When I was growing up things seemed so much simpler than they are today. Life was a lot less hectic back then. The world moved at a slower pace and the things that bothered us back then paled in comparison to the issues that trouble us today. You know what I mean, don’t you?
I can remember when my good friend Tony Rondinelli was the first in town to get a cell phone. It was about the size of a brick and he had to lug around a battery pack with it that was twice that size. But today nearly everyone has a cell phone that weighs only a few ounces. Even computer notebooks and mini-notebooks can be easily carted around to give you on-the-spot access to the world (and the world on-the-spot access to you).

But modern technology is a paradox. It promises to make life simpler for us, but before you know it, it has actually added more stress and obligations to our lives because people now expect us to work faster and produce more. When more is expected of us we tend to get more and more frustrated. Life is not always easier just because of modern technology, is it?

We feel the ever-present pressure of others expecting us to be the best at what we do. I even see this in some parents that go overboard in expecting so much from their children. It’s great to challenge your children to achieve their best, but it’s all too easy to take this the extreme. As traumatic as this pressure can be for children, we adults are going through something even more troublesome. To be anything other that the world’s perception of the best is sometimes just not good enough for some people. When someone else does is better than us, we fall into despair and feel as though we have somehow failed.  But this is complete and utter nonsense. We must start to break away from this ridiculous notion once and for all.

Challenge: Break Away From the Demands of Others

Today I want to challenge you to take a few steps back and break away from the competition we unwittingly impose on ourselves.

Winning is great but it isn’t everything. I want you to begin to relax again and give yourself permission to be happy with doing the best you can—that is everything! If you feel the need to compete there is only one worthy competitor out there. It is YOU! It’s OK to just honestly do your best and not worry about what others think about your results. No matter what you accomplish, it will never be enough for some people.

Peak Performance Comes From Within

Rather than always being the best in the eyes of others you should learn look within to focus on your personal peak performance. Each day brings with it a new opportunity to achieve peak performance and YOUR personal excellence. In my opinion being the best is an accolade only you can place upon yourself.

Life’s expectations can sometimes cause us to react by to pushing ourselves way too hard. We all need to stop for a moment and ask ourselves what is it that we really want to accomplish. By all means go out and achieve everything you can in life—but do it for you and on your schedule—not because of the demands of others in this high tech, speed driven modern word.

Peter Loughlin

In today’s economy we see entrepreneurs going under and employees losing their jobs more and more.  If you’re an employee, you need to increase your performance at work just to prove your value to the company. You need to make the boss see that you are an important component part of the business. If you’re the business owner, you need to operate at peak performance too or risk being washed aside by your competitors.

But don’t despair, there are a lot of things you can do to help you stand out from the crowd. You can easily become a valuable asset if you just know how to play your cards right. Now not the time to be shy, it is the moment stand out and cast the spotlight on your God-given skills and talents.

Its never too late to be a peak performer

Look, if you’ve disappointed the people around you too many times,  I realize that it may be an uphill battle to recover from their negative perception of you. I mean the boss, customers, etc. may have this preconceived notion of who you are, and any spurt of new efforts may be misconstrued as an ploy or even seen as a sheer act of desperation. But if you are consistent with your efforts, people will see that you are serious.

Your being sincere and genuine will have the effect of recharging your energy and jump start to your career or business. Play off your strengths and be confident with who you are and what you can do. Everyone will respect you for your new found confidence and energy.

Start doing something today

Carpe Diem!  Seize each day’s possibilities. Don’t let your fears prevent you from proving yourself.  Look for opportunities to volunteer and make sure that you go through the process with care. Take stock of your strengths so you know where you can best accomplish something worthwhile.

Be aware that success rarely comes easy you need to hang in there for the long haul. Peak performance means having the winner’s attitude — winners don’t give up at the first obstacle in their path to success. There is always a solution, all you need to do is be patient. Look for it and you will find it.

Don’t wait for better days to come to you you need to act today. Go beyond what is expected of you and be willing to take risks and initiate innovative ideas.

What have you done to create positive change in your job or business? Please share your experience.

Peter Loughlin

Productivity Isn’t In the Number of Hours

When you think of hard work, you immediately assume that you need to put in a lot of hours. Though this may be true for many cases, you can be just as productive even if you don’t work as long. What is needed here is strategy and some careful planning. After all, when people measure your level of success, they base it on how much you’ve achieved, not the time you put in. You might also have this mistaken notion that you are on the road to success simply because you have worked longer than most of your colleagues.

Let’s set the record straight: it’s not about the number of hours you put in for work. It’s all about the outcome you generate. You can accomplish so much in so little time if you plan your day right. Some people just work faster than the others and are able to produce the same results. How did they do it? First, they think of ways to save time. They don’t immediately assume that they can go farther just because they stay up ‘til late in the evening even when others have gone home and punched out their timecard.

If you belong at the bottom of the pyramid and have so many bosses to report to, you immediately think that working hours will impress your boss. When you look at it, you are actually costing the company more money with the resources you’ll use. The electric bills and overtime pay are extra expenses you are making. Who impresses the management more? The guy who produces the same results within the given time or the employee who labors until the early hours of the morning? If your boss is smart, he will more likely look at the output of your efforts.

If you work less hours and can still meet your deadline, you’re more likely to impress the people above the chain of command. You’re saving yourself the time while the company from extra expenses. Aside from that, you will also have more time to spare for the things you love doing. You will also have time to relax and recharge your batteries. What it all boils down to is your ability to do things efficiently with just the proper time management.

Tailor your own schedule and make sure that you follow it. If you have finished your work early and still have time to spare, it is prudent to move on to the next project even before it is due. This helps you in case of emergency. You won’t feel as if work has piled up simply because you planned ahead.

Plan out your days spent in the office and make sure that you use the time available wisely. There’s a time for everything, and when you are at work, try not to waste the precious hours. This gives you a chance to just let lose the moment you step out of the building. Take time to manage your schedule. Otherwise, your busy schedule will take over the different areas in your life.

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What do you do to stay productive?

Get to Work and Stop Procrastinating

There are just people who don’t do well at managing their time. Things seem to pile up, and they have a hard time juggling their responsibilities. The main reason for the mess they are in is procrastination. They seem to just find excuses to delay work until tomorrow. As if that ever happens to a habitual procrastinator! They just move and move their work further until they don’t get anything done. If you see that you are this kind of person, you can finally untangle the web you’ve woven if you become more responsible.

Personal growth is impossible without productive work. You just won’t amount to much if you refuse to sweat it out a bit. Is it possible to beat laziness? The answer is a big resounding yes! You need to live a life of passion. If you like what you do, you are able to make yourself work more. Could it be that you’re not enjoying your work? This could, after all, explain why you are extremely lazy. You need to get yourself out of the rut and change your life. A possible career shift should be foremost on your mind. Otherwise, you won’t be able to fulfill anything if your heart is not fully in it. Then, you need to motivate yourself to organize your life. It is important to always have a goal in mind. Once you’ve finally convinced yourself to work towards the goal, you need to make specific plans and a schedule.

You need some order so that everything comes into clarity. If you need a journal to help you, then make one and make sure you write in it regularly. For someone who procrastinates often, you need a deadline so that you have reason to work now. Every time a deadline is met, give yourself a chance to reap the rewards. Work is easier to do when you have something to look forward to.

The road to success may not always be easy. Hurdles will get in the way, but it’s easier to know that you can look forward to something at the end of every task. If you give up, you will never know how much you can amount to, and this could even be a greater mistake. You must never get ahead of yourself or you’ll only overwhelm your emotions and thoughts. It helps to get each task materialized so that you can work on it step by step. If you need to take baby steps to succeed, then do so, but don’t ever stop.  When it comes to time management, you need to know the value of focus. Do not try to do everything at once.

Some people just refuse to get motivated, and they will make any excuse to get out of it. These people will never amount to much. Rest assured, they will live a life filled with regret. The reality is, people are often motivated to do things that they like to do. Knowing how your life can be like is good motivation. Just remember, with hard work, not only will you be comfortable, you’ll also be the kind of person people admire and respect.

Simple Steps to Controlling Your Mind

How can you control your thoughts? If you find it hard to stop yourself from thinking about something, then this is an extremely difficult task to do. You can constantly tell yourself to stop acting on a thought, but to actually stop thinking about something, now that’s another story altogether. Your thoughts are more powerful than you’ll know. When you constantly think about something, you’re veering your life towards that direction. You pattern your actions according to what is on your mind. Therefore, if you constantly have a negative attitude towards everything, you’ll end up being known as the person with a dour disposition. Not a pleasant thought now, is it?

The skill of being able to control your mind is simply an act of constant practice. Much like your health, you frequently need exercise to attain your ideal weight. This is not something that can be done overnight. After all, it requires a change of your outlook in life and a readjustment of your personality. Whenever an unwanted thought comes to your mind, simply stop yourself from thinking about it any further. Then, you have to shift your focus elsewhere. Watching television or reading a book helps greatly especially if you need to stop it immediately. Some people believe that making oneself tired from thinking about an unwanted thought helps a lot in kicking the habit. What this means is that you have to come up with a mode of punishment every single time you do something that goes against your ultimate goal. Try this, whenever you find yourself thinking about something unpleasant, mark it on a piece of paper. Mount the paper on a wall and go to it every time you break your word. You’ll soon find it a great inconvenience whenever you have to stand up, walk over to that piece of paper to mark it. This, of course, is not an easy task, but it will give you the extra boost you’ll need to actually make an effort.

Remember, all your problems last only as long as you allow them. Yes, getting rid of your negative thoughts requires a lot of patience, but if you actually make the effort to change your way of thinking, you’ll soon find yourself being the master of your thoughts and of your emotions. Many of the successful people have done this. In fact, they have attained their goals in life simply because they were able to shift their focus to something more productive.

So, take control of your mind. Stop focusing and dwelling on your problems and on the pain that others have inflicted on you. It’s time to love yourself above all else and acknowledge where you are in your life at this very moment. Refuse to think about the past and plan for your future. After all, your future is what you make of it. As long as you go through things with a positive thought in your mind, your future can be as happy as you want it to be. You are who you think you are and you will be who you will yourself to be. Think about it!

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Peter Loughlin

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When you feel the intensity of a situation and react with anger, you reach your breaking point. You break down, your energy is dissipated, and you become mentally and physically exhausted. Staying upbeat and positive, despite problems, is very difficult to do. You usually end up shifting your focus to the things that pull you down. In the end, you sulk and mope around, wishing that you were elsewhere. If everything you see on TV were real, you simply have to bring yourself to Shambhala, a place of sheer enjoyment and pure pleasure. But what good is this when you know you can’t find this place anywhere on the map? It’s not even in Tibet where the myth started in the first place.

But there is a Shambhala! In fact, it’s in every person at this very moment. Getting there, however, is another story altogether. A place of tranquility and peace is inside every person. The paradise mentioned above is a state of mind. If you can learn to better direct your thoughts, you can achieve an energetic state in virtually any situation or circumstances.

An energetic person is one who is always on the go. Despite any difficulties the person is facing, he or she is able to get back up and move on. As you go through a rainbow of experiences, some darker than others, you’ll see yourself stumble along the way. But stumbling isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, this could be your chance to know more about life and understand the many ways things work.

Yoga aficionados also believe in their form of exercise. Many swear by it and say that they are better able to take a step back from the issue and see the bigger picture. Unlike the common belief that exercise tires a person, facts show that it is, in fact, quite the opposite. It can be a way for you to release all your frustrations and have an outlet where you can channel all your anger. There’s a basic explanation behind the power of exercise. After a workout you will be able to see an increase in your serotonin and endorphin levels. These are known as happy hormones in layman’s term. Aerobic activities balance your emotions, calm your nerves, and lower your blood pressure. Try it and see your glow after every thorough workout.

Another strategy is to create your support system, a set of people who will love you and see you through every trial. They will help you stay hopeful and will be your pillar of strength when you are about to collapse. No structure can survive without the proper foundation.

If your energy level reaches the breaking point and you feel just plain tired, it might be time to make some simple changes. No matter what your age, these easy but powerful tips for increasing your energy can really help. You just have to remember that you can always support yourself and adjust your life according to the demands set on you. Coping with problems is a learned skill, but once you will yourself to master this art, you’ll soon find that you are more than ready to meet challenges head on. Happiness is a state of being, and achieving it relies in the power of your mind. Let your brain be the battery of your life’s energy.

Peter Loughlin

We all have goals that we want to achieve, dreams that we want to attain. Our goals differ from each other, but reaching these may not be as easy as it looks. Yes, you have the perfect work attitude, and yes, also know how to prioritize. There are, however, some things in life that you just cannot control.

A sudden blackout may hinder you from completing your work, or an important family gathering may require you to let go of all your chores. What do you do when this time comes? Do you blame the things you cannot control for your failures? While this may be the easy way out, it is far from being right.

Life is made up of two types of people: the positive and the negative. The positive tend to win all the time because they also take responsibility for their failures by embracing them. The negative, on the other hand, simply walk away and point their finger at everyone but themselves.

How do you win in life? How do you become a productive person while being able to keep a very busy work schedule? The first thing you must know and accept is that you simply cannot win every time. It’s what you do when you fail that counts. Here are some helpful tips to know and follow so that you can go through trials and misfortunes as smoothly as possible:

1. Don’t blame other people for your failure – to blame them is to pass on your responsibilities. This is tantamount to throwing your arms up in the air and saying, “I give up!”

2. When problems arise, deal with them accordingly – plan what you need to do. Ask for help if you need to and let failures serve as lessons learned.

3. Never forget – remember what caused you to create the mistake in the first place. Keep these in mind and avoid situations wherein you’ll be forced to make the same mistake twice.

4. Never let anything stop you – as you strive for success, there will always be hurdles to face. These hurdles simply slow you down, but that’s all they will do.

5. Plan your life – make a careful schedule for each task to be done. No matter how many tasks there are, each undertaking achieved allows you to cross something off your list of things that have yet to be done.

6. Know that you are in control of your life – have a firmer grip on your responsibilities. Familiarize yourself with each objective and do research if you must. The more you know about something, the easier it will be for you navigate your way through it.

7. Think positive – this may be the most important thing you can ever do. Believe in yourself and in your abilities. You simply have to meet achievers to know that these people are the ones who believe in themselves the most. Success is not so much about talent, but more on the idea that with effort and an optimistic attitude, you can do most anything.

Productive people are those who know what they’re doing. You can be one of them if you simply work on honing your talents and abilities. It’s a matter of fine-tuning and letting yourself be more in touch with the aspects in your life.

Remember, nobody is excused from making mistakes. The fact is, every living person has made many of them. You simply have to figure out what you need to do to attain every single dream that you have.

BTW,  take a look at three privious articles posted here that explain some of the tools I use to keep on track and build peak performance:

• How to Get More Time in Your Day
• Vision Boards and Why You Need Them
• Mind Mapping for Success

Peter Loughlin

Mind mapping software is designed to aid in the somewhat complicated process of mindmapping.  A mind map is a diagram used to represent ideas, words, tasks, or other items that are linked to and arranged around a central key word, idea or concept. Mind maps are used to structure, classify, visualize and generate ideas, and serve as an aid in problem solving, decision making, organization, study, and writing.  As you can imagine, creating such a diagram by hand can be overwhelming to the novice mind mapper.

The cost of high quality mind mapping software starts at about $150, and many mind mapping programs have a free trial option.  Two of the most highly rated and popular mind mapping software programs are iMindMap and NovaMind.  If you want to get started right away, one of these two will likely meet your needs.

Buzan’s iMindMap is designed by Tony Buzan who many consider the father of mind mapping.  An obvious benefit of choosing iMindMap is that you are linked in to Buzan’s techniques and innovations.  For those unfamiliar with the process, there is flash movie explaining the concept.  There are also a number of flash video tutorials explaining how to use the software.  There are three editions of iMindMap: Elements, Professional and Ultimate.  The software is compatible with Microsoft Office and OpenOffice.

NovaMind is another excellent example of quality mind mapping software.  While you don’t get the Tony Buzan stamp of approval, NovaMind does have some unique features not found in other programs.  For instance, NovaMind is one of the only mind mapping software programs with a free layout mode where you can put branches anywhere you like.  It also has rainbow coloring, an integrated branch suggestion system, and a special module for screenwriters.  NovaMind also comes in three editions: Express, Pro, and Platinum.

The iMindMap and NovaMind mind mapping software both work on the Mac and Windows operating systems. You will find both systems workable and easy to use. The price structure is similar, so your choice will boil down to which features are more important to you as a user.

Before you purchase any mind mapping software, make sure that you first identify your needs. You should also consider your budget, and whether you can upgrade for a discount within the same family of programs. Once you’ve identified your needs you can start comparing the different mind mapping systems.  Many programs come with a free trial which will greatly assist you in making an informed decision.

Most people who invest the time necessary to learn the mind mapping process become lifetime converts.  Trying to accomplish the process on paper can be extremely frustrating and time-consuming.  Good mind mapping software pays for itself very quickly in terms of saved time and frustration.

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Peter Loughlin

Mind Maps and Your Brain

Your brain is your operating system. Even though everyone thinks in a different way, you use the same techniques that the majority of the people in the world also use. When you were born, you had certain ‘programs’ already ‘installed’ in your brain that are there to help you learn and memorize the things that are going to happen to you during your entire lifetime.

You have a program that remembers images, a program that remembers how things link together in order to form a system, and a program that remembers words and what they mean. Does this sound a bit like your home computer?

When you use mind mapping, your brain is working like your computer! Mind mapping is a moniker coined by none other than best-selling author Tony Buzan, who has taught this concept to people all over the world for the past 30 years.
Mind maps are a very effective way to get information that you want or need to remember, in and out of your brain. The brain has certain basic ways of doing things, just like a computer does. The difference is that the brain can take these basic ‘programs’ that it entered the world with, and refine them to help make the most of your memory and your sense of creativity.

Peter Loughlin