Introduction

Self motivation is the ability to motivate yourself, to find a reason and the necessary strength to do something, without the need of being influenced to do so by another person. Inner peace has nothing to do with externals, which is why self motivation techniques fill a necessary gap.

Yourself

If you want to improve your self motivation or self esteem or improve yourself in any way, you need the desire and will to do it. You need self motivation to achieve, because if you don’t encourage yourself to accept opportunity and challenge, who will?

The very fact that you are here and trying to improve yourself shows that you are motivated. Start by setting small goals. Remember to give yourself positive rewards for each achievement.

Make a commitment to what matters to you; act on your priorities and your values; express to yourself and to others what you want and need in your life. What are your likes and dislikes?

The key to success is to be yourself; the key to failure is to try and please everyone. Success is defined not by what other people think of you, but what you think of yourself.

Success

The best way to bring success to yourself is to genuinely desire to create value for the rest of the world. It instantly begins with devising a plan for your success. Each small success will lead you to larger ones and you will finally reach the moon. Go ahead; reach for it! Opportunities for success are all around you. You just have to open your eyes and look; and listen. You will discover that even successful people do certain things each day to stay motivated.

You will find it easy to give your self motivation a boost with successes in your daily, weekly or long term activities. Self improvement results to inner stability, personality development and success. By making an effort to feel grateful, you’ll realize how competent and successful you already are. Fully appreciate the smaller things in life.

Goals

Training yourself to take any small step towards your goals is a great self motivation technique. Breaking this into small steps makes this even easier. Write down your goals and stick them on your desk or wall so you can see them. Create your self-awareness and latent skills to reach your goals.

Enjoy the self-assured confidence that comes from within, knowing you are achieving those goals that matter the most to you. Remind yourself of your goals and take some time to appreciate how far you’ve come in reaching them. You will notice the positive difference!

Conclusion

Keep a positive attitude: There’s nothing more powerful for self motivation than the right attitude. It gives you joy, the impetus to push further, and a sense of power. Self- Motivation is not an accident or something that someone else can give you — you are the only one with the power to motivate you. You have within you the unique power of deciding your destiny.

Author: Scott Allen Barker specializes in writing mental health/health related articles. For more successful tips on motivation, Free 30 Day Motivational Ecourse at http://www.MentalHealthDropInCenter.com/motivationalecourse.html http://www.MentalHealthDropInCenter.com

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I am here to dispel a myth: While I am intelligent, I have not yet reached the level of Einstein. There you go. Now, could you please explain that to my family, friends, coworkers, and business associates.

I am not here to brag about how smart I am. This post merely exists to show you how you can look like a member of Mensa to the average American, with a minimum of effort.

1. Learn to use Google. Are you one of those people who Google stuff all the time, and yet never seem to find anything? What do you do? You go to a professional Googler, like me, and they find “used bungee cords” in a matter of seconds. How?

We know how to talk to Google. While Google is getting smarter, it still has a hard time knowing exactly what you want. If you type in the word “colour”, Google still does not recognize that it is the exact same word as “color”. Google can only process the information we give it.

How many of you have ever used the advanced search portion of Google? Probably 10% or less, and yet that is how you can drill down to what you really want. Is the page less than 10 days old, do you want it in a PDF or Word document? The more you tell Google, the better results you will get.

There are tons of resources online that will show you how to search more accurately. Just Google it.

2. Use spell check, but don’t depend on it. I wish I had dollar for every time I used “their” when I meant “there”, and vice-versa. Also, watch out for “too” and “two”, “who’s” and “whose”. It is also helpful to know the difference between “its” and “it’s”. Spell check will let all these past without a whimper, because they are all spelled correctly. A firm grasp of the meaning of these words will help you evade embarrassment, and give you a more polished image at work and play.

3. Know the difference between “i.e.” and “e.g.”. Want to see a film called “Revenge of the English Majors”? Misuse these, and I can guarantee you a front row seat. Many people use “i.e.” interchangeably with the term “for example”. This is technically wrong. The term i.e. translates from the Latin as “that is”. If you wanted to say “for example”, “e.g.” would be the appropriate abbreviation.

4. Have a basic idea of where things are in the world. When 50% of college aged kids can’t find New York state on a map, you know we’re in trouble as a nation. If you can tell someone that “Niger” is in Africa, then you will be considered a Geography genius.

5. Collect general knowledge, or as most people refer to it, “useless information”. “Useless information” is something of a misnomer. It is only useless if it is never used. You never know when you might need that obscure fact about the gross domestic product of Germany, or how to open a beer with your belt loop. So take great pains to obtain it, and use it to benefit your fellow man.

6. Don’t be afraid to break stuff. We are afraid to mess things up in our culture. You will find that you will accomplish much more than other people by overcoming the fear of screwing things up. Most people don’t build their own computers simply because they are afraid of damaging the parts. I babied every part as I gingerly put my first PC together. Now, I use “fragile” RAM as everything but a Frisbee, and it still works. Experience will teach you what you can and can’t do. So go ahead, take a plunge into the deep end.

7. Don’t be afraid to say “I have no idea”. If I could pass one thing on to you, it would be this. Once you know all this stuff, it becomes harder to admit that you don’t know everything. It’s even harder to watch a person who wanted an answer “right now”, go back to their cube with a dejected look on their face. In the long run, people will respect you for it.

It’s not like they can’t ask Google, right?

Kurt Hartman loves to collect obscure information. He puts it to use every day as an OTR Analyst. Trivia: What does OTR stand for? The acronym actually has two uses: In one usage, it stands for “old time radio”. The other usage is in the phrase “OTR Tires”, which stands for off the road tires . These are the types of tires that go on heavy equipment. Now you know.

“Girl, I wouldn’t even put up with that mess.”

You’ve heard it before and most likely have said it on an occasion or two. Well, I have learned that if you live long enough, life will make you recall that statement. Life sure caught up with me and I have had to recall and eat many statements that came out of my mouth in my younger, more carefree days.

Older folks would say, “She’s just wet behind the ears”. I never really understood what that meant. But I was wet all right… more like saturated.

Thinking back, I can remember listening to a girlfriend rant about what her husband did and how stupid she was for staying. Tears rolled down her face as she sobbed uncontrollably. She needed support; her heart was heavy.

“But I Love him” she said while she blew her nose.

All I could think of was, “Love don’t got jack to do with it”

Today, I’ve had to kick myself on a few occasions. Today…I am a different person.

It was a humid, sticky mid August afternoon in 2005…a typical normal, hot August afternoon. But normal it was not. At least it wasn’t for me. My life would never be the same.

Looking at the summons for my husband to appear before the judge for child support was more than I could handle at that time. We, as a team had just gotten caught up on our bills since his return home 7 months prior. To say it was a testing period for me was an understatement. The saying goes; If it’s not one thing it’s another. For me it went like this; If it’s not 5 things it’s 25 things. This was so relevant for my life.

There were days I would just literally scream and cry. It was as if the enemy had just zoomed in on me and I was his target for things I couldn’t even begin to explain. But it was evident: I was chosen to carry many, many crosses. Some crosses didn’t even belong to me. I had to send those back. The ones that were not mine had to get a RETURN TO SENDER stamp.

On this day, I looked at the summons and the name of the child that the support was being requested for. My breath became very short and at that moment, I needed air. It seemed like the room started to spin. My eyes began to fill with tears, my heart felt as if it was going to jump out of my chest. My knees buckled. I had to sit down.

I was all alone.

After I found a chair, my stomach started to turn and dizziness came over me like a rushing wind.

The enemy wanted me to lose my mind.

“How?”“Why?” These were the questions that began to surface in my mind.

It was bad enough to have a baby by a married man but to name the child after him was inexcusable to me. A junior? I would never do that. That to me was just mean. This was beyond my comprehension. I guess because I think differently.

I dialed my Pastor’s phone number. No answer - just voicemail. I dialed my 1st Lady. She answered. She knew who I was from the caller id. It was as if the words would not come out.

“Nicole” Silence. I couldn’t answer. I was in between sobs. “Nicole” The words finally came out but they were muffled. I began to blurt out what just happened.

“My God,” was her first response. “Okay, now let’s get it together,” was her second.

She was not having the pity party thing. For one thing - I was too far away from her (as my church is over 90 miles from my house). Second – she knew my potential. It’s a blessing to have mentors around you that see where you’re going before you see it or believe it. Our Pastors were sent to us for what we have had to endure. Pastors Clifton & Vicki Coward of Agape International Ministries Worldwide in Richmond, Virginia have been that bridge for us.

Pastor Vicki went on to encourage me and give me what the word has promised me.

Then, I called my girlfriend Lena. I remember the day like it was yesterday. Summons in one hand, phone in another, and standing outside on our deck. I was pacing back and forth at this time. She immediately began to pray. She was at Farm Fresh at the time. A few weeks later, she told me she was praying so loudly in the store that she had to go outside before the people put her out. (LOL)

For over a year I would not talk about it. I couldn’t. I would literally get sick just thinking about it. The pain was so deep…it was like an open wound that would try to close but couldn’t. As soon as I thought I was all healed, something would happen and those feelings would resurface and the tears would start flowing. Even my heart would begin the racing all over again. Panic and anxiety, were the twins out to get me. Sometimes I would think, “This is just too much for me to handle.” But the word of God says he would not put more on me than I can bear.

The child support was a subject by itself. Our household went without on many occasions because of the child support. At times, I thought it was so unfair. My children went without. That by itself really bothered me. But I would never voice it aloud. We as wives have the power to build up or tear down. It’s our choice. I knew what it was when I accepted my husband back.

This is a decision I made. No gun was put to my head. Don’t get me wrong. My flesh wanted to lash out. My flesh wanted to go up one side of him and down the other. I wanted to point fingers, accuse and blame. But my spirit would say, “BE STILL”.

One of my very favorite scriptures is Isaiah 61:7 – You shall have double for your shame”.

I quoted that scripture over and over again. The word, the peace of God and my Pastors – are what kept me during that period in my life.

Today, the little boy is a part of our family. He and our baby girl are just a year apart in age but you would think they are twins. They absolutely adore each other. I run around the house, play hide and go seek, and act goofy with him just like I do with my own. And he is the cutest little button. (He looks just like my husband).

By sharing this part of my life, my hope is to open a door for women who have had to endure similar circumstances. If your husband has had a child out of wedlock while married to you, please contact me. I want you to know that you are not alone. I would like to start a support group, especially for women who are being faced with this. The easy part is leaving. It’s harder to stay and endure.

Nicole Cleveland is founder of Breathe Again Magazine Online. She is on a mission to empower, encourage and motivate women by posting real life articles of women overcoming adversity. Visit her website at www.BreatheAgainMagazine.com.

A well trained mind will always provide you great opportunities to work better and achieve a lot of success in life.

The wise men have always said that “the mind is like a bad neighborhood-never go there by yourself”. In case, your mind has not been trained, it would definitely prove to be a bad neighborhood.

Fortunately, there are several techniques available these days to train your mind such as meditation, NLP etc.

You must remember that our minds keep absorbing several thoughts, responses and behaviors from the environment around us. These entire patterns may affect us in different ways.

There are times when most of the thoughts we tend to absorb don’t go well with our goals. Hence it becomes very necessary to train our minds in order to give out equal response to what we require.

If you don’t have a cure of what should be done in order to train our minds, don’t worry. Here are some great tips on what should be done in order to achieve a well trained mind:

- Segment intending

This is a simple and best way to train your mind. This process will also help you to accomplish a lot on a daily basis.

Here is how to go about it:

- Step one

You need to decide the time period for your segment. Now, this time period can be of any length. However, remember that it should not exceed more than a half or one hour.

- Step two

Now, decide on your aim for that particular segment. This can be a whole list of tasks that you want to accomplish, a state of being or may be both if you wish.

- Step three

As soon as the segment start time arrives, you need to start your segment no matter what. Don’t have any second thoughts.

- Step four

In case, you get interrupted during your segment, you must decide whether the interruption is significant enough for your segment. In case, it is not just ignore it and keep up the good work. You need to keep your segment work going.

Practice all the above mentioned steps throughout the day. Remember that each segment that you practice is a kind of training period for your mind. Here, your mind is learning to help you in whatever task you undertake. The technique of segment intending also works with a friend. You can easily keep yourself on track if there is a friend helps you to do so. You would definitely notice that your mind is getting more responsive.

Of course, there are other techniques you can follow to train your mind such as stimulating your brain via doing activities that fill your mind with enthusiasm, doing regular physical activities, focusing on memorizing things, reading books on varied topics, adopting a creative hobby, learning new words, discussing on various topics to exercise brain, popping out ideas, developing an aim in life, sleeping well and using the invincible power of medication.

As you start enhancing your brain power, you will identify a new and improvised confidence in yourself.

For more Articles, News, Information, Advice, and Resources about BRAIN TRAINING please visit BRAIN TRAINING SECRETS and MEDITATION BUZZ

Holding grudges, both consciously and beneath the surface, will seriously erode your energy and prevent you from being able to fully focus on manifesting your desires. Fortunately once you acknowledge the need to forgive, the rest is easy.

Most people resist the idea of forgiveness because they want to hold on to blaming others for their problems. However, even when others do play a hand in the “negative” events of our life, we can never fully move pat such events without mindfully forgiving and letting go.

And most of us carry around considerable burden from our past. We may not consciously remember a grudge but still be holding it tightly.

If you have ever seen an old acquaintance and immediately become bitter about a past event that you hadn’t even thought of for months or years, you have experienced firsthand the human ability to refuse forgiveness. The fact is we must make a specific effort to forgive and let go in order to release harmful and negative energies.

And forgiveness need not involve a conversation, or any type of interaction, with another person. True forgiveness and letting go take place completely in our minds and actually have little to do with people outside of us.

One great way to achieve forgiveness is to write the person you are holding hostility towards a letter explaining that you no longer hold them in any way accountable and that you wish them the best of love and happiness in life. Be sure to put honest emotion into the letter, and then feel free to throw it away once you’re finished.

Again, there is no need to even communicate with the other person. This is about you and not them.

If you can’t think of anyone you might be holding a grudge against, you could say out loud that you wish to forgive and release from responsibility any parents, family members, friends from past and present, employers and coworkers, customers, and businesses that you have ever had a disagreement with. Also decide to be aware each day of resentments and hostilities as they arise and be prepared to forgive and let go when the need arises.

In doing this, also be sure to address any angers you might hold against the universe, God, or whatever you use to refer to the events of life. Many people go through life feeling they are victims of circumstance, and this is an enormous obstacle to achieving any type of happiness and prosperity. By consciously forgiving the universe for anything you have previously felt victimized for you will free up massive amounts of creative energy.

And most importantly of all, you need to take the time to forgive yourself. All of us become angry with ourselves from time to time. While it’s healthy to hold high self-expectations, it is very damaging to resent yourself for perceived failures and mistakes.

Tell yourself that every experience you’ve had in life is taking you in the direction you want to go. Refuse to believe in the myth of “wasted time” and understand that your journey is a process of learning and growing.

Let go of anything you are holding against yourself, and allow your true greatness to surface. This is one of the most important steps you will ever take on your path to abundance and happiness.

The Path To Abundance is available to anyone who wants a better life. Get your free Law Of Attraction report on five easy things you can do right now to create a more abundant life.

Have you ever met someone who seemed unbelievably happy and seemed to be able to handle every situation with grace? If you ask these people what their secret is, they will likely tell you that they do it all through positive thinking and acting. You may think that you just were not set up to work like that and think that positive thinking is beyond the scope of who you are. Not true.

You can make positive thinking a part of who you are at any time, you just have to believe in the power of positive thought and implement it. Positive thinking affirmations can teach you some beautiful things about the power of positive thought and, in less time than you would ever think possible, you will find yourself thinking good thoughts instead of drowning in negativity.

What are Positive Affirmations? How Will They Help Me?

Positive thinking truly is a state of being. Many of us don’t realize how important positive thinking affirmations are because we are too caught up in negativity. And negativity, after all, is toxic to our body, mind, spirit, and relationships. Positive affirmations can help you lead a happier, more fulfilling life starting right now. Why wait when you can start living the life that you deserve right now? Free positive affirmations can be something that you start to incorporate into your life right now, they don’t cost a penny and they don’t take much time, so now is the time to learn them and use them to change your life.

When you introduce positive thinking affirmations into your life, you will instantly start to feel the encouraging effects. Positive thinking affirmations basically work on the power of the subconscious mind. If you put the positive thoughts out there your mind will be constantly working towards them. It’s amazing how quickly this can happen and once you start looking at life in a more positive way you’ll want to keep going because it feels so good.

Did you know that positive thinking affirmations can help you live a healthier life? There are a number of studies that suggest that those who lead a positive life and make positive thinking a conscious decision are healthier and live longer. Even if you don’t necessarily believe in these studies, how about the studies that show that when you have a negative thought process that you are more likely to live a life full of disease and sickness? All of these studies put together show that positive thinking is important and a great way to get on the road to positive thinking and a positive life is through positive thinking affirmations. Through these affirmations you can make positive thought routine and eventually it will become second nature.

The importance of positive thinking is something that you should give some serious thought about. When you think positive thoughts you’ll lead a more positive life and you’ll feel better for it. If positive thought doesn’t come naturally to you, why not give positive thinking affirmations a try? You have nothing to lose and a happier, healthier lifestyle to gain.

Ronnie Nijmeh is the Chief Inspiration Officer at ACQYR.com, a motivational website with free positive affirmations, motivational articles, and free wallpaper downloads. Learn how you can get inspired today.

We live in a fast paced world and most of us have so many responsibilities on an every day basis that it’s often hard to find a moment of peace each day. If you feel like your world is spiraling out of control there is still a chance to find peace in your day. How? Well, it as simple as using peaceful affirmations each and every day.

Using affirmations can help you find the peace in your life, even if it is only for a few moments every day. You’ll feel grounded and focused on what really matters in your life.

Free positive affirmations are not hard to come by and they can help you cope with all of the demands on you.

How Peaceful Affirmations Work

If you have never used peaceful affirmations before you might find that they are easier to incorporate into your daily life than you would think. Peaceful affirmations are just little statements that you can say to yourself whenever you are in need of a bit of tranquility. Finding peace in your day may be as simple as reciting free positive affirmations to yourself on your way to work in the morning or before you go to bed at night. Reciting these things often creates a lifeline to peace that is very much needed by a lot of people.

Peace is often hard to come by when your boss is demanding things of you, your spouse is nagging you, and the kids are in need of attention. Instead of getting frustrated with the lack of peace surrounding you, why not create it for yourself? You can pause for just a few seconds and repeat peaceful affirmations that will help you feel more peaceful from within. When you are putting peaceful statements out there, your body and mind are opening up to receive that peace. After all, the only thing you can control is yourself and your thoughts. So if you choose peace, peace is sure to come back to you.

You’ll find that when you start using free positive affirmations on a regular basis that you feel better and are able to find a bit of peace in the most intense moments of your life. Not only will you benefit from this, but the people around you will be able to, as well. Because you feel more peaceful or have something to lean on in those crazy moments, you will be able to handle these situations with a more positive nature. When you approach situations like this everyone will realize it, and as a result they will likely be more positive and peaceful, as well. After all, it’s not just the bad attitudes that rub off on others - positive feelings can, too!

As you can see, peaceful affirmations are not just good for you, but they are good for those around you. If you find even one or two free positive affirmations that you can put to use, you’ll find that you are a lot more at peace and better able to handle the stresses that you deal with every day.

Many people believe that peace cannot be found, but this is not at all the case, sometimes you just have to create your own inner peace and this can easily be done with peaceful affirmations.

Ronnie Nijmeh is the Chief Inspiration Officer at ACQYR.com - a resource that provides free positive affirmations motivational articles, and free desktop wallpapers. Get inspired!