Seth Godin talks about being remarkable and what it means and how to become remarkable.

Check out more about the Purple Cows and how to be remarkable. Seth Godin and couple of other authors have published a book together called The Big Moo, wonderful compilation of being remarkable. Absolutely must have for anyone who want to be remarkable.

Have you tried to be remarkable? What have done to become remarkable?

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Madoff made lot of money, but being truthful and honest was out of scope.

General Motors was number one car company in the world, but maintaining the number one position was out of scope.

Flickr is determined to act upon take down notices, but verifying violations was out of scope, maintaining reliability was also out of scope.

Amazing how many things are out of scope and how those decisions are made.

What is out of scope when it comes to your personal growth?

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Guy McDowell at Makeuseof.com blog present a decent list of websites that will help you in personal change as you browse the internet. He mentions three websites:

1. Livingorsurviving.com
2. TheCircle.org
3. EverydaySystems.com

Read the entire article by Guy on MakeUseOf.com

Any other websites that you know of? Tell us in the comments below.

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5. 6 Success Factors (or Rules of Success) from Arnold Schwarzenegger

Doctor Schwarzenegger’s 6 Rules

This is video from Graduation ceremony of University of Southern California and speaking to the graduating students is Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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Below are some thoughts from the video about the 6 Rules of Success from “Dr. Schwarzenegger.”

1. Trust Yourself

Trust yourself no matter what anyone else thinks.

2. Break the Rules

“Well behaved women rarely make history.” Arnold talks about breaking rules and how he broke rules to enter the rules of Hollywood to become a successful actor.

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Fail

If you are afraid, you were never try. If you never try you won’t ever succeed.

4. Ignore (Don’t Listen to) the Naysayer

Don’t pay attention to naysayer. People will say it can’t be done, people will give 100 reason why this can not be done. Do not take No for an answer.

5. Work Your Butt Off

You never want to fail because you did not work hard enough and don’t leave any stone unturned. There is no escape to hard work.

6. Giving Something Back

Whatever path you take in life, always find time to give back to the community.

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Look at the Stars, Not the Lights

In old days, when compass and other complex instruments weren’t invented, ships used stars and constellations to navigate their path. There are stories of travelers on road navigating to their destination without GPS. Ever heard of the term guiding star? Now you know where that originated from. These sailors and travelers knew exactly one simple thing – to use stars not the lights.

What does this has to do with Personal Change?

Stars represent the vision and that is why we should focus on the vision for personal change. If you follow the light, the short-term goals, you may divert your path and start heading towards the wrong destination. Therefore, learn to set our course by looking at the stars not the lights of every passing ship.

Have you ever set your course on short term and forgot about the long term? What were the results? Tell us in comments below.

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Photo Courtesy: Libertinus

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This edition of Personal Change Carnival received 104 posts and from those posts below are my favorite 11 posts. The selection criteria was pretty straightforward. Those posts that were submitted before the deadline were shortlisted and then posts that related to personal change were chosen. Out of this new list, each post was thoroughly reviewed and my favorite posts were listed below.

Please note that this list is my personal opinion and others may have a different opinion about the articles included in the carnival. If you like the posts below, please digg it, stumble it or add to bookmark on delicious.

Lets Begin the Carnival

1. How to Be Somebody in Your Own Eyes – In this post, Jim talks about self image and why it is important to respect yourself and the way you are. Any one aspiring to improve their personal image and wanting a personal change should first evaluate their self-image.

2. What a Glass of Water can Teach You About Leadership? - Eric asks this question and makes the reader wonder what is this about? The post has a wonderful message and leaves you amazed… wow!! what can a glass of water teach you. Read it to find out.

3. Why Relationships are Like Sandcastles Before Tide – The author in his/her own words, “Relationships are forever in flux, forever in change, and holding onto something tightly is like trying to stop the tide from coming …..”

4. Set Goals Then Set Them Higher – Tisha gives an example from her personal life and gives some quick tips on how to set goals. This article is interesting and is a quick read.

5. Cultivating Patience – Axel talks about Patience and how to cultivate it. Author talks about three aspects of cultivating patience. A wonderful view on how patience can be improved.

6. Stand Out of the Crowd – In this article, John talks about personal development in a very simple way. This article is a little different than the subject of this blog, but its worth reading.

7. What Inhibits Your Creativity? – Jason asks this questions and tells how to overcome the boundaries and grow creatively. Nice article, wonderfully structured and easy to understand.

8. Nonverbal Language of Power – Jacob’s article talks about an aspect of self-esteem and self-image. “Backbone” or having power to confront people and being assertive is a quality that is important to make an impact.

9. The Secrets to Becoming Highly Successful in Life – Keith presents a very comprehensive article on what you need to become successful. Vision is one of the first thing you need.

10. 101 Youtube Videos to Teach You the Art of Public Speaking – This post has a lot of good videos, Speaking Secrets of Barrack Obama for example, or How to Control Stage Fright. 9 Basic Steps to Giving a Great Presentation provides details on 9 aspects of public speaking.

11. How to Hack Behaviors – Daryl  presents a well organized article on behaviors. The article deconstructs how actions work and then explains how behaviors can be modified. This is a good overview for anyone who wants to change their behavior.

That is all for this edition. If you liked any of these posts please stumble the post or digg it. Perhaps you might want to save it in delicious or tweet it.

Want to submit articles to the Personal Change carnival? Submit your post for the June edition of the carnival by clicking here.

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Photo Courtesy: penner42

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Vision not Mission Statement

Michael Miles wrote a great article some time back titled  The Value of a Personal Mission Statement on the Dumb Little Man blog. The author however calls a person’s vision as mission statement. I think the article points out a great list of tips for a great vision. Going back to the definition, vision is a desired state that you want to be at, mission statement is defining the principles that you will follow to get there, in other words, mission statement is how you will get there.

The Difference

We have talked about vision, mission statement and how they are different in article titled why you need vision.

The purpose of Vision is to define which wall you want to climb, Values ensure that you are using the right ladder to climb the wall and Mission statements define how you plan to climb the wall with the right ladder.

We also talked about the difference between the three elements of success and how they relate to each other. Still confused? Read Benjamin Franklin’s mission statement.

In the upcoming posts, read how to develop a mission statement for yourself. Get updates via RSS or through email and stay on the top of your personal development with Chat at the Cooler.

Picture Courtesy: ogimogi

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Few days back,  I came across mission statement of Benjamin Franklin on www.franklincovey.com. Mr. Franklin’s mission statement is not a speech, its not even a essay, neither is it a poem. It’s much simpler than that. It’s his set of values statements. This post present Benjamin Franklin’s mission statement.

The Mission Statement

Mr. Franklin’s mission statement is a very simple set of statements. The wonderful thing about this mission statement pattern is that it is once you know your personal values, it is simple to create. Below are the personal values of Benjamin Franklin that is also his mission statement as claimed by www.franklincovey.com.

Chastity: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.

Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.

Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

Industry: Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

Justice: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

Moderation: Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

Order: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

Sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

Temperance: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

Tranquility: Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

In next few posts, we will present mission statements of many great leaders of the world. If you would like to get these mission statements and other posts go ahead and subscribe via RSS or subscribe via email.

Photo courtesy: Wikipedia

Why People Don’t Live Their Personal Values

Although everyone would like to have great values, most people don’t live them because of following reasons:

1. Sacrifice

People want to be called for having great values but they do not want to sacrifice their comfort. If you want to live your core values, be prepared for some pain. If you decide to be honest, it is not going to be a smooth and steady road. Whenever you are honest and speak the truth, there will be some inconvenience for you and maybe for those you are dealing with.

2. Someone Else’s Values

If you want to be the “best-in-class” athlete because someone else wants you to be that, I am afraid that is not going to happen, unless you decide that you want to be the best-in-class. Fulfilling someone else’s wishes are not going to help you to live your values. Find your personal values and stop living someone else’s life.

These are the two main reasons why people don’t live their personal values. What are some of the other reasons you have seen? Why do people stray away from their core values? Tell us in the comments.

How to Live Your Personal Values

How do you start living your own personal values? Well the key is really simple. Don’t do what other people do.

1. First, Stop Living Someone Else’s Values

The first thing you need to do is stop living someone else’s values. Your friend wants to be a hero, but you don’t have to. Your best friend wants to be fearless enough to jump from a plane, you don’t have to. Your mom wants you to become excellent in painting, but you are more interested in music. Stop living values that are important to someone else.

2. Now Find Your Values

The next thing after you stop living other people’s values is to find your values. By finding your own you know what is important in your life and what are things that are near your heart. Start living your personal values by discovering your personal values.

3. Be Prepared

Prepare yourself and understand that there will be some things that you will have to let go. To become a better person, it will be important to have strong values. Once you have identified your values, develop and build your personal values. Keep in mind that this is a road where you will encounter desire to take shortcuts, you will want to do the easy things. Bur remember once you take that path, there is no coming back. If you really want to have strong personal values, do not take the shortcut no matter how attractive it may seem for short term.

What tricks do you use for living your personal values? What challenges do you encounter and how do you fight them?

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This post will answer all these questions.

The 10 Essential Characteristics of Good Leader

So what are those characteristics or qualities? Below are the 10 characteristics that are absolutely necessary for being a good leader.

1. Character

The first thing a good leader needs is a strong character. We all know of someone who is in a leadership position or is a leader with not so strong character, and we all know how these people end up. These leaders with not-so-strong characters, often go down as fast as they climbed the ladder of success. Therefore, to be a good and sustainable leader character is the most important quality you need.

2. Communication

If a leader can not do the rest of it, she at least needs to be good at this – communication. The leadership and its implications revolve around this quality. It is an absolutely important quality a leader needs. The importance of communication can not be overemphasized for being a good leader.

3. Listening

What goes hand in hand with communication is listening. A good leader needs to listen to her followers. She needs to get feedback on a regular basis, open her eyes and ears and keep listening. Now a word of caution. Listening does not mean to blindly follow and accept everything that is said and shown.

4. Relationships

The next important quality of a good leader is building and maintaining relationships. A good leader knows the importance of relationships. She knows that the strength of a leader comes from the people that follow and support her. And that is why a good leader takes good care in building relationships.

5. Vision

Vision is important for everyone, leader or not, for their growth. But vision is specially important for those who as want to lead. Knowing what outcome you want from an assignment, a project or any task gives you authority and helps you and your team to have clear communication and well-defined expectations from each other. In past, we posted a whole series on how to develop a personal vision.

5. Passion

Passion is the fuel for your burning desires. It is this quality that differentiates between the ordinary and the extraordinary. For being a good leader, it is important to know about the subject matter of the area you want to lead in. Passion is the first step of achievement.

5. Positive Attitude

The Yes Attitude, the power of positivity. This quality is a required not just for a leader but everybody. However, this is specially necessary for a leader. A Leader needs to be positive and motivate his team, in times that are hard and times that are brutal. When times are tough and his team is absolutely down, when times are really frustrating, a leader is the who carries his team and his organization forward and that is what a leader needs to do – look at the bright side of each and everything.

8. Responsibility

Ever heard of an irresponsible leader? No? Think again and a little harder. You will see a lot of them if you look around in the politics today. A leader influences people and has a lot of power to move his team and followers. An irresponsible leader can create a disaster if he does not act responsibly.

9. Decision Making

Leaders make a lot of crucial and decisions. The ability to make good decisions is therefore essential for becoming a good leader. Decision making, the ability to make decisions, helps the leader make rights choices when there are several options and several paths to choose from.

10. Initiative

By definition a leader is someone who takes the lead or initiative in some part of life. Taking lead in the crux of being a leader and this quality is inherent in a leader.

So, here’s the list of ten qualities that a leader absolutely needs. Do you think there are some other qualities of a good leader that should be on the list? Tell us in the comments below.

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Picture Courtesy: lumaxart

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