The Power of Optimism

By Kimberly Gerber

Being optimistic is more than seeing the world through rose colored glasses.

Optimism shows itself through your attitude, belief and actions. When we are optimistic everything in life is different.

Optimistic people:

1. Set more goals and put more effort into attaining their goals.
2. Stay more engaged when challenges arise.
3. Cope better during stressful times.
4. Feel better about themselves and the world around them.
5. Get more done.

In fact, it turns out that optimism is a predictor of work performance. The higher the optimism, the better your performance in all areas of life.

Here are some tips to become more optimistic:

1. Expect favorable outcomes. This actually primes your brain to be on the lookout for and recognize possibilities.
2. Make a list of the good things in your career or life. Scan your day for three good things that happened that day.
3. Journal about positive experiences.
4. Make positive comments about the world and people around you.

And just in case doubt and negativity might be clouding your thinking right now, trust me, this information has been scientifically proven. And doesn’t that just make you a little more optimistic!

4 Ways to Make Deposits into Your Confidence Bank Account

It’s all too easy to overlook the wonderful things about ourselves when the world is constantly pointing out the things that are not. It’s important for us to be in charge of our own ‘confidence bank account’ and to make many deposits so we do not become overdrawn when the world makes withdraws. Additionally, we must not to rob ourselves with negative self talk, but overflow our confidence bank account with positive thoughts about who we are and what we are capable of.

Here are some boosters that can help keep your confidence bank account full:

#1 – Be aware of your successes.

Keep track of your successes. Literally write them down on a log or in a journal. Keep a record of all successes, both great and small. By writing them down you can review them. This way when self-doubt sneaks in to your mind, you can review your successes and reframe your current challenges in a more positive light. Every time you do something right, make sure you also reward yourself. A reward can be as small as praise, or as big as a formal celebration. Get in the habit of recognizing and rewarding yourself for succeeding in life rather than punishing yourself for coming up short.

#2 – Be aware of your abilities.

What are your abilities? What are the skills you have gained through training and experience? Keep an “I’m good at” list as a reminder of what you are capable of on those days when you feel like nothing is going right. We can feel insecure about our self-worth when we give too much attention to our flaws. So change what you are looking at by reminding yourself of the skills and abilities you possess.

#3 – Be aware of your talents.

What are your talents? What comes naturally to you? Talents, which are innate, are different than abilities, which are learned. The next time you feel a lack of confidence, remind yourself of the talents you naturally possess. Talents don’t come and go; they are with you all the time. You have every reason in the world to remain confident knowing that you always have talents that can be accessed and used when you need them.

#4 – Be aware of the compliments others give you.

Truly listen for the compliments given to you by others. Compliments reveal the value that others see in us. When you hear yourself saying, “I don’t have what it takes”, or “I never do anything right” stop listening to that voice and replace those thoughts by remembering the compliments others have given you. We may sometimes make withdraws from our own account, but positive thinking can overcome any negative thinking that may have been robbing us.

Conclusion? We need to learn to be positive. By being aware of the thoughts, words and actions that shake us, we can take change withdraws from our confidence bank account into deposits that bring us abundance.

If you’d like to bring more confidence and positivity into your life, then we’ve got a special report that will help you,  Incredible Confidence! Secret to Creating Unlimited Confidence!  It’s loaded with tools and guidance to invite more confidence into your life, and maintain a courageous outlook in the face of any challenge.  In this enlightening Special Report you’ll discover:

• The Root Laws of Supreme Confidence.
• Proven confidence tricks used by the super-successful
• How to develop your own “Confidence Core”
• The 7 Secrets of living a fulfilled life
• And much, much more…

Download  Incredible Confidence! Secret to Creating Unlimited Confidence! Special Report, and begin filling up your very own confidence reservoir TODAY.

 

10 Tips to Make Your Goals Stick

By JoAnne Foist

You’ve determined your vision and wrote out your goals for the New Year.  Congratulations!!!  You’ve completed the first step toward goal achievement!  You might be thinking, “Ok, so what’s next?”  That’s easy, you have to stick to them!  Wondering how? Not a problem.  Now that you know what you want,  you’ve got to stick to your goals.  Below are 10 tips to increase your chance of success and make the process much more fun!

Follow these Ten Tips to stay on track with your goals:

1. Visualize and Document! Really crystallize what you want to achieve in life and then write it out as if you already achieved it. (See Fast Pass To Success). Make sure your goals are meaningful to you. They should cause excitement when you think about them. It has been proven that people who write out their goals are 10 more likely to achieve them than those who didn’t.  Once you write them out, keep them out where you can see them so they stay top of mind.
2. Anticipate Obstacles and Plan to Overcome Them – Think about the obstacles you will face and write out plans for overcoming them. Studies have shown that preparing and planning for challenges, what researchers call creating “implementation intentions” will increase your ability to stick to your goals. Then, when you hit the bumps in the road, you’ll know exactly what to do and you wont be derailed.
3. Develop Positive Thinking and Feelings – Think about how you will feel when you accomplish your goals. Your goals need to be “wants” and not “shoulds.” Shoulds make you feel bad and it’s a chore to do them. Wants are something you desire. These are your goals, not somebody else’s.
4. Envision Success – Keep your eye on the prize and repeat your goal mantra such as “I am determined, healthy and strong,” every time you feel discouraged. When I was first trying to qualify for the Boston marathon, I kept visualizing my finish and my mantra was “I run a 3:38 marathon.” It worked!
5. Vision Board Creation – Create a vision board of what your goal looks like so you can be reminded of how great your goals are. I use my computer screen as a vision board and have images that inspire me toward my goals.
6. Get Support – Join a support group, create a group, and/or enlist others to help you and report your progress. Reporting your progress to friends increases your odds of accomplishing your goal. In a goal research study, it was proven that sharing goals with friends (support group/coach/other) had the greatest impact on success.
7. Forgive and Forget – If you slip, forgive yourself and get back on track. It’s bound to happen from time to time. One off day, or off week, is not going ruin your success unless you let it. I’ve seen this all to often where a friend will eat too much one day and use it as an excuse to can the whole diet and all the progress made. Researchers call it the “What the Hell” effect. You should plan for derailments and how you’ll get back on track as part of your “overcoming obstacles” plan.
8. Track Your Progress – Keep track of how you are doing, plain and simple.
9. Develop Routines and Set Yourself Up for Success– Try to be consistent with doing activities toward your goal. It is best to schedule them the first part of your day to ensure they get done. For instance, I run early in the morning before my workday. To help get me out the door in the mornings, I set out my workout clothes and fill my water bottles in the evening. This way I can easily get dressed and out the door. And by doing my workouts before my workday starts, if I get unexpected projects and have to work late, it doesn’t affect my training.   I’ve developed a habit of working out first thing in the morning.
10. Celebrate Little Successes Along the Way – Reward yourself for wins along the way.   Big goals can have mini-goals or activities along the way and you should celebrate their accomplishment. Remember, you are working toward your goals to make your life better, and hopefully more amazing. That’s cause for celebration!

We know you can be abundantly successful in 2015 and we want to support you with A FREE GIFT!!!!  As our gift to you, we created Fast Pass to Success, a 4-week mini course that will have you speeding toward success with ease and enjoyment.  The Fast-Track Pass is a four-week mini course, which will help you focus on your top goal for the year and create a communication strategy to make it happen!

Your Fast- Pass includes each of the following once a week for the next four weeks:

• A short educational video
• A simple exercise that you will complete
• Office hours to interact with experts who will help you complete your plan and motivate your success
• Access to a community of supporters
• Access to tools and techniques to super-charge all of your efforts

In addition, our President and CEO of Excelerate, Kimberly Gerber, will have weekly office house so that you can access her directly to ask questions and brainstorm tough situations.  The value of this offer is upwards of $1,500, however, she’s giving it to you, our readers, as a gift. All you have to do is click here and sign up to get your Fast Pass to Success.  There’s no cost, and no risk – only great rewards! So why not do it?

Don’t wait! Join today and you will receive a download of the goal-setting template we created to help you manifest you’re your destiny for 2105.

Here’s to an amazing year. I have a feeling it’s going to be great.

Take the Fast Track!

Supercharge your success in 2015 with a new twist on an old tool.

By JoAnne Foist

Don’t you just love the New Year? It’s a fresh start with endless possibilities…the time of year when we set our expectations high for the coming year. Which is why so many people make New Year’s resolutions. You might be thinking, “Yeah… but only 8% of people are successful in achieving their New Year’s resolutions.”

Sadly, that’s true. Yet this year you can be in the top 8%! When you combine your resolutions with tried-and-true goal setting techniques you’ll be among the successful few who stay resolved and achieve their goals. It’s a fact that if you set goals and make deliberate resolutions, you are 10 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO ACHIEVE THE SUCCESS YOU DESIRE!!!

What’s the difference between goals and resolutions? A goal is a marker of success; a destination that you reach that indicates you have accomplished what you set out to do. A resolution is a commitment to behave in a certain way in order to achieve your goals. A popular goal after the holidays is, “To lose 20 lbs.” A popular resolution is, “To go to the gym 3-5 days a week…in order to lose the 20 lbs. As you can see they work well hand-in-hand, however many people (apparently 92 percent of them) forget that and they neglect to do one or the other.

Well conceived goals create your plan for success. They keep you focused on what’s important, help you prioritize, help you make better decisions, allow you to become more effective, and they motivate you.

Achieving your goals feels great! It’s a matter of writing them down and making a plan for success and there are proven tips for making sure they work! First, keep the number of goals to 5 or less so you can focus on what’s most important to you. You don’t want to get overwhelmed by tackling too many…achieving one meaningful goal is better than starting several and not accomplishing any of them.

The process is easier than you think when you follow the GOAL SETTING STEPS below:

1. Your Vision – Think about what you want in life. What would your ideal life look like? Write it out so you can visualize this. This big picture view can be broad such as “I want to be healthy,” or “I want to be successful.”
2. Make each goal statement in the present tense – This helps you mentally picture the achievement of your goal and reinforces it in your subconscious
3. Break it Down – This is where you create your SMART goals to support your vision. “SMART” is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. SMART goals are your action plans for achievement.
   • Specific – Who, what, where, when, why of the goal.  This is key, because it sets up a plan.  For instance, instead of “I will exercise more,” write, “I will go to the gym on Mon, Wed and Fridays right after work.” Or, instead of “I will spend less time on social media,” write “I will limit my time on social media to 10 minutes a day and review it right before I go to lunch.”
   • Measurable – How will you track your goal?
   • Attainable – Stretch, but be realistic on what you can accomplish.
   • Relevant – Does this fit into your vision (the big picture)?
   • Time-Bound – Have a due date with intermediate progress dates.
4. Create activities to support the goal – These are all the steps you need to take to achieve your goal.
5. Track your progress – Track along the way to see how you’re doing. This could be daily, weekly or monthly depending on the goal. Daily is usually the best with weekly or monthly evaluations.   But do what works for you.
6. Create a simple Resolution or Mantra that will keep your goals in focus throughout the year. Your resolution should be meaningful yet, easy to remember. Your mantra should encapsulate the essence of your personal vision and goals and excite you to put in the effort to achieve your goals for the year.

Goal Example: Relating to Health

1. Vision – Optimal health
2. Goal Statement – I train for and run 10k races.
3. Goal Breakdown:
   • Specific – I will successfully complete my city’s 10k race on April 2015.
   • Measurable – Weekly mileage goals and ultimately finishing the 10k or not.
   • Attainable – Based on my current health and the length of time to build up to this, this is an attainable goal.
   • Relevant – This goal fits in my vision of being healthier and building my endurance. This goal is motivating to me. The reward of crossing the finishing line and getting my medal is motivating to me.
   • Time-Bound – I will have completed this goal on April 2015.
4. Incremental activities to support the goal – Buy running shoes by x date, create a training plan by x date, signup for the race by x date, start training on x date and follow the training plan daily. I will make running a priority by getting up early and running before going to work.
5. Track your progress – I will follow the plan daily and do weekly evaluations of my progress.
6. Annual Resolution/Mantra – Healthy and strong!

Goal Example: Relating to Career

1. Vision – A promotable leader
2. Goal Statement – To be the next Director of Marketing.
3. Goal Breakdown:
   • Specific:  I will be promoted this year to a Director of Marketing position.
   • Measurable:  Landing the position or not.
   • Attainable:  Based on my current position, my past accomplishments and the upcoming opening of this job I believe this is attainable.
   • Relevant:  This goal fits in my vision of being successful. This goal is motivating to me.
   • Time-Bound:  I will have completed this goal by the end of the year.
4. Incremental activities to support the goal – I will take on high profile projects, such as xyz, I will get assessments from my colleagues regarding my strengths and opportunities by x date, I will take a professional development course to work on my communication skills by x date, I will write and submit my application and plan for the Director position by x date.
5. Track your progress – I will follow the plan as set and review weekly to see how I am progressing. I will make adjustments based on feedback received.
6. Annual Resolution/Mantra – Racing to the Top!

You get the idea? Then get started! You’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish. Let 2015 be your best year yet. Need help? We have expert coaches who can help you achieve incredible breakthroughs. Contact us to learn more.

And, if one of your goals includes self-development, we invite you to attend Powerful Presence, our 3-Day Intensive Workshop.  Check it out…It’s really a life-changing event.

Here’s to your success in the New Year!

Feeling Frazzled? Ground Yourself with Gratitude

By JoAnne Foist

Since it’s the holidays, which brings both joy and stress in our lives, I thought it would be the prefect time to talk about that little “g-word” we hear so much about.  We seem to think of it on Thanksgiving, but then quickly change gears come “Black Friday.”  You might dismiss gratitude as being trite, or that you can’t even think about it for all that you’ve got on your plate. I get it. But, then you’ll be missing out on all the AMAZING benefits that being thankful brings.

What is gratitude?

Simply put, it’s the feeling of being “THANKFUL.”  That emotion you get when something great happens and you say to yourself, ”Yes!!!! Thank you!!!! It’s also that adrenaline-rushing feeling you get when you narrowly escaped something terrible such as a fall, an accident, getting hit by a car and/or finding out that a loved one is “ok.” All of a sudden you feel amazingly alive and incredibly grateful, and you immediately say to yourself “Oh, Thank God!” You feel it in your gut, your heart and your head all at the same time.  In that moment you’ve experienced gratitude in it’s deepest sense. All your other pressures are still there, but you’re now filled with gratitude. You’ve had a complete attitude shift.

 Now that you know what gratitude feels like, what does it do?

Gratitude can lead to greater success and contentment.   You might be thinking “really?” Yes, it’s true, research has shown that feeling thankful reduces stress, increases happiness, and helps to bring about positive changes.

It’s good for you and good for business.  Why? Because people want to work with people who appreciate them. Customers want to buy from businesses that appreciate them. Marriages are improved when appreciation is shown. You see the trend here? By being grateful for those around you, your personal and professional relationships will change. Performance, sales, satisfaction, etc. can all improve as you begin to show gratitude. Plus, you’ll feel better as you start focusing on all the good things in your life instead of dwelling on the bad. And based on the power of attraction, you’ll be drawing in even more positive things to be grateful for.

 Are you ready to start? 

There is always something to be grateful for. It’s just a matter at how you look at things. For instance, you can focus on Monday-morning traffic, or you can be grateful that you have a car to get around in.   It takes consistency and discipline to notice how “green the grass” is under your feet, but it’s a fun practice, so let’s get started….

10 Gratitude Exercises

1. Keep a Gratitude Journal – Either at the beginning, or at the end of the day write-out what you are grateful for. I’ve recommended this before and I keep recommending because it works.   It focuses your mind on the positive.

2. Be Grateful for the Little Things – Notice and appreciate all the little things. For me, I am thankful for electricity and running water, especially after my time spent in third-world countries. I am grateful when my car starts after being parked for weeks in an airport parking lot. Are you getting the idea here? Even before you get out of bed, instead of complaining about being tired, think of all the things that you’re grateful for. It’s a complete change in how you start your day. You can also mentally list out all the things your grateful for as you brush your teeth.

3. Be Grateful before you Eat – Before eating, say thank you and feel appreciation. It’s a wonderful habit that brings you back to your center and, as an added benefit, you’ll pay more attention to your eating thus you’ll enjoy it more and feel satisfied sooner, which means you could eat less…goodbye stomach upset…hello weight loss.

4. Meditate on Gratitude – Close your eyes, take deep long breaths and feel grateful. Let the feeling sink in as you imagine your whole body filled with a white light of gratitude.  With each inhale and exhale, mentally say “gratitude.”  This is a great practice to do anytime to ground yourself (just don’t do it while you’re driving).  If you can get out in nature and soak it in, even better.

5. Be Grateful for your Surroundings – Stop reading and look around. Really take in everything around you and be grateful for what each thing provides.  Your computer, the desk, the chair that supports you.  You’ll feel more connected.

6. Keep Gratitude Reminders – Put gratitude prompting notes around where you’ll see them (bathroom mirror, refrigerator, etc.).  To do this, write on sticky notes, “I am thankful for…” and when you see them, fill-in the blank on what comes to mind.

7. Show Gratitude to Strangers – Say, “thank you” and show your appreciate to others. When you’re interacting in the world (buying your morning coffee, getting your groceries, etc.), make eye contact and say “thank you.” Start connecting with people and don’t be afraid to give out sincere complements to strangers either. You just might make someone’s day.

8. Show Gratitude to Those in Your Life – Let the people in your life know how much you appreciate them. Be sincere and specific with complements. I love giving sincere complements; it makes me and the other person feel great. Of course, I enjoy receiving them as well.   And, since it’s the gift-giving time a year, appreciation is a wonderful gift to give. A simple note listing the things that you appreciate and admire about someone can mean a lot. I received a very sweet email from a classmate and it completely lifted my spirits.

9. Be Grateful for Others – When those around you experience success, share their joy and be grateful of their happiness. Feel like it’s your success.

10. Share Gratitude – Tell others what you’re grateful for. Attitudes are contagious and you’ll be spreading joy. Think about it, it’s more fun to be with others who show appreciation….It’s elevating.

Did you notice anything while you were reading these exercises? They make you stop to be in the moment and appreciate life. That’s right, gratitude is a way of connecting to the world and to yourself.  Gratitude just might be your key to inner happiness.

Thinking about your 2015 New Year resolutions?  Any of the above practices could change your year.  Just imagine how wonderful a year of gratitude would be.  And, if you’re looking to really set yourself up for a transformative year?  Signup for our next workshop.