Learning to Think and Aim Big: Achieve Success Beyond Your Wildest Dreams

What is success to you?

When you think of success, do you envision oodles of money, a mansion, and a fancy sports car? Those items are great, but what about a deeper sense of success – a success beyond your wildest dreams?

If you’re like most readers of internet articles, websites and blogs, you’ve probably heard some success stories where ordinary folks like yourself have gone from rags to riches scenarios. However, and more importantly, there are even better stories out there. Like the stories of entrepreneurs and business people leaving their corporate world to go and sell ice cream somewhere in the Caribbean. They, too, are abundantly happy and successful.

What makes up success?

Success is a personal definition – for some, it’s lots of money, and for others, it’s fulfillment and for others it’s freedom. Some people want to live in a mansion overlooking the ocean, while others want to live in a cottage by the lake or down at the farm.

Bottom line – success is what you say it is.

Want to know something even more powerful? Success is even what you say it isn’t. You get in your own way.

Let’s start with defining your own success.

Here are a few tips on how to define what success is to you and only you:

What’s your why ?

– we all have a vision of what success looks like to us. However, taking this notion one step further, ask yourself some key questions. What is your why is the first question. Why do you want to achieve this particular success?

Dig deep down and quietly meditate on your true calling, passion and purpose. Everyone has one and it’s only a matter of time before you are one of millions asking yourself, “Is there something than this?” What is the why behind your success? Do you wish to reach thousands of people and make a difference? Do you wish to help hundreds solve a problem you have experience with? Do you value freedom over material objects and items? Start getting in touch with your why.

What’s the most important thing to you?

Do you value financial freedom, being of service, freedom to come and go as you please, the ability to create a flexible schedule which works for you and your family?

Once you get in touch with your why, your core need and desire will become to come to light. If you have a driving need to be your own boss or a passionate purpose to help others beyond your wildest dreams, this will come to light as well. Once you know your why, your core desire will come to the surface.

What actions steps do you need to take, and what does it look like to make it come to life?

Once you’ve done the work to uncover your own definition of success, what your why is, and what’s the most important thing to you, it’s time to take a trip outside of your head and beyond your comfort zone into the world of action. While it’s nice to get inside your head and get in touch with your why and your what, it’s even more important to get in touch with the how.

How will you make it happen?

About Putting Your Blog To Work

I have two blogs currently. Phoenix Education is my way of sharing the things I am learning on my Journey toward making a living on the Internet.

I also have Fairyhanny.com as an outlet for my Creative writing, most of which could be described as Comedy in the tradition of Slapstick and Absurd.

This article is a collection of thoughts relating to monetising a blog, something I am working on!

Networking is an important part of growing any business endeavor

Using the blogging tool is another way of reaching the target audience effectively and quickly. Understanding how blogging contributes to this end is as important as knowing how to apply this tool. Getting the attention of potential customers through the blogging tools is also effectively getting noticed by search engines like Google. Information about the business endeavor or service will be within the reach of masses at a moment’s notice.

Knowing the types of potential visitors and what they are searching for through the blogs is instrumental in providing towards these needs.

When addressing the issue of content and what is going to attract the prospector to the site the blogger must first take the trouble to research the current popular contributors and their topics. 

When designing content for any of the tools to be featured on the internet marketing platform keeping to topics relevant to the core business being projected is very important. I always ask – am I doing that or do I go off task?

People visiting the site will not be amused to find unrelated material being featured. However there may be some isolated instances where this insertion could prove to be a positive variance but this practice is certainly not encouraged – think through your aim and keep going back to why you started!

Being able to effectively reach the target audience on the internet is very important to the success and any endeavor pursued.

Therefore acknowledging that keywords play a pivotal role in this reach is necessary and unequivocal. The reason any particular site is sought out is because of its content material that caters to the needs of the viewer. Therefore it is very important to always provide content that is both unique and interesting as much as possible.

Maximizing returns is always at the forefront of any reason for the various choices made on the business platform.

Therefore following up with the prospects to ensure this maximizing element is optimized is considered a wise and essential course of action. Generating the desired presence and maximizing on this presence factor should ideally be done through follow-ups.

Have You Heard the Term It’s Lonely at the Top?

You probably have heard the term it’s lonely at the top.

The top, in this case, refers to people who are in leadership positions like managers. It is used to reference the fact that managers have to make decisions that people won’t be happy about. For instance, suppose your manager tells your team they have to work in the coming weekend. How popular will that decision be for the team?

It’s unclear where the phrase originated. Some believe it came from the 1972 song by Randy Newman called, “Lonely at the Top.” However, it’s likely to have been coined much earlier than that. Whoever coined the phrase, there is no doubt what it means. When you are in a leadership position, you won’t have the friends you used to have.

While people may not enjoy the decisions you are left to make, they will respect them. Of course, that depends on how you present those decisions. If you are not firm in your handling of decisions, people will read this as being weak. Once that occurs, you will have a difficult time recovering from that perception. Be firm and don’t waiver.

You should get as much information as possible before making decisions.

Plenty of leaders will fly off the handle with decisions. They won’t take into account that more information is needed before making the decisions. This causes the wrong decisions to be made. The people who are affected by these decisions will get angry, and you will lose credibility as their leader. Again, once that happens, you will need to work hard to gain their trust back.

When you accept a leadership role, accept the responsibility that goes along with it.

People aren’t going to like every choice you make. They need to come to terms with that. You can have an open forum with them to discuss decisions that affect them. However, you are the one who has been put in charge of those decisions. Make them with confidence.

You are going to make mistakes with several decisions.

When you believe you have all the necessary information, new facts may emerge to throw the original concept out of whack. There isn’t much you can do about it except finding alternative actions and decisions. Your confidence will mean much for your credibility when this occurs. However, when you exude that confidence, your team will give you the respect you deserve.

How to Be an Inspirational Leader

Whether you aspire to be an inspiration to a congregation, a business or your kids you should know that there are some common practices that inspirational leaders adhere to no matter who or what they want to inspire.

If you think that free coffee and donuts in the break room is going to inspire your employees to come to work – or that telling kids how you walked a mile to school, barefoot in the snow is going to inspire your kids to do well in school, you need to rethink your courses of action.

An inspirational leader removes barriers for getting work done and then joins in the work itself and gets the job done. Some qualities that inspirational leaders bring to the table are:

  • Enthusiasm – When you express passion for what you’re doing, others become ignited from your passion like one candle lighting another. You may not be enthused about a course of action your company is taking, but you can have enthusiasm about getting everyone onboard to make it happen.
  • Tell Stories – You may notice that whenever a president gives the “State of the Union” address, he tells inspirational stories of others. Some may make you cry, but all will elicit some type of emotion. When you tell personal stories about your company or how people are helped by what you’re involved in, others will be inspired.
  • Communicate a Vision – A lower-level employee may not become inspired about a plan for your company that’s going to make the executives lots of money in their stock portfolios – but they will become inspired when you can communicate a vision of what it will do for them.
  • Honesty – No matter what the challenge, an inspirational leader will face it with honesty. If you’ve made a mistake that’s affecting your business or your family, you should be honest and forthright – and have a plan to overcome any adversity.
  • Respect – When you earn respect from others you’re on your way to becoming a leader who inspires. Ethics and integrity garner respect and how you conduct yourself during hardships is also a key quality in leaders who inspire.

Ask yourself what inspires you to new heights or to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. When you find the answer, you can experience peak performance because you’ll know what it takes to get you there.

When you know what inspires others, you can be the leader who takes others to greater heights than they ever imagined. Listen to others, know what inspires them and you can become the inspirational leader you want to be.

How to Be a Leader

What does it take for someone to be a leader?

Some people believe that you must be born with it. While it may be true that some people possess a natural ability towards leadership, it can be learned. Like anything else, you get better at it with practice.

One of the key features of a leader is to lead by example. Our society has gotten too used to the idea that leaders simply bark orders at people. They expect people to follow those orders without the willingness to do the tasks themselves. Leaders need to be the captains of the ship and be willing to go down with the ship.

Another role of a leader is to take responsibility for your actions. Don’t pass the blame onto others. If you assume or accept a leadership role, then you will be looked upon to guide those you lead. Own up to your mistakes and figure out alternative courses of action when needed.

A leader should also have a vision for their organization.

You should know what you are trying to accomplish and figure out how you are going to get there. To continue with the captain of the ship analogy, you need to map out a route to take the ship.

When you are leading others, you need to display confidence. When people view you as a confident leader, they will do whatever you ask of them. There is a difference between confidence and arrogance. Be careful not to confuse the two even though they sometimes can cross.

Leaders are allowed to make mistakes.

How they recover from those mistakes defines their ability to lead. If you hide from the problem, you will lose the confidence that others have placed in you. Face up to the adversity of the situation and figure out how to handle it. This can require some tough decisions, but that is part of the role of the leader.

Leaders should listen to the people they are leading.

If you take the approach that you are always right, you will set the stage for a group of yes people. What this means is you will need to be responsible for every decision, even the ones that you thought you were delegating. Hire the right people and let them do their jobs. Listen to their concerns. Listening to others does not imply caving into their demands. You simply need to take what others say into consideration.

How to Develop the Courage to Lead

It takes courage to be a leader, but even if you have fears that have kept you from leadership roles so far doesn’t mean that you can’t overcome them and achieve positions of leadership.

Each decision you make in your personal and business life is a testament to your courage. Something as simple as refusing a rich dessert because you want to stay fit takes a certain amount of courage if you have gnawing cravings for sugar.

Other decisions you must make may be monumental and require the courage of a lion. A decision to quit a high-paying job to follow your life’s dream is a major decision that takes courage – and planning. And, some decisions may seem unimportant in the moment, but later you may see that they were life-changing.

Courage promotes confidence and self-esteem and builds a framework in which you can accomplish pretty much anything you set out to do. Think of the genius, Stephen Hawking, and how much he overcame to become one of the leading scientists and writers of our time.

It must have taken a tremendous amount of courage for Hawking to work through physical disabilities and manage to keep the passion for his work. Another great leader of courage was King George VI of England who overcame a speech impediment to give one of the greatest speeches at a time when the world needed it most.

Working through your greatest fears to have the courage to do something remarkable can lead you to the success. Here are some steps you can take in your own life that will help you build the courage you need to accomplish anything:

  1. Create a positive environment – Surround yourself with people who are positive and who believe in you. Building skills and talents needs those who will bolster your self-confidence and increase your self-worth.
  2. Maintain a positive attitude – Dealing with issues that challenge you can be turned into an opportunity for success. Try to think of each challenge in your life as an opportunity to use your skills and instincts to overcome and triumph.
  3. Get out of your comfort zone – You’ll never develop courage if you’re in a rut. Each day, find something challenging and outside of what you normally do and try it. When you open yourself to various situations, you learn to cope.
  4. Don’t let fear hold you back – Humans can become fearful of anything. Even situations that are supposed to be happy can become fearful if you over-think the situation. Get rid of those “what ifs” in your mind and replace them with positive thoughts.
  5. Enjoy the struggle – Yes, you can enjoy the challenges that life brings if you know that it’s building the courage inside you that will spur you on to bigger and better things. Life’s challenges only serve to make you a stronger and more courageous person.

Each time you accomplish something or overcome a fear, your confidence will grow stronger. The courage of a true leader is accomplished by taking small steps rather than overcome one big challenge, so take the steps to build your courage and be amazed at the results.

Monday Morning thoughts

Advice from the Institute of Physics in the UK!

We might not always be aware of it, but we tell stories all the time. Whether telling someone what we did over the weekend or explaining how we came up with a certain idea for a project, we use story telling to share our emotions, experiences and knowledge. 

And we have been doing so throughout history. Stories have allowed us to pass on information from one generation to the next in the form of books, visuals and the spoken word. Some cultures rely heavily – or solely in some cases – on oral storytelling to pass on traditions, values and beliefs. Members of the Native American Abenaki tribe, for example, have traditionally told their children stories as a way to teach them right from wrong and so instil core values in them. Fairy tales have done the same for many cultures for hundreds of years.

So why stories? What makes them so valuable? 

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

First and foremost, stories allow us to make sense of the world around us. The way this works is quite simple: our brains are hardwired to look for patterns, i.e. finding links between cause and effect. This is how we learn from a young age. For example, if we touch something very hot and it hurts our hand we make the causal connection between the two and learn not to touch that thing again. The end result of this thought process is a story, which we can then share with others to spread our knowledge.

Stories can touch us in any number of ways. They can open our minds to new perspectives, inspire and persuade us, help build our confidence, grow a sense of inclusion and incite change. Ultimately, they can be used to shape our values and beliefs. Think, for example, of how stories are used within religion and politics to influence how people think and what they believe.

Photo by Daniela Constantini on Pexels.com

A story’s power comes from its narrative form, which draws us in much more than dry facts ever could. Evidence from neuroscience suggests that when we listen to a story our brain patterns start to mirror those of the speaker, allowing us to connect on a deeper level. The way a story is structured – with a clear beginning, middle and end – also helps to maintain our engagement as we long to hear the outcome. 

Being a great storyteller is an incredibly useful skill for any professional to have, and a relatively easy one to master: after all, it’s something that we practise almost every day. However, to perfect the art there are some ground rules to keep in mind:

  1. Make sure you understand your audience and how best to best to engage them.
  2. Your story needs to be easy to follow with a clear structure.
  3. Don’t forget the power of delivery: your tone of voice and body language can influence engagement levels.

Evaluate your own storytelling skills: how comfortable do you feel telling a story? How good do you think you are at engaging others when you speak? Then start practising those skills. Whether it’s at your next networking event, during a presentation, or a meeting with your boss or a hiring manager: tell a story about you, your career or the project you are working on. Chances are whoever’s listening will remember that story over anything else.

The Power of Positive thought

Consider this scenario:

You’re preparing for an important presentation. It’s not going very well and you start to think you’re going to mess it up completely. Every small mistake you make reinforces this idea, up to the point where it’s all you can think about.

What this example demonstrates is the power – and danger – of negative thinking.

Research into negative thoughts has shown how they lead us to dissociate from the outside world and turn our focus to one thing only: the thing that is making us feel angry, scared or bad about ourselves. As a result, we stagnate.

Positive thoughts have the opposite effect,

By opening our minds to see a whole range of possibilities and therefore welcoming new ideas and perceptions. Barbara Fredrickson, a professor at the University of North Carolina and researcher of positive emotions, believes thinking positively can even have long-term benefits. In her ‘broaden and build’ theory she describes how the broadening of our sense of what is possible generated by positive thoughts can lead us to develop new skills and so progress in life.

For some of us, looking at things from the bright side is something that comes easily; others find it harder. That doesn’t mean all hope is lost, though: thinking positively is something that you can train yourself to do. 

First of all, you’ll need to start making a conscious effort to not give in to negative thoughts. Recognise when you start dwelling on the bleaker side of things and put a stop to it by asking yourself what you could do to make the situation better. Then start setting actionable goals for yourself – reaching them will empower you.

The next step is to foster positive thoughts.

Easier said than done? Not necessarily. While positive thinking creates positive emotions, this process also works the other way around. This means that doing things you love, that bring you joy, can help you to think more positively. Think, for example. of a time where you engaged with something you are passionate about: perhaps you went to a concert or saw a film you really loved. Did you feel inspired afterwards? Perhaps it even led you to actively pursue a goal related to that passion?

Or you can try something new.

Meditation has been proven to help cultivate positive thoughts, while a study published in the Journal of Research in Personality showed that writing about positive experiences can have the same effect.

Thinking positively means getting out of your head and looking for solutions.

It’s something you may have to practice to get better at, but ultimately it can open doors that you may otherwise have walked right past.