Having troubles waking up early in the morning? Always snoozing until the last minute? Often late to work? Well, then you should learn the secret of waking up early. It’s all about the motivation. It is always easier to make an effort when you are really motivated. So, if you want to become an early riser after years of being a night owl, all that you need is to find a good reason to get up early in the morning.

Think of the things you always wanted to do but never had time for. Imagine you can find the time needed every day. Just be smart and use your mornings for that. Do something for yourself. When you come home after a long and exhausting hours of work, you are most likely to skip the things you enjoy only because you are extremely tired. You are so tired that the only thing you want is spend your evening watching TV and there is no more energy for anything else. But what about you and your true desires? Don’t you want to be in a good shape anymore? Don’t you want to finally finish the book you have been writing since college? Don’t you want to spend more time outside playing with your one true friend, your dog, instead of walking him out really fast to do his business because you no longer have time for him?

Well leave this all in the past. Now you will have time for everything! Made a list of things you are going to do for the whole week ahead and stick to the plan. Yes, you are right, you need to write it down. Place it on the mirror in the bathroom and go through your plans when you brush your teeth in the evening before going to bed. Remind yourself of your plans for the next day and visualize them. What image do you have in your head when you do that? I am sure you can see yourself with a big smile on your face. That’s the way to go! Do it every evening and soon you will see that waking up early has never been that easy!

“New you” will have time for everything. Going to the gym before work, practicing yoga, or jogging outside can give you an energy boost for the rest of the day and significantly increase your productivity. Not only you will become fitter and healthier, but you will also notice that you are million times more active and willing to succeed. Besides, physical activity in the morning will help you falling asleep easily at night and your sleep is proven to be deeper. This way you will need less time to restore and you will feel better and full of energy when you wake up early next day. I know, it sounds crazy but you will actually need less sleep to be more active during the day when you start doing sports.

Does that sound like you? If not, I am sure you will still be able to find one true reason for waking up early that will stimulate you to put much effort into it. Everyone is different, so is the motivation that will work for you.

Amber Smith is a time management expert and runs the site How to Get Up Early. The site is about helping people to get up early and be more productive by sharing original tips and innovative products.

Photo credit: twolittlemoos

When the going gets tough, we tend to seek out those people—and things—that give us the strength to be our best self. We yearn for the feeling that we’ve turned our lives around and are headed for better days.

Looking for the upside takes our mind off the down times. A positive attitude allows us forget, even for a while, the hardships that face us in many areas of our life.

Those times of contentment and happiness are wonderful. We need to spend time with them so when times are harder, we can remember the strength they gave us. But to expect those times to last is not realistic.

Here is the ugly truth: We learn very little by being happy and content. We learn everything by being engaged with the realities of life, especially when it’s hard, confusing, and difficult.

What are the stories that motivate us? They’re the stories of people who were beaten down by circumstances and defied the odds by pulling themselves up by the bootstraps to achieve the impossible. That’s why we love old western movies and Rocky Balboa.

The best motivational speakers are those who have been in the trenches and dug down, inside themselves, to find an inner strength that they didn’t know existed. These transformations remind us that we can find our best self too—it just needs to be teased out.

The unpleasant bits of acid that reality drops into our life every now and then are exactly what we need in order for that best self to thrive. The new science of post-traumatic growth is proving that in the wake of adversity, most people not only recover, they rebound.

Former Army combat veteran J.R. Martinez embodies the built-in human capacity to flourish even in the most difficult circumstances. Wounded in Iraq and suffering from burns over more than 40 percent of his body, Martinez underwent more than 30 surgeries before beginning a new career as a motivational speaker and winning the 2011 fall season of ABC’s  “Dancing With the Stars.”

As powerful as his story is, aren’t we’re all just a little relieved that the trauma didn’t happen to us? Whenever our peace is disturbed by adversity, isn’t our first reaction always something like, “Why does this have to happen to me?”

When I was going through the FBI Academy at the age of twenty-five, one of the physical fitness requirements was to dive off a 25 foot diving board while holding an M16 rifle, and then swim to the other side of the pool with the gun. I had two problems: I was afraid of heights, and I couldn’t swim.

As my training class and instructors waited for me to jump, I seriously doubted that in real life I’d ever need to jump into a pool of water with a M16 while chasing a suspect. This was something I had to do, however, to graduate from the Academy, so I plunged in and bounced back up to the surface—still holding the gun—and then floundered until I made the other side.

It wasn’t until a few years later that I realized the swimming pool test had nothing to do with superior law enforcement techniques. Instead, it taught me that those who keep their back straight when confronted with uncomfortable challenges or conflict will inspire others around them. Everyone knew I was afraid of the jump, but it was something that I needed to do. Once I took the plunge, the by-product was two-fold. First, I earned respect from my classmates; and second, I learned that when the chips were down, I could achieve more than I dreamed possible.

How can you gird yourself and prepare for adversity and future down times? There are many ways, but here are three simple and positive approaches:

1. Surround yourself with people who believe in you

• List 5 people who inspire you to be your best – and spend more time with them.
• Spend time with colleagues who ask “Why not?” instead of “Why?”
• Share your struggles, dreams, and goals but only with those who can help you be your best self.

2. Create a benchmark for choosing friends: Ask questions about which friends you choose to spend time with.

• Will spending time with this person drag me down or lift me up?
• Will they make me want to be a better person?
• Will they help make me a happier person? Successful? Stronger?
• Will they help me achieve my most important goals?

3. Revisit the past

• Identify what you did correctly and how it changed the course of your life.
• Evaluate how you could have done some things differently.
• Understand that we repeat behavior – spot positive behaviors in your past that have brought out the best in you so you can repeat those behaviors in the future.
• Ask trusted friends and colleagues to be honest and help pinpoint those times when you’re at your best . . . and yes—when you are not. The purpose is not to criticize, but to help you make better choices.

Like you, I don’t go looking for adversity and hardship, but if I didn’t encounter them I wouldn’t be learning the lessons I’m learning about developing a strong mind to overcome future obstacles—because guess what . . . they are going to show up.

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all!

How do you prepare for adversity? What tips can you share on how to surround yourself with friends you can trust? How have you learned from your past?

“The opportunity to find wonder in the midst of our everyday lives transforms the agony of the struggle into the adventure of becoming.” – Kim Thomas

Do you wish your life were more exciting? I’m guessing the answer is “yes.” It probably feels like you have so many mundane things to do. You have dishes to wash, reports to write, kids to pick up, laundry to do, social obligations to attend to… the list goes on.

“If only my life were more interesting!” you might be thinking.

A while back, I read about an incident involving a live grenade that continues to remind me that the mundane matters.

Second Lieutenant Kok Khew Fai was overseeing the safety of 50 army recruits during a live hand grenade throw in Singapore. Kok stood a short distance away from the recruits as, one by one, they took turns lobbing a live grenade toward the target.

As one of the recruits attempted to fling the grenade forward, it slipped out of his hand and landed 10 feet behind him. Dumbfounded by what had just happened, he stood motionless. Death was literally seconds away.

Without any hesitation, Kok sprinted over to the recruit, jumped on him, and forced him to lie prone behind a low wall at the back of the throwing bay. The grenade detonated moments later, and thankfully both of them escaped unharmed.

When I read this news report, I imagined what I would have done if I’d been in Kok’s position. Military service for male citizens is mandatory in Singapore and I, too, was once a second lieutenant, so I could have been faced with the same situation.

Your natural instinct would tell you to run, take cover and save yourself. But as an officer who has a responsibility to your men, you know what you ought to do. With so much on the line but with absolutely no time to think, would I have put the safety of my recruit above that of my own? I wish I could confidently say “yes,” but the more truthful answer is that I really don’t know.

I often wonder how people like Kok become so brave. Do they have some sort of natural gifting? Did their parents drill into them the importance of courage when they were growing up? Before the incident occurred, did they even know that they were so fearless?

I’ve concluded that it’s in the mundane tests of day-to-day living that we ready ourselves to face exceptional challenges. It’s in the ordinary that we prepare ourselves for the extraordinary.

It’s important to note that extraordinary people only do extraordinary things some of the time. Most of the time, they’re occupied with the routine, the monotonous, the boring. In other words, they’re just like us normal people. But it’s in the mundane that they develop the skills, attitude and character traits that enable them to excel when the opportunity arises.

Extraordinary people aren’t extraordinary because of good fortune. They’re extraordinary because they make extraordinarily good use of the ordinary circumstances in their lives.

They see every choice as one between character and compromise. They recognize that a decision is never trivial, because they’re really deciding between becoming a person of greater character and becoming a person who compromises on what’s of real significance.

Every one of us will experience a limited number of defining moments in our lives—moments that test us and reveal who we are, moments that determine our legacy.

We’ll never know exactly when we’ll be tested, so we always need to be alert. Character and integrity never take a day off. After all, a great life isn’t built in a day; it’s built day by day.

We often look at the Michael Jordan’s, Mark Zuckerberg’s and Oprah Winfrey’s of this world and tell ourselves that we’re not as talented or lucky as them, so we’ll never attain similar success. We tend to forget about the immense, and unglamorous, effort they exerted early on in their lives, which allowed them to eventually make it big.

They mastered the ordinary before they had any hope of becoming extraordinary.

When we begin to grasp just how much power and potential lie hidden within the ordinary—the things we typically don’t want to do, or even the things we hate to do—we’ll see it as a chance to become a bigger and better person.

We’ll learn to embrace life—not just the thrilling experiences, but the dull and even painful ones, too.

So let’s not despise the mundane. Instead, let’s make the most of it. Let’s create a mundane masterpiece.

About Daniel Wong: Daniel Wong is passionate about helping people to maximize their education, career and life. He spent two years in the military and currently holds the rank of First Lieutenant. He currently works as a project engineer, and is the author of The Happy Student: 5 Steps to Academic Fulfillment and Success. You can read his blog at Living Large and find him on Twitter.

We’ve all been there. We’re out of ideas and nothing new is coming to our tired and weary minds. When these moments strike, I’ve always been a fan of reading quotes to get me out of that funk, whether it’s writing a term paper or coming up with new business ventures.

You could type, “Awesome business quotes” into Google.com and waste a couple hours or if you need just a quick read, then I’ve got you covered. I’ve found several quotes from the people who actually know what they’re talking about. I hope you find one that makes you stop and think.

Direct from the titans of industry,

“As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big.” – Donald Trump

“I think a smart woman can sell the average man anything,” – Leo Burnett

“I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful.” Warren Buffet

“There are moments in our lives when we summon the courage to make choices that go against reason, against common sense and the wise counsel of people we trust. But we lean forward nonetheless because, despite all risks and rational argument, we believe that the path we are choosing is the right and best thing to do. We refuse to be bystanders, even if we do not know exactly where our actions will lead.” – Howard Schultz (CEO of Starbucks)

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers… The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things. They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” -Steve Jobs

“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.” – Bill Gates

Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I’ll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals and I’ll give you a stock clerk. – J.C. Penney

These men have summed up exactly what is important when thinking of new ideas. Don’t think small, think as big as you can and don’t focus on whether it’ll be a success or a failure right away – that’ll come later. Ultimately, you have to trust yourself and your instincts. The critics out there will always find something to complain about, so there’s no reason to worry about them.

As long as you have an imagination and the will to work hard, you’ll be great! Take a deep breathe, go for a walk, just get out of the current mindset you’re in and watch as things fall into place.

Some other quotes to use for another rainy day,

“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”  Maya Angelou

“It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”- Thomas Alva Edison

I think defining the word, “success” is one of those words that is impossible to do so. For some people, it’s having a Scrooge McDuck vault of gold coins at their disposable. For others, having money to go out to dinner twice a week is considered a success. Either way, as long as you’re happy with yourself, what you do, and how you did it, you’re a success!

You can’t beat the old standby, “try, try, try again” to get you through those tough times. But it’s so true! Even though your idea didn’t work the first time, that doesn’t mean you’re a failure. It’s really easy to get swept up in that mindset, but resist the urge and try something new the next time.

Don’t forget,

Don’t let those disastrous thoughts of not being good enough or failing at everything you try stop you. You may be right on the path towards greatness and each failed attempt is leading you closer to the successful ending you’ve been searching for.

Just keep plugging away and when you get stuck, consult these quotes and think about the person who originally said them. If they stopped at every bump in the road, they probably wouldn’t have ended up where they did. Now, go get ‘em tiger!

Amy Swanson is a part of the marketing/content department at Quality Logo Products and regularly contributes to their promotional products blog. She is a self-professed newspaper nerd, business buff, and TV enthusiast who cites Parks and Recreation as one of her favorites. But don’t ask her to put in a good word with Ron Swanson – she unfortunately can’t help you there.

Have you ever said you would do something but then never really followed through? Perhaps you were talking about losing a few pounds, quit smoking or find a better job.

Sometimes you don’t finish or even get started because you don’t know exactly what you want, where to begin or believe in yourself. Then there are times when your mood or feelings about other things prevent you from proceeding, it kills your motivation.

Motivation is vital if you want to excel. This element comes from within, you have to get yourself going. No one else is going to be able to influence you if you are resistant, so you have to know how to motivate yourself. Learn how to establish and keep momentum during tough times. You are the driving force to get yourself out of a rut, others can help but ultimately you hold the power. If you don’t learn how to trek on during hard times, you will have lost before you’ve even begun.

At times, motivation is temporary or completely nonexistent. You may have been excited to start something, may be even did a few things then stopped after a while. Only a small few see most things, from start to finish, through regardless of the circumstance.

Here are some tips to getting motivated:

Prioritize and Focus – Sometimes my lack of motivation comes from feeling overwhelmed. It just seems like too many things are going on at once and I feel discouraged when I try to figure out how to juggle them all. In an effort not to disappoint, we often bite off more than we can chew. End the end, your stress levels are through the roof and the quality of the outcome just isn’t there. When you try to throw all the balls in the air a once, you’re bound to drop a few. Instead you need to figure out what is most important and focus on that goal. Once that is completed move on to the next.

This sounds obvious, but most people don’t think about it much: if you want to break out of a slump, get yourself excited about a goal. But how can you do that when you don’t feel motivated? Well, it starts with inspiration from others (see above), but you have to take that excitement and build on it. For me, I’ve learned that by talking to my wife about it, and to others, and reading as much about it as possible, and visualizing what it would be like to be successful (seeing the benefits of the goal in my head), I get excited about a goal. Once I’ve done that, it’s just a matter of carrying that energy forward and keeping it going. Visualize, and think about how you would feel after achieving your goal.

Feel it – When most people feel depressed they just ride the feeling out. They don’t try to snap out of it. Yes, it is good to let your emotions out instead of bottling them up, but don’t let them take over your life. Have your feelings then realign your focus, place it on other feelings. Like your feelings about your goal. To become motivated you need to ignite it. Use visualization and other forms of inspiration to release your feelings about your goals. Think of what it would be like or how it would feel to have it completed. Take that excited, happy feeling and run with it.

Always keep it in your mind – The more you positively think about something, the better the chance it will become a reality. Keep your goal at the forefront of your mind. When I want something and I’m mobile, I save a picture of it in my phone and refer to it as needed. Post pictures where you’ll see them daily, if you’re always on your computer put up inspirational wallpaper, use affirmations. Make a plan to take a small step every day to bring you closer to accomplishment. These little reminders and actions speak to your motivation. Don’t get frustrated with the fact that it isn’t a reality yet, continue to focus on how to will feel when it is.

Find Support – If your goal involves change, as many do, it can be hard to go alone. Changing habit or other parts of ourselves for the better can seem impossible. Especially if you’re surrounded by people who do or encourage the very thing that you are working against. Find someone or a community of like-minded individuals, you don’t have to have the exact same goal but maybe the same struggle. You may even connect with someone who has already been down that path and can lend their insight.

Focus on the good, not the bad – Cultural conditioning teaches us to be critical and judgmental, focusing on the negative. Don’t think about the difficulties, acknowledge them so that you can plan accordingly but don’t focus on it. That would be the simplest way to destroy your motivation. Focus on the outcome and how it would benefit you. If you’re looking for a job, instead of focusing on the repetitive application and interview process think about what the job will bring you when you get it, financial stability and career growth perhaps. Directing your energy on why you want it and how it will help you will motivate you to obtain it.

Lea is a conscious living advocate and personal development coach. She enjoys helping others reach their potential and achieve true happiness. You can get your free guide to personal development at http://www.leadingedgeadvocate.com.

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The most common question I receive when coaching people is how to sustain motivation and how to let go of stress.

“How do you stay motivated after the initial rush of inspiration has faded and the hard work begins?”
“I have so much to do today, how can I not be stressed?”

Without motivation, producing quality results is near impossible.
With motivation you can accomplish extra-ordinary things and become hugely successful.
I have had times when I have barely been able to get myself out of bed, because I didn’t feel as though I had a reason to get up.

I have been through times when I can’t sleep because there is so much fun to do!

Motivation comes and goes, but there are a lot of things we can do to keep it for a longer time and keep the lowest levels of motivation from getting too low.

Motivation at work
When I got my first sales job I was very, very motivated. I couldn’t wait to get started.
I started working hard from day one and pushed myself harder than I ever had before.

Things went well for me, for about six months. Then I realized that this job wasn’t really for me, there were a lot of reasons I didn’t like the job, but the main one was the atmosphere at the company. The business plan was to “trick” customers into buying, which didn’t sit well with me.

My motivation started to wane and so did my results.

I stayed at the company much too long, over a year before I quit, but when I found a new job with a better culture and product, my motivation came back.

Since then I have learned several techniques that help keep motivation high.

You cannot motivate someone; they can only motivate themselves
This is both a true and false statement (at least in my belief).
Motivation comes from within, it is our own driving force, but there are tools that can be taught to help you increase and focus you motivation.

Clarity

The clearer your goals are the more motivated you will be, you will have a sense of purpose, a reason to work harder and to produce results.

As we progress through this book we will be working more and more on bringing clarity to your goals, this will bring you the greatest burst of motivation and the strength to achieve them.
Before we get to that stage though I want you to read these 5 exercises on how to increase your motivation, by using these before and after you have set your goals and made your plans, you will get an even stronger effect from it.

Write down all your projects
To get a better overview of why you are stressed it is important to know where you should start.

Two years ago I was having an introductory meeting with a new student and she told me something very interesting:

“I really want to become better at time management and I have worked at it a lot, I have a weekly plan, I prioritize it, but still when I get ready to start I just feel like there are so many other things I should do. I feel overwhelmed and start running in circles in my mind. All of a sudden an hour has gone by and I haven’t done anything, is there any way to cure this”

This is a very common problem, I am sure you have felt it yourself at one point or another.

Know everything that needs to be done
Keeping an overview of everything that needs to be done makes it easier to focus at one at a time.

This might feel stressful
The first time my wife listed everything she needed to do it was because I had told her to do it about 2000 times, too shut me up she finally did it. The reason she didn’t want to do it was that she was afraid that looking at that list would make it all more real and make her even more stressed.

It is keeping it in your mind that makes you stressed.

When you have to constantly think about and remind yourself about everything that needs to be done you become stressed, you can never put anything away.
Getting it onto a list makes it a lot easier, you can put it aside for the time being knowing you will come back to it soon.

You know what you are working on
Listen to your mind, what are you thinking about? What projects need to be done?
Write down everything, small and large on a list.

Identifying next actions
By identifying next actions you will have an easy actionable list. Things become smaller; you can do these small things to move the project forward. It also helps you from having to think about what needs to be done every time you pick up a new task.

You know you aren’t missing something
When you know you aren’t missing anything you can focus and start working on task number one. This will make you much more efficient and make that list smaller making you even less stressed.
Quickly you can start to get into a positive spiral and become more and more efficient.

Daniel M. Wood is a personal development coach and trainer. He has a background in Psychology, Sales, marketing and sports. Through his work with students around the world he has created the course “The Time Management Expert Course” that has helped hundreds of people decrease stress, increase their motivation and become a lot more efficient.

The course teaches you how to get control over your life and make room to be both spontaneous and relaxed.

Check out the course and see how it can help you.

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Many of us want to be successful but come across a lot of challenges along the way. Most times the challenges we face can be controlled by us. Sometimes we forget that it is the simple things that are stopping us from getting the success we want in our lives. Below I have listed five things that you must not do in order to make sure that you get the success that you deserve.

Constantly criticizing people

The more you criticize people, the less attractive you will come across to others that are around you. Criticism is a sign that you are insecure and lack self-confidence. If you are jealous of other people’s success, no one is going to help you and guide you towards having the successful life that you desire.

Blaming other people for your failures

If you start pointing fingers at other people for your failures in life, you will not get anywhere. Many of us have a habit of blaming our family and/or other people for the things that have occurred to us in the past. If you keep doing this you will see opportunities fly by you and see others get ahead in life while you sit there feeling frustrated.

Dreaming about other successful people

It is always great to hear stories of other people that have achieved great success. However many people make a habit of living and dreaming about someone else’s life rather than focusing on their own goals. When we do this our perception of reality gets distorted and we don’t pay attention to the things that are important to us in the present moment. There is nothing wrong with reading autobiographies and going to motivational seminars, but many people make the mistake of trying to follow the exact same path as someone else took. Each individual that you look up to achieved their success following their own path. Remember that you have your own unique story to tell.

Not taking the extra step to get closer to your goal

You may have talent, but if you are not willing to put in the extra hours to get what you want out of your life then you are going to have a hard time excelling. If you own a business and your client needs some extra servicing, sometimes you may need to go out of your way or stay at work after hours to help them. If you feel annoyed and frustrated working after hours, it is going to show a lack of enthusiasm and you will not get any referrals. If you need to work on improving your dating life, you may be required to put in the extra time to meet different members of the opposite sex. However if you don’t put in the extra time, you are not going to improve your dating life.

Letting other people make decisions for you

Lack of leadership can have a huge impact on your success in all areas of your life. Many people don’t take the step to make their own decisions and they have no control over their lives at all. When other people see that you lack leadership skills they will start pushing you in different direction and make choices for you. You need to spend time thinking about what is important to you and what your core values are so that you can start making your own decisions.

Nabil Gulamani is in sales and helps businesses nationwide with their Direct Marketing. During his free time he blogs about self-improvement and personal growth to help people improve their overall lifestyle. You can visit his Self-Improvement blog www.successatreach.com

I hear it all the time from clients and people that I meet: they’re not motivated. They say they’re lazy and wish they could do this or that but…

I’m not big on excuses or labels, especially “lazy”. So, when I hear “I’m just not disciplined,” I almost always ask:

Have you ever been disciplined to do anything?

What was it that helped you?

What got in the way?

Identifying obstacles helps you build a sustainable foundation for perseverance in the face of adversity.

Motivation is personal. Discipline is a muscle.

You can learn to be motivated.

You HAVE to want to put time into it, to create a new habit, to make it part of your lifestyle.

Before your rebellious inner child starts an ‘I DON’T WANNA!’ tantrum, keep reading. One of these 5 poisons may be getting in your way of your heart’s desire.

The Top 5 Poisons of Motivation:
1. Perfectionism

Become a recovering perfectionist. Oh, yes, I did say that.

When you get caught up in ideals, you create resistance that gets in the way of your motivation. You’re stuck focusing on the ideal and think “If its not perfect, why bother?” We’re so addicted to this in our society. We feel that getting the best grades, getting the awards, getting all these accolades defines us and holds the basis of our self-worth.

And if we don’t get the gold star, we beat ourselves up and miss the point. If you get caught with in achieving perfect results, you’re never going to start anything. You’re paralyzed.

Thomas Edison invented 3,000 duds before he invented the lightbulb. He himself did not call it failure. Instead, he said: “Any of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

Taking imperfect action is the best starting point.

2. Comparing yourself to others

This is another potent motivation-zapper. Even worse, it can prevent you from finding your own path. Motivation is truly personal.

Study what motivates others as inspiration, but if it  gets you stuck or moving backwards with doubt, then why bother? It’s easy to get lost in someone else’s life, wishing that it was your own.

Trying to be ‘like’ ANYONE is a total waste of time.

Yes, we’re all guilty of it. Remember: there is only one of YOU.

The universe made you perfect. Ignoring that and trying to emulate someone else is a slap in the face.

3. Thinking that you’re not ‘good enough’

If, like me, you grew up hearing “You have to prove yourself to the world!”, that mantra probably still follows you. It can run you to the ground.

I understand that in your work you have to show your abilities or your skills to prove you can deliver. But you shouldn’t rely on that for self-validation.

If you’ve been told you’re not good enough, I understand the programming. It hurts and digs deep. But make no mistake: it’s a LIE.

You have to be motivated to fulfill your soul’s desire, to create your own happiness, healing and harmony.

If you were born, then you are good enough.

You must change the theme song in your mind from You SUCK to You ROCK.

4. Doing too much at once.

Bitten off more than you can chew? That might be sabotaging your progress. You’ve got to pull back a little bit and really look at what’s going on. Don’t be a slave to your ego.

I get snagged by this one and always have to step back to make sure my choices are in alignment with my soul. If you feel that it’s too overwhelming, take one step at a time.

Baby steps.

The solution here is to hone in on your goal, desire, or dream. Life will happen. It will always take more time, more money or more anything than you anticipated. Don’t let it stop you, and remember to check in with your WHY.

It’s about setting goals that stretch you outside of your comfort zone and you believe, on one level, that you can achieve.  Go for a C+, good enough and I promise you will do better. It’s a great way to trick the ego and make it right. This may keep you motivated to do more.

Being aware and taking passionate action keeps you on the level and open to enjoying the adventure.

5. Excusitis.

There is always an excuse – why you can’t do it, why today it didn’t happen, how you’re going to do it tomorrow. When we find excuses for not doing things, we’re rebelling. We just want to stay in a comfort zone.

See how this comes up again?  A part of it is that your ego feels threatened by moving forward and wants to protect you.
But really, you’re totally safe.

When you do something you haven’t done before, your ego goes into a state of alarm: “Watch out! Danger!” and then fear kicks in.

But my answer to that is “No. FEAR is  f*cking exciting and rewarding.” This reframe changes the game.

We say “I can’t,” but really we’re afraid to try something new. That’s the truth and we’re afraid to admit it, or to even prove ourselves wrong. You are capable of more. You can handle more, even in the midst of a challenge.  Try it, you may be surprised, and bust a limiting belief.

What excuses are you living with?

Ready to release the need to live in your perfectionism, low self esteem and excuses? Then ask yourself this question.

What’s holding you back ?

Take your time, and don’t think about it – feel into it. Be kind with yourself. Your power is in your choices.

Now, go get’em warrior soul!

After a harrowing diagnosis, Multiple Sclerosis, Hillary Rubin ditched her glam job at Prada and set off on a wellness quest that spanned the globe. Today, she is symptom/medication-free, and has dedicated her life to helping thousands of women achieve profound, unbridled freedom from trauma, abuse and disease.  A Spiritual Life Design Coach, wellness pioneer and yogi, she has been featured on Fit TV, in The Los Angeles Times, The Independent, Yoga Journal and contributes to the Huffington Post and Origin magazines. Hillary is also writing her first book to help women alchemize adversity into action, with the forward by Agape Founder Michael Bernard Beckwith. Visit her here or join the conversation @hillaryrubin.

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Is life slapping you in the face every time you turn around? Don’t stand there and turn the other cheek.

You don’t have to be miserable forever. You can change your life and have an awesome one.

You can have a life in which you smile every morning and feel excitement to start the new day. You can have happiness and fun. No longer fearing what aggravation will wait for you.

Instead of flying off the handle every time something bad happens, you could take it all in stride. Imagine – sighing, picking up the pieces, putting things back in order and move on as if nothing happened. How good does that sound?

If you’re sick of living life as a human punching bag, make some positive changes that will last a lifetime. You could finally be one of those people you hate to be around, the ones that seem to be happy all the time.

How is that they are always like that, anyway? You’re about to find out a few of their secrets.

Attack, Squash and Move On

Bad things happen to everyone. No one is immune to that. The differences between people who are happy and miserable people are that happy ones know what to do when something bad happens.

They attack it, like a vulture on prey. As soon as something look like it’s about to go awry they are on top of it to squash it.

If they aren’t able to stop the crisis from happening, they do everything in their power to control every part of it until it’s resolved.  They take it over and do whatever they have to do to resolve it. Once it’s resolved, they take a deep breath, relax and move on with a smile.

So what does it feel like after an accomplishment like that? Image yourself conquering a crisis with control and strength. Now you know can take on anything life wants to throw your way. You are ready.

Remove the Problem Source

Does life keep slapping you in the face from the same direction? In other words, is there someone or something that’s causing you problems?

Find the origin of your problems to either fix it or eliminate it. If it’s a relationship, you might have to talk to the person about her behavior or make changes to your environment.

The point of this life change is to identify the source of why you are miserable and make a change instead of just living with it. Remember, don’t subject yourself to living like this – make a change.

Change Yourself When You Can’t Change Others

So you can’t always change other people or the world around you, so in this case, you’ll have to change the way you react. The good news is that many times, people will change the way they act when you change the way you react.

Follow these steps to change your reaction to your world:

1. When someone makes you upset, express that the topic of conversation upsets you, offer to change the topic, and if that doesn’t work, end the conversation.
2. Guests with boundary issues should be confronted with an expression of your needs such as, “I need time to get ready for your arrival.” with a follow up request such as, “Will you please call me a day or two ahead of time next time?”
3. Do not feed people who insult you with comebacks or satisfy them with your discontent. Instead, smile and express your self-approval and love by saying nothing or saying, “I am sorry but I disagree with your opinion.”
4. Stop pleasing others and start pleasing yourself. You can’t make everyone happy all of the time. So stop trying because all you’ll do is disappoint yourself in the end. You don’t need that. As long as you make yourself proud, you’ll always be happy.
5. When you feel unhappy with something in your life, make a change to ease that unhappiness. If you feel guilty about something, do what you feel guilty about so you don’t feel guilty anymore. As long as you learn to listen to your inner self, you’ll be giving yourself what you need and making yourself happy.

Your Life Needs a Leader

The reason why it seems as though your life is so out of control is that it doesn’t have a leader. Lead your life starting now.

You’ll start to see how much better it feels to be in control of what happens every day. How much more you can get done. How good it feels not to feel like the world is fighting against you.

It’s time to step out of misery and into happiness. You deserve this after everything you’ve been through.

—

Marcelina Hardy, MSEd is the founder of Achieve Brilliance Life Coaching, empowering professional women to achieve success in business and life. Learn more about how life coaching services can help you succeed on the Achieve Brilliance website.

Photo credit: I Shoot Things

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