If you are like the rest of us and getting a little older, even over 40 years of age, you may find that you are starting to forget things a little easier. Part of this is due to the fact we are  so busy these days, it’s hard to remember everything. Try some of  these  tips to help you remember things a little easier.

If you need to remember to bring something with you the next day either put it in your car now, if it’s not perishable, so you don’t even have to try to remember it, or put it in front of the front door so you will almost  trip over it on your way out. If you must leave it in the refrigerator, then put something in the fridge that you definitely won’t leave the house without, say your keys, you get the idea, or put a note on the door that you go out of. 

If you want to remember to look something up next time your PC is on, put the paper, article, coupon etc on the keyboard or write your note on a post it and put it on the keyboard, mouse, stick it on the on monitor.
If your spouse forgets to tell you things when you get home, have them write down just a word or two on a post it and put it where you set your keys, purse, wallet etc when you get home. This is also a useful trick for yourself, if you want to remember to do something when you get home from work, just leave a note where you will be sure to see it upon arrival.

If you want to remember to do something in the morning, just put a note on your bathroom mirror.

You can leave odd items that will spark your memory like leaving an empty cupcake pan in the middle of the table because you are suppose to bake something  the next day or two or maybe on the weekend, but you want to remember to buy the mix sometime this week.

You don’t always have to write yourself a note, you can use items already available to help you remember. For example, let’s say you need to remember to pick the next Netflix movie you want from your queue, just use the outside part of the return envelope that you would normally recycle and leave it on your keyboard or laptop. It’s larger and red so it stands out more that a post it.

If you are washing and drying work clothes and you want to avoid ironing them as much as possible, simply set the timer for the approximate time it will take to wash them, promptly put them in the dryer and reset the timer again so you can promptly take them out before the dryer has stopped.

These days you can set reminders on Outlook, at the office, on your cell phone, your iPhone or just your old fashioned digital watch if that’s easier. Keep an erasable board you can write large notes to all on the fridge.

If you are having serious trouble remembering things be sure to see your doctor for a professional opinion. If you are just busy and don’t have a great memory, then try some of these  tips here and you’ll be able to sleep better knowing it’s all taken care of.

OK you have made it through 2009, and you are now in 2010. What are you going to do in the new year. In order for you to go somewhere or better yourself, you must have a plan. You must set goals. Amy Twain has laid out some great thoughts on this matter take a look.

The Power To Empower Yourself
by: Amy Twain

A set of goals would empower you and you could then proceed to begin and follow your journey or voyage by setting your desired goals. Goal setting is indeed very necessary if you would like to empower yourself, as it is the initial step towards a more satisfying and fulfilling life. So to use personal empowerment to develop and further enhance your life, ample support from family, friends and relatives are essential and you need discipline as well to create and come up with the right and best decision in your life. Goal setting could be in the form of the achievable and the feasible and also, those which are not within your ability and your budget but that could be addressed later.

Personal empowerment will allow you to follow the dreams that are not within your means now. Take those small steps and set attainable and reachable goals within a brief time frame so that you would feel empowered when you accomplish them. Achieving goals become easier as you pursue and persist to empower yourself. You could take your time to experience your growth personally as it can be very empowering to aspire to move on and be more in life. There are several rewards you can reap to personal empowerment but you really need to think forward as goal setting would enhance your life for the better and likewise help you to attain more.

Inspiring moments are also helpful and it could enliven you more and move on to pursue and foresee more personal goals. As you pursue and reach every small goal, you can see positive and better changes in you and the succeeding set of goals become more and more challenging. You would begin to look forward to it and personal empowerment would form a life you truly desire and always dreamed about. Every personal growth would heighten and intensify your sense of power and ideas and ambition are no longer out of reach. You may also need to map out a group or team of action to handle with the several obstacles in life as they delay and postpone one’s progress.

Always bear in mind to keep pushing yourself and think positive at all times, as they can be so empowering. Get rid of the negative vibrations and feelings. It will take time, yet try to make it a routine to think more on a positive note. Turning negative into something optimistic is a good distinctive feature and never, ever giving up as endurance and perseverance and patient and tolerant in overcoming the many barriers and hindrances, and always looking forward is truly important to empower oneself. To create something out of your own life, there are myriad of ways out there but each begins with a small step.

To begin empowering yourself, you have to do things which truly interest you and along the way, you would be the person ever you will hold in high regard. Don’t stop empowering yourself because your personal empowerment and growth as a person will bring about self worth and positive image.

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Going the extra mile means giving better service with a positive mental attitude above and beyond what is expected. This is an important principle of success in all walks of life and occupations.

NATURE ALWAYS GOES THE EXTRA MILE

Nature applies this principle in the production of foods that grow from the soil. The farmer is forced to go the extra mile, clearing the land, plowing it and planting the seed at the right time of the year.

He receives no pay in advance for his labor but he works in harmony with nature’s laws with the necessary requirements. Nature takes over and germinates the seed he plants and develops it into a crop of food.

For every grain of wheat or corn planted, nature yields hundreds of grains. Nature goes the extra mile by producing enough of every living thing to ensure the survival of the species. Nature discourages the habit of getting something for nothing!

IN THE ANIMAL WORLD THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH

Animals in the wild must either forage for leaves and berries or hunt down their prey to survive. Nature supplies the source of food for every living thing but every creature must WORK to obtain that food.

GOING THE EXTRA MILE IN THE WORKPLACE

An efficient and courteous server in a restaurant is a prime
example of going the extra mile. Most people will notice the extra attention along with good service and leave a generous tip. Anyone may earn a living without going the extra mile but they will not enjoy the economic security and luxuries.

Colonel Sanders of ‘Kentucky Fried Chicken’ fame pitched his famous recipe over a thousand times before it was picked up and promoted. We all know the rest of the story! Had he given up at any time he would have been stuck with his minimal monthly pension. The Colonel proved that going the extra mile with a positive mental attitude will help anyone achieve their goals.

ADVANTAGES OF GOING THE EXTRA MILE

Job security when employment is scarce

Extra compensation for services rendered

Builds a positive mental attitude

Develops personal initiative

Has a positive effect on co-workers and employees

Helps to develop a definite purpose

Creates a sense of direction in life

Prevents procrastination

Helps to keep a clear conscience

Stimulates the soul

So if you go the extra mile and make it a daily habit you will stand out in a crowd and enjoy endless success for the rest of your life!

Self-confidence is a general and realistic belief in one’s own abilities. Self-confident people trust in their own ability to achieve goals that they plan and set out to achieve. This belief needs to be realistic. Self-confidence does not mean that an individual can achieve anything and everything, even absurd goals. It simply means that the person will have a sense of control over his own destiny, a positive frame of mind and is likely to make the best use of his talents and skills in achieving positive outcomes.

Achieving self-confidence is a fine balance. Lack of self-confidence or under-confidence will result in an individual doubting his abilities. Such people seek the approval of others for reassurance. They believe they have to conform to the expectations of others to fit in and be accepted. They will tend to avoid taking risks for fear of failure. They expect to fail and this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy!

Under-confident people tend to under-achieve since they have a low estimation of their abilities and therefore will not push their boundaries to achieve their best. They also tend to play down their abilities and is often uncomfortable dealing with compliments – usually discounting them.

On the other hand over confidence is not desirable either, as such individuals may tend to have unrealistically high expectations and beliefs in their abilities and therefore take unwarranted risks.

Self-confidence is not necessarily all-pervasive. An individual who is completely comfortable and confident in one area of activity, say his work or profession may lack confidence in other areas such as social situations.

What factors contribute to lack of confidence?

Lack of confidence is often the result of unrealistic expectations. Constantly aiming for perfection is a certain recipe for failure that reinforces feelings of inadequacy. Children who grow up in excessively protective environments and are not allowed to develop their independence may tend to be less confident than others who are allowed to develop their own abilities and self-reliance. Similarly over critical and demanding parents may undermine a child’s self-confidence and cause them to continually doubt their abilities even in adult life.

What steps can be taken to improve self-confidence?

Low self-esteem and low self-confidence are perpetuated by unhelpful and often destructive thought patterns. Self-confidence may be improved by identifying the offending thinking habits and taking steps to correct them. For instance seeking acceptance and approval from everyone may be an unrealistic expectation. The fact is that in day-to-day life one will encounter people that will never approve of every aspect of your life. It is far more beneficial to set personal standards which are not dependent on the approval of others.

Under confident people are quite often their own worst critics. They are quick to brand themselves failures at the slightest obstacle. It is important to remember that even the most successful people encounter setbacks. What sets them apart is how they deal with that setback and venture into the future. A setback or failure in the past need not dictate the course of your entire future. However, if at the first sign of failure you label yourself a total failure, chances are that’s exactly what you will be! Evaluate your expectations – Are they realistic? Don’t be overly critical of yourself. Refuse to accept the criticisms of others where it is unrealistic.

Give yourself credit for what you do achieve rather than focusing solely on the negatives. Resist the temptation to magnify negative outcomes out of proportion while minimizing positives.

Persons with low self-esteem avoid risks and may therefore never truly find out what they are capable of. Taking calculated risks can broaden one’s horizons and help to gain greater self-awareness and acceptance.

Evaluate your standards – substitute more reasonable expectations for perfectionist targets that are bound for failure. Build up to more challenging targets as your confidence grows.

Self-consciousness is a major hurdle to self-confidence especially in social situations. Diverting attention away from you can help to diffuse this situation. Keeping yourself occupied with other activities or focusing on the purpose of the social encounter and engaging your mind on furthering that social purpose can achieve this. Not having enough to keep your mind occupied is guaranteed to produce feelings of self-consciousness leading to feelings of anxiety, inadequacy and lack of confidence.

These are just a few steps that may be taken to improve levels of self-confidence. Clearly it is just the tip of a very large iceberg and the most appropriate measures would of course need to be determined by individual circumstances.

Why should you want to control your thoughts? As the old adage goes, you are what you think. If you cannot control your thoughts, your thoughts will control you.

When other people say things that bring a negative thought into your head, you need to control whether you let it stay there. If you don’t have that control, your brain will start to build other thoughts off of that initial thought; whether it was true or not.

How do you start controlling your thoughts? First of all you need to know that it is possible. Next, if you have a thought that you should not keep, do not talk about that thought. Proverbs 30:32 says, “If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.” Saying something about that thought only reinforces it.

You need to rebuke the thought and tell it to go away. That’s easier said than done, especially if you are not in the habit of doing it.

The bible calls this casting down our thoughts. 2Co 10:5 says, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ”. God would not tell us to do something that we could not do. We need to ask Him for help when it comes to doing this. We also need to be persistent. At the beginning we may need to do this many times.

After casting down those thoughts we need to replace them with correct thoughts. In Php 4:8 it says, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

When someone has said something against you that has made you mad, you need to pray for them. This will get your focus off of yourself and onto what God wants you to do.

Once you have successfully controlled your thoughts for a while, it will become easier. You will be able to look back on past victories and that will help you through your current situation.

Don’t give in to your negative thoughts. They will destroy you. Cast them out. Replace them with what God wants you to think about. Make this a habit and your life will definitely improve.

Just as willpower is an essential factor in achieving success, at some point in time, discouragement and lack of motivation may hinder you from reaching your objective. And it is up to you, and you alone to devise techniques that will help you keep that drive within afire.

It is helpful to have visual goals. whatsoever that is you are working towards, make it visual. It maybe something material like a car, or a vacation you have been looking forward to for the longest time.

Take or cut out a picture of it and post it at a conspicuous place at work or at home where you can see it often. So that when you feel discouraged, this will remind you of your goal and will help you keep your spotlight.

Make a contract with oneself. According to motivational researches, people who write down to-do-lists are far more triumphant in achieving their intended goals than those people who just keep mental lists instead.

Putting something in writing somehow makes it more powerful psychologically speaking. This may also be the basis why most cultures have such a high regard in honoring contracts. In the contract, you may also include a certain reward that you will give yourself once you have accomplished the task.

After all, everyone likes to be rewarded for completing a good job. Even a simple pat on the back, “good job”, or “thank you” may do the trick to give the person the additional push to carry on, but unfortunately, these may not always be readily available. Considering that these are also essential in keeping oneself motivated, you must learn to find a way to get that encouragement on your own through pleasing yourself.

Abusive people lower your self-esteem and bring you down. Get these negative people out of your life. Surround yourself with positive people. Imitate their example. Smile amply and think happy thoughts.

These will give you a brighter outlook and lets you see a clearer picture of what you really want and a fresh mind to know what steps to take to get there. Rather than wait for things to happen, try to be proactive and MAKE THINGS HAPPEN. Inactivity idles the brain and stagnates your potential to reach your goals.

Read inspirational books and literature. These will help you improve your attitude and heal your mind. A book of success stories also proves to be encouraging. You will not only learn from others’ experiences and derive confidence boosting insights from them but the story will be instrumental in motivating you to go for your goal and move ahead with your plans. If this still seems to falter, get training or education.

Oftentimes, not knowing how or where to start is frustrating. Knowledge is power. Having a clear understanding of how and where to start is empowering and it will provide the extra drive needed to hit the mark you are aiming at and follow it through.

Having enumerated all these tips and tricks to attain self-motivation, but still you seem to feel lacking that much needed drive, there is one last thing that you must try.

Whatever it is that you have been meaning to do, or wanting to achieve, JUST DO IT! Keep on aiming high and go for it! Actually getting your hands dirty best solves the problem of motivation. By “forcing” yourself to just do it, your momentum will pick up gradually as you go along and before you know it you have finished the task or have finally achieved your goal. Divide and conquer is the key.

Break down the apparently unattainable activity to small doable steps. Not only does it become less overwhelming, but seeing the “in the meantime” results will further your confidence that it can indeed be done.

Lack of motivation happens to us all, but if you do not encourage yourself to accept opportunities and be challenged, no one else will. It is most important to keep your eye on the goal, find ways to keep going, and in no time, you shall reap its benefits.

And if at the beginning you were just doing it for the material reward, you will also learn to realize that the fulfillment, satisfaction and self-achievement you derive from reaching your goal is a much enjoyable high that will keep the drive within constantly burning.

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We all go through periods of adversity and suffering. Some of them are mild and some are life changing. Problems are simply a part of life, and while we can’t eliminate adversity, we can learn how to cope with it.

Obstacles do not have to be insurmountable roadblocks on the pathway to success or happiness. They are simply a part of life. Problems are generally an indication that we have something to learn.

When everything is going wrong and the world feels like it is falling apart, anger is normally the first reaction. But this is the worst thing we can do. Losing our temper will rarely achieve the desired result.

More often than not, losing our temper does nothing more than make a bad situation worse. The reality is that we don’t really lose our temper, it’s more like we turn our temper loose.

Whenever life acts, we respond, and these responses are seldom planned. Reacting on impulse when things go wrong we tend to lash out at anything or anyone that has the misfortune of being close.

This doesn’t have to be the case. And our chance of resolving an issue is much greater if we keep from getting angry.

While we may not be responsible for everything that happens to us, we are responsible for how we react.

The mind is a very powerful tool, and if used properly, can be a very strong positive force in times of trouble. But in order for the mind to be its most productive, it must first be calm.

The ability to choose our thoughts, to THINK what we want, is what gives us the power to determine our attitude and perspective when approaching a problem.

If we allow anger, despair and frustration to consume us, it’s like a runaway train gathering steam and threatening to derail. The FIRST thing to do is quit feeding the fire. As our initial anger passes, our perspective begins to change.

Once our temper is under control, we begin attracting solutions, rather than allowing anger and frustration to compound our problems.

All of us have an inner voice that talks to us. Pay close attention to this voice because it has the power to make any situation better or worse.

This inner voice is the voice of our subconscious mind and will work for or against us with equal ease. Once anger and frustration are removed from the equation, the subconscious mind is free to help guide us toward a solution if we listen.

Our subconscious mind is the ultimate information filter, but it will provide its most useful solutions only when we are quiet. The subconscious is an obedient and able servant once it knows which direction we want to go.

Don’t shy away from problems. Sometimes the best way to inform the subconscious mind that we need a creative solution is to experience frustration in our conscious mind.

By using the conscious mind to define and clarify the problem, we leave it to the subconscious mind to guide our actions in solving it. When the subconscious is jogged by need, visualization or relaxation, it will release back to the conscious mind necessary and helpful information.

Thoughts and emotions act as magnets attracting similar thoughts and emotions.

When we approach our problems with the right attitude and have things in perspective, it will appear as though our problems begin to solve themselves.

Everybody knows that good habits need to be cultivated while bad habits seem to grow like weeds. Habits like self-discipline, self-control, order, and perseverance, are all habits that require a conscious effort to create and maintain. Procrastination on the other hand, is a behavior takes no effort at all. For better or worse, it’s your habits that make or break you.

The amount of self-help information available today is virtually unlimited, but it is of little value without first learning to direct your focus and attention. The mind moves constantly from one idea to the next with amazing speed, rarely giving its sole attention to one subject for any length of time. Yet success in anything depends largely on the ability to direct your mind; not only where it goes, but also how long it stays there.

Success, like anything else, must be learned and practiced. A habit starts out as no more than a thought. When this thought is pursued it turns into action. If repeated often enough this action will impress itself on the subconscious mind and form a habit. Once a habit is formed it becomes automatic and no longer requires the attention of your conscious mind.

Take a close look at your routines. Routines are what form your habits. Examine what is working for you and what is not. Just as with a garden cultivating good habits will also take time and attention. You need to nurture the flowers in your life and start pulling the weeds. If something is not working for you, get rid of it!

If you wish to be successful in anything you do, follow the clues.

Study the habits of successful people. It is the habits we create that make us who we are. One habit all successful people have in common is the ability to focus their attention for extended periods of time.

How do you make focus a habit? Start small and work up.

Resist the impulse to jump from one unfinished project to another. Write out a priority list and pay particular attention to the order of that list. Do not let petty distractions interfere with working through each task in the order you have established. When you overcome the temptation to let your focus and efforts become scattered, you are creating the habit of finishing projects and seeing them through to the end.

Situations will always arise over which we have no control but we can choose how we react to them. When you are thrown off course make a habit of returning to the task at hand as quickly as possible.

Learn to use your imagination and create a mental image of your end goal. The importance of mental imaging in attaining your goals cannot be over-stated. This mental image will act as a blueprint for your action plan, bringing your thoughts one step closer to reality.

When you consistently focus on your metal image it will manifest in the physical world. Regardless of whether you are trying to lose weight, succeed in business, or simply trying to improve your life, the more detailed your image, the better your chances of achieving your ultimate goal.

Acknowledge the small things.

Recognize and acknowledge each little success as it comes along. As one success leads to another they add up and you gain confidence in you ability to reach even larger goals.

Everything is learned by degree. Start small and practice daily focusing you attention for ever longer periods of time. As you learn to focus, one small success leads to another until success becomes a habit.