Self Development

To be totally in tune with the needs of your customers or prospective customers you have to listen to them. Listen to them – it sounds easy enough to do but not everybody gets it right. What you must always bear in mind when you are selling something is that you are not selling an item or object – you are selling a feeling. I was taught this particular lesson whilst working for a friend who was very much into NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) which studies the structure of how humans think and experience the world. One small part of this vast subject centred on how people can be persuaded to relax and immediately place their trust in you if you …

Most people have an average IQ score. Very few people will have an above average IQ score. For instance if you are currently at 70, it would be difficult to cross the 100 mark. But the fact remains that, no matter where you start at you can definitely improve. Below are three ways to do so: 1. Improve your test taking skills. Browse through the questions quickly. Do not waste time on questions which seem tough or time consuming. Come back to them after having solved the easier ones. This will help you find out the questions you can answer quickly, instead of wasting too much time on tricky questions. Try to answer all questions in a multiple choice test. …

Watching the news can be hazardous to your health. It’s a fact, especially when you’re watching events related to terrorism, kidnapping, murder, accidents, or calamities. These incidents make you worry and will leave you feeling weak and insecure. Imagine the uncomfortable feeling of becoming a victim someday. This will have a negative effect on your outlook in life. Your surroundings have a big impact on you. How can you think and grow rich if you’re bombarded with messages that relates “how difficult life has become” or “how poor most of us has turned out to be?” You can’t change your environment, but you certainly can control your mind. This is where visualization comes into play. Use your imagination, just as …

Few things are more difficult than kicking bad habits or developing more positive ones. But it is definitely worth the effort. Bad habits like smoking, overeating or self-criticism shorten lives and lead to underachievement, and unsuccessful attempts to change them lower self- esteem. In contrast, good habits create a kind of “success auto-pilot,” leading to greater accomplishment with less thought and less effort. So how do you best eliminate bad habits and create good ones? Research from the new field of “positive psychology” – the scientific study of happy, successful people – points to at least four proven techniques for successful habit management. 1. Replace a bad habit with a good one. Completely eliminating a habit is much harder than …

As a life coach, a question I’m often being asked is “How do you distinguish your intuition from your mind? Is it possible your intuition can mislead you or be harmful to you with what it tells you?” My answer to this question is this: Your intuition, or gut feelings are there to protect you, making sure you’re safe and in integrity. It is your mind’s agenda that can lead you off base by over-thinking or dismissing your gut. If you’re questioning or not quite trusting your intuition, your intuition will often try to get your attention! Your intuition may speak to you in the way of a “gut feeling” or even through a dream. If you are trying to …

When we hear the word “conditioning,” many of us are reminded of Pavlov and his work with dogs. Over 100 years ago, Ivan Pavlov published his efforts on what he termed “conditioned reflex.” Through conditioning of repeated external actions, he was able to get a dog to drool without feeding the dog. Pavlov demonstrated that external responses can condition animals and this is true of human beings. Think back to your earliest school days when you sat in your classrooms. You learned that sitting up front near the teacher’s desk resulted in you receiving more attention (external action). Students in the back of the room appeared not to be called upon as much and were not under the “eye” of …

With more and more people gambling these days, there are more reported cases of gambling Addiction then ever before. Gambling problems can manifest themselves in many different ways. Some problem gamblers will have all of these signs of their gambling problem and some others may only have one. Gambling addiction affects players of all different forms of gambling like Blackjack, Poker and even Bingo The most important thing to remember is just because their life is not horrible because of their gambling does not mean there is not a problem, many people can have serious gambling addictions and still hold down a job and make it seem as if everything is fine. This just means that this person has not …

First you must get onto the ladder of Success! I can think of three ways: 1. Become a top sales-person, 2. Become a popular writer 3. Pass exams. I can only help you with the last two methods. 1. The leader of your country… President or prime minister or dictator (?) reached the top of the ladder of success by being a good salesperson. Perhaps she sold herself to voters. Maybe he sold himself to fighting forces who put him in power. 2. If you’re at least 16 years old – Have you learned to write gripping essays? Make money from writing. You don’t need salesmanship to make money – more than enough to pay for sales advisors with your …

Why should you take my advice on how to quit your job? Because I’m a job-quitting expert, and my expertise has been gained through experience. I’ve quit many jobs in many industries. In fact, I can think of fifteen jobs that I’ve quit off the top of my head. The most recent job I quit was at the Post Office. Don’t let anyone tell you that you’ll get used to the schedule of a vampire – you won’t. Now it has been over two years since I’ve had a job. The real issue of course is, “How to quit your job and still pay the bills.” Here are some ideas, based on experience. Don’t Think Like An Employee Some employees …

Finding a way to quit smoking sometimes seems like the search for the Holy Grail. However, achieving your aim doesn’t have to be fraught with stress and difficulty. Here are seven simple steps that you can take to stop smoking. Step 1 – Overcoming cravings Being a smoker is like using crutches for so long that you think the crutches are a part of you and your own legs waste away, but when you stand on you own two feet again, the strength soon returns. When people smoke more than half of what they breathe is fresh air – pulled through the cigarette right down into the lungs. So if you feel any cravings you can instantly overcome them by …

Do you spend more time procrastinating than you do accomplishing? The keys to success in overcoming procrastination are to determine the reasons you lack motivation in the first place, to create a plan for success, and follow the plan to the letter. You can follow some practical steps and make permanent changes in your life. Start living up to your true potential by rising to a new level of motivation, energy, and dedication. People procrastinate for different reasons ranging from fear of failure (or success) to just plain lazy. By first identifying some of the reasons you procrastinate, you can develop a plan to end your frustration, finally get motivated, and stay motivated. A major component of motivation is self-confidence. …

Rejection is one of the most painful experiences in relationships – not only rejection from others, but from ourselves. Although we may not realize it, most of the day, from morning to night, we are often busy criticizing, comparing, judging and looking down on others and on ourselves. In fact, if we look closely, it is easy to see that we reject most of what life brings to us. We often feel there is something wrong with the way things happen, that circumstances and events are usually not just the way we want them. And it is equally hard to be pleased and comfortable with most people we meet. We feel that we have to fix, change or instruct them. …

Depression can have many, many faces. If you are not aware of your feelings and emotions on a daily basis then it can creep up on you and cause misery in your life when you least expect it. We get sad when we fail in our exams, when we’re rejected by the person we love, or when someone very close to us passes away. Depression, however, could be more fatal than just plain sadness. It could cause life-long consequences that could ruin your self-esteem, your health, and your well-being. Here are some excellent tips for conquering depression and to help you get the most enjoyment out of your daily activities. 1. Be Certain of Your Future Goals If you have …

Unmanaged stress is costing business and industry millions of dollars in days missed and diminished productivity. Morale in workplaces all over North America is low and on the job stress high. When people feel overworked and under-appreciated they run the risk of burning out. Stress workshops are the most frequently requested type of in-service in today’s workplace but still the problem grows. As one worker said to me recently after one of my seminars, ” We can have all the stress workshops they can throw at us but nothing will change until management addresses their role in stress and burnout.” I think he has a point. While we will never be able to alter the fact that working in today’s …

Last Friday night, I met a Christian at a prayer meeting. He was rescued from war-torn Sudan and brought to the U.S. three years ago. He clearly loves to pray. He gushed facts. For example: I didn’t know that George Washington, the first president of the United States used to pray for two hours every day – one hour in the morning at 4:00 a.m. and one hour at 9:00 p.m before retiring to bed. Or, that Christopher Columbus (who discovered America in 1492) was so filled with the Spirit of God that he wrote in his memoirs that he literally felt the Holy Spirit on his shoulder directing him throughout his journey to the New World. And get this: …

Making sure your vacation goes according to plan is not difficult to do, but it does need to be planed carefully. First you need to decide where to go, this year I have decided to go to Holland for my vacation. Once you have decided where you want to go on vacation you can start to plan the things you want to see and do. In Holland I am interested in the Van Gogh museum, the Rembrandt museum and the Casino. I have always enjoyed casinos, so this is going to be my first chance to go to a casino in Europe, so how can I pass up the chance to play some European Roulette, and I have been practicing …