Posts Tagged ‘ Motivation ’

Using Pop Music to Get What You Want

If you are starting a new business or are trying to succeed in a career, you might be at a loss for motivation, creativity, and inspiration. Thankfully radio stations across the world play pop music that will pick you up out of your rut and give you the strength to continue. Here are some ways you can use pop music to help you succeed at work and meet any goals you have set for yourself.

Think Like a Musician

Most business professionals pride themselves on productivity and constant work. If you get paid by the hour, you probably don’t get a lot of free time to explore new ideas and create new processes that might help your work habits. In an article in Entrepeneur, author John Kao claims that you need to think like a musician in order to succeed in the business world. Instead of taking standardized routes, improvise and create in order to get the most out of your workday.
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The Power of Saying NO

By Kevin M

Have you ever noticed that truly successful people have little trouble saying “no”? They may do it politely, but they do it and do it often. And they’re on to something.

“No” is a control word, a word that has real power. When we use it, we’re in control. When we don’t, we’re open to the control of others.

By saying “no”, we guard our time, our efforts and even our money. When we say “yes”, or even “maybe”, it can mean open season on all three. If you’re a “yes-junkie”—a person who feels compelled to say “yes” to nearly any request for help from nearly anyone—you might be your own worst enemy.

If we’re going to get anywhere in life we need to focus on what it is that we do best. Life is multi-faceted, but we all have two or three things that are especially important, and that’s where being able to say “no” is critical. It’s the little word that when spoken emphatically gives us the space we need to do what we do best.

Learning to say no—and meaning it—frees you up to move on to the next order of business, to that thing that moves you forward in your life. Is it any wonder that successful people master this concept?

Is Money Your Obstacle – Or Your Opportunity?

By Kevin M

Money Reasons did a review on a book called How Rich People Think. I commented on the post, and it got me to thinking about some issues that may go deeper than rich versus non-rich. As much as we might want to think of rich and non-rich as a state of being, there are components to each that make them happen—a mechanical process perhaps.

Much of that seems to come down to how we think about money. Money is the conventional dividing line between rich and poor, but it seems that our attitude toward it—whether we see money as an obstacle or as an opportunity —seems to have a huge impact on where we go with it.

So how exactly do we define obstacle and opportunity mindsets as it relates to money? Rather than attempting a deep analysis, we might be better to focus on examples of each type of thinking. In this way, we can not only see our own thinking, but we might also see how it either holds us back or pushes us forward.

What are your “anchors” in life?

By Kevin M

In the past couple weeks I’ve learned of two discouraging developments. The first was finding out that one of my best friends has prostate cancer. The second, just this week, was finding out that the husband of a former minister at our old church had a massive heart attack and died a few days later.

Neither man is 50 years old.

It’s an uncomfortable reality that no matter what we have going on in life, we have no certainty of anything. We can make all the plans we want for a great and glorious future, but none of us knows how much time we have, or even what the quality of that time will be.

Does that mean that we shouldn’t plan for the future? No, I don’t think so. We should plan, but in doing so, we should never take lightly the central importance of today. As the saying goes, “yesterday is a canceled check, tomorrow is a promissory note, but today is cash”.

In the personal finance blogosphere we churn the details of all things financial. Most of it centers on the “how”, as in how to manage/increase/eliminate/etc. this or that asset/income/expense/etc. Culturally, we tend to see money as something almost magical, as a commodity that can fix our problems, insure us against disaster and even give life a purpose. But can it?

Work/Life Balance: Lessons from the Sea

By Jacob Mojiwat

Being at sea for long periods of time can be isolating. You cannot access the Internet or reach your friends and family at a moments notice, but there is something wonderful about being out in a world that is just you, your crew, your boat, and the elements. I find that many of the principles I live by are ideas that I formed while I was out on these adventures, away from civilization.

Here are the main ideas that I’ve been contemplating lately, and find to be truly relevant in day-to-day life:

Sometimes you have to swim against the current if you want to get to where you are going

There are so many times in life when it feels as though everything is going wrong. They say bad luck comes in threes, but all too often it comes in a tidal wave, or at least a swiftly flowing current that feels as though it will wash us away. It is hard to swim against that current. It would be so much easier, and more peaceful, to drift along with it.

Maximizing Time to Pursue Creativity

By Jakob Barry

Everyone’s dream job is to be doing something they enjoy but unfortunately that’s not the case for a large segment of the population, especially in these tough economic times. Rather than holding off on opportunities in order to pursue more meaningful ones many people are settling for whatever they can find in order to pay the bills; a fine and commendable decision but it does have a price.

For example, when spending a third of the day or more at the office five days a week personal interests are often shelved for long periods of time -an unhealthy predicament for the creative individual. In order for a person to really shine such interests need to be fed but how is this done with so few minutes in the day?

Even when time presents itself exhaustion or the need to take it easy sometimes coerces us into watching TV shows passing out on our favorite comfortable chair.

To win the battle takes a lot of effort yet surprisingly, the key to making it happen is no secret. It’s all about maximizing time both at work and at home.

Others cannot set goals for you, only you can – “Goals” set by others are really “quotas”

By Dave Kelly, Professional Speaker

“I am in excellent, physical condition.”

So goes one of the affirmations that I tell myself on a daily basis. Yet, I must admit, it is not true—not now, anyway. Affirmations do not have to be true in the here-and-now to be valid, but they do have to be something we commit to making true in the future.

I have had people ask me how can I be a “motivational” speaker and not be in peak physical condition? Well, after all, there is a niche for everything and everyone! Actually, changing my physical status has not been a goal for me, until now. I believe in speaking things into being and also sharing your goals and dreams with others. By writing this post, I am committing myself to making some positive changes that you should be able to see very soon.

Why not before now? Because it was not a priority for me. It has not been a goal that I could or would truthfully pursue.

Manage Your Distractions to Take Control of Your Time

Better control of your time means more control of your income and your finances

By Dave Kelly

So, I have been thinking about this… wait just a minute, someone is calling me on my cell phone. “Hello, this is Dave Kelly. Yup. Um-huh. Real World: Motivational Speakers? I like it. Send me an email. Thanks.”

Sorry about that. Anyway, I was going to say… wait, now my phone is buzzing. A text message. Oh, that’s good. Gotta text back. “U R kidding. LOL. HA!”

So, the thing with distractions is… A tweet! Let me see, what is my friend, who tweets his every move fifty-plus times a day, up to?

Getting the point?

A Better Way to Budget?

By Paul Williams

Budget. It’s a four-letter word to many people. We hate the
restriction, the deprivation, and tracking all the little details.
But personal finance experts continue to tell us we need a budget.
Don’t get me wrong. Budgets are very useful tools. I think everyone
should try to use one (or something like it) if they really want to
have control over their finances. But I wonder if we don’t go about
it the wrong way when we try to implement budgets.

For someone who’s never had a budget, the whole process can seem
daunting and mysterious. What’s the right way to budget? Why should
I even do it? How do I track all my expenses? While budgets are
quite simple (a list of income and expenses with goals), there are a
number of questions that can come up for the uninitiated. They find
some answers from people who seem confident and knowledgeable and away
they go. They make up their first budget and set high goals. Maybe
it looks like this:

Take-Home Pay:	$2500

Savings:	$500
Giving:	$200
Rent:	$1000
Groceries:	$200
Auto Insurance:	$100
Gas:	$200
Phone, Internet, & Cable:	$100
Utilities:	$100
Eating Out:	$50
Personal Expenses:	$50
Total Expenses:	$2500

Majoring on the Majors by Learning to Say NO

Controlling our tendency toward Creative Avoidance

By Kevin M

How is it that that some people seem enormously successful, yet astoundingly they have more free time than the rest of us? Have you ever noticed as well that some people who are incredibly busy are at best only moderately successful? Perhaps you’re one of them, always busy, but not having as much to show for your efforts as you think you should.

The typical human reaction to this apparent contradiction in the natural order of things is to assume that the successful person with all the time on his hands is a) lucky, b) has an “in” with important people, and even c) must be doing something unethical, immoral or illegal.

While each of those considerations isn’t beyond the realm of possibility, there’s a far greater chance that the successful person with all of the free time on his hands has found a way to
maximize his results while minimizing his efforts. He manages to do this by saying “NO” to unproductive tasks, either by making it clear to others up front that he won’t engage himself in them, or by simply refusing to participate.

Logically, isn’t that what we should all be doing?

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Posts Tagged ‘ Motivation ’

Using Pop Music to Get What You Want

Think Like a Musician

The Power of Saying NO

Is Money Your Obstacle – Or Your Opportunity?

Seize THIS Day – We’re Promised No Others

What are your “anchors” in life?

Work/Life Balance: Lessons from the Sea

Sometimes you have to swim against the current if you want to get to where you are going

Maximizing Time to Pursue Creativity

Are pursuing Your Own Goals – or Filling Quotas Set By Others?

Others cannot set goals for you, only you can – “Goals” set by others are really “quotas”

Manage Your Distractions to Take Control of Your Time

A Better Way to Budget?

Majoring on the Majors by Learning to Say NO

Financial Management