3 Steps How To Be More Successful In Your Life

Step 1 - Take Full Responsibility For Your Life

Do you believe that life happens on you because it is fate? Or do you believe that whatever happens to you because you choose to? The main difference between a successful person with an ordinary person who is struggling with life is that a successful person will never blame on what had happened to him. Successful people are strong believer in themselves.

Successful people believe that everything happens on them because they choose to. It is because of their decision and action that lead them to the kind of lifestyle they are living today.

On the other hand, if you are struggling through life today, it is because you’re not in control of your life. Instead, you let all the circumstances around you take control of you. People will only struggle through life because they are not in control of what happens to them.

Which means, if you’re in control, you’ll feel happy, you’ll feel satisfy and as a result, you’ll be more successful.

To sum it all, if you want to be successful in your life, you must first learn to be responsible. You have to take the responsibility that whatever happened to your life, happens for a reason.


Step 2 - Follow Your Instinct And Do What You Love

Where do you think that successful people find their motivation to keep going on even if they failed 100 times? It is from doing what they love. When you do something that you love, you’ll automatically come up with the motivation to keep going on. And this is the number one motivational source of every successful person.

If you think that successful people are all workaholic and they don’t have the time to enjoy their life, then you’re wrong. To them, they’re not working, they’re enjoying simply because they’re doing something that they love so much. They’re willing to do it even if they’re not making any profit or getting any pay. If you’re willing to do this, you’re definitely doing something that you love to do.

So focus in doing what you love, and then only try to make money from it. Most people thought that they should work hard and then make money from their hard work and so they can enjoy their life with the money they have.

But this is not what a successful person would think. For a successful person, he’ll do something he loves, he’s enjoying what he is doing while making money from the process and keep enjoying what he is doing. This is the real mindset of a successful person.

You’re struggling in life because you’re trying to profit from something that you hate to do. When you dislike to do something, you’ll never put in 100% commitment into doing it better. So find out what you love to do today and keep doing it.


Step 3 - Commit To Life-Long Learning

Constant learning and never-ending improvement are vital in ensuring your success in your field. I know that if you’re going to be a millionaire, you must be the top 5% in your field. When you become the top 5% in your field, you’ll definitely make more money than those who are in your field.

And the only way you can become the top 5% in your field is through committing to life-long learning in your field and apply the knowledge into your life.

Think about it, can you commit yourself and spend 30 to 60 minutes everyday to read a book? If you can, you’ll probably finish a book in a week. This means that you’ll finish 50 books in a year. Compare to others, how many books do you think most people will read? The answer is none. Most people are not going to read any books right after they leave their school.

Therefore, if you can commit yourself to this self-improvement habit, you’ll definitely transform yourself into the top 5% in your field. Some people might say that it takes 1 year to finish 50 books, which is a long time. However, you must remember that no matter you spend the 60 minutes into reading or you spend it to watch television, you’re going to lose that 60 minutes as well.

You cannot stop time, you can only benefit from it by doing something constructive. And this is what you’re going to do with it, use the time to learn and improve. Wake up 30 minutes early each day and use that time wisely to improve yourself.

You can also attend seminars and workshop to improve your knowledge in your field. Don’t wait for seminars to come to you, instead, go for those seminars. And listen to audio when you’re travelling, this will leverage the most from your time.

These are the 3 steps that you’ll need to be more successful in your life. To be successful is not an overnight process, you must go through all the process first before you can see the results. Success is a process, it is all about getting things done. So follow through these 3 steps today and start to transform yourself into a super achiever.

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day is a joyous family festival celebrated with lot of enthusiasm in US, Canada and several other countries. Thanksgiving Day Festival commemorates the feast held by the Pilgrim colonists and members of the Wampanoag people at Plymouth in 1621. On this day people express gratitude to God for his blessings and give thanks to dear ones for their love & support. Feasting with family is an integral & most delightful part of Thanksgiving Day celebrations.

About Thanksgiving Day:

Origin of Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving is America's preeminent day. It is celebrated every year on the fourth Thursday in the month of November. It has a very interesting history. Its origin can be traced back to the 16th century when the first thanksgiving dinner is said to have taken place.

Journey of Pilgrims

The legendary pilgrims, crossed the Atlantic in the year 1620 in Mayflower-A 17th Century sailing vessel. About 102 people traveled for nearly two months with extreme difficulty. This was so because they were kept in the cargo space of the sailing vessel. No one was allowed to go on the deck due to terrible storms. The pilgrims comforted themselves by singing Psalms- a sacred song.

Arrival in Plymouth

The pilgrims reached Plymouth rock on December 11th 1620, after a sea journey of 66 days. Though the original destination was somewhere in the northern part of Virginia, they could not reach the place owing to winds blowing them off course. Nearly46 pilgrims died due to extreme cold in winter. However, in the spring of 1621, Squanto, a native Indian taught the pilgrims to survive by growing food.

Day of Fasting and Prayer

In the summer of 1621, owing to severe drought, pilgrims called for a day of fasting and prayer to please God and ask for a bountiful harvest in the coming season. God answered their prayers and it rained at the end of the day. It saved the corn crops.

First Thanksgiving Feast

It is said that Pilgrims learnt to grow corn, beans and pumpkins from the Indians, which helped all of them survive . In the autumn of 1621, they held a grand celebration where 90 people were invited including Indians. The grand feast was organized to thank god for his favors. This communal dinner is popularly known as “The first thanksgiving feast”. There is however, no evidence to prove if the dinner actually took place.

While some historians believe pilgrims were quite religious so, their thanksgiving would've included a day of fasting and praying, others say that the Thanksgiving dinner did take place.

Turkey and First Thanksgiving Feast

There is no evidence to prove if the customary turkey was a part of the initial feast. According to the first hand account written by the leader of the colony, the food included, ducks, geese, venison, fish, berries etc.

Pumpkin and Thanksgiving Feast

Pumpkin pie, a modern staple adorning every dinner table, is unlikely to have been a part of the first thanksgiving feast. Pilgrims however, did have boiled pumpkin. Diminishing supply of flour led to the absence of any kind of bread.

The feast continued for three days and was eaten outside due to lack of space. It was not repeated till 1623, which again witnessed a severe drought. Governor Bradford proclaimed another day of thanksgiving in the year 1676. October of 1777 witnessed a time when all the 13 colonies joined in a communal celebration. It also marked the victory over the British.

After a number of events and changes, President Lincoln proclaimed last Thursday in November of thanksgiving in the year 1863. This was due to the continuous efforts of Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor. She wrote a number of articles for the cause.

When is Thanksgiving Day?

Date of Thanksgiving Day varies every year and several countries celebrate it in different time of the year. Given here is information on Thanksgiving Day date in US and Canada for the past, present and coming years.

When is Thanksgiving Day in US?

Thanksgiving Day finds its roots in America. It is celebrated with lot of fervor and euphoria on the fourth Thursday in the month of November. For the people in US Thanksgiving is a time for merrymaking, shopping, family reunion, feasts and family dinners. People also take time to thank God for his constant grace and for all the material possessions man enjoys. For many Thanksgiving is also the time to thank near and dear ones and being grateful for their kindness.

Thanksgiving Day in 2010 - November 25
Thanksgiving Day in 2009 - November 26
Thanksgiving Day in 2008 - November 27
Thanksgiving Day in 2007 - November 22
Thanksgiving Day in 2006 - November 23

When is Thanksgiving Day in Canada?

Thanksgiving Day in Canada is, however, celebrated on the second Monday in the month of October every year. Canada celebrates Thanksgiving Day a month earlier because autumn season starts early in Canada than in America.

Thanksgiving Day in 2010- October 11
Thanksgiving Day in 2009 - October 12
Thanksgiving Day in 2008 - October 13
Thanksgiving Day in 2007 - October 8
Thanksgiving Day in 2006 - October 9

5 Facts About Goal Setting

These practical tips on goal setting can help make it easier to set and reach goals:

1. Specific, realistic goals work best.

When it comes to making a change, the people who succeed are those who set realistic, specific goals. "I'm going to recycle all my plastic bottles, soda cans, and magazines" is a much more doable goal than "I'm going to do more for the environment." And that makes it easier to stick with.

2. It takes time for a change to become an established habit.

It will probably take a couple of months before any changes — like getting up half an hour early to exercise — become a routine part of your life. That's because your brain needs time to get used to the idea that this new thing you're doing is part of your regular routine.

3. Repeating a goal makes it stick.

Say your goal out loud each morning to remind yourself of what you want and what you're working for. (Writing it down works too.) Every time you remind yourself of your goal, you're training your brain to make it happen.

4. Pleasing other people doesn't work.

The key to making any change is to find the desire within yourself — you have to do it because you want it, not because a girlfriend, boyfriend, coach, parent, or someone else wants you to. It will be harder to stay on track and motivated if you're doing something out of obligation to another person.

5. Roadblocks don't mean failure.

Slip-ups are actually part of the learning process as you retrain your brain into a new way of thinking. It may take a few tries to reach a goal. But that's OK — it's normal to mess up or give up a few times when trying to make a change. So remember that everyone slips up and don't beat yourself up about it. Just remind yourself to get back on track.

Qualities of a Good Employee

The Traits of a good employee- What makes a good employee?Here are the top employee qualities:

1. Communicator: Employers love to hire employees who have the ability to communicate well and express themselves in a clear manner, whether in writing or speaking. Inaccurate/inappropriate communication between employees can cause many problems to the company.

2. Self-Motivated: A good employee never hesitates of taking responsibility or a more responsible position. She also ready to work beyond the call of duty in order to meet goals or to solve problems, even if the job in discussion is not one of the regular works she is usually assigned.

3. Hard worker: There is no substitute to hard work. Although everyone seems to say that they work hard not many keep on working after being at the job for a while. So, one has to keep reminding oneself about the importance and significance of working hard as an employee.

4. Adaptable/decisive and effective learner: Employees who know how to adjust themselves to new environment, willing to learn new things (quick learners) and perform their best in changes are likely to be the best performers in any organization.


5. Team Player: Many companies consist of teams. Any company requires an effective team effort. An employer who can contribute is an ideal worker. Someone who is like a fish in the water (of the organization), who can perform well in a team will become a factor sooner or later.

6. Helping others: everyone appreciates a helping hand every now and then. Do not hesitate in helping out others. This make the person establish friendly relations with the coworkers and keeps the office running smoothly which in turn is appreciated by the employers.


7. Honesty: A good employee is honest about his/her work and qualifications. Self criticism and willing to receive feedback (bad as good) is essential to become a good learner.

8. Ethical: Work rules are made to be followed. There is decorum of every place that ought to be kept. A good employee follows the policies of the company and inspires others to do so too.

9. Give credit where it is due: One of the most prevalent practices doing the rounds in offices today is stealing the credit of a job well done. A good employee will not only truthfully let the right co-worker have her credit but also share her own accolades with his team.

10. Polite: Being friendly and approachable will never harm. a good employee greets her co workers a ‘good morning’, says little courteous things like ‘thank you’ and ‘you are welcome’. These things may appear insignificant but go a long way in establishing the person as favorite employee.

11. Disciplined and punctual: Every boss loves a punctual, disciplined and conscientious employee. Time is money. Coming late to office, taking unnecessary breaks, procrastinating and leaving earlier than the usual hours cost money to the company. No employer will ever appreciate this.

12. Avoid gossip: The person should always remember that she came to the office to work, to make a career. Do not spread office gossip or rumors. Respect the privacy of the co workers. Safeguard and protect the confidential nature of office business
and transactions.

5 Tips To Become More Valuable At Work

1. Show up 5 minutes early

If your boss shows up at 9 am like clockwork, then getting to work at 8:59, yourself, is a very worthwhile 1-minute investment. Even if you have to arrive 5 minutes early, it is well worth it to be there before your boss if at all possible. Think about it this way: If your boss has to cut one employee and all other factors are equal, do you think he will cut the person who he sees come in a few minutes late or the one that is always there already working by the time he gets to the office and he isn’t sure how early they actually get there?

The amount of time you put into work isn’t directly related to your output, but most bosses don’t have any really good measurements of your output, so time becomes the de facto standard to measure how much you are doing. It may not be fair, but it is a game you can win by investing a few extra minutes each day.

2. Don’t gossip

In most cases, gossip isn’t going to do anything helpful for you. Most gossip is just going to waste your time. There may be some benefit in keeping track of people’s moods and events that will impact their jobs. For example, if one of your coworkers is fed up and getting ready to quit, it might not be bad to know that ahead of time. But you definitely don’t want to be the person sharing. If you share gossip about others, people won’t trust you with their own information.

3. Be the peacemaker

The ability to help people work through different views is very valuable. Work isn’t going to get done when people disagree, and efficiency is going to suffer when people are forced to do something against their will. If you can help bring about consensus and compromise, you help make everyone more efficient.

4. Share information freely

People often try to increase their own importance by not giving others information. This is a short-sighted strategy and will usually make people dislike you. If you want to be valuable, people need to enjoy working with you. Furthermore, if you only give people the bare minimum information that they ask for, they may feel like you are trying to make them fail.

One of the most annoying people I have ever worked with will spend 10 minutes explaining what he isn’t going to tell you (because he is too busy). If he would just tell you in the first place, it would have only taken five minutes. In his mind, he feels more important being “too busy” to talk to you.

You want to be known as an information hub–not an information dam.

5. Make other people look good

A lot of people operate with the idea that anything they do to make someone else look good must make them look bad. Giving kudos isn’t a zero sum game. Helping other people look good doesn’t necessarily hurt you. In fact, people who you’ve gone out of your way to help promote are more likely to give you credit for your work and help you when you need it. Working with a group of people who are actively trying to help you succeed is a much better condition than working with a bunch of people who think you are trying to take advantage of them.

You can make other people look good in a variety of different ways. Giving them credit is a great way to start. If your boss compliments you on a report you did and one of your co-workers helped, go ahead and tell your boss that your co-worker was a great help. Then tell your co-worker. “I told the boss that the report wouldn’t have been nearly as good without your input.”

Tips on Retaining Employees

•Your employees need more than monetary compensation to feel happy and satisfied at work. Workers who feel fulfilled are not only more productive, but they also stay with you longer. The cost of unwanted turnover can be 1.5 times the employee's annual salary and can harm both morale and production. By implementing the following tips, you can keep your employees satisfied and build lasting loyalty.

Start Smart

•You can reduce employee turnover if you begin by hiring the right person for the job. Choose someone with not only the correct skill set to fulfill the duties for the position, but also the right values and personality for your company culture.

Share Expectations

•Share your expectations of your employee's job duties and how their responsibilities support your company's mission and goals. Employees who understand the importance of their job work more effectively and feel more fulfilled.

Be Consistent

•After you establish your expectations, apply your policies consistently. Equality and fairness result in employee respect and better retention. Your pay system should be equitable as well and competitive for all employees.

Feedback

•Employees respond to regular and constructive feedback. Periodic evaluations give workers an opportunity to respond to any challenges and build on their successes. Workers who receive recognition for a job well done feel that their contributions are valued.

Growth Opportunities

•Offer your employees ways to grow beyond their current position. Develop the people in your organization as you grow your business by providing ongoing education and training, and by providing incentives, new opportunities or promotions. If you provide ongoing professional development, you demonstrate your organization's willingness to develop your people.

Empower

•As much as possible, empower your employees to make decisions that concern their job. Workers respond negatively when management makes a decision that impacts their job responsibilities without consulting them. By getting an employee's input, you send her the message that you trust her and her decision-making abilities. Work toward creating a more collaborative environment. Employees will feel like an integral part of the team if they are involved in the decision-making process.

Culture

•Create a we-are-in-this-together company culture. Motivate your staff members to support each other. Also, get to know your employees, their hobbies and outside interests. If your staff feels more like a family, then a staff member is less likely to seek other employment.

Five Stages of Team Development

Most experts in team development agree that teams will go through five different stages. How fast a team moves through each stage will depend on the team members, their individual skills, the work they are expected to do, and the type of leadership available to the team.

Bruce Tuckman deemed the four main stages of team development in order as Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing. Later, as self-managed teams became common in business, he added a fifth stage of Adjourning/Transforming. Thomas Quick called the five stages for teams: Searching, Defining, Identifying, Processing, and Assimilating/Reforming. Whatever term is used for the stages, teams will go through all five during their developmental and working processes.


Stage 1 - The first stage is when the team is formed and members meet. They learn what the team opportunities and challenge will be. Individual members may be confused about their role or not understand the need for the team. Members will agree on goals and assign actions for work, often working independently. Ground rules or team guidelines are established. At the start, the team leader may be a member of the group, a supervisor, a manager, or a consultant who will facilitate the team-building process. Leadership will help the team to define their processes. At this stage, the leader needs to be directive and understand the requirements for team training to move through each stage.

Stage 2 - During the second stage, individual expression of ideas occurs and there is open conflict between members. Members tend to focus on details rather than the issues and compete for influence. Low trust among team members is an evident indicator of this stage. The team needs to select their desired leadership style and decision methodology. The team leader can help by stressing tolerance and patience between members. The leader should guide the team process towards clear goals, defined roles, acceptable team behavior, and a mutual feedback process for team communication.

Stage 3 - In the third stage, the team develops work habits that support group rules and values. They use established tools and methods; exhibit good behaviors; mutual trust, motivation, and open communication increase; positive teamwork and group focus are apparent. The team relationships grow and individual characteristics are understood and appropriately utilized. The team leader continues to encourage participation and professionalism among the team members.

Stage 4 - The fourth stage shows high levels of loyalty, participation, motivation, and group decision-making. Knowledge sharing, cross-training, and interdependence increases. Team is self-directing in development of plans and strategy to meet their goals and carry out work. Personal growth and sharing is encouraged throughout membership. The leader becomes a facilitator aiding the team in communication processes and helping if they revert to a prior stage.

Stage 5 - For project teams, temporary committees, or task forces coming to an end, there will be a finalizing stage as they .celebrate and recognize group achievement. Then some mourning over the dissolving of the team relationship and begin planning for the change in individual work requirements. During this stage, leadership needs to emphasize organization gratitude and both team and individual recognition. For continuous work teams, there may be a higher performance level as they develop and transform as individuals and reform into revised teams. It is important to note that continuous work teams may revert to prior stages when new people are added to the team.

Time and effort are required to move through the various team development stages. Every team will go through all the stages. However the timeline of each stage may be different for each team depending on the individual members and their skill levels, the work the team is expected to accomplish, and team leadership during each stage.

5 Steps to Building a Successful Team

Before we start, it's important to remember that teams exist for one reason: to achieve results! However, it's also important to remember that teams must be sustainable in order to continue producing those results, so that's why we look at the inter-relationships among the team members -- to ensure that those relationships are working at the level needed for the team to continue producing results without getting burned out. Let's look at this process of building a successful team so that your team can get to the next level and be not only effective, but sustainable, in achieving its desired results.

1. Measure the current effectiveness of your team

In order to help your team be more successful, it's important to first look at how successful the team is currently. Measuring your team can serve as a benchmark for team development, as it gives you a current evaluation of your team as it exists today. The best way to do this is to measure your team's effectiveness, which can be done in several different ways:

- Personal interviews: Asking each team member a specific set of questions designed to measure their effectiveness is a great way to learn about what's really going on within your team. The disadvantage of this method is that some team members will not be forthcoming with information during face-to-face interviews because they are not anonymous. Results are best yielded when the interviews are done by an external facilitator who will maintain individual confidentiality.

- Simple measurement: A very simple method to use is to ask your team members "on a scale of 1 to 10, how effective is this team"? And see what their responses are so that you can ask some follow up questions to learn more about their perceptions.

- Assessment tool: In our opinion, this is the best method to measure the current state of your team because it is anonymous, unbiased and team members are generally very candid and open in their responses. The assessment results are then shared with your team in a specially-designed team development process that includes exercises to help the team improve in areas needed.

2. Create your vision of a highly successful team

This is where you can use the "begin with the end in mind" concept that Stephen Covey and others have used for years. This step is about using your imagination to create the most successful, productive, cohesive team that you desire! The vision of your team can include the following components:

- Team's values, priorities and desired results

- Organization's values, priorities and desired results for this team

- Your own values, priorities and desired results for this team

- Productivity factors: these are factors defined by Team Diagnostic International as the factors that support the team in achieving results, accomplishing tasks, staying on course to reach goals and objectives. They include strengths such as accountability, decision making, goal setting, etc.

- Positivity factors: these are factors defined by Team Diagnostic International as the factors that focus on the inter-relationships between team members and the spirit or tone of the team as a system. They include strengths such as trust, respect, clear communication, handling conflict, camaraderie, etc.

I encourage you to create your "desired team" vision with your team. Schedule a time to meet with them to allow for everyone to participate in this creative process! And, remember to think out of the box -- what would it look like to have a team that was achieving results beyond what you think is possible today?

3. Communicate effectively

This is a huge topic that I will only be able to scratch the surface in this article! However, here are the most important tips to remember in my experience of working with teams:

- Everyone receives information differently. Some people have to see it, others have to hear it, etc. How do you like to receive information? Remember that just because one way works for you, that same way doesn't work for all of your team members.

- Find out how each person needs to receive information in order to process it. Ask your team members "how do you like to receive information?" so that they can tell you whether they are visual learners, auditory learners, etc.

- Remember to communicate important information using several different methods so that all of your team members will receive the information you are trying to convey.

- Check in with your team regarding your communications and ask them how you can improve.

4. Develop a plan to turn your team vision into reality

Now that you've measure your team's current effectiveness, you've created a vision of your desired team and you've determined how to best communicate with them, it's time to create an action plan!

This step is about creating goals that support you in growing your team to the next level. We do complete workshops on effective goal setting and don't have space here to go into all of the details, but here are the basics:

Remember to set goals that are

- Specific

- Measurable

- Attainable

- Realistic

- Time oriented (make sure each goal has a deadline!)

5. Take a stand for your team!

Whether you see yourself as "the leader" of your team or "a leader" of your team or "a member" of your team, you are in a position to influence your team. Take a stand for the improvement of your team! Here are a couple of ways that you can do that:

- Remind your team members of the vision you see for your team and what you see as being possible for your team. Remind them that it IS possible to grow to the next level! And, ask them what they need to grow to the next possible.

- Look for ways to build and develop your team. When was the last time your team had a meeting that was dedicated to enhancing your team's relationships? When was the last time that your team went out to lunch together, or did another fun activity? If you aren't familiar with the types of team development that be effective for your team, or if you don't have the time or expertise to develop a program, call in an expert to help you create a program for your team.

Investing time, energy and financial resources in your team can be simple -- it doesn't have to be complicated or time consuming. The important thing is that you do something on a regular basis to keep your team motivated, engaged and productive so that they can produce the results that you and your organization desire!