successful people

Feb

2022

A Balanced Life

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Life is all about balance. When you have a balanced life you feel happy, calm and content yet motivated and driven at the same time. Highly successful people live a well-balanced life.

How To Live A Balanced Life

A balanced life means there is harmony in all the elements of your life. If you are feeling burnout, it’s a signal that you are focusing too much on one aspect of your life and neglecting the others. True success and happiness all boils down to doing your responsibilities yet making time for doing things that you enjoy.

Pillars To A Balanced Life

There are 8 pillars to a balanced life. These are actually the 8 dimensions of wellness. Create harmony among these pillars and you will be able to achieve not just your dreams and happiness but also your growth as an individual.

Here are some questions that you can ponder on to see if you have achieved balance in your life.

1. Physical

Do you have enough sleep?
Do you exercise?
What kind of food do you usually eat?

2. Financial

Do you have enough money to meet your needs?
Are your debts manageable?
Are you saving enough for your future?

3. Social

Do you have enough time to spend with your loved ones?
Do you have a vast network of friends?
Can you count on your friends if you need help?

4.Spiritual

Do you pray or meditate?
Are you grateful for all the blessings that you have received?
Are you doing your life’s purpose?

5. Emotional

How do you manage stress?
Are you constantly worried about something?
Are there people that wronged you in the past that you have not forgiven yet?

6. Intellectual

When was the last time you read a book?
Do you travel?
What new skill have you learned recently?

7. Environmental

Is there clutter around you?
Are you happy with your surroundings?
Do you care for your environment?

8. Occupational

Do you love your job?
Is your work fulfilling enough?
Do you always lose your temper at work?

Try to reflect on the above questions about your life and answer whether you have a balanced life or not. If it is not balanced, make a conscious decision to change all that. It would help if you could create goals in every aspect of your life. Only through a balanced life will you find a sense of fulfillment and meaning.

Feature Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Updated Version. First Published in Pinoy Smart Living on 09.07.2018

Jul

2021

How To Not Give Up Today

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Do you ever have days when you feel like giving up? Sometimes, negative emotions can be quite overwhelming. Intense sadness, grief and pain can even lead to depression. When you feel like you are at the lowest point in your life, don’t give up just yet. At least, not today! Remember that tomorrow is a new day. You just have to wait until zero o’clock and it is already a promise of a new day. So, how to not give up today?

1. Listen to Music

The first thing that you need to do is to listen to music. Music has the power to relieve stress and relax the mind. It affects both your mind and body. However, not all music is created equal. To calm your mind, it is best to listen to slow, meditation, classical or piano music. You can also opt to listen to positive affirmations. The purpose is to help you calm down.

2. Breathe Properly

Once you have calmed down, the next thing to do is to concentrate on your breathing. Have you heard of the ‘fight or flight’ response of the body? It is a natural reaction of the body to confront or avoid danger and to survive. When we are stressed, our heart rate and blood pressure increases. Our pupils dilate. We are tense, trembling and are on edge. Our breathing becomes shallow. The best way to control this is by deep breathing.

Get yourself in a comfortable position. Then, begin by inhaling through your nose. Fill your abdomen with air, expanding the belly outward. Then, hold your breath for a few seconds. Now, release your breath slowly through your lips. Repeat until you feel relaxed.

3. Start a Gratitude Journal

Then grab a notebook and a pen. Start your gratitude journal. A gratitude journal is a diary of all the things that you are grateful for. Compared to an ordinary diary where you record the events of the day, regardless of whether they are happy or sad memories; a gratitude journal simply focuses on the positive things in your life. By reflecting on all the blessings that you have received in your life, you are shifting your focus from the negative to the positive. Remember, what you focus on expands. if you focus on the positive, good things will happen to you. In the same way that if you focus too much on the negative, bad things will continue to happen to you.

Focus on the positive things in your life and you’ll be shocked at how many more positive things stat happening.
– Sophia Amoruso

Note that a gratitude journal has the power to change your life. Make your life happier by making it into a habit.

4. Create / Update Your Bucket List

Do you have a bucket list? If you have, then update your bucket list. If you still don’t have one, then it is time to create a bucket list.

A bucket list is a list of things that you want to accomplish in your lifetime. While in the process of creating a bucket list, you will begin to dream of a brighter future. instead of focusing on the things that you lack now, you will become excited about the possibilities of a better tomorrow. The bucket list will give you something to look forward to. it will also give new direction to your life.

5. Love Yourself

At this point, you are now ready to redesign your life. But before you do, it is important that you believe in yourself first. Always remember that happiness is a choice. The same is true with success. Choose to be happy. Choose to be successful. Any you can only do this if you love yourself. Keep in mind that you are special. No one has the power to hurt you unless you let them.

Feature Photo by Brett Jordan from Pexels

Jul

2021

Benefits of Being an Underdog

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The truly successful know the benefits of being an underdog because they maintain that mindset. People who continue succeeding are those who still maintain the habits that they practiced when they were still underdogs. This is especially useful when they face new or unplanned challenges.

If you are starting a new career, a new business or restarting your life in some way; then you can consider yourself as starting from scratch again. You are in a great position to take advantage of being the underdog.

1. Your Goals, Your Rules

As an underdog, you are not obligated or pressured to declare your goals to the world. You can work quietly and in peace to achieve success. Change your direction when you need to and correct mistakes as you go along. Only you will notice most of these things.

This doesn’t mean you have to do things alone. You can slowly build your own network of people , even find mentors, who can help you in different ways. One of the benefits of an underdog is that you can go about this in your own way and at your own pace. It’s your call who you choose to work with and why.

2. Stronger Motivation

Most underdogs are less pressured than those who are already successful because people around them have low expectations of them. However, this only serves to fuel their motivation to succeed. Underdogs are not afraid to fail because they know they can learn from the experience.

Since you’re just starting out, you don’t have the pressure of having to keep up with your own reputation or defend your title or position as top dog in your field. Because of this, you have a stronger urge to prove yourself and impress the top dogs. You can surpass your own and other’s expectations as long as you work diligently and consistently.

3. Very High Creativity

Underdogs don’t often have the resources and social network that top dogs have. What they do have plenty of is creativity. With limited resources, you must find creative solutions to overcome obstacles along the way. You learn to analyze and manage your limited resources to get the best possible outcome. You have the courage to try out new ways of doing things.

Since you need to do everything yourself; you learn to do what you can with what you have and delegate where you need to. One of the benefits being an underdog is you also learn to prioritize and allocate time, personnel and other resources more efficiently. These skills will come in handy when you progress on to bigger goals in the future.

4. Everyone is Rooting for You

Although underdogs are less pressured from high expectations; people who see them going after their goals empathize with them. After all, aren’t we all underdogs until we reach the top? That’s why underdogs usually enjoy a lot of empathy and support from many people.

Underdogs tend to help others and root for each other. They are a fan of each other’s talents and skills. It’s always fun to get together with other underdogs and celebrate your wins. With underdogs, small victories are always cherished moments.

As an underdog, you are a bundle of potential. You are only competing against yourself. You are only limited by your own imagination. Being an underdog means that you have every opportunity to surprise everyone with your success. So good luck! We’re rooting for you!

Feature Image: Original Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash.

Jul

2021

Courage Counts the Most

Reading Time: 2 minutes

As human beings, we often forget that courage counts the most. We are always in pursuit of something new. When we achieve a goal, we go on to the next goal. This means that success is not a final destination. Success is a string of victories that we celebrate as some of the highest points in our lives.

On the other hand, people who have failed to achieve success are mostly those who are afraid to fail. The fear of failing leads people to just be content with what they have currently achieved; and not ask or want for anything more. The fear of failing discourages us to take risks that might lead to greater opportunities.

Life is not about how hard of a hit you can give… it’s about how many you can take and still keep moving forward.
– Sylvester Stallone, Rocky

Successful people know that failure is part of the journey to success. It is only when we look back that we are able to connect the dots. Then we see how one failure lead to an opportunity; which lead to the right path to get to the goal.

It is not how many times you get knocked down that counts, it’s how many times you get back up.
– George A. Custer

People who have achieved success know that when faced with failure; it is the courage to get up and continue pursuing their dreams that count the most. As long as you get up and stay determined to find a way through the obstacle to your success; you will still reach your goal.

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
– Confucius

Whether you failed because of a mistake or through unforeseen circumstances; don’t give up. Learn the lesson and try again. Learn to welcome challenges. If you have the courage to fail and stand up again; you are on the right path to success.

Updated. First published on Pinoy Smart Living on 2018.10.13.
Feature Image: Original Photo by Razvan Chisu on Unsplash.

Dec

2020

Morning Habits of Highly Successful People

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Are you happy? Are you healthy? Do you consider yourself a highly successful person? Are you a millionaire? You are where you are today because of your habits. So, if you want to change your life for the better, you need to start changing your habits. So, what are the morning habits of highly successful people?

Habits Defined

What are habits? Habits are your usual way of behaving. They are your thoughts and actions that you repeat over and over again.

In short, everything that you repeatedly do from the moment you wake up until the time you go to sleep are habits. According to Charles Duhigg, author of best-selling book The Power of Habit, 40% to 45% of what we do each day are not conscious decisions but habits.

Habits Formation

Habits are formed through repetition on a daily basis. Some habits were developed during childhood like tying your shoelaces or brushing your teeth. Other habits like how you parallel park your car are formed each time you learn something new. Studies suggest that as an action becomes automatic, the brain shuts down. For example, you can completely concentrate on something else while brushing your teeth.

Thus, habits are very powerful. They dictate how successful or unsuccessful you will be in life. Your life today is the sum of all your habits.

Making a Choice

While luck and genetics may be contributing factors, it is the behaviours of individuals that ultimately lead to success. The good news is that new habits can be learned and old habits can be unlearned. So, if you want your life to get better, you cannot continue doing what you have been doing. You need to make some changes.

Success does not happen overnight. Rather, it is the result of all the successful habits done over time.

Success is the sum of all efforts, repeated day in and day out.
– Robert Collier

In this case, how and where to start? Brian Tracy, the most listened to speaker on the development of human potential and personal effectiveness recommends starting with your morning routine. According to him, what you do in the first few hours of the morning set the tone on how the rest of your day will turn out.

Five Morning Habits that will Change your Life

Specifically, morning habits are routine things that people do in the morning. Starting the morning right can influence how the rest of the day will turn out. Every successful person in the world out there has similar morning routines.

1. Get Up Early

Morning people are successful people. Tom Corley, author of Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals, spent five years studying 233 wealthy people and 123 poor people. According to him, self-made millionaires woke up three hours before their schedule actually begins.

Robert Iger, Disney CEO wakes up at 4:30 am.
Former US President George HW Bush would get up at 4:00 am.
Apple CEO Tim Cook gets up at around 3:45 am
Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne gets up at 3:30 am.
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz gets up at around 4:30 am.
Best selling author Dan Brown wakes up at 4:00 am
Jack Dorsey, Co-founder and CEO of Twitter wakes up at 5:00 am

2. Meditate

Gone were the days where meditation is just for the monks, hippies and yogis. Science has proven that meditation has many beneficial effects on the body. Meditation reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, enhances creativity, lowers depression and improves performance. Meditation is a form of contemplative practice just like prayer and visualisation. Start your meditation with gratitude and then visualise the day ahead of you.

Ariana Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post does 20-30 minutes meditation as a part of her morning routine.
Rick Rubin, former president of Columbia records is a daily practitioner of Transcendental Meditation.
Padmasree Warrior, chief Technology and Strategy officer of Cisco Systems allots 20 minutes a day for meditation.
Jeff Weiner, CEO of Linkedin empties his mind each day to meditate.
Ophrah Winfrey, the most influential woman on media who has her own media empire, spends 20 minutes of meditation to start her day.
Jennifer Lopez meditates 20 minutes in the morning and at night.

3. Exercise

Tom Corley said that about 76% of the wealthy exercised for at least 30 minutes a day. In another study done by Psychology Today on 5,402 Finnish twin males, results revealed that the physically active twin earned about 17% more income than the less active twin. Daily exercise not only controls weight but also improves health and stimulates the brain.

Jennifer Aniston, one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood, includes spin-yoga and gym workout as part of her daily morning routine.
Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, spends an hour each day on his treadmill.
Former US President Barack Obama goes to the gym at 6:45 am to do weights and cardio work-out.
Steve Rheinmund, former chairman and CEO of Pepsi does a four mile run every morning at 5 am.
Anna Wintour, Vogue editor-in-chief plays an hour of tennis at 5:45 in the morning each day.

4. Eat a Healthy Breakfast

The word breakfast came from an old English word which means to break the fast of the night. After a whole night of fasting, the body needs essential nutrients to function properly for the day. That is why, breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day.

Richard Branson, founder and chairman of the Virgin Group opts for a high fiber, high vitamin breakfast. His breakfast includes fruit salad, muesli and some kippers occasionally.
Winston Churchill, former British prime minister ate a hearty morning meal of poached eggs, toast, cold meats and grapefruit.
Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, eats two hard boiled eggs with soy sauce.
Shaquille O’Neal, former NBA star, confessed that he never drank coffee his whole life. Breakfast is normally composed of bread, omelette and a glass of fresh orange juice.
Justin Timberlake, singer songwriter and record producer eats breakfast twice daily. The first one includes waffles with flax, almond butter and scrambled egg. He eats another egg and a protein shake for his second breakfast after workout.

5. Read

According to Tom Carley, the most significant disparity between the habits of the wealthy and the poor concerns reading. About 88% of the wealthy read at least 30 minutes each day compared to only 2% of the poor. Successful people make it their business to stay informed. They read to increase their knowledge, learn new things and to stay current with events especially in their industry.

Warren Buffet, the most successful investor in the world reads the American Banker, Financial Times, New York Times, Omaha World Herald, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal every morning.
John Carney, writer and former CNBC editor reads ancient philosophy by Plato, Socrates and Xenophon.
Dave Girouard, former president of Google, reads Winston Churchill’s speeches.
Charlie Munger, vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway reads The Economist.
Fran Tankerton, former National Football League quarterback read local and national newspapers from cover to cover.

To change a bad habit, all you need to do is simply replace it with a new one. Studies show that on average, it takes 21 CONSECUTIVE days to create a new habit, although some people take a bit longer. This simply means that you need to do the habit that you want to form for at least 21 straight days preferably at the same time everyday. For example if your goal is to wake up at 5:00 am, you need to set the alarm at 5:00 am from Monday to Sunday. If you fail to do it even for a day, you need to restart on Day 1. An effective technique is to use a daily reminder or alarm and to mark an X on your calendar once you have done it for the day.

You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.
– John C. Maxwell

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