Here is another great video by Anthony Robbins which talks about the power of compound interest on savings. I have talked a few times about saving 10% of your income each month and this video will help motivate you and also teach you the reason why it is such a great idea.

I hope you enjoy this great video by Anthony Robbins.

Take your time with this video and think about it carefully. Some of the advice given here is powerful enough to change your life and turn around your finances.

I have to admit that I have a really big interest in the work of many of the big self help gurus and Anthony Robbins is probably one of the most famous. I love the energy and passion Anthony has for his work and it can be really motivational.

If you like this video then check out Brian Tracy who is also a fantastic motivational speaker. This short video will give you a quick lesson on finding purpose and clarity in our life.

Check out this great video on clarity and purpose. Hope you enjoy it.

Thanks to the guys at welovewp.com for featuring my site in their gallery again. It is always nice to get featured, especially after a redesign. They have always been kind to my sites in the past and so I thought I would write a post to say thanks. If you run a Wordpress powered blog or site yourself then you should head over to their gallery and take a look. They feature some great looking websites that can really give you some good inspiration when it comes to designing a new look for your site.

Everything you do in life requires both physical and mental energy. Energy is a hard concept to describe but generally the more physical and metal energy you have, the more easily you will be able to achieve your goals and ambitions.

Here are some great tips for boosting both physical and mental energy.

Exercise

By taking regular exercise you will ensure that your body is working as it should be. Your muscles have evolved to be used and challenged but sadly the reality of the modern world means that most people spend a good portion of their day sitting down inactive. Whatever your job, make sure you make time to do some kind of physical activity at least three times a week. A combination of weight lifting and cardiovascular activity will produce the best results. Your body needs to move and your muscles need to be worked regularly. Don’t let your body waste away. Regular exercise will make you feel fantastic, help keep your body working properly and give your more energy on a daily basis.

Attitude

The more positive you become, the more energy you have. It sounds simple but it’s true. Our attitude to life has a huge impact on how we operate on a day to day basis. A great positive mental attitude is something that shouldn’t be taken lightly and you should always try and stay positive and happy in your day to day life. There is always something to smile about in life so stay positive.

Sleep

Most of us need at least seven to eight hours of good quality sleep per night. Sadly with work commitments etc it can sometimes be hard to get all the rest we need. A good nights sleep will improve your physical and mental health and make you much more productive. Always try to go to bed early and wake up early. If you have trouble sleeping then try a supplement such as GABA or Melatonin which can help you sleep better.

Healthy diet

It is often said that you are what you eat and I can testify first hand that this is true. Avoid simple sugars in your diet at all costs and stick to healthy brown wholegrain carbohydrate sources. Nutrition is a complex topic but most of you know what you should and should not be eating. A healthy diet is generally made up of wholegrain carbohydrates, fruit, vegetables, lean meat, fish, healthy fats and at least 2 liters of pure water every day. If you are lacking in energy then I would take a look at your diet before anything else. Whenever I eat badly I feel more lethargic and tired in general.

Overall weight

Carrying extra body weight is always a bad idea. The bigger you get the harder your body’s organs have to work. Excess fat and body weight puts a great strain on your heart and will make you feel tired day to day. If you worry about carrying extra body weight then try and do some kind of physical activity at least three times a week and think carefully about your diet.

I hope you find these simple tips useful in boosting your energy on a day to day basis.

I haven’t been able to do much writing lately but I did manage to find time to rebuild this site from scratch today. I hope you like the new design. Feel free to leave comments telling me what you think. I kept the design pretty minimal but I felt it suited the feel of the site and focuses the attention on the content. There are probably a couple of changes still to be made but I’m quite happy with it so far and it’s definitely an improvement on the old design. Anyway hope you like it.

Over the next few months I will be launching a Wordpress theme business for those of you that might be interested in getting a new layout for your blog etc. Take a look over at Zaphra.com

“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.”

Charles Mingus

Every now and then we need to take time to reassess our overall objectives and to find ways to simplify our lives. The more simple and focused your thinking on a day to day basis, the better your results are going to be. No matter how smart of capable we are, if there are too many things going on in our lives then it is hard to really work at our best. It happens to us all at some stage. Whereas you were once carefree and able to focus on your tasks without distraction, you are now bogged down with a million and one things that play on your mind each day. Paying household bills, tax, insurance, seeing family and friends, working on ten projects at once, learning new things, reading, keeping up to date with work, keeping fit, shopping etc. All of these tasks sit at the back of our minds and make it hard to concentrate and focus our attention properly. The information we have to deal with on a day to day basis is often staggering and can cause you to feel stressed and hopeless. How can we possibly get all these things done with such little time in the day?

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.”

Hans Hofmann

Simplifying your thinking means becoming more organized rather than becoming lazier. The key to all of this is removing the mental clutter that drags us down and stops us performing at our best. Before starting work on my new website project I recently realized that I had hundreds of other sites and projects lying unfinished and far too many things going on in my head. Over time I had built up a mountain of work and things to do that were starting to become overwhelming. This is a really frustrating feeling and it usually a good sign that we need to start doing a mental clear out. I could no longer find any time to concentrate as there were far too many things going on in my head all at once. To overcome this problem I started thinking of ways to sharpen my thinking and reduce the number of things I have to think about day to day. This helps me become more focused and clear about what I am trying to achieve. You can do the same thing by following these essential tips for clarifying your thinking.

Clear thinking is not a skill to take lightly as it can be a real time saver and help you work at your best. If you are the type of person who has a lot of tasks on the go at any one time and finds it hard to concentrate then these tips should help you out.

Get organized

The most import first step you can take in simplifying your thinking is to become more organized. Removing the clutter in your life generally means finding better ways to organize information in your life. The most effective way to be more organized is to find systems and software to keep track of information for you. Start off simply by writing your goals and things to do in a notebook. Once you start getting into the habit of writing out your to do lists etc, you will really be able to start focusing your attention more effectively.

One thing at a time

While it is tempting to try and juggle five tasks at once, it is just not practical. When you work, only do one thing at a time and try to do it really well.

Use software to help

There is an abundance of useful tools out there designed to make your life easier. If you struggle with organizing your life day to day then have a look for some personal organizer software, financial software etc. Even the simplest things such as the free Google Calendar can do wonders for getting you organized.

Keep everything in one place

If you have hundreds of documents lying about on your computer desktop then try and keep it all tidy and in one place. The more neatly and carefully you store your information, the more time you can spend focusing on your objectives.

Define your most important goals

If you are having trouble juggling hundreds of tasks at once then it should help to write down your three primary objectives on paper and keep your eye on the big three at all time. These are the three things that are most important to your life such as your business, personal or financial objectives. We can’t really work on that many things at once so by focusing on what is really important you improve your chance of success immensely.

Don’t procrastinate

The longer you leave your tasks unfinished the more come along, leaving you feeling overwhelmed. Learn to get into the habit of getting things done straight away and you will have fewer things hanging over your head. When you get bills etc, try and pay them straight away so that your mind stays clear and free from the worry of unfinished tasks.

Spend some time clearing out the junk that is clouding your mind and making you feel stressed. Start off by getting more organized and you will soon find your mind becomes free to focus on more important tasks.

Sometimes we can work extremely hard and not see any results while other people seem to breeze through life, not putting in much effort, but getting much better results. How can this be? One of the main reasons might be that they are simply working at the right tasks while we are working hard at things that do not have a great potential for reward.

You can often seen people fall victim to this trap and it’s something we can all learn from. I have seen people that work day in and day out but from an outside perspective I could see that they were working hard at the wrong things. I think the morale is that hard work for the sake of hard work serves no purpose and will not get you anywhere. No matter how honorably and courageously you work, if you are putting all your energy into the wrong things, you will not see the results you should be getting.

When you are working hard at something you have to make a conscious decision as to whether that task will benefit your future situation. Ask yourself if your day to day actions are really helping you achieve your overall life goals. A lot of people spend the vast majority of their time worrying and working on things that don’t really benefit them that much. For example no matter how much time you spend planning to launch a business, if you don’t get out there and actually take action then you will never get anywhere. Apply the 80/20 rule to your work and focus on giving more of your attention to the 20% of activities in your life that give you the most reward.

Always try and make sure your hard work is rewarded. If you are working extremely hard but not seeing any results then it might be time to change what you are working on. Focus your energy on tasks that give you the most reward for your efforts. What ever you do today, make sure you are working on the right things.

It is easy to fall into a rut and human beings by their very nature tend to find a comfort zone and stay there as long as possible. We all do it regularly and without realizing most of the time. Sometimes it makes sense to settle into an easy pattern but after a while you are likely to get that nagging feeling where you know that there are things you could be doing better. Whether you have settled in an average job, a relationship that isn’t working or financial situation you are not happy with, you can be sure that somewhere in your life you are settling in your comfort zone and not achieving what you are fully capable of. Really successful people are not afraid to take risks and try new things even when they reach the top of their game. They know that staying in a comfort zone will harm rather than benefit them in the long run.

Most of us get into certain habits in our lives that become difficult to shake off, especially as we get older. We get an okay job or we have moderate success in a certain area and give up on improving our situations. By settling for less than your best, you are destined to feel frustrated and unhappy with your situation. I can guarantee that there are areas in your life where you could be doing better. Maybe you could be making more money, have a better job, form better relationships etc. You know that you are capable of achieving even more than you already have. By working on these areas regularly we can stop ourselves from falling into the complacency trap.

Here are some useful tips to help you step outside your comfort zone and achieve your true potential.

Take more risks

In order to change your circumstances for the better you are going to have to make some changes and this means taking some risks. While I am certainly not encouraging you to take risks where the odds are heavily against you, a successful person knows to take a chance when the odds are on your side. Most of us are paralyzed by the fear of failure and this stops us from taking risks and improving our situations. Warren Buffett is a good example of business man who regularly takes intelligent risks. He has become successful because he knows how to reduce the level of risk he is exposed to and that proper planning helps to weigh the odds more heavily in his favor. Although he takes risks all the time, the risks he takes are smart. He never buys into things he doesn’t understand and always makes sure he can survive if the risk doesn’t go his way. I like to think of this approach as intelligent risk taking. The key thing is to occasionally take risks but weigh the outcome in your favor through diligent preparation.

Do something new

The best way to get out of your comfort zone is to force yourself to try new things regularly. This could be something as simple as joining a new social group, finding a new hobby, taking up a new sport etc. Doing new things will expose you to new and interesting experiences that can enrich your life.

Stop running from problems

Most of what we learn in life comes from overcoming the difficulties we face and not from the times when everything seemed easy. All of us, including myself, have a natural tendency to run away from problems and avoid them because, in the short term, problems can be frightening. Every difficulty and obstacle you face in your life is a chance to show how strong you really are and to learn something new about yourself. If you never had problems to overcome you would end up leading a pretty boring and unsatisfying life. Start seeing problems as challenges to make you stronger and not as things to be avoided at all costs. Embrace the challenges you face and don’t run away from them.

Don’t be afraid to fail

No matter how much we plan and try to weight risks in our favor, there are going to be many times when things don’t go exactly as we planned. Don’t be afraid to take a risk and fail. As long as you learn from your mistakes you will be able to avoid them in the future. Don’t be afraid to try and fail but do be afraid of never trying.

We are all capable of far more than we realize so go out there and show yourself what you can really do. I hope this article will encourage you to try something different today and step out of your comfort zone every once in a while. I guarantee it will do wonders for your self esteem and help you discover what you are truly capable of.

We all find it hard to be creative all the time and sometimes, no matter what we do, ideas just don’t come freely enough. Creative block is a common problem and happens to almost everyone at some point. These 5 tips should help you increase your creativity and give you some new inspiration for your projects.

Take a break

Sometimes the best way to get new ideas is to take away the stress of your tasks and take some time off to relax. It is almost impossible to be really creative on demand and the more pressure you put on yourself to come up with new ideas the less likely it is that you will. Stop torturing yourself and take a break for a while. The world won’t end if you do and chances are you will come back to your projects refreshed and raring to go.

Do something new

Look for inspiration by feeding your brain with as many new ideas and experiences as you can. We all get stuck in a rut sometimes and one of the best ways to avoid this is to get out there and learn something new or do something unusual. Hang out with new people, listen to new music, go somewhere interesting etc. Basically do whatever you can to stimulate your brain. The more experiences you give your mind the more creative you will get.

Look outside your field

While most people look for their inspiration from other related areas, very few people take the time to look for inspiration in more unusual areas. If you only look for ideas in your area of work then you will probably end up just copying what everyone else is doing. Sometimes in order to find a unique perspective we have to look in the places that other people ignore. Just because you work as web designer doesn’t mean that you can’t be inspired by a great painting, an interesting piece of music or an unusual poster etc. If you only look for inspiration from other web designers you will end up just being no better than everyone else. Sometimes the best ideas come from the most unusual sources. Inspiration is all around you and so try to look for it in less obvious places.

Brainstorm

Brainstorming is an excellent way to come up with new ideas and solutions to problems. Start by taking out a piece of paper and just jotting down ideas about your projects. Write down words and phrases that come to mind and try to form simple sentences into new ideas that you can apply to your projects. Sometimes the act of simply letting our ideas and thoughts flow out onto paper can trigger new ways of thinking and help us find interesting ideas we might not have otherwise thought of.

Don’t panic

The worst thing you can do when searching for ideas is to panic and put pressure on yourself. Creativity usually happens best when we are relaxed and stress free. Get out there and do some exercise or take a few hours to relax and you should find your return to work refreshed and more inspired.

Always remember that you will never truly run out of ideas and if you follow these tips then you should be back on track in no time. Our best creative moments usually happen when we are at our most relaxed and inspired so relax and feed your brain with some new ideas and experiences.

“I realized early on that success was tied to not giving up. Most people in this business gave up and went on to other things. If you simply didn’t give up, you would outlast the people who came in on the bus with you.” - Harrison Ford

When faced with adversity in life most people just give up before giving themselves a proper chance to succeed. Do you ever start things and then think that you have failed at them before you really give it a chance? I certainly do and I’m sure many other people are the same. Almost everyone will be faced with this dilemma at some point and the more ambitious you are the more often you will face this problem. After months and months of hard work you hope and pray that you will soon see a huge reward for all your efforts and then nothing. Where is that big pay off you have been waiting for? Nothing happens. You’re not rich yet are you? Nothing changed. Did you make it big on your first attempt? Maybe you lost money or the outcome was not what you hoped for. This is the point at which most people start to lose motivation and either give up or find a way to keep going until they figure out exactly what is going wrong. Sadly most of us will feel so frustrated and distressed by our lack of results at this point that we will give up rather than suffer the humiliation of facing these problems again.

Many entrepreneurs end up working hard for ten or twenty years before finally getting the break they need. They key thing to remember is that in order to be successful you have to keep working even when you feel like your efforts are futile and your mind is telling you to just give up. Fighting on in the face of adversity requires a lot of inner strength and courage. This is something that I have started to think about a lot recently. Doing anything worthwhile takes time and you will undoubtedly suffer a lot of setbacks along the way. The real key is to find a way to keep going even when things are not going your way. It is easy to get motivated and excited when we are seeing quick results or things are going out way but what about the times when we don’t?

Here are some tips that should help you get back on track if you have lost your motivation and when you are finding it hard to summon up the courage to keep going.

Take a break

Sometimes the best thing to do when you hit a wall is to take a step backward and reassess your position. Taking a break for a week or so will take some of the pressure off and allow you to recharge your batteries. After months of hard work and not seeing the right results, a week’s break will stop you from burning out and make you feel much more motivated upon returning to your projects.

Reassess your time frame

Most goals take a very long time to achieve properly. If your goal is to get the physique of a supermodel and you’ve been trying hard for six months then start to be realistic about what you are doing. Six months is nothing, it really isn’t. I have been religiously exercising for around six years and I still don’t have a perfect body. All good things take time and usually they take a lot longer than you realize. Setting deadlines is great but you can’t beat yourself up if you don’t achieve success in a few months. If you are setting up an online business then realize that most websites take at least a year before the search engines really give them much attention and bring in regular traffic.

Get another opinion

Sometimes when we are tied to a project emotionally it can be hard to honestly assess how well we are doing and where the problems are. If you can’t figure out what is going wrong then just ask someone else for their opinion. A fresh set of eyes might really help you see your problems with a new clarity. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from other people when you need it.

Think small

All too often when we start a project it is the big results that we are conscious of and not the small things. Chances are that even if you did not meet your ultimate goal then you will have achieved many smaller things that you didn’t even take notice of and give yourself enough credit for. As long as you took action in making your dreams a reality then you did something right. Say for example your project was to launch an online business and make $100,000 dollars in a year. Now this is a huge goal and shouldn’t necessarily feel beaten if you don’t achieve this in your first few attempts. You may not have achieved this goal but you probably did a lot of really great things along the way. Take a look at how much money you did make and what systems you managed to set up that can help you make money in future etc.

Look at the smaller things that you did right along the way. Chances are you made some kind of money, made some new contacts, gained a lot of website traffic, build a good website, learned new skills or had a product you were proud of etc. Take stock of the little things that you did achieve and give yourself a break if you don’t get everything right in the first few attempts. Chances are, as long as you worked hard at your task and learn from your mistakes, then you did far more than most people will ever do. The rest should come with patience.

When faced with problems, I encourage you to keep going until you succeed. Don’t feel defeated when things don’t go your way and try to think about all the things you managed to do right. Be a bit kinder to yourself. Most tasks end up requiring far more work than we initially predict. Before you give up on your projects ask yourself this question:

“Did I really do everything that I could to succeed?”

For almost everyone, the answer to that question will probably be a resounding no. It can be hard to carry on working away when we are not seeing the results we want but if you stick at your task and think smarter then you can solve any problem. Don’t just give up when things don’t go your way. If you never allow yourself to give up then you will never fail.