Personal Growth Cafe

May 14, 2018January 7, 2018

What’s Your Definition of Success?

What does success really mean to you?

It’s important to clarify your thoughts, goals and desires before you can achieve success!

You can’t work towards something passionately when you aren’t sure what the end result will be.

Success means many different things to different people.

Unfortunately, the tendency is to view monetary gain as success.

However, financial wealth is only a small part of overall success.

Different Areas of Success

Because there are different areas of success, you can be successful in one area and unsuccessful in others.

In order to develop a plan for your success, you need to make your own list of areas that are relevant to you.

To achieve overall success in life, you’ll need to examine your priorities in each area.

For many of us, there are 3 main components of success.

In your personal plan for success, there may be even more. Be sure to include any areas that are important to you.

Here are the 3 main areas, along with some tips and techniques to help you evaluate your priorities and formulate your success plan:

To evaluate your career, contemplate these questions:

Do you desire a higher status position?

What amount of income would make you happy?

Would you simply like to feel appreciated by your boss?

Any number of things can be used to measure your success when it comes to your career.

In your career evaluation, be sure to determine what strengths and weaknesses you have that can help or hinder you from achieving your goal.

These questions can guide you to important considerations for your emotional success:

Are you satisfied with your relationships?

What have you learned so far that could help you do better in the future?

If you have children, do you feel successful in how you’re raising them?

Is your marriage a happy one?

Are you doing everything you can to improve your overall well-being?

Maybe a change in diet and exercise is in order.

Take a moment to evaluate whether you’ve achieved success in this area or if there’s room for improvement.

If your health can use a boost, make a plan to start implementing changes in your daily routine that lead to a healthier lifestyle.

The Journey to Success

Your journey to success will have highs and lows throughout your life.

There will be mistakes and disappointments.

You may experience a setback at some point.

The beauty is that you can get back on track and move closer to your goals at any time.

You may achieve new levels of success at different times in your life and career.

As you progress in your job, start a family, and get involved in giving back to your community, your definition of success may change, as do your priorities.

Go with the flow; it’s okay for your outlook on life and your meaning of success to change over time.

Love what you do! Life is too short to be stuck doing something you despise.

To achieve success in life, work with what you’ve got.

Focus on your strengths and interests and do the things that bring those to the forefront of your life.

Challenges and obstacles are opportunities for improvement and further success.

Everyone has setbacks at some point in their lives. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be human.

The successful individual has the confidence that he can and will do better!

Every so often, it’s very important to step back and re-evaluate your idea of success.

There are so many changes in life and with each one you’ll find that your priorities change also.

Never underestimate the power that comes from persistence and experience, just don’t forget to enjoy the journey!

How do you measure your success?

How can you consider your life successful so far?

Talk about that in the Personal Growth Cafe Community!

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May 13, 2018January 7, 2018

Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. – Lou Holtz

May 13, 2018January 7, 2018

What Makes a BAD New Year’s Resolution?

Why is it that many of us make the same resolutions every New Year’s but seldom keep them?

Could it be because we’re setting unrealistic goals for ourselves that we can’t possibly achieve?

This type of goal setting only serves to discourage us from striving for future goals.

Instead of planning for success, we’re setting ourselves up for failure.

When making a resolution or setting a goal, you should follow the S.M.A.R.T. system for maximum success:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely

Here are some common BAD New Year’s resolutions along with tips about how to turn them around into GOOD resolutions that can bring you astounding results:

Losing weight. How many of us make the resolution to “get in shape” or to simply “lose weight?”

This isn’t a specific goal, nor does it contain any sort of measurable timeline in which to perform the task.

A better solution would be to say, “I want to lose _____ pounds by _____ (date). I will do this by following these steps: (change of diet, exercise plan, etc.).”

A specific goal establishes what you want to accomplish, by what time, identifies requirements and constraints, and lists benefits of reaching that goal.

Spending more time with family. Another common New Year’s resolution is to spend more time with family and friends.

Again, you need to have a plan to do this. Simply stating that you will spend more time with your family won’t make it happen.

This may not even be a very attainable goal if you live far away from your family or can’t give up time at the office.

Look at your schedule, evaluate your priorities, and make the necessary changes to free up the time you’ll need to spend the extra hours with your family.

Establish exactly how many extra hours you need to make this happen.

What will have to be rearranged?

These are decisions you need to make to accomplish your goal.

Quitting smoking. The average smoker tries to quit at least 4 times before he actually kicks the habit.

Why?

Because it’s easy to get discouraged when you try one method and it doesn’t work.

You need to have numerous back-up plans because one product or method doesn’t work for everyone.

Make sure the goals you set are realistic. Don’t expect to stop smoking in a week or maybe even a month.

You’ll only become disheartened if you fail.

Set reasonable goals such as, “By ___ (date) I will only smoke ____ cigarettes a day.” Slowly become less dependent on them until you reach your goal.

Getting out of debt. This is a resolution that requires much planning and usually involves a change of lifestyle.

If you’re living in a cycle of debt, you need to plan a strategy to cut your spending dramatically, as well as pay off the debt you already have.

Set specific goals such as “I will have ____ (amount) paid off by _____ (date). I will do this by cutting ____ (amount) from my spending each week.”

Without a reasonable timeline in place, you’ll slip back into your old habits.

If your total amount of debt is large, break the debt down into smaller, more attainable goals.

Pay off one credit card at a time and take pride when you get that final statement with a zero balance.

Also consider talking to a financial advisor who can help you set a reasonable plan for you to follow.

Resolutions take work, there’s no denying it!

Simply saying that you resolve to do something is not sufficient without having a plan in place to do it.

Now that you know the problem, you can stop making the same resolutions year after year!

Using the S.M.A.R.T. system as a guide, you can actually attain your goals in the coming year and become a better person for it.

How do you come up with your new year’s resolution?

How can you prepare for a good resolution to make?

Talk about that in the Personal Growth Cafe Community!

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May 12, 2018January 7, 2018

Most of the shadows in this life are caused by standing in ones own sunshine. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

May 12, 2018January 7, 2018

What is Creative Visualization?

Creative visualization is a technique that changes your outlook about the world and, in turn, makes changes happen in your life.

This is the idea behind the practice of positive thinking. Successful people have advocated positive thinking since the 1800s.

The technique of creative visualization is used to achieve all types of goals, from financial to athletic to academic.

Studies involving athletes have shown that athletes who incorporated creative visualization techniques into their training regimens had significantly improved performance over those athletes who relied on physical training alone.

Creative visualization can help you to achieve any goal, as long as you’re willing to commit to the technique.

Why Should I Learn Creative Visualization?

Creative visualization is an important skill to learn because the results can be so incredibly powerful.

Everyone can benefit from this technique and it can improve any area of your life.

You can achieve anything you can visualize; you can gain financial independence, successful interpersonal relationships, a new job, or even a better golf swing!

Almost anything that you want to accomplish can be facilitated by the techniques of creative visualization.

How Do I Use Creative Visualization?

Creative visualization is actually a pretty simple process – the most important part is to see things as vividly and in as much detail as you possibly can.

You must also believe that creative visualization can work to help you meet your goals.

To see the creative visualization process, think of a goal you have.

Let’s say you want to get a promotion at your workplace.

First, visualize yourself in this new, higher position.

Imagine everything that would be different in your life as a result of having achieved your objective.

Think of yourself and your lifestyle with the higher salary factored in.

Imagine yourself on the job thriving in your new position.

Visualize the view from the window in your new office or imagine how you would decorate it.

Your key to success is to put as much detail and as much of yourself as you can into these visualizations.

Creative visualization is all about breaking down the mental barriers that block you from the things you really want in life.

You have to ignore the negative thoughts that tell you that your goal isn’t possible.

Instead, focus on seeing yourself in a new, more positive light.

You’re a person who deserves to meet their goals and who is intelligent enough to make these goals happen.

Is Creative Visualization Hocus Pocus?

Some people believe that visualizing your goals and desires is a waste of time or that it’s magic that doesn’t work.

Visualization is nothing more than focusing your mind on what you want to achieve in life.

Rather than being distracted by little things in everyday life, visualization allows you to keep sight of your main goal so you can take the appropriate actions to make it a reality.

The same can be said of any type of business.

The vision of the business owner is laid out in a business plan so the owner can make the right decisions to reach his desired success.

A distracted business owner without a plan can very easily fail or delay reaching his success.

Creative visualization gives you a plan of action.

Use it every day along with positive thinking to achieve anything, even things you have always wanted but thought were far out of your reach.

Keep looking forward to bigger and better things in life and you’ll find a way to reach those goals!

How can creative visualization help you achieve more?

How can this impact you life?

Talk about that in the Personal Growth Cafe Community!

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May 11, 2018January 7, 2018

Every great achievement was once considered impossible. – Unknown

May 11, 2018January 7, 2018

Thinking Differently About Problem Solving

All of us from time to time are faced with difficult situations.

Sometimes these problems may seem insurmountable.

However, there’s almost always a solution.

When you can’t figure out the solution to a problem, try to take a different approach to the situation to see your problem in an entirely different light.

Looking at the problem from a different perspective can often make the solution obvious instead of impossible.

This technique is one of many creative problem solving techniques that can help provide solutions to your trickiest problems.

Problem Solving Tips

Creative problem solving techniques are valuable skills to cultivate.

They can lead to the kind of innovative solutions that allow you to overcome obstacles and find the best possible solutions to even the stickiest of situations.

Some of the best solutions are the simplest ones and all it takes to find the solution is to gain a fresh perspective.

Try these creative problem solving techniques in your own life to solve your “impossible” problems:

Take a break. You can easily burn yourself out by over thinking a problem over a long period of time.

Take a little time away and return to it; it will do wonders for your perspective!

Take a nap, walk or just think about something else entirely for a short time before returning to the problem at hand.

Get an outside perspective.

Gather a few trusted friends or family members and explain the problem you’re trying to solve – having fresh input from people less familiar with the problem can be invaluable.

Brainstorm together and have everyone share their different solutions. Two heads are often better than one.

While this method can be very helpful, don’t rely on other people to always solve your problems.

It’s best to approach friends or coworkers after you’ve brainstormed a few solutions yourself.

Get it on paper. Write everything down about the situation.

Many of us are visually oriented thinkers and having charts or lists can help clarify the problem and its solution.

Organizing a seating arrangement for a wedding reception is a great example of how a chart can help solve problems.

Your time spent worrying about a problem will decrease significantly when you can physically make changes to your chart and see your solution.

Break a large problem into smaller parts. Very often what appears to be a large problem is really a series of smaller challenges.

Identify each challenge and work on solving each one separately.

For example, buying a house is one large task that consists of many smaller items.

When you break it down, you would focus on dealing with the realtor and getting mortgage approval first without worrying about movers or home inspections.

There’s more than one solution to every problem. Don’t limit yourself to just thinking of one solution.

Brainstorm as many solutions as possible, even if they sound crazy or outlandish, and then go back to evaluate which solutions might work.

In an office situation with multiple workers in a meeting, listen to each idea. Maybe two or more ideas can be developed into a viable and original solution.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of creative problem solving techniques and every technique may not work for every person or situation.

The important idea, however, is to get a fresh perspective so you can open up your mind to find the best solution.

Using this procedure regularly will enable you to view your problems in a new way and discover solutions more quickly.

Also, be patient and try not to get frustrated at the process.

Some problems are more difficult than others and will take more time to solve. But rest assured there is an answer!

How can effective problem solving make life easier?

What do you consider before facing a problem presented to you?

Talk about that in the Personal Growth Cafe Community!

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May 10, 2018January 7, 2018

If you want to be happy. BE. – Leo Tolstoy

May 10, 2018January 7, 2018

The Secret Link Between Food and Success

When you want to achieve success, making one change at a time is a technique that brings results.

You may be surprised to discover that one of the most beneficial changes you can make towards success is what you eat!

The type of food you eat has an impact on brain function and how you feel overall.

For example, the guys over at Google eat sushi for lunch and they’re always coming up with innovative ideas that make our lives easier!

What to Eat

Aside from sushi, what else can you eat to make you more capable of finding success?

The secret lies in raw foods – uncooked, natural foods.

Uncooked foods enable your body to better absorb all of the vitamins and minerals that the food has to offer.

Raw foods also contain enzymes that are very important for normal bodily function.

Without these enzymes, a person can be “off” mentally and physically.

You simply can’t function right if you’re not getting the proper nutrition.

In addition, it’s difficult coming up with innovative ideas for your success when your body and your brain are starving for essential nutrients.

Why make it harder on yourself?

The simple solution is to give your body what it needs.

Some of the most important types of raw food to eat are fruits and vegetables.

All by themselves, fruits and vegetables provide much of what your body hungers for.

Benefits that you will receive from eating fruits and vegetables include:

Alertness
Clear thinking
Strong focus
Thinking outside the box
Ability to find creative and innovative solutionsThe most successful and innovative people have many things in common.
One of the traits they share is that they feed their brains as well as their body.

Changing your Diet

If your diet leaves something to be desired, you may want to make some changes so that you can take advantage of the benefits that a “success” diet can bring.

Here are some tips to help you make those changes:

1. Make gradual changes. Gradual changes make it easier for your body and mind to incorporate new routines and new choices.

As you make the changes, you’ll notice:

You think differently.
Your mind stays on the task at hand without deviating too much.
Your response time to certain situations is quicker than before.

2. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables have essential vitamins and minerals for your body and your brain.

3. Increase your Omega 3 fatty acids. Eat plenty of foods that are high in Omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3 fatty acids improve brain function.

Where do you find these important acids?

In certain types of fish such as salmon, Mahi Mahi, and other varieties

In ground flaxseed

In additional foods to which Omega 3 fatty acids have been added.

Check your food labels: some foods have added Omega 3s to ensure that people are receiving an adequate supply in their diets.

So start with fruits and vegetables and if you’re not sure which ones you’ll like, buy a little at a time and taste test them.

Many people turn their nose up at foods that are healthy for them. To their surprise, they later find that many of them taste good!

The best surprise, though, comes when you notice the difference in how you think, how you feel, and how you are enjoying growing success!

How has good health helped you be successful?

How can you develop a healthy routine starting today?

Talk about that in the Personal Growth Cafe Community!

Before you leave…

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May 9, 2018January 7, 2018

Posts

What’s Your Definition of Success?

Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. – Lou Holtz

What Makes a BAD New Year’s Resolution?

Most of the shadows in this life are caused by standing in ones own sunshine. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

What is Creative Visualization?

Every great achievement was once considered impossible. – Unknown

Thinking Differently About Problem Solving

If you want to be happy. BE. – Leo Tolstoy

The Secret Link Between Food and Success

Minds are like parachutes, they only function when they are open. – Sir James Dewar