07 Bad Habits You Can Drop Today to Become Ultra-Successful

To boost your success, below are seven bad habits that I suggest you drop to make your way to the top:

Thinking of failure as a bad thing

Thomas Edison once famously said, "I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

Nobody likes failure--that's why this habit is way too easy to acquire. But nobody's perfect when they're dipping their toes into something new. Quite simply, if you're always avoiding failure, you're stagnant.

Instead, when you redefine failure, you're learning what does and does not work throughout your career. The important thing is to make sure that you actually learn from your mistakes, rather than repeating them time and time again.

Saying "Yes" to everything

"What you don't do determines what you can do," productivity expert Tim Ferris once wisely said.

We often feel the need to give everyone a "yes" to feel that we are helping ourselves and others. But the truth is that overextending ourselves isn't doing anyone a favor. Instead, you should learn to delegate tasks and prioritize those pieces that are truthfully beneficial to you and your most important relationships.

To start, turn up your turn down skills: creating a polite, default response such as, "I'd love to help you out, but I 'm honestly too busy," will ensure that you maintain a semblance of a normal workload and prevent tasks from falling to the wayside.

Comparing yourself to others

The comparison trap can be a deadly spiral. Olympic Softball player Jennie Finch said it best when she mentioned, "Try not to get lost in comparing yourself to others. Discover your gifts and let them shine!"

Rather than constantly scrambling to keep up with the entrepreneurial Joneses, shift your perspective. Each one of us is walking through life with an incredibly unique set of gifts and skills. Comparing that to someone else's skill blueprint is a waste of time and drain on your success.

Believing in scarcity

A scarcity mindset is the belief that there's only so much success to go around. In this age of hyper-competitiveness, thinking that someone else's victory "steals" from your own success creeps on almost everyone.

Stephen Covey, the author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, said, "Instead, I have an abundance mentality: When people are genuinely happy at the successes of others, the pie gets larger."

People like Covey see an opportunity in everything, and they don't believe that someone else's success eats away at their own. Whether it's collaborating with others in the field, elevating your teammates, or just saying "why not?" you too can start adopting that same abundance mindset, this very second.

Not setting the right goals

Tony Robbins once said, "One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. "

Tony was on to something. Goal-setting is a great habit to have, but even I'm guilty of setting too many goals in a million different directions. Nowadays, my team discusses new goals together, and we determine if a goal should get tackled, shelved, or thrown out the window.

You should do something similar - if you don't set concrete goals towards your Genius Zone, then you are unable to channel your energy towards tasks that are leading towards success.

Being set in stone

Being determined and motivated is great. But don't fall into the trap of mistaking determination for an unwillingness to change.

Take Jeffery Hazlet, former CMO of Kodak, for instance. When he realized no amount of his sheer will would turn Kodak into the business he wanted, he shifted that determination elsewhere. Now he's a New York Times best-selling author, keynote speaker, and media mogul.

First business models or career plans rarely pan out, but successful people don't keep running towards defeat when that happens. Even if your plan fails, it can still have an impact. By modifying it, you can make it successful, even if it isn't what you originally intended.

Believing self-doubt

Even when all the signs are pointing towards success, insecurity can easily kill your dreams. In fact, it's so prevalent (especially with successful people), that it's a full-blown condition known as Impostor Syndrome.

To start breaking this nasty habit: Create a list of your skills, talents, and achievements. Read the list regularly and when you're plagued by self-doubt, remind yourself of all the reasons you're "good enough."

Remember, it's never too late (or too early) to make a positive change and see your success skyrocket.

5 Powerful Habits of Extraordinarily Effective Leaders

In business today, change can be rapid and unexpected. A great company one day can be not-so-great the next. Your best people may come and go, and your business strategy may need to change radically overnight to keep pace with ever-shifting markets. Challenges like these can make leading a successful business difficult, but the most successful leaders have figured out how to build companies that can thrive in even the most difficult circumstances.

Extraordinarily successful leaders get the most out of their people by helping them become highly motivated, engaged in their jobs, and happy. Adopt these five habits of extraordinarily successful leaders and watch your company's performance quickly surge.

1. Set the bar high

The best way to encourage your people to consistently give their very best on the job is to set the bar high and then challenge them to meet or exceed your expectations. Delegate some of your most vexing problems to your employees. Set realistic goals for them, treat each employee as a valuable member of your team, and give them the autonomy to make decisions and do their work as they see fit, so long as they meet their performance standards and your expectations.

2. Build a productive work culture

A workplace that is industrious, trusting, open, and fun will be the most productive and successful, even during turbulent times. Be open to new ideas and suggestions that come from your employees, and show them that their voices are being heard and their efforts appreciated.

3. Be visible and honest, and keep promises

Make the time to manage by walking around. Be visible to your employees. Find the pulse of your organization by observing your employees at work and asking them for their views on how they think things are going-at their level, management's level, and throughout the organization. Be frank and honest with them, and never make a promise you can't keep. Listen to their concerns and regularly schedule meetings to strategize and problem-solve with your employees.

4. Make your team a part of the plan

While it's the job of a leader to set the course for the organization, your employees' knowledge and skill are critical for your success. Direct your employees toward your goals, but be as transparent with your people as you can be. Involve them in developing company plans and goals, and then show them what their role is in achieving them. When your employees understand the overall plan, they will view themselves as an important piece of the puzzle and may better understand your plans for the organization.

5. Celebrate your team's successes

Take some time each week to celebrate your team's successes and to thank your people for their continued efforts. A sincere thank you for a job well done can be a powerful motivator. Thank your employees personally and promptly when you find them doing something right by writing a quick email or text message, or by dropping by their office to tell them in person.

How Do You Sustain Your Brand's Value? Follow These 6 Steps.

How do you emulate Steve Jobs' bitten apple -- and the immediacy with which iconsumers think "great computers!"? Here are six strategies to begin with.

1. Investigate -- Turn on the lights in a dark room to see who is there!

A professional search is like turning on the lights in a dark room; a search shines a light on the competition. Entrepreneurs sometimes bypass this step, opting to rely solely upon what they can discern from an online search. But this is not the wisest choice, particularly when you're investing thousands in marketing materials and packaging. Don’t risk being derailed before you even launch.

2. “Noodle” on it. 

Think about the results. With a professional search, you will not only learn whether the brand name merits a major investment, but will have a way to formulate a smart plan to register. It is better to know the issues prior to getting married, and that also applies to selecting a brand name.

I recently conducted a search for a new fashion brand, which allowed me to develop a strategy to overcome an anticipated rejection of my client’s application based upon an existing registration. We used the search to gather facts; those facts greatly helped us successfully register the brand.

3. Select wisely -- Search for the intersection where selection meets protection.

The most common mistake new brand owners make is choosing a descriptive term. Descriptive terms are not good trademarks and should be avoided. Descriptive trademarks require costly advertising to garner public recognition, and they are extremely difficult and costly to enforce. Take a moment and learn what types of terms make strong trademarks. 

As Margaret Walker, VP of intellectual property for Xerox Corporation shared with me: “Let’s understand what makes for a strong trademark, and what does not, and what your risk tolerance is. Are you okay to go out and invest this much money in something you are not going to be able to protect down the line?”

4. Proper use -- Use them correctly or “lose ’em.”

Correct trademark use involves the manner in which the brand owner, distributors, licensees and the public (including the media) use the mark. A guide for proper use should be created early in your brand’s existence. Marketing materials should provide a consistent brand presentation and include the generic term for the product or service.

Equally important, public use should be periodically monitored to avoid the risk that rights in the brand name will be lost.

5. Register with a plan -- Strategic registrations are invaluable.

Registration is like recording the deed to your house, allowing you to kick out squatters. A federal registration also protects the brand from increasing risks of domain-name infringement. With dozens of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) now available, registrations to assist in enforcement have never been more important. Don’t make the mistake of believing that a domain-name registration is a substitute for a trademark registration. 

Effective registration allows for orderly expansion both in the United States and internationally. For example, foreign trademark rights often go to the first party that registers. Pinterest learned this the hard way last year when it discovered that an earlier registration filed by a company in the United Kingdom could not be stopped. Pinterest's error: It had failed to promptly seek registration of its name.  

6. Enforce and maintain -- Snooze and you will lose.

Managing and maintaining the brand’s public persona and reputation is vital. Sometimes called “policing your mark,” monitoring the marketplace is legally required in order to maintain rights.

The goal of monitoring is to ensure that differentiating thoughts and feelings about the brand are protected. This includes watching for new users using your marks for related goods and services, as well as third-party uses of similar but not identical words and marks.

Remember: Words like cellophane, aspirin and escalator were once trademarks. But then they weren't: Even the “walking fingers” of the Yellow Pages was found to be a generic term as a result of widespread and common use; AT&T failed to sustain its rights. Each of these former trademarks is now free for anyone to use.

So, don't make the mistakes described. Follow these steps, and you will be well on your way to growing greater value for your business, knowing that your brand is protected for the future.

05 Habits of Exceptionally Emotionally Intelligent People

1. Self-awareness

Although this doesn't seem like a habit you can actually practice, actively being self-aware takes a lot more work than people think. While overthinking is never a positive activity, it is a good idea to take a few moments each day to think about what we're doing and the effect it has on others. It is important to learn ways to improve the way we go about our daily work and relationships so that our impact is positive, not negative.

2. Empathy

This is by far the key to understanding the emotions of others and ourselves. Often, when we form connections with people, it is due to the fact that we share a common emotion. Regardless of whether or not we are bonding over love, hate, or anger, it's important to note that being able to read another's emotions is key to knowing how to react in that particular moment.

3. Be easygoing

While a bit of perfectionism is good for creating quality work, too much of a good thing can sometimes be our downfall. Work on accepting that things don't always go the way we plan. Know that life often happens as it's meant to--so let go and trust the journey.

4. Stay curious

It can be easy to get jaded very early on, but one of the best ways to succeed is simply to continue long after everyone else has given up. This aspect of tenacity applies to curiosity, too. Don't lose your wonder for life--you'll have everything to lose if you do. Stay curious, and the things you'll learn will help your emotional intelligence grow.

5. Find a balance

Don't put in too much time at work, but don't neglect it altogether. Discover the perfect balance between your professional and personal life so that you know when to include or separate emotions, as well as how to best use them in each setting.

10 Daily Habits That Will Radically Improve Your Life

1. Don't obsess over "how" you'll do something. 

Four years ago when I launched my agency Silverback Social, I just did it. I knew that I wanted to create a digital agency that led with social media. I had no idea how I was going to do it.

I still remove the "how" from most of our agencies issues. We continue to grow, over perform and excel in every endeavor. Winning awards and working with some of the most compelling clients.  

Obsessing over your "how" will only lead you to full on panic. Define your "why" for sure, but let go of the "how."

2. Invest in clothes that fit.  Yes, seriously. 

My dress shirts, and suits are all custom made. This isn't as extravagant as it sounds. You can order custom clothing for about the same cost as off the rack clothes from Banana Republic. You just have to be patient for the clothes to get delivered after you've been measured. 

When you have clothes that fit well, you feel better. When you feel better you perform better. Removing the stress of selecting a shirt that will fit in the morning frees up psychic energy.

I can select any shirt in my closet and know that the fit is perfect and I will feel and look great all day. It may seem superficial, but I think it helps me to perform my best. 

3. Meditate

Meditation can reduce stress, improve your concentration and increase happiness. But you don't have to sell all your worldly possessions and live in a cave to meditate. Meditation can be anything.

When you're washing your hands today. Slow down and really think about how you're washing your hands. Feel the sensation of the water. Smell the aroma of the soap. Enjoy it. You're meditating! 

Realize that your thoughts and feeling aren't you. Acknowledging that you're having a thought is a powerful way to separate yourself from the thought. I recommend HeadSpace APP to help. 

4. Buy a stand up desk.

We've all read the news and heard the grumbling of how bad sitting down all day can be for us. It's worse than smoking etc.  I do think that my new stand up desk can be a healthy alternative.

I'm also smart enough to know that you can overdo anything. US News Health says that there are some ways in which stand up desks can do more harm than good.

The gist? Don't stand still all day long. Alternate positions throughout the day. Also, some tasks are more well suited for sitting.

5. Shut off electronics for short increments. 

I worry about the effect of electronic devices on my children. The best way that I've been able to remove this concern is to carve out play time without any devices around. This means that I leave my iPhone behind as well. 

My girls are eight and five.  My five year old decided to try golfing with me recently. She loved it. Just the two of us, with my undivided and undistracted presence.  

I felt my self reflectively reaching for my iPhone to take photos of her golfing.  

Instead I soaked in the moment. We don't need to document every waking hour. Later that day my eight year old and I had a dance party. We danced to and sang the Beatles.  We spun and sang and giggled.

No electronics needed. Just my own private little memories with my girls. It makes my heart swell just thinking about it. Radical life improvement! 

6. Get up early.  

I hate the morning. Really, I do. So much so that on my wedding day, my brother referenced my inability to wake up to an alarm clock in his best man speech. The crowd erupted in laughter.  Super. 

The benefits of waking up early are vast. For me, it's more about self mastery than anything else. By waking up early I've taken control of my day. Now I regularly wake up at 5am to work. I find that I do my best thinking at that time of day.

I don't have to like it, but I know that I'm hyper productive in the morning. I use apps like SleepCycle to help me manage my normal aversion to mornings. You should try it too.   

7. Read more.  

Reading can help improve problem solving, expand your vocabulary, and even cultivate exposure to different ways of thinking. If you really feel that you don't have time to read, I recommend you try Audible for a free 30 Day Trial and listen to audiobooks.  

If audiobooks are too tedious, try educational podcasts, or TED talks.

Really what we're looking for is a removal from pop-culture and fear mongering news feeds as entertainment. I want you to enrich and challenge your brain. Not numb, and over stimulate. 

8. Live in a different city at least once in your life. 

When I was twenty years old,  I studied in Leuven, Belgium, and traveled to 14 different countries. That travel allowed me to grow in ways that I can't quantify. I was able to find my way around an airport, train station, and bus terminal without incident. I ate different foods, and experienced different religions.  

Awareness, education and respect for other cultures will enhance your life in untold ways. It will also expand your business and social circles. When I was twenty six there was an opportunity to live and work in London.

Because I had already traveled, I jumped at the chance. It catapulted my career, and helped me earn more money than I had ever seen in my short career.  

9. Write. 

Sharing your thoughts is a powerful connector. Start with a blog, or create on LinkedIn or Medium. I wrote my first blog post and earned $260,000. I also used writing to help me get the attention of new clients, new jobs, and my television career.

Write every day and share what you know. Learn how to write better along the way. If you don't want to share your thoughts with the world, start a journal.

I began a journal when I was nineteen and traveling through Europe. Now I read my entries to my daughters as bedtime stories. 

10. Allow yourself to be vulnerable.  

I'm an over sharer extraordinaire. To some people it's an turn off. Guess what? I don't want to associate with those people. It's the way I'm wired, and I'm not about to change because it makes you uncomfortable.

I blog about everything from my family, to my friend who was murdered. Vulnerability in life and business cultivates trust.

No pretense, just you -  unfiltered.  Try it. I dare you. 

07 Things Successful People Never Say

Whether you are running a small business, growing a fast-paced tech startup, or just working for the man, everyone wants to be successful, and we all think we know what it takes to get there. But there are things you may not be thinking about which can undermine your chances of success. Little things like your choice of words can have big effects. You may be unintentionally putting up roadblocks on the path to your own success by carelessly uttering seemingly harmless negative phrases. Be careful, your career is important! Don't let yourself be derailed by a poor choice of words.

To help achieve the success you have worked hard for, make a point to strike the following negative phrases from your workplace vocabulary:

1. "I can't do that."

This is basically the same as "I give up." It's not unreasonable to tell a boss or a client that his or her request cannot be fulfilled, but how you do so and how you approach the problem means everything. Very few things in life and business are truly impossible, and most employers and customers want forward-thinking problem solvers on their team, even if the solution requires more time and effort. If you offer your employer and your customers solutions instead of "no," you will be seen as a problem solver, as someone who gets things done no matter what, and that will make you immeasurably valuable in their eyes.

2. "This is how I've always done it."

This is really a continuation of the first statement--it's two different applications of the same dead-end mentality. It says "I am not comfortable thinking outside of the box. I'm not doing it." Not a good strategy.

Insisting on doing things the way they've always been done is one of the best ways to get left behind by your competition. Adapting to an ever-changing marketplace and the ever-changing needs of employers is really the only way to survive in an economy constantly being disrupted by the next big thing. You don't have to be a slave to the trends, but you also can't stick your head in the sand and hope things go back to normal. New problems will present themselves as surely as the sun will rise, and your ability to come up with new or better solutions is what will ultimately put you in front of the pack.

3. "This will just take a minute."

A minute goes by quickly, there is very little you can do in one minute. You can't even cook a Hot Pocket in one minute. This dangerous phrase is one of the worst "over-promise, under-deliver" statements there is. Be very careful with this one. Saying something will only take "a minute" suggests that it is not difficult, and in doing so undermines your effort. Even if you can do it very quickly, don't say it. More likely than not, the reason it can be done quickly is because you are skilled and very good at what you do. When you say it will "just" take a minute, you're shortchanging what you bring to the table. As a rule, if it takes 61 seconds or longer (seriously) to do something, do not say "this will just take a minute."

4. "This is not my fault."

There is no one who wants to work with or be a customer of a blame shifter. It's a practice that generally repulses people, and everyone knows it's just a matter of time before the blame shifter eventually focuses their effort on you. As an employee or as a business, always take ownership of your mistakes instead of pointing out where others have fallen short. The ability to admit mistakes shows character and a capacity to learn and grow from problems. Employers and customers alike appreciate and value these qualities. Constantly pointing the finger at someone else simply informs others that you'll never learn from your errors and cannot be held accountable.

5. "That's not in my job description."

Economies change, demand changes, society changes. When you accepted your current position, you had a good idea of what the responsibilities and workload would entail. However, in the time since you began, no doubt your role has expanded and changed. Some of these changes have been good, while others have made you wish for simpler times. When a boss or client piles another responsibility on your already sore shoulders, it might be tempting to pull out this classic gem of work avoidance.

Resist the urge to go negative. "That's not in my job description" might feel good in the moment, but it will leave a very nasty aftertaste. Instead, schedule an appointment to have a calm, even-tempered conversation about how the new workload is outside of your contract or employment agreement. A prearranged conversation about the details of your work agreement is the appropriate time to discuss such things, not when you're being asked to get something done. No matter how stressed you are or how unreasonable the other party is being, using this phrase only makes you look lazy and unmotivated.

6. "It's not fair."

Welcome to real life, where things aren't fair. As in your personal life, your work life will often be lacking in fairness. Don't complain about it. Instead, try to look for a specific and actionable workaround to your problem. You may not get a contract you bid on or a promotion you deserved. Maybe it will go to someone who deserves it much less than you. This hurts, but it's life, and you can do something about it. Work even harder. Instead of complaining, politely ask why you were not chosen, reflect on what you've learned, and next time go the extra mile. Be so good they can't ignore you. Never quit, and you'll never lose, even if it takes you a little longer to win.

7. "I don't need any help."

Working alone is great if you're Batman, but in the business world you're going to need help sometimes. Don't overemphasize your ability to get things done on your own--being self-reliant is good but teamwork is essential in the modern economy. Being able to work well with others is the hallmark of a good leader, and likewise, a business that can network and cooperate with competitors is much more likely to earn new business and grow. As an employee, you're unlikely to climb the career ladder if you're always flying solo and unwilling to work closely with others on a team. Batman may save Gotham, but he'll never reach middle management.

Everyone wants to be successful, and it's hard to do, even if you say all the right things, all the time. Take care not to handicap yourself with negative words and avoid these seven phrases like the plague. There is a lot more to being successful than just choosing your words wisely, but this is one easy-to-implement step that will prevent you from holding yourself back. Go be amazing!

10 Natural Ways to Boost Your Confidence

How do you keep your confidence up when things really aren't going your way?

Stanford professor Maggie Neale, who teaches a high-stakes negotiation course,  says people with high aspirations generally achieve more than those who don't. The down side is, they feel worse than the folks who had no aspirations to begin with. 

The old saying "if you shoot for the moon, you  land among the stars" doesn't quite cover the agony of all those failed moonshots, does it? If you haven't made your lunar landing yet, don't give up. Here are natural ways to be your own superhero and boost your confidence from champion performers:

1.     Adopt a champion's mindset.

Performance coach and golf-whisperer Bob Rotella, Ph.D,  says reframe your world so  it's going your way, no matter what. Wet greens? You love those conditions. Fast, dry greens? Perfect for you. You don't have to box yourself in with a false sense of "ultimate truth." Instead, actively work on a positive perspective right now.

To an outsider, this might sound crazy--and so what? The alternative--constantly telling yourself what you didn't do well--undermines your confidence. It can ultimately rob you of your joy.

2.     Live in execution.

Self-made billionaire Oprah says no one can take away the gift you want to give. She learned young to focus on what she has to give, not what she had to get. If you're going for something big, then focusing too much on the far horizon can undermine your confidence, too. Instead, focus on your execution today. Refuse to anchor your thinking in the the huge gap between today and the goal you want. The gap is scary big only because you are  dreaming big. Good on you. Get back to what you can do today to feel your sense of personal power surge. 

3.     Know you can handle it.

Elon Musk, widely regarded as a real-life superhero, has had more setbacks than most people realize. He was hospitalized after bullies threw him down stairs in school. His first child died. His wife left him. Regarding entrepreneurial success, he said he thought SpaceX only had a 10% chance of succeeding. 

Alex Malley, author of bestseller The Naked CEO, says, "The only way to build self-confidence is to take a risk and take action despite your fear of failure, messing up or embarrassment. If things work out, then you now know you can do more than you think. If things don't work out, you now know that you can handle more than you think. Either way, you're better off." 

4.     Find your tribe.

We all need someone who believes we can achieve our goals. Identify that person, friend, partner or mentor. When you can't believe in yourself--and everyone has those times--go spend some time with the people who can. 

5.     Go to places that inspire you.

In Atlanta, I live just off Sweet Auburn, which is Martin Luther King's neighborhood. When I'm feeling particularly small, I can walk by the house where he was born. That'll set my perspective to rights.  I often work out of Atlanta Tech Village. New entrepreneurs make pilgrimages there every day. The sheer number of good people wanting to build something great lifts my mood.  Where are your go-to places that can recharge your sense of purpose?

6.     Ditch the downers.

While it's the norm in business to network with drinks, don't forget alcohol is more than just a social lube. It's also a depressant. I love good wine. However, when I made a point to drink less, I realized it was bringing me down more than I realized. Who needs that? I sure don't. If you're regularly relying on something that depresses you, ditch it. (Try this yummy food instead--studies show it naturally make you feel better.)

7.     Talk to yourself like a friend.

Your inner voice might need some coaching to sound like someone who loves you just as you are right now. You deserve that--and you can give yourself more of that.

8.     Teach.

Remind yourself of your capabilities by helping someone learn something. It's a perfect exercise in self confidence. 

9.     Realize that your "big success" won't necessarily help your confidence either.

Super successful people struggle with confidence, too. They often fear they can never achieve that "moment" again, because they realize it was partially luck--and luck rarely strikes twice. So let go of the outcome. It's not that meaningful. Don't let track record alone determine your confidence. It actually has little to do with it.

10. Exercise

No one knows just what causes people to feel better after a real sweat, but they do. One theory is that regular exercise makes you better at physical response to stress, replacing unhappy cortisol cocktails with happy-making, pain-reducing ones. So make yourself sweat, and you'll find tough situations make you sweat less.

08 Habits of Happy, Healthy & Successful People

1. Pray or meditate morning, midday, and night.

"If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster."--Stephen R. Covey

How do you determine if you're going in the right direction?

If you neglect prayer and mediation, it doesn't matter how smart or productive you are. Being productive at the wrong things isn't helpful. Get clarity, so the steps you take are in the right direction.

2. Read or listen to one book per week.

Ordinary people seek entertainment. Extraordinary people seek education and learning. It is common for the world's most successful people to read at least one book per week. They are constantly learning.

3. Write in your journal five minutes per day.

Journaling is one of the best ways to facilitate happiness and success. Science has found that writing down three things you're grateful for each day chemically changes your brain to recognize positive opportunities.

Journaling also helps you synthesize what you're learning and clarify your objectives. Don't do more than a few minutes each day or you'll burn out.

4. Do something every day that terrifies you.

"A person's success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable 
conversations he or she is willing to have."  -- Tim Ferriss

But you don't have to constantly be battling your fears. Actually, Darren Hardy has said you can be a coward 99.9305556 percent of the time (to be exact). You need to be courageous for only 20 seconds at a time.

Twenty seconds of fear is all you need. If you courageously confront fear for 20 seconds every single day, before you know it, you'll be in a different socio-economic and social situation.

Make that call.

Ask that question.

Pitch that idea.

Post that video.

Whatever it is you feel you want to do, do it. The anticipation of the event is far more painful than the event itself. So just do it, and end the inner conflict.

5. Say no to people, obligations, requests, and opportunities you're not interested in from now on.

"No more yes. It's either HELL YEAH! or no." -- Derek Sivers

Your 20 seconds of daily courage will consistently involve saying no to stuff that doesn't really matter. But how could you possibly say no to certain opportunities if you don't know what you want? You can't. Like most people, you'll be seduced by the best thing that comes around. Or, you'll crumble under other people's agendas.

If you know what you want, you'll have the courage and foresight to pass up even brilliant opportunities -- because ultimately they are distractions from your vision. As Jim Collins said in Good to Great, "A 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' is irrelevant if it is the wrong opportunity."

6. Make a bucket list and actively knock items off.

Most people have it backward -- they design their ambitions around their life, rather than designing their life around their ambitions.

What are the things you absolutely must do before you die?

Start there.

Then design your life around those things. Or as Covey explained in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, "Begin with the end clearly in mind."

7. Fast from all food and caloric beverages 24 hours once per week.

One-day (24-hour) food fasts are a popular way to maintain health and vigor. Fasting leverages the self-healing properties of the human body. Radical health improvements occur when the digestive system is given rest and the organs get ample time to repair and heal themselves.

A regular practice of fasting can:

• Improve digestive efficiency
• Increase mental clarity
• Increase physical and mental vigor
• Remove toxins
• Improve vision
• Give a general feeling of well being

Like all the other habits, fasting gets easier with practice. I've been fasting for years and it's one of the best things I have done for my health.

Fasting is also one of the most recognized techniques in religious and spiritual practices. I also use fasting to get spiritual clarity and refinement.

8. Stop consuming the news or reading the newspaper.

Although the amount of warfare and deaths by human hands are reducing globally, you will not get that message watching televised news or reading the news.

On the contrary, these media outlets have an agenda. Their goal is to appeal to your fears by inflating extreme cases -- making them seem normal and commonplace. If they didn't do so, their viewership would plummet.

Which is why Peter Diamandis, one of the world's experts on entrepreneurship and the future of innovation has said, "I've stopped watching TV news. They couldn't pay me enough money."

You can get high-quality news curated from Google news. When you detox from the toxic filth that is public news, you'll be startled as your worldview becomes radically more optimistic. There is no objective reality. Instead, we live in perceived realities and are thus responsible for the worldview we adopt.

10 Things You Can Do Every Day That Earn Respect

1. Underpromise and overdeliver.

First coined by Tom Peters in his 1982 book "In Search of Excellence", the advice to ‘underpromise and overdeliver’ has been met by some critics. Peters advice, however, still holds up today for respected leaders. As Peter says;

“With an explosion of competitors, many of them new and without track records, reliability, rather than overly aggressive promises, is the most valuable strategic edge, especially for the mid- to long-haul. While getting faster at responding to customers is imperative, living up to commitments has never been worth more.”

Respected individuals know that this doesn’t mean that they should spread themselves too thin. Instead, it’s a way to make sure that they keep their word to everyone ranging from clients to customers to employees, which in turn builds trust and respect.

2. Show appreciation.

Following this advice, leaders like former Mattel Chief Executive Officer Robert A. Eckert have made it habit to show their appreciation. Under Eckert, Mattel attribute it’s turn around to the Eckert simply saying ‘thank you.’

Respected leaders like Eckert also show their appreciation by;

• Acknowledging the work of employees
• Writing handwritten letters
• Praising employees in public
• Personalizing messages
• Creating a culture of gratitude

Just remember, when you do praise others, make sure that it’s sincere.3. Are humble.

Lazlo Bock, Google’s senior vice president of people operations, via the "Harvard Business Review," said that humility is one of the traits that he looks for in new hires. When team members are humble, they can solve problems together and have the power to learn. Humility is also one of the most effective traits that great leaders all share.

Showing humility daily includes using your mistakes as teachable moments, engaging in dialogues, welcoming uncertainty, and empowering others to lead.

4. Share their vision.

Stephen R. Covey put a spin on the corporate mission statement in "The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People." Covey suggested that “individuals create their own mission statement as part of his second habit: begin with the end in mind.”

Examples would include;

• Denise Morrison, CEO of Campbell’s Soup -- "To serve as a leader, live a balanced life, and apply ethical principles to make a significant difference."
• Sir Richard Branson -- "To have fun in [my] journey through life and learn from [my] mistakes."
• Amanda Steinberg, founder of Dailyworth.com -- "To use my gifts of intelligence, charisma, and serial optimism to cultivate the self-worth and net-worth of women around the world."

Whether this is a daily mantra or quote that is associated with you, creating and sharing your vision can help you keep your employees focused and boost their morale when needed.

5. Tell the truth.

Bill Nussey, CEO of Silverpop, tells Jeff Hilimire that respected leaders are “honest and willing to give the people they care about real feedback and advice.” Whether if it’s good or bad, being transparent with employees will ultimately build trust because it proves that you have the confidence in them to continue their great or make the adjustments to enhance their performance.

6. Are productive, not just busy.

Yes. There’s a huge difference between being productive and just busy. For example, productive individuals have a mission, fewer priorities, aren’t afraid to say ‘no,’ take their time with tasks, and want others to be as effective as they are.

7. Seek and share knowledge.

Leaders must become learners. They have to be constantly learning and bettering themselves. This is what will allow them to share what knowledge they have and help others.

Leaders can seek knowledge through books, listening to others, engaging in activities like presentations, and joining workshops. But, that’s only part of the job. Leaders must then take this recently obtained knowledge and pass it along to others.

8. Are passionate.

Thai Nguyen says in Entrepreneur, “Respected people are passionate and unabashed about their beliefs.” Mark Cuban is the perfect example of a passionate leader.

“Cuban is clearly opinionated, yet lovable. The reason Cuban remains respected is that, unlike Kanye, it’s more authenticity than publicity. Whether he’s the shark throwing someone in the tank, shouting from the Maverick’s bench or shedding tears at a press conference, everything that’s public comes across as genuine. People respect that.”

9. They measure their progress.

The most effective leaders are that they need to measure their progress somehow. Jack Dorsey, for example, keeps a diary. “Find a simple way way to track your progress.” Dorsey also says, “You really get to see how you have grown, how your business has grown and how your own leadership has grown.”

10. Influence others to become leaders.

Larry Peterson, recruiter for All's Well Healthcare, says on LinkedIn that;

“Great leaders don't just make happy followers -- they inspire more leaders with their examples. Just as important: They're thrilled, not threatened, when members of their teams go on to even bigger and better things in life.”

15 Things You Should Be Able to Say About Yourself

What can you say about yourself?

We can say many things--good and bad--but we all want to be able to say things that will make us feel good about ourselves and our influence on others.

If you want to be successful, if you want to be happy, if you want to be healthy, the way to cultivate that life is to know you are living a life that is meaningful.

Here are a few things you should be able to say to let your life be your voice.

1. I followed my heart.

Life is short and everyone has something that they are passionate about. Be able to say that you didn't let fear hold you back. The cost of not following your heart is spending the rest of your life wishing you had.

2. I believe in myself.

Even if you fail, it doesn't mean you will continue to fail. Be able to say you believed in yourself and kept trying. Everything that is successful will begin with you believing in yourself.

3. I live by high standards.

Never apologize for high standards; people who really want to be in your life will rise up to meet them. The quality of who you are is reflected in the standards you set for yourself; position yourself to live up to the rise of your own expectations. 

4. I treat others the way I want to be treated.

Talk to people the way you want to be spoken to; respect people as you wish to be respected. Your status, religion, race, political views, or culture don't matter--being a good person really is as simple as following the golden rule and treating others as you would like them to treat you.

5. I understand how precious time is.

Be able to say that you didn't waste time. Remember that time is free but priceless, that you can't own it but you can spend it--wisely or unwisely. Treat time as a resource to be invested carefully.

6. I look for positivity in all things.

Instead of thinking of all the things that can go wrong, become one of the people who look on how they go right. Your mind is powerful, and when you fill it with positivity your life naturally becomes positive. When you think positive thoughts, positive things will happen.

7. I trust my intuition.

Don't let anyone talk you out of what you know to be true. Trust your inner voice and allow yourself to be led by your intuition. The  more empowered you become, the stronger you become and the happier you become. Avoid going against your better judgment or getting talked into things that don't feel right.

8. I speak up.

When you don't speak up for the things that matter to you, you are not being true to yourself. When you speak your mind, you stand with confidence and gain courage.

9. I am a tough person who has made it through tough times.

The times when life is toughest are often the times that lead you to the most meaningful discoveries. When times are tough, dare to be tougher. Anyone can run away, but facing problems and working through them makes you strong.

10. I am good at letting people know they matter.

No matter how busy you are, make time to let people know they matter. Be there for them, make plans with them, set aside time for relationships.

11. I am a responsible person.

Don't be the person who blames others or makes excuses. One of the most important keys to success is having the discipline to do what you know you should do even when you don't feel like doing it--and those daily decisions often involve taking responsibility for your own choices and actions. Remember that your actions do affect other people, so always be careful with what you say and do.

12. I am grateful.

Gratitude will always make you happy. If you have a hard time finding something to be grateful for, look around you and watch how other people are struggling. Be grateful you have it better, then go out and help others. At the end of the day, it's not that happy people are thankful but that thankful people are happy.

13. I have forgiven those who have hurt me.

Forgiveness takes great strength, but few things are more worth the effort. Life becomes easier and business becomes more manageable when you learn to forgive. The alternative is an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation that strips your energy and humanity.

14. I have no regrets.

Be able to say you took chances, you told the truth, you wronged a right, you spent time with those you love, you followed your heart and lived your passion, you forgave and moved forward with fortitude. The worst form of regret is regret for the chances we didn't take.

15. I am making a difference.

Don't tire of doing little things for others, because sometimes those little things occupy the biggest part of their heart. In life we cannot always do great things, but, as Mother Teresa said,  we can always do small things with great love. At the end it is not only about making a living, it is about making a difference.

05 Reasons to Reimagine How You Offer Customer Support

It used to be that you built a product, shipped it, and worried about offering customer service later. But that’s no longer true in this new “era of the customer.” Innovative companies everywhere are changing the way that they do business to put custome­­­rs and customer experience first -- whether it’s marketing, sales, or product design. This re-invention of traditional customer support isn’t just a gimmick for these companies -- it’s the foundation of their success. Here are five reasons why you need to rethink your customer service offering.

1. Customer expectations are higher.

It’s no surprise that as today’s social, mobile consumers have grown accustomed to getting what they want, when they want it, their expectations have risen accordingly. In fact, in a recent poll, 82 percent of CEOs reported that customers’ expectations of their company were “somewhat” or “much” higher than they were three years ago. Customers now expect fast, personalized service at every touchpoint, every time. 

2. Companies are competing on experiences, not products.

In the past, people chose which companies they did business with based on price or brand, but today the driver is overall experience. Gartner reports that 89 percent of companies now expect to compete mostly on the basis of customer experience, versus 36 percent four years ago. Customer support is a key driver of customer experience, but only if you expand the role of your support team beyond the purely reactive role that many of them play today. When support agents are empowered to go above-and-beyond with customers, and to upsell or cross-sell relevant services, they can create winning experiences.

3. Support is becoming an integral part of the product experience.

The line between products and services is blurring, and service is becoming part of the product itself. (Think Amazon Mayday button -- it’s a totally seamless way for customers to get help.) It may seem like only a big-technology company thing, but even small companies can build support into their experience. Start by integrating your support center into the header and footer of your website. It’s also easy to add links to relevant articles in your support center on specific pages on your site.  Another tip is to add a way for customers to log tickets from within your product experience. 

4.  Customers are willing to pay more for a better experience.

Focusing on the customer experience isn’t just the latest trend -- it’s also smart business. It turns out that making every touchpoint great doesn’t just make customers love you, it can also increase your profits. Surveys have shown that 86 percent of consumers would pay more for a better customer experience. You may decide to tier your customer base if some are willing to pay more for premium experiences, including support, early access to features, or other benefits. Either way, your bottom line will benefit. 

5. Experiences are changing from reactive to proactive.

Proactive customer service is going to be the next wave of the customer experience. After all, it’s only natural that companies who are totally focused on customers want to reach out and fix a problem before it even happens. What if an automobile maker could tell when you lock your keys in the car and automatically open the door for you? Those days aren’t so far off. Even small companies are becoming proactive. Bitium, a startup that provides single sign-on technology, can tell when users are having trouble logging in and proactively reach out to help. Customers appreciate the experience of getting help before they even need it!

In the future, customer experience is going to be the thing that makes or breaks your company. To succeed, you need to think about customer support first, before you think about anything else. It needs to be the foundation that your entire company is built on. 

08 Ways Your Company Can Go Green and Save Money

1. Gauge your current energy and water use.

It just makes sense that before you do something new, you have to take an inventory of how far you've gone with the old way, so you can know what work there is to do--and how you can gradually undo what you currently do.

Putting that in perspective, I mean; gauge your current "ungreen" use, especially in terms of energy and water, and then start thinking of how to do them differently--in a greener fashion.

2. Switch off unused appliances.

No unused appliance should be left on. Encourage your workers to make sure any appliance not used, or not very important, should be turned off till when needed.

Other than making your company eco-friendly and saving you so much money on energy, it also protects your company from electrical faults and accidents. Plus, it's actually plain commonsensical.

3. Put computers to sleep.

If you can't switch your computers off due to unsaved processes or work, then hibernate or put them to sleep when not in use. This can help your company save $10 - $50 per computer annually.

4. Replace standard light bulbs.

Replacing standard light bulbs with the more eco-friendly compact fluorescent (CFL) or LED lights is one of the simplest but best steps you can take towards taking your company green. These bulbs might be more expensive than the standard ones but they consume less energy and last very long--saving you so much money on electricity and light bulbs in the long run.

5. Power your office with alternative energy.

Solar power, hydropower, plant matter, geothermal, wind, and other renewable energy sources are used to generate "green power". And "green power" sources are the most eco-friendly sources of energy.

It's definitely costly to move to alternative energy, but you'll be saving money in the long run--and also saving planet Earth.

6. Use public transportation or other alternative means of transportation.

Trying as much as possible to reduce the number of cars plying the roads on any given day is a great attempt at saving the planet and making it greener.

Encouraging your workers to board buses, trains, and other public vehicles is a good way to make your company go green--and even save them some money. Other means like biking or walking are also eco-friendly practices in the area of transportation that should be encouraged among your staff.

7. Plant Trees.

The least your company could do is plant flowers and trees around your office. Taking it to greater heights is doing a tree planting project in your community.

You don't have to be an expert gardener, you can easily learn planting from the various tree-planting guides online.

8. Upgrade and Donate.

You'll not only be doing Mother Earth some good; you'll also be doing good for those who are in need. Simply upgrade your appliances to their greener versions and donate the old ones. This might cost you much, but you'll save money, especially on maintenance, in the long run.

08 Ways to Slow Down and De-Stress Your Busy Life

Every. Single. Day. That’s what it feels like when you get slammed at work, have to pick up the kids, mow the lawn, get your car in the shop and go to your best friend’s birthday party because there’s always something to do and so little time.

I'm a busy guy like you, trying to make it till tomorrow with as much hair on my head as possible. While it may seem impossible to become less stressed, it's totally possible.

I've found that it’s vital that you take the time to slow down and enjoy yourself while also de-stressing your hectic life. That can all be achieved by doing the following eight things.

1. Do one thing at a time.

Humayun Khan said it best in a previous Spotify article, “multitasking sucks.” It turns out, however, that Khan wasn’t just stating an opinion. There’s actual research that backs up this claim.

Researchers at Stanford asked students “to complete three experiments involving switching tasks, going through irrelevant information, and using their working memory under the assumption that multitaskers would outdo the nonmultitaskers.”

The researchers found that “multitaskers were terrible in all three experiments, worst of all the researchers found that when frequent multitaskers attempted to focus on a single task, they used their brains less effectively than non-frequent multitaskers.”

Instead of stressing yourself out and attempting to juggle multiple tasks, focus one thing at a time and then move on to the next item on your list once you’ve completed that task.

2. Double the estimate of how long anything will take.

How often have you underestimated the time it takes you to complete a task? If you’re like most of us, it happens pretty frequently. When this over simplification and underestimation of required time happens, you’re adding unnecessary stress to your life. To prevent that, double the time it will take you to complete a task -- both at home and in the office.

For example, if you plan to spend 30 minutes editing an article you just wrote, extend that to an hour so that you’re not rushing to meet that deadline and increasing your stress without any added benefit. Not only will this help you spot mistakes, you aren’t rushing in an unhealthy way to get the job done. If you’re planning on repainting your kitchen on Saturday, plan on completing the project on Sunday. Again, it prevents errors and the need to be in a mad rush.

3. Stop being late.

Sometimes this is out of your hands. What if your vehicle won’t start or there’s an accident on the highway? But, if you get a head start by waking up and leaving the house earlier, you’re reducing the morning rush, and hence the undo stress that worry and rushing causes.

If you really want to stop being late, prep for the next day by getting ready the night before like packing your lunch or laying out your clothes. A study was conducted that asked about 10 billionaires some of their habits. Everyone of them said they laid out their clothes the night before. Is it possible there is a correlation in just one stress reducer and wealth?

4. Go for a short walk and get some fresh air.

Marc Chernoff says on the Marc & Angel Hack Life that “When things are getting really stressful, take 5-10 minutes to take a walk and clear your mind.” He adds, “A short walk does wonders. It gives you something new to look at and it gets your body moving.”

It’s also been found that fresh air is good for digestion, improves your mood, strengthens your immune system, improves your blood pressure/heart rate, and gives you an energy boost.

Related: 6 Benefits of Unchaining Yourself From Your Desk to Take a Break Outside

5. Take the scenic route.

Instead of taking the fastest route from A to B, why not take the longer route? You could do this by driving the longer, although more scenic route along the shoreline, when commuting to work. You could take the longer bus route, stand in the longest line, or just stop along the way to admire the sunset or do some shopping.

In other words, don’t run. Walk. And, enjoy that walk while you’re at it.

6. Enjoy the silence.

As Andy Puddicombe for YouBeauty writes on The Huffington Post;

“Silence can mean different things to different people. The early hours of the morning, the serenity of the countryside, the few moments after you turn off the motor of your car, or even the simplicity of a clean and tidy room. Do your best to seek out this kind of silence, at least once a day. You deserve it.”

7. Just breathe.

Yep. It’s that simple. Breathing can reduce everything from anxiety, stress and blood pressure. But, you want to make sure that you’re breathing properly by doing so in a way that “is physiologically optimal for your body.”

Check out this guide from Selfication on how to breath properly.

8. Achieve work-life balance.

Working too much isn’t just stressful, it can be detrimental to your overall health. But, how can you achieve a work-life balance? Richard Lazazzera has the following suggestions;

• Prepare for the upcoming week.
• Take vacations.
• Celebrate each holiday.
• Disconnect for awhile.
• Designate specific work hours.
• Implement the Pareto Principle, also known as 80/20 rule.
• Automate as much as you can.

7 Things Extremely Happy People Do Every Single Day

How do you achieve sustainable happiness? In a world that puts end-based and goal-oriented happiness first, it's a genuinely valid question. However, it turns out that the secrets to consistent happiness might be closer than we think. Here are seven things the happiest folks do every day you should be incorporating into your daily routine.

1. Choose to exercise.

Other than making your body feel great, exercise also helps your brain. Getting your heart rate up triggers a dopamine release--the same chemical responsible for happiness--which gets you in a better mental state in no time.

2. Choose to take care of your body.

We choose what we eat, what we don't eat, and all the good and bad things we do to our bodies. If we abuse our bodies with junk food and toxic substances, we will be paid back with much unhappiness and pain. Making an active effort to nourish our bodies is a key step that needs to be consistently taken in the pursuit of happiness.

3. Choose to be polite.

Happy people don't let life's punches get them down too hard. From something as small as a person accidentally stepping on your foot, to something as big as being passed over for a promotion, being polite subconsciously increases your tolerance for bad things, and helps you stay in a good mood.

4. Choose to enjoy the world.

Thoreau was a firm believer in immersing ourselves into the natural world. He felt that we must be surrounded by nature in order to achieve true clarity. If it's a lovely day, go outside. Take 30 minutes simply to sit on a patch of grass and enjoy the way the wind feels. You deserve it.

5. Choose to be surrounded by people you love.

We derive the most pleasure from social interactions when we have a deeper connection to the people with whom we are interacting. Thus, it makes sense that happy people will consistently choose to avoid those who fill their lives with negative energy, and gravitate toward those who give off warmth.

6. Choose to be grateful.

It's easy to complain. It's difficult to appreciate. Beat the cycle by trying to look at things differently when something doesn't go your way. Even when all is wrong, find one thing to be grateful for. It'll be enough to get you through your day.

7. Choose to be happy.

We often do not realize that we have the power within us to change a bad mood to a good one. Bad things happen to good people. Bad things happen to bad people. Bad things just happen. How we react to them is what matters. Choose to be happy at least once a day, every day. You might surprise yourself with how quickly this new habit takes flight.

08 Things You Should Do Every Day Before 8 A.M. to Be More Productive

When you start your workday, do you feel like Superman or like a zombie? If you're like most people, you probably feel like a zombie.

Most people's mornings are a chaotic mess. Exhausted. Stimulant-driven. Rough.

However, Benjamin Franklin is quoted to have said: "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." To be sure, when you consciously develop an effective morning routine, your entire life will change and improve.

Let's begin.

1. Get a quality 7-plus hours of sleep (wake up between 5 and 6 a.m.)

The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) conducted surveys revealing that at least 40 million Americans suffer from over 70 different sleep disorders. Not only that: 60 percent of adults, and 69 percent of children, experience one or more sleep problems a few nights or more during a week.

In addition, more than 40 percent of adults experience daytime sleepiness severe enough to interfere with their daily activities at least a few days each month--with 20 percent reporting problem sleepiness a few days a week or more.

On the flip-side, getting a healthy amount of sleep is linked to:

• Increased memory
• Longer life
• Decreased inflammation
• Increased creativity
• Increased attention and focus
• Decreased fat and increased muscle mass with exercise
• Lower stress
• Decreased dependence on stimulants like caffeine
• Decreased risk of getting into accidents
• Decreased risk of depression

If you don't make sleep a priority, the rest of this article is irrelevant. You may use stimulants to compensate, but that isn't sustainable.

2. Don't check your email or social media (0 minutes)

Eighty percent of people between the ages of 18 and 44 check their smartphones within 15 minutes of waking up.

Checking your smartphone puts you in a reactive--as opposed to a proactive--state. Emails and other notifications are databases for other people's agendas. They're distractive inputs that get in the way of creative outputs.

3. Prayer and meditation (5-15 minutes)

Rather than immediately checking your email, and thus setting a reactive tone, go to a quiet place. Take some deep breaths, inhaling through your nose, holding deeply for a few seconds, and exhaling through your mouth.

Close your eyes and express gratitude for this day. Gratitude unlocks within you a view of abundance, as opposed to scarcity.

4. Journaling for two purposes (5-15 minutes)

After reflecting deeply on your blessings, pull out your journal. Write down your top goals--both long-term and for this particular day. Writing down your big picture "vision" everyday keeps it both conscious and subconscious.

Research confirms the brain, specifically the prefrontal cortex, is most active and readily creative immediately following sleep. So, thought-dump into your journal about the projects you're working on. With practice, you'll become proficient at getting clarity and ideas.

5. Exercise (20-45 minutes)

Despite endless evidence of the need for exercise, only one-third of American men and women between the ages of 25 to 64 years engage in regular physical activity.

Getting your body going floods your system with dopamine, increases your confidence, and makes you work more productively.

6. Listen to inspirational or instructive content while you exercise (0 minutes)

Ordinary people seek entertainment. Extraordinary people seek education and learning. 

By listening to podcasts or audio books while you work out, you'll improve mentally and physically at the same time. After a long enough period of time, you'll have listened to hundreds of books.

7. Take a cold shower (3-5 minutes)

Tony Robbins starts every morning by jumping into a 57-degree Fahrenheit swimming pool.

Why would he do such a thing?

When practiced regularly, cold-water immersion provides positive long-lasting changes to your body's immune, lymphatic, circulatory, and digestive systems. It can also increase weight-loss because it boosts your metabolism.

A 2007 research study found that taking cold showers routinely can help treat depression symptoms, often more effectively than prescription medications. 

8. Consume 30 grams of protein (3-15 minutes)

Donald Layman, professor emeritus of nutrition at the University of Illinois, recommends consuming at least 30 grams of protein for breakfast.

Similarly, Tim Ferriss, in his book, The 4-Hour Body, also recommends 30 grams of protein 30 minutes after waking up. According to Tim, his father did this and lost 19 pounds in one month.

Protein-rich foods keep you full longer than other foods because they take longer to leave the stomach. Also, protein keeps blood sugar levels steady, which prevents spikes in hunger. Eating protein first decreases your white carbohydrate cravings.

Eggs, nuts, meats, and seeds are great choices. For me, I just grab a protein shake. Takes two minutes in a blender-bottle.

Conclusion

This morning routine will take you between 60-100 minutes, depending how in-depth you go on each activity. It will change your days, and eventually, your whole life.

07 Major Rules to Become Massively Rich

Imagine if you were a millionaire right now.

You would have practically everything you want. You could enjoy the luxuries of life: the cars, food, clothes, house, and everything else that money can buy. With money comes great respect and friends. Even more, many of your financial worries would immediately evaporate. Money gives you the freedom you've always wanted.

In order to achieve this major goal, you must select your tool for wealth and use it to serve a large number people. Whether it's sports, medicine, or animals, you must find something you can devote your life to and find a way to monetize it.

If your idea is worthwhile, it will cut through competition like a knife through soft cheese. For instance, even with a vast number of bloggers, my articles are still feasted upon by millions of people each month. My secret? Competence and confidence. You need the skills to pay the bills.

The difference between who you are and who you want to be is your competence and confidence.

This means that you are willing to build your skills and confidently apply them to your dreams. For me, it was about sharing practical truths about success. What about you? What will you set out to do and how will you do it? 

Before you reach your dreams, there are some mental habits that you'll want to pick up along the way. Since people ask me about the mindset of being a millionaire, here are Seven Major Rules to Become Massively Rich: 

1. Explosive growth.

The typical worker expects a minimal increase in wages every year. In other words, if you made $50,000 this year, the next obvious step would be to aim for $55,000 next year. However, incremental growth won't make you a millionaire. Instead, you need to aim for explosive growth, like doubling or tripling your income every year.

Explosive growth can only take place when you apply your knowledge. In essence, be eager to learn and challenge yourself.  To be a millionaire in the next five years, you must rise above the daily distractions and pay the price. You must first seek to master yourself, then your business. To grow yourself, you must know yourself.

2. Know your daily rate.

One of my clients was profoundly impacted when I told her about her daily rate. As a doctor, she was convinced of the notion that she was only worth $100,000 per year. However, when I told her that she was worth $400 per day, I showed her how she could make the leap to $1,000 per day.  

(To get the daily rate, I divided $100,000 into 250 working days to get $400 per day.)

Once she realized that most of her days were filled with unnecessary tasks, she hired an intern. Since the intern was looking to learn from a doctor, the relationship was mutually beneficial. This helped the doctor save valuable time and money, which multiplied her results. Because this helped her to serve more clients, she now earns over $4,000 per day, which qualifies her as a millionaire. 

3. Impact equals income.

If you want to earn one million dollars, you need to help one million people. This means that the larger impact you make, the more money you can take. If you look at the biggest business leaders, you'll find that many of them have scaled their products and services, which allows them to dramatically reduce their prices and feed the masses.

Like your daily rate, you should find out how many people you impact each day. According to one study, the average person directly reaches about 27 people per day. If this is your number, how can you increase it? With the internet, you have the ability to make a bigger impact, which will give you a bigger income. To raise your income, raise your impact. Those who reach millions of people will make millions of dollars.

4. Enjoy your wealth.

I've seen some money teachers say, "If you stop buying a $5 latte every day, you'll be a millionaire in no time." I believe this philosophy is horrendously wrong, because it prohibits you from enjoying your wealth. In other words, the person who does this is saying, "I cannot afford a coffee because one day I can be rich!" Completely illogical.

However, what you should be saying is this: "Since I've been blessed to have money, let me enjoy my wealth now. While I enjoy this latte, I can think of other ways to earn money so I can get more of these opportunities."  By fully indulging in the $5 latte, you're basically saying to the Universe, "More of this please!" If you fully accept this wealthy proposition, your expanding mind will start to produce bigger results.

5. Rule of 100.

People ask me all the time, "How do you get paid to speak?" or "How do you get on or in magazines?" Actually, it's easy if you consistently challenge yourself to produce the highest and best results. Simply put, if you do 100 of anything, you'll gain the proficiency to be perceived as an expert. Being perceived as an expert can allow you to charge higher fees for your services.

The key to the "Rule of 100" is to do it within 12 months. For instance, if you read 100 books on a certain subject within 12 months, you would be an expert. If you give 100 speeches in one year, you'll get paid. If you write 100 articles in 12 months, you'll get noticed. If you do 100 heavy workouts, you'll get in physical shape. The rule of 100 applies to most skill-building activities.

 

6. Align with experts.

To be a millionaire, you must burn the bridges of mediocrity. This means that you're ready to erase the average people, places, and things, even if they are family or friends. However, this can only happen when you start to align yourself with experts. When you get closer to industry leaders, these average people will automatically dissipate in your life. 

Furthermore, the difference between an amateur and a professional is who they hire. Actually, most amateurs won't get far because they haven't hired anyone in the first place! If you want to get to the next level, you have to hire the best attitudes and aptitudes in the industry. When you do, your results will be infinitely rewarding. 

7. Create new responsibilities.

The secret to success is to create new responsibilities for yourself. Once you create new responsibilities for yourself, you will then create more responsibilities for others. Since you're adding jobs to the market place, this is called "wealth creation." Once a person is employed, you get higher results for yourself and your impact is enlarged.

The millionaire is always creating new responsibilities because they always have new ideas to implement. Once these ideas start to overwhelm them, they find employees who can fulfill the request. People are always ready to handle steady tasks for steady pay. In fact, ten percent of the entrepreneurs in the world create responsibilities for 90 percent of employees in the world.  

 

Now that I've taken you through a new world of ideas, you need to put them into practice. Which ones will you use? How will you use them? Once you start applying these rules of success, you will reach the rarefied airs of achievement. When people ask you how you did it, be sure to share this article with them!

07 Ways to Refocus on What's Truly Important

We've all experienced periods of powerful, single-minded productivity—days, weeks or months when everything we want falls into place and we achieve our goals without much effort. Hooray! Awesome!

On the other hand, there are slump times (unfortunately, often more frequent than the productive ones) when we are overwhelmed by our day-to-day projects, burdens and responsibilities. It's those frustrating times that challenge us and get us down.

At those periods, when you're down-in-the-dumps and hardly care about anything or anyone, you need to refocus on what's really important.

Easier said than done? You bet!

When it all seems so useless and pointless, exactly how do you find the time and energy to refocus on what really, truly matters? Allow me to share 7 of my own strategies on how to focus on what matters and cut out all the stuff that doesn't.

Write down your top priorities...and keep them in view.

To focus your attention in the right place, it's essential to remind yourself every day of what is truly most important. Recognize what is essential in your life to have clear goals. Ask yourself: "What is most important for me this year? What excites me? Is it an important project at work? My family? Improving my social life? My blog, hobby or money situation?"

Think about it and reduce what is important in your life to the top 4 or 5 most important priorities. Write those things down and post them in your workspace, on your bathroom mirror or on your fridge.

Identify what does NOT deserve your attention.

This is where you cut out all the crap that distracts you, is a time suck, and brings you down. Ask yourself: "What is wasting my time and how can I make better use of my precious time?"

If you want to focus on what is truly important for you in your life, you have to consciously know what activities steal your time. Some people don´t even notice that they spend a huge percentage of their time with random activities that are more of a habit, without ever examining (and stopping) this behavior.

Cut out the distractions.

Try to work in a place without unnecessary distractions. Ask yourself: "What are the 3 most common distractions (activities, hobbies, and habits) that are stealing my time and keeping me from doing my work in a focused way?" Figure out how you can prevent those things from distracting you and learn to manage your time.

A few distraction-cutting suggestions are:

• Close the door to your office.
• Shut down email, instant messaging programs, and put your cell phone in silent mode for an hour or more at a time.
• Stay away from your favorite places online...limit screen time.
• If your place of work is busy and noisy, use headphones with music or just noise canceling headphones without anything playing in them.

Stop all that multi-tasking.

Sometimes by multitasking you just cannot focus on one task after another, which decreases the quality of what you do. It distracts you from focusing. You can try to avoid doing multiple tasks at the same time by scheduling your most important tasks of the day. Execute these tasks one after another with the attempt to focus solely on each task, without getting distracted from unimportant things. You will see that the quality of your work will start to increase once you focus on your scheduled (and most important) tasks and projects. And you will feel more satisfied, fulfilled and focused.

Get and stay organized.

In order for you to gain focus and make your priorities matter, you need to have some sort of a personal productivity system in place to hold yourself accountable—where your priorities will actually matter. If you've got a tried-and-true system, great. If not, find one that works for you and stick to it.

Replace negative thoughts with positive ones.

Most negative emotions are completely useless. They distract you and rob you of focus. Resentment, anger, hostility, hate, and jealousy have never improved the quality of life for a single human being. (Ask Cam Newton, the losing Super Bowl 50 quarterback, about the negative effects of hostility and anger!) Take responsibility. Forgive past insults and losses...and simply replace negative thoughts with positive ones. Enough said!

Put on your own happy face.

Remember that you have the right to do stuff you enjoy. I know that not all work is fun, but you can have a good time doing just about anything if you put your mind to it. Try to fill your free time with activities that you love.

It's okay to start choosing happiness over: what others expect you to do; what you think you should be doing, but doesn’t make you happy; trying to please others; and even temporary pleasures.

Having focus and taking the time and energy to refocus are really important if you want to accomplish anything in life. You can even move proverbial mountains. But you don't have to take my word for it.

Steve Jobs summed it up so perfectly. "That's been one of my mantras—focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains." Thanks, Steve!

07 Most Common Habits of the Best Listeners

Listening is a bit like intelligence--most everyone thinks they're above average, even though that's impossible.

And listening is a skill you want to be great at. A recent study conducted at George Washington University showed that listening can influence up to 40% of a leader's job performance.

"The word listen contains the same letters as the word silent." -Alfred Brendel

There's so much talking happening at work that opportunities to listen well abound. We talk to provide feedback, explain instructions, and communicate deadlines. Beyond the spoken words, there's invaluable information to be deciphered through tone of voice, body language, and what isn't said.

In other words, failing to keep your ears (and eyes) open could leave you out of the game.

Most people believe that their listening skills are where they need to be, even though they aren't. A study at Wright State University surveyed more than 8,000 people from different verticals, and almost all rated themselves as listening as well as or better than their co-workers. We know intuitively that many of them are wrong.

Effective listening is something that can absolutely be learned and mastered. Even if you find attentive listening difficult and, in certain situations, boring or unpleasant, that doesn't mean you can't do it. You just have to know what to work on. The straightforward strategies that follow will get you there.

1. Focus. The biggest mistake most people make when it comes to listening is they're so focused on what they're going to say next or how what the other person is saying is going to affect them that they fail to hear what's being said. The words come through loud and clear, but the meaning is lost. Focusing may seem like a simple suggestion, but it's not as easy as it sounds. Your thoughts can be incredibly distracting.

2. Put away your phone. It's impossible to listen well and monitor your phone at the same time. Nothing turns people off like a mid-conversation text message or even a quick glance at your phone. When you commit to a conversation, focus all your energy on the conversation. You will find that conversations are more enjoyable and effective when you immerse yourself in them.

3. Ask good questions. People like to know you're listening, and something as simple as a clarification question shows not only that you are listening but that you also care about what they're saying. You'll be surprised how much respect and appreciation you gain just by asking good questions. In addition to verifying what you've heard, you should ask questions that seek more information. Examples of probing questions are "What happened next?" and "Why did he say that?" The key is to make certain that your questions really do add to your understanding of the speaker's words, rather than deflecting the conversation to a different topic.

4. Practice reflective listening. Psychologist Carl Rogers used the term "reflective listening" to describe the listening strategy of paraphrasing the meaning of what's being said in order to make certain you've interpreted the speaker's words correctly. By doing this, you give the speaker the opportunity to clarify what she meant to say. When you practice reflective listening, don't simply repeat the speaker's words to her. Use your own words to show that you've absorbed the information.

5. Use positive body language. Becoming cognizant of your gestures, expressions, and tone of voice (and making certain they're positive) will draw people to you like ants to a picnic. Using an enthusiastic tone, uncrossing your arms, maintaining eye contact, and leaning towards the speaker are all forms of positive body language employed by great listeners. Positive body language is a sign of emotional intelligence and it can make all the difference in a conversation.

6. Don't pass judgment. If you want to be a good listener, you must be open-minded. Being open-minded makes you approachable and interesting to others. No one wants to have a conversation with someone who has already formed an opinion and is not willing to listen. Having an open mind is crucial in the workplace, where approachability means access to new ideas and help. To eliminate preconceived notions and judgment, you need to see the world through other people's eyes. This doesn't require that you believe what they believe or condone their behavior; it simply means that you quit passing judgment long enough to truly understand what they are saying.

7. Keep your mouth shut. If you're not checking for understanding or asking a probing question, you shouldn't be talking. Not only does thinking about what you're going to say next take your attention away from the speaker, hijacking the conversation shows that you think you have something more important to say. This means that you shouldn't jump in with solutions to the speaker's problems. It's human nature to want to help people, especially when it's someone you care about, but what a lot of us don't realize is that when we jump in with advice or a solution, we're shutting the other person down. It's essentially a more socially acceptable way of saying, "Okay, I've got it. You can stop now!" The effect is the same.

Bringing It All Together

Life is busy, and it seems to whirl by faster every day. We all try to do a million things at once, and sometimes it works out. But active, effective listening isn't something you can do on the fly. It requires a conscious effort.

06 Secrets to More PR in Less Than an Hour a Day

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time: We who are raising startups, not pachyderms, know that the keys to success are persistence and consistency. Yet too many owners become frustrated because their businesses aren't winning the press and social media mentions they deserve.

What to do? Here are six practical ways to take your public relations to the next level in less than an hour a day.

1. Gather testimonials.

Every marketer knows that testimonials can benefit marketing campaigns. But did you know that they can also help boost the impact and odds of success for your public relations outreach? Think about the typical stories you read in the media that profile a company. With few exceptions, they include quotes from customers. The reason is obvious: Without testimonials, it's just your word.

Editors and readers know that talk is cheap. They know that having others vouch for you adds credibility. And, for your part, gathering testimonials won't be hard, but it will require persistence. Make a point for your sales or service team to have a system in place to gather testimonials. It can be something as simple as a shared Google Doc. Often, it's as easy as just asking your customers. If many or all of them aren't willing, that may be indicative of a problem with satisfaction. Time required: 10 minutes a day.

2. Average a press release a month.

No, press releases don't equal media coverage. And, yes, reporters still rely on press releases. No, press releases are not dead. But, yes, using press releases as an SEO strategy is a dead strategy.

Truth is, a press release is just a tool. It isn't an end, it is a means to an end. But, like any tool, in the right hands it can do a lot. Press releases still help inform the media about important updates, keep your clients and stakeholders informed and create a public record of happenings. Make a point, then, to put out a press release once a month, but only if you have something interesting to say. Having large gaps of time with no press releases issued creates the impression that either something is wrong, or nothing much is happening. Time required: 4 hours a month or so (average 8 minutes a day).

3. Follow a reporter (online).

Reporter and editors still heavily use Twitter as their primary social media platform. And like any other human being on social media, they take note of who follows them, who retweeted or favorited their tweet and who leaves an interesting or funny comment. Leverage this amazing resource, and anyone can connect one-to-one with some of the best known editors and reporters out there.

Considering how these poor folks get bombarded with hundreds of emails and pitches a day, Twitter is a fantastic way to bypass the clutter and make them take notice. But, consider Twitter to be a soft-sell channel; don't be overly aggressive in promoting a pitch right off the bat. Instead, use social media to establish a relationship first, then work relevant pitches in.

Speaking of relevant, be absolutely sure the media person targeted writes about the industry in question. This can be done with a quick Google search of the writer's name and a quick scan of the topics he or she has recently written on. Time required: 10 minutes a day.

4. Newsjack.

Newsjacking isn't a crime, as its name may  imply. It's a secret weapon that savvy PR folks use to get their clients consistent coverage. Doesn't it seem like some companies are always in the news? How they do that is by leveraging the power of newsjacking. Newsjacking means simply finding a way to make a company relevant to whatever the hot topics of the day are.

So, if cybersecurity is a hot topic of the moment, look to see if there are angles that relate your company to this topic. If the "sharing economy," such as Uber and Airbnb is the hot topic, likewise check out opportunities to participate in the conversation. Naturally this requires an awareness of what the trending topics are.

Thankfully, though, social media has come up with helpful ways to know what's buzzing. Both Twitter and Facebook have areas that show what topics or hashtags are trending at that moment. Make it a habit to check at least once a day, and think of any possible ways to inject your company into the conversation. Time required: 15 minutes a day.

5. Apply for awards.

Who doesn't like to win an award? Awards are a win-win for everyone. Companies feel good for being selected, and subsequent prospects feel good that someone has already vetted you. In the prospect's mind, the thinking is that if an award committee found a reason to name a company a finalist or a grand prize winner, there must be a good reason.

Winning multiple awards is a great way to build a portfolio of reputation that puts even the most skittish prospect at ease. But the first step in winning awards is knowing what awards are out there. For every industry, there are usually a handful of top awards available. Google "industry name + award" to quickly find the top ones to apply for.

Don't neglect local awards, diversity awards and "green" awards. Keep in mind that entry fees for awards vary from reasonable (a few hundred dollars) to expensive (closer to $1,000). Spending a little time finding  the top awards and noting the submission deadlines could pay you dividends for years to come. Time required: 30 minutes a month (average 1 minute a day).

6. Follow HARO.

HARO isn't some UN organization. Its full name is www.helpareporter.com, and it's a mailing list that has a simple goal of connecting reporters who need material, with companies or individuals who could supply them with whatever they need. Every weekday, three HARO emails are sent out morning, afternoon and evening. The email is a long laundry list of story opportunities segmented by industry.

Sometimes, a listing reveals who the outlet and reporter is, sometimes not. Regardless, it's a great low-hanging fruit way of potentially getting your name into the press. HARO has recently become a bit of a victim of its own success. As its popularity has grown, so has the mob of people who respond to a reporter's inquiry. This ultimately leads back to the original dilemma of PR: breaking through the clutter. Still, your chances of winning success from responding to a HARO inquiry is greater than a cold pitch. So, sign up. Time required: 10 minutes a day.