Key number 1: Feed and strengthen your mind. The best way of doing that is by reading uplifting books or biographies, listening to motivating CDs or viewing videos on the subject. The mind has to be literally saturated with positive input.

That daily dose of inspiration will get the mental juice flowing, it will help to soothe, alleviate, relieve some of the pain and, best of all, turn the focus toward solutions and possible ways out of the problem. Albert Einstein said, “The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”

The only way that this can be achieved is by strengthening the mind. By feeding it what it needs to hear to get into a state of positive expectation and certainty. There is a way out, there is a solution for the problems and a well-prepared mind will find that way out.

Key number 2: Feed and strengthen your body. Fear is physical. It affects the entire physiology. The best way to fight that is through physical exercises. The body has to be pushed like it’s never been pushed before; the soldier is going to war and he has to be ready for whatever comes his way.

Action and movement send powerful messages to the brain. Anyone who is into sports or goes to the gym regularly knows what a powerful stimulant exercise is. Nothing like it to lift the spirit, erase the feelings of gloom and doom and get into an empowering state.

Key number 3: Get a role model that inspires you and shows you the way. They are all around us: the athletes, the movers and shakers, the super-achievers and the great successes. They are ordinary people who were able to push themselves, overcame incredible odds and achieved great things.

Reading the biographies of these great people and emulating them is a most powerful stimulating and energizing exercise. Each and every one of these people has faced great adversities and overcame them. They proved that where there is a will, there is a way. They’ve made it and so can we.

Key number 4: Get a plan and take massive action. Just as a General needs a plan to go to war, we need a plan to solve major problems. Once that the plan is clearly spelled out, we need to take massive action.

Massive action is exactly what the terms says; it’s not a feeble attempt, it’s not business as usual; it’s going all out and full blast on implementing the plan. It’s about going above and beyond the call of duty. It’s about pulling all stops and going ahead with all the energy and resources that can be mustered.

Key number 5: Feed your spirit. In rough times, we need a robust and serene spirit. The best way of achieving that is by adopting an attitude of gratitude for all the blessings that we have. In times of need, we tend to forget that we still have much to be thankful for and that can be quite depressing. On the other hand, counting our blessing is always uplifting.

No matter how rough things get to be, there is always a way out. With courage, faith and determination, solutions can always be found. So long as there is life, there is hope and so long as there is hope, there is a way.

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We were born with noting but potential for growth and favorable predispositions for some talents. It’s one of nature’s laws that as living entities, job number one is to develop as much as we can the gifts that we were given at birth. That natural law says that an organism is either growing and expanding or it is withering and dying. There is no standing still in nature.

Human growth can be done through formal education, through interpersonal interactions or through lived experiences. For most adults, personal growth is done through experiencing and more specifically through the experiences of goals or objective seeking.

A perfect example of that would be someone who’s goal would be to have his own business. In the process of building that business, many challenges will have to be met, the unknown will have to be explored and ingenuity will be sharply tested. The person who started that project will have evolved tremendously by the time that it is up and running. That’s personal growth through the pursuit of goals or objectives.

It also stand to reason that the bigger the goal, the more difficult it is to attain, the more it will offer opportunities for personal growth and self-actualization. All the greats of this world knew that and used it to their advantage. If we study the way that they did it and emulate them we stand a better chance of going farther than we ever thought possible.

One of the most important distinction that the great minds and great achievers did was to attach their objectives to a cause. More specifically, to a cause that was larger and bigger than they were themselves. They understood that being involved in a cause that is bigger than you are will exponientally accelerate your growth and propel you beyond your wildest expectations.

Donald Trump was not only intent on making a fortune. He wanted, to use his own words, “To make a statement.” He wanted to change the landscape of New York City. Arnold Schwarzenegger did not only want to be the best bodybuilder in the world. He wanted to make bodybuilding a respectable sport that would be acceptable to all the levels of society and thus contribute to push the health and fitness ideal throughout the world.

Fighting for a cause that is bigger and larger than we are gives us wings. It sustains, inspire and motivates. It turns ordinary individuals into extraordinary giants. Serving a cause dwarfs personal and individual interests. People are at their best when they stand for an ideal.

Success is meaningless if it does not involve self-actualization. And the ideal way of acquiring both the success and the self-actualization is to amalgamate the personal objectives with a cause larger than self. It does require some imagination, some planning and some thinking outside of the box. But the rewards are phenomenal.

We come this way only once, so we must strive to make the most of it. We were placed on Earth for a purpose and that purpose is one that we get to chose and define for ourselves. Makes it a great cause. That’s what the greats of this world did.

Life is too short to be small. Aim for the sky and you may reach the stars. And, even if you don’t you will have achieved the noblest goal. To be all that you could be. That’s the ultimate goal.

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Contrary to popular belief, high level performance does not involve working harder but it does require working smarter and being more effective. How then can we optimize our performances?

The way that we perform depends on the state of mind that we are in the moment. States of mind run the entire gamut all the way from being depressed and disempowered to being energized with the feeling that we cannot fail and cannot do any wrong.

He who can learn to control his state learns, by the same token, how to control his level of performance. Mastery of state is more important than knowledge, it’s more important than hard work, it’s more important than any other attribute for anyone who seeks success.

Controlling the state of mind is not all that esoteric. It’s really quite simple and it is done through, 1) focus and, 2) body posture.

What we focus on has a powerful effect in determining the nature of our state of mind. If we focus on a bright and compelling outcome, the quality of the state will be raised and if we focus on the consequences of a possible failure, the state will take on a downward path. Focus on the good and the great and the state will follow. Focus on the bad and the ugly and be prepared for the equivalent state.

The second element that influences the state of mind is the body posture. The state mirror the posture. Standing in a slouching and depressed position will be reflected in the state of mind and so will standing in a confident and energetic stance. Both, the posture and the state are very closely intertwined. They are like twins. Follow one and you will find the other. Chose the posture and you will get the equivalent state.

Movers and shakers have all, either learned or discovered, the secret of state mastery. They use it well and they use it all the time. Has anyone ever seen a Tony Robbins, a Donald Trump or an Arnold Schwarzenegger slouching and focusing on possible failure or other negativities? Of course not. They stand and walk like winners and they think and talk the part.

Success is, above all, the result of attitude. To have the right attitude the right state of mind is required. And to have the right state of mind, two factors need to be controlled. How we stand and what we think about. That’s not rocket science and it’s highly effective.

If anyone doubts the veracity or the accuracy of what has been proposed here, all that is needed to convince you is to observe the world class athletes in action. These wonderful athletes know that in order to succeed they must reach down to the bottom of their soul to bring forth the last ounce of available resources. They will do it by concentrating on their body and the desired outcome.

Athletes do it, champions do it, mover and shakers do it, winners do it… so can anyone else. Take the stance, do the dance, walk the talk and keep your eyes on the goal. That how you get to stand on the podium, that’s how you reach the brass ring. Focus and posture. That’s the secret.

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There are two main reasons why we will sabotage some objective that we were working on. The first is that the project in question is not in accordance with what we perceive our identity to be.

Let us take the case of someone who would be working for a promotion that involves managerial functions. If that person does not see himself a leader or someone who cannot direct and command, chances are very high that he will sabotage the quest for that promotion.

There are few things as strong as the need to conform to our identity. Stepping outside of the boundaries of the type of person that we believe to be is next to impossible. A person who sees himself as being poor in math will perform badly with numbers and a person who sees himself as clumsy will drop everything.

The second reason self-sabotaging comes into play is when a person’s standards are too low. For some reason, these people see themselves as undeserving. They feel that the good things in life are for someone else.

That is usually the case when someone was raised with the beliefs that having money or affluence is somehow basically wrong. Or the belief that you cannot be wealthy and be a good person. They have the curse of the poverty mindset. So when they start having money they will feel strangely that it is wrong, that it is bad. So they will automatically sabotage any success that they are having.

In order to succeed and succeed consistently a persona must feel deserving of success. That they have the right to be affluent and that they can be good and rich at the same time.

Disempowering beliefs must be changed before success can be acquired. In order to do that we need to know the nature of belief. We need to know what a belief is. A belief is nothing but a notion that is supported by some evidences. As an example, if you are told times and times again that you have excellent taste in clothes, you will adopt the belief that you have indeed good taste in clothes.

The same applies to the beliefs that we have about our identity or any other belief that we may have. So if we want to change a belief, we must change the bank of references that support it. Let us say that you want to change a negative belief about not being a leader capable of managing people, you want to find instances in your life were you displayed leadership abilities. Find enough of those and you will change your fundamental belief about your leadership abilities.

Self-sabotage is a serious roadblock to success and self-actualization. It is insidious and not always easily detectable. Whenever there are repeat failures in any area of our life, a red flag is raised. The question must be asked, “Am I sabotaging myself?” If there are evidences of self-sabotage two beliefs have to be questioned. The first about our perceived identity and the other one about our success worthiness.

If who we perceive ourselves to be is not in accordance with what we want to achieve we must change the beliefs about our identity and if it is the beliefs about success worthiness that is at fault, those beliefs must be changed also.

Don’t let self-sabotage destroy a bright future. Affect the necessary changes in beliefs and see repeated failures turn into series of brilliant successes.

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These four words represent an entire philosophy for a successful life. They mean that, if we want a successful, rewarding and interesting life, we should be in the parade and not watching the parade go by.

The only constant in life is change. Nothing stands still. Life is dynamic and not static. Yet there are those of us who, through an exercise in futility, will seek to find security in an inexistent status quo.

The, don’t make waves, don’t try anything and keep a low profile attitude is a recipe for boredom in the best case scenario and for disaster in the worst cases. Trying to stand still in life is an impossibility and can only result in frustration, regression and ultimate failure.

It is a proven fact that a ship that remains in port will rust and wear out faster than one who travels the high sea. The expression of life is action and action is the generator of life. That’s a lesson that was not lost by the happiest and most successful among us.

If we read the biographies of great men and women, we soon find out that they were creature of action. They were involved, they were engaged, they had causes, objectives, projects and goals. They were determined. They found meaningfulness, satisfaction and validation in their work and accomplishments.

Successful living, in its true sense of the word, means implication and dedication to a cause, an ideal or an objective. In order to accomplish that, uncharted roads must be traveled, dragons have to be slain and calculated chances must be taken.

As someone so wisely said, “Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming… Dang, What a ride.”

Now, that could be exaggerating a little but it does express the essence of the concept. Successful living is not about watching the parade go by. It’s not even about joining the parade. Successful living is about leading the parade.

That’s what Steve Jobs was taking about in front of those newly graduates. He wanted to give these young minds the best possible advice that he could so that they would, not only commence their adult life on the right foot, but stay on the right path for the rest of their life.

To do that, he left those students with four unforgettable words, “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.” Nothing else was needed. The message was concise, clear and unforgettable. A giant had spoken. Who could forget, Stay hungry. Stay foolish?

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Selling is done through persuasion. Most selling that we do everyday is easy because the “buyers” are already ready and disposed to accept. Everyday we must “sell” ourselves to our spouse, our family, our friends – but that’s easy to do because they are already disposed to be sold. In other situations though, the selling, or persuasion needs more skill and more work.

That is where Newton’s first law of physic comes into play. That law states that, “an object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.” As far as we are concerned, the important part of that law is the last part which says, “object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction.’

That is true with an object in motion and it’s also true with our psyche. When a train of thoughts leads in one direction it becomes harder and harder to switch it around. If a person agrees with you and agrees with you for a length of time it becomes harder and harder to change position and start disagreeing with you.

So, if we want to convince someone of something that may prove to be difficult to accept the best course of action is to start asking question that we are almost certain will illicit a “yes” response.

Questions like, “Would you like to solve this problem?” Followed by, “You would like to pay as little as possible for that service don’t you?” Those questions will illicit a “yes” response and after awhile a pattern is set up. The “yes” responses become natural and easier and easier to give.

That is when the time for the clincher comes. Time to ask, do you want to buy my product, proposition, idea or suggestion? If there is any chance that whatever it is that you are proposing will be accepted, chances are very good that it will be at that point.

The point of the thread is that, just as an object in motion tends to stay in motion, a person who has been saying yes, yes, yes… will find it harder to say no. Not impossible, but harder.

So, whenever you are trying to convince anyone of anything, get the person in a positive mood, get them to say yes or accept propositions that they cannot refuse and then come up with the proposition that you wanted to have accepted in the first place.

Life is selling and in order to get ahead we need to know the tricks of the trade. That was one of them.

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It’s also an insurance against unforeseen incidents.

Life is full of unexpected events and sometimes something happens that will shed a bad light on us even if we never intended to do anything wrong. When that happens, if we have a good reputation and a good amount of goodwill, chance are that we will be give the benefit of the doubt, however, if our reputation is shaky and our goodwill reserve is low, that small event might be the straw that will break the camel’s back.

How many times do we hear stories about people who have been in a situation where someone did not live up to their expectation but the person was forgiven because, as they will say, “He’s such a nice man.”

Many times, we are judged on who we are and not on what we do. A friend will get away with murder but a foe’s slightest mistake will be pounced upon as if a murder had been committed.

We build goodwill by being nice to people. Simple as that. Simple, yet it’s one of the best investment that we can make. We cannot get anywhere in life without the contribution of others. That’s where goodwill comes in. People value cordial acquaintances. It’s in our genes. It’s the need to belong, to be part of the pack. By nature, we are gregarious. We want to belong, to be accepted and the medium of exchange for acceptance is goodwill.

Goodwill is so important that it can be added to the accounting value of a business. The reputation or goodwill of a company is worth solid cash. So is the capital value of a man’s overall goodwill.

Goodwill is also the foundation upon which networking is built. If I do a favor for someone or help someone, chances are very high that, at the first opportunity, that good deed will be repaid.

Goodwill is the cousin of friendship. Both are acquired by using the same method which consist of a mixture of respect, acceptance, trust and most of all, of a sincere desire to help and to be of assistance.

In order to succeed in life we need the help of others. No one will dispute that and the best way to get the cooperation needed is by building a solid account of goodwill. If people like and accept you, they will go to hell and back for you. If not, you’re on your own… and that can be a very awkward and lonesome place to be.

Ludwig Borne said, “Goodwill is the one and only asset that competition cannot undersell or destroy.” That’s true in business and it’s also true in the area of human relationship. Nothing and no one can rob you of your goodwill and it’s the one medium of exchange that pays the highest dividends.

Don’t let a day go by where you don’t add to your reserve of goodwill. It’s the only capital that keeps on giving.

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To put it in other words, being rich does not mean having resources it means having resourcefulness.

We can always lose our resources but, so long as we are healthy, no one can rob us of our resourcefulness.

I had a brother who, at one time, was worth upward of twenty million dollars but he had the poverty mindset and, no matter how well he would do financially, he always felt insecure about money or about his own survival for that matter. That feeling got so bad that he started having panic attacks.

The problem was that he was identifying with his bank account and not with his resourcefulness. First and foremost, we are who we are and not what we have. A fundamental belief based on false premises cannot withstand the tides of time. Sooner or later the truth has to emerge and the edifice supported by false beliefs will crumble.

Two years ago, I lost my beloved brother. Cancer took him away. I felt a strong sense of loss but what hurt the most was knowing that he had not been able to find peace and happiness throughout his adult years. That was the great tragedy.

Money is a tool and nothing else, and like any other tool, it can help or hurt us depending on how we use it. Whether we believe it or not, money can be a friend or a foe. It all depends on how we look at it.

First, it must be understood that we do not “own” money. We cannot go to the bank and ask a teller to “see our money.” Such a request would probably be cause to question our sanity. We do not “own” money but we have the permission and the right to manage the amount of money that is indicated in our bank account.

A small but all important distinction. If we can manage money we can affect its flow inward or outward but we are at no risk of losing what is not “ours” in the first place. That small distinction takes all the stress out money matters.

Being rich means being free from monetary worries and monetary considerations. It means understanding that money is like air. There is enough for everyone and all that we have to do is to place ourselves in a situation where we will have access to that resource.

Money plays a very important role in our lives yet the concept of money is greatly misunderstood. Money is a tool and as with any other tool, it not the amount of any specific tool that we have that really matters, but how well we understand that tool and how well we can manipulate it that makes all the difference.

Having large amount of money will never make us feel rich but having ample supply of resourcefulness will. So, let us not concentrate on gathering money if security is high on our priority list but let us work on who and what we are because that is what will increase our level of resourcefulness and that’s what being rich and secure is all about.

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Most people who have made it financially see the professional life as a game. They are out there to play hard and win and they know that you can’t win in the game of life by being interested in it. Winning requires passion, focus, dedication and perseverance.

Winners in life, as in sports, are totally involved in the game. No effort is spared. A game plan is needed. The passion to win is needed and the players are always willing to give it the second effort no matter what.

The professional athletes and the world class athletes all know that being good is not enough. Being excellent is not enough. They know that they have to be outstanding if they ever hope to make the podium. Victories are not won by a country mile but by a split second. So in sports, so in life.

Donald Trump claims that he has never taken more than a few three days vacation in the past twenty year. He says that more than three days away from business makes him lose his momentum and effectiveness.

Does that mean that Trump is not enjoying life? I hardly think so. He, and most of the world’s mover and shakers, have made their life’s work an exhilarating and fun game. Wild horses could not drag them away from the deep involvement of wheeling and dealing. They are not working. They are playing. They don’t see whatever they do as work but as a game… a sport if you will.

Want great success gurus? Read the biographies of Muhammad Ali, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Lance Armstrong. See how these guys did it. They are people like you and I. The way that they achieved great success is not esoteric or the results of secret formulas. They simply applied to basics and fundamental rules of success.

They had a vision or a goal, they believed in themselves, they were passionate, they were focused and determined. They did not let setbacks throw them off course. They persevered and they won. They, and many like them, have shown us the way. Now, all that we have to do is to emulate these guys. Plays the game according to the rules of success and reap the reward, the glory, the success and a rightful place on the podium.

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An hypothesis, as defined by Webster is a tentative assumption made in order to draw out and test its logical or empirical consequences. In other words, it’s a possible solution to the problem implied in the question that we have asked the brain.

On the other hand, success is the result of solving the problems that have to be surmounted in order to achieve the objective. So, if we want to succeed, the first thing that should be done is to ask the brain how to solve those problem and then, all that has to be done is to implement the solutions that the brain has given us.

The procedure is effective if, and that is a big if… we ask the right question. The difference between success and failure is the difference between asking the pertinent or right question and asking a misleading question.

Suppose you ask the brain, “How come I’m not rich?” The brain could answer, “It’s because you’re stupid.” That’s the type of answer that the brain could give out when the formulation of the question is simply wrong.

If that same person had asked, “How can I become rich?” The brain would have come up with helpful answers that would steer the person in the right direction. As previously said, those answers would be hypothesis that could be tested out to see if they were valid or not. And, if they proved to be invalid or inadequate, other suggestions from the brain could then be tested out and the procedure continued until the right solution eventually comes up.

Basically, success implies overcoming a lack of resource. If we had everything needed to achieve our objective it would not be a challenge but a simple task that had to be performed until the desired outcome had been achieved. But, true success signifies that obstacles, or lack of resources, has been overcome through resourcefulness and resourcefulness lies in the realm of the unknown. The unknown that has to become known through the utilization of questions.

It all boils down to a basic equation. But one that we tend to forget too often. If we want to know something, we ask. When we ask, the brain will supply answers. Some are valid, some are not. Our job then becomes the testing of those answers (or hypothesis) to see what works and what does not. If we keep on following this path, sooner or later the ideal solution to our problem will come up and the way to success will have been cleared once again. It certainly is better than beating our head against the wall wondering, what should I do next.

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