10 Habits Successful People Give Up to Increase Their Productivity

What are you willing to do in order to reach success? It is common among people these days to be average and not stand out too much. But those who are successful do not fall under this category.

In order to stay on top of your game and reach the level of success you want, you need to follow a certain set of self-induced rules. Success is not something that happens by accident; if you want it bad enough, you will get it. Learn the habits that successful people have given up in order to reach their own success.

1. They don’t work in their comfort zone.

What is your comfort zone? Your comfort zone is defined as “A psychological state in which a person feels familiar, at ease, in control, and experiences low anxiety.” When you get outside of your comfort zone, it doesn’t mean that you should strive for a constant state of anxiety and stress. It simply means that, in order to grow, you should try new things and expand your horizons.

The reason we are comfortable in our comfort zone is because we are not taking risks when we are in this state. When we live in our comfort zones, we are living life like hamsters on a wheel, going around and around in a constant cycle, but going nowhere in our lives.

Famous motivational speaker, Les Brown, said it best with, “If you put yourself in a position where you have to stretch outside your comfort zone, then you are forced to expand your consciousness.”

2. They don’t do without first learning.

Learning is what we do best. The greatest thing about learning is the benefit that we receive in all aspects of our lives. Successful people strive to continue learning new things and expanding on things that they already know.

If we stop learning, then the only thing we can do is settle with what we already know; if we settle for that, then there is no way to expand our minds. Expansion is essential on the path to success. Since our minds require learning for expansion, we must never stop seeking new knowledge.

Imagine what would have happened if Bill Gates stopped learning and growing. The internet would be much more primitive than it is today. But because he followed his dreams and continued growing, he founded one of the biggest companies in the world and it is still flourishing and growing today.

3. They don’t fear asking for advice.

Richard Branson, a famous entrepreneur, stated, “When you need to make hard decisions, being able to discuss your ideas with entrepreneurs and business leaders who have solved similar problems can make all the difference.”

Asking for advice is not always easy. We think that we have the same opportunity as everyone else and sometimes feel insecure and dependent, so we decide not to ask for advice, and try to figure it out ourselves. But this could be greatly limiting us from reaching our full potential, because the advice we might be seeking could be something that somebody knows very well.

4. They don’t get lost in the small details.

When life gives us seemingly endless opportunities, it is very easy to get lost in the small details. The small details are very easy for us to become focused on, thus causing us to miss out on the overall vision, also known as the “big picture”.

Focusing too much on the smaller details constricts your ability to see how everything ties together. Much of our lives hinge upon the connections that we make with others and with ourselves. If we get lost in the small detail, it is like having missing pieces to a puzzle. How are we supposed to solve that?

Imagine what would have happened if Henry Ford only saw the small details. When building the company that Ford is today, he knew that he must do something different if his company was to succeed. After many people told him it couldn’t be done, his company continued improving upon the smaller details until they got it right.

Henry Ford didn’t focus too much on the small details, which were the hundreds of times he failed; he saw the overall goal and knew that it could be accomplished. It required seeing the bigger picture to make it happen.

5. They don’t multitask.

Multitasking is typically viewed as a skill that only certain people possess. But truth be told, nobody actually has the ability to multitask. Multitasking is known to actually decrease productivity. Those who are successful focus on one specific task and do that task to the best of their ability without interruption.

When you multitask, you limit your ability to fully focus on one specific task at a time. Successful people utilize the talents and abilities that they have by focusing it on one task and one task only.

Emma Watson said, “I just dropped my iPhone in my soup. I think it might be time to tone down the multitasking..” This demonstrates how destructive multitasking is highlighting the fact that when we multitask, we are greatly limiting ourselves.

6. They don’t lie to themselves.

Lying to yourself is one of the easiest things for you to do. It is much more difficult to accept the problems that we have without make excuses for them. Successful people understand that we will encounter problems, both internally and externally.

But it is important to accept the problems that reside in our lives, rather than not dealing with them and lying to ourselves about them.

As Steve Maraboli said, “Stop lying to yourself. When we deny our own truth, we deny our own potential.”

7. They don’t procrastinate in asking for feedback.

Feedback is important, because it gives you a different perspective on your current situation. Sometimes you are not able to see the answer that is right in front of you. But when someone gives you feedback, it allows you to see something from the perspective of someone else.

If you procrastinate asking someone for feedback, you are missing out on time that could be put towards accomplishing your dreams. The longer you wait, the harder it is to utilize advice that others can give you.

“I think It’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you´re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better,” entrepreneur Elon Musk once said.

8. They don’t follow, they lead.

You have probably heard the phrase “lead, follow or get out of the way.” There are two types of people in this world: leaders and followers. The ones who are successful are the ones who are leading the pack.

Successful people are not successful because they got there by chance. They did not follow somebody to the finish line. They paved their own path in life to get where they needed to be.

Just as the great Robert Frost stated, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”

9. They don’t let the past dictate their future.

The past is something that we will never change, nor should we want to change it; because without it, we would not have learned the lessons we needed to learn. Therefore, we would wind up making the same mistakes over and over again until we learned the lesson that life is trying to teach us.

At one time, businessman Shahid Khan washed dishes for $1.20 an hour. His humble background did not prevent him from thinking bigger though. With a net worth of $3.8 billion dollars, he now owns Flex-N-Gate, one of the largest private companies in the U.S., the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, and Premier League soccer club Fulham.

10. They don’t hang around negative people.

Negative people are very destructive to be around when it comes to achieving success, because there are so many situations that life throws at us and causes us to get down on ourselves or our situation. But some people like to focus on this aspect of life the majority of the time.

When you are around negative people enough, you start to see things negatively and you begin to lose sight of your dream. Success is more about mindset than anything, and if you always have a negative mindset, life will reward you with negative outcomes to deal with.

Joel Olsteen once said, “You cannot expect to live a positive life if you hang with negative people.” So if you wish you be successful, don’t focus on the negativity that others bring.

To be successful requires focus and determination. It seems that every successful person follows similar patterns. Therefore, it’s easy to see why they are where they are. They knew what they had to do in order to achieve their dreams and they didn’t let anyone or anything stop them from getting there.

You have the power in yourself to become one of those successful people you admire and look up to.

7 Reasons Why “C” Students Will Be The Most Successful People In World

There is a common opinion that if you study hard and graduate with an “A diploma,” it will guarantee you will find a great job that pays well. Unfortunately, the reality is different. Although, most positions require you to have a diploma, no one will look through your grades. When you graduate, the only thing that matters is your knowledge and the ability to operate within the system.

So why is it that students that you could barely get their “C” at the end of a semester manage to become super successful? Let’s look through 7 reasons why “C” students will be the most successful people in the world.

1. They understand what they want earlier than others 

“C” students don’t spend much time on the unnecessary classes we all have to.

If you are trying to become a technician, you obviously don’t need to write a hundred of annoying essays about culture and your summer experience.

They stop taking the required classes and focus on vocation-related subjects that can help them during their work. World famous innovator and entrepreneur Steve Jobs never finished college and made it to the top of IT industry only because he was focused on doing what he liked. During his famous speech to Stanford graduates he emphasized that “The only way to succeed, is to love what you do. Keep looking, don’t settle”.

2. They get first-hand experience.

Most “C” students start working earlier than their peers, which lowers their marks as they have to skip classes to make a living. At the same time, they get priceless experience every “A+” graduate is missing. And we all know that you are less likely to be hired without actual experience.

3. They build networks.

While “A” students are stuck learning unnecessary subjects, C students read tons of useful literature and communicate with dozens people every day. In real life, knowing powerful people as well as the ability to communicate can make a difference in your career.

4. They know how to enjoy life.

When in college, they visit parties and come to the lessons a little bit hangover, nevertheless, they enjoy their life. Same happens when they start working. Plain and simple: happy people are more successful than those who are not. It happens because they are fun to be around, proactive team players who will cheer up the entire team, which is one of the best skills your boss can look for. Stressful, negative people, no matter how intelligent they are won’t be in the top list of candidates.

5. They find the simplest solutions.

Billionaire computer specialist Bill Gates is one of the many successful people who cannot show off with their college marks. Nevertheless, he managed to get to the top by building Microsoft, one of the giant IT corporations. Bill Gates is very open-minded and unlike others, he never looks at grades or even diploma. Moreover, he thinks it is important to think outside-the-box. One of his famous quotes: “I will always choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because he will find an easy way to do it”.

6. They follow their dreams.

Much of success comes from loving what you do. When you enter college you are very young and might not understand what you actually need.

That’s why it is important to understand that you are not obliged to follow the choice you made when you were 18 or worse, if your parents made it for you. Look at the youngest female billionaire Elizabeth Holmes, who is revolutionizing medicine. She dropped out of Stanford, one of the most prestigious colleges to follow her dreams. Another great example is all-known fun-lover Richard Branson, he dropped our school at the age of 15, now he is managing a giant air company “Virgin.”

7. They understand what it is to struggle.

Success requires emotional intelligence, perseverance, passion and, most importantly, the ability to overcome failure. In business as well as in life, you will go through ups and downs no matter what grades you had in college. “C” students become more successful because they know what it means to struggle, starting with passing an exam and ending with finding money to start their own business.

At the end of the day, grades are just numbers. True achievement is to become someone in a real world. And, if you graduated from college with lower grades, don’t despair. Real life and real lessons occur when you leave the classroom.

Set a goal for yourself

"Life is hard at times. But when I overcome more challenges, I become much stronger then. So I’m going to embrace them."

Science Says People Who Talk To Themselves Are Geniuses

I talk a lot to myself. It helps me to keep my concentration on the activity on hand, makes me focus more on my studies, and gives me some pretty brilliant ideas while chattering to myself; more importantly, I produce better works. For example, right now, as I am typing, I am constantly mumbling to myself. Do you talk to yourself? Don’t get embarrassed admitting it because science has discovered that those who talk to themselves are actually geniuses… and not crazy!

Research Background

Psychologist-researcher Gary Lupyan conducted an experiment where 20 volunteers were shown objects, in a supermarket, and were asked to remember them. Half of them were told to repeat the objects, for example, banana, and the other half remained silent. In the end, the result shown that self-directed speech aided people to find the objects faster, by 50 to 100 milliseconds, compared to the silent ones.

“I’ll often mutter to myself when searching for something in the refrigerator or the supermarket shelves,” said Gary Lupyan. This personal experience actually made him conduct this experiment. Lupyan, together with another psychologist, Daniel Swigley, came up with the outcomes that those to talk to oneself are geniuses. Here are the reasons:

It stimulates your memory

When you are talking to yourself, your sensory mechanism gets activated. It gets easier on your memory since you can visualise the word, and you can act accordingly.

It helps stay focused

When you are saying it loud, you stay focused on your task, and it helps you recognise that stuff immediately. Of course, this only helps if you know what the object you are searching looks like. For example, a banana is yellow in colour, and you know how a banana looks like. So when you are saying it loud, your brain immediately pictures the image on your mind. But if you don’t know what banana looks like, then there is no effect of saying it loud.

It helps you clarify your thoughts

Every one of us tends to have various types of thoughts. Most make sense, while the others don’t. Suppose you are furious at someone and you feel like killing that person. Now for this issue you won’t run to a therapist, will you? No, what you do is lock yourself in a room and mutter to yourself. You are letting go off the anger by talking to yourself, the pros and cons of killing that person, and eventually you calm down. This is a silly thought that you have and are unable to share it with any other person. Psychologist Linda Sapadin said, “It helps you clarify your thoughts, tend to what’s important and firm up any decisions you are contemplating.”

7 Hobbies Science Says Will Make Your Brain Works Smarter And Faster

All parts of our body age. And our brain does too. We’ve all witnessed the natural deterioration of brain functions in older relatives. Unfortunately, they lose their short-term memories and they gradually lose the executive functions, as the right frontal lobe loses gray matter and gets “mushy.” Even without the dreaded Alzheimer’s, our brains just age.

Now the question is how can I make my brain work faster and smarter? How can I improve my thinking faculty?

Neuroscience tells us that we can delay this process. In some instances, we can reverse brain deterioration by engaging in some pretty specific activities, most of which we would consider hobbies. Here are 7 of them.

1. Read Anything

Brain researchers tell us that reading actually increases brain functionality in several areas. It stimulates the growth of new neural pathways as we absorb new information. Reading flexes those parts of the brain that deal with problem-solving, seeing patterns, and interpreting what others are saying to us about their feelings. It also improves memory, builds on prior learning (more neural connections), and exercises parts of the brain that allow imagination. Some research also points to speed reading as a method to increase synapses (electrical connections between regions of the brain), since the brains must process sensory information quickly. Indeed, for many students, speed reading is a valuable skill.

2. Learn to Play a Musical Instrument

For a long time now, many scientists have conducted research on the benefits of music instruction for children relative to improved cognitive functions – memory, problem-solving, sequential processing, and pattern recognition. Playing an instrument (the voice is also an instrument), increases the gray matter volume and makes neural connections between the two hemispheres of the brain. Due to this, scientists believe that early musical training allows students to do better in both linear math work (algorithms, equation solving) and mathematical problem-solving (modeling, optimization, problem research). Playing an instrument ensures both sides of the brain work together much better.

Now, researchers tell us that taking up a musical instrument as an adult – young, middle-aged, or older – can produce the same neurological effects as it does in children.

3. Exercise on a Regular Basis

Exercise produces a protein in the blood stream. As blood travels through the brain, cells absorb this protein, which is responsible for both increased memory and focus. One of the most notable experiments was a photo memory test given to experimental and control groups. The experimental group exercised before the test, while the control group did not. The experimental group’s test results were overwhelmingly better. Members were able to focus on the photos and then recall them after a period of waiting.

4. Learn a New Language

Several areas of the brain are used as we take in sound, give it meaning, and then respond to it. Bilingual people have more gray matter in their language centres. They can focus on more than one task at a time because parts of the brain that relate to reasoning, planning, and memory are more developed. Again, scientists began to study this in children first, looking at those in whose households a foreign language was spoken, but in whose schools only English was spoken. Being forced to take in sounds from two different languages and “sort out” which language was being heard forced these areas of the brain into greater functioning. Now, it is also known that learning a language at any stage in one’s life has the same forceful effect on the brain making it smarter.

5. Engage in Cumulative Learning

Cumulative learning is defined as that process by which we take what we already know and layer new information of the same type on top of that. For example, math is cumulative learning; children first learn basic functions. Then they learn how to use those basic functions to solve word problems. Next, they learn algebra, using basic functions to solve equations. Every layer goes on top of what was learned before. As we age, and especially as we leave the workforce, we tend to cease cumulative learning activities. However, research says if we continue to engage in them we sharpen memory, sequential ordering, problem solving (executive functioning of right frontal lobe), and language. Maybe we should all take a math or writing class in our senior years!

6. Exercise Your Brain with Puzzles and Games

We need to think of our brains as both computers and muscles. The more information we put into our brains, the more functions they can perform. Likewise, the more we exercise our brains, the stronger they function. Brain plasticity is a term that is used to refer to the continually new connections that are made when we take in information, engage in thinking, and force ourselves to remember things. Crossword puzzles, deductive thinking activities, and strategic games such as chess or even some video games, force our brains to take in new information and make new connections.

7. Meditate / Practice Yoga

Meditation is no longer something that can be thought of as “that thing that Hindu and Buddhist monks do.” What research says about meditation is actually pretty astounding. First, it allows better control of one’s thinking when not in a meditative state. This control allows focus, concentration, and better memory. In fact, students who meditate do better on tests, and adults who meditate have better memories. Meditation increases gray matter in areas of the brain that control learning and memory. Senior citizens who meditate keep more gray matter than those who do not. For students with behavior problems in school, meditation has been shown to improve behavior and school attendance because it reduces stress and anxiety. It would appear that meditation is a great thing for all ages.

All of these hobbies are things that we can easily incorporate into our daily lives. Given what science now tells us, they will keep our brains wonderfully healthy.

A List Of Non-Sense You Say That Make You Instantly Unprofessional

While the old adage, “Actions speak louder than words,” may have some definite truth to it, there are some words and phrases that career-minded, successful people say every day. On the other side of the proverbial coin, there are also some things that unprofessional, unsuccessful people tend to spout off. Sometimes, they are not even aware that they are doing it. So many of these phrases have become social norms, making it difficult to break the habit of using them in your daily conversations. Unfortunately, they are doing more harm than good.

When it comes to their staff, managers and other employers only want the best employees working for them. As an employee, you represent the company. As an independent contractor, business owner, or freelancer, you represent your own brand. How you come across is just as important as the quality of your work. Sounding unprofessional reflects poorly on you, on your brand, and on your company. This, in turn, adversely affects your reputation.

To make sure you aren’t letting these unprofessional statements slip while in your place of work, below is a comprehensive list of syllogistic sayings that you may not even realize you are using. These unprofessional quotes are quite common, and range from petty to whiny, to just downright rude. No matter the tone they convey, or the context in which they are said, all of them should be avoided. Since coming across as unprofessional is a definite “no-no” in a place of work, it is best to avoid using any of the following 51 phrases.

Take pride in your brand, and keep your employer or clients happy, by keeping these phrases out of your repertoire:

1.      “I’m not feeling well enough. “

2.    “I’m just doing what you told me to do.”

3.    “That was my idea!”

4.    “No problem.”

5.     “I’m a guru.”

6.    “I know you have to go, but let me just tell you one more thing.”

7.     “It’s our policy.”

8.    “Look what I bought!”

9.    “I thought of that first!”

10.           “Absolutely.”

11.  “I’ll start tomorrow.”

12.“Sorry (not sorry).”

13.“Sorry, I forgot.”

14.“Sorry I’m late.”

15. “I don’t know why they asked me…”

16. “Full disclosure… “

17. “I’m so hung-over.”

18.“We’ve always done it this way.”

19.“I assume…”

20.          “Because I’m the boss.”

21.“Look how much I saved!”

22.          “I’m overwhelmed!”

23.          “I’m kind of a big deal.”

24.          “What will it take to get you to buy?” (“…to get you in this car today”, “…to get you to sign up”, etc.)

25.           “It’s probably not very good.”

26.          “You’re so smart!” (Any form of sucking up is unprofessional.)

27.           “It’s not fair!”

28.          “That’s just how it is.”

29.          “It’s none of your business.”

30.          “Why?” (as opposed to “Why not?”)

31.“Before you say that, let me just say… “

32.          “That’s not my job.”

33.          “Sucker.”

34.          “We’ve got big plans!”

35.           “They’ll never notice.”

36.          “I can’t forgive.”

37.           “That’s nothing.”

38.          “Let’s go along in order to get along.”

39.          “That’s too hard.”

40.          “I already know that.”

41.“You must have read into things.”

42.          “I could’ve done it better.”

43.          “I’m not impressed.”

44.          “That’s a stupid idea.”

45.           “Information is a commodity.”

46.          “It’ll be OK.”

47.           “You wouldn’t understand.”

48.          “Know your place.”

49.          “Could be… “

50.          “I’m not afraid.”

51. “That’s my secret.”

You would not want to be seen slacking off, wearing an inappropriate outfit in the office, or doing a poor job. Why? Because doing those things make you seem unprofessional. This holds true for everything you say in your place of employment, just as much as it does for your behavior. Your employer judges you by both, and so do your customers and/or clients. As such, it’s best to avoid saying this list of phrases that make you seem anything less than the professional you wish to be seen as.