For many years in my life, I fell into the trap of thinking that if I search externally, my purpose would come to me. It began during my junior year of college, when I saw most of my peers preparing themselves for interviews with consulting firms with the hopes of landing a summer internship, which would then convert into a full-time offer before senior year. I thought that consulting was a good option based on its popularity on campus, in addition to how the consulting firms marketed themselves, “Consulting is like a continuation of your liberal arts degree. You’ll get a breadth of experiences across sectors and you’ll get a depth of knowledge by diving into each of your projects.” At the beginning of my senior year, I landed a full-time offer as a consultant and I was over the moon! As a first-generation, low-income college graduate from an immigrant family, I was going to make more money than my parents and achieve upward mobility. However, it didn’t take long for the excitement to wear off when I discovered the monotony of my job. A year and a half later, I left my job and shortly afterwards, I took a sabbatical to work in Italy for a few months. I had very high expectations for my sabbatical – I very much believed that working abroad, being surrounded by different people and living in a new environment would lead me to, one day, wake up and magically know my purpose. Spoiler alert: It didn’t! Although, I will say, the experience helped me realize what I enjoy, what I don’t enjoy and that my problems/existential questions will follow me, wherever I go, even if I’m halfway across the world. With these experiences, I’ve learned that uncovering our purpose is more about turning inward – tuning into our inner guidance, something that is always available to us, if we’re able to quiet our minds and listen. I’ve also come to realize that our purpose encompasses much more than just our careers. Living our purpose means living intentionally – engaging in meaningful and worthwhile pursuits, both in and outside of work. When we can contribute to those around us in ways that feel true to us, we are then able to feel a deep sense of contentment and fulfillment that is hard to find elsewhere. When you have a moment to access that quiet space within you, I invite you to reflect on the following questions to uncover your purpose: 1. WHO do you admire?When you admire people, it’s usually because they embody certain qualities. Whatever qualities you see in the people you admire are qualities that already exist within you. Perhaps they just need to be given some attention and cultivated so that you feel like you are embodying those same qualities in your everyday life. 2. WHAT makes you happy?Go and do the things that make you feel happy! (Even if it feels like you’re not being “productive.”) When we let our minds rest and feel happier, new ways of thinking are available to us. For example: I love being out in nature. One day, I went on a solo 2+ hour walk on a trail without listening to podcasts/music, which didn’t seem very “productive.” However, it was during this walk that all these ideas for my business popped up. 3. WHERE are you?We are a product of our environments. When I was in a small town in India, it was so easy for me to relax and take each moment as it came because the people around me had a similar approach to life. However, if you asked me to embody this way of being in New York City, I’d have a much harder time because New Yorkers are always on the go. So, what this question is getting at is – are you surrounding yourself with people who support your dreams and aspirations? Are you in an environment that is conducive for you to reflect deeply and dream big. 4. WHEN were you happiest and WHEN were you most angry?The first question will enable you to see the values that were being honored when you were happiest and the second question will enable you to see the values that were violated when you were most angry. Both questions will inform you of the values that you hold dear to your heart and when you’re aware of those values, you can use them as a guiding light any time you make a decision.
5. WHY do you do the things that you do?Be honest with yourself. For example: Why did I choose to go into consulting? I went into consulting because I thought that it was the “right” path due to the fact that:
However, had I been more honest with myself, I would’ve realized that what I cared more about than fitting in, having a variety of experiences and making good money was helping people. I did eventually come to that realization so when I was looking for another job, the main question became, “What are the job opportunities that will allow me to help people?” “The answers you seek are inside of you.” May you give them the time and space to come forth. from https://addicted2success.com/life/the-5-questions-to-ask-yourself-to-uncover-your-purpose/
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On the journey to becoming successful, you will likely receive a lot of opinions about the best path to take. But how can you tell the difference between good and bad success advice? It’s an important question to ask, because it’s easy to be misled if you’re not guided by reliable sources. Here are five questions you should ask whenever you receive advice about life and success: 1. Who is giving the advice?Perhaps the most important question to ask when you receive advice is: “What is the background and track record of the person speaking to me?” Sometimes people have the attitude of “do as I say, not as I do”, i.e., they don’t even follow their own advice. When picking a mentor, you should look for someone who has actually followed the course of action they recommend to others, and has experienced good results. Too often, people who say one thing while doing another, have ulterior motives and may just be trying to make a quick profit. It’s also worth asking if the person giving the advice has ever done anything close to what you’re trying to do. People can have good intentions, but sometimes they will provide misleading information or unknowingly discourage you just because they have no experience in that area themselves. The most reliable advice comes from those who have achieved verifiable results and have documented the process to show others how it can be done.
2. Does it encompass every aspect of life?Advice that can truly make you successful touches every aspect of life, not just finances. Good advice encourages a holistic approach to personal development, and aims to make you a better person, inside and out. For example, any advice that involves compromising your health in order to work more and make more money, is fundamentally flawed. How can you enjoy the fruits of your labour if you’re sick and exhausted? You’ll feel more fulfilled in life when your success involves loving and helping others. As you strive to become financially stable and get your dream job, you should also strive to improve your relationships with others, and develop close bonds with your family and friends. If someone tells you that you should abandon everything to focus on yourself 24/7, that’s a glaring indication of bad advice. 3. Does it push me outside of my comfort zone?There are some popular phrases just as “you are perfect the way you are”, and “if it’s for you, it’ll come to you” that have sadly been misleading millions of people. You’ll hurt your progress if you think that everything will automatically fall into place, without any input on your part. You have to put the work in. That’s the reality of life. When you talk to successful business people, you’ll hear stories of inspiring dedication and how they often poured blood, sweat, and tears into their business before it took off. Success is not handed to you on a silver platter. You’ll have to push yourself out of your comfort zone to reach or maintain good results. To reach your goals, you’ll have to break down barriers and build human capital. For example, if you’re a naturally shy person, you might need to learn public speaking in order to connect with potential business partners. If you want to start a website, you might need to learn how to code, or spend countless hours studying online marketing. Abundant knowledge is there for the taking, but you still have to reach out for it. Good advice is not always what you want to hear, but it will help you reach your full potential. 4. Are other people successfully following this advice?Now it’s time to find case studies. You will need to do your research and find other people who have followed and benefited from the advice you’ve received. After all, if it works, there will be other successful examples. When you find others who are also following the advice, it can be very reassuring. It helps you to see that your dream can be a reality, because it has become a reality for many other people. This can also be an encouraging reminder on those days where progress is slow and you might be feeling lost. You may also be able to get support and additional tips when you speak with individuals who have already accomplished what you’re trying to do.
5. Does it work in the long-term?Imagine the future: five, ten, twenty years from now. Will the advice you’re receiving work then, or is it short-sighted? Of course, advice related to specific technology and tactical strategies is designed for immediate application. But there’s also evergreen advice – advice that worked for your grandparents, and will work for your grandchildren. Take, for example, the concepts of saving instead of spending all your money, and diversifying risk instead of putting all your eggs in one basket. This type of advice never gets outdated because they’re based on timeless principles. Any advice that’s supposed to be followed indefinitely, should really work indefinitely. So whenever you receive advice, you should consider whether it’s based on impulse and desperation, or whether it will truly stand the test of time. By examining a range of factors, you can strengthen your perception and make decisions based on solid advice. Even if you don’t have much experience, you can use the above criteria to analyze the advice you receive in life. As you do your research, you’ll be able to stay clear of false information, while taking advantage of wise words that can guide you on the path to success. from https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/5-questions-you-should-ask-when-receiving-success-advice/ Three years ago, I wrote down 100 goals in my journal. It was harder than I thought it would be. Among these riveting goals that my young brain came up with were “Go to Coachella,” “Climb Everest,” and “Cook with Gordon Ramsay.” Absolutely riveting, I know. Despite these brainless entries, I did come up with a few goals that shaped my life today. I wrote “Go to the Philippines” in my journal–I now live in the Philippines full-time. I wrote “Start a Youtube channel” as well, and now I have a bustling channel with 140,000 subscribers. The fact is, writing down 100 goals for my life three years ago gave me incredible direction. Given how much this simple exercise has helped me, I’m certain it can also help you, the reader. Here’s how to perform the “100 goals” experiment yourself:1. Writing Down Your First 20 Goals Is EasyGot a pen? Good. Got a piece of paper? Now we’re talking. Write out your first twenty numbers and get going on filling them with goals. Truthfully writing out your first twenty goals will be very easy. You likely know exactly what you want to do, right? Some big goals might be to buy a house, get married, start a side-hustle, learn how to speak Spanish, and other various things. Get those first twenty goals out and then brace for the worst case of writer’s block you could possibly imagine.
2. How To Write Down Your Next 80 GoalsWhen you have writer’s block during this exercise, it’s likely because you’re being too picky. “Cook with Gordon Ramsay” is an absolutely ludicrous goal of mine, however I still wrote it, right? I wrote it because I was trying to get out of my own way. I trained myself to write absolutely anything that came into my mind. I don’t care if one of your goals is to go play professional soccer and you’re currently 50 years old. Write it down. I don’t care if your goal is essentially impossible. Write it down. This will help you get the exercise done. Here’s a list of my personal goals that I wrote down three years ago…
Out of these first ten goals, I’ve already done four of them. The problem is I have another 90+ goals on this list that I’m far from accomplishing. You may be feeling a little overwhelmed here. You might be saying to yourself, there’s no way I’ll ever get to visit the Pyramids or get elected to public office. Those thoughts may come to your mind. Banish them immediately. It’s normal to get those thoughts, but tell them to go away for just twenty minutes while you write your goals down. 3. Break Up Your Goals By These 5 CategoriesFor one, break down your goals based on five different categories: Work, Relationships, Location, House, and Hobbies. Let’s take a look at some of my goals for a second… Go on a road trip out West with my Dad. That’s relationships. Go to Europe. That’s a location. Run a marathon. That’s more or less a hobby or like a leisure activity. Work on a movie set. That’s work. When you’re writing down these goals and you’re at a loss for what goals to write down next, just think in terms of category. Think about a few goals you can add to your “relationships” stockpile, or a few goals you can add to your “house” stockpile. For instance, I want to build a house in beautiful Bohol, Philippines. I want to have a brick oven in my home, too. These could be categorized under a “home” goal. You can add categories if you wish, too. I saw someone write down “Faith” as one of theirs, so get creative–your list doesn’t need to revolve around the five categories I’ve mentioned here.
4. Your Life Will Magically Follow Some Of These 100 GoalsThree years later, I’ve found my life has almost magically followed my 100 goals. So far, just three years later, I’ve accomplished sixteen of them. I’m convinced that simply listing down what you want in a journal can act as a sort of cosmic hand influencing you and pointing you in the right direction. You’ll subconsciously work towards many of your goals without knowing it. Now, to be honest, many of my initial 100 goals are ones I’ll never accomplish. I have no desire to work on a film set right now, and living in San Francisco? That’s where rent prices are some of the highest in the world. What was I thinking? You won’t bowl a strike every time writing down your goals, but that’s not the objective. The objective is to drain your brain of every goal you might ever want. It’s a 100 goal exercise on purpose–it’s hard to write down that many at one time. Once you do, though, you best believe that every desire you’ve ever had is likely right in front of your face. You’ll be looking at a roadmap for your life, and that’s a pretty amazing gift to give yourself. What’s one of your main goals you’d like to accomplish in the following year? Share it with us below!from https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/why-you-should-write-down-100-goals-for-2021-and-beyond/ As an aspiring entrepreneur, business owner, or working professional, you don’t need a lot. You don’t have to come from money or have a million dollars to build your business. That’s part of the hype that most people assume. What does matter is having the mindset to get started. So, start by asking yourself questions to lead to building a solid foundation. You are your foundation and it starts with you. 1. Who am I?If you want to be successful, you must be willing to do the inner work and take a long, deep look inside to know yourself. You’re not what society or school told you who you were. You must look deeper than that. What do I like doing in my spare time? What are my core values? Who do I want to work with? What am I trying to achieve? What are my personal goals? How am I going to change the world for the better? Ask yourself these questions to better connect with yourself and learn how you’re most inclined to serve others. 2. Who can I serve?Once you’ve established a solid internal foundation, you can now move onto the outside world and see how you can help with your skills. The world around you is a reflection of your inner world, and by knowing yourself, you can start to know how your strengths can serve others. Business isn’t about selling to everyone… if you sell to everyone, you are selling to no one. So, who is your ideal client? What knowledge or expertise do you have that will solve their problems? Why are they going to choose you over a sea of other qualified candidates? How are you going to connect with them so they can trust you? You must get deep and personal with yourself before you know how you can serve other people. 3. What are my top strengths?Everyone is born with certain natural talents and aptitudes. Some people are introverts, and others are extroverts. There is no right or wrong answer; it’s a matter of who you are at your core. It’s being honest with yourself and knowing how you can best serve others. This is why it’s best to be honest with yourself. When you’re honest with yourself, it translates to you being honest with others. This relates to the first question. So here is where we can take it a step further: Do you like writing? If so, then you could be a copywriter, email marketer, editor, or content writer for a big company, or even your own. Are you analytical and strategy oriented? You could become an SEO professional or market research analyst. Do you have natural photography and video editing skills? Digital marketing has a major demand for video editing skills. Quality video plays a major role in marketing efforts, so video editing skills will always be in high demand.
4. Where is my ideal client located?Once you know your personal why and who you choose to serve, you can then perform your client research process. With millions of people using the internet to establish their presence, you have access to a number of potential contacts looking to connect with other business professionals. Social media is used for business nowadays with marketing efforts, so taking a look at companies and people you want to work with on social media is a great first step. If you want to serve customers, social listening is also a good strategy as well. You have to think strategically like the customer. Social apps like Reddit, Quora, Yahoo reviews, and Google Business let your customers do the talking for you. You can also interview your ideal client to build rapport and gain more insight into their wants and desires. 5. Do I have the right systems in place to run a business?Running a business not only requires strategy and stamina, but do you have the right systems in place to keep organized when things get busy? Most things are available online. Which email service provider are you going to use for your email marketing strategy? Which web hosting service will you use for your site? What am I going to outsource? Who can I outsource specific tasks to? Those are a few of the many questions you must have answers for to get started on your business. After all, failure to plan is planning to fail. By having systems in place and knowing which tools you want to use, you can prevent most startup mishaps by being prepared.
6. Which mediums can I use to reach my clients?So many people have an abundance of talent but unfortunately, may not know or have been taught how to channel it into business strategy. But with the proper research and knowledge, you can overcome this obstacle by studying market research. Currently, most business professionals utilize the LinkedIn platform to connect with like-minded professionals in their niche. This gives you the power to put yourself out there and connect with people in your industry. Facebook is also a place to connect with other like-minded business professionals, as well as create specific groups and communities of those who share similar interests and values. 7. Are you ready to be the CEO of your life?The final and most important question, is are you ready to be the CEO of your own life? As an entrepreneur and independent professional, you must take charge and be fully responsible for your life. Now, I’m not about to say you have to wake up at 5am. What works for some people may not work for everyone. Being the CEO of your own life is knowing what works best for you and maximizing your full potential. So, you must be honest with yourself and ask yourself these questions to know yourself and who you can serve to change the world. You must also have confidence within yourself and know what you have to do to become successful. What do you believe is the most important characteristic to become successful? Share your thoughts with us below!from https://addicted2success.com/entrepreneur-profile/7-questions-aspiring-entrepreneurs-must-ask-to-become-successful/ “Fire your boss. Follow your passion. Own your time.” These statements, inspiring on one hand, are capable of luring many away from working a regular 9-5 job to becoming entrepreneurs. Statistics show that 6 out of 10 employees are fully dissatisfied with their jobs. Reasons vary from having a terrible boss to inadequate compensation to lack of interest. This makes entrepreneurship an attractive alternative instead of working for someone else. However, starting a business is not all rosy. Having a Great Idea Doesn’t Qualify You To be a Successful EntrepreneurYes, I said it! And not just me. Steve Jobs said “Ideas are worth nothing unless executed; They are just a multiplier, execution is worth millions.” All the great entrepreneurs you hear of today didn’t get there because of the sheer brilliance of their ideas. They had to put in the work. Many people actually get confused at the difference between having an entrepreneurial mindset and being an entrepreneur. Those are two different things because having an entrepreneurial mindset means you are visionary. You have great ideas and can think outside the box. It also means you are willing to take risks to reach a goal. You tend to go beyond your job description to get things done. You are able to see how actions tie into the business outcome and channel your energies accordingly. Being an entrepreneur, and a successful one, is a different ball game entirely. It is being a business owner. One who runs all the moving parts of a business successfully. It requires some very strong attributes which are critical if your business will not just survive but thrive.
Here are the three things you must know/do before starting a business:1. Conduct A Proper SWOT AnalysisYou need to conduct reality checks for both you as an individual and the business you want to start. SWOT is an acronym that stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Conducting a SWOT analysis will help you understand the business field you want to go into as well as what your advantages are. This can help you develop a strong business strategy that places you in the top percentile. Your strengths could be your knowledge, background, education, network, skills, or location. A question to ask yourself here is, “what competitive advantage do I have over other players in the industry?” Weaknesses are reflective of the areas where your business is not favorably matched to other competitors. You need to know them so you can have a developmental plan to eliminate these weaknesses. Opportunities are external positive factors that offer reasons why your business can/will flourish. Exploring these opportunities can help you stand out even in a crowded marketplace. Threats are negative influences that often are beyond your control but can affect the sustainability of your business. To be forewarned they say, is to be forearmed. Another critical aspect of a reality check is a personal psychometric assessment as an entrepreneur. The result of an entrepreneur’s psychometric test will show a summary of the individual’s strength of the characteristics they already have as well as areas where they need improvement. This is so they can have a successful entrepreneurial career. Attributes tested include passion, creativity, ability to take control, industriousness, knowledge/experience and pursuit of achievement. There are different tools that aid this kind of assessment. The result is not to discourage anyone from starting a business. Rather it offers insight as to what your personal strengths are and you can then make a decision as to how to proceed with your business goal. 2. A Roadmap for Getting Seen (or Getting Clients!)Clients are the lifeline of every business. Without clients, you just have an expensive hobby. What is your plan for visibility? That is, apart from hounding family and friends. Some people actually are great at what they do, but suck at convincing others to pay for their expertise. Too many newbie entrepreneurs start a business and get stuck because they don’t have any clients and are trying every possible way to get leads both online and offline. This is not the time to run around trying different strategies. You might need to hire a business coach or get into a business mastermind to see what is working for others. You will find out what works for you, but you need to get out there. The internet has made it a little easier by offering different platforms where you can share your knowledge and grow a community of people who know, like and trust you. Another quick method I always share with my clients is for them to explore sharing their message or expertise on other people’s platforms. When you have a solution, you are able to create valuable content for the specific audience you want to serve. You naturally show up as an authority and build your own audience from being featured.
3. Low Hanging Fruits – Results! Results! Results!People are more comfortable trusting a business that others have experienced. It is the belief that if you’ve been able to achieve one result, then it can be replicated. What that means for you as a prospective business owner is that you need to quickly prove your idea and record results as fast as you can. You cannot begin to think about a fancy website, business funnels and the whole works, when you haven’t tested your idea. It will be folly to think of quitting your job in this case. It doesn’t matter what kind of business you want to start, you can always start small. Get a client, do the work, then get a testimonial. This person can get you referrals and then you begin to scale from there. When your income from your business has matched or surpassed your 9-5 job then you can resign. This might be an unpopular opinion but it is valid. Your bills won’t wait because you’re starting a business, and you still need to eat. While you think of investing to grow the business on a large scale, do the work to get guaranteed results in the interim. Working your regular job can become an unpleasant chore especially when your heart is lit with the dream of running your own business. Take the time to prepare adequately and you can guarantee that your business will not be among the statistics of businesses that fail in the first 5 years. Have you ever thought of being an entrepreneur, or are you already an entrepreneur? Share your stories with us below!from https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/dont-dump-your-boss-to-start-a-business-without-doing-these-3-things/ There are many upsides to this interconnected, technologically driven world we live in today. We’re able to quickly and easily connect with people, literally, across the world. Business has become more globalized, and learning has never been more accessible or easy. However, there are some downsides to our world as it is today also. There’s one in particular that I think is becoming a bigger and bigger issue by the day, and that is people losing themselves. You might be wondering what I mean when I say “losing themselves” so let me explain. Now, more than ever before, people are being influenced by outside forces through things like social media. And because of that, we’ve fallen into a culture of comparison, where everyone is seeking to be like those they look up to. The problem is, in the process of doing that, people are creating lives they don’t truly enjoy and are void of true happiness and fulfillment. Lives that are out of alignment with their core values. That’s the reason why you see trends like the number of millionaires going up every single day, while the rate of depression rises alongside it. The good news is, it’s possible to find and reconnect with yourself again. If you’ve ever dealt with that feeling of being unhappy and disconnected from the life you want to be living, keep reading to learn four strategies to find yourself again:1. Ask those who know you bestThere are very few, if any, resources in this life that are greater than relationships. A life well lived is one filled with deep, meaningful relationships. One of the benefits of having those sorts of relationships is being able to have people to go to with things like finding yourself again. When we go down this rabbit hole of change and transformation in the wrong direction, it becomes difficult to pull ourselves out on our own. That’s where those key relationships come in handy. The first strategy for finding yourself again is to ask the people who know you best. These people tend to know the “real” you. They can give you insights into some of the parts of yourself that may have gotten buried under all the junk that got piled on over the years. Asking those who know you best questions about your strengths, values, and purpose in life can go a long way in helping you rediscover who you are, what you value, and what you were put on this earth to do.
2. Get off social mediaLike I mentioned above, social media is such an amazing tool that has so many wonderful aspects to it. But, it can also be prime real estate for an identity complex and someone really getting disconnected from themselves. The comparison that comes from constant engagement and use of social media is a breeding ground for insecurities and/or lust of wanting to be like someone else or have their life. So, you can probably guess where I’m going with this, but a great way to reconnect with yourself is to get off of social media. Think about it like this, if you were an alcoholic, you wouldn’t hang out in bars hoping to kick your addiction. At least not if you had high hopes of being successful. Well, if you’re struggling with feeling disconnected and are frequently on social media, maybe a good detox is in order. It’s estimated that the average adult spends 150 plus minutes a day on social media. If you had that extra time to do the other strategies on this list, imagine how much good that would do you in finding yourself again. 3. Get into natureIf you’re feeling lost and disconnected, a great way to find yourself is to just slow down, be still, and go inward to reconnect with your thoughts and feelings. The problem is, we live in a hustle and bustle society that glorifies being busy. And since most people live that way, finding time to be still, get quiet, and go within for answers seems impossible. For most people, long gone are the days of having a quiet space for themselves to completely disconnect without distractions. That’s why the next great strategy for finding yourself is getting into nature. Sometimes in life we’ve got to force ourselves to go to great lengths in order to get what we want. Well, if still and quiet in order to reconnect is what you’re seeking, there isn’t a much better place to find it than out in nature. I don’t know about you, but I can’t recall the last time I was in the middle of nowhere and had great WiFi, cars whizzing by, or social media and tv’s to fill my head with nonsense. So much of creating a desired result in life is about intention. Getting yourself out into nature and away from the distractions of the world shows that you’re serious about creating the space necessary to find yourself again.
4. Attend a personal growth conference or seminarOkay, this may be the coach coming out in me, but I truly do believe that a great place to reconnect with yourself is at a personal growth conference or seminar. And I’ll tell you why. If you’ve ever been to one of these events, you know that the primary intention is to help people overcome some sort of obstacle in their lives or get to a new level. There are two great things about these events: 1. Being able to explore your deeper desires, and 2. Being around and connecting with like minded people. Not only do personal growth events inspire you, but they also present an opportunity for you to do some deep work on yourself and your life. That’s why you hear people talk about walking away from these types of events feeling “transformed.” It’s because they were able to engage in personal growth work that they probably weren’t making time for outside of that sort of setting. To be clear, these types of events aren’t a “quick fix” type of thing, and shouldn’t be relied upon to fix all your issues. But, they do present a forum for you to detach from your current reality and gain some new perspective on life. Plus, personal growth events offer great opportunities for connection. And, even better than that, connection with the right kinds of people. People who are all on a journey of personal growth and discovery. Relationships with the right people can be so catalytic in you finding yourself again, and you’ll be able to find those sorts of connections at personal growth events. Putting it all togetherLet’s be honest, having that feeling of disconnection from yourself sucks. It’s not a fun place to be. But, the good news is that there are steps that you can take when you’re feeling that way, to find yourself again. If you do the four things I mentioned above, asking those closest to you, getting off of social media, getting into nature, and attending personal growth events, you’ll find it much easier to reconnect with who you are and get yourself back on track in life. What advice do you have for people who are struggling to reconnect with who they truly are and getting back on track in life? Share your advice below!from https://addicted2success.com/life/4-ways-to-find-yourself-again/ Money is a cultural obsession. Whether we accept it openly or just silently nod, money is central to our life. Not in a binary sort of way, where when someone likes money, they don’t care about other virtues in life or if they never talk about money, it must make them a saint. But money as means to an end; A channel that takes you to a better place than where you were 12 months ago. As an input to your growth and a resource for creating an enriched life. I grew up with a scarcity mentality believing that I had to relentlessly work until retirement and save enough money. This thinking underscored pretty much all the decisions I made in life. Decision fatigue before deciding how much to spend and what to spend it on – Expensive trainers to Peloton – and immense guilt for not using the purchase enough. This spin cycle calcified my growth for years. Over the years I transformed my relationship with money. I am sharing 3 timeless principles that can help you re-evaluate your relationship with money. 1. Trade money to buy timeOur lives are busy and despite the pandemic, our to-lists are still as long. This makes time a premium commodity. Pick anything you are working on – a project report, a side hustle, designing a house, producing a song – often, it always takes up more time than we budgeted. Can we buy back time? The goal here is to buy time back so you can use that time to nurture your priorities, creative pursuits or micro-goals for the day. I like to keep things in the realm of a day as that keeps things bite-sized and more relatable. A 16-hour day can soon get chipped away with various things that come our way. Some of these things are on our to-do list and we know will need our attention but then there are a whole lot of unexpected things that pop up and hog our time like unexpected calls, emails, social media. All these things slowly add up & before you realize, an hour is gone. So, if you start with the assumption that some unknown things will surely come up and allocate time for them, that makes a great starting point. You could look at the last week and assess how much time those things consumed. That helps you get into a pro-active mode. Start with the weekly unexpected ratio and your accuracy at predicting it will get sharper by the week.
2. Find the source for the way you thinkThe relationship we have towards money is based on the behaviours we saw when we were growing up. How our parents, our role models and that favourite loopy uncle engaged with the topic of money. Was money discussed at all over dinner, whether it was scarce or in surplus? Or whether money often had to be borrowed or was lent to a friend or relatives? Was the lent money ever asked to be returned? These are just a few shades of how we sub-consciously end up absorbing money-conversations. Not just that we also absorb the emotions, the reactions & the statements that got spoken and lo & behold, they become our rules of engagement with money. But not all viewpoints may fit into the architecture of our thinking process and ultimately our life. So, it becomes very important to pause & check about who you are taking money advice from. Money is not an isolated topic but underscores the type of life we live, the books we read, the adventures we make and whether the tip we leave in a café is accompanied with a smile or a friendly wave. If you don’t like the way money undergirds your life decisions, then ask yourself the question – how did you come to think this way? This question often takes you closer to the source of where the thinking took shape and that gives you the choice on whether you want to change your relationship with money or not.
3. Cost versus valueOver the years I started asking the question, “what value do I get from spending a certain amount?” Value = which problem of mine will get resolved. Cost = the actual dollars I dish out. All this while I looked at things from a perspective of the dollar amount, I was paying. And the size of that figure was usually the deciding factor if it was a go or no-go. You could argue that ‘value’ is the degree of improvement you get in your life. Would I pay almost 60% more for a pair of earphones, (not a fan of the cordless ones) because they don’t tangle up each time & travel well? Would I bother saving $100 on the best phone or laptop, something that I will use every day for a few years at least? Will I think twice about helping a friend’s fund-raiser? Not a chance. Value is something that solves my problem and improves my life. I see it as removing irritants so I can stop jacking around and get on to things like working towards my goals or increasing my downtime. Our relationship with money is lifelong. Re-hash it on your terms. from https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/3-principles-to-help-you-transform-your-relationship-with-money/ While it’s in our nature to want to improve and achieve our goals, what often stops us from getting there, is a lack of understanding of how we operate as individuals. Luckily for us, thanks to the latest discoveries in neuroscience (the science that studies the brain), we can learn how to train our brain more effectively to live healthier, more productive, and inspired lives. Part of that training resides in the creation of better habits which is nothing more than a systematic repetition of desired actions. The problem with picking up good habits is that we often experience a gap between our desired intentions and actual outcomes and this is mainly due to a lack of alignment in our brain. Our brain is divided into 3 main parts (the rational, emotional, and instinctive) and while they all serve their function, they often disagree with each other creating an internal tension that leads us to poor results. The good news is we can learn how habits are formed and with the right mindset, knowledge, and patience, we can let go of bad ones and build good ones. According to behavioral expert BJ Fogg, habits are formed around three elements: cue, routine, and reward, the so-called “habit loop”. Cue – This refers to the initial trigger motivating our desired behavior, and it can either come from our external environment (ex. phone notification) or from our internal environment (ex the desire to plan our day). Routine – This refers to the action required to perform our desired habit, whether that is deciding to read more or stop mindlessly scrolling on social media. Reward – This is the most enjoyable part and is what motivates our brain to perform the behavior. As human beings, we are hardwired to seek pleasure and avoid pain and so when we align our desired behavior with a great reward, we are much more likely to pursue it. Rewards can be tangible (receiving money), or intangible (getting recognized by a friend) but what matters most, is to choose ones aligned to our wellbeing and personal growth. Rewarding yourself with 2 slices of cheesecake every time you succeed in going to the gym, is a clear step in the wrong direction. The key to building healthier habits is in playing around with the routine and reward to find the combination that works best. There are several studies trying to demonstrate how long it takes to build a habit, and while there is no exact number, the one thing needed is a continuous repetition of effort.
Putting the habit loop into practiceLet’s say you want to read Addicted 2 Success 5 times a week. Now that you are clear on the outcome, it’s time to understand the nature of the reward. To make the most of this step, you must dig deep to explore the WHY of you wanting to read Addicted 2 Success. Other than a desire to be well informed, you could be driven by a fear of missing out or by the aspiration of starting a blog. While there is no right answer, the more reasons you can come up with, the more your brain will put a value on this activity and identify it as a motivating experience. Willpower is undoubtedly important, but so is setting up your environment for success. If you are planning on reading from a browser, closing all other tabs or putting your phone away are simple techniques to resist any form of temptation and distraction. Next, identify the cue. What could be the trigger driving you to consider this new habit? Maybe it’s whenever you are having a low moment, but if you want to “win easily”, try directly time-boxing it in your calendar. As you can imagine, the second approach which is more proactive, will significantly increase your chances of completion. And if you want to take it to the next level, focus on practicing the so-called “if-then technique”. In this case, you could say “if it’s 7 pm on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday then I will read Addicted 2 Success”. By taking this approach, not only are you avoiding tapping into your precious willpower but also creating a stronger connection between the situation(if) and the action I want to take (then). Want to know how this simple trick can increase your chances of success? In one study, 91% of people who used an if-then plan stuck to an exercise program versus 39% of non-planners!
Now it’s time to play around with the reward. My suggestion is to focus on intrinsic rewards such as tracking the number of articles or time you spent reading as when we rely solely on extrinsic rewards that bring us immediate gratification (ex. validation, unhealthy food),we might succeed in forming the habit but not in growing as people. As with all great things in life, growth only happens at the end of our comfort zone, but with the right knowledge, you can accelerate that process. from https://addicted2success.com/life/how-to-build-better-habits-with-3-practical-steps/ As an entrepreneur, you might not be able to find time to read books with your busy lifestyle. In such cases, audiobooks can be a wonderful replacement. You can get the knowledge from a book without spending as much time reading it. All you need to do to listen to an audiobook is just find a peaceful place, plug in your earphones, and get ready for eternal knowledge. In this busy lifestyle, you might not be able to carry a book everywhere you go but when you listen to audiobooks, there are a lot more books in your reach. If you are an entrepreneur or an aspiring entrepreneur, reading books can give you a lot of knowledge about entrepreneurship. If you want to design a life you imagine to live, the below mentioned books will lead you there. In case you are already an entrepreneur, these books will allow you to know the thoughts and ideas of some of the best entrepreneurs of all time. You can learn a lot more from their experience than you can ever learn by any other source. 1. The $100 startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future By Chris GuillebeauThe $100 startup can be a very useful book if you are just starting a new business or website. This book focuses on starting a side hustle or either a full-time job or business on the basis of your skill. It has many inspiring examples of people that made brilliant companies out of their passion. In case you know all the information about how much money a side hustle can make, but don’t have a thought on which way to go to make your dreams come to life, then this book will be the best for you. 2. The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon By Brad StoneAmazon is one beast of a company. It is reshaping ecommerce around the globe. The other big companies are outshining amazon when it comes to press and attention, but amazon is just going through the crowd like a silent killer. This book will make you understand how much hard work and determination goes into experiencing such immense wealth in the end. Listening to this will get you familiar with the inner work as well as founding stories and the problems the company and its founder faced. Listening to this book will definitely motivate you to keep going especially if you are going through a tough time in your business. The struggles that amazon went through to reach this point will definitely spark hope in you as well to keep going.
3. The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses By Eric RiesYou can just take this book to be your startup bible. It provides all sorts of information about the intelligent and amazing processes of operating your side hustle or business. It takes you through how to find product-market fit fast and also gives you the key tips to be successful in your business or company. Spoiler alert: one of the first things the book focuses on is the user and how to make a product that meets the customers’ requirements and expectations. 4. Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street By John BrooksIf a book is Bill Gates favourite business book, there is nothing wrong in trying it out and learning as much as possible from it. This book is a work of magic that has 12 amazing stories of entrepreneurs which will give you countless lessons to learn in each and every aspect of business. The stories discussed in the book will teach you about problems you’ll likely face in a business, such as product inceptions, tax loopholes and a ton of different things you can get into, when you set up a business. 5. How to Win friends and Influence People By Dale CarnegieThis is one legend of a book if you ask me. The release of this masterpiece dates back to 1937. The situations faced in business have changed but we humans haven’t. A single person cannot do everything, and having a good team will make a huge difference. This book will teach you how to influence people and expand your team.
Conclusion:If you are an entrepreneur or an aspiring entrepreneur, listening to these books can drastically change the way you think about everything. Just keep working hard and you will get there one day, but remember to never ever give up. What’s the best book you’ve read this year and why? Share the book in the comments!from https://addicted2success.com/entrepreneur-profile/the-5-best-business-audiobooks-every-entrepreneur-should-listen-to/ If you’ve ever heard about the Law Of Attraction, then you know that the universe responds to the energy or the frequency at which we vibrate. Like attracts like and positive thoughts result in positive results. So, when we aim to succeed in life or try to attract happiness, love, or abundance, we need to make sure we are vibrating and matching our frequency with that of the universe to be in its alignment. In short, our thoughts can only become our reality when we allow them to be, which is, by raising our vibration. So what does it mean to be vibing high? High vibe individuals are people who choose to be content if not overly happy, then at least positive, and overall pleasant. You will feel their vibe when you come into contact with them and get emphatically impacted by their contagious positive energy, which is known as energy transfer. Quite contrary to which, a low vibe individual would mostly be sluggish, critical of themselves, and others, self-doubting, and would always believe in why something cannot work instead of how it can. We carry both sides within ourselves, and it often depends upon our situation, lifestyle, or life events as to which vibe we are tapping into. Nonetheless, the good news is, it is achievable even when you feel jaded by life.
So, here are the five simple ways which if incorporated into our lifestyle, can help us elevate our energy and raise our vibration:1. Connect With YourselfPick a time of the day to say hello to yourself. The best way to do that is through meditation, but it can also be achieved in the form of silent prayers or affirmations. We cannot pour from an empty cup, and that is why to reciprocate better, it is essential to get in touch with ourselves, and to feel whole within first. Therefore, taking at least 10-15 minutes to sit quietly can provide an impetus to your energy. 2. Healthy HabitsIt is believed that the more active you are and the more you take care of your body the more energy flows through you and to you. A good way to get an instant energy boost is to exercise, drink plenty of water, have healthy eating habits, and get a good night’s sleep. 3. Dance, Music, and Your HobbyDance when you must to get your blood pumping. Similarly, listening to your favorite tunes can instantly raise your vibration too. Cultivating a hobby can make you a lot happier and help you live your life to the fullest. So make sure that you get in touch with your creative side from time to time. 4. Focus On FunFocus on being happy and tap into the sources which provide instant gratification like socializing and meeting friends. Fun helps us to live inflow, and being inflow means being present, not overthinking things.
5. Dress To Feel GoodSelf-care, grooming and dressing-up does not just shed negative energy but instantly changes our vibe. It doesn’t just detox negative energy but also makes us feel empowered. With that being said, there can be days when our world may seem to have tossed over, and we may feel depleted with no energy left to even stick to a routine. It is then okay to let yourself sit in that energy for a while to feel it, but choose not to respond to it. Make sure you do not dwell in that negative space for too long. Instead, slowly try to pick yourself up and get into the momentum of life by allowing yourself to eat, pray, and love! How do you make sure the vibe you’re putting out into the world is a good one? Share your thoughts with us below!from https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/5-simple-ways-you-can-raise-your-vibration-for-success/ |
ABOUT USHi I am Stacy Klein. I like swimming and i enjoy being organized and strive to become more efficient every day. Archives
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