6 Motivation Tips When You’re Feeling Depressed

Depression is a difficult illness for even the most iron-willed of individuals. Whether you’re clinically depressed or just in a rut, depression can make basic tasks like cleaning the house, taking a shower and even getting out of bed incredibly difficult and physically and mentally draining. It is important to stay motivated to continue to live your life and work towards feeling better, even when you’re at your lowest point. Here are some simple ways that you can motivate yourself on a daily basis:

1) Don’t be too harsh with yourself. It’s going to take time to get things done like you used to and to feel like your old self. Changes are not going to happen overnight, so don’t be overly critical of yourself if you make mistakes or don’t get as much done as you’d like. You’re having a hard enough time without getting on your own case.


2) Be realistic. Making a laundry list of things to do is a surefire way to set yourself up for failure. Start with small positive changes and work from there. If you’re not realistic you’ll just end up frustrated and more depressed.


3) Surround yourself with people. While you may just want to curl up and be alone, this isn’t the best or easiest route for you when you’re depressed. Having others around you to give you a helping hand, talk to you and provide you with inspiration is important to feeling better and getting back into the swing of things, even if you feel like you just want to shut everyone out.

4) Move around. Lying in bed all day or hunkering down on the couch isn’t going to do much but give you more time to feel bad about things. When you force yourself to get up, even if only for a short walk or to tend to some plants outside, you’ll be helping yourself feel better physically and mentally.

5) Start a project. For many, this may seem like that last thing they want to do but an enjoyable project can give you something to concentrate on that will bring your thoughts away from depression and give you something to feel proud of when you’re done.

6) Make a plan. If even the smallest tasks seem like a chore, start small with planning out what you’re going to do each day. In the morning, write down the things you’d like to accomplish and in the evening, go back and check off what you did. This can help you regain your sense of control over your life at a time when it seems the most chaotic.

Recovering from depression is a hard road, but with some planning and slow but steady progress you may be able to start feeling optimistic about your life again.

7 Inspiring Success Lessons....

Today I want to talk about seven inspiring success lessons. If you’re going to succeed you must first master the lessons of success. You must pass the test and qualify for success. Marva Collins said, “Success doesn’t come to you, you go to it.” With that, here are seven lessons to help you “go to” success.

7 Inspiring Success Lessons:

1. Work
“The most practical, beautiful, workable philosophy in the world won’t work – if you won’t.” -Zig Ziglar
You can listen to and read all of the self-development in the world, but if you don’t put what you’re learning into action, things won’t change. There’s a Swedish proverb that goes, “God gives every bird a worm, but he does not throw it into the nest.” You have the potential to succeed, but you’re going to have to work the principles that you know.

2. Change
“Unless you change how you are, you will always have what you’ve got.”-Jim Rohn

In order for your life to change, you must change. To the degree that you change your thoughts, will be to the degree that your life changes. Don’t expect anything to change if you’re not changing. Don’t expect your marriage to get any better, if you’re not changing. Don’t expect your health to get any better if you’re not changing. If you want massive change, you must make massive change.

3. Stumble

“A stumble may prevent a fall.”–English Proverb
It’s okay to stumble. When you reach for great things you will stumble; just be sure to learn from the stumble. A stumble could be the best thing that ever happened to you. A stumble may prevent total chaos in your life, if you learn from it. Learn to value stumbles and to learn from the stumbles.

4. Become
“Success is not so much what we have as it is what we are.” -Jim Rohn
Success does not come from what you attain, but from who you become. Success is not a big car; success is you being big on the inside. When you’re big on the inside, you can attract a big car, but the car does not make you, you make the car. If you decide to grow up, you will succeed. Jim Rohn said, “We can have more than we’ve got because we can become more than we are.”

5. Take Charge
“Possession of the ball is the key to winning in football, basketball, and the game of life.”–Laing Burns, Jr.
The good news is you always have possession of the ball in the game of life. Unfortunately, most people don’t realize that they have possession of the ball. They’re waiting around for someone to pass them the ball, and they already have it. Take charge of your life, you got the ball, it’s in your court, what are you going to do?

6. Push

It is easy to get to the top after you get through the crowd at the   bottom. – Zig Ziglar
The hard part is always the beginning, the push through the crowd. But if you make it through the crowd, you can make it to the top. I said, “If you can make it through the crowd, you can make it to the top.” Commit today, to push through the crowd.

7. Vision
“Success often comes to those who have the aptitude to see way down the road.”-Laing Burns, Jr.

Vision is your ability to see down the road. Use your imagination to see all the way down the road. I like what Robert Collier said, he said, “The great successful men of the world have used their imagination, they think ahead and create their mental picture in all its details, filling in here, adding a little there, altering this a bit and that a bit, but steadily building – steadily building.”

Keep on building, and your vision will become your reality. Keep on building and success will be yours.

Your Depressurization Chamber

Share As deep sea divers descend into the depths of the ocean the pressure around them builds until they are operating in an extremely high pressure environment.

In order to return to the surface safely, these divers often need to spend time in a depressurization chamber.
While you may not journey to the bottom of the sea, it’s quite possible that you too regularly spend time in a high pressure environment in the form of your workplace.

Just as divers need to depressurize after spending time in a high pressure environment, it’s equally important for you to depressurize after work in order to avoid bringing work related stress into your home.
A good way to think of this process is to imagine that you pass through a depressurization chamber on your way home from work. As you pass through your chamber, you eliminate the pressure of work so that you can return home in the right frame of mind to enjoy your evening.

Here are five activities that you can use as a depressurization chamber at the end of your work day.

Walk and Talk: One of the best depressurization techniques if you have a partner is something called ‘walk and talk’. As soon as you get home after a busy day, change clothes to get out of ‘work’ mode and then go for a walk around the block with your partner. Take it in turns to discuss your day and use the opportunity to talk about any difficulties or stresses that you are each facing.Once you’ve fully vented any built up stress and got your blood pumping with a bit of exercise, you’ll find it much easier to let go of work related activities so that you can return home to enjoy your night together.

Drive and Sing: Another great technique if you drive to work is to turn your car into a depressurization chamber by listening to your favorite CD and singing out loud. The combination of your favorite music and the freedom of singing in your own space is a great way to eliminate the built up stress of the day. Of course you shouldn’t get too carried away while you’re behind the wheel.

Listen and Laugh: If you can find a good drive time radio station, an excellent way to depressurize after a hard day at work is to listen to a humorous radio program and enjoy a good laugh. Laughter has been shown to lower blood pressure, reduce stress hormones, increase muscle flexion, and boost immune function.

Exercise and Shower: For some people, the gym acts as a great depressurization chamber. A twenty minute cardio or circuit workout releases feel good endorphins that clear away the stress of the day and leave you feeling alert and on an exercise high. Just make sure that you don’t make the mistake of trying to push yourself too hard. At the end of your workout you should feel energized not exhausted.

Park and Pet: If you are a pet person, another effective depressurization technique at the end of the day is to take your dog for a walk in the park. Once again you get the benefits of exercise and fresh air and you also get to enjoy time with your four legged friend. Even after the most stressful day you’ll end up with a smile on your face once you’re done.

Hopefully these ideas will get you thinking.

Remember the key to making this technique work is to find an activity that you can use as a depressurization chamber that exists between your work place and your home.When you get into the habit of passing through your depressurization chamber each day you’ll find that you arrive home in a much better frame of mind. This is turn will help you to make the most of your time at home with the people you love.

Until next time,
Dare to Dream!
Anthony
http://www.anthonyfernando.com/

Great Story...SMART Wins !!

There once lived a great mathematician in a village outside Ujjain . He was often called by the local king to advice on matters related to the economy. His reputation had spread as far as Taxila in the North and Kanchi in the South of India. So it hurt him very much when the village headman told him, "You may be a great mathematician who advises the king on economic matters but your son does not know the value of gold or silver."

The mathematician called his son and asked, "What is more valuable - gold or silver?" "Gold," said the son. "That is correct. Why is it then that the village headman makes fun of you, claims you do not know the value of gold or silver? He teases me every day. He mocks me before other village elders as a father who neglects his son. This hurts me. I feel everyone in the village is laughing behind my back because you do not know what is more valuable, gold or silver. Explain this to me, son."

So the son of the mathematician told his father the reason why the village headman carried this impression. "Every day on my way to school, the village headman calls me to his house. There, in front of all village elders, he holds out a silver coin in one hand and a gold coin in other. He asks me to pick up the more valuable coin. I pick the silver coin. He laughs, the elders jeer, everyone makes fun of me. And then I go to school. This happens every day. That is why they tell you I do not know the value of gold or silver."

The father was confused. His son knew the value of gold and silver, and yet when asked to choose between a gold coin and silver coin always picked the silver coin. "Why don't you pick up the gold coin?" he asked. In response, the son took the father to his room and showed him a box. In the box were at least a hundred silver coins. Turning to his father, the mathematician's son said, "The day I pick up the gold coin the game will stop. They will stop having fun and I will stop making money."

The bottom line is...



Sometimes in life, we have to play the fool because our seniors and our peers, and sometimes even our juniors like it. That does not mean we lose in the game of life. It just means allowing others to win in one arena of the game, while we win in the other arena of the game. We have to choose which arena matters to us and which arenas do not.

Taken from http://www.goodmorningquotes.blogspot.com/..

Change - Here's How !!!!

Nobody said change was easy. That’s why most people don’t do it. But there is a deeper reason behind why it is hard that if understood, will lead you to take action that will bring you new habits and sustainable results.

When you evolve and grow as a person you start with:
1) VALUES which create
2) ATTITUDES which create
3) BEHAVIORS.

 For example, when you were a young child you valued having friends, trusted all people and behaved openly. Then through some unpleasant experiences on the playground you learned that not everyone is trustworthy on the same level so you behaved by choosing friends that were consistently nice to you.
Here is a career example: You value your job so your attitude is that you want your boss to notice you in order to advance so you behave by working long hours to be noticed.
When you want to change your internal culture the process must move in reverse, which is unnatural, making it much more difficult. You must start with:

1) NEW BEHAVIORS which will create
2) NEW ATTITUDES which will create
3) NEW VALUES.

Career example: You don’t want to work long hours anymore because it has taken a toll on your family so you want to change your internal culture by starting with a behavior. You will stop working longer and begin working SMARTer. You will change your behavior by setting SMART weekly goals that are broken down into SMART daily goals. Remember SMART Goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results Oriented and Time Framed.

Don’t worry about changing your attitude and values – that will happen on its own. You will find that your attitude will change when your boss notices how your own self discipline has made you more productive – a smart adjustment on your part without any coaching. You start to help colleagues with goal setting and you begin to value how goal setting is not only a precursor to achievement but also to leadership and a better quality of life.

If you want to change – just act. Do something differently. Don’t worry about the feelings behind it. They will follow.

In the words of Henry Ford…


“If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.”


“Business is never so healthy as when, like a chicken, it must do a certain
amount of scratching around for what it gets.”


“I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what
can’t be done.”


“If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability.”

There are a couple of key factors that get in the way of change. Watch out for them because they will become excuses that will lead to self-paralysis.

These key Leadership Obstructers are:

1) Guilt and Worry We guilt about the past and worry about the future. Both are useless emotions because we can’t change the past and worrying never changed the future for anybody. Action and goal setting change the future.

2) Blame and Complain We blame and complain about whatever we can so as not to take responsibility for changing behaviors. It’s easier being a victim.
Did any of the above Leadership Obstructers ever make you happier or did they simply take you farther away from a healthy life balance? What behaviors will you change to move your life forward? Act! Start now!

6 Reasons Why You Should Be Your Own Boss

6 reason....If you’ve decided that you’d like to be your own boss, it doesn’t have to remain a dream forever. In fact, with some proper planning on your part, you can become your own boss in no time.

If you want to be your own boss you need to start your own business. Being self-employed will more than likely seem overwhelming in the beginning, but in the end many people feel that the benefits far outweigh the costs. So start brainstorming some business opportunities!

Here are some reasons why you should be your own boss:

1. You’re in Charge of Your Income. This can be seen as a pro or a con at first, but eventually the sky will be the limit as you develop your business. In the beginning, seeking self-employment might not make you as much as you used to, and you also may have to worry about issues like individual insurance coverage. The huge advantage is the fact that you keep every dime that you make and your salary is not capped by your employer.

2. You Have Creative Control. You get to make all of your decisions, no one else is telling you what to do. This is huge because many people run into boredom issues at their jobs. If you can choose the business you want, you can also pick and choose the types of jobs you accept. You do what you want, when you want.

3. You’re Responsible for Your Success. If you’re self-employed you can truly make a difference when you start your own business. This is because the success of the business lies on your shoulders. When you work for a large corporation, it’s easy to mix in with the rest of the employees and feel like it doesn’t even matter whether or not you show up to work. While you’ll still have to work hard when you’re self-employed, you really matter because you are your business.

4. You Set Your Own Hours. Setting your own hours is a huge advantage. You know yourself best and you’ll be able to build a schedule that’s most efficient for you. If you want to work really hard one day, and take a half day the next day, that’s perfectly fine when you’re self-employed. You can work all night and sleep all day if that’s your personal preference!

5. You’ll Be Challenged. Most people will find that they not only reach a salary cap when they work for someone else, but they also reach a point where they’re no longer challenged. When you embark on this new journey for yourself, it’ll be a risk and it’ll be a challenge. Also, as you keep gaining experience and income, you’ll continue to be challenged as you reach higher and higher levels.

6. You Can’t Get Fired. This is a great reason in itself. In the self-employment world you can’t get fired! You can change your mind about certain business opportunities, but that would just be shifting the focus of your business, you’d never be firing yourself. This takes a certain amount of burden off your shoulders because you don’t need to worry about someone suddenly taking away your income just because of cutbacks even if you’re doing a superb job.

Remember that there’s always a certain amount of risk associated with making a major change in your life. It’s never easy when it involves income and the future of your family. However, if you want to be your own boss, you can certainly do so. It may end up opening many doors to better your financial future.

Taking Action on the Wrong Things

Have you ever gotten a lot done only to find that you were not any closer to your main objective? What I'm talking about is spending too much of your time doing things you think are important but really aren't. When you learn to focus your actions on the few things that make the most difference in your results, you will not only save time, you'll also reach your goals much sooner.

Have you ever done something like this? You actually think you're being productive just because you're doing stuff even though you know there are a lot more important things you could be doing. I mean, how many times does your email have to be checked during the day anyway?

One of the keys to success that you probably already know is to take massive action. The problem is that many people get into the habit of taking busy action, things that just keep you busy instead of bringing you closer to your goals. You can spend an entire week taking massive amounts of action, getting all sorts of tasks done only to realize that you barely got any closer to achieving your goals.

So what should you do about this? First, you need to figure out the 2 or 3 things that are the most critical to your achievement of your outcome. Then, schedule out your time so that you are spending at least 70% of your time engaging in those 2 or 3 things. Anything that isn't part of those 2 or 3 things should be pushed to the end of the day or not be worked on at all if possible. Of course, you will have things that aren't important but need to be done anyway. For these things, you might want to consider delegating it to someone else if you can so that you have more time to focus on the things that will bring you the most results.

Being able to focus your actions on doing the few things that make the biggest impact on obtaining your end result is a skill, that once mastered, will put you ahead of the majority of people. Your goals will be achieved faster and your life will improve tremendously. Continue wasting your time on doing a lot of things that don't matter and you'll probably be where you are now a year from today and that's a frustration you can do without.This leads to ultimate goal of Personal Success....

Motivational Sayings

"Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict."

~William E. Channing~
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"It is surmounting difficulties that makes heroes."
~Louis Kossuth~
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~Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are.~
~Bernice Johnson Reagon~
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"Men take only their needs into consideration, never their abilities."
~Napoleon Bonaparte~
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"We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible."
~C. Malesherbes~
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"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all."
~Dale Carnegie~
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"If not us, who? If not now, when?"
~Kennedy, John F.~
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"Never be satisfied with what you achieve, because it all pales in comparison with what you are capable of doing in the future."
~Rabbi Nochem Kaplan~
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"All our dreams can come true - if we have the courage to pursue them."
~Walt Disney~
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"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die tomorrow."
~James Dean~
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"If you're going to be thinking, you may as well think big."
~Donald Trump~
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"Where there's a will there's a way."
~English Proverb~
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"If you really want something, you can figure out how to make it happen."
~Cher~
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"A determined person will do more with a pen and paper, than a lazy person will accomplish with a personal computer."
~Catherine Pulsifer~
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"So long as there is breath in me, that long I will persist. For now I know one of the greatest principles on success; if I persist long enough I will win."
~Og Mandino~
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"We will either find a way, or make one!"
~Hannibal~
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"You have a very powerful mind that can make anything happen as long as you keep yourself centered."
~Dr. Wayne W. Dyer~
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"Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything."
~Napoleon Hill~
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"Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson~
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"Happiness is the only good. The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. The way to be happy is to make others so."
~Robert G. Ingersoll~
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"Did you ever see an unhappy horse? Did you ever see bird that had the blues? One reason why birds and horses are not unhappy is because they are not trying to impress other birds and horses."
~Dale Carnegie~
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"You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need."
~Vernon Howard~
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"Real happiness comes from inside. Nobody can give it to you."
~Sharon Stone~
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"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish."
~John Quincy Adams~
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"That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well."
~Abraham Lincoln~
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"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."
~Thomas Edison~
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"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
~Winston Churchill~
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"When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters—one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity."
~John F. Kennedy~
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"He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else."
~Benjamin Franklin~
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"Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses."
~George W. Carver~
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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
~Mark Twain~

The No.1Factor of Success

SUCCESS...My favourite word in motivation terms..What's the number one factor of success? What one thing can you do start doing today that will greatly improve your odds of living a more successful, happier, fulfilled life? This one small, yet powerful, key will literally change every aspect of your life for the better. All it takes from you is to make one important decision.

So what am I talking about here? What is this number one factor of success that only takes a decision yet can guarantee an improvement in your life not only financially, but physically, mentally, relationship wise, and everything else?

Here's the answer in 3 words: Your Peer Group.

Your peer group is the group of people you spend most of your time with. If you want a good indicator of how your life will turn out, just examine your closest peers.There's a saying, "Birds of a feather flock together." This means that people tend to associate with other people who are like them in characteristics and interests. Do you think the things you do, the habits you have, and what you're interested in have an effect on certain aspects of your life? Of course. Here's an experiment you can do to prove that your peer group, those you spend the most time with, do in fact influence almost every aspect of your life.

The Proof

Take a look at your body. Now mentally compare it to your peers. If you're a little on the heavy side, chances are, so are your closest friends. If you're fit and working out everyday, chances are, so are your closest friends. Take a look at your income. Now compare it with your closest peers. Chances are that your income is probably no more than plus or minus ten percent from the average income of your closest peers.

Let's look at your habits. If you smoke, chances are, so do your closest friends. If you complain a lot, chances are, they do as well. Look at how you dress, the activities you like to do, even your opinions on certain things, chances are, they're similar to your closest peers.

Make the Decision

If you are unsatisfied with where you are in life right now, you must either get yourself to live at a higher standard and get your friends to do the same, or you must get new friends. I know that seems a bit harsh, but it's an important decision you will have to make if you truly want to experience greater success in all areas of your life.

The reason why this is the number one factor of success is that when you surround yourself with people who have higher demand and expectations for themselves, you will naturally be pulled up to their level in regards to what you will demand of yourself. If the people you associate with all workout consistently and watch their diets, just to feel like you deserve to be around them, you will automatically start to do the same things.

The Hard Truth

I know people should accept you for who you are otherwise they're not your real friends but the fact is that if you want to live your life at a higher standard, to require more from yourself than you've been demanding, you must step up your game.

If the friends you have now are all living at a lower standard than you want to experience, then in order to change your life, you must associate yourself with people who are already experiencing the life you want.

Hopefully, when your peers see that change in you, they will become inspired and start to live their lives at a higher level as well. So why can't you just improve your life but stick with the same friends? When you start to improve your life, when you start to expect more from yourself, some of your peers may feel like you're leaving them behind and may start to associate with you less or even try to bring you back down. It's not because they don't care about you, it's just that they don't want to lose you, and this will effect you.

It's a decision that, for many, isn't at all easy, but if you really want to make a change in your life, and you're looking at your friends right now and saying to yourself, "I don't want to be like them", then you have to make that difficult decision. This doesn't mean you can't be friends with them, it just means you must spend less time with them and more time with people who live at a level you want to live at.

The number one factor of success, choosing the right peer group, admittedly isn't an easy one to implement but maybe that's why most people end up settling for a life of mediocrity instead of experiencing the life they've always felt they could obtain but never did.

Born To WIN or LOOSE??!!

Dear Friends.... "Am I here to win or lose? What kind of question is that?" This is what you are probably wondering after reading the title but what I am about to share with you will probably shock you and maybe even disturb you a bit.

Who goes into anything with the intent to lose? We all want to be winners right? Of course! Unless if you have some sort of side bet or want to make someone feel better, you definitely want to be successful at whatever it is you are trying to accomplish. Well, I am here to tell you that this is not always the case.

Let me ask you a question. Let's say you are in a race. Is there a difference between wanting to get first place and NOT wanting to get last place? Sure there is. One will lead you to a trophy if you succeed while the other will just make you feel good that did not end up last. Although this may seem silly, many people operate this way all the time.

Let me ask you another question. Which of these two scenarios will you work harder at: Increasing your market value to earn an extra RM10,000 or prevent someone from stealing or scamming you out of RM10,000? The fact is that most people will work harder to prevent from losing what they already have than to go for what they want.

Do you think you will have a greater chance of making more money, for example, if all you did was hold onto your savings and not invest it because of the fear of losing it opposed to taking some calculated risk to invest and multiply your net worth? Many people go into things, be it a business, some opportunity, an investment, or competition, with the focus on not losing.

Realize that there is a huge difference between focusing on winning and focusing on not losing. You see, whether or not you are focusing on losing or not losing, you are still focusing on the concept of losing. You know the saying: "You get what you focus on." You actually increase the odds of losing even when you focus on not losing. If this is the case, then doesn't it make sense to focus on winning?

Do you think someone like Tiger Woods goes into a golf tournament hoping to not get last place? Of course not! In fact, Tiger said if he didn't think he would win, he would not even play. The people who succeed in getting everything they want in life, approach everything with the attitude that says, "I will be the best and will not settle for anything less."

If you just realized that you have been going through life and attempting to achieve your goals from a place of fear, then you need to make a decision right now to believe in yourself. There really isn't an option here. When you focus on not being last, you will most likely get second to last. Why cheat yourself out of being first? By doing that, you will have decided you're not going to win even when the race hasn't started yet.

So, are you here to win or lose? Are you going to step up and take charge of your life once and for all or are you going to settle for the crumbs the winners in life leave behind? Everyone wants to win. No one wants to lose. But if you focus on not losing, you probably won't lose, but you will definitely not win either. Now that you know this, there is no turning back. Because if you turn back, U will end up as a LOSER!!!!!