Ten years of research and 500 face-to-face-interviews led Richard St. John to a collection of eight common traits in successful leaders around the world.
Category: Motivation
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Coping With Failure and Setbacks
Failure is hard to stomach, especially when when you put your heart and sole into something and it just doesn’t pan out. Lets face it, some things are just not meant to be, like that relationship, job, or business venture. Learning to cope with it all is a challenge and in this piece, I will give you tips, and steps you can take to help you brush off your setbacks.
1. Stop Dwelling
To dwell means to continue to relive the failure over and over again in your head. When we dwell, we have a tendency to focus too much on what could have been, instead of how we can correct the problem. Don’t get lost in your thoughts, and continue to internalize the issue you are dealing with. If it is worth saving, like a relationship, work with the person on how to move forward if it is what the two of you want. If it’s a setback with a new years resolution, brush yourself off, and pick up where you left off. Spend your time dwelling on a solution to the problem, then the problem itself and you will see a big difference in your attitude as a result.
2. Don’t Beat Yourself Up
Self sabotaging isn’t going to help you out one bit so it’s best to stop beating yourself up right this minute. Remember, life is filled with instances of results, and outcomes, and that’s how you need to define failure. Failure isn’t necessarily permanent when it comes to goals and objectives. It just means that a particular way of doing something isn’t working. Failure is life’s mechanism to indicate to you that a different approach is needed. Moreover, blaming yourself for failing is just going to further exasperate you to the point where you are too upset to retry, which leads us to step number three…..
3. Learn to Accept
Years ago, I was involved in a business that I gave 100% to, with all my heart and soul. I sacrificed time with family, friends, and relationships just to make it work and in the end it just wasn’t meant to be. The business literally ran out of money, and to continue, it would require major financial investment. After a thorough analysis, it was just something my partners and I could no longer afford. We had to learn to accept what our limits were at that time, and in this case specifically, it was money. Sometimes in life, outcomes are out of our control.
We must learn to accept these outcomes, and move forward with a new plan. Once you learn to accept what the reality is, it will give you clarity, and peace of mind to accept new challenges in your life. You can only do this clarity once you learn to accept.
4. Seek Guidance
Failure is part of the human experience, and chances are your friends, family and those you most admire have failed many times in their lives. Seek the guidance of successful people, and ask them to tell a story of a time they failed miserably at something. Not only will this serve as a source of motivation for you, it will make your failures seem like nothing. Did you know that Col. Sanders, the man who famously founded Kentucky Fried Chicken, tried to sell his “secret recipe” to over 1,000 restaurants before one said ‘yes.’ Most impressive was he did this aged 62, and went door to door over a period of a few years until he could convince someone to buy his recipe. Now that is determination for you! Seek the guidance and advise of successful people who have failed at something. They will undoubtedly have a story to tell you.
5. Take the Focus Off of Yourself
We live in a ‘me, me, me’ generation. Lets face it, your problem more than likely isn’t as bad as the child who will go to sleep hungry this very night, because he doesn’t have enough food to eat. Yes this sounds a bit off key, but there are more other pressing issues in a world filled with injustice and inequality, that are waiting on people like you to help. Volunteer at a local homeless or animal shelter, or help your elderly neighbor with yard work. Visit your local ASPCA to inquire about how you can foster a pet, and do more than just give your money. Give your time. Take the focus off yourself and try and help people who have much more serious problems, than you might ever have in your life. This will help you take the focus off of yourself, and put into perspective how grateful you should be to have your life.
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The Power of Positive Thinking
Tony Robbins speaks about “The Seven-Day Mental Diet” by Emmet Fox is a powerful reminder that the stories in our minds create the stories in our lives. He recommends going on a 7 day mental diet from dwelling on negative thoughts. This is a great way to turn your negative thoughts into positive stories in your life.
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Moving From Change To Progress
Did you recently change a habit, and are now stuck with what to do next to condition the change? Move from change to progress by watching this instructional video by Tony Robbins.
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The Importance of Following Your Dreams
Sebastian was born in Mallorca, Spain and lived in 5 countries in the last 6 years. Until today he has traveled to more than 60 countries in the world. In Australia and Thailand he worked as a marketing consultant helping companies in branding and positioning.
He studied International Business and Management Studies in The Netherlands and Journalism and Mass Communication in Bulgaria. Since September 2012 he lives in Berlin from where he consults businesses in Blogger Relations and Social Media. He believes that everybody can achieve his dreams if they are willing to work for it. His office fits in a backpack and is location independent.
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The 5 Phrases That Can Change Your Life
Adam Braun is the Founder and CEO of Pencils of Promise, a nonprofit organization that
has broken ground on more than 80 schools around the world and delivered over 3
million educational hours in its first four years. PoP was founded with just $25 in October
2008 using what Braun describes as a “for-purpose” approach to blending nonprofit
idealism with for-profit business principles.Braun’s passion for international education was ignited when he traveled to over fifty
countries in his early twenties. He graduated magna cum laude from Brown University,
previously worked at Bain & Company, and was recently named to Wired’s Smart List:
50 People Who Will Change the World. -
Living with Courage: Embracing Fear to Follow Your Heart
Kelley is an adventure guide, explorer, and novice-filmmaker who paved the way for women to become guides in the adventure travel industry. Today, paralyzed from the waist down after ingesting a waterborne parasite on the first descent of the Blue Nile River, Kelley continues to illustrate the need for courage to make the world better.
Her experiences include:– Trainer for third-world locals who continue to earn living wages for their families as guides on their native rivers
– Guide on historic journeys that retraced the steps of great explorers such as John Muir’s expedition through Alaska and Teddy Roosevelt’s wilderness river descent through the rain forests of Brazil
– Stunt woman for Meryl Streep in the movie “The River Wild”
– Award-winning documentary film maker for the movie “Three Women, 300 Miles,” which chronicled her river-board (similar to large boogie-board) trip through the Grand Canyon.
Kelley inspires listeners to live in the moment, embracing and not shying from fear. She uses her spinal cord injury to support all people in their pursuit of living the life they dream.
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How To Magically Connect With Anybody
Magicians have mastered the art of understanding different perspectives in order to create illusions and connect with the audience. Brian Miller explains how he used that skill to create magic for a blind man. Then he shares how you can use the same technique to make better, more meaningful connections with people in your life, personally and professionally.
Brian Miller is a corporate & private magician and interactive speaker. For more than 10 years he has entertained thousands of audiences in over 25 states. He is the former resident magician for the largest casino in North America, and currently holds an exclusive residency with Connecticut’s first and only Dave & Buster’s. Brian has also become a campus activities favorite, having been recognized twice as one of
America’s Best Small Venue Performers by Campus Activities Magazine (2013, 2014). -
The Surprising Truth About Rejection
Cam Adair tells a story of our society’s collective nightmare: rejection. It’s a story we’ve all lived through before but this one ends with a plot twist. He speaks to the universal experience and paralyzing fear of rejection while exposing his own inner turmoil he trudged through as a teenager. After years of intense bullying starting at age 13 where the fun game was “Who can stuff Cam into a trashcan?” he dropped out of high school. Twice. Next he found himself recoiling from the world, playing video games up to 16 hours a day.
But something surprising happened that changed the way he saw his rejection forever. This turning point allowed him to shift gears to become a successful entrepreneur. Now as a public speaker he travels around the country sharing his message about overcoming the heartbreaking pain of rejection and using it as fuel for growth, connection and purpose.
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7 Seconds to Change Your Life
Watch this video and learn how in just 7 seconds you can change your life…