We are unlikely ever to have sufficient time to do all the things we want or need to do. So it’s vital therefore that we make the best use of the time we have available. And since time itself is not physically manageable, we have to learn to manage ourselves, our workload’s, our priorities and our clutter. Here are the top ten tips to help you do this: 1. Never let others solve their time problems by creating yours! Make sure you know how and when to say “no”, and always agree the next move. 2. Get your priorities clear, and keep them in mind. And always get – and give – realistic deadlines. You are more likely to achieve your deadlines if those you depend on are clear about theirs. 3. Plan your day (preferably the night before) and stick to the plan. If you have been looking ahead to possible problems you are less likely to have last minute crises preventing you from achieving the plan. 4. Aim to achieve something in every day. If at the end of a long day you feel you have worked your socks off but don’t know what you’ve done, there is less motivation to do it all again tomorrow! 5. Be realistic with what you can achieve in one day. If you aren’t sure, then consider doing a time log for two weeks so you know how long tasks task to do, and how you usually spend your time. 6. Do your difficult or time consuming tasks first, and when you are at your best. This achievement will motivate you to clear all the other little things too. 7. Deal assertively and decisively with interruptions (both face to face and at the telephone), perhaps scheduling in time to see people after your high priority task(s). 8. Do you procrastinate? If so, schedule in “worry time” for the end of each day, and tell yourself you’ll get on and do it now, and won’t worry about it until the allotted time. (By that time of course, it won’t be on your “worry” agenda!) 9. Cut the clutter! Be kind to people but ruthless with paper – if everything is in its rightful place, you will be able to function without distractions, and be able to find everything quicker. 10. If it comes in today, prioritize and schedule it today, otherwise it won’t be dealt with until tomorrow.
Monthly Archives: May 2012
Being Tough Means Choosing The Right
Motivational materials usually have to be read with some degree of circumspect. Even as a coach and motivational trainer, I have caught myself saying things in my exuberance that later needed to be modified. Take our quote today which comes to us from the Reverend Robert Schuler. I am always built up listening to what he has to say. In today’s quote he says “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” My knee jerk reaction was “Wow! Isn’t that the truth?” But in thinking it through a bit, I pondered on things like American black slavery. Those tough times lasted over 400 years for some as did the slavery of the Israelites by the Egyptians around 1300 B.C.E. If you were a slave living in those tough times there was little truth found in Reverend Schuler’s words. The truth is there are tough times that do last a life time for some of us. However If you were to look at your life you would see that tough times rarely do last forever. They are cyclical. They come and they go. It is with this inference in mind that Schuler speaks. Of course, every individual experiences life differently and if one lives life unwisely, they will suffer more than the next. Though external circumstances play a role, we have a lot to do with how tough life becomes for us. For example, life would surely be tough if one were sick all the time with influenza and bleeding body sores and waves of nausea and vomiting – yet one could bring these conditions upon themselves by contracting the HIV virus through living promiscuous lives. One could live in and out of terrible jail cells and half-way-houses for living a life of crime. One could suffer the terrible affects of lung cancer by choosing to smoke. In fact there is a lot of research that indicates that most diseases that we suffer are traceable to life-style choices that we ourselves make. The second half of Schuler’s statement says that tough people last. Well no one last forever, so what Schuler is inferring is that tough people last longer than most. The reason for that are tough people, self-disciplined people, make life choices that lead to better health, better living habitations, better finances, better relationships, and so on. By tough, Robert Schuler is not talking about street-wise tough, or gangster-tough. He is referring to a toughness born in wisdom; a toughness that means strength of character. This is a character that chooses the right; a character that learns the actions that lead to good outcomes. This is a character molded through hard work and ethical behavior; a character that shows respect to elders; charity towards the weak and poor; and courage to stand up for what is right against the evil doer. This character endures trials by being patient and suffering with dignity when one must suffer. The reason why life fairs better for those described here is because they live in harmony with the laws of the universe. Instead of rebelling against law, they submit to it. Tough people can endure a great deal in their lives. In fact that is the crux of Schuler’s entire statement isn’t it? It’s all about endurance. Tough people endure the tough times. They act as if they know something more than the rest. They seem to have a deeper appreciation for what is at the end of the suffering. Tough people walk through tough times like fire-walkers who walk over hot coals without sensing the pain. There is a glow about them that comes from someplace familiar but distant to the rest. The tough know the meaning of the words “Press On”. It means keep marching through the hard times for there is a time coming when tears and sadness will be no more. Neither will death nor sickness even exist. They are able to press on because they know this is certain and any tough times that are hurled upon them through no accord of their own shall pass away as certain as the sun rises and sets each day. If you meet upon tough times today remember that there is a better tomorrow. Your suffering will be for a time and then it will be gone. You will find as you look back that you too are in that special group of tough ones that is able to endure the worst. Until tomorrow comes, press on!
Age New Spirituality – Inspirational Stories ( Part 47 )
This world is like a dog’s curly tail, and people have been striving to straighten it out for hundreds of years; but when they let it go, it has curled up again. How could it be otherwise? One must first know how to work without attachment, then one will not be a fanatic. When we know that this world is like a dog’s curly tail and will never get straightened, we shall not become fanatics. If there were no fanaticism in the world, it would make much more progress than it does now. It is a mistake to think that fanaticism can make for the progress of mankind. On the contrary, it is a retarding element creating hatred and anger, and causing people to fight each other, and making them unsympathetic. We think that whatever we do or possess is the best in the world, and what we do not do or possess is of no value. So, always remember the instance of the curly tail of the dog whenever you have a tendency to become a fanatic. You need not worry or make yourself sleepless about the world; it will go on without you. When you have avoided fanaticism, then alone will you work well. It is the level – headed man, the calm man, of good judgment and cool nerves, of great sympathy and love, who does good work and so does good to himself. The fanatic is foolish and has no sympathy; he can never straighten the world, nor himself become pure and perfect. To recapitulate the chief points in today’s lecture: First, we have to bear in mind that we are all debtors to the world and the world does not owe us anything. It is a great privilege for all of us to be allowed to do anything for the world. In helping the world we really help ourselves. The second point is that there is a God in this universe. It is not true that this universe is drifting and stands in need of help from you and me. God is ever present therein, He is undying and eternally active and infinitely watchful. When the whole universe sleeps, He sleeps not; He is working incessantly; all the changes and manifestations of the world are His. Thirdly, we ought not to hate anyone. This world will always continue to be a mixture of good and evil. Our duty is to sympathise with the weak and to love even the wrongdoer. The world is a grand moral gymnasium wherein we have all to take exercise so as to become stronger and stronger spiritually. Fourthly, we ought not to be fanatics of any kind, because fanaticism is opposed to love. You hear fanatics glibly saying, “I do not hate the sinner. I hate the sin,” but I am prepared to go any distance to see the face of that man who can really make a distinction between the sin and the sinner. It is easy to say so. If we can distinguish well between quality and substance, we may become perfect men. It is not easy to do this. And further,the calmer we are and the less disturbed our nerves, the more shall we love and the better will our work be. To get more information visit : http://www.spiritual-simplicity.com
Look Inside Of Your Mind To Quit Smoking
Being able to quit smoking can be accomplished by merely the power of suggestion with a hypnotherapy stop smoking programme. For smokers, cigarettes are very important. Even with the rising costs and numerous health warnings, smokers still do not ever leave home without them. Most smokers do want to quit, some have even made several failed attempts, and others go to successfully quit but trade the smoking health related problems for an extra 40 or 50 pounds. Smoking is an emotional and psychological/habitual issue, so when a person quits and claims that the main reason that they quit was because of health issues or expenses, that is the wrong approach as they should focus on quitting as a positive reinforcement and plan to look to the future. Hypnotherapy for quit smoking has been very successful in helping people stop smoking. Chances are that you would quit smoking if you knew it would be an easy task. Especially if you knew you would not fail. Think of yourself in the near future as a non smoker and all of the benefits that non smokers get to enjoy. Imagine how proud you will be once you have kicked the habit. Hypnosis is nothing more than a state of mind that a therapist assists you in getting into. In order to get to that state, you need to be completely relaxed both physically and mentally. Most therapists will take you to a happy time as your focal point before they take you to the bleak issue of quitting smoking. The process that is then used is called desensitization and that is basically replacing a bad experience or habit with a good one. Usually the good experience that replaces the bad feeling or in this case, the quitting of cigarettes, would be replaced with the positive thought that you held onto while under hypnosis. This concept is for the hypnotists to put you in a trance in order to access your sub conscious mind, which is at that point completely vulnerable. The higher the patient’s motivation and desire is to quit smoking, the more successful the outcome will be. The right side of the brain is the side that is responsible for emotion and creativeness while the left side is responsible for logic. Yet, during hypnosis, the right side is generally more stimulated. The left side of the brain during hypnosis has a higher level cognitive processing and behavior. In order for a therapist to put someone into a hypnotic state or a trance, there has to be the right conditions such as intense concentration, extreme relaxation and high suggestibility. While the subject is in this state, which is very similar to that of dreaming, the hypnotist is able to incorporate on the power of suggestion to influence the mind of the patient. If a person enters a clinic for the purpose of being hypnotized and they believe the hypnosis will work they will have a much better chance than if they come in believing otherwise and the reason for that again is the power of suggestion. For the purpose of quitting smoking, a person that decides to utilize hypnosis with a positive attitude will allow the hypnotist to replace the need to smoke with a more positive action or memory, making the urge to light up again a distant memory.
Coaching – Recognizing The Tipping Point
Malcolm Gladwell has a long history as a news reporter, but in his book, “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference” Gladwell helps readers understand something most of us have only felt was true – life has a tipping point. In virtually every aspect of our lives there is a point when something either very good or very bad happens. The choices we make will ultimately lead us to that tipping point. A long series of bad choices will lead to a tipping point that can cause long-term problems for us and, potentially, for others. On the other hand good choices or even a series of positive, yet unexplained events can be a tipping point that will lead us to a point of one or more successes. There’s a lot to be said for active marketing, but sometimes we must anticipate and identify a tipping point to help us determine if we will actually make it in our business pursuits. Marketing can certainly help move your business to a tipping point, but the truth is many people with really good ideas don’t recognize them as such until they pass beyond an invisible, yet highly identifiable (in retrospect) tipping point. This whole notion that there is an almost imperceptible movement that results in the tipping of the scales is reason enough to believe in the financial success of your online company. You need to conduct research and set aside funds to give you a positive start. Consistently market your idea and watch for indicators of a tipping point. It will happen and you will need to recognize when to stop moving forward and when your business is moving beyond the startup phase to something more established – or even trendy. The truth is a positive tipping point can be made possible be a relatively small number of people. A small, but motivated contingent of satisfied customers can do much more for your proverbial tipping point that a larger number of passive consumers. Passion isn’t just something that is an asset in business; it is also an asset in satisfied customers. There are many online businesses that simply exist on the hope that something good might happen today, but the owners often are afraid to admit they don’t actually believe the hope they cling to. The ones who understand the idea of the tipping point also understand that they need to consistently look for opportunities to direct people to their product. These individuals further recognize there are very few insignificant opportunities. The very thing that may seem insignificant to you at this moment may well be the very thing that provides a significant boost to your business. Be careful when turning down opportunities. It can be hard when you are busy doing the business of business to recognize opportunity (it’s often disguised as something else). While this is true it may also be incredibly difficult to recognize negative tipping points. In the end you may not be able to determine how it happened, but in virtually every aspect of life you will ultimately discover a tipping point.