Category — Personal Development

If you are following blogs related to personal development or self improvement ,then there are remote chances that you would have missed to witness Steve Pavlina’s contribution to personal development space.

His blog stevepavlina.com is a dedicated destination for personal development articles.

I am one of his followers and hugely inspired by his writing and podcasts.

That’s why I decided to do a review post of his popular book Personal development for smart people.

Book, as expected is rich-content driven and though I can see that some of the part of the books actually already conveyed in his own blog (considering the blog has thousands of articles on personal development) . But that’s okey as book carries additional information on those  elements of personal transformation which are really helpful.

Steve shares his own story how he transformed himself over the years.

Steve devides the book into two main sections, namely..
 

• Fundamental principles
• practical application

In the first part- i.e fundmental principles, he writes about

Truth, Love, Power, Oneness,Authority, Courage and Intellgience

In the second half, he emphasizes on practical application covering elements such as

Habits, Career, money, Health, Relationships and Spirtiuality

Personal development for smart people,  is a book that can have a lasting impact on your life if you are looking for personal transformation, mainly because of the way Steve addresses the core elements of transformations at such a granular levels.

His insightful analysis about core principles create awareness within you and his practical advises instill actions insides you.

You will be more clear about your real purpose of life and about the set of  actions to bring upon a personal change and long lasting happiness.

Instead of revealing some more awesome features of the book, I leave it for you to go and checkout this outstanding piece of work by Steve Pavlina. You can also get it in Kindle format, if you are a digital reader like me

About Steve Pavlina and his blog: Steve Pavlina is one of the widely recognized personal development speaker and blogger. His website stevepavlina.com is hugley popular with thousands of articles published online. You can also listen to his podcasts

 We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them- Albert Einstein

Everyone faces problems. Sometimes simple and sometimes more complicated. Solving a problem is sometimes easy, sometimes difficult and many a times, seems impossible.

If you often find yourself in the situations where in, you are not able to resolve a problem effectively, then you need to revisit your approach towards problem solving.

This article will be more relevant to you and anyone who want to develop or enhance their problem solving skills. Note that problem solving not only require decision making ability and action taking, but it needs further efforts in other areas as well such as analyzing patterns and documenting the solution to avoid re-occurrence.

In this article, I am going through  life cycle of a ‘complex’ problem and we will see a step by step guide to solve it satisfactorily.

I have based this article not only upon my personal learning per se, but also collated information from learning from my friends, colleagues , corporate life, software engineering and of course by gathering information from various people who are good at problem solving.

So let’s begin with the problem itself.

So, you have a problem.

A problem which could be troubling you since quite sometime now, or a problem which has suddenly appeared in your life . It could be related to your work, family , health or related to any other sphere of your life.

What’s important here is the problem is for you. It’s now you who is responsible to address and resolve it.

What would be your approach? Wouldn’t it be nice if you were made aware of a checklist or a flowchart so that you can deal with the problem much effectively and bring upon more pleasant results.

Here we go.

Step 1: Accept that you have a problem

This is really important. Lots of people don’t accept that they have a problem. Note that knowing that they have a problem and accepting that , both are different things.Knowing about a problem will make you aware, where as accepting that you have a problem initiates an action towards it.

When you don’t accept a problem, there won’t be action from your side. When problem is not acted upon in timely manner, it often grows and multiplies.

Problem - Step by Step, I am attacking you

By denying that you don’t have that very problem, you are fooling anyone but yourself and allowing the problem to grow.

Step 2: Are there anyone else having the same problem and can they help you?

This is a step most of us underestimate. There are chances that some of your friends or colleagues or anyone for that matter could have experienced the similar problem that you are experiencing now.

Just ask them and most of the time, they might have already solved the problem and pass on the solution to you.

This might sound as common sense to ask someone’s help, but it works and saves your time and energy.

People don’t utilize this simple method.Rather , they push themselves hard to solve the problem themselves.

Step 3: Start with basics and fundamentals

People often resort to random guesswork when they face a problem. Upon not getting quick solution, they enter the panic zone too early and panic curtails their ability to explore other solutions and take the right action.

Instead, always start with basic investigations. Check that fundamentals are still right. Are there any clues that fundamentals are disturbed? It could be an issue with some vital parameters.

Let’s take analogy of doctor and his process of diagnosing a complex disease. A good doctor would always start with basic tests and go up further. Many a times, problems are found in basic tests itself. A timely treatment cures the disease.

Step 4: If basics are fine, then look for the trigger that caused the problem

Once you are certain that basic investigations didn’t reveal anything obvious, then you may look for triggers or clues that would have created the problem.

To find out the triggers, you need analyze the patterns with questions such as,

• Did I do anything different last week, last month or last year?
• Did I ignored a minor clue thinking that it might not be a big issue?
• Did anyone else did something different to a system over the period of few days or months.
• Is there any trail?

When you start comparing the standard behavior with changed behavior at granular levels, you will surely find a trigger or clue.

That’s nothing but the root cause of your whole problem.

Identifying the root cause is important than treating the problem itself. Because people often treat symptoms instead treating the root cause.

Now, since you have identified the root cause, it’s time to think about an appropriate solution.

Step 4: Look the problem from a various angles and come-up with an optimum solution

Coming up with effective solution doesn’t just requires an immediate action,but analyzing the impact of the solution.

• What happens after 1 week of your solution implemented, one year and so on.
• Is this the permanent solution?
• Will this solution affect other areas of your life adversely in any way?

Think about all these and once the solution seems appropriate, proceed to action.

Step 5: Take action

Take concrete action immediately. Don’t delay further. We already know that problem often multiplies itself if unattended.It’s only your timely action, that eliminates problem from the root and your goal should be to avoid the re-occurrence of the same problem.

Step 6: Document your problem solving process

Why you need to document ?

Because, by successfully diagnosing a problem and resolving it, you have found out a working way to resolve this particular problem.

Document the steps somewhere . Be it on paper, ipad , diary anywhere which is easily accessible.

Documenting creates a knowledge pool of working solutions for you. It enhances your wisdom. You gradually become a trusted source for expert advice.

Hope you enjoyed this lengthy article about whole life cycle of a problem and the steps that are involved in solving it successfully.

If you found value in it, please share this post with your friends and relatives.

Also, let me know what did you feel about this post by adding comments

Till next time, take care.

You know how it is when you are feeling totally listless. You want to get some work done, but you just aren’t feeling motivated at all.

However, if you’re in luck, you’d stumble upon a really inspiring story, more often than not from someone who has proven himself or managed to pick himself up and conquer seemingly impossible feats.

Then you feel inspired. All charged up and ready to take on the world.

But, that doesn’t seem to be enough. You don’t actually get much work done and you are asking yourself, “Why can’t I be as great as them?”

The big problem with inspiration

Inspiration doesn’t last.

It makes people feel totally “hyped up” and motivated at one single point.

We also tend to forget that inspiration is everywhere, and free.

Inspiration doesn’t have to come automatically as if it’s some god-given sign that comes at the “right place and the right time”.

You can, and should always actively seek inspiration.

Don’t wait for it. Go for it.

You aren’t a superhero. You are human, like everyone else who needs to get their batteries charged now and then.

Here’s a little guide to get yourself re-inspired

1) Read up on your heroes repeatedly.

Emphasis on repeatedly. As I mentioned, inspiration doesn’t last.
Put in the effort to read up on the person you are inspired by.

By reading up again and again, you will be able to gain new insights and discover new things you previously missed.

2) Watch YouTube videos of inspiring people

Social media makes it extremely easy today to be inspired. It’s right at your computer, or mobile phone.
Just log on, and type in a few simple keywords. You can easily start with, “Inspiration”, and the results alone would overwhelm you.
It’s that easy. No excuses. Just go.
Then re-watch them whenever you feel like it.

3) Get live inspiration from an event

It’s always easy to read up or watch something really inspiring. However, nothing beats real live inspiration you can both see and feel.

I am break-dancer myself. As much as I love watching YouTube videos of the best dancers in the world, watching local dancers doing their thing in front of me inspires me the most.

Trust me, it’s that different when it comes to learning from books, and learning with your own senses.
And oh guess what? One event isn’t enough though. Keep going for’em!

4) Conduct interviews

It is through interviews where you get gain the most personal insights and knowledge from a single source.
Simply out, doing an interview is like getting free mentoring.

I’ve done a few interviews on my own, and I got to ask the questions I personally want.
How inspiring is that?

5) Talk to elderly folks

It’s a sad fact in life that senior citizens don’t get the respect they deserve. They are ironically cast into a class of their own and supposedly unable to keep up with the times.

But when you do that, you’re actually missing out on the fact that elderly folks are people who lived longer and have seen the times!

They have real-life knowledge for a view on life that can definitely get you thinking.
Be inspired by that, because whatever that’s happening around you now, is thanks to them.

6) Talk to younger people

But…
…Talk to younger people too.

Young people have the energy to be the visionaries that break the rules and achieve things nobody has before.

I’m always surprised to watch young break-dancers improve way faster than the rest of us! That just inspires me to push myself forward!

7) Now, be the inspiration

Emulate your heroes.

Try out something different.

Take the steps on the path others have created.

When you feel it for yourself what actually works for you to achieve greatness in life, the inspiration would be overwhelming, so much so you definitely wouldn’t forget it.

And this is the part, you get to be the inspiration.

So don’t give up, push on and live it.

1. Reduced stress levels : Because you are not thinking about past or future and feeding your mind with worries.
2. Better execution of plans : Because your focus is on this moment.
3. You become a good listener : A good listener understand things well.
4. Your connection with others deepens. You create wonderful relationships.
5. Happiness quotient goes up. Byproduct of above benefits.

Remember the quote ” Today is a gift, that’s why it’s called present”.

Real integrity is dong the right thing, knowing that nobody is going to know that whether you did it or not

If you want to be a leader, you need to have respect, and if you want to have respect, you need to have integrity. If people can’t count on you to behave in an honorable manner, they are never going to trust you to lead them. In my life, I’ve seen it happen over and over again. The moment people see you behaving without integrity, they lose all faith in you, and everything becomes a power struggle.

Not terribly long ago, I was spacing out when I was spraying weeds on my lawn. Before I knew what was happening, I had also managed to spray my neighbor’s new garden bed, which adjoined my property. There was no one around, and I could have just quietly gone back indoors, but instead I went and explained the situation to my neighbor. She was surprised and of course irritated, but things got a lot better when I offered to replace the new plants she had just put in. When I planted the new plants later that afternoon, she came out and told me how much she appreciated what I had done, and our relationship is better than ever.

Can you imagine what would have happened if I didn’t mention the issue and she found out about it?

More recently, I was at work and realized that my team had made an error on a certain report that was due. The error could have been made by any one of us, but I took responsibility and committed myself to fixing it. To my surprise, several of my teammates, following my example, took on the unpaid overtime to help me fix the report. Leadership allows you to inspire others, especially when they know that you are not going to just pass the buck!

There are several examples in my own life of how integrity has helped me lead others. Leadership is a quality that all people should strive towards, and you will find that in many ways, it is easier than you think it is. Most of us know what is right; it’s just that doing the right thing is inconvenient. In many ways, it is not even hard. If you are willing to go that extra step, people are going to find you worth following.

Last week, at work, I realized that a co-worker had made an error on his work. Without his awareness, the issue was big enough that it could have gotten him fired. Now, this co-worker isn’t someone I knew very well, and he isn’t even in my department, but I knew that he was not exactly at fault. There were a number of problems in our system for what this error had occurred. I stepped in, explained how things had happened and worked towards ensuring it would never happen again. Today, I found out that this co-worker had requested a transfer to my team.

Whether you’re dealing with neighbors of Hampton’s homes or co-workers, if you follow a few simple principles associated with integrity, you’ll be on your path to a more successful life. If you want to be a leader, step in and act with integrity. It is not pleasant, and in many ways, it isn’t convenient at all, but it is always worth it!

About the author: Sam Marquit is a Professional Writer, Publisher & Editor. He writes at fmarquitv.tumblr.com

You can follow him on Twitter here

Journey is wonderful than destination

If you Live in the Past, it will Ruin Your Future – Debra Roberts

Most of us rush through the life to reach various destinations, to achieve different goals.

Some goals are set by us, some by parents and some by circumstances.

Goals could be about achieving fantastic grades in exams, turning into super rich over the next 5 years or dream of having a great lifestyle and so on. Goals could be anything.

I am not discussing about goals today.

I am discussing about your life that exists between your goals. In fact , a life that should have been existed between your goals. A life which was never lived.

Yes, I am discussing about your journey of life, not the destination.

Most of the people miss to enjoy their journey of life. They condition themselves to believe that life’s happiness lives in destinations. They hop from one destination to another in search of happiness. They  ignore the beauty of process. They underestimate the pleasure of doing. They always live in tomorrows. Once they achieve a goal, they aim for another. Then comes the next one. They create their own belief system that life’s happiness always lives in destinations, achievements, landmarks. Every other day is ordinary for them.

Thinking and planning about tomorrow is not bad thing either. However, what  I am concerned is about the life you missed to live today. About the moments which were stolen by your ‘busy’ness. I am concerned about the happiness which got trapped under the burden of pressure of achieving. I am worried about the human element of yours which is slowly succumbing to digitalism and the virtual world.

Have you ever imagined that how many such moments of happiness are trapped under the overweight of your ‘busy’ness?

Those happy and thrilling moments live in the journey of your life and were supposed to experienced, felt and enjoyed.

You lived them either under the pressure of targets, stole the time which was supposed to shared with your loved one for doing something else less important or you were holding yourself back when an opportunity was in front of you.

Basically, you were not living in today.

With this writing, I am inviting you to come back to today. I request you to synchronize your body and mind to now, this moment. Whatever the moment could be happening with you now, I want you to experience it , feel it with a human element. I want you to live in today’s reality. I ask you to emotionally attach yourself to now. This is the life happening to you. Everything else is just a hope.

People often get frustrated because of their life’s happening and lose themselves in trap of regret. They either regret their past or worry about future. The truth is they are trying to escape from today.

They want what others already have. They want to be the first one to upgrade. They want to grow up fast. They want to finish their colleges fast and start earning. They want to become managers fast and grow further fast.

Growth is essence of life. However, I am referring to progressive growth. It is not based on how speed you go. It’s based on which direction you are going. People who achieve tangible results, always focused on today and that automatically plants seeds for better tomorrow. Mediocre people, however look for shortcuts, quick fixes, because they underestimate the smartness of hard work.

People who look for shortcuts either end up with accidents or meet with frustration. Because, they embraced speed on a wrong track.

It all starts at one fundamental aspect. Start enjoying your life’s journey. Be it whatever you are doing.

Where ever you are, be there – Raam dev

Life is not forcing yourself to hop from one destination to other destination. Life is not only about success and money. Life is not about having all the latest gadget when it is launched. Life is also not falling in comparison trap.

Life is wonderful when you  respond to various emotional signals in an engaging manner. It’s about being in present. It’s about living with harmony.

Whether it is happy state or painful state, it’s all there for a reason in your life’s journey.

Real magical moments in life are not in destinations, they are in the journey which you take towards your destination. It’s not me who is telling you about this, it’s your own real life evidences. You have already witnessed these .

Ask a person who reached the top of a tallest mountain, what is most exciting part?  He will say that the journey was the most thrilling part,not the time when he was on the top of the hill.

Talk to a student who triumphed in the examination. He will talk more about his journey of preparation rather than how he actually wrote the exams.

Musicians practice for years to become notable performers. They learn each day new things. Each day is important for them.

Why people go for skydiving? It’s not all about jumping from a moving plane and reaching earth safely. It’s their quest to experience the never experienced. They seek an opportunity to explore the unexplored emotions.

I don’t say that you don’t setup landmarks or targets for achievements. You must do. However, don’t automate the journey you take for reaching there. If you are in trouble and have difficulty to solve a problem, don’t escape from it or plan a shortcut. Face the problem,attend it, solve it and move on. Let the journey continue. You are still part of the journey.

In the same way, enjoy the small moments of life. Whether it’s first drops of rainfall, an opportunity to mingle with nature while you travel, an engaging conversation with a totally unknown person helping for something, humbly listening to pain of your friend and advising him. The moments are endless.

The thrill, the struggle, the joy, uncertainty, the moments of joy. Journey has everything.  There are no destinations in life. Not even death.

As soon as you understand the value of life’s  journey, you will feel the real purpose life. Isn’t it what we all are searching for?

My paper back copy and kindle edition

If you are reading this article, that indicates that you are seeking a personal change in your life. You are looking for a tool which helps you to achieve your dreams. You are searching for ways to bring lasting happiness within you.

You are here. And you are at the right place. Because , I am going to share with you one of the most interesting, life changing book ever.

The monk who sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma.

This is the book you need.

I am sure, you would have heard this book earlier and it might surprise you that I am writing review of a book which was published almost 15 years ago.

I came to know about this book only during last year. I have read this book again and again (at home, trains, planes and various places) and discovered that there is still something new I can learn every time I read this book. It’s amazing.

I am writing this review because I am compelled to write. It’s never too late to share a good read.

This is one of those books which had lasting impact on me.

I feel a great sense of inner satisfaction when I share something useful with others and I am lucky to have a platform (my blog)  which helps me to reach as many people as possible.

The monk who sold his Ferrari has been a spiritual teacher to me in many ways.

• Book taught me that living in the moment is a true life lived.
• It made me realize that life need not be perfect, but it needs to be interesting, memorable.
• It revealed a strange truth that physical possessions make our life busy, not necessarily happier.
• It helped me to understand the life better.
• Real happiness lies within, if you realize it.
• It helped me to build willpower and inner strength.
• It helped me to expand my dreams.
• Time is your most precious commodity and its non renewable.
• The power of ancient simplicity.

Summary of the book :

The monk who sold his Ferrari is a story of popular lawyer who sells all his possessions and heads over to India (Himalayas) and never returns to his legal profession.  What happens to him and how his visit to Himalayas transforms his life forever is the content of this book . Wonderful stories and narration of interactive discussions makes the book an interesting read. Action points at the end of each chapter summarize  important areas which you should be paying attention for.

The monk who sold his Ferrari contains below chapters,

1. The wake up call
2. The mysterious visitor
3. The miraculous transformation of Julion Mantle
4. A magical meeting with the sages of sivana
5. The spiritual student of the sages
6. The wisdom of personal change
7. A most extraordinary garden
8. Kindling your inner fire
9. The ancient art of self leadership
10. The power of discipline
11. Your most precious commodity
12. The ultimate purpose of life
13. Timeless secret of lifelong happiness

While reading the book, you will discover ,

How a deathbed question can change your life.
How  to simplify your life by applying simple ancient rituals.
How to discover the real purpose of your life.
How to live an extraordinary life.
How to master your mind.

How to get this book : Ask you friend to lend you. Your teacher might already have it. Your boss might have already read it. In any other case, if you want to buy it online immediately, check the below link (Affl). You even have the option of buying an used one or a new one.

If you have already read this book, please share your experiences and learnings in the comment section.

No  matter what you do or where you live , having a good health is the foundation for living a wonderful life. If you don’t have good health, you will not be able to enjoy anything including the rewards of your own hard work. So, taking care of your health should be an integral part of your daily routine.

People lose their health for earning wealth. Later, they lose all their wealth for regaining their health

Especially, in this modern world where people are getting busier by each passing day, it has become really critical to listen to your body and give attention to your health.

It's fun time folks !!

Fortunately, by adopting few really simple healthy habits, you can maintain good health, provided these habits  form a part of your daily life routine.

In this article, I am sharing few healthy habits for life which can make profound positive effect on your health and keep you fit and fine. Needless to say, to form any habit, you need to repeat them on a constant basis until your actions turn into habit. I am also tips/tools for forming the habit.

1. Drink right amount of water

This point comes on top for sure. Most of us work and live in air conditioned environment. With less physical movements and because of teh effect of air conditioning, you won’t make feel thirsty even though your body might be craving for water. So , don’t wait until you feel thirsty. Just make sure you drink water in frequent intervals.

Benefits of drinking water:

• Water does wonders. For more details, read this.

How to form this habit:

• Keep a water bottle handy near your desk or workplace and sip water regularly.
• Put up paper notice on your desk’s board reminding you to drink water.
• Set up an alert in your mobile reminding you to drink water every 2 hours.
• Use Microsoft outlook to schedule automatic alert every 2 hours reminding you to sip water periodically.

2. Take a walk

An easy to miss habit. Thanks to lifts and elevators which are easing your trouble of walking. But in reality, they are snatching away an easy opportunity of walking from you.

Never mind. It’s up to you, how much you use/adopt to technology. Try to walk whenever you get an opportunity. Don’t sit for long time continuously.

Benefits:

• Walking improves your blood circulation.
• It brings flexibility to your body muscles.

How to form this habit:

• Avoid lifts/elevators when possible. Walk.
• Take an evening walk/morning walk.
• Walk with your kid.
• Take a walking break for every 2 hours in your working routine.
• Walk for no reason. They all yield same benefits

3. Smile

Smile increases your face value.

Smile makes you feel good. And you work well when you feel good. Not only that, your feel good factor has indirect soothing effect on your surroundings as well So, smile. Be friendly.

Benefits:

• Soothing effect on your inner self.
• Makes you a better human being.

How to form this habit:

Just smile. That’s all

4. Wake up early

This one seems easy, but little difficult to implement (ask me). But, it has compound benefits. Waking up early can benefit you in multiple ways.

Benefits:

• You can do your creative work in the early morning.
• Reach office early by avoiding traffic. Experience the stress free driving.
• Plan for the day well ahead of time.
• Do exercises/yoga.
• Study. I have always observed that, morning time study was more effective for me.

Time for early waking up varies from person to person , but if you would like to enjoy as much as benefits , then I feel 5am looks good time to wake up.

How to form this habit:

Look at this article which helps you to wake up early.

5. Get enough sleep

This is again a very important. Get 6-8 hours of quality sleep daily.

Benefits of healthy sleep habits:

• Refreshed you,every morning.  Ready to face the world with better energy.
• More focus.
• Less fatigue.

How to achieve this habit :

• Set up a deadline for gong to bed.
• Switch off internet/TV early.
• Listen to soothing music before you go to bed. This will allow you to sleep peacefully relieving you from stress.

6. Blink eyes

People who work on computers on daily basis, it’s especially important to take care of your eyes since you are continuously exposed to monitors. Blinking  your eyes frequently helps your eyes keep moist and lubricated. Your eyes will be less stressed and you can avoid lots of issues related to eyes like burning or itching etc. Believe me, no eye drop is equivalent to tears. Nature rules.

7. Eat right

Eat at proper time. Don’t let your digestive juices go waste and attack your own stomach. Stick to an eating schedule and adhere to it. Improper food habits and starving often results in digestive issues such as acidity, gas and even more serious health complications. Just eat at proper time. Listen to your body.

Benefits of healthy food habits:

• You will maintain good health and make less trips to doctors.
• Prevention is better than cure. This is so true when it comes to diseases. Healthy food habits makes you real strong and immune to diseases.

8. Reduce stress

Stress has been a biggest challenge/threat to modern day life. It’s an unpleasant side effect of ‘busy’ ness.

Most of the people face some kind of stress in their work/home/environment. However, what makes a difference is how we respond to stress. Luckily, stress can be managed.

Benefits of reducing stress:

• Reducing stress from your life has amazing effect on your mind, body and on people surrounding you.
• Being stress free makes you a healthier person. When you are healthy and cheerful, you are in a better position to take care of your loved one and respond in positive manner to your surroundings.
• Reducing stress adds years to your life.

How to form this habit:

• Try to minimize debt/loans. This will help you becoming financially stress free.
• Have effective communication in work/life. This will help you to bridge the gap and build healthy relationships
• Wake up early. Become stress free from traffic and chaos.
• Try adopting minimalist lifestyle. This will free you from unnecessary commitments. Be simple. Live simple.
• See the things, as they are. Take things in practical way.
• Never assume. Instead take decisions based on facts and analyzing pattern trends. Decisions taken under emotional circumstances often result in emotional stress.
• Cultivate hobbies and increase your happiness quotient. Life is not all about work. It’s about work/life balance.

I hope, I have shared some practical ways to develop and nourish few really needed healthy habits for the modern day you. Have I missed anything? Please feel free to add in the comments. Let us all benefit

Looking forward to your comments.

Photo credit : evilerin

This is a guest post by Jemima Lopez from Zen College life. To guest post on this blog, check guest post page.

For most people, the worst part of being unemployed isn’t the absence of income.  Rather, the most unbearable thing about not having a job is the feeling of worthlessness and purposelessness that quickly builds as the job search draws out.

It’s easy to take the unresponsiveness of an employer as an insult or let your success at obtaining a job define your success or failure as a person.  Still, it is important to remain positive, no matter how trying the situation might be.

In addition to changing your perspective of your job search, and keeping you from the dark thoughts that actually work against you, interviewers have reported that how positive a person is has a direct impact on their performance in the interview.

Keeping your head up when everything else seems down is certainly easier said than done, but here are a few ways you can stay positive while you look for work:

1. Volunteer

You won’t get a paycheck at the end of the day, but volunteering pays you back in more fulfilling ways than a full time job ever could.  There is little in the world more satisfying than helping others, and you might find a new passion in a field you never knew you loved.  Or, if you volunteer in your field, you will have opportunities to sharpen your skill set, learn new skills and even make useful contacts that could help you get a job.  Furthermore, volunteering is a great way to fill the employment gap, and will definitely be a powerful conversation piece during an interview.

2. Explore your hobbies

Often we get sidetracked by our jobs and lose sight of the things we really enjoy doing (unless you are one of the few and far between people who holds a job doing what you really love).  While you are between jobs, why not get back into sailing, painting, writing, cooking, carpentry, crafts, or whatever else you might be passionate about?  Besides being personally satisfying, you might even find that there is a business opportunity waiting to be discovered in your hobby.  Love to play piano? Teach others to play.  Make furniture and sell it.  Use the time between jobs to rediscover what you love — you might be surprised where it could take you.

3. Start an exercise program

As we get comfortable in our jobs and our lives, fitness is frequently the first thing to go out the window.  Make it a point to exercise when you are job-hunting — you’ll find that you’ll feel better about yourself (which is due in part to the endorphins exercise releases) and also start looking better to, which is always a nice confidence and spirit booster.

The “in-between” time is never easy to cope with, but if you apply yourself and keep moving, you might discover a deeper happiness than any job could provide.

About the author : Jemima Lopez is a freelance blogger and writer who writes for Zen College Life, the directory of higher education, distance learning, and best online colleges

Photo credit : Flickr

1. Admit that you have failed. Make yourself  a commitment to reverse those failures. Work on it. Start with below 19 tips.
2. Attach yourself with right people.
3. Don’t ignore small tasks. Unfinished /delayed small tasks often result in big problems.
4. Value time. No one cares your reasons for being late. Especially your boss.
5. Don’t underestimate yourself. You are important.
6. Do what needs to be done, right now. Procrastination is not just a problem, it can turn into a disease if you make it a habit.
7. Cultivate the habit of verifying your work. 5 more minutes of verification can save your hours of re-work.
8. Don’t judge anyone by their first impression. Instead, analyze the pattern.
9. Be honest. This tip might have been shared a million times, but there is a reason for it. It makes you great person.
10. Do smart work rather than hard work. Smart work is not shying away from hard work, but finding the real reasons why you are working so hard and automating/simplifying your hard work.
11. Don’t hurry to learn advanced topics. First,make your basics strong. Advanced topics are just extension of basics. If your foundation is weak, you might understand/relate things in a wrong way which is worst than not understanding the things.
12. Try not to push yourself too hard for achieving many things at same time. Just focus on one goal and put your quality efforts towards it.
13. Make your work environment less distracting. Clean your desk, put headphone, or put an away status in messenger. Do whatever it takes to give yourself a productive hour. A focused hour is much better than a 8 hours of distracted efforts.
14. Don’t put hopes on luck, instead have faith in your efforts. Luck is nothing but known outcome for your hard work.
15. Negative people are more attractive than positive people, because they speak lots of interesting non-factual things. Best way to deal with negative people is to stay away from them or make yourself immune to their thoughts.
16. Always validate your important achievements with your peers. You might surprisingly receive few valuable tips for improvements.
17. Be consistent in your efforts. Don’t expect results or appreciations overnight.
18. Don’t be a busy man. Instead, have proper work life balance. Being always busy robs your beautiful years from life.
19. Stop being a consumer always. Instead, try creating something of your own.
20. Personal development blogs won’t change you. They can only inspire you. What brings the real change is your determined action.

Photo credit: aloshbennett

A first impression is the last impression – If you fail to make a good first impression, then you are all set to come last in the race because you will never get a second chance.

This is what  I was taught during my schooling, colleges and even the same advice was passed on to me while taking up employment.

I believed this advice firmly and decided that I will always try to make a good first impression in order to succeed.

While this advice of making a good first impression pushed me to start my career with a bang , but the fact was I was not able to keep the momentum going.

I met with failures very soon and embraced frustration, found myself in clueless situation.

I was a teenager who jumped into information technology industry immediately after my college wrestling with keyboard and learning MS DOS and Word star (which were popular in those days) sitting in front of that monochrome monitors.

When I was trying to make a good first impression my job, I was forcing myself too much during the first few days of employment to make others think that I am the fastest learner and will do everything that was given to me. I was saying yes to every work coming on my way.

My bosses liked my super-charged attitude and  soon trusted me as a valuable player in the team. Their impression about me was that I had learned everything in a short period of time.

But, that image was short lived. I was no more a new employee and since I had set the benchmark high during my initial days (reason: to make a first impression), I was assigned multiple tasks and asked to complete all in stiff deadlines. Soon, my enthusiasm started coming down. Pressure was building up inside me to complete pending tasks.

I just couldn’t handle those. Advice of making a good first impression was working against me.

I failed. I couldn’t complete the tasks and ended up with silly mistakes. Because, I underestimated the value of time for learning the new system.

I thought I had understood everything (at least tried to show like that) .

The first impression thing screwed up everything. I failed miserably.

This was almost a decade back. Then, I was not aware how to progress in life. I didn’t know that the ultimate progress in life is learning things in correct way and implementing them in right way. What I was trying was to build a skyscraper with weak foundation.

Thanks to personal development, which opened my eye to my inner self.

When I took up a task of discovering myself and decided to fix myself, I started experiencing an exact opposite of what I was taught during schooling, colleges.

I realized that first impression is not the last impression. And judging the life based on a ‘first impression’ could bring me dangerous results. And allowing some one to judge me on my first impression would have the same effect too.

My experiences were not limited to my job or competitive areas, there were chunks of lessons in other areas of life such as buying habits, relationships and much more.

Lessons were pretty clear.

First impression is not the last impression.

You just need to be yourself , natural and practical.

Everything falls in the right place if you focus on creating a solid foundation.

Research is always accurate than trusting the hype.

I learned these lessons because I had reversed the popular belief called making a first impression.

Instead of trying hard to make a good first impression, I started involving in the new job as a brand new comer. I was humble, polite and hardworking. I started with smalls steps by putting my efforts into understanding each module of the job and slowly understanding the whole ecosystem of the work.

I was seeking information from seniors and thanked them for their inputs.I admitted my silly mistakes and corrected them immediately and kept going.

Surely, I was on the right path. I started getting more and more support and attention from seniors and the boss over the time. I didn’t focus on making a first impression, I just worked hard and focused on developing a strong knowledge base. I was slow but steady.What I was trying is to release my true potential.

A strong foundation was built.

Results were outstanding and I was appreciated for my contributions and that developed more confidence inside me. This is what I practice after those life changing lessons.

I hope you got the message in the above story.

So, don’t try hard for making a good first impression. You will be MISJUDGED. Because you look artificial when you try to make a good first impression. Instead, be natural, be hardworking and honest.

Nobody can (should) judge a person or a thing based on first impression

This is the core message I wanted to convey in this whole article.

Most of  first impressions are not real. They are either inaccurate, deceiving or fake.

Let’s look at your own daily life examples.

How many times you have seen a new person, and at first thought he looks like a baddy. However later after spending some time with him, you found that he is a humble and a good guy. A first impression about him was unreal.

How many times, you have bought a new phone by it’s first look and later found that it lacks some of the very important functionality? You would have surely surrendered yourself to aggressive marketing which would have created an urge inside you to get this new phone. A first impression of the gadget was worth a 5 star rating. But what you failed to notice is ,first impressions are some created to infuse a sense of urgency within you to buy the new gadget immediately whether you really need it or not. In the age of consumerism, you might have experienced this many times.

As a manager, how many times , you wrote off a new employee thinking that he is  ineffective because he failed to make a good first impression? You later surprised to see that he is doing quite amazing in some other team. First impression of the new employee again deceived you.

You can’t judge anyone based on their first impression because you are ignoring a simple truth that human behavior is complex.

This truth not only applies to human behavior but extends itself to other areas of our life as well.

The worst thing that can happen to people is they might get married to a wrong person if they judge him/her based on the first impression.

I hope you can imagine the consequences.

What is the right way to judge a person/situation/stuff then?

You need to have patience and thankfully, there are plenty of resources available for research.

You need to analyze the pattern over the time, instead of judging a person/stuff/situation instantly based on the first impression.

In fact, it’s no more optional. You SHOULD adopt this habit right away if you want to make RIGHT choices and handle the situations in a better way.

Stay calm and observe the variations over the period of time.

I am sure , you will come to an obvious conclusion soon which is far accurate than the instant opinion which was created based on the first impression.

If you are a boss, don’t judge a new employee on day one or even within a week. He might be misjudged. Instead, give him a month. Extend your support to him and expose him to valuable information. Offer constructive feedback for his silly mistakes. Appreciate his small accomplishments. Soon, he might do wonders for you.

If you are tempted to buy that new gadget by seeing it’s first look on TV or internet, don’t rush to buy it immediately. Instead, hold yourself back and wait for user reviews and feedback. After going through reviews, if the gadget still excites you, go and pick it up. But if user reviews are all negative, do you still want to take the risk?

If you see a business offer coming on your way which is too good to resist and offered with unbelievable goodies, be patient and step back for allowing yourself to do some research. You might even later find that the business offer was nothing more than a scam.

If you are a software programmer and the code you just wrote works perfect in it’s first run (by it’s first impression). don’t hurry to celebrate. Instead, observe the code behavior in the whole ecosystem of the project. Test the code in various scenarios and see that how other modules respond to your code. By doing so, you will be a better programmer. Real programmer spends most of the time in testing, not in programming.

I am sure, above examples showed you the consequences of exercising  judgement by first impression.

I am not saying that first impressions are always false, but they surely need a second look.

Don’t worry. Life will give you a second chance. Observe, analyze and work hard.

A long lasting impression is what you should be aiming for, not for the temporary first impression.

Your turn

How about you? Have you ever judged some one by their first impression? Or have you ever been judged by some one based on your first impression? I am genuinely interested in hearing about your experiences. Tell your story in the comments.

Photo credit : free digital photos

This is a guest post by Jason Fonceca from ryzeonline.com. To guest post on this blog, check guest post page.

You’ve been taught some things in your life — maybe directly, maybe not — and they’re horrible.

And if they’re left to reign terror in your life, they can easily turn your life horrible too.

Dramatic enough for ya?

Alright, so they’re not horrible, but they are important. They’re things that peers, authorities, and society has hammered into us, and that we absorbed eagerly, thinking it was in our best interest. I’m going to tell you exactly what these things are, but first, I want you to imagine a life free of these things you were taught.

There are a group of people who’ve taken some bold steps, and learned things for themselves, and realized certain things we were taught stop success. These people live lives that many people want.

Imagine waking up every day on a schedule that you set. Imagine having no problem getting paid very, very well for doing what you love. Imagine being popular, well-liked, and praised and recognized for your works. Imagine having tons of ideas, spreading across multiple industries, and creating what you want, when you want.

Imagine living in the realm of the 1-percenters. Imagine creative and financial freedom. Imagine whatever success means to you.

It doesn’t have to be so pure and strong and socially respected, and I’m not saying this article’s going to instantly teleport you there, but I am going to help you smooth out the journey for yourself.

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if you could move along with your creative ideas, without getting derailed by weird beliefs you never meant to have anyway?

Most people have secret success stoppers that they never talk about or think about, and no one else talks about them either. Well… I do.

Know Your Secret Success-Stoppers

Yep, most people have secret success-stoppers that they learned early and learned well, but which are holding them back, big time. See if any of these click with you:

Change Is Hard

This one is killer

Let’s take a look at some things society repeats over and over, and you may have absorbed like a sponge and agreed with.

• “Don’t rock the boat.”
• “It takes 30 days to change a habit.”
• “You’ve gotta resist temptation.”

Sound familiar?

Well, it’s all bull****. There are times to rock the boat, like when you’re fed up with settling and compromising your dreams, and you need to speak up and express yourself. This is how change happens, someone decides that they’d rather move towards their dreams instead of keep the boat steady for the status quo. Make a change, life is change.

It only takes a split second to change a habit, and that second is when you make a badass, truly committed decision, backed up by some action. You might stumble a bit on your path, but that habit is as good as changed, because you’re passionately focused on changing it. Maybe you’ll research habit-changes. Maybe you’ll read Switch by the Heath brothers. Maybe you’ll go to AA. Maybe you’ll do it cold turkey on your own. Whatever the case, it all came from the passionate, burn-bridges decision to change. Make a change.

Resist temptation? Hah. How bad is it really?

People aren’t lazy or resistant to change, often it’s just someone told them that the ‘change’ they’re interested in is ‘a temptation’ that is ‘BAD’. They simply get worn out resisting what they’re heart is calling them too.

If you think about it honestly and consciously, what ‘bad’ things will REALLY happen if you go with your gut? You know if you’re tempted out of some lame need to fill an emptiness or escape life, or if it’s a call from your gut to be who you really are. Try it, make a change.

Change Is Hard is something society teaches. Anything that deviates from the norm is generally met with extreme pressure. Well, you’re worthy, you’re valuable, and you deserve change in your life.

Truth: Whatever the pressure is, consciously and deliberately making a change brings success.

Decisions Need No Attention

This one’s killer too

Decisions are not made by default, and like any skill, they require attention and practice, at least in the beginning.

You might as well face it, chances are you suck at decisions.

Well, you don’t suck, but you’re probably nowhere near as good as you think you are at making them.

“But, I’ve been making decisions my whole life!” you say.

“And if they’re working so well for you, why are you still reading this article about success?” I reply “Not only that, but doing something poorly for 20 years doesn’t mean you’re good at it, it usually just means you’ll have to break your poor habits to make progress.”

If you really are great at decisions, you probably wouldn’t be reading this article.

Decision-making is a world-shaking skill. Good decision-makers are rise-to-the-top, one-percenters. They know how to commit and persist. They know how to make their decisions count and stick.

Not only are you not as good as you think, but you also probably don’t practice, learn, or attempt to get better at decision-making – and it shows – you can see the results in your life.

Can you make the ‘hard decisions?’ Can you take a stand for what you want in your life, and then calmly express that to your spouse, even if you feel it may result in separation? Can you decide you want a career change, and then actually stick with that decision, back it up, and tell your current job it’s time for you to move on?

It’s okay if you can’t yet – decisions take practice, and the big ones are something to work up to.

You may want to be awesome at decisions, but you can never improve in this area until you realize where you currently stand, and what next steps you’ll need to pursue. Maybe that means admitting you’re about as talented at making decisions as you are at climbing Mount Everest — and you’ve put nearly zero attention on mastering either.

Any mountain can be climbed, starting from the bottom, and taking one proper, practiced, step at a time, and as we saw above, Change Is Easy.

I`d like to go over things you may have been taught about this, but almost all of it is silent teachings. You have examples all around you of friends, family, teachers, governments, etc. who are generally terrible at making decisions.

• They can`t decide which spouse they want.
• They can`t decide what job they want.
• They can`t even decide what to do on Friday night.

These are the people most of us learn from.

There are courses for math, reading, gym, etc. but one of the most important skills in the world is taught neither by parents, school, or society. That of making committed, backed-up-with-action-decisions.

Tony Robbins + Napoleon Hill both have fantastic teachings on successful decision-making, and I have a mini-course that touches on it offered at RyzeOnline.com.

“I’m A Master Decision-Maker” is a belief that I want you to have, but I want you to come to it honestly, by admitting where you are, making peace with that, and then improving yourself by taking steps until you really believe it.

Successful people are excellent decision-makers. They don`t agonize and live in worry whether the results are good or bad, they simply make peace with their decision, decide, and then back-it-up with action.

Receiving Is Hard

Yep, you guessed it… killer.

Did you parents, teachers, and friends teach you that you’re valuable, creative, unique and worthy. That you deserve fulfilling experiences, money, rewards, gifts, respect, etc?

Or did they teach you that “a good person doesn’t accept things in return”? Did they teach you that “rich people are snobs or wasters of money?” Did they teach you that funds are limited and the “rich take advantage of the poor,” leeching all their dollars?

Were exchanges and gift giving in your family normal, common, and understood, or was there an air of mystery and scarcity to it (ONLY on Christmas!).

When someone offers to pay for your meal, do you find yourself making a big deal of it, saying “no, no, I couldn’t” as if that person separating from any of the dollars on YOUR account is unbearable?

Did you learn to criticize anyone who seemed to be “just doing it for the money?”

All this adds up to a very simple idea that people absorb directly + indirectly:

Receiving Is Hard, and there are many rules and complications. This means you’ll never really have a smooth flow of good things into your life. A belief that receiving’s hard and complicated is killer.

Truth: Receiving is a normal, easy, simple, healthy part of the economy and of life. I love receiving, especially in regards to my creativity.

The Wrap-Up

So you’ve learned three deep, dark, secret success-stoppers that hold nearly everyone back, now it’s up to you what you do with that info.

A ‘pro move’ is to DECIDE to CHANGE and RECEIVE some feedback.

To do that, you just have to comment below and engage the community. Start some conversation on this blog on these often overlooked subjects. Get yourself to take ACTION on them.

Decide to contribute, and receive some feedback: comment.

Or you can do what 99% of the population does and skim this article, read it and move on…

…then you’re training your body and mind not to value success and growth, and not to contribute, act, or take steps towards your own success.

Step up

About the Author: Jason helps you successfully bridge the gap from where you are to where you want to be, using his clarity & insight to help you rise in all areas. He speaks, writes, and offers sexy success-coaching at http://RyzeOnline.com. He’s been featured on Firepole Marketing, Building Digital Empires, and PuttyLike. Follow him at @jasonfonceca.