Category Archives: Self Improvement Advice

How to Improve your Emotional Intelligence

What is emotional intelligence? What is the importance of emotional intelligence to an entrepreneur and investor? How do you develop emotion intelligence? Well, i advice you read on.

The word “Emotional intelligence” can be seen as the ability to understand, manage, perform your tasks and effectively express your feelings, as well as engage successfully with others without been affected by external or internal surrounding circumstances. 90% of high performers at the work place possess high EQ while 80% of low performers have low EQ. EQ is a measure of emotional intelligence.

Emotional Intelligence is absolutely essential in the formation, maintenance, development, and enhancement of close personal relationships; whether in business or any field you find yourself. Without wasting your time, below are 10 keys to quickly improve your emotional intelligence.

Top 10 Best Ways to Improve your Emotional Intelligence

1. You must first understand the importance  of emotional intelligence in all parts of life

To become intellectually capable is important but becoming emotional intelligent can be considered more better as there are many benefits attached with high emotional intelligence. Getting high emotional intelligence can assist you to live a happier life because it is easier to understand. Being rational and calm in difficult or challenging situations becomes the secondary nature and it can also lead you to better relationships along with job opportunities and effective performance in business. Below are four essential elements to emotional intelligence that can assist you to live a balance life:

  • Self awareness: This is the ability to recognize your emotions for what they seems to be and also to understand their origins. It also includes knowing your strengths and limitations including your self-esteem.
  • Self management: This is simply the ability to delay gratification, take initiative and to pull back sudden urge. It is also being able to cope with change and stay committed.
  • Social awareness: This all about being attuned to other people’s emotions and concerns, also being able to take note and adapt to social signals. It is also the ability to see the power dynamics at play around any organizational context or group.
  • Relationship management:  This is just the ability to go along with others, inspire and influence people, communicate effectively and manage conflict.

2.  Learn how to recognize stress triggers

Life is accompanied with challenging and difficult situations from relationship breakdowns to job loss to business challenges. In between, there seems to be myriad stress triggers that can make any daily issue much more challenging and the more stressed we are, that is the more vulnerable we are to be unable to cope with many stresses of life. An important way to improve your emotional intelligence is being able to spot stress triggers and recognize them for what they are and to bring yourself back to feeling relaxed and calm.

3.  Always be open minded

To be emotionally intelligent, you have to be open to new ideas; a narrow mind is just a pure indication of a lower EQ or EI. To develop a more open mind, seek to understand and reflect upon emotions and ideas of other people. Be open to their opinions and ideas so that you will be in a position to consider all the possibilities in a positive manner. Always note that you cannot always be right, but opening your mind and considering new possibilities, will make your mind to expand and become more accepting when you discover that your take on reality is not accurate as you always thought.

4.  Be empathetic and outgoing

Now what is empathy? Empathy is the ability for you to understand others and direct interest towards external properties (i.e, you being focused on what is outside yourself) rather than being focused on the inward (i.e self-absorbed).

To simply break it down, to be selfless is known as extroversion (remember that it is not the same as to be an extrovert) while understanding other people is known as empathy. Empathy and extroversion go concurrently when teamed together, you will have an understanding as a selfless person. A selfish, self centered person in general lacks empathy and one lacking empathy is generally directed to more self interest, such as seeing life through the eyes of their own wants and needs only.

5.  Be Prepared at all times

Rational actions and thinking are the abundant parts of emotional intelligence. When you can understand a situation very well and have a clear idea of it, it makes it possible for you to take rational actions towards addressing it. Conscientiousness is the ability to t analyze situations while deliberation is the ability to respond accordingly in rational manner.

Top 10 Best Ways to Improve your Emotional Intelligence

6.  Be self conscious

To be attentive means to pay attention to yourself and to your surroundings in a positive manner. Knowing who you are comes in a big way. If you do not know who you are, how can you then expect to know others? The worse is to expect others to define you, to delete your autonomy and your sense of life purpose by delineating your pathway for you. Self consciousness is an important criteria for developing emotional intelligence.

7.  Always practice communication skills

Having good communication skills will result in a better emotional intelligence (EQ/EI). A high level of communication skills will make it easier to send across and receive messages that are clear to the point and respect both your boundaries and that of others.

8.  Always be optimistic

People who are optimistic tend to live a successful and happy life. When you are optimistic, it will be easier to see the beauty in life and in everyday objects. In a way, to be optimistic will result in an open mind, making it an important element of improving your emotional intelligence. When you always have a negative outlook on everything, how can you then expect to be emotionally intelligent? Negativity will always encourage you to remain wrapped in your lives instead of building your resilience and shoring yourself against the vicissitudes of life.

9.  Learn to keep cool under pressure

Most people experience some level of stress in their life. How you handle stressful situations can make difference between being assertive and reactive. When you are under pressure, the most essential thing to have in your mind is to remain cool.

10.  You must learn to express your intimate emotions calmly

Your ability to effectively express and validate tender, loving emotions is very important to maintaining close personal relationships. In this situation, sharing intimate feelings with another in right relationship and in a manner that is nourishing and constructive and also being able to respond in agreement when the other does the same keep you in a right emotional track.

In conclusion, If you have a high EQ/EI, Simply consider jobs or businesses that needs interaction with people on a regular basis, as well as jobs involving connection and touch with others. Do not despair, always note that emotional intelligence can be improved, if only you desire it and willingly work towards it.

How Technology Affects Our Social Skills

What is the effect of technology on our social skills as an entrepreneur? Does the use technology have a negative impact on our lives as business people? Well, this article will provide the answers you need.

Technology is being used in almost every atmosphere of our society to accomplish specific tasks. Technology has changed the way we do things and it has brought some fun in our society. It reduces on human errors which can be caused by too much work or stress.

Using technology in our society has its own advantages and disadvantages to our social skills. In fact, technology has brought some of the biggest developments especially in the business world. Now, you can start a business with little or no capital using technology as leverage. No wonder we now have young billionaires and millionaires that started from scratch with nothing. However, technology has its bad side. So without wasting your time, below are detailed points explaining how technology can be of great use at in our society and how it can also be a problem.

How Technology Affects Our Social Skills

  • Positive Effect of Technology

1.  Technology improves communication in business

Technology helps to change the way we interact with each other in our society. With the advent of technology, we can use various tools to interact or exchange information in our society. For instance, we can text messages or use video conferencing tools such as Skype to share and exchange information at little or no cost.

2.  Technology encourages creativity and innovation

Technology helps to create innovative ideas which can assist our social growth and expansion. Many people create technological challenges and reward those who come up with creative ideas using technology.

3. Technology improves human resource management

Technology in our society can change the way we handle issues in our environment. It improves on the process of screening, admitting and handling issues or resources. Many people make use of the internet to advertise their businesses. Targeted customers will be in a good position to purchase their goods. Technology makes our work so easy and it can be used to check the performance and productivity of individuals in the corporation or society at large.

4.  Technology saves time

Technology can be used to automate tasks in the society; and this automation will encourage efficiency and productivity in the society. The use of computers to accomplish different tasks in our society creates the avenue for correction making and as well reduces human errors. Using databases to capture and store information can facilitate quick decision making in our society.

5. Technology creates mobility and decentralization

The use of computers and internet in our society has eliminated space and time boundaries. People can work from anywhere at any moment; this mobility makes people to be in control of their activities. Technological tools like virtual meeting applications saves our time, as we do not have to be in a meeting presently yet information and update will be shared in real-time.

 How Technology Affects Our Social Skills

  • Negative Effect of Technology

1.  Technology is a source of distraction

There are so many ways that technology distracts. The use of social networks in our society can cause much distraction and it affects our level of concentration over activities. Some websites like 2go, Face book, Twitter, YouTube, etc can cause distraction when we are on a serious business. For instance, in lecture rooms, churches, workplace and other special environment that requires no distraction.

2.  High Maintenance costs

It is might be cheap but it is expensive to maintain it. Not everybody can afford to purchase these technological devices and as well be able to maintain and keep them safe. If technological tools like computers are not well maintained or taken care of, their rate of services or performance will decline and the process of purchasing new ones or any other technological device can be costly.

3. Technology makes people lazy

Since most of activities are automated by the use of technology, many people become lazy; thus technology destroys their creativity and skills. Simple tasks such as calculation and tracking inventories are being done with use of computers; therefore indicating that people do not put their brains to work, they find it difficult to solve high-end problems simply because a computer or software will do it without any challenge.

4.  It affects our societal relationship

People communicate through cell phones, text messages,  email or virtual video conferencing devices. This aspect of communication technology eliminates face-to-face interaction. Interpersonal communications are very much essential in building our societal relationships because people will have the opportunity to know each other in person, sometimes they can even share casual information. This aspect of communication have been destroyed by technological interactive devices. People now become more reserved and self-centered; as they get tied into their activities which can be of great negative effect to the society.

5. It is Risky with respect to security and privacy

Though we appreciate the advantages that come with technology in our society, it also seems to be risky, especially when it involves data security. All people in position of important decision making will require an access to private societal information. This can pose as a threat because it can be very complex to monitor the privacy and usage of this information. Many people move around with flash drives at all places so that they can transfer societal information and makes use of it for their own personal gains.

No doubt, the saying that what ever has an advantage also has a disadvantage is true. Yes technology is good, but there are also some adverse effects attached to it.

So in conclusion, i advice that we learn to make use of technology in positive ways and use it also for self growth and personal development. If we can do this, i bet we will enjoy the best of the world of technology.

How to Improve your Decision Making Skills

How do i improve my decision making skills? What is the best business idea to pursue? Where do i invest my money? When is the right time to buy or sell a stock? Should i diversify my business or concentrate? What business book should i read now? Should i reduce my workforce so as to cut cost?

All the questions above and many more are decisions to be made. We make decisions everyday of our lives, but with the wide range of options presented to us, we are always held back by indecisiveness and regret over opportunity costs incurred from “wrong or bad” decisions. The following ten tips can assist you to improve your decision-making skills and reduce indecision in your all day life.

10 Ways to Improve Your Decision Making Skills

Before i dive into the pros and cons of improving your decision making skills, it is important you know that there are two categories of decision making. They are:

  • Personal decision making
  • Group decision making

  • How to improve your personal decision making skills

1.   Do a Cost-Benefit Analysis

Before you reach the ultimate decision, it is crucial to check the cons and pros to ensure that you are making the right decision possible. This needs a cost-benefit analysis, in which you test the outcome to all possible route (both negative and positive). This will assist you to see the opportunity costs, or the things you miss out on when trying to figure if one decision is better than another.

2.   Always Narrow Your Options

In order to simplify the cost-benefit analyzing, curtail yourself to fewer options. When more choices are presented to us, the bigger the challenges or difficulties in making a final decision. More choices can lead to more regret because we will consider every of the missed possibilities and worry whether we could have chosen one of the many other routes that were present. As such, narrowing your options will lead to bigger peace of mind.

3. Always Evaluate the Significances

Like how much time does it take you to mull over a potential decision? Twelve seconds? Twelve minutes? Twelve hours and more?  It all depends on what is at stake. To reduce agonizing indecision, you must first determine the significance of a decision ( how big of an impact will it have on my life or business? How much will it cost me?), and create a deadline in accordance.

4.  Do not sweat the small stuff

If it is something as easy as to deciding where to go for dinner or what to watch on Television, do not forget to keep things in perspective and keep your time frame for decisions to a reduced level. This is closely tied with evaluating the significance of a decision—if it will not affect you or others in a significant way, then do not delay yourself with endlessly debating between your options.

5. Observe your Research

When it comes to making major or big decisions like getting a new office space, furniture, cell phone, laptop, car brand, etc. You must put in the time and effort to seriously inform yourself about your impending purchase, its relevance to your business and its corresponding impact on your finances.

6.   Seek the opinion of a well-informed personality

It is greater than just making a research of the facts and logistics of a decision; getting personal opinion can also develop your decision-making by giving you the confidence and reassurance that you are making the best decision. Whether it is asking your auto  mechanic friend about a car purchase or checking consumer reports before purchasing a new appliance for your kitchen, informed opinions can assist.

How to Improve your Group Decision-Making Skills

7.    Always Practice conflict management

Making decisions in a group always  seems complicated because everyone has different point of views. Multiple parties heightens the chance of conflict, so to prepare yourself for these conditions, it is always useful to practice conflict management. Always identify the difference between a win-lose condition (such as agree where on one side gives up what they want to please the other) and win-win conditions ( as such as housing, when the two parties agree to give up some things in order to agree on other things).

8.  Keep on Planning

When there is a group decision for you to make, it is better to decide the details well in advance in order to prevent conflict among the group members immediately before the event. This could be used for movie nights or dinner parties; while it regulates the spontaneity of plans, it develops the decision-making skills of everyone included and decreases the likelihood of bickering among the group.

9.   Take control!

There is always a time to give and there is always a time to be assertive. If nobody is taking a  strong stance on a decision, take control! Otherwise, you will waste precious time trying to decide on something when you could have been out catching fun or being productive.

10. Do not rely on Mistakes

The best step to a  nice group decision making is letting go of  past mistakes. Living with past mistakes and regrets will hurt your ability to decide on things fast and efficiently in the future, so instead of  sitting on errors and failures, make a decision and do not look back  but  forged ahead.

In conclusion, i believe that the following tips will assist you to improve or develop your decision-making skills. However, i want to emphasize the point that reading this article will not improve your decision making skills even one bit; but acting on what you have read will.

How a Good Team Leader should Respond to Crisis

Are you a team leader? Are you finding it difficult to lead your people? Do you know how to respond to crisis as a business leader? If your answer to the last question is no, then read on as i share with you some powerful business crisis management tips.

One fact every entrepreneur knows is that sh*t happens in business and it happens unexpectedly. Things can go wrong, and hell can be unleashed all within a few minutes. So how should a good business leader respond to crisis arising within the organization? How do you keep your people focused when problems or challenges arise? You will find your answers below.

“A real leader faces the music even when he doesn’t like the tune.” – Arnold H. Glasgow

Types of Crisis that can erupt within a Business Organization

  • Confrontation crisis
  • Technological crisis
  • Crisis of organizational misdeed
  • Crisis of malevolence
  • Rumour
  • Bankruptcy or cash crisis
  • Nature disasters

“Calamity is the test of integrity.” – Samuel Richardson

Crisis Management Strategies: Six Ways a Good Business Leader Should Respond to Crisis

  • First figure out what is going on

“Face reality as it is; not as it was or as you wish it were.” – Jack Welch

Once there is crisis within your team, as a good business team leader, you should pulse for a moment and first assess the situation. Do not act until you have thoroughly understood the situation on ground. Once you have gotten a grasp of what is happening; you can then brainstorm for a possible solution, delegate responsibilities and then call for a subsequent meeting at a later time. This will help you to maintain order in any chaotic situation.

  • Act Fast but don’t act rashly

“You have to act and act now.” – Larry Ellison

As a good leader, you should provide direction and respond to matters in a timely fashion. But acting immediately will only make your people nervous. You need to act with carefulness as well as speed. Or as advised by john wooden, a legendary coach: “Be quick but don’t hurry.’’

“Willingness to change is a strength; even if it means plunging part of the company into total confusion for a while.” – Jack Welch

  • Expectation management

“If you see a snake, just kill it. Don’t appoint a committee on snakes.” – Henry Ross Perot

Immediately trouble arises, people would want it to be over right now, but not often is this kind of fast resolution possible. It will fall to the leader in charge to deal with the size and scope of the crisis. You do not want to get people alarmed, yet you must be afraid or scared to speak in such circumstance.

  • Demonstrate control

“Control your destiny or someone else will.” – Jack Welch

When things are happening or taking place quickly, no one may have absolute control. But a good leader is considered to assume control. Now you cannot control disaster, whether man-made (artificial) or natural disaster but you should try as much as possible to control the response. A leader is meant to put himself into the action or situation and bring together the best people or resources to deal with such situation.

  • Keep an open mind

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” – Winston Churchill

This does not only apply to personal demeanor in leadership, it is applicable in every facet of life. A good leader cannot afford to lose composure in the face of challenges. A good leader must have the ability to adapt very fast with calmness and a sense of direction. A distinctive feature of a crisis is its ability to change very fast; your first response should not be your final response. In such circumstances, you as a leader must not be confined to only one strategy or solution. You must keep an open mind, seek external advice and opinions from frontline experts and continue to absorb new information.

  • Perspective provision

“Before making an important decision, get as much as you can of the best information available and review it carefully, analyze it and draw up worst case scenarios. Add up the plus or minus factors, discuss it with your team and do what your guts tell you to do.” – The Mafia Manager

“To lead people, walk behind them.” -  Lao Tsu

It is the duty of you as a leader to provide perspective or a direction to your people in times of crisis. A leader must know when to stand back and assess the situation and his followers from afar. This strategy will enable see the bigger picture that other won’t see. A leader’s ability is tested during conflicts/crisis. But if you can engage the challenge directly, while still maintaining a sense of perspective, you and your organization will triumph in the end.

In conclusion, I believe the above points will go a long way in helping you the leader to lead your people very well. Before I draw the curtain close, I want you to always remember that you are a leader, a marksman; so therefore, you should always take responsibilities of situations and the corresponding results. Never you push your responsibilities to a subordinate because you may unconsciously hand over your mandate to such an individual and your team will begin to see such person as the leader they need.

“There will be times when you will have to be abrasive, even brutal to members of your staff. Don’t worry that your people will say bad things about you because of this. They already have. But in general, try to be pleasant and accommodating. Try to please the greatest number who work for you that you can; antagonize the fewest. Blow smoke.” – The Mafia Manager

How can Managers Develop Leadership Skills in Business

Is management training necessary for business owners, CEOs and employees alike? How can managers develop leadership skills in business? Are you an entrepreneur or manager and you need to develop your leadership skills? Well, I advice you read on to find the answers you seek.

It is now an established fact that leaders are not born, they are made. Leadership skills are learned and mastered through years of understanding the very essence of leading and experiencing to be both a leader of one or group of people, and also be a follower. Plenty of theories are offered by books when it comes to this topic, but not everyone needs the same dose of tips as people are created unique and can be leaders in their own ways. One unique thing about entrepreneurship and skill acquisition is that both are not learned in the classroom or conventional learning institutions. Though you may pick up one or two theories or tips from these learning institutions, you can only develop your skills and become a good leader by getting your hands dirty in the field; not in the classroom. You must follow, lead and work with teams to really understand what leadership is all about.

Management Training – Now how can managers develop leadership skills in business?

  • By seeking advice from the right people and acting on it

Managers can develop leadership skills through advises received from competent and proven individuals such as established entrepreneurs, business owners, CEOs, etc. However, for such advice received to have an impact, you must first accept them and admit to yourself that you still have rooms for improvement and as a business leader; you must acknowledge the fact that you still have flaws and downsides. Asking yourself with “how can managers develop leadership skills” is futile if you won’t apply the answers even when found.

  • By mingling with followers or workers

In businesses, many people ask the question: “how can managers develop leadership skills?” But the harsh truth is that many will fail in their quest to become better leaders because they take advice from books, forgetting that the foundation of a leader-follower relationship is the unique human interaction that cannot be dictated by bestselling authors and leadership gurus. To make a light out of the topic, the matter is discussed on a practical approach, divided according to the facets of managerial capabilities.

Insufficient as it sounds, staying perched on a pedestal will not develop instant connection with the followers. Managers need to mingle with workers to make them feel closer to you, which eventually form a bond and trust. This way, you are gaining respect through your humbleness and not merely recognition due to your position. Sooner or later, followers will feel unappreciated if you keep maintaining a distance.

  • By knowing what weaknesses are

Managers need not be weak and in fact, it is the quite opposite. They should always be strong as their employees rely on them for almost everything – inspiration, motivation, decisions. However, not knowing your team’s weaknesses will cause those very weaknesses to rot from the core outwards. By the time you get hold of the situation, it may be too late as employees are already corrupted by influences from co-employees or demoralizing situations.

By knowing your weaknesses as a leader and also the weaknesses of your followers, you are already solving half of the problem and forging stronger bonds. Nobody can develop strengths without identifying your own weaknesses so accept that you have flaws and can still get improvement.

Management Training – How can managers develop leadership skills in business?

  • By looking at the same direction with followers

Managers in businesses are students as well –students of running an enterprise and steering the wheel of success together with crews. You may be in-charge of the steering wheel, but your crews are holding the sail and manning the mast. You point to what direction the business is heading at, and they keep the wind’s power to your advantage. Even managers can only do much.

One important aspect of leadership is not only knowing what direction is best for the business, but in what direction the whole team is looking at. As a leader, it is your job to give them the correct navigation coordinates should they be looking at the wrong side.

  • By being a follower

Great leaders are also great followers. This is nothing new but somehow, people disregard this value and see it as degrading to their stature. Leadership by force and fear does not last while leadership by respect is carried on even when the leader is gone and the followers become leaders themselves.

In conclusion, an important factor you should bear in mind is that developing leadership skills in life and business is a continuous learning process. It is not a one-hit affair because different individuals and team you will work with tend to pose a new challenge for you, you must learn and learn fast.

3 Stress Management Activities, Exercises and Programs for Entrepreneurs

Are you stressed out? Is the daily hustle and bustle of life killing you slowly? Then here are some stress management activities and exercises that will help you out.

Running a business is probably one of the most stressful careers ever. As an entrepreneur, you get to deal with a lot of factors daily and even while you are at home resting; your brain is still at work trying to resolve your business problems. In fact, I doubt if there are official work hours for entrepreneurs. As we all know, stress is dangerous to the body because it can lead to fatigue, cardiac arrest, high blood pressure, etc. Now how do you relax your nerves and free your mind? Well, you are going to find out below.

3 Stress Management Activities, Exercises and Programs for Entrepreneurs

  • Spend some time with friends and have fun

It is quite easy to deal with stress if you can find the proper activities to engage in; to help take your mind off the trouble that’s making you upset. Even if having fun does not directly eliminate the source of worry entirely, distracting your mind from it for a while will calm you down and regain your serenity before tackling again.

In fact, you don’t need to go on vacation just to get rid of stress; you can have fun while in the comforts of your own home. You can get involved in word or board games, sports, music and art, and many others things that have the capacity to distract your mind and help you relax.

  • Engage in exercises and fitness trainings

One of the most important stress management techniques is to engage in sporting activities. A simple friendly bout of basketball or tennis with your friend will help you relax. You can also keep your body and soul fit by doing some belly dancing activities at home. This will enable you concentrate your mind into winning, especially if you turn it into a competition. Engaging in a sporting event is as a good channel for your anger, irritation or worries about your business to be re-directed into something positive.

Secondly, since stress can disrupt your anatomy if left unchecked; engaging in exercise or sports will enable you sweat out those toxins that amass in your body. It will also help your muscle relax after the work out.

  3 Stress Management Activities, Exercises and Programs for Entrepreneurs

  • Visit the gym

If you want to direct all your stress to something fruitful and constructive, then you should do that at the local gym. Stress has negative effects on you physically, mentally, and emotionally; so it’s advisable that you tackle these three elements at once. Going to the gym to work out is really a good idea because the instructor will help you shift your mind from your problems to the program he or she has prepared for you. To complete his workout program, you will need to focus your mind; thus freeing your mind.

Another benefit of going to the gym is to toughen your heart against the effects of stress. Heart attack and stroke are health situations frequently attributed to stress. By engaging in a cardiovascular workout, you are strengthening your anatomy for the future; this time, you will be physically and mentally equipped to deal with whatever stress comes your way.

5 Techniques for Maintaining Focus to Achieve Goals

In the beginning of every year, it is customary for a lot of people to write down their new year’s resolutions. These resolutions are a set of goals or ambitions that a person would like to achieve for that coming year. These goals may be as simple as passing a subject in school or getting a pet, or as fancy as building your dream house or finally going to that dream vacation. It may also be a short term or a long term goal but it doesn’t really matter. What matters is whether that goal gets accomplished.

Goal setting is actually one of the most favorable habits for anyone who wants to succeed in life. But often times, accomplishing these goals is not as easy as identifying them. This is due to the fact that most people have a hard time focusing or concentrating on a specific task.

I have set several goals this year; some I have accomplished and some I am yet to even act upon. Now for those of you that read this blog regularly, you should be very much aware of my long term goal to make a billion dollars in my lifetime. Well, I am currently in pursuit of the goal by splitting it into several short term goals. But in as much as I am on course, I want you to know that staying focus on my goals hasn’t been an easy task. The constant bombardment of distractions and the fact that society nowadays promotes a fast paced multitasking lifestyle doesn’t help in maintaining focus either.

To address this problem, I am going to share with you five techniques I use for maintaining focus to achieve goals.

5 Techniques for Maintaining Focus to Achieve Goals

  • Write down a list of the goals that you would like to accomplish

The practice of jotting down your future goals is a good way of keeping track of them and also helps to keep your thought organized. By creating a list, you can determine which goal takes more precedence that the others. Sincerely speaking, I write all my goals down and it has really been helpful. Focusing on being able to systematically accomplish one goal after the other is a faster way of achieving them rather than performing all of them at the same time.

  • Stay away from sources of distractions

There are many distractions that can cause you to lose focus on your work. Although a lot of people can work in a chaotic environment, but it is still more effective and highly advisable to find a quiet workplace. Working in front of the television is a definite no-no; working hungry can also make you concentration. To avoid these distractions, try doing your task after eating or you can bring a snack or drinks to the workplace. It is also at times helpful to put on quiet background music to help soothe and relax the mind before concentrating on the job beforehand.

Aside environmental distractions, more disturbing are emotional distractions; which may result from family issues, money issues or relationship issues, etc. Emotional distractions are usually harder to control, so you just have to learn to keep working on your projects even in such situation. Emotional intelligence and control is not harnessed overnight, you develop such traits over time.

  • Avoid procrastination

Accomplishing a goal takes time, so start the work as early as possible. Procrastination only causes stress during the final hours before the deadline and this will definitely make you to break concentration. When rushing, your mind becomes hurried and unorganized and this may result to a substandard outcome of the goal in mind.

  • Eat foods that are good for the brain.

There are many supplements nowadays that help boosts the brain power but instead of buying these expensive medicines, similar effect can be obtained by eating foods such as broccoli, nuts, blueberries, salmon and tuna. These foods are considered brain foods and helps in maintaining your brain function. Beverages such as alcohol, coffee (when consumed in excessive amounts) and sugary foods is bad for a person who wants to concentrate, because alcohol kills brain cells, and excessive intake of caffeine and sugar can make your thoughts hyper and erratic.

  • Reward yourself after accomplishing a goal

A person always works better when there is a reward to look forward to; so to motivate yourself and stay focused, you should try to reward yourself after every accomplishment. It may be as simple as taking a break, or shopping or as grand as taking a cruise but rewards are always an effective way of helping yourself maintain focus on a job.

As a final note, there are of course more than just 5 techniques for maintaining focus to achieve goals. But these 5 techniques for maintaining focus to achieve goals are the most basic and highly effective means of accomplishing such task. I sincerely hope that you find these tips helpful.

Poor but Happy: How to Overcome the Fear of Success

Everyone loves success stories. Some are inspired by it and the personalities behind such stories are applauded and thumbed up as being lucky. But it may surprise you to know that most people are afraid of success. Why? The primary reason is that those who fear success are not willing to pay the price to attain it. Have you ever heard the following statement?

“I’ll rather be poor and happy.”

“The reason I’m poor is because I am not greedy.”

“I am contented the way I am.”

The above are statements from people who have chosen to remain poor. Now why would someone choose to be poor when he or she can plan on being rich? Well, some people purposely chose to be poor, while others take the poverty route unknowingly.

“In the fertile land of promises, many have died of hunger.” – The Mafia Manager

                7 Reasons why people choose to be poor

1.            Laziness

2.            Ignorance

3.            Fear of taking risk

4.            Cynicism

5.            Unwillingness to change their perception

6.            Unwillingness to aim above mediocrity

7.            Unwillingness to pay the price of success

                How to identify people who are afraid of success

a.            They vehemently oppose change or any new idea outside their reality. They want to do things the old way.

b.            They are anti-capitalists

c.             They are cynics and pessimists

d.            They hide under the umbrella of religion to remain poor

e.            They abhor taking risk of any kind

f.             They have no income yielding investments except maybe their savings

g.            They see successful people as super humans or extra-ordinary beings

h.            They attribute success to luck

i.              They dislike learning and would rather watch T.V or surf the net

j.             They believe their live have been pre-destined by nature of some unseen force

                How to overcome the fear of success

i.              Be truthful to yourself and acknowledge your fears

ii.             Be open to new ideas

iii.            Be willing to learn

iv.           Think big

v.            Have the believe that success is a reward of tactical effort

Five Benefits of overcoming the fear of public speaking

Many people are simply afraid of speaking before a large crowd, but are you aware that one can stand to learn a lot simply by reaping the benefits of overcoming the fear of public speaking?

There are a lot of people who tend to neglect that aside from the professional advantages one can gain from overcoming their fear of speaking before a crowd, they can also benefit from it personally and even improve one’s character and personality. Do you want to overcome your fear of public speaking? Then below are five benefits you stand to gain if you take the pain to go through the process.

                Five Benefits of overcoming the fear of public speaking

 

1.            Increase in self confidence

One of the most notable benefits you can get from overcoming fear is self confidence. Overcoming the fear of public speaking builds self confidence in a person, especially making them more sociable compared to when they were previously allowing their fears getting the best of them or when they are faced with the situation of having to speak before a group of people. Self confidence also helps in creating a positive outlook and mental attitude in a person.

2.            High self esteem

Another benefit that you will gain from overcoming your fear of public speaking is increase in self esteem; which is how a person values or regards himself. This is another social trait that you can gain not only for the benefit of others, but also to the shaping of your character and personality.

3.            Mastery of the art communication skills

By being able to overcome the fear of speaking before a crowd, you can also gain mastery in the art of communication.

Many may not be aware of it but the secret to good communication skills also rely on a person’s ability to interact well. When a person is comfortable with speaking before a group of people, he or she tends to have more focus towards the topics for discussion and may be able to comprehend matters and topics as well.

When compared to those who are more afraid to interact, especially when they are more susceptible to the fear that can envelop them, making them think of other things aside from focusing on the topics at hand.

4.            Better listening skills

Another good thing that you can achieve when you overcome your fear of public speaking is better active listening skills, which could result to a better communication or speaking experience; not just for the benefit of the speaker but for the audience as well.

Active listening is as important as speaking well, since it is only through active listening that one gets to comprehend things that are being discussed or interacted upon, making discussions or interactions as comprehensive and as substantial as well.

5.            Stronger speaking fluency

Overcoming the fear of public speaking can also help you improve your speaking abilities, through proper voice projection and vocal proficiency as well. Getting the hang of speaking before a group of people can help a lot for those that may have difficulties or problems with projecting their clearly and pronouncing words correctly.

Being comfortable in front of people makes you feel less anxious, stressed or troubled, since you are less likely to experience the difficulty of being distracted from what is actually the real topic or concern that needs to be discussed.

As you can see, overcoming your fear of public speaking is not just aimed to help you become a better speaker, but can also improve your personality and character; thus making your social and personal life even more fulfilling and satisfying.

Personal Mastery Principles: How to take Control of your Life

You might think personal mastery has no relevance to entrepreneurship and building a business; but I will advice you think again. Control is one of the essential traits of becoming an entrepreneur and building a successful business. And you can’t gain control over your life without personal mastery. Now how does personal mastery improve the life of an entrepreneur?

There are people who fully understand how important it is to develop their entrepreneurial skill and know their strengths and weaknesses to be able to deal with their personal growth and development.  Those who have known and developed personal mastery would be able to listen to themselves and maintain balance in their life and business.

Personal mastery would also enable entrepreneurs manage their energy levels and minimize dependence on stimulants to increase their energy levels. Now how do you attain personal mastery? To attain personal mastery, there are laid down principles that will guide you in your quest for growth and maturity.

                The principles of personal mastery

The principles behind personal and self mastery are actually fundamental concepts that are essential when building professional, social and spiritual relationships.  The first one is how success is defined.  In personal mastery, the internal change is actually more important than what had happened to you. 

Personal mastery is also based on reality. A good rule of thumb when seeking personal mastery is to spend time and energy on things that can be controlled, like the present and the future. It is important to let go of reactive attitude like resentment, complaint, blame and just wishful thinking.

Another principle behind self mastery is the understanding of the fact that what happens to your life is based on your own choices; and not from anybody else. You should take responsibility for what had happened in your life. Therefore, decisions about your life should be made by your own will. You have to know the weaknesses and strengths of your character. This would enable you to change the way you think, feel and behave.

Having a clear vision of what we want and what we should do to achieve it are also principles behind personal mastery. After identifying our goals and how we can attain our goals, then it is about time to translate them into action.  This would be the application of our vision, values and principles that we chose to follow.

                How the Principles of Personal Mastery can help you control your life

The key principles of personal mastery can help you in the following ways:

1.            How to deal with difficult and challenging situations

2.            Isolate positive behaviors and feelings; and work on them

3.            Accept difficult and harsh realities of life

4.            Let go of negativities like resentment and blame

5.            Understand the importance and freedom that comes with responsibility

6.            Set goals for yourself

7.            Identify your principles in life

8.            Prioritize what is more important to you

9.            Deepen your commitment

10.          Develop self-confidence and self-esteem

11.          Accept imperfection and build on one’s strength.

12.          Feel the connection between oneself to others.

13.          Develop an inquisitive mind

14.          Adapt and work with change

Overall, an individual who have attained personal mastery would be able to raise self-awareness, self-acceptance and self-responsibility.  What is great about personal mastery is that individuals would recognize that they are part of a system.  They know that they would be able to contribute and influence through their creative ideas although they would also be conscious that controlling the situation or the system is impossible.

Personal mastery is something that does not happen as an accident overnight.  It requires discipline and reinforcements.  Those who are in the path of personal mastery would oftentimes attend trainings, seminars, coaching and counseling to make sure that what they have learned in personal mastery is not at lost again in the midst of selfishness and materialism. 

Personal mastery helps everybody understand that life is full of opportunities for expanding our vision and skills, until later on we succeed. So at the point, I want to encourage you to start the personal mastery process today and I will see you at the top.