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	<title>PickTheBrain &#124; Motivation and Self Improvement77 traits of highly successful people | PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement</title>
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		<title>6 Things You Need to Consider Before You Quit Your Job</title>
		<link>http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/6-things-you-need-to-consider-before-you-quit-your-job/</link>
		<comments>http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/6-things-you-need-to-consider-before-you-quit-your-job/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:24:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Foo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[career]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[77 traits of highly successful people]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[employment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mark foo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pickthebrain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[self employment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[self improvement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[success]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unemployment]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/?p=1447</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you're unhappy with your current job, there's no reason that you have to stay there the rest of your life. At the same time, you don't want to make any rash decisions and just storm out of the office one day without a plan. There are a few things you should consider before you quit your job.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.aprilhoff.info/Images/Computers/Esc-02.gif"><img class="alignnone" title="career" src="http://www.aprilhoff.info/Images/Computers/Esc-02.gif" alt="" width="480" height="470" /></a><br />
If you&#8217;re unhappy with your current job, there&#8217;s no reason that you have to stay there the rest of your life. At the same time, <em>you don&#8217;t want to make any rash decisions</em> and just storm out of the office one day without a plan. There are a few things you should consider before you quit your job.</p>
<p>Here is a list of things to consider before you fire your boss:</p>
<p>1.    <strong>Have a Plan</strong>. When you&#8217;re unhappy with your current situation, you may be tempted several times a day to just storm off and say &#8220;I quit&#8221;. However, you need to avoid letting yourself get to this point of burnout.</p>
<p>    First you&#8217;ll want to do a thorough evaluation of your life and why you&#8217;re unhappy. Are you struggling because you hate this specific job and would like another one, or are you struggling because you don&#8217;t like the idea of working for someone else? The answer to this question will help you to determine your next steps.</p>
<p>    Next you need to decide what you&#8217;re going to do if you&#8217;re no longer working at your job. You should shoot for doing something that you enjoy that also makes money in the process. Remember that you can always start your own business. The best way to fire your boss is to <a href="http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/6-reasons-why-you-should-be-your-own-boss/">become your own boss</a>!</p>
<p>    <em>Think about what you&#8217;ll do if everything doesn&#8217;t go according to plan</em>. It&#8217;s always a good idea to have a back up plan too. It&#8217;s difficult to muster up the courage to leave the security of a job, but if you plan properly and have a back up, you should be in good shape. <span id="more-1447"></span></p>
<p>2.    <strong>Develop Your Skills.</strong> Remember that you should always be working on your skills. Let&#8217;s say the job you have your eyes on requires skills that you don&#8217;t currently have. You&#8217;ll want to develop these skills while you&#8217;re still working at your other job. You don&#8217;t want to quit your job before you know that you&#8217;re fully prepared to move forward with your other plans.</p>
<p>3.    <strong>Test the Waters.</strong> People tend to always have a &#8220;grass is greener&#8221; mentality. This just means that you might be envious of something you don&#8217;t have, but once you do have it, it&#8217;s not all that it&#8217;s cracked up to be. Remember that you don&#8217;t want to quit your job and go full force into something else only to realize that you&#8217;re even more unhappy in the new situation. Do what you can to research and participate in your new plans to make sure that it&#8217;s the right path for you.</p>
<p>4.    <strong>Start Your New &#8220;Job&#8221;</strong>. The best way to test the waters is to actually start your new job. While it&#8217;s not always feasible to start a new job when you&#8217;ve already got one, you might be able to. This is especially a good idea if you want to start your own business. You can work your day job and then spend your evening developing the new business. Not many people have large amounts of available funds to launch a business and deal with the fact that most new businesses are not profitable right away. So if you&#8217;re still gathering income from your other job while you launch your new one, the transition won&#8217;t be as difficult.</p>
<p>5.    <strong>Don&#8217;t Burn Bridges.</strong> You might be tempted to use some choice words when you fire your boss for good. Maybe this person deserves it for treating you unfairly, but you must be polite and think about your future. What if you change your mind and want to return to your job in the future? If you leave on good terms, maybe that could be a possibility for you. Also, you never know when a former employer can be of help to you, so it&#8217;s always best to remain on their good side.</p>
<p>6.    <strong>Sort Out Your Finances</strong>. It&#8217;s always best to sort out your finances before you quit your job. If you&#8217;re struggling financially, it might not be the best time for you to take a risk. Your best bet would be to make sure you have at least a saving of a couple months&#8217; worth of expenses before you embark on your journey.</p>
<p><em>Author’s Bio:  Ever wondered how great successful people achieved great success? You can find the answer in <a href="http://www.77SuccessTraits.com">The 77 Traits of Highly Successful People</a>. Mark Foo has brought together 48 personal development bloggers and writers to co-author the success eBook that spells out all of the success secrets of the very successful people. This eBook is available to you FREE and you can grab your free copy now at <a href="http://www.77SuccessTraits.com">http://www.77SuccessTraits.com</a>.</em></p>
<p><em><strong>Related Articles: </strong></em></p>
<p><a href="http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-be-happy-at-work-an-interview/">How To Be Happy At Work:Employee Motivation<br />
</a><a href="http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-increase-willpower/">How To Increase Your Will Power</a></p>
<p><a href="http://twitter.com/pickthebrain">Don&#8217;t Forget to Follow PickTheBrain on Twitter!</a></p>
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		<slash:comments>9</slash:comments>
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		<title>6 Reasons Why You Should Be Your Own Boss</title>
		<link>http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/6-reasons-why-you-should-be-your-own-boss/</link>
		<comments>http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/6-reasons-why-you-should-be-your-own-boss/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:52:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Foo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[productivity tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[self improvement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[working from home]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[77 traits of highly successful people]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[employee motivation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mark foo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[motivation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pickthebrain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[self employement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[success]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[work from home]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/?p=1364</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you've decided that you'd like to be your own boss, it doesn't have to remain a dream forever. In fact, with some proper planning on your part, you can become your own boss in no time.

If you want to be your own boss you need to start your own business. Being self-employed will more than likely seem overwhelming in the beginning, but in the end many people feel that the benefits far outweigh the costs. So start brainstorming some business opportunities!]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.myworkfromhomeguide.com/images/MPj04230310000%5B1%5D.jpg"><img class="alignnone" title="work from home " src="http://www.myworkfromhomeguide.com/images/MPj04230310000%5B1%5D.jpg" alt="" width="645" height="440" /></a></p>
<p>If you&#8217;ve decided that you&#8217;d like to be your own boss, it doesn&#8217;t have to remain a dream forever. In fact, with some proper planning on your part, you can become your own boss in no time.</p>
<p>If you want to be your own boss you need to start your own business. Being self-employed will more than likely seem overwhelming in the beginning, but in the end many people feel that the benefits far outweigh the costs. So start brainstorming some business opportunities!</p>
<p>Here are some reasons why you should be your own boss:<span id="more-1364"></span></p>
<p>1.    You&#8217;re in Charge of Your Income. This can be seen as a pro or a con at first, but eventually the sky will be the limit as you develop your business. In the beginning, seeking self-employment might not make you as much as you used to, and you also may have to worry about issues like individual insurance coverage. The huge advantage is the fact that you keep every dime that you make and your salary is not capped by your employer.</p>
<p>2.    You Have Creative Control. You get to make all of your decisions, no one else is telling you what to do. This is huge because many people run into boredom issues at their jobs. If you can choose the business you want, you can also pick and choose the types of jobs you accept. You do what you want, when you want.</p>
<p>3.    You&#8217;re Responsible for Your Success. If you&#8217;re self-employed you can truly make a difference when you start your own business. This is because the success of the business lies on your shoulders. When you work for a large corporation, it&#8217;s easy to mix in with the rest of the employees and feel like it doesn&#8217;t even matter whether or not you show up to work. While you&#8217;ll still have to work hard when you&#8217;re self-employed, you really matter because you are your business.</p>
<p>4.    You Set Your Own Hours. Setting your own hours is a huge advantage. You know yourself best and you&#8217;ll be able to build a schedule that&#8217;s most efficient for you. If you want to work really hard one day, and take a half day the next day, that&#8217;s perfectly fine when you&#8217;re self-employed. You can work all night and sleep all day if that&#8217;s your personal preference!</p>
<p>5.    You&#8217;ll Be Challenged. Most people will find that they not only reach a salary cap when they work for someone else, but they also reach a point where they&#8217;re no longer challenged. When you embark on this new journey for yourself, it&#8217;ll be a risk and it&#8217;ll be a challenge. Also, as you keep gaining experience and income, you&#8217;ll continue to be challenged as you reach higher and higher levels.</p>
<p>6.    You Can&#8217;t Get Fired. This is a great reason in itself. In the self-employment world you can&#8217;t get fired! You can change your mind about certain business opportunities, but that would just be shifting the focus of your business, you&#8217;d never be firing yourself. This takes a certain amount of burden off your shoulders because you don&#8217;t need to worry about someone suddenly taking away your income just because of cutbacks even if you&#8217;re doing a superb job.</p>
<p>Remember that there&#8217;s always a certain amount of risk associated with making a major change in your life. It&#8217;s never easy when it involves income and the future of your family. However, if you want to be your own boss, you can certainly do so. It may end up opening many doors to better your financial future.</p>
<p>Author’s Bio:  Ever wondered how great successful people achieved great success? You can find the answer in The <a href="http://www.77SuccessTraits.com">77 Traits of Highly Successful People</a>. Mark Foo has brought together 48 personal development bloggers and writers to co-author the success eBook that spells out all of the success secrets of the very successful people. This <a href="http://www.77SuccessTraits.com">eBook</a> is available to you FREE and you can grab your free copy now at <a href="http://www.77SuccessTraits.com">http://www.77SuccessTraits.com.</a><br />
<em><strong> Related Articles: </strong></em></p>
<p><a href="http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-be-happy-at-work-an-interview/">How To Be Happy At Work:Employee Motivation<br />
</a><a href="http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-increase-willpower/">How To Increase Your Will Power</a></p>
<p><a href="http://twitter.com/pickthebrain">Don&#8217;t Forget to Follow PickTheBrain on Twitter!</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>28</slash:comments>
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		<title>How Failure Can Accelerate Your Success</title>
		<link>http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-failure-can-accelerate-your-success/</link>
		<comments>http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-failure-can-accelerate-your-success/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:10:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Foo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[self improvement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[success]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[77 traits of highly successful people]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[failure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fear of failure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mark foo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[motivation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pickthebrain]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/?p=1337</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[No one actually wants to encounter failure in their life. That's because when you look at the isolated incident, it means that you haven't found success. However, with the right attitude, you can use your failure in order to get yourself to success in an accelerated fashion.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman;"><a href="http://www.dana.org/uploadedImages/Images/Content_Images/art_v3n3cardosodavisgoldberg_6.jpg"><img class="alignnone" title="fear of failure" src="http://www.dana.org/uploadedImages/Images/Content_Images/art_v3n3cardosodavisgoldberg_6.jpg" alt="" width="370" height="389" /></a></p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman;"><em>Image courtesy of the <a href="http://www.dana.org">Dana Foundation</a></em></p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman;">No one actually wants to encounter failure in their life. That&#8217;s because when you look at the isolated incident, it means that you haven&#8217;t found success. However, with the right attitude, <strong><em>you can use your failure in order to get yourself to success</em></strong> in an accelerated fashion.<strong> </strong></p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman;"><strong>Overcoming Failure</strong></p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman;">The first step to overcoming failure is to accept your situation. Tell yourself that failure is a natural part of life, and that you&#8217;re not superhuman so you will fail to succeed at certain junctures in your life.</p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman;">When you attempt to be too perfect that can just be yet another failure on your part. It&#8217;ll cause you stress and you won&#8217;t be able to get yourself past to the part of acceptance. You might tell yourself that you&#8217;re over it when you really aren&#8217;t. You don&#8217;t want to be carrying that burden around with you forever.<span id="more-1337"></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman;"><strong>Your Positive Outlook</strong></p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman;">The next thing to concentrate on is to <strong><em>turn your negative thoughts into positive ones.</em></strong> If you fail to succeed, don&#8217;t be tempted to wallow in it. It&#8217;ll mean that you&#8217;ve truly failed because you&#8217;re choosing to end your road to success.</p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman;">With the right outlook on life, you can look at your failure as just a stepping stone on your way to success. Your goal is to seek out the silver lining, because it&#8217;s always there hiding in any negative situation.</p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman;">I remember a time when I wanted to be a part of a sports team, I tried and I didn&#8217;t make the team. I could have just moved on and blamed others for the failure, but I chose to study the reasons why I didn&#8217;t make it. I asked the coach what I could work on and I practiced those skills. To make a long story short, the next year I was on the team and better yet, I was a starting player. I don&#8217;t believe I would have accomplished so much so fast had I not encountered the initial &#8220;failure&#8221;.</p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman;"><strong>How Failure Can Speed Up Success</strong></p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman;">The above story illustrates how one can use a failure in order to get to success faster. <strong><em>There&#8217;s a vast difference between overcoming failure and accepting failure.</em></strong> When you&#8217;re in the process of overcoming failure you&#8217;re given the unique opportunity to analyze what went wrong.</p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman;">Take the time to study the exact steps that you took and what outcome you received. Also study the reasons why the failure occurred. Maybe there&#8217;s a certain skill you can develop in order to finally reach success?</p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman;">After this analysis you can draft up a new plan in order to get to success. Only this time you&#8217;ll be smarter and better equipped.</p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman;"><strong>Never Give Up On Yourself</strong></p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman;">It may help you to stop using words like &#8220;failure&#8221; when it comes to your attempts at success. As long as you&#8217;re still trying on that road to success, then you actually haven&#8217;t failed. It&#8217;s only once you&#8217;ve given up that you&#8217;ve failed.</p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman;">Life is tough though. To say &#8220;never give up&#8221; is easier said than done. Of course there will be times when you feel like giving up, everyone encounters these times. Just ask any successful person that you admire. However, <strong><em>it&#8217;s those people that still make the extra effort even when they feel like giving up that reach success.</em></strong> There&#8217;s nothing stopping you from being one of these people.</p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman;">Of course you want to get to success as fast as you possibly can, but you must give yourself proper time. Everyone has their unique road and when you stop comparing yourself to others and just plough forward with your plans, you&#8217;ll get there before you know it.</p>
<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman;"><strong><em>Author’s Bio:</em></strong><span style="font: 12.0px Lucida Grande;"><em> </em></span></p>
<p><em>Ever wondered how great successful people achieved great success? You can find the answer in </em><a href="http://www.77successtraits.com"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;"><em>The 77 Traits of Highly Successful People</em></span></a><em>. Mark Foo has brought together 48 personal development bloggers and writers to co-author the success eBook that spells out all of the success secrets of the very successful people. This eBook is available to you </em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em>FREE</em></span><em> and you can grab your free copy now at </em><a href="http://www.77SuccessTraits.com%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;"><em>http://www.77SuccessTraits.com</em></span></a><em>.</em></p>
<div><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: normal;">Don’t Forget To Follow PickTheBrain of <a href="http://twitter.com/pickthebrain">Twitter</a>!</p>
<p><em style="font-style: italic;"><strong style="font-weight: bold;">Related Articles:</strong></em></p>
<p><a href="http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/words-that-overcome-fear-and-dread/">Words That Overcome Fear and Dread</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/words-that-heal-and-empower/">Words That Heal and Empower</a></p>
<p></span></span></div>
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		<title>Find Your Passion &#8211; 6 Tips to Discovering What Ignites Your Fire</title>
		<link>http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/find-your-passion-6-tips-to-discovering-what-ignites-your-fire/</link>
		<comments>http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/find-your-passion-6-tips-to-discovering-what-ignites-your-fire/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:08:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Foo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[self improvement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[77]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[77 traits of highly successful people]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[finding your passion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[inspiration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mark foo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[motivation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pickthebrain]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/?p=1312</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When you decide to find your passion, you're making an important commitment to yourself. You're saying that you're a top priority and you'll be finding the things in life that you truly enjoy.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://mrmarkrobson.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Excited-Croc.jpg"><img class="alignnone" title="crocodile excited" src="http://mrmarkrobson.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Excited-Croc.jpg" alt="" width="380" height="386" /></a></p>
<p>When you decide to find your passion, you&#8217;re making an important commitment to yourself. You&#8217;re saying that you&#8217;re a top priority and <strong><em>you&#8217;ll be finding the things in life that you truly enjoy. </em></strong>When you have a true passion for life you never feel like life is a chore. Your whole attitude and personality may even shift for the better.</p>
<p>If you want to love life, you need to pursue your passions. Don&#8217;t waste anymore time and get going!</p>
<p><strong>Try some of the items on this list to light your fire:</strong></p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Start with Your Talents.</strong> Everyone has a special talent or hobby. You don&#8217;t have to be the best at something, just come up with a subject that you enjoy. Pick something that always makes you happy. <strong><em>Pick an activity that always makes you lose track of time.</em></strong> You can then decide to take it one step further to make it your passion. Can you write a book on the subject? Can you become an expert? Can you make a career out of it? Ask yourself these important questions. <span id="more-1312"></span></li>
<li><strong>Be Open to New Experiences.</strong> Most people enjoy the comfort of living their lives in a similar fashion from day to day. Though if you haven&#8217;t yet discovered your passion for life yet, it probably isn&#8217;t going to just fall in your lap. <strong><em>You need to be open to new experiences because you never know where life will take you.</em></strong> Haven&#8217;t you ever gone into an experience with negative expectations only to discover that everything turned out quite the opposite? What if you tried new and exciting things every single day? *I have      a good friend that used to be a wild twenty-something who fell in love      with a girl. He wanted to impress her by going to a yoga class even though      he had no interest in the subject. To make a long story short, the      relationship didn&#8217;t last but he is now employed as a yoga instructor!</li>
<li><strong>Communicate With People in Your Field.</strong> If you&#8217;re still in the brainstorming phase of finding your life&#8217;s passion and you don&#8217;t know whether or not you&#8217;d truly enjoy something, be prepared to ask questions. When you take the time to communicate with others you can learn a lot. Ask people who share your interests about their daily lives. Ask any question that you want! It may help you make up your mind.</li>
<li><strong>Practice and Research.</strong> You don&#8217;t need to find your passion overnight. Although it does help if you find that you&#8217;re loving life in the process. It probably means that you&#8217;re on the right track. Practice skills that develop your passions and see if you can get yourself to branch on from an amateur level. Research the topics you enjoy in anyway you can like reading books or surfing the internet.</li>
<li><strong>Face Your Fears</strong> You may not think that exploring your fears is a way to find your passion for life, but it can be. Fear is seen as a negative emotion, but it&#8217;s a strong emotion just like passion. Sometimes you&#8217;ll fear something because it&#8217;s something you truly care about. Maybe you fear failure in a subject that you always wanted to pursue. <strong><em>Work on exploring and dealing with your fears which may lead you right into your passions.</em></strong></li>
<li><em><strong> </strong></em><strong>Never Give Up.</strong> The path to your passions is hardly ever easy; many people will tell you that they nearly gave up when they were dealing with the same subject. In order to find your passion, you need to dig down deep and tell yourself that you&#8217;ll stop at nothing. You need to believe in yourself because <strong><em>you truly never know what tomorrow will bring.</em></strong></li>
</ol>
<p><em><strong> </strong></em></p>
<p><em><br />
Ever wondered how great successful people achieved great success? You can find the answer in <a href="http://www.77successtraits.com/">The 77 Traits of Highly Successful People</a>. Mark Foo has brought together 48 personal development bloggers and writers to co-author the success eBook that spells out all of the success secrets of the very successful people. This eBook is available to you <span style="text-decoration: underline;">FREE</span> and you can grab your free copy now at <a href="http://www.77successtraits.com/">http://www.77SuccessTraits.com</a>.</em></p>
<p><strong>Don&#8217;t Forget To Follow PickTheBrain on <a href="http://twitter.com/pickthebrain">Twitter</a>!</strong></p>
<p><em><strong>Related Articles:</strong></em></p>
<p><a href="http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/overcoming-the-loss-of-motivation-that-follows-a-surge-of-productivity/">Overcoming A Loss Of Motivation</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/free-audio-book-and-podcast-resources/comment-page-2/">Free Audio Books For Motivation</a></p>
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		<title>Overcoming Procrastination &#8211; 7 Tips to Get Yourself Going</title>
		<link>http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/overcoming-procrastination-7-tips-to-get-yourself-going/</link>
		<comments>http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/overcoming-procrastination-7-tips-to-get-yourself-going/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:49:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Foo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[self improvement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[77 traits of highly successful people]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mark foo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[motivation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[organization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pickthebrain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[procrastination]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/?p=1285</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Figuring out why people procrastinate is simple, it's figuring out how to get over it that's difficult. Overcoming procrastination is at the top of many people's lists for bettering themselves. If you keep procrastination to a minimum you'll lead a productive and efficient and likely happy life. Who wouldn't want this for themselves?]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2213/2199460575_c999b108ea.jpg"><img class="alignnone" title="stop procrastinating" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2213/2199460575_c999b108ea.jpg" alt="" width="401" height="267" /></a></p>
<p><em>Image Courtesy of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/news46/2199460575/">Tom Podolec</a></em></p>
<p>Figuring out why people procrastinate is simple, it&#8217;s figuring out how to get over it that&#8217;s difficult. Overcoming procrastination is at the top of many people&#8217;s lists for bettering themselves. If you keep procrastination to a minimum you&#8217;ll lead a productive and efficient and likely happy life. Who wouldn&#8217;t want this for themselves?</p>
<p>In order to stop procrastinating now, consider the following procrastination tips:</p>
<p>1.    <strong>Deal with Your Stress</strong>. Many people find themselves procrastinating because they lead stressful lives. You can solve many problems by dealing with your stress in a healthy way. Start getting enough sleep. Take plenty of time to relax. Ask for help when you need it. Find something that works for you.</p>
<p>2.    <strong>Set a Schedule</strong>. It may help you to get a day planner or other type of scheduling plan. Not having a set schedule is one of the main reasons why people procrastinate. It&#8217;s easy to forget to do something, or to avoid doing something if you&#8217;re not holding yourself responsible at the end of the day. Look at your schedule throughout the day and make sure that you stick to it.</p>
<p>*   Another tip to remember is to set attainable goals for yourself. If you try to cram too much into one day, your body and mind will fight it with procrastination. Also, make sure you schedule in time for you to relax too. <span id="more-1285"></span></p>
<p>3.    <strong>Break your Tasks Apart</strong>. Sometimes you&#8217;ll find yourself procrastinating because the task at hand seems too large. An example would be cleaning out your garage. You may have boxes everywhere and just the thought of going in there is too daunting. In this situation you should tell yourself that you&#8217;re going to sort through one or two boxes per day. Before you know it the job will be done little by little.</p>
<p>4.    <strong>Take Breaks</strong>. When you&#8217;re on the journey to overcoming procrastination, you must learn how to take breaks. If you push yourself too hard, you may eventually burn out. After you accomplish each small task, give yourself some time to yourself. Don&#8217;t be tempted to take breaks that are too long. If you are tempted then make sure that you time yourself.</p>
<p>5.    <strong>Do It Now.</strong> When it comes to the little things, take on the “do it now” mentality. All those little things can add up to some serious stress if you continue to procrastinate. This just means if you get a bill in the mail, go online and pay it. If you find something out of place around the house, put it away. Stop allowing yourself to save things for later.</p>
<p>6.    <strong>Give Yourself a Firm Deadline</strong>. When you have one particular task that you must accomplish, don&#8217;t leave anything up in the air. Give yourself a firm deadline that you must adhere to in the end. If you end up wasting time at the beginning, you&#8217;ll be hurting as the deadline approaches. If this happens to you, maybe that&#8217;ll be just the push you need to start staying on top of things.</p>
<p>7.    <strong>Get Someone to Hold You Accountable</strong>. It&#8217;s easy to feel alone with your problems, but when it comes to overcoming procrastination there are probably many people that can offer you their assistance. Maybe you have a friend that also has a problem with procrastination and you can start to check up on each other. When you have a particular thing that you need to accomplish, have someone check up on you during certain intervals. It&#8217;s definitely a good way to hold yourself accountable in the end.</p>
<p><em>Author’s Bio:  Ever wondered how great successful people achieved great success? You can find the answer in <a href="http://www.77SuccessTraits.com">The 77 Traits of Highly Successful People.</a> Mark Foo has brought together 48 personal development bloggers and writers to co-author the success eBook that spells out all of the success secrets of the very successful people. This eBook is available to you FREE and you can grab your free copy now at http://www.77SuccessTraits.com.</em></p>
<p>Don’t Forget To Follow PickTheBrain of <a href="http://twitter.com/pickthebrain">Twitter</a>!</p>
<p><em><strong>Related Articles:</strong></em></p>
<p><a href="http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/3-roadblocks-to-success/">3 Roadblocks To Success</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/the-path-to-success/">The Path To Success</a></p>
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		<title>How to Overcome Your Fear of Failure</title>
		<link>http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-overcome-your-fear-of-failure/</link>
		<comments>http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-overcome-your-fear-of-failure/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:54:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Foo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[self improvement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[77 traits of highly successful people]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[failure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fear of failure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mark foo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pickthebrain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[success]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/?p=1261</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A fear of failure is one of the most common fears. It can be so scary that some people decide not to try at all in order to avoid failure altogether. In the end this just ends up being another kind of failure because you'll never reach your full potential if you don't even try.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://artofbalancedliving.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/1368776706_36598b0bfe.jpg"><img class="alignnone" title="fear of failure" src="http://artofbalancedliving.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/1368776706_36598b0bfe.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="287" /></a></p>
<p>A fear of failure is one of the most common fears. It can be so scary that some people decide not to try at all in order to avoid failure altogether. In the end this just ends up being another kind of failure because you&#8217;ll never reach your full potential if you don&#8217;t even try.</p>
<p><strong>Accepting Yourself</strong></p>
<p>An important first step to overcoming fear of failure is accepting yourself. Once you accept yourself, you need to take it one step further and believe in yourself. This will come naturally to some, and some people will find that they need more work.</p>
<p>Think about specific situations in your life that you approached with confidence. That extra belief in yourself was likely the deciding factor between success and failure. You need to use that strong belief in yourself to combat fear.</p>
<p>Keep reminding yourself that success starts in your own mind. You need to have the right attitude because as soon as you don&#8217;t believe in yourself then failure is sure to follow. You might start to make excuses for yourself and you may even start blaming others or external sources. The way to get over the fear of failure is to stop making these excuses and take responsibility for your success.<span id="more-1261"></span></p>
<p><strong>Being Positive</strong></p>
<p>Everyone has a bad day from time to time. That&#8217;s unavoidable. However, you do have the choice to think positively. You can turn a negative situation into a positive one with the right mindset.</p>
<p>You can stare failure in the face and combat fear with your outlook alone. Think about what the worst case scenario would be if you did in fact fail. Would it be the end of the world? What would be your game plan to pick yourself back up? Chances are that part of your fear of failure is a fear of the unknown. Once you think it through it may not seem quite as bad.</p>
<p><strong>Ways to Combat Fear</strong></p>
<p>You can work towards overcoming fear of failure in a number of ways. For starters, you can look at the situation as a chance to learn something. Always be on the lookout for the silver lining. If you do come face to face with failure, have the courage to pick yourself up and spend a good amount of time going over why you failed in that circumstance. That particular failure may have been required in your life in order for you to be lead to the path to success. If you allow the fear of failure to get the best of you, you wouldn&#8217;t have found the courage to even proceed.</p>
<p>Taking action is also a way to combat fear. If you have the right attitude, and plan for success, you just need to push yourself to go for it. Don&#8217;t overanalyze or think too much, just take some small actions.</p>
<p>When you&#8217;re in a particularly tough spot, you can always look for help from affirmations. These are short positive statements that are in the present tense. Tell yourself that fear is not getting the best of you. Tell yourself that you&#8217;re in the process of achieving great success. It may help you to relax and get out of the fear of failure mindset.</p>
<p><strong>No One Is Perfect</strong></p>
<p>When all is said and done, you should realize that no one is perfect. Of course you already know this, but many times that doesn&#8217;t stop people from being too hard on themselves. A fear of failure is also a fear of making a mistake. You can&#8217;t lead your life with a fear of making a mistake, because you&#8217;re bound to make them throughout your life. Just keep working on your attitude and your reactions and you&#8217;ll soon find success.</p>
<p><em>Author’s Bio:  Ever wondered how great successful people achieved great success? You can find the answer in <a href="http://www.77SuccessTraits.com">The 77 Traits of Highly Successful People.</a> Mark Foo has brought together 48 personal development bloggers and writers to co-author the success eBook that spells out all of the success secrets of the very successful people. This eBook is available to you FREE and you can grab your free copy now at http://www.77SuccessTraits.com.</em></p>
<p>Don’t Forget To Follow PickTheBrain of <a href="http://twitter.com/pickthebrain">Twitter</a>!</p>
<p><em><strong>Related Articles:</strong></em></p>
<p><a href="http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/words-that-overcome-fear-and-dread/">Words That Overcome Fear and Dread</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/words-that-heal-and-empower/">Words That Heal and Empower</a></p>
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		<title>Find Your Life Purpose &#8211; The Key To Living A Truly Fulfilling Life</title>
		<link>http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/find-your-life-purpose-the-key-to-living-a-truly-fulfilling-life/</link>
		<comments>http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/find-your-life-purpose-the-key-to-living-a-truly-fulfilling-life/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:18:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Foo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[self improvement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[77 traits of highly successful people]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fulfilling life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hapiness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[motivation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pickthebrain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[success]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/?p=1240</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It's upsetting when you feel like you've been walking through life without a true purpose. You're probably even jealous of those people that have always seemed to know what they were meant to do with their lives. The truth is, with some introspection and digging, you can discover your purpose in life too.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.changeyourlifehacks.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/successful-people-in-life.jpg"><img class="alignnone" title="successful people" src="http://www.changeyourlifehacks.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/successful-people-in-life.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></a></p>
<p><em>Image courtesy of <a href="http://www.changeyourlifehacks.com/2009/03/why-some-people-are-successful-in-life/comment-page-1/">ChangeYourLifeHacks</a></em></p>
<p>It&#8217;s upsetting when you feel like you&#8217;ve been walking through life without a true purpose. You&#8217;re probably even jealous of those people that have always seemed to know what they were meant to do with their lives. The truth is, with some introspection and digging, you can discover your purpose in life too.</p>
<p>Different people have different ways of discovering the power of purpose. Something that works for you might not work for a friend. The only thing you need to maintain is a drive to make the discovery. Don&#8217;t give up if things seem too difficult. You need to tell yourself that you&#8217;ll find your life purpose and your life will be fulfilling.</p>
<p>Try some or all of the following activities to discover a purpose driven life:<span id="more-1240"></span></p>
<p>1.	<strong>Make a List</strong>. Start with the things that make you happy. Don&#8217;t focus so much on the fact that you&#8217;re trying to discover your life&#8217;s purpose, which might give you some writer&#8217;s block. Just let yourself go free. Just pick up the pen and write about all the things you enjoy doing.</p>
<p><em>*Don&#8217;t forget to include your hobbies and talents. The things you enjoy and the things you&#8217;re good at are an excellent place to begin your journey into discovering your purpose in life. </em></p>
<p>2.	<strong>Pay Close Attention to Your Feelings</strong>. Sometimes people ignore their feelings; I&#8217;ve been known to do so every now and then. However, it&#8217;s not something that&#8217;s healthy. As you go through a typical day, make notations of how you feel and what you&#8217;re doing when you feel that way. This activity might lead you to discover some of the things that you know you don&#8217;t enjoy doing, but that&#8217;s okay. When you eliminate certain options you can bring yourself that much closer to figuring out your life&#8217;s purpose.</p>
<p>3.	<strong>Seek Help From People You Admire</strong>. Don&#8217;t be afraid to ask for help from the people that you like and trust. Ask them about their journey to discovering their life purpose and see if you get some good advice. If you already have an idea about what your purpose in life should be, see if you can find someone with similar interests as yourself. You might be able to get a better idea about whether or not you&#8217;re on the right track.</p>
<p><strong>Think Creatively</strong></p>
<p>Remember that your purpose in life can be anything. <em>Opening your mind and thinking deeply should push you in the right direction.</em> At the same time, your life&#8217;s purpose might just be something simple like enjoying time with family.</p>
<p><strong>Be Open To Change</strong></p>
<p>One of the reasons why you may think you haven&#8217;t discovered your life&#8217;s purpose is the fact that it&#8217;s changed over the years. This is perfectly okay too, because life is constantly changing. Where one person may have the same purpose throughout their life, someone else might end up somewhere completely different.</p>
<p>I have a friend that was convinced becoming a doctor was her life&#8217;s purpose. She went through medical school and found a job that she loved. She thought it was her true calling in life until she started a family. While she did enjoy her job, she felt that it consumed too much of her life so she decided to put that part of her life on hold to stay at home with her children. She said it was the best decision she ever made because she then felt the true power of purpose.</p>
<p>Remember that in the end, you may find your life purpose when you&#8217;re least expecting it. Just keep taking actions that make you happy and you&#8217;ll discover your fulfilling life.</p>
<p><strong>Author’s Bio</strong>:  Ever wondered how great successful people achieved great success? You can find the answer in <a href="http://www.77successtraits.com/">The 77 Traits of Highly Successful People</a>. Mark Foo has brought together 48 personal development bloggers and writers to co-author the success eBook that spells out all of the success secrets of the very successful people. This eBook is available to you FREE and you can grab your free copy now at <a href="http://www.77successtraits.com/">http://www.77SuccessTraits.com.</a></p>
<p>Don&#8217;t Forget To Follow PickTheBrain on <a href="http://twitter.com/pickthebrain">Twitter</a>!</p>
<p><em><strong>Related Articles:</strong></em></p>
<p><a href="http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/7-concrete-steps-to-reaching-your-full-potential/">7 Concrete Steps To Reaching Your Full Potential</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/mental-superpowers-how-to-unleash-the-full-potential-of-your-mind/">Mental Super Powers: How To Unleash The Full Potential Of Your Mind</a></p>
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