"To come to be you must have a vision of Being, a Dream, a Purpose, a Principle. You will become what your vision is." by Peter Nivio Zarlenga

It’s the New Year again and you are off to a strong start with your goals. But what usually happens after the first few weeks? You start to lose interest and slip back into old patterns. Why do you drop your good intentions? The answer is simple – lack of a strong compelling vision fueled by a burning desire.

So why is this important and how do you get it? Having a burning desire to achieve a compelling vision is important because reaching big goals requires a change in behavior. To change behavior for the long-term you need some reward or benefit so irresistible it feels as though a magnet is pulling you forward.

Think about some goal you have set for this year. You might be thinking about stopping something, (cutting out sugar, spending less time at work), or starting something (an exercise program, new project). There’s no emotion attached to this type of “doing” When you review the goals you’ve set for 2006 what feelings come up? Are you inspired or are you void of feeling?

To create a compelling vision think about the feeling you are trying to achieve first. Here’s an example: Let’s say your goal is "to play more golf this year". Does this inspire you? Probably not. Where’s the emotion? Let’s try again; this time you say: "I want the freedom to play golf once a week without feeling guilty". There is some emotion in this statement now but you can do even better. Ask yourself: "What’s the benefit of playing golf?; What do I want to have as a result of playing more golf?" Is it relaxation, time with friends, peacefulness, exercise, increased productivity, fresh air, balance? Keeping these things in mind, give it another try in the present tense: "I am feeling refreshed and inspired each week with renewed energy from enjoying golf with my friends. I am so productive as a result that my boss encourages me to take time off each week for golf!"

Can you see the difference? Close your eyes and imagine yourself on the golf course, feeling refreshed, renewed and laughing with friends. See yourself returning to work feeling inspired with new creative energy. Picture your personal and professional life dramatically improved from this change in your behavior.

Maybe your goal is to "save more money in 2006". What will you feel as a result of increasing your savings? Will you feel free, secure, mature, responsible, prosperous? What are the benefits of having money saved? Picture how you will feel as you put money into savings each month; see that compelling vision of your bank account growing and the benefits you enjoy as a result. Are you starting to get the idea?

What’s the compelling vision you want to create in 2006? Focus on the feelings you want to experience as a result. Write down these feelings along with your vision. Then make a list of at least 10 to 15 benefits you will have as a result of achieving this vision. The more benefits you list, the more excitement you will generate and the greater your desire will be. Begin now with these foundational steps for goal achievement and start “living your vision”!

Copyright January 2006
Permission is granted to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the author signature box is included.

As a Life Transition Coach I work with clients to identify what’s most important to them and to prioritize around these values. I help my clients identify and remove obstacles in the way and bring clarity and focus to their dreams. What is your dream? Are you undergoing a major transition and not clear where to turn? Call (972-306-4489) or email me, (coach.v.miller@verizon.net), to set up a complimentary, no obligation 30 minute telephone coaching session. Download my FREE e-Book, 12 Fun Ways to Change Your Life, or sign up for my FREE monthly newsletter at http://www.thrivingthroughchange.com or http://www.directsellingleadershipcenter.com.

One of the things most critical to home business success is defining one’s goals. We are continually reminded to write them on paper, giving ourselves a deadline to meet them, so that we can remain focused on our ultimate dreams.

We need to keep them in front of us at all times in order to maintain the motivation often needed to get us over the rough spots in our businesses.

Wallace Wattles, in his 1910 classic, "The Science of Getting Rich," states:

"You must form a clear and definite mental picture of what you want. You cannot transmit an idea unless you have it yourself….That clear mental picture you must have continually in mind….The more clear and definite you make your picture then, and the more you dwell upon it, bringing out all its delightful details, the stronger your desire will be."

Does this mean that you must spend hours contemplating your ultimate goal? Of course not. It simply means that you need to know just exactly what it is that you want and want it so badly that it will stay in your thoughts.

I’ve personally taken this advice very much to heart. Regardless of what your goals are, it’s possible for you to use this same method to maintain your own focus.

Let me explain.

My ultimate goal is for my husband and I to be able to retire to the area in which I grew up, the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I have a very definite image of what life will be like for us there, and each day I set aside a few minutes to simply close my eyes and dwell on the mental picture of some of the things we’ll be able to enjoy -

I could go on and on, but you get the (mental) picture!

Carrying this one step further, I’ve gathered together some pictures, postcards, and other memorabilia that reflect the overall atmosphere of the area. These items hang on my wall in my office, right in front of me, so that I can have a constant reminder of exactly what it is that I am working toward.

I’m amazed at the effectiveness of these simple techniques!

You can apply these same methods regardless of what your goals are. Even if what you’re working for can’t be quite so clearly defined in words and pictures, you can still benefit from these exercises.

During those few minutes each day that you set aside to form your mental "picture," imagine the feelings that you will have when you have reached your own personal goals. Create an affirmation statement, using your computer and some attractive stationery to print it out. Frame this and place it in your own personal work area so that you will have a constant reminder of what exactly it is that you want to accomplish.

Focus, focus, focus….and your dreams WILL come true!

About The Author

Cathy Bryant has been marketing online since the last century! Let her show you that an old dog CAN learn new tricks - subscribe to her long-running newsletter, the HomeBizJunction Herald, and learn how you too can become successful from home.

http://www.homebizjunction.com

"Would you get into a taxi and tell the cabby, ‘Driver anywhere’?

Would you wander onto the first plane you saw at the gate without bothering to ask where it is flying?

Of course not. Yet it’s amazing how unfocused we can be about the biggest asset we have - our lives.

Goals shouldn’t be blurry, half-baked or fuzzy. Living a deliberate life requires being focused because today you’re living out the choices you are making today.

The more precise, exact, streamlined and specific you are about where you are going, the more powerful your life will be. it’s like painting by numbers in reverse.

First comes the big picture, then the bits that make the big picture complete."

The above are the words of Deborah Shaw and it is as true today as years ago that it was said. Why someone will live his/her without any plan is a mystery that one can hardly decipher. We have always heard that those who fail to plan, are setting themselves up for failure but the issue is that majority of people living think we need not plan or set goals for our lives. They tend to believe that life should be lived anyway it comes.

If you happen to be in this position, you need to wake up from this delusion. Life is just like a computer, it is what you feed into it that you get as the output. A life without plan is destined for doom and misery. If you don’t want your life to fit into this category, then NOW is the time to have a goal for your life. The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are heading. Can you state clearly the direction you are heading this year? Do you know where you are heading in life? In case you are not sure, it is never too late to start planning. If you wish to be useful or happy in life, then you need to have a goal you are pursuing because a man/woman without a definite aim in life can neither be useful nor happy.

Let me end with this quote and I hope you will ponder on it: "More men fail through lack of purpose than through lack of talent." - W. A. Billy Sunday.

This is to your success in 2006.

Adebola Oni

Adebola Oni is the Author of the life-changing book, The Lessons Of Life, available at The Lessons Of Life In case you want to learn how to set effective and compelling goals, you can visit: http://www.the-lessons-of-life.com/goals.htm

From time to time we need to stop during our day to keep our frequency in check. Our frequencies are the ranges of feelings and emotions that we have. Like radio waves, our feelings and emotions vibrate at different frequencies. This is a major part of how we create our reality. And why we need to always be mindful of the frequencies we’re emitting.

Like attracts like and opposites repel. And there is no such thing as coincidence. When something happens to you that seems like a coincidence it’s not. You were just in sync with your vibrations at that time.

You’re at a music store looking for an old CD and right when you’re about to give up you happen to look in a different section for something else. What you find is the CD that you were originally looking for.

If your frequency is low you attract more low frequency events in your life. Remember that there is no such thing as coincidence. For example, you wake up in a bad mood and throughout the day nothing goes right for you. As soon as you get to work, the parking lot is full so you have to park in the garage that’s a block away. Whats worse, it starts pouring down rain and you don’t have an umbrella with you. Okay, that’s a little drastic but you get the point.

We’ve all had those bad days that went from bad to worse every chance it could. But how do you prevent situations like this? Well you need to keep your frequency in check. Remember, like attracts like so if your frequency is low you get more of the same until you change it. You need to pay attention to yourself and realize when your frequency has hit a low point.

Well how do you bring your vibration back up? By changing the station. Frequencies and feelings are like radio waves, if you don’t like whats on then change it. Switch your thoughts and feelings to something that can bring your vibration back up. Find something that makes you feel good. It can be anything that makes you feel good just by thinking about it - favorite memories, favorite songs, favorite people - anything as long as it makes you feel good.

Picture your favorite thought as a different radio station that you can flip to whenever you notice your frequency going down. The same way you would change the station in your car if you didn’t like the song that was playing. It’s as simple as that.

About The Author

Selena Richardson, coach and editor of Creative Possibilities, a free newsletter helping people focus on and reach their goals. Are you ready to create your journey in life? To subscribe, mailto:subscribe@creationjourneys.com or visit the site - http://www.creationjourneys.com for more information on her upcoming courses and on-going workshops.

selena@creationjourneys.com

My Grandma Tauali’i didn’t know how to read or write when she came to this country…which was fine with me, ’cause she knew how to do everything else perfect!!!

She was the best cook, never using recipes, but could taste a dish and know exactly what was in it…she taught me to cook. She could sew and not use a pattern, she would just go to the store, look at a dress, buy some material and the dress would magically appear in a few days…she taught me to sew.

My Grandma Tauali’i raised me exclusively until I was 6, then off and on after that, so naturally I grew up learning the same techniques she used in how to cook, sew, heal, garden and clean.

When it came time for me to get ready for bed, I would want a story. My Grandmother use to tell me wonderful tales of Samoa and when she was growing up, all about her brothers and sisters, stories of how her Grandfather Opapo raised and taught her, it was the most wonderful time in my life.

Sometimes, my Grandmother would try to read a story from a book, because she was slow in reading English, she would sound out the words and I would read and learn along with her. At four years old, I began reading a set of encyclopedias my mother had bought for our house.

My Grandmother started me on my quest for learning.

I just loved to learn, about anything, my Grandmother made such an adventure out of being able to take care of myself.

My father remarried when I was 6 and my stepmother was only 12 years older than me, which was in itself an adventure, but probably more for her.

The highlight of my year was the summer, my Dad would load our little family up and drive us to Idaho, where my stepmother was from. We would end up on a small dairy farm in Eastern Idaho, near a small town called Blackfoot.

My Grandpa Hale was not a demonstrative man, and very quiet, but I loved him so much. In the mornings, he would get me up early, before the sun, and would take me out to milk the cows. I loved it. The milk had this smell as it sat in the bucket cooling off, and the sound of the cows eating and the milk stream hitting the inside of the bucket is something you can never forget. My Grandpa Hale didn’t say much in the mornings, he didn’t have to…I would be chattering away, asking all kinds of questions about cows and why they ate hay and did they liked being milked… you know, just chatter. I knew that after we were done with all the cows and had cleaned up the buckets and such, that Grandpa would stroll into the kitchen, where my Grandma Hale would have pulled out a fresh loaf of bread, some homemade jam, fresh milk and some fruit that she had canned, and we would have breakfast. Fresh milk with bread and maybe some canned cherries, it was the best and would stick with you all day!

Grandpa was a great reader and a funny man in his own rite. He was mainly serious to everyone else, but I thought he was funny. If my Grandpa would swear, I would say, “Grandpa, you can’t say that!”, and he would say, “That’s in the Bible, if it’s good enough for the Lord to say, then it’s good enough for me to say!” He would talk to me about what he read and not in a “little kid talk” but in a normal way so I felt like he was, like me.

My Grandpa Hale use to let me help him in the garden. We would work pulling weeds and he would tell me about all the weeds, where they came from, the plants and where they came from( He was a professor of agriculture at a local university), and I would soak it up like a sponge.

One summer, I spent a lot of time with my Grandpa and Grandma Hale, in the garden and milking cows, that summer was the best! I can still remember it, after all these years. I cut the bottom of my foot that year sliding through a culvert in a canal nearby, the neighbor boy who was a few years older than me had to carry me home to have it dressed.

Grandpa had a grain bin that had lots of mice in it and wild cats everywhere. I use to try to catch the mice or the cats, which ever caught my eye.

When my parents came and told me it was time to go home, I cried forever it seemed. While the grownups visited for a last time in the house, I stayed out by the grain bin, sulking and saying goodbye to my summer retreat.

I dug my fingers deep into the Idaho soil, in an area that no-one would walk on, but an area that I knew my grandpa could see. I knew that that area would get lots of water in the spring and that the dirt was good.

I took the winter wheat from the grain bin and planted there, hoping that in the spring, my Grandpa would see my work. When it came time to finally get in the car and leave, I cried again, I just couldn’t bear to leave my Idaho home. I waved goodbye to my Grandma and Grandpa Hale until I knew they couldn’t see me anymore, and then I slept most of the way back to Illinois.

In the spring, my Grandpa Hale called our house, which he never did. He asked to talk to me, which he just didn’t do. When I got on the phone he said, “I got your message.” “Which one?” I asked.

“The one by the driveway that says ‘I love you Grandpa…is there another one?’”

“Yes, there is one in the garden that says, ‘I love Grandma too’.”

To me, Grandparents have been the pinnacle of my learning experience and the foundation on how I have raised my children. My Grandma Tauali’i taught me how to read and write, cook, sew and heal by taking the time to learn about things with me and teaching me by doing with me.

My Grandpa and Grandma Hale taught me how to survive by teaching me side by side how to do manual labor, talking to me about what they knew and teaching me about life and the great outdoors.

The time that I have spent with my grandparents was the most precious in my life. The elderly have so much to give to us and to our children, if they will and if we as parents will let them. All my grandparents are gone now, but they left so much behind for me to pass on to my children, information you just don’t get anymore.

While we have made “healthy resolutions” this year, we should take the time to make “familial resolutions” this year also, to be able to pass precious information down from generation to generation is priceless and traditional and can never be reproduced by the Internet or a University, and can never produce the “Character” and “Integrity” that a Grandparent or Elderly influence can.

D.S. Epperson is the top formulator for Home Blend Gourmet / South Pacific Health, a leader in the functional food industry in the U.S.. With 20 years of experience in Nutritional Biochemistry, she has written reference books on botanicals and manufacturing of medicines from botanicals, and published articles on health, fitness and foods. She has formulated over 240 formulas and inventions for health, the environment and agricultural uses, and continues to research and study microbial advantages in nutraceuticals and functional foods. For more information or to view the articles that she has written: http://www.sugarblend.com

Like it or not, we are all gladiators. We go to sleep and wake up in a social arena from which there is no escape. Challenge upon challenge confronts us, walls restrain us, and a mob of spectators mocks, sneers, or cheers us. Each and every day brings new battles whether we want them or not and whether we’re up to them or not. Life forces us to face one skirmish after another - no choice in the matter.

What we can choose, though, is which kind of gladiator to be, victor or victim.

Being a victim in this social arena translates into having bad relationships.

Most people are victims - victims of their own perceptions.

That’s because people don’t develop and listen to their own unique, authentic self. Rather they allow their mental spectators - those little tyrants rattling around in their heads - to tell them second by second how to fight their battles, what they can and cannot do. These tyrants applaud and they hiss, they encourage and they discourage.

These mental spectators are the memories of the judgments of real-life people. For example, it’s the memory of your aunt saying, "I hope you marry someone rich, because you’re not going far on brains." It’s the echo of your father growling, "You’ve got a back problem - no spine."

And their influence over your relationships can’t be overestimated.

Millions of people accept the judgments of their mental spectators as the truth and, therefore, the mediocre results that come from believing those judgments.

With so many people living this way, the question becomes, is this the way I have to live? Fortunately, the answer is not unless you want to.

Once you identify your mental spectators - and your interactions with them - you can move beyond victim and assume the role of victor.

What it takes are eight steps for getting command, eight steps you can apply to most any situation you want altered. You can positively influence your relationships, your employment options, any aspect of your life.

Let’s look at the steps.

1. Define What Ails You.
Ask, what’s my problem? Am I a jealous weasel, troubled that others have what I want? Am I ticked off most of the time? Am I sad and whiney? Anxiety ridden? Moody? All of the above? Without this step, you’re doomed. It will take personal courage, but you won’t get results without identifying what ails you.

2. Discover the Effects.
Ask, how are my problems affecting my life? Am I a lousy parent, a friendless dork, a backstabber, a slut, a drunk, a junkie? Am I none of the above, but someone who is less than I could be? This step requires absolute self-honesty, but the truth will help set you free.

3. Seek the Source.
Ask, from where are my problems coming? Who are my real and my mental spectators? What do my mental spectators look like, say, and do? Exactly who or what is keeping me from taking command of my life? This could be one of the most incredible experiences of your life. You will look into the abyss and see who is looking back.

4. Identify Your Role.
Ask, how am I contributing to my problems? What is my responsibility in all this? Did I decide to be a garbage disposal? Do I beat myself to death trying to please others? Do I expect things of myself that are unfair? Do I treat myself as a friend or an enemy? Do I allow my mental spectators to drive me to distraction, depression, anger, anxiety? Recognizing your role in your own problems is a positive - but scary - step toward knowing yourself and gaining personal command.

5. State Your Desires.
Ask, what do I specifically want to do about my problems? Do I want to be a doormat, a slut, a drunk, a friendless geek? Or do I want to rule my mental spectators? Do I want to stand up to a spectator, real or imagined, who puts me down? Do I want to take command of my education, my bank account, my relationships? Until you can actually list your desires in the order of their importance, you will be a victim. However, once you do this, you are on your way to being a victor.

6. Seek Options.
Ask, what are my options, and in what order should I place them? What is the first option I should concentrate on? The second one? The third? If you have a soul-sucking hangover most mornings, you might opt to give up your booze buddies for some real friends. Secondly, take the money you normally spend at bars and deposit it in a college fund for yourself or your kids. If, instead, you’re a workaholic and you want to spend more time with your kids, then DO IT. Very few people on their deathbed have said, "If I could live life all over again, I’d spend more of it at work and less with people I love." Choices are involved here, but by weighing options and alternatives, and then making personal choices, you are taking command. Do this and you’ll begin to gain real power.

7. Learn Winning Techniques.
Ask, how do I rule my real and my mental spectators? Must I collapse in a heap when they point thumbs down? How can I learn to take charge on every level and get a grip on my life? There is no "magic" involved, but you might feel as if there is. Unlike a vanquished gladiator falling at the whim of spectators, you decide your own course.

8. Master Your Relationships.
Ask, what more can I do to master my relationships by strengthening myself and my perceptions? How do I take command right now in developing my own identification and self-worth? Congratulations! You’re working on the one person in the entire world you can work on - YOU! And any improvements in yourself can’t help but enrich your relationships with other people and the world around you.

Although this is only a brief overview of each of the eight steps for jump-starting your relationships and taking control of your life, you’d be amazed at how significant the effects of a few minor adjustments in perception can be.

About The Author

Dr. Hartley is a social psychologist, a scientist, and the author of Tyrants of Self-Concept: Ruling the Rulers, a 122-page ebook that thoroughly describes the eight steps for improving your relationships, taking control of your life, and living the life you want to live. It includes easy-to-relate-to stories, examples, humor, and concrete, practical worksheets and exercises that get results fast. To learn more about how you can apply the steps, go to: www.rulingtherulers.com.

doctorterry@rulingtherulers.com

Almost every book or tape on personal success and achievement outlines the importance of goal setting as a fundamental of achieving success in any endeavour. You simply cannot go somewhere if you do not know where you want to go.

Napoleon Hill outlined the importance of having a “definite purposes” as one of the key factors to achieving success. He said that it is the starting point of all achievement and that it’s lack, is the stumbling block for ninety eight out of every hundred people simply because they never really defined their goals and start towards them. Every great success in any area of life, be it a sport star or a scientist will testify to having a very clear and specific goal. The challenge is that we’ve heard it so often that we tend to fall into the trap of familiarity. Unless you do it and practice it daily you do not know it. You might know of it, but unless you do it you do not know it.

With goals we create the future in advance. With goals we literally create our destiny. We all have goals whether we know it or not. Some people’s goals are to pay their bills or just make it through the day. The problem is that most people just have lousy goals. Lousy goals create a lousy life. Realize that no matter what your goals are, they are affecting your live everyday you live it. We need goals that inspire us. With strong and compelling goals we are driven to grow and expand and develop ourselves towards what we want from and for our lives. Compelling goals have the power to move us. Done properly and specifically goals transform our lives.

A study was done in 1953 at Yale University where they interviewed the graduating class just before they left school. They were asked amongst other things, how many of them had a clearly defined set of goals with a written plan for it’s attainment. Only 3% had a clear plan for their lives with a specific set of goals. In 1973, 20 years later, they went back to interview the surviving class members of 1953 and they found that the 3% that had a set of written down goals seemed more happy, more well adjusted and more excited about their lives. The one very measurable thing was that the 3% were worth more financially than the other 97% combined.

Think of goals as drawing a map: if you know where you are and know where you want to go, even if you do get lost, you will find your ultimate destination, or your destiny. When you set goals, set goals that are way beyond your present abilities and position in life. Describe your ideal life without any inhibitions and as you do this you will get excited and this excitement will start to drive you forward.

In his bestselling personal transformation program, Personal Power II, Tony Robbins urges us to not “get real”, but to “get intelligent”. Where you are today is based on your past experiences. If you limit your future to your past you are not going anywhere. You got to get goals that are big enough to drive you; to excite you and thus drive you forward to where you do want to be instead of just settling for whatever shows up in your life. We need to set goals for how we are going to life our lives in every area. Emotionally, spiritually, physically, financially, our relationships and our attitudes; set goals for the kind of person you are committed to become. Something happens the minute you set goals. You become a creator and something clicks. Immediately you change because immediately your expectations of yourself and your life changes. You acknowledge to both your conscious and subconscious minds that you are not satisfied with where you are.

One of the major motivating factors in human action is that sense of dissatisfaction. In order to direct our lives we need to use both the positive and the negative consequences of goals. Ask yourself what will I gain by attaining my goals? Also ask yourself what will it cost me eventually if I do not achieve my goal?

Pursuing things in life is important for it has the power to move us, but more importantly we need to realize that at the end of our lives it is not the things we accumulated that will matter. What will matter is who we became as a person. Realize that we are not really after any “thing” in life but rather the way we think it will make us feel. You don’t want more money but you do want the way it will make you feel - that feeling of freedom, that sense of security, having the time to do what you want to do ex. Using these feelings we are striving for can help us define the goals you want for our life. It is critically important to know WHY you want something. When it comes to setting goals you should know that purpose is stronger than outcome. Purpose is a reason for attaining something and a reason is a motive for action also known as motivation.

The power of goals is that it directs our focus. Every great success will testify to the power of focus. We get whatever we focus on. In James Allen’s wonderful book As A Man Thinketh he clearly outlines the power of focusing our thoughts on what we do want from life. He says that circumstances does not make the person, but reveals him to himself. We are who and what we are because of the thoughts we harbour. Therefore it is critically important to have goals to direct our thoughts and minds and help us focus on what we desire most for ourselves and our lives. Thoughts are things. As you think so you are and so you will become.

Set your goals, regardless of previous “failures”. Start afresh and do it properly. Come from a place of faith and believe and watch your life soar to greater heights of happiness and fulfilment. Above all, enjoy life for it is a gift and live it with passion. It is all out there. The only thing that is required of you is to go and get it and realize that step one is to have a strong enough goal.

This article is published with the permission of The Self Improvement Gym, a network of website dedicated to helping ordinary people create extraordinary lives and turning their dreams into reality. For more information please visit http://www.TonyRobbinsAudiobooks.com for free e-books, e-zines and other recourses.

According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary "apathy is defined as the following: lack of emotion; lack of interest; indifference".

Wow, that’s pretty depressing. However, look around you. Don’t many of you work with people with this attitude. I don’t, because I run my own business. However, I can remember when I worked for others and how many of the people I worked with fit this description. At that time, I couldn’t understand how they could be that way. While I left corporate America, for my own separate set of reasons, apathy was certainly not one of them.

Unfortunately in the business that Chuck and I run we also see too much apathy. Of course, we get people who show what I like to call "pretend interest". They figure if they pretend an interest in something else, maybe no one will notice their apathetic behavior.

The individuals who pretend an interest in creative real estate will call us, and want us to guarantee that they will succeed (without any effort I might add). NOTE: NO ONE CAN GUARANTEE YOUR SUCCESS BUT YOU. Or they will want to know how quick they can make a million dollars (again, without doing any work). Or, how do I know it will work for me, in my area. As far as their area, creative real estate works in most areas. However, will it work for them, that I can’t answer. They have to decide if they are going to work at it or not, they have to put the effort out. I put effort out every day and get rewarded for it. I realize, however, "if there is no effort, there is no reward". For these individuals, because they are so apathetic about everything, of course it won’t work. They don’t want to work. They are too indifferent.

If you find yourself with the above characteristics, and want to make a change do the following. Find something you have an interest in, that you are not indifferent to, and watch your emotions soar. I am not telling you to quit your job, unless you really want to or need to. Look at your job in a different light or look for something you would like to do, and research it. Find out how you can start it in your spare time, or part time, and build it up so you can get out of where you are. Once you do that you’ll have a new purpose for yourself. Put all of yourself into it, heart and soul.

Don’t let apathy make you say, "I’m not good at anything", "I don’t know what I want to do", etc. These kind of statements are just perpetuating your apathetic behavior.

If it is not your job that is making you apathetic, take a good hard look at yourself, and be honest so you can find out what it is and do something about it. Sometimes it is as easy as finding a new hobby, or doing something special for yourself - dinner, a movie, walking, whatever, will make an enormous difference. If that doesn’t help, go talk to someone on a professional level, but do something to remove the apathetic behavior, and I don’t mean by using "pretend interest".

As Nike is so fond of saying, "Just Do It!"

Copyright 2003 DeFiore Enterprises

About The Author

Interested in having your own successful, home based creative real estate investing business? Chuck and Sue have been helping folks start successful home based businesses for over 17 years, and we can help you too! To see how, visit http://www.homebusinesssolutions.com for the latest FREE tips and tricks, educational products and coaching in creative real estate investing and home based businesses. No time to visit the site? Subscribe to our FREE "how to" Home Business Solutions Digest, it’s like having your own personal coach: mailto:subscribeHBS@homebusinesssolutions.com

coaches@homebusinesssolutions.com

Have you ever really thought about the importance of your values to your success and to self improvement, or even considered what your values really are, or what they really mean to you and your life?

Our values are at the very centre of what we are as people. Our values determine our beliefs about the world and even more importantly, about ourselves. Our beliefs determine our attitude to life in general and everything that happens to us, and determine our expectations. Our values are pretty much our personal philosophy of life.

It is your values that ultimately determine your actions and the decisions you make in every area of your life. If you’re not sure what your values are, one of the best ways to find out is to look at your behaviour and your actions, particularly when you’re faced with a number of options, or under pressure. If you look at the way you have behaved in the past, the choices you have made will give you a pretty accurate indication of your values, as you will always act according to what is most important to you at any time.

Most people have many different values with varying degrees of importance. Their order of priority may change in varying circumstances, but generally there will be some that have the strongest influence over most of our behaviour. The reason you should be aware of your values and know and understand yourself, before setting your goals, is that it’s important that your goals are compatible to your values.

For example, if Dave spends an extra 2 or 3 hours a day on top of his full time job working on opportunities that will help to create a better future for himself and his family, he has decided that this is the most valuable use of his time. He is expressing his most important values. If Jim decides that this time is better spent watching TV or socialising with friends, he is also expressing his most important values.

If you set a goal for yourself to be financially independent and to retire at the age of 50, it’s easy to see which of the above behaviours is most likely to bring about that result. Therefore, there’s little point for anyone who consistently finds themselves behaving more like Jim than Dave setting such a goal for themselves.

This is an example of how values, goals and actions are interconnected.

If your goals are not compatible with your values and overall philosophy on life, you are likely to or spend a lot of time going backwards and forwards, or around in circles, achieving little. You are also likely to create inner conflict and imbalance, and to become frustrated and disillusioned with the whole idea of setting goals.

“Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance." – Brian Tracy

About The Author: Garry Zancanaro is the founder of http://www.SelfImprovementDirectory.com a website dedicated to all aspects of Personal Development, and to helping people live more successful and fulfilling lives. Visit to claim a FREE copy of Napoleon Hill’s classic THINK AND GROW RICH.

Someone has said that the greatest cause of ulcers is mountain-climbing over mole-hills! Is that the way you get your exercise? Many folks allow themselves to be thrown off course by minor or imaginary threats. Often they interpret these as life-or-death, or do-or-die situations. They put so much energy into their worries that there is none available for progress. Some even believe that worrying demonstrates caring. This is misguided, too.

The use you make of your energy is your choice. Simply use it consciously and constructively. Worry is neither.

Bertrand Russell, philosopher and mathematician, tells of a technique he used on himself to calm down his worries and excessive negative excitement: "When some misfortune threatens, consider seriously and deliberately what is the very worst that could possibly happen. Having looked this possible misfortune in the face, give yourself sound reasons for thinking that after all it would be no such very terrible disaster. Such reasons always exist, since at the worst, nothing that happens to oneself has any cosmic importance. When you have looked for some time steadily at the worst possibility and have said to yourself with real conviction, ‘Well, after all, that would not matter so very much,’ you will find that your worry diminishes to a quite extraordinary extent. It may be necessary to repeat the process a few times, but in the end, if you have shirked nothing in facing the worse possible issue, you will find that your worry disappears altogether and is replaced by a kind of exhilaration." Now that seems worth having, doesn’t it? Exhilaration brings energy to push through difficulties and level mountains as well as mole-hills.

This strategy for approaching your concerns can help you to maintain an aggressive, goal-directed, self-determining attitude even in the presence of very real and serious threats and dangers. Denial is not advocated! Positive action is!

Keep It in MIND!

About The Author

Rhoberta Shaler, PhD, speaks, coaches & conducts seminars for organizations who want to motivate their people, and for individuals who want to achieve their dreams. For further articles, free ezines, upcoming teleseminars and booking information, visit http://www.OptimizeLifeNow.com today. For permission to reprint this article, please contact mailto:Jane@OptimizeLifeNow.com

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