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If you’ve set some goals but aren’t seeing any progress, you need to do something about it.

It’s usually because of a few mistakes we all tend to make that prevent us from getting farther. In this case, it’s better to change your approach.

Here’s why you’re not getting any closer to your goals and what to do about it:

1. It’s not what you really want.

Many people set a goal because everyone else seems to be going after the same thing. Such an objective usually sounds amazing and just talking about it makes other jealous.

But if it’s not the right thing for you, achieving it won’t make you any happier.

Reaching the top of any career won’t matter if it’s not something you’re passionate about and can do for hours, for instance.

That’s why you need to be honest with yourself and conduct a self-analysis. Imagine your ideal lifestyle, get to your deepest desires and the things you don’t want to have in your future. Write all these down.

Once you get clear about what it is that you want, you can set goals that resonate with it, and can be sure that reaching them will make you successful and satisfied.

2. They’re not specific enough.

Vague wishes won’t help you see progress. You not only need to know what you want, but also must be specific about the details.

Have a picture in your mind so that you can attract that exact lifestyle. After all, if you don’t know what you’re focusing on, you won’t get it.

Whatever your big goal is, niche down. Break it down into smaller goals, then turn these into more manageable and easier action steps.

This way, the whole thing won’t seem scary at all, since you’ll have simple actions to take and each will get you closer to where you want to be. You won’t need to wonder where to start, and will feel accomplished after taking each tiny step.

That’s a great way to achieve all your goals in life.

3. You don’t have a deadline.

Our mind works much more effectively if it has a deadline. Goals are something you’ve set and other people have nothing to do with it. So it’s you who needs to set a deadline too.

Do it right away. Give your goal an end day, divide it into milestones.

That will also help you track things and decide when to improve your approach.

4. Too many distractions.

Getting closer to a goal requires being focused on it long enough so that it can become a reality. That’s quite difficult with the countless distractions in everyday life. So let’s do something about them.

If you want to start a digital business on the side, for example, you’ll need to dedicate some time to that daily and work without any interruptions. What you can do is wake up a bit earlier and use the quiet morning to do that. Let people know not to come in the room while you’re working and schedule meetings and less important stuff for later in the day.

5. Not being consistent.

Going after a goal is similar to building a new habit — you need to do one thing daily to stay on track and keep moving forward.

Without consistency, there won’t be any progress. So find easy ways to make sure you won’t miss a day, or a few, and then eventually leave your dream behind.

You can use reminders, organize your day around your goals and the activities connected to them, find like-minded people that can give you advice and inspire you to keep going, and so on.

Get creative here. All this will also keep you motivated.

Short-term motivation goes together with consistency to produce amazing results.

6. You listen to the naysayers.

The people in your surroundings won’t have the same goals as you do, but that shouldn’t stop you from going after what you want.

However, there’s a chance that these people also won’t understand you, may try to talk you out of doing this, and may make you think it’s impossible to achieve, or stupid in general.

Don’t let that happen. Be ruthless with your goals and stick to them. Keep your vision alive and move forward slowly, but steadily.

Soon these same people will be asking you about your secret.

7. Keep your ‘why’ in mind.

You’re going after your biggest transformation in life, you’ve decided what you want, and want to make it a reality. That can only happen if you constantly remind yourself of your why —that’s the reason you started doing this in the first place.

So ask yourself why you want to achieve this goal, know the good things that will happen once you reach it, imagine how you’ll feel and what new opportunities will open up.

These are the main reasons why people aren’t getting closer to their goals. There’s something you can do about each to make sure you do see progress all the time.

The post 7 Reasons Why You’re Not Getting Closer To Your Goals appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

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If you ask someone to name the most powerful people in the world, there’s a good chance that list will be dominated by men: Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Pope Francis, as well as other rich businessmen and important world leaders. But what about the women? These motivational quotes from businesswomen, actresses, singers, authors, politicians, and more will help you realize that women really can do it all — and so can you.

“I am always busy, which is perhaps the chief reason why I am always well.” — Elizabeth Cady Stanton

“I just love bossy women. I could be around them all day. To me, bossy is not a pejorative term at all. It means somebody’s passionate and engaged and ambitious and doesn’t mind leading.” — Amy Poehler

“The difference between successful people and others is how long they spend time feeling sorry for themselves.” — Barbara Corcoran

“I learned a long time ago that there is something worse than missing the goal, and that’s not pulling the trigger.” — Mia Hamm

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” — Anaïs Nin

“A lot of people are afraid to say what they want. That’s why they don’t get what they want.” — Madonna

“Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputations can never effect a reform.” — Susan B. Anthony

“A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.” — Rosalynn Carter

“I learned to always take on things I’d never done before. Growth and comfort do not coexist.” — Ginni Rometty

“Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.” — Golda Meir

“Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else.” — Sara Blakely

“Knowing what must be done does away with fear.” — Rosa Parks

“Power’s not given to you. You have to take it.” — Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

“My best successes came on the heels of failures.” — Barbara Corcoran

“We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.” — Marie Curie

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” — Amelia Earhart

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” — Helen Keller

“If you’re not making some notable mistakes along the way, you’re certainly not taking enough business and career chances.” — Sallie Krawcheck

“No matter how difficult and painful it may be, nothing sounds as good to the soul as the truth.” — Martha Beck

“Done is better than perfect.” — Sheryl Sandberg

“The challenge is not to be perfect … it’s to be whole.” — Jane Fonda

“Take criticism seriously, but not personally. If there is truth or merit in the criticism, try to learn from it. Otherwise, let it roll right off you.” — Hillary Clinton

“When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak.” — Audre Lorde

“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” — J.K Rowling

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” — Anaïs Nin

“I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough.” — Marissa Mayer

“You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute.” — Tina Fey

“When I believe in something, I’m like a dog with a bone.” — Melissa McCarthy

“It’s not the absence of fear, it’s overcoming it. Sometimes you’ve got to blast through and have faith.” — Emma Watson

“Women asking for raises should not only know their value, but they should ask with the confidence that they’re helping the company to be successful.” — Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

“If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.” — Margaret Thatcher

“Doubt is a killer. You just have to know who you are and what you stand for.” — Jennifer Lopez

“A surplus of effort could overcome a deficit of confidence.” — Sonia Sotomayor

“I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done.” — Lucille Ball

“If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.” — Dolly Parton

“It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.” — Madeleine Albright

“Step out of the history that is holding you back. Step into the new story you are willing to create.” — Oprah Winfrey

“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” — Jane Goodall

“I firmly believe you never should spend your time being the former anything.” — Condoleezza Rice

“One of the secrets to staying young is to always do things you don’t know how to do, to keep learning.” — Ruth Reichl

“A strong woman is a woman determined to do something others are determined not be done.” — Marge Piercy

“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

“Drama is very important in life: You have to come on with a bang. You never want to go out with a whimper.” — Julia Child

“In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.” — Coco Chanel

“There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.” — Indira Gandhi

“This journey has always been about reaching your own other shore no matter what it is, and that dream continues.” — Diana Nyad

“When you’re through changing, you’re through.” — Martha Stewart

“You have trust in what you think. If you splinter yourself and try to please everyone, you can’t.” — Annie Leibovitz

“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” — Ayn Rand

“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” — Nora Ephron

The post 50 Inspirational Quotes From Strong Women appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

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Too many people let myths stop them from living and pursuing their dreams. Here are 8 myths you need to stop believing:

1. “Real jobs” are the secure path.

Conservative and secure are outdated ways of thinking. Although long-term jobs were good for our parents, or grandparents, who intended on working with a single company for 30-40 years, it’s horrible advice for the rising generation.

Too many people believe security is dependent on external factors. Like a steady paycheck, job security, or many friends. But security and freedom are actually internal, not external. You can only be free by actually living the life you know you should be living.

Life will always be hell if you’re trying to please or prove yourself to others. What other people think about you is none of your business. Also, your relationships will be much healthier and more real when you are secure in yourself.

2. Living your dream is harder than having a “real job.”

“We’re already pros

1) We show up every day.

2) We show up no matter what.

3) We stay on the job all day.

4) We are committed over the long haul.

5) The stakes for us are high and real.

6) We accept remuneration for our labor.

7) We do not over identify with our jobs.

8) We master the technique of our jobs.

9) We have a sense of humor about our jobs.

10) We receive praise or blame in the real world.”

— Steven Pressfield

If you get paid to do something, even if that’s flipping burgers, you’re a professional. Instead of being a “pro” at some job, what if you spent 40 hours a week working on your dream? You’d probably be a pro at that much quicker than you think.

But in reality, how much time do you spend per week getting closer to your dream?

How much time do you spend every day?

Probably not much, right?

But you spend around 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week, at some job. . .

Living a lie is the hardest life you can live. Knowing that you are being in-authentic. Always wondering what might have been. Slaving away to promote other peoples’ agendas. Being a slave to time rather than the controller of it.

That’s hard.

Working toward your dreams is grueling. A roller-coaster. But if the dream is real, the work involved is endurable because it leads to living as your truest self.

3. You will probably fail.

The odds of success seem bleak, right? Most people who attempt to do what you want to do fail, right?

But how long do those people really try? A few months? A few years?

The life and living you dream of will probably not appear in two weeks. It’s not like a diet that you start and stop when you’re done. It’s a lifestyle. It’s something you’re extremely committed to living to the end. With this mentality, how can you fail?

The question is: Do you really believe you can do this?

If you look deep into your soul, you will know the answer.

If you don’t really believe you can do it, you will fail. You will get a “secure” job, and you will always wonder what might have been.

But if you can convince yourself that this will work out, and if you’re willing to put in the work every single day, you will succeed. Why would you not? You feel connected to this dream because you know you can do it brilliantly. So stop trying to convince yourself you’re not worthy, or that you aren’t good enough, or that nobody will like you.

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” ― Roald Dahl

This is why security is internal. You have to trust yourself and give yourself enough respect to be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. The real failure is in not being you.

4. You’ll have time tomorrow.

“You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays.” — Harold Hill

Tomorrow is never. It doesn’t actually exist. If you don’t start today, you will probably never start. If you are lucky, you’ll wake up like Mr. Fredricksen in the Disney film, “Up,” a grumpy old man who finally runs out of reasons not to live his dreams. The unlucky ones check themselves into the nursing home leaving their dreams with the estate.

If you don’t start today, what makes you think tomorrow will be any different? Chances are, tomorrow you’ll have more commitments, more responsibilities, and more reasons to postpone. Life tends to get busier, not simpler, as we get older.

5. Stability first, risks later.

I had a friend who wanted to be a professional filmmaker. But he was getting his college degree in business. I asked him why and he responded, “I want to make a lot of money while I’m young, and then I’ll have lots of time and money to make brilliant films.”

On the other hand, Gary Vaynerchuck (best-selling author and creator of multiple million-dollar companies), argues that people should take huge risks while they’re young. Don’t be conservative in your career until you’re 40. The younger you are, the less you have to lose and the greater the possibilities if you succeed.

But if you’re avoiding risks in your 20s and 30s, you’re playing way too small. In fact, having stability and “security” may actually hinder you from accomplishing your dream. Psychologists have found that having constraints leads to innovative thinking. That’s why Twitter only allows 140 character posts. Constraints are a good thing!

Your current situation may be super-humble and challenging. You may be desperate for rent-money. Or for connections. This desperation to make something happen could be the very catalyst and constraint for success. The obstacle is the way.

Don’t wish less constraints on yourself. You’ll get too comfortable and won’t need to think creatively.

6. The corporate ladder is the way to my dream.

“People may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.”–Thomas Merton

You may be able to get to your dream by “paying your dues.” However, it’s not likely. You will undoubtedly hit a ceiling where jobs are scarce and candidates many, where your progress will be stopped.

In his book, Smartcuts, Shane Snow explains that the most successful people in the world don’t climb ladders. Rather, they switch ladders laterally. For example, many of our greatest American presidents spent very little time in politics. They spent a lot of time on other ladders and then switched ladders. This allowed them to skip the rat race lower down where the competition is grueling.

Getting to your dream isn’t a one-track path. It’s more like hitch-hiking across the country. You will need multiple rides. Or, in this case, multiple ladders. Succeed quickly on your current ladder, but be ready to hop off and find a better one when your progress slows.

“Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.” — Tony Robbins

7. People will think you’re dumb.

A buddy of mine spent a long time pursuing a career. He even got his Ph.D. After a few years in that field, he felt completely incongruent. His heart wanted something else. But he wondered what other people would think of him. “Wow! What a total flip-flopper. He can’t commit to anything.”

He finally mustered the courage to leave his vocation and pursue his dream in Athletic Apparel Design. After about six months, he was starting to get momentum. But he still wasn’t making near as much as he did in his previous job.

A cool job in his previous field opened up and he decided to take it. Now, it’s been a few months and his heart longs to get back to design. But what will people think of him? This time he is really being a flip-flopper, right?

No.

He’s trying to live his dreams. And no one is going to fault him for that. In fact, what he’s doing takes courage. He hasn’t consigned himself to what society has told him he should do. He’s struggling through this because he needs to be authentic. It’s like air to his lungs after being held underwater too long.

Honestly, people are far less judgmental about us than we think they are. Most people’s insecurity is about themselves. In truth, others want to see you succeed. They admire people who are willing to live their dreams. It inspires them. It gives them hope that one day, maybe, they’ll do the same.

8. You can’t start until you’re a professional.

“Perfectionism is not excellence, it is procrastination based in fear.”–Alli Worthington

This myth is very similar to the myth that you need stability and “security” before you can live your dreams.

You will suck at the beginning, even if you have natural ability and raw passion for your dream. Every person who ever did anything great started somewhere. Every professional athlete started somewhere.

Then they practiced.

Every day.

And got super-good at it.

And you will too if you live your dream every day.

But don’t let being an amateur in the beginning hold you back from one day being a Rock-Star. Be humble enough to have your humble beginning. Start in your garage like every band does. Then start playing shows for your friends and family. Then play free shows around your community. Get better and better as an amateur and one day you’ll be a pro.

But you’ll never be a pro if you don’t start now.

You’ll never be a pro if you don’t do it every day.

You’ll never be a pro by climbing to the top of the wrong ladder.

The post 8 Myths That Stop People From Living Their Dreams appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

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This time is different. You can feel it, can’t you? I know you can, because I can too.

It started as a dream.

In his book, “As A Man Thinketh,” James Allen wrote: “The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg, and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.”

When you commit to a dream, your life is forced to change. Your growth forces the egg you’re in to crack. You’ve outgrown it. You’re ready to fly.

You’ve moved beyond your dream.

You are reading this blog post because you walked away from your old life long ago. You’ve stepped over the line and reached a point of no return. Your decision has been made. You won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. You’re no longer dreaming, you’re realizing.

As Dr. Robert Morehead has written: “You are done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, mundane talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. You will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the mazes of mediocrity.”

Your coming success is inevitable — you’re on the brink of explosion. You’re on the final frontier behind the curtain.

And here’s why:

1. You no Longer care what the outcome will be.

Jeremy Piven, the famous actor, was recently interviewed by Success Magazine. During the interview, he mentioned that, as an actor, the only way to work is to go out and audition for specific roles.

The challenge most actors/actresses face is that they get in their own way. It doesn’t matter how much homework they’ve done. If they’re too tied to a specific result, they can’t be present in the moment. They can’t truly perform their art. They come off as desperate. They get in their own way. Their performance isn’t what it could have been.

Jeremy said that when he quit worrying about a specific result, he was able to be present during his auditions. He was able to be completely who he wanted to be. He wasn’t trying to be what he thought others wanted him to be. He performed his art.

If he didn’t get the gig, either they didn’t get it, or it just wasn’t the right fit. So he moves on to the next.

In this way, he’s able to get the jobs he’s supposed to have. He’s not just trying to get anything he can get.

You are the same way. You are raw and real. You are present and perform on your highest level because you aren’t dependent on a particular outcome. You have an innate trust that everything will work out for you if you’re authentic. You trust in the universe — your higher power — to take you where you need to go.

2. You know who you are.

With so many people floating through life, a person with a strong sense of identity will emerge from the crowd. This is not a forced act, but a natural and organic evolution.

According to psychological identity theory, there are four stages of identity development.

At stage one, you have no identity. You blindly accept whatever ideology or values system was taught by your parents or family members.

At stage two, you begin expanding your social circle, but you passively go with the flow of society without questioning. You lack authenticity and obsess over fitting in and pleasing others. Like stage one: no true identity.

At stage three, you begin to experience an identity crisis. You realize you’ve been faking, copying, and blindly following your entire life. You begin to question your choices and values. This leads you to explore new lifestyles, belief systems, choices, friends, and cultures.

However, at this stage there is little commitment and depth. Instead, it is endless searching for the next thing. Most people are stuck in a perpetual identity crisis. They have no clue who they really are.

At stage four, you have courageously voyaged through your identity crisis and autonomously committed to a particular identity (i.e., ideology, occupation, relational values, etc.). You continue to explore. However, this exploration is grounded on foundational beliefs and a clear sense of who you are and what your direction is in life.

Every person must pass through the identity development process. Few reach the capstone. Most never obtain their own identity. But you have. That’s why you’re here. That’s why you’re about to explode.

3. You have clearly defined your purpose.

The two most important things a person can come to know in their life are:

• Who they are
• What their purpose is

Every other form of knowledge is empty if these things are not clearly understood. However, once a person knows these things, the universe conspires to their aid.

Garrett Gunderson calls this, Soul Purpose.

Jeff Goins calls this, Your Calling.

Paulo Coelho calls it Personal Legend in his book, “The Alchemist.”

Many others have called it your destiny, your super-power, and your higher purpose.

The best part is, you get to choose how your life story will unfold. Contrary to popular belief, you are the designer of your destiny — the author. A co-creator. You must be the designer, because if you aren’t, someone or something else will do that work for you. And it won’t be fun. You’ll hate it. It will be intense pain of regret. Standing beyond the door of indecision is still a decision — albeit a horrible and unnatural one.

But you have clearly defined and written down your purpose which is why you’re here. You’ve been reading it for days, weeks, months, and years. You’ve been refining and shaping it. You have it memorized — but you continue to read it anyways. You meditate and pray over it. It’s part of you— you can no longer see or define yourself without your purpose.

4. You have clearly defined success.

“No, I’m 100% sure Mom. When I’m old enough to drive, I want a blue van with smurfs painted on it. I don’t care what people will say, that’s what I want.”—Marie Forleo at age 7.

You’re about to explode because you’ve defined success for yourself. You don’t care how other people or society define success. That stuff is a destructive distraction — an endless rabbit hole leading nowhere. At best, it represents stage one and stage two identity development — no identity and in-authenticity.

But you’ve moved well beyond that. You’re completely secure in who you are and what you want out of life. What other people think about you is none of your business.

5. You are correctly motivated.

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”—Abraham Lincoln

No matter how talented you are, if your motivations are impure, you’ll eventually lose everything. I will preface this by saying I’m a huge Lance Armstrong fan. However, the whole world was witness to his reckless destruction. Winning meant everything to him. And he was willing to do it at any cost. Ultimately, he lost all of his friends, his family, and even his ability to compete as a result of his relentless need to win.

Like identity development, there is a four-stage hierarchy of motivations.

At stage one, you are motivated by fear. Everything you do is to avoid punishment or negative outcomes. According to decision theory, this form of motivation is prevention focused.

At stage two, you are motivated by reward. Everything you do is to get what you want. If you are religious, you follow the commandments solely for the blessings it provides. If you are in business, you do only that which you believe will get you ahead. Thus, you are promotion-focused.

Both stage one and stage two demonstrate extrinsic motivation, which is far less powerful than intrinsic motivation.

At stage three, you are motivated by duty. You’re going to do what you believe you should whether you receive a reward or not. You have no fear of punishment. You are intrinsically motivated. But there’s a lack of passion. There’s a lack of life that will take you beyond human ability and reasoning.

At stage four, you are motivated by love. You have moved beyond worry for your own needs. Your aim is to bring as much joy to each individual as you possibly can. Your love transcends human reasoning. It drives you to do things most would consider crazy. You no longer live by conventional rules or wisdom. You are directed by the highest and purest power in existence.

“Perfect love casteth out all fear.”—1 John 4:18

6. You live your principles.

“Many of us have convinced ourselves that we are able to break our own personal rules ‘just this once.’ In our minds, we can justify these small choices. None of those things, when they first happen, feels like a life-changing decision. The marginal costs are almost always low. But each of those decisions can roll up into a much bigger picture, turning you into the kind of person you never wanted to be.”—Clayton Christensen.

Motivations are shaky. It’s highly possible that Lance Armstrong was once motivated in beautiful ways. Indeed, he has done some amazing things like start his Cancer Foundation: Livestrong. Yet, as a person gets power, it is almost inevitable that his or her motivations will shift. Heavy weighs the crown.

Because motivations are a sandy foundation, you must build your life on something bigger than yourself— even bigger than your vision.

Your foundation must be core principles. Of this, Stephen Covey has said, “Principles are self-evident, self-validating natural laws— like gravity. It’s different than a value. Values are subjective; principles are objective. If you drop something, gravity controls. The lesson of history is that to the degree people and civilizations have operated in harmony with correct principles, they have prospered. At the root of societal declines are foolish practices that represent violations of correct principles. Principles, unlike values, are objective and external.”

Clayton Christensen has said that 100 percent commitment is easier than 98 percent commitment. If you commit only 98 percent, you will certainly fall well below that. You’ll justify your behavior over and over. It’s a slippery slope. I’ve done this before. I tell myself I’m going to eat well 90 percent of the time. But the external circumstances always get the best of me. I’m at a party and the cake looks too delicious. So I reason with myself that this time it’s okay. The problem is, that happens way more than 10 percent of the time.

When you’re 100 percent committed to something, all of your future decisions have been made. You no longer need to worry about the external circumstances. Your locus of control is internal. You don’t have to rely on willpower, which is a muscle that gets fatigued over time. You don’t have to rely on your decision-making ability, which like willpower, gets depleted over time. Life goes on easy-mode. Desired results occur quickly because you no longer get in your own way.

7. You already know you’re going to succeed.

“What are you waiting for? You’re faster than this. Don’t think you are, know you are.”—Morpheus.

Your thoughts and beliefs always lead to the reality you experience. “We see the world, not as it is, but as we are,” said Stephen Covey. As you evolve and begin believing deeply in the infinite possibilities available, your thoughts almost instantaneously become things. Nothing becomes impossible.

Luck is a misunderstood concept. When it comes to success and personal progress, luck is something that occurs on a regular basis. It happens all the time. It’s the only way to make quantum leaps. Linear thinking and conventional belief systems don’t have the power to create irregular and instantaneous jumps.

You’re about to experience massive success because you already know it’s going to happen. You no longer question that fact. It’s been confirmed to you spiritually. Not only that, but you experience miraculous manifestations frequently, verifying you are on the right path.

Like identity and motivation, belief also has a four stage model.

At stage one, you merely acknowledge that brilliant opportunities, such as luck or miracles, exist. However, you view these as scarce and fantastic— as unpredictable and unrealistic. Thus, you perceive the odds of you experiencing something so drastic on the same scale as winning the lottery — as less than one-in-a-million. You perceive change and success in your life as largely out of your control. You have a doubtful skepticism toward life and a bitter resentment toward those you deem more lucky and privileged.

At stage two, you begin desiring enormous opportunities and luck. You begin to believe these things can actually happen to you. Your doubtful skepticism is replaced by an open-hearted, seeking attitude. You recognize the amazing things that have already happened in your own life and those around you. Yet, you still perceive them as rare. So you continue to believe that others are more likely to have these experiences and opportunities than you are.

At stage three, you begin to recognize your ability to create luck on your own. You notice incredible things happening in your life — frequently. You have a firmer conviction in your power to create and design your circumstances. You believe the future is brighter and better than the present. You have an eager excitement for what lies ahead. You live in a state of individual flourishing and abundance. However, at stage three, you have yet to fully align with your true identity and ability. There is still room to digress and revert back to old ways. Fear and doubt can still linger, potentially returning you to your unevolved state.

Stage four initiates a point of no return. You have crossed the line in the sand. You actually can’t go back. Your eyes are wide open to reality. You see things as they really are. You know that you can do anything. You have limitless power. You can walk on water. Nothing is out of your reach. Your success has already happened.

“I knew I could do it this time, because… well, because I’d already done it!”—Harry Potter

8. You embrace pain and discomfort.

“I discovered when I went all out, when I put 100 percent of my energy into some intense, impossible task – when my heart was jack-hammering, when lactic acid was sizzling through my muscles – that’s when I felt good, normal, balanced.”—Tyler Hamilton.

In 2002, Tyler Hamilton crashed early in the three-week Tour of Italy, fracturing his shoulder. But that didn’t stop him. “I’m good at pain,” he has said. He kept riding, enduring such exquisite pain that he ground eleven of his teeth down to the roots— requiring surgery after the Tour. He finished second overall, only losing to Lance Armstrong who has since had his victory rescinded. “In 48 years of practicing I have never seen a man who could handle as much pain as he can,” said Hamilton’s physical therapist, Ole Kare Foli.

This is the kind of pain you embrace because you’re going to be the best in the world. You know there will always be pain. You’ve just chosen the pain of discipline as opposed to the pain of regret.

Conclusion.

You are on the brink of explosive success — defined by yourself and lived on your own terms. You know who you are and why you’re on this pale blue dot. You are motivated by love. You’re 100 percent committed. You know you’ll succeed because it’s already been set in motion. There’s nothing stopping you now. You embrace the pain of discipline and you live presently.

Ready or not world, here you come.

The post 8 Reasons Your Success Is Inevitable appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

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Everyone finds inspiration in different places, whether it’s from a mentor, a TED Talk, or seeing someone who successfully does what you dream of doing. Sometimes a short, quick quote is enough to kick you in the butt. Check out these motivational quotes that have been proven to do the trick.

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” —Arthur Ashe

“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” —Colin Powell

“The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” —Mark Zuckerberg

“Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” —Winston Churchill

“Whenever you see a successful person, you only see the public glories, never the private sacrifices to reach them.” —Vaibhav Shah

“I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” —Thomas Jefferson

“It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop.” —Confucius

“Success isn’t about how much money you make. It’s about the difference you make in people’s lives.” —Michelle Obama

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” —Warren Buffett

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” —George Bernard Shaw

“The best way of learning about anything is by doing.” —Richard Branson

“Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” —John F. Kennedy

“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” —David Brinkley

“Don’t let the fear of striking out hold you back.” —Babe Ruth

“If you live long enough, you’ll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you’ll be a better person.” —Bill Clinton

“Find out who you are and be that person. That’s what your soul was put on this Earth to be. Find that truth, live that truth and everything else will come.” —Ellen DeGeneres

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” —Henry Ford

“There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed.” —Ray Goforth

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” —Frederick Douglass

“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” —Warren Buffett

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” —Mahatma Gandhi

“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.” —Pablo Picasso

“If you’re not stubborn, you’ll give up on experiments too soon. And if you’re not flexible, you’ll pound your head against the wall and you won’t see a different solution to a problem you’re trying to solve.” —Jeff Bezos

“The difference between winning and losing is most often not quitting.” —Walt Disney

“When you cease to dream you cease to live.” —Malcolm Forbes

“Failure is another steppingstone to greatness.” —Oprah Winfrey

“You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” —Wayne Gretzky

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” —Dolly Parton

“You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them.” —Michael Jordan

“Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.” —Mary Kay Ash

“If you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything.” —Malcolm X

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” —Mark Twain

“It often requires more courage to dare to do right than to fear to do wrong.” —Abraham Lincoln

“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” —Audrey Hepburn

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” —John Quincy Adams

“I avoid looking forward or backward, and try to keep looking upward.” —Charlotte Bronte

“Don’t count the days, make the days count.” —Muhammad Ali

“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” —Michael Jordan
“If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased.” —Katharine Hepburn

“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” —Walt Disney

“Everything you can imagine is real.” —Pablo Picasso

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” —Barack Obama

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” —George Eliot

“If you are willing to do more than you are paid to do, eventually you will be paid to do more than you do.” —Anonymous

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” —Thomas A. Edison

“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” —Albert Einstein

“If you set your goals ridiculously high and it’s a failure, you will fail above everyone else’s success.” —James Cameron

“Entrepreneurs average 3.8 failures before final success. What sets the successful ones apart is their amazing persistence.” —Lisa M. Amos

“Stop chasing the money and start chasing the passion.” —Tony Hsieh

“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” —Henry David Thoreau

The post 50 Motivational Quotes That Will Inspire You To Succeed appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

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Changing your entire life is actually quite simple. Not only is it simple, but it can be done in a radically short period of time. Almost immediately.

Your whole life could look 180 degrees different than it does now in just one year from now.

• You could be in the best shape of your life.
• You could be living in a different part of the world.
• You could be in a vastly different line of work.
• You could be making more money than you’ve ever dreamed of.
• You could be living a life of purpose and meaning.

In truth, you could be living whatever life you want. You get to decide the reality you construct for yourself. If you don’t, someone else will. Indecision is a horrible decision.

So where will you be in 12 months from now?

Here’s where to start:

1. Define clearly what you want.

By clearly defining what you want, you simultaneously remove countless other decisions. Yet, most people have yet to do this essential activity.

If you were to ask most people where they want to see their life and career in five years, most would struggle to give a confident and clear response.

Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism, once wrote down all the things he truly wanted to accomplish in his life. To his astonishment, law school was not one of those things. Yet, he was currently in his second year of law school.

He was forced to make the challenging decision of leaving law school to pursue what he really wanted to.

Once you define for yourself what you want to do in life, it becomes easy to stop the things that won’t get you there. There is a powerful reason for this:

We are all equipped with a psychological process called self-regulation which detects inconsistencies between our goals and our behaviors. It is the ignition of our motivational forces which helps us get from where we are to where we want to be.

Specifically, self-regulation works in three ways:

• Self-monitoring determines how well we are currently performing.
• Self-evaluation determines how well we are performing against our goals.
• Self-reaction determines how we think and feel against our goals. When we feel dissatisfied with our performance, self-reaction pushes us to reallocate our motivational resources.

To trigger this self-regulation process, goals need to be highly specific, based on external indicators, deadline driven, and challenging. 

When I actually sat down and wrote correctly framed goals, I began to see a radical discrepancy between my behaviors and my goals. It was embarrassing and disturbing. I was in utter denial.

Here is a simple example of my goals:

• Earn $100,000 online by 2016.
• Have 15,000 subscribers by 2016.
• Write 3–5 articles per week (or 40 more before the end of the year).
• Get published on high-tier outlets like the New York Times, Lifehacker, and Forbes by 2016.

These goals highlight an enormous gap between where I currently am and where I would be if they were accomplished. Consequently, my self-regulatory process is activated by these goals, triggering an upsurge of motivational resources. My behavior immediately changes through my attempts to match my goals.

These goals work because they are intrinsically motivating to me  —  but are also based on external indicators  —  the outcomes I’m looking to get.

I read these goals every day to forge them deeper into my subconscious as well as to keep them at the forefront of my conscious mind.

This may seem overly simplistic, but are you doing it?

Do your goals inspire in you the arousal needed to trigger a psychological response? Or do you read your goals and experience no internal change?

Are you challenged enough by your goals?

Are they specific and clear enough?

Are they time-bound?

2. Quit your job.

This may sound dramatic, but unless you are in a job you 100 percent want to be in for the next five years, you should quit immediately. There will always be 100 reasons to postpone. But no matter how long you wait, you’ll never feel ready. It will always be a leap of faith. There will always be unknowns.

The bigger the risks you take, the more likely you’ll enter a state of flow — which is the optimal conscious state where you feel and perform at your highest level. When you take huge risks, you’re required to think in innovative ways, because the consequences of failure are high.

Quitting your job will be the best thing you ever did. It will free up mass amounts of energy and time. You’ll be startled by the inflow of insight you’ll get almost immediately. By quitting your job, you’ll be making a personal proclamation that from now on, you’re going to live life on your own terms.

For example, Pat Flynn, a professional blogger on the topic of creating passive income, was working a 9-5 job back in 2008. Then he got laid off. Although he loved his old job, he immediately started creating a business online. He was forced to think creatively as the bread-winner for his family. In a very short time, he was making more money in less time doing something he loved even more. Now, he makes millions of dollars online. This money is automated, meaning, he makes money whether he works or not.

What if he would have quit his job a few years earlier?

“We’ll never be ready if we keep waiting for the perfect time to come.” — Mat Kearney

3. Sell everything you don’t need.

Most of the possessions you own, you don’t use. Most of the clothes in your closet, you don’t wear. Get rid of them. They are sucking energy from your life. Also, they are dormant value waiting to be exchanged for dollars.

Getting rid of underutilized resources is like injecting motivation and clarity into your bloodstream. While all of that untapped energy gets removed, a new wave of positive energy comes into your life. You can use that energy in more useful and productive ways.

4. Start doing what you love courageously.

What is it you’ve been telling yourself you’d do for a long time, but have never done?

Start doing that thing.

Make it your top priority.

Research has found that willpower is like a muscle that depletes when it is exercised. Similarly, our ability to make high quality decisions becomes fatigued over time. The more decisions you make, the lower quality they become  —  the weaker your willpower.

Consequently, you need to do the hard stuff first thing in the morning. The important stuff. If you don’t, it simply will not get done. By the end of your day, you’ll be exhausted. You’ll be fried. There will be a million reasons to just start tomorrow. And you will start tomorrow  — which is never.

So your mantra becomes: The worst comes first. Do that thing you’ve been needing to do. Then do it again tomorrow. If you take just one step toward your big goals every day, you’ll realize those goals weren’t really far away.

Do you want to write a book? Write first thing in the morning when your willpower is strongest.

Do you want to learn another language? Study first thing in the morning.

Do you want to get in shape? Exercise first thing in the morning.

Do you want to travel? Do it while you’re young or else you might never do it.

Start.

5. Get healthy.

Despite endless evidence of the need for exercise, only one-third of American men and women between the ages of 25 to 64 years engage in regular physical activity according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health Interview Survey.

If you want to be among the healthy, happy and productive people in the world, get in the habit of regular exercise. Many people go immediately to the gym to get their body moving. I have lately found that doing yard work in the wee hours of the morning generates an intense inflow of inspiration and clarity.

Whatever your preference, get your body moving.

Exercise has been found to decrease your chance of depression, anxiety and stress. It is also related to higher success in your career.

If you don’t care about your body, every other aspect of your life will suffer. Humans are holistic beings.

6. Reframe how you feel, think, and act about money.

Most people have an unhealthy relationship with money. It’s not necessarily their fault; it’s what they were taught.

In order to change your financial world, you need to alter your paradigm and feelings about money.

Here are some key beliefs the most successful people in the world have:

• In a free-market economy, anyone can make as much money as they want.
• Your background, highest level of education, or IQ is irrelevant when it comes to earning money.
• The bigger the problem you solve, the more money you make.
• Expect to make lots of money. Think BIG: $100,000, $500,000, or why not $1 million?
• What you focus on expands. If you believe in scarcity, you’ll have little. If you believe there is unlimited abundance, you’ll attract abundance.
• When you create incredible value for others, you have the right to make as much money as you want.
• You’re not going to be discovered, saved, or made rich by someone else. If you want to be successful, you have to build it yourself.

When you develop a healthy relationship, you will have more. You won’t spend money on the crap most people waste their money on. You’ll focus more on value than price.

Conclusion

After you’ve done these simple things, you’ll have put yourself in a place to succeed. You’ll have inched toward your dreams.

Because you’ll have done all these things, you’ll show up better in life.

You’ll be better at your job.

You’ll be better in your relationships.

You’ll be happier.

You’ll be more confident.

You’ll be more bold and daring.

You’ll have more clarity and vision.

Your life will shortly change.

You’ll quickly find you’re doing the work you’re passionate about. Your relationships will be passionate, meaningful, deep and fun!

You will have freedom and abundance. The world, and the universe, will respond to you in beautiful ways.

The post 6 Ways To Transform Your Life In Less Than One Year appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

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TED Talks aren’t popular because we like listening to strangers talk for hours about random topics. They’re popular because they provide a desperately needed shift from stale, negative perceptions to useful new ones. Some of the supposed “rules” we repeat to ourselves are the only things that hold us back. Like, “once I can afford this one thing I’ll be happy,” or, “people can’t have fun at work.” These “rules” are actually just beliefs, and they may be barring you from genuine happiness.

1. Happiness means making others happy.

“How to Know Your Life Purpose in 5 Minutes” by Adam Leipzig.

This Yale graduate was surprised to find two groups of people at his college reunion: those who were content and sure of their purpose, and another much larger group that was lost and unsatisfied. There were five reasonably simple questions that the happy group could answer and the other couldn’t:

Who are you?

What do you do?

Who do you do it for?

What do those people want or need?

How do they change as a result of what you offer?

These questions can help anyone who is unsure about the direction of their career. If you can’t answer them, you’ve got some thinking to do. If you can honestly answer each one, there’s pretty much no way you could be unclear about your career.

Once you think about these questions, you’ll find yourself in 1 of 3 possible scenarios:

1. You confirm that you’re happy in a career that suits you.

2. You realize where you need to be, and now your task is to find or create that position.

3. You can’t answer the questions and have to experiment in different roles to figure it out.

2. Follow your inner child to a profitable career.

“How to Retire Before Your 20” by Kristin Hadeed.

This is a great talk for anyone who is hesitant to start their own business, or wants to help people but doesn’t know where to start. The message is simple: Follow your inner child. This doesn’t mean you have to start acting like a hippy. A simple assessment of your childhood will give you some clarity.

Curiosity and creativity aren’t bad things, though we often discourage ourselves from these things in the workplace. By pursuing things that genuinely excite us (and things that drew our curiosity as children), we can create sustainable careers as adults.

3. What you thought made you weak makes you strong.

“The Power of Vulnerability” by Brene Brown.

This talk raises an interesting question: Why do we see ourselves as weak when we’re vulnerable, but others as strong when they are?

We’d never tell a friend that they’re weak for sharing something personal. In fact, we’d probably applaud them. But when it comes to doing something scary or saying something no one else has, we freeze up. We think about the potential criticism involved and completely ignore the fact that what we’d like to do or say might be admired – it might actually change things for the better. If we could see our own ability to be vulnerable as a strength and a character builder, growth wouldn’t be such a struggle.

4. Unhappy? You might have too much.

“A Rich Life with Less Stuff” by The Minimalists.

If you have a career that pays well and tons of stuff to show for it, yet you’re completely miserable, you’ll have a lot in common with the minimalists who host this talk.

A lot of people work long hours, rise to the top of the tax brackets, and “have it all” – but they end up miserable, unhealthy, and empty. This is the point at which people need to look at themselves and what actually makes them happy. If your life is devoid of anything meaningful, you can work your way up the corporate ladder forever, finding nothing but more ladder.

5. Follow the boring folks.

“The Habits of Highly Boring People” by Chris Suave.

Have you ever laughed at someone who is extremely set in their ways with the little things? E.g., they eat the same lunch every day, or walk their dog at 8 a.m. on the dot?

This talk gives convincing reasons for why boring habits lead to successful people. Why? Because people who live by routines manage to get life’s daily menial tasks down to a science. This frees up more time for creativity on projects that matter. In a sense, it’s a small sacrifice with a big payoff. Why waste your spontaneity on things that don’t matter much? The more effort, thought, and time that is wasted on these tasks, the more they cut into your reserve of creativity. So in a way, smart people are boring – they only focus on being exciting and innovative where it counts, like in their careers and relationships.

The post 5 TED Talk Ideas That Will Obliterate What’s Holding You Back appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

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Inspiration is necessary for so many things: work, play, relationships, hobbies, self-improvement… sometimes, with all this inspiration being burned off so quickly, we can get burned out all too easily. But there are actually many different reasons for why you might be feeling uninspired on any given day. If you’re feeling sapped of creative juices but don’t know why, consider some of the below explanations. You might be any one of the following:

1. Tired

Sometimes the reason for your mysterious mental fatigue isn’t that mysterious at all; it’s just actual fatigue. When you haven’t been sleeping well, your brainpower is at a low ebb and the simplest tasks can feel like the mental and emotional equivalent of running a marathon.

2. Hungry

There’s a reason the word “hangry” has become a trendy buzzword recently. Hunger often spawns anger, which spawns frustration and unproductiveness. How can you possibly be productive when all you can think about is how you’re not currently eating? How can you be inspired when you have more problems than anyone else in the world right now? YOUR LIFE IS SO HARD AND IT’S KILLING YOUR PRODUCTIVITY! Maybe you should eat something.

3. Unmotivated

Maybe you could do whatever it is you’re trying to do without that much effort, but you just don’t care enough to do it. Sometimes, we can summon ideas if we really put our minds to it, but the problem is that we don’t want to put our minds to it. Sadly, it’s all too easy to be “uninspired” when you couldn’t care less.

4. Unchallenged

Could the reason for your foot-dragging be that this task you’re trying to accomplish is actually too easy? Perhaps it only feels difficult because you subconsciously think that it’s beneath you, that it’s a waste of your time, that you could be doing so many more worthwhile things that the effort it would take to complete this task isn’t even worth it. If this is the case, look for ways that you can do more engaging, challenging work, either in your professional, academic or personal life.

5. Anxious

What if you do this thing you’ve been putting off for weeks and it doesn’t turn out perfect? It’s possible that your supposed lack of inspiration is really just anxiety and fear related to not living up to other people’s — or your own — expectations. Remind yourself that no one is perfect, and it’s pretty likely that no one in your life expects you to be perfect, either. Do what you need to do without the fear of failure dragging you down.

6. You’re Distracted

Being spread too thin is a perfectly legitimate reason for being uninspired. It may not be that you have no inspiration; the problem might just be that you’ve already splashed out so much creativity and effort elsewhere that you have none left for all the other things you’re supposed to be doing. If you feel distracted and drained, try taking on less work so you can fully focus on the most important things at hand.

7. You Don’t Know What Your Priorities Are

Having two dozen things to do and no clear idea of which is more important can result in inspirational lockjaw. When everything is important, what do you start first? When nothing is that important, what can you leave until last? You might become more inspired if you find a way to prioritize and communicate with others about what you need to be doing. Giving yourself permission to ignore a less important thing in favor of a more important one is a great way to relieve pressure and allow your mind to wander (in a good way).

8. Too Constrained

If you do the same thing over and over again, your inspirational well can run dry quite easily. When people complain about not feeling inspired, sometimes all they need is to do something different for a while. If you’re a blogger, try doing a craft project instead of writing. If you’re a photographer, try baking something. If you’re doing research for an academic paper, put it down and read a fictional novel purely for enjoyment, or even try researching something else just for fun. Doing something you enjoy (and that breaks you out of your rut) will help spark your creativity and enthusiasm.

9. Undisciplined

Do you have a deadline for whatever you’re doing? If not, you might simply be feeling aimless. Many people, for example, often find that they come up with their most creative ideas under the gun — although, as  this article from the Harvard Business Review points out, too many deadlines and expectations can kill inspiration.

10. Overly Disciplined

See above; tight deadlines take a physical and emotional toll that often burn people out very quickly.

11. Neglectful of Yourself

Neglecting your own needs — whether it’s basic needs like sleep or emotional needs like taking time to relax and not work — leads to burnout. You might still have tons of fresh ideas buried in your brain, but you’re never going to dig them out if you’re not taking care of yourself. Even worse, your idea-filled brain knows when you’re neglecting yourself, and it’ll probably get resentful. You can’t find inspiration if you’re sitting there stewing about all the things you’d rather be doing right now.

12. Unengaged

Like number 3 on this list, lack of engagement often translates to a “Why bother?” attitude, although in this case it’s less about not seeing the point of your final product and more about not feeling connected to whatever it is you’re doing. If you fully understand the significance of what you’re doing but aren’t personally interested in the subject matter, that can remove a lot of inspiration from the equation.

13. Too Serious

Why so serious? Seriously, why? Taking yourself and your tasks too seriously only leads to thoughts like, “It will literally be the end of the world if I don’t get this done” or “My life is over if I don’t finish this in the next two hours.” Thinking things like that make you paralyzed and afraid you won’t finish in time and that the world will then end due to your lack of inspiration, which only makes you more paralyzed and uninspired. It’s like a never-ending time loop of seriousness.

14. “The Grass is Always Greener” Syndrome

You would be full to the brim with inspiration — some might even say overflowing with inspiration — if only you had a cool job like NASA engineer or fashion designer or craft brewer. Except if you were a NASA engineer you’d probably wish you had a normal desk job so you didn’t have to deal with all this pressure that’s totally stifling your creativity, and if you were a fashion designer you’d be worrying about all the upstart new fashion school graduates breathing down your neck, and if you were a craft brewer you’d be up to your elbows in yeast and worrying about the fact that you still haven’t come up with a catchy name and flavor for your next small-batch, limited edition beer because you just don’t have any inspiration left. The yeast has stolen all your inspiration, and you’ll never get it back.

15. Depressed

Depression is a serious disorder that interferes with daily life. Those who feel consistently uninspired, tired, hopeless, sad and uninterested may be suffering from more than just a lack of inspiration; it might be something that requires professional help and should be given immediate attention.

16. Resigned

It might seem ridiculous that you don’t know whether you’re really uninspired or not, but sometimes, people get so used to a certain feeling that they become resigned to it and expect it whether they’re actually feeling it or not. The next time you sit down to a task and automatically think, “I can’t do this,” take a minute to assess the situation. Have you actually tried to make a start and been stymied, or have you gone into the task already thinking that you can’t do it? If the latter, work on ways to dump your old habit of making “lack of inspiration” your default mode and come back to the task with a fresh state of mind.

The post 16 Things You’re Really Feeling When You’re Feeling Uninspired appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

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Want to know the greatest indicator of success? Psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth’s research looked at West Point Military Academy cadets to try to predict the top graduates; they went to the National Spelling Bee to identify the stars; they studied rookie teachers in tough neighborhoods to see who would survive and thrive; and in the corporate world, they looked at the qualities of the most successful salespeople. In all those different settings, one characteristic stood out as the greatest predictor of success. It wasn’t good looks, physical health, family connections, or intelligence; it was mental toughness.

Mentally tough people are gritty and resilient. They’re able to keep pressing on when everyone else has given up. We can all learn to become mentally tough. Here are six ways:

1. Reframing negatives.

Cognitive reappraisal techniques are foundational in psychotherapy and mental health. It’s the ability to approach and see negative situations from a different angle. In simple terms, it’s seeing the glass half-full, and looking for the silver lining.

Mentally tough people aren’t immune to failure and losing; they still get hurt, frustrated, and angry. But they move beyond those emotions through reframing techniques. Every negative situation has a teaching point and lesson to be learned — if you choose to look for it.

Ask yourself: “What has this experience taught me?” Or, “What can I do differently or better next time?”

2. The willpower trinity.

Mental toughness goes hand-in-hand with willpower. Our struggle with willpower comes down to a one-dimensional approach, according to Psychologist Kelly McGonigal. We rely solely on “I won’t” power — telling yourself you cannot or will not engage in a restricted activity. For example, those on a diet will say they aren’t allowed, or will not eat, dessert. But we fail to capitalize on two important other powers: “I will,” and “I want.”

“I will” power is a behavior-replacement strategy — replacing the notion that you cannot have dessert with a healthy alternative – I will have fruit or yogurt. “I want” power is to remind you of your source of motivation — I want to lose weight in order to play sport with my children.

The three “I will” powers come together to cultivate mental toughness, it will push you through the times you want to quit, or when you feel weak in your willpower.

3. You are what you eat.

Mental strength comes from healthy brains. Adopting a lifestyle of unprocessed foods without additives and preservatives will lead to a healthy body and mind. Drinking enough water feeds your brain the oxygen it needs. And getting enough sleep each night ensures you’re able to perform mentally at your peak.

Make your health a priority; take inventory of the food that you have in your home and what you snack on. You cannot be mentally tough if you are physically neglected.

4. Emotional cleansing.

Mentally tough people are able to process their emotions in a healthy and effective manner. Those who ignore, bottle up, or refuse to deal with negative emotions are setting up a time-bomb for mental breakdowns.

Emotions are powerful, but not always reasonable. Having the ability to detach from them and question their validity is a trait of a mentally tough person. Meditation and journaling are two powerful techniques for emotional processing and cleansing. Act as an observer, label the emotions that you are experiencing, listen and take action on what is valid; process and let go of what is not.

5. Process orientation.

Mental toughness is having mental endurance. It’s the old cliché of running marathons instead of sprints. Being persistent comes down to seeing your skills and intelligence as fluid and iterative, rather than fixed and immutable. The more time a mentally tough person spends on a problem, the closer they believe they are to cracking the code. Never for a minute do they believe they’re not smart enough or incapable.

It’s been referred to as the “growth mindset.” Embracing the process as a valuable learning experience will allow you to stick to a task much longer, regardless of how challenging it may be.

6. Mental workouts.

Just as going to the gym and lifting heavy weights improves your physique, intellectual challenges will boost your mental strength. Although excessive television has been shown to have detrimental effects on mental health, the bigger issue is not how much is being watched, but what is being watched.

Expose yourself to material that stretches and stimulates your mind. Read books that are more challenging than you’re used to. Watch documentaries that will bring about intellectual growth. Start working out your brain as much as your body.

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Image via Unsplash/Wil Stewart

Stress has always been the enemy. Industries and workplaces lose $300 billion each year due to stress-related causes. Absenteeism, apathy, lower productivity, and workplace accidents are just some of the work-related effects.

But what if stress was actually your friend?

It sounds absurd. But the brain’s release of cortisol, which causes stress, is a survival mechanism designed to help us. In our primitive hunter-gatherer state, cortisol provided a shot of adrenaline which heightened our awareness of impending dangers. However, that shot of ‘stress’ — meant to be a momentary alarm — has turned into perpetual overdrive in today’s world.

But there is a baby in the bathwater; the good elements of stress can be separated from the bad. Here are three ways to turn stress around from working against you, to working for you:

1. Start with foundational beliefs.

The idea that your beliefs can alter reality is an ancient one, and new research continues to support it. Kelly McGonigal’s influential Ted Talk explains that, while people who said they were “experiencing a lot of stress” had a 43 percent increased risk of dying, studies showed that was only among people who believed stress was harmful to their health. Those who believed it was a necessary and natural human response altered their brain’s behavior and regulation of cortisol.

2. Change your interpretation.

If perception is a different way to look at food, interpretation is a different way to digest that food. Changing our interpretation of stress means working with the symptoms that appear, rather than working against them.

Typical physiological responses to stress include: increased breathing and heart rate; sweating, and shaky hands. These responses generally heighten and exaggerate a person’s stress levels, but they can also heighten your performance. Jeremy Jamison, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, explains that our body’s reaction to social stress is the same response to physical danger; the key difference lies in the ability to reframe these responses.

Students who struggled with public speaking were taught to reinterpret their stress responses as a positive — that the body was getting excited and marshaling resources, pumping more blood to major muscle groups, and delivering more blood to the brain.

Interpreting stress in this way allows you to rise to the challenge, rather than crumble and fall under pressure. Studies showed the extent of positive thinking went beyond just the psychological, ranging into the physical — the blood vessels of those who reframed stress responses in the positive stayed relaxed rather than constricting.

3. Building community.

McGonigal explains that stress doesn’t only cause our brains to release cortisol, but also oxytocin, otherwise known as the “love hormone.” It is released when we hug someone, in intimate relationships, and during sex. Part of its release during stress is to nudge you to connect with people, since the survival mechanism reminds us there is strength in numbers. When we reach out and connect with others when under stress, whether to receive or give support, the oxytocin helps to regenerate heart cells and make us feel better. And of course, the better we feel, the more engaged and productive we become.

Stress facilitates human connection. As the saying goes, it’s not what you know but who you know. The next time you feel stressed, or encounter someone in stress, use that as a prompt to connect with another person. Give yourself the physical benefits of oxytocin, and also expand your social and professional network.

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