SELF IMPROVEMENT AND MOTIVATION

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,...