I’m a big personal development fan, I read books, I listen to audio, I just LOVE the fact that we can learn about our mind, that we can identify how we are thinking and why.. and then change the way we think for a more positive outcome in our live

s. I read these books quite a long time ago, they were what really inspired me to purse self improvement and pursue a life of my own design..

.. so, positive affirmations and these books changed my life, and now I want to share them with you too in hope that you will read them and get some inspiration too 🙂

1. Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill

Think and grow rich was the book which first really opened my eyes to a different way of thinking. It was the first personal development book I read and it started me on my path.

It opened my mind to consider how other people think, how successful people think, and how we are actually a product of our thoughts, and if we can take control of our thoughts we can change our lives.

It especially highlighted to me that there are patterns to how successful people think, and that I too could learn these patterns, think more like this and apply these principles into my life.. that these successful people aren’t really much different to me, and I can think like them and become successful too. It made success go from seeming unobtainable or far off in the distance, to something I could simply set my mind to, work towards and achieve.

Think and grow rich also has a TON of actionable steps, methods, things to do.. it is not just an inspiring book, it actually gives you the steps (which other successful people have used) which will help you to change your thoughts and think yourself rich.

Oh, and it was such an inspiration to me that of course I made my own think and grow rich affirmations too 😉

2. How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie

When I first started out in my career and business I read this book. I have now read it FOUR times. It is my favorite self improvement book because of this, in-fact I haven’t read any other books four times!

Again it is a transformational book. It changes the way you see other people and how you deal with them. As you are reading you’re not just thinking “hmm, I might try that, I wonder if it would work”.. you can plainly see that the techniques will work..

.. That they will help you to persuade and influence, to make friends, to make yourself memorable, to avoid conflict, to win people over to your way of thinking, to get people to do things, to motivate people, even to turn potential enemies into allies.

I can’t count the number of times I have used the principles from this book, and if you practice them regularly then they do become part of who you are and you find yourself with much more natural social and interpersonal skills.

In my opinion this is a must for anyone in business, or just anyone concerned to improve their social skills and social life. Oh, and yes, I also wrote some how to win friends and influence people affirmations 🙂

The Alchemist – Paolo Coelho

The Alchemist is a little different from most “self help” books in that it is a story book.

It follows a shepherd named Santiago in his journey to Egypt, after having a recurring dream of finding treasure there. Along the way, he encounters love, danger, opportunity, disaster and learns a lot about himself and the ways of the world.

I love this book so much as even if you are not a natural reader, or often buy a self help book only to be bored by it, this is a super easy read. You can read it quickly, and it is so enjoyable. The characters come to life and it is a really interesting and often exciting story.

The other reason I love it is because it is a self improvement book in disguise. Along the way Santiago learns many life lessons about continuing through failure, persistence, setting a goal and following it. You basically get a look into the success mindset as someone else goes on an adventure and follows their dreams.

This book will leave you feeling warm and inspired, you will feel like life is easy, that you can follow your dreams too and it will give you the map of your mind and how to do it. Please read this book 🙂

I don’t have any Alchemist inspired affirmations.. yet 😉

If you have read any of these 3 books too then please leave a comment and tell me what you thought, or maybe you have another favorite book, please tell us what it is and why in the comments below.

This is a guest post from Chris Cade about his experiences trying to please everybody and an insight he learned along the way about how to actually give everybody what they want.

Setting the Scene

Back in college, I took a speech class that forever changed my views on problem solving. One of our assignments was to choose a social or political issue and speak either for or against it. At the time, I was a proponent of the death penalty. I decided that I’d write about why the death penalty was a good idea. At the time, I believed in an eye for an eye and that that execution was a reasonable way to bring justice to killers.

As I researched my paper though, I discovered something interesting. Aside from a belief in “eye for an eye,” there was not a single logically justifiable reason to support the death penalty. It even costs more to execute a person than it does to lock them up in maximum state prison for a life sentence (40 years). I was faced with a dilemma: which side of the death penalty do I speak in favor of?

Ultimately, the success-driven aspect of my personality won out. I wanted an A on this paper, and so I decided to speak against the death penalty. I gave my speech and cited all the reasons why it should’t be used anymore. It was a great speach, and I earned an A. I thought I was done, and I was wrong.

The next speech was significantly more difficult. We were asked to speak about a solution which would appeal to people who were both against and for our previous position. I thought the project was insane. After all, how can two completely polar opposite positions find peace with one another?

One side wants people to die. The other wants them to live. That seemed pretty black and white to me.

Think Outside the Box

Not only that, but I didn’t even believe in the position I had advocated for! I truly was between a rock and a hard place with this one. Then I realized the reason this assignment was so valuable was because it forced the students to think without the box. It wasn’t just about thinking outside the box. We couldn’t just go get a better box. We couldn’t just try to make one position bigger or better until it overpowered the weaker side. We literally had to throw our preconceived ideas away if we wanted to have any chance of solving this dilemma.

After some time of reflection, I realized what the solution was. Ironically, it had absolutely nothing to do with advocating for or against the death penalty. The solution was so surprisingly simple that I realized no sane person would object to it. The answer?

Reduce the number of murders in the world.

Hypothetically, if this solution were taken to the extreme, there would be no murders. No murders would mean no need for the death penalty. And not needing to execute people would be something that people both for and against the death penalty would be able to agree on.

My speech was brilliant, thought-provoking, and some of my solutions were downright offensive to some people. That’s because I didn’t hold any punches. I explored several potential solutions to reduce the number of murders in the world. I had gone way beyond the box at this point, and it taught me a lot.

Think from a Different “Space”

The most important thing I learned though, was about what it really takes to create win-win solutions to problems. I discovered that when faced with a difficult decision, sometimes we have to let go of what we think the answer is, or even what the answer could be. Sometimes we have to stop being ourselves, stop being the other person, and step into a new space of unknown and mysterious possibility.

Next time you’re faced with a difficult decision, take a few moments and pause. Let go of having a side or a position to defend – you can’t always make people like you.. Just be with the challenge for a little while and be curious about it. Go underneath the issue or challenge at hand and ask yourself, “What do people on both sides of this issue really want? Deep down what do they want?”

You’ll notice that most of the time, people want the same things. They just have different ways of expressing that in the world. When you get this, when you really get it, the next step is to look for ways that might be able to give everyone involved what they want. What you’ll find is a lot happier, more peaceful world… and it’ll be a world that you’ve helped co-create.

This is a Guest Post from Chris Cade

Chris Cade calls himself a voracious seeker of Truth. He is a second-degree black belt and martial arts Champion who has swum with wild dolphins and tested software to find the bugs. His journey – leaving a six-figure income and corporate life with Hitachi and Adobe for a spiritual one – has rewarded this visionary with a network of spirituality and personal development websites. A graduate of The Monroe Institute’s Gateway Voyage program, and a student of the Diamond Approach, Chris is a thought-provoking spiritual teacher and grateful father.

http://www.chriscade.com

This is a guest post from Brennan Smith – he’s going to share with you his 5 different tips to eliminate procrastination, boost your productivity and pursue success in your daily life, one task at a time!

Make Bite Sized Chunks

The biggest trigger of procrastination is if the task is too large, or new to us and overwhelming. One big task seems a mammoth to tackle, so a simple solution to make it easier on the mind is to break it down into bite sized chunks.

With one big tasks which will take 3 hours it seems such a chore to start, but break that project up into 9 20 minute bite sized chunks and before you know it you can do two of the 9 chunks and you are on a roll. Once you get started and make some progress then it has a feel good factor and a psychological effect of making you want to do more.

Suddenly this big mammoth task seems much more reasonable and very manageable. The trick is to simply concentrate on one chunk at a time, get it done and then move on to the next.

Plan It Out

Planning is one of the real, genuine keys to success. Just like the mammoth task is hard to start, a task without a plan can seem epic too.

However, if you first look at the breakdown and set a detailed timeline with quite specific deadlines then it will map out exactly what needs to be done and when in order to complete the task. Again, it becomes more manageable and you know exactly what to do and when.

Creating a plan and a timeline creates the urgency to act – when you know you have to do a task before this afternoon it puts pressure on you to act. Planning eliminates procrastination by stimulating action.

Make Yourself Accountable

Tell other people about your goals and your plans. This makes you more accountable outside of your own desires. It puts a healthy dose of fear of failure into you to inspire you to work, and makes you want to live up to other people’s expectations.

You know that other people know about your plans and you don’t want to let them down or be seen to give up in their eyes. It is easy to procrastinate or ignore a task when you only have yourself to report to, but when other people are involved it adds extra pressure, a different element and motivator to the task and it motivates you to take action.

You can also possibly add extra power here by starting a competition with your friend or accountability partner. Challenge them to pursue a goal too, and race either other to completion, or simply hold each other accountable. This changes the task too – it’s not just a boring task you have to complete, it is more fun, a shared experiment and some friendly healthy competition to spur you on.

Change your Environment

Just a simple change of scenery can help you to increase your productivity. When you work from the same place over and over this is when bad habits can creep up on you, laziness and procrastination. If you just mix it up a little bit it can really stimulate your mind and help you to just do what you are meant to be doing without procrastinating.

Try working from a cafe if you never have before. Just go there with the mindset that for just one hour you are going to keep your head down and work on your tasks. A new setting like this really can do wonders to blow away the cobwebs of procrastination.

Start Well

Something really simple you can do to make sure you make progress and continue on is to simply start well. Sit down at your desk and write something straight away. If it is a report you need to do then just write the opening paragraph. If it is the ironing you have to do then just setup the ironing board and iron 1 shirt.

Simply getting started clears your mindset, it stops you from thinking negatively and just gets you into a productive state of mind before you have chance to hesitate.

This is a Guest Post from Brennan Smith

Brennan Smith is an internationally renowned hypnotist and his specialist area is helping people to overcome procrastination (check out his stop procrastination hypnosis mp3s) and set their minds right for success. His website, Natural Hypnosis is one of the largest and most respected hypnosis audio websites in the world, from which he offers over 100 different specific sessions for all areas of self improvement.

He also offers 3 free hypnosis mp3s which are full sessions you can download to give hypnosis a try for yourself.