Take responsibility for where you are right now in your life. For things to change you must change. Develop your own personal plan.

You can do it…

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Develop Your Own Personal Development Plan (PDP)

What is a personal Development Plan?

A personal development plan is a structured and supported process undertaken by an individual to consider and improve upon his personal, educational and professional development. The individual is in control of his own development with the opportunity to monitor and steer his growth. It is simply a tool to encourage and support lifelong learning.

The process involves identifying the areas that need development, planning, executing and reviewing.

We all tend to have a mental block when it comes to addressing our own problems. Many people are afraid about taking time and thinking about their problems and solutions to those problems. A PDP would help them to solve their problems in an easy manner.

You could start developing your PDP anytime. Based on your present situation and role, you could draw a PDP that could help to prioritize the most important areas of your life that need immediate attention and concentration.

Identify areas that need progress - This is the first step towards constructing your PDP. You need to be in tune with your current situation in life - know who you are, what you want to achieve, what you have and what you lack. You also have to be clear about what is working for you now and what is not. You need to check on what you are ignoring, too.

Many people may delay in this first step if they have problem identifying the areas of their life that needs development. If you are one of them just think about those areas that are important to you – for example, you could consider the following areas: Physical and mental wellbeing, education, spiritual pursuit, finances, recreation, relationships – personal and professional, etc.  You do not need to write down everything in detail but just make a list of these areas.

This list would help you to prioritize your areas. After you identify your areas that need improvement, write down what improvements you prefer to make in each of these areas as it relates to your personal growth.

Set a timeline on each goal - Begin with your short-term goals and then proceed to long-term goals

Write down your action plan – how do you plan to go about this process?

Review your plan – is this plan workable? Would you like to make a few changes or draw a new PDP?

Implement your plan – stick to your plan and follow your schedule

Review your progress - are you following the timeline? Are you progressing accordingly?

When you develop your own PDP, follow through with action and achieve your goals you would feel like you are on top of the world. You gain more confidence that your life is in your control. You get a great satisfaction. Take one step at a time and enjoy the process. That is the key to success. 

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After studying the Science Of Getting rich, it has become obvious to me that a major key to getting what you want, is to be grateful. To have Gratitude each and every day, that is to say instead of complaining of things that are not right, be grateful for what you have.

It doesn’t matter who you are, or where you are, there is always someone worse off than you.

This can be challenging for some people to grasp, especially if they are going through hard times.However the power of contrast is amazing.

So each day give thanks for what you have around you. Gratitude is also an attitude. Be grateful for the little things as well in your life. Many people give thanks before eating their meal. The more grateful you are, the closer you become to the things you desire.

Abundance is your birth right.

So from now, focus on how grateful you are right at this moment as you read this. I’m writing this to you also in a state of Gratitude. I’m so grateful that I can share this message with everyone who reads it.

Life is a magnificent journey, so make every day your masterpiece, starting with Gratitude each day.I promise you that people around you will notice a difference in you and you will attract great things into your life.

Remember life is not a dress rehearsal,you are  the CEO of your life.

Live Your Life By Choice, Not By Chance.

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Have you ever sat down to try and do different things, but can’t. Why is that?

We are all intelligent however we seem to get stuck in the same rut. Well, I believe its because you have all the information inside you, however you have been programmed.

Ever since you were little you may have had things said or done to you that have been stored inside you that lies there holding you back. Very much like a computer these days, information is put in the hard drive and stays there until you delete it.

So, do you want to know how to delete it?

You will need a piece of paper and a pen. Then go somewhere quiet where you will not be disturbed. The write down all the things you want in your life. Can you do that ?

If you do and take action I can assure you that you are now on the right track to deleting all the old things stored in yourbrain.

Then read this list at least 3 times a day for the next 30 days and watch how things will change for you. Also do not tell anyone close to you what you are doing. Its your gift to you.

Remember Live your life by Choice, not by Chance.

www.selfimageimprovement.com

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Overcome Your Fears

What is your ideal life? How would you describe the life of your dreams?

Big dreams give our life a sense of worthiness. However, most people just keep their dreams in their minds, because they don’t see how they can achieve it. Then they end up living a mediocre life and settling for less.

They live a half life. They are not willing to take risk. They choose staying in their comfort zone over living the life of their dreams.

Why is that? Why do people tend to act that way? Why do YOU tend to act that way?

People kill their dreams when they start living in fear!

“A Life lived in fear is a life half lived.” –Proverb

You might be facing the fears of…

The unknown

Failure

Rejection

Criticism

Or even success.

But let me ask you this question: “Are you willing to live a half life?” Doesn’t your dream deserve that you do whatever your can to live it?

Life is short, so why living a life that you hate. When you live in fear, you will keep on living the same dull life. But when you pursue your dream, you will have the chance to achieve it, as long as you never quit.

Face your fears and believe in the beauty of your dreams. You are going to live anyway, so why not to pursue a life that enlightens your heart and mind. The world needs your contribution, so don’t be coward and keep on staying in your cage.

No more fears.

It is time for your greatness to be unleashed. Do it for yourself and for the people around you. Life is full of opportunities and abundance. Don’t let your fears turn you blind.

You were meant to live a full life not a half life!

Overcome your fears and take your first step now.Imagine the results you will get.

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Improve Your Concentration Powers with Seven Easy Steps

The power of concentration is a skill that is easy to master, that is if you have the willpower to do so. 

“If there is a will, there is a way” according to one saying, the same goes with concentration.  Popular television newscaster and personality Diane Sawyer was once asked about her secret to professional success. Her response was that paying attention was her secret.

The question therefore remains, “How does one basically maintain focus and concentration?”

The following are helpful tips to improve your ability to concentrate in the best way possible. These suggestions apply whether you are in the office busy with work, school, business meeting, or if you are trying to finish a particular project.

1. Do five more

There are actually two types of persons in the world: those who know how to go through in eliminating frustration and those who wish they are able to work through it. 

Focus and concentrate in doing just five more things. This sort of mantra is best said when you feel like giving up. 

For instance, if you feel like you no longer want to read or write any more pages, tell yourself to do just five pages more. Finish just five more math questions. Stay five minutes more on the treadmill.  Take note that athletes build their own physical prowess by pushing their bodies to the point of exhaustion while they develop mental stamina.

2. Take one step at one time

There are instances when you feel like your mind is loaded with many ideas like that of a scatterbrain. The key is to control your brain. 

Rather worrying on many matters, prioritize tasks and do only those that are needed.

For instance, you cannot help but think of mounting debt problems and this causes you to lose focus on the presentation that you need to do in five minutes.  Tell your mind that you will think of ways to pay off your bills after your presentation. Your mind will then establish closure and allow you to focus on the presentation.

3.  Train yourself to have a tunnel vision

You could actually cup your hands around your own eyes.  This could serve as a trigger to tell your mind to focus on a particular responsibility.

For example, you are in a room and you need to study but there are many things prevent you from concentrating. Cupping your own hands around your own eyes could help your brain to switch to focus mode and keep it on its track. 

4.  Have a handy pad

When a thought pops inside your head and this causes you to lose focus, jot down this thought immediately.

Writing it down is an effective way to get it out of your mind.  After which, consciously focus on the task that you need to accomplish at the moment.

5. Have a break

Remember that you are not a machine.  You need to take a break to be able to focus on the task that you have to do. 

Taking breaks is a good way to break down the tasks into parts that are a lot more manageable.  You may take a walk outside or eat lunch out. 

6.      Record your start and end time

When doing work, try to record the time you began and the time when you mind begins to drift. 

Doing so helps you know just how much time you spent doing actual work and the time when you start losing your concentration.  Being aware leads to enlightenment.

7.  Vary your activities

It is advisable to vary the activities you do in order to keep your mind active and not bored. 

A bored mind will just easily float and drift away to oblivion. 

All in all, these activities and tips need to be practiced regularly to be able to concentrate and focus in the things that really matters most for you.

 We all need to improve our concentration….

How to Get out of Your Nut shell in 4 Easy Steps

Coming out to the world on your own is probably one of the most nerves wracking scenarios you need to experience. Overcoming shyness does not happen overnight, but like they say, practice makes perfect once you overcome your timidity. Read on and start the process of getting out of your nutshell now.

• Look your best. Shop for the dress you have been eyeing for so many weeks, treat yourself to a salon or take time to fix your hair every morning so you look and feel great once you step out of your house. Looking your best will help boost your self-esteem. If you look good, you will feel good.

• Rejection is normal. All people experience rejection. Even John F. Kennedy failed the bar exam twice before he passed. Failing is a part of life. So what if the organization you planned to join did not accept you? Even if they did, there will still be other organizations willing to accept you. Being turned down does not mean that you have to down yourself by making yourself aloof from other people. You cannot please everyone; stick that in your mind. However, be likeable at least.

• Engage yourself in things you excel. If you are good in singing, you can join your church choir. If you have an extraordinary skill in painting, you can share your talent in the art club at your school or volunteer to teach art to underprivileged children. Sharing your talent with others will certainly make you feel good. When you feel good in the inside, it will wash away your low self-esteem, brushing off the introvert in you.

• Learn from others.  If you find it hard to follow the other tips, try this one. When in a gathering or a party, watch how those extroverts start a conversation and how they act. However, this does not mean that you have to be their clone. Just learn a thing or two from them and you’re off. Just a little reminder, just because a certain thing or action looks good on them  doesn’t necessarily mean that it fits you too, find and experiment which best suits you or else you will end up looking like a trying hard.
• Give it a go and enjoy the results.
• Remember Live Your Life By Choice, Not By Chance.

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Effective Techniques to Improve Your Performance

People always want to improve themselves - physical fitness, a better outlook in life or simply enhancing interpersonal skills. These help you perform better and achieve more. Who would not want that?

For example, you may not be a very athletic person, but engaging into sports is something that you know your body needs. Improving your physical fitness will definitely give your body and the heart a good boost. Playing sports is more than just physical consideration. Being good in sports helps one feel good about him or her self.

You may also consider yourself as not that competent when it comes to solving math problems or finishing trick puzzles. These are ordinary activities that can frustrate you when left unaccomplished. Improvement on these matters will definitely help your performance.

Deciding to improve your self is definitely a good first step. However, there is more to know. To do this, you must know just exactly how.

How to Improve Your Performance

Improvement basically means making better of something. This needs serious considerations to utilize something for a good purpose.

There are various ways by which you can improve on yourself.

1.      Focus

There may be facets in your life that you want to enhance. However, you may not be able to improve on all of them at the same time. You may have to settle for one or two things at a time to accomplish something.

For example, you can practice your math skills and physical prowess at a given period. However, you may end up getting confused later if you add another hobby to the menu like learning to play an instrument. Take one endeavor at a time. You may want to be holistic as much as possible, but do not sacrifice the quality of learning with the quantity of things you want to improve.

2.      Determine Your Weak Spots

Another thing you can do to enhance your performance results is to know your weak areas. You cannot improve completely unless you know the aspects that pose a problem to your situation.

3.      Discipline Yourself

You will also benefit from developing a good sense of discipline. This entails coming up with a set of rules so that you concentrate on your actions to those that will lead you to your desired goal.

Discipline yourself. Improvement does not happen overnight but you can at least make sure that you maintain yourself in the right path.

4.      Explore Ways to Learn

You can also consider other ways to learn about a particular field. Reading books may be helpful but there are other options to stimulate the mind and challenge the body. Try looking for a mentor to help you. You can also find a challenger to whom you can exercise your skills with, like having a friend to compete with when you do sports activities.

5.      Read Your Progress

Finally, you must be able to read your actions and see how you are progressing according to your goal. This way, you know how well or how bad you are doing and you can make adjustments to your performance. Give yourself a push if you are lagging behind or give rewards to yourself whenever you do well.

Conclusion

Aiming for a better performance means that you are on your way to excellence. This is a good thing as you get to become a better person. Just take these techniques seriously and you will go far and succeed in your endeavor.

Effective Techniques to Improve Your Performance,You can do this…give it a try and keep going…ok.

10 Tips to Becoming an Effective and Engaging Public Speaker

You are an expert in the field of forest management and resource conservation.

As guest speaker at the Boy Scouts’ jamboree however, you now find that despite your expertise and the importance of your talk, your audience seems uninterested; even slightly confused.  Here lies the big difference between knowing a subject matter well and communicating it to others effectively.

These 10 helpful nuggets should help you get your message across.

1.      KNOW YOU AUDIENCE 

Be aware of the general demographic of your audience.  The factors of age, educational attainment and economic background should dictate the level at which to design your talk.  Your doctorate gobbledygook won’t be helpful to the rural agricultural workers waiting to hear you.  In the same light, a graduate school audience may become bored with a simple linear presentation.   Younger audiences may need conceptual statements to be broken down into concrete examples they can relate to. 

2.      LEVEL-OFF AT THE BEGINNING

·        As you begin your talk, spend some time introducing the subject matter and your personal involvement in it. 

·        Use the introduction as an opportunity to define terms and spell-out any acronyms that may be specific to your field.

·        Try to gauge topic awareness among members of your audience by asking for a show of hands on questions that begin with “How many of you have heard of…” or “How many of you have ever wondered about…”.  This is also a good way of breaking the ice and engaging your listeners.

3.      MAKE USE OF VISUAL AIDS WISELY

·        In some instances, an image can speak more clearly than words.  When appropriate, present photos to depict important aspects of your topic.  When dealing with abstract ideas or the relationship between processes, show them a diagram to physically represent the interactions involved. 

·        Allow a slight pause, for the audience to absorb a visual.  Once they’ve had a few seconds to take it in, you can continue speaking and they’ll be ready to listen to you again while mentally connecting the visual aid to your point. 

·        Avoid wordy PowerPoint slides that mimic verbatim what you’re already saying in your speech.  Instead of enhancing the talk, the visual aid becomes redundant and tempts students to just read the slide instead of listen to you.

4.      USE NOTECARDS WITH BULLET POINTS, DON’T MEMORIZE

·        Outline the flow of your key points on note cards.  Small index cards are better than whole sheets of paper because it’s easier to keep track of where you are in the talk.

·        Use bullet points to highlight your ideas.  Don’t write out entire sentences on your notes that you might be tempted to memorize.  It’s easier to remember your outline and expound spontaneously if you memorize the ideas instead of the exact words

5.      USE HUMOR IF SUITABLE, BUT BE TACTFUL

Everyone loves a laugh, so it may be helpful to inject some humor into your speech.  Before doing so however, analyze the subject matter and check if it won’t be inappropriate. 

If you choose to employ humor, make sure to remain tactful.  Stay away from slanted jokes that may offend certain sub-sectors within your audience, such as gender, religion, race, politics and economic status.

Keep the comedy in check.  Well-timed snippets may help you establish rapport with your audience, or make monotonous stretches a bit lighter.  Too many laughs however may divert the audience’s focus from your key points. 

6.      MAINTAIN EYE CONTACT 

Looking at members of the audience in the eye keeps them involved in your talk.  Research has shown that information is more easily received when the listener has both visual and verbal contact with the speaker.  Make sure to distribute your attention to audience members in different parts of the room. 

7.      SPEAK CLEARLY AND MODULATE YOUR VOICE

While the topic is all too familiar to you, it may be a new subject to your audience.  Speak slowly and clearly, at a pace that allows your audience to follow your meaning.  Make sure you speak loud enough to be heard by the person at the back of the room.  For emphasis, briefly pause before and after important ideas or say key points twice before elaborating.

8.      KNOW THE SUBJECT MATTER

Nothing beats knowing what you’re talking about inside and out.  Research your facts and make sure you have a good grasp of the issues involved.  Have a comprehensive understanding of your topic.  Where it applies, be aware of both sides to a polarized discussion about your subject.  Anticipate questions the audience might raise.

9.      ENCOURAGE  Q & A

To further nail down the message behind your speech, encourage questions and clarifications through an open forum after your talk.  Before you begin the forum, set a time limit or a predetermined number of questions you can accommodate.  You may want to discuss this beforehand with the organizers

to make sure that you can fit everything within the time allotted for you.

10.     SUMMARIZE and DISTRIBUTE HAND-OUTS AFTER TALK

Before you end, summarize your most salient points and repeat the ideas you want your audience to take home with them.  You can outline a summary in the form of a hand-out to be given to the audience afterwards.  Don’t pass the hand-out into the audience before or during your talk t because you want them to listen to you first and not just be reading distractedly.

With these 10 pointers in mind, you’re on your way to becoming a much sought-after resource person, known both for your expertise in your field and your skill in communicating.   More importantly, you can be sure that your message is getting across to your public loud and clear.

SELF IMPROVEMENT AND SUCCESS

Everything that happens to us happens in purpose. And sometimes, one thing leads to another. Instead of locking yourself up in your cage of fears and crying over past heartaches, embarrassment and failures, treat them as your teachers and they will become your tools in both self improvement and success.

I remember watching Patch Adams – its my favorite movie, actually. Its one great film that will help you improve yourself. Hunter “patch” Adams is a medical student who failed to make it through the board exams. After months of suffering in melancholy, depression and suicidal attempts – he decided to seek for medical attention and voluntarily admitted himself in a psychiatric ward.  His months of stay in the hospital led him to meeting different kinds of people. Sick people in that matter. He met a catatonic, a mentally retarded, a schizophrenic and so on. Patch found ways of treating his own ailment and finally realized he has to get back on track. He woke up one morning realizing that after all the failure and pains he has gone through, he still want to become the a doctor. He carries with himself a positive attitude that brought him self improvement and success. He didn’t only improved himself, but also the life of the people around him and the quality of life. Did he succeed? Needless to say, he became the best damn doctor his country has ever known.

So, when does self improvement become synonymous with success? Where do we start? Take these tips, friends…
*Stop thinking and feeling as if you’re a failure, because you’re not. How can others accept you if YOU can’t accept YOU?

*When you see hunks and models on TV, think more on self improvement, not self pitying. Self acceptance is not just about having nice slender legs, or great abs. Concentrate on inner beauty.

*When people feel so down and low about themselves, help them move up. Don’t go down with them. They’ll pull you down further and both of you will end up feeling inferior.

*The world is a large room for lessons, not mistakes. Don’t feel stupid and doomed forever just because you failed on a science quiz. There’s always a next time. Make rooms for self improvement.

*Take things one at a time. You don’t  expect black sheep’s to be goody-two-shoes in just a snap of a finger. Self improvement is a one day at a time process.

*Self improvement results to inner stability, personality development and dig this …. SUCCESS. It comes from self confidence, self appreciation and self esteem.

* Set meaningful and achievable goals. Self improvement doesn’t turn you to be the exact replica of Cameron Diaz or Ralph Fiennes. It hopes and aims to result to an improved and better YOU.

*Little things mean BIG to other people. Sometimes, we don’t realize that the little things that we do like a pat on the back, saying “hi” or “hello”, greeting someone “good day” or telling Mr. Smith something like “hey, I love your tie!” are simple things that mean so much to other people. When we’re being appreciative about beautiful things around us and other people, we also become beautiful to them.

*When you’re willing to accept change and go through the process of self improvement, it doesn’t mean that everyone else is. The world is a place where people of different values and attitude hang out. Sometimes, even if you think you and your best friend always like to do the same thing together at the same time, she would most likely decline an invitation for self improvement.

We should always remember that there’s no such thing as ‘over night success’. Its always a wonderful feeling to hold on to the things that you already have now, realizing that those are just one of the things you once wished for. A very nice quote says that “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”  We are all here to learn our lessons. Our parents, school teachers, friends, colleagues, officemates, neighbors… they are our teachers. When we open our doors for self improvement, we increase our chances to head to the road of success.

Rememer Live Your Life By Choice Not By Chance.