Reflect on This...

I am willing to put myself through anything; temporary pain or discomfort means nothing to me as long as I can see that the experience will take me to a new level. I am interested in the unknown, and the only path to the unknown is through breaking barriers, an often-painful process. --Diana Nyad


Question:
How do you deal with the temporary discomfort that happens when you are in danger of stretching your comfort zone? What process, mechanism, or ideal allows you to perservere past those initial growing pains?

Reasons Why Being Financially Free Is More Noble Than Being Poor & Loving

Being financially free is as much a state of mind as it is as state of being. You cannot maintain your finanical freedom unless you have a mind that is trained to attract financial freedom. This is why 50% of big prize lottery winners go broke again with 5 years. Don’t worry I know that’s not you because you are a goal achieving animal. In fact why don’t we take a moment to visualize the details of your success.

You are a money magnet that continually receives cheques in the mail. You wisely invest first and then spend the remainder. You have unlearned living from lack and scarcity and awakened amazing abundance into all areas of your life. You have the mindset that will eventually retire family members and loved ones. You allow money to help you be at your best by utilizing time and money towards your passions in life. And best of all you work not because you have to but because you are passionate about it. You rock!

This is a copy of a post first made on 43things.com

See more progress on: be financially free

10 Ways To Improve Sleep

10 Ways To Improve Sleep

1. Limit Caffeine Night 3 to 4 Hours Before Bed Time

2. Air Quality – Room Temp, Open A Window If Possible

3. Air Quality – Pet Dander / Air Filter / Air Ionizer

4. Personal Comfort -ie. Use Ear Plugs or Eye Masks If Needed

5. Bed Comfort – Back ie. A Quality Matress Counts

6. Bed Comfort – Head & Neck ie. Your Pillow Has A Purpose

7. Sheets – Quality, Soft, Clean, Fresh

8. Exercise – Using The Body Naturally Makes It Tired

9. Practice Relaxation or Quality Alone Time

10. Change Your Alarm – Switch to Soothing ie. Sound

See more progress on: alive at five

Overcoming Challenges With Creative Thinking

* Overcoming Challenges With Creative Thinking
By Thom Scott

How many times have you caught yourself saying that there could be no other solution to a problem - and that that problem leads to a dead end? How many times have you felt stumped knowing that the problem lying before you is one you cannot solve? No leads. No options. No solutions.

Did it feel like you had exhausted all possible options and yet are still before the mountain - large, unconquerable, and impregnable? When encountering such enormous problems, you may feel like you're hammering against a steel mountain. The pressure of having to solve such a problem may be overwhelming.

Lighten up! There might be some hope yet! With some creative problem-solving techniques you may be able to look at your problem in a different light. And that light might just be the end of the tunnel that leads to possible solutions.

First of all, it is vital that you re-frame your problem as a challenge. Doing so will equip you with hope of a successful outcome versus the hopelessness of having an unsolvable problem. This positive mindset will enable your mind to recognize potential solutions that you would not otherwise see before you.

This is really no different from a baseball player who experiences the success that they've already envisioned, versus the player who gets themselves in a "slump" because they've determined that "they can't hit against a lefty, or aren't able to compete without steroids, etc..." It may sound simplistic, but Henry Ford couldn't have been more profound when he talked about one of the vital keys to success, "Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right!" Now that we believe our challenge can be solved, we are free to be more creative in overcoming it.

Number one; maybe the reason we are having difficulty overcoming our challenge is that we have not taken a hard look at what the challenge really is. Here, trying to understanding the challenge and having a concrete understanding of its workings is integral to overcoming it. If you know how it works, what the issue really is, then you have a better foundation towards reaching a successful conclusion.

Look at all sides of the challenge including the positives that may lie within it. I've been told that the Chinese symbol for "threat" is the same symbol used to express "opportunity." How true this can often be. Try to identify the participating entities and what their relationships with one another are. Take note of the things you stand to gain and stand to lose from the current challenge. Now you have increased your possibility thinking. With this type of thinking, someone who is in debt may think of ways in which to amass a fortune, rather than just focus on the struggle to get back to ground zero.

Number two; try to take note of all of the constraints and assumptions you have about solving your challenge. Sometimes it is these assumptions that obstruct our view of possible solutions. You have to identify which assumptions are valid and which assumptions should be discarded.

Number three; try to solve the challenge in small chunks. Solve it going from general view towards the more detailed parts of the challenge. This is called the top-down approach. Write down a positive question about your challenge, and then come up with a one-sentence solution to that question. It will likely be a large goal that you may still have trouble envisioning yourself accomplishing. But, from here you can develop the solution further, breaking it down to the step-by-step daily actions that will set you on the road to success over your challenge. Our friend, Jeff Olson, addresses this subject better than anyone I know in his book, "The Slight Edge - Secret to a Successful Life."

Number four; although it helps to employ critical thinking to solve challenges, you must also keep a creative voice at the back of your head. When you or someone else comes up with a prospective solution, try first to think how you could make that solution work versus thinking of the ways that it won't. Suspend your analysis and critical thinking until you have developed your list of possible, not necessarily probable, solutions. You will then be able to go through this list and, more or less, rank the probability of which solution will pay off. You will be able to choose the best solution from several possible ones versus straining to come up with the perfect one immediately.

This "Ready, Fire, Aim" approach is one of the secret keys to true creativity. Sure, you miss the mark more often than not - and more often than most people. But, you will also come up with far more creative solutions and ideas than anyone else as well. I employ this technique every day - whether I am coming up with a headline for a new advertising campaign, or attempting to overcome a business mistake or challenge.

Number five; To get outside your own paradigm, it's often good to get outside yourself. This involves enlisting a trusted friend, colleague or mentor who can, perhaps, look at your challenge from a completely different perspective. This is especially true when the person you're talking to has had experience solving challenges similar to yours. You don't have to be a solo superhero to solve the problem. Organizing and evaluating collective thoughts on a subject is often much more powerful.

Number six; be patient. As long as you persevere, there is always a chance that a solution will present itself. When it comes to overcoming a challenge, the ability to get up, dust yourself off and try again - a different way - will ALWAYS make you successful in the end.

Number seven; Employ creative thinking exercises to help yourself become a better problem solver. Here is just one you can practice. Take a piece of paper and write any word that comes to mind at the center. Now look at that word then write the first two words that come to your mind. This can go on until you can build a tree of related words. This helps you build analogical thinking skills which further your ability to think of multiple solutions to your challenges.

So, think you may be facing a problem that has no solution? Think again, start by re-framing your problem as a challenge and go through the steps I mentioned in order to open up the floodgates of possibility in all areas of your life.

(More articles by Thom are available on his blog at )

Four Rules of Time - By Brian Tracy

There are four rules of time.

The first is that time is perishable.

This means that it cannot be saved. In fact, time can only be spent. Because time is perishable, the only thing you can do with it is to spend it differently, to reallocate your time away from activities of low value and toward activities of higher value. But once it is gone, it is gone forever.

Time is Indispensable

The second rule of time is that time is indispensable. All work requires time. No matter what it is you want to do in life, even looking out a window or sleeping in for a few extra minutes, it requires a certain amount of time. And according to the 10/90 Rule, the 10% of time that you take to plan your activities carefully in advance will save you 90% of the effort involved in achieving your goals later. The very act of thinking through and planning your work in advance will dramatically reduce the amount of time that it takes you to do the actual job.

The Currency of the Future

The third rule of time is that time is irreplaceable. Nothing else will do, especially in relationships. Time is the only currency that means anything in your relationships with the members of your family, your friends, colleagues, customers and coworkers. Truly effective people give a lot of thought to creating blocks of time that they can then spend, without interruption, with the important people in their lives.

Spell the Word Correctly

There is a question: "How do children spell the word 'Love?'" And the answer is "T-I-M-E." It is the same with your spouse, as well. The important people in your life equate the amount of time that you spend with them, face to face, head to head, knee to knee, with the amount that you actually love them. Grow Your RelationshipsThe more time that you spend with another person, especially a member of your family, the deeper grows your understanding and affection for that person. If you get too busy to spend time with your children, you eventually lose contact with them and they go off into their own personal world of school, peers and other activities.

The Key to Goal-Achievement

The fourth rule is that time is essential for accomplishment. Every goal you want to achieve, everything you want to accomplish, requires time. In fact, one of the smartest things you ever do, when you set a goal, is to sit down and allocate the exact amount of time that you are going to have to invest to achieve that goal. The failure to do this almost always leaves the goal unaccomplished.

Action Exercises

Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action: First, decide today to redirect and reallocate your time away from low-value tasks and toward high-value activities.

Second, make a plan to spend more time face-to-face with the most important people in your life. The more you think about the use of your time, the better you will become.