When I was growing up, I was under the impression that if I took care of others’ needs, then I would automatically be happy and my life fulfilled. Fortunately, I realized the truth while still young enough to make significant changes.

The most important person in your life is you. If you take care of your most fundamental needs first, then, and only then, will you be able to assist others along the way. There are two major components to your fundamental needs: your mind and your body. Your mind is a muscle that needs constant stimulation to develop and grow. Take the time—everyday—to read self-empowerment books and listen to inspirational CDs rather than fill your mind with negativity from such sources as news reports and newspaper articles.

Equally as important as cultivating your mind, is nurturing your body. Commit to a weekly workout regiment. Find a routine that is right for you, whether it’s walking, running, weight lifting, etc… In turn, do not neglect your inner body. Our soils and food supply do not provide the same nourishment that our grandparents received. Our soils are depleted of minerals, while our food supply is loaded with toxins, such as pesticides and heavy metals. Feed your body the minerals and nutrition it needs. Do your due diligence to determine which nutritional program best suits your health needs and goals. Specifically, investigate body cleansing, which assists the body to flush impurities.

Besides your mind and body, pay close attention to your instincts. Trust your intuition. Intuition is one of the most valuable assets we all possess. In order for others to trust you, you first must trust yourself.

Additionally, do not try to change the world on your own. A dear friend once told me to ‘work smarter, not harder’. Discover your strengths and continue to develop and enhance those skills. Attract like-minded people into your world who will collaborate with you and assist you with co-creating your ideas. Surround yourself with positive supporters. If your circle of influence does not offer encouragement and support your endeavors, then change your circle of influence. Do not be afraid of change—and that includes the people in your life. Do not waste your time and energy on those people who take more from you, especially emotionally, than they give.

Lastly, continue to dream. Make “thinking outside the box” your way of life. Embrace the idea of expanding your horizon. Visualize daily what your life will look like. Create a “Dream Board” to put in your bedroom, your kitchen, your office or wherever you know you will see your desires and aspirations everyday. Your “Dream Board” can be any size, but should consist of words and pictures that best depict your greatest desires. The best part about creating a “Dream Board” is that you will create additional boards as your goals become fulfilled and your dreams grow larger.

A purposeful life….what does that mean to you? Only you can answer that question.

• Look the Part:
“One of the easiest things you can do is look the part. However talented you are, if you don’t look like a professional, manager or leader, others may, rightly or wrongly, not see you as one. Observe the styles and colors favored by senior executives, and use that as a guide. For women, black and blue are “safe” colors, but make you blend in. A small or shy woman can augment her impact with bold shades. A confident or larger woman might consider wearing a more muted shade.”

• Sound the Part:
“Short, simple sentences, spoken without hesitation, make a speaker seem in control of a situation – a quality we associate with a leader. Tone and volume are important too. Short, precise sentences and a low-pitched but clearly audible voice make a powerful combination.”

• Exits and Entrances Matter:
“How you move into and out of jobs has an enormous impact on perceptions of your success. Exiting a job well is about ensuring that your successor is in the loop, included in key meetings, and prepared enough to be able to step smoothly into your place. It is not about tying up every loose end. Although it’s important to move forward in an orderly way, it’s even more important to know when to leave behind your old role and expertise.”

• Your Work Space Reflects Who You Are:
“Whether you like it or not, others interpret your work area as a reflection of your personality and thinking. Decor is an area in which to tread carefully. While judicious use of personal pictures can show you to be a family person or motivated character, cuddly toys and an excess of plants can detract from your professionalism. It isn’t that self-expression is bad, but in the small area of a work space, each item becomes more noticeable, taking on greater significance as a symbol of who you are.”

• Every Presentation is an Opportunity:
“If your moment in the spotlight goes badly, your reputation can be damaged. You minimize risk, and maximize potential glory, through careful preparation. Preparation isn’t just about knowing your subject, although that is important. You must prepare for your audience and their expectations, determining in advance what you want to leave them with so that you can tailor your presentation to that end. Think about how you want to come across, through the words you use, how you look, your facial expressions, and how you respond to questions.”

What is optimism? Optimism means to feel that things will turn out Ok. Not to look at every situation negatively, but hope for the best. Keep hope and feel good that somehow everything will be all right.

When you want to grow in your career, this optimism helps quite a lot. During our career, we come to many stops where situation looks bleak. Everything looks gloomy. One feels like giving up. All of us begin with great energy and hope. As we encounter obstacles, our energy gets depleted and our hopes turn sour. We slowly start going downhill and a time comes when we are left with nothing but hopelessness.

Optimistic outlook helps during such times. In every situation, we have two choices- hopes for the best or to worry about the worst. Can worrying help? Thinking of what can go wrong will only further deplete our strength and outlook. Positive thoughts will at least give us hope to fight. Optimism is a great asset. Those who feel optimistic at worst of the times, still have a chance of coming back. Please bring optimism at every moment. Please download these Desktop wallpapers on Inspiration, Motivation and Success to keep your optimistic spirit alive.

We think in different ways and our thinking is decided by many factors. Some are known and some are unknown. The known factors are – thinking, circumstances, early upbringing, living style, culture, family support, friends, own intelligence etc. Our thoughts and our mental makeup is also decided by many factors that are yet not known. Two persons of similar upbringing may be facing similar situation, but react in opposite ways? There are so many whys about the human mind that it is very difficult to determine about what may happen. Coming back to the central question – why are some of us totally motiveless? There is no easy answer. Can anything be done to propel such people towards work? Can one do anything to make them enthusiastic about anything, so that they begin working towards it?

Take your own example. You are motivated to do one thing, but totally motiveless by something else. A mathematician may get very excited looking at a Math problem, but remain unaffected by the greatest pieces of music? Why? The musician acts exactly opposite, or may get equally excited by math problem and music. Why? Our mind is a complex structure, about which we ourselves don’t know much. How many of us can claim to know about their own mind? They may know about their abilities and disabilities, their likes and dislikes, etc. But can they predict about their own reaction in a situation? It is very difficult to say about that.

One has to find one’s own answers in such situations. One has to reflect himself/herself and decide about the action that can be taken to break the unmotivated state. Friends, family and even medical science can help one to a certain extent, but the final destination has to be reached by the person on his/her own. If at anytime, you notice that a friend of yours is getting motiveless about life, try to inspire him/her as much as you can. Even if you are physically away from your friend you can send him inspirational e-cards. So motivate everyone who needs the boost. There comes a time in everyone’s life when we all get desperate and feel helpless. One needs friends to guide during such times. Please be such a friend.

Understanding Need – If you are a good negotiator, you would begin with understanding the need of the opposite party. Only after you get that understanding will you proceed further. The first requirement is to find out what the other person wants. If you are arguing with your spouse about which restaurant to go for dinner, find out his/her need. Do they want to have dinner outside or they are looking to get away somewhere for sometime? If later is the case, your choices increase many times.

Specifying Your Needs – Please spell out your needs clearly to the opposite party. Let them know very clearly about what you are looking for. If your boss knows that your real need is not rise in pay, but higher status, he/she can work out a solution quickly. Therefore please convey your needs clearly.

Reaching Understanding – This is the result both of you are seeking. If both the parties can modulate their needs so that they meet each others expectations, this can be done easily. Flexibility at this stage depends upon how much both of you are interested in negotiation. If both of you want a result without hurting the relationship, flexible approach is a primary requirement. Otherwise, one of you will walk away. Your skill as a negotiator depends upon satisfying you, the other party and getting a good result. You need to develop good thinking skills, communication ability and an understanding of the personalities and what drives them to act. Test yourself about these factors and find out how good a negotiator are you? Try these fun tests and quizzes to test your skills – Can you be a good negotiator?, Can you manage an argument? and Know more about your problem solving approach. Good negotiation skills are a primary requirement of a successful person and can not be ignored.

Bad stress – If you ask anyone that why is he/she under stress most of the week, what answer do you expect to get? I have so much work to do, deadlines to meet, tasks to be completed, prepare for the new launch etc. Don’t you think that something like this will be the response? Let us discuss why most of us are stressed all the time. At some time in our life, while we are chasing the dreams we lose our habit of sitting back and reflecting. We begin giving auto responses. If we are held up in a traffic jam, our response is – either to worry about the work ahead, or blame the system or some such negative thought. Not many of us think – All right. If the traffic is not moving, let me relax, listen to some good music, or go back to some childhood memories, remember good friends, let me make the best use of the time to relax and enjoy life. Not many of us respond in this way.

We respond in stressed way whenever we come across any similar situation. This habit is taking a big toll on our quality of life. Stress – A way of life. We have taken stress as a way of life. Very few of us think about why they are trying to work at such a hectic pace and if ultimately, we are going to leave this world with a lot of incomplete work, why not at least work in a relaxed way? What is the use of working so much , if we kill all the joy. In search of a better tomorrow, we kill the present. Isn’t it? Are there ways to beat this habit?

Coming back to the reasons, why do we have stressed work environment, stressed family life, no time to just walk around doing nothing but watch the nature? It is as if we want to achieve most in the shortest possible time and therefore have no time to relax Working non-stop all the week is a way of life for a large majority. The increase in cardiac attacks, depression etc, are all the results of this stressed lifestyle. When we get stressed, we look around for the latest stress busters, latest therapies, etc. To counter the stress. And then by the time the week ends, we again go out somewhere to relax. Sometimes holidays also tire, don’t they?

Why not lead a relaxed life all through the week? Why not work in a relaxed frame of mind? Why get stressed? Reflection about our own life is very essential if we want to reclaim our right to live peacefully.