The Dawn's Pearls

My 28-Days to Success Journey: Day 8 - Resetting My Self-Limiting Thoughts/Beliefs!

2011-11-01T00:23:00.000-04:00

If this is your first time reading this blog, read this first!

Today's task was to reset my thoughts. I am already a strong believer in the power of the mind in dictating the kind of life a person lives. I know that there is a prison of the mind which is a lot worst than the prison of body.

However, the tast today was to clearly identify and write down my positive beliefs, my negative beliefs, and my positive affirmations that convert my self-limiting (negative) beliefs into positive and self-empowering ones.

Here is what I wrote:

My Self Limiting Beliefs

I procrastinate.
I am afraid to face my problems and challenges and suffer great losses in form of elongation of the problem because I don’t face it.
I fall to temptation/distraction really easily.
I am not disciplined.
I lack the working habits of successful businessmen.

My Self Empowering Beliefs

I am a confident person.
If I put my mind to something, I succeed in it.
I can easily socialize with most types of people.
I can learn fast and get good at anything really easy.
I am not afraid to try new things anymore.
I love being kind and nice to people.
I am an "idea machine" and a super problem solver.
I have developed an entrepreneurial mind.

My affirmation to convert my most prominent self-limiting belief in to a positive belief.

I am timely in my work. I plan ahead and I work on my tasks well ahead of time.
When I have a major problem, I man up and face it. I apologize and correct the problem.
I do not fall to temptation and I do not get distracted from my work. I set time for work and allow time for fun and that’s the way I live my life.
I am disciplined. While I understand that no one is 100% disciplined, I continuously observe myself for bad habits, face them, break them, and eventually replace them.
I do everything in the time I have scheduled for them. I do not let anything or anyone destroy my plan for the day by engaging me and wasting my time while I should be doing something else that is better.

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My 28-Days to Success Journey: Day 7 - Taking A Break To Be Happy!

2011-10-31T00:01:00.001-04:00

If this is your first time reading this blog, read this first!

In today's task, the thing to do was to BEGIN to feel happy and successful. This is an important and crucial step as Mr. Macken says:

"Low self-esteem keeps you from enjoying life, doing the things you want to do, and working toward personal goals. You have a right to feel good about yourself; for success we have to feel love deep inside ourselves before we can share it with others."

I am happy to say that I have been doing that for a few weeks already after a pleasant realization. I realized a few weeks back that I am already living about 65% of the dream lifestyle I always imagined. I had a job in my family business which never really allowed me to take days off for a few years in a row. If I did take days off, I felt uncomfortable doing so. One of my dreams was to have a job when I can completely say good bye to work for at least two days and have the satisfaction in knowing that even if I did work, it will not make any difference so I should rather enjoy. I am glad to say that my current job fulfills that dream for me.

Another dream was to work from home (or be mobile) and be able to travel for work so it covers my expenses while I get to do my work and enjoy traveling. My current job fulfills both of these rolls for me also. I have and continue to travel up and down the Northeastern US. I also work from home and sometimes work from my car in front of a lake in a nearby park.

At this point, I am doing well with my family and make occasional fun trips with my friends to go hiking and the like. On top of that, I have enough time to work on any side projects I want. I am learning two different new softwares, making websites for religious organizations for free, and doing basic graphic design work for someone just because I feel like doing so.

The reason why I say that this is only 65%, even though for many it may be 115% of their dreams, is because I feel I have the potential to go much higher. As a result, I have made a promise to myself that I will enjoy my time at this stage for as long as I don't upgrade but I definitely will go higher.

As usual, the other daily tasks are in order. No need to beat a dead horse.

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My 28-Days to Success Journey: Day 6 - My Love Affair

2011-10-30T00:36:00.001-04:00

If this is your first time reading this blog, read this first!

Today's task requires me to develop an exercise plan. I havebeen exercising for some time on and off. Though I have been exercising by wayof brisk walks in a park nearby, my plan in the near future is to find some free or cheap access to a treadmill, which reminds me of my love affair with treadmills.

Running on the treadmill is my favorite mode of exercise.I prefer that over anything else because of the following reasons:

Safety: You don’t need to worry about potholesor traffic.
Lesser shock to the knees: I have heard thatrunning on a treadmill is better for the knees than running on something otherthan the obvious other option. I haven't seen proof for it but it makes sense.
Automation: You can set the treadmill toautomatic routines and just go with the flow without actively thinking much. That is like driving on the highway when your second nature and muscle memory does most of the work and your mind is free to wander. Inthe meanwhile, you can enjoy some meditation, your favorite form of mp3 media,or simply watch TV.
Weather-proof: You don’t have to worry about theweather. Hot or cold do not make a difference if your treadmill is located in aclimate controlled facility.

For the past one year, I do not have a TV in my house but Ilove watching certain news programs. At my last apartment, I had access to afitness room as part of my lease which was equipped with some basic machinesincluding a treadmill and a TV right in front of it. I used to workout at the same time as my favorite news program and I loved the combination.

Sadly, I don’t have access to something like that anymore and I amgoing to find a way to get it. As the old proverb goes, “when there is a will,there is a way,” I am sure I can find a few community members looking forsomething similar and willing to contribute to a communally owned and usedtreadmill. There are challenges but I am sure they can be overcome. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to comment or email me.

That is my plan. I would like to be able to run about Sevento Eight miles in an hour on a daily basis. At the same time, I need to cutdown on my food intake. I have gained about 35 lbs. in the past year and itdoesn’t seem to be stopping. I am not overweight right now but I am close to it. I don’t wantto be at the borderline which means I can easily slip over.

My second option would be to get a bike and go biking dailyfor an hour in any direction or go to park that has a track. I want to be ableto combine my quiet time for reflection with my exercise time but it is notpossible if I have to watch for traffic all the time.

As for the rest of the daily tasks, the program has switchedto second gear now and the demands are slowly increasing. The wake up time hasbeen moved 40 minutes earlier and reading time has been increased to half anhour. These are both things that I do not mind. I have also not been challengedby both because I normally wakeup at dawn anyways and since getting my kindle,I have been putting in some decent reading time.

I dedicate my Saturdays to my wife and take her wherever shetells me she wants to go. Once again, we were out shopping today and I got well overhalf hour of some tiring walk.

That’s all the ranting for the day. I will be incorporatingsome new ideas into my daily updates so stay tuned.

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My 28-Days to Success Journey: Day 5 - Gaining Back Extra Hours In The Day!

2011-10-28T23:59:00.001-04:00

If this is your first time reading this blog, read this first!

Today I was supposed to sit down and give a long, hard look at how I spend my time. It is a very eye-opening exercise. I can easily see why the issue of time is always upfront when it comes to success and personal development. I wrote a lot about my observation in my private journal and made detailed plans to change my routines.

I have done something similar before but never followed through on the new schedule I had made for myself. This time, I will.

Here is the exercise table as filled up by me. Its called the "My Time Check" exercise.

As for the rest of the tasks, I must admit that I fell behind on some of them today since Friday is the only day of the week when I have to travel for work. For that reason and others, Fridays are completely different for me then the rest of the days. I will catch up with everything tomorrow and make room for this change in my upcoming daily/weekly schedule so I don't miss things I need to do.

Daily Tasks:

Get up 30 minutes earlier than usual. Not done.
Read 15 Minutes. Done.
Affirmation: I am a Success Now and Always, Because of This, I Have Peace of Mind, Joy and Happiness. Done.
Take a walk or do a chosen exercise for 15 minutes. Not done.

This is the last time I am updating "not done" on some of the daily tasks. I will stick to this statement, that's a promise to the most important person in my life. Me.

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My 28-Days to Success Journey: Day 4 - The Wheel of Life!

2011-10-27T23:48:00.001-04:00

If this is your first time reading this blog, read this first!

Thanks to all those who were emailed asking me how I was doing. The sickness is gone and I am back in action with the update on Day 4.

The task on hand today was to draw the wheel of life and contemplate on it. It was a very beneficial exercise for sure. It makes one look at his/her life from outside the box and see what has one achieved and what is still missing. I decided to give it my own color code with read and green. My goal by the end of the month is to increase the green and decrease the red.

Here is my wheel.

As for the rest of the tasks, here is an update:

Get up 30 minutes earlier than usual. I woke up early but the rainy/romantic whether made me go back to sleep and sadly, I wasted most of the day that way.
Read for 15 minutes. Done. I must say that this is really my favorite part. I search for some new books on time management and have been reading those.
Affirmation: I am a Success Now and Always, Because of This, I Have Peace of Mind, Joy and Happiness. Done.
Take a walk or do a chosen exercise for 15 minutes. The rain prevent me from doing my usual walk in the park however I did have to deliver a heavy object to my dad and I all the struggle in that can kind of cover for this.

Tomorrow, there is a real exciting exercise coming up. I have been looking forward to it very much. Finally, the wait is over.

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My 28-Days to Success Journey: Day 3 - Facing My Own Weaknesses

2011-10-24T23:35:00.001-04:00

If this is your first time reading this blog, read this first!

Today I was forced to face some of my own demons without even realizing it. On day 3, I was required to do a "strengths and weaknesses" exercise in terms of integrity(ethics, morals, and all that good stuff). The task was to write down my own character strengths and my own weaknesses and follow that up by setting up actions that will prevent and hopefully kill them off.

As you can probably imagine that the whole of my writing today is not for public viewing, rather for personal pondering. However, I will share a few and keep a few.

Strengths

I have a good reputation among people for the most part.
I am sympathetic to others and feel their pain easily.
I don't easily fall to greed.
I am able to reset my negative feelings that buildup from time to time.

Weaknesses

I have a sarcastic sense of humor.
I easily get spiteful.
I can be nosy.
I sometimes fall to the instinct of shifting responsibility.
I suffer from the disease of procrastination.

What will I do to put things right?

I will be extra cautious about my first wit responses and choose to keep quiet if I can't tell whether they are sarcastic or not.
I will examine my actions for spite and negativity towards people and if unsure, get two other opinions on them if they must be done.
I will try to be conscious about my inquiries and stop them if they are unnecessarily nosy.
I will accept the responsibility from now on even if it is NOT directly my fault so that I could teach myself a lesson.
I will setup a task management system in the coming week that will make sure that every task is entered in it and is given a time table. I will also incorporate the reward/punishment system in it so that I make sure I follow that.

It was pretty hard writing this stuff and basically looking at my monsters straight in the eye. However, I heard a lecture by Brian Tracy once about self discipline and he mentioned something I try to remember when facing tasks like these. He said that the difference between successful people and the unsuccessful people is that even though they both hate doing some essential tasks, the successful people do them anyways.

There were four others daily tasks that were supposed to be repeated from yesterday and here is an update.

Get up 30 minutes earlier than usual. Done.
Read for 15 minutes. Done.
Affirmation: I am a Success Now and Always, Because of This, I Have Peace of Mind, Joy and Happiness. Done.
Take a walk or do a chosen exercise for 15 minutes. I brisk walked around a late for about 45 minutes today.

I do read ahead a few chapters and I am really looking forward to some of them. I so sometime's wonder if I could do multiple days' exercises in one day. But I guess that's where self discipline comes in.

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My 28-Days to Success Journey: Day 2- I like to be The Godfather!

2011-10-23T23:50:00.001-04:00

If this is your first time reading this blog, read this first!

Today, these wasn't much to do in terms of quantity. However, quality wise, I had to do one of the most important things when it comes to being successful. As the title mentions, it is none other than "defining success as I imagine it".

I would have liked if the exercise actually forced me to think about each of the major spheres like health, wealth, family, and so on separately but it doesn't. I am going to write about that as part of a future exercise (Yes, I cheated and read ahead) which actually does force me to think about these spheres and grade myself. So in simple terms, "what does success feel like to me at this point in time?"

Success to me that:

I be the one-stop-shop for my whole family and friends for any help they need when it comes to resources. (Kind of like a non-murderous Godfather-amzing movie, by the way!)
I make my own schedule and have the ability to work from anywhere in the world.
I set up an automatic system that makes earns me money even while I sleep.
I make at least $1,000 a day from one income stream and have more than three income streams.
I bring my family within walking distance to each other by buying them houses nearby if that's what it takes.
I can pick any hobby I want and not have a financial obstacle between me and it.

I was also supposed to do another task which required me to compare myself to other successful people that I admire and write about that. I was a bit unclear about that and am waiting for the author to get back to me on that. Yes, that is true, Tommy Macken is extremely helpful and regularly checks my blog to see what I am up to.

There were four tasks that were supposed to be repeated from yesterday and here is an update.

Get up 30 minutes earlier than usual. Done.
Read for 15 minutes. Done. I read the same novel as mentioned yesterday.
Affirmation: I am a Success Now and Always, Because of This, I Have Peace of Mind, Joy and Happiness. Done.
Take a walk or do a chosen exercise for 15 minutes. I had to take my wife and sisters shopping which covers a lot more than 15 minutes. Afterwards, we walked over the Brooklyn Bridge and enjoyed it very much.

I guess I am already feeling progress since I have never actually defined what success means to me on paper. I am looking forward to tomorrow.

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My 28-Days to Success Journey: Day 1-How Will I Celebrate?

2011-10-22T23:22:00.003-04:00

If this is your first time reading this blog, read this first!

The first day, as you can imagine, is usually not super loaded. I have to do just 5 tasks altogether. The last four are the actual tasks while the first one is a separate "thing to do" that is common to most daily routines in this program. I have decided to list them all together today and in the future.

Decide and write down how I plan to treat myself at the end of the program. I am going to be having a romantic dinner at Chinese Mirch with my wife. I normally do not eat there because even though the food is good, the prices are crazy but this time, its a treat.
Get up 30 minutes earlier than usual. I usually wake up at 6:00 a.m. But today I was up earlier as required and plan to keep that up.
Read for 15 minutes. I like to do this anyways and a lot more than this time. Today I read a novel called Disturb for about 25 minutes. (Its a very interesting novel that deals with all the drama surrounding the release of a pill that allows people to sleep only 15 minutes a day and be just as healthy as anyone else.)
Affirmation: Macken says: write this on a card and repeat often today and each morning for the next twenty eight days. I am a Success Now and Always, Because of This, I Have Peace of Mind, Joy and Happiness. “Positive affirmations wake up your inner resources.” I have this statement along with a similar passage from Napoleon Hill's Law of Success printed and posted in from of me on the wall and read it daily starting yesterday.
Take a walk or do a chosen exercise for 15 minutes. I went hiking with friends today and suffice it to say, it was more than 15 minutes.

Just like Macken says at the end, "That’s it. It’s really simple, just a matter of doing it."

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28 Day To Success - My Journey to Change My Life!

2011-10-20T23:40:00.001-04:00

My dear readers, I have realized that I am lost and I needto find my way. I have this plan and that plan, my “Ideas” notebook has so manygood ideas but the problem lies inside me. Until I am able to figure out adefinitive direction in my life, at least for the short term, I will not beable to complete them. I have a good job and many good job offers waiting. Ihave a great network and money is not a problem. Satisfaction is what’smissing.

I am sure some of you are feeling the same obstacle in yourlife. I am not the one who is in a position to say, follow me and I will guideyou. What I can say is that I have decided to take action about this problemand you can learn from my experience. If I succeed in this endeavor, you canfollow. If I do not, you can make sure not to follow.

The thing is that I will not allow my life to be like a journeywithout a destination. I have found a “book” which claims to solve my problem.It is called “28 Days to Success” by Tommy Macken. He says this is not a book,rather a coaching program. In it, he claims to help the reader/client findhis/her way and achieve the same results as those programs that cost thousandsof dollars.

This is not a way for me to make money through affiliatemarketing or something like that because the e-book is actually free and isavailable here. I am going to follow this simple 28-day program and write aboutit daily. There are simple tasks that need to be done daily and I will includean update on them. Because it is a free program, Macken says that the programwill only work if the reader is true to himself and follows through to the endwhile completing all the daily tasks.

I know that I cannot trust myself to do every task so I needyour help in form of encouragement and feedback to enforce me until the end.All you have to do is simply visit the blogdaily and leave feedback telling me what you think about my updates and perhaps a few words of encouragement. You can also signup for automatic email updates by entering your email address on the right sidebar. This is the easiest option to help you remember to help me.

I wouldreally appreciate that and I promise, it won’t be a dry appreciation. I will be turning my experience into an e-book and those ofyou who comment and provide valuable feedback will be the first to receive acopy.

The thing is I can’t wander around anymore and that’s why Iam doing this. Think of it like a rehab where I learn to wean myself off ofliving day-to-day, month-to-month. Instead, I find my purpose, my calling, andmy job in this world and start my journey towards completing it.

So can I count on you?

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Take 5 Small Steps, Accomplish Big Things!

2011-10-13T21:54:00.000-04:00

Many of us have goals in life but they seem to be so big that just thinking about them scares us. The fear of not being able to complete it makes many of us not do anything at all. If we allowed that approach to dominate us, we would surely be miserable and live a life that is shaped by others and not us. Thankfully, here are a few simple things that will allow us to accomplish what we want easily.

Realize/Write down what the end result will feel like. Infact, you can post it in your office or on the fridge where you would constantly be reminded about where you want to be. In the movie Collateral, Max (Jamie Fox) keeps a picture of a beautiful small island attached to his visor to remind himself of what his goal is. This step is perhaps one of the most powerful things one can do in order to achieve his/her dreams. The constant reminder is what pushes us and the push really helps create the energy needed to accomplish those dreams.
Break it down. Break your project down into different stages so it kind of becomes four or five small projects instead of one big project. Take the example of three stages of a film; pre-production, production, post production.
Break down each stage into really simple steps or tasks. You can't eat a whole chicken thigh in one bite. But maybe 5 or 6 bites will do the job. And the same approach can be applied to the whole chicken. In the example mentioned in the last step, this step would mean to break pre-production into idea, synopsis, outline, treatment, script.
Take the first step. As the old proverb perfectly states, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step." Your steps should be so easy that doing any one of them feel almost like a joke if you did it by itself. That way, you can jokingly finish your whole project, one simple task at a time. Rosetta Thurman of "From Blogger to Entrepreneur" took the same approach and created a simple 31 day task list to create a winning blog. If you look at each step, it looks so simple its silly, but at the end of the 31 day period, you have down an enormous amount of work and your blog is not effectively up and running.
If you feel tired or bored, break down the silly steps into super silly steps and do one each day. You do however have to keep your deadline in mind if you have one. That's why it is best to begin immediately once you are given a project and make slow but steady progress. In the example film, this would mean decided to add just one page daily to the script that you are not being able to complete.

One of my teachers in junior high school told us of how he read the first Harry Potter book against his will. He decided he will only read the book for 10 minutes a day. The first day he read 10 minutes and liked it. The second day he read 20 minutes without even feeling it. The third day he read 30 minutes and forced himself to stop. The fourth day, the book was finished.

The same way, once a big ugly project is broken down, the small steps are really easy to follow and the progress becomes a source of happiness for us. The happiness creates a snowball effect and we get addicted to doing more and more. Before we know it, we find ourselves having finished writing a book on a topic we didn't even want to research about.

Part 2: Jobs Series - 6 Steps to Landing Your Dream Job, Whatever It Is!

2011-10-13T00:00:00.000-04:00

If you are anything like me, thisstory of the newspaper salesman is a key to any and every lock. In our currentstate of high unemployment, “the survival of the fittest” rule is in action andthe “fittest” is the most “persistent.” So to cut the chase, what can you do toland your dream job without facing the uncertainty that comes with unemploymentand never ending job hunting?

Here are the 6 steps that will help you:

Make sureyou are qualified or competent for the job. Some companies will provide trainingprovided that you meet the basic requirements. The worst case would be when ainterviewer wants to forward the application for hiring but you don’t meet aparticular requirement of the company. If you really want this job, go and getwhat is missing and follow the rest of the steps.
Do yourhomework. Part of really landing a job that requires some effort is for youto know as much as you can about the company and the job. You should know allthe possible details about what the company does, its major competitors, itsmain people by name, its history and whatever else you can.
If you “happen” to run into the President of the company on the train becauseyou “happened” to be going the same way (hint hint), you want to be able to saysomething like “Excuse me, Mr. Anderson, I have developed a 4 step strategy tocut costs by 17% in the next 18 months without any effect on sales or thecurrent employees and here is a copy with my information at the top.” What doyou think are the chances of landing the job then? You might even get hired tobetter position than you expected.
Look foror make contacts within the company. It is extremely helpful if there issomeone on the inside who can tell you who the right person to talk to is. Oneof the worst things is when you do all your work on one person and turns out hedoesn’t have any real power in the company and no one listens if he recommendsyou.
Preparedto be patient and persevere. Your strategy is going to be to keep tryingand never listen to the “No.” Imagine as if instead “No” they said that wecan’t give you an answer now, you have to try again.
Be coolabout rejection. Trust me, that IF this is a job that is going to set youfor life, getting rejected initially, is a good thing. It is a sign that theydon’t just hire anyone who asks. You should be ready to accept rejection if itcomes and be glad WHEN it doesn’t.
Brace forimpact. This is key. You will have to keep trying even in the face ofrejection just like our friend, the advertising salesman. You might even betold that you are never to apply again. Don’t worry. Try different ways anddifferent people. You only have to do the official application process once,and if you didn’t make it, then start trying unconventional ways like “running”into key people on the subway or “happen” to be buying coffee at the sameStarbucks as them during lunch hour. Youshould know that you should not stake out at people’s houses, learn never to bemean or rude in response to someone who is rude to you, or show signs offrustration. Who knows that your next try might work but then you regret whatyou said to someone who is now your colleague.
Bewilling to accept your mistake. While you are trying again and again to getthis job or a sale, you might learn things about the company or the people thatmay turn you off and you might not want to work there because of this. If ithappens, realize that you misjudged the job or the company and stop chasing it. Ifyou really wanted this job and it was a good one, nothing will prevent fromfeeling anything but positive feelings about it.

I have found this tips to not just be cool sound bytes butactually practical and effective. If you would like to see some of these thingsin action, check out the Will Smith movie “The Pursuit of Happyness.”

Like always, please enjoy, comment, and share.

Part 1: Jobs Series - Do This And You Can Get Any Job That You Want!

2011-10-12T17:51:00.000-04:00

I was super inspired by a story that I read in NapoleonHill’s “Law of Success in 16 Lessons” and found it to be extremely helpful. Iwanted to share this story and the lessons I personally deducted from it. But first, here is what Napoleon Hillnarrates: “One of the greatest salesmen this country has ever seen wasonce a clerk in a newspaper office. It will be worth your while to analyze themethod through which he gained his title as “the world’s leading salesman.”

He was a timid young man with a more or less retiring sortof nature. He was one of those who believe it best to slip in by the back doorand take a seat at the rear of the stage of life. One evening he heard a lectureon the subject of this lesson, Self-Confidence, and that lecture so impressedhim that he left the lecture hall with a firm determination to pull himself outof the rut into which he had drifted.

He went to the Business manager of the paper and asked for aposition as solicitor of advertising and was put to work on a commission bases. Everyone in the office expected to see him fail, as thissort of salesmanship calls for the most positive type of sales ability. He wentto his room and made a list of a certain type of merchants on whom he intendedto call.

One would think that he would naturally have made up his list of thename of those whom he believed he could sell with the least effort, but he didnothing of the sort. He placed on his list only the name of the merchants onwhom other advertising solicitors had called without making a sale. His listconsisted of twelve names. Before he made a single call he went out to the citypark, took out his list of twelve names, read it over a hundred times, sayingto himself as he did so, “You will purchase advertising space from me beforethe end of the month.” Then he began to make his calls.

The first day he closed sales with three of the twelve “impossibilities.”During the remainder of the week he made sales to two others. By the end of themonth, he had opened advertising accounts with all but one of the merchantsthat he had on the list. For the ensuing month, he made no sales, for thereason that he made no calls except on this one obstinate merchant. Everymorning when the store opened he was on hand to interview this merchant andevery morning the merchant said “No.

The merchant knew that he was notgoing to buy advertising space, but this young man didn’t know it. When themerchant said No the young man did not hear it, but kept right on coming. Onthe last day of the month, after having told this persistent young man No forthirty consecutive times, the merchant said: “Look here, young man, you havewasted a whole month trying to sell me; now, what I would like to know is this– why have you wasted your time?”

“Wasted my time nothing,” heretorted; “I have been going to school and you have been my teacher. Now I knowall the arguments that a merchant can bring up for not buying, and besides thatI have been drilling myself in Self-confidence.”

Then the merchant said: “I willmake a little confession of my own. I, too, have been going to school, and youhave been my teacher. You have taught me a lesson in persistence that is worthmoney to me, and show my appreciation I am going to pay my tuition by givingyou an order for advertising space.””

The lessons I deducted are simple and I can add a personalmoney back guarantee that they work. You can check out my Part 2 of this article for thoselessons which will be posted tomorrow. Will you come back to read it? Let me know in the comments box.

Struggling to Practice Productivity: 6 Pitfalls on the Path to Productivity

2011-10-06T00:49:00.002-04:00

Though I have been reading and trying to implement the tipsand strategies from the many productivity and self-help books I have read, Ihave made an extra effort in the last few weeks to really get serious aboutthis. However, once again I find myself slacking and being just as unproductiveas before.

I realized that as I keep getting off the right track, it’susually the same culprits that make me loose traction. Whenever there is aproblem, a solution usually comes from a study of the causes of the problem andI decided to study the causes of my own pitfalls because of which I seem to bestuck in this ditch of stagnation when it comes to the goals in my life.

I have read enough books on time management to know thesolutions but for me it’s a matter of implementing those solutions. I am sharing my own pitfalls so maybereflecting upon my behavior in such a public manner might help me change it. Itcan also help others learn from my experience without having to make the samemistakes. If you have any pitfalls that you are struggling with, please doshare them in the comments.

Pitfall: “Let me take a break.” I fall into thiswhenever I am feeling that I have done well. Obviously, once the break starts,it never ends. In fact, I am having the urge to take a break right now. Resistingthe urge may seem like the best solution but that is a reaction and that’s whyit may not be very effective. The real solution is “Time Blocking” which bringsme to the next pitfall.
Pitfall: “I will plan my day when it begins.”This is a big no-no for all those who know a thing or two about productivity.The key to a productive day is that the beginning of the day should be all“doing”. “Planning” what to do is usually done as the last thing before leavingwork or before sleeping a day EARLIER. I know what I should do but I don’t doit and that’s why I don’t get much done. There have been days when I plannedeverything I needed to do that day the night before; those are the days thathave been the most productive for me. And the vice versa.
Pitfall: “I don’t need to read or listen toanything.” I find myself saying, “I already know everything to do with beingproductive and anything else that I am going to read would probably be the sameinformation from another perspective.” Even though I find that statement to betrue, I know that reminder helps and we constantly need reminder. The solutionto this is simple, as Brian Tracy mentions in many of his time management worksthat it is essential to keep learning and one should have a specific amount oftime, daily, dedicated towards providing nourishment to his/her mind.
Pitfall: “Not exercising.” You might besurprised that there is a strong connection between productivity and dailyexercise of some type. Physical activity gets the blood in the body movingwhich helps to freshen the mind and allows it to focus on its immediate task.Every time I exercise, I find myself to be less tired then the days that I donot. I have to really “time block” my day and really stick to it.
Pitfall: “Sleeping in late.” Rising early is atrait of successful people from all walks of life and I know that until I canconquer my sleep, I will not be successful. If you look at the top of mywebsite, you will notice how even the ancient Chinese had a common phrase aboutthis. I however find myself thinking, “I can catch up later and be more fresh” whichnever works out. If you are struggling with this also, understand that in thefirst two to three weeks, you don’t have to be working in the morning, but youneed to rise early and stay that way. Once your body is trained which shouldtake more or less 21 days, you should be able to do seriously productive workwithout falling asleep in the morning hours. Sleeping late and sleeping at different times everyday are equally damaging to my quest to being an early riser.
Pitfall: “Bad Company.” For me, the best days arewhen I can convince my wife to be productive too. I work from home and spendmost of my time with her and it is almost a given that if she fails, I willfail. I have decided that the only way I will succeed is if she gets on boardand we both help each other. To get her started, I am offering her “incentive$”to read books on productivity. Some of you may not be married but a roommate orfriends might be ruining it for you. I think my approach with my pitfall mightwork for you too. The incentive should be big enough to lure them but smallenough to not break your bank.

If you have any tips for me, I would really appreciate themand be very grateful.

4 Simple Steps to fight the "WRITERS' BLOCK"!

2011-10-04T09:10:00.000-04:00

Whether you are doing school assignments, writing a blog post, or writing your PhD thesis, you probably have experienced the unbearable dread as the deadline looms above your head and you are staring at a blank page.

I was feeling the same exact thing for the past few days until I decided to attack my problem head on. Turns out that "writers' block" is not a problem without a solution. It is possible to get rid of it easily in just a few steps and get your creative juices flowing like the river Nile.

Here is how you can do just that:

Keep an "Ideas" notebook with you at all times and write down all the good ideas you get. Forget about them at the moment and so you can worry about them when its the right time. Now, it is important to try your best to capture the complete stream of thought as best as possible. Try to write the main idea and add extra details about it in bullet points if you like. Here is an example:
If you are not getting ideas and can't figure out what you should write about, instead of thinking deeply about it, you need to forget that you are experiencing the "writers' block". Find a good book, blog, or anything else you like to read and start reading. What you decide to read should not be about "fighting the writer's block".

You will find that if you let yourself go, ideas start coming to you in just a few minutes. Keep a notebook handy and keep reading. (If you are here right now because you are having it right now, finish the rest of the points quickly and read some of my other posts instead.)
Once you have an idea written down, try to add some detail or create an outline just before going to bed the night before you plan to work on it.

If you are having trouble doing that, read your topic/subject/idea a few times and go to sleep. You will trap your mind in that thought and it will work on it the whole night. I must warn you that you will probably dream about it and experience being "stuck" in that thought all night. In the morning, you will find yourself oozing with details.
The best time to write your first draft is in the morning, right after waking up. Do get your tea or coffee if you like first. The smell of what you drink in the morning helps the body understand that its morning. Work on what you already have on paper which should be a lot easier if you followed the rest of the points.

Remember, that if you start on your task from scratch at this point, you will feel daunted by its enormity and probably not get anything done. But if you have already sketched out the main subject and an outline, the first draft should be a piece of cake.

I have written this primarily because I never want to experience writer's block again. I can't stand the last minute tension when I have nothing to present except reasons for not doing what I was supposed to do. If I experience it again and even this process fails me, I will write about it. In the meanwhile, please share your own experiences and your comments about this post.

7 Life Lessons You Can Learn From Playing Angry Birds

2011-09-27T01:19:00.000-04:00

You all know the insanely addictive and super popular game called Angry Birds, right? The one in which you pull back the bird loaded slingshot with your finger and try to decimate the pigs. This game is so addictive that I actually played the game once before and once in the middle of writing this article telling myself I need to really understand what I am writing about. Yea, right! If you are having the urge to go play right now, follow this three step process; read, share, play!

So what are the important lessons? Here we go:

Keep at it. The most important and the loudest lesson coming out of this is PERSISTENCE! It teaches us that if we keep going, it may take 20, 30, or even 40 tries, but we will get through. It works the same way in real life except that it takes alot fewer tries than that. Next time you find yourself against a wall, or stuck in a Angry Birds level, remember what John Lyly once said: "Many strokes overthrow the tallest trees."
Alternate Your Strategy. One of the most often repeated references and an extremely annoying one to me is "the definition of insanity" reference. Sadly, it is true and Angry Birds teaches us that. If you keep trying the same angle and two pigs are always left alive, there is something wrong with your strategy. Once you starting experimenting with new ways, eventually it works out. Same way, if you want something so bad that you can't live without it but keep getting rejected, then try again and again from different angles and use different strategies until you get it.
Use failure to win. When I can't beat a level, I get so motivated that I decide that I will not sleep until I win. I use my ego to help me win. We should use the same approach in life provided we stay cool headed. When you fail, that says something about you but its not necessarily bad. When you give up and don't try again, that says something about you which is a lot worst. Remember, no one looses but the one who gives up.
Victory should motivate even more. When I beat a very hard level, I don't feel like putting the game down, I feel so happy that I want to keep going. In life, when some of us get something we wanted, we tend to relax and give up. Don't. Rather, keep going. As Emerson said: "Hitch your wagon to a star."
Every lock has its key. When I get stuck, I try each bird at a different attack point and whollaa! I am able to figure out the trick and beat it. Same way, sometimes we might be talking to the wrong person, sometimes we might be the wrong person to be talking. If its not working, look at every aspect of the chain, every little detail and see where you need a flat head and where you need a phillips.
Victory after victory, defeat after defeat. That's how Angry Birds is sometimes and that's how life is. Their will always be ups and downs, booms and busts, wealth and poverty. Important thing is to never lose hope at the time of defeat and never feel too secure at the time of victory.
Think out of the box if you are stuck inside. To beat a level that's beating me, I use the "reset" button technique. I stop playing and make myself forget what I was doing. When I come back, I start fresh and I am able to beat it. Many problems that we are stuck in also need a "reset" policy. Forget that you were never good at something when you were young, give it a try and you might be surprised, pleasantly that is.

This article is not intended to encourage or discourage Angry Birds or the like. Though I feel that if you play it, learn from it and don't abuse it.

When you play AngryBirds if you do, do you notice these things? Please let me know, use the comments box below.

11 Simple Ways to Revolutionize Your Boring Commute

2011-09-25T02:45:00.000-04:00

Writing this article makes me look forward to my commute tomorrow morning, I hope reading it does the same for you.

I used to hate the train and long car rides, but I knew I had to learn to accept it and figure out ways to enjoy my time. Now I am happy to say that even a 12 hour car ride, by myself, does not bother me provided that I am prepared for it and have my “essentials” (notebook and pen) with me. These strategies to cope with (what would otherwise be) boredom come from much trial and error because I simply couldn’t accept to sleep through or listen to music all that time. They came from a deep desire to be productive as much as possible. If you remember these tips, you will, not only, not mind to be delayed but may even look forward as long as you don’t HAVE to be somewhere.

Let your brain wander. Even though it may seem like you are wasting time, but it is in these times when some of the best ideas come to our minds. Many times, I work out very complicated problems and challenges by simply thinking freely about them. One of my friends is always nostalgic about his 1 ½ half hour train/car commute to Stony Brook University and says “I used to get so much done (mentally)” during that time. When I am making long interstate trips, I like to give myself challenges that require some serious calculations and manually figure out ETA, best time and place to stop for maximum efficiency, and other things like that. I like to look at roadside ads (on highways) or interesting objects (in trains) and try to figure out how they were probably made and what materials must have been used. Such practices not only boost my intelligence and exercise my “brain muscles” but also help to pass time productively.

Writeit down. I know that you have had the most brilliant, earth shattering ideasand your only wished was that you be able to remember them in the same detaillater but that doesn’t happen. Well, all you need is a pen and a pocket sizednotebook. You can also use your mobile phone’s “Notes” feature. I prefer theactual notebook because writing helps you remember what you wrote for a longerperiod and many actors actually handwrite all their lines from scripts tomemorize them. This is a simply idea that will make you a genius. Guess wherethe idea for this article came and how I managed to remember it?

Read/Listento a Book. The average American’s daily one-way commute to work in 2009 was 33minutes; that comes out to about 34 eight hour days or seven work weeks.Imagine if we were sent to train in a particular subject and we trained for 7weeks straight, what would the level of our expertise be? We have that opportunityto train ourselves in anything we want but many of us choose to either sleep orlisten to music for all that time. Rather, read a book or listen to it.

Bealone. This one may not seem that obvious but it is important. When I wouldcommute to and especially from school, I used to make an effort to avoidsitting next to someone I knew. Why? Because they would sabotage my plans for aproductive commute by engaging in useless chatter. “I could get so much done”if I didn’t have to discuss how we both hate our Professors. If for some reasonyou have to travel with a family member, friend, or a colleague; setup a systemto be alone yet travel together. You can let him/her know that you plan to beengaged in some mental exercise and would rather not be disturbed. If they havetoo many questions or have one last thing they want to discuss, let them knowthat “in three minutes, I will have to stop this conversation.” This has workedfor and also provided a humorous way of ending a useless conversation thuspreventing hurt feelings.

Dothe DaVinci Exercises. I recently heard an audio book called ” Howto Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci Seven Steps to Genius Every Day” and found oneparticular segment to be particularly useful. The author, Micheal Gelb, discusseshow Leonardo DaVinci’s writings show how much he would use each of his senses. Gelbrecommends that we focus deeply on each one of the five senses and observe whatwe sense. In the example of hearing, he advises that one listen and identifythe loudest noise, then the second loudest and keep going until a person canlisten to his breathing, the rustling of his clothes, and even his heartbeatwhile standing in the middle of Time Square. This will serve to heighten oursenses and allow us to hear things that we normally automatically block out. Try this with the sense of sight and look forthe details in what’s around you. With the sense of touch, feel the texture ofthings around you. With the sense of smell, smell your surroundings and try toisolate different smells from each other With the sense of taste, try to taste everypossible ingredient in the things you are eating even if its just a candy. Canyou imagine how wonderful your next rush hour train ride can be if you aredoing these exercises?

Chosenature if you have a choice. Sit, stand or walk on clean grass if you arewalking or waiting for the bus. Just the way we love originality in everythingelse, remember that the original form of our planet is not all this concrete,plastic, or glass. Look for and appreciate nature in your commute and you willfind the smallest remnant of it to be exhilarating and mind soothing.

Thinkof people you haven’t spoken to and make a call list. Even though with all thetechnology and social media, we are supposed to be connected, we are not. Weare becoming less social offline while becoming friends with hundreds orthousands online. We can simply dedicate one page of our pocket notebook tothis. Start by thinking about your entire family and note down who you need tospeak to. Follow that up with neighbors, childhood friends, and all others.Later on when we have cell signal or we are home, we can simple pull out thelist and make the calls one by one.

Letgo of your gadgets. If you are reading a book on your IPad or doing some workthat needs to be done right then, that is an exception. Otherwise, simply put, letgo and don’t touch them. If you haven’t done this in a long time (letting go),give yourself a challenge to not touch any gadgets. The challenge could be a timechallenge like 30 minutes or a task oriented challenge like “until I finishthis entire bottle of water, I will not touch my smartphone.”

Planyour day ahead. “Every minute you spend in planning saves 10 minutes in execution;this gives you a 1,000 percent Return on Energy!” (Brian Tracy)The time that you will possibly be wasting on listening to music sitting idly,you can plan your entire day and save so much time for fun later. In trying todo this, first make a list of things you need to do today and prioritize themif you will not have enough time to do them all. If your list includescomplicated tasks like “write a new blog post” then either brainstorm or breakdownyour task into smaller pieces. Your ultimate goal in planning your day is thatin case you had to leave town for an emergency, someone else would be able accomplish90% if not more of what you would have done. Of course the 10% are things likemake up to wife for last night’s argument.

Goback from a different way. Going through the same places day in and day out isno doubt an invitation for our mind to tune out, but changing the scenery willdeepen our experience and keep the excitement. If you walk, bike or drive, this applies moreto you than the mass transit folks but there are always some things we canchange.

Takein the beauty and try to look for something to admire in everything you see. Bepositive. When you try to create and export that positive energy, you will seethat others will reciprocate. If you don’t believe me, try smiling wholeheartedly at a passing stranger as if you were telling him/her that I am havingthe best day of my life and see what happens.

Onceagain, writing this article makes me look forward to my commute tomorrowmorning, I hope reading it does the same for you.

Ifyou enjoyed, hated, or fell asleep while reading this article, please let meknow.

6 Reasons Why You Should Visit Your Local Park Daily

2011-09-24T01:10:00.002-04:00

Recently, I fell in love all over again when I decided to take a trip to Flushing Meadows Corona Park right after sunrise. As I walked through the park’s different sections, I felt exhilarated like I had just been released from a prison. I realized why roaming the earth and traveling has been endorsed in such abundance in scriptures as well general human history and wisdom.

The concept of a walkabout in Australian aboriginal culture confirms the same idea. We, the Net Generation, are able to get a little piece of it in our local parks and I surely just got mine. My one-hour trip felt like I was just allowed to breathe again.

As I went through the park and decided that I will stay for at least a full hour, I constantly struggled with two things, the urge to “do” something, and the urge to pull out my smartphone and catch up with the world. At times, I even found my hand reaching for my cell phone and I had to consciously stop it from quickly checking email.

The end result however made it all the worthwhile. I was able to deduct at least six reasons for anyone to make this a part of their daily routine.

1. Refresh the Mind. Instead of feeling like our coffee break just ended; the trip through nature helps us feel like it’s our first day at a new job every day.
2. Release tensions. All of us face tensions, fears, difficulties, and challenges from life in general but the worst days are when a hardship has just befallen us and we are desperate to merely survive the night. Walking through and observing nature alone is one of the best ways to deal with such situations. We can simply start to breakdown the problems into little digestible portions as we walk through and ponder over our situation. I have always done that during long highway trips but walking on grass with a silent breeze stroking your face beats the highway anytime, anywhere.
3. Get exercise. Many of us face the time problem or the “perception of a time problem” and as a result, we let ourselves slip out of shape. Taking a break from the hustle and bustle, so the body gets the maintenance it needs, will allow us to take control of our body and even our mind. Taking a trip to the park and simply walking for one hour daily may not give us abs like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but it will likely keep us from gaining serious weight.
4. Walk to revive the human tradition. For centuries, the majority of human beings walked everywhere they went. In fact, just a few decades back, an average American walked at least double or triple the amount of walking the current American gets if not ten times more. Walking is one of those good ol’ things from the good ol’ days that we simply can’t let go.
5. Burn the fat. I don’t think there is much that needs to be said about this. With current rates of obesity, some cities are installing gym machines in public parks in an effort to attract people to exercise. The truth of the matter is that most parks have miles and miles of paved walkways with Central Park in NYC having 58 miles of pedestrian walkways. All we need to do is make a plan and explore it all, by the time we are done, we would be addicted to walking and we would love the shape we find our bodies in.
6. It helps us get new ideas. This is my personal favorite. When you let the anomalies in your mind go, let the fresh air in, and observe nature, you will find your creative juices wanting to ooze out of your mind. With the change in scenery, you will be able to think about important things in a changed perspective. I look forward to those and always carry a notebook with me to capture those ideas so I don’t have to sweat over trying to remember them until I get home. I just write them down and forget about them so I can make room in my mind for more.

Those of you, who do this or have done this, know what I am talking about. Those who have not, you don’t know what you are missing out. I would love to hear what all of you have to say about this article and share how you benefit from your little walkabouts.

To achieve your dream, Know your ABC!

2010-10-06T14:14:00.000-04:00

Avoid negative sources, people places things and habits
Believe in yourself
Consider things from every angle
Don't give up and don't give in
Enjoy your life today, yesterday is gone and tomorrow may never come
Family and friends are hidden treasures, seek them and enjoy their riches
Give more than you planned to
Hang on to your dreams
Ignore those who try to discourage you
Just do it!
Keep trying no matter how hard it seems, it will get easier
Love yourself first and foremost
Make it happen!
Never lie, cheat, steal - always strike a fair deal
Open your eyes and see things as they really are
Practice makes perfect
Quitters never win and winners never quit
Read, study and learn about everything important in your life
Stop Procrastinating
Take control of your own destiny
Understand yourself in order to better understand others
Visualize what you want
Want it more than anything
Xcelerate your efforts
You are unique, nothing can replace you
Zero in on what you want and take it!!