Be lucky - it's an easy skill to learn - Telegraph

Be lucky - it's an easy skill to learn - Telegraph: "A decade ago, I set out to investigate luck. I wanted to examine the impact on people's lives of chance opportunities, lucky breaks and being in the right place at the right time. After many experiments, I believe that I now understand why some people are luckier than others and that it is possible to become luckier.

To launch my study, I placed advertisements in national newspapers and magazines, asking for people who felt consistently lucky or unlucky to contact me. Over the years, 400 extraordinary men and women volunteered for my research from all walks of life: the youngest is an 18-year-old student, the oldest an 84-year-old retired accountant.

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Jessica, a 42-year-old forensic scientist, is typical of the lucky group. As she explained: 'I have my dream job, two wonderful children and a great guy whom I love very much. It's amazing; when I look back at my life, I realise I have been lucky in just about every area.'

In contrast, Carolyn, a 34-year-old care assistant, is typical of the unlucky group. She is accident-prone. In one week, she twisted her ankle in a pothole, injured her back in another fall and reversed her car into a tree during a driving lesson. She was also unlucky in love and felt she was always in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Over the years, I interviewed these volunteers, asked them to complete diaries, questionnaires and intelligence tests, and invited them to participate in experiments. The findings have revealed that although unlucky people have almost no insight into the real causes of their good and bad luck, their thoughts and behaviour are responsible for much of their fortune.

Take the case of chance opportunities. Lucky people consistently encounter such opportunities, whereas unlucky people do not. I carried out a simple experiment to discover whether this was due to differences in their ability to spot such opportunities.

I gave both lucky and unlucky people a newspaper, and asked them to look through it and tell me how many photographs were inside. On average, the unlucky people took about two minutes to count the photographs, whereas the lucky people took just seconds. Why? Because the second page of the newspaper contained the message: 'Stop counting. There are 43 photographs in this newspaper.' This message took up half of the page and was written in type that was more than 2in high. It was staring everyone straight in the face, but the unlucky people tended to miss it and the lucky people tended to spot it.

For fun, I placed a second large message halfway through the newspaper: 'Stop counting. Tell the experimenter you have seen this and win £250.' Again, the unlucky people missed the opportunity because they were still too busy looking for photographs.

Personality tests revealed that unlucky people are generally much more tense than lucky people, and research has shown that anxiety disrupts people's ability to notice the unexpected. In one experiment, people were asked to watch a moving dot in the centre of a computer screen. Without warning, large dots would occasionally be flashed at the edges of the screen. Nearly all participants noticed these large dots.

The experiment was then repeated with a second group of people, who were offered a large financial reward for accurately watching the centre dot, creating more anxiety. They became focused on the centre dot and more than a third of them missed the large dots when they appeared on the screen. The harder they looked, the less they saw.

And so it is with luck - unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else. They go to parties intent on finding their perfect partner and so miss opportunities to make good friends. They look through newspapers determined to find certain types of job advertisements and as a result miss other types of jobs. Lucky people are more relaxed and open, and therefore see what is there rather than just what they are looking for.

My research revealed that lucky people generate good fortune via four basic principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.

I wondered whether these four principles could be used to increase the amount of good luck that people encounter in their lives. To find out, I created a 'luck school' - a simple experiment that examined whether people's luck can be enhanced by getting them to think and behave like a lucky person.

I asked a group of lucky and unlucky volunteers to spend a month carrying out exercises designed to help them think and behave like a lucky person. These exercises helped them spot chance opportunities, listen to their intuition, expect to be lucky, and be more resilient to bad luck.

One month later, the volunteers returned and described what had happened. The results were dramatic: 80 per cent of people were now happier, more satisfied with their lives and, perhaps most important of all, luckier. While lucky people became luckier, the unlucky had become lucky. Take Carolyn, whom I introduced at the start of this article. After graduating from 'luck school', she has passed her driving test after three years of trying, was no longer accident-prone and became more confident.

In the wake of these studies, I think there are three easy techniques that can help to maximise good fortune:

* Unlucky people often fail to follow their intuition when making a choice, whereas lucky people tend to respect hunches. Lucky people are interested in how they both think and feel about the various options, rather than simply looking at the rational side of the situation. I think this helps them because gut feelings act as an alarm bell - a reason to consider a decision carefully.

* Unlucky people tend to be creatures of routine. They tend to take the same route to and from work and talk to the same types of people at parties. In contrast, many lucky people try to introduce variety into their lives. For example, one person described how he thought of a colour before arriving at a party and then introduced himself to people wearing that colour. This kind of behaviour boosts the likelihood of chance opportunities by introducing variety.

* Lucky people tend to see the positive side of their ill fortune. They imagine how things could have been worse. In one interview, a lucky volunteer arrived with his leg in a plaster cast and described how he had fallen down a flight of stairs. I asked him whether he still felt lucky and he cheerfully explained that he felt luckier than before. As he pointed out, he could have broken his neck."

32-bit to 64-bit Migration Considerations

32-bit to 64-bit Migration Considerations: "32-bit to 64-bit Migration Considerations


This section outlines various portability considerations in moving C programs from 32-bit to 64-bit mode.

* Constants
* Undeclared Functions
* Assignment of Long Types to Integer and Pointers
* Structure Sizes and Alignment
* Bitfields
* Miscellaneous
* Interlanguage Calls with Fortran



Constants
The limits of constants change. This table shows changed items in the limits.h header file, their hexadecimal value, and decimal equivalent. The equation gives an idea of how to construct these values.
Type Hexadecimal Equation Decimal
signed long min (LONG_MIN)

0x8000000000000000L



-(263)



-9,223,372,036,854,775,808

signed long max (LONG_MAX)

0x7FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFL



263-1

(-LONG_MIN-1)



+9,223,372,036,854,775,807

unsigned long max (ULONG_MAX)

0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUL



264-1



+18,446,744,073,709,551,616

In C, type identification of constants follows explicit rules. However, programs that use constants exceeding the limit (relying on a 2's complement representation) will experience unexpected results in the 64-bit mode. This is especially true of hexadecimal constants and unsuffixed constants, which are more likely to be extended into the 64-bit long type.

Problematic behaviors will generally occur at boundary areas such as:

* constant >= UINT_MAX
* constant < INT_MIN
* constant > INT_MAX

Some examples of undesirable boundary side effects are:

Constant assigned to long 32 bit mode 64 bit mode

-2,147,483,649 (INT_MIN-1)



+2,147,483,647



-2,147,483,649

+2,147,483,648 (INT_MAX+1)



-2,147,483,648



+2,147,483,648

+4,294,496,726 (UINT_MAX+1)



0



+4,294,967,296

0xFFFFFFFF (UINT_MAX)



-1



+4,294,496,295

0x100000000 (UINT_MAX+1)



0



+4,294,967,296

0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF (ULONG_MAX)



-1



-1

Currently, the compiler gives out of range warning messages when attempting to assign a value larger than the designated range into a long type. The warning message is:

1506-207 (W) Integer constant 0x100000000 out of range.

This warning message may not appear for every case.

When you bit left-shift a 32-bit constant and assign it into a long type, signed values are sign-extended and unsigned values are zero-extended. The examples in the table below show the effects of performing a bit-shift on both 32- and 64-bit constants, using the following code segment:

long l=constantL<<1;

Initial Constant Value Constant Value after Bit-Shift
32-bit 64-bit
0x7FFFFFFFL (INT_MAX) 0xFFFFFFFE 0xFFFFFFFE
0x80000000L (INT_MIN) 0 0x100000000
0xFFFFFFFFL (UINT_MAX) 0xFFFFFFFE 0x1FFFFFFFE



Unsuffixed constants can lead to type ambiguity that can impact other parts of your program, such as the result of sizeof operations. For example, in 32-bit mode the compiler types a number like 4294967295 (UINT_MAX) as an unsigned long. In 64-bit mode, this same number becomes a signed long. To avoid this possibility, explicitly add a suffix to all constants that have the potential of impacting constant assignment or expression evaluation in other parts of your program. The fix for the above case is to write the number as 4294967295U. This forces the compiler to always see that constant as an unsigned int regardless of compiler mode.



Assignment of Long Variables to Integers and Pointers
Using int and long types in expressions and assignments can lead to implicit conversion through promotions and demotions, or explicit conversions through assignments and argument passing. The following should be avoided:

* Using integer and long types interchangeably, leading to truncation of significant digits or unexpected results.
* Passing long arguments to functions expecting type int
* Exchanging pointers and int types, causing segmentation faults.
* Passing pointers to a function expecting an int type, resulting in truncation.
* Assignment of long types to float, causing possible loss of accuracy.

Assigning a long constant to an integer will cause truncation without warning. For example:

int i;
long l=2147483648; /* INT_MAX+1*/
i=l;

What will be the value of i? INT_MAX+1 is 2147483647+1 (0x80000000), which becomes INT_MIN when assigned into a signed type. Truncation occurs because the highest bit is treated as a sign bit. The rule here is that there will be a loss of significant digits.

Similar problems occur when passing constants directly to functions, and in functions that return long types. Making explicit use of the L and UL suffix will avoid most, but not all, problems. Alternately, you can avoid accidental conversions by using explicit prototyping. Another good practice is to avoid implicit type conversion by using explicit type casting to change types.



Undeclared Functions
Any function that returns a pointer should be explicitly declared when compiling in 64-bit mode. Otherwise, the compiler will assume the function returns an int and truncate the resulting pointer, even if you were to assign it into a valid pointer.

Code such as:

a=(char *) calloc(25);

which used to work in 32-bit mode will in 64-bit mode will now silently get a truncated pointer. Even the type casting will not avoid this because the calloc has already been truncated after the return.

The fix in this case is to include the appropriate header file, which is stdlib.h and not malloc.h.



Structure Sizes and Alignments
Structures may face potential porting problems.

The 64-bit specification changes the size, member and structure alignment of all structures that are recompiled in 64-bit mode. Structures with long types and pointers will generally change size and alignment in 64-bit mode. Some structures may not change in size because they happen to fall on an exact 8-byte boundary even in 32-bit mode.

Sharing data structures between 32- and 64-bit processes is no longer possible unless the structure is devoid of pointer and long types. Unions that attempt to share long and int types, or overlay pointers onto int types will now be aligned differently, or be corrupted. In general, all but the simplest structures must be checked for alignment and size dependencies.

The alignment for -qalign=full, power or natural changes for 64-bit mode. Structure members are aligned on their natural boundaries. Long types and pointer types are word-aligned in 32-bit mode, and doubleword aligned in 64-bit mode. Additional spaces could be used for padding members.

The alignment for -qalign=twobyte and -qalign=mac68k are not supported in 64-bit mode.

Structures are aligned according to the strictest aligned member. This remains unchanged from 32-bit mode. Because of the padding introduced by the member alignment, structure alignment may not be exactly the same as in the 32-bit mode. This is especially important when you have arrays of structures which contain pointer or long types. The member alignment will change, most likely leading to the structure alignment to change to doubleword alignment (if there are no long long types, double types and long double types).



Bitfields
Structure bitfields are limited to 32 bits, and can be of type signed int, unsigned int or plain int. Bit fields are packed into the current word. Adjacent bit fields that cross a word boundary will start at storage unit. This storage unit is a word in power and full alignment, halfword in the mac68k and twobyte alignment, and byte in the packed alignment. 64-bit bitfields are not supported.

In 32-bit mode, non-integer bitfields are tolerated (but not respected) only in the C extended language level.

If you use long bit fields in 64-bit mode, their exact alignment may change in future versions of the compiler, even if the bitfield is under 32 bits in length.



Miscellaneous Issues

* The sizeof operator will now return size_t which is an unsigned long.
* The length of the integer required to hold the difference between two pointers is ptrdiff_t, and is a signed long type.
* Masks will generally lead to different results when compiled in 64-bit mode from their 32-bit mode behavior.
* Many include files have pointers and structures in them, and their inclusion in 64-bit mode will change the size of your data section even if your program does not use structures and pointers explicitly.
* __int64 is a long type in 64-bit mode, but will look like a long long type in 32-bit mode. __int64 types can participate in promotion rules and arithmetic conversion when in 64-bit mode. When in 32-bit mode, these types can not participate in the usual arithmetic conversions.
* In 64-bit mode, member values in a structure passed by value to a va_arg argument may not be accessed properly if the size of the structure is not a multiple of 8-bytes. This is a known limitation of the operating system.
* In 64-bit extended mode, zero-extension from unsigned int to an unsigned long preserves the bit pattern. For example, zero-extending an unsigned int with value 0xFFFF FFFF (large negative value) results in an unsigned long with value 0x0000 0000 FFFF FFFF (large positive value).



Interlanguage Calls with Fortran
A significant number of applications use C, C++, and Fortran together, by calling each other or sharing files. Such applications are among the early candidates for porting to 64-bit platforms for its abilities to solve larger mathematical models. Experience shows that it is easier to modify data sizes/types on the C side than the Fortran side of such applications. The following table lists the equivalent Fortran type in the different modes.

C/C++ type 32-bit 64-bit
int INTEGER INTEGER
unsigned int LOGICAL LOGICAL
signed long INTEGER INTEGER*8
unsigned long LOGICAL LOGICAL*8
pointer INTEGER INTEGER*8

A user must not mix XCOFF object formats from different modes. A 32-bit Fortran XCOFF cannot mix with a 64-bit C or C++ XCOFF object and vice versa. Since Fortran77 usually does not have an explicit pointer type, it is common practice to use INTEGER variables to hold C or C++ pointers in 32-bit mode. In 64-bit mode, the user should use INTEGER*8 in Fortran. Fortran90 does have a pointer, but it is unsuitable for conversion to the basic C and C++ types.

In 64-bit mode, Fortran will have a POINTER*8 that is 8 bytes in length as compared to their POINTER which is 4-bytes in length."

Kinds of employees companies want to hire- Features-The Economic Times

Kinds of employees companies want to hire- Features-The Economic Times: "There are two kinds of employees. Some believe they can make things happen, and the others believe that things happen to them. The first group believes that the outcome of their life and career is more or less in their own hands, and they wouldn't have it any other way. The other group takes more of a Forrest Gump approach: They sit around and wait for a bus to take them somewhere.

This distinguishing feature is captured by something called a 'core self-evaluation.' After more than a decade of research, psychologist Tim Judge has discovered that virtually all superstar employees—from rainmakers in the field to line workers on the floor all the way to big guns in the boardroom—have one thing in common: a high core self-evaluation. Judge describes core self-evaulation as 'a person's fundamental bottom line evaluation of their abilities.'

Judge and his colleagues have shown overwhelmingly that employees who feel like they control the events in their lives more than events control them and generally believe that they can make things turn out in their favor end up doing better on nearly every important measure of work performance. They sell more than other employees do. They give better customer service. They adjust better to foreign assignments. They are more motivated. They bring in an average of 50% to 150% more annual income than people who feel less control over the fate of their careers. Not surprisingly, these employees also like their jobs a lot more than the Gumps do.

BETTER PERFORMERS IN GOOD TIMES AND BAD

In one study, Judge and his team tracked the progress of more than 12,000 people from their teenage years to middle age. He found that core self-evaluations predicted who did and didn't capitalize on the advantages life dealt them. With only a bleak view of their capacity to handle life's challenges and opportunities, even the brightest kids born to executives and engineers failed to reach as high an annual income as their less fortunate classmates.

By contrast, the supremely confident sons and daughters of roofers and plumbers who had only mediocre SAT scores and below average grades earned a 30%-60% higher income than the smart kids with dreary views of their abilities. And those kids with all the advantages of intelligence and pedigree plus a firm belief in their competence earned three times as much money as their otherwise equally blessed peers.




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It seems that the difference between the successful and the unsuccessful employees has as much to do with an employee's beliefs about her ability as the reality of that ability. Considering that this difference is based as much on illusion as on reality, you might think the employee's performance would take a serious nosedive under challenging circumstances.

After all, if you think you're special, what happens when your superior or your board tells you about the areas in which you're falling short? Worse yet, what happens when the self-described superstar finds himself laid off or responsible for a division with tanking revenues? In other words, what happens when people who believe they are capable of controlling the world find themselves in an economy that is out of control?

It turns out that this is when the true stars shine. Tough times weed out both those with low self-evaluations and those poseurs who only pretend to have a high self-evaluation—the narcissists. Judge finds that only about one in five people with a high core self-evaluation also scores high on measures of narcissism. That's probably why researchers continually find that those with a high self-evaluation do so much better in turbulent times compared with those with a dimmer view of their abilities, and compared with those narcissists with fragile egos."
In a series of studies by different researchers, employees with high self-evaluations have been found to respond better to corrective feedback. They also experience less stress and burnout than other employees, struggle less with work-life balance, and persevere more when searching for a job. Rather than shattering their beliefs in their abilities, it seems that a high self-evaluation creates a mental toughness that makes these people stronger and more resilient even when the chips are down.

THE CORE OF YOUR RECOVERY STRATEGY

To identify these stars who can take charge of your organization's rebound, you can use Judge's simple 12-question "Core Self-Evaluations Scale." (You can learn more about the scale and download it for free on Tim Judge's Web site.) It would also be a good idea to start keeping an eye out for these positive go-getters already working for you and consider giving them more responsibility and visibility in your recovery efforts. Here is how to spot them:

• "I Think I Can" Attitude: Kindergarten never taught a lesson more supported by empirical evidence than this: People who believe they can overcome challenges are more successful in virtually every sphere of life, including work.

• In Control: Does this employee take control of his work, or does he always point to outside circumstances when his projects go astray?

• Confident, Not Narcissistic: There is an important difference between having a high self-evaluation and being a narcissist. Does the employee pitch in when teammates need help, or bad-mouth co-workers they view as threats? Are they receptive or defensive when you give them feedback?

• Emotionally Stable: Employees who aren't easily discouraged are less likely to succumb to stress and burnout. They solve problems instead of saying, "See, I knew it wouldn't work!"

You could argue that getting these winners and their can-do attitudes on board still can't do much about a dismal economy. After more than a year of watching the economy go the way of the Titanic, nobody would blame you for trying to wait out the hard times. But do you really want to spend the coming months soothing your anxieties with a box of chocolates, and hoping that your bus arrives before the wind picks up?

Nick Tasler is a writer, researcher, and organizational psychologist. Tasler began his career at Andersen Consulting, was director of global research and development for think tank TalentSmart, and has consulted for Fortune 500 companies as well as smaller public and private enterprises. His book The Impulse Factor was named Best Career Book of 2008.

Grad Money Matters: 10 Steps Using Which Even a Lazy Person Can Be a Millionaire

Grad Money Matters: 10 Steps Using Which Even a Lazy Person Can Be a Millionaire: "A million dollars is a lot of money. And generally the perception is that you have to work very hard to have a million dollars to your name. You need to pick up new degrees, new skill sets and work 100 hours per week. I agree. All that certainly helps. But if you are a content soul that finds life is most enjoyable when you can just go to work in the morning, come back in the evening and hang out with the family or veg out in front of the TV/Internet, then here is some good news for you. Follow the steps below, and you can still be a millionaire without overarching yourself or burning yourself out. All it takes is some patience and some change in everyday habits.

Part 1 has a summary of steps that you can skim through if you are in a hurry. Part 2 has a detailed example that shows it can really be done with as little as $200 per month and practically no effort. By the way, if you are looking for a get-rich-quick scheme, you should probably stop reading now. This here, is an outline of the good old time tested slow-and-steady approach.

Part 1: A quick summary of steps

1. Start early

Put the power of compounding on your side. The earlier you start the more time your money has for compounding. When you can have interest earning interest, you would be surprised by the way in which little amounts of money can turn into large fortunes.

2. Don’t ever turn down free money

Be it your employer offered 401K match, employee stock purchase options that offer immediate 10-15% returns, bonus for using one realtor versus the other when you buy a home, cash back on credit cards etc. I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

3. Make savings automatic

We are human and if things were left to us to do everything on our own, we would still all be stuck in the Stone Age. Just as we trust everything else in life to automation, put your savings on auto mode too. Make sure that every month, before your paycheck is delivered to you, a part of it is deposited into a savings account.

4. Invest wisely

If your money sits in your bank, then over the course of time due to inflation, it actually shrinks instead of growing! So choose your investment vehicle wisely, preferable something like the stock market or real estate which can offer you a growth percentage that is much more than the inflation rate. And a quick reminder – don’t get too greedy and gamble away your money on high risk investments.

5. Plan for everyday expenses

Be sure that you have planned for your everyday expenses in such a way that small variations will not force you to abandon your above savings plan. People use all sorts of budgeting with different degrees of granularity. Pick the one that works for you.

6. Be prepared for unexpected expenses and emergencies

The steps above can help you start building a nest egg. But, life has a way of throwing curve balls at you just when you start to get comfortable. And at such occasions, if you have to dip into your nest egg, you wipe out the benefits of compounding and your nest egg will never get a chance to grow exponentially. So make sure you have a separate fund to deal with all sorts of small and large unexpected expenses and emergencies.

7. Live below your means

Make sure you manage to live within your means. This doesn’t mean that you start depriving yourself and not indulge in any of life’s fine things. It just means that you prioritize your indulgences and give into only those whims that offer you the most pleasure and are things you can afford. Before you spend your money think if it is something that will bring you or your family joy or if your are just doing it to show off to your friends and relatives.

8. Avoid consumer debt at all costs

If you have a great offense but your defense sucks, you will still not be able to win many matches. Same thing applies to your financial plan. Unless you beef up your defense against consumer debt such as credit cards debt, auto loans etc., you will find it hard to reach your financial goals.

9. Stop the money leaks

Look at your personal life – do you have any weak spots that are causing money leaks? These could be harmful addictions such smoking, alcohol, drugs etc. or harmless ones such as addiction to buying the latest CDs, books, shoes whatever. If it is something you do compulsively and is draining your bank balance, you should look into plugging them or at least getting them under control so the little leaks don’t turn in to gushing money drains.

10. Build up equity, set up streams of passive income etc.

Finally, in addition to the money you are saving make some provisions for yourself as you retire. Buy only as much home as you can afford and pay towards equity instead of rent, so someday in the future you can have a roof over your head without paying either rent or mortgage. Set up a stream of passive income to help you retire early or enjoy additional indulgences while you get there. While setting up additional income streams will in general need you to do some additional work, there are a few lazy options like investing in dividend yielding stocks or funding an energetic friend’s upcoming startup :)

11. Bonus step: Eat and live healthy

This is really not obvious, but if you don’t take care of your health today, then as you grow older, a lot of that money you are saving will go toward paying your medical bills. Try to eat a balanced diet and incorporate some exercise in your daily routine. If you can go to the gym, great. If not then choose walking instead of driving, stairs instead of the elevators etc. Small changes can pay off huge dividends in the long run – both in your and your bank balance’s ability to live long and healthy lives.



That’s all it takes to make a million dollars. Those of you who are skeptical and don’t believe that you can do it (for any number of reasons), let’s work through an example and see if I can convince you.

Part 2: An Example

Step 1 says start early. Let’s say you start at 25. If you can start earlier – that’s great. If you are starting a little later, make suitable adjustments to the numbers in the following steps (which as you can see have a lot of leeway) and you should still be able to make it.

Step 2 says not to turn down free money. I am sure over your lifetime you will find a zillion different ways to get some free money. But for this calculation here, let’s focus on the 401K match from the employer. For ease of calculation, let’s say you save $100 every month in your 401K and get a match of $100 from your employer. These numbers are obtained assuming a salary of 40,000 a year and an employer match of 3% - if you earn more salary or can get a better match, you should increase your contribution.

Step 3 says make savings automatic. Say you set up an automatic deduction from your paycheck and put away $100 every month towards savings. Remember this is just an example. Depending on how soon or late you start and how your personal financial situation is, you should be able to tune that number to suit your needs.

Step 4 says invest wisely. I don’t want to give out investment advice but if you want a lazy way out, pick a reliable, diversified mutual fund or ETF such as a target retirement fund. These funds are usually a diversified mix of funds with the aggressiveness balanced based on your risk tolerance which in turn is calculated based on how close to retirement you are. Let’s assume that there is no severe recession or gotchas in our lifetime and we can get the average 8% returns over the long run, which is about what the stock market has been able to give over the past 20 years or so.

Using this calculator, you are already at a little over million dollars when you retire at 65! By just saving $200 per month and availing $100 from your employers 401K match you can become a millionaire!

Steps 5 and steps 6 will make sure that you can meet the financial requirements of your every day life without having to dip into the nest egg above that is on its way to a million dollars. Note that the main reason that just $300 per month allows you to become a millionaire is that you allow for the interest to earn interest in a continuous cycle. Having a budget and an emergency account is crucial to let your nest egg snowball into a fortune.

Think of steps 7 through 9 the protective casing they use for selling eggs in the grocery store. Your nest egg is fragile and there are a zillion things out there that can crack it. Living frugally, avoiding debt and plugging money leaks can offer some protection and cushion to make sure there isn’t an unnecessary pressure that will crack your nest egg.

Finally step 10 and the bonus step is that make sure that when you do retire as a millionaire, you can continue to enjoy the life of a millionaire :)

Remember that the example above assumes you can only save $200 per month beyond your everyday obligations and building the emergency account. If can manage to save more, imagine how much money you can have and how much sooner!"

Top 7 Self Confidence Boosters - Self Development

Top 7 Self Confidence Boosters - Self Development: "Top 7 Self Confidence Boosters

Self-confidence begins in your mind and works its way out into your life. How you feel about yourself on the inside is mirrored back to you in how you’re living life. Self-confidence is that powerful inner knowing that you are in the right place at the right time and doing the right things.

Here are seven powerful tips for boosting self-confidence -

1. Knowing what you want and why you want it.
Call it a goal, a purpose or a mission but knowing what you want is vital to overall self-confidence. Make the time to write out a powerful and self-satisfying vision for the future. Dream big, what do you have to lose?

Ask yourself, “Why do I want the future to be this way? How will I and others benefit from making my vision reality?” If your “why” is powerful enough, you can develop a plan that will take your vision from on paper to real-life. When your “why” is compelling, your confidence to succeed becomes unstoppable.

2. Spending time and effort going for great, not perfect.
Perfectionism not only robs you of self-confidence but it’s a dream stealer. Striving to be perfect means constantly attempting to measure up to an impossibly high standard of excellence. Settling for nothing less than perfect is a no-win situation. Wouldn’t you agree, going for great is far more achievable?

3. Accepting and liking yourself, just the way you are.
Self-acceptance is a tremendous boost to your self-confidence and self-esteem. Self-acceptance begins with appreciating and accepting your many positive traits and talents. Self-confidence is a positive by-product that comes from accepting yourself as a worthy and deserving person.

4. Acknowledging that the past does not equal the future.
Learn from the past and positively head toward the future. The past is the past and you cannot change what’s happened. You can though learn from the lessons and use them to grow stronger and even more empowered.

5. Recognizing that net-worth does not equal self-worth.
You are as rich as your life is full. Your self-esteem and self-worth aren’t tied to your possessions or the amount of money in your checking account.

But, with that said, not worrying about money makes life less stressful. If you’re not where you want to be financially, what can you do to change the situation? Learn new skills, seek the advice of a professional or learn to use money more wisely?

6. Understanding that your voice matters.
You deserve to be heard. Your thoughts, opinions and ideas are important. Speak up for yourself and let your opinions be known. Remember too, the most important words you’ll hear are the ones you say to yourself.

7. Believing, without an ounce of doubt, you matter!!!
Self-confidence comes from knowing in your heart of hearts that you have value. Your special gifts and talents should be shared with the world. Hold your head high. Believe and know you are a VIP – very important person!

What have you done today to enhance your self-confidence?"

14 leadership quotes that will blow your mind | Coool-Stuff

14 leadership quotes that will blow your mind | Coool-Stuff: "Check what ‘big minds’ said about leadership. Those quotes will blow your mind!

“It is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it… anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.” (Douglas Adams)

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.“ (John Quincy Adams)

“No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it.” (Andrew Carnegie)

“Management works in the system. Leadership works on the system.” (Stephen R. Covey)

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worse when they despise him….But of a good leader who talks little when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, “We did it ourselves.” (Lao Tzu)

“I am more afraid of an army of 100 sheep led by a lion than an army of 100 lions led by a sheep.“ (Talleyrand)

“A boss creates fear, a leader confidence. A boss fixes blame, a leader corrects mistakes. A boss knows all, a leader asks questions. A boss makes work drudgery, a leader makes it interesting. A boss is interested in himself or herself, a leader is interested in the group.” (Russell H. Ewing)

“Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple, and it is also that difficult.” (Warren Bennis)

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” (John Fitzgerald Kennedy)

‘The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” (Theodore Roosevelt)

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” (Peter F. Drucker)

“Nothing so conclusively proves a man’s ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself.” (Thomas Watson)

‘Only one man in a thousand is a leader of men — the other 999 follow women.“ (Groucho Marx)

“You do not lead by hitting people over the head - that’s assault, not leadership.” (Dwight D. Eisenhower)

And something additional. See the image below and you will find out what can happen without proper sales training, managament or leadership training. Maybe a good project managament or natural born leader will do?

project-management"

Bruce Lee’s Top 7 Fundamentals for Getting Your Life in Shape

Bruce Lee’s Top 7 Fundamentals for Getting Your Life in Shape: "Bruce Lee’s Top 7 Fundamentals for Getting Your Life in Shape

by Henrik Edberg on March 7, 2008. Print Print

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Bruce Lee’s Top 7 Fundamentals for Getting Your Life in ShapeIf you haven’t been living under a rock for the last 30 years I’m pretty sure you know who Bruce Lee was. :)

If you have, then you may be interested to know that Lee was a very famous martial artist and actor who sparked the first big interest of Chinese martial arts in the West in the 60’s and 70’s.

But besides being an awesome fighter and iconic figure Lee also had some very useful things to say about life.

Here are 7 of my favourite fundamentals from Bruce Lee.

1. What are you really thinking about today?

“As you think, so shall you become.”

Perhaps the most basic statement of how we work. Think about what you are thinking today. What do those thoughts say about you? About your life? And how well do they really match your plans for your life and your image of yourself?

It’s easy to forget about this simple statement in everyday life. It’s easy to be quite incongruent with what you think on an ordinary day compared to how you view yourself and your goals. A simple external reminder such as a post-it with this quote can be helpful to keep you and your thoughts on the right track. An brilliant and beautiful expansion on this thought can be found in James Allen’s As a man thinketh (that can be downloaded for free here).

2. Simplify.

“It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”

“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.”

If you want to improve your life then it’s tempting to want to add more. One problem with this may be that you don’t really have the time or energy to do more though. And so your efforts to improve become short-lived.

Adding more and more just creates more stress and anxiety. Removing clutter and activities, tasks and thoughts that are not so important frees up time and energy for you to do more of what you really want to do. And as the clutter in your outer world decreases the clutter in your inner world also has a tendency to decrease. This has the added benefit of making it easier to actually enjoy whatever you are doing even more while you are doing it.

Adding more thoughts and thinking things over for the 111:th time may create a sense of security. It’s also a good way to procrastinate and to avoid taking that leap you know you should take. And the more you think, the harder it gets to act. Perhaps because you want to keep that comforting sense of security and avoid the risk of wrecking that feeling.

Thinking has its place. It can help you plan a somewhat realistic route to your goal and help you avoid future pitfalls. Overthinking is however just a habit that will help you waste a lot of time. It’s more useful to replace that habit with the habit of just doing it.

3. Learn about yourself in interactions.

“To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person.”

The one person that is the hardest to get to really know may be yourself. Studying yourself while you are alone may result in some insights. But it’s also likely to produce a lot of made up thought loops and doubts in your mind. A good way to really learn more about yourself is study yourself in interactions with other people. How people react and act in these interaction can over time teach you a lot. And what you think and how you react can perhaps teach you even more.

What you see, feel and hear in other people may be a reflection of you. The things you learn by thinking this way may not always be pleasant, but they can be enlightening. They help you to see yourself and also how you may be fooling yourself. And these powerful insights can be very valuable for your personal growth. So, in interactions with others, try asking yourself: what is reflected?

4. Do not divide.

“Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against.”

This is a very useful and powerful thought. It is also one that obviously is hard to live by. Why? I believe it’s because the ego loves to divide and find ways to “add more” to itself. It want’s to feel better than someone else. Or more clever. Or prettier. Or cooler. Or wiser.

How can you overcome this way of thinking and feeling?

To me it seems to boil down to not identifying so much with your thoughts or feelings. That doesn’t mean that you stop thinking or feeling. It just means that you realize – and remember in your everyday life – that the thoughts and emotions are just things flowing through you.

You are not them though.

You are the consciousness observing them.

When you realize and remember this it enables you to control the thoughts and feelings instead of the other way around. It also enables you to not take your thoughts too seriously and actually laugh at them or ignore them when you feel that your ego is acting out. When you are not being so identified these things you become more inclined to include things, thoughts and people instead of excluding them. This creates a lot of inner and outer freedom and stillness. Instead of fear, a need to divide your world and a search for conflicts.

To learn more about this I would recommend Eckhart Tolle’s books and signing up for the 10 free and excellent webcasts - available both in video and audio form – that he’s doing with Oprah right now.

5. Avoid a dependency on validation from others.

“I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.”

“Showing off is the fool’s idea of glory.”

The ego wants to add because it thinks it’s not enough. One way of doing that is by craving validation from others. We want to feel smart, pretty, successful and so on. And the validation makes you feel good for a while. But soon you need a new fix.

And the problem with being dependent on validation from other people is that you let other people control how you feel. This creates a rollercoaster of emotion in your life.

To find more emotional stability and to take control of how you feel you need to get your validation from to a more consistent source. Yourself. You can replace the expectations and validation of others by setting your own expectations and by validating yourself.

And so you validate yourself by thinking about how awesome you are. You don’t sell yourself short. You appreciate how far you have come and the positive things you have done. You appreciate your own value in the world. You set goals and you achieve those goals. This builds confidence in yourself and in your abilities. These things will help you to build a habit of inner validation.

Now, showing off. Why do we do that? To get validation from others. However, this need for validation often shines through and that is why a thing like bragging seldom works. Instead of seeing the cool and successful person you are trying to project people just see the insecure and needy person looking for validation. And your bragging falls flat.

6. Be proactive.

“To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.”

It’s easy to get locked into a reactive mindset. You just follow along with whatever is happening. You do what the people around you do. You react to whatever is going on.

And so you get lost in your circumstances. This way of thinking doesn’t feel too good. You tend to feel powerless and like you are just drifting along.

A more useful and pleasurable way of living is to be proactive. As Bruce says: to create opportunities despite the circumstances around you. This feels better and provides better results. But on the other hand it’s also more difficult. It’s easier to just drift along in the reactive stream of life. And if you want to be proactive then you may have to take the lead quite often. And that can be scary.

Still, living proactively is so much more rewarding and exciting.

7. Be you.

“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.”

Just being yourself is a hard thing to do. You may do it sometimes. And other times you may forget or fall back into old thought patterns. Or you may imitate someone else.

And that comes through too. And it may work.

But I believe that being the real you will work better. Because there the genuine you is shining through. Without incongruency, mixed messages or perhaps a sort of phoniness. It’s you to 100%. It’s you with not only your words but you with your voice tonality and body language – which some say is over 90% of communication - on the same wavelength as your words. It’s you coming through on all channels of communication.

So I’m not saying: “yeah man, you should just be yourself because it’s the right thing to do etc.” I’m saying that I think being your authentic self – the one where you do little dividing, the one that needs little validation from others, the one where your ego is not running the show and trying to get something from someone – will give you better results and more satisfaction in your day to day life because you are in alignment with yourself. And because people really like genuine and people really like authenticity."

30 True Things You Need to Know Now | The BridgeMaker

30 True Things You Need to Know Now | The BridgeMaker: "30 True Things You Need to Know Now

You can bend it and twist it. You can misuse and abuse it. But even God cannot change the Truth. - Michael Levy

It is never too late to bring about lasting change for your life. No matter your present circumstances, not matter what has happened in your past; no matter your age, gender, or socioeconomic status, you are the creator of the life you want to live.

Dr. Gordon Livingston, author of Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart, a Vietnam War veteran and practicing psychiatrist has experienced, first hand, the tragedies life can bring upon us. He has also found the necessity to keep joy and comfort alive regardless of the pain endured.

After learning more about Dr. Livingston’s life and the circumstances regarding how he lost his two sons within a thirteen month period, I have been moved by his commitment to preserve hope in a world capable of inflicting such great tragedy. His ability and strength to move forward in spite of the obstacles is inspirational.

Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart provides 30 essential truths to remind us that while we can’t escape who we are or what has happened to us; we are responsible for who we would like to be and where we want to go. I see incredible value in learning and living these truths. Here is how each truth touches my heart; I hope you find hope and value in these, too:

1. If the map doesn’t agree with the ground, the map is wrong. We are given mental maps as children. Our parents and other adults tell us what is right and what is wrong – sometimes they don’t always get it, well, right. Now as adults, when we find the maps we have relied on for so long can get us lost, we need to recalibrate and create more reliable guides based on what we now know to be true and where we want to go.
2. We are what we do. We are not what we think, or what we feel, or what we say, we are what we do. Actions do indeed speak louder than words. If you are unhappy with a particular part of your life, take a strong look at what you are doing to be happier.
3. It is difficult to remove by logic an idea not placed there by logic in the first place. By nature, we are emotional creatures. Often we live and react based on feelings, not logic. Feelings are wonderful, but when we become tied to a particular thought or belief we tend to ignore the fact that change might be necessary. If a negative behavior is driven by an emotion, then we must find a way to still satisfy the emotional need while putting an end to the destructive behavior.
4. The statute of limitations has expired on most of our childhood traumas. For some, childhood was pleasant, almost idyllic. But for others, when there has been serious physical, sexual or emotional abuse it is important to recognize this and process this with a trained professional. No matter your past, change is the essence of life. In order to move forward in life we need to learn to live in the present.
5. Any relationship is under the control of the person who cares the least. When relationships end it is typically because of unmet expectations or one person is not feeling love or cherished by the other. For relationships to grow and last both members have to be equal with the love they give; and both should do it, not because they think they have to do it, but because they want to do it.
6. Feelings follow behavior. No matter how hard we try, we don’t control what we think or what we feel. But, we do know which actions bring us happiness, pleasure and confidence. So, we do the actions that make us feel good. It is the action, the behavior that comes first. Take the next few days to notice how you feel after doing a particular behavior. If you like the feeling, do more of it. If not, change the behavior.
7. Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid. When we step out and claim what we want from the world a wonderful thing happens – the Universe responds.
8. The perfect is the enemy of the good. While it’s important to have control over our lives, it can be counterproductive to attempt to control our lives. The energy spent trying to be perfect can keep us from enjoying and appreciating all the good things that exist right before us.
9. Life’s two most important questions are “Why?” and “Why not?” The trick is knowing which one to ask. Understanding why we do certain things is the first step to change. Until we understand what motivates us, what we get from doing a particular behavior, there is no momentum to begin the change process. Likewise, by asking “Why not?” we begin assessing the risk versus reward aspect which can lead to bringing about productive change in our lives.
10. Our greatest strengths are our greatest weaknesses. One of my biggest strengths as a person is I’m caring, sensitive and emotional – it is also my greatest weakness. While this strength helps me to build and maintain healthy relationships, it can also make me too reactive and less effective when dealing with conflict. This can create a confusing paradox for me from time-to-time, but having the awareness of the thin line between the two better prepares me to either use my strength or be mindful of my weakness.
11. The most secure prisons are those we construct for ourselves. What is your fear of change costing you? Too often what keeps us stuck is the belief we can’t move forward. Our head-trash tells us we are not worthy to have our heart’s desire. This fear; this incarceration, prevents us from breaking free and having the life we desire. Remember this: Before you can do anything, you must be able to imagine it. Imagining who and what you want to be, and then taking action, is the key to begin freeing yourself of what is holding you back.
12. The problems of the elderly are frequently serious but seldom interesting. The thought of our own mortality and demise can be a frightening one. Therefore, our attitude towards the aging can be callous because they are unwanted reminders of what’s ahead for us. However, the elderly can hold great value and wisdom for us. We must remember to show respect and gratitude for those near the end so the cycle can be repeated when it is our turn.
13. Happiness is the ultimate risk. No matter how painful, sometimes what we know is more comfortable than what we don’t know, even if we are depressed and miserable. Our misery can feel safe because it has been a part of us for so long. To seek happiness, to do things to break free of the depression, is a risk because we don’t know what it looks like or feels like to be happy. The antidote for this is hope and faith.
14. True love is the apple of Eden. “When I look back, the Garden is a dream to me. It was beautiful, surpassingly beautiful, enchantingly beautiful; and now it is lost, and I shall never see it any more. The Garden is lost, but I have found him and am content. - from Mark Twain in Eve’s Diary. True love is fair compensation for the obstacles and burdens of being human.
15. Only bad things happen quickly. When we think about the things that can change our lives in an instant we usually think of the negative ones first: accidents, our employer going out of business, or the news of a loved one becoming seriously ill. There is plenty of room; however, for good things to happen too, we just have to be more patient. Losing weight, improving a relationship, or creating a rewarding career all take effort, but the life-long satisfaction these bring can help to fill our souls when they are emptied-out by the bad.
16. Not all who wander are lost. When we were children we were told what to do. In our jobs, we are assigned tasks and projects. Our culture even has expectations of what we should do. It’s OK to step outside of the lines in order to follow what your inner wisdom is suggesting you do with your life. It’s not that you are lost when you wander, it’s just the opposite: You know what you want and you are only attempting to find the best path to your destination.
17. Unrequited love is painful but not romantic. Love is meant to be shared. When you give your heart to someone who is uninterested, it will only result in loneliness and disappointment. Instead find someone who will share love with you. When you do, you will feel the real power of love.
18. There is nothing more pointless, or common, than doing the same things and expecting different results. This truth also provides a very good definition for insanity. When things are not working in your life, try different things. The rub comes when we become so comfortable with the familiar we refuse to try something new. To grow we must also embrace change. The question then becomes what level of fear you are willing to walk through in order to change, grow and create the life you want.
19. We flee from the truth in vain. Somewhere along the way there are truths about ourselves we never allow to see the light of day. Shame, guilt or embarrassment keeps these truths hidden and locked away. But remember, we cannot change or heal what we do not acknowledge.
20. It’s a poor idea to lie to oneself. We may say the words, the words of a lie, but inside we know better; we know the truth. The most damaging lie we can tell ourselves involves making a promise. While good intentions are important, living the truth has far greater value in our life. Do what you say you are going to do, not just to improve the quality of your life, but to be able to live your life with confidence and self-respect
21. We are all prone to the myth of the perfect stranger. Unless you are being victimized by your partner, chances are very good there are plenty of reasons to love your partner or spouse. It takes maturity, patience and trust to look across the fence and know your grass is greener.
22. Love is never lost, not even in death. To lose what means the most to us is the ultimate test of helplessness and survival. I have been very fortunate to not yet experience the death of a close relative. That day, however, will come. When it does, my hope is I can transfer all of the love I have for that person to others still with me. In that way, the love for the person lost will always be alive.
23. Nobody likes to be told what to do. As a parent it’s easy for me to sometimes tell one of my children what to do instead of just listen and offer advice, if requested. My need to control can trump their need to be heard and grow on their own. When this happens, communication is strained and trust can be eroded. Rather than telling my children what to do, my job as a parent is to give them hope that they can be successful in a very uncertain world. This can be achieved by limiting my lectures and by giving them the time and space to “figure it out,” while I’m standing by with a safety net.
24. The major advantage of illness is that it provides relief from responsibility. In an ironic twist, the days we feel under the weather can be some of the healthiest for us. We push, we rush and we often don’t take time to take care of ourselves. But when we are feeling ill, we are forced to to slow down, perhaps call in sick at work, and take it easy.
25. We are afraid of the wrong things. For the first 18 years of my marriage I feared the wrong things. I feared not earning enough money or not advancing quickly enough in my career. I should have feared losing my wife and family instead, because I almost did. Now, I try to live in the present moment and appreciate all I have. When I do this, I stay centered with hope and not distracted by fear.
26. Parents have a limited ability to shape children’s behavior, except for the worse. My wife and I often hope our greatest legacy to our children is to be able to break the cycle of pain and doubt we experienced as children. Our hope is our children will have the self-love and confidence needed to live a rich and full life. With that said, we are far from being perfect parents. But our focus is to help them be as happy as possible in a world that takes and demands so much of them.
27. The only real paradises are those we have lost. Too often we may view the past with a special fondness, perhaps reverence, too. But the past for most of us may be no different than the present, it just feels that way. To be honest, we may not always see the past for what it actually was. This view can be dangerous and it can keep us from living fully in the present, in the here and now.
28. Of all the forms of courage, the ability to laugh is the most profoundly therapeutic. Yes, things can go wrong in life. Yes, there are issues and problems to solve. But we have a choice. We can choose to become pessimistic and not see the value in what we experience, or we can choose to laugh as an admission to the fact we are not perfect and life can get the best of us at times. What a relief to know that no matter how bad things may look, a smile or a rift of laughter can begin to make the circumstances feel better.
29. Mental health requires freedom of choice. No matter how bleak or desperate a situation may appear to look, we always have choices. Even with the absence of answers or direction, we do have the power to choose what our next action is. We can choose to ask for help; we can choose to pray; we can choose to get up in the morning, get dressed and forge ahead. The ability to choose gives us power. We can use that power to begin removing the obstacles that confront us
30. Forgiveness is a form of letting go, but they are not the same thing. To be clear, the purpose of forgiveness is not to let the person who harmed you off the hook, the purpose of forgiveness is to end the grief it has cost you. Don’t just let go, forgive and truly surrender the feelings of anger and pain. This may seem difficult, almost impossible, until you attempt to do it."

7 reasons you may be failing

7 reasons you may be failing: "7 Reasons You May Be Failing

This is a little unusual for me, normally I like to write about the things that you should be doing and keeping it all very positive, I do not really care to much for the things you are doing wrong approach, however I do believe that it is important to see your mistakes in order that you may correct them. “7 Reason You May Be Failing” is a tough topic because it may come across as being personal, but it is not. I know these mistakes because I have made them all myself and hopefully by sharing my experiences you can save yourself a lot of time and pain in avoiding them. The second reason for taking this approach is that you may well be unaware of these habits within yourself and by highlighting them you then have the power to begin to change them. So here are 7 reasons you may be failing.

1. You Have A Catastrophe Mind. A catastrophe mind is the mind that always jumps to the worst possible outcome of a situation regardless of the evidence to support that. This is the person who is playing the game not to lose as opposed to the person who is playing to win. The Positive Expectancy Mind is the reverse of this and is what should be strived for. If your first response to this is something along the lines of “if you always expect a successful outcome then that’s just not realistic” or something else disputing positive expectancy in all situation, then this is certainly an indication that you have a mindset that is not set up for high levels of success.

2. Thinking To Small. If you have a catastrophe mind then you are almost certainly thinking to small. If all you can see is a negative outcome then the chances that you will allow yourself to seriously entertain the size of thoughts that you will need to be successful is very low. Big thinking gets big results, little thinking gets little results.

3. Fear Based Decisions. Again this is all a result of the catastrophe mind and why I placed it at the top of the list. Making decision based on trying to avoid pain produces completely different results than making decision to produce pleasure. Think of this, being pain free does not equal being happy, being happy however generals mean that you are somewhat pain free. Making decisions that seek joy is a much better strategy than making decisions that are designed to avoid pain. As I mentioned before you must play to win, not play to not lose.

4. Poor Goal setting. Most people don’t get what they want because they don’t know what they want. Clarity is focus and focus is power. Poor or no goal setting is a guaranteed strategy for failure. God himself cannot give you what you want if you do not know what you want! Poor goal setting also leads directly to reason #5.

5. Failure To Take Action. The gold will not mine itself. You must act both massively and consistently upon your goals with positive expectancy. Very little in this life will just show up on your doorstep in it’s finished form. You must be clear about what you want, plan a course of action, set a deadline, then start mining. No action = no results.

6. You Actually don’t Want To Succeed, You Just Like To Entertain Yourself By Talking About It. Sound silly but it’s true, you buy a book but you never read it, you talk about things you are going to do when the opportunity is right, you have more time, you have more money and so on, I know I’ve been there, but here’s the truth, you can have a story or you can have a result but you can’t have both. Most peoples biggest obstacle to overcome is themselves. The barriers imposed in your mind are generally significantly larger than those barriers that genuinely exist.

7. Lack Of Appropriate Education. Most people go to college or university, gain a formal education that is completely insignificant in the area that you are trying to succeed in then cling to the idea that they are educated for the rest of their life. If you are failing in relationships then seek education in relationships, sales, business, marketing, travel, money, the list goes on. Any institutional education is far to broad to be left at that. You need to specialise and become an expert in the area that you wish to succeed in. If you do not do this then failure is virtually guaranteed. The typical college graduate in the USA reads on average 0 books per year. Shocking, the wisdom of the world is available to us and how much do we take advantage of that? On average, 0. Continued education is a must and the lack of is a huge reason for failure.

So those are my 7 reasons you may be failing, the good news is that they are all correctable. Success really is a formula, I would recommend reading the articles on goal setting here as well as the other articles on success, just follow the links. As always, best of luck."