Category Archives: mirrors

“Integrity” Doing What is Right Even If Nobody Sees It!

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By Anthony K Wilson Sr

 

Being a good person is not about doing the right thing because someone else is watching you, it is about always doing the right thing because YOU are watching. You must have that litmus test within your own soul that governs your ability to operate at a level that cannot be altered by the simple thrill of any unethical enticement.

Sometimes it is very easy to do the right thing. If you believe you will get some kind of credit or reward, for example, doing what is right comes quite easily. It is also not very difficult to do what is right if you are afraid that there may be negative consequences to doing something wrong.

Integrity is different. When you have a good sense of integrity, and allow it to be the leading force in your daily life, you will do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do. Instead of fearing the consequences of doing wrong, your own conscience will dictate that stronger drive of how much better the right thing feels to your spirit. You will not need rewards or praises, because how you feel about yourself is a wonderful reward in itself.

It should be easy to see how important integrity is in your life. It is also strongly related to how you get along with other people. When you are known to others as a person of good character who can always be trusted to do the right thing, your integrity will help other people respect you. It will enrich your relationships with the people who are in your life, and lead you to have a good reputation even amongst those who do not know you well.

When you live your life with integrity, you will also be a positive example, especially for younger people. They will know that you can be counted on to do the right thing, and they will want to be the same way. Children can learn how to be trustworthy by observing your behavior.

A strong sense of integrity will benefit you, also. When you let your conscience guide you to do the right thing in all situations, you will feel good about yourself. Even more important, you will have earned the pride that you feel. Instead of waiting for an opportunity to do the right thing, if you really think about it there are many such opportunities in your life every day. When your conscience is more important than fear or rewards, your integrity will be one of the best parts of your life.

Anthony is an accomplished writer, author, painter, sculptor, artist, entrepreneur, and motivational speaker; he is passionate about empowering everyone he encounters with the necessary information on finding and embracing their creative life purpose. Anthony K. Wilson, Sr. is the owner of http://create-sun.com

3 Learning Tips to Learn Faster and Improve Memory

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By Andre Auerbach

Every time you perform an activity you’ve done before… every time you think a thought that passed though your time before, you’re strengthening synapses in your brain.

These synapses create a cause-and-effect relationship between the neurons they linked. So that every time one neuron fires, the other will too. These synapses are like a bridge that connects two neurons so that signals between them may pass.

So what has this got to do with your learning and memory?

Well, these synapses are what’s responsible for your them. The more you learn the more synapses you grow and the stronger these synapses are, the better your memory is.

In this article, I will introduce you to three laws of building and strengthening synapses. Master and implement these laws and you’ll no doubt see a marked improvement in not just your learning and memory, but also overall brain function.

1. Law of association. When you learn, you learn through associations, building above what you have known to make sense of the unknown.

For example, when I explained the concept of synapses, I use the terms “relationships” and “bridge”. You’re, of course, familiar with these terms. Thus you use what are already familiar to make sense of the unknown.

Fundamentally, this is how we learn without going through an experience. This is how babies. Contrary to popular belief, we are born with certain skills and knowledge. We know how to cry when we face certain stimulus (such as hunger and discomfort), we know how to move, we know how to recognize faces. These are the basic knowledge that we all have and we build upon as we grow up.

Thus when you learn, it is often far easier to associate what you learn with what you’ve already known. You may have trouble remembering a phone number, but if you associate that number with a date and age, such as 04-08-2012 78 instead of 0408201278, then it is far easier for you to remember that number.

This is because when you remember obscure facts, memory is placed in your short-term memory. Only when intense attention is paid and constant reminder is acquired that it starts to be moved. By associating with current fats, you can almost immediately build off long term memory.


2. Law of repetition. Practice makes perfect. This is true for anything you want to learn and remember. This is because every time you practice, you’re strengthening the synapses between the neurons involved in that activity.

I can remember how clumsy I was when I first typed on a keyboard. Now I could type without looking at the keys. But if I were to change keyboards, again I would have to look at the keys and learn its distance.

This is the law of repetition at work. The good news is, only 2 hours of focused practice is required for you to maintain and remember a skill. In fact, if you spend long hours of practice only to stop later, the skills you’ve picked up at that time will fade as synapses break down.

If you want to remember what you learn, it is better that you take a more habitual approach.

3. Law of attention. Michael Merzenich, one of the world’s leading neuro-plasticity scientists observed through brain scans that neural network responsible for learning only grow when attention is paid onto the stimulus.

This is why multitasking is detrimental to learning. When you multitask, you cannot focus – thus you cannot learn. It amazes me how students attempt to study for exams while listening to music and have their chat browser open.

It is a biological impossibility.

At the same time, multitasking at work yields the same result. When you should be able to learn from an experience that you have, multitasking robs you of that opportunity.

Did you know that multitasking lowers IQ by 10 points (more than what smoking pot would) and increases stress (which in turn makes the brain release chemicals that kills brain cells)?

To learn and remember, all you have to do is focus on the stimulus, for a short period of time. 2 – 3 hours a day is normally sufficient.

If you would to learn more about brain fitness, simply visit Andre Auerbach’s website, “Brain Training Made Easy” for more articles on brain exercises, improving memory and learning.

How Your Brain Works and Why You Should Care

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By Andre Auerbach

Your every action… your every thought is controlled by your brain. Every time you do something and every time a thought passes through your mind, networks of neurons in your brain fires signals to different parts of your body. These neurons that fires at the same time create what is called “synapses” among each other.
These synapses are something like a relationship to keep these neurons firing together. For example, if every time you hear a bell ringing and food is served, pretty soon the neurons responsible for your hearing create a synapse with the neurons for the sighting of food. Thus the explanation for the Pavlov’s dog phenomenon.

These synapses are responsible for your learning. But it is also how you develop an addiction. Some people assume pornography to be harmless but the truth couldn’t be further. Pornography, as much as people in the industry would deny, is highly addictive. Every time you watch pornography, neurons responsible for perceiving the film/print are linked with neurons for pleasure.

As you repeat a behavior and get the same consequences, these synapses strengthens. Thus practice makes perfect. In the case of pornography, it makes an addiction. As these synapses strengthen, you build tolerance for the stimulus and to get the same amount of pleasure you once had, you need stronger stimulus.

It is through this process that people who are addicted to pornography often destroys their families, their social circle of friends and disappoints people who care for them.

The good news is, when a behavior no longer result in a certain consequences, synapses begin to break down. Thus when a student study for an exam, they often forget what they’ve learned within days after completing the exam – synapses they’ve built over the study period breaks down when they stop revising. In much of the same way, one can kick an addiction when these synapses breaks down or they were replaced by other synapses.

By learning how the brain works, there is now scientific proof that constant short periods of practice (perhaps 2 hours a day for a year) is far more beneficial for an individual for wishes to master a skill than a blitz approach (14 hours a day for 52 days then stop) such as the one most students undertake.


Because your brain requires synapses to learn, it makes sense that experience is often a better teacher than a book. Reading and listening allows the neurons responsible for facts and figures to link with neurons responsible for sight and/or hearing. By experiencing, for example, going to the forest instead of reading the textbook about it, neurons responsible for these facts can associate it with neurons responsible for sight, hearing, touch and smell.

Such broad network of synapses clearly beats the relatively small network of sight and hearing alone. Of course, the more you experience a particular circumstance, the stronger these synapses become. The more experiences you have, the more synapses and neurons you have.

These synapses is crucial in maintaining brain fitness in old age. At a time when synapses and neurons grow relatively slower, stimulation through experiences and learning is more crucial than ever. By preventing these synapses from breaking down, you’re essentially making sure that you avoid the common problems elderly often face: memory loss, inability to balance yourself, inability to learn (old dogs CAN learn new tricks) and even dementia.

In fact, some of the most successful people in history did not achieve their breakthrough till they reach a stage in life when others are urging them to quit. Some of these people include Benjamin Franklin (Inventor of bi-focals), Ray Kroc of McDonald’s, Colonel Sanders of KFC and Frank Lloyd Wright (Designer of Guggenheim Museum). In fact, research by Dr. George Valiant of Harvard involving 824 subjects, following them from their late teens through to old age, have concluded that older people are wiser, more socially adept and develop new skills.

Old age can be an advantage – so as long you’ve paid your dues in taking care of your brain.

If you would like learn more about stimulating your brain, maintaining brain fitness and reversing age-related decline, visit Andre Auerbach’s website, “Brain Training Made Easy” for more brain exercises that you can implement today.

Are You an Underearner?

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One of the main topics business owners want me to coach them on is profitability. For the most part, the kind of people I work with don’t have money as the #1 thing on the list of values. It’s important to them of course, but usually they’re more motivated by personal or spiritual values, like making a positive difference in the world. I’m a person like that myself. But as a business coach, I’m also privy to the inner- dialogue, the self-esteem issues, and the confounding defense systems that cause roadblocks to financial solvency. These deep wounds and doubts can sabotage business profitability far better than a failing economy, a poor job market, or a competitive marketplace ever could. Chronic “underearning,” a habitual pattern of an otherwise healthy, bright person who does not earn enough money to pay for life’s basic necessities, is a type of self-sabotage.

The term “underearning” became popularized by the book, “Earn What You Deserve” by Jerrold Mundis. That book is probably 10 years old by now, but the topic is always relevant, particularly for self-employed people. There’s a bit of a chicken-or-egg quandary when you look at underearning and self-employment. Many underearners unconsciously gravitate towards entrepreneurship because it provides freedom from accountability, therefore allowing an underearner say “no” to success, or “yes” to business activities that don’t make financial sense. But I’ve also seen formerly successful people start their own business and get stuck in a cycle of struggle and poverty that didn’t plague them before. So perhaps an underearning pattern can be developed as a result of starting up a new business as well. It’s so prevalent, that there’s a 12-Step group called Business Owners Debtors Anonymous (BODA) where entrepreneurs who struggle with money gather for support around financial responsibility. There isn’t a BODA national website yet, but if you’re curious you can probably find a meeting through their parent organization Debtor’s Anonymous. Here are 10 Common Traits of Underearners: 1.Chronic pattern of not earning enough to meet your needs. 2.Being close-minded about work that offers financial stability. 3.Avoiding contact with people that want to hire you. 4.Working for trade, deep discounts, or pro-bono, instead of money. 5.Distracting oneself with romantic intrigue to avoid career issues. 6.Changing jobs/careers after startup, but before income begins. 7.Compulsively saying “yes” to work or clients that don’t pay enough. 8.Compulsively saying “no” or being afraid of opportunities that pay well. 9.When money is abundant, compulsively over- spending or creating debt. 10.Having a core belief system that says you are bad, and/or money is bad.

So what do you do if the word, “Underearner,” describes you? Besides taking a look at Mundis’ book, or checking out a BODA or DA meeting, you can start with self-observation. Be careful not to go into self-judgment. Most underearners feel enough shame already. Simply notice how you act when it’s time to make decisions or take actions that might help you earn money. Do you pull back? Get sick? Find some other distraction to throw yourself into, or work harder at the wrong tasks?

The good news is that you have a choice as to whether you continue to underearn, or change the dynamic. Every day, you have a choice. You can make those follow up calls to prospects, or not. You can take work that will pay enough for your bills, or you can try to “get by” a little longer. You can say yes to the right clients, and no to situations that are bad for you. You’re innately powerful, but when underearning shows up in your life, some part of you has lost touch with that power. Increasing profitability isn’t just something that you do. Indeed, there are systems and accountability structures that will help you make more money. But sometimes, the biggest breakthroughs happen when you change what you believe.

Copyright © 2009 Inspiration, Inc


Jaya Schillinger “The Turnaround Queen” at http://www.InspirationInc.com
is a certified life coach & small business consultant with over 20 years of business ownership & management experience in the fields of personal development, health, and beauty.

One Way to Overcome Stress

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By Emma Wortt

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” Winston Churchill.

You have a problem. In order to solve it you’re going to need to make some changes. The thought of that is making you stressed, but the thought of leaving things as they are is even more stressful.

You want to make changes but you know that there are risks involved in doing so. Perhaps you’re thinking there’s someone who won’t approve or someone who may be upset. Maybe you’re wondering where you will find the time to make those much needed changes or you are telling yourself it’s not possible to improve the situation. Whatever you perceive as the risks involved in moving forward is making you anxious, and that is holding you back.

The first step in overcoming your challenge is to work out exactly what outcome you want.

Ask yourself:

In an ideal world how specifically do I want this situation to operate in the future?

The word ‘specifically’ is important here. Decide when you want the situation to have changed and then imagine yourself at that point in the future. Allow yourself to become immersed for a moment in that vision of the resolved issue. Write down now in detail and with clarity what will happen and what you will see, hear and feel when you have resolved this challenge.


The next step is to see this challenge in terms of who you are as a person.

Ask yourself:

Taking into consideration my personal and professional values; my work ethics; my peace of mind; my goals; – am I willing to continue to tolerate this situation as it is now?

Now ask:

What are the risks involved? What specifically am I anxious about? What is stopping me from sorting this out? Make a list.

Now one last question:

Is the outcome I want worth the risks involved in attaining it? If your answer is a resounding ‘Yes!’ then you can now start to work out your action plan to reach the goal.

Stress itself is not the problem. If you want growth and you want change then decide to tolerate the anxiety that will be inherent in it. As long as you continue to balance the risks involved against your desired outcome and who you are as a person your anxiety will begin to dissipate. Then instead of holding yourself back you will empower yourself to move forward.

© Emma Wortt of Em-powering Executives, 2008. All Rights Reserved.
Em-powering Executives help leaders and their teams to achieve excellence through executive coaching and training. To receive similar articles direct to your inbox, you can subscribe to the FREE monthly Em-powering Executives newsletter at http://www.em-poweringexecutives.co.uk

Improving 1:1 Communication

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By Emma Wortt

998486_sexy_girlsThe person with the most flexibility in thinking and behaviour has the most influence on any interaction. – NLP presupposition.

As the boss concentrating on reaching your department’s goals it can be easy to fall into the trap of focusing on how other people need to change in order to reach those goals.

Is there someone with whom you need to communicate regularly but who always leaves you thinking you just haven’t got through or made a difference? They just don’t seem to understand; their body language and attitude are all wrong; they try to appease you by saying yes and no in the right places but then fail to take action or change the situation. Or perhaps they argue with you; or back off and go quiet; or blame someone else. And the same thing happens every time. It’s a pattern.

Throughout these exchanges you’re thinking:

* He’s got to change

* Why isn’t she listening to me?

* Why doesn’t he ever seem to understand?

* Her attitude is really getting through to me

* Why can’t he see the big picture I’m describing?

* Why doesn’t she take action about this situation?

If you identify with this scenario and you are now waiting for me to tell you how to change other people, I’m afraid you’re in for a disappointment.

What I’m actually going to do is get you to look at your own contribution to this pattern.


Ask yourself:

* In what ways do I react every time with this person?

* How does the interaction start?

* Then what happens?

* Then what happens?

Continue asking this last question until you have worked out the complete pattern that occurs when you try to communicate with this individual.

Work out and recognise the parts you are playing which contribute towards and maintain the pattern.

Then ask yourself:

* How could I break this pattern?

* What could I do differently?

* If I put myself in their position for a moment, what is causing their reaction?

* What is the best way to approach this person to change the reaction I normally get from them?

* How does this person need me to react in order for them to behave differently?

The quote at the top of this article is worth repeating. It can be a very powerful idea if you take it on board:

‘The person with the most flexibility in thinking and behaviour has the most influence on any interaction.’

© Emma Wortt of Em-powering Executives, 2008. All Rights Reserved.
Em-powering Executives help leaders and their teams to achieve excellence through executive coaching and training. To receive similar articles direct to your inbox, you can subscribe to the FREE monthly Em-powering Executives newsletter at http://www.em-poweringexecutives.co.uk

Confidence – Keys to Success

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Improving your self confidence is perhaps the most important single step you can take to increase your chances of success in any field.

Your self image affects how you challenge yourself. A confident outlook inspires you to tackle more difficult goals. It also affects how others see you and therefore how they react to you.

How you see yourself in your mind’s eye shapes your future – it’s the closest thing to a self-fulfilling prophesy you’ll ever come across. If you see yourself as capable, in control, ready to take on new challenges and responsibilities – then you are well on the way to becoming that type of person.

As Orison Swett Marden said: “There can be no great courage where there is no confidence or assurance, and half the battle is in the conviction that we can do what we undertake.” and “Walk, talk and act as though you were a somebody, and you are more likely to become such.”

Self confidence can be simply inborn (until or unless the hard knocks of life diminish it) but more often is built through personal experiences. Succeeding in small endeavors inclines us to attempt bigger and grander things, and further achievement boosts the level of confidence still higher. So, one way to build confidence is to tackle new things, gradually increasing in difficulty. This is similar to the way you might train a muscle through lifting progressively heavier weights.

But there is a purely mental approach, too. You enlist the help of your subconscious. Positive self-talk is absolutely essential to building confidence. Successful people condition themselves to intensely bombard their subconscious mind with their chosen goals and desired self-image. This leaves no chance for the subconscious to absorb anything but these confidence-boosting messages. The subconscious doesn’t question anything. It simply accepts, then acts on whatever it is told. This may be why children who are repeatedly told by their parents and teachers that they are lazy, clumsy or sullen act accordingly and reinforce that trait. On the other hand, those who are repeatedly told that they are clever, capable, and a pleasure to be around, also live up to that message. Comments from other people may carry a particular influence, especially if these are respected or authority figures – but can still be overwhelmed by consistent, frequent, powerful inner messages.

To make the inner message as strong as possible, it requires more than just the repetition of key phrases within the privacy of your own thoughts. Attaching strongly felt emotions and, if at all possible, speaking the words out loud makes them infinitely more effective. You don’t have to turn yourself into a table-thumping, red in the face maniac shouting “I can do this!” to reap the rewards of this technique. Try something like “I lead a charmed life – I’m the luckiest person I know and I count my blessings every day. I look for the fun in every situation and I find myself laughing easily. I enjoy myself and make the most of every opportunity.” While you’re saying the words, create a mental picture of yourself in a happy situation, enjoying the success you have earned. Of course, you’ll need to construct a script tailored to your own circumstances, but remember that even if what your affirmation says is totally at odds with where you are today – it won’t stay like that for long. Your subconscious will soon take notice of where you want to go and start moving you in that direction. Once you’re happy with your own affirmations, recite them at least twice daily, out loud, putting as much emotion into the recitation as possible.

If affirmations sound completely alien to you, and you feel “that’s just not for me” – there is still a simple, effective way to use positive self talk. As an absolute minimum, every time you hear yourself questioning your ability to do something, immediately recall a time where, in similar circumstances, you obtained the result you were aiming for. Make the memory as real as possible – including the feeling of elation at your accomplishment. Then make the connection – “I did that. I can do this, too.”

Claim your free copy of the “Marden’s Keys to Success” mini email course and download a complimentary chapter from Brendan McKeogh’s latest book at http://www.MardensKeysToSuccess.com – the website based on Orison Swett Marden’s philosophy where you can read biographies of Dr Marden and other “Masters of Success”.

Get Over Your Faults and Failings

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We all have our faults and failings. That is a statement of ordinary, honest fact. However, the vast majority of us mistake our inappropriate behaviour for some inherent character flaw that leads everyone to whom I have ever posed the question “Are you 100% happy with yourself?” to immediately and forcefully answer “No!”

All my clients tell me that they have “inadequacies”, things they’d like to change about themselves. But when we dig deeper, two things become apparent. Firstly, our so-called inadequacies are not real, they are perceived, this perception arising from how we were made feel about ourselves during our formative years. Secondly, the things we’d like to change about ourselves are either generally behavioural or the result of our behaviour.

No one is inadequate – though many of us feel a great burden of inadequacy. Vast swathes of psychological work and research, stretching back over a century at this stage, indicate that we are the product, or some would go so far as to say, the victim, of our upbringing. Indeed, I have found, with every single one of my private clients, that their self-perceptions are the direct result of their interaction with people and events during their formative years. As a result, even those with the happiest and most loving childhoods developed into “normal” adults – “grownups” who are not entirely happy with themselves. As a result, they live lives with which, at the very best, they are not entirely happy – or, as most people say “not too bad”. Surely, not too bad is not good enough.

Our perceived inadequacies are etched on our deep subconscious mind as a result of a process called “snapshot learning” – when an event takes place that makes a great impression upon us, that’s exactly what happens – a deep impression is printed into our subconscious. Snapshot learning generally only takes place during our formative years – particularly up to the age of 11 or 12 years, with the final touches being added during adolescence – anywhere up to the age of 25 years. After that, we, generally speaking, have very fixed views about ourselves – very fixed views of our own inadequacies.

When set out in the manner in which I’ve done so above, we can immediately see the stupidity of dwelling on our inadequacies – they come from a past long gone, but one on which the subconscious mind is continually, daily focused. What is of at least as much concern, however, is that those same out of date snapshots create – and, daily, re-create – the repetitive, automatic, reactive behaviours that result in us doing things that we’d prefer not to have done. Bad habits, snapping at people, manipulating those we claim to love, losing our temper… make out your own list.

The big problem is that when we display those daily faults and failings, as I said already, we mistake our automatic reactive behaviour for ourselves – we perceive ourselves as in need of repair – and, as a result, not only do we beat ourselves up, often becoming frustrated that there is not easy exit from the apparent continuous treadmill of the same reactive behaviour. Some resort to bad habits that will help them come handle or suppress their feelings – I’ve come across alcohol, drug and sex addictions – all of which, clearly, only make matters worse.

What we’ve got to realise is that if we stumble and do something stupid, destructive or hurtful, that’s all it is – a stumble. Replaying the stumble, feeling guilty about the stumble or being certain that there’s no way out of stumbling again are all useless thoughts that add to our own incorrect feelings of inadequacy, low self-esteem and lack of self worth. When we stumble, we need to stand up, dust ourselves off, pull ourselves together and start over.

But that’s only part of the solution – because if we just do that we may never learn from our stumblings – we may never rise above our perceived inadequacies and the manner in which they automatically create our stumblings. We need to break out of the automatic mode in at least 96% of people live – validated by years of research. Quite obviously, this is done by being mindful rather than, through automatic behaviour, being totally mindless.

Mindfulness comes from paying attention to the present moment – to what your body is telling you about now, through your five senses. This may sound simple – and, yes it is, but it’s not easy to practice. In fact, you’ll take a lifetime perfecting your ability to be attentive to the here and now but, in doing so, you will drag your subconscious mind’s attention away from past snapshots and prevent those past snapshots dictating the kind of automatic reactive behaviours that make you unhappy.

In developing your ability, through the deliberate and conscious use of your five senses, to give more and more of your attention to the here and now, you will see the here and now for what it is – one moment in time, where you can choose to be “all there” and do your best, or you can choose to abdicate responsibility for your own state of mind and let the automatic programmed subconscious alter ego repeat past mistakes. The choice is yours – moment to moment. In deliberately exercising the choice to be more attentive to the moment, you will see your perceived inadequacies for what they are – illusions – and see the real you for what you can be – here and now.

Copyright © 2009 Willie Horton

Willie Horton’s acclaimed two-day personal development seminars have been running for thirteen years. He teaches that a clear and present state of mind creates extra-ordinary personal and business success. His vast expertise is now available in his Online Workshop at Gurdy.Net. His website also offers daily free personal development video seminars, articles and a Free Personal Development Ezine published every Monday morning.

Reach that Goal!

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“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try one more time” – Thomas Edison (1847-1931)


When Thomas Edison was inventing the electric light bulb he certainly had his work cut out for him. Believe it or not after trying 10,000 times he had still not got a working bulb. And his response to someone who suggested he had failed…? – ‘I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.’ What happened after that? He succeeded.

How many times would you try to make something work in your career, team or business? 2 or 3 times? 5 times? 10 times? Do you keep going with an idea for as long as Edison? Would you keep trying after all those ‘failures’?

No? Why not? Perhaps because most of us would lose faith in our idea or our ability to pull it off, lose motivation, decide it’s just not possible.

So what was Edison’s secret? How did he maintain his enthusiasm for and belief in his idea for so long and to such an outstanding level? How did he stay motivated?

First of all he must have truly believed his goal was possible for him to reach, he must have truly wanted to reach it and he must have known why he wanted to reach it.

Then there is a clue in that response ‘I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.’ Every time he tried a way that did not work he quite simply did not see that as a failure.

And he was right. It wasn’t a failure because he now knew one more way that did not work. He had gained knowledge from the attempt. Perhaps he might work out one reason why it did not work and make an alteration accordingly for the next attempt. And that would take him one step closer to his goal.

And that’s one of the key messages here. It’s not just ‘don’t give up – keep going’, but also crucially ‘if it’s not working change the way you’re doing it!’ After all if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got.

So if you’ve been struggling to see eye to eye with a member of staff – change your approach. If you are consistently unable to get out of the office before 7pm every night – make changes to your working methods. If your team aren’t all pulling together in the same direction – make changes to your management style.

Think of something you are struggling with at the moment and ask yourself the following questions:

* ‘What is stopping me from moving forward with this?’ Make a list.

* ‘What are the possible ways round the obstacles?’ Make a list.

* ‘What could I try differently this time?’ Make a list.

* ‘What am I going to try differently this time?’ Commit to taking action and give yourself a realistic but challenging deadline for it.

And if you reach the point of giving up remember another gem from Thomas Edison… ‘Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.’

© Emma Wortt of Em-powering Executives, 2009. All Rights Reserved. Em-powering Executives help leaders and their teams to achieve excellence through executive coaching and training. To receive similar articles direct to your inbox, you can subscribe to the FREE monthly Em-powering Executives newsletter at http://www.em-poweringexecutives.co.uk