From Disappoint To Re-Appoint

Life is filled with the scheduling of appointments.

In fact, every time that you set a goal you have set up an appointment. Why? Because you have established something that you wish to achieve and have had the courage to attach a date to it.

But what if the date comes and the date goes, and nothing has changed? Don’t allow your disappointment to be your destination. Don’t set up a memorial on that deflating spot in your life. Simply reset the appointment, and reappoint the time and place that you are going to achieve that goal – and go again.

Remember this, that any great success consists of a succession of failures. Put each failure under your feet, and before you know it you will find yourself reaching that which you have dreamt of – the heights of outstanding success.

5 Ways to Break-up with Stress

Stress is like a partner to many of us, who is always with us, making our lives miserable. But for some reason we are unable to Break-up with it. And you know? Stress is like a slow poison. It will kill your health, your dreams, your productivity very slowly. So let me give you five suggestions from my experience to avoid getting stressed.


1. Know Your Priorities: 
Most of the times we get stressed because we try to do everything. Accept that it's not possible. So please write down your priorities, focusing on your dreams and values. And be strict about it. Learn to say NO to less important things to say YES to more important things in your life.


2. Finish What You Start:
Another very common cause of stress is heap of unfinished projects. Lot's of SMS and Emails to reply, lots of unfinished blog posts (which you left to reply your tweet), piles of magazines and books left half-read (as you started reading another one). As the list grows, so does your stress. So make it a habit from today, to finish what you start. If something can't be done immediately keep it noted under DoItLater category.


3. Simplify Your Life: 
Wait! I am not going to advice you to be Gandhiji, to wear just loincloth. Just think for a moment, which complexity of your life makes you stressed? How do you feel when your more than one mobiles start ringing simultaneously, or all of your inboxes (as you have subscribed to every Email provider available)are flooded with mails, or you surf through 10-15 Social Networking Sites you use? If you simplify these aspects, you will feel much better. Some quick steps:

Use Single Mobile
Use maximum two Email Id (My Recommendation: Gmail + work)
Use one/two Social Networking Site (My Recommendation: Twitter, Facebook)
Get in a relationship (Lol! Otherwise it will make your life most complex)

4. Learn to Relax:
When people feel stressed, what they do is to dive into the pending works, and gets  more stressed within a few minutes. So whenever you feel stressed, stop! and RELAX! Nothing productive can be done with a troubled mind. How to Relax? Well you should find your own techniques, let me give you some suggestions:

• Pray 
• Have a walk (best if you can walk in the nature)
• Do what you love (Like painting, playing games)
• Spend time with your friends and family.

5. Remind Yourself "AALLL IZZZ WELLL!" :
People get stressed because they worry too much. My suggestion is to Stop Worrying and Start Living(as the title of the book by Dale Carnegie suggests) . As Rancho (the lead character in the bollywood movie "3 Idiots" ) says "Whenever you are in difficult situations, facing problems keep your hand on your heart and say AALLL IZZZ WELLL (All is Well). This may not solve your problem, but it will give you strength to look for the solution"

So wish you all a stress-free life. I will be coming up many more ideas on how to deal with the stress.

Faith As Our Currency

Throughout history the currency of many nations and its worth has fluctuated, and at times even become totally worthless. So to put your confidence in a nation’s monetary system alone is to build your foundations on shaky ground. This is where you need to invest in your faith account. And how do you do this? Well, I can only speak from personal experience.

So here are a few tips to enable you to position yourself time and time again for success.


1) Have Faith In God – I personally have faith in the Allah (The creator for the whole world) . And that faith is simply expressed in my trust and a confidence in my creator. So much so that I stake my life and my very existence on Him. In my life I have seen Him supply my greatest needs time and time again that proves to me that He is personally interested in my well being. I talk to Him as my friend and my mentor.

2) Have Faith In Your Strengths – I have consistently needed to identify my strengths and learn to operate in those strengths if I wished to walk in success and satisfaction. The first thing was to identify them. To do this I simply needed to recognize those things that I do naturally and the things that I have a passion for. And then I needed to do them on a consistent basis – ever seeking to improve along the way.

3) Have Faith In Others – Then I have at the same time learnt to delegate my weaknesses. This has been helped by gradually surrounding myself with a strong support network of people who can help me in these weak areas. Mentors are in this group. And the older I get the greater need for these is becoming more evident in my life. These individuals are strong individuals who assist, support and guide me in the daily decision and activity process that make up my life.

So no matter where I find myself in the world geographically or financially, this faith currency is the currency I use on a daily basis, and it sufficiently sustains me.

Try using it yourself, for it is of eternal value

Vocation = Vacation

‘The secret of success is making your vocation your vacation.’ Mark Twain

There have been short periods in my life where I have found myself employed in a job that I didn’t suit and didn’t like. I didn’t stay there for too long, but learnt as much as I could from the experience before seeking out work that I enjoyed. I knew that this was going to be the only way that I was ever going to live an enjoyable and productive life.

I suppose that’s why I am in business for myself now. See, the thing that I really love to do is to create something new. And I suppose that’s what I’m in the business of doing on a daily basis.

I am reminded of my high-school years. There was this one maths teacher, one science teacher and one English teacher who inspired and encouraged this creativity in me. And it was no surprise that during those years that I had those three teachers that I excelled in those three separate subjects.

These days I create books, speeches, businesses and opportunities for not only myself to succeed, but to help others to succeed. And it is in this that I find my greatest joy, and it is in my current vocation that I find myself always on vacation. Work is not work for me – it’s fun, and because I love what I do I work hard and I often work long.

I’m not a ‘Thank God it’s Friday’ kind of guy. I declare seven days a week, as soon as I open my eyes of a morning, ‘Thank God it’s TODAY!’

So don’t be satisfied with second best. Find what you love doing and go do it. If at first you don’t succeed, don’t stop. Just keep trying until you find your vacation vocation.

Excellence

I recently had the following information shared with me at a seminar on how to live a life of excellence. So let me pass it on to you…

1. Build with purpose and passion.
2. Identify problems and search for answers.
3. Be original by learning from others successes. But at the same time pursue your own.
4. Help build community wherever you go.
5. Venture from your comfort zone.
6. Respect each other and yourself.
7. Think out of the box.
8. Deliver more than you promise.
9. Take risks and have fun.

And as Earl Nightingale said, ‘Excellence always sells.’