That usually means that keeping some of what you earn to pay yourself results in a solid financial foundation from which you can achieve your goals and dreams – including helping others through investment, charities and the like.

But, what about the concept of taking time for yourself as a method of helping those around you?

Inside Attracting Greatness, the roadmap that defines our journey from being stuck, depressed, bored and directionless to a more purposeful, productive, happy and motivated state depends almost entirely on self-improvement as a means to improving the situation and people around us.

It is pretty hard to help our child boost his or her self confidence if our own self confidence is waning isn't it?

How can we help a grieving relative get their life back if our own soul is hurting so much that we can't possibly put aside our own pain to focus on someone else's

When we set out to achieve anything in life…whether it be goals around relationships, improving our health, securing our financial future, achieving a more fulfilling career or business direction or just to be happier and more at peace with our own life – doesn't it make more sense to approach these major objectives from a position of strength rather than a position of weakness?

BIG BREAKTHROUGH – BIG PAYOFF

I remember more than 10-years ago when I first started to seriously meditate – the first few weeks felt like I was selfish, stealing time away from my family, friends and job in order to calm my mind. 

Then, something amazing happened!   Around the 4th week, I slowly began to realize some pretty significant benefits from meditation…for me they were:

• A significant reduction in stress, I just felt more in control and at ease no matter what situation
• My digestion improved dramatically – acid reflux to Irritable Bowel through food allergies began to ease up and years of living on ant-acid pills stopped (I haven't taken an ant-acid since – ever!)
• I found my self confidence improved and others saw it in me too…friendships grew and improved
• My family saw the changes too, they had their old Dad and husband back – I hadn't realized how much I had changed
• My entire outlook on life changed…suddenly I chose the healthy path more than the unhealthy path and lost weight, had more energy and felt terrific

From that point on, I was totally convinced that not only was taking time for myself NOT stealing time from those around me, it was actually NECESSARY to giving the people around me the best of myself…and they certainly deserve that. 

So next time you think about taking time for yourself to exercise, meditate, practice yoga, work on your goals or improve yourself in any way, go ahead with the knowledge that improving yourself will impact those around you many times more – you owe it to yourself and them.

Lean too far either way, your life balance is skewed and things get a little crazy.

On the one hand, we've all noticed those people that seem addicted to personal development – a dependancy nearly as harmful to the spirit as drugs are to the mind and body.  Without their daily dose of motivation, philosophy or praise they are sunk and can't seem to function on their own.

But there are those equally unbalanced on the other side.  People who live in fear, have goals and objectives they do not fundamentally believe in, lead destructive, excessive lives of quiet desparation because they do not take the time to get to know what really makes them happy or what is preventing them from living more in line with their purpose. 

Could you lead a life where you just let life happen to you?

Where you get up in the morning, eat whatever you want, take a calm bath, read a book, be nice to those around you, go to bed and do it all over again the next day?

If only it were that easy…

Yet what would have happened in our life if we lived this life of passive contentment?  

Would we have learned how to walk? Would we have learned how to play music (a true gift I was able to learn), how to paint, how to socialize with other people….

Waking up and simply "living life" or "existing"  may sound great for a day (heck it sounds great for a few weeks!) but how long would it take for us to get bored and uhappy?

Humans need to learn, be challenged, live the rollercoaster of ups and downs, be active and yes, meet our fundamental needs of fitting into society, to be loved and accepted and to alleviate our fears (the 3 causes that lead people to become philisophical and look for meaning outside of their lives)

So, having a healthy balance of learning, improving ourselves, meditation along with reserved times in our life where we sit back and just experience life, live it without thought and just exist turns out to be a winning combination for improving happiness, fulfillment and being more productive overall.

What is your experience?

Now this is different than Positive Thinking…at least as we may have been originally taught.

The challenge with positive thinking is that we need to continually fight the negative thought cycle day-in and day-out with multiple positive thoughts – often contrived and not derived from actual experiences.

What would happen if you changed it up a little and did just one 60-second exercise each day to induce positive thoughts and attract more positivity into your life?

How about keeping a journal of 1 positive experience each day?

Give it a try, start today – list one positive experience or encounter today.  Something for which you have gratitude or just simply strikes you as being lucky, someone who is helpful or something you are grateful to have or to know.

Nobody else has to see your journal.

This should take you no more than 1-2 minutes each day – pick a time where you will consistently journal your positive encounter, then read it back to yourself that night before going to bed and again first thing in the morning.

Give it a try…we've been doing it for two weeks now and already I can feel the positive energy.

Remember…being grateful and seeding your mind with positive thoughts will pay you back many times more than you put in, so get started right now.  If you feel comfortable doing so, leave us a comment against this post of an example you can think of right now.

Sticking to your goals and objectives long enough to make progress is a challenge?

Do you know what you SHOULD be doing, but instead you don't seem to have the energy, stamina, concentration or focus to stick to your plans and instead end up vegetating in front of the TV or going to bed at 9PM because you are just too exhausted to even start on your next task?

Let me share a major life experience I went through about 20-years ago that could literally change your life, so please read this very carefully.

By saying "change your life" I am not being dramatic.  Since going through this incredible experience myself so many years ago I now help others daily to recognize and overcome similar challenges and most people could easily improve their concentration, focus and energy by a factor of 2-3 times easily – some as much as 10-times.

Back nearly 20-years ago I went through a major challenge with concentration and focus, turns out 3 things were happening at once in my body…

1. Yeast overgrowth in my digestive tract - A large portion of today's population have similar imbalances in their digestive tract resulting in less flora and more yeast.  If you think about the national disaster that is often coined "heartburn", "acid reflux" or simply…indigestion and other symptoms such as extreme fatigue, lots of stomach/digestive challenges, very fuzzy brain and broken sleep as well as worry and extra stress…all worked against concentration and focus for sure.  This is one of the single biggest health afflictions in North America today and is very simple to bring under control once you know about it. 

We share details of I discovered my challenge and how we brought this quickly under control in Attracting Greatness

2. Too much arsenic in my system – specifically this was inorganic arsenic, likely caused by years of working in a Building Supply store touching or breathing aresenic-laced treated lumbers and wallboards

3. Parasites – most of us pick these up regularly, but are able to pass them right through our digestive tract, with the other challenges my entire system was not functioning which became a playground for nasties. 

Within weeks I was feeling better and within a few months was back to largely normal levels and no parasites – part of that was specific homeopathic and herbal targeting of yeast & parasites, while detox was important for all 3 and of MOST importance was diet – virtually eliminating sugar and refined carbs from my diet for a period of nearly 2-months. 

There was such a dramatic change in my body, life and mind that my diet was changed forever – in those 20-years since I have never had another soft-drink, rarely drink juice (always water), mostly do away with desert, cut back on breads and white flower (though I still have some on occasion). 

Ever since that challenge in my life and the few months it took to overcome, my immune system has been super-charged, I have had 10X the energy I used to and my mind has never been clearer, more focused or concentration easier - yet so many others suffer needlessly not really understanding these 3 important factors

It's not so much that everything needs to be going perfectly, that doesn't happen for anyone in real life – in fact some of the happiest, most successful people have gone through challenges much bigger than you or I have gone through…yet they have managed to figure out what makes them happy and largely stick to that roadmap

You may be sitting, reading this thinking 'My life is a mess' or ' I really hate where my life is right now…' a combination of frustration, lack of hope and overall negative energy – so where do you turn? How do you get unstuck and dig yourself out of this rut that you seemed to have waded into?

While there are several factors involved in how happy you are and how your life is going at this moment, there are 3 factors that we have found to help the MOST when you are trying to transform your life from sucking to being much more enjoyable and productive:

1. Know what it is that makes you happy…sounds simple enough doesn't it – but oddly, we often get off track doing what we "think" or have been "told" or "taught" what will make us happy when in fact, we are not doing what truly makes us happy inside. We recently interviewed some of the happiest and most successful people across various walks of life and found that they know one thing extremely well…themselves!  They are unwavering about being true to how they feel.  Sometimes this comes across as being selfish, or self absorbed and to a degree this is true, but the ultimate outcome of being happy they are able to contribute to society instead of burden it with emotional and physical illness that comes from not being happy.

How do you know what makes you happy?  Meditation, reflection on past experiences, studying your strengths, asking those around you for feedback, testing different ideas – you'll find several techniques on discovering what truly makes you happy inside Attracting Greatness – A Blueprint For Self-Confidence And Happiness

2. Building your self-confidence so that you can overcome challenges and live consistently in tune with what makes you happy.  Often what makes you happen will not align with what other people will consider 'normal' – but overcoming fear and having a positive self-confidence will let you overcome those situations…get over that temporary bump and you will find that suddenly people will be even MORE attracted to you because yes, you are different, but you are also confident and energized…this is how followers emerge to be leaders

3. Recognize and replace negative influences with positive influences – people around you, mass media, your closest friends…by default you will find yourself surrounded by negativity that, no matter how hard you try, will impact your own journey and happiness.  Instead, proactively surround yourself with positive, supportive energy.  You may have noticed that happy and successful people often don't stick around long if there is negativity in the air – instead they train themselves to avoid these situations, control their thoughts keeping them as positive as they can and building a support system around them that helps support that positive thinking.

While there are other factors influencing happiness around stress management, discovery of purpose, cultivating an action oriented game plan and specific health factors…I have found these 3 to be among the most important factors to being more happy.  For a complete, highly effective Personal Success & Happiness Blueprint use Attracting Greatness and make 2011 finally the year that you get on the right track.

1. Total, unwavering inner belief about your convictions – those you are trying to persuade have a built-in BS detector, we know when someone truly believes what he or she is saying.  If you are not 100% convinced about which you are trying to persuade others, your chances go way down.  How do you cultivate that belief?  Build your own self-confidence and use meditation and introspection to get a good sense of what your strongly believe inside.  In Attracting Greatness, a significant part of the 5 Pillars of Greatness involves aligning your own personal purpose and beliefs with an unstoppable action plan leading to strong belief and immense ability to pursuade
2. Listen, learn and empathize.  So many of us are in constant presentation mode where we are trying to convince others to do as we say instead of spending the time to understand where they are coming from and then helping them get what they want.   By starting with a rock solid, empathetic view of the emotional state our prospects are in we can help take them from where they are to where they want to go aligning our persuasion with their state of mind
3. Know the value of relating to your market.  It is far easier to persuade those that like us, that hold us in high credibiilty, that see us as someone they wish to emulate – yes we may have flaws, but ultimately they want to be like us and so are much more willing to be persuaded. 

So, does your market like you?  Do they feel you understand them?  Do you offer them positive hope, understanding and energy from THEIR perspective? 

Leverage these 3 persuasion factors and you will be amazed at how much more people will come around to your way of thinking.

It could be that you have a great business idea, but you just can't seem to create the momentum to get that going.

Or maybe you want to increase your social activities, have more meaningful friendships and get out more…but there always seems to be something else to do?

How about analysis paralysis?  Who of us hasn't tied themselves up in knots continually thinking about doing something but somehow not being able to actually get results?

Oh yes, and the big one!  We all know what we have to do to lose that 10lbs of belly fat or tone our legs or arms, but man is it tough to stick to a disciplined schedule required to actually realize our desire isn't it?

THE SECRET TO MASTERING SELF-DISCIPLINE FAST!

Look, we are all capable of moments of great progress – in other words, we have moments of self-discipline and that is how we get some things done, but the problem is we would like to have more of them – right?

So it isn't that we aren't capable of self-discipline or that we have to change into a radically different person, it is more a matter of tweaking the way we frame things in our life enough that we get far more self-discipline without the ongoing relapses into procrastination.

In the wonderful workbook Attracting Greatness, the steps and techniques that the most successful people in the world use to expand their self-discipline and live a life of constant achievement with tremendous fulfillment are extremely enlightening and useful.

When I applied these steps to my own life I developed my own system for mastering self-discipline, perhaps this will help you too:
1. Create, internalize and repeat daily your big WHY – what will a starting your new business bring you that you don't have now?  How will losing 10lbs make a difference in your life?  What would having 3 more close friends do for you?  How will this change YOU?  How will it change the way people look at you and react to you?  I like to write this all out – think of it as a YOU avatar where you have already achieved your goal.  Reinforce this daily to keep that big WHY front and center.

2. Outline a clear, detailed, workable and measurable plan for achieving my goals.  It must be detailed enough that on a given day when you just don't feel like lifting a finger, you know exactly what you expect of yourself that day AND it must be measurable so you are kept accountable.  Without this, #1 is just a wish or a dream, #2 will make it actionable

3. If/when I slip I like to have the negative side well defined – If I don't achieve #1 what will life be like?  This reinforces the pain of not making progress and that can be very powerful

4. Do what is MOST important first. I make the most progress when I take the outline in #2 and make sure I work on the major impact items first – that way if I slip further in the day, the impact is much less.  I am most productive in the morning, so that is the time I protect at all costs and do the most important tasks first.  Some days I take that energy right into the afternoon and evening, other days I just goof off in the afternoon, but either way I have completed the most important tasks rather than just cleaned my desk, checked email, watched a training video, etc…

5. Focus on ONE thing at a time. As busy people we take pride in how MUCH we can do at one time…multitask, but there is a huge cost to that – 1) We are less productive overall and 2) We exhaust our mental ability much faster leaving us drained…before we actually get the important stuff done.

Try this for a few days.  Take one important thing and schedule 20 or 30 minutes first thing in the day and just see how much you can get done by just focusing on that one thing.   Slicing your day out this way leads to much more productivity and much less exhaustion at the end of the day.

If you want to improve your self-discipline and craft your personal power plan, then get hold of Attracting Greatness and use it to quickly turn your days into fulfilling, productive, enjoyable experiences breaking free of today's limitations.

The symptoms of seasonal affective disorder range from general lethargy through increased nutritional deficiencies (a combined effect from lack of fresh fruit and vegetables as well as lack of vitamin D) right into more severe forms of depression – no laughing matter.

Can you overcome SAD and take your life back?

The good news is yes, you can.

Here are a few things you can try to get over the "blues" that come with this time of year.

1. Re-check your purpose. Have a purpose that gets you up everyday, something other than your job. It could be writing a book, planning a trip, learning a new skill, taking up a hobby, working on something with your kids, etc… Having a purpose gives your mind something else to focus on than the negative.

2. Take Vitamin D supplements – there is enough evidence that supplementing with Vitamin D (especially for those in the Northern half of the country) is important.  I like the liquid Vitamin D supplements, for less than $20 I can get enough to last me an entire year.

3. Exercise – it doesn't have to be anything crazy – even a regular 30-minute walk will get your circulation moving, build some extra adrenaline and help mentally as well as physically.  At first, you need to force yourself through belief that this will work, but once you get going you will get addicted to the daily outing.  If you have a treadmill, bring some music or watch TV as a diversion – but get your 30-minutes in.  Oh, and if you are worried that you are already short on sleep, getting up 30-minutes earlier in the morning to exercise will actually make you feel MORE rested within a few days of starting.

4. Cleanse your body - by this time of year many of us are naturally quite toxic – we tend to be abandoning our good eating habits, vegetables and fruit becomes tougher to find and our bodies get overrun with sugars, yeasts, parasites and other nasties.

5. Drink more water - in the summer we get thirsty more often and so drink more water, but we must also keep that up in the winter to keep our body hydrated.   Many of the headaches people get today are simply due to de-hydration.  By keeping hydrated you will immediately reduce many of those aches and pains

You really can control – and eliminate – the impact of affective seasonal disorder by following a simple, non-disruptive regime.

For more tips on maximizing your energy, self-confidence and results any time of the year – follow the plan laid out in Attracting Greatness – the simple, highly effective guide for overcoming procrastination, gaining unstoppable self-confidence and achievement in your life.

Precisely for these uncomfortable times in our lives do we need to focus on building self confidence and self esteem.

Let's face it, when we are pressured to conform, we do things that we don't believe in…

1. We treat people differently because we feel it will help us "fit in" rather than in alignment with our own personal values and beliefs

2. We behave (either better or worse) in ways that differ from how we would act had we been consistent with our internal values

3. We become frustrated because we can't actually act or react like we know we should

4. We dress differently than we really want to dress

5. Our emotional and physical health suffers as we continually compromise our mind in favor of trying to be accepted

The worst part of all this is that people will sense your level of authenticity, if you are not acting in alignment with your core principles and beliefs then you will come across as fake, distant, unkind, or unlikeable.

By building self confidence, addressing low self esteem we gain the ability to be comfortable within ourselves which gives us a power that works with the universe (instead of against it) operating at a higher level that will attract greatness and great people toward us.

In fact, the stories, techniques and strategies discussed in Attracting Greatness all begin with a strong sense of self worth supported by proven methods of building self confidence.  The benefits include massive improvements in health, financial situation, relationships and personal happiness.

Yes, there will be uncomfortable times.  There will be times when you must stand alone…but as long as you are in alignment with your own core values and principles, that's ok – you will draw more Greatness to you shortly.

First, we must understand what our core principles are.

What is it that drives us?  What kind of relationships do we want?  What sort of experiences do we want to have? How can we improve those around us to the greater advantage?  What kind of fun and excitement do we want to have?  How can we help others AND enjoy what we are doing at the same time?

Second, we must review those core values and principles each and every day.  Spend 5-10 minutes each morning reviewing those principles so that we are mindful of them each day – keeping us aligned with the confidence and self esteem principles that will help us harness the universe.

Third, let your positive experiences fuel your growth and help your quest toward building self confidence even more.  When you weather a rough time and then overcome the challenge, you will gain strength, influence and likability – and you will do it on YOUR terms.

Let those experiences of beating the challenges power you to even greater heights of self confidence.

Having the strength to be yourself, do good work, treat people with great wonder and kindness and achieve extraordinary things is perhaps the most fulfilling thing we can do in life.

It all starts with building self confidence.

You may guess that these changes to gain more energy and motivation have to do with goal setting, thinking positive, emotional programming or some other personal development techniques – yes these are important but…

To improve your life, get unstuck and overcome that wiped out feeling you need energy – and lots of it. 

Have you ever gone through periods of intense motivation, positive attitude, having the best of intentions only to revert back to low productivity not being able to find the time to take the massive action required to really get things rolling in your life? 

I've now reached a point where I went from a bored, tired dreamer to a high achiever coaching my kids in sports, building my own highly successful business, being more happy and healthy at 42 than I was at any previous point in my life.  Why? 

It all comes down to priming your body for success…and the great news is that it only takes a few small changes. 

For a full, simple and proven system – Attracting Greatness was my guide – here are 3 of the most important choices I made:

Here they are…

1. It was almost 10-years ago now –  I popped antacides (Rolaids, Tums) like they were a bedtime snack.  Even with that I was up a few times during the night.  I remember this from when I was barely a kid – 13, 14 years old.  When things finally deteriorated into major digestive, sleep, immune system issues I was diagnosed as having a systemic yeast infection not to mention having some other nastiness going on in my gut.  After doing some liver detox, killing off the yeast overgrowth and taking some sugar out of my diet – I felt like a human juggernaut with more energy and haven't touched an antacid in over 10-years.  Yes, once in a while I will overdo (too much sugar, drink) and I will feel it, but nothing like the chronic pain of before. 

2. I recently decided to practice focused deep-breathing 3times each day for at least 10-days in a row – the intent was to give my cells an oxygen boost – and man, I can't believe how much more energy I have.  I'm up an hour earlier each day and stay productive further in the the evening than previously. 

3. Once other change is to improve my intake of fruits and vegetables.  I've never been a big fan of fruits and vegies – a carb man all the way.  The good news is that it didn't take a big effort to improve.  Instead of targeting some crazy goal right away, I simply decided to have a fruit or vegetable with every meal and have at least one snack each day of vegetables.  I also made sure I have a drink of V8 each day.  My goal was simply to move from about 20% of my diet being fruit and vegetable to 50% – and it really isn't all that hard.   Again – my energy has gone through the roof.

Being goal driven and motivated is NOT ENOUGH - if you don't have the energy or feel wiped out all the time, then it doesn't matter how positive you are, your results will be poor. 

With the 3-steps above, I've finally been able to elevate my energy and endurance to accomplish many great things on my way to achieveing my goals. 

If you are like me, you won't believe how little effort it really does take to overcome that wiped out feeling, gain more energy setting the seeds for massive improvements in your life.  If you are ready to take action I strongly recommend getting hold of the "manual" for achieving more in your life – "Achieving Greatness" - I couldn't live without it.