Pippa

We tend to get a bit reflective when someone close to us passes away. This is especially true if that individual was young. Questions such as what does it mean and why are we here go through our minds.

It is a stark reminder that our time is limited. Unfortunately, the end will be near before we know it. Even in the best of circumstances, we can hope to enjoy 80 or 90 years on this planet. How we utilize those years is up to us. However, the amount we have is non-negotiable. We cannot purchase more time at the end. When we are done, we are done.

It is interesting how we spend our time when there is plenty of it. As long as we project that we have another 40 or 50 years, there is no urgency to what we do. We maintain the belief that we can always ?get around to it later?. This changes as we grow older. Our outlook shifts to one where we know the end is coming closer. A person with an expectancy of another 40 years differs greatly from one with 10. This change in perspective manifests itself in how one spends the daily allotment of time. What was once critical is no longer that important.

In working with people assisting them in overcoming their challenges, one realizes that many create tremendous pressure on themselves. They have the desire to perform at the highest level. Most carry the attitude that they must handle all situations themselves. Of course, they quickly find that there is not enough time to get everything done. The more that they take on, the further behind they become. This leads to an increase in stress and an assortment of other physical ailments.

Most people get themselves in this situation because they choose to minor in the major things in life. In other words, their focus is consistently on things that are really unimportant in the overall scheme of life. They have the tendency to put off the things that truly make a difference in their lives. The desire to ?do it all? creates an unbalanced priority system. A great amount of time is dedicated to those activities which provide a low return in the long run.

What would you do if you knew this was your last day on Earth? Would you put all that extra time in at the office? Do you think you would put off calling your spouse and telling him/her how great you love is? The answers to these questions is obvious. Fortunately, most of us have more than one more day left on this planet. Of course, we never know when the ultimate outcome will surface. Yet it is safe to say that given only 24 hours more, every action would carry tremendous impact in terms of their importance.

Eliminating the focus on the minor things in life is one of the major shifts that you can make to improve your life. The time is now to begin ‘majoring in the major things in life’. Concentrating on the critical activities enables us to be more effective. We utilize the precious resource of time to our advantage. Time has the characteristic of diminishing returns. The older we get, the quicker a year passes. It seems like we go from New Year’s Day to Christmas in the blink of an eye. Putting our attention on the important activities ensures that we are putting our time to the most use.

There is an old saying, ‘In a hundred years this will not matter’. People also say ‘ We will be laughing about this in a year’ (or some other time frame). These quotes allude to the fact that whatever is the ‘crisis’ of the moment is not really paramount. If one is going to laugh about it down the road, why not laugh about it now? It must not be all that catastrophic if there is a hint of humor in it. Release the pressure of the situation by implementing humor. Understand that it most likely is not the end of the world.

Getting ones priorities in order is a key component to living a fulfilling life. People who do not truly know what they want are apt to be swayed by outside influences. Having the outlook that time is not an unlimited commodity will offer the motivation to get things in order. If you only had a short time to live, would you be fretting about this? Ask this to determine what are the most vital parts of your life. The clearer we become on what really is important, the more we can nurture those relationships and situations.

Another saying comes to mind; ‘live as if you are going to die tomorrow but plan as if you will live forever’. We found that a life with direction is the most successful. People who drift from one situation to another often lead empty lives. Their sense of accomplishment is low. People feel satisfaction when they had a hand in building something. The creative muscle is natural in all of us. Some use it to erect physical structures. Others develop companies. Still others use these skills to raise a family. Some do charitable works to gain a feeling of creating. Seeing your results after setting out with nothing more than an idea and desire is an indescribable feeling.

Begin taking your life to a new level by concentrating on what is important to you. Make those decisions as if you have only a short period of time to live. This will clear away many of the unimportant activities that really do not provide a great deal of satisfaction anyway. At the end of one’s life, rarely is a sermon given spelling out how much ’stuff’ on amassed. Instead, people speak of the character of the person, the relationship he/she had with others, the contributions made, and the thoughtfulness exhibited. Plan your day around offering these qualities to those closest to you. In the end, the only thing that truly matters is our interaction with others.

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Dennis Harting is the Head Coach at Your Rich Life. He is an acclaimed speaker, trainer, and best-selling author. His international best selling books include Your Easiest Million and The Ultimate Procrastination Handbook. He also has had thousands of articles published worldwide. His programs and more information can be found at www.yourrichlifeinc.com.

The biggest misunderstanding about time management is the concept of managing time. Time passes, whether it is managed or not. There are people who can write all day and finish one page and others who write all day and finish three.

The results of poor time management on a writer can be devastating. The causes of poor time management are not found in a person?s organization skills, but in their attitude toward life. It is easy for a councilor or coach to say ?prioritize.? It is much harder to prioritize in an effective manner.

Two Methods

Work First

When prioritizing effectively determine what is the most important task, by the consequences of neglect. Start keeping a journal. Chart the amount of time spent on tasks that do not generate an income and those that do. A productive writer sits down and writes for a predetermined length of time. They trained themselves to do this.

It doesn?t come easy. At first, a writer will sit and stare at a blank screen, doing creative writing exercises in an attempt to fill the time. In the short term, this solution can be justified.

A better solution is to pick a subject and start writing. It doesn?t matter if there is a market for the article. A professional writer knows that every article and short story can be rewritten and resold a hundred times. The first attempt is never the last. This in this case the writer is putting the need to be productive ahead of their personal need to feel comfortable and satisfied with their writing.

However, this method is not the best one for all writers.

Self Actualization First

The writer who puts their own needs first, the job next, and the success third is not always counter productive. If satisfying their needs is important to their self-actualizing, the person should set aside time aside to focus on each task, preventing their personal needs from overriding their goal of publication.

The danger for this writer is that they will never write anything unless they receive what they consider fair compensation, or the affirmation of a large publisher. The likelihood of this writer ever reaching their goals without a schedule is slim.

Once you pick a method of managing your day, stick to it at least three months before making any dramatic changes.

Prioritizing for Procrastinators

Many people waste more time managing and organizing their time than they would loose if they just took each day as it came.

List your tasks in order of the consequences if the task is not completed, not the greatest importance. Starting a list with the tasks that bear the greatest consequences, if not finished, causes a dramatic paradigm shift. The tasks you thought were most important, probably because they represented a personal need or goal are near the bottom. The tasks near the top, earning an income, become the focus of the day.

The next step is to start ? and finish ? each job in order. For some, this may mean allowing the answering machine to pick up the phone. For others it may mean viewing your writing job as if it were a position with an employer. You could not stop work in an office to do laundry, run errands, or catch your favorite show. Why stop writing to answer the phone?

Finish One Job Before Starting the Next

?A job worth doing is one worth doing well.? Many people are confused by the concept of finishing a job. A job is not finished until it can be put away, or delivered, without needing to rework the task. The household laundry is a good example. People drag all the laundry to the basement and sort it, then go do something else.

Then, they return to wash a couple loads, and then leave the clean laundry in baskets. Eliminating the interruptions, and finishing one task before starting another, is more productive. After a routine is established, the familiarity will reduce the time needed to finish the task.

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Mark Walters is a third generation entrepreneur and author. He offers free training and investing videos designed to speed you towards financial independence at www.CashFlowInstitute.com

Many life and personal growth coaches highly recommend creating a personal development plan to help you overcome limiting beliefs and start building a better life - but not many actually cover the steps you need to take to develop your plan.

Which is a shame as it is a relatively easy and painless task - if you know how to go about it.

It may seem a strange way of doing things, but a good life coach will always ask you questions about the areas you are trying to improve. Like “Why do you think that everything in your life is not going as well as you would like it to?”, or “Why do you think other people seem to find it easier to get what they want in life?”

The way I see it is this - the people who are able to achieve their goals and ambitions in life, with relative ease are much less inhibited, and even totally un-inhibited.

These people still get nervous and anxious when in demanding situations that take them outside of their comfort zone, but they have learnt how to control those limiting and dysfunctional emotions and behaviours and even eliminate them completely from their lives.

Successful people are constantly learning and adapting to methods that empower them. When they find something that works, especially where emotions and feelings are concerned, they repeat the behaviours that bring on those emotions until they become second nature.

If these people can learn how to not feel nervous and anxious in important situations, so can you.

If these people have learned how to remain calm and relaxed when they get into winning positions in sport, so can you.

If professional speakers can learn how to overcome their fear of public speaking, and present themselves in a manner which leaves their audience wanting more, so can you.

Successful people weren’t always successful - they learnt how to become successful. So if people can learn how to overcome their frustrations and focus on the actions they need to achieve their ultimate goals and ambitions - so can you.

Learning to use NLP does not require hours on end of your time to make a difference in your life. If you can allocate 15 minutes a day to practice some very simple, and very rewarding techniques, you can immediately start to take control of your fears and frustrations and turn them into a winning and empowering attitude that will continue to take you closer to your goals and ambitions.

Before you turn tail and run at the thought of learning some NLP techniques, or if you’re not really sure what it is, in it’s simplest form, Neuro Linguistic Programming is basically a method of helping you change the way you habitually react to any given situation. When you experience anxiety or frustration, you are simply reacting negatively to the situation that is causing those emotions. NLP teaches you how you can easily change your reactions to be positive and empowering.

To help you get started, there are two very simple exercises that you can start practising right away:

1. You need to become aware of all the situations and environments that make you feel nervous, anxious and inhibited. Carry a little notebook in your pocket so that you can make note of them whenever they occur.

The reason behind this exercise is that you need to be aware of your barriers in order that you can start to break through them further down the road.

2. The second exercise is even easier - you simply need to write down how you would like to feel most of the time, and what feelings and behaviours you want to eliminate from your life.

Take you time to do step two thoroughly - the more detailed your list, the better you will be able to focus in on those areas, and create a personal development plan that supports your goals.

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Before you create your personal development plan, make sure you claim your free Building Confidence report and free video coaching from a renowned Master NLP practitioner and coach to top Fortune 500 companies.

With all that life has to throw at people, it is no wonder that many are turning to self-help books and seminars looking to improve their quality of life and the way they handle different situations.

Self improvement ideas are, for a great number of folks, a great way to acquire the strategies necessary to better handle stress and interactions with other people.

Self improvement ideas are particularly effective if you know that there is something you need to work on to make life better for yourself and those around you. One of the most popular self improvement ideas has to do with managing stressful situations, and generally eliminating or reducing stress from your life. As far as self improvement ideas go, learning to manage time effectively and efficiently is by far the best way to get rid of unwanted stress.

Another area of life that can certainly benefit from self improvement ideas is the segment involving relationships. Whether you want to gather some self improvement ideas for your role as a friend, spouse, or employee, there are certainly ways to go about improving those aspects of your life.

Another aspect of our personalities that can be made more effective with self improvement ideas is how we react emotionally to whatever life throws our way. This rings especially true in relationships with others. Learning how to control reactions and become more proactive and calm can help keep your relationships in good standing.

Self improvement ideas are a good way to learn how to manage yourself and make all areas of your life become more positive. Whether it is a general, mental issue you need to address, or even if it is the way you interact in your various life roles, self improvement ideas can help you get on the track to a happier, more positive life.

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Molten Marketing member, Adrian Pope, provides self improvement with this great home based business opportunity. Don’t wait, do both!

The more I talk to people about what they want out of life the more I hear the same thing coming up over and over again… “I don’t have any time!”

All I can say is STOP IT!

We all have the same number of hours in each day, so why is it that some people consistently do what they want and others don’t? It’s simple.

.. they stop the excuses.

Think about it.

What did you do last night?

Maybe you had plans to get home and work on something you wanted to accomplish, but then everything just kind of got in the way. You walked in the door and you needed to unwind from a stressful day so you decided to just sit and watch a little television and then you’d get right to it. Next thing you know its two hours later and now you’re surfing around on myspace and im’ing with your friends and you still haven’t started whatever it was you planned on doing when you got home. Now your friends call and they want to go for a couple of drinks and who are you to stand in the way of a good gathering so it’s out the door and several hours later when you return home exhausted it’s really too late to start anything new so you head off to bed… but you’ll get started tomorrow after work.

Don’t you get it?

We all have time; it’s just what we decide to do with it.

No matter what you say you want out of life, if you are doing anything but exactly that, you’re lying to yourself. Doing something else or doing nothing at all is the same as saying that your goals and dreams are not really your goals and dreams… they’re just fantasies.

You have got to decide what it is you really want out of life and go for it like there is no tomorrow and you can’t stand another minute of your life without it! That my friend is the only way you are going to get more time for the things you want in life.

You won’t get more time because you quit school, quit your job, get a different job, or end a relationship. You will get more time by doing the things you want to be doing instead of avoiding them.
You will get more time by getting up a little earlier and taking time for yourself. You will get more time by going for it with all of the passion you can muster and not accepting anything less from yourself than you know you are capable of.

That is how you get more time for the things you want in life.

Stop Saying You Don’t Have Any Time!

www.inspiredtolive.com

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www.inspiredtolive.com
www.withoutthehassle.com

Is your personal time management efficiency driven or effectiveness driven? Efficiency comes from doing things right the first time. The adage goes, if you don?t have time to do it right the first time when will you ever have time to do it right the second time.

Perhaps the real question is, ?should you be doing it at all??

Don?t confuse activity with results in your personal time management. For example, a sales person could spend the day getting all their client files color coded and neatly organized, so they could immediately access a file and have all the information they need at their finger tips. That?s certainly an example of increasing efficiency, but does it increase effectiveness? You?re effective when you?re doing the right things. The right things are those things that produce the results that people pay you to produce. In the case of our sales person, no one is paying the sales person to have the best files and filing system in the company. The sales person is paid to secure new customers, and to obtain repeat sales from current or old customers. Sales is the key objective, and when the sales person is focused on sales activities they are focused on the right things thus being effective.

Don?t confuse being busy with producing results. You can be very busy about doing things that have absolutely nothing to do with results. Unfortunately, you usually don?t even realize when you?ve allowed yourself to get caught up in this busy trap. What does it mean for you to be personally productive in your job or business? How much of your work day do you actually spend on those productive activities? I?m being serious here, I want you to actually track how much time you spend on the activities you actually get paid to do each day for a week, and then come up with a total for the week. I predict that you?ll be shocked. Research has shown that the higher up in the company you are the less time you spend on the things that are truly an effective use of your time.

Your personal time management objective should be to transfer or eliminate the busy work. What activities are you doing now that you can transfer to someone else or eliminate entirely? If you were to do that how much time would you free up to use for effective work?

How much personal satisfaction would you gain, and how much stress could you remove if you increased the amount of time you spend on effective activities? What if you focused on spending just one additional uninterrupted hour each and every day on your effective work? What would that translate into in terms of the results you get paid to achieve? How much less stress, tension, and unnecessary clutter would you have in your life if you transferred or eliminated the busy work?

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Would you like to learn more about your time behaviors? Try this Time Management Analysis.
Ready to start your journey for success? start here.

“Successful time management results in successful stress management.” Colleen Kettenhofen

The following time management tips for families are the same ones I discussed as a featured guest on the television talk show A.

M. Northwest. These are simple, basic, easy-to-follow time management tips for both parents and children. And they are the same time management tips that have worked for me in my business as a motivational speaker and author:

1. Have white dry erase boards personalized for each person: Place one in the kitchen and one in each bedroom. The benefit of white boards in the kitchen and in each bedroom is that you and your kids will constantly see them and be reminded of what needs to be accomplished.

2. Write down tasks with specific time frames for each parent and child: Set aside specific times and stick with them. For example, you would write on the white board, “Brandon and Chloe, homework 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.” And for the mom or dad, “Mom/Dad cook dinner 6:00 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.” and so forth. This way you are constantly reminded of what to do and when. You will get around to completing these tasks sooner rather than later because by “seeing” them all the time, you’ll want to cross them off your list. Erase the tasks after completing them so you no longer have to look at them!

3. Color code for each family member: It’s easy to visualize who is supposed to do what when each individual has their own color. A lot of teams utilize this same technique in the workplace to help with time management.

4. Clear off your desk or work area: This helps you and your kids to clear out clutter so you can concentrate single-mindedly on those projects such as paying bills or doing homework.

Time management rule number one: do the thing you like least first.

5. Do the thing you like least first and plan a reward such as a fun family activity for afterward: We all have tasks that we have to do that we don’t want to do. It’s easy to procrastinate. Research points to the fact that the longer you procrastinate, the harder it is to get motivated. The hardest part is just getting started. And once you’re done, you feel so much better, lighter and happier. You and your family will feel deserving of a reward afterward such as fun time watching TV, playing games, or attending a Saturday picnic.

6. Be a positive role model: Teach your children to form good time management habits from the beginning. When your kids see you as self-disciplined and overcoming procrastination by doing things you’d rather not, it reinforces that behavior in them as well. It sets them up later in life to be good parents themselves, and better leaders at school and in the workplace.

Keep in mind that everything you procrastinate today only compounds tomorrow’s pressure. Decide what you want. What tasks must be done in order for you and your family to accomplish your goals, dreams and aspirations? Act now. Don’t wait another day. The future is now.

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Colleen Kettenhofen is a speaker and co-author of The Masters of Success, seen on NBC’s Today Show. Topics: leadership, management, difficult people, communication. For free articles, e-newsletter or to order the book visit www.ColleenSpeaks.com Colleen is available for keynotes and seminars at (800)323-0683. www.ColleenSpeaks.com

Is time management such a big deal? Most people will think this is a boring topic to talk about, and I feel the same. The million dollar question then is, why bother talking about it at all then?

For a very simple reason, time management is about getting more value out of your time and using it to improve the quality of your life.

It is more than just managing our time; it is managing about one’s life in relation to time. This is a skill few people master, but it is one that most people need badly. Without mastery of time, one will find success very elusive. Time management is really activity management. In my opinion, this is life management. In reality, it if you really think about it, wasting time equates to wasting one’s life.

Effective time management is the basis of good personal and professional habits. It is a conscious decision where we decide what is important and then plan our time and our lives around these things. In a profession that requires you to juggle so many tasks and responsibilities every day, effective time management is absolutely critical to your success. Everyone starts the day with 24 hours, no more and no less. How much we achieve within these 24 hours depends on how well we manage what is important to us i.e. our priorities. This could be in the areas on financial, family, physical fitness, social interaction etc.

An important consideration for effective time management is finding regular times in your day when you can work uninterrupted. Do remember that perfect time management is not a realistic expectation. Effective time management requires us to actively clarify our priorities. This brings about peace and balance to your life. It is not necessarily about working “harder”, but rather, “smarter”. It is about getting yourself organized and being aware of what is important to your life. It is simply based on an attitude and the choices you make.

For the majority of the population, poor time management is often the main hurdle to their success in life. Ineffective time management is mostly due to the wrong beliefs and the attitude taken by the individual. No matter what your definition of success is, time management is at its core. Time has never stood still for anyone, and never will. This means effective use of time is absolutely essential. This is one of those things we would all like to master; and really use the hours in our days more efficiently. It is not impossible - but it does take time to really get the hang of it.

To conclude this article , here is a principle you can use for effective time management… Seize the Day! - “Carpe Diem”!

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Checking out for information and tips for great use of time? Go check out our site on simple financial planning where you can find resources on use of time and more. Grab the free ebook while you are there!

Speed reading is a helpful tool to possess, as busy schedules allow less and less time for people to enjoy the books they wish to complete or the information they must intake for their job or school work.

When learning how to read faster, people are able to study better, work better, and enjoy their reading material in an enhanced way. Not only does the rate of reading increase when focusing on efficient scanning of the text, but also an improvement in comprehension is seen.

Overall, an effective program in speed reading is a decent tool to invest in, as training the brain to absorb information and text in a different way is a great technique to master. Today, the market offers a wide range of software and other methods for the choosing. Below are four ways to improve your speed reading skills with the help of a suitable program.

1) Relaxation

It is important to enter a session of speed reading (while in training) in a relaxed state of mind, as stress and tension creates barriers that hinder your ability to retain information. Just as the mind needs to become settled while reading, the body should also enter a state of calm. A restless body is just as powerful when it comes to creating a distraction. In order to achieve this relaxed state, finding a comfortable (and quiet) place in your home to begin speed reading training is suggested.

2) Read Solid Book Material

There are many different kinds of reading material to select when learning how to speed read, but one of the best types to consider is a book with solid material. To train the brain to read at a faster rate, a book containing less “flowery” language is highly recommended. This is because a book with concrete information consists of fewer repeated and redundant words, which adds to a slower rate of gathering information and details. Seek out a richer content of reading material and you will find better results in the end.

3) Pinpoint Keywords

Most printed works contain about 60% words that are used as a simple filler for the structure of sentences. When you learn how to pinpoint the keywords that mean the most in text, you will further your speed reading goals. Once you train your eyes to zero in on significant keywords, your brain will start to quickly process the meaning and the theme of the material you are reading.

4) Patience and Determination

It is important to set goals on a daily basis. This means if you reach a speed of reading 200 words per minute, it is suggested to make a goal to next reach 250 words. Your objective is to continue increasing your progress to reach your fullest potential in speed reading. There really is no limit to the lengths you may reach in the speed reading world. However, you should realize that the only condition you should satisfy when learning how to speed read is to retain your understanding of the text. If you fail to keep this variable constant, your speed reading skill will not satisfy its purpose any longer.

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This week I find myself drowning in duties and obligations. I had intended to do quite a few things that have been left to fall to the wayside, so to speak.

That’s the thing about intentions. They mean absolutely nothing without action. What can you do to ensure that all of your responsibilities and commitments get attended to? Define your goals, create a plan and stick to it.

This is a lot easier than it actually sounds. I am guilty of not always following through on my intentions but if you are truly dedicated to your goals, then it should not be such a daunting task to get back on track. When you are overwhelmed with tasks or those moments of laziness and irresponsibility come in to steal your thunder, the best thing you can do is to forgive yourself, reassess and recommit.

Forgiveness is essential because it removes all of those negative feelings of guilt and the anxiety that many of us feel behind being a disappointment to ourselves as well as others. Realizing that you are human and can occasionally falter is a healthy approach to any sidetrack. If you find yourself spiraling out of control with a seemingly endless list of to-dos, then perhaps a reassessment is in order. Take the time to reevaluate your priorities. Perhaps there is something you can delegate or drop from your responsibilities altogether. You do not have to do it all. Finally, recommit. Renew your promises to yourself and to those affected by your commitments. This involves acknowledging the problem if there was one and then asserting your faith that you can follow through in the future.

Time does not have to be your enemy. Know your purpose, define goals and plan accordingly to achieve them. Be realistic in your commitments and only accept those tasks that you are able to follow through on. Follow these simple steps you will find that it will be a lot easier to fulfill intentions.

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? 2007 All Rights Reserved. Reprint permission granted only with inclusion of the author bylines. Niquenya D. Fulbright is a Chicago area executive life coach, professional speaker and corporate trainer with over 10 years experience specializing in motivating small business owners, entrepreneurs, executives, groups and individuals in a career or life transition to use their innate abilities to master their goals and achieve successes beyond their wildest dreams. www.niquenyafulbright.com