Archives for October 2016

Happiness Should Never be a Goal

October 10, 2016 by Leave a Comment

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Happiness is transient. Physiologically, happiness is a temporary boost in the neurotransmitter dopamine. This dopamine boost gives you the feeling we call happiness.

But that boost is impossible to sustain beyond a few hours. Your brain eventually shuts down the production of dopamine and you revert back to your dopamine, or happiness, baseline. So, if happiness is your goal, it is one you will always fail to achieve.

Instead, fulfillment should be your goal. Fulfillment is the feeling associated with doing something that is meaningful and rewarding. When you are engaged in activities that you are passionate about, that triggers the emotional part of the brain, every time you engage in the activity. When your emotional brain is engaged in activities that you are passionate about, it gives you a feeling of fulfillment that lasts for as long as you are engaged in that activity. This could be months, years or a lifetime.

Fulfillment should be your goal, not happiness. Find your passion, engage in it every day, and you will find fulfillment.

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Daily Success Tips

Rich Habits Poor Habits Episode 11 | Rich Beliefs part 4

October 8, 2016 by Leave a Comment

If you want to succeed in life, if you want to become rich, you need to understand the success beliefs of the Rich and develop more of these and drop the beliefs of the Middle Class or Poor.  success risk wealth

Beliefs represent the acceptance of something without any proof to back up what we accept as fact.

They are inherited unconscious programming.

In Tom Corley’s five-year Rich Habits study of 233 rich people and 128 poor people he discovered that your beliefs dictate your circumstances in life.

Those who are wealthy have different beliefs than those who are poor or stuck in the middle class.

 We adopt the beliefs our parent, family, mentors, culture, and environment.

Most who were raised in poverty inherited limiting beliefs that hold them back in life.

Those who are able to rise from poverty and become wealthy found mentors who possessed success beliefs or employed certain strategies that enabled them to remove their limiting beliefs and implant success beliefs, effectively re-programming their entire belief system.

In this week’s video we discuss how the wealthy adopt certain beliefs that promote success:

These include:

  • Failure is just another way to learn
  • Failure is the stepping stone to success
  • I can accomplish anything I put my mind to.
  • Time is the most valuable resource.
  • I must make efficient use of my time.
  • Wasting it is a crime.

You can catch up with past episodes of this weekly webcast here – Rich Habit, Poor Habits – Tom Corley & Michael Yardney

You may also be interested in viewing:

RICH HABITS POOR HABITS EPISODE 10 | RICH BELIEFS PART 3

RICH HABITS POOR HABITS EPISODE 9 | RICH BELIEFS PART 2

RICH HABITS POOR HABITS EPISODE 8 | RICH BELIEFS PART 1

 

 

Filed Under: Featured Articles

Survivors Succeed

October 7, 2016 by 1 Comment

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I was on the phone recently with one of my favorite clients. He’s a balls to the wall entrepreneur, fearless and always optimistic. Like me with my Rich Habits business, he’s chasing a dream. He’s got a neat business model in that there is enormous upside potential. One or two things can go his way and tomorrow he could be a millionaire. But since 2008, he’s gone through hell. The Great Recession, irrespective of what the politicians and their media cohorts tell you, is still devastating small businesses, even eight years later.

At times, my client said he felt as if the everything was crashing in on him. At times he confessed to me that he felt like throwing in the towel. At times, he pondered if it would be better if he just filed for personal bankruptcy. We had many dark conversations.

Somehow, he was able to survive. Somehow, he was able to find the money to keep the banks and creditors from taking action against him. Somehow, he was able to keep his business afloat. He pivoted into other areas in his industry that were potentially more profitable.

In 2014, things began to turn around. A few of those opportunities began to pay off. He was able to pay down some of the debt he had accumulated in order to survive. 2015 and 2016 was more of the same thing. He no longer has banks and creditors calling him every day. He’s not out of the woods, but he is out of the forest fire. As he said to me on our call, “I’m one or two deals away from being a multimillionaire”. What an attitude.

And it’s precisely the attitude you need in order to succeed as an entrepreneur. Successful entrepreneurs very often have to walk through hell in order to get to heaven. They understand that the law of averages at some point kicks in. If you persist and somehow survive the dark days, eventually you get lucky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Daily Success Tips

It’s Just a Problem

October 6, 2016 by Leave a Comment

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Psychologist Rick Hanson, senior fellow of The Greater Good Science Center of UC, Berkeley has studied something called negativity bias for years. He found that our brains are all hardwired for negativity. Negativity Bias is the habit of focusing on worst case scenarios when we are confronted with problems. Our brains, he found, react more strongly to negative experiences than positive ones.

I have four businesses I am running right now. Two of those businesses are on the uptick, growing every month. One is just in the beginning phases of development and will take some time to become a viable business. But the forth business is the one that creates the most problems for me.

Yesterday, I was forced to confront a pressing problem with that fourth business. My initial reaction was completely negative. My brain fed me with all sorts of negative outcomes and zero positive outcomes. That’s the amygdala at work. The amygdala is the emotional center of the brain. It is where negativity, fear and doubt reside. And it was hard at work.

Thanks to my vast research on the brain and habits, I understood what was happening. So, I said to myself over and over again, it’s just a problem that I need to solve. After a few hours, my amygdala calmed down and the thinking part of my brain, the prefrontal cortex, took over.

Eventually, I was able to come up with some potential solutions to my problem. These solutions all provide outcomes for me that would help set me up for success down the road.   

If you are alive you will confront problems. That’s just life. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, there will always be problems. To turn off the negativity bias inside your brain, say to yourself over and over again, “it’s just a problem I need to solve”. That will turn off your amygdala and turn on your prefrontal cortex, allowing you to come up with creative solutions to your problem.

Remember, it’s just a problem, not the end of the world. Solving problems is what successful people do every day. Every problem has a solution. When you confront problems this way, you are able to shut down the negativity inside your brain and when you do, positive solutions will manifest out of thin air.

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Daily Success Tips

The difference between being rich and poor comes down to luck — but it’s more complicated than you might think

October 6, 2016 by Leave a Comment

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My latest Business Insider piece

 

Filed Under: Featured Articles

The Rule of 3

October 5, 2016 by Leave a Comment

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Life often gets in the way. Life has a way of throwing wrenches into our day, forcing us to trouble shoot our way through the day. By the end of the day, you look at your to-do list or all of the uncompleted tasks on your calendar reminder system and throw up your hands, wondering what to do.

There’s a simple solution that will help you accomplish the most important things in your day, in your month, and in your life. It’s called the “Rule of 3”.

Here’s how it works:

  • Every day, pick 3 daily goals that you must get done that day.
  • Every month, pick 3 monthly goals you will focus on accomplishing that month.
  • Every year, pick 3 goals you would like to accomplish that year.

That’s it. The “Rule of 3” helps you focus on what’s important to you. It keeps you on track, allowing you to continue to move forward on your goals and dreams. By limiting your priorities to just 3 things every day, every month and every year, you will be able to take back control of your life and life’s wrenches will lose their power over you.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Daily Success Tips

When Talent Becomes Habit, Success Follows

October 4, 2016 by 2 Comments

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We all have unique talents. You might be good at writing, painting, communicating, math, organizing, building relationships, managing others, money, investing or athletics. Each of us has some genetically, god-given talent that is unique only to us.

Innate talents are skills that come easy to you. Where others are forced to toil for 7, 8 or 9 long, hard years to get good a something, such as playing the piano, you’re somehow able to master the piano in just a few short, painless years. Well, that’s an innate talent. That’s life’s way of telling you – play the piano for a living. If you focus all of your efforts on those things that you’re naturally good at in life, you’ll realize enormous success in life. Life rewards those who use their talents and their strengths.

But it’s not enough to find your talent. A talent must be put to use every day. You have to hone your talent, as if it were a little child. You need to nurture it and help it grow into an expertise. If you focus all of your efforts on those things that you’re naturally good at in life, you’ll realize enormous success in life. Life rewards those who use their talents and their strengths.

Habit is the repetition of thinking and behavior. Through repetition, any activity will eventually become a habit. As you engage in that habitual activity every day, you become better and better at it. Practice makes perfect, as they say. So, too with talents. If you can turn your talent into a habit and practice it every day, eventually you will become so expert at it that it becomes automatic. No thinking will be required.

This is why habits are so important. Habits transform innate talents into flawless perfection. When you reach the point where your talent becomes a habit, that is when you become an expert. The world pays a premium for experts. Experts make the most money and build the most wealth. So, find your inner talents, convert them into habits and, in time, you will become an expert who can command a premium for your expertise.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Daily Success Tips

The Quality of Your Life = The Quality of Your Habits

October 3, 2016 by 1 Comment

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We are not creatures of circumstances. Circumstances can be changed. We are creatures of habit. Your life is not a product of luck, fate or the circumstances you were born into, but a product of your habits.

Habits are repetitive thoughts that lead to repetitive behavior. If your thoughts are positive and upbeat, your behavior will reflect that. If your thoughts are negative and pessimistic, your behavior will reflect that. This is why you must be conscious of the thoughts you have. Thought awareness is critical to forging good habits and eliminating bad habits. 

Habits exist to conserve brain fuel. They exist to automate our thinking and behavior in order to reduce the amount of work the brain must do. Your subconscious mind (limbic system, brain stem and cerebellum) is the seat of your habits.

Your habits define your life. They act like a mirror, reflecting the quality of the life you have. Good habits (Rich Habits) lead to a good life; bad habits (Poor Habits) lead to a bad life.

Rich Habits help you build a quality life; one filled with abundance, good health and happiness.

Poor Habits contaminate your life. Over time Poor Habits will drag down you into an abyss; a black hole, of poverty, poor health and unhappiness.

Your habits affect everyone around you – your family, friends, your colleagues at work and your community. Good habits improve relationships; bad habits destroy relationships.

The quality of your life depends on the habits you forge. If you want to upgrade, or improve your life, you must upgrade or improve your habits. Habits are the reason you live in a mansion on the beach or in a slum. They are the reason your children go to the best private schools, or not. Your habits are the reason you are financially free in retirement or dependent upon your children for financial help.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Daily Success Tips

7 Fearless Habits of Successful Entrepreneurs

October 3, 2016 by Leave a Comment

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If you were to ask most what the definition of an entrepreneur was the majority would probably say fearless business owner. The actual definition of an entrepreneur is:

“A person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.”

But what is financial risk? Financial risk is taking action that has two possible outcomes:

  1. Good – Some probability of losing a lot of money.
  2. Bad – Some probability of making a lot of money.

When you take financial risk, you are exposing yourself to either a good or bad economic outcome.

Most individuals are risk averse. They do everything possible to avoid taking risks, preferring the old, worn path taken by so many. They pursue careers that avoid risk at all costs.

Why? Fear. When it comes to risk, the vast majority focus only on the possibility of a bad outcome. They only see the pitfalls, failure and the negativity of taking a risk. In fact, they view those who take risks as reckless and irresponsible. This fear grabs them with both arms and prevents them from taking any action at all that involves risk.

Successful entrepreneurs, however, are able to overcome fear. They are like Harry Houdini, able to break free from the grip of fear and take action on their dreams and goals. Are successful entrepreneurs simply more courageous than most people?

Not really. They have certain Fearless Habits that enable them to overcome the fear of risk:

  1. They Prepare Before They Leap – Successful entrepreneurs study and practice relentlessly and become experts before they take a leap. When they do take risk, it is typically an educated risk – a risk they studied and prepared themselves for over many years. Educated risk means you understand what can go wrong. There is no uncertainty about all possible outcomes.
  2. They Expect and Prepare for Failure – Fear loses its grip when you pursue anything expecting mistakes and failure. Because successful entrepreneurs expect and prepare for failure, if the worst does happen, they are able to navigate around it because they prepared for it. They have a plan for the worst case scenario.
  3. They Know How to Pivot – Successful entrepreneurs are constantly seeking feedback. Feedback gives you the information you need to allow you to pivot and adjust. Pivoting means you are not locked into a specific way of doing things.
  4. They Focus on Their Vision – They have a clear picture of the outcome they desire. This means they are not easily distracted when something goes wrong. Their vision allows them to stay focused and persist.
  5. They Surround Themselves With Experts – In any project, initiative or pursuit, things will go wrong. Successful entrepreneurs anticipate that things will go wrong so they surround themselves with individuals who have done what they are trying to do; who are experts at what they are trying to do. When something does go wrong, they lean on their experts to help them navigate the pitfalls.
  6. They are Eternal Optimists – Successful entrepreneurs live in a world of possibilities, where optimism rules their behavior. This habit of being positive every day clears away the fog of fear and negativity.
  7. They Persistently Take Action – Every day, successful entrepreneurs take action. Fear is at its greatest just prior to taking action, so forging the habit of persistently taking action will lessen or even remove fear.

 

Filed Under: Featured Articles

Rule of 3

October 1, 2016 by Leave a Comment

You can apply the Rule of 3 to these 5 areas of your life

 

Filed Under: Tip of the Week
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