Whether it happens to be fame, money, glory, or joy; we all live for one thing – moments. Everybody has goals in life, whether it happens to be losing more weight, building better relationships with other people, finding an amazing girlfriend of boyfriend, or making enough money to buy a house and support family.

What happens, though, is that most people find themselves stuck in the same, daily pace or routine that feels something like a plateau. Everyday looks the same and feels the same. Even when we dream of something that we want, we get frustrated because we see no advances or improvement towards what we are aiming for in life, and the only option that makes us feel good is just an escape from it all – also known as giving up.

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There’s one crucial relationship in your life that I’m pretty sure you’re neglecting. And if you’re one of those people who gives a lot of themselves to others and always drops everything to give a friend a hand, you’re definitely neglecting it. Nope, it’s not your relationship with your partner, your mom, or even your kids. Important as those are, this is even more crucial. It’s a relationship I can guarantee you’ll have from the day you’re born till the day you die.

It’s your relationship with yourself.

So often, the one person in life who we criticise, judge, condemn and ignore is ourself. We decide that our needs don’t matter. If everyone else in our life walked out, this one relationship would be all we had left. And when we disregard our relationship with ourself, all other aspects of our life suffer: however hard we strive for success, things will always feel empty.

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Everyday is either a success or a failure, and if everyday is a success, you cannot fail to get rich. - Wallace D. Wattles

Your days are like elevators; they either take you closer to or further away from your goals.

If you’re constantly moving in the direction of your goal with momentum, it is self-evident that the goal will eventually be achieved; it’s only a matter of time.

An Example

Currently, I’ve been training with weights; my goal is to reach have what I consider to be my “best-beach-body-ever” when I take my annual trip to Hawaii.

This process has not been easy, and neither is it over, but I’m getting closer.  The road has seemed long, and I have not made progress everyday.  Fortunately, I have had many more days taking me closer to my goal, than further from my goal.  The momentum has been a positive one (because as the saying goes, you can’t stroll to a goal).

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A “factory manager” at a local factory called-in an “outside emergency maintenance guy” because one of his machines had “broken.”  The maintenance guy arrived at the factory shortly after receiving the call.  The “factory manager” then explained the problem he was experiencing to the “maintenance guy.”  The maintenance guy responded, “I know exactly what the problem is,” then he quickly replaced a screw in the machine, and the machine began to work like new.

The maintenance guy then said, “That’ll be $300.00!”  The factory manager responded, “$300! You just replaced one screw; that screw cost $1.00; I could have easily done that!”

The maintenance guy responded, “Yes, the screw did cost $1.00, but the knowledge of how to fix your machine cost $299, …and by the way, I only accept cash.”

What’s the point?  When you don’t know, you will pay the higher price!

This is why it’s critical to remain a student of life.  I’m always looking to learn and expand my mind, I’m always looking for leaders who’ve done what I’m trying to do, so that I can learn what they know.

Leaders are people with the knowledge you need, because they’ve been where you’re trying to go.  Hear me out, leaders aren’t necessarily “special,” they don’t “glow in the dark,” or wear a “halo,” leaders are just people who’ve experienced what you’re trying to experience.  They’re people who are a little further along the path that you’re traveling, and they have the knowledge to make your trip easier.

You follow leaders because they have knowledge.  There’s no need to worship them, or sing praises to their name.  You follow leaders because: “When you don’t know what they know, you will pay a higher price!”

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Image courtesy of LittleStar

If you’re reading Pick the Brain, it’s a fair bet that you have goals. You might even have written them down. Perhaps you read them every day, or have them pinned to a notice-board.

How many of those goals are materialistic ones? How many are focus on a dollar amount or a particular purchase?

I’ve been reading a book by Jack Canfield recently, and while I’ve found plenty of good advice in it, I’ve also been a little disturbed at times by his seeming equation of “success” with money and material goods:

Here are the life purpose statements of some of my friends. It is important to note that they have all become self-made millionaires through the fulfilment of their life purpose.

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Life seemed so beautiful back then

With my six childhood friends I had so much fun

Everyday seemed new

They taught me all the things I never knew

“Stop dawdling away your time” yelled my parents

Coercing me to ignore their existence

Taming their presence every now and then

I miss my friends named What, Why, Who, Where, How and When

Penning these words in their remembrance

I still hope for their magical reappearance

These words poured into my mind as I sat down to analyze my curiosity quotient. Somewhere deep down our heart we all lament over the loss of wonder and curiosity we had in our lives while we were kids. In fact we secretly crave for the reappearance of this trait, that made our life so exciting back then. Wasn’t it your curiosity that taught you more than anything else when you stepped into this world? The only way a toddler learns about his world is by exploring the things around him out of curiosity. The benefits of curiosity are underestimated and even frowned upon once we step into the adult world.

We fail to realize that curiosity is as important to us as it is to a toddler. If you are aiming for personal growth and experiencing a more fulfilling life then it is worth improving your curiosity quotient.

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My sister-in-law was visiting my wife  just a few weeks ago and she mentioned to us a project that she was considering.  She was planning on starting a new club at Louisiana State University (LSU), which is the college she is attending.  She asked us for our opinion on her new project.

After listening to her ideas concerning the project, I told her that the project sounded like an excellent idea, I also let her know that we would support her in everyway possible!  Lastly, I cautioned her of three common roadblocks to success.  I said, if you can overcome these three roadblocks, you will be well on your way.

The following three roadblocks show up any time you decide to accomplish a major task; you should expect these roadblocks and overcome them.  These roadblocks progress from considerations, to fears and finally obstacles.  Each roadblock in this progression becomes increasingly more challenging to overcome, but if you can overcome them, you will succeed.

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Every generation has had it’s own big world events and challenges, and of course, that’s what’s shaped the values, personality characteristics and lifestyle choices of each generation. One of the big events of our generation has been the birth and growth of the internet – an event that’s brought both challenges and opportunities for all of us. In an increasingly interconnected world where we have access to information about people and lifestyles all over the world, we all have more opportunities than ever before. So many of the barriers to entry that existed before, making life and leadership difficult, have been dissolved by the internet. It’s easier than ever before to find like-minded people all over the world, it’s cheaper than ever before to start a business and serve people all over the world, it’s easier and cheaper than ever before to educate yourself about anything you’d like to learn about, it’s easier than ever before to find out your rights, comparative prices on the stuff you’d like to buy, and the choices available to you, and it’s easier than ever before to create automated systems to provide the scaffolding that can help your life to run smoothly.

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“Would you tell me which way I ought to go from here?” asked Alice.

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get,” said the Cat.

“I really don’t care where” replied Alice.

“Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

- Quote from the Alice in Wonderland Movie

My brother called me the other day and asked me for some advice?  He was trying to decide between two job offers:

Job 1 – The first job was your typical 40 hour a week “office” job.

Job 2 – The second job was more of a career in the insurance industry, where he would start at the bottom, and after many years and many long hours eventually rise to the top (if he was good).  The second job did not pay as well as the first job (initially), but the potential pay-off of the second job was much greater than the first job.

So which job should my brother take?  Well the answer is…it depends.

Just like the Cat was trying to tell Alice, which road you take depends a great deal on where you want to end up.

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Charisma can help you in many aspects of life.  It can help you win friends, be popular with the opposite sex, and even land that new exciting job.  There is almost nothing that charisma can’t help you achieve.  For some, it is very natural to be charismatic.  They just seem to have that ‘X-Factor’.  However it is comforting to know that charisma can also be developed.  Here are 4 top methods to help boost your charisma…

1. Have goals you are working towards

There are a lot more followers than leaders, so if you want to stand out then be a trailblazer.  There is nothing wrong with being a follower, but people are naturally drawn to leaders.  Set yourself goals to work to.  Have a sense of purpose and a vision – a big goal that you are working towards.  You may or may not succeed to meet your goal, or it might change over time, but if you always have one, people will naturally feel drawn to you as you present the possibility of an exciting future.

Don’t simply pretend to have a goal as people will quickly see through you and you will lose all credibility.  In any case it is far more satisfying to spend life attempting to meet realistic goals.

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