Your Brain is a fantastic piece of craftsmanship. Its ability to process and store information couldn’t possibly be contested by even the most advanced computers, now or in the future. It’s so advanced, it seems, that it needs no real help from “You” to run your life. It issues reactions to your environment by reaching into its vast memory, going through all kinds of calculations, and producing the best action.

How does it determine the best action? Well, generally, that is a result of the experiences you have had up until the moment of the decision. You see, the brain kicks into gear when you are born. It’s Grand Purpose…Self Preservation. It needs to keep you alive. To do that, it must make sure that you are equipped to handle the world around you. It takes in everything and tries to breakdown all it stores into categories and groups. Good, Bad, Likes, Dislikes. Basically, it creates boxes and labels them; then organizes events, circumstances, objects into these boxes. It also has reactive behaviours stored in connection with these boxes.

As these boxes and their contents increase, we have more and more defined reactions to life. Long after the incidents that cause the addition of objects to boxes, the references remain. Result – our attitudes towards certain things are formed. We don’t truly remember why, whether the reason is valid or not. We just accept that “I like that person” or “This makes me uneasy”. Of course there are loads of situations that we react to, based on intuition etc. The point is that there are also loads that we have no input whatsoever into how the brain has chosen its reaction, at least not anymore.

Soon, these boxes start to determine your state of mind. You are no longer in control. Your brain has it filed away somewhere that since your football coach thinks you suck, the greatest possibility is that you do suck. More importantly, this situation is in the “Sad Things” box. And this box has certain reactions linked with it…inadequacy, sadness, depression, anger (No doubt, because the same situation crosses into the “Angry Things” box somewhere along the line). So, surprise, surprise, you are sad! And if it rains or is cloudy…that’s another item for the “Sad Things” box to accentuate the situation. It’s not really your fault you see. It’s the box!

The Brain has taken over. Most of us are on Auto-Pilot. You have to take control back. You need to be there to catch that pre-defined action that the brain throws out at you. You can then choose not to react accordingly. Those boxes have to be purposefully emptied so you can start to see things anew again.

This is a tough task. You have been this way all your life. In trying, you will meet with fierce opposition from your mind. You cannot win this battle my friend. You can, however, see the actions the brain presents in a different light. These actions are simply recommendations. More and more you can catch yourself react to things that happen around you. As you become more “aware”, you stop yourself from proceeding with the directed action, and “respond” in your chosen way. This is how you can start to deprogram.

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Have you ever wondered what’s actually going on when you find yourself thinking about something? You hear a voice inside your head often, or picture something happening, but how precisely is your brain generating that voice? And how is it understanding what the voice is saying?

A lot of people take for granted the fact that they can understand their native language but of course this is a much more impressive and complicated feat that’s going on inside the brain than it might appear. You were not born being able to understand English and as such, your brain must be ‘translating’ the words into some purer form of meaning. This is how a computer works – interpreting inputs and programming language into machine code.

What is the machine code of the brain?

The old explanation was that the brain would understand words literally by going through a translation process. Specifically, it was believed that the brain would translate words from English into a kind of ‘base language’ that was often referred to as ‘mentalese’.

More recent research has challenged this view though and put forward a much more interesting idea…

You Think With Your Body

According to a theory called ‘embodied cognition’, the brain does not inherently understand language but instead uses the body to interpret what is being said. More specifically, it uses the body’s interactions with the world and previous experience to understand the nature of language.

To better understand this, we can recall a study in which patients were subjected to brain scans while they were being spoken to. In this study, it was found that telling the patients a story would cause their brains to light up just as though they were actually living that story themselves.

In other words, if you were to tell someone about the time you walked through the snow, then their brains would light up as though they were walking through snow. This would include areas of the motor cortex associated with the actual motion of walking and areas that are regulated by temperature and skin sensations.

In other words, you only understand the content of what you’re being told because you’re using your body to visualize that thing happening!

This can then explain a lot about the way our body responds during a given activity. For instance, it explains why we might suddenly feel scared when reading a scary story, or why we might feel hungry when being told about a delicious meal – our physiological response is the same as though it were happening to us!

There are many implications for this but perhaps one of the areas where it has the most impact is in regards to Artificial Intelligence. Artificial Intelligence is a kind of ‘disembodied cognition’ and if this theory is to be believed, then there is at least a chance that this kind of thought is a contradiction. Perhaps an Artificial Intelligence would need a body in order to be able to think!

And of course this also shows us the importance of engaging with infants and helping them to explore their environments.

Warrior Of Success  ~  Goal Crushing Warrior

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1. Physical down time
You work hard to grow and maintain your business. Trying to be superhuman will certainly take its toll if you allow it to. Give your body a break by taking in some R&R.

2. Mental down time
Your days are filled with busy, sometimes even hectic, day-to-day activities related to your business. If you don't allow yourself to get away from it once in a while, your peace of mind and general well-being will most definitely suffer. Get out and play. Your mind will thank you!

3. Spend time with loved ones
Your family and friends see you working, working, working, sometimes rarely coming up for air. Both you and they will appreciate spending some quality time together.

4. See the world (or your own back yard)
The important thing is to do something you enjoy, whether it's traveling or, if that's not your cup of tea or you don't have the budget for it, spend time at home. If you also work out of your home, this could be challenging. The key is to stay out of your office during your vacation time. Try getting creative with this. Make your office "off limits" by closing the door and placing a sign on it. Do whatever it takes to keep your mind off working. How about a hobby or a day trip to the beach? Think of what you can do within your budget that's fun. Or do nothing at all!

5. You have a life
Although this one is a no-brainer, it surprises me how many small business owners don't feel as if they deserve time off. There is too much to do, and not enough hours in the day to get it all done. Well, I've got news for you. It's always going to feel that way! Only you have the power to allow yourself time off. Even if you prefer only to take a day here and a day there instead of a week-long (or longer) vacation each year, that's a whole lot better than never taking time off. Trust me, you'll feel better about yourself and your work if you take regular vacation time. You'll be healthier, too!

To Your Massive Success!

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First: Our smile shows others people that we are friendly.
If a stranger approached you and gained eye contact with you and then treated you to a broad smile you will have a fairly good idea that they are being friendly and certainly mean you no harm.

By contrast we would find it far more difficult to offer trust to the stranger that wears a scowl or unfriendly face features.

Second: A smile can make people happy.
When someone treats you to a smile, even a stranger, you usually smile back. For that moment you enjoy a flash of positive communication without saying a word. As you walk through a crowed area such as a main street you can do this hundreds times in a very short period of time.

When you smile at someone who is not already smiling and they smile back you have brought a moment of happiness into their lives which, who knows, could last all day.

Third: Smiling is infectious.
When you spend a lot in the company of someone who smiles a lot you will soon discover that their smile starts to wear off on you. It is hard not to return a smile; most of us do it at a subliminal level without thinking.

Fourth: Smiling can make you popular.
Which type of people do you prefer? A person that has a tired and listless face. An expression that may reflect their inner thoughts of boredom and worry? Or, would you prefer someone who is always smiling and shows that they have an enthusiastic passion for life.

I think for the majority of us the choice would be obvious!

Fifth: Smiling can help you to make new friends
In the same way few of us would choice a miserable person for a friend. Lets face it we all want someone who is going to be bubbly and a happy and positive.

Sixth: A smile is usually returned
When someone smiles back at you it make you feel good inside. You have just made a short but very positive communication and possibly the first step in the process of getting to know or making friends with someone new.

Seventh: Smiling makes you positive and happy inside.
When you smile it is hard to feel unhappy, negative or sad in anyway. Smiling gives you enthusiasm and drive, it is also habit forming.

Eight: A smile makes you look far more attractive.
You don’t see many celebrities or media personalities that are not smiling because if you did it is fairly certain that their popularity would quickly start to drop!

Ninth: Smiling also helps make you memorable to others!
Have you noticed that smiling people are usually far more memorable than those that are not? It is fact that you are 3 time more likely to remember the person that is smiling over the one that is wearing a negative or neutral features.

Tenth: Most importantly, smiling is good for your health!!!
When you are smiling you find whatever you are doing far easier. It releases stress, worry and tension that you may have built up throughout the day. Long term, developing the smiling habit will be one of the smartest things that you can do to improve most aspects of your life.

Eleventh: The effects of smiling can last for hours
Whatever problems and challenges you have in your life, smiling temporary puts them on hold. For a while you forget the problems and become positive, and while you are in a positive state you have far more potential and power to advance and improve your life.

Lastly: Smiling is FREE!
You are never going to run short of smiles and will always have enough to go around. When you weigh up the positive points of smiling it is a no brainer decision to do far more smiling and share them with as many people as possible.

Keep smiling.

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How to Read Body Language – Non-Verbal Communication

Do you ever wonder what the person you are talking to is thinking? We think that we only communicate through words, but that is only a small part of the overall communication. Most of the non-verbal impressions that we get, we take in without even knowing it. Our subconscious mind will then act from that extra information, which we are not really consciously aware of. But you can learn to become much more aware of this non-verbal type of communication and learn how to interpret and read body language, which will allow you to know what people are thinking. This way you will always be a step ahead and therefore don’t have to believe everything people are telling you.

Body Posture

Leaned Back: A leaned back posture symbolizes relaxation and laziness. This type of posture is only appropriate in informal situations where the people around you are friends and family. If people sit like this to a meeting or interview, they may come across as childish and arrogant people, who do not like authority and therefore choose to sit the way they like.

Erect: An erect posture can look very confident and professional in formal situations such as meetings and interviews. But if this posture is used in informal situation the person may seem stiff and too serious. This person may have a difficult time relaxing. A good dominant posture is good, but if it is overdone the person can look a bit too tense instead of looking confident.

Leaning Forward: A posture where a person is leaning forward toward the person they are talking to is a very welcoming posture. Here the forward leaning person shows that they are listening and paying attention to what the other person is saying. This is a great posture to use if you have to come across as sympathetic and understanding.

Bend Posture: If a person has a bend posture with the shoulders down he will look shorter than he is. This body posture indicates insecurity and an attitude of being uninterested. This gives a very negative impression, as the person looks like he does not want to be where he is.

The Arms

Folded Arms: Folded arm can symbolized discomfort or dislike. But you have to pay attention to when the person uses this posture, as it can be a totally natural position for some people to do, especially women. So notice if the person switches to this posture when you say something they did not like to hear.

Open Arms: An open-arm posture is a welcoming position that allows the other person to come in and be a part of the conversation. Using your arms to symbolize openness and positively is something that will create a good conversation.

Arm Movements: Big arm movements are often used when we have to explain something and create a mental image to help illustrate our story. People who use big arm movements can seem energetic and enthusiastic but sometimes also a bit dominant as they take up a lot of space and want to be seen.

The Hands

Fingertips touching or finger at the mouth: If the person you have a conversation with holds his or her hands together while only letting the fingertips touch, this could indicate that the person is focused and is thinking. Placing a finger near the mouth in a calm and restful position can also symbolize a thoughtful or concentrated mind.

Unsettled hands: If you see someone constantly moving the hands or have to touch something while you are talking to them, it could illustrate that the person is nervous, as we have to use some of that extra energy we get when we are nervous. So if you notice someone playing around with their ring, bracelets, piece of paper, etc. he or she is probably very nervous if it is a stressful situation. If it is not a stressful situation but simply two friends talking, it does not have to symbolize discomfort but more relaxation, boredom or restlessness.

The Eyes

Dilating pupils: This is a great way to identify what or whom someone likes. If the pupils dilate during a conversation about someone or something, this shows that the person is very fond of the thought or person they are thinking about. So if you meet someone and notice that his or her pupils are dilated, and it is not caused by alcohol, the person may have a crush on you.

Real Laughter: If the person you are talking to get small wrinkles under the eyes while laughing often indicate that he or she is not faking the laugh. Shallow laughing will only show as a forced smile but will not affect the eyes in any way.

Blinking Eyes: Blinking eyes are often associated with lying. So if you ask the person you are talking to a difficult question and he or she starts to blink a lot, it could indicate that the person is lying, which is a good thing to be aware of.

The Feet

Feet pointing away: If the person you are talking to have positioned his or her feet pointing away from you, maybe towards the door, it indicates that the person want to go and end the conversation. This does not have to be a negative thing or because the person dislikes you, he or she could simply be in a hurry and therefore needs to get going. So don’t take it personally.

The Voice

High Voice: If a person suddenly changes from a normal tone to a very high pitch tone while answering a question, it may indicate that the person is lying, which causes people to automatically talk with a higher tone of voice.

So pay attention to the body language of people you are talking to and see how much you can interpret and read from that non-verbal language.

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Do you have your Success Team together?

Why you need an Success Team?

Your Success Team will help you improve your efforts and effectiveness toward your goals, time management, personal development and success in general.

Taking your A-Game and building your A-Team will help you in many ways. The benefits are tremendous.

1. You will free up so much time and make more decisions quickly.
2. You’ll streamline your days and feel unstoppable.
3. You will create that life of less stress and more peace of mind.
4. You will create that high energy life style that you need in this busy world.
5. You will learn, stretch, grow and contribute more in your life.
6. You will begin to grow your business or career to the next level.
7. You will enjoy your life at a much higher level.

Like most things the start will be the hardest part of building your A-Team. When you take a quick look around at your life you will see that you already have some of your A-Team in place.

The key will be to have people on your A-Team that you have rapport with and that you can trust. The people you place on the A-Team will be key people and will help you in successfully reaching many of your goals.

When you have key people that you can count on to exchange ideas, plans and money your A-Team will start to give you many benefits. The Law of Reciprocation in action.

Who should be on your A-Team?

Here is a list of key people that you need to have on your A-Team in no particular order.

• Mastermind Team -> This group of people will be critical to your A-Team.
• Your Professional Association Group.
• Doctors -> That you can count on.
• Lawyer -> That you can count on.
• Spouse -> Get this person on your team and you’re 90% successful.
• Mentors -> You will need to seek out the people that have the knowledge.
• Spiritual -> Teacher, Leader or Group that works for you.
• Physical -> Get people that like to be healthy on your A-Team.
• Co-workers/Employees
• Education -> Add people that will challenge you to grow and to think.
• Friends /Family -> No need to say much here…right?
• Mechanic -> Yes….the mechanic that you count on.
• Restaurants -> Why not? I have restaurants on my A-Team that treat me great.

Think about building your A-Team and the people you need on it. If you have a person on your A-Team who is not effective or efficient replace them now.

Lynn Lane

www.warriorofsuccess.com

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Knowing that we need to work on our strengths is a very important part of success but, do you know where that strength originates?

We are not created with all the strengths for success. We are conditioned by challenges we have in our life and we inherited some attitudes from our family and friends.

Here is the martial arts metaphor: In the movie Dragon : The Bruce Lee Story, Bruce’s Sifu (Teacher) Nip Man told Bruce that he must conquer his demons or he would pass them on down to his children.

You will gain strength through facing your own demons. Your demons are the fears we have that we must face and with the warrior attitude defeat, conquer then move above and beyond with renewed strength and confidence.

I remember when I was in school if I had to stand up and give an oral report or take a failing grade I would take the bad grade.

I faced that Demon later in my life and joined Toastmasters International and started to love being in front of a group of people and sharing the things that can inspire and motivate them to move toward their own success.

Think about of all the areas in your life that you gain strength from. Think about the challenges that made you stronger. What are some of the Demons you had to face?

Better question……What are some of the Demons you need to face, defeat, conquer and move beyond today?

Think about the challenges you have accepted that at the start you didn’t think you could conquer, but as you faced them you grew from it and now you are above and beyond it.

Why should we know where we gain strength from? Because, once you know this you can pay more attention to that area of your life and focus on building that strength.

When you find people, places and things that inspire or motivate you to go for your greatness and to work toward dreams that are hoped for….. you gather strength.

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Effective communication are a very important skill that is important for people of all ages to master which can help to improve both your personal and professional relationships. Communication skills are something which are sought after in the workplace and can improve your chances of landing that sought after position as well as improve the quality of your personal relationships. Learning to communicate in an effective and efficient manner can have a long lasting positive impact on all areas of your life.

One of the first things which is required to build strong communication skills is the art of listening and establishing a rapport with the other person. Many people commonly make the mistake of assuming that communicating correctly is simply voicing their own opinions, needs, wants and desires; this could not be further from the truth. In fact in order to effectively communicate you need to focus not only on the words you speak but really listening to what others have to say as well.

In order to truly understand what the other person is trying to communicate you must be quiet and actively listen to what the other person is saying. This will help you to truly understand the feelings and needs of others and learn the best way to approach the conversation in a way that is going to be productive for both of you. In order to learn to empathize or sympathize with another you must be able to really listen and understand the message which the other person is trying to convey. Once you learn to master this skill, all of your relationships will drastically improve as a result.

In the working environment learning to effectively communicate is a skill which is essential especially if you are in a managerial or team leader role in which you must communicate with others throughout the day. Not only will you be able to listen, understand and empathize with others you will also learn to better manage your own personal stress as well by learning how to effectively communicate your own needs in a way which allows you to be heard and understood. This will help you to become more assertive in both your professional and personal life and can help you learn how to achieve the effect which you desire.

Effective communication is not only about the words in which you or others speak. You also need to learn how body language plays a huge role in communication and can often tell a lot about the way in which someone is feeling. This may be the hardest part of communication to improve and master because our facial expressions and body movements such as hand movements and gestures can often contradict the words that we speak if not careful. You need to not only be mindful in what you say but also in the way in which your body language may be speaking for you. You want to make sure that your words and body language are not contradicting each other when communicating with others.

You will see a boost in positivity in your relationships in your personal relationships once you learn to effectively communicate your needs as well as listen and understand the needs of others. However, one area where you may really see a difference is in your professional life. Communication plays a huge role in almost every aspect of business relationships. Whether you are in a managerial position or simply one of a team of 20 you need to be able to effectively express yourself in order to help you to achieve the best results in a professional environment.

The workplace is often a stressful and demanding environment and because of this communication is crucial to your professional life. In your professional life you must build working relationships with clients, managers, coworkers, suppliers and a variety of other people who you interact with on a regular basis. Improving your communication skills can help you to develop positive working relationships with these individuals as well as gain the trust of others which is crucial. You want other people to trust you and know that you have tier best interest at heart. You can be sure that you express this through effective lines of communication which shows that you are listening and responding to their needs.

Do not underestimate the importance of learning how to communicate with others in a positive and effective way. You will be surprised by how much learning these simple skills can help to improve your relationships both personal and professional. Every day you are faced with situations where you must communicate your needs with others and it is vital that you are able to do this in a way that allows you to be understood and viewed as a caring and empathetic individual. Learn to listen to others, control your body language and expressions and voice your own needs clearly and you will be well on your way to improving all aspects of your life.

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A lot of people are getting into entrepreneurship but with a blurred perspective. They think all they need is passion and work ethic. Those people are in for a rough ride, unless they understand these five powerful truths.

You can either play it safe or become successful, but you can’t do both.

1. Failure is the only thing guaranteed. Michael Jordan, the epitome of success, has said "I have failed over and over again, but that’s why I succeed." How you respond to failure determines your success. Successful entrepreneurs are paid for their high tolerance for stress and pain.

Successful people see failure different than the majority. Stay loyal to yourself through failure. Instead of taking failure personally, use it to sharpen your perspective and strengthen your commitment. Most new entrepreneurs beat themselves up but, to gain the competitive advantage, you must leverage failure for even greater success.

Failure adds to your hunger and real hunger comes from tough times. Good luck finding hunger in the kids who have had everything given to them.

2. Habits trump inspiration. Inspiration is needed to create consistent action but your habits are ultimately going to define your success or failure.

It’s been said after seminars and conferences only 5 percent actually use what they’ve learned. Why? It’s because inspiration is short term, feels good in the moment, but doesn’t last past the activity producing it.

The biggest inspiration of all is seeing progress and results, which comes from new habits. When you begin the formation of a new habit, stick to it and see the lasting change in your new-found life. Great entrepreneurs focus on behavior and habits more than thought. Thinking is important, but doing is crucial.

3. Resourcefulness is the ultimate resource. The majority of people will say they don’t have the resources. This resource belief structure keeps most people from building the world-class businesses they are capable of.

The great entrepreneurs find a way to maximize whatever resources they have, as little as that may be.They don’t believe in limited resources because they understand the ultimate resources are the feelings and emotions that make them resourceful. Tony Robbins, the well known life coach and motivational speaker, says is perfectly. "Resourcefulness is the ultimate resource."

If you don’t have the money, but you are creative enough can you find the money? YES!  With enough determination and commitment can you make it work with little resources. The ultimate key is internal emotions.

4. Your circle of influence will make or break you. Leaving your mind open to the negative influence of other people is the most common weakness of new entrepreneurs. Poor choices of influence heads the top of the list of reasons most entrepreneurs quit prematurely.

To grow, learn and become the person who achieves big success requires an exceptional supporting network. Successful entrepreneurs surround themselves with a powerful circle of influence who guide, challenge and help them think bigger.

Success rises and falls on who you associate with. Stay aware of your surroundings. You can systematize a lot of things but time isn’t one of them, so make sure you’re spending it with the right people.

5. It’s not easy but it’s worth it. The bigger the goals, the bigger the challenges. The bigger the rewards, the tougher the journey.

If becoming an entrepreneur was easy, everybody would be doing it and it  wouldn’t be worth much. The moment you pursue entrepreneurship, obstacles will show up. They test your character and faith but let you see if you’re really serious about becoming an entrepreneur.

You must focus on  the rewards on the other side of struggle. Visualize how good it will feel being your own boss, controlling your schedule, inspiring others and creating financial freedom. Chaos is guaranteed when you strive for entrepreneurial greatness. It’s important you accept that instead of fighting  it. You’ll never know how strong you are until being strong is the only option you have.

Still want to be an entrepreneur? Good, I promise it’s worth it.

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