Self-Love Journey

From a turbulent childhood marked by violence and uncertainty, Stefanos embarked on a quest to understand human nature, pain, and potential. His empathic nature, fueled by a desire to make sense of his surroundings, led him to a career in personal development and relationship coaching. With over two decades of experience, he has helped countless individuals, from Olympic gold medalists to corporate leaders, navigate the complexities of human relationships and personal growth.

Stefanos’ journey took a pivotal turn when confronted with his own shadow — his infidelity revealed the depth of his unresolved trauma. This moment of reckoning propelled him into a transformative process of self-examination, leading to profound personal and professional growth. His ability to face his darkest fears and embrace vulnerability allowed him to develop a deeper, more authentic connection with himself and others.

Now, as a father and husband, Stefanos continues to evolve, learning from every relationship and experience. His story is a testament to the power of introspection, resilience, and unconditional love. Through his work, he inspires others to embark on their own hero’s journey, encouraging them to confront their fears, embrace their true selves, and build meaningful, lasting connections.

“Healing begins when we traverse the dark corners of our psyche, face our fears, and step into a life of radical transparency and self-acceptance.” Stefanos

Relationship Philosophy

Stefanos, a seasoned expert with over two decades in personal development, harnesses a rich tapestry of experiences to guide individuals through the complexities of relationships and self-love. Drawing from his own transformative journey, marred by childhood trauma and self-discovery, he advocates for a profound connection with one’s own pain and joy as a pathway to deeper understanding and love.

Stefanos’ work, enriched by engagements with diverse high achievers, from Olympic medalists to CEOs, underscores the universal quest for authentic connection and personal evolution. He emphasises the necessity of facing one’s shadow, fostering play and willingness in relationships, and embracing continuous growth. Stefanos’ approach is a blend of empathetic insight and practical wisdom, offering a roadmap to navigating the nuanced dance of masculine and feminine energetics and cultivating relationships that are both deeply fulfilling and spiritually enlightening.

Stefanos illuminates the path to self-love and intimacy through practices rooted in self-awareness and continual growth. With over two decades in personal development, he emphasises the power of stillness and silence, finding these moments essential for introspection and connection with oneself.

Stefanos integrates physical self-care, like cold immersion and sauna use, to maintain a balanced state of mind and body. He champions the importance of play and novelty in relationships, advocating for a playful spirit to sustain and deepen bonds with partners. His journey reveals a commitment to self-exploration and the courage to face personal shadows, fostering a safe space for intimacy to flourish. Stefanos’ narrative is a testament to the transformative power of embracing vulnerability and the continuous pursuit of self-growth, underscoring the belief that true intimacy begins with a profound connection to oneself.

“The sacred dance of giving and receiving in love is a delicate balance, where the truest form of intimacy is found not in the grand gestures, but in the quiet moments of shared vulnerability and presence.” Stefanos

Sex & Intimacy

Discover the life-altering power of non-ejaculatory orgasm, a mystical journey revealed by relationship expert Stefanos. Dive into an ancient realm where men harness their sexual vitality, transcending the fleeting pleasure of climax.

Stefanos unravels the sacred tapestry of sexual energy, guiding us to preserve our life force for profound intimacy and spiritual awakening. Embrace this transformative practice, merging the physical with the divine, and unlock a wellspring of passion, vitality, and connection. This isn’t just sex; it’s an odyssey into the heart of your erotic essence, where every moment pulses with potential and every breath is an invitation to ecstasy.

Stefanos invites you to reclaim your sexual power, not through the relentless pursuit of orgasm, but by cherishing the journey itself, crafting a legacy of love, vitality, and transcendent pleasure.

A Message To The World

If Stefanos had a global platform, his message would be succinct yet profound:

“Do the thing that you’re unwilling to do but that you know you need to do.”

This call to action embodies the essence of his teachings, urging individuals to confront their fears, embrace their truths, and embark on the journey of transformation with courage and openness.

Stefanos’ journey from a tumultuous childhood to a relationship expert underscores the profound transformation possible in the realm of human connections. His 24-year odyssey through personal and professional development, working with an array of high achievers, has equipped him with unique insights into the dynamics of relationships, especially the interplay of masculine and feminine energies.

His work is vital in today’s society, where distractions and external dissonances challenge the essence of human connection. By integrating deep psychological insights with practical experience, Stefanos guides individuals and couples toward cultivating divine unions and authentic relationships. His approach, focusing on inner work, play, and willingness, offers a blueprint for evolving relationships in the modern era. Stefanos’ narrative is not just a story of personal triumph but a beacon for those navigating the complexities of love, intimacy, and self-discovery in our rapidly changing world.

Key Takeaways For Your Self-Love And Relationship Journey

1. Embrace Your Inner Journey: Recognize that the path to fulfilling relationships and self-love begins with confronting and healing your own traumas and shadows.
2. Cultivate Presence and Play: Regular engagement in playful activities and mindful presence enhances intimacy and connection in relationships.
3. Practice Non-Attachment in Love: Explore the depths of intimacy with a balanced approach to sexual expression, understanding that love and desire can exist in expansive, yet grounded ways.
4. Be Willing and Open: Approach life and relationships with a willingness to engage in difficult conversations, embodying honesty and integrity in your interactions.
5. Believe in Your Potential: Surround yourself with people who believe in you and support your growth, as relationships are pivotal in navigating the journey towards personal and financial fulfillment.

Connect With Stefanos Sifandos

Instagram

Website

The post Navigating The Depths Of Self-Love And Relationships With Stefanos Sifandos appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

However, in the vast landscape of human communication, the knack for persuading others can act as a catalyst for change, open doors, forge alliances, and effect positive change. Whether you are a professional, a student, or someone engaging in everyday conversations, mastering the art of convincing can be a powerful asset. 

This article explores the critical components of building convincing arguments. So, let’s get going.

1. Understand Your Audience

The foundation of influential communication lies in understanding your audience. Before constructing your argument, take the time to analyze your audience’s values, beliefs, and motivations. Altering your message to align with their perspectives increases the likelihood of them being receptive to your argument.

2. Focus on Clarity and Conciseness

A persuasive argument should be clear and concise. Avoid ambiguity and unnecessary complexity. Straightforwardly present your ideas using easily digestible language, as a well-articulated message enhances comprehension and makes it easier for your audience to fathom your reasoning.

3. Establish Credibility

If you want to convince someone, it is essential to establish your credibility from the get-go. One way to do this is by sharing your relevant expertise, experiences, or credentials, which can strengthen your argument. 

When your audience perceives you as a credible and trustworthy source, they are more likely to be swayed by your perspective. Therefore, making a solid first impression and proving to your listeners that you have the necessary knowledge and experience to back up your assertions is crucial.

4. Knit Threads of Emotions

While logic and evidence may be necessary, emotions are crucial too. Appeal to your audience’s emotions by incorporating relatable stories, anecdotes, or vivid imagery. Connecting with them emotionally leaves an indelible mark on them.

Craft compelling narratives to convey your message, as stories uniquely anchor attention, evoke feelings, and make information more memorable. Weave relevant anecdotes into your argument to provide context and make your points relatable and engaging.

For instance, if you want to convince a prospect to buy your product, consider narrating a stunning story of how the product helped numerous people and made their lives easier. By knitting threads of emotions, you can hit the right chords and close the deal.

5. Be Concrete and Follow a Logical Structure

To win over your audience, you must logically organize your views. Start with a catchy introduction that captivates attention, and then dive into a well-structured body that lays out your main points, supported by solid evidence and relevant details. And remember to finish strong with a powerful summary that drives home your message and leaves a lasting impression. 

Support your arguments with compelling evidence and real-world examples. This could include statistics, studies, expert opinions, or specific instances illustrating your points. Concrete evidence strengthens your case and builds credibility and trust with your audience.

“Real persuasion comes from putting more of you into everything you say. Words have an effect. Words loaded with emotion have a powerful effect.” — Jim Rohn

6. Anticipate and Address Counterarguments

Any objections or counter arguments can be frustrating and derail the entire conversation. That is why it is important to anticipate potential counterarguments and address them proactively. 

As a presenter, it helps you demonstrate that you have thoroughly considered the issue at hand and are all set to engage in a thoughtful, well-rounded discussion.

For example, suppose you are debating whether or not education should be free. Your opponent might argue that making academics free would pressure taxpayers. Instead of ignoring this objection, you could acknowledge it and address it calmly. 

You could say that although making college accessible would require a significant investment, studies have shown that the long-term benefits to society far outweigh the costs. 

7. Use Persuasive Language

The words you choose to convey your message can make a big difference – they can either make or break your talk. So, choose positive language and remember not to be aggressive or confrontational. By selecting your words thoughtfully, you can evoke the emotions you want and keep the conversation respectful and persuasive.

For example, if you want to seek the support of the audience in a particular campaign, you can say like this-

“We stand together in this crisis. By doing your part, you can contribute to a great cause.”

8. Harness the Power of Visual Aids

Complement your verbal arguments with visual aids such as infographics, graphs, images, or charts. You can use pre-designed templates to enhance comprehension, provide different contexts, and make complex information more accessible. 

For example, if you are trying to build a persuasive argument towards the positive effects of a new policy, highlight its statistical data in a well-crafted infographic. Use numbers to convince the degree of change and show comparison with the help of bar graphs and charts.

9. Adjust Tone and Style

You can increase the receptivity of your message by adapting your tone and communication style to match the preferences of your audience.

Demonstrate confidence and conviction in your arguments. Also, project assurance in your words and body language to strengthen your message. It will instill confidence and trust in your audience and reassure them that they can rely on the validity and importance of your perspective.

10. Foster Two-Way Communication

A collaborative exchange of information promotes a sense of shared understanding and can uncover new perspectives that enhance the overall persuasiveness of your message. So, encourage open dialogue and two-way communication. 

Ask your audience to raise questions, provide feedback, and involve themselves in discussions to explore your arguments.

The skill of using the power of words for convincing is an asset for all professionals. It helps you make the audience believe in your ideas and agree with your viewpoints. By creating persuasive arguments, you can inspire your target customers/clients to take the desired action.

However, you can’t master this skill in a day. You can develop and improve this skill through thoughtful communication strategies. Tell a compelling story, include a strong call-to-action (CTA) in your statements, and use effective words to influence the audience’s emotions. By simplifying the complex information and conveying it in the way that best resonates with the audience, you can ensure your presentation’s success.

The post The Art of Convincing: 10 Persuasion Techniques That Really Work appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

Now, you might hear ‘perfectionist’ and think, “Ah, they’re destined for success!” But here’s the real deal: perfectionism is far from a superpower. It’s a sneaky villain in disguise, sapping emotional and physical strength, disrupting sleep, and fueling an endless cycle of rumination—all in the pursuit of getting everything ‘just right.’ This relentless chase is what we call the ‘Obsessive Idealist‘ procrastination type.

If you don’t know which out of. the 6 procrastination types you are then you can take this quick 3 minute procrastination type quiz on my Mindstrong Academy website.

Through my fourteen years of coaching, I’ve identified six procrastination types, but my journey started with a personal revelation—I am an Obsessive Idealist. I’ve been there, constantly toggling between creation and procrastination.

And today, I invite you to explore this path with me. If you’re nodding along, thinking, “That sounds like me; I’m a perfectionist too,” then stick around.

I’m about to shed some light on why you might be stuck in this cycle.

Here’s a perfectionist procrastination type video here of what I’m breaking down in this article for you:

The Obsessive Idealist: Unpacking the Perfectionist’s Paradox

First things first, make sure to take the procrastination quiz: mindstrongacademy.com/quiz to see where you stand. Now, let’s dive into the world of the Obsessive Idealist. Often labeled as high achievers or perfectionists, the core of their procrastination lies in the mind’s protective pause. It’s a shield against perceived threats, pitfalls of perfectionism, and the constant battle between the now and the future in our minds.

Here’s the paradox: what seems like a strength for high achievers can become a crippling hindrance. Obsessive Idealists are in a constant struggle to avoid failure, aiming for 100% perfection. But let’s face the truth—no one is perfect. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, athlete, or any individual striving for excellence, embracing imperfections and learning from failures are crucial steps.

The Traps of Being an Obsessive Idealist Procrastination Type

Analysis Paralysis: Overthinking every detail to the point of inaction is a common pitfall. It’s like trying to get everything perfect, but in reality, it backfires, stalling your progress.

The Unrealistic Standards Syndrome: Setting impossibly high goals is like chasing a mirage. It’s not just about being competitive; it can lead to unfair self-criticism and unrealistic expectations of others.

The Time Trap: Believing there’s never enough time to complete a task perfectly leads to constant postponement. This selective focus on strengths, while avoiding areas of improvement, limits your true potential.

Avoidance of Criticism: Dodging feedback hinders growth. It’s essential to learn to accept constructive criticism without internalizing it as a reinforcement of the “I’m not good enough” narrative.

The All-or-Nothing Lie: Believing that you must operate at full throttle or not at all is a dangerous misconception. Embracing the middle ground, like delegating tasks and seeking mentorship, is key to balanced success.

Embracing Imperfection: The Path to True Progress

In the MindStrong Academy, where I teach conquering procrastination, we focus on managing these patterns effectively. Currently, we’re offering a 7-day free trial, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to transform your mindset: MindStrongAcademy.com The Academy is more than just a course; it’s a community where you’ll find support, accountability, and tailored resources like a 31-day planner and visualization audios to realign your focus.

In conclusion, recognizing and managing your tendencies as an Obsessive Idealist is crucial. By addressing the deep-rooted “I’m not good enough” narrative and embracing imperfection, you can shift from a state of constant stress to one of harmonized power.

Remember, movement doesn’t always equate to progress. It’s about finding balance, embracing downtime, and allowing yourself the space to grow and learn.

I encourage you to take the quiz, join the MindStrong Academy, and start your journey towards a more balanced, successful life.

Let’s break free from the chains of perfectionism together!

The post 5 Key Reasons Why Perfectionist’s Procrastinate appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

The subconscious mind is shaped before we begin forming our own conscious thoughts, and these conscious thoughts are influenced by the subconscious mind. This means that even the thoughts that you’re consciously having, are merely an extension of that pre-existing conditioning. 

When something becomes deeply ingrained within your mind through repetition, and there are other supporting thoughts that reinforce it, you will identify this information as your truth. These repeated thoughts become beliefs, and your actions will align to support and validate these beliefs.

The Importance of Observing Your Thoughts

If you continuously tell yourself that you aren’t capable or good enough, how likely are you to put in the effort to challenge this narrative? If you’ve always been a procrastinator and tell yourself that you always will be, you’re going to continue procrastinating. If you run into an obstacle and don’t believe you can overcome it, you’re not going to look for solutions or try your best to resolve it.

It’s extremely important for you to become an observer of your thoughts and understand the impacts of how those thoughts can impact your life, relationships, and overall outlook on life.

Here are some questions to help guide you:

– What are your recurring negative thoughts, and how are they impacting your performance and relationships? 

– How have these thoughts held you back from achieving your goals and living the life that you’ve always dreamed of? 

– What have these thoughts already cost you and what else will they cost you if they don’t change?

Societal conditioning, influenced by a lower level of collective consciousness, has made the experience of debilitating thoughts highly prevalent. It’s not your fault that you have them, but it is your responsibility to change them and choose better ones.

The Subconscious Must Be Reprogrammed 

Reprogramming the subconscious involves positive affirmations, visualization, and consistent repetition to replace negative beliefs with positive ones. You have to become aware of the thoughts that make you feel bad and do not serve your best interest.

What are the growth-oriented thoughts that would you rather have instead? Any time that a debilitating thought crosses your mind, always correct it with new thought that uplifts, encourages and empowers you. Be consistent, be patient and understand that your logical mind will not make this process easy for you at first.

Being Delusional vs. Consciously Creating a Better Reality for Yourself 

By definition, the term delusional means “holding false beliefs or judgments about external reality that are held despite incontrovertible evidence to the contrary”. When you have held onto debilitating beliefs for so long and your previous actions have served as evidence to confirm their truth, it is inevitable that your logical mind will deem your new thoughts as delusional. This is where embracing change tends to become most challenging, as it involves confronting this resistance with unwavering commitment. 

What you have to understand is that your former beliefs and former actions do not dictate your future, unless they remain the same. As the old beliefs become obsolete and new beliefs take their place, there will also be new aligned actions that produce different results, and this will serve as evidence to support your new truth. That being said, the most delusional thing that anyone can do is elect to keep an unfavorable mindset that was programmed for them by external factors and willingly relinquish their own personal power as a result of it.

Success is Fundamentally Rooted in the Mindset

How we show up for ourselves and others, communicate with employees, and perform in business are deeply connected to our mindset and everything that has shaped it. Let’s delve into these interconnected aspects and explore five transformative tips that will catalyze positive change in the workplace. 

A growth-oriented mindset encourages resilience, adaptability, and a willingness to embrace challenges. On the other hand, a fixed mindset hinders progress and limits potential.

Tip 1: Embrace a Growth Mindset

• Establish the belief that abilities can be developed.
• View challenges as opportunities for learning and improvement.
• Cultivate a positive attitude toward continuous growth and development.

Unpacking Trauma and Navigating the Impact

Unresolved trauma can cast a long shadow over our personal and professional lives. It shapes our reactions, influences decision-making, and impacts our interactions with others. Acknowledging and addressing trauma is essential for creating a healthier, more productive work environment.

Tip 2: Prioritize Trauma-Informed Leadership

• Cultivate empathy and understanding for individual experiences.
• Provide a safe space for open communication about trauma.
• Implement support systems and resources for employees dealing with trauma.

Elevate Relationships and Sales Performance

To enhance relationships, communication, and sales performance, a holistic approach that intertwines mindset and trauma-informed practices is key.

Tip 3: Implement Empathy-Driven Communication

• Train teams in active listening and empathetic communication.
• Create an environment where open dialogue is encouraged.
• Recognize and validate diverse perspectives, creating a culture of inclusivity.

Tip 4: Invest in Professional Development

• Offer continuous learning opportunities for employees.
• Develop leadership skills to enhance communication and relationship-building.
• Prioritize sales training programs that align with evolving market dynamics.

Tip 5: Maintain a Positive Work Culture

• Create a workplace where employees feel valued and appreciated.
• Implement recognition programs to celebrate achievements.
• Encourage a balance between professional and personal well-being.

By embracing a growth mindset, acknowledging and addressing trauma, and implementing empathetic, integrated strategies, individuals and organizations can create a transformative ripple effect. In this interconnected web of personal and professional growth, how we show up truly matters, influencing the outcomes we achieve and the impact we leave on those around us.

Enjoy the Journey 

As you embark on the empowering journey of subconscious reprogramming, remember that change takes time, and self-compassion is your greatest ally. Surround yourself with positive influences, whether it be supportive friends, inspirational books, or mindfulness practices. Seek guidance from mentors who have walked a similar path and found success in reshaping their mindset. Embrace the discomfort that may arise during this process, for it signifies the shedding of old layers to make way for the new. Reflect on your progress regularly, celebrating even the smallest victories, and be patient with yourself as you navigate the intricacies of transformation. 

In the spirit of rewriting your narrative, I encourage you to take the first step today. Commit to a daily practice of positive affirmations, visualize your desired reality, and consistently challenge self-limiting beliefs. If you would like support along the way, consider joining like-minded communities, Facebook groups, and curate your social media to reflect these new changes you want to embody.

Remember, thoughts become actions, and actions reinforce beliefs. It’s never too late to embark on an empowering journey to reprogram your mind, and achieve the life you have always dreamed of!

For more tips and strategies on how to improve your mindset, follow me at @bigdivineenergy.

The post Unlocking Success: Subconscious Reprogramming, Mindset, and Transformative Strategies for Improved Wellbeing and Business Performance appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

Consequently, these countless paths can take us down roads that can all too easily, make or break our lives. This, along with the increasing prevalence of AI, leaves many of us faced with the looming question of purpose…what makes humans successful and happy despite different circumstances?

I’m Dr. Kendal Maxwell and I’m a practicing neuropsychologist, which means I study the connection between the human brain and its associated behaviors (in a wide variety of people with an even wider range of medical problems). When the COVID-19 pandemic began I became even more intrigued by human behavior as people’s everyday structure was torn away from them, and realized a revolutionary social experiment was occurring right in front of my eyes.

Not only was I watching how people’s habits were affecting them (both positively and negatively), I was also experiencing first hand my own, as I also began to struggle to keep myself together during a time of collective trauma. 

With that being said, the first thing I did was take a deep dive into researching habits to help myself as well as my patients. How could I develop a physical, tangible tool to help others not only cope, but come out on the other side a better version of themselves? A self-guided habit journal was the answer. That is when I created 12 Months to Happier Habits, then called upon a brilliant and artistic friend of mine, Victoria Nicole Varela, to bring creative life to our project.

This journal helps get you back on track by eliminating negative habits and by helping you introduce new positive habits which allows you to show up as the best version of yourself. But what exactly are habits? Why do they have such a powerful and profound effect on our daily lives and even more so, our total existence?

A habit is a behavior that becomes automatic over time. Once a behavior becomes a habit, it involves less work for the brain and body to do it over any new task. From a brain perspective, our body is motivated by the release of neurotransmitters that make us feel good. These include dopamine, oxytocin, endorphins, and serotonin.

While there are many habits that can lead to increased success and happiness, I am going to focus on the top four that I feel impact these neurotransmitters the most and lead to a life where one would feel successful and happy despite what specifically they are doing otherwise. 

1. Engage in Purposeful Living

Each and every day you should focus on 1 activity that makes you feel a sense of purpose. When we accomplish things, regardless of if they big or small, our serotonin (a chemical linked to feelings of confidence), increases. Additionally, after we accomplish a task we also have an increase in dopamine as we feel a sense internal or external reward. And purpose changes throughout our lives, which is an important thing to remember.

In our 20’s purpose may look like completing a homework assignment for a college course to further our career goals. In our 30’s it may look like feeding a child to help them survive, or building or fixing something for a home we just bought. Our 40’s and onward may look like volunteering or planning a trip with people we love, etc. Ask yourself each morning what is one thing you want to accomplish? Make it happen. Be present with the feeling of having accomplished this before you go to bed at night. 

“If we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.” – Tony Robbins

2. Be Willing to Move

There is countless research available proving that the brain and heart are incredibly connected. Taking care of the heart is vital for longevity of life as it inevitably impacts the brain and can reduce the likelihood of developing some form of future dementia. It could be walking 7 days a week for 40 minutes, engaging in high intensity interval training for 20 minutes 3 days a week, and/or incorporating yoga into your weekly routine (my personal favorite).

There are many options that have demonstrated themselves to be effective at leading to improvements in physical and mental health as we age. I also want to note that there are many ways to adapt exercise if you are physically limited, such as chair yoga or chair tai chi. (Victoria is a fan of bathtub stretching!) Additionally, exercise releases all 4 of those feel-good neurotransmitters mentioned above, making it the natural drug of choice for literally anyone. 

3. Make Time for Mindfulness Meditation

To feel successful and happy as we go about our daily lives, we must be okay with being with ourselves, in our own body. Mindfulness meditation assists with this process. By sitting, laying down, or even engaging in walking meditation on a daily basis for 20-40 minutes, we naturally regulate our nervous system. Doing so reduces inflammation in both our body and brain, and releases dopamine, serotonin and endorphins.

Meditation increases our ability to attend to and focus on activities outside of meditation itself, leading us to be more successful at any task we take on. It also has been shown to improve overall mood. In individuals who have cognitive changes later in life, it has been shown to reduce the size of the amygdala so we react better to stress and fear.

4. Stay Connected to Others

Loneliness has been shown to be a risk factor for mortality in older adults. Additionally, when we think about successful ideas and the ability to make an idea become alive, it always involves multiple people working together. The human species thrives on feeling connected and doing so in healthy ways increases all four neurotransmitters! It should be a daily habit to push yourself to find a way to connect with someone. This may mean engaging in a group hobby, group goal, group volunteer opportunity, calling someone you love, etc.

There is even research that shows going to a place where other people are at even if you do not engage with them socially, such as a coffee shop, can be helpful for us on an emotional level. 

Now that you have these four habits you can begin to implement them into your life. Sometimes it’s easier to start with 1 habit at a time for a month, so you don’t feel overwhelmed by this process. This is where 12 Months to Happier Habits can help you. Writing down the habit you want to increase, preparing your life to make room for it, and checking in with yourself on a weekly basis will lead you to be more successful with creating change.

I can’t wait to see the person you are truly meant to be when you make time for these habits in your life, as your best self is already within you and is just waiting for you to start the journey. 

The post A Neuropsychologists 4 Habits for a Successful and Happy Life appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

By focusing on personal development, we unlock our utmost potential and experience a profound influence on our overall happiness. It enables us to assume control of our lives, make constructive adjustments, and embrace new prospects. Personal growth is pivotal in enhancing our relationships, finding purpose, or bolstering our mental well-being.

Join us on this transformative journey to explore how personal development can enhance well-being.

Below, we’ll share practical strategies, valuable insights, and helpful resources to unlock your capabilities.

1. Enhanced Self-Awareness 

A fundamental aspect of personal development is the cultivation of self-awareness. Self-awareness involves consciously observing and comprehending our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. It entails stepping back to reflect on our values, motivations, and ourselves. By nurturing self-awareness, we gain profound insights into our true selves, leading to a greater understanding of our needs, aspirations, and purpose.

Practices like mindfulness, journaling, and self-reflection are potent tools to foster self-awareness. Mindfulness entails being fully present at the moment and observing our thought patterns and feelings without judgment. Journaling provides a safe outlet to express ourselves, gain clarity, and track our growth journey.

Lastly, self-reflection prompts us to evaluate our actions, beliefs, and patterns, empowering us to make conscious choices that align with our authentic selves.

A deeper understanding of ourselves enables us to navigate challenges, make informed decisions, and cultivate a profound sense of fulfillment and well-being.

In recent times, there’s been a surge of interest in personal development and the behavioral sciences, making the field of applied behavior quite the buzz. It’s all about using psychological know-how in a practical way to bring about changes in behavior and lifestyle. Now, if this field tickles your fancy and you’re thinking of diving into a career here, it’s smart to arm yourself with some solid education and hands-on experience.

A master’s degree is a great starting point, but getting your feet wet through real-world experience is just as essential. The good news? You can juggle both learning and earning by hopping onto an online master’s in applied behavior analysis. This nifty online program is packed with insights on human behavior and hands you the toolkit you need to make waves in diverse environments.

2. Improved Mental Health 

Personal development plays a vital role in promoting mental well-being. By investing in self-growth, individuals can experience positive changes in their mental well-being. One way personal development improves mental health is through stress management techniques. Learning effective stress management strategies helps individuals cope with and reduce stress levels, leading to better overall mental well-being.

Positive affirmations and gratitude practices are other powerful tools within personal development that enhance mental health. Individuals can shift their mindset towards optimism and build resilience by cultivating positive self-talk and focusing on gratitude. These practices result in improved mood, increased self-esteem and foster a positive outlook on life.

Research and expert insights consistently demonstrate the positive impact of personal development on mental well-being. For example, engaging in activities such as growth workshops, therapy, or self-help books can lead to reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression, increased self-awareness, and improved emotional well-being.

According to Forbes, studies have shown that personal development practices like gratitude journaling and positive affirmations can improve mental health by shifting our focus toward the positive aspects of life. 

“What holds most people back isn’t the quality of their ideas, but their lack of faith in themselves. You have to live your life as if you are already where you want to be.” – Russell Simmons

3. Increased Self-Confidence 

Personal development has a profound effect on self-confidence. Individuals actively engaging in self-improvement can hone new skills, overcome self-limiting beliefs, and set and achieve goals, all contributing to increased self-confidence. In addition, by focusing on personal growth, individuals learn to embrace their strengths, build resilience, and step outside their comfort zones.

Skill-building is an essential aspect of personal development that boosts self-confidence. As individuals acquire new skills and knowledge, they gain a sense of accomplishment and capability. This newfound expertise empowers them to take on challenges confidently.

4. Better Relationships 

Personal development not only benefits us individually but also significantly impacts our relationships. Through personal growth, we cultivate essential relationship skills such as effective communication, empathy, and emotional intelligence. These skills enable us to build healthy and meaningful connections with others. 

Forbes highlights the importance of active listening, understanding different perspectives, and expressing empathy as critical components of personal development that positively impact relationships. We become better partners, friends, and family members by continuously improving ourselves. We learn to navigate conflicts, establish boundaries, and cultivate deeper connections. 

The positive effects of personal development on relationships are evident in increased trust, mutual respect, and overall relationship satisfaction. When we prioritize our personal growth, we create a ripple effect that extends to the quality of our relationships and enhances our well-being.

5. Lifelong Learning and Growth 

Personal development is a lifelong journey of learning and growth. In a rapidly changing world, embracing unique growth opportunities and continuously acquiring new skills and knowledge is crucial. Forbes emphasizes that personal development encourages us to let go of our comfort zones and explore new challenges. We enhance our adaptability and resilience by seeking learning experiences and acquiring new skills. 

Continuous learning allows us to stay relevant in our personal and professional lives, adapt to changing circumstances, and embrace innovation. It fosters a growth mindset, which empowers us to view failures as potential opportunities for growth and challenges as stepping stones toward success. Embracing personal development opportunities nurtures our intellectual curiosity and expands our horizons. It enables us to unlock our full potential, pursue our passions, and create a meaningful and fulfilling life.

Final Words 

Personal development is a powerful tool that can significantly enhance our well-being and overall quality of life. By investing in ourselves and embracing personal growth, we can experience profound positive changes. We have explored various aspects of personal development, including enhanced self-awareness, improved mental health, increased self-confidence, better relationships, lifelong learning, and growth.

Remember, personal development is a lifelong journey. Embrace it with a willingness to explore new possibilities. Invest in yourself and commit to ongoing growth and self-improvement. Doing so can unlock your full potential and offer a life filled with purpose, joy, and well-being.

Read more personal development blogs from Addicted 2 Success! 

• A List of Affirmations to Use Right Now to Create a More Positive Life
• Unlock The Power Of Emotional Intelligence: Deepen Connections and Win More Clients
• 58 Inspirational Quotes on Victory That Will Motivate You to Win

The post 5 Ways Personal Development Boosts Your Well-Being appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

Affirmations help you bring mental images, motivate and keep you focused on accomplishing your goals. They create positive vibes and help manage your time. They reinforce your inner voice. 

They help you take a step closer to your ideal mindset with a positive, right, and strong attitude. They enhance your longevity as you enjoy living for a longer time with optimism.

They keep you happy and help you lead your personal, professional, and social life successfully. They purify your thoughts and inspire you to dream and achieve big. You begin to think that everything is possible in this world. 

Research shows that we get around 50,000 to 60,000 thoughts in a day and most of them are negative. 

Hence, it is essential to convert negative thoughts into positive thoughts through affirmations. Life becomes truly great when we can think positively and contribute constructively to make a difference in the lives of others.

Tips to Acquire Positive Affirmations

“You will be a failure until you impress the subconscious with the conviction you are a success. This is done by making an affirmation which ‘clicks.'” ―Florence Scovel Shinn 

Everything depends on your mind. Your thinking will create magical words that inspire and mesmerize the people around you. Here are some tips to affirm yourself positively: 

• Appreciate yourself. Look at the positive things within yourself. In the morning, think of the good things you will do throughout the day. In the night, think of the good things you have done through the day before you sleep.
• Use sentences such as “I can do it” or. Use the letter ‘I’ to affirm yourself. Tell yourself, “I am full of energy and that gives me joy”. Or “I forgive those who have hurt me”. These sentences bring a lot of change in your thought process and help you to calm down.
• Use present tense in your statements to become optimistic and achieve maximum outcome. That tells you, what you said is your state of mind now. It is not a future goal or a quality of the past.
• Surround yourself with motivational slogans. Take out five minutes to find a motivational quote of your choice every day. 
• To apply affirmations, remove negative thoughts from your mind and replace them with positive thoughts. For example, instead of thinking “This is going to be difficult”, think rather, “There are some challenges here and it will be fun to overcome them.”
• Prepare a few positive affirmations that suit your age, expectations, and passion. Repeat them. They will creep into your subconscious mind and convert your thought process positively. Once the messages are ingrained in your subconscious mind, your behavior will improve automatically.

Wayne Dyer remarked, “My favorite affirmation when I feel stuck or out of sorts is: Whatever I need is already here, and it is all for my highest good. Jot this down and post it conspicuously throughout your home, on the dashboard of your car, at your office, on your microwave oven, and even in front of your toilets!” Above all, look at the door that is open, not the one that is closed. 

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.” ―Buddha

Change Your Mental Vocabulary

James Allen said, “All that you accomplish or fail to accomplish with your life is the direct result of your thoughts.” Whether you want to succeed or fail, it is in your hands as your thoughts will lead to actions. When your thoughts are positive, your actions will be positive. Here are some techniques to convert your thoughts into positive action: Replace “if” with “when,” “should” with “could you,” “hopefully” with “certainly” and “I hope” with “I expect.”  Do not think about what you do not have. Think about what you have. Do not say, “Have a great day!”  but say, “Make it a great day!” Never say, “Do not worry”. Always say, “Have faith”.  Swapping a few words while speaking can convert you into an exceptional achiever.  For instance, swap “but” for “and”; and “have to” for “want to,” and you will find an amazing difference in your thinking process.

Write down your affirmations in a journal and read them before you go to bed and when you wake up. Do it regularly because it helps the affirmations enter into your subconscious mind easily giving you amazing results. 

Here are some examples of affirmations you can customize and adopt: 

1. I exercise every day and I am healthy. 
2. I always learn and grow. 
3. I always see the good in others and appreciate it. 
4. I forgive people and forget unpleasant events. I am compassionate and kind at heart. 
5. I am surrounded by healthy and positive people. 
6. I always get what I want. 
7. I become more and more prosperous every day. 
8. I attract incredible opportunities to increase my earnings and better my life. 
9. I have a continuous abundance of prosperity flowing to me. 
10. I allow all good things to come into my life and I enjoy them.
11. I am an abundant person. 
12. I have a loving family. 
13. I read great books and enjoy sharing my knowledge with the world free of charge.  
14. I am blessed with loyal fans and followers all over the world. 
15. I have an attitude of gratitude. 
16. I am blessed with affectionate and reliable friends.
17. I am happy and successful. 
18. I have a heart to serve others. 
19. I always add value to others and make a difference in the world.
20. I inspire the world.  
21. Life is great!

When you want to grow as a leader, you must create a positive and healthy thought process to build your confidence. It is essential to be equipped with positive affirmations. 

Equipping with positive affirmations would be easy when you adopt the outlined techniques. Follow the tips, tools, and techniques to acquire, equip and apply positive affirmations that would help you reach your goal. 

Read more personal development blogs from Addicted 2 Success! 

• 5 Ways Personal Development Boosts Your Well-Being
• Unlock The Power Of Emotional Intelligence: Deepen Connections and Win More Clients
• 58 Inspirational Quotes on Victory That Will Motivate You to Win

The post A List of Affirmations to Use Right Now to Create a More Positive Life appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

LEADERSHIP – Conscious Leadership

Simon Sinek, a world-renowned optimist and visionary, once stated, “Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge.” Conscious leadership embodies this principle, prioritising awareness of the broader implications and ripple effects of decisions on the organisation, its stakeholders, and the environment.

Action Steps:

1. Leadership Training: One of the foundational steps towards conscious leadership is investing in leadership development programs that highlight ethical decision-making, environmental stewardship, and social responsibility. These training programs should encompass elements such as emotional intelligence, transparency, empathy, and long-term thinking, equipping leaders to guide their teams towards sustainable growth.
2. Stakeholder Engagement: Conscious leaders also emphasise consistent and open dialogue with stakeholders. By incorporating stakeholders’ insights into decision-making processes, leaders can ensure they’re addressing the needs and concerns of those impacted by the organisation’s operations.

EVOLUTION – Adaptability

Like the ever-evolving cosmos, businesses must be capable of change and evolution. Albert Einstein’s wisdom encapsulates this requirement: “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” In the fast-paced business world, adaptability becomes an essential survival trait, fostering resilience and agility.

Action Steps:

1. Innovation Encouragement: Businesses can nurture adaptability by creating an environment that celebrates innovation, rewards creative problem-solving, and supports calculated risk-taking. This could involve implementing an open-door policy for ideas, organising brainstorming sessions, or establishing an innovation hub within the organisation.
2. Technology Integration: Keeping abreast of technological advancements and incorporating them into business processes is another critical step. This proactive approach not only optimises operations but also positions the organisation as a forward-thinking player in the industry.

GROWTH – Continuous Learning and Development

Motivational speaker and writer Leo Buscaglia said, “Change is the end result of all true learning.” In the realm of business, this translates into the equation ‘continuous learning equals continuous growth’. Organisations that champion a culture of ongoing learning and development are well-positioned to thrive.

Action Steps:

1. Employee Training: Regular training and development opportunities should be provided to employees to update their skills and stay abreast of industry trends. This can range from skills-based workshops and webinars to providing resources for self-learning and personal development.
2. Learning Culture: Promoting a culture that values learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation is crucial. This can be achieved by recognising and rewarding learning initiatives, encouraging feedback, and fostering an atmosphere of open communication.

ALIGNMENT – Holistic Approach to Business and Value-Based Marketing

Renowned systems scientist Peter Senge stated, “Alignment is the prerequisite for effectiveness.” Taking inspiration from the cosmos, where every element is harmoniously aligned, businesses should ensure all aspects of their operations align with their core mission and values.

Action Steps:

1. Internal Alignment: To ensure coherence between what a business says and does, internal processes, practices, and culture should reflect the organisation’s mission and values. This includes aligning recruitment and management practices, employee benefits, and internal communication with the organisation’s core ethos.
2. External Alignment: Similarly, marketing, customer service, and branding strategies should resonate with the organisation’s values. Authentic alignment in these areas fosters trust among stakeholders and differentiates the business in a competitive marketplace.

Ready to Learn to Unlock The Power of Emotional Intelligence and Win More Clients? 

COMMUNITY – Community Building

Civil rights activist Coretta Scott King once stated, “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” This statement holds significant relevance for modern businesses, underlining the importance of community-building among stakeholders.

Action Steps:

1. Stakeholder Inclusion: Businesses can foster community by including stakeholders in decision-making processes, fostering a sense of ownership and engagement. This can be facilitated through town-hall meetings, feedback sessions, and collaborative projects.
2. Engagement Initiatives: Launching initiatives that promote interaction and collaboration among stakeholders can further strengthen community bonds. These initiatives can range from team-building activities and social events to forums for sharing ideas and challenges.

YIELD – Sustainability and Technology Integration

Danish architect Bjarke Ingels pointed out that sustainability should not be viewed as a sacrifice but as a design challenge. Businesses, similarly, should see sustainability as an essential aspect of their design and operational strategies, not as an afterthought.

Action Steps:

1. Sustainable Practices: By incorporating sustainability into every facet of business operations, from product design and manufacturing to supply chain management and waste disposal, businesses can make a positive impact on the environment and society.
2. Tech-driven Sustainability: Technology offers a myriad of ways to enhance sustainability. By harnessing technology to optimise resource use, reduce energy consumption, or streamline processes, businesses can demonstrate their commitment to sustainable practices.

In conclusion, the 6 L.E.G.A.C.Y. Insights offer a holistic and actionable guide for businesses looking to navigate the complexities of today’s dynamic business landscape. By integrating conscious leadership, adaptability, continuous learning and development, alignment, community building, and sustainability into their day-to-day operations, organisations can achieve sustainable growth and contribute positively to the larger cosmic playground.

Ray Pang SH has generated over USD$1.216mil for his business using the Transformational Sales Methods he discussed above and in his other articles on A2S.

Want to work with him and become one of the 125+ business owners he has helped generate over USD$12.164mil in sales for? Go to his Instagram here and DM him the word “LEGACY” to learn how he can revolutionise your business now.

Want to Master Sales? Find out what it takes for you to become a master salesman

The post The 6 L.E.G.A.C.Y. Insights: Building A Holistic Approach To Business appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

In a world marred by conflict, ecological decay, and societal disparity, the mission of the Global Freedom Initiative rings louder than ever. By nurturing a global tribe dedicated to human evolution, the initiative envisions a world where Unconditional Love serves as the default emotional state.

Cultivating World-Changers

The heart of the Global Freedom Initiative beats in transcending conventional notions of business, wealth, and personal development. It strives to foster a dynamic Freedom Impact Ecosystem, merging individuals and businesses in a unified quest for a world that celebrates authenticity, where love is unbounded, and freedom is an innate right. These philosophy anchors on the ‘Creator Being’ concept, recognising our capacity to shape reality and influence our surroundings.

As the esteemed physicist Albert Einstein once stated, “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” This potent quote encapsulates the essence of a ‘Creator Being’ – an individual whose thoughts, intentions, and actions have the power to shape their reality and impact their environment. This acknowledgment of our inherent creative potential is the bedrock of the Global Freedom Initiative.

The Quest for True Freedom

A 2020 Pew Research Center survey revealed that nearly 60% of adults worldwide expressed dissatisfaction with their country’s current state, hinting at a global thirst for transformation. The Global Freedom Initiative quenches this thirst by presenting an evolutionary journey starting with self-awareness cultivation and climaxing in ‘True Freedom’ – a state of existence that embraces the human experience unencumbered by repression, resistance, and rejection.

Negative emotions like shame, guilt, fear, and anger often inhibit personal and societal evolution. Brene Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston, wisely noted, “Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change.” The Global Freedom Initiative proposes a transformative response to these emotions, advocating for their acknowledgment, processing, and release to foster personal liberation and nurture a more empathetic and inclusive society.

Reimagining Business as a Catalyst for True Freedom

The Global Freedom Initiative underscores the reframing of business as a conduit for social impact and personal legacy. It proposes a radical shift in our perception of business, presenting it not merely as a profit-oriented entity but as a potent platform for societal evolution and personal self-expression. This perspective dovetails with the rising trend of impact investing. According to the Global Impact Investing Network, impact investing assets amounted to $715 billion in 2020, signalling an increasing recognition of the role businesses can play in steering societal transformation.

To support The Global Freedom Initiative, we must appreciate the significance of individual, owner, and investor contributions to the business sphere. Business is an outward reflection of our inner quest, our mission of Truth, mirroring our fullest expression of Self in driving change and impacting the world.

For a business to be sustainable and impactful, it must satisfy two primary pillars:

1. A business should drive social impact and contribute to societal evolution, for the Greater Good Of All
2. A business should have the necessary structure for one’s LEGACY and Truth to flow within, as this impact will voice your inner Truth mission to change the world

This defines a Freedom Impact Business.

Three tiers contribute to a Freedom Impact Ecosystem:

1. $0 – $100k/mo (Freedom Impact Venture)
2. $100k/mo – $1mil/mo (Freedom Impact Organisation)
3. $1mil/mo – $10mil+/mo (Freedom Impact Enterprise)

Moreover, the Global Freedom Initiative rethinks the definition of business success. It posits that a truly prosperous business drives economic growth, contributes positively to society, and facilitates personal growth. This perspective aligns with a McKinsey & Company study, suggesting that long-term performance-focused companies demonstrate superior financial outcomes while contributing to societal well-being.

Charting the Future: What Does This Mean For You?

At the core of the Global Freedom Initiative is the conviction that personal growth and societal evolution are inherently linked. As we progress towards personal freedom, we indirectly contribute to societal transformation. This philosophy resonates with the wisdom of celebrated philosopher and writer, Aldous Huxley, who stated, “There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.”

The Coaching / Consulting Industry plays an instrumental role in the Global Freedom Initiative, bridging the gap between traditional education and a more holistic approach encompassing body, mind, and spirit. This aligns with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 4, advocating for “inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all.”

Ultimately, the Global Freedom Initiative underscores the power of community and collective action. It believes that each one of us can contribute to a world where freedom, love, and authenticity are paramount. This community-oriented approach resonates with Margaret Mead’s wisdom, a renowned anthropologist, who famously stated, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

In conclusion, the Global Freedom Initiative offers a transformative philosophy responding to the profound call for societal transformation and personal growth. It champions the creation of a world where every individual is empowered to live in alignment with their truths and contribute to humanity’s collective evolution. As we steer through the complexities of the 21st century, such philosophies serve as beacons of hope, offering a roadmap for constructing a more inclusive, compassionate, and authentic world.

Ray Pang SH has generated over USD$1.215mil for his business using the Transformational Sales Methods he discussed above and in his other articles on A2S.

Want to work with him and become one of the 125+ business owners he has helped generate over USD$12.154mil in sales for? Go to his Instagram here and DM him the word “LEGACY” to learn how he can revolutionise your business now.

Ready to become a master salesperson? Learn how to master the art of active listening

The post The Global Freedom Initiative: Revolutionising freedom, legacy, and impact appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

There’s a huge gap between having goals and accomplishing them. The act of writing down your goals plays an important part in closing this gap and reaching your goals.  According to a study done on Harvard MBA students, within ten years’ time, the students who had written down their goals were making ten times as much as their classmates who hadn’t written down their goals.

What to write out in your goals 

1. Clearly define your goals

This may be harder than you think. That’s because oftentimes, we get caught up in our daily routines and lose track of our true desires in life. Most people are guided by their circumstances. But there are a few people who shape their lives according to their goals. Who do you think is happier: the person who is defined by their circumstances or the person who creates their circumstances? Which category are you in now? Which category do you want to be in?

Chances are, you’re in the first group. But, the good news is that if you’re reading this article, you’re probably trying to make it to the second category. In order to do this, you have to take stock of your situation. That means taking some time to sit down and reflect. Find some quiet, alone time. Sit down and consider your current situation from all angles and write down your observations.

If you need some help doing this, consider answering the following questions:

• Where are you now?
• Where do you want to be?
• What do you have to do to get there?

“It is not enough to take steps which may some day lead to a goal; each step must be itself a goal and a step likewise.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

2. Look at the big picture

Envision where you want to be next year, the year after or five years from now. Think about long-term goals. Don’t think about details or how you will accomplish them. Simply allow yourself to dream and to think about what it is you truly want. Whether it’s a personal or professional goal, just let your heart speak. Maybe you want to be married with children in five years’ time. Maybe you want to run a marathon. Or you want a job that you both love and that pays you well. Or you want to take time off to travel. Whatever it is, no matter how far from your current circumstances it may be, write it down.

3. Look at the small picture

Now, is when you start to fill in the gap between where you are now and your dreams. What is the first step? If you want to be married and have children, fill out a profile on an online dating site or let your friends know that you’re interested in meeting someone. If you want to run a marathon, get yourself a personal trainer at a gym or join a running club. Maybe visit a sports nutritionist to make sure you’re getting the nutrients you need in order to stay healthy and competitive.

If you want to land your dream job, think about your qualifications. Do you need to take some courses in order to be a candidate for the job you want? If you already qualify, start sending out your resume. If you want to travel, how could you convince your boss to let you take the time off? What about arrangements for a house-sitter or sub-letter? Who could take care of your pets? What other steps are there between you and your goal? Map them out, step by step.

4. Use positive Self Talk

When writing down your goals, try to put things in a positive way. Negative goal setting implies that you’re doing something wrong. It’s like scolding yourself for not doing better.

Below, I will provide 4 examples:

• Don’t say: Stop dating losers. Instead say: Find a successful, loving, supportive partner.
• Don’t say: Stop being lazy. Instead say: Improve my fitness to have the body I want and increase my health, energy and self-esteem.
• Don’t say: Quit your dead-end job. Instead say: Find a job that matches my skills, passions and financial goals.
• Don’t say: Stop putting off traveling. Instead say: Prepare the way for an incredible traveling adventure.

Putting a positive spin on the language you use can make you feel excited about tackling your goals. Such an attitude will help you overcome hurdles and make you determined to reach your future accomplishments.

“A goal is a dream with a deadline.” – Napoleon Hill

Whatever your goals are, studies show that the act of writing them down can have a significant impact on their outcome. Defining exactly what it is that you want, setting up the steps to get there, and saying it all in a positive way are powerful steps to realizing your dreams. So, grab a pen and get started.

Ready To Write Down Your Goals & Reach Them? Read more blogs about reaching your goals and success on Addicted 2 Success

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    • Why It’s So Important To Follow Your Dreams

The post 4 Tips On How To Write Down Your Goals To Actually Reach Them appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

This is because when we fail, we tend to ponder, we search for deeper meanings, and we grow in the process. Hence, do not shun failure. The key is not to avoid failure, but to learn how to manage it when it comes. 

So when you fail to reach your goals, here is the 6-step process you can use to bounce back higher:

1. Failure is just your perception

The first thing you need to understand when you fail to achieve your goals is that failure is just your perception. Like Henry Ford famously said, “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you are right.” You have to understand that there is no good news or bad news, it is just news.

Hence, when you fail, don’t treat it as a failure, instead, choose to look at it as an opportunity to learn and a lesson for growth. The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people look at things from a positive perspective while unsuccessful people look at things from a negative point of view.

When you fail, it doesn’t mean that you are a failure. You are only a failure when you choose to quit and give up. Remember, failure is just an event, not a person. Change your perception of failure and things will start to change.

2. Focus on what you can learn

The next step you need to do is to find out what you can learn from your failure. It is not easy, but once you switch your perception and look at failure as something good, things can change. A lot of people look at failure as the opposite of success, which is not true at all. Failure is not the opposite of success, it is part of it.

Tony Robbins said it wisely, “Success in life is the result of good judgment. Good judgment is usually the result of experience. Experience is usually the result of bad judgment.” Hence, when you fail to achieve your goals, ask yourself, “What does this mean and what can I learn from it?”

Focus on what you can learn and not the problem. When you treat failure as a lesson and you gained a new perspective from it, you become someone better and more worthy of the goal.

3. Remember your dream

The third step you can do is to remind yourself of your dream. When you see yourself achieving your goals and are living your ideal lifestyle, you feel motivated. This is important because one of the main reasons people fail to hit their goals is that they lose interest in what they want.

They started strong in the beginning, but as the days went by, their motivation started to fade and they were distracted by everything that is happening in their daily lives. As a result, they lose connection with their goals and eventually, they stop taking action and they give up.

Never let this happen to you. Make sure you think about your dreams and put your goals in your mind every moment.

4. Recall your purpose and rediscover your passion

The next step you should take is to recall your purpose and reignite your passion. Remember, what gets you started is your purpose and what gets you going is your purpose. And you can’t go on without both. Your purpose is the lighthouse that guides you through thick and thin. And your passion is the fuel that drives you to take action each day.

So rediscover your purpose. Why do you want to achieve the goals? Why do you want to reach your dreams? The stronger and the more emotional your purpose, the stronger the motivation.

5. Plan and recalibrate

Once you’ve reignited your passion, it is time to plan ahead once again and recalibrate your action steps. At this point, you should understand better why you fail in the first place. Maybe you are not taking enough action. Maybe your approach did not work. Or maybe you should just try again one more time.

Whatever you do, create a new plan and start over again. Never underestimate the power of planning. Like Larry Winget said: “Nobody ever wrote down a plan to be broke, fat, lazy, or stupid. Those things are what happen when you don’t have a plan.” Your plan tells you what you need to do to reach your goals. And of course, the final step is about taking action.

6. Take action and bounce back

The final step is to bounce back by taking massive action. By now, you have only two options. One, you choose to sit and do nothing. This will never get you anywhere. If you are stuck in a rut, doing nothing is not going to help at all. You need to make progress, which leads you to option two: Take massive action.

Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there. Do understand that people don’t drown by falling into the water. They drown because they stay there. This is why you need to keep moving. Therefore, take massive and consistent action according to the plan that you have created.

Use These Tools To Reach Your Goals

Failing to achieve your goals is something common. Even Thomas Edison was said to have failed over 10,000 times. However, the difference was that Edison did not give up. He knew how to manage his failures and he did not see his failures as failures. Sometimes all you need is to follow simple steps to achieve your goals and create your dream life! 

Like all successful people, Edison chose to look at failures as an opportunity to learn and grow. If you want to turn the situation around and bounce back to reach your goals, incorporate these 6 steps into your life.

Don’t let fear of failure stop you! Learn how to change your mindset to be more success-focused with Addicted 2 Success! 

The post Need Help Reaching Your Goals? This 6 Step Process Is For You appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

That’s why I don’t try to forget the hardships of my past. Instead, I prefer to cling to every moment as a powerful reminder of who I once was and who I am becoming. Hard times contain invaluable lessons if you reframe your approach.

Here’s how:

Acknowledge that hardship takes many forms 

Hardship often implies severe suffering, though it comes in different forms for different people — or for different phases of your life. While there’s no winning or meaning to life if you don’t rise above trials and tribulations, it’s important to respect that whatever form hardship takes matters. 

During my high school years in rural Lagos, Nigeria, we struggled for clean water, electricity, and access to medical treatment. As a grown man in the U.S., my hardships have taken another form. I’m concerned about providing for my family and ensuring they have a secure future. I worry about my career and daily work. 

But one set of challenges is no more or less important than the other; it simply depends on who is experiencing it in what environment.

See hardships for the meaning they provide

Think of hardship as an obstacle to overcome in order to get from point A to point B. Without the obstacle, there’s no meaning to the journey or sense of reward. Every form of hardship inherently drives us to build something of value: to cover long distances, we built cars for land, boats for the sea, and planes for the air. 

Hardships force us to be smarter and better. They add accountability and bring out the best in us. Diamonds are formed under a tremendous amount of pressure. Be the diamond.

“It’s your reaction to adversity, not adversity itself that determines how your life’s story will develop.” — Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Look for the lesson in each trial 

In Lagos, I grew up in a community where few understood the magnitude of our poverty. When we couldn’t afford electricity, I studied by lantern if we had kerosene or moonlight when we didn’t. I was often afraid that I’d return home after school to empty pots and no food. 

I often prayed to God that there might be food in the kitchen this time — or at least some bread to dip in sugar and water. In my heart, I knew that to someday provide for my own family, I had to stay disciplined with my academics. 

All of these moments form my compass and my invisible toolbox. I’d be lost without them. When you remember how far you’ve come, you bring humility to your success and find more confidence, power, and strength in yourself and your abilities.

Focus on how you recovered from setbacks.

There’s a Yoruba proverb:” If you want to drink the honey from the rock, you can’t look at the edge of your axe.” When I was in high school in Lagos, my family’s financial situation hit rock bottom. It was the national college examinations season: All high school students had to take General Certificate Examination (GCE) to be eligible for college. 

But in my family, we often went without food for days. The four weeks of the 1996 GCE, when I had fourteen exams to write, were the most grueling weeks of my life. The exam center was thirteen miles away, and I had no transportation fare. 

Constantly hungry, I walked those thirteen miles in every kind of weather, often in bare feet since my sandals were too far gone to be mended. Sometimes I hitched a ride on the back of a pick-up truck or hung on the back of the petrol tanker truck. 

This was the period I had to make a life-changing decision: to keep pursuing my dreams for the future by performing exceptionally well in exams, or give up because I was too weak even to lift a book? 

This period culminated in an unprecedented level of respect for me from my father. At the end of my exams, I knew that no one but myself could stop me from achieving anything I set my heart to, not unless God had other plans. 

Consider your faith and how it prevailed.

By the time I understood the concept of faith, I was in my third year in college. But I realized I had exercised this belief since I was a child without knowing what it was. Experiencing poverty allowed me to build something new to bring my family and myself out of it. 

Every adversity I faced taught me to always have alternatives — not only a Plan B but also a Plan C. It would take some time before I would understand the impact of betrayal by those I love. But I learned quickly how to sense and gauge negativities and falsenesses from a distance and keep them at bay. 

I take those lessons seriously — and they become part of how I remember those loved ones when they’re gone. If there’s anything they taught me, it’s to know when my faith has prevailed, accomplish what I wanted, and celebrate in humility and gratitude.

Like pieces of a puzzle, the experiences we face, hard times and good times, successes and failures, complete us. If you choose to cast out the pieces you don’t like, you will never be able to create the whole. 

Aligning a piece correctly lets you know which piece you need to find next. It’s the same with our experiences. They’re meant to shape and guide us so we can thrive, touch the lives of those around us, and contribute to this world. 

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1. Write Down Your Goals

The first thing needed to achieve a goal is to have one. A goal becomes very clear and precise once you have written it down most simply and easily to remember.

Here are some examples:

• I am the world’s best dancer!
• I am the greatest athlete!
• I have created the world’s most innovative tech company!

They are all written with the belief that these things have already happened. Once you start believing it has already happened, other people too can sense your confidence and things start happening.

“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.” — Andrew Carnegie

2. The One Page Plan

A simple one-page plan to accompany your goal is much more powerful than a detailed 30-page plan. After you have written your clear goal – write down all the things you will have to do to achieve it. Make it as simple and direct as possible so that you can refer to it every day and take action. A simple plan is easier to follow and keep up with.

3. Get The Right Skills

Once you have a clear goal that has been inked into your mind, and a clear plan in place, it is very important to invest in the skills you need to achieve your goal.

So for example, if you want to become a movie star, you should immediately start developing your acting skills. Observe how other actors perform, join an acting class, read about acting, and most importantly, start honing your craft by joining a local theatre group and going for as many auditions as you can. Practice is very important for mastering any skill.

Struggling To Achieve Your Goals? Here Are 9 Possible Reasons Why! 

4. Surround Yourself With The Best People

The best way to achieve our goals is to make sure we have the best people supporting us. People who succeed are always those who understand the power of people.

So let’s say your goal is to be an entrepreneur and you have developed your entrepreneurial skills, the next step would be to get the best people to join your team to help you achieve your goal. These would be people who you consider to be the best marketers capable of getting you the best customers and investors.

Once you have the best people supporting you, it becomes much easier and faster to achieve your goals.

“It takes tremendous discipline to control the influence, the power you have over other people’s lives.” – Clint Eastwood

5. Power of Faith

Nothing beats the power of faith and belief. Sometimes you might face challenges, sometimes things might not be going your way, and you might feel like giving up – these are the times when faith and belief will keep you going.

So many people give up, just a few inches away from victory. I am sure you are not one of them since you are investing time into self-development which gives the highest returns! Now go out there and start achieving your goals!

Need more motivation? Read our blogs on motivation and become your best self now!

• • • 10 Things Stopping You From Achieving Your Goals
    • 6-Step Process For Reaching Your Goals
    • Powerful Life Lessons From David And Goliath Story
    • Reasons Why It Is Important To Follow Your Dreams
    • Signs That You’re Self Sabotaging
    • Why Perseverance Is A Major Key To Life
    • 6 Personal Growth Challenges To Transform Your Life
    • 11 Habits To Achieving Greatness In Your Life
    • 21-Day Rule That Can Change Your Life

The post 5 Ways To Achieve Your Goals (With Examples) appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

Some versions of “never fully on, never fully off” have been around longer than we think. Fortunately, this problem has been considered at length by the Jewish wisdom tradition, offering this simple solution: divide time between striving (work) and restful delight (Shabbat). The traditional day of rest practice may need a few tweaks to fit your life, however, the basic goal remains beneficial: time that is fully “off” and time that is fully “on.” 

You don’t need to be Jewish or spiritual (or anything other than practical) in order to experience the benefits of these 3 tips, inspired by the past, but suited for today:

Tip 1: Limit Distractions to Improve Focus at Work

The constant barrage of notifications and alerts—including good news or invitations from friends—can make it difficult to stay concentrated on what is at hand. To improve your focus and productivity, turn off notifications for non-essential apps during work hours.

Schedule specific times throughout the day to check messages and emails. This will allow you to pay attention to one task at a time and get more done in less time. In other words, work smarter.

Tip 2: Protect Your Rest Time

Just as it’s important to set boundaries around work time, it’s equally important to protect our rest time. When we’re constantly connected to work-related activities, we’re not allowing ourselves to fully recharge. If we are not fully recharged, our work will also suffer when we return to it. 

Rest and play are essential for our physical and mental well-being, so carve out time for them in your schedule. When we don’t get enough joy and refreshment, our cognitive functions and mood suffer. 

So, while having fun, treating yourself, or spending quality time with loved ones, put up an internal and external ‘do not disturb’ sign. Your mental wellbeing is essential.

Tip 3: Communicate Your Boundaries 

Let your colleagues, friends, and family members know that you’re making a conscious effort to limit distractions both at work and during down time. This will help them understand why you may not be responding to messages or emails as quickly as they’re used to.

Talking about your new way of being will also help promote a healthier, more sustainable culture. It may take some time for others to adjust, but in the long run, it is one step towards benefiting everyone’s productivity and well-being.

While humans can’t expect to describe themselves as “always” happy, we sure as heck shouldn’t settle for “never” happy or even “seldom” happy. I propose we do an experiment on ourselves: let’s limit distractions, protect our rest time, communicate our boundaries, and then find out how much happier (and productive) we can get!  

The post This Concept Will Make You Happier and More Productive appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

Then you need to reconsider your views on leaders and leadership.  There are several myths associated with leaders and leadership.  And there are several definitions of leader and leadership.  If you hit Google you get a huge number of hits on leaders and leadership, and many definitions of leadership.  Hence, before we define leader and leadership, it is essential to debunk several myths about leaders and leadership.  

Myth # 1: Leaders are born, not made.

Truth: Several theories are highlighting various aspects of leadership such as skills theory, behavioral theory, great man theory, trait theory, etc., Previously people believed that either people had leadership qualities, or not.  

However, through research, it has been proved beyond doubt that leaders are made rather than born.  Just because the father or mother is a leader the son or daughter cannot be a natural leader.  In addition, leadership is a behavior that can be learned through training and practice.

Myth # 2: Leaders must be tall.

Truth: People often think that leaders must be tall with great height so that they will be able to influence others. No doubt, having a great height is an asset but some great leaders were short in height but achieved greatness.  For instance, Alexander was short in height but became great through his conquests more than 2,300 years ago.  

Although Adolf Hitler failed during the Second World War, he was a leader who was short in height.  Similarly, Mahatma Gandhi was also short in height but he achieved India’s independence through truth and non-violence. Hence, height is not the criterion to become a leader. 

Myth # 3: Leaders must be handsome. 

Truth: Leaders must walk their talk and set an example for others to follow.  They must have a vision, be able to influence others, build successful teams, motivate, and finally accomplish their goals and objectives.  Hence, there is no connection between their roles and physical appearance. For instance, Abraham Lincoln was not good-looking, but he proved to be one of the best presidents of America.  

Myth # 4:  Leaders must be highly intelligent.  

Truth: Numerous examples prove beyond doubt that leaders hail from an average academic background.  When we look at the leaders of Fortune 500 companies, it reveals that more than 50 percent of CEOs hail from an average academic background.  

However, having an academic qualification is an asset for a leader.  But every leader must not be academically intelligent. When we look at Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg, they are all college dropouts.  Hence, we can emphatically conclude that most leaders have average intelligence. 

Myth # 5: Leaders must be extroverts. 

Truth: Some leaders are introverts yet proved their leadership qualities. Steve Jobs of Apple Computers was an introvert who proved as an innovation legend during his lifetime. It is the nature of people either to be introverts or extroverts, and it has nothing to do with leadership. 

Myth # 6: Leaders must be veterans. 

Truth: Having experience and being older is an asset to leaders as they make fewer mistakes, and benefit from their vast experience and age.  At times, it proves to be costly for these veterans as they have preconceived ideas with a regimented mindset.  

The young have fire in their bellies and are ready to experiment and explore their ideas, and mostly they achieve and succeed in their lives. Several leaders proved their leadership potential at a relatively young age. For instance, Alexander, the Great achieved greatness by the age of 34 itself and led people of all age groups despite being young. 

Various business leaders such as Michael Dell, Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates proved as business leaders at a young age itself. And Barack Obama has become the president of America at the relatively young age of 47 and also, John F. Kennedy became President at a young age. These young leaders broke the age-old myth by leading the veterans.

“The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born ― that there is a genetic factor to leadership. This myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.” ―Warren G. Bennis 

Myth # 7: Leaders must be charismatic.

Truth: Charisma is an exclusive charm and magnetism some people possess.  It is the ability to dress well, speak well, present with positive body language, and radiate constant energy and enthusiasm. If leaders possess charisma it is an asset, but not possessing it, is not a liability. Some leaders proved their best without any charisma. Succinctly, character counts, not charisma. 

Myth # 8: Leaders must be orators.  

Truth: It is a fact that good leaders are great orators, but it is not necessary that leaders must be orators.  For instance, Alex Ferguson is a great leader if you consider his results with Manchester United, but he was not a great orator.  Some leaders are not great orators, but they still succeeded as leaders. Leadership is a blend of various traits, skills, and abilities.  

While some possess some qualities, others possess some other qualities.  You must consider leadership holistically with a blend and balance of various aspects. 

Myth # 9: Leaders must have titles and positions.  

Truth: The positions and titles are temporary.  What is important is the individual capacity to lead from the front, not the titles or positions.  If leadership is based on positions, why do we see a few leaders falling apart from their positions?  Leadership is performance-driven, not position, or role-driven.

According to social psychologists, John French and Bertram Raven, power is divided into five forms—legitimate, coercive, reward, expert, and referent power. One who holds his/her power just because of his/her legal standing vested in him/her by an organization is known as legitimate power.  Such people hold power as long as they hold their legitimate positions.

Coercive power is a negative power such as threats, or punishments that usually prevail in autocratic societies, and such people are hardly respected.  Reward power is the ability to reward others and people enjoy their positions as long as they reward others.  

Expert power is the position where people have expertise in some areas.  Precisely, they are domain experts. Finally, referent power is the power where people enjoy status not bestowed by law, or position but because people admire such leaders.  

Leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, and Nelson Mandela enjoyed referent power as people revered and supported them.  Most of the leaders survive on their expert power and fade away in history.  

However, those leaders who passionately deliver goods through their expertise enjoy referent power. Hence, titles and positions don’t make real leaders, but their referent power makes them true leaders. 

Myth # 10: Leaders are self-appointed. 

Truth: You cannot claim yourself to be a leader.  It is the people who must accept and consider you a leader.  It gives you strength as a leader and demonstrates your humility. If you appoint yourself as a leader and blow your own trumpet, you will be treated as a chatterbox and a person who craves hype.  

Myth # 11: Leaders have all solutions for problems.

Truth: Leaders are the people who are not ready with solutions but the people who take responsibility and search for solutions. 

If followers emphasize people and problems, the leaders emphasize prospects. If followers brood on individuals and issues, the leaders invent ideas for resolving various challenges. Most of the time leaders take initiative and discuss with others, create multiple solutions, and then shortlist the best one for implementation. 

Myth # 12: Leadership is observed only in the workplace. 

Truth: As a leader, you are always under the scanner. Don’t assume that your leadership is observed only during working hours, and in the workplace.  People keep an eye on you outside the workplace to observe and learn from you.  Hence, leaders must be careful about, the way they dress, and the way they walk and talk.  

Myth # 13:  Leaders must have a long tenure. 

Truth: Your length and duration of survival as a leader are not the criteria.  In contrast, how well you lead and leave a mark for others to follow is the criterion for leadership.  For instance, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated before the completion of the presidential term. 

However, the impact he made before his presidential tenure is amazing in the history of America.  He has been rated as one of the most influential Presidents of America who survived the challenges of the division of America between the north and the south.  He successfully demonstrated his leadership skills and worked for the unity of America apart from ensuring the abolition of slavery in America.  

When you look at Alexander the Great, he too had a short tenure and died young much before 34 years.  Hence, the quality of presence is more important than the quantity of presence. 

Myth # 14:  Leaders should not have any weaknesses. 

Truth:  Every leader is a human being first.  Every human being has both strengths and weaknesses.  The only greatness with leaders is that they realize their weaknesses and convert them into strengths, and threats into opportunities. Whenever they make mistakes due to their weaknesses they realize, correct, and move forward aggressively without being overly worried about them.  

Myth # 15:  Leaders are masters, not servants. 

Truth:  Robert Greenleaf propounded servant leadership where leadership is serving others with a great heart. Leaders demonstrate and show to others while leading.  Leadership is not in sitting in cushion chairs and making decisions.  Leadership is walking the talk and setting an example for others to emulate and excel. Above all, leadership is to serve others by remaining as a servant with humility. 

Myth # 16:  Leaders grow on trees. 

Truth: Leaders grow from the grass-root level, not the other way round.  It is a bottom-to-top approach rather than a top-to-bottom approach. The kind of experience and exposure churns real leaders at the ground level to come to the fore. It distinguishes cheese from chalk. Indeed, the cream always comes to the top.  Hence, true leaders rise from ranks.   

Myth # 17:  Leadership is a solo act. 

Truth:  Leadership is teamwork.  No individual can take credit for the success of the entire team. Besides, there are several myths such as leaders are born in a particular community, culture, country, race, religion, and language. The truth is that they are born everywhere.  Some complain about destiny for not being born in majority communities. 

The leaders can also emerge from minority communities leading the majority. Barack Obama is an amazing example for all of us who were born black, with a Muslim father and Christian mother with origins outside America but led America and the world from the front. 

Myth # 18: Women cannot excel as leaders. 

Truth: Gender has nothing to do with leadership. It is a fact that women have more challenges than men to prove themselves as leaders as some organizations don’t encourage women to be on par with men although legally women are on par with men.  

Globally very few women did great as leaders leaving exceptions like Queen Elizabeth, Joan of Arc, Florence Nightingale, Eleanor Roosevelt, Frances Hesselbein, and Margaret Thatcher. Indra Nooyi, the former Chairman & CEO of PepsiCo is a corporate woman leader who broke the glass ceiling and became a role model for all women. Being born as a woman is not a liability. 

It all depends on how you lead and prove yourself. Women have several advantages over men as they are emotionally more intelligent, better at multitasking, assertive, and have soft skills. Hence, they can prove themselves as successful leaders along with men.

Myth # 19:  Everybody cannot become a leader.  

Truth: Leadership is not the privilege of a few people. The proven fact is that anybody and everybody can excel as a leader if there is a passion to serve and make a difference in the lives of others. Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus in their book titled, Leaders: The strategies for taking charge identified five great leadership myths leadership is a rare skill, leaders are born, not made, leaders are charismatic, leaders exist only at the top of an organization, and the leader controls, directs and manipulates. Hence, debunk all these myths to have the right approach towards leadership. 

Myth # 20: Once a leader is forever a leader.

Truth: Leadership changes from time to time because what worked for some time may not work again due to rapid changes in technology. Hence, leaders must reinvent with changing times. Else, they will soon be forgotten leading to leadership decay. At times, circumstances might favor a person to become a leader, but the same leader fails in different circumstances.  

Jack Welch rightly remarked, “The Jack Welch of the future cannot be like me. I spent my entire career in the United States. The next head of General Electric will be somebody who spent time in Bombay, Hong Kong, in Buenos Aires. 

We have to send our best and brightest overseas and made sure they have the training that will allow them to be the global leaders who will make GE flourish in the future.” To evolve and excel as successful leaders, leaders must learn and grow continuously and they must take feedback constantly. 

Myth # 21: Leadership can’t be taught. 

Truth: Leadership is a skill, not a talent.  Had it been a talent it would have been tough to teach leadership.  But leadership is a skill, and it can be taught.  There is a difference between talents and skills. Talents are inborn where people bring in through heredity.  

In contrast, skills can be cultivated through training, teaching, observation, reading, experience, and practice. Daniel Goleman said that leadership depends more on emotional intelligence and less on an intelligence quotient.  And emotional intelligence can be taught.  Hence, leadership can be taught.

The post Debunking 21 of the Most Common Leadership Myths appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

Rather than sinking in your own guilt and self pity until you lose yourself. 

It’s ok to give yourself time to grieve and mourn whatever or whomever you have lost, but don’t let yourself reach a level where, getting back up seems impossible, there is a fine line between reality and depression and you should never cross it.

Here are some pillars to rely on whenever you feel like you have reached your limit:

1. Have faith

Sometimes when we find ourselves in difficult situations we start questioning why hard things only happen to us, however we don’t realize at that moment that everyone in the world goes through hardship in their lives, it’s just that we are too immersed in our own struggle to remember that. 

God’s plans for us are never bad ones, and our plans are not always good ones, they are not going to happen just because we want them to, especially if God doesn’t plan on them happening. That’s why If we believe that God’s plans are what’s best for us, we will feel a certain amount of relief and satisfaction whenever something happens to us because we know for sure that that would have been a bad thing for us if it was to happen..

2. Trust yourself

There is an Arabic quote that says “ The permanence of the state is of the impossible” it means no matter how long a situation takes you have to believe that sooner or later it will end. That’s why you need to prepare yourself for that time and rise from the ashes a reborn person, because if God knew that you wouldn’t survive what happened to you, you would be dead already.

3. Believe in yourself

Knowing you are able to achieve anything you set your mind on will give you a big boost of motivation. Remembering what you have accomplished so far, no matter how small they are  will empower your confidence. 

Whether it was fixing a light bulb or saving someone’s life, you have to acknowledge your actions and credit them for the sake of your self esteem and future self. I suggest making a vision board and including all the accomplishments you are proud of, it will help you stay focused on your final goal and help you keep the motivation to make it happen.

PS: just surviving your birth is the biggest accomplishment.

4. Build a strong support system

Support systems can lend a helping hand and be the push you need to get back up on your feet. One should never underestimate what a good support system can do in times of need. Saying that you don’t need anyone in your life and that you would be fine alone is a mistake that you will regret in the future. Humans are social beings by nature therefore they don’t thrive alone. 

You just need to make sure that your support system is filled with positive and good people that would actually make a difference in your life rather than put you down further into the negativity you could be in.

5. Keep working no matter what

There is a quote that I have on my laptop’s home screen that says “Results happen over time not overnight” understanding that quote will help you beat procrastination and work as hard as you can to achieve your dreams, even I am just starting out, but I plan to keep going until I can say, “Ok this is where I want to be, and how I want to be”.

“Turn every setback into a comeback” – Kobe Bryant

6. Never stop learning

Whether it’s learning from mistakes or learning new things completely, education is the key, it’s the easiest and most accessible method, especially in our modern times, just turn on youtube and you are good to go. Knowledge is the most underrated tool to face your struggles, but it can be the greatest especially if you use it wisely.

7. Work on your mental and physical health

Having a stable and strong mental and physical health is very important, especially if you have no one who can take care of you if you get sick. So you have to take care of yourself first and avoid anything that could make you weak. Always remember the blessings that you have before taking them for granted because without them, even the most underrated one like water, can make life a living hell. 

I recommend having a schedule of exercise, it doesn’t have to be heavy training and lifting weights, but just having a daily 30 minutes walk and fresh air goes a long way. 

I also suggest to avoid eating anything excessively like sugar and salt, they are very bad for your health, it’s good to have nutritious meals that consist of protein, carbs and vegetables, you can always have something sweet to eat but it’s good to limit your intake so you can have a healthy body and a good mood.

8. Never give up 

The most common mistake that people make when working for their goals is quitting halfway through, when it could have been their last step to success. That’s why the number one advice that successful people give is to never quit. 

When you look at the most successful people’s background you will see that they have been through hundreds of failures before reaching their dream, so what better example can we follow than someone who already got to where we want to go.

9. Do something that you enjoy to relieve stress

Having a hobby to have fun and blow some steam is a great way to relieve stress and start fresh the next day, especially if it’s something that you enjoy. Working hard doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t enjoy life at the same time, whether it’s playing video games or reading books, going to basketball games or watching Oprah, as long as you can unwind and recharge, you are good to go.

10. Let go of the past and work on the future

The past is gone, it’s already written, there is nothing you can do now to change what has already been done, not crying, not dwelling in sorrow, not even regretting, it will only be a waste of your time and energy, unless you can turn back time, the past is already over. So what you have to do is focus on what you can control, which is the present and work hard for your future not fall back into the same pit you were in.

Realizing that it will be hard at first will help you not get shocked or overwhelmed when you have to spend 24 hours without sleep or food to finish your task. It’s good for your mental health to always keep in mind what could go wrong or how hard things could get to not lose it when they actually do. 

But you need to know that things will start to get easier as you start getting into the rhythm and especially when you start to see results, So it’s good to always keep your target at your sight.

The post How to Bounce Back From a Crisis and Become a Better You appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

This is where the notion of tiny victories comes into play. Little victories are incremental triumphs that get us closer to our ultimate objective. These minor achievements may appear inconsequential on their own, yet they may have a tremendous influence on our progress toward our objective.

Little victories are significant because they give us a sense of progress and momentum, which can be quite inspiring. When we realize that we are making progress, it strengthens our trust in our capacity to attain our objectives and gives us the confidence to keep going. When we feel stuck or stagnate, though, it is simple to become disheartened and lose motivation.

Little victories also assist in breaking down a bigger objective into more doable steps. When we look at a large objective as its whole, it can be intimidating and difficult to know where to begin. We may focus on each stage separately by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable steps, making the entire aim more feasible.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the power of small wins in more detail, including how to break down your goals into small steps, celebrate your achievements, track your progress, use small wins to build habits, and stay flexible in your approach. By the end of this post, you’ll have a better understanding of how to use small wins to build momentum and achieve your goals, no matter how big or small they may be.

Breaking Your Goal into Small Steps

Breaking down a big objective into tiny, attainable actions is essential for making progress and developing momentum toward that goal’s completion. But how exactly do you identify those small steps?

One approach is to start by brainstorming all the different tasks or actions that might be involved in achieving your larger goal. For example, if your goal is to run a marathon, some of the smaller steps might include:

• Setting a training schedule
• Purchasing proper running shoes and gear
• Running short distances to build endurance
• Incorporating strength training exercises to prevent injury
• Adjusting your diet to support your training

When you’ve explored all possible stages, prioritize them based on what would be most helpful in pushing you toward your objective. Some of the larger jobs may need to be broken down into smaller, more detailed phases. For example, the larger task of “setting a training schedule” might involve smaller steps like:

• Researching different marathon training programs
• Identifying a program that fits with your schedule and goals
• Printing out the schedule and posting it somewhere visible
• Setting reminders to ensure you stick to your training plan

While breaking down your aim into little pieces, keep in mind any potential hurdles or problems that may occur. For example, if your goal is to save money for a down payment on a house, some of the smaller steps might include:

• Creating a budget
• Reducing discretionary spending
• Setting up automatic savings contributions
• Researching potential homes and neighborhoods

“The great victory, which appears so simple today, was the result of a series of small victories that went unnoticed.” — Paulo Coelho

Yet, it is also critical to address any potential obstacles, such as unexpected spending or changes in income. Anticipating these problems allows you to be better prepared to alter your strategy as needed and stay on track toward your objective.

In addition to the brainstorming and prioritizing approach, there are other strategies you can use to break down your goal into small steps.

Working backward from your ultimate aim is a successful method. Begin by visualizing your desired goal, and then outline the steps you’ll need to take to get there. For example, if you want to run a half marathon, see yourself crossing the finish line. 

Then consider what you should do in the days and weeks leading up to the event, such as tapering your training, getting adequate rest, and correctly fuelling your body. 

Working backward from there, determine the precise training runs you’ll need to accomplish, the lengths you’ll need to run, and any additional steps you’ll need to do along the way.

Another strategy is to group similar tasks. This can help you identify more efficient ways to work towards your goal. For example, if your goal is to start your own business, some of the smaller steps might include:

• Researching your target market
• Creating a business plan
• Registering your business
• Setting up a website
• Marketing your business

It’s also crucial to note that modest steps don’t have to be physical activities; they may instead be mental or emotional transformations. For example, if your goal is to improve your mental health, some of the smaller steps might include:

• Practicing mindfulness
• Setting boundaries with work and social obligations
• Prioritizing self-care
• Focusing on positive self-talk

These steps may not have a specific deadline or tangible action associated with them, but they can still make a big difference in helping you achieve your ultimate goal.

Finally, dividing your objective into little segments is all about figuring out what works best for you. You can determine the most effective measures to take you closer to your goal by trying different techniques and approaches. Remember, no step is too little – even the tiniest acts may help you gain momentum and get closer to your objective.

Using Small Wins to Build Habits

Small wins are not only powerful for achieving larger goals, but they can also be instrumental in establishing healthy habits. Forming a habit necessitates the repeated repeating of a behavior or activity over time. You may build a roadmap for establishing a new habit by breaking down your broader aim into little stages. Here’s how small wins can help establish healthy habits:

1. Make it manageable: By focusing on a small win, you make it more manageable and achievable. This can help you build momentum toward your larger goal and establish a habit over time. For example, if your goal is to run a marathon, you can start by running for just 10 minutes a day. This small win will help you establish a running habit over time.
2. Create a positive feedback loop: A tiny gain triggers a positive feedback loop, reinforcing the behavior and making it simpler to repeat in the future. This might help you form a habit over time. If you aim to eat healthier, for example, you might begin by replacing one bad snack with a healthier alternative each day. Every time you make this minor modification, you establish a positive feedback loop that reinforces the habit and makes it simpler to repeat in the future.
3. Build confidence: A minor triumph may help boost confidence and self-efficacy, both of which are essential components of forming a new habit. When you score a minor victory, you demonstrate to yourself that you are capable of effecting positive change. This might help you gain confidence in your capacity to form a new habit over time.
4. Create a sense of accomplishment: Achieving a small win creates a sense of accomplishment and pride. This might assist drive you to continue working toward your bigger goal and, over time, build a new habit. For example, if your objective is to meditate every day, you can begin by meditating for one minute every day. Every time you meditate, you feel a feeling of success, which drives you to keep meditating and develop a daily meditation habit.

Here are some examples of using small wins to build healthy habits:

1. Exercise: If your goal is to exercise regularly, you can start by committing to just 10 minutes of exercise a day. This small win will help you establish an exercise habit over time.
2. Healthy Eating: If your goal is to eat healthier, you can start by replacing one unhealthy snack with a healthier option each day. This small win will help you establish a healthy eating habits over time.
3. Sleep: If your goal is to improve your sleep, you can start by setting a consistent bedtime each night. This small win will help you establish a healthy sleep habit over time.
4. Mindfulness: If your goal is to practice mindfulness, you can start by meditating for just one minute a day. This small win will help you establish a mindfulness habit over time.

Understand that developing a new habit takes time and effort. You can create momentum toward your larger objective and form healthy habits that last by concentrating on tiny wins and enjoying each milestone along the way. Therefore, start small, be persistent, and have fun on your road to a healthier and happier self!

The post How to Use Small Wins to Build Momentum for Success appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

Emotional intelligence is essential to succeed in your personal, professional, and social life. Most successful leaders are emotionally intelligent. It helps them enhance self-awareness, minimize conflicts and boost fraternity. It helps them fast-track their career. 

Empathy is the key element of emotional intelligence.  Empathy is the ability to step into the shoes of others and see things from their perspective. If you observe leaders, they listen more and speak less to be able to empathize with their followers. If followers display sympathy, leaders demonstrate empathy and that causes a fine difference between the followers and the leaders.

Advantages of Emotional Intelligence 

Emotional intelligence enhances self-awareness. It improves decision-making skills by balancing the head, heart, and gut. It helps build relationships. It equips you with soft skills. It enhances empathy. It helps you acquire total control of yourself and the situation around you under unfavorable circumstances. 

It helps you act, not react to the situations, thus allowing stability under stressful conditions. It eliminates conflicts and minimizes stress. It provides you with peace and happiness. You motivate yourself and others. You can identify what turns you on and off and stay equipped with mindfulness.

Research shows that emotional intelligence accounts for as much as 31% of success in management contexts.  It helps minimize conflicts in the workplace as people learn to empathize with and respect others. It promotes healthy relations among people. 

It helps in getting along with various personality types at the workplace by gauging their feelings, moods, and emotions.  It enhances productivity and performance. Above all, it helps in handling difficult people assertively.

“It is very important to understand that emotional intelligence is not the opposite of intelligence, it is not the triumph of heart over head – it is the unique intersection of both.” — David Caruso

Building Emotional Intelligence 

The executives who reach higher positions must have higher emotional intelligence as handling such a profile needs more people skills and less technical skills. It is essential to take the time to recognize the emotions, feelings, and drives of the people around you. 

We must identify with the causes of people’s feelings to understand them better.  We must learn lessons from time to time to bring out behavioral changes in ourselves and improve our score of emotional quotient. 

It is essential to develop empathetic listening to build EQ. Read about some other steps to building emotional intelligence here. 

• Empathize with others. Step into the shoes of others and understand and appreciate things from their perspective.  It not only makes things easier for you but also helps you earn respect from others.  You can easily build bridges with others. 
• Be compassionate towards others. Respect their feelings, egos, and emotions. Look for similarities, not differences.  When you create a common ground with others, you can connect with them easily and quickly. 
• Respect all cultures, languages, creeds, ethnicities, religions, and nationalities.  It creates a broad mindset resulting in wider acceptance. 
• Link your intentions with actions as it creates credibility with the people around you.  If you want others to be punctual, be the first one to do that before demanding the same from others. 
• Always keep anger at bay as it is the worst enemy.  Anger drains valuable energies and creates negative vibes.  When in anger, start counting, either in ascending or descending order, to enable you to forget anger by diverting your mind.  Drinking water and breathing exercises help you cool down when in anger.  When you breathe deeply, more oxygen gets inside your brain and relieves you from anxiety.     
• Be assertive. Neither aggressiveness nor submissiveness works in this world. What works ultimately is assertiveness which is the art of saying ‘No’ firmly, but politely.
• Take intrapersonal feedback whenever something goes wrong. You are the best judge of your actions and feelings.  You are true to your conscience.  Intrapersonal feedback helps improve behavior.  
• Blend your head and heart to make decisions based on logic and analysis. Don’t make impulsive decisions. Your best friend having a bad experience with someone doesn’t necessarily mean that a person is bad. 
• To be high on EQ, people must know their own selves properly to enable them to lead others effectively.  

Challenges in Learning Leadership 

Why is learning leadership challenging for everyone?  The basic problem for people to succeed as leaders is the lack of EQ, and that comes mostly from experience.  When leaders are equipped with EQ their success rate is higher. 

While teaching leadership, educators inspire the audience with several stories and case studies.  That is one side of the coin.  The other side is for the leaders to practice what has been learned in the classroom.  

It is like learning about swimming.  When one gets into water, one realizes the actual challenge.  Similarly, people must practice leadership through active involvement through the trial and error method.  

However, having theoretical knowledge about leadership aspects and concepts helps minimize mistakes and prepares one to face challenges squarely.  

Is EQ Superior to IQ? 

Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is inborn whereas Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ) is a skill that can be acquired.  There are standard tools and techniques to measure IQ but there are no such effective tools to measure EQ as the intentions and actions of human beings cannot be measured easily. 

Additionally, cross-cultural issues complicate measuring EQ. There is no yardstick to measure human emotions accurately. Although there are psychological tests to measure EQ, their accuracy cannot be proved. 

IQ helps in academic achievement while EQ helps in career achievement. IQ is synonymous with knowledge while EQ is synonymous with the application of knowledge. 

When it is viewed analytically, it is the application of knowledge that is more important than the knowledge itself. 

Daniel Goleman observes, “Simply having an IQ of superior range does not in itself guarantee that they will be superior professionals in their respective areas; the IQ suffers from range restriction in many applied organizational settings and thus is even more limited in its ability to predict performance and career success within a given location.” 

Your IQ remains more or less the same irrespective of your age whereas your EQ can improve if you make the correct effort.  Individuals with high EQ can cope with stress and burnout.  

Additionally, high EQ is a sign of satisfaction while low EQ is a sign of dissatisfaction. Therefore, high EQ certainly leads to success in personal, professional, and social life.  Some people equate EQ with soft skills. 

Then we can equate IQ with hard skills. To put it succinctly, soft skills outsmart hard skills. Hence, EQ supersedes IQ.

Final Thoughts 

As the global economy is rapidly reinventing from manufacturing to services sectors, and employees are fast reinventing themselves as knowledge workers, there is an urgent need to focus on the development of the employees. 

One area that is fast catching up is leadership, and it mostly depends on emotional intelligence. Additionally, it calls for some degree of intelligence quotient.  

Hence, it is essential to blend both IQ and EQ proportionately to achieve leadership effectiveness and success.

The post How to Acquire Emotional Intelligence and Why It Matters appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

For most of us, it’s a lot more work than that to keep calm and be relaxed even in our normal, day-to-day lives. With this in mind, we need to make an effort to try and adjust our habits to include some stress-relieving tricks and help us find a little calmer in our day.

Start The Day Off Right

Experts agree that allowing the body to wake naturally is far better for you, and less stressful, than having a jarring alarm interrupt your beauty sleep. Of course, that’s the ideal, but when there is a job to get to, and a family to get fed and out of the door, it’s just not practical. 

As a compromise, try and see if you can have at least one day a week when you can turn off the alarm and let the daylight gradually wake you. Just one day a week will give your body a break from the routine.

Take A Deep Breath

Various studies have been done on how important it is to breathe ‘right’, so once you’re up, open a window and take a good few, deep breaths. 

Don’t worry if it’s raining or snowing, or if the sun’s beaming down. The weather doesn’t matter. It’s getting that air into your lungs that’s the important thing. 

Obviously, if you live next to an overpass or similar, feel free to give this step a miss.

“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths”. – Etty Hillesum

Wash That Stress Right Out of Your Hair

Most of us enjoy a nice long soak in the bath, but it’s best to save that for the evening. In the morning, take a shower instead to help get the blood pumping. 

Don’t listen to the doom and gloom of the early morning news while you are in there, either. Belt out a couple of upbeat songs. 

Don’t worry about whether you’re in tune, or getting the words right, just let it go and release the energy.

Color Me Happy

Although there are those who proclaim that what we wear is not important and that clothes do not define us, there is another side to the story. Of course, they don’t define us, but they can be important in helping us feel good and calm and more able to face the day. 

Plenty of us have an outfit that we love and that makes us feel confident and good when we wear it, but there’s more to clothes than that. 

Color can play an important part too. White has associations with innocence and peace, whilst blue and green are both linked to tranquility, calmness, and balance.

Alternatively, if you want to inject a bit of optimism into your day, go for a splash of yellow. 

Need to feel strong and powerful? Put on something red. 

Don’t worry, you don’t have to dress in that color head to foot, just a tie, or a piece of jewelry in your happy color will all be of benefit.

Eat Right, Feel Right

Next, it’s that ‘most important meal of the day’, breakfast. There are plenty of people who skip breakfast, replacing it instead with a coffee grabbed on the way to work, but there’s a definite benefit, both physically and mentally, by making sure you get a decent start to the day, food-wise. 

If you think about it, you’ve been effectively fasting all night, so it’s time to refuel your body for the day ahead. Going out on an empty stomach before taking in a big hit of caffeine isn’t going to do anything to build up that calm, relaxed state of mind you’re aiming for. 

Porridge is a great start to the day as the oats not only release their energy gradually, but they’re also rich in B vitamins, which are useful in the fight against stress.

These vitamins are found in many whole grain foods, so if you don’t fancy a bowl of steaming porridge in the summer, try a bowl of muesli topped off with a fresh banana, and you’ll be setting your body up for a calm and relaxed morning.

Think Positive

Now you’re ready to head out of the door, there’s just one more thing; the power of positive thinking. Say to yourself, ‘I am calm and relaxed’. Repeat this several times. Although some studies indicate that saying this out loud is the most effective, in real life, it might not always be possible, so just take a few moments to yourself and repeat it in your head.

There’s plenty for us to stress about these days, both at home and in the world in general, but the more we can do, however small, to try to calm and prepare ourselves against these factors, the better we will feel. And the better we feel, the better those around us feel, which can only be good news.

The post How to Start Your Day Relaxed appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

You are no stranger to pressure.

Now imagine your office is narrowly avoiding incoming munitions and is moving one-hundred and fifty miles per hour, one to three feet off of the ground, and the difference between everything being fine and everything being a fiery catastrophic disaster of twisted metal and burning turbine fuel is a fraction of a second and one slightly miscalculated decision.

For retired Army Chief Warrant Officer III (CW3) Derek Zaleski, that pressure was just another day at the office.

After serving as a pilot in AH-64 Apache helicopters for the United States Army for nine of his nearly twenty years of service, Derek fulfills various project management roles for the government currently. 

The extraordinary trust that is placed in his ability to make sound and timely decisions under extreme pressure makes his leadership skillset a high-value and high-demand commodity in the corporate marketplace today. 

A decision-making faculty that was forged and polished over several years in the cockpit of a multi-role attack helicopter.

So, how does a pilot like Derek condition himself to make good decisions with precision execution when the pressure gets real?

Here’s what this veteran high-pressure decision-making professional credits his calculated decisiveness to (let’s all take notes):

Care, care, care

Taking care of yourself by eating right, exercising, hydrating and ensuring your body gets plenty of rest is a pivotal component to keeping you sharp and balanced. 

When your body receives the nutrients and minerals it needs to sustain itself it helps support a better functioning autonomic nervous system which can be the difference between high performance decision making and neurotransmission dysfunction at the worst possible times. Engage in good self-care.

“Truly successful decision-making relies on a balance between deliberate and instinctive thinking.” – Malcolm Gladwell

Education, education, education

The mind needs as much conditioning as the body does. Never stop learning and growing. Seek information related to your field of expertise as well as challenging yourself to learn new things every day. 

This keeps the electrochemical organ between your ears in tip-top shape and ready to tackle difficult decisions and high-pressure scenarios. Keep your mind sharp.

Train, train, train

Prior to operating an aircraft on the tarmac and in the air, pilots in-training will spend countless hours in simulators gaining a spatial awareness of the aircraft they specialize in and being presented with a myriad of stress-inducing scenarios from engine loss to instrumentation failure. 

This type of stimulus response training contributes to a level of readiness and preparedness that keep pilots calm, cool, and collected when the most important decisions need to be made under the most extreme circumstances. 

Train yourself and your people on worst-case scenarios and ensure there are plans in place to assist you and your team while making decisions in difficult or extreme circumstances so that extreme circumstances aren’t new when they’re experienced in real-time.

Analyze, analyze, analyze

For every one hour of flight a pilot can pretty much plan on two or more hours of debriefing afterward. This reflective period post-flight will be spent analyzing every second of flight from engine start-up to engine shutdown. 

The objective of this is to allow critique from the pilot and the team on factors that influenced the success or failure of each mission. Accepting and applying feedback from the data and the team empowers the pilot in the future to make even better and more educated decisions when the pressure is at its peak. 

During these periods of analysis, pilots are able to determine if improvements to processes are necessary and invite perspectives from a diverse team of fellow aviators who may be able to articulate deficiencies in the flight analysis that the pilot in the cockpit wasn’t able to see through their own lens. 

Hold frequent meetings with your team with the purpose and intent of improving synergy and decision-making performance.

Even if the nature of your work is not a matter of national security or life and death, if you put these practices into application, you’ll be an ace decision maker in no time; ready to stand up to the pressure and navigate your team towards success.

The post Top Gun Thinking: How a Combat Pilot Makes Important Decisions appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

Adam Grant, a renown organizational psychologist at Wharton Business school reminds us, “bad bosses keep people stuck in the same job; good bosses create opportunities to grow and advance.”  Statistics from 2022 research at DDI, a leadership consulting firm, found that 57% of employees who leave their jobs, leave because they can’t stand their boss.  

Forbes recently identified four key behaviors bad bosses demonstrate that encourage employees to leave their job:  they diminish employees by micromanaging them, they don’t solicit employee input, they encourage agreement while discouraging dissent, and they can’t be bothered to remove obstacles.  

Further, HR.com reports that forty-seven percent of new supervisors receive no supervisor training before being promoted. And, according to the Corporate Executive Board, sixty percent of new managers fail within their first 24 months.

I remember one bad boss I had.  The signs were there before I started:  interviews kept getting rescheduled, even after I showed up! The offer was weeks in making and wrong when I received it.  My manager loved being in charge, but he didn’t want to do the work that came with it.  He rarely spent time with any of us individually because he was too busy billing client hours. 

“You are not your resume, you are your work.” — Seth Godin

He handed off work that was uninteresting and low profile.  One time, he wanted to represent my work at another firm as work of his own.  Needless to say, I left after 9 months.  

I start my leadership programs by asking participants to think of a great leader they’ve worked for.  What did they do that was so compelling?  Inevitably, someone says, “what if you never worked for a good boss?”  Everyone laughs, but sadly it’s true!  Why?  Most likely it’s because organizations don’t take time to develop their aspiring leaders.  

So, you feel stuck.  You work for one of these bad managers, yet you enjoy your work and connect to the company’s mission.  Below are some tips for working with a difficult, even bad manager. These allow you to get you through the experience and continue to learn for yourself along the way.

Take the lead yourself. 

All employees deserve regular interactions with their employees.  These interactions can’t only focus on the work and tasks at hand, they must also focus on you.  Here’s a simple framework for a 1:1 with your boss:  Describe how you’re doing and your well-being.  If you feel constantly overworked, say so.  

Share recent accomplishments.  Discuss what you learned and what you’d do differently next time.  Discuss your challenges and describe ways you can address them, ask your manager to help.  Agree on next steps.  

If this isn’t happening regularly, take the lead.  Schedule 30 minutes with your manager every other week.  Be prepared and send a list of topics like the ones above.  

Find a stress outlet.  

Work out, spend time in nature, work on a hobby, create art, journal, meditate – whatever it takes to keep yourself grounded. Self-care is essential.

Don’t go it alone.  

Find a group of people you can safely talk to about the situation so you can stay sane while trying to make things work. For those who need to talk things out, having a safe place to do so is critical.  Consider talk therapy.  Sometimes it’s not only your manager’s problem; you might be experiencing a rough patch in your life and difficult interactions with your boss make it worse.  

Most employers have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) included in their benefits.  The resources they recommend are usually covered by your benefit plan and your conversation with them will be completely confidential.  

Be clear about your goals.  

You work with someone who isn’t particularly supportive and even difficult, so take a moment to describe for yourself why you like your job.  You are a smart and capable person, but even the best of the best can be beaten down by tough situations and tough people. 

Avoid fighting so hard and long that you lose who you are in the process.  What are you learning from it?  Even if you work for a bad boss but are learning every day and doing engaging work, the bad boss can be tolerable.  

Find a mentor inside your organization.  

Mentors are usually more senior than you and in a different department.  They understand the politics of the organization and “how we do things here.”  Their insight may help you understand your own manager better. Avoid complaining about your manager to your mentor; it’s just bad form.  

Instead, focus on your aspirations.  Your mentor may even suggest other roles in the organization that you could pursue.  While most senior leaders love to mentor, they won’t reach out to you, so you need to reach out to them.  

Talk to HR if it gets too bad.  

Foul language, sexual innuendos, or just not being available are never acceptable behaviors.  Talk to HR about your challenges.  If you are experiencing a bad boss, most likely others have too.  They will keep your information confidential, but most likely not tell you what actions they might take, because these are confidential issues too.  

Find another role in the company.  

You love the company, but hate your boss?  Seek out other roles inside the company.  Some organizations require you to work in a role for a year before seeking another role so that may limit your options.  You are far better off, however, staying at the company you know than moving to another that you don’t know.  

Know when to cut bait. 

There may come a time when you have had enough. That is OK. This does not make you a quitter; it makes you a survivor. Update your LinkedIn profile; let others find you.  Interact on LinkedIn regularly by finding new connections in organizations you admire. 

Remember:  you don’t have to take a job just because it’s offered to you!  Getting that offer may give you peace of mind to know you have value in the market.

Don’t make the same mistake twice. 

When we end up working for a bad boss, we can often look back and see signs of trouble even before we took the job.  Interview your potential manager after the offer is extended:  What are the goals for the team?  Tell me about your 1:1s. What are your team meetings like?  These questions will give you insights into the role you are moving into, so you avoid a bad manager again.  

Let’s face it, we all have worked for a bad boss.  It doesn’t, however, need to be total misery every day.  Get clear on your professional aspirations and assess whether they are being met, despite your bad boss.  Initiate regular 1:1 check-ins with your boss; aim to broaden the conversation from “what have you done for me lately,” to “here’s a bit more about me and what I’m interested in.”

The post How to Thrive and Survive When You Work for a Bad Boss appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

Change is hard, especially today, where 1 in 3 people are diagnosed with anxiety. I can imagine the other 2 in 3 feel the clutches of anxiety in their lives. The constant need to ‘keep up with the Kardashians,’ to post how happy we are on social media, and to put on a smiling face can be daunting if not downright haunting. 

So how do we change when change is scary? When change is unknown? When even the thought of change immobilizes us? 

Get moving.

When we stay stuck in a place where the anxiety swirls, this will not help us make the changes we want to see in our lives. All the what-ifs and worst-case scenarios of the unknown will continue to cripple us into not moving forward with our lives. 

Get moving. We crumble when we allow the anxiety to swell in our minds and overcome our ability to reason. The weight of the options and their potential downfall compounds the longer we sit in the feelings they bring us. 

Do something different. Something physical. Go for a walk. Be artistic. Be spiritual. Write something. Try something new. 

You will gain self-confidence every time you follow through on commitments and goals you have set for yourself. Every time you get up, getting up will get easier.

Make a small goal and stick to it to start. 

Make a goal to make your bed every morning. Even if you know you’ll end up back in it later. Make it for yourself. Making your bed in the morning begins to tame the chaos of life and the fears of the unknown. 

Make a goal to apply for new jobs every day. Jobs that would bring you joy and fulfillment. It’s scary to do new things, but the more you try, the easier they will become. Choosing yourself when the world has told you to put everyone else’s needs first may feel wrong, but you will know what is truly wrong by listening to your gut.

Try something new, a new skill, a new trade, or a new hobby; all of them will teach you more about yourself and help you make decisions in the future. Heck, try some new food even! The more things you try, the more you broaden your horizons and allow new things to come into your life. 

“You are never too old to start over. Every day is a chance to make changes to create the life we want.” – Karon Waddell

Change the way you look at the thing you want to change in your life. 

Whatever the thing holding you back in life, try looking at it with a third party’s eyes. Also, if it’s anxiety holding you back, ask yourself: What is the worst, best, and most realistic outcome for this situation? Seeing the truth of a situation helps to quell the anxiety and allows us to move forward. 

If you’re thinking about going to the gym, instead of thinking about how silly you’re going to look or how other people might judge you, see the truth that everyone there – no matter what they look like – is after the same thing as you = improvement. The reality is that if anyone is looking around judging, that says more about them than anything about you. 

If you’re trying to eat better, instead of thinking about what you’re giving up, look at what you’re gaining in making better choices for your body. 

Changing how we look at things helps us overcome the problems they present us with. It helps us to see things more clearly instead of through the lens that has kept us immobile.

Self-reflection.

Take time to look at the changes you want to make and truly WHY you want to make them. Is it to make an ex jealous? Is it because you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired? Why do you want to change? What is the driving force? 

Make sure that the reason you’re doing something new is for YOU. Do it to make yourself smile. Do it because you deserve happiness. Do it because you are worth it – no matter what other people have made you feel. 

When you start to feel like you can’t or don’t want to continue, remind yourself of how good it will feel when you push through this feeling. When you get up and choose YOU anyway. 

Seek gratitude in all things. 

Change is scary, but it’s a normal part of life. It’s hard, but everyone goes through it. See the positive in the things that scare you. See the positive in the changes and the challenges. Choose to look at things like “What have I learned from this? What will I learn from this?” 

When the overwhelm of change starts to get to you, keep a journal or tabs in your notes to remind you of what you’re succeeding at. Everyone’s journey and needs are different, and it’s essential to realize that what you need for yourself is a little different. It could be affirmations, journaling, mediation, etc. It’s up to YOU to create your ideal self. So do what you need, and choose for yourself. 

We tend to let the world creep in, and we let go of the goals we have for ourselves when the weight of our daily lives starts to bear down on us. Remind yourself what and who you’re doing this for, YOU. Remember what you’re gaining. Remember, you deserve this. 

The post How to Find the Courage to Start New appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

Therefore, you need to try, test, fail and bounce back to succeed finally. This article is dedicated to the people who failed in their initial attempts and ultimately achieved big in their lives. 

Their failures inspire you to unlock your hidden potential and test your abilities thus making you great in society.  We will first discuss the reasons for failures and then move on to the leaders who bounced back like Phoenix.

Why Do People Fail?

It is rightly said that success has many fathers while failure has none. There are many reasons for success.  Similarly, there are many reasons for failures and it is difficult to pinpoint them as the list is very lengthy.  However, Siimon Reynolds the author of the book, Why People Fail identifies 16 reasons for failure.  

They are unclear purpose, destructive thinking, low productivity, fixed mindset, weak energy, not asking the right questions, poor presentation skills, mistaking IQ (Intelligence Quotient) for EQ (Emotional Quotient), poor self-image, not enough thinking, no daily rituals, stress, few relationships, lack of persistence, money obsession, and finally, not focusing on strengths.  

Hence, ensure that you don’t make such mistakes to achieve success.  Knowing the reasons for failure helps people ensure their success.  

Og Mandino noted, “Whenever you make a mistake or get knocked down by life, don’t look back at it too long. Mistakes are life’s way of teaching you. Your capacity for occasional blunders is inseparable from your capacity to reach your goals. 

No one wins them all, and your failures, when they happen, are just part of your growth. Shake off your blunders. How will you know your limits without occasional failure? Never quit. Your turn will come.”  

People should learn lessons from the failures of others to avoid repeating such mistakes as it is rightly said that the foolish person learns from his/her own experiences while the intelligent person learns from the experiences of others.  

To go further, Roy H. Williams remarked, “A smart man makes a mistake, learns from it, and never makes that mistake again. But a wise man finds a smart man and learns from him how to avoid the mistake altogether.”  In this context, it is vital to know that several leaders failed initially and bounced back from failures finally.  We will discuss the same.

“When I was young, I observed that nine out of 10 things I did were failures, so I did 10 times more work.” ―George Bernard Shaw

Leaders with Initial Failures 

There are entrepreneurs, athletes, actors, scientists, and leaders who are well-known globally in their spheres and who had their share of failures initially. Their rise to the top was not easy and it was beset with initial burns, failures, and struggles.  

For instance, Henry Ford had tough beginnings and failed miserably in his life subsequently rose to greater heights and founded the Ford Motor Company. Akio Morita of Sony Company’s first product, the rice cooker did not work well.  He built a great company subsequently. 

Soichiro Honda had several challenges initially and subsequently built a global company.  Harland David Sanders who is popularly known as Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame had several failures initially. 

His famous secret chicken recipe was rejected 1,009 times before a restaurant accepted it. He excelled as an entrepreneur in his old age.  Charles Darwin was dubbed by his father as lazy and too dreamy initially. Later he proved to be great in his scientific studies. 

He said, “I was considered by all my masters and my father, a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard of intellect.”  Similarly, Einstein was sent out of school by dubbing him as mentally retarded and, finally, won Nobel Prize. 

Isaac Newton had his initial failures and was rejected by many including his uncle. He blossomed into a scholar subsequently.  Edison is an amazing example with a ‘never say die’ attitude who made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts while inventing the light bulb.  

When asked about his failures, he said that he did not fail but had learned various methods that did not work well to invent the light bulb.  Orville and Wilbur Wright, popularly known as the Wright brothers had several failures and, finally, created a plane that could get airborne and stay there. 

The wartime hero, Winston Churchill was the greatest leader of the UK in the twentieth century.  He was twice elected as Prime Minister.  To your surprise, he failed the sixth grade.  Former President of America, Harry S. Truman was bankrupt in business. He didn’t take failure personally and, finally, became the president of America. 

Noted athlete Michael Jordan bounced back from several failures and, finally, became the best basketball player of all time. He said, “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game-winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” 

Everything is Possible

Everything is possible in this world. It depends on how you perceive the things around you. People with several limitations made it big. Barack Obama had a troubled childhood but finally made it to the President of America. 

Alexander was below average in height with a twisted head but became the Great with his conquests. Julius Caesar had epilepsy but became a great warrior. The founder of Honda was often sick but founded a great company in the world. 

Helen Keller was blind and deaf but became a great inspiration to humankind. Therefore, take these leaders as inspiration, break your mental limitations, dream big and reach your tipping point.

Create your vision. Break your mental limitations. Awaken the leader in you. Acquire great habits for success. Learn the success tools and techniques. Execute SWOT analysis. Think positive. Overcome your identity crisis. Build a positive attitude. Motivate yourself. Integrate curricular and extracurricular activities. 

Manage your time effectively. Avoid information overload. Blend soft and hard skills. Make friends. Network with others. Collaborate with others. Develop problem-solving skills. Make wise decisions. Respect parents, teachers, and elders. Inculcate ethical values. Ensure career compatibility. Acquire employability skills. Grab your dream job.  Build your online image.  Achieve your professional success. Reinvent yourself. Equip with education and character as they are two sides of the same coin to ensure all-around success.   

Above all, learn and grow continuously with the changing times and technologies. Remember as long as you love and learn you are young. Therefore, stay young forever! The sky’s the limit for you!

The post Failing is More Important Than Succeeding appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

1.  Listen actively: Practice active listening by giving your full attention to the speaker and responding to what they are saying.

2. Use “I” statements: Speak from your own perspective and avoid placing blame or making accusations.

3. Avoid assumptions: Don’t make assumptions about what the other person is thinking or feeling.

4. Be clear: Express your thoughts and feelings clearly and concisely by getting to the point and avoid using jargon or overly complex language.

5. Show empathy: Show that you understand and care about the other person’s feelings.

6. Offer valuable insights: When speaking in a group, provide a valuable takeaway or actionable item that people can walk away with.

7. Be an active listener: Listen attentively and respond accordingly, incorporating your points into the conversation.

8. Choose the right time: Pick the most opportune time to speak to ensure that you have the group’s attention and can deliver your message without interruption.

9. Be the unifying voice: Step in and unify the group’s thoughts to calm down the discussion and insert your point effectively.

10. Keep responses concise: Keep responses short and to the point to show respect for others’ time.

11. Avoid unnecessary comments: Avoid commenting on everything and only speak when you have something important to say.

12. Cut the fluff: Avoid being long-winded and get straight to the point.

13. Prepare ahead of time: Sort out your points and practice them before speaking in a group.

14. Smile and be positive: Smile and nod along as others speak, to build a positive relationship and be respected when it’s your turn to speak.

15. Take responsibility: Take responsibility for your own actions and feelings.

16. Ask questions: Ask questions to clarify any confusion or misunderstandings.

17. Avoid interrupting: Allow the other person to finish speaking without interruption.

18. Practice active listening: Repeat what the other person said to ensure you have understood correctly.

19. Use your body language too: Use nonverbal cues such as eye contact, facial expressions, and body language to convey your message and build rapport.

20. Be aware of the tone of your voice: it should be calm and assertive, not aggressive or passive.

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Improve Your Attitude

With the right attitude, you can achieve anything and everything in the world. In the 20th century, intensive research was done to identify the reasons behind successful people. It unveiled that attitude made them stand out from others globally. Your attitude determines your altitude of success. 

Globally attitude, knowledge, and skills are widely discussed. Among them, it is attitude that plays a crucial role to acquire knowledge, skills, and abilities. When you discuss personality, attitude, and behavior, it is the attitude that plays a crucial role to improve your personality and behavior. 

When you talk about hard skills and soft skills, it is the soft skills that matter more, and attitude is the crucial element to acquiring soft skills. In a nutshell, it is the attitude that makes your life 100 percent successful and meaningful. 

The three components of attitude are what you feel, think, and do. Your education, environment, and experience determine your attitude. Hence, ensure that you acquire ethical education and are surrounded by positive people to enable you to have positive experiences in life. 

The negative attitude results in self-doubt, low self-esteem, ill health, stress, bitterness, and resentment. Anyhow you are going to invest your energies, then why not invest your energies in building a positive attitude instead of a negative attitude. 

To acquire a positive attitude, you must think positively, surround yourself with positive friends, develop a can-do mentality, appreciate others, and above all, live in the present.

“Our visit to this planet is short, so we should use our time meaningfully, which we can do by helping others wherever possible. And if we cannot help others, at least we should try not to create pain and suffering for them.” —Dalai Lama

Tips to Focus on Constructive Activities

Whenever negative thoughts pop up in your mind, affirm repeatedly that you were born with certain gifts in life. Leverage those gifts to grow and add value to others. Here are some tips in your arsenal to focus on your goals and objectives to achieve amazing success in your life. 

• Engage your mind constructively on your goals and activities. Fix time daily on them. Avoid multitasking. 
• Create an environment with the right kind of noise. Surround yourself with friends who are positive, constructive, and healthy. Create a team of strong connections who are experts in creating ideas and taking their ideas into execution. 
• Share your personal feelings and emotions with your trusted friends. Avoid wearing your emotions on your sleeve.
• Follow your passions and hobbies. Leverage the technology. 
• Breathe in and breathe out for a few seconds to divert your mind. Remember to breathe with your stomach and through your nose. Do meditation and yoga. 
• Engage your mind on household chores. Connect with your family members. Spend considerable time with them. 
• Hold your mind continuously on your goals for 21 seconds to enable you to stay focused on your goals.  
• Undertake much bigger challenges and focus on them to resolve them. 
• Understand the fact that people are quickly glued to negative aspects than the positive aspects. 
• Stop complaining, criticizing, and condemning others. Take responsibility for your actions. 
• Focus more on your strengths and less on your weaknesses. Focus more on ideas and less on individuals and issues. 
• Overcome your apprehensions and anxieties. Stay away from superstitions.  Look at the door that is opened, not the closed one. Have an open mind to resolve issues. Find out what is bugging you. Explore solutions to overcome them. 
• Travel to unwind. Take a vacation to break from your negative thoughts. Go on a pilgrimage if you are a religious person. 
• Don’t compare with others. You are unique and a gift from God. Nobody can be like you and you cannot be like anybody in the world. 
• Be magnanimous to help others and add value to them. 
• Maintain a gratitude journal to express your gratitude every day. 
• Consult a psychologist to seek professional advice.

Strengthen your subconscious mind. Give positive commands to your subconscious mind 30 minutes before you go to your bed. These commands will have a positive impact on your mind and improve your personality, attitude, and behavior. 

Grow your potential by concentrating on your goals; improving yourself continually; forgetting your unpleasant past; living in the present; and focusing on the future.  

You are Gifted with one Life

Don’t visualize negative events in life. Don’t exaggerate them overly. Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. Remember that everyone has challenges in life. You are not an exception. Understand this fact and enlighten yourself to lead a pleasant and peaceful life.

In reel life (cinema), there are takes and retakes but in real life, there are only takes, and no retakes. You are on a short visit to this planet. You are gifted with one life. Ensure that you lead your life constructively to provide meaning to your life. 

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What is a Grit Mindset?

Angela Duckworth coined the term “grit mindset” in her book, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.” She asserts that grit is the passion and perseverance you exude to achieve your long-term goals. Gritty people tend to be more resilient under pressure and reluctant to give up. Thus, they are much more likely to achieve their goals.

Grit is an overlooked aspect of success, but it plays a critical role. Grittiness is not necessarily about how smart or talented you are. Instead, it’s about never giving up on your goals and constantly pushing yourself to challenge and improve.

Grit has the strength to keep pushing forward no matter how difficult the obstacles may be. It’s a mindset that allows you to overcome the challenges along the way by believing that achieving success will be worth it. This attribute can be developed through practice and hard work. It would be best if you made a conscious effort to sharpen this skill.

Why Grit is an Important Attribute to Have

No matter the pursuit – entrepreneurship, higher education, passing a big exam, making it onto a sports team, or mastering a new language, grit is the primary determinant. We all have goals, dreams, and aspirations, but many of us fail to realize them when things get hard or when we come face-to-face with challenges. The result of quitting or retreating is usually agony and disappointment.

But with grit, you build the necessary drive and determination to stay focused on achieving your goals, no matter how hard the journey may get. It’s essential for personal growth, as it allows you to become resilient and persevere in the face of adversity.

Grit enables us to confidently tackle our most significant challenges and thoughtfully weave our way through life’s complex problems with creative solutions. With a never-give-up attitude and a relentless commitment to persist despite any obstacle or difficulty, you will be well on your way to success.

How to Develop Grit

Developing grit is the process of developing perseverance and resilience within yourself and is essential to achieving success in any pathway we choose. Through determination, we can establish grit and make our dreams a reality by facing our fears, taking on complex tasks, and continually striving to improve ourselves.

Don’t give up too easily – keep working hard, constantly challenge yourself, and discover what you can! A resilient mindset will benefit you in all aspects of life.

“Grit has two components: passion and perseverance.” – Angela Duckworth

Here are five ways to start building up your grit today:

1. Develop a Growth Mindset

A growth mindset will help you see challenges as learning opportunities rather than obstacles in your way. Make sure to recognize the power of effort and the importance of resilience. Acknowledge that failure is part of success, and take it as an opportunity to learn and grow rather than be discouraged.

2. Set Challenging Goals

Set realistic yet challenging goals for yourself, and don’t be afraid to take on challenging tasks. Make sure your goals are specific and measurable and break them down into small steps to make them more manageable. This will help you track your progress as you go along.

3. Push Yourself out of Your Comfort Zone

Taking risks and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone can help you to develop greater resilience. Try things that scare you, take on daunting challenges, and stretch yourself in ways you never thought possible. The more courage you show, the grittier you become.

4. Set Long-Term Goals

When aiming for success, it’s essential to have goals that keep you motivated and on track. Please think of the long-term picture and what it takes to get there. Break big goals into smaller steps, and celebrate the successes along the way.

5. Stay Focused on Your Goals

It’s easy to get sidetracked by distractions and other commitments. But staying focused on them is crucial to reach your goals. Make sure you’re taking action every day toward achieving your dreams and not letting anything else stand in the way.

Real-life Examples of People Who Achieved Greatness Thanks to Grit

Grit is an incredible quality for anyone in the pursuit of greatness. It should be no surprise that real-life examples of those who have achieved excellence because of their grit are everywhere. Here are a few real-life examples of people who achieved greatness due mainly to their gritty determination.

J.K. Rowling

Rowling is an excellent example of grit. After being rejected by multiple publishers, she refused to give up and pursued her dream of publishing a novel. She cashed in her life savings, borrowed money from friends, and worked tirelessly to make it happen. Her grit and determination paid off as the Harry Potter series became one of the best-selling books of all time.

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan is a prime example of grit and determination. After being cut from his high school basketball team, he refused to give up. He worked tirelessly on his game, practiced for hours every day, and eventually became one of the greatest players in the history of the NBA.

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey is another excellent example of grit and determination. Emerging from the depths of rural Mississippi poverty and raised by a teenage single mother, she found a way to claw her way to the top. She started as a TV news anchor. Winfrey became one of the world’s most influential people thanks to her grit and perseverance. She faced numerous obstacles throughout her career, yet she never gave up on her dreams. Her dedication and hard work have paid off in a big way.

Jim Carrey

Many people don’t know that Jim Carrey used to be homeless. He was determined to make it as a comedian and did just that. He developed his own unique comedy brand and worked hard to perfect his craft. His determination paid off as he became one of the most well-known comedic actors in the world.

Grit is an invaluable quality for anyone who wants to achieve greatness. It takes dedication, determination, and a willingness to push yourself out of your comfort zone. These real-life examples show that anyone can achieve excellence with the right mindset and attitude.

It’s up to you to stay focused on your goals and never give up in the face of adversity. With enough grit and determination, anything is possible. Start building your grit today and watch yourself reach the success you’ve always dreamed of. It’s time to make greatness happen!

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Soft Skills

The skills and abilities essential for students who pass out from educational institutions to get adjusted to the industrial front that is more especially connected to communication skills are known as soft skills. These are known as social skills, people skills, and emotional intelligence. 

These are also known as life skills.  Soft skills are all about anything other than domain knowledge.  They are also about interpersonal relations, the attitude to develop as an individual, and, above all, the personal grooming to face challenges in day-to-day life in the corporate world. 

With the changing business environment, the competition for job acquisition and job sustainability is intensifying. To get an edge over others in the competitive market, students must complement their hard skills with soft skills to exhibit their real potential. While hard skills are academic skills, knowledge, experience, and level of expertise, soft skills are self-developed, interactive, communication, human, and transferable skills. 

To survive in today’s challenging global environment, most employers focus on employing, retaining, and promoting people who are dependable, resourceful, ethical, self-directed, have effective communication, willing to work and learn with a positive, right, and strong attitude. 

Soft vs. Hard Skills

Soft skills are different from hard skills. Hard skills are technical skills and domain skills while soft skills are non-domain skills. Hard skills are tangible that are measurable and quantifiable while soft skills are intangible that cannot be easily measured and quantified. Hard skills are about what you speak while soft skills are about how you speak with others. 

Soft skills are a polite and pleasing way of communicating with others while hard skills are what you contribute to the workplace.  Soft skills complement your hard skills. Precisely, soft skills are a presentation of your hard skills in the workplace. Soft skills are interpersonal skills while hard skills are job-related skills. 

If hard skills are infrastructure soft skills are superstructure. If hard skills are the foundation soft skills are the cement. A judicious blend of both hard and soft skills is essential to achieve your professional success and fast-track your career. 

You can find hard skills on a resume while you can find soft skills during the employment interview. Hard skills get you an interview while soft skills help you get your employment. Hence, both hard and soft skills are essential to get a job. After joining employment, soft skills help you survive in the workplace while hard skills help you prove yourself professionally. Hence, blending both hard and skills is imperative in the workplace.

“Your sucess in your career will be in direct proportion to what you do after you’ve done what you are expected to do.” – Brian Tracy

According to Anthony Robbins, there is a famous story told about Tom Watson, the founder of IBM. One of his subordinates had made a terrible mistake that had cost the company ten million dollars. He was called into Watson’s office and said, “I suppose you want my resignation.”

Watson looked at him and said, “Are you kidding? We just spent ten million dollars educating you.” Tom Watson emphasized the importance of costly corporate education with his soft skills. Similarly, one of the technicians in the Indian Air Force made a blunder resulting in the crash of military aircraft that had cost hugely with the pilot ejecting out safely with his parachute. 

The technician was called into the commander’s office and the commander looked at the technician and said, “Indian Air Force invested huge money to train you in aircraft. Remember, military education is very costly.”  Hence, you can understand the significance of soft skills in expressing hard skills in a positive, polite, pleasing, and polished manner.

It is easy to measure hard skills while it is hard to measure soft skills. It is easy to teach hard skills while it is hard to teach soft skills. Usually, teachers teach hard skills while trainers train soft skills. Since soft skills are behavioral skills, it requires extra efforts on the part of trainers to use various tools and techniques including interaction, role-plays, active participation, and experiential learning to bring out the desired behavioral changes in the participants.  

Soft Skills for Millennials

Millennials need soft skills along with hard skills. Most millennials are busy with their smartphones with less interaction with others. Hence, they must acquire soft skills to get along with others. 

The older generations had more physical interaction and developed soft skills. But the millennials must work hard to acquire soft skills the way they acquire hard skills. A proportional mix of hard and soft skills is essential to achieving professional success and a fast-track career. 

Millennials are brilliant. They are updated with the latest technology and are aware of leveraging technology effectively. But most of them are addicted to technology. They associate less with others leading to social challenges because they don’t know how to get along with others. They use more of their brain than brawn because they hardly focus on physical activities leading to health challenges. 

How to Acquire Soft Skills?

You can acquire soft skills by various means including observation, reading, training, experience, and practice. Soft skills training equips you with skills, abilities, and knowledge. 

However, your interaction with others helps acquire soft skills greatly. Since soft skills are behavioral skills, people must learn by trial and method by using their emotional intelligence, and through flexibility and adaptability. You must be practical, realistic, and situational to acquire soft skills. Above all, you must learn from your failures to improve your behavior to jell well with others effectively. 

To improve soft skills, you must develop emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills. You must observe and understand people and their behaviors. Travel to unknown destinations to understand people. Talk to them to get along with them. 

Understand their cultures and behaviors. Traveling teaches tolerance and improves soft skills. When you travel to unknown destinations and communicate in a non-native language, you will be able to improve your soft skills effectively. 

Final Thoughts

The professional world of learning and development has undergone tremendous change in the 21st century. Gone are the days when all sectors underscored technical skills alone.  Currently, there is a change in the mindset of companies to highlight hard and soft skills. Companies search for a perfect blend of both soft and hard skills among employees to deliver goods and services effectively to their clients. To conclude, both hard and soft skills are essential to achieving professional success. Hence, blend them judiciously to fast-track your career.

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As an entrepreneur, you know that your team is the backbone of your business. That’s why it is important to pay attention to the dynamics between your employees and their supervisors. If you have a toxic manager on your hands, it could spell disaster for your company. Professionals leaving their job due to a poor supervisor is not just a theoretical problem; many have left their jobs because they felt disrespected. 

Don’t let a toxic leader bring down your business. Keep an eye out for these warning signs and nip them in the bud before it’s too late. Trying to replace talent is challenging in any market. Additionally, if your startup has a reputation for being a difficult workplace, it will be harder to attract and keep top talent.

The good news is that it’s possible to spot early warning signs of toxic leadership in your midst. Just remember to look beyond the obvious. It’s a piece of cake to notice a firebrand who scares direct reports or someone who’s impolite, vulgar, or rude. Yet it’s also important to watch for the following low-level indicators of negativity among your executives and managers. That way, you can intervene quickly and either coach the coachable or let go of the irredeemable.

1. They Never Take Ownership Of Errors

The blame game is a real issue in many offices. That isn’t good if you have a director or supervisor who always points fingers. It means you can never get to the root of any problem so that it can be fixed.

Many bad leaders are good at blaming people who are unfavored or not well-known. For instance, a supervisor might blame errors on newer or younger employees. These employees may not understand how to speak up for themselves and maybe gaslighted into believing they are at fault. As a result, the toxic leader skirts any responsibility and the employee feels guilty for no reason. 

To avoid allowing this kind of behavior, practice total accountability. Start by making yourself the role model, so everyone knows that making mistakes is acceptable as long as you learn from them and try to avoid making the same mistake twice. Clear transparency is important in leadership, especially when things don’t go as planned. Leaders need to take responsibility for their actions and admit when they are wrong. This allows for a culture of trust and openness within the company.

“A leader is admired, a boss is feared.“

2. They Like To Play The Gossip Game

Gossiping negatively is a destructive behavior that can be especially harmful when it comes from a manager. Not only does it spread quickly and ruin reputations, but it also does a disservice to the company. Ironically, despite their negative impact, toxic managers who engage in gossip may be well-liked because they always seem to have the latest information.

It would help if you acted when you realized that you have a gossiper in a leadership role. Gossiping pits team members against each other and allows cliques to form. This can destroy a healthy corporate culture and cause rifts between people and departments. Eventually, the rifts will impact your work on behalf of clients or customers.

Gossip can be a destructive force in the workplace, but it’s challenging to stop it once it starts. Bring attention to the issue and suggest alternative behaviors, such as expressing gratitude and appreciation. Focusing on these positive emotions can help slow the spread of negativity and mistreatment in the office.

3. They Show Their Bias Against Particular Employees

As a leader, you’ll always have employees who are better performers than others. Typically, they’re your go-to team members for important projects and you hope they’ll stick around to be tomorrow’s leaders. Yet it would help if you did more than shower them with all your attention since that’s what bad bosses do.

A poor manager will focus all coaching and mentoring efforts on one or two favorite employees and ignore the rest. While this makes sense and is natural in one way, it alienates most of the team and prevents others from stretching their wings. That’s not good. Employees may initially have steeper learning curves but eventually become superstars with enough support.

Keep a close eye on your direct reports, who are your leaders. Do they bypass other employees for assignments, including smaller tasks that could serve as learning opportunities? You may have to intervene and insist that the work be completed more fairly. Ensure the leader doesn’t sabotage your request by withholding information to prove you wrong.

Toxicity has no place in your startup. It’s that simple. When you see it, put an end to it. Thanks to your diligence, your culture and your brand will be much better off.

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Of late, executive presence has been catching up globally as most chief executives and leaders realized its importance to improve their influence and enhance their leadership presence.  There are books authored on the concept of executive presence that shows the significance of executive presence. 

What is executive presence?

Some people bring happiness wherever they go; some people bring happiness whenever they go.  The people with executive presence belong to the first category where they bring in a lot of happiness wherever they go to a group through their appearance and charm. 

When you see some people you get attracted to them immediately, and you feel like speaking to them and spending your precious time.  You will show your interest to associate with them, and try to help as much as you can without expecting any returns from them.  

Your mind will be occupied with such people and you enjoy talking about them with others. You often think about them and appreciate aping them.  This is known as executive presence, and it is precisely known as a “wow” factor which is easy to see and yet hard to define.

Executive presence is the ability to influence others through your communication skills, appearance, and dress code.  It is a magnetic charm that adds value to your leadership ability.  It helps in getting tasks executed successfully. It is a blend of various traits and skills such as personal appearance, dress sense, smile, energy and enthusiasm, and above all, a pull factor that makes you stand out from others. 

Most executives have a hidden urge to influence others through their executive presence.  They often take extra care to draw attention and acceptance. If you look at Richard Branson of Virgin Group, he attracts the attention of people through his different dressing, style, and activities to promote his brand. He is noted for daredevilry activities and unique mannerisms. 

Precisely, executive presence is a professional magnetism and leadership ability to influence people and ensure things go successfully for enhancing organizational excellence and effectiveness.  People around you look up to you and listen to you.  It is an added advantage to your professional success and helps in building your professional brand quickly. 

For instance, Hollywood film stars are smart at executive presence. They survive mainly through their executive presence which we may call “star presence”. They are stars due to their special appearance and mannerism. It is their trump card for their survival and success.

“There can be no power without mystery. There must always be a ‘something’ that others cannot altogether fathom, which puzzles them, stirs them, and rivets their attention… Nothing more enhances authority than silence. It is the crowning virtue of the strong, the refuge of the weak, the modesty of the proud, the pride of the humble, the prudence of the wise, and the sense of fools.” —Charles de Gaulle

Executive presence versus charisma

There is a difference between leaders with executive presence and leaders with charisma.  Marianne Williamson once said, “Charisma is a sparkle in people that money can’t buy. It’s invisible energy with visible effects.” 

Charismatic leaders are individuals above institutions.  When institutions are about to crumble charismatic leaders enter the scenario, turn around the institutions and then quit. Their main role is to infuse hope through their charisma and keep things better for themselves and others and then they quit.  However, leaders with executive presence infuse hope forever to achieve the desired organizational objectives.  

In addition, charisma is a magnetic power and charm and it is the ability to influence others through magical words and vocabulary to attract people around you. However, executive presence is the ability to get noticed as the center of attraction for good reasons, and that too as an effective executive. It helps connect with people quickly so that they trust and admire you and finally follow you.  

These days executive presence is imperative not only to become a successful executive but also a successful leader.  It helps in getting things done easily as people enjoy working with you because of your extraordinary appearance. 

In a nutshell, executive presence is an added advantage to your leadership presence. It makes things easier for you to influence people around you.

Importance of executive presence

Executive presence is an asset for professionals to scale the corporate ladder quickly as they get noticed by others. Some leaders work hard and learn the ropes of having executive presence either through their dressing, mannerism, body language, or style of speaking to get noticed.  It helps win the trust and confidence of people around you.  

You will be able to work with more confidence with your superiors, peers, and subordinates. In addition, it helps within society to command respect and in your personal life to ensure a successful life.  It helps you connect with others quickly and establish rapport; builds confidence to present yourself with authority, courage, and authenticity to get the tasks executed successfully; and enhances greater interpersonal skills.  

Hence, everyone must acquire the tools and techniques of executive presence to leave a mark.  Political leaders like Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Ronald Reagan had executive presence. Ronald Reagan is an amazing example of the executive presence of his mannerism, appearance, and communication skills. He connected with people quickly through his presence.  

Business leaders like Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Lee Iacocca, Jack Welch, Indra Nooyi, and Steve Jobs are noted for their exceptional executive presence.  There are several religious leaders including Dalai Lama who have an extraordinary executive presence. 

How to enhance your executive presence?

When you have an executive presence, you will be at the center of attraction.  People will be eager to have a glance at you and will be eager to meet and interact with you. They take pride in meeting you and tell others that they met you. But how to have it is a million-dollar question!  Another question to ponder is whether executive presence is an inborn trait or an acquired skill. 

We hear a cliché, “First impression is the best impression” which is somewhat similar to the executive presence that creates your personal and professional brand. It encourages people to come and talk to you, give you assignments and offers, and several opportunities.  

Hence, it is imperative to cultivate and enhance your executive presence. Certain things are God-gifted such as physical appearance, but many things can be cultivated.  Suzanne Bates unveils seven elements of executive presence in her article. 

They are substance, personal style, physical presence, vocal skill, manners/listening, receptivity/listening, and workspace. All these skills can be cultivated as they are in no way related to your inborn talents. Hence, you can cultivate and enhance your executive presence with your efforts.  

Some people go for image makeover especially those who are into public life, to grab the attention of others. When you look at film stars, television anchors, air hostesses, and celebrities put in extra effort to draw the attention of others and influence others through their presence.  To conclude, enhance your executive presence to build your personal and professional brand and achieve all-around success.  

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