Transform Your Life Through Meditation

Something has brought you here, weather you are you a beginner, intermediate or advanced, this is for you... even if you have never tried it before and you're just curious, stay with me for a bit...

Meditation is an ancient practice and often misunderstood by many around the world. It is one of the most powerful tools to achieve self-mastery and works on body, mind and spirit. 

When we are out of balance, we tend to have negative thoughts and experience negative emotions, some of which include fear, anxiety, hopelessness, depression, anger, etc. This is not an ideal state and can have severe negative impacts on health. Through meditation, we can turn this around to reach a state of calmness no matter the circumstances we are in. It can improve confidence, mental clarity and focus, increase energy levels and results in you feeling at peace in a happy emotional state. Other benefits include health and weight loss.

There are many techniques available and with the right practitioner, you can transform your life. With that being said, I would like to introduce you to one of the world leaders in meditation, an international author, speaker, coach and meditation teacher. He has studied and practiced meditation for 20 years and taught thousands of people around the world. He certainly is one of the most qualified in the field being certified with meditation associations along with qualifications in positive psychology and more... His methods are unique in that they are focused on empowerment over and above acceptance and letting go.

If you would like to transform your life into one which is fulfilling, peaceful and stress-free, no matter what life throws at you, follow the link below to begin your wonderful journey to freedom.

Click here to learn more!

The 3 Most Valuable Things Entrepreneurs Can Be Doing for Their Team Right Now

No matter how your business has been impacted, your team needs its leader more than ever.



You may be worried about your business, but you aren’t the only one stressed out. Right now, your team members are worried about their careers, their families and their futures. No matter how much the current public health- and econimic-crisis has impacted you, your team needs its leader now more than ever.

Even if you've avoided eliminating positions in your business thus far, people are worried. Unemployment numbers have already hit record highs, and Gallup reports that a quarter of American employees fear they'll lose their jobs.

Workers and companies fortunate enough to stay open during quarantine orders still face unique challenges. Employees who have never worked from home now spend every hour indoors. People who loved to flaunt their extroverted selves on weekends now make do with videoconferences and virtual Netflix parties. In uncharted territory with a muddled future, entrepreneurs must not abandon their teams in their moment of greatest need.

Keep your team safe, supported and productive by acting as their most valuable ally. Here's a guide to getting started.

1. Help insulate them from financial hardship

People who worry about their financial situations miss work more frequently than their financially secure peers. Concerns about financial stability also affect productivity on the job. Ironically, the people who need money the most are more likely to call in sick or fail to do their best work.

Give workers the leg up they need by empowering them to create some distance from the threat of financial hardship. Help employees access financial aid resources and save for the future by working with a small business 401(k) provider like Guideline. Look for a low-fee provider that makes it as easy as possible for employees to manage their retirement to show you care about their financial future.


Other perks, such as paid sick leave and competitive salaries, can help alleviate the stress of bills and security. New generations saddled with college debt also appreciate student loan repayment assistance. Take care of your employees, and they'll return the favor by bringing their best selves to work every day.

2. Get proactive about checking in

Open-door policies force employees to instigate. Someone who has a problem doesn’t want to barge in and ruin your day, especially if you’re as busy as most small business owners. You may believe that making yourself available is enough, but that mindset could lead your best employees to leave for greener pastures if they don’t feel heard.

Rather than take a passive role in your team’s well-being, take it upon yourself to bring up potential issues before they drive your best workers away. Schedule regular one-on-one talks to discuss topics not related to current projects. What would your employees like to see changed? Which challenges have stuck with them over the past few weeks? Do they get along with their peers? You don’t have to act on every small complaint, but by offering a sympathetic ear, you can at least keep small issues from growing into big problems.

When you check in with your team, keep it visual. Remote team members appreciate videoconferences when they can’t make it into the office. In permanent work-from-home situations, fly employees in at least twice a year to maintain personal connections.

3. Relax or eliminate excessive rules

Cut the bloat from your employee handbook and role descriptions. As businesses grow, isolated incidents lead founders to create companywide rules that may not facilitate productivity as much as they hinder workers's ability to do their jobs. By slashing your guidelines to the bare minimum, you demonstrate to employees that you trust their good judgment.

A display of trust proves to employees that you believe in their honesty and productivity without the need for frivolous guidelines. Your workers have enough to deal with outside of the (home) office; don’t add to their misery by piling on new remote work regulations. If anyone abuses the freedom, have a serious conversation or find someone new who doesn’t. A person who wants to slack will find a way, rules or no rules, but a dedicated worker doesn’t need rules to flourish.

Monitor performance metrics in this new normal, and set expectations based on that reality. You may discover that productivity spikes in certain areas and craters in others. Let employees work how and when they can, then play the evaluator once you have a more defined plan.

Your workers look to you as both a leader and as an example of how to handle tough situations. Give them an example worth following by investing in their happiness and encouraging a sense of community at work. When you show your employees that you care, they'll internalize that lesson and treat their colleagues with the same respect.





Rashan Dixon
ENTREPRENEUR LEADERSHIP NETWORK WRITER
Co-founder of Techincon and Senior Business Consultant for Microsoft

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/349961

What every entrepreneur should keep in mind for 2020

Keeping in mind the fundamentals of what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur is a good way to get you on track of achieving what you desire in 2020. Here's what to keep in mind.

Photo by Taylor Grote

Know what you want to offer

Everyone wants to start a business, yet many have no idea what it is that they actually want to offer - more specifically, where to start.

This mental fog prevents you from taking the first step to becoming a successful entrepreneur. So, how do you clear the fog and break down the door? It’s simple: draw up a plan and stick to simple wisdom.

Creating a comprehensive blueprint of your future business will help you get rid of the “ifs” and “buts” and it eradicates any unforeseen mishaps on your path.

Draw up a mind map to physically view your ideas; seeing your ideas jotted down on a page will help create a comparison of which idea is better than the other.

Conduct research on which services are lacking in your industry - do this if you really are really conflicted about what to offer.

via GIPHY
The ability to know what service or product you want to offer is a definite skill. To nurture the skill and to master it takes time and consideration. Sit and ponder if you must to get clarity. However, and this is an important contrast, you must never forget that you know nothing. As the great Greek philosopher, Socrates once said, “I know that I know nothing”.

Have grit and the right mentality

We, and especially you, are tired of hearing “be strong” and all those other motivational clichés. Could you just imagine when things don't go according to plan just at the beginning of your journey and you decide to throw in the towel? The image reeks of failure! As obnoxious as it may sound, no one, and I mean no one, has gotten very far by simply giving up after each failure.

Many entrepreneurs are naturally-gifted at having grit in the face of adversity and then there are some who aren’t as lucky. Do not fret should you fall into the latter. This trait can be cultivated by nurturing your will power, which every one of us has. Adopting a “do not give up” mentality coupled with having persistency in your arsenal will help you succeed at building your business to where you want it to be.

via ballmemes.com

Having the right attitude is sometimes all that it takes to be an entrepreneur, so be mindful of what you think and say to yourself. Believe that your business will be a success and it will surely happen.

You need to take risks

It's 2020 and we have entered a new decade, but this does not change the fact that risk-taking can make or break your business. Taking risks is what will set you aside from those that say they want to start a business and those that actually go out there and start working on their vision.

You may need to leave your day job just to start focusing on your business, which is a major risk because it means there is no steady income. You may need to borrow some money from a family member or make an exorbitant loan from the bank to help fund your business. These are the type of risks that often needs to be taken.

The fear of loss, the fear of getting into legal trouble, and the fear of not making it big are what normally lets good ideas fade away into nothingness. So take the plunge if you must, but don't be reckless and thoughtless about how you go about setting up your successful business.

Don’t forget to learn

Knowledge is a powerful tool, so bury yourself with information that will help you mastermind something into existence. Do thorough research of your target market, view tutorials, attend masterclasses, do anything to make sure you are taking in information that is going to be beneficial for your business.

If you are planning on creating a specific product, it is best to find out as much as possible about the product as well as your competitors. The same applies to any service offering. By doing this you identify what will make your product or service stand out from the rest.

The following is a quote from Yukio Mishima that is as relevant as ever:

What transforms this world is — knowledge. Do you see what I mean? Nothing else can change anything in this world. Knowledge alone is capable of transforming the world, while at the same time leaving it exactly as it is. When you look at the world with knowledge, you realise that things are unchangeable and at the same time are constantly being transformed.

Sharpen your accounting skills

To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to keep in mind that accountancy is an important skill to have. You do not have to be chartered account per se, but you do need to work out things (numerically speaking), to make sure your business is profitable.

Accounting does help identify what’s working and what’s not working, in terms of the financials. It also helps keep track of your business’s capital and what could be missing to make things better for you.

It’s a small thing to keep in mind, but it surely can make a huge difference to you when you are just starting out. So take a few short courses in accountancy and teach yourself the basics. Plus, it would not hurt to learn something new.

Source: IMRAN SALIE https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/837/199560.html

How to Manifest Authentic Joy in Your Life

Photo by Preslie Hirsch 

Joy is now evident in everything I say and do! 

Focus on gratitude. Choose forgiveness. Choose joy.— Shaunti Feldhahn 

“Joy” is one of my favorite words. In fact, it is in my top ten list of treasured words. As I thought about it, I wondered what does “joy” mean? I took it a step further and asked: What is joy? Then, I embarked upon a little excursion in search of a thorough definition of this beloved word. First, I had to determine what joy is not. Joy is not happiness. Happiness is temporary. It is fleeting; you cannot grasp it. You are pursuing happiness, and it is always expressed in the future tense. 

Circumstances 

For example, many of us believe we will be happy when we get married. We seek fulfillment of ourselves through a relationship with a life partner. Other times, we feel a successful career will make us happy. We invest money, thinking financial security will buy happiness. We buy houses and cars, surmising these items will lead to fulfillment. Finally, we look forward to retirement and enjoying the fruits of our labors. We dream about places to go and time to spend on leisurely activities. We base our happiness on circumstances and events we want to happen. These things are not wrong in and of themselves; however, if they take the place of experiencing joy now, we will miss much that life has to offer. 

Choosing joy 

In contrast, joy is eternal. You can exist in joy. It is a state of mind that focuses on the present, despite our circumstances. In this life, we will have troubles that rob us of our joy if we let them. Physical ailments and pain are a reality that many of us endure. For example, I have suffered chronic pain from arthritis for the past twelve years, and some days I struggle to find joy. Disaster and hardships fall upon us in an instant. When I was a little girl, our house burned to the ground, and we lost everything. My mother insisted things happen to the just and the unjust, despite our beliefs about the world and our experience of it. How we respond to these misfortunes determines the quality of life we experience. 

Amid our trials, we can practice joy. Therefore, joy becomes a choice. 

Gratitude 

Fortunately, in my investigation of joy I found I had to develop an attitude of gratitude. I know that seems a cliché; however, gratitude is the basis of joy. During my lifetime, I experienced grief and loss that seemed to undermine any thankfulness in my heart. The emotional suffering I underwent led me into a deep depression. A friend told me to make a list of things to be grateful for. At first, I hesitated, but then I tried it. I started with ten items, and my inventory quickly grew to one hundred and counting. After reading my list over and over, I felt the despair lift. 

Now, I wake up with thanksgiving in my heart. Thus, I discovered that gratitude paves the road to joy. 

Forgiving yourself 

Forgiveness is a requirement for having joy in our hearts. The first person you must forgive is yourself. When I looked deep in my heart, I found that unforgiveness was a chain that had me bound. Guilt and regret over the poor choices I made in my life only inhibited my joy. In the past, my addictions hurt my family and my ability to raise my children in a safe and loving manner. The time I allotted to buying and using illicit substances stole time I could have spent with them. However, I learned that the only way to move forward in joy is to be kind to myself and not live under the iron fist of condemnation and self-hate. Therefore, I asked myself for forgiveness. 

Forgiving others 

Also, you must forgive others for their perceived offenses — past and present. After I forgave myself, I compiled a second list that contained the names of the people who had offended me. Some of these people did not care if I forgave them; some didn’t even know I needed to forgive them. After I finished my list, I read each name out loud and verbally forgave them. Even then, I rarely felt any better, so I continued to read my list repeatedly — again and again. Over time, the pain I associated with the offenses subsided, and I knew that forgiveness of word and deed had occurred. I learned I cannot change the past; I can only forgive the past. 

Acts of kindness 

-Deliberate 

Twenty years ago, I was employed by a non-profit agency in the helping field. On May 3, 1999, Oklahoma experienced the worst tornado in her history up to that time. Our agency hurried into the field to provide disaster relief for those devastated by the monster storm. The people we helped often called us “angels of mercy” as they received our acts of kindness with intense joy. Truly, “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35, NIV). Any attempt I would make to articulate the joy I received from the people we assisted would be inadequate. 

-Random Also, a simple random act of kindness can touch a life in ways you may never know. A smile or a word of encouragement often initiates a chain reaction known as the “butterfly effect.” This is a concept developed by Edward Lorenz, an MIT professor, over fifty years ago, which simply states “little, insignificant events can lead to significant results over time.” For example, Lorenz theorized that “the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil can cause a hurricane in Texas.” These kind acts will definitely ratchet up your joy-o-meter. 

Meditating 

Meditating on joy has proven to have many benefits. For example, studies have shown joy can positively affect you physically, emotionally, and spiritually. 

-Physically Meditation increases the levels of dopamine and serotonin in our brains. The release of these neurotransmitters increases feelings of elation and joy. Also, joy can physically rewire our brains if we speak with intention. I often read Scripture out loud as part of my meditation. This act of speaking and listening creates new neurons and neural pathways when we meditate. 

-Emotionally 

Your heart has 40,000 brain cells, and it emits electromagnetic signals. This energy creates emotional responses. Consider the sayings: “I feel joy in my heart,” or “my heart is breaking.” If joy can change your brain, why not your heart? 

-Spiritually 

Reading the Bible can also increase your joy. I begin every morning with my daily dose of Scripture. I have 12 verses containing the word “joy,” which I call my prescriptions (RX’s) for life. Each day, I choose a verse from my list and focus, pay attention, mutter, or memorize it throughout the day until it becomes a part of me. For example, the last verse on my list is Jeremiah 15:16 (ESV): and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart… 

Cultivating joy 

Finally, we must cultivate seeds of joy. Planting a joy seed can occur when someone says and/or does something that hurts us. Taking the opportunity to smile or speak words of encouragement often will stop the offending person in their tracks. Not only are you preventing bitterness from taking root within your heart, but you may also offer the other person a seed of joy. 

Furthermore, when you are having feelings or thoughts of anger or fear, stop, and reflect on what is happening. Try to give that emotion a name because when we can identify a thing, we can do something about it. Then, replace the emotion with a different feeling or thought (fear becomes faith, and anger becomes joy). As we do all these things, our hearts will be open to receiving joy. The fruit of joy will emerge, even when we least expect it. Joy will bubble up inside of us like a spring whose waters never fail, and it will become evident in what we say and do. 

That, I believe, is the definition of joy. 

Debbie Walker, writer with a BA in Psychology. 

https://medium.com/koinonia/how-to-manifest-authentic-joy-in-your-life-4fe8d74fe1c2

The 4 Actions You Must Take to Find Your Opportunity

Image credit: Hero Images |


Don’t look for an industry, look for the opportunity. Opportunity is a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something. The middle class looks for jobs to solve their problems. You need a job, but you also need opportunity. Senior students at MIT and Harvard right now don’t even know what opportunity means, they will just be looking for a job next summer. The truth is, an opportunity will solve your problems. Here are four tips today to find your opportunity:



1. Look for opportunity.

Before you can see an opportunity, you have to be looking for opportunity. This seems basic but many people have given up on looking for opportunity. This is why there is that saying, “You wouldn’t see an opportunity if it hit you in the face,” comes from. Opportunity can literally be right where you are but you’re blind to it.


2. Be willing to read and research.

They say knowledge is power, and it’s true. You won’t find opportunity without knowledge

Everything you ever want, you are just a piece of knowledge away from obtaining. The only thing between you and massive wealth is the right knowledge. I’ve experienced all the delays and pitfalls that keep people in the middle class, but I was able to push beyond them to become wealthy, and I can teach you to do the same because of the knowledge I've obtained.


3. You have to go for it.

You have to leave where you are comfortable. Staying with mommy and daddy past the age of 25 isn’t going to work, sorry. Opportunity might mean moving out of state or even across the country. Maybe, just maybe, you need a new passport for your opportunity. The point is, the opportunity may not be where you are because you might be a big fish in a small pond.


4. Make contacts.

Everything you want, somebody else has it. Contacts equal contracts. How big is your power base? How big is your pipeline? The more people you know, the more opportunities will come your way. There’s a reason why successful network marketers make a lot of money -- they prospect.

Your next opportunity might just be with someone you don’t even know yet. You need to go out and meet them.

So what is your opportunity that you need?




Each of of these four essentials -- looking for opportunity, reading and researching, going for it, or making contacts -- requires effort on your part. I have a few sayings that relate to this:

Everyone wants to have a six-pack but don’t want to put in the time.

Everyone wants to be the boss but won’t go out on their own.

Everyone wants to be a millionaire but won’t spend $1000.

I will add to this, “Everyone wants an opportunity but won’t ____.”

What’s your excuse?

Find your opportunity.





Grant Cardone
ENTREPRENEUR LEADERSHIP NETWORK VIP
International Sales Expert & $1.78B Real Estate Fund Manager

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/300589

5 Mental Exercises to Strengthen Your Emotional Fitness

Achieve the mindset that allows you to not just endure chaos, but to thrive in it.

In times of crisis, there are those who become overwhelmed by fear and those who rise to the occasion. They know that they have the mindset to not just endure but to thrive in the middle of chaos. They understand that what they do right now is going to determine what kind of life they will have ten years from now.

What separates these individuals from the vast majority? It’s not necessarily money or past success. There are plenty of people who have money but they are living in fear. And there are people who thought they had their business figured out, and now they are forced to reinvent themselves because everything has changed.

People who thrive in chaos have the ability to stay calm under immense pressure and focus on who they need to become to get through a challenge. They have the capacity to change their perception when reality changes. They don't try to argue with reality by wishing that things wouldn’t be a certain way.

They possess what I call emotional fitness.

Emotional fitness is not the same as emotional intelligence. Although the two are related, emotional intelligence is the capacity for empathy. Emotional fitness is the capacity to think on your feet when the ground crumbles underneath you.

You already know the benefits of exercise. You can do all the research you want about the perfect interval times or the best yoga pants, but all of that means nothing if you don’t get in the gym and do the work until you start sweating. The same thing is true for emotional fitness. You can read all you want about how to stay calm under pressure, but the only way to actually increase your emotional fitness is to do the necessary inner work to increase your capacity.

Here are five ways entrepreneurs can increase their emotional fitness.

1. Check-in with yourself multiple times a day Your reaction to whatever stimulus is in front of you is to a certain extent involuntary. If you step on a LEGO, you get angry at the same time the pain shoots up your foot. When you watch the craziness on the news, you get anxious. Those thoughts and emotions are going to come to you before your rational brain has a chance to keep up. At least two or three times per day, take a minute to check-in with yourself and figure out what you are focusing on. Follow that focus and see what the emotions are bringing up. Are you stressed out because you’re focused on the negative things that are happening, or are you excited about the opportunities that are ahead of you?

Most people don’t know, but subconsciously our mind focuses on all the negative things that are going on because of the survival instinct. When you're on autopilot, it's easy for these negative feelings to overwhelm everything else. But by intentionally bringing awareness to your thoughts and emotions, you can make a conscious decision to shift your focus and interrupt the pattern of being on autopilot. By checking in with yourself multiple times a day, you give yourself the data to understand why you feel the way you do and where your focus is during the day.

2. Acknowledge the emotions and thoughts The moment that you acknowledge your emotions and thoughts is the moment that you can become aware of the trigger that is causing that thought or emotion. Like I said before, our subconscious mind is constantly focused on negative thoughts and emotions, especially early in the day. If you don’t acknowledge those feelings, you are going to be fighting an uphill battle the entire day. Your brain is going to release the stress hormone cortisol, because your brain behaves as if you’re fighting an enemy, and your body expends energy fighting itself.

Studies show that just acknowledging negative thoughts, and realizing that it’s normal for your brain to be in reactive mode, gives you the power to make the conscious decision to shift and focus on the opportunities instead of the problem. Be more aware of them instead of trying to fix them. Your emotions are not something you have to “fix.” The trigger that made you feel that way is the thing to fix, not the emotion itself.

3. Don't make your emotions "wrong" Your emotions are feedback to your perception of your current reality. If you make them wrong, then you believe that your current situation shouldn’t be happening to you. That’s when you start arguing with reality and look for something or someone to blame. We have this illusion that we shouldn’t feel a certain way, or that we are weak by acknowledging what we feel.

By acknowledging you are not your thoughts, feelings and emotions, you become open to receiving the feedback and learning from them instead of reacting to them.

4. Feel your emotions fully We are constantly judging ourselves and we don’t give ourselves permission to feel our emotions fully. Like the feeling of relief that sometimes mixes in with sadness. Our emotions can bring out guilt and shame because we think we shouldn’t feel a certain way. The guilt and shame are what prevent us from expanding our capacity. The emotions are there because the triggers are there, and you can’t just stop that circuit. Instead, you have to complete the circuit and feel the emotions fully.

The moment we give ourselves permission to feel the emotion, that’s the moment you’re bringing light into the darkness. The fear and uncertainty that consume our energy will begin to lose power. We are bringing light into the darkness and realizing that we were more afraid of the dark than what it was hiding.

5. Win the battle in your mind before it becomes real Most of our fears and stressors are caused by what we think could happen. Much of the time, the fear isn’t real, and only lives in our mind. The thoughts of the worst-case scenario are all set in the future and are inspired by some pain from the past. That feeling of being caught in the middle of an unalterable past and an undetermined future takes away our certainty. It’s that helplessness that amplifies all the other emotions. But the secret weapon is that you can also win those battles in the same place: your mind.

Recently, my wife became ill. We were sure it was COVID-19, and the two of us took immediate action to protect our two teenage children by quarantining her in the guest room. A day later, she recovered but I got sick myself, and I was sicker than I’ve ever been for two days. Although fighting the virus was brutal, I had the emotional fitness to not overreact. This was in large part because for years, every morning I imagined myself facing a worst-case scenario, and every morning I felt the pain of my wife or kids getting sick, or of being sick and not being able to provide for my family. But then I would end the mediation, knowing it was all in my mind and the reality was that they were fine. At that point, no challenge or failure I would face that day would be worse than what I put myself through in my imagination.

This time, when the worst-case scenario actually happened in real life, it was painful, but I was comfortable with the pain in a way few people ever get to be. Because I was able to fight the battle in my mind many times over and I had the emotional fitness to stay calm in the middle of chaos.

You have to do the same thing. Fight the monsters where they live, which is in your mind. When you slay the beasts inside your mind, you realize that they are there to make you stronger. So when you face them in real life, you know exactly what to do to overcome them.

Every day, I’m having conversations with clients who are CEOs and entrepreneurs, and I remind them that this present moment is the biggest opportunity we have to stand out from the crowd as leaders. If we’re willing to increase our emotional fitness on a daily basis, we will rise through the chaos. But this has to be a daily commitment.

If you’re a leader in your business, you can’t afford to be consumed by the negative energy that we have in this pandemic. Increase your emotional fitness daily, and you will become stronger when the storm clears. One of my favorite mantras that I repeat to myself every day is “the best is yet to come.” And if you believe that with every single cell in your body, you will find opportunities, and you will bring certainty to those who are living in fear. Your job as a leader is to get stronger, increase your capacity, and bring hope to your employees, customers, and family. You were made for moments like this.

Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/349466

5 Habits of Successful People

Forty-five percent of everything you do daily factors into your daily habits. But, when change is necessary, are you brave enough to go for it?

We’re all creatures of habit: We get up at the same time, go to work, have lunch at a certain time, go home at night and do it all over again the next day. No routine is the same, but routine does provide us with a sense of accomplishment and normalcy.

In fact, the state of our daily lives reflects our daily habits. According to a Duke University psychology study, 45 percent of everything we do on a daily basis factors in those daily habits.

That's why, for many, change is an inconvenience. It usually entails something unknown. My own view? It's: "Change is the only thing that’s constant." We’ve been conditioned to fear the unknown, but without someone having the gumption to "walk the plank," there wouldn’t be inventions or innovations. Not to mention the fact that we entrepreneurs might still be clocking in and out of corporate America.

Pushing boundaries, embracing change and expanding our horizons is how we grow as professionals and individuals.

Is there something that we can do (or do better) in order to be more successful? Yes, there is. Here are five habits you can cultivate to help you become more successful.

1. Have meetings at the same location. As CEOs and business owners, we are involved in countless meetings any given day. One way to maximize our time is to schedule meetings back to back and in the same place. Not only will you get those meetings out of the way earlier in the day, but you won’t have to switch locations. You won’t lose time going from place to place and can spend some time focusing on what needs to happen during the meeting.

Tiffany Pham, founder and CEO of Mogul, takes this practice to heart. As she told Inc.: “If I must have multiple meetings throughout a day, I often aim to set them back to back in one location. This way, I maintain efficiency and focus throughout the meetings, setting the pace according to the agenda and maximum time allotted, [while] knowing we must get straight to the points at hand since the next meeting is impending.”

2. Get organized. The supposed correlation between being organized and being productive is a belief that not everyone subscribes to. But it’s something that works for me. My desk is organized; everything has its place; therefore, I feel ready to tackle the day.

Some people argue that clutter -- whether at home or at work -- results in a lack of focus. In fact, scientific evidence says this is a real thing. Clutter prevents us from focusing on bigger goals. If organization is something that you strive for in order to feel that you’ve accomplished something, but you don’t know where to start, start small. Organize one drawer, instead of your entire desk. Organize the left side of your closet, instead of your entire closet.

Then again, there are people who might be a little messier but are just as focused and productive as someone like me who likes "neat and orderly." Their motto is “my mess, my business.” At the end of the day, it’s the end result that counts the most.

3. Stay connected. When we start our entrepreneurial journey, we’re in charge of everything -- from answering phones and mailing packages, to billing and business development. As our venture grows into a robust company, we delegate some of those responsibilities to other employees; and if our business takes off, we delegate while focusing even more on how to expand the business. With expansion comes growing pains which can make us lose focus; we become disconnected, from the day-to-day details, and sometimes from our own employees.

Staying connected doesn’t mean being in people’s faces or micromanaging your staff. It means staying involved with what you love to do. For example, I enjoy getting involved in the creative side of things -- whether from a marketing/PR or production standpoint.

I occasionally sit in, for example, during planning sessions that my teams have with clients. That helps me stay up to date with what’s going on with clients and what they want from the team, while enabling me to inject a different perspective and not get bogged down with the day-to-day activities.

Don’t be the kind of entrepreneur who’s disconnected, because more often than not, out of sight turns into out of mind -- and that’s no way to run a business.

4. Learn something new every day. When we’re young, we think that learning stops after we leave college. As we get older, and hopefully wiser, we realize this is not the case. Learning never stops; and, if you’re to become successful, you need to become a voracious reader or a big consumer of news.

Your activity here doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but whether you’re looking to upgrade your vocabulary or remain current with what’s going on the world, you have to make time.

Mark Cuban says he reads three hours every day. Bill Gates reads for an hour before bedtime. Reading isn’t just something you do to help clear your mind; it can also help you learn from the mistakes (and successes) of others. I occasionally peruse my social media feeds to learn a few things, too. Someone might share an article that is relevant to my industry and is something, normally, that I wouldn’t have noticed.

It might be about a new trend, a new technology or a new tool that might help streamline my workload (I’m always looking for neat tips and tricks to help me save time). Whatever it is that you choose to learn that day, whether it’s industry-related or not, make an effort to learn it. After all, knowledge never killed anyone.

5. Ask the right questions and push the envelope. Most of our workload revolves around the "what" or the "how" -- what are we working on today? How are we going to accomplish this task? But, what we don’t focus more on is the "why." Successful people are constantly asking questions and pushing the envelope. Sure, that might sound like a toddler asking endless questions, but asking "why" helps you understand the process and, possibly, find alternative ways to fix a problem.

"Why" is always the hardest question to ask. For some, it may come across as questioning authority, but that’s not the case. If that’s how you think, you should get out of that mindset. Settling for the status quo never made anyone stand out.

But, questioning things is actually how you push the envelope. I understand this might be difficult to do, but here’s the catch: It’s not necessarily what you say, but how you say it. You can ask almost anything, push any envelope and even challenge authority if you do it calmly and respectfully.

Earlier, I mentioned how your daily habits help determine how you run your life. Ask yourself a couple of questions: a) what does success mean to me? and b) is there anything in my daily routine that I need to change that will help me become more successful?

Success means different things for different people. Some measure it in titles, money, social/financial status or simply personal satisfaction. Find out what success means to you and work toward that goal. Then examine your daily routine and do an honest self-assessment. That’s your plan.

Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/298002

The Importance of Personal Development in Self - Leadership

"Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound." (James Allen)

On the self - leadership journey it is important to address the importance of personal development. It all starts with being unhappy with the way things are. There is no one alive who can claim to be a finished product. We are all a work-in-progress. Personally, I am not where I used to be, but I am certainly nowhere near where I ought to be in terms of all that I can be. It takes humility and honesty to admit that you are not, "all that" and you are not, "all there". We have good intentions and sometimes the right motivation but this alone is not good enough. There has to be a willingness to put in the necessary work in order to achieve the goal. It is wishful thinking to imagine that you can change anything of importance without improving yourself. Let's look at some of the areas that need work.

1. "self - talk" (positive or negative things you constantly tell yourself)
2. "self - image" (how you see yourself)
3. self - motivation (what drives you).
4. "self - discipline" (restraint, being strict with yourself)

These are all part of the self-leadership puzzle and when they come together life just becomes beautiful. Sometimes the desire to change and develop may be strong, but what if the obstacles and reality are speaking louder than the desire you have? It is not prudent to proceed without knowing exactly what you are dealing with. Let us identify some obstacles one needs to overcome in order to begin the self- development process:

1. Unwillingness to change - "I am set in my ways"
2. The power of the past - "It's hard to say goodbye to yesterday"
3. An inflexible mind-set - "I have always done it this way"
4. Associations - "I can't let go of some of my old associations"
5. An idle mind - "It is too much work; I have a right to be lazy"

I urge you to conduct a self-assessment on the basis of the five areas mentioned above. There may be more depending on your particular instance. You will begin to notice that you need a shift mostly in the mind. That is the "battlefield" where most wars take place. Where the mind goes, the man follows! There are pre - conceived ideas, attitudes, habits and negative associations which need to go. If you are content, then you might not need to make any changes. If you don't like what is going on or the results you are obtaining you can always change and it starts with a decision to become someone you have never been before. Albert Einstein said," We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. "Do not wait for next year to change your thinking. The time to make the changes is NOW!

We live in a time where there is much learning. It is possible to learn all the new skills and even spend a fortune yet yield no results. Acquiring new knowledge without a new mind is akin to putting new wine in old wine - skins. Change your mind!

Settling the mind issue positions you for real transformation. Personal development does not happen by itself. Physical growth is an inevitability; personal growth takes decisive action. If you are not growing, then you cannot achieve greatness. What skills are you going to attain to remain relevant in your chosen field? It has now become easy to be "self - taught, thanks to free online courses of which there are a lot on offer. Ivy league universities such as Harvard, Preston, for example, have resources on their websites which you can easily access. With YouTube, we can learn virtually anything, anytime by spending as little as thirty minutes per day on tutorials. You can read at least one book in a month. It is time to grow!

I remember when we were trying to develop different concepts for an advertising campaign. We seemed to be stuck and no creative ideas were coming to mind. That is when the director told everyone to stop and go online for "stimulus", that is, exposing ourselves to different concepts in order to stimulate the mind. What does this have to do with self-development? You need the right environment, the right exposure to nurture your quest for improvement. A child who grew up in a poor home, in a poor neighbourhood will never aspire to anything different until by reason of exposure she sees that it is possible to create a different, better reality. Jealously guard your environment; the people, the places and ideas you expose yourself to are important. There are a lot of good inspirational movies out there. If watching movies is not your thing, surround yourself with stories of people who have triumphed over adversity and achieved what you are trying to do. Seek them out, take them out to lunch, download their testimonies from the internet. It will save you time to learn from their mistakes.

Fitzgerald Mujuru has extensive experience and expertise in marketing and sales, management for top global brands.Has given numerous seminars to various companies, entrepreneurs,leadership groups.He has appeared on a number of radio programs discussing various leadership and personal development topics. He has written 3 books (Power Thought for Today Success Motivation, Winning Ways-Precept Upon Precept,This Christian Life), and several online magazine articles. His motivational,training, sales/ marketing and leadership seminars have been well attended and highlighted as thought -provoking and value -adding.He is a sales trainer, business consultant specializing in marketing.

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The Importance of Personal Development

The world is changing at an ever-increasing pace and many find it difficult to keep up. It is thus important to 'grow with the times' to live a happier and more fulfilling life.

It all starts with self-awareness, to get to know who you really are. Through the process you will get to understand your true purpose in life if you are not living it already. This grows one's levels of confidence, motivation and more...

Stay tuned for some more tips and tools to Master your Growth to a more fulfilling life!