability, within yourself, based on your strength of character and willpower, to do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you fe...

In flying, the word "attitude" refers to the angle of flight of your approach relative to the horizon. The way you think about a problem determines your attitude, or approach, as well. You can use three words to change your attitude and your approach to any difficulty you face. Situation First of all, change the word "problem" to the word "situation." Whereas "problem" is a negative word that triggers feelings of fear and anxiety, "situation" is neutral. Instead of saying, "We have a problem," you can say, "We have a situation." Challenge My personal preference is to change the word "problem" to the word "challenge." Whenever something goes wrong, immediately say, "We have an interesting challenge facing us today." "Challenge" is a positive word. When you think of a challenge, you think of something that you rise to, something that brings out the best in you and others. Challen...

The Law of Correspondence says that your outer life tends to be a mirror image of your inner life. Everywhere you look, there you are. Everywhere you look, you see yourself reflected back. You do not see the world as it is, but as you are—inside. If you want to change what is going on in the world around you—your relationships, results, and rewards—you have to change what in going on in the world inside you. Fortunately, this is the only part of your life over which you have complete control. The Starting Point of Success The starting point of excelling in time management is desire. Almost everyone feels that their time management skills could be vastly better than they are. The key to motivation is "motive." For you to develop sufficient desire to develop Time Power, you must be intensely motivated by the benefits you feel you will enjoy. Gaining Two Extra Hours Each Day Your productivity can dramatically change if you add to extra hours to your day. Two extra hours per day,...

The truth of the matter is that there's nothing you can't accomplish if: (1) You clearly decide what it is that you're absolutely committed to achieving, (2) You're willing to take massive action, (3) You notice what's working or not, and (4) You continue to change your approach until you achieve what you want, using whatever life gives you along the way.

The Law of Correspondence says that your outer life tends to be a mirror image of your inner life. Everywhere you look, there you are. Everywhere you look, you see yourself reflected back. You do not see the world as it is, but as you are—inside. If you want to change what is going on in the world around you—your relationships, results, and rewards—you have to change what in going on in the world inside you. Fortunately, this is the only part of your life over which you have complete control. The Starting Point of Success The starting point of excelling in time management is desire. Almost everyone feels that their time management skills could be vastly better than they are. The key to motivation is "motive." For you to develop sufficient desire to develop Time Power, you must be intensely motivated by the benefits you feel you will enjoy. Gaining Two Extra Hours Each Day Your productivity can dramatically change if you add to extra hours to your day. Two extra hours per day...

The most important thing you can do to achieve your goals is to make sure that as soon as you set them, you immediately begin to create momentum. The most important rules that I ever adopted to help me in achieving my goals were those I learned from a very successful man who taught me to first write down the goal, and then to never leave the site of setting a goal without firs taking some form of positive action toward its attainment.

The ultimate aim of human life and activity is development of character, according to Aristotle. The most important goal you could hope to accomplish in the course of your life is to become an excellent person, in every respect. Your purpose should be to develop the kind of personality and character that earns you the respect, esteem, and affection of the important people in your world. Develop Your Own Character Aristotle, probably the greatest philosopher and thinker of all time, said a simple method can help, if you wish to learn a virtue later in life. Simply practice the virtue in every situation where that virtue is required. In other words, if you wish to develop the quality of courage, act courageously even when you feel afraid. Aspire to Leadership It is not easy to rise to a position of leadership in any organization or in any society. The competition for leadership is fierce. Only the people who are the very best equipped to acquire leadership positions and then to hold on t...