Are You Realizing Your Full Potential?

 

Sometimes, you may be getting the feeling that you are not realizing your best potential. You feel that there is so much more you can do… you should do… but it is just not happening. You get the feeling that life has cheated you, that you haven’t got the opportunities that others have got, that luck hasn’t favored you the way it has favored others, and it is because of all these reasons that you think that your life isn’t going the way it should.

 

One of the main reasons why you feel that you aren’t realizing your full potential is because you feel you are in the wrong place. Are you thinking that this job is lower than what you are capable of doing? Is there something out there that’s much bigger, and you are confident of doing? If there is something like that, then what’s stopping you? Maybe you should muster enough courage to make the shift. Go on and bring about the change… there is no one besides you who can create the shift.

 

There are some people who think in terms of education. They think that they could have studied more, improved their credentials a bit more, but there is something in their path that is stopping them. But, if you are confident that you can study for a particular thing that can turn your life for the better, do not let anything stop you. You should go ahead and try to enhance your qualifications in any way possible. That is the most important thing you should strive for.

 

When you improve your qualifications, you will find more opportunities knocking your way. And, when something comes your way, you should learn to be steadfast about it. Remember that a rolling stone gathers no moss. You have to make a firm resolve and then chase it through if you want to get where you want to go.

 

There is no one who realizes your potential as much as you do. It is, therefore, your responsibility to bring about any changes that you should. No one will give you opportunities on a platter. You have to make efforts for attaining them.

 

Think about it… what would have happened if the great scientists of today had just stayed in regular day jobs? Or if the great musicians we know of hadn’t mustered the courage to come out and be seen? Every great person has made the effort to become visible at some time or the other. And, these opportunities haven’t always come to them easily. Just like them, you too need to recognize them and chase them if you want your full potential to be realized.

Can You Increase the Time that Is Available to You?

A significant amount of the pressure in our lives can be reduced if we are just able to make more time available for the various activities that we have to do. Just think about a salesperson who has to sell 40 units of the product within a month. This is a pressure-inducing situation, definitely. Now, probably the salesperson is confident of selling those 40 units. However, the pressure is built up on account of the time factor. If more time was available to that person, wouldn’t they be more confident of fulfilling the task? That itself would remove the pressure.

 

As students, we always felt elated whenever any examination was postponed. Remember that feeling of extreme relief? Just a day’s extension would mean a lot. What would change in that day? We would still have to give the examination, but now we were confident that we would perform better because we would get more time to practice.

 

Time, certainly, means a lot to us. It helps you us get a better facility to practice, to use the resources that we have on hand.

 

But the question is—can we increase this time that is available to us?

 

The truth is that we can. We can, if we put in some efforts, do a better job. We can improve the time that is available to us and move on with our life in a better way.

 

One of the things we can do is to do everything on a timely basis. Procrastination is the thief of time. There are numerous times when we delay doing things just because we feel we can still do it later. However, unforeseen events may put a spanner in the works and we may not be able to accomplish what we set out to do.

 

This is quite a difficult situation to be in, as many of us who have not done our jobs on time may already be quite aware of.

 

There is another thing that can improve the time that is available to us. That is through prioritizing our work. All of us have several things to do at any instant… things relating to our personal lives, our professional lives, our social lives and so on. We need to learn to prioritize these tasks, putting those that are more important to be accomplished on top of the heap, followed by the lesser important ones.

 

We cannot change the quantity of time that we have. But we can certainly put more quality into the hours that we have. If we learn how to diligently use this resource, which has been equitably distributed to everyone on this planet, we will certainly be able to become more productive in our lives. 

Creating a Culture of Trust as a New Leader

It is usual for a new leader to take some time to create a unique leadership style, and to build trust in your leadership. Here are a few simple steps that will be useful in helping all staff with the inevitable new team dynamics that result from leadership changes.

 

When you first take on a leadership role, particularly if it is your first role, the emotions can range from excitement to dread and everything in between. You have prepared for the role and you have worked hard to achieve this success in your chosen career, but with responsibility comes accountability. 

 

As a new leader, you may feel like everyone is watching and judging your every action and commenting on your every decision. It is normal to feel vulnerable and to prefer to discover your own unique distinctive leadership style. Over time, you like your predecessors, can and will feel comfortable leadership role you find yourself in. There are steps you can take to assist this process. 

 

1.  Have a strong personal vision that is in harmony with the mission and strategic plan of the organization. The vision should be inspiring enough that it drives you even in the down times, to have a clear view of what you want your leadership to achieve for the good of the organization. 

 

2.  Proactively encourage a communication system within the organization that will ensure that dialogue happens from the top down as well as from the bottom up. Open communication is essential to the development of trust and transparency among all team members.

 

3.  Surround yourself with people who can be a support network, both within the organization and external to it. This network will provide you with advice and be a sounding board for the difficult decisions. 

 

4.  Prioritize the achievement of loyalty and trust with influential colleagues and other stakeholders to ensure their support as you evolve into your new role.

 

5.  Ensure you focus on small successes to increase staff confidence. Staff will potentially have their own uncertainties about the effect of changes in leadership. Strong and successful team dynamics that are rewarded will help bond the new long team together.

 

These things will take time to implement. You will not be able to change your company’s culture just like that, but at the same time, you have to remember that dedicated work and effort will always pay out as well. 

Creating a Positive Work Atmosphere for Your Employees

If you are a leader who handles a team of people, then it is your responsibility to build a positive work atmosphere for them. In today’s times, everyone has great expectations from the workplace that they are associated with. There is a lot of competition out there, and considering that, if you give your employees a better atmosphere to work in, you can definitely enhance the prospects of your business.

 

This works in more ways than you think. When your people are happier about working for you, then they will work better too. Your company’s productivity will increase and you will even improve in the customer service department because your employees will handle your customers in a better way. In fact, a positive work atmosphere permeates into every department of your organization and that can definitely bolster the chances of success of your business.

 

There are many things you can do to create a positive work atmosphere for your employees.

 

1.       Provide an atmosphere in which everyone can think creatively. You should always strive for this. When your employees are given the freedom to think, better ideas emerge and they could lead your business in the right direction. If you stifle them, then you will find a lowering of the potential of your business as well.

 

2.       Remove the element of fear. Your employees must not fear speaking out their minds, even to their superiors if needed. If such feedback is not provided or accepted, it can lead to stagnation within the company and that could be highly detrimental for the business.

 

3.       Improve communication lines. It is vital that the messages are passed on clearly from one department to the other in your company, and across different levels. There should be very less ambiguity about the intentions of the company—everything should be spelled out as clearly as it can.

 

4.       Give them the right incentives. These incentives need not be monetary all the time; sometimes a good word for a job well done is more than sufficient. A company in which appreciation is deservedly given out is a company that always moves in a progressive direction.

 

5.      Deal with your employees in a humane manner. If there is a problem, think of the human side of it as well. Do not impose on your employees like a boss all the time; there are various things that you might need to take into consideration.

 

These are some of the things that you have to think about when you try to provide your employees with a positive work environment. As a leader, that is your utmost responsibility; its accomplishment decides how good you are in your leadership pursuit. 

3 Skills You Must Learn!

We are all gifted with different kinds of skills. Some of these skills are needed for our basic survival, while others are meant to enhance our personalities in some way or the other. For instance, if you are skilled at singing and you are a professional singer, then this skill is necessary for your livelihood, your survival. However, we are not going to talk about these basic survival skills here. Life is so much more than just survival. If you want to improve your personality and your persona itself, then these are the skills you must try to be good at…

 

Remembering People’s Names, Place Names, Etc.

 

A good memory is a great gift, but if you don’t have that gift already, you need not despair. There are several ways in which you can enhance your memory. You can take the help of mnemonics or other memory aids or you can even take up a course to improve your memory. But, mark my words, this is a wonderful skill to have. If you are able to remember people’s names, then it can do so much for your reputation! When you suddenly meet someone on the street and you are able to recall who they are, it could mean a lot to them. They will take warmly to you, and who knows what opportunities that might lead to!

 

Reading People’s Minds

 

It is very important that you can read people’s minds. This is a great skill because when you know what’s going on in someone’s mind, you can react accordingly and you can actually plan things that can be helpful to you. For example, if a business prospect is on the verge of getting bored, and you read that on their face, then you can immediately do something—like give them an incentive—so that their interest is piqued up. You may save your business by being able to read people’s minds. It can help you save your relationship. There’s no telling how this habit can help you.

 

Ability to Recognize Talent

 

This is a skill that very few people are blessed with, but it can certainly be developed through experience. When you come across someone, this skill can help you assess their potential. You can ‘see’ what they will be capable of achieving, and that can help you immensely.

 

These three skills are vital for your personality. They won’t pay you directly, and you can survive without them, but if you have these skills, you will be able to do better in life in many respects. Work on them and see the difference! 

3 Ways to Deal with the Pressure in Your Life

Everyone around us has to deal with a great deal of pressure in their lives. We are all teeming under it… we are trying at every moment to do something better with our lives so that we do not have to face all these difficulties. But things often do not happen the way we want. Sometimes, untenable situations crop up in our lives and then we find that, try as hard as we might, we cannot really keep away from the pressure.

 

For really keeping the pressure away, you will need to implement a long-term planning. It is important for you to change the way you live itself. Most people today are suffering from chronic pressure. They feel pressure about something, and when that is past, there is something else soon that begins vying for their pressure. If this is happening to you, then you are a victim of chronic pressure as well.

 

The following are some ways in which you can deal with the chronic pressure in your life.

 

1.  Participate in sports. You will find that participating in sports is a highly relaxing thing, and the big bonus is that you keep fit as well. When you involve yourself in sports, you learn to focus your attention on the goal, and this helps you in the accomplishment of things in other areas of your life as well. Also, the fact that you are with people who you find fun to be with helps you a lot.

 

2.  Follow the passion in your life, your hobby. Everyone has some or the other kind of hobby. Most assuredly, you have some or the other hobby as well. Do not stuff this hobby somewhere, bring it out into the open. Get on with it. Whether your hobby is fishing, or collecting stamps, or cooking, you will find that pursuing it helps you relax your mind immensely and you find a change happening in the usual stressful life that you lead.

 

3.  Meditation is something that works too. You must have heard of methods such as Yoga and other therapies that are intended at freeing up the mind. You need to read more about them if you are a victim of chronic pressure. These methods help you to free up your mind… you can, in fact, control your mind. You can tune your mind to take as much pressure as it can handle, and no more.

 

Each of these ways can profoundly help you in controlling the pressure in your life. Do not neglect them… incorporate them in your life and see the difference for yourself, especially if continuous stress and pressure are problems with you. 

5 Benefits of Being Punctual

Punctuality is a virtue that we learn to incorporate in our lives from our earliest days. It is probably in school that most of us have had the first taste of what punctuality means. We had to reach school at a particular time every day, and every teacher would teach us for a particular amount of time each day and then make way for another teacher to enter. We also learned the importance of time when we had to face those examinations. Students learn how to count days in the most real sense when they start facing their first examinations!

 

These feelings are only reinforced in later life. Of all the virtues that we ever learn, punctuality is developed right at the start of our lives and stays on until the very end. Quite evidently, this is one of the most important virtues that we are supposed to have.

 

Here, we speak of how being punctual can be important to us in various areas of our lives:

 

1.  When we are punctual, we get an early start in whatever we are intending to do. Being early is being better prepared, and there is also the fact that we have more time on our hands. We make sure that we do not miss out on anything when we are punctual, and that definitely enhances the productiveness of whatever it is that we are intending to do.

 

2.  Punctuality is a much-appreciated virtue by others. If you have to meet other people, and you ensure that you are on time, then it is something that everyone really appreciates. No one likes to wait. Put yourself in the shoes of the person who has to wait for someone and you will understand!

 

3.  People who are punctual get more opportunities in life. Consider an example. Suppose that you have to go to a meeting and you are late. In that case, you will just have to go to the meeting and walk off. That doesn’t give you a lot of opportunity to meet people. But, if you were punctual, you could have probably got the chance to speak with people and who know what opportunities could have emerged from all those discussions?

 

4.  People trust you more as well. Your bosses will rely upon you more than others if you are always punctual.

 

5.  By being punctual, you develop an immense opinion of your own self-worth. You will be more contented with yourself. Most importantly, you will be able to put faith in yourself. This helps in improving your own self-esteem.

 

These are the ways in which punctuality can help you. Think about it… if you get all these benefits, your life could certainly make an important turn for the better. 

5 Things to Improve the Quality of Life

Everyone must know and realize the difference between ‘existing’ and ‘living’. When you exist, you merely breathe, eat, drink, sleep and do everything else that your instincts tell you to do. But, when you live, you are actually spending each moment in a qualitative manner. You are giving expression to your creativity, you are producing the best you can, and you are ensuring that you are giving back to your society and the world something in return.

 

Animals exist. Human beings need to live.

 

And, at every moment of our lives, we have to do things that can improve the quality of our lives. We have to pack more into the seconds, minutes and hours that we spend here. 

 

Here we shall talk about a few things that we must do to ameliorate the quality of our lives.

 

1.      Always keep learning. There is no age that limits learning. You can continue learning throughout your life, and we aren’t talking about just academic qualifications here. Learn about everything you can. If a new technique or technology has been introduced, learn about it. If your business has changed, keep updated. A learned person will always know of various ways in which they can improve their lives.

 

2.      Keep yourself informed and updated at all times. Be abreast of what is going on in the world. When you are informed, you become a good conversationalist also. You are better company for people, and you find that the quality of your time is improved.

 

3.      Have a passion in life and fulfill it. If you like in a monotonously mechanical manner, you will soon find that there is no motivation in your life. You will tend to give up on things. This should not happen. On the other hand, if you are passionate about something and follow upon it, you will find that your life is more enriched.

 

4.      Love your profession. Or, to put it differently, do not be in a profession that you hate. Whether it is a job or a business, you should love what you are doing. This can provide the highest qualitative enrichment of your life.

 

5.      Take up a meditation therapy. Meditation practices such as Yoga can help you to control your mind and you can realize the full potential of yourself. If you feel that there is more that you can do but are impaired in some way, then a good meditation technique can help you go closer to your potentials.

 

These are the ways in which you can strive to improve the quality of your life. Work them into your lifestyle and optimize your potentials. 

8 Ways to Create a Better Impression on People

If you are looking for ways in which you can create a positive impression on people, then here are some things that you can look out for. These are simple tricks and tips that can help you impress people in a better way.

 

1.  Work on your gait. The manner in which you approach people matters. Keep your shoulders upright and walk with a slight swagger. This makes people understand that you are a confident personality and they will like to be around you.

 

2.  Try developing a deep voice. Speak slowly, pronounce your words fully. Do not lisp. Do not hem and haw. All these are things that can help in creating that favorable impression on people.

 

3.  Smile when relevant. Do not over smile and do not be stingy with them either. Smile as much as is required, and if there is a joke, do give out a genuine laugh. You do not want people to think that you did not understand a joke.

 

4.  Wear some good perfume, not the cheap kind. Your perfume or deodorant should be unique if possible, not something that can be sensed on a hundred other bodies in the neighborhood.

 

5.    Wear elegant clothes but never overdress. Just wear what you are comfortable in. It does not matter whether what you are wearing is at the height of fashion at the moment or not. But you have to dress in a nice elegant manner that people will like to see.

 

6.  Be informed. A lot of people are impressed by people who can talk about things. When you are informed about things, you become a good conversationalist. So, acquire all kinds of information that you can, about diverse genres. It is good to have a wide playing field here, because there are so many people with so many different kinds of tastes and preferences. It would be ideal to learn for those people who are always moving around with others.

 

7.  Be friendly to others. Exchange a warm smile, a brief handshake or even a kiss if that is appropriate. Speak with everyone. 

 

8.  You should be able to help others when they are in need. However, it is always best to teach someone a profession rather than give them something directly. That means, it is always to give people some beneficial options rather than money itself. 

 

Try these things out. You will find that by implementing these methods, people begin looking upon you in a more favorable manner.

A Few Steps to Self-Improvement

In life, there are some things that people are always chasing after but never fully achieve them. It is like chasing one’s own shadow. These are the likes of wealth satisfaction and perfect stress-free lives. Achieving them is next to impossible but improving on them is within one’s reach, depending on how determined one is. This is where self-improvement comes in. General self-improvement is quite vital in our lives. There are a lot of simple things we can improve in and make our lives better. Skills, natural abilities, aspirations and dreams; these are just but a few. If we are to effectively improve our selves, there are some particular steps that we should follow. 

 

First and foremost, try and grade yourself. This means accessing your traits and behaviors. Know your weak and strong points. One can use a formula known as S.W.O.T when doing this. This stands for strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. Jot down these items on a piece of paper and list them down based on your life and how you live it. Remember your past experiences and reactions; let them help you come down with a complete and sincere list. This way, you will know where an improvement is needed. 

 

Secondly, accept the results of the assessments. Do not be in denial! If you find that you are easily angered, accept it and start thinking of ways to improve on that. Do not start looking for excuses and scapegoats. I know most of us find it difficult to accept that we are on the wrong. This is perfectly normal for human beings; it is how we are. Nevertheless, the best thing to do is to overcome it.

 

After you accept that, you are on the wrong, build up a positive mentality inside you. There is no wrong in the face of the world that cannot be corrected. All it takes is accepting that you are wrong and showing determination to correct it. Actually, a positive mentality is the key to self-improvement. People tend to give up hope while in the process claiming that they are way past correction. One thing that they never remember is that nobody is perfect. If there was, he or she would have been a superhero. Keep on keeping on, do not give up! However, do not overdo it. This never ends up well. Live your ordinary life but in an improved manner.