Self-help Freedom Philosophy

"All men seek one goal: success or happiness. The only way to achieve true success is to express yourself completely in service to society. First, have a definite, clear, practical ideal--a goal, an objective. Second have the necessary means to achieve your ends--wisdom, money, material and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end."—Aristotle

Happiness is living in a state of freely choosing to create and exchange rational values needed for yourself and others. Being on the path to beneficial and long-lasting happiness does not mean you cannot be happy here and now while on the journey towards more happiness.

Objective happiness is not and can never be a final destination that ends, but is found as a never-ending experience while traveling the road of better learning and living. The awareness and reminder of your love of life and discovery of your life's purpose will help to keep you on your path. When you find yourself off the path, simply get back on, or create another way to your destination.

Never give up. Whatever you expect, you get. Use the tools to blaze a trail and create your own road map. Your definition of happiness will guide you to the best direction. The best path of happiness is by achieving your rational self-interest through the free creation and exchange of your values with others.

THE MAP : - Through Axiomatic Analysis

Primary Objective - Primary Effect:

HAPPINESS


Primary Values - Primary Causes:

Creative Work / Hobbies ------------------------ Producing & exchanging values.

Time/Space - Energy/Matter ----------------------- Quality, productive & efficient.

Liberty ----------------------- Self-control (responsibility) & self-interest (freedom).

Love -------------------------------- Romance, friendship, intellectual & self-esteem.

Supreme Value - Supreme Cause:

Existence ------------- Your consciousness and your physical & mental health

3. The Directions

- Through Axiomatic Analysis and Personal Introspection -

What is the value of happiness?

"Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence."—Aristotle

The creation and exchange of value is the root of all happiness. The love of earned value is the root of all the 'Happy' who have created more value than they have consumed or those who are learning to earn more values. The love of unearned value is the root of all the 'Unhappy' who have consumed more value than they have created or those who are learning to possess more unearned values.

The lovers of unearned value envy those who have earned values and cannot exist without them. As individuals, we choose how we will obtain values. At any time, the 'Happy' may choose unhappiness, and the 'Unhappy' may choose happiness.

"Happiness is a state of noncontradictory joy--a joy without penalty or guilt, a joy that does not clash with any of your values and does not work for your own destruction, not the joy of escaping from your mind's fullest power, not the joy of faking reality, but of achieving values that are real, not the joy of a drunkard, but of producer."--Ayn Rand

What is needed to obtain values?

"A society that does not recognize that each individual has values of his own which he is entitled to follow can have no respect for the dignity of the individual and cannot really know freedom."--F.A. Hayek

"Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom."--Albert Einstein

The only moral use of deception and force is used as a last resort to defend against a harmful and/or unjust attack or threat to one's self or property. You own your life. Others do not have a claim over your life, and you do not have a claim over the life of others.

A product of your life and liberty is your property. Property is the fruit of your labor--the product of your time, energy and talents--that part of nature from which you have used to create values for yourself and tradable to others through voluntary mutual consent

"Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe...."
--Frederick Douglass

What is the nature of knowledge and reality?

"If we value independence, if we are disturbed by the growing conformity of knowledge, of values, of attitudes, which our present system induces, then we may wish to set up conditions of learning which make for uniqueness, for self-direction, and for self-initiated learning."--Carl Rogers

New and complex knowledge is integrated, built, and expanded through old and simple knowledge. Knowledge is contextual. Reality is relational. Reality is all of existence that exists.

One's perception of reality is changed only by our relationships to it because of our new knowledge, experiences, and/or beliefs. Energy/matter and time/space are relative to the perceiver. Everything that exists is composed of matter and energy that cannot be createdor destroyed, which always has and always will exist in one form or another.

Objective reality exists independently inter-dependent with one's mind. The facts of reality, which are relevant to you, can be known through your reasoning and feeling capacities, enhanced by the achievement of your needs for survival, desire for advancement, and production of values through creative thoughts, beliefs, and actions.

"We learn by doing."—Aristotle

What is the cause of action? "Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts, and everything will be well. There is nothing more potent than thought. Deed follows word and word follows thought. The word is the result of a mighty thought, and where the thought is mighty and pure the result is always mighty and pure."--Mohandas K. Gandhi

People may respond to events, circumstances, or situations differently. One's automatic emotional response is determined by one's previously set thoughts and values. A thought may be chosen or unchosen, conscious or unconscious. The words and advice of others may be freely taken when that advice has been integrated into one's own knowledge and understood to be valuable.

To act on the advice from others without regard to outcome, avoids the responsibility of independent judgment and freethinking decisions needed to prosper and be happy. Without independent thought, you will become as an automaton. To follow a follower, you are guided nowhere. To be guided by a definite purpose of your choosing, success will follow you. However, if you are going to be a follower, only follow those leaders who have demonstrated success.

To become what you desire, you must respond wisely to what is happening, which requires rational, independent, and creative thought. Since we cannot control all events, circumstances, and situations or know what the emotions of others and ourselves will be, we can learn to experience them in ways that promote better analysis of thought and well-directed actions.

Only one's actions can be judged as moral or immoral. Actions produce emotions that are personal, private, and valid parts of an individual. When emotions are felt and honestly accepted without fear or guilt, the reasoning mind can help to better know one's deepest values. Pleasure is a sign of acting in harmony with one's values and pain is a sign of acting out of harmony with one's values.

To act solely on one's emotions will likely cause undesired results and never has to be acted upon. Emotions are not the primary cause of thoughts, but are the effect of one's value judgments that will spark and fuel secondary thoughts and feelings. To act in a waythat produces desired results, one's thoughts and beliefs must be chosen toward that end. Your thoughts and beliefs that are purposely mixed with good feelings will produce a desired result.

After one's thoughts and beliefs have changed, one's actions will change. Choose your thoughts wisely. Whatever one consistently thinks about, one eventually acts upon. You will become whatever you consistently think about.

"Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits; thus does man harvest the sweet and bitter fruits of his own husbandry."--James Allen

PERCEIVE and trust your senses of sight, sound, smell, touch and taste while at the same time accepting your initial thoughts, beliefs, and emotions for what they are. This is the identification of values needed for survival and desires for your enjoyment and enhancement of life.

UNDERSTAND and integrate your perceptions, thoughts, beliefs, emotions, desires, experiences, concepts, principles, and values. Put that understanding into context in relation to you through a non-contradictory manner. Reality cannot contradict itself. If any perceived data contradicts another, one or more of the data may be misunderstood, lacking or false.

Reject beliefs that do not serve you and choose beliefs that do serve your purpose. Find all relevant facts by using honesty, logic, and reason. New and better opportunities will then reveal themselves to you through your consciously chosen or accepted beliefs.

THINK and FEEL what that perceived data is telling you within your context and relation to it. You will have either a need or desire that is unfulfilled or will be reflecting on the achievement of your desires. If a desire is being unfulfilled, determine whether it would be good for you or bad for you if you were to obtain it.

Visualize it. Watch it with curiosity. Meditate on it. (See it, listen to it, smell it, touch it, taste it, chew it, swallow it, digest it, etc.) Then ask yourself how it makes you feel. Whether the emotion is good, bad, or neutral, just observe, accept, and feel it.

Accepting an emotion is simply being aware of it and does not necessarily mean one has to agree with it. Let whatever happens be all right. Accept what is. If you repress or fight the emotion, it will gain strength and control you. If you fully accept and feel the emotion, you give yourself the power to overcome it.

A good feeling is the integration of values with one's thoughts or actions and a bad feeling is the disintegration of values with one's thoughts or actions. Whatever you consciously or subconsciously expect (believe), you will get. Feel deeply and honestly in order to think clearly and logically to identify and understand your desires and life's purpose.

Write them down. A desire left in the mind may remain an unrealized dream and forgotten, but when written down becomes a goal to be acted upon, achieved and remembered. Turn your dreams into reality by thinking and feeling about what you desire.

"The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind."
--Albert Einstein

If you have a worthy desire that is not currently in the process of fulfillment, you may have not gone outward far enough for answers into the unknown but knowable territory. You cannot see the forest for the trees (concern with irrelevant details). Whatever you expect, you will get. One way to fix this imbalance is to look up and focus your time, energy, and talents toward the fulfillment of your own desires with the possible help from others.

Gather the courage to take advantage of opportunities and risk following your dreams. This will give you an outer perspective and inner satisfaction that will inspire balanced thoughts and feelings, which will lead you to your goal.

If you have not found a worthy desire, you may have not gone inward far enough for answers into the unknown but knowable territory. You cannot see the tree for the forest (unconcern for relevant details). Whatever you expect, you will get. One way to fix this imbalance is to look around and focus your time, energy, and talents toward the fulfillment of the desires of others who may need your help.

Take advantage of opportunities to find out what you really desire to do. This will give you an inner perspective and outer satisfaction that will inspire balanced thoughts and feelings, which will lead you to your purpose.

"Only those who risk going too far can possibly know how far one can go."--T.S. Eliot

PLAN steps of action within your purpose to create the map and achieve your goal. Write them down. Start with the desired goal, and logically work backwards to where you are now to see what needs to be done, step-by-step. If you cannot see or think of the plan fully and completely, simply move in the general direction towards your goal and expect to reach it. When you are moving in the right direction with expectation, you will be able to see the steps needed to reach your goal.

Without a consciously planned map, you will be at the total mercy of events and circumstances out of your control. Within your total control is your plan. Even though you did not cause events and circumstances out of your control, you will have to deal with them rationally and act towards your goal. Become a flexible person and create your own circumstances!

"Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action."
--Benjamin Disraeli

ACT toward your goal with a determined and persistent focus on each planned step while being aware of the full context and relationship of your purpose. With every act, there is an opportunity to learn from each outcome, both good and bad. If your actions are not leading you toward your goal, you may have not understood, or may be lacking some relevant facts.

Rid yourself of actions that waste your time, energy, and talents, while at the same time receiving the proper rest and time for reflection. Once reaching the next step of action, you will see with more clarity, think more soundly, and feel more in touch with your purpose, goals, and expectations. Become dedicated and maintain the habit of doing what needs to done.

Keep movement in your feet, a good word readily on the tip of your tongue, the achievement of your goals on the top of your head, and your life's purpose on the bottom of your heart. Then you will find success, prosperity, and happiness all along the way.

"To dream anything that you want to dream, that is the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do, that is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself, to test your limits, that is the courage to succeed."--Bernard Edmond

The 'Secret' Formula

- Through Personal Experience -

What is the 'secret' formula to happiness?

"To achieve happiness, we should make certain that we are never without an important goal."--Earl Nightingale

Since, what we have imagined in the past has determined what is happening now; what we imagine today will determine what will happen tomorrow. Therefore, if we want to Have a better future, we must Be and Do the things that must be done in a better way Now; learn from our past Now; imagine our future Now; and experience our best-imagined lives NOW!

Freely Choose to Make a Decision to Move into Action Now!

· Know what you really desire, why you really desire it, and when you really desire it.

· Write down your desire in present tense, being positive, and grateful; Read > 3 times daily.

· Mix with intense positive feelings and emotions. May include deadlines. (See Example)

· Use all your five senses when clearly imagining your goal's accomplishment.

· Keep those good feelings with expectation, gratitude, and no doubts as long as possible.

· Touch your written goal throughout the day, everyday, to reflect on that good feeling.

Do this until you continuously Think about; ask yourself How to; and decide what best Action(s) to take to achieve your goal. Then ACT. You have now become Self-Motivated!

Desire + (Emotion ÷ Reason) × (Imagination - Doubt) + (Gratitude ÷ Persistence) + (Expectation × Action) =
Happiness

May you live a long, healthy, successful, liberty-filled, prosperous, and happy life. Thank You!

The Relationship Between Motivation and Talent

Hydrogen and oxygen are distinctly different elements, but sometimes they combine to form water. Something similar is true for motivation and talent.

Motivation is the desire to do something. Talent is what you do well naturally. They can exist independently, but when they combine, they create something special. They create motivated talents.

People often are naturally good at something (talented), but it just doesn't turn them on. For example, Heather is good with numbers, but she doesn'tt go out of her way to find tasks calling for that talent. Most people have such talents. But then there are those talents that we really enjoy using. These are the motivated talents, and this is where the magic is.

We use motivated talents every chance we get. Most of the time we doesn't even think about it. For example, Larry has a motivated talent for conversation, and he naturally engages both friends and strangers in dialog. He doesn't consciously determine to do so; it just happens. It's natural and unforced. He enjoys it, and he is good at it. That is the hallmark of a motivated talent.

Motivated talents tend to be irrepressible. They find expression. In fact, if you've ever tried to stifle a motivated talent (either yours or someone else's) it probably felt like you were trying to hold two dozen ping pong balls under water at the same time. Motivated talents pop out, even if no one else is asking for them. And doesn't that make sense? After all, it's what we do well AND enjoy.

Well then, wouldn't the ideal job be one where you can use your motivated talents daily and get paid for it? Absolutely! But more on that later.

What are your motivated talents? Shouldn't your boss know? You can let him/her know by giving them a copy of you own career assessment.

Get a job you love and never work a day in your life.

A dream? how to keep yourself on track always to fulfil it

We all have dreams and try to achieve our goals and there are many like us who either don’t have the necessary motivation or have lost it. Many of us then start blaming our fate/destiny for not being able to realize our dreams and fail to realize that it is we who are to be blamed for not being motivated enough. Read on and find how to motivate yourself.

In the daily rut and pressures of life, we have forgotten how to keep ourselves always going with batteries charged. With so many things to do and achieve in life, we have lost the art of motivating ourselves.

What is motivation?
Motivation is a temporal and dynamic state that should not be confused with personality or emotion. Motivation is having the desire and willingness to do something. A motivated person can be reaching for a long-term goal such as becoming a professional writer or a more short-term goal like learning how to spell a particular word.

Types of Motivation:

a. Internal Motivation:
Internal Motivation occurs when people are internally motivated to do something because it either brings them pleasure, they think it is important, or they feel that what they are learning is morally significant. People with immense internal motivation get the required mental strength to achieve and reach towards their goals.

b. External Motivation:
External Motivation comes into play when an external factor or stimulus leads the person to be motivated. E.g. when a student is compelled to do something or act a certain way because of factors external to him or her (like money or good grades).

I am merely making an attempt to bring out some of the tips and tricks that I use to keep myself motivated. I would like to share with all of you these simple tips and tricks to that has kept me going with my batteries charged over the years.

How to motivate yourself

1. Write down your goals and always keep thinking about it
The first step is to start with writing your goals with positive words. If you ever feel miserably down or think that you cannot achieve something, then pick up that piece of paper and read it all over again. When reading your goal statement, visualize nearing that goal. Visual that you have achieved your goal and feel the achievement in your body in the form of goose bumps... and get yourself back on track.

2. Be aware of what you are doing
Always remember that it's you who has planned your goal and it's you who will achieve it. Always keep this in mind. If you don't take measures to achieve it then you will never try. Always keep reminding yourself that by achieving your goals you will make a difference to yourself, your family and society in general. So the key point is that be aware of the actions that you take and analyze always if your actions help you near towards your goals.

3. Always remain positive
It is very important to always remain positive. Turbulences are part of our lives and to remain positive during that time is very important. Imagine yourself sitting in an airplane... and suddenly due to the forces of wind your plane faces turbulences... does your plane nosedive or tries its best to remain stable and keep flying ahead? The same applies to you. The life is filled with problems and every person has his/her share of it. It is upto us how we fight back. So always remember to remain positive during the most darkest phase of your life.

4. Have friends who will push you up
Once a wise man said that "Let me know who your friends are and I will know a lot about you". Always be around friends who will cheer you up and pep you up. A lot of our motivation comes from friends and family who are aware about your dreams and goals. Some of your friends might just be interested in your goal and keep giving you pointers and leads of how to get near your goal. My goal was to start this site and help the community in general to advance their careers and after several rounds of discussion with my friends and family they started sending in their ideas of the next article that I should write or the next improvement that I should do on the site. So my suggestion is that involve some of your most close friends with your goals and you will be surprised how they can make a difference.

5. Read promotional stories
There is nothing like reading promotional stories of real people who have achieved the impossible despite their financial conditions, handicaps, etc. I find sudden stream of motivation flowing through my blood whenever I read stories of real people who have achieved the impossible. I try to associate myself and my situation with them and that helps me to make that extra bit of effort towards my journey to reach my goal.

6. Always carry a motivational quote with you
There are many available across the Internet and you can read them all, but I would recommend that have one quote which suits your situation and charges you a lot. Print it on a piece of paper and laminate it. The final laminated output should be that of the size of a credit card so that you can read it in bus/car/train or anywhere you feel the need to read it. You should make it a point to read it in the morning, afternoon and before you retire to bed. You should also read it when you feel that you are running low on your motivation.

7. Stop Procrastination
Procrastination is the single biggest enemy of motivation. If you keep postponing your tasks and achievables for a later day you will never have a sense of achievement. And, if you don't have that sense of achievement you will never feel that you have accomplished anything. A sense of lack of accomplishment will result in low self-esteem and at this stage you will wish to go into your shell and do nothing worthwhile. Always plan your tasks and try your best to achieve it. This tunes your system to achieve more. Further, after every worthwhile.

O God when will i come out of this viscious cycle of Faliure?

Have you ever faced failure in life and don’t know how to overcome it? Are you still dwelling on your past wherein you should be concentrating more on your future? Read on and find out how to overcome adversity in life.


Life is smooth till such time a wave of adversity does not swipe us off the ground. Ups and downs are part of life and there is nothing we can do about it because the Universe has its own way of working. Things that we desire the most are not given to us and what we get is not what we desire.

We all have a goal, the desire to succeed and also work hard towards it. During our struggle to meet our goals, we succeed at times and at times we face very sever and adverse failures, but then that's not the end of road. Some people fight back and many succumb to the circumstances.

It is not wrong to fail, but it is a crime if you don’t get back up again and try. Look around you... look at the birds and animals. They keep trying to survive by hunting for food, at times they get it early and at times they fail. But if they start thinking that this whole process of finding food does not result into anything, then they would not survive.

If you fail and hit the ground hard, always remember, the only way where you can go is UP.

In the words of Henry Ford:
"Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward."

Following are some tips to help you overcome failure:

1. Stop blaming yourself and people associated with you
You might have tried very hard and failed but you should always remember that not all circumstances are under your control. When people fail, they usually don’t try to find out why they failed, but instead they start blaming themselves.

Do you blame yourself for a failure? Do you really think that you were responsible for your failure? Do you really think that despite trying very hard, you did not get through? We all try hard and then at times we fail. Many reasons could be attributed to it. Instead of blaming ourselves (which is easy), we should try to find the reason why we failed. By doing this, not only will you have a greater understanding where you went wrong, but you will avoid repeating the same mistake in the next attempt.

2. Don’t ever think that all your efforts have been wasted
To achieve something in life a dedicated effort is required. Some people give it their 100% and some people don’t. But no matter what, none of your efforts ever get wasted. In the process of trying again and again, we gain experience of the mistakes we should avoid to achieve the desired result. Taking the example of Thomas Edison, the man who invented Light Bulb, he failed over 1000 times before he could derive at the bulb that we use today. At a press conference he announced that he now knows 1000 ways of how not to make a light bulb.

Never get disheartened and always enjoy learning the new things that you discover on your way to be successful.

3. Try another approach
You try once, twice and then thrice… with a similar approach; and then what do you do? Give Up!!! Have you ever thought that the approach that you use to achieve something is wrong and would require either a complete new way of looking at things or would require you to tweak your approach a little and then try again? All scientific discoveries and inventions have taken years of hard work and dedication. Do you think that doctors and scientist across the world have got a working model of their inventions in the very first attempt? Do you think that for all repeated attempts at their inventions they followed a similar approach? I think you got the answer.

4. Take a break for a while
When we try hard to achieve goals in life we sometimes get into the rut of doing things which has an effect our thinking process. Without a good thinking process and creativity how do you propose to achieve what you desire the most? In my personal experience taking a short break helps when you feel that you have reached a road block on proceeding ahead. This short break recharges you and helps you to think of a solution which you have never thought of before. Spend sometime with friends and family. Try to socialize a little and when you feel that you are completely recharged give your dreams a second shot.

Some useful quotes to inspire you
“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent in doing nothing.”
George Bernard Shaw

“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure: which is: Try to please everybody.”
Herbert B. Swope

“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.”
Oscar Wilde

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
Winston Churchill

"Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”
Michael Jordan

"Inside of a ring or out, ain't nothing wrong with going down. It's staying down that's wrong."
Muhammad Ali

I would like to conclude which I learnt when I was a child “Try, Try again till you succeed!”

Achieving goals in 5 disciplined steps

For many years people have been blaming their fate or destiny for their failures. Many people believe that success is derived out of your past life karma. I honestly don't know much about karma and being born with a fate but I surely do know and believe that we humans have the power to change our fate and destiny. For those, who still disagree with me will soon change their thinking.

Many of use see an aero plane flying in the sky each day and we all know the science behind the plane flying and we still feel amazed to imagine a heavy piece of equipment flying. Well, this invention just did not happen. We all know that the Wright Brothers had to go through numerous failures and embarrassment before they could create a plane that could fly. Were they destined to create a plane? Was it their fate that got them to create a plane? I doubt. Read on...

It was their observation of the birds and the desire to fly which made them create the machine which we today call Plane. It was their burning desire which was so strong that made them work for years and hours each day before they met with success. All the failures, taunts, embarrassment and frustration were small compared to their burning desire to fly. It is only through a Burning Desire can a man achieve the impossible.

Look at all the scientific advancements. The very advancement of a computer in front of you on which you read this article and the Internet on which you downloaded this article are all proofs of Burning Desire of man to create something.

Obstacles come and it is up to us how we deal with them. Failures will come for a long time, before we can achieve something. It is the manner in which the Universe functions. To reap fruits from a tree, you must first plant the seeds and nurture the tree well.

Achieving anything is possible as long as you have the Burning Desire to achieve it, i.e. creating the next scientific experiment, topping your exams, receiving the next promotion, losing your weight, learning a new art… Anything is possible. The recent slogan of Nike Shoes says it all "Impossible is nothing".

If you have a Burning Desire and sow the seeds of intention, the universe conspires to help you. This happens only if your intentions are true and pure.

If you dream of achieving something then sow the seeds of intention in the universe by always being positive about that dream and always thinking of that dream, the universe will conspire to help you. You might dream to work at Microsoft and if you sow your intentions right, somewhere some how you might just bump into a person who could help you.

Therefore, keep dreaming, always have the burning desire to succeed and read the following steps to achieve your goals. But remember, it requires a disciplined approach while following it.

Five Disciplined steps to achieve your goals
Please note that the steps mentioned below require a disciplined approach. By discipline I mean that no matter what difficulty you face in achieving your goals, you must stick to your desire to achieving your goals.

1. Define a goal for yourself
The first step towards achieving your goal is to be able to define it. While defining your goal you should keep in mind the SMART principle i.e.

S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Realistic
T = Timely
Specific
Be very specific of what you want. If you want to buy a car, just don't say my goal is to buy a car. You should rather say, I want to buy a Mercedes and the model number.

Measurable
You should be in a position to measure your success towards the goal only then will you be in a position to alter plans or make new ones if you are not heading anywhere.

Attainable
The goals that you make for yourself should be attainable as per your skills, attitudes, abilities, etc. Making an unrealistic goal will not only make you frustrated, but will also play on your mind and make you lose your self-esteem.

Realistic
Like I mentioned earlier, your goals should be realistic. Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. Additional ways to know if your goal is realistic is to determine if you have accomplished anything similar in the past or ask yourself what conditions would have to exist to accomplish this goal.

It is only if a man believes in something does he accumulate the will to give all that he has towards his goal. Always remember, where there is a will there is a way.

Timely While defining your goal you should always attach a time frame to achieve it. If you decide to lose weight, you should have a goal with a time frame in mind. E.g.: "I wish to lose 10 KGs by the end of 2007".
2. Work towards it
Now that you have created a goal for yourself, the next step is to initiate action and work towards it by giving all efforts possible. This is the most difficult part in achieving a goal. Many of my friends have taken this advice by defining their goals and writing it down, but they fail at the most critical step i.e. to initiate action.

After your goals are clear, the time to take action is NOW. Just start working towards it. Ask yourself if you'd be happy to achieve your goals? If yes, then why not start working towards it once you have a clear vision of your goal. If your goal is to lose weight, then the next logical step is to find out how you could achieve it. Join a gym, consult a doctor, etc. Just do everything possible towards achieving your goal.

3. Manage your problems well
Yes, problems will come. It's the way in which the Universe works. It will test you endlessly till that time you don't attain your goal. Nothing comes easy. Even a diamond has to go through endless pressure and heat to reach its final form.

It's how we react to problems that makes all the difference. Many things will come your way and distract your mind and that's the time to keep your cool and keep driving on.

4. Monitor your progress.
Now that you have defined your goal, have started working towards it and are battling your way through problems which come through; its time to monitor your progress.

The reason why you should monitor your progress is to know if the action that you have initiated is helping you to near your goals or not. If you feel that the action is not helping you much, then you should try to alter your path of working.

May be you were doing it all wrong. Don't panic at this stage. Appreciate the knowledge that you have gained of how not to achieve your goal. That's experience.
Once you have created a SMART goal, the next step is to write it down in big bold letters and stick it at a place where you won't miss reading it every day. Read your goal statement each day and night and work towards it.

5. Ask someone to mentor you
Very few people have the privilege of being guided by a mentor. If you wish to become a singer or a dancer, then seek the help of a mentor. The experience of a mentor will not only lead you through a correct path, but will also help you become the best in a commendable time frame.

As my closing remarks, Thomas Edison had to go through thousands of failed experiments to achieve the goal of inventing the perfect light bulb that we use today. At a press conference when he was asked about his failures, he quickly responded saying "I have successfully discovered 1000 ways to NOT make a light bulb".

This shows that he had a goal and a burning desire to build an electrical bulb. This proves that despite facing so many problems and failed attempts at altered paths his vision never shook to achieve creating the first electrical bulb ever witnessed by mankind.

Some quotable quotes

Obstacles are those frightening things that become visible when we take our eyes off our goals.
- Henry Ford

Set your goals high and don't stop until you get there.
- Bo Jackson

You must take action now that will move you towards your goals. Develop a sense of urgency in your life.
- Les Brown

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
- Mark Twain

When you cease to dream you cease to live.
- Malcolm Forbes

So what are you waiting for? If you have the desire, then march ahead and achieve your goals

Please leave behind any comments on this goal setting article that you may have.

It is the Attitude rather than the Aptitude which helps us reach the Altitude.

Attitude is everything in life. It�s a state of your mind at which impossible is nothing. Your mind releases abundance of energy and strength in your body to achieve anything that you desire.

Having a right attitude is not an easy task. Many people spend years gaining the right attitude. They end up reading self help material and attend seminars, it works for them for the first few months and then they are back to where they started from. Why does this happen? Reasons are many, personal and psychological. I would like to touch base on the psychological reasons.

Psychological reasons why attitude training does not work

1. Recent Failure
For some failure is the end of road and for some it�s a new beginning, it�s how you look at failure. When things go wrong, we start to blame ourselves and other people. That is why we lose our positive attitude. If we start to think that the failure was for our good and may be the forces of universe wanted us to learn an essential lesson before achieving success, then we are thinking from a positive frame of mind.



2. Loss of Focus
This happens to many people. We aim for something and then we lose focus. Could be that we have something else that is interesting to achieve or we don�t find our goals interesting any more. Therefore, if we don�t find anything interesting to achieve, no matter how hard we try using our positive attitude, we aren�t going anywhere.



3. Procrastination

This is the number one killer of positive attitude. The more you procrastinate, higher the risk of losing your self-esteem. With low self-esteem it is not possible to set a positive attitude. Take up a diary and jot down all the tasks that you have to do and allocate sufficient time for it to be done and remember to always plan your week instead of just the day.


Above were the psychological reasons why our positive attitude training fails. We are all humans and in recent times with pressure from our clients, bosses and home we have an urgent need to perform and achieve. Only a right and positive attitude can help you to achieve your goals and desires. Having a positive attitude not only helps you grow, but also helps you emit positive energy thus making you more likable.
Following are some tips to help you achieve positive attitude:

1. Always have presence of mind
Having presence of mind always helps you know how you feel as you can actively know the thoughts that come to you. People who don�t always remain mentally present get into the mode where negative thoughts start occurring and they get deeply immersed into it. With presence of mind a person can know when such negative thoughts occur and can take actions to over power it.

Always remaining in presence of mind is not an easy task. It is difficult; but achievable. You can achieve this by way of meditation.
2. Think and be Positive
To think positive, you must speak positive. Speaking negatively has a chain reaction on your mind. Try to stay away from negative people. The more you stay with them; chances are that you will be like them. If you have a desire to score good marks or get through a MBA college, associate with friends who have a similar goal and positive attitude. Never associate with people who will tell you how difficult it is. Therefore to remain positive, try to look for surroundings that nurture positive behavior.

3. Affirmation
In the words of Stephen Covey (Author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People), a good affirmation has five basic ingredients: it�s personal, it�s positive, it�s present tense, it�s visual and it�s emotional.

Writing affirmations and reading them over and over again, will help you achieve positive attitude. Some examples of positive affirmations are:

1. Every day in every way I am better and better.
2. I am now awakening the genius within me.
3. I have a perfectly healthy body and mind.

4. Visualize Success
Visualize your success. I haven�t enjoyed any feeling as much as I have enjoyed the feeling of visualizing being successful. If you desire to buy a good car, a house or wish to get selected for a job, start with preparing for your goal and follow your preparation with visualization. Visualize your goal in every detail as possible. If you wish to buy a car, then visualize yourself driving the car. Visualize every single detail; visualize the dash board, the interiors, the speed, the music system, etc. If you desire to get selected for a job, visualize that your interview has been successful, visualize you getting the offer letter, being introduced in the organization, etc.

5. Meditation:Meditation helps you in many ways to embrace positive attitude. If not only helps you calm your body and soul, but also releases substances and chemicals within your body which make you feel happy. By making it a habit to meditate you start remaining happy. My experience shows that negative thoughts cannot invade a happy mind.

6. Always smile and be happy
No matter what the circumstances you must always be happy and keep smiling. I know you have a question of �How can a person always be happy and keep smiling?�. The answer is very simple. Whatever happens is for your own good and God along knows why He did what He did. If you keep this in mind, then nothing can take away your happiness. If you leave everything onto Him and only concentrate on doing hard work, you will start to accept anything that comes your way (success or failure). If you accept everything that God gives you, you will always remain happy. This concept is a little difficult to digest initially, but this was an advice once given by an elderly mentor which has changed my life completely. Only concentrate on hard work in the right direction. The result will always follow. So don�t worry, be happy� and don�t forget to smile.

Quotes on Attitude

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing."
Abraham Lincoln

"Work is either fun or drudgery. It depends on your attitude. I like fun."
Colleen C. Barrett

"The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen."
Frank Lloyd Wright

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us."
Helen Keller

"If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can't, you're right."
Henry Ford

"Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."
Thomas Alva Edison

"I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."
Thomas Jefferson

"The greatest discovery of our generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. As you think, so shall you be."
William James