7 Advantages You Gain by Accepting Change

Change is always happening. There used to be dinosaurs, and now there aren’t. Television used to be in black and white. The internet came along. Your great-great-grandparents were once alive, and now they’re not. You’ve gotten taller and older since your childhood.

There have been a lot of changes, and there are only more coming! Who knows what the changes will be, but they will be here soon enough. Most importantly, they’re going to happen with or without your consent.

You can fight against these changes, or you can embrace them and figure out a way to make the most of them.

Consider these advantages of change:

1. More time. Making the most of the change happening in your life will also lead to making the most of your time. If you make the most of your time, you’re likely to end up with more free time, too. So, why waste time resisting change?

2. Less misery. Fighting the inevitable is an exercise in futility. There are some things that can’t be stopped. You can’t stop the tide from coming in or going back out. There are plenty of changes in your life that you simply can’t do anything about.

> Fighting change is ultimately a losing battle. Fighting a losing battle results in misery, while going with the flow produces less stress and gives you a chance to make something good come of it.

3. Greater progress. When you accept the change in your life and make the most of it, there’s the possibility that you can lift your life to another level. You’ll certainly make more progress by accepting change than by attempting to fight it. Change provides new opportunities and choices.

4. Resilience. The most successful species on the planet are those that are most accommodating to change. The most successful people are also better at managing change than others. When you can accept change, you are much more resilient to stress.

5. More control. Fighting change only demonstrates your lack of control over your life. By accepting change, you can adapt and make good use of the change. You prove to yourself that you have control over your life, regardless of what happens.

> Change provides the opportunity to see just how much control you can exercise. You can always steer your own ship regardless of the direction of the wind.

6. More opportunities. Change paralyzes some people. These people miss out on many of the opportunities that life has to offer. Accepting change allows you to get busy living your life again. There are always opportunities available to those that are paying attention and ready to take action.

7. Confidence. When you are resilient and are able to manage change, you develop confidence. This confidence allows you to believe that you can handle anything life has to offer.

The only things that are inevitable are death and change. Once you’re dead, you can stop worrying about change. Until then, it will benefit you to accept change and take full advantage of it.

Those who resist change ultimately suffer greatly. Don’t be someone that suffers. Be someone that embraces change and all the benefits that change can provide.

5 Effective Strategies for Dealing With Your Weaknesses

Do you have any weaknesses? We all do, but some of us do a poor job of dealing with them. Others appear to have no weaknesses, because their weaknesses are never exposed. Your weaknesses can be a big drag on your life, or they can have minimal impact. It depends on the weakness and how you address it. 5 Effective Strategies for Dealing With Your Weaknesses

A weakness doesn’t have to be a hindrance! Use these techniques to deal with weaknesses strategically:

1. Decide if your weakness is relevant. Not all weaknesses are worthy of addressing. If you’re a terrible athlete, but have no interest in playing sports, why work on your athleticism? Everyone has weaknesses, but not everyone has weaknesses that matter to them. 5 Effective Strategies for Dealing With Your Weaknesses

> Consider your life and your goals. Do your weaknesses get in the way of either? If not, don’t worry about them! You are very fortunate!

2. Work around your weakness. In many cases, it’s possible to work around your weaknesses. If you’re terrible on the phone, utilize email. Are you someone that can’t think on your feet while giving a speech? Be over-prepared and use extensive visual aids. If you’re too short to reach the top shelf, buy a ladder or put everything you need on the lower shelves. 5 Effective Strategies for Dealing With Your Weaknesses

> Adjust the situation or environment to avoid your weaknesses.

3. Focus on your strength. The most successful people are great at working around their weaknesses and maximizing their strengths. If you can build a life that relies heavily on your strengths, you’re going to be a very successful person.

> Build your strengths. If you’re going to get the most out of this strategy, you can’t just rely on your strengths. You have to take the next step to develop your strengths even further. Develop a plan for becoming even better at the things you already do well.

4. Delegate. There might be things that you’re not good at, but you probably know people that are good at those things. Is there some task at work you’re terrible at performing? Find someone else to do it for you.s. 5 Effective Strategies for Dealing With Your Weaknesses

> Are you terrible at cleaning your house? Hire a cleaning service.

> Can’t do your taxes well? Hire an accountant.

> Can’t stand to wash the dishes? Get your kids to do it.

> Terrible at dealing with strangers? Have your coworker give tours to the visitors.

> Think about the people that are great in the areas in which you struggle. Utilize them.

5. Strengthen your area of weakness. This is the last resort. If your weakness is standing in your way and there’s no other way to address the issue, then you’ll have to get busy. This isn’t an optimal situation. It’s very challenging to become great at something you lack talent for and/or despise doing. 5 Effective Strategies for Dealing With Your Weaknesses

> Focus on being good enough. Avoid trying to be in the top 1% at this skill. Decide how good you need to be and make a plan for reaching that level of expertise.

> Get expert advice. Read books. Hire a coach. Take a class. Whatever the issue is, you’re going to be better off with some expert help!

Not all weaknesses need to be addressed. If you suffer from sea sickness, but have no desire to be on a boat, why spend time dealing with it? Many weaknesses can be avoided with some planning. Others can be managed through delegation.

Ideally, you’d be able to leverage your strengths and simply avoid your weaknesses altogether. However, this isn’t always possible. There are times that it’s necessary to work on your weaknesses, but you can avoid doing more work than necessary. Weaknesses are extremely difficult to transform into strengths.

Focus on building your strengths, design your life around those, and enjoy the success you deserve! 5 Effective Strategies for Dealing With Your Weaknesses

Increase Your Success With Conscientiousness

Conscientiousness is one of the most reliable predictors of success. There are plenty of intelligent and talented people that struggle with life. However, an average person that possesses a high level of conscientiousness can be incredibly successful. Increase Your Success With Conscientiousness

Conscientiousness is the quality of doing what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and doing it well and thoroughly.

Using these strategies will help you to be more conscientious:

1. Start by planning your time. Make a schedule for yourself based on the most important tasks that need to be done. The crucial things will get done, and you’ll be much less likely to waste time. Increase Your Success With Conscientiousness

2. Schedule your life maintenance tasks. Being conscientious means taking care of your personal business. This includes all of those like maintenance tasks like paying bills, laundry, cleaning, shopping, and mowing grass. Have a schedule for all of these responsibilities and stick to it.

3. Have a grooming routine. One pretty reliable way to determine if someone is conscientious is to look at their grooming and wardrobe. Maybe you can’t judge a book by its cover, but you can tell a lot about a person by their appearance. If you tend to look a little on the disheveled side, create a routine. Increase Your Success With Conscientiousness

> Only wear clean clothes that fit and are in good condition. Get rid of the rest. You don’t have to be known as the best dresser at the office, but it may help to be in the top 25%.

4. Declutter. Scale back on your possessions and ensure that everything that’s left has a place. Put everything back in its place when you’re done using it. This is enough to remove all the clutter in your life. Increase Your Success With Conscientiousness

5. Be on time. Conscientious people are aware of time and stick to their plans. They don’t make other people wait. Be prompt and courteous. Show yourself and others that you’re in control of your time and your life.

6. Finish what you start. Those at the low end of the conscientious distribution have a habit of failing to finish what they start. You can’t win if you don’t finish. You can’t accomplish anything until you complete something. Develop the habit of seeing things through to completion. Increase Your Success With Conscientiousness

> You can do this with any task in your life for practice.

7. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day. Have a bedtime and stick to it. Get up at the same time every day. This takes a little discipline, but it’s worth the effort.

8. Learn to control your impulses. Poor impulse control and conscientiousness do not go hand in hand. Conscientiousness is doing what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, regardless of whether or not you feel like doing it. Increase Your Success With Conscientiousness

> Following an impulse is doing what you feel like doing regardless of any other concern.

We all know that person with all the intelligence and talent that anyone could ever hope for, but for some reason they can’t live a successful life. The most common reason is a lack of conscientiousness.

This can be a challenging quality to develop if it doesn’t exist in you naturally, but the benefits clearly outweigh the time and effort it takes to develop it.

The best first step is to schedule your day and follow your schedule. Keep to the schedule no matter what. You can become a conscientious person! An easier, less stressful life is waiting for you. Increase Your Success With Conscientiousness

Create One Great Habit a Month and Have a Great Year

You don’t need to have 100 good habits to make your life better. Just 12 habits are plenty to completely turn your life around.

Of course, it’s important to choose effective habits. The right habits put your success on autopilot. If you’re doing the right things each day, good things happen. It’s as certain as gravity. Create One Great Habit a Month and Have a Great Year

Use this process to enhance your life one habit at a time:

1. Know your goals. You can’t choose the best habits to add to your life without knowing your goals. The best habits support your goals and make them much more likely to come to fruition. Make a list of your goals and prioritize them.

2. Make a list of all the habits that would aid in reaching those goals. Take a look at your most important goals and consider all of the habits that would help you to reach those goals. List every possible habit you can think of no matter how small it might be. We’re not judging them yet, so list them all. Create One Great Habit a Month and Have a Great Year

3. Prioritize those habits. Some habits are far more effective than others. Take your list of habits and put them in order from most effective to least. Take as much time to do this as you need. Be honest with yourself. The most effective actions are often the least enjoyable.

> Choose the 12 habits that will make the biggest impact in your life over the next year. Make sure that you have these 12 habits in a logical order that makes sense for you.

4. Make a plan. Start with the first habit and develop a plan for how you can implement it in 30 days. Let’s suppose that your first goal is to go to the gym each day for 45 minutes and alternate days between cardio and lifting weights. You might decide to proceed this way: Create One Great Habit a Month and Have a Great Year

> Day 1. Find a gym close to the house that is convenient for me and affordable.

> Days 2-7. Go to the gym for at least 15 minutes. I’ll let myself do whatever I want when I get there.

> Days 8-14. Go to the gym for at least 25 mins. At least half of that time must be spent on cardio.

> And so on. Just be sure to be at full speed by day 30.

5. Start with only one goal. Keep it to one goal. It might seem more effective and much faster to put all the habits into action at once, but it works better, and the results are more long-lasting to do it one at a time. Twelve good habits over a year are life changing.

6. Put all of your energy and focus on that one goal. That one goal has to be a huge priority. This is your life you’re talking about. Be 100% determined to be successful this time. Create One Great Habit a Month and Have a Great Year

7. Do it daily. Daily actions are easier to turn into habits that things you only do a few times a week.

8. Plan your energy. People often plan their time without considering their energy levels. For example, going to the gym in the morning is either much better or worse than going to the gym in the evening for you. Everyone is different. Create One Great Habit a Month and Have a Great Year

> Plan your time, but plan around your energy.

9. Keep your eye on the big picture. These habits might not be enjoyable in the short term. However, if you keep your attention on the benefits you’ll gain, it will make things easier.

10. Track your results. Track your results. You might be tracking pounds of body weight, dollars, pushups, or hours of piano practice. Tracking your results is motivating. Create One Great Habit a Month and Have a Great Year

After 30 days, add another habit. Keep going until you’ve added all 12. Just 12 habits will make a huge difference. Instead of trying to change everything about your life at once, try tackling life one habit at a time. Which habit will you choose? Create One Great Habit a Month and Have a Great Year

Do Your Goals Support Your Values?

If you’re struggling to be as successful as you’d like to be, there’s a great chance that a discrepancy exists between your goals and your values. If our goals are antithetical to our values, success is all but impossible. We don’t like to behave in ways that are counter to our values. If a mismatch exists, something has to give. Do Your Goals Support Your Values

If you’re forever coming up short when it comes to achieving your dreams, your values might be at odds with your goals.

Use these techniques to set goals that support your values:

1. List your current values. Have you ever taken the time to examine your values? Most people have never given their values a second thought. This is a shame, because a person’s values guide their thinking, decisions, and actions. Do Your Goals Support Your Values

> Take 30 minutes and list your values. Put them in order of their priority to you.

> Ask yourself if your behavior is aligned with your values. If there’s a mismatch, what set of values would actually represent your behavior?

> Most of us have an idealized impression of our intentions, values, and qualities.

2. What are you trying to accomplish? What are your goals in life? What do you want to accomplish? Do you want to be wealthy? Get a six-pack? Write a screenplay? Save the whales? Build a real estate empire? The first step to any great success is to identify your objectives. Do Your Goals Support Your Values

3. How do your current values impact your goals? If your values and goals don’t match, the odds of success are dismal without something changing.

> For example, if you believe that wealthy people are fundamentally bad, you’ll never accumulate a significant amount of wealth.

> If comfort is a high priority for you, that six-pack will never materialize.

> Do you value having a lot of leisure time? A goal that requires a lot of work isn’t going to happen. Do Your Goals Support Your Values

> Look at your goals and look at your values. Do your goals support those values? Do your values support your goals?

4. What would be the perfect set of values to support your goals? Imagine you could build a person from scratch that would be perfect for accomplishing your goals. What values and qualities would they possess? How would you be different if you had these values?

> Think about the people you know that have accomplished what you want to accomplish. How would you describe them?

5. How close can you come to matching those values? How well can you rearrange your values to match that ideal set of values? The closer you’re able to come, the greater the odds of your success. Do Your Goals Support Your Values

6. Reinforce the values that matter. Imagine that your goal is to save $20,000 for a down payment on a home. Let’s suppose that you’ve determined that you need to be someone that values saving money over spending. How can you build this value in yourself and make it a part of you?

> Prove to yourself that you’re that type of person: For example, pick up pennies you find on the ground and save them. Cut coupons. Find new ways of dealing with stress other than shopping. Save part of your income as soon as your paycheck hits your bank account.

> When you keep proving to yourself over and over again that you possess a value, those actions will build and reinforce that value. Do Your Goals Support Your Values

Are your goals and values a good match? It’s important that they are. When a mismatch exists, it’s important to either alter your values or your goals. There’s only so much resistance a person can overcome. Success is much easier when your values and your intentions are highly compatible. Do Your Goals Support Your Values