Note: This is a guest post from Jake O’Callaghan of Slowchange

Small, simple life changes can be powerful. Implementing some of these changes can literally change your entire life.

How do you change? Take on one change at a time, and go slowly. Implement each change consistently so that it becomes a habit. Don’t do too much too fast.

What follows is a list of changes that are simple, yet incredibly powerful. Some are obvious and some aren’t. I hope they serve as reminders of useful changes.

1. Walk daily

We humans aren’t supposed to be sedentary human beings. We are born to run, but even more so to walk.

Walking every day is good for your physical health. But more importantly, it’s good for your mind. Walking is a joy. You are outside without distractions. You may even see people. And there’s few better ways to boast your mood.

2. Wake early

If you asked me what’s the best change you can make this instance, I would say “wake early.” The early morning is peaceful – there are no interruptions and no noise. You can wakeup and go for a walk. You can meditate. And you can create.

And waking early is the most productive thing I’ve ever done. I often get more work done in a couple hours in the morning than during the entire day.

3. Eat less

Many of us overeat. Let’s stop. Eat slowly, and eat until you’re full. Eat so that your belly doesn’t bulge.

4. Stop watching, start doing

Watching is easy. Anyone can watch someone. Spectating isn’t inherently bad, but I believe we do too much of it. Instead of watching, do something. Or better yet, create something great.

5. Go slowly

Our culture tells us to go fast, to sprint and win the race. Problem is, the race never ends. When you choose to go slowly, you are choosing peace and happiness.

6. Declutter

Clutter whether mental, physical, or virtual takes a toll. The only way to get rid of clutter is to get rid of stuff. Deal with bad thoughts and be done with them. Delete unneeded files. And get rid of unnecessary items.

Then when you feel like adding something, ask yourself if it’s necessary. For the most part, it will just contribute to clutter.

7. Become stronger

There are many ways you can become stronger. You can refuse to back down because of fear. You can stand up for what’s right. And you can become physically stronger.

All do one thing, increase your confidence. Gradually become stronger, and the world will open up.

8. Drink water

Often, I used to feel like crap just because I wasn’t hydrated. Drink water, and it will make you feel better. Soda and most other drinks often make you feel worse.

Drink water and only water (besides maybe some tea or coffee). Drink it with meals and drink it throughout the day.

9. Meditate

The incredible benefits of meditation are well-known. But most people don’t practice it because it seems complicated. The truth is, you don’t need to shave your head, or sit with crossed legs to meditate.

The simplest way to meditate is to just sit and breathe. Focus on your breathe. Or focus on the sounds around you.

10. Let go of expectations

Expectations are completely pointless. Try it for yourself: think of how something will be in advance. Most of the time your expectations aren’t met or are exceeded. Or your expectations create negative results.

Live without expectations, and you won’t be disappointed. You won’t have to worry about things you can’t control. You will just flow and accept things as they are.

11. Live in the moment

The past is yesterday and the future is later. The present is the only time we are truly living.

So instead of analyzing the past or worrying about the future, live in the moment.

12. Forget goals

Goals look nice on paper. They provide order to your life. They aren’t necessarily counter-productive – people have done great things using goals.

However, I think they’re useless. Instead of focusing on a goal, focus on the moment. Do things that you love, and do things well right now. This will get you farther than an arbitrary thing  that you can check off.

13. Focus on what’s important

Too often, I used to let the little things get in the way. Now I forget the trivial and focus on what’s important.

What is important? It’s up to you. Family, writing, reading, and playing soccer are all important to me. I clear away distractions and do the important things.

14. Change things up

A routine can make you a zombie. Instead, change things. Often you will find that a change makes things more exciting.

Don’t be afraid to change things up.

15. Wait before you buy

Often we think we need something, but it ends up in the basement – unused. Before you buy something, wait a month. If you still believe it to be useful, then you can but it.

Understand that every time you purchase something, the cost is more than just monetary. You are taking on this item. You must put it somewhere, you must protect it, and you must maintain it.

16. Stop judging

Judging is easy. It’s also stupid. It’s impossible to fully understand others. You don’t know what they’ve been through.

So why do we judge? It’s harmful to your own peace, and it’s harmful to others.

17. Stop interrupting

Let people finish their sentence. You aren’t in such a hurry that you need to interrupt.

Let people speak. You might learn something.

18. Create

Everyone has something they can add to the world – something they can create. Spend time everyday creating. You are capable of creating something life-changing – even if it only helps one person.

19. Single-task

Multi-tasking is a myth. We can’t multi-task – our brain can only switch between two tasks. So multi-tasking is actually less productive; not to mention stressful.

Instead, focus on a single task. Move on when it’s finished.

20. Play

We are too serious. Laugh and goof off sometimes. Forget being judged, and let loose.

We aren’t so different from children – only we try to hide our play. Forget maturity. Forget working for now. Play. Enjoy life.

Jake O’Callaghan is passionate about teaching and helping people change. Slowchange (slowchange.net) is his blog on making simple, lasting change. zenteen (zenteen.net) is a blog he created to help teens simplify and deal with the crazy teenage life.

Photo by Per Ola Wiberg

Note: This is a guest post from Timo Kiander of TimoKiander.com

Our daily life is full of unproductive habits and rituals that we execute – whether on a conscious or unconscious level. This makes us less efficient and productive than we could potentially be.

Obviously, just listing some avoidable habits is not enough. Because of this, I encourage you to check out Donald’s article on how to break bad habits. It gives a good foundation on how to actually start changing your habits from bad to good.

Here are 17 unproductive habits that you should let go:

1. Consuming the information you don’t need

Unsubscribe from as many mailing lists as you can. This way you can cut down the amount of incoming e-mails and prevent distraction.

Also, stop watching news. If there is an event that is newsworthy, it will catch you anyway (mostly by other people).

2. Letting others to run your life

Steve Jobs said it right: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”

You are the master of your life and it is a shame if you live your life by pleasing others.

Naturally, it is wise to listen for advice from other people every now and then. However, ignore those people who say you can’t reach your dreams, it is impossible to do something or that your vision is foolish.

In your heart you know that it is not true.

3. Reinventing the wheel

Before you start working on your task or project, prevent reinventing the wheel.

Spend some time on research to find out if there are already solutions that help you to complete your task faster.

4. Being perfect

Although striving for perfection may be a noble principle for some, it is still a huge time and energy waster.

Instead of spending too much time on tweaking something, create a checklist to go through on your finalization phase. When you realize that all the items on your list are checked, you can finish your work and move on.

Not only are you relieved of your accomplishment, you will also give room for your brain to focus on other things instead.

5. Letting television to overrun your passion

When television is preventing you to take action on your passion, maybe it is time to rethink your priorities.

Save your TV show to your digital set-top box for later viewing instead. If you do this operation a couple of times you will form a new success habit – working on your passion first and watching television second.

6. Multitasking

Stop working on multiple tasks at once. You are spreading your focus and effort on too many places at once. Although you might be able to proceed on many fronts at once, it is still a very slow and error-prone way of working.

Instead, when you focus solely on one task, you get all the work done much faster. You can put your mind fully to that task, complete it fully and move to the next task.

7. Neglecting your body

You should take utmost care of your body. Feed it nutritious food, keep it fit by exercising on a regular basis and give it enough sleep.

When doing these the quality of your life rises considerably, you feel good and in some cases you are able to prevent some diseases to break out. Also, your energy levels are higher and you are more productive.

8. Promising too much

Control your “yeses”. If you feel you have too much on your plate, be selfish and just say no! You have a right to decline from requests presented to you. Don’t feel bad about saying no.

If another person has a right to ask something from you, you have an equal right to say no.

9. Reacting to every distraction that comes along

The number of distractions has grown radically over the last few years. The main problem is that you are expected to be reachable all the time.

When you are distracted, it causes unnecessary stress and makes you procrastinate on your work.

Instead of being reachable, shut down the communication devices when you want to concentrate on your work. If this means shutting down your phone or even taking the network cable out of your computer, then do it. This way you can cut down your temptations to be distracted too easily.

10. Thinking that the more the better

More is not necessarily better. In fact, in many cases the quality beats the quantity.

Strive for mastering or focusing just the few, but not everything. For example, this could be focusing on just a subset of your clients that bring most of your results or mastering one skill well rather than trying to be good on 12 different things.

Focusing on the things that bring the biggest rewards is a good strategy to be used your in life.

11. Being late on appointments

Stop wasting time of other people. Not only are you giving a bad image out of yourself, you are also showing that you ignore the other person’s timetables completely.

Adjust your own schedule to, for example, 15 minutes earlier, so that you keep the appointment without any delay.

12. Staying quiet when you should ask

When you are stuck and you are not able to move forward with your task, speak up!

It’s not silly to ask a question if you don’t know – rather, the person who doesn’t ask for help is silly.

13. Starting a task but not finishing

Too many people start a task and never finish it. Understandably the task may get postponed sometimes because of the reasons that are not dependent of you. But in majority times this is not the case and it is your responsibility to finish the task.

Make a plan on how to tackle the task: Break it into smaller pieces and execute your plan on a daily basis. Eventually you realize that the task is done and you feel very good about yourself!

14. Working tired

When you work tired, you are not able to focus on your work as well as if you were fully refreshed.

If you feel tired, ponder yourself if you get enough sleep at night and adjust your sleeping time accordingly.

Also, you can take a quick 15-20 minute nap to refresh yourself. Powernap is a great way to restart your day.

15. Waiting others to take action

Sometimes the only way to get something done is to do it yourself. If you are waiting others to take action on your behalf, you get disappointed because most probably nothing gets done.

Take initiative, put your ideas into action and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

16. Failing to admit mistakes and learning from them

Everybody makes mistakes. However, some people learn from their mistakes, while other people complain and never see any positive sides in those situations.

Use mistakes as a feedback and learning mechanism to improve your action further.

17. Fixing the symptom instead of the root cause

When you have a flat tire on your bicycle, you have two options to handle the situation.

You can either pump air to the tire so that you can ride your bike for a while – until the tire is flat again. On the other hand, you can change the tire to an intact one once – and stop wasting time on pumping air to a flat one on a recurring basis.

Strive for fixing the root cause instead of just fixing the symptom. It may take more time, but fixing the symptoms will most likely to take even more time.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are lots of habits on our daily lives that could be improved or replaced with a better one.

If there is a one single area to focus on this list, it is definitely the item #7. When you make your body feel good on all three levels (nutrition, exercise and sleep), it is much easier to change other parts of your life too.

Just take one unproductive habit, crush it and then move on to the next one.

Timo Kiander is an online business productivity and time management enthusiast who blogs at http://www.timokiander.com. Visit his blog and grab the free e-book: “101 Tips For Becoming a Productivity Superstar”.

Photo by King

Note: This is  a guest post from Madison Sonnier of Journey of a Soul Searcher

One important way to achieve mental stability and contentment is to have a good balance of work and play in your life. It is not good to be either over-worked or under-worked. Most people never take the time to just breathe and relax after a long day of stress. A person can rest much easier at night if they get things done and still have time to spend with their family or with themselves.

I have come up with ten simple ways to relax and reflect after a long day of productivity. Everyone should be rewarded for working hard. Coming home to these ideas is a good way to end your day on the right note.

1. Cook your or your family’s favorite meal. Take the time to prepare some good comfort food for you and your family. Be sure to sit down and enjoy it with them as well. Preparing your favorite food and sitting down to eat it with your family is a good way to set stress aside and enjoy the company of the people you love the most.

2. Read. I’m the type of person who almost always has a book to read. I finish one and then start on another one. If you’ve been wanting to get back into that good book you’ve been reading, take a little time each day to do that. Curl up in your happy place, whether it be on the couch with your pet, by the fire, in your cozy bed, or outside on the patio. Escape from your world and into the world of the book you’re reading.

3. Take a walk. Go for a walk in your neighborhood or in your favorite part of town. Taking a walk clears your head and gives you time to reflect on your day. It’s also a good way to get some exercise in, which is good for both your mental and physical health.

4. Play with your pet. Unless you have a goldfish or something, your pet will love to spend quality time with you. Take some time at the end of the day to show your pet some love. Pull out their favorite toy, take them for a walk, or teach them a new trick. Your pets will feel loved and happy and so will you. And if you do have a fish, then simply enjoy watching it swim around for a few minutes. It’s surprisingly relaxing!

5. Meditate. If you are good at meditating, find time to do it every day. It re-charges your mind and helps you become more relaxed and focused.

6. Go for a joy ride. There is nothing wrong with driving with no place to go. Roll your windows down, turn your music up, and just drive around town for a few minutes. It is not a waste of gas if you enjoy the ride and the quality time with yourself.

7. Watch a movie. Rent that movie you’ve been dying to see or find a movie on television. Watching a movie lets you unwind and take a break for a couple of hours.

8. Write in a journal. Writing in a journal helps you sort out and make sense of whatever it is that you’re feeling. If you feel stressed, angry, sad, or confused, write it down and get it out in front of you. It’s a great way to empty out all the negative feelings and thoughts.

9. Create a goal sheet or a bucket list. If you’re the type of person who can never sit still, why not spend your free time writing out new goals to accomplish? It will give you something to work on and look forward to.

10. Watch the sun go down. Watching the sky turn beautiful colors as the sun goes down is very calming and peaceful. Imagine that the sun is your stress or worries. Any problem you may have had that day is slowly sinking down into the earth to rest for the night. The day is coming to an end. Let it all go.

These are great and simple ways to step back and allow yourself to re-charge after a long day. It’s always good to have balance in your life. If you work too hard, you burn out. If you don’t work hard enough, you come up empty. End each day on a good note by taking time to enjoy some of the simplest and most beautiful things that life has to offer.

Madison Sonnier is an aspiring writer aiming to help people think positively, have hope, and become more in tune with what they really want out of life. You can follow her blog at http://journeyofasoulsearcher.blogspot.com/

Photo by Per Ola Wiberg

Note: This is a guest post from Alex Mangini of Life Notion

I’m going to be honest with you: one of the most difficult things about doing any kind of work is finding the motivation to keep going and get what needs to get done, done.

And not just for the sake of accomplishing something, but to actually do a good job of it.

And I’ll let you in on a little secret that may take some guilt off your conscience:

Each and every one of us has given up on something, or hasn’t completed a task to our fullest potential.

Generally, this is because we don’t have an interest in what we’re doing (like homework, or chores). When’s the last time you were told to do something you absolutely did not want to do, but did anyway? Was it fun? Wouldn’t you rather be doing something else? But most importantly: did you do what you were asked to your fullest potential?

Incredibly enough, doing things you don’t enjoy is not what will ultimately kill your overall productivity. And it’s not even the “flaw” I was referring to at the beginning of this article.

As a matter of fact, millions of people go to a job they dislike every day and get their work done. Whether it’s flipping burgers or filing papers all day — the productivity is there and people are getting things done.

So what is truly, the #1 biggest killer of productivity, and the one flaw in your seemingly perfect workflow?

Not Knowing What to Do Next

I don’t know how many times I’ve been working on a new project or doing chores around the house, and then suddenly have it all come to a screeching halt because I don’t know what to do next.

It’s kind of like being stuck in a conversation with your friends and having nothing to say because you don’t understand what the heck they’re talking about.

So what’s the easiest solution to this problem? The easiest thing to do would be to curl up in a ball and not worry about work. But since you’ve read this far, you’re obviously not the type of person to just sit around and let things happen. You’re ready to take action and work hard to improve yourself.

I admire that a lot, so I’m going to share with you a few things I do to always keep myself busy, and know what I have to do next.

1. Always Be Prepared for the Worst

When you try committing yourself to your work, it’s easy to get distracted by the world around you and stray away from what’s important.

I do feel that if you’re doing work that stresses you out, a distraction is actually good for you at 1-5 minute intervals. Just to keep you calm and take the stress off your mind for a little bit. Then it’s back to work.

But if you find that you’re getting too distracted by Facebook or you can’t stop eyeing the pretty girl at the coffee shop you’re working from — it’s time to get rid of them and start eyeing what’s most important to you: getting the job at hand done.

2. Be Proud of Your Work

Nothing is as satisfying as looking back at what you’ve accomplished at the end of the day and feeling good about it. It not only makes you feel great, but it gets you absolutely pumped up to get back to work as soon as possible.

So don’t be afraid to gloat or show off your work every once in a while. Even if you’re not one to brag about your accomplishments, you should be telling yourself this one thing at the end of each day:

I’m happy with what I accomplished today, and know that I did it all to the best of my abilities.

Be proud of your work, and have great respect for everything you do. No one else can do the same thing as you, and that alone commands respect greater than anything else.

3. Don’t Go to Bed Without a New Plan

This is just as important, and something I try to work at every day.

Before I go to bed, I will put some thought into what I’ve done that day, and figure out how I can build upon all that work. Or, I think of new things I need to get done tomorrow.

This is helpful because it allows me to get straight to work without ever thinking twice and wasting valuable time sitting at my desk and staring off into space.

I would also recommend writing down a little schedule, or keep a small to-do list of things you want to do. If you can maintain a list and actually do the things on it, you will be golden.

Don’t Waste Your Potential

Each and every day, you have the opportunity to do something amazing.

Don’t let this one thing; this one stupid thing hold you back from creating and doing something great.

Know what you need to do, know how you do it, and most importantly — do it. Then, know what to do next, and do that too.

Alex Mangini is an 18 year old web designer and blogger. He’s the founder of Life Notion, where he helps people discover their passion and live the life of their dreams. He thinks you should check it out right now.

Photo by seier+seier

Note: This is a guest post from Lior Levine of Producteev

No matter how much you love your job, there are times when your work motivation is just going to bottom out. There can be any number of reasons for this but the important thing is that it does happen to everyone at some stage. If you follow the simple tips I’m sharing here, you can regain your motivation and achieve a new sense of drive that you’ve been sorely missing:

1. Be Honest With Yourself

Admit that you’re lacking motivation and that you need to do something about it. Honesty is always, always the best policy.

2. Why Are You Here?

It’s easy to feel like a small cog in a big machine at times so you’ll need to remind yourself of your importance to the big picture within the company. Those reports you’re generating might not seem important to you but they’re part of a decision making process within the company that can affect the growth of the company as a whole. Realize your own importance each day.

3. Who Are You Doing This For?

Are you working to support your family, your parents or to slowly build you career? Whatever it was that motivated you to take that job in the first place, put a reminder of it somewhere on your desk or in your “pod”. You now have a daily affirmation of why you do what you do.

4. Read Motivational Books

It might sound silly but reading a good motivation book can really light a fire under you again. Here are some of my personal favourites and even one of them can have a dramatic impact on your “feel good” factor when it comes to work motivation:

• How To Win Friends and Influence People
• Fish – Improve Morale and Boost Results
• The Power of Positive Thinking

5. Avoid Negative Co-Workers

One of the biggest drains on your motivation is being surrounded by negative people. If you feel drained after listening to these people then there’s a problem. Ask for a desk reassignment and explain why in the nicest possible terms.

6. Motivational Posters

Okay this might be a little bit clichéd and there’s a whole web based industry that makes fun of them but a motivational poster or message that you can see each day isn’t a bad idea at all. After all you’re better off being surrounded by positive messages than negative ones right? Being cynical is easy – having faith in something takes work.

7. Talk

If you feel that you’re struggling with your motivation then talk to your trusted co-workers or even to your boss – if they’re open to that type of conversation. Most companies want you to be happy and productive and are more than willing to help you get back on track.

8. Office Gossip

Avoid, avoid, avoid office gossip as much as you can. This is usually churned up by people with nothing better to do than distract you from where you need to be – with your eye on what you’re doing. Office gossip serves no purpose, is extremely damaging and that same person will probably be gossiping about you tomorrow, next week or next month.

9. Walk Away From It

If you’re struggling with a specific work problem or project then don’t just bang your head against a wall about it – “walk away” from it for an hour or two and come back to it. That short break will give your mind a chance to come up with the solution to the problem you need solved – the human mind is a wonderful problem solver once you give it a chance.

10. Check Your Posture

Do you sit slouched over your desk in despair each day? This is completely the wrong physiological signal to be giving your body. If you adopt a depressed and demotivated posture your emotions are going to follow suit. Try sitting up straight and watch how it changes your mood almost instantly.

11. Drink Water

It’s amazing how often dehydration can leave you feeling drained, lethargic and lacking inspiration. The human body is 80% water so it needs to be topped up each day. Drinking a few glasses of clean water per day can leave you feeling more energized than you’d believe – it’s your fuel so use it.

12. Start As You Mean To Finish

You wake up in the morning and stub your toe. Then you get toothpaste on your tie. Then the car won’t start. Great, another one of “those days”. You’ve now set your emotional state for the entire day and you’ll almost enjoy watching things getting worse – it’s proof that you’re right.

Your emotional state can be changed in a moment though by looking at a picture of your kids, your favourite pet or just checking out a motivational video (if that’s allowed in your workplace). For me the video that fires me up every single time and puts a smile on my face is “Where the hell is Matt?” I challenge you not to feel 150% uplifted by it!

You are what you believe you are. Never forget that.

This post is written by Lior Levine, an online marketing consultant for a task management tool company, and who also advises for a psd to html service provider.

Photo by striatic

Keep at it until you get lucky. Isn’t it good advice? It’s concise but there is a lot of truth to it. It clearly describes the nature of success and what you need to do to achieve it.

I read about it in a post by J.A. Konrath. While the post itself is about self-publishing, I believe that the advice applies to other fields as well. If you want to succeed in something, you need to keep at it until you get lucky.

My own experiences confirm this advice. Let’s take a closer look at some elements of the advice:

1. Luck plays a role

This is an important nature of success. Some people may not like it and think that they can control everything. But the truth is, luck does play a role. In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell gives us some good examples of it.

So if you have worked hard and still haven’t succeeded, that’s fine. Don’t get discouraged or disappointed. You just haven’t got lucky yet. On the other hand, if you are successful then don’t be proud. You might not be as smart as you think you are.

2. Persistence increases your chance

While luck does play a role, it’ doesn’t mean that you can’t do anything about it. You can increase your chance by being persistence.

For example, let’s say you flip a coin and you call heads. But the coin comes up tails. So what can you do to make heads comes up? Well, you just need to keep flipping the coin. If you do that, there is a good chance that heads will eventually come up.

Similarly, just because you don’t succeed in your first try doesn’t mean that you’re doomed forever. Just keep at it. With persistence, chance is on your side.

3. Do what you believe in

Being persistent is easier said than done. It’s not easy to keep at it in the face of failure. That’s why it’s important that you do something you believe in. Only by doing so can you keep at it even in bad situations.

So follow your heart. Is it something you truly believe in? Or perhaps you are in it just for the money or other external rewards?

In addition to helping you be persistent, there is another big benefit of following your heart: inner fulfillment and personal satisfaction. They are even more important than money or fame.

Be careful though: there is  a difference between being persistent and being stubborn. If your heart says yes and you keep at it, you are being persistent. But if your heart says no and you keep at it, you are just being stubborn.

4. Learn along the way

“Keep at it” doesn’t mean just doing the same thing over and over again until you succeed. Einstein famously said that doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results is insanity. So don’t do that. Instead, you should always improve yourself so that you can do it better next time. That way you have a good reason to expect a different result.

So, if you want to succeed in something, give it your best effort. Learn from your mistakes. Repeat.

For updates and interesting links, please follow me on Twitter.

Photo by JD Hancock

Note: This is a guest post from Geoff Peart, M.Ed. of My Social Upgrade

Last week I was at the grocery store when my three-year old toddler asked, “Daddy, I want that chocolate ice cream.” I suppose it was more a demand than a question. When I refused to put the chocolate ice cream in our cart, he quickly turned up his volume by about 100 decibels, and made his demand again. The last thing I wanted was to create a scene at the grocery store, so I gave in and placed the ice cream in the cart. He was very persuasive.

If you’re not a toddler, then screaming at the top of your lungs would probably not be very effective. But whether you want to admit it, we persuade people on a daily basis. In fact, we have to persuade people quite often to get what we want. I want you to read this article, so I started out with a relatable anecdote about persuasion to get you hooked. Did it persuade you to continue reading? If you want to upgrade your own persuasion skills, keep reading!

Stand in Their Shoes

You cannot persuade someone until you truly understand them. This is often over-looked. Don’t assume that you know what they want. Try to look at the issue from their perspective – not yours. Talk about how your request will benefit them and their goals, not yours. And don’t be afraid to simply ask what the other person is looking for. Ask what it would take to sway them.

Everyone has needs and wants. And those needs come in all shapes and sizes; primarily emotional, physical, material, and psychological. Are they looking for material gain and wealth? Do they just want to feel less stressed? When it comes to job satisfaction, you would expect that the average worker would care most about salary. Surprisingly, recent studies indicated that receiving appreciation was rated as much more important.

In addition, everyone has overt and covert needs and wants. They may express that they desire a nicer car – but they may really just want to feel more liked by their peers. Don’t ignore their underlying needs. People will rarely state their underlying needs – in fact, many needs are locked away in the subconscious. Luckily humans are very similar and have similar underlying needs. We all want to be liked, appreciated, less stressed, etc.

People Desire to Remain Consistent

There is a famous psychological concept called the Consistency Principle. Keep this in mind when persuading someone. Essentially it states that people prefer to remain consistent with their beliefs, feelings and actions.

Does your request take them off of their path? Are you asking them to be inconsistent with how they view themselves? If you’re trying to persuade someone who doesn’t gamble, that they should buy a flight to Vegas, you’re going to be asking them to veer off of their normal path.

Your best bet is to frame your request as something that keeps them on their path. Maybe they think of themselves as a techno-geek; so bring up how Vegas has a big techno convention coming up.

They Need to Like You

Liking and trust go hand-in-hand. If they like you, they’ll be more likely to trust you and what you have to say. And if they think you have many things in common, even better. If you demonstrate that you have some similarities, they’ll more likely assume that you understand them and their needs.

Don’t hesitate to subtly point out what you have in common. Do you know that they like the Detroit Lions too? Work into the conversation some interesting fact or news about the Lions. Do you see a diploma from MSU on their wall? Bring up something you know about MSU (it would be even better if you actually attended that school!).

Study their body language and preferences (this works well in interviews too). Are they more casual in dress or behavior? Are they leaning back in their chair or are they sitting up with perfect posture? Subtly mimic what they do and they’ll subconsciously view you as more like them. Do they prefer serious conversation or playful conversation? You get the idea.

Can They Trust You?

There are many ways of earning their trust. Make sure they know your credentials. Make sure they are aware of your experience or knowledge (without bragging).

A subtle trick to earning trust is by letting them in on private information. By disclosing some private information, they may be more likely to let you in on some inside information as well. Even if they do not return the favor, they will trust you more for showing them what was “behind the curtain.”

For example, you can say statements like, “Look, I’ll be honest with you, I’m just trying to meet my quota for this month…” or “Listen, usually we can’t do this, but I’ll offer ____ if you make your decision today.”

Telling someone that you are trying to sell them something can be more effective than you realize. People appreciate honesty. This works in the dating scene as well – one of the best lines for meeting someone at a bar is to avoid pick up lines and simply say something like, “Hi, I just wanted to meet you…I could buy you a drink or say something witty, but I figured I would just say hi.”

Use the Conformity Principle

This is another famous psychological principle. We are social beings and prefer to follow others than to go against the grain. Following others is easier, safer, and feels more natural for most people. There are thousands of studies on this fascinating principle if you want to learn more. One of my favorite experiments involved a bunch of hired actors who would ride an elevator and wait for someone to step inside. After a few seconds, all the actors would turn around and face the wall behind them. Almost every time, the innocent test subject would turn around too!

Use this principle to your advantage. By bringing up how others have agreed to your proposal, you will be more likely to persuade. Just remember, people are more likely to follow those who are similar to them. If you tell a CEO that all the call center representatives are doing it, the CEO may not care.

Play to Win – Together

Persuasion shouldn’t be as much about winning a battle as it is about winning together. Successful persuasion occurs when both sides are happy. Look for the option that benefits everyone if you can. Never do something that may turn sour for the other person because you may cross paths again in the future.

Geoff Peart, M.Ed., is the author of the blog, www.mysocialupgrade.com, where people can learn more about how to improve their social skills and improve their lives. All of the content is free and updated weekly. Geoff is constantly searching for the secrets of good conversation and welcomes any feedback.

Photo by Astragony

“Chance favors the prepared mind.”
Louis Pasteur

Do you agree with the quote above? I definitely do. Instead of believing in pure luck, I believe that luck is what happens when opportunities come to those who are prepared for them.

To increase your “luck factor”, there are two things you should do:

1. Prepare yourself for opportunities so that you can take advantage of them when they come.
2. Put yourself in a position that makes it easier for opportunities to come.

While both of them are important, I think the first one is more important. Why? Because what makes the difference is whether or not you can take advantage of the opportunities. What’s the use of getting a lot of opportunities if you can’t take advantage of them?

So, because the first point is more important, I will focus on it here.

Preparation Takes Time

There is one important characteristic of preparation that you must understand: it takes time. You can’t prepare for something big overnight. In fact, bigger opportunities require bigger preparation. Just think about the level of preparation it takes to go to the Olympics. Those who want to go to the Olympics must prepare themselves for years, often from an early age.

That’s why it’s important that you prepare for future opportunities. Don’t wait until they come before you start preparing for them. It would have been too late by then. Prepare yourself early and you will be ready by the time they come.

Three Ways to Prepare Yourself

Here are three ways to prepare yourself for future opportunities:

1. Be curious

Curiosity makes you eager to know more about the world out there. If you are curious, you won’t be satisfied with what you already know. You will want to know more. As a result, you will see more potential opportunities.

It’s like being in a building with windows. The more windows the building has, the more you can see what’s out there.

2. Educate yourself

When you find something interesting, start educating yourself about it. Don’t worry if you can’t do anything about it right now. Remember, you are preparing for the future.

In my case, there are a few things I’m interested in which I still can’t work on at the moment. So what I do is I educate myself about them.

For example, I have a dream that someday I might have a game studio. As I wrote in Eight Random Things About Me, I often wrote simple games when I learned computer programming. Who knows, perhaps I could have my own game studio someday. While that might still be years away, I start educating myself about it so that I would be ready when the opportunity came.

So educate yourself in whatever it is that you find interesting. Read blogs, subscribe to magazines, watch videos, read books. Build a “prepared mind” that luck favors.

3. Build an “opportunity fund”

Warren Buffet makes sure that Berkshire Hathaway has at least $10 billion in cash in reserves. Why? So that when the opportunity comes for an attractive deal, Berkshire can immediately act on it. If they didn’t have the money, the opportunity could be gone forever.

Similarly, you should prepare an “opportunity fund.” Prepare certain amount of money that you can use to take advantage of the opportunities that come your way. Don’t let opportunities slip by just because you don’t have the cash to act on it.

***

So that’s how you prepare yourself for future opportunities. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Prepare yourself early and years from now people will be amazed at how “lucky” you are.

Photo by Nicholas_T

Note: This is a guest post from Peter G. James Sinclair of Motivational Memo

‘Subtraction is distraction.’ Ben Sinclair

My son sent me a text the other day – as he knows how much I love the use of rhyme in many of my writings.

Here are just a few of my originals: How To Once & For All Detonate Procrastinate, The Fate Of Imitate, How To Turn Your Bitterness Into Betterness, Cleanliness Is Next To Wealthiness, Self Analysis Combats Self Paralysis, and there will always be more…

So the one he sent through to me was ‘subtraction is distraction’. The reason he came up with this was that he was having trouble on this particular day maintaining focus, and was finding himself easily distracted.

I’m grateful for that distraction, because he provided me sufficient fodder to feed you with yet another life changing and life-challenging article.

1. Subtraction is Distraction

To be distracted is to be pulled off course. It is to be pushed from your purpose. It can culminate in the blurring of focus. It can be the dulling of your dream.

But all in all, distraction will halt your progress forward, and if you let it overtake your life you could find yourself in no-man’s land.

This is the place where dreams are buried, visions vanish, passions are pierced, and ways are lost.

The only true lifesaver in this sea of stagnation is focus itself.

To help with the maintenance of focus I have personally found that there is one system that has sustained me in both performance and production like no other system has.

I call it my 6-Point Consistent Productivity System.

1. I take a blank sheet of paper at the end of each business day and I write the numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6 down the left hand side of that page.
2. I then write next to them the six tasks that will move my life, my business or my career forward.
3. I then prioritize that list of 6 from the most important to the least important.
4. I then do the list and complete one task fully before moving on to the next by applying concentrated effort.
5. Once completed I strike it off my list.
6. If at the end of the day any tasks are incomplete I simply transfer it to a fresh list in preparation for the following day.

This effectively subtracts distraction’s power over my life.

2. Addition Is Attraction

I have learnt how to become a magnet.

The first thing I do is to make certain that I speak only good and prosperous words.

I guard my mouth with an intensity that desires nothing but a good life. I am familiar with the law called the law of sowing and reaping, and having my own vegetable garden, this firmly entrenches that understanding in my mind.

When you plant a bean seed you get a bean plant. A lettuces seed will produce a lettuce plant. A tomato seed will produce a tomato plant.

So if you plant good words you will get a good life. Prosperous words will create a prosperous life. Healthy words will lead to a healthy life.

The more I give, the more I receive. Like begets like.

I talk good things, expect good things, anticipate good results, see the good in others, and I become one who attracts good opportunities and possibilities.

These are all added to me effortlessly as I make it my daily habit to add goodness to the lives of others.

3. Multiplication Is Satisfaction

Growth is a natural state. Exponential growth is more acceptable.

Why be satisfied with addition when multiplication can be initiated in your life? It has a lot to do with expectation. What do you expect?

• Do you expect to struggle, or do you expect to conquer?
• Do you expect to lose, or do you expect to win?
• Do you expect good returns for effort expended, or great returns?
• Do you have a small vision, or do you have a mind-expanding vision?
• Are you willing to fail more than others, or are you going to quit after only one failure?
• Do you have a ‘learning’ mindset, or a ‘quitting’ mindset?
• Do you delegate to a team who can support you in your multiplied efforts?
• Do you apply the multiplication principle where ‘One will set a thousand to flight, whilst two will set ten thousand to flight’?
• Are you a lone ranger or a team player?

Therein lie the satisfaction and the multiplication.

4. Division Is Benefaction

When it comes to the meaning of benefaction we are told that it means among other things, ‘the act of doing good, help given, contribution of assistance, and the act of conferring.’

Many, when facing the enormity of the vision for their life or a particular project go weak at the knees. They are overwhelmed and engulfed by fear. They are robbed of the opportunity of seeing their dreams come to pass.

But as someone once told me – that the answer to the question, ‘How do you eat an elephant?’ is simply, ‘One bite at a time.’

By dividing a large goal or project into bite size chunks, on a daily basis, a weekly basis, on a monthly basis, or on a 90-day basis, you will find yourself empowered to achieve the BIG – little by little by little by little – all the way to success – so that you can truly be the recipient of the benefaction bestowed upon you.

Conclusion

To daily use subtraction, addition, multiplication and division in your life it will equate to a beautiful after-math – your calculated life revealed.

So what distraction are you going to destroy in your life this week?

Peter G. James Sinclair is in the ‘heart to heart’ resuscitation business and inspires, motivates and equips others to be all that they’ve been created to become. Receive your free copy of his latest eBook Personal Success Blueprint at – http://www.motivationalmemo.com and add him on Twitter @PeterGJSinclair – today!

Photo by Edgar Dacosta

Note: This is a guest post from Nate Klemp, PhD, of LifeBeyondLogic.com

The American Philosopher Henry David Thoreau mastered the art of break taking. For him, the world of work was like a prison. “This world is a place of business,” he insisted. “It is nothing but work, work, work.”

Breaks were his path to freedom. Without them, life lost its value. “If I should sell both my forenoons and afternoons to society,” he said, “I am sure that for me there would be nothing left to live for.”

But break taking is not only good for our souls. Strangely enough, it’s also good for productivity and work. If my mind is well rested, I can do four hours worth of work in an hour. If my mind is tired, even the most trivial tasks take significant time and effort.

By mastering the art of break taking, you can maximize productivity and minimize the strain of work. Here are four types of breaks to help you do this:

1. Micro-Breaking

How often do you find yourself sitting at your desk waiting for a file to download, an email to send, or a live person to answer your call? In these moments, our natural reaction is frustration and anger. But see what happens if you shift your experience of them. See if you can use them as micro-breaks – as momentary pauses for reenergizing your mind and body.

Breathing is one of my favorite ways to spend my micro-breaks. Instead of watching impatiently as your file downloads, bring your attention to your inhales and exhales. See if you can lengthen and smooth out the quality of your breath.

Stretching is another great tool. Use these momentary pauses to shake out and stretch your neck, arms, and shoulders.

2. Mental Rebooting

Do you ever get that feeling of mental sluggishness? Most of us try to push through it. But here’s the thing. The work we produce in this state tends to be sloppy, second rate. And what’s worse, the more we push, the more we drain our mental and physical energy.

So I’m a big fan of the mental reboot. To do this, I recommend exercise. It might be a quick walk, yoga class, run, or bike ride. These short periods of physical exertion reenergize the mind and body. They ensure that when you go back to sitting in front of your computer, your creative juices are flowing.

3. Sunset Breaks

These days, almost everyone seems to work crazy hours both in and out of the office. Even when we’re at home or out to dinner with friends, we may feel an irresistible temptation to check email and answer calls. In these moments, our bodies may be at home or at a restaurant, but our mind is still back at the office.

So see if you can create several work-free hours at the end of each day. Your work-fast might start at sunset or maybe you can only afford to break for an hour before bed. These intentional evening breaks give your body and mind a chance to wind down. They help your system prepare for sleep and recharge for the day ahead.

4. Macro-Breaks

In my experience, small breaks during the day and in the evening have powerful effects. They allow you to live well while also working productively. But these smaller breaks are not enough. Every month or so, your system needs more time to rebuild, refresh, and reenergize.

To do this, I recommend taking occasional macro-breaks – full weekends or even weeks away from work. You might think that these breaks take away from productivity. A week off work means a week with no tangible value-added. But these longer breaks have a number of beneficial effects:

• They give your body and mind an opportunity to reenergize, ensuring that when you go back to work, you bring your A-game.
• They give you distance and perspective. Longer breaks take you out of the details of work-place drama and can help you see the bigger picture. While taking one of these breaks you might find that the solution to one of your most difficult challenges at work comes to you out of nowhere, in a matter of seconds.
• These breaks are good for maximizing productivity. But let’s not forget their most important benefit. They allow you to spend time with friends and family, to explore new activities and new places, and to have fun.

***

If you choose to experiment with these four types of breaks, you may find that your boss or co-workers see your new work style as lazy or unproductive. Most of them live in the world of “work, work, work.” But let your productivity and creativity prove them wrong. Soon, they’ll see that your weekend getaways, lunchtime yoga classes, and one-minute micro-breaks are what make you such a rock star at work.

I would love to know what you think. Have you experimented with this kind of break taking? What keeps you from taking more breaks?

Nate Klemp, PhD is a professor at Pepperdine University. He founded LifeBeyondLogic.com, a website dedicated to exploring philosophy as an art of living. You can follow him on Twitter @LifeBeyondLogic and on Facebook. Download a free copy of his new ebook, Finding Reality: Thoreau’s Lessons for Life in the Digital Age.

Photo by Zach Dischner