Invaluable Life Lessons from Bon Jovi (That Don’t Involve Living on a Prayer)

Jon Bon Jovi is a legendary rock star from next-town-over-from-me New Jersey. At the same time he’s a songwriter, actor and accomplished entrepreneur. To put some frosting on the cake, Jon went from sweeping floors at a recording studio to selling over 120 million records world-wide.

Some people call it luck, some people call it talent, but I know for a fact that it is Jon’s out look on life that brought him every ounce of success that came his way. The beauty of life is that it is within all of us to adopt a paradigm that will bring us more happiness and success than we could ever imagine.

1. “Success is falling nine times and getting up ten.”

One thing that I think we can all agree upon is that when the going gets tough giving up is easy. Life is made as such that accomplishing easy goals is not nearly as satisfying as going through trials and tribulations acquire a well deserved prize.

That’s why for Jon it was important to trudge past all his failures and get back on his feet until he accomplished his goals. These trials came over and over again in his career and life, and I’m sure he has learned to look forward to the hard times because they are a sign of the rewards to come.
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A Radical Goal Setting Technique That Works

Goal setting techniques are not always very effective. They are often overcomplicated or do not inspire motivation from the user. When it comes to goal setting, simpler is better. You want to accomplish as much as possible by taking the quickest road from A to B. This goal setting technique is simple enough and it will destroy your excuses and obstacles along the way.

As we travel through life different challenges often emerge in the form of obstacles. One obstacle is forgetting what our most important goals are because they are either too too far away or do not require daily action. Another obstacle is fear, and this happens when our final result is too large to fathom an action plan.

This goal setting technique is interactive, meaning I would like for you to take out a piece of paper as you read this. At the top of a fresh page, write down what it is that you would like to achieve. Make sure your goal is specific and measurable such as ‘I want to save $10,000 by September 1st, 2009′. Once you’ve got that down I want you to write down your biggest obstacle.

The Goal

1. Goal to achieve.
2. What’s stopping you.

The next step is to reorganize what you have just written into another format, one that has a unique purpose. The way to go about this is to write: I want X, but Y. Where X is your goal, and Y is your biggest obstacle.

1. I want X
2. but Y

For example…

1. I want to save $10,000 by September 1st, 2009.
2. but, I have no money saved and I spend too much.

The first time I did this exercise one simple truth hit me in the face; when you use “but” you are lying. Focus on X, not on Y, and you will be thinking about solutions instead of excuses. Remember to keep your goals somewhat realistic. If you’re broke and your goal is to have 1 million by tomorrow night you are likely kidding yourself, and if you have no legs you aren’t winning a marathon that involves running (although they do have bionic legs now).

This technique will work on absolutely any goal, and while I say to be realistic, I believe in you, and I know you can stretch yourself here. You don’t even have to pick realistic but highly improbable goals either. You can pick very practical goals like finishing school, or having X amount of dollars in the bank.
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20 Useful Things You Can Accomplish In 15 Minutes

“Don’t count every hour in the day, make every hour in the day count.”
~Anonymous

Life is made up of nothing more than a series of moments. If you can find some way to pull 15 extra minutes out of a hat, you’d better at least use them wisely. Where will you find these moments, and when you find them, how will you use them?

Just 15 extra minutes a day will convert into a powerful 91 hours a year. That’s a massive chunk of time that you can use to acquire new skills and get things done. The benefit is seen when we create a daily habit and commit those 15 minutes to something worthwhile. You can wake up 15 minutes earlier, steal 15 minutes from lunch, after work, or right before bed — the choice is yours.

Once you’ve figured out which sleeve those 15 minutes are hiding under, you’re ready to pick your target. You can mix-and-match from the list below, or choose a specific item to focus on over weeks, months, or even a year. The key is your commitment to cultivate a habit, from which your life will improve.
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