Teach To Learn

Learning new information is one of the cornerstones of personal growth and development. For those who pursue the challenge of becoming the best version of themselves, they understand the value and importance of having mentors to teach them the things they don’t know. A mentor will bring new information and philosophies that help guide an eager learner through growth. Successful people continue learning and growing even when things are going good in their lives. They are constantly hungry for more growth. On the other hand, unsuccessful people allow themselves to get comfortable where they are so they don’t seek more information.

With all the things we can learn, it is important to understand that simply attending events, listening to audios, watching videos, and reading books is not enough to facilitate true growth. What we have to do in order to grow is to take new information and put it into use immediately. One of the quickest ways of doing this might be to take new information and begin teaching it.

Can you teach it?

I believe one of the quickest ways to learn something new is to learn as if you have to teach it. Learning new information as if you will have to teach it not only serves the purpose of increasing your own knowledge, but it will put you in a different frame of mind while learning. Mentally, if you assume a responsibility that you have to teach the information you’re learning, you can learn and retain it better. Knowing that you have to teach the information to someone else will inspire you to pass on what you learned in the most accurate way possible.

Along with that, the best way to know if you truly understand a concept is to try and teach it to someone. Teaching something calls for complete understanding of a concept, not to just know it “well enough” or “hopefully” understand it. Keep a notebook or a journal to document your information so you can reference it later, but also begin to think of how you can teach this information to others in an effective way. Your ideas can never be more effective than your ability to explain them to others so they also comprehend them.

Add value to others

Teach what you have learned and add value not only to yourself but also to others. The greatest thought leaders all borrow from each other; I believe Pablo Picasso said, “good artists copy, great artists steal”. For example, perhaps one of the greatest teachers of leadership, John C. Maxwell, often includes direct quotes from other people in his books. He has applied known success principles to his own life and taught the same principles in his own way. Tai Lopez has created an entire system of mentorship from information he learned through reading books (among other things) and teaching the principles.

Instead of keeping information to yourself, spread it to others as a way to grow yourself while helping them grow as well. This allows you to add value to other people’s lives and be a part of their journey as well. With enough learning and practice, this can even help you to become a great trainer and mentor for your organization.

Leadership Lesson: Lollipop Moment

Dudley's short story about a "lollipop moment" can change how you view leadership. Each one of us has the ability to impact another person's life, whether we know it happened or not. Most of us have even experienced a moment in time where someone said something or did something that affected the rest of our lives, yet we have never taken the opportunity to let that person know. 

positivelifetips: What’s scarier, the thought of change or...

positivelifetips:

What’s scarier, the thought of change or waking up one day realizing you lived the same story day after day after day?

Make the necessary changes so that you don’t wake up 10 years from now and be in the same spot mentally, physically, emotionally and financially that you are today!

It’s your life, make it epic!
-Jhon LeBaron

positivelifetips: Or loved? Or capable? Or worthy? Or...

positivelifetips:

Or loved? Or capable? Or worthy? Or beautiful? Your reality is what you make it. So why not make it something you love?

positivelifetips: The best investment you can make in life is...

positivelifetips:

The best investment you can make in life is investing in yourself!
I’ve spent the last couple years really investing in myself and I’ve seen such a huge difference in the quality of my life!

positivelifetips: Until you start taking 100% responsibility...

positivelifetips:

Until you start taking 100% responsibility for your life you are going to be in victim mode. And when your in victim mode you aren’t fully using your power. You are responsible for how you react to things, your feelings when someone says something and the way you treat yourself & others. Success happens when you start taking charge of your life. Will you be a victim or will you be a victor?

Change Your Stinkin' Thinkin'

Meditation

The emphasis on mindfullness and success through stillness is something that society needs to bring back. Meditation has been around almost since the beginning of humanity. At some point in time, the importance of meditation and being aligned with your inner self was pushed to the wayside. Meditation turned into something shunned by society and became, "oh...you're one of 'those' people..."

I have been meditating for only about 9 months - 20 minutes each morning. I'm very new at this, and I spent a few months "looking in to it" before I decided to try it. In just the first 3 months there was a noticeable difference in how I feel, how I react to situations, how focused I feel, and how controllable my impulses feel. After just one week I felt like I could take myself off Adderal for my ADHD and stopped taking it. I now honestly feel like I have to mediate every single day, without fail.

Because of my own experience, I just want to share this with all of you; I hope someone might find value to this and maybe implement it in their life.

Medical Evidence of the Benefits of Meditation
Working towards improving our ability to block out distractions has been overlooked for a long time. In today's time we have more distractions than ever before. So many things are constantly going on and our brains are working way too hard. Meditation allows us to develop the ability for focus and control at all times. There is more and more medical evidence coming out about the affects of meditation that prove the health benefits.

- Meditation actually has been found to reduce stress levels in people after just 3 days of one 25-minute session a day.

-Reduced stress levels lead to reduced cortisol which can reduce belly fat

-MRI's reveal that meditation strengthens the brain - it actually builds grey matter in your brain.

-Medically documented effects of meditation on the brain:
Frontal lobe
This is the most highly evolved part of the brain, responsible for reasoning, planning, emotions and self-conscious awareness. During meditation, the frontal cortex tends to go offline.

Parietal lobe
This part of the brain processes sensory information about the surrounding world, orienting you in time and space. During meditation, activity in the parietal lobe slows down.

Thalamus
The gatekeeper for the senses, this organ focuses your attention by funneling some sensory data deeper into the brain and stopping other signals in their tracks. Meditation reduces the flow of incoming information to a trickle.

Reticular formation
As the brain’s sentry, this structure receives incoming stimuli and puts the brain on alert, ready to respond. Meditating dials back the arousal signal.


Learn to Meditate
There are several different forms of meditation that I've learned about. Here's just a few:
1. Mindfullness. This is what I practice and what I know most about. Mindfullness is about being in tune with all your thoughts and being aware of how the things around you make your senses feel. It's about being in the "here and now", being very mindful and conscious of everything going on around you. I'll expand on my experience with this later.
2. Transcendental Meditation is what I interpret as the evolution of Mindful Meditation. I think I'm slowly moving more towards this method .
3. Qi gong. This is a form of meditation that focuses on the breath and spreading energy around your body. It's a taoist method.
4. Guided Visualization. This is a newer method that involves visualization and concentration on an image or place.
5. There's also trance based, Zazen, and even heart-rhythm based meditation too.

Success Through Stillness - Russell Simmons
I started with reading this book. It finishes with Russell explaining very simply, how to meditate using the mindful/transcendental methods. This book got me rolling and inspired me. He tells stories about his successful friends like Oprah, D. Wade, Ellen, and others who attribute a huge part of their success to meditation. This is an excellent read for anyone who wants to get started with meditation. I'll try and post up a quick summary of a simple meditation method that he uses with a very simple mantra.

5 Skills to Become a Tremendous Leader

Found this on an article originally posted on Entrepreneur.com and had to share it with everyone.

In today's landscape, the demand for great leadership should be considered a top priority. However, according to a Deloitte survey released in October, there is a perceived shortage of skilled workers that presents an obstacle for growth in many organizations. Fifty-two percent of the executives surveyed said that direct reports did not have the skills to take on greater leadership roles.

At the exact same time, fifty percent of the managers polled said they did not have access to the leadership training they needed.

So while executives perceive there is a lack of talent, managers perceive there is a lack of training. To further the problem, most leadership-development programs focus on outdated models that train more on management than leadership. The future of leadership at its core is about connecting people and developing relationships that foster an aspiration in people and inspire them to perform at their highest level.

Here are the 5 key skills from the original article to learn in order to be a great leader:

1. Being a good listener.

It's no coincidence that "listen" and "silent" represent an anagram. Effective leaders listen to understand, pause before speaking, are fully present in a conversation and have a knack for picking up nonverbal cues.

2. Possessing moral courage.

Simply put: Do the right thing even when it might be easier or faster not to. Trust that taking the ethical path always pays off in the long run.

3. Asking better questions.

Significant and meaningful insight can be gleaned by asking thoughtful questions. A leader acquires a tremendous amount of information from asking questions and talking less.

This approach will also win the hearts of employees, as you'll be viewed as a leader who understands the perspectives of others and cares enough to ask for staffers' opinions.

4. Offering support.

Serve those you're leading not the other way around. Part of your job as a leader is to remove barriers to success by observing what might be standing in the way of employees' achieving their goals.

Be able to determine how you can facilitate their progress without eliminating their accountability.

5. Relinquishing control.

There are times when seizing the reins is appropriate, but on other occasions letting go can be invaluable. By relinquishing control, you empower employees and create opportunities for them to build confidence and self-esteem and become engaged.

 

Source: Susan Steinbrecher - http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/242477

25 Great Quotes for Entrepreneurs Part 2

1. “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” – Paulo Coelho
2. “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” – Zig Ziglar
3. “Risk more than others think is safe. Dream more than others think is practical.”  – Howard Schultz
4. “Forget all the reasons it won’t work and believe the one reason that it will.” – Unknown
5. “We must learn what customers really want, not what they say they want or what we think they should want.” ― Eric Ries
6. “It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” – Bill Gates
7. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” —Bill Gates
8. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” –Steve Jobs
9. “The secret to successful hiring is this: look for the people who want to change the world.” –Marc Benioff
10. “Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.” –Stephen R. Covey
11. “Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”- Coach John Wooden
12. “We never thought of it as customer service. We just treat people how we would want to be treated.”-Sally Strebel
13. “Starting a business is like riding a wave between life and death. If you can hang on long enough, you’re bound to succeed” -Sam Altman
14. “Keep our competitors focused on us, while we stay focused on the customer” - Jeff Bezos
15. “Don’t build something that already exists. Customers won’t buy it just because it’s yours.” -Slava Akhmechet
16. “Product comes first. If people love your product, the tiniest announcements will get attention. If people don’t love your product, no amount of marketing effort will help.” -Slava Akhmechet
17. “Customer service shouldn’t be just a department; it should be the entire company” -Tony Hsieh
18. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” -Arthur Ashe
19. “No growth hack, brilliant marketing idea, or sales team can save you long-term if you don’t have a sufficiently good product.” – Sam Altman
20. “If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.” -Elon Musk
21. “Whenever you get stuck, go meet with your customers.” -Joe Zadeh
22. “I try not to make any decisions that I’m not excited about.” - Jake Nickell
23. “If you’re not working on your best idea right now, you’re doing it wrong.” – David Heinemeier Hansson
24. “Find your one thing and do that one thing better than anyone else.” - Jason Goldberg
25. “What do you need to start a business? Three simple things: know your product better than anyone, know your customer, and have a burning desire to succeed.”  –Dave Thomas