Hey, Boomers! Make a practice of getting out of your comfort zone and commit to yourself!

What’s the deal with self improvement advice anyway? It’s everywhere, isn’t it?

Self help books line multiple shelves in any book store you’d walk into, there are countless personal development web sites to choose from and there’s got to be like a gazillion articles out there on the topic. With so much great advice so readily available on the topic of self empowerment, why is life nothing more than a daily struggle for so many?

If this describes you – if you’re experiencing more struggle than success in your life – I’ve got some great news for you. Believe it or not, you may be only a tweak or two away from some major, positive changes in your life.

Here are two simple yet very powerful steps you can take to immediately move yourself quickly in the right direction.

The first step is to make an affirmative decision on an area of your life which you feel could use improvement. You see, self improvement topics cover every area of life you can possible think of. What you’d want to do is choose an area and concentrate on it. For example, self improvement as it relates to succeeding in a home based business is a nice, specific area you may decide you need help in.

The second step is something I’ll rant about until the day I die and that is: take action! Absorbing self help information is useless if action on applying that information is not taken.

Understand that these two steps, although simple, can still prove to be challenging. Reason being is making changes in life always will require you to exit your comfort zone. And this may be the number one reason why so many people settle for mediocrity in life. Getting out of your comfort zone is so terrifying to so many people they’d rather settle for a life of struggle.

But not you, not anymore. Today is your day to begin your transformation. To help you along the way, I’ll offer you four qualities you’ll need to possess.

Success will require your focus, energy, passion and time. As long as you make a commitment to the two steps of self improvement as described above combine with these 4 qualities then greater success will surely be yours.

1. Focus – once you decide on the area in which to improve yourself, focus on it with all your energy. You’ll be amazed at the progress you can make in any area of your life when you focus on it unconditionally.

2. Energy – success must always be earned, it is never merely handed over. And success, true success, rarely comes easily. An entrepreneur in the building phase of his or her business can sometimes put in 80 hours per week or more. The eventual goal should always be to build a business which would provide passive income but a great deal of energy is required to get to that point.

3. Passion – this point is the most obvious of the 4. You have to love what you do if you ever expect to become successful at it. If you don’t have a deep passion to achieve your goals then chances are pretty good you’ll be wasting a lot of your time.

4. Time – be easy on yourself and allow your success to unfold naturally. It never seems that things come as quickly as we’d like them to especially when it comes to doing something like building a home business. Just always remember, if success were quick and easy, then there wouldn’t be so much pain and suffering in the world now would there?

Do you now see how self improvement is right within your reach? Start today, make a commitment to yourself right now and watch how quickly things can turn around for you.

To help you along your own road of self improvement, reading a good quality book can make all the difference. For a limited time you can gain free, immediate access to “A Plum In The Syrup” by Daniel Herzner. This empowering, free self help book has already touched countless lives around the world and now it’s your turn. Simply visit APlumInTheSyrup dot com now for your free download.Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/what-do-you-get-when-adding-2-plus-4-success-1565722.html



Bud McKenzie is alive and well and living with his wife Jan and five children is beautiful Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada. He is a senior evaluation analyst and likes to blog in his spare time. His dream is to help other “Baby Boomers” become proficient at building a passive income online and have fun doing it. He projects positive energy to each and everyone that he comes in contact with. He has reviewed 100’s of online opportunities and has chosen only the best. Check out his online reviews at: Our Best Programs 4 You

Technorati Tags: comfort zone, commitment, energy, focus, passion, settle for nothing less., take action, time management

Writing to-do lists and keeping a schedule may keep you organized, but does it really help you get more done? I believe that organization is important, but what you really need is focus. Being able to sit down and concentrate intensely on your work for a few hours. Even a half an hour of focused effort can get more done than an entire day of distraction and multitasking.

Here’s some tips to get into a state of deep concentration where work flows easily:

1) Cut Off the Noise

It may be obvious that distractions aren’t helping your focus, but do you actually cut them out? I’ll admit, it can be tempting to put the e-mail alerts on, turn on the IM and answer every request sent your way. But in the end it is only preventing you from concentrating.

Getting into a state of concentration can take at least fifteen minutes. If you are getting distracted every five, you can’t possibly focus entirely on your work. Answer your e-mails at scheduled times. Request that people don’t interrupt you when working on a big project. If you are required to answer phones and drop-in’s immediately, schedule work when the office is less busy.

2) Structure Your Environment

The place you work can have an impact on your ability to focus. Try to locate yourself so you are facing potential distractions such as doors, phones or windows. This way you can take a glance to assess sounds that would otherwise break your focus.

3) Clarify Objectives

Know what your goal is clearly before you start. If you aren’t sure what the end result is, the confusion will make it impossible to focus. Before I write any articles, I define the main focus of the article and get a brief mental picture of the structure. Unclear objectives often result in having to redo sections of work.

4) Divide Blobs

Big blobs of tasks that have no clear start or end point destroy focus. If you have a large project that needs work, clearly identify a path that you will use to get started working on it. If the sequence of actions isn’t obvious, it will be difficult to concentrate. Taking a few minutes to plan not only your end result, but the order you will complete any steps, can save hours in wasted thinking.

5) Know the Rules

Get clear on what the guidelines are for the task ahead. What level of quality do you need? What standards do you need to follow? What constraints are there? If you are writing a program, get clear on how much commenting you need, what functions you want to use and the flexibility required. If you are writing an article, decide on the length and style.

If the rules aren’t clear from the outset, you will slip out of concentration as you ponder them later.

6) Set a Deadline

Deadlines have both advantages and disadvantages when trying to force concentration. A deadline can make it easier to forget the non-essential and speed up your working time. If you give yourself only an hour to design a logo, you will keep it simple and avoid fiddling with extravagant designs.

Time limits have disadvantages when they cause you to worry about the time you have left instead of the task itself. I recommend using a deadline when:

1. Time is limited. If you only have a day to complete work that could easily take weeks, chunking it into specific deadlines will strip away everything that isn’t crucial.
2. It’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. If your task could easily expand to have new features or ideas, use a deadline to keep it under control.
3. To avoid procrastination. A tight deadline can save you if you are worried about procrastinating.

7) Break Down Roadblocks

Roadblocks occur whenever you hit a tricky problem in your work. This can happen when you run out of ideas or your focus wavers. Break down roadblocks by brainstorming or planning on a piece of paper. Writing out your thought processes can keep you focused even if you might become frustrated.

8 ) Isolate Yourself

Become a hermit and stay away from other people if you want to get work done. Unless your work is based on other people they will only break your focus. Create a private space and refuse to talk to anyone until your work is finished. Put a sign on your door to steer away drop-ins and don’t answer your phone.

9) Healthy Body, Sharper Mind

What you put into your body affects the way you concentrate. Nobody would expect peak performance if they showed up drunk to work. But if you allow yourself to get chronic sleep deprivation, overuse stimulants like caffeine or eat dense, fatty foods your concentration will suffer. Try to cut out one of your unhealthy habits for just thirty days to see if there is a difference in your energy levels. I’ve found even small steps can create dramatic changes in my ability to focus.

10) Be Patient

Before I write an article, I often sit at my desk for a fifteen or twenty minutes before I put finger on the keyboard. During this time I feel a strong urge to leave or do something else. But I know that if I am patient, I’ll stumble upon an idea to write about and enter a state of flow. Without a little patience, you can’t take advantage of flow when it rushed through you.

If you need strong concentration I recommend periods of 90-120 minutes. Any less than that and you will waste too much time getting started before the flow can continue. More than this is possible to sustain focus, but you will probably benefit from a quick break.

To your online success,
Brett McKenzie
http://www.theboomerbiz.com

As always, your comments are welcomed and appreciated.

Technorati Tags: avoid distractions, clear your mind, concentration, focus, getting things done, let your ideas flow