Hi everyone!

I’m back after a break to mark exams and for Christmas.  I’m excited about the New Year.  Are you?

Here’s some of the best articles I’ve come across over the last couple of weeks!

1. Chris Guillebeau from “The Art of Non-Conformity” shared about how to conduct an “Annual Review“.

2. On a related note Michael Hyatt shares “7 Questions to Ask About Last Year.”

3. Here’s a great system on how to integrate habits into your life from Freestyle Mind.

4. Wasabi Burger shares the scientific “Formula of Motivation.”

5. Learn about the power of “1000 True Fans” on The Technium.

Now start the year right by doing something that will help you reach your goals!

The Success Professor – Danny Gamache

PS. I just helped another team member reach the leadership level with our home business, which means I have more time available to help someone else.  If you have a goal of increasing your self-employment income in 2010 visit http://dannyg.makemoreathome.com

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Do you remember what you were like as a teenager? No, I am not talking about the awkwardness and struggles with self identity or the clumsiness as you wonder about who your next date will be. I am talking about how you looked at the future. The optimism you had about who you could become and what you could do in life. Chances are your thought process was much different than it is today after you have been beaten up by life a little. It is time to change that, to reconnect with your teenage-self, and start thinking big again.

Have Big Dreams

As a teenager you probably had big dreams about life. Think back to that time. What did you dream about? What were your hopes for the future? At one point, I remember dreaming about being able to retire young and play golf every day. Your dreams at this age are not limited by life experiences. There isn’t as much that you think “I couldn’t do that” or “that’s not possible”. Instead you believed that it was possible to live your dreams.

Do Anything/ Achieve Anything

Chances are you believed that you could do anything in life. You could achieve whatever you wanted to. What did you want to achieve? Did you have a list of what you wanted to do in life? If so, your list was probably very extensive. The world was in front of you and you could aim to do anything you wanted to. It was all possible.

Change the World

Not only did you believe that you could do things for yourself, but you knew that you could make a difference. You could change the world. Your dreams were not small dreams limited to yourself, they were world changing. What impact did you want to have on the world? What was the thing that you wanted to change, for the betterment of all humanity?

Unshakable Confidence

The most interesting thing is that your mindset didn’t stop with big dreams and a belief that you could do anything, achieve anything and even change the world. That dream was combined with an unshakable confidence that not only could you do it, but you would do it. You would achieve more, have more and be more. You would make a difference in the world. You would make your dreams come true.

So What Happened?

A drastic change occurred. Likely you don’t have those same dreams anymore. You likely do not see yourself changing the world, and while you have goals you likely have much smaller goals than the “teenage-you”. Somehow things changed.

This change didn’t happen all at once. It was a gradual change. It happened step by step in your life as things didn’t quite go the way you thought it would. One disappointment at a time, you slowly began to accept less in life. You started to lower your goals and to dream of smaller goals.

Photo by: The Consumerist

It started small. Maybe you didn’t get into your top choice for a college. Perhaps you didn’t get the summer job you hoped for. Later, the disappointments got a little bigger. You graduated from college and ended up working in a fast-food restaurant or a retail store. This wasn’t what you went to college for! You started to think more about paying off your student loans than about the dreams you used to have.

Over time, step by step, the burdens of life and the disappointments that occur have diminished your dreams. As a result, you set smaller goals, and you began to accept less and less out of life.

What Can You Do?

It is time to get your dreams back. No, they don’t have to be the same dreams you had as a teenager – although some of them might be. It is not the actual dreams that you need to get back, but your ability to dream; your ability to think big about life, to see the world as full of possibilities instead of full of limitations. It is about being able to see yourself as capable of achieving big things, and getting back your unshakable confidence.

The Irony of It All

The irony of the situation is that you are now in a better place to achieve big goals. You are now far better prepared to do big things, to live an extraordinary life. You have more skills and abilities. You may have more education, or at least a lot more life experience. You know your strengths and weaknesses. You have more connections, a bigger network. You have more potential!

Combine the Two

In the end, what you need to do is combine the two sides. Combine the energy, belief, and dreams of your teenage-self, with the knowledge, wisdom and abilities of the current you! The trick of course is to combine them without letting your current mindset and beliefs takeover again. Stick to your big dreams. Stick to your unwavering belief that you will achieve your goals, and stick to the attitude that comes from those beliefs. This change in mindset and attitude will take time. You will need to work at it and create a new habit of thinking. But if you do work at it, you can replace your current thinking with the type of dreaming that was true of your teenage-self.

When you combine the two, you will move forward rapidly towards your goals. You are better than you think you are and by connecting with the teenage-you, you can reach your dreams, achieve more than you imagine, and you can change the world.

Written by:

The Success Professor – Danny Gamache
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As we move into summer it is a great time to work hard and move towards your goals.  Why?  Everyone else starts to rest, so if you work hard you’re moving past a lot of people.

Here are some great articles that I came across in the last week:

1. Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers (see my review here), has an excellent essay on how underdogs win.

2. Tim Ferris, author of The Four Hour Work Week, shares a great sneak peak at a new traffic creator service by StumbleUpon.

3. Bill Reichert writes about “Management Lessons from the US Navy”

4. Tom Ziglar, son of Zig Ziglar, shares several “Motivational Misconceptions“.

5. Chris Brogan writes about the difference between creating an audience and creating community.

And finally, here’s a popular post from the archives to help you as you pursue your personal growth:

Top 5 Great Ted Talks

Have a great week:
The Success Professor – Danny Gamache

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This article is a follow up on my popular articles Six Ways to Grow Daily and The Success Professor’s Top 10 Book Choices.

Podcasts are a fantastic way of learning, being inspired, and for personal growth.  They are audio presentations that you download and are able to listen to at your convenience, whether on iTunes or on an iPod (or other Mp3 player).  If you don’t currently listen to any podcasts the first step is to download iTunes. After subscribing to podcasts, such as the ones listed below, iTunes will automatically download any recent episodes every time you open the program.  I listen to some podcasts directly on my computer and download others to my iPod.

Each of these podcasts can be found by searching for the title in the iTunes store, or by subscribing at the webpage linked to in the title of each podcast.

1. Inspiring Words of Encouragement – Zig Ziglar

Motivational expert Zig Ziglar offers this excellent podcast.  The subject list is diverse within the framework of living a positive life.  Past episodes include tips on success, lessons for salespeople, and even parenting advice.

This podcast is updated every two weeks, and I never fail to be encouraged, inspired, and to learn from every episode.  The full archives are available for download also, giving you lots of powerful motivational material.

2. Mosaic – A Community of Faith, Love & Hope

One of two churches that make the list.  I hesitate to call it a church.   Partly because it meets in a night club, and partly because it is nothing like most churches you may have experiences with.

Pastor Erwin McManus is an amazing communicator of God’s word.  He does it in a way that communicates the true message of Jesus.  He speaks of important personal development topics such as work, relationships and money.  Be sure to make your way into the archives of past messages.  My favorite messages that I recommend you check out are entitled, “Fear”, “Work”, and “Everyone Gave”.

3. Dave Ramsey Show Podcast

Financial guru Dave Ramsey and author of the Total Money Makeover (one of my top 10 books!) hosts a national daily radio show that talks about your life and your money.  The podcast is a one hour segment (forty minutes because no commercials!) each day from his radio show.

In this segment Ramsey helps people with life and financial issues, guiding listeners to make a change in how they think about money.  His goal is that “you will live like no one else so later you can live like no one else.”

4. The Daily Boost

This is a powerful motivation podcast from motivationtomove.com   The free podcast is generally a once a week motivating message, that comes out of their daily podcast service for “premium” members. Currently they are sharing the top 10 messages of the year with all free subscribers.

The messages are short, about 10 minutes a day, and provide a powerful personal development tip that motivates you to move forward.  I am considering upgrading to the paid premium membership, the podcasts are that good!  At least check out the free version.

5. Duct Tape Marketing Podcast

John Jantsch, author of the book Duct Tape Marketing, hosts this excellent podcast filled with interviews of marketing experts and entrepreneurs.  It is always informative and helps to keep up to date with trends in the world of marketing, particularly social media and new marketing. These podcasts come approximately once a week and there is a fantastic archive of previous episodes.

6. Alex Shalman Podcast

Alex Shalman’s personal development podcast is an outgrowth of his excellent blog.  This podcast is a weekly podcast that interviews people on the topic of personal development.  Alex asks excellent questions that give you an insight into how successful people think about their lives.  This podcast is brand new and that is the only reason it isn’t ranked higher on my list.  If the quality continues as it has in its first few weeks it will quickly move up my ranks.  The podcast is weekly and comes every Monday.

7. Meeting House Podcast

The second church service on our list is led by pastor Bruxy Cavey.  Bruxy is the author of the book “The End of Religion” which might give you a pretty good picture as to why this church is so unique.  They consider The Meeting House as the irreligious church.  Bruxy is an excellent communicator and speaks on many relevant issues of today including topics such male/female differences, the God debate, and even a series called The Secret Revealed.

8. CBC Radio Vinyl Café

Stuart McLean is a master storyteller.  This podcast of his weekly radio show is a fantastic break from the ordinary as it allows you to listen to a master story teller at work. This podcast is a wonderful break for relaxation and stress reduction.  If you are looking for a personal development angle beyond the rest it is this: listening to Stuart will help you become a better storyteller for all of your presentations.

9. Harvard Business Review Ideacast

This weekly podcast from the editors of Harvard Business Review shares interviews with the author of an article in the current issues of the Harvard Business Review.  Listening to this podcast allows you to hear about import research in the world of business and get application ideas directly from the author.

10. Maximum Impact Podcast

This podcast from the leadership experts at Maximum Impact (John Maxwell’s company) provides excellent lessons on leadership.  It is filled with interviews and insights with each episode feeling like a diverse radio show.  Unfortunately they have not released a new issue in several months.  That is the only reason this podcast slipped so low in my rankings.  It is well worth going through the archives and catching up on previous episodes.

I hope you get as much out of these podcasts as I do.  Now it’s your turn.  Did I miss any?  What are your favorite podcasts, and why?  Share in the comments below!

The Success Professor – Danny Gamache
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Welcome to another Sunday Browsing! Here are some great articles from around the web.

1. Financing Your Freedom asks, “What is the Meaning of Money?”

2. Pick the Brain shares about “How to Find and Develop Your Own Internal Motivation”.

3. Financial Expert Dave Ramsey has an article in the Bay Area Business Magazine sharing “8 Action Steps to High Performance Achivement”.

4. Seth Godin asks, “Is Effort a Myth?”

5. Read about “How New Rules of Work are Changing the Game” at Zen Habits.

Finally,  I had a guest post on Alex Shalman’s blog entitled:

How to Conduct a SWOT Analysis of Your Life.

Have a great week!

The Success Professor – Danny Gamache

The Olympic Flame on a Smog-free Day in Beijing

One of the most remarkable parts of my Olympic experience was to see the drastic changes that have taken place in Beijing – many even over the past year. When I arrived in Beijing for the Olympics it was only 13 months since my previous visit, and yet in many ways it was a very different city. These changes show the results that can come from having a clear goal, a deadline and strong motivation.  There were many significant changes to be seen.

Changes in Beijing

• New Airport Terminal – $3.5 billion terminal, bigger than the city currently needs, and complete with a full-time attendant/cleaner in each restroom.

• Trees, Trees and Trees – planted millions of trees, particularly lining important roads

• Lots of fresh paint – almost every apartment building was painted

• Walls around ugly areas – walls were built surrounding construction sights and slum areas

• Beautiful new venues – the Bird’s Nest Stadium and the Water Cube set the new standard for architecture in sports venues

• New subways – a number of brand new subways were completed including an airport express subway

• More public washrooms

• Better translations – removed much of the “chinglish” and corrected it with proper English translations

• Line ups – instead of pushing to get on buses, subways etc. people were trained to stand in line

• Reduced spitting and public urination – two habits common in Beijing just a year ago, were drastically reduced

• Traffic limitations to reduce smog – cars were only permitted to drive every second day leading up to and during the Olympics. It took some time for the smog to clear but the reduced traffic was a benefit in itself

Olympic Stadium - aka The Bird's Nest

Certainly Beijing had some advantages in their preparation for the games. With China being a communist country the government could do things that couldn’t be done (as easily) in a free market economy; they forced people to move, used significant levels of cheap labour, and made laws that would never fly in Western countries. For the purpose of this article I’m not going to debate whether these decisions are right or wrong. Instead, we’ll consider that China was simply using the resources at its disposal to reach its goal. So how did China do it?

How China Did It

1. Clear goal – China’s goal was to put on the best show and make a grand re-entrance onto the World’s stage. The Olympic was its showcase. The goal was clear and everyone in the country knew this was the goal.
2. Deadline – The Olympics had a built in deadline for the changes to be completed: 08-08-08, the date of the opening ceremonies. A goal with a deadline is much more powerful than an undated goal. You are more likely to take action and less likely to procrastinate when the deadline is clear.
3. Motivation – Your motivation is the reason behind your goal. It is the core point that will drive you. In China that motivation was national pride and the desire to impress others. It is hard for an outsider to understand the level of national pride that exists amongst the Chinese people. Westerners might think that a reduced level of individual freedom would potentially lower the levels of national pride, but that is not the case. Almost everyone in China was excited about the games and wanted the country to look its best while the world was watching. They wanted to impress others.
4. Massive Action – The amount of work put into making these changes in Beijing was massive. Every resource was put into making the games the showcase to the world that China wanted. Massive action is needed to move towards any goal.

In light of the example of Beijing there are several questions you should ask yourself:

• What is your goal?
• Is it clear?
• Do you and your team have a clear understanding about what you want to go and how you are going to get there?
• What is your deadline?
• Is it firm and written down?
• What is the reason behind your goal?
• Will you allow this to motivate you?
• Are you willing to take massive action?

The start of the month provides a perfect opportunity to set some goals and begin to move towards those goals. This list of questions can serve as starting point (or reminder) towards achievement of your goals. If you follow these steps by setting clear goals, establishing a deadlines, understanding your motivation and taking massive action, you will achieve your goals!

The Success Professor – Danny Gamache

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