5 THINGS YOU DON’T NEED TO LIVE AN AWESOME LIFE

by STEVEN BANCARZ

The pursuit of happiness is the greatest pursuit in life.  Everyone is searching for something to truly fulfill their soul and quench their thirst for meaning and purpose.  Everyone wants to wake up being in love with life and excited for what the day has in store.

But from the moment we are born, we are programmed into thinking that “happiness” comes in a variety of forms that prove time and time again to be hollow and empty.  We grow up wanting to live “the dream”, which usually consists of a bunch of dead end pursuits and egoic pleasures that end of numbing and burdening our spirit.

Here are is a list of 5 things society tells us we need to live an awesome life, when in reality some may actually prevent you from having an awesome life:

1) Fame/popularity

When we are in high school growing up, peer approval is so important to us.  We all want to be seen as “cool”, “wise” or “trendy” by the people around us.  We desire to be desired, and want to be seen as important in the eyes of our peers.  Sometimes, this deep-rooted need to impress others sticks with us into our early adulthood and persists throughout our entire life.

A huge weight gets lifted off your shoulders when you realize that you don’t need to be liked by everybody around you.  You don’t need to be popular and famous.  You just need to be you.  Don’t define yourself in relation to your position within your social network or even within society as a whole.  You came into this world as an individual, and you will leave this world as an individual.  Discover yourself and love yourself, and you will find that the pursuit of popularity and fame is just another burden preventing you from living a happy life.

2) Riches and wealth

We all want to be “rich”, but does wealth really equal freedom?  Does being buried head deep in bills, payments, and material items really satisfy the spirit?  Money can’t buy you happiness.  It can buy your ego contentment for a short while, but it will never be able to make you feel alive. It can only buy you things that give you the imitation of happiness.

If you are sad, depressed, lonely, or angry and think that winning 1 million dollars will make you  feel better, consider this:  It will only give you a more luxurious environment to feel sad, depressed, lonely, and angry in.  Whether you are unfulfilled in a 2 million dollar house or in a $200,000, it doesn’t really matter.  Happiness does not come from possessions.  It comes from your relationship to yourself.

Read More here 5 THINGS YOU DON’T NEED TO LIVE AN AWESOME LIFE

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How to Have a Great Day: 5 Simple Steps for Daily Happiness!

So you came here looking for more information on how to have a great day? Good on you! Let’s face it – in our 24/7 non-stop world of deadlines, accountability and stress, great days can be hard to come by!  But what if you could change that?

I’ve written about the topic of choosing happiness in the past and the importance of embracing different parts of ourselves.  A major message of this blog on Reaching Life Goals is to help you live your life to the fullest, using mindfulness as a conduit for change.

Read more here How to Have a Great Day: 5 Simple Steps for Daily Happiness!

Read about 60 Small Ways to Improve Your Life in the Next 100 Days

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to make drastic changes in order to notice an improvement in the quality of your life. At the same time, you don’t need to wait a long time in order to see the measurable results that come from taking positive action. All you have to do is take small steps, and take them consistently, for a period of 100 days.

Below you’ll find 60 small ways to improve all areas of your life in the next 100 days.

HOME

1.  Create a “100 Days to Conquer Clutter Calendar” by penciling in one group of items you plan to declutter every day, for the next 100 days.  Here’s an example:

• Day 1: Declutter Magazines
• Day 2: Declutter DVD’s
• Day 3: Declutter books
• Day 4: Declutter kitchen appliances

2. Live by the mantra: a place for everything and everything in its place. For the next 100 days follow these four rules to keep your house in order:

• If you take it out, put it back.
• If you open it, close it.
• If you throw it down, pick it up.
• If you take it off, hang it up.

3. Walk around your home and identify 100 things you’ve been tolerating; fix one each day. Here are some examples:

• A burnt light bulb that needs to be changed.
• A button that’s missing on your favorite shirt.
• The fact that every time you open your top kitchen cabinet all of the plastic food containers fall out.

HAPPINESS

4.  Follow the advice proffered by positive psychologists and write down 5 to 10 things that you’re grateful for, every day.

5. Make a list of 20 small things that you enjoy doing, and make sure that you do at least one of these things every day for the next 100 days. Your list can include things such as the following:

• Eating your lunch outside.
• Calling your best friend to chat.
• Taking the time to sit down and read a novel by your favorite author for a few minutes.

6. Keep a log of your mental chatter, both positive and negative, for ten days. Be as specific as possible:

• How many times do you beat yourself up during the day?
• Do you have feelings of inadequacy?
• Are you constantly thinking critical thoughts of others?
• How many positive thoughts do you have during the day?

Also, make a note of the emotions that accompany these thoughts. Then, for the next 90 days, begin changing your emotions for the better by modifying your mental chatter.

7. For the next 100 days, have a good laugh at least once a day: get one of those calendars that has a different joke for every day of the year, or stop by a web site that features your favorite cartoons.

LEARNING/PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

8. Choose a book that requires effort and concentration and read a little of it every day, so that you read it from cover to cover in 100 days.

9. Make it a point to learn at least one new thing each day: the name of a flower that grows in your garden, the capital of a far-off country, or the name of a piece of classical music you hear playing in your favorite clothing boutique as you shop. If it’s time for bed and you can’t identify anything you’ve learned that day, take out your dictionary and learn a new word.

10. Stop complaining for the next 100 days. A couple of years back, Will Bowen gave a purple rubber bracelet to each person in his congregation to remind them to stop complaining. “Negative talk produces negative thoughts; negative thoughts produce negative results”, says Bowen. For the next 100 days, whenever you catch yourself complaining about anything, stop yourself.

11. Set your alarm a minute earlier every day for the next 100 days. Then make sure that you get out of bed as soon as your alarm rings, open the windows to let in some sunlight, and do some light stretching. In 100 days you’ll be waking up an hour and forty minutes earlier than you’re waking up now.

12. For the next 100 days, keep Morning Pages, which is a tool suggested by Julia Cameron. Morning Pages are simply three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning.

13. For the next 100 days make it a point to feed your mind with the thoughts, words, and images that are most consistent with who you want to be, what you want to have, and what you want to achieve.

- See more at: Read about 60 Small Ways to Improve Your Life in the Next 100 Days

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Some of the ways I adept the Art of War in my life

Since upgrading myself to Managerial positions, I'm always on the lookout for books that help me improve myself. Books that guide me on how to manage people, work and even life. One great book which I still read and use its methods is The One Minute Manager. Its one of the reading material that I recommend to any of my employee that is going to be a manager. When I was working for a hotel chain, they used the Sun Tzu's Art of War in their managerial skills. Did some research on the Art of War to improve my leadership skills. And I have been using it in my life and work till now. Here are some ways in which I use the art of war. I will add some as I go along. Hope my interpretation of this ancient methods will help others in managing life and work. 

Read more here Some of the ways I adept the Art of War in my life

Why You Should Be Chief Growth Officer of Your Family

It isn’t just about becoming a better person for your own sake; it’s a way to benefit the people closest to you.

by Annie Mueller

Companies benefit from having well-developed, growing, open-minded leaders. Your children (members of a different kind of company) should also benefit from having leaders who pursue personal development, understanding and growth.
Taking time for personal growth might seem selfish, but it’s not. Many self-improvement practices like keeping a journal, meditating, practicing optimism and reading come with a long list of mental, emotional and physical benefits. And when you put time and effort into becoming a better person, your children reap the rewards.
How?

1. Give your child a better primary influence.

A parent’s influence is the first and arguably the most influential relationship in any child’s life. On a daily basis, parents influence how their children interact socially and what habits, views and preferences they form. In the long-term, they influence everything from religious beliefs to physical development, from emotional well-being to hygiene habits to anxiety levels.
No pressure, huh? Of course, as a parent, you know you don’t have it all figured out. You do the best you can.
Pursuing personal growth can help you do better.
You can’t choose whether you will influence your child. You will. That’s a given. You can choose, however, whether you’ll be static, stuck at one level of ability, or whether you will continually seek to grow into a better person who can be a more positive influence.

Read the rest here:- Why You Should Be Chief Growth Officer of Your Family


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7 Things Successful People Do Differently…

What is it that makes some people successful in life, able to reach whatever goal they like, while others get stuck in the same place for years, if not decades?
Is it their education?  Where they were born?  Who their family is?  Is it genetics?
The reality is…it’s none of the above.
In my working with thousands of people over the years to help them change their lives, to help them create both financial success and personal fulfillment, I’ve found 7 things in particular that successful people do differently.
I’ve outlined them below.  How many of these 7 things are you doing?

Click here to know more 7 Things Successful People Do Differently…

How I Stay Inspired (Personal)

By Robin Sharma
#1 bestselling author of The Leader Who Had No Title -

I’m no guru. My life’s not flawless. I’m a work in progress (who works harder than you’ll ever know to live my message)…some days are epic…some days yield challenges…

Through my life, I’ve been at the top of the summit of success as well as spent time walking through the valley of darkness and pain…

…that’s just life happening, yes? [I have also come to believe that apparent setbacks are just growth blessings in wolf’s clothing. Adversity is the medicine that makes scared citizens brave].

But the real game of the legendary performer is to play at wow no matter what’s going on in their outer world. To remain focused, productive, creative, graceful, grateful…and inspired…when things are going great or when it’s all falling apart.

The foundation of it all–in many ways–is your mindset. When you think inspired, you’ll feel inspired. And when you feel inspired, you’ll do inspired.

Here are 5 of the practices I run to keep my inspiration levels at peak: -

#1. Be With Beauty. 
I’m an aesthete. I adore being around beauty, whether that’s the beauty of amazing modern art at The Tate in London or under the big African sky in Cape Town or walking in a forest with my children or a three hour meal simply but beautifully prepared in a Roman enoteca. Beauty inspires. Seek it daily.


#2. Get Your Soundtrack Right. 
Music’s awesome. Been listening to a lot of War Against Drugs/Courtney Barnett/Wax Tailor and Mogwai lately as well my favorite loungey chill out music. I make playlists based on the season as well as the pocket of life I’m experiencing. Music is one of my go to protocols. It kickstarts my production, inspires my hours and becomes the soundtrack to my life. A house with great music is a cool home.

#3. Walk With Giants. 
I’ve been sending you very robust posts over the past few weeks in my ongoing effort to be a source of rich value to you and I didn’t want to go too deep on this one but simply know that there’s a ton of good science confirming that we adopt the mindsets + habits of the people we spend most of our time with… 

…hang with C-players and world-class complainers who dismiss their opportunity for a bolder future and that will become your reality too. 

…populate your life with optimists, game-changers, masters of their crafts and visionaries who are obsessed with lifting the world and their influence lifts you with them. You really will become your conversations… 

Fyi–if you want to spend 4 days with me and my superstar faculty that has included Richard Branson, Seth Godin, Darren Hardy and Daniel Amen at The Titan Summit 2015 to 100X your business + life forever, I strongly encourage you to get onto the advance registration list right here 

This iconic event is my premier live event and only happens once a year. My team wants me to open doors pretty soon and getting onto this priority list is not only your best chance at a seat but you’ll get the early registration price versus the regular $25,000 tuition fee. - 

See more at: How I Stay Inspired (Personal)


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7 Things Successful People Do Differently…

Published by:
Nick Ortner

What is it that makes some people successful in life, able to reach whatever goal they like, while others get stuck in the same place for years, if not decades?
Is it their education?  Where they were born?  Who their family is?  Is it genetics?
The reality is…it’s none of the above.
In my working with thousands of people over the years to help them change their lives, to help them create both financial success and personal fulfillment, I’ve found 7 things in particular that successful people do differently.
I’ve outlined them below.  How many of these 7 things are you doing?

1 – They first change how they think and feel

Let’s start with how they think:

Talk to anybody who built success in their life and they’ll tell you that they changed their thinking in order to get different results.  Every one of us is a product of our thinking.  Our finances, relationships, health, happiness and every other area are dictated by our thinking.  If you want a different result in life, you need to change your thinking first.

How they feel:
Very often people get hung up on “thinking like successful people” and forget a key element: what they’re feeling.  Listening to your emotions is critical to understanding what is holding you back, both consciously and unconsciously.
Successful people know that our emotions drive everything.  If you’re feeling overwhelmed, afraid, stressed, sad, depressed or any other negative emotion, your brain is less resourceful and less able to help you make good decisions and take important action.  If you want to have more energy, make better decisions, be more creative and have more success in life, develop the habit of paying attention to your emotions and then doing what’s needed to be in the right emotional state (like using Tapping, which we’ll get to later!)

2 – They believe they deserve success

Successful people believe they deserve success, unsuccessful people do not.
The area where this is most evident is with money.  Financially successful people generally feel they deserve to be successful, and so they’ve created it in their lives.
So what qualifies somebody as “deserving success” or not?  Only one thing…the rules they create for it in their own brain.
Oftentimes people, consciously or unconsciously, think they don’t deserve success because of false beliefs like, “I’m not a good enough person” or, “I don’t work hard enough” or, “I’m not smart enough” or any other of a laundry list of negative limiting beliefs.

In order to find out what you believe about success just SAY and COMPLETE these two phrases out loud:
– I don’t deserve success because… (say what first comes up, don’t question it).
– I deserve success because… (say what first comes up, don’t question it!)
When you say those two phrases out loud, your unconscious brain will give you the reasons that have been programmed as to why you believe one way or the other.  If you’re not getting the answer you’d like (or you’re surprised by what’s coming up), don’t worry, I’ll show you how to change your belief systems around success in the coming days, all using EFT Tapping.

Remember, at the end of the day every, and I mean EVERY, person deserves success.  Every person is capable of growth, of love, of giving beyond themselves, and being rewarded for it.  Anyone can succeed financially, in relationships, with their health, in any area of their life.
In the coming days, I’ll show you how to get there.





3 – They do whatever it takes to overcome events and patterns from the past that don’t serve them

Most of the habits, patterns and beliefs that we have today were developed between the ages of 0 and 6 years old.  They weren’t developed consciously, they were essentially downloaded from our parents, and from other people and events happening around us at the time.
We didn’t have choice as to what beliefs were given to us, or what events were happening around us.  Unfortunately, many of those beliefs, patterns and experiences were negative and have limited us in our adult life.
Some have had tougher upbringings than others, with more negative experiences and more negative beliefs about themselves and the world, but regardless of the experiences…there is good news….
Today, as adults, we have choice over what beliefs, patterns and habits we want to keep or discard, and we have choice over the meanings we give our past experiences.
Successful people are aware of how limiting old beliefs, habits, patterns and experiences can be… and they do whatever it takes to change them.
That doesn’t mean it’s always easy.  Overcoming childhood abuse issues, or deep-rooted self-confidence issues, or overwhelmingly negative thought patterns can be a challenge, but successful people are committed to their growth, no matter what.
They know that the past does not equal the future.  That past challenges can be dwelled upon for years, or accepted as necessary life lessons on their path.
Overcoming limiting beliefs and difficult events from your past is something that EFT Tapping is especially powerful at helping with, more so than any other technique I’ve ever seen.  I’ve had the privilege of using Tapping to help people with some enormous challenges through our Tapping Solution Foundation, like veterans with PTSD, children genocide survivors in Rwanda, 1st responders of the Sandy Hook school shooting (my home town), and much more.
In the coming days, I’ll show you exactly how to do it for yourself.  I’ll show you how to overcome any obstacle from your past.

Read the rest here 7 Things Successful People Do Differently…

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Guest post from Sam Breen, at The Gentleman Life

You want to be successful. I want to be successful. I want you to be successful. And I want you to want to be successful.

So, I took a little inspiration from Stephen R. Covey’s book and added a little twist and instead I have listed 7 habits of unsuccessful people, the habits that are holding you back.

Holding you back from what? You may be asking at this point. The answer: CLICK HERE

Restaurant Promotion Idea # 35 :- Digital Display to Market your Specials

By utilizing digital displays you can do away with printing of posters to promote your specials as well as products. You can even add a few different promotions and just allow the display to play the pictures. If you were to use the traditional printed poster you would need to print several different posters intended for various promotions. Besides to placing them around the restaurant hoping the customer will see it. A moving picture show will catch people's attention as opposed to a static poster. You can even change your promotions and specials weekly and fast.

You can buy a software that you can plug to your LCD TELEVISION or you can even use a DVD player that can work using a USB flash drive. You will find quite some not to expensive USB compatible DVDs available in the market now. Just create a few jpeg pictures of your specials, put it on a flash drive, connect it into your DVD and play. Ensure the time between pictures are not too fast or too slow. Making use of Digital Display to promote merchandise, specials as well as menus have long the retail and the fast food business. But restaurants are slow to use this promotional idea. Some restaurants have a television set up in their dining area, which they will show movies, news or sporting events. I have noticed that most people are not interested in what’s on TV. If they wanted to watch TV, they wouldn't have come out for dinner. Put it to use as a promotional board. Place some nice pictures along with unique taglines on it. If you are in a location with heavy traffic, a digital board behind your window. Pictures of delicious foods will tempt customers to stroll in.


Depending on your customers. To create the jpeg pictures I use Powerpoint and "Save as" jpeg. Make sure your food pictures are sharp or else it will break up on the screen. Add some unique or funny tag lines. This will capture the attention of your customers.

Bear in mind these days people don't have the time to read lengthy taglines. Visit some famous fast food outlets such as McDonalds, Burger King and Starbucks. These people go to great lengths to study exactly what captures people's attention. As the saying goes " A picture paints 1000 words". You won't have to worry if your employees don't explain a promotion, cause the picture will tell all.

You can place your LCD Display anywhere. At the entrance, at the hostess stand, at your waiting lounge as well as at several location of the restaurant. Cost might be factor with regards to setting up a digital promotion board. But its a one time installation as compared to printing posters. You need to brand new posters for new promotion. With a digital board you just design your products and uploaded it into the screen. If you don't need it anymore, you just delete it.

Below are some of the specials that I created on Powerpoint and uploaded on my Digital Display  

Restaurant Website Design, The Easy Way

   

Professional Web Design Without Spending Thousands

The beautiful collection of website templates available on Restaurant Engine were crafted by top professional web designers who normally charge thousands for custom web design. Every detail perfectly positioned for restaurant websites to impress and attract more customers.

See what so many restaurateurs are raving about

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Restaurant Promotion Idea #18 – Publish and Give out Recipe Books

One way you can promote your new menu is to publish a recipe book of your signature dishes. Famous chefs have been doing this to promote themselves and their creations for quite some time. Those that had the chance to market their recipe books abroad also attracted tourist to venture to their outlet from afar. Most restaurants don’t like giving out their recipes fearing that people will open another food outlet close by using their recipes or their guest will be able to cook the dish at home so they won’t be dining in your outlet. So what if you lose a few customers, but cooking is not about exactly following the recipe, its about passion. Read more please CLICK HERE

10 Tips for Finding Happiness | World of Psychology

By Carrie Rossiter

~ 2 min read


Happiness can be elusive, but below are ways to help find it.

1. Only you can you make yourself happy.

You really can’t rely on anyone else to make you happy. If you aren’t happy with yourself, you won’t think you deserve affection and attention. Do not give anyone else the power to make you feel anything. Do not make anyone your whole world.


2. Little things can bring joy.

Get excited about everyday things. You can find something to be happy about every day: getting coffee with a friend, your favorite song playing on the radio, eating a piece of chocolate, spending time with family or getting a compliment.

3. Expectations ruin happiness.

William Shakespeare said, “Expectation is the root of all heartache.”

I thought by 30, I would be married, have a house, maybe have had a baby and traveled more. Things happen in life that you cannot control. So many of us have expectations about what our lives should be like at a certain time in our lives.

Expectations also can put a lot of pressure on relationships. There is nothing wrong with having expectations in a relationship, but having unrealistic ones can ruin any relationship. Sometimes we expect more from others because we’d be willing to do that much for them.

4. Appreciate what you have.

There are moments when I am surrounded by my friends or my family that I feel so blessed and grateful. There are moments where I realize that everything really does happen for a reason.

Happy moments make you realize how lucky you are. You start to appreciate the things you have and the more you’re grateful about what you have, the happier you’ll become. Sometimes, happiness is just accepting what’s happening right now and being OK with it. There is a feeling of peace in giving up the need to control outcomes and appreciating whatever happiness you have.

5. Happiness maintenance.

Happiness for any length of time requires maintenance. Once you set your mind to be happy, you have to keep at it. Keep doing things that bring you joy. Keep pushing away negative thoughts. Happiness requires maintenance. Priorities change, interests fade and relationships go through changes.


Read the rest here 10 Tips for Finding Happiness | World of Psychology