Category: Personal Development

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How To Manage Your Energy

Life is not meant to be done at full speed twenty-four-seven. It’s not a sprint or a race; It’s a long and steady marathon or voyage. You can’t expect to do anything right or get work done if you are exhausted all the time. You need to slow down and find ways to manage your energy better to be more productive and flourish within your business or personal life.

 

The following are five ways to help manage your energy:

 

Learn to Let Go

You don’t need to be in control of everything. In fact, the only thing you are even allowed to control is yourself. You cannot possibly do each and everything on your own in a realistic amount of time. Learn to let go of control, especially in areas you don’t understand and only cause you pain or frustration. Find ways to outsource or automate the process.

 

Create and Follow Realistic Schedules

If you don’t set aside enough time to finish certain projects or tasks, you will always feel like you are rushing to complete your work on time. The less you put things off for later or “I’ll do it Monday,” the more energy you will have to get through the day.

 

Create Proper Routines and Take Breaks

Always take breaks and schedule more time than you think you need. Ensure you know exactly how much time you need for each task and always include a little more time than you need to account for the unpredictable. This way, you are sure to never go over schedule, miss meetings, important deadlines, or worse, be late and affect other people’s schedules.

 

Leave Easy and Mindless for Last

These tasks don’t need your full energy and attention, so don’t give it to them. It may seem more straightforward to go ahead and get it out of the way, but you will only use your most productive hours and energy on activities that really don’t matter—giving you less energy for more important things.

 

Do It or Else

In other words, create things or activities that are non-negotiable for you, just like how you can’t live your whole day without going to the bathroom. You can make this same concept in every area of your life. Don’t permit yourself not to do it.

 

Fully understand the consequences and remember your “why” for establishing the goal in the first place. As you keep making yourself do it no matter what, it eventually will become a habit you can’t or won’t want to break.

Setting Boundaries: It’s Not Selfish to Go After What You Want

In the end, you need to be realistic, honest and evaluate your actions to be sure they are helping you sustain your energy, motivation, and determination. For better energy management, be sure you really know what it takes to crush your goals, eat healthily, create realistic schedules, and stick to it.

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5 Ways Mentors Can Keep You on Track and Lead You to Success

Do you ever wish someone else could just tell you what to do, give you a little nudge when you feel demotivated, or tell you to knock off those bad habits before you get too far? Thankfully, you are not alone, and many people use these very questions as part of their mission statement. Mentors and coaches can provide exactly what you need to lead a more successful life.

 

The following are five ways mentors or business coaches can help you be more productive in life and business:

 

They Provide Knowledge from Hands-on Experience

Mentors can provide experiences, knowledge, and expertise from hands-on experiences. They can warn you or prevent you from making the same mistakes they did, providing you industry education and a way to save your time and frustration.

 

They Provide Networking

Mentors and coaches know a lot of people. They have to in order to be successful. If they don’t know anyone, who are they coaching? Mentors love to find others to share similar interests to discuss ideas or different concepts to grow their knowledge and gain different perspectives. Opening doors to people or opportunities you wouldn’t get to meet or have the chance to do in the first place.

 

They Build Up Your Resilience

They show you that even with failure or mistakes, success can happen without you going through the trouble yourself. If anything, they show you that your industry is a viable income source and can provide for you if you stay consistent and provide value somehow.

 

They Increase Your Self-Esteem and Courage

Mentors are great at providing motivation and inspiration to tackle your goals. Their job is to get your true goals out of yours and help you create an actionable plan to get there. They show you that just with a bit of push, you have exactly what it takes to continue as long as you keep taking action.

 

They Are Your Accountability Partner

Most importantly, mentors keep you accountable without really doing much work on their part. When you know you will have to go over your activities with someone else and not just yourself, you will want to do better. Impressing people and feelings of validation is normal to feel accepted and can motivate and inspire you to keep going.

 

If you keep struggling to get where you want in life, whether to achieve personal or business goals, give mentorship or a career coach a try. As you can see, they are a wealth of information, knowledge, and motivation. If anything, it’s another opportunity to continue your education and get to know yourself a little better. It’s easy to get productive when someone else besides you is counting on it.

Business Plan Resources You Can Use

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Delegate More Effectively: 5 Tips

It’s hard to let go and let others do the work, but if you want to run a successful business, it’s likely something you will need to do eventually. You really can’t be an expert in everything, and even if you were, there is not enough time in your day to do it all. You need breaks to stay healthy and efficient, just like everyone else.

Delegate

If you are not used to delegating, here are a few tips on how to do it more effectively:

 

Know What NOT to Delegate First

What are the things and activities you do well and feel the most comfortable in? These are things you shouldn’t delegate because you can likely get them done fast or efficiently. Other areas to keep in mind include tasks that require your personalization or communication that you can’t replicate.

 

While it may be easier to get an assistant to make all your calls, for example, that doesn’t mean your customers appreciate it or make it easier for you. Ensure it works for your business idea, strategies, and skillset.

 

Understand How to Complete Each Task Fully

Even if you are not the best one for the job or even perform the job, it’s important to know how to complete it before telling someone else to do it.

 

This way, you can be sure it gets done correctly in the most efficient amount of time by someone who is best for the job and can better communicate if something were to go wrong. You may not understand every part of the job, but you can better help assign tasks and guide them to get the job done if you know how to get it done.

 

Be Open to Questions and Changes

Allow others to let you know they are actually not the best ones for the job. Sometimes you might not be correct. However, allowing for open communication or questions can speed up the process and prevent errors by moving the assignment to the next person right away.

 

Clearly Outline Your Expectations and Provide Necessary Resources

Communicate your expectations and what you expect to receive when the work is done. Provide links, your ideas, or any information that’s required to get it done fast. Avoid too much back and forth with questions. Just supply the information right away.

 

Overall, you must understand exactly what needs to be done, the tasks you need to keep to yourself, the resources it takes to get there, and always have clear and open communication to delegate more effectively.

The Ultimate Boost in Productivity: Automation and Outsourcing

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Eat the Frog! How That’s Actually Great for Business

No, don’t eat a real frog unless you like frogs’ feet. The point of this common phrase is to put a big emphasis on how much easier your day can be if you get the hard things out of your way first. In other words, if used correctly, this concept can increase your productivity to live a longer and more successful life.

 

Here’s how “eating the frog” leads to more success and higher productivity:

 

Get the Most Crucial Thing Done First

Whatever activities required to accomplish your ultimate goal are the things you should get done first. This concept works because you use your energy and most productive hours first. Allowing you to be more creative where it matters and get done faster.

 Productive or Just Busy?

Get the Stuff You Dread Out of the Way

When you dread something, you are likely to slow down and allow procrastination to take over and ruin your daily schedule and good habits. It stays on your mind no matter what you try to do next, keeping you distracted. Creating a spiraling effect of poor performance, mistakes, and ultimately affecting your mood. Instead, get dreaded tasks completed first and don’t permit yourself to do anything else. When you get a dreaded task done, you will feel relieved, and it will help you focus on the next task.

 

Go for The Most Exciting Thing

You don’t always have to go for the hardest, you can get the most exciting thing done first, too. This will probably benefit your day even more than the other way around. The energy produced by your excitement will trickle down throughout your day. Not only that, if you are ready for it to happen, you won’t be able to give anything else proper attention anyways.

 

Take Control and Achieve Your Goals

Most importantly eat the frog means taking control of your life or business and only do what is necessary to achieve your goals. Take control of what is required and get it done, even if it’s uncomfortable.

 

It means to take charge by fully understanding what it takes to accomplish your dream, designing actionable goals, and following good daily habits to achieve them. It takes the action, the right action. Without action, there is only failure.

 

It’s important to note that your frog will be different each day, and the same task you do one day as your frog won’t be the next. It really depends on your mood and overall objective for that day. Eat your frog first, and you can smoothly sail through the rest of your day.

 

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The Impact of Music on Productivity

Research shows that music can provide many benefits to your brain and overall cardiovascular health. It can increase your blood flow, making it easier to concentrate and relax. Increased blood flow protects your brain from memory loss, allows you to de-stress, and reduces inflammation that can damage your body’s healthy cells over time.

How to Find Your Most Productive Hours

Music even works the other way around for high blood pressure due to illness or stress. The key to music and productivity is that it makes you happier. It is creating a positive spiraling effect throughout your day.

 

Music impacts your productivity in many different ways, including: 

 

  • Boosts your performance and accuracy.
  • Improves your focus, motivation, and inspiration.
  • It releases dopamine improving your mood.
  • It stimulates your brain and improves your energy levels.

 

Music can be incredibly beneficial, however, too much of it, or wrong implementation, just like anything, can have detrimental effects.

 

Tips to keep in mind when playing music:

 

Choose the Right Song

Find the tune that is right for you and the work you are doing. If the tempo is wrong for your needs, you can accidentally make a mistake. If the song is too slow, you will soon see yourself at the same pace or fall asleep; too fast, and you may start dancing instead of working. You must pay attention to your feelings and the thoughts that are going on for the music to work on your side.

 

Be Mindful of Your Tasks

In other words, some tasks require your complete and undivided attention to do safely and correctly. Be mindful of which tasks you are doing and carefully evaluate them to ensure your music doesn’t prevent you from doing your best.

 

Take Notice When It’s Not Working

Music only works if the person who is listening to it likes it. Keep this in mind. If you slow down because the tempo is slow, or it irritates you, or even because you like it too much, immediately change the music or request to turn it off, just like with anything, especially technology – it only works if the user knows how to use it and pays attention to their actions while being mindful.

 

Make Sure It Promotes Happiness

While it may not feel like it, the music is actually what’s making you productive. It’s the fact that the music is making you feel and be happier. This is why it’s so important to pick the right song and keep it personal. If it doesn’t make you happy, you likely will slow down and produce the opposite results.

 

As you can see, as long as you pick the right music, it can lead to happier and more productive days. Next time you get to work, put on a good steady beat and see just how much faster you get things done.

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Deprioritize Non-Essential Tasks: Know What’s Important

Proper time management skills, high productivity, and achieving your goals all require knowing when and how to deprioritize. Just because you do everything or are extremely busy every day does not mean you are being most productive or will be successful one day.

 

Efficiency and high productivity stem from understanding that the effort you put in should equal the same or more output. Every time you work, if your actions don’t chip away at your tasks helping you reach your goals, you are not the most productive – you’re just busy.

 

The following tips will help you learn to deprioritize the right tasks so you can run a more successful business:

 

Goals First Tasks Later

In other words, when you create your daily to-do list, you should keep in mind your goals first. For example, don’t organize your day to leave easy tasks last unless it makes sense for your business and overall plan for that day. Think about your most important goal, then organize your actions or tasks around it.

 

Understand the Value of Your Time

Twenty-four hours a day may seem like a lot when you look at it numerically, but it goes by quite fast in realistic terms. For eight hours, you need to sleep, and then you only get sixteen hours left to share between work, friends, family, fun experience, and your life.

 

You can’t be bogged down constantly by things that don’t matter when you don’t have that much time to spare between everything and everyone. Highlight the essential tasks that get you closer to your dreams. Learn when to say no. Remember, you are missing opportunities when you spend all your time on one thing.

 

Start with The Most Obvious

What brings you pain, discomfort, and anxiety? Are there people in your life that only bring you stress and frustration?

 

Be sure the answers to these questions are not the first thing you are trying to do each day. For example, if a friend only keeps you distracted from your goals, stop going to breakfast with them every morning or being around them in general.

 

They are not worth your time and value. If you know checking emails, first thing in the morning will throw off your whole day, leave them for last or outsource it. Just because you put something at the bottom of your list doesn’t mean you can’t get back to it eventually or let someone else handle it.

The Secrets to Time Management and Why You Need It

In the end, if you want to have more time to focus on the things that truly matter to you, then take a moment to evaluate each area of your life and make sure your focus is on the right priorities. Start with your calendar right now. Are they a good use of your time?

 

 

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Be More Accountable and Consistent, Share Your Goals

If your goals are a secret, are you really making much of a commitment? Keeping your goals from others is a direct path to failure. You are essentially living a lie by not sharing.

This doesn’t mean it should be the only thing you talk about, but if you don’t share them, you likely are not doing the right actions to achieve them. You are allowing other people to get in your way of success. You need to share your goals so you can be more accountable, consistent, and successful.

 

The following are five ways that will help you be more accountable and how it leads to a more prosperous life:

 

Blog or Vlog About It

Share your goals or progress by developing and editing videos and posting them to YouTube or other social media platforms.

 

Tell Your Friends, Family, and Co-Workers

Pretty much let everyone know about your goals and aspirations. However, don’t let this be your only focus. Just let them know when the time is right so you can be sure to stay on track.

 

For example, don’t be afraid to let your co-workers know you started a new diet. Not only will they want to encourage you to do better, but they might also even join in. Making the process even easier for you. If you keep it to yourself, though, you could set yourself up to fail and join in on take-out during lunch.

 

Surround Yourself with Like-Minded People  

Not only is this a great way to keep you consistent and accountable, it can also be a great source of motivation to do and be better at sticking to your goals. Different people can also provide new information and perspectives that give you more knowledge to perform better or think more positively.

 

Find an Accountability Partner

If you don’t like the idea of telling everything, then an accountability partner is your next best option. Pick a person who is fully willing to say to you how it is – even if it hurts. Accountability partners only work if they want to help and don’t enable you instead.

 

Get A Coach or Mentor

A coach or mentor is like a glorified accountability partner. They are packed full of knowledge, education, and experiences to help you be a better person. They won’t be afraid to tell you how it takes to get where you want to be.

 Are You Being Realistic About Your Goals?

To live the life you desire, by becoming a goal crusher through productivity, you need to commit to it. Letting others know is the first step towards a successful commitment to achieve the life you want. Otherwise, you will only permit yourself to stay on the wrong path.

 

 

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How and Why Getting Rid of Things That You Don’t Need Frees You

If you want to live a more organized and easy life, have less. When it comes to success and overall happiness, less is more.

 

Getting rid of things that you don’t need frees you because it: 

 

Promotes Clarity and Focus

When there are things not put in their place or disorganized, your brain can feel the same way. Confused and lost as to where it should go or look at. Getting rid of these extra things mean you no longer have to worry about making sure they fit.

 

This is why many productive people get into the habit of clearing off or decluttering their workspace. They are not constantly distracted by the things around them that are generally not there, nor do they have to think about having to do that chore anymore.

Promotes Positive Energy and Inspiration

When you remove distractions, unnecessary tasks, or people in your life causing you pain, it only makes you want to keep going forward. You finally get to see how much better life is without the pain and frustration—the power of saying no and taking control of your life breeds positivity and inspiration.

 

Here are a few quick tips and tricks to help you get rid of things you don’t need:

 

Streamline Your Business and Personal Objectives

Getting rid of things doesn’t have to be about material possessions. It can also be clunky processes or systems at work that are making you lose sight of what you care about.

 

Start Small and Categorize

Start with the smallest area in the room or department in your business and take it slow. You don’t need to do this all-in-one day to feel the benefits. The more time you give it, the more efficient you will be and the more benefits you will reap. Donate the things that don’t provide you value or are just sitting around. What are the things you don’t ever use, touch, or often save for last?

 

Take Notice of Your Emotions or Mood

If a task, person, or thing affects your mood to the point where you are bitter, sad, angry, or irritated every time you do it or are around them, you must rid these things or people from your life.

 

While you can’t use this strategy every time you feel discomfort, it should be used when you can’t get it off your mind or move on with your day, week, or worse years. You can always outsource the work or have technology do it for you instead for a low monthly price.

 

No person is worth keeping around that destroys your mental peace either. Even though possessions are most commonly what people get rid of, they are often not the real culprit to their problems. People are.

 

As you can see, getting rid of things is a great way to de-stress and reorganize your life. You don’t need to be caught up with the newest and most significant thing to feel happy. In fact, it only keeps you further away from your goals.

 

 

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5 Rituals to Boost Your Energy and Productivity

Wish you had more energy throughout your day to get each and everything on your to-do list done? You are not alone. Many people, tiny business owners, and entrepreneurs struggle to keep up.

 

Here are five rituals to add to your daily routine that will boost your energy to live each day more productively:

 

Sleep for 7 to 8 Hours Every Single Night

You can’t have good energy and be productive if you don’t get sleep. You may think you function great off 4 or 5 hours, but science doesn’t support this. You are more like a walking zombie. Even one to two hours less than a full night’s sleep of 8 hours can reduce your productivity by up to nineteen percent.

 

Getting a full night’s rest also affects your overall mood, health, and outlook. Your sleep pattern and routine are the first places to look when living a more productive life. Sleep and proper food equal optimal energy. Without both of those, you can’t expect to feel optimal.

 

De-Clutter Before You Get to Work

Nothing is better for freeing your mind than getting rid of clutter and ensuring your workspace is organized. When chaos is around, your brain will feel cluttered too. That will affect your work more than you may realize. Practice decluttering or quickly picking up everything before you get to work. It’ll be one less thing you will have to worry about later. Giving you clarity, focus, and peace to do your work right.

 

Meditate or Stretch with Sunlight

Your body requires vitamin D to feel optimal, and the best way to get that is through natural sunlight. Start each morning off with a short five-minute meditation routine or stretch outside or with your blinds open in the living room. As you clear your mind and de-stress, the sunlight will wake you up and energize you for the day.

 Avoid Burnout: How to Exercise and Sleep More

Wake Up Early and Get Moving

Science has shown that those who are early to bed and early to rise are healthier. They have smaller waist sizes and have longer life expectancy than those who refer to themselves as “night owls.”

 

Even if you feel like you may be a night owl, you can change your habits and morning routine to become one. Try going for a walk, light jog, or practice yoga to wake you up. The workout will provide you a boost of energy to help you work efficiently and allow you to get a full night’s rest once the day is over.

 

Never Skip Breakfast

Breakfast is when your body finally gets a moment to refuel after a long rest. It needs healthy fats, sugars, proteins, and other vital nutrients to be strong and alert. If you feel like you suffer from a lot of mental fog, especially in the mornings, your diet is probably to blame.

 

Watching motivational videos before you get to work or accomplish your goal, always taking a lunch break, or any repeatable task that benefits your life are good rituals to adopt if you want to be more productive. Remember, consistent, repeatable actions get you to the finish line.

 

 

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The Importance of Continued Learning in Life and Business

There is one thing that is certain in life, and that is change. You can always bet that something will change throughout your life, big or small. While change may be scary and uncomfortable to most, there is also a beautiful and different side. The chance to learn and gain something new, an opportunity you should always take no matter what.

 

Reasons to keep learning for a lifetime:

 

To Increase Your Confidence and Motivation

A lot of anxiety or fear stems from a lack of knowledge. If you strive to learn something new as often as possible about your niche and the world at large, you will empower yourself to do better, thus making you believe in yourself, and boosting your confidence while giving you the knowledge to be successful.

 

To Keep Up with Your Competition

Do you remember when Netflix used to mail DVDs to your house before there were streaming companies? If you don’t know, that’s okay too because Netflix did precisely what they were supposed to do to power through their industry and be the leader. Netflix saw a change in technologies and tried to understand and learn new ways to improve its business model.

 

They now lead their industry by streaming movies and television shows straight to your T.V. and skipping the mailbox altogether. They would become the next Blockbuster, whom Netflix and Redbox destroyed with their mail-in service if they didn’t. Something Blockbuster adopted a little too late and ultimately had to shut down.

 

To Fully Understand Your Potential

Learning unlocks skills and resources about yourself that you would have never discovered if you didn’t make an effort to do so in the first place.

 

To Run A Realistic and Successful Online Business

To be successful and keep up with an online business, you must continue learning new technologies, software services, and social media platforms. If not, you will undoubtedly stay behind the crowd and won’t get any foot traffic you may be used to with a brick and mortar store. Even brick and mortar stores have to keep up with social media and techniques as more and more people stay indoors or work from home.

 

To Create the Job or Life You Want

There are so many different paths, careers, or choices to make in life that it is impossible to know them all. You will discover this and unlock worlds, ideas, values, and inspiration you never knew existed when you learn—giving you the knowledge and more choices to live the way you want.

 

In the end, education, knowledge, and experiences are fun and rewarding. They, together with practice, are vital for growth, understanding, and compassion for the world. Education and learning provide no consequences if you want to accomplish your dreams and be more productive. Keep reading, experimenting, and jump out of your comfort zone to learn and gain more knowledge.

Are You Being Realistic About Your Goals?