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.

2. “Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate.”

There’s something inheritantly boring about the 9-5, which is why many people speak badly of it. Not necessarily because it’s too hard, or because we might fail, but certainly because of the fact that boredom kills off who we are.

Passion, in any way shape or form, is what sparks the vitality within us. If we’re going to be spending the better part of our day working and earning a living (or making a fortune) we should at least be doing something that we love, so we’ll love our lives.

3. “Don’t get too comfortable with who you are at any given time – you may miss the opportunity to become who you want to be.”

The infamous comfort zone, oh killer of hopes and dreams. When our stomachs are full, and we’re totally satiated, we have no desire to go look for food. When we are comfortable enough with our living condition, we will most certainly not strive as hard to go after our dreams.

Going after your dreams, while exciting and fun, is designed to be hard. Laying around in the sack, stuffing ourselves with junk food, and numbing ourselves with alcohol is much easier, and is the trap that we must all avoid in order to experience a much grander journey to illustratious destinations.

4. “Miracles happen everyday, change your perception of what a miracle is and you’ll see them all around you.”

My biggest pet peeve would have to be complainers. I know this sounds like complaining, but it breaks my heart to see people blinded to the beauty of life by putting all their focus on the negativity. Life has good stuff and bad stuff, and whatever we think about expands.

Part of our test, the one where passing leads us to a more fruitful existence, is becoming conscious of ourselves and of our self-talk. By concentrating on the positives, and letting the negatives hang by the way-side we are effectively making our overall experience and perception of life more positive. This is all done without actually changing what the rest of the world is like.

5. “Each one of you has something no one else has, or has ever had: your fingerprints, your brain, your heart. Be an individual. Be unique. Stand out. Make noise. Make someone notice. That’s the power of individuals.”

On one hand, the one that looks at the grand scheme of things, we are nothing. Nothing compared to God and the vastness of the universe. On the other hand, we are just a part of a collective of people who are very much the same, and want similar things out of life.

That’s why we have to stop looking at those hands, and create a universe where we can function in the collective, but do so with style and flare so that we may stand out and leave a legacy.

6. “Map out your future – but do it in pencil. The road ahead is as long as you make it. Make it worth the trip.”

Jon’s life was not written in stone, it was flexible and took many unexpected twists and turns. This makes him just like us. His ability to be spontaneous and comprise made his life more exciting.

While there is great merit to being a stand for what you want to do, and have an unshakeable commitment to a cause, there are many paths that will lead to that goal, some more fun than others. It’s your life, take the scenic view.

7. “The only enemy is ignorance.”

This comes out of you from nowhere, just when you thought ignorance was bliss. The truth is that it’s not a sin to be ignorant, but it is a sin to remain ignorant. Being closed off, and uneducated will lead one to live a shallow life where nothing more than carnal pleasures exist. That’s what Hitler’s goal was for every person in the world, to be nothing more than an animal.

By being open minded to any possibility, reading, learning, and fully experiencing life from all angles we are allowing ourselves to grow. We are allowing ourselves to make a positive influence on our neighbors and on shaping and changing the world.

Go ahead and study the great, successful, and happy men of history. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel and there’s a good chance that anything you could come up with has already been thought of before. Use their knowledge to take your life experiences to the highest level.

This article is contributed by Alex Shalman, a freelance writer with degrees in Psychology (BA) and Biomedical Science (MS). Alex writes passionately and extensively about Personal Development at AlexShalman.com while making his way through further studies.

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.

The Big Why

Why you want to accomplish your goal is more important than how you will accomplish it. Human beings are amazing in how we can overcome really improbable odds when our heart is in it and our mind is set.

On that same sheet of paper write down how your goal:

1. Inspires you
2. Helps other people
3. Makes a difference

For example…

1. I’ll be able to put 50% down on my new car.
2. This will make my wife happy.
3. I’ll be able to get to my job, where we are changing the world, and saving lives.

Many times people only consider themselves, others, or the big impact, but not all 3 (or at least not all 3 at the same time). By having it all together in one place for you to look at every morning when you wake up and every evening before you rest your head you will have triple the WHY. When one why isn’t good enough, you can pull out another, or another, and motivate yourself through anything.

Reverse Goals

Now that you have your goals in place you can take 3 steps backwards from goal to present. In the example above we used September 1st, 2009 as our deadline for saving $10,000. This is fine, and doable, and we’ll work backwards. There are of course rules to this game.

Meet the following criteria:

1. Work backwards and take 3 big steps.
2. Write down as if you have acquired, not as if you will get.
3. Let there be no excuses.

For example…

1. September 1st, 2009 I have saved $10,000.
2. June 1st, 2009 I have saved $7,000.
3. January 1st, 2009 I have saved $3,500.
4. July 1st, 2008 I have saved $500.

Congratulations! You have arrived at ground zero.

Forward from Ground Zero

Ground zero is right now, the present, without the past, and with a future that is inspiring, contributing, and making a difference. Hold on, it’s not time to celebrate yet. This is the fun part where we get to fill in the pieces.

Now that we have our major milestones and we are looking at a future without a self-limiting past, we can plan direct actions that will bring us to each milestone one step at a time.

1. Create a to-do list.
2. Work out the details and direct actions towards each milestone.
3. Keep each action as simple as possible.

The to-do list will give you a daily focus as to what your next step should be. You’ll never be stuck in a rut for what to do because you have this paper to guide you. This will take out a lot of the confusion, and the small action steps will take away the fear and ambiguity of tackling a huge project.

Review

Take care to review your paper often, especially your big why. This will serve as your motivation and light a fire under you. Use this technique for all your major and minor goals. This will allow you to live a life where your word means something, a life of accomplishing what you set out to do – a powerful and happy life.

This article is contributed by Alex Shalman, a freelance writer with degrees in Psychology (BA) and Biomedical Science (MS). Alex writes passionately and extensively about Personal Development at AlexShalman.com while making his way through further studies.

What are your big goals? Please share one of them in the comment box below.

“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.

20 Useful Things You Can Accomplish In 15 Minutes

1. Stretch. If you stretch for 15 minutes every day you will become very flexible. It will be easier for you to move around, exercise, and it will facilitate the flow of blood throughout your body. This extra flow will improve your overall health and improve your mental focus.

2. Read. Pick a time when you can read, without interruptions, for a solid 15 minutes each day. You’ll find that you’re able to get through certain books in a week or two, and you’re increasing your knowledge and mental capacity with minimal effort. You may discover a new passion, or master a subject over the course of a year through this small time commitment.

3. Run. Do a series of short sprints with intervals between running and resting. This is the best way to build up speed and increase your body’s capacity to utilize oxygen. At the same time you will be powering up your body with higher energy levels throughout the rest of your day.

4. Calisthenics. This form of exercising involves sit-ups, push-ups, trunk twists, squats, chin-ups, etc., which basically means using your own body weight as resistance. It’s very effective to build muscle tone and get your exercise on, and it hardly requires any equipment (other than perhaps a chin-up bar).

5. Sleep. I just told you to find 15 minutes, and now I’m recommending that you sleep them away? This one is more useful during the middle of the day. If you have a set schedule, and you can conveniently fit a 15 minute nap, you can catch a second wind that will leave you feeling energized for the second half of your day.

6. Cook. This might not be enough time to make an extensive meal, but it is sufficient enough to put something together. Make yourself a sandwich, or get some leftovers together, so that you don’t have to eat out for lunch. You’ll save a lot of money using this method.

7. Write. Depending on your writing skill, you may be able to take a nice chunk out of writing a 50,000 word novel (it’s less than you think), over the span of a couple of years, if you use your 15 minutes a day wisely. If it takes you longer, so be it, but eventually you will have the finished product in your hand. This won’t happen unless you sit down and write.

8. Talk (aka Listen). You can use your newly found time to build solid relationships with several people, or an even closer one with one special person. You can both look forward to these 15 minutes, whether in person or over the phone, and share your goals, dreams, and accomplishments with each other. If 15 minutes is too little time for you to talk then just listen to them for 15 minutes and they’ll love you for it.

9. Draw. While 15 minutes a day, over the course of a year, may not be enough time to build a professional collection, it’s still mighty useful. You can use these 15 minutes to create several nice drawings, but more importantly it will sharpen your skill and give you a creative outlet.

10. Blog. I’ll admit that it takes me longer than 15 minutes to write a blog post, but you can take the short and sweet approach yourself. In 15 minutes you can craft and publish some witty commentary or useful information about a breaking topic that your readers would truly appreciate.

11. Journal. One of the best gifts you can give yourself is the ability to reflect upon your life. You can do this by keeping a journal of the biggest highlights within your life. Taking just 15 minutes a day to write down how you feel, what you learned, and what you want out of life will help you track where you’ve been and where you want to go.

12. Visit nature. Bask in the beauty and serenity that nature has selflessly provided us with. Go to a forest, park, or simply sit under a tree, and do nothing, read a book, or chat with a friend. While out walking I saw a kid sitting under a tree with his laptop; while not the most effective use of nature, it still beats doing the required homework inside the house on a beautiful day.

13. Meditate. The research is in, and there’s no doubt that stress is a killer. I’ve learned extensively in my Masters program about the physiological damage that stress causes within us. Meditation is one of the very best ways to relieve stress, and it has many other benefits as well. Do yourself a favor and try this on.

14. Organize. In 15 minute bursts there is a lot you can do to organize your life. You can clean a table top, the desktop on your computer, your bookshelf, organize your clothes, vacuum your house, bathroom, kitchen, etc. Just know that your 15 minutes are dedicated to some form of cleaning, and you’ll notice that your environment and eventually your mind will be that much more clutter free.

15. Plan. Spend 15 minutes planning out your day, or week. By spending time planning every single day you’ll end up saving hours by remembering the right supplies, making special arrangements, and cutting out unnecessary steps. Planning makes a difference.

16. Network. Whether it’s for your job, or some kind of recreational endeavor, you can use your 15 minutes to network and make friends. You can do this by using twitter, or creating a template e-mail and searching out new people to contact with it. Even if you contact 5 people a day, that’s 1825 potential contacts over the year. That’s just the point, it adds up.

17. Research. With Google at your fingertips you can find out some very useful information about your health, hobby, career, or some way to improve your life. You can even buy access into scientific journals and do some significant medical research in your spare time.

18. Play catch. You won’t find too many activities easier than tossing the ball around between two people. It’s great exercise, it’s relaxing yet invigorating, and a great opportunity to talk and bond.

19. Eat slowly. Do not treat eating as one of life’s little inconveniences. Instead, eat slowly and enjoy each bite as if it were your last, and if it were, know that you got the most out of it by using an extra 15 minutes to extract pleasure from each morsel of food.

20. Self-improvement. Take 15 minutes a day to read some articles by your favorite writers who compress massive amounts of information into practical, easy to read, and very informative articles.

This article is contributed by Alex Shalman, a freelance writer with degrees in Psychology (BA) and Biomedical Science (MS). Alex writes passionately and extensively about Personal Development at AlexShalman.com while making his way through further studies. Goal #1 is to operate with the greatest good of all in mind and bring value into your life.

Images by Apesara and Bob Jagendorf.