success

11
Light a candle beside you when you are reading in the evening. It is most relaxing and creates a wonderful,
soothing atmosphere. Make your home an oasis from the frenzied world outside. Fill it with great music,
great books and great friends.
12
To enhance your concentration and powers of focus, count your steps when you walk. This is a particularly
strong technique. Take six steps while taking a long inhale, hold your breath for another six steps, and then
exhale for six steps. If six steps is too long for the breaths, do whatever you feel comfortable with. You will
feel very alert, refreshed, internally quiet and centered after this exercise. So many people allow their minds
to be filled with mental chatter. All peak performers appreciate the power of a quiet, clear mind which will
concentrate steadily on all important tasks.
13
Learn to meditate effectively. The mind is naturally a very noisy machine which wants to move from one
subject to another like an unchained monkey. One must learn to restrain and discipline it if one is to achieve
anything of substance and to be peaceful. Meditation for twenty minutes in the morning and twenty minutes
in the evening will certainly provide you with exceptional results if regularly practiced for six months.
Learned sages of the East have been advancing the many benefits of meditation for over 5000 years.
14
Learn to be still. The average person doesn't spend even 30 minutes a month in total silence and tranquility.
Develop the skill of sitting quietly, enjoying the powerful silence for at least ten minutes a day. Simply think
about what is important to you in your life. Reflect on your mission. Silence indeed is golden. As the Zen
master once said, it is the space between the bars that holds the cage.
15
Enhance your will-power; it is likely one of the best training programs you can invest in. All elite performers
have high levels of self-discipline. Here are some ideas to strengthen your will and become a stronger
person:
a) Do not let your mind float like a piece of paper in the wind. Work hard to keep it focused at all times.
When doing a task, think of nothing else. When walking to work, count the steps that it takes to get all the
way to the office. This is not easy but your mind will soon understand that you hold its reins and not vice
versa. Your mind must eventually become as still as a candle flame in a corner where there is no draft.
b) Your will is like a muscle. You must first exercise it and then push before it gets stronger. This necessarily
involves short term pain but be assured that the improvements will come and will touch your character in a
most positive way. When you are hungry, wait another hour before your meal. When you are laboring over
a difficult task and your mind is prompting you to pick up the latest magazine for a break or to get up and
go talk to a friend, curb the impulse. Soon you will be able to sit for hours in a precisely concentrated state.
Sir Isaac Newton, one of the greatest classical physicists the world has produced, once said: "if I have done
the public any service, it is due to patient thought." Newton had a remarkable ability to sit quietly and think
without interruption for very long periods of time. If he can develop this so can you.
c) You can also build your will-power by restraint in your conduct with others. Speak less (use the 60/40
Rule = listen 60% of the time and speak a mere 40%, if that). This will not only make you more popular but
you will learn much wisdom as everyone we meet, every day has something to teach us. Also restrain the
urge to gossip or to condemn someone who you feel has made a mistake. Stop complaining and develop a
cheerful, vital and strong personality. You will greatly influence others.
d) When a negative thought comes to your mind, immediately replace it with one that is positive. Positive
always dominates over the negative and your mind has to be conditioned to think only the best thoughts.
Negative thinking is a conditioned process whereby the negative patterns are established over and over. Rid
yourself of any limitations and become a powerful positive thinker.
16
Make an effort to be humorous throughout the day. Not only is it beneficial from a physical viewpoint but it
diffuses tension in difficult circumstances and creates an excellent atmosphere wherever you are. It was
recently reported that members of the Tauripan tribe of South America have a ritual where they awake in
the middle of the night to tell each other jokes. Even tribesmen in the deepest sleep wake to enjoy the
laugh and then return to their state of slumber in seconds. The shortest distance between two human
beings is laughter.
17
Become a highly disciplined time manager. There are roughly 168 hours in a week. This surely allows plenty
of time for achievement of the many goals we desire to accomplish. Be ruthless with your time. Set aside a
few minutes each morning to plan your day. Plan around your priorities and focus on not only those tasks
which are immediate but not important (i.e., many telephone calls) but especially on those which are
important but not urgent, for these allow for the greatest personal and professional development. Important
but not immediate activities are those which produce long-term, sustainable benefits and include exercise,
strategic planning, the development of relationships and professional education. Never let the things which
matter most be placed in the backseat as compared to those that matter least.
18
You become who you drink coffee with. Associate only with positive, focused people who you can learn from
and who will not drain your valuable energy with complaining and uninspiring attitudes. By developing
relationships with those committed to constant improvement and the pursuit of the best that life has to
offe r, you will have plenty of company on your path to the top of whatever mountain you seek to climb.
19
Stephen Hawking, one of the great modern physicists of the world, is reported to have said that we are on a
minor planet of a very average star located within the outer limits of one of a hundred thousand million
galaxies. Are your problems really significant in light of this? You walk this Earth for but a short time. Why
not become devoted to having only a wonderful experience. Why not dedicate yourself to leaving a powerful
legacy to the world? Sit down now and write out a list of all that you have in your life. Start first with your
health or your family - the things we often take for granted. Put down the country we live in and the food
we eat. Do not stop until you have written down fifty items. Once every few days, go through this list - you
will be uplifted and recognize the richness of your existence.
20
You must have a personal philosophy in life. This is simply a set of guiding principles which clearly state
where you are going and where you want to be at the end of your life. A mission statement embodies your
values. It is your personal lighthouse keeping you steadily on the course of your dreams. Over a period of
one month, set a few hours aside to write down five or ten principles which will govern your life and which
will keep you focused at all times. Examples might be to consistently serve others, to be a considerate
citizen, to become highly wealthy or to serve as a powerful leader. Whatever the mission statement of your
life, refine it and review it regularly. Then when something adverse happens or someone tries to pull you off
course, you quickly and precisely return to your chosen path with the full knowledge that you are moving in
the direction that you have selected.

200 Powerful Ideas for an Extraordinary Life

1
Sleep less. This is one of the best investments you can make to make your life more productive and
rewarding. Most people do not need more than 6 hours to maintain an excellent state of health. Try getting
up one hour earlier for 3-4 weeks and it will develop into a powerful habit. Remember, it is the quality not
the quantity of sleep that is important. And just imagine having an extra 30 hours a month to spend on the
things that are important to you.
2
Set aside one hour every morning for personal development matters. Meditate, visualize your day, read
inspirational texts to set the tone of your day, listen to motivational tapes or read great literature. Take this
quiet period to vitalize and energize your spirit for the productive day ahead. Watch the sun rise once a
week or be with nature. Starting the day off well is a powerful strategy for self-renewal and personal
effectiveness.
3
Do not allow those things that matter the most in your life be at the mercy of activities that matter the
least. Every day, take the time to ask yourself the question "is this the best use of my time and energy?"
Time management is life management so guard your time with great care.
4
Remember that your expectations create your reality and life pretty much sends you what you think and
expect.
5
Always answer the phone with enthusiasm in your voice and show your appreciation for the caller. Good
phone manners are essential. To convey aut hority on the line, stand up. This will instill further confidence in
your voice.
6
Throughout the day we all get inspiration and excellent ideas. Capture them. Keep a set of cards (the size of
business cards; available at most stationary stores) in your wallet along with a pencil to jot down these
insights. When you get home, put the ideas in a central place such as a coil notepad and review them from
time to time. As noted by Oliver Wendell Holmes: "Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains
its original dimensions."
7
Set aside every Sunday evening for yourself and be strongly disciplined with this habit. Use this period to
plan your week, visualize your encounters and what you want to achieve, to read new materials and
inspirational books, to listen to soft soothing music and to simply relax. This habit will serve as your anchor
to keep you focused, motivated and effective throughout the coming week.
8
Always remember the key principle that the quality of your life is the quality of your communication. This
means the way you communicate with others and, more importantly, the way you communicate with
yourself. What you focus on is what you get. If you look for the positive this is what you get. This is a
fundamental law of Nature.
9
Stay on purpose, not on outcome. In other words, do the task because it is what you love to do or because
it will help someone or is a valuable exercise. Don't do it for the money or the recognition. Those will come
naturally. This is the way of the world.
10
Laugh for five minutes in the mirror each morning. Steve Martin does. Laughter activates many beneficial
chemicals within the body that place us into a very joyous state. Laughter also returns the body to a state of
balance. Laughter therapy has been regularly used to heal persons with varied ailments and is a wonderful
tonic for life's ills. While the average 4 year old laughs 500 times a day, the average adult is lucky to laugh
15 times a day. Revitalize the habit of laughter, it will put far more living into your life.