A heightened sense of lameness is caused by being exposed to the world. If you are a well travelled person, you will probably find certain TV shows, music or movies lame compared to a person who has never left their home town. This is because you have seen a wider variety of entertainment and art and can pick and choose between them.

You can judge what is good and what is lame. If someone has never left their little village in their life, then anything that comes out of Hollywood is cool. Worldly people who live in cosmopolitan cities have a more heightened sense of taste in the arts than people who live in plain vanilla towns and villages. That is why people from New York or London may seem elitist to the country folks or townies.

But it is not their fault. Having a heightened sense of lameness is actually a curse. It is like being highly intelligent and being tormented by all the stupidity in the world. If you are good at spotting cliches, then you will have fewer chances of finding pleasure and happiness in the world than the simple minded country boy who thinks that Justin Bieber is a great talent. It is sad and cruel to be so elite.

So which would you rather be? Would you want to be the cool, bored, artistic type who can only appreciate that which is truly provocative, intelligent and ground breaking? Or would you want to be the simple minded who finds pleasure in Madagascar sequels but does not understand the latest creepy music coming out of Iceland?

Frankly, I would much rather be simple minded. That way I don’t have to think about things and simple pleasures are enough to make me happy. Unfortunately, I belong to the camp filled with city boys and hipster wannabes and pop culture makes me cringe.

When we speak of being number one, there must be an ambition first. Aiming to be someone or dreaming to attain a certain point of success. It may include a picture of what you would like to become few years from now. Once you already have that dream, which seems to be conceivable, the next thing that you have to do is believe in yourself. You have to be confident that you too can make a difference. Life does not impose something at first glance, it merely gives us time to prove our worth. Just like in Cherokee scrubs, it has proven itself for quite some time that it has the ability to be on top.

The next thing that you have to do is do something in order to achieve that dream that you have in mind. A dream remains a dream if it will not be acted upon, but it becomes reality if backed with commitment and perseverance. Basically, what we need is faith strong enough to push you on the place that you desire. Acting with pride as well as passion is what you need. You must have that enthusiasm to achieve what you want, and it must not be coming from others but from the inner you. Belief also is something that you have in mind, making yourself tough enough to become someone. You just look at Cherokee scrubs. It now holds several collections of scrubs of various styles and colors. It has for its most famous design the printed ones. People like it because of its refreshing appearance to the eyes.

And lastly is that you, as a winner, must have that winning attitude coupled with a winsome smile. You know why? It is because in life there are curves and downs. You must not let all of those ruin your straight path. What you must have is an attitude like, “whatever it may be, I’ll be much better than ever.” If you have this attitude, you will surely have that success behind you.

It is also inevitable that there are setbacks that you may get. That may include negative comments and criticisms designed to destruct you. But, the attitude of a winner is not to treat it as a destruction but rather to treat it as a constructive criticism. So, be number one… be like Cherokee scrubs.

I have come to realize that one of the greatest misunderstandings about creativity is the incorrect belief that a creative idea must be totally original. Perfectly good ideas are disposed of because the originator, or individuals the originator expresses the idea to, are familiar with the concepts from which the idea was derived and dismiss it as a likeness.

There is no such thing as a completely original idea. Every novel concept is a patchwork of earlier ideas that have been uniquely merged, and every new discovery, unless it was blind luck that required no thought, is revealed through the application of existing concepts engineered in a novel way.

As time goes on, one of the central themes you will hear from me is that creativity relies heavily on knowledge. You can’t put two and two together until someone teaches you what numbers are. You can’t even express your idea until someone teaches you how to talk. Creative ideas are built upon the bedrock of existing knowledge.

Nearly everything you now know was learned from someone else. Whether that someone else was the author of a book, the artist who created your favorite painting, or simply people who taught you directly, like your parents and teachers, friends and colleagues; your fountain of knowledge springs from very deep wells.

Too often we tend to see the things that are completely new to us as being the most creative ideas. But that is only due to the fact that we have no knowledge of the foundation upon which those things were built.

Creativity is not a measure of our own ignorance. It is wrong to say that one idea is very creative because we knew nothing about the concepts that led to it, and conversely say that something is not very creative simply because we understand all the foundational concepts quite well.

It is easy to perceive a very intelligent person with novel ideas as being very creative because we simply don’t understand how they arrived at their new concepts. But, if we had the time to learn all the same things that person knew that led to their new idea, we would be unlikely to marvel quite so much.

Those new big ideas, the seemingly incredible revelations, spring from vast landscapes of novel ideas that we know nothing about, and the sum of the novelty, due to our own ignorance, makes it all seem that much more fantastic. But to the people who built the foundation that led to the big idea, the final creative connection will seem quite small.

The point to take away from this is that you are doing yourself, or others, a great disservice by dismissing novel ideas simply because you already understand the concepts that the ideas were woven from. In instances like this, the very creativity that is sought is trampled underfoot. You must learn to identify the novelty of that new idea, despite the foundation it was built from, and give credit where and when credit is due.

The true measure of creativity is usefulness, not our own ignorance.

You could say it is laziness but that just doesn’t make sense, because why would someone be too lazy to improve themselves, and therefore the quality of their lives? So what is it that makes people wallow in guilt and broken dreams instead of living a life of improvement and growth? After all the studying and observing of people I have done, I find that the number one reason for this is the “excuse syndrome”. People have forgotten what it really is to be alive these days and for some reason, believe that watching T.V. or taking part in other trivial activities is actually living!!

“It is in the small decisions you and I make everyday that determine our destiny.”- Anthony Robbins

No matter what it is, those of us with the “excuse syndrome” will always come up with excuses as to why we shouldn’t or couldn’t do it.

For example, “I haven’t got time.” Or “I wanted to and I know it’s important but…”

There are two questions to ask then:
1. How do we get the excuse syndrome in the first place?
2. How can I rid myself of it?

Firstly, the excuse syndrome takes root when we become so busy and distracted by work that we stop doing the activities and things that really matter to us. When this happens, so do the excuses. It might start with you simply wanting to read a book, but then you never seem to find the time to do it, and then it grows stronger and spreads to the larger endeavors. You may have always wanted to go abroad to Spain but keep putting it off for one reason or another, or you may want to further educate yourself at college but just haven’t got round to it. Whatever the excuse is, it is a sign that you have developed a habitual pattern of making excuses.

Secondly, how does one begin living a life of constant improvement?

It’s simple really, the next time you find yourself making an excuse why not to do something, notice that you are doing it and observe the excuse. Do this a few times and you might see that it happens a lot, as is the case with so many people. After you have done this a few times, the next time you promise yourself you are going to do something ask yourself, “Why am I going to do this?”, “What do I get out of this if I do it?”, “Is there anything else more important than this that I should do instead?”

Make an extra effort to do what you say you are going to do because if you don’t, all that is going to happen is that you will build a failure habit, a failure to do things you say you are going to do, and that is the excuse syndromes greatest strength.

Set yourself targets each day even if they are small, and then do them because if you do, and you complete the tasks consistently, you will begin to become a person in continual growth. This will form a new habit that replaces the old and you’ll be a person that always does what he/she says they are going to do and no longer make excuses to justify not doing it.

What I realize is that it is not a be-all change your life lickety-split program. It is, however, way more than that – in that it provides a solid training foundation for the rest of one’s life, if you want it to be. Tony gives you a toolbox along with directions on how to use it. Skills like changing your emotions when you want to, anchoring empowered states, taking care of your body, ways to increase your energy, learning how to say “goodbye” to procrastination and self-sabotage all add to the ability to get more out of your life.

The importance of writing goals is also discussed and I have and do and it’s helping. I think what is so interesting is that opportunities are showing up in my world. Several solid business ventures have just appeared since I’ve been doing this. In addition, I feel like I’ve made some solid changes.

In particular,

Coincidence? I think not. I had the opportunity to do any or all of those things for years, so what made the difference now?

I think it had to do with getting in touch with the awake part of myself and getting clear on what might happen if I don’t do those things.

I also recognize that there are many more habits to change and re-condition in myself. There have been times where I felt depressed, angry, peevish and uncentered. My recovery time was quicker than before, but I noticed that what was really happening was that I was allowing outside circumstances and the subsequent meaning I attached to those events to dictate my negative reaction. I was back in the victim mindset. Yuck!

Going through this course once was great, but the next time or two could elevate my life to the truly phenomenal. I’m all for that.

My changes feel good. I’d love to hear from you concerning your own journey and changes. Thanks for stopping by and take good care!

Drink plenty of water. A large amount of the aches, pains, and low energy we have these days is because we are not fully hydrated. Keep a glass of water on your desk at all times and drink up.
Listen to your favorite music in the morning instead of the news. If you watch the news in the morning, it can already be draining as you hear about murders, falling stock prices, and scandals. Try popping in a relaxing CD instead. Do this while you are getting ready as well as during your commute time in traffic. I listen to instrumental music (without lyrics) such as classical, new age or new earth (Steven Halpern), and Reiki healing (Deuter). [Reiki is a form of energy healing, in case you are not familiar with the term.]
Get a massage on a regular basis. A massage will move around the stress that is stuck in your body. This can sometimes make a big difference in freeing up your energy. You can also exercise vigorously to keep your energy moving.
Eat healthy foods. Keep a mental note of how you feel after you’ve eaten particular foods, and you will be able to see what foods affect your energy levels. I always feel great with no digestion slump after eating healthy foods such as salmon/spinach salad, egg whites, whole grain oatmeal with berries, and green tea, to name a few.
Stay as relaxed as possible. The stress hormone cortisol can give us energy, but if we rely solely on it, we end up damaging our bodies in the long run. An instant relaxation tip is to breathe deeply three times, right where you are. This completely changes your physiology in an eye blink.
Meditate. Sit comfortably still, close your eyes, and go inside your mind. Let your thoughts pass by, and focus only on your breathing, an object, or a chant such as “I am present.” A few minutes of meditation has been shown to be more refreshing than a nap. The benefits are increased focus, better memory, a quieter mind, and contentedness.
Stay positive. If you can increase your positive emotions (love, gratitude, hope, joy, peace, pleasure, fun) and reduce your negative emotions (anger, fear, rage, disgust, jealousy, sadness, greed), then you are ahead of the game. Negative emotions sap your energy, and positive emotions refuel your energy. You may decide to choose to eliminate some negative things from your life: negative people, violent movies and TV, and events that take your time and don’t serve you well.
Clear your clutter. If every time you walk by the dining room table that is stacked with that unfinished project, you feel drained, then make a change. A little bit of your energy is draining each time you walk by a project that you feel you need to spend time on. If you have five or ten projects like that, you will soon feel like a zombie. Commit to wrapping them up or put them away so you don’t see them every day.
Reassess your to do list. Do you really need to do everything on your to do list? For example, do you really need to go to the store for that one item or can you hold off another day? Do you really need another pair of shoes? Do you really need to spend an hour listening to your friend’s break up woes again? Take a look at how you spend your time in light of how that event/task/person is serving you in your life. You may find oodles of freed up time which will free up your energy as well.
Sleep well. One of the keys to great health and energy is to get a good night’s sleep every night.

I’m sure you know about many of the items on the list already. Perhaps this article can be a gentle reminder for you to take a look at what habits you’d like to renew that will revitalize you. A change in your daily routine might give you a great boost in your energy.

Learning to deal with life issues in a systematic but pragmatic way soon makes you a veteran, and it just sounds like things never bother you any more or so it seems to many around you. The interesting thing they do not know is that you are bothered but you just never let it show, because you are fast learning the art of being on top of issues rather than letting issues get the better of you. Issues are better dealt with when your head is calm and you are exhibiting your normal mien. you tend to think better and to work up a solution faster, even when you were as good as hapless when the issue first set in; but because you have developed this thick skin virtually becoming a program of handling these problems, your body can switch into auto mode acting out the already programmed instructions for such settings. This means that, even if you have to tell yourself “stay calm in the face of trouble” fifty times before it sinks in, so be it so far it does sink in and it is rightly applied when such situations finally result.

Imagine in your heart, a man who has programmed in his brain, that the next time you hear a gunshot, the first thing you do is go down flat, and then survey quickly but carefully where the source is and a likely but sensible modes of escape. it may sound absurd and unreal, but the truth is as much as these things take place in a matter of seconds in real time, that is while the experience is going on; it has been found out that just the same way you plan and prepare for the rainy day, the body is better off with an already prepared plan of action so that even when the norm is confusion setting in, it could as well switch into auto pilot and effectively get itself out of trouble before there is more time to think about the situation, or evaluate critically enough to fashion a way forward. All of these sweetly summarized mean that there is a way to deal with the next negative issue in your life and come out on top.

There is a common saying about counting your blessings, and the moral behind the now popular saying is; acknowledge the very many good things around you, and soon enough the few negative stuffs would get drowned in the sea of positives and in no time the solution shows up.it would throw up another pointer in developing a positive mental attitude, as it often serves to weed out negativity and foster an environment fitting enough to deal with the negative issues. This is very necessary because we get to notice in our every day affairs that what you concentrate on too much often has a potential to be magnified beyond reality soon enough blossoming into a virtual giant of an issue, but it would take putting such issues in real perspective to solve them. That is why it is only fitting enough to reiterate the necessity of a positive mental attitude, as it saves the man in the middle the energy of having to blow up a matter beyond necessary before finally succumbing to his intuition or advice of setting matters in right perspective in order to come up with a solution; creating more time for other issues in the process and increasing overall efficiency of dealing with issues ending up with total and effective solutions in the eventually.

Conclusively, it is to our overall benefit if we develop ways of tackling negatives as life would turn out better and in retrospect would be filled with less regret in the long run, all because we chose to play up the positives and deal effectively with the negatives.

Let’s recap some of the events, George Bailey was an aspiring, honest, young man who wanted to see the world. He had saved his brother’s life from drowning, he helped his employer, the pharmacist, Mr. Gower, from poisoning a young boy, and everyone in town liked him, except Mr. Potter, who was the richest and meanest man in the county.

When George graduated from school and was ready to see the world his dad became ill and he had to end up taking over the family banking business. Hoping his brother would take over the banking business when he graduated from college, George started planning his world trip again. His brother got married and joined the ARMY instead, leaving George, once again, to remain with the family banking business.

George married his sweetheart from high school, Mary. They planned a lovely honeymoon, but on the way out of town the bank went into trouble and Mary contributed their honeymoon money to bail the bank out, they never got to leave town.

They ended up having four children and George helped numerous people out in Bedford town. But one night when his Uncle Billie was suppose deposit several thousand dollars, he inadvertently placed it in Mr. Potters newspaper.

The auditors were coming to the bank. George knew that they would close the bank down and he’d end up in prison if they didn’t find the money. Of course, Mr. Potter wouldn’t confess he had the money, in fact, he was turning George into the police.

George then went out and was going to commit suicide, but his guardian angel came upon the scene, Clarence. George made the comment that he wished he’d never been born. Clarence took him down the life of what Bedford and his family would be like if George was never born.

George saw his brother’s grave, because he would have drowned at age nine if George didn’t save him. Mr. Gower went to prison because George wasn’t there to prevent the poison from being delivered. Mary, his wife, was an old maid that worked at the library. The town ended up going to Mr. Potter because George wasn’t there to lend the people money to buy houses and Mr. Potter wasn’t about to lend anyone money. In fact, Mr. Potter ended up calling the town Pottersville.

George then realized that his life really was worth living. And when he went home the whole town came out and donated money to him to salvage what his Uncle Billie had misplace.

The other day, I was talking to my friend about this being one of my favorite Christmas stories. She informed me that she had never had an effect on anyone’s life and that no one would probably have ever been different if she wasn’t born. I was so shocked because she is one of the most loving and most giving people you would ever know. She would give you the shirt off her back and her last dollar to you if she knew you needed it. Her self worth, her confidence in herself, and her attitude about how she contributes to others around her, was nill, just as George Bailey’s was.

Your attitude and confidence in yourself is so valuable that YOU should make a habit of seeing the good that you do for others. Everyone contributes somehow to others. If you are not contributing ‘good’ to others then make a mental note of how you can. Giving someone a smile, letting someone in line with fewer items than you, telling someone thank you for just being there for you. All of these are little things you probably do or have done, are a great attribute to you. Being kind to your customers, taking up for someone that you know has been wronged, loving those around you with just your presence is done more than you think.

Making You the Best You that You can be ~ happens with little steps. Just like with George, he did not become the man that he was over night, people did not fall in love with him and contribute to him just because. No, he had been a man of integrity, a man with a kind and generous heart, a wonderful father and husband, a great friend and banker.

As you go through your daily life think about the little things you do every day that makes someone life better. Holding the door open, giving a compliment, listening to a friend and being a sounding board for someone are all things that people will remember about you.

Yes, everyone has a little George Bailey in them. You have overcome obstacles and have had to forfeit things for the betterment of others, but because of that, YOU have become a better person and a person that people love.

Appreciate the gratitude that you have given, give yourself an ‘atta boy’ or an ‘atta girl’. Not only will it bolster confidence in yourself, but it will make you want to do and give more of yourself.

Be Blessed & Be the Best You that You can Be

We should think positive. Nothing is going to happen if we just keep on worrying. We need to strive hard if we want to achieve the things we want. Just as the saying goes, “If others can, why can’t we?” All we need to do is practice. A dancer before a performance, he practices his steps. A singer trains his voice before singing on stage. A basketball player practices his shoots before championships. And for a PMP student, he studies before the PMP exam.

But before the preparation, you should also make sure that you are a PMI member. There are lots of benefits if you are a member like PMBOKs, Online access to businesses and project management books, discounts when you take the exam and many more. After that, you are now ready to do the preparation.

PRAYER

Before doing anything, if you believe in prayer, you should always start your review and preparation with a prayer. This will give you encouragement and confidence that you really can pass the test. I also believe in prayer. It gives me the thought that God is always with me to help me and guide me in studying.

BOOKS, ARTICLES AND OTHER RESOURCES

You should search articles and other PMP resources that you think can help you. There are lots of it in store. You should choose books that are easy for you to understand and what you think benefits you the most. You should also practice reading. It really helps a lot in increasing our knowledge and understanding on many things. You should make reading your daily habit.

TRAINING AND SEMINARS

Listening to great Project Managers and experts in Project Management is also a great way to study. You can learn from their experience and ideas in taking the PMP Exam. And these ideas might be useful for you.

QUESTIONS

PMP sample questions for the test are scattered in the net. You could practice with it. Some articles with sample questions also have explanations with their right answers. These questions might help you give a little bit of what will really come out during the exam.

And my tip for you, have fun. Learning is best when you are happy with it. Loving what you do makes you think of things in a positive way. Being happy always also helps you easily understand what you are studying. You could easily apply the things you’ve learned if you’re happy. Your success depends on your mood. If you do things by force, you would have a hard time internalizing everything you’ve learned. Everything will be good for nothing. Also, believe in yourself that you can. You have done everything you can yet without trusting yourself, it will go to waste. This trust builds up the confidence in you. So, cheer up! The PMP Exam isn’t really that hard. All it takes is a little effort and surely you’ll pass.

The only way to do that is to stop masking who you really are. You must begin to accept and love yourself just the way you are. Trying too hard to feel loved and stretching to please others won’t work. It’s not real. That’s merely playing a role designed to get artificial approval. It’s not you. It’s not authentic.

Are you acting out particular character traits? Look through this list and see if you notice a part of you described in one or several of them. Think of them as hints into the real you, clues you can use to break out of role-playing so that you can begin expressing who you really are.

The Performer. The performer often had love and attention lavished upon him for performance and progress as a child. He is always trying to measure up to the expectations of others and may self-impose even higher expectations. The performer lives a life of pressure and is driven to achieve. There’s no time for rest.
The Critic. The critic is preoccupied with finding, pointing out and talking the about faults of others. The critic rejoices in criticizing and belittling those around her. She may hate part of herself, projecting that quality onto to others and then becoming extremely critical and judgmental of them.
The Boaster. The boaster compensates for low self-esteem by always exaggerating the truth and bragging. While growing up, he learned that dramatizing and enlarging the truth was a path to attention.
The Victim. The victim was usually hurt very deeply at a young age and then received substantial sympathy. The victim feels unworthy of love and support unless it is proceeded by a great mishap or tragedy, or at least the telling of some past tragedy.
The Nice Person. This person is always good tempered, cheerful and very agreeable. She makes a great friend and generally has a large social circle. The nice person learned early in life that compliance brings a reward, a smile or an embrace. She submits to every rule and regulation with mechanical precision.
The Self-Righteous Person. He has learned that if he is wrong, people will not love him and will consider him bad. In order to get love, he attempts to be right at all costs. He can never admit his errors and will not confess his faults and failures. The self righteous person often tries to make others wrong in order to be right himself.
The Angry Person. She walks around with a chip on her shoulder. For her, anger is a form of protection. The angry person feels an inner inadequacy and is always trying to protect herself. To compensate for that feeling of inadequacy, she refuses to be satisfied by the outer world. Nothing can please her. She projects her own inadequacy everywhere, feeling frustrated and bitter towards the world.
The Fake. This person has played so many roles that he doesn’t know who he is anymore. Behind every mask is another. He is always acting according to how others will receive him. The fake will not risk controversy. He is an expert at impressing others in order to be liked. He plays the roles he thinks others want him to play and in the process becomes a hypocrite and a fraud.
The Believer. This person has become so dependent on others for truth that she doesn’t believe her own feelings. She learned growing up that to receive love, she only needs to agree with and believe what others tell her. If you have a common belief, then the believer is your friend. If you contradict his belief, you are her enemy. The believer loves to give away her own power and responsibility to others who can solve her problems. She expects you to love him because she agrees with you. If you disappoint the believer’s unrealistic expectations, she will withdraw his love and support.
The Shy Person. His basic reaction to other people is fear. He fears their criticism, he fears their evaluation of him as a failure and he fears their inevitable rejection. He has been taught that people will only accept him under certain conditions and if those conditions aren’t present, he’ll be rejected.
The Show Off. She]believes what she does or possesses will make up for what she fails to be herself. She seeks to compensate for her own lack of self-esteem by owning big things, hoping this will attract the attention and recognition she desperately needs. To the show off, money is the symbol of love, and without it, she fears she will lose love. She cannot ask for love, but tries to buy it. She is unable to share feelings directly, but does so by giving or withholding presents and material possessions
The Loner. The loner is always proving that he doesn’t need others. At some point, he didn’t get the love and recognition wanted and decided he didn’t need it. The loner has learned to become self-sufficient. Inside he is an incredibility sensitive and caring spirit who has been hurt too many times. Which roles are you playing? Which ones really reflect who you are?

Remember, you can only reach your potential by being yourself. If you feel like nothing more than an actor juggling roles, you may want to rethink the way you’re presenting yourself and behaving. It may be time for a more honest life. It may be time to show up as a leader in your life, and learn how to lead from within. Start living the life you are meant to live.