Dhirubhai Ambani

2. “The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself.”

Mark Caine

3. “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”

Mark Twain

4.  “A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.”

David Brinkley

5. “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

6. “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Steve Jobs

7. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

8. “Let him who would enjoy a good future waste none of his present.”

Roger Babson

9.  “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.”

Mark Twain

10. “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.”

Vince Lombardi

11. “Success is about creating benefit for all and enjoying the process. If you focus on this & adopt this definition, success is yours.”

Kelly Kim

12. “Really it comes down to your philosophy. Do you want to play it safe and be good or do you want to take a chance and be great?”

Jimmy J

13. “It is our choices, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

J. K Rowling

14. “You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.”

Albert Einstein

15. “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”

Harriet Tubman

16. “The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.”

Bruce Lee

17. “Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.”

Dale Carnegie

18. “If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”

Jim Rohn

19. “The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”

Ayn Rand

20. “If you genuinely want something, don’t wait for it – teach yourself to be impatient.”

Gurbaksh Chahal

(Bonus)

21. “Don’t let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning.”

Robert Kiyosaki

You are changing.  The universe around you is changing.  Just because something was right for you in the past doesn’t mean it still is.  This could be a relationship, a job, a home, a habit, etc.

It happens to you slowly as you grow.  You discover more about who you are and what you want out of life, and then you realize there are deliberate changes you need to make to keep up with the changes happening around you and within you.

The lifestyle you’ve been living no longer fits.  The specific people and routines you’ve known forever no longer align with your values.  So you cherish all the memories, but find yourself letting go and moving on.

If you’re currently dealing with this process you may feel a bit awkward, and that’s OK.  This feeling is normal.  I’ve been right there with you on more occasions than I can count.

Reasons to Let Go and Move On

1) Someone’s negativity is rubbing off on you. – You are the average of the people you spend the most time with.  In other words, who you spend your time with has a great impact on the person you are and the person you become.  If you are around cynical and negative people all the time, you will become cynical and negative.

2) You have grown apart from someone. – Sad but true, no matter what you do or how much you explain yourself, some people will gradually evolve away from your core values.  As time goes on they will prove over and over again that they are committed to misunderstanding you and clashing with your needs.

3) You are truly unhappy with your current circumstances. – It’s always better to be struggling at something you love than succeeding diligently at something you despise.

4) Your goals and needs have changed. – What was right for you then is not necessarily right for you now.  Sometimes the hardest part isn’t letting go but rather realizing that you have changed, and then learning to start over with your new truth.

5) Fear is holding you back. – Part of letting go and moving on is facing the fears and disappointments of the past that are binding your spirit.

6) You catch yourself living in the past. – If all you do is attempt to relive something that has already happened, you’re missing out.  The mental space you create by letting go of things that are already behind you gives you the ability to fill the space with something fresh and fun.

7) An old grudge is still hurting you. – Holding on to the weight of anger, resentment and hatred will not only hold you back, but also block your present blessings and opportunities.  You’ve just got to drop some things to move forward.

From marcandangel.com

There has never yet been a man in our history who led a life of ease whose name is worth remembering. - Theodore Roosevelt

Never in history has the easy life led to a great life. Not in one case has something great come without tribulation, struggle, or failure. Instead of fearing struggle, strain, and tribulation, you should embrace it; nay, seek itat every opportunity, and incorporate it into your life daily. It’s in struggle that you experience growth. It’s in conquering obstacles that you experience life.

A Case Against the Easy Life

Ease isn’t living, it’s dying. It’s forgoing life and awaiting death. Ease brings a halt to your growth and evolution as a human being.

Every year I do an exercise where I write out my perfect day. The other day I looked back at what my ‘perfect day’ was 5 years ago. It was almost the exact opposite of what my vision of success is today.

Back then I wanted ease. I wanted no alarm clock, little work, and a life of luxury. What I’ve come to understand is that in creating the ability to have that life of luxury, I’ll have to go through my fair share of failures and struggles.

Those failures and struggles are where I’ll develop into a man, a success, and a better human being. Why, then, would I want to forgo that growth? Why, even if I’m able, would I reach my idea of success, and then simply stop my evolution by lulling in to a life of ease?

Today, I know I wouldn’t. Just because success is attained doesn’t mean our growth as people, entrepreneurs, or leaders, comes to a halt. Look at Teddy Roosevelt. He never stopped achieving, accomplishing, and growing as an individual until the day he died. The same with Steve Jobs, Napoleon Bonaparte, Andrew Carnegie, and any other person in history who accomplished anything of great value.

Ease is Not Only Useless, It’s Evil

There’s a commonly held world view that your life is your own and you have the right to do what you want with it. I disagree with one aspect of this argument, and that is with regards to laziness.

Just like ease has created nothing of great value in the way of great people on this planet, the fundamental understand that your time on this earth is limited and dwindling has led to great accomplishment, and names worth remembering.

It’s a universal truth that the day you’re born is the day you start dying. Those who accomplish greatness understand this, and they don’t let a day go to waste.

It’s also a universal truth – especially in this free, democratic, capitalistic society – that many have died so you and I can live the freedom you so casually take for granted. They’ve sacrificed their lives in battle. They’ve laid down their lives in protest. They’ve given their lives to innovation and helping others.

Those who came before you, and died before you, have done so in vain if you give your life to laziness, and that’s when laziness is no longer a right, but an evil.

How to Truly Live: Embrace the Struggle

The goal for all of us here at Addicted2Success, is to create a successful life. I’m sure we can all agree that a successful life, in part, is one truly lived. That is, a life filled with accomplishment, adventure, highs and lows, struggle, defeat, and victory. A life is filled with action, not ease.

Look back to the man who gave us that famous quote at the beginning of this article, Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was a man who embraced the strenuous life. He saw the value in hardship, and the evil of a life of ease. As such, he accomplished more in his 60 years than dozens have in their 100.

To create a life of accomplishment, and one of success, YOU have to embrace hard work. Hard work creates grit. It gives us a sense of pride, purpose, and accomplishment; without which, we can never truly feel as though we’re giving our best to this dying flame we call life, or our true value to the rest of those we’re connected to on this planet.

Instead of looking forward to a future of ease, embrace your present hardships, and look to add more strain to your life. This is how you grow. This is how you evolve. This is how you live.

Whom would you hire: the candidate who built a profitable business in two years, or the candidate who sat in lectures?

But don’t kid yourself. What matters exponentially more than that M.B.A. is the set of skills and accomplishments that got you into business school in the first place. What if those same students, instead of spending two years and $174,400 at Harvard Business School, took the same amount of money and invested it in themselves? How would they compare after two years?

If you want a business education, the odds aren’t with you, unfortunately, in business school. Professors are rewarded for publishing journal articles, not for being good teachers. The other students are trying to get ahead of you. The development office is already assessing you for future donations. Administrators care about the metrics that will improve your school’s national ranking. None of these things actually helps you learn about business.

Consider what you could do instead with that $174,400. The first step should be to move to a part of the country that supports your interests. If that’s film, move to Los Angeles. Technology, San Francisco. Oil, Houston. You could live decently in these cities for $3,000 per month. Over the course of two years, that still leaves you $100,000 to invest in yourself.

To decide how to do that, start unpacking the value of an M.B.A. Good business schools deliver two main values: educational content and a network. Acquiring the content is easy: Go online and take the classes using OpenCourseWare or Coursera. You’ll get to watch the same lectures, but for free.

Finding and building a network will be more valuable to you than an M.B.A. You cannot buy a network. Your network is built on relationships with people, founded on trust. You also cannot buy trust—it’s something built over time. Invest in buying coffee, drinks and dinner for people you want to get to know. This may be deeply uncomfortable, and that’s good. It means that building relationships will be easier in the future. Ask people how they got to their current job, what resources they recommend, and what books they think you should read.

Building an army of people who trust you and think you’re talented will be invaluable when you look for jobs.

Consider investing in hard skills such as programming. Dev Bootcamp, a 10-week training course in programming, costs only $12,200. It takes people with no experience and teaches them how to code. In 2012, 88% of its graduates got job offers at an average starting salary of $79,000.

Those outcomes are far better than for students fresh out of M.B.A. programs. According to Payscale.com, the average starting salary for M.B.A. graduates with less than one year of experience was $46,630 in 2012. Dev Bootcamp offers a much better return on investment.

Read on for some invaluable advice on how you can be successful in your business and in life.

Words Of Advice By Successful Entrepreneurs

Sara Blakely (Founder Of Spanx)

“When I was growing up, my dad would encourage my brother and I to fail. We would be sitting at the dinner table and he would ask, ‘So what did you guys fail at this week?’ If we didn’t have something to contribute, he would be disappointed. When I did fail at something, he’d high-five me. What I didn’t realize at the time was that he was completely reframing my definition of failure at a young age. To me, failure means not trying; failure isn’t the outcome. If I have to look at myself in the mirror and say, ‘I didn’t try that because I was scared,’ that is failure.”

– Sara Blakely –  Founder of Spanx

Gurbaksh Chahal (Author & Serial Entrepreneur)

“People tend to think that in order to start a new business they have to come up with something new and dazzling, but that’s a myth – and it’s often propagated by venture capitalists. Find something you love and do it better than everyone else.”

– Gurbaksh Chahal – Serial Entrepreneur, Net Worth $200 Million

Jeff Weiner (CEO of LinkedIn)

“As a child, I can’t recall a day that went by without my dad telling me I could do anything I set my mind to. He said it so often, I stopped hearing it. Along with lines like “eat your vegetables, I just assumed it was one of those bromides that parents repeated endlessly to their kids.
It wasn’t until decades later that I fully appreciated the importance of those words and the impact they had on me.”

– Jeff Weiner – CEO of LinkedIn

Kevin Rose (Founder of Digg, Pownce & Milk)

“Go build it. If you really believe in something, you should just build it. If you love it, it won’t feel like work.”

– Kevin Rose – Founder of Digg, Pownce & Milk

Caterina Fake (Founder of Flickr & Hunch)

“Entrepreneurs need to start building today. The Internet has amazing powers of distribution. You can test your ideas. You can see if it works, if it doesn’t work, whether it’s fun, and whether you’re sufficiently motivated. People who go into entrepreneurship to get rich aren’t going to be happy. It’s the building of things that makes you happy. You have to enjoy the process whether you succeed or fail.”

– Caterina Fake – Founder of Flickr & Hunch

Evan Williams (Founder of Blogger & Twitter)

“Surround yourself with great people, try hard things, say no to distractions and remember to care for yourself. Failure of your company is not failure in life. Failure in your relationships is.”

– Evan Williams – Founder of Blogger & Twitter

Richard Branson (CEO of Virgin)

“My mother always taught me never to look back in regret but to move on to the next thing. The amount of time people waste dwelling on failures rather than putting that energy into another project, always amazes me. I have fun running ALL the Virgin businesses — so a setback is never a bad experience, just a learning curve.”

– Richard Branson – CEO of Virgin

Eric Schmidt (Executive Chairman Of Google)

“Find a way to say yes to things. Say yes to invitations to a new country, say yes to meet new friends, say yes to learn something new. Yes is how you get your first job, and your next job, and your spouse, and even your kids.”

– Eric Schmidt – Executive Chairman Of Google
 

Elon Musk (Founder Of PayPal, Tesla Motors & SpaceX)

“I always knew that there was a chance of failure in all my endeavors. But I felt that they were important enough that I had to try, even if I thought the probability of success was less than 50%. Try to get together a group of people to do something useful. This may seem like an obvious thing, but often people will organize into a company that doesn’t produce anything useful.”

– Elon Musk – Founder Of PayPal, Tesla Motors & SpaceX

Guy Kawasaki (Venture Capitalist & Best Selling Author)

“There is only hard work and luck, which are really two sides of the same coin. The search for a secret sauce is a futile waste of time. Create something, sell it, make it better, sell it some more and then create something that obsoletes what you used to make.”

– Guy Kawasaki – Venture Capitalist & Best Selling Author
 

Mark Cuban (Shark Tank Investor & Owner of the Dallas Mavericks)

“One thing we can all control is effort. Put in the time to become an expert in whatever you’re doing. It will give you an advantage because most people don’t do this. The beauty of success, whether it’s finding the girl of your dreams, the right job or financial success, is that it doesn’t matter how many times you have failed, you only have to be right once.” And, “then everyone can tell you how lucky you are.”

– Mark Cuban - Billionaire Investor & Owner of the Dallas Mavericks
 

Sheryl Sandberg (COO of Facebook)

“I don’t believe we have a professional self from Mondays through Fridays and a real self for the rest of the time. That kind of division probably never worked, but in today’s world … it makes even less sense. I’ve cried at work … I talk about my hopes and fears and ask people about theirs. I try to be myself–honest about my strengths and weaknesses.”

– Sheryl Sandberg – COO of Facebook

Chad Hurley (Co-Founder Of YouTube)

“As you start building the product, don’t assume that you know all the answers. Surround yourself with great people. You need people you can trust to do their job and sometimes the product or idea can die if someone is too controlling. Be prepared to adapt. Also, being lean and mean helps you build something more efficient. You may have initial thoughts or ideas on how something will work but you need to observe how you and the community are using it. Don’t be afraid to change direction mid course.”

- Chad Hurley – Co-Founder Of YouTube

J.K. Rowling (Author of the Harry Potter Series)

“So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”

– J.K. Rowling – Author of the Harry Potter series

Matt Barrie (CEO of Freelancer.com)

“Too many capable people limit their options because they think they don’t have enough experience or feel that they need to work their way up the corporate ladder by visiting every single rung on the way up. Too many people tell me that their dream is to leave their boring cog in the machine day job and start their own business, but they couldn’t possibly think of doing that because they’ve never had experience running one – well that’s a bit chicken and egg! Carpe diem! The time is now! Time and tide waits for no man. No one is going to hand you your future on a plate.”

– Matt Barrie – CEO of Freelancer.com

Jordan Belfort (Best Selling Author & Motivational Speaker)

“In business you should always offer value first and then get the money afterwards. The mistake I made was that I focused so much on the creation of money without going out there and giving value first. Monetizing value is easy; it’s a matter of building that value first.”

– Jordan Belfort – Best Selling Author & Motivational Speaker

Daymond John (Founder of FUBU Clothing and Shark Tank Investor)

“Try to make all the mistakes with your own money and on a small level so that when you are responsible for a partner’s money or assets you’ve learned and you don’t make bigger mistakes. Try to go as far as you can without anybody else’s help first.”

– Daymond John – Founder of FUBU Clothing and Shark Tank Investor

Arianna Huffington (Founder Of The Huffington Post)

“My mother told me failure is not the opposite of success; it’s a stepping stone to success. You’re going to fail, probably many times. But that’s okay — in fact, it’s essential. Very often, the difference between success and failure is simply perseverance. If we become so dependent on things always being a success, then we’re in a very vulnerable position — because we’re not in control of how the world is going to receive something.”

– Arianna Huffington – Founder Of The Huffington Post

Ben Huh (CEO & Founder of Cheezburger)

“You need to put the fear of risk aside. Startups need leaders who are willing to persevere through the hard times. Failure is an option, and a real risk. Failure and risk are something entrepreneurs should understand well, and learn to manage. Don’t have a fear of talking about your failures. Don’t hide your mistakes.”

– Ben Huh – CEO & Founder of Cheezburger

James Caan (BBC’s “Dragons Den” Investor)

“Never stop asking yourself whether you can do things better. Keep testing every aspect of your business to the nth degree, and challenge every one of your assumptions. The tougher you are on yourself now, the tougher your business will be out there in the real world.”

- James Caan - BBC’s “Dragons Den” Investor

Adapted from addicted2success.com

An effective mindset is one that makes the best use of available resources – your time, energy and efforts – and uses them to create positive change.  It’s not about trying to do everything and be everything; it’s making the very best of what you have while enjoying the process of living.

Here are seven effective traits and behaviors of such a mindset:

1.  Enjoys and appreciates the present moment.

Happiness is a mindset that can only be designed into the present.  It’s not a point in the future or a moment from the past; but sadly, this misconception hurts the masses.  So many young people seem to think that happiness awaits them in the years ahead, while so many older people believe that their best moments are behind them.

The truth is, the greater part of your happiness or misery depends solely upon your attitude towards any given moment, regardless of the events contained within.  You need much less than you think you need to be happy, and you usually have a lot more than you think you have.  There’s always something worth smiling about.  It’s just a matter of thinking differently.

2.  Connects inner purpose with outer effort.

The most important thing you can know is what’s most important to you.  Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give yourself to it.  As Friedrich Nietzsche so profoundly said, “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”  Your purpose is your ‘why.’

You can accomplish almost anything when what you’re trying to accomplish is what you care about.  Wear yourself out with focused, disciplined work on a purpose that connects with who you truly are.  You have a unique voice and a unique drive that are longing to be expressed.  Start living sincerely though this expression and you’ll find the joy and success you’ve been hoping for.

3.  Accepts and embraces great challenges.

The most prolific days of your life won’t likely be easy.  It’s not in the serenity of your comfort zone or the inactivity of a lazy day that drives greatness.  Great demands drive the growth of great virtues.  Contending with great challenges forms the foundation of greatness.

Think about a day from your past that ended with a sense of satisfaction.  It’s not a day when you lounged around with nothing to do; it’s a day you had more to do than seemed possible, and you did it.  When your mind is challenged by duties that engage your purpose, then those great virtues, which would otherwise lay dormant, come to life and help you grow into your greatest self.

4.  Self-disciplined.

Without discipline, success is impossible, period.  Discipline is choosing to do what you know must be done, as often and as long as required.  It’s doing the thing you have to do whether you like it or not.

Discipline allows you to control the course of your life.  If you do not discipline yourself, someone else – a parent, teacher, boss, society, etc. – will try to do so for you.  They will choose what they believe is the best method to instill more self-control in you.  But it’s far more advantageous to take control of your own discipline and your own destiny.

Discipline opens up a plethora of options and opportunities which otherwise would not be available to you.  With it you can make best possible use of the time and resources available to you, and employ them to create great value for yourself and your world.  Whatever you set your sights upon, discipline is the vehicle that will get you there.

5.  Remains positive and focused through failure.

Forget about failure.  Trying alone is a huge success.  Regardless of what you’re trying to do – pay off debt, get in shape, start a business, make a difference in the world, etc. – you have already achieved something wonderful simply by putting forth a worthy effort.  If things don’t work out as you had planned, hold your head up high and be proud of the progress you made.  Then make the necessary adjustments and try again.

In the end, it’s focused resilience that eventually leads you to your desired result.  Once you make a conscious decision to remain positive and persist through your failures, the universe gradually conspires to make your efforts rewarding.

6.  Filters and channels anger effectively.

Being angry is easy, and by itself anger gets nothing accomplished.  But to funnel your anger into a productive action plan, at the right time, in the right way, and for the right purpose, that’s how you can put your anger to good use.

In other words, you must direct your anger towards specific problems that can be solved, not people or generalized situations.  Look for answers and resolutions, not excuses and complaints.

7.  Willingness and drive to help others.

The best antidote to gloom is constructive work.  The most curing work is found in the challenge of helping someone who has less than you do.  It’s one of life’s great paradoxes; when you serve others you end up benefiting as much if not more than those you serve.

If you feel stuck in your life because you have lost your direction, shift your focus from your circumstances to the circumstances of those around.  As Gandhi once said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”  Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with me?” ask, “How can I help you?”  Find someone who could use an extra hand and make an offer they can’t refuse.

When your focus shifts from your own confusion and difficulties, to the confusion and difficulties of others, and you see yourself making a positive difference, it fills you with a sense of meaning and illuminates a clear path to a brighter future.

From marcandangel.com

“Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion.  Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.” 

―Franz Kafka

2.  Perfectionism

“If you look for perfection, you’ll never be content.” 

―Leo Tolstoy

Every one of us is a perfectionist about something.  Learn to sense when your desire to make something perfect is preventing you from getting it done.  Realize that the idea of perfection is not only unachievable, it can destroy your otherwiseproductive mindset.  It will keep you running in place, feeling insane for your entire life.

3.  Spending Time with Positive People

“An attitude of positive expectation is the mark of the superior personality.” 

―Brian Tracy

Some people will be critical of you regardless of what you do or how well you do it.  If you say you want to be a dancer, they will discredit your rhythm.  If you say you want to build a new business, they will give you a dozen reasons why it might not work.  They somehow assume you don’t have what it takes, but they are dead wrong.

It’s a lot easier to be negative than positive – a lot easier to be critical than correct.

4.  Conquering Fear

“In a word, I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong.” 

―Charles Dickens

Your doubts and fears are your greatest enemies.  They automatically make you forfeit your victories by convincing you not to make any attempt at all.  Realize the irony here.  When you run from your fears, all you’re really doing is taking a shortcut directly too them – you’re giving up and wasting away without any chance for success and happiness.

5.  Self-Belief

“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” 

―Theodore Roosevelt

In life, it is helpful to be able to persuade others, but the only person you absolutely need to convince is yourself.  Unless you sincerely convince yourself of something, no amount of persuasion of anyone else will move you forward.

The number one thing you need to convince yourself of is that you CAN do whatever you seek to accomplish.  If there are skills you must have, you can learn them.  If there are resources you need, you can locate them.  Your beliefs and commitments drive possibility into otherwise difficult situations.  Convince yourself to achieve, and you will find a way to get there.

6.  Finding the Right Partner

“When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are.” 

―Donald Miller

If you’re still searching for the perfect partner, stop.  There’s no such thing.  There are only different flavors of imperfect ones.  In fact, you are just as imperfect as the partner you seek.  You simply need to find someone whose imperfections complement your own.

This process doesn’t happen overnight.  It takes a lot of living to grow into the realization of your own imperfections.  It takes lots of life experience before you bump into your deepest inner demons, your greatest flaws, and all the idiosyncrasies that make you, YOU.  And it’s only after you meet these imperfect parts of yourself that you know who you are looking for – someone whose scars and flaws fit your own – someone who’s imperfect in the perfect way for you.

7.  Self-imposed Limitations

“Everything you can imagine is real.” 

―Pablo Picasso

We’re all part of a great universe far larger than ourselves.  Each of us is merely a small fraction of this living, breathing whole.  You may experience yourself as being different, separate from the rest, when you are in fact a very connected element of this whole.  Denying this fact restricts your potential to the finite space around you – the people, places, and resources within your immediate reach.

8.  Excuses

“It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.” 

―George Washington

The biggest problem standing between you and your goal is the sorry excuse you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.  Sure, a believable excuse may enable you to save face in the short-term, to appear more diligent than you know you are, but eventually this lie will catch up to you.  The question you should be asking yourself is:  “Do I want to seem successful to someone else, or do I want to know in my heart that I am?”

9.  Procrastination

“You may delay, but time will not.” 

―Benjamin Franklin

It’s time to get up and make an immediate difference in your life.  You know all those things you’ve been meaning to get done for the past month, year, etc.?  Pick one right now and start doing it.  Get your hands dirty, challenge your brain, get sweaty if you have to.  Break out of your comforting lull and get involved.  If you feel crummy, it’ll make you feel better.  If you already feel good, it will make you feel great.

10.  Solitude

“I have to be alone very often.  I’d be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone.  That’s how I refuel.”  ―Audrey Hepburn

You need alone time sometimes, because when you’re in solitude you’re free from obligations and external pressures.  You’re free to be YOU without being fancy and putting on a show.  You’re able to hear your own thoughts and follow them sincerely.

Go ahead and find a quiet place.  Stretch your boundaries.  Explore places you’ve never been.  Go so far away from what you know that you stop being afraid of the unfamiliar.

From http://www.marcandangel.com

Once your mindset changes, everything on
the outside will change along with it.
―Steve Maraboli

An effective mindset is one that makes the best use of available resources – your time, energy and efforts – and uses them to create positive change.  It’s not about trying to do everything and be everything; it’s making the very best of what you have while enjoying the process of living.

Here are seven effective traits and behaviors of such a mindset:

1.  Enjoys and appreciates the present moment.

Happiness is a mindset that can only be designed into the present.  It’s not a point in the future or a moment from the past; but sadly, this misconception hurts the masses.  So many young people seem to think that happiness awaits them in the years ahead, while so many older people believe that their best moments are behind them.

The truth is, the greater part of your happiness or misery depends solely upon your attitude towards any given moment, regardless of the events contained within.  You need much less than you think you need to be happy, and you usually have a lot more than you think you have.  There’s always something worth smiling about.  It’s just a matter of thinking differently. 

2.  Connects inner purpose with outer effort.

The most important thing you can know is what’s most important to you.  Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give yourself to it.  As Friedrich Nietzsche so profoundly said, “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”  Your purpose is your ‘why.’

You can accomplish almost anything when what you’re trying to accomplish is what you care about.  Wear yourself out with focused, disciplined work on a purpose that connects with who you truly are.  You have a unique voice and aunique drive that are longing to be expressed.  Start living sincerely though this expression and you’ll find the joy and success you’ve been hoping for.

3.  Accepts and embraces great challenges.

The most prolific days of your life won’t likely be easy.  It’s not in the serenity of your comfort zone or the inactivity of a lazy day that drives greatness.  Great demands drive the growth of great virtues.  Contending with great challenges forms the foundation of greatness.

Think about a day from your past that ended with a sense of satisfaction.  It’s not a day when you lounged around with nothing to do; it’s a day you had more to do than seemed possible, and you did it.  When your mind is challenged by duties that engage your purpose, then those great virtues, which would otherwise lay dormant, come to life and help you grow into your greatest self.  

4.  Self-disciplined.

Without discipline, success is impossible, period.  Discipline is choosing to do what you know must be done, as often and as long as required.  It’s doing the thing you have to do whether you like it or not.

Discipline allows you to control the course of your life.  If you do not discipline yourself, someone else – a parent, teacher, boss, society, etc. – will try to do so for you.  They will choose what they believe is the best method to instill more self-control in you.  But it’s far more advantageous to take control of your own discipline and your own destiny.

5.  Remains positive and focused through failure.

Forget about failure.  Trying alone is a huge success.  Regardless of what you’re trying to do – pay off debt, get in shape, start a business, make a difference in the world, etc. – you have already achieved something wonderful simply by putting forth a worthy effort.  If things don’t work out as you had planned, hold your head up high and be proud of the progress you made.  Then make the necessary adjustments and try again.

In the end, it’s focused resilience that eventually leads you to your desired result.  Once you make a conscious decision to remain positive and persist through your failures, the universe gradually conspires to make your efforts rewarding.

6.  Filters and channels anger effectively.

Being angry is easy, and by itself anger gets nothing accomplished.  But to funnel your anger into a productive action plan, at the right time, in the right way, and for the right purpose, that’s how you can put your anger to good use.

In other words, you must direct your anger towards specific problems that can be solved, not people or generalized situations.  Look for answers and resolutions, not excuses and complaints. 

7.  Willingness and drive to help others.

The best antidote to gloom is constructive work.  The most curing work is found in the challenge of helping someone who has less than you do.  It’s one of life’s great paradoxes; when you serve others you end up benefiting as much if not more than those you serve.

If you feel stuck in your life because you have lost your direction, shift your focus from your circumstances to the circumstances of those around.  As Gandhi once said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”  Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with me?” ask, “How can I help you?”  Find someone who could use an extra hand and make an offer they can’t refuse.

Adapted from http://www.marcandangel.com

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