So be positive beginning today. Follow what powerful people do to retain their strength:

- Say NO when your gut feel starts screaming.

- Understand your limits and guard it against those who push you to that edge.

- Paradoxically, probe those same limits and see where you can grow by breaking it

- Skirt psychic vampires. The moody and depressed will bring you down. – Mingle in the company of visionaries, upbeat and driven persons. They will bring you up

- Do something new right this moment.

Fly high!

Fortunately asserting oneself is easy because we have a built in mechanism that detects abuse. Heed this mechanism and you’ll never sacrifice your dignity again.

The mechanism is your GUT. Your gut is churns when something is wrong – like when you’ve been shortchanged or given a task beyond your responsibility. It’s a clarion call for you to speak out.

The next time that gut rumbles, don’t think. Act right away. Voice your concern on the spot. Say “I don’t feel good about this because… and I want…..”

This simple behavioral change will transform you from a weakling and into a leader. Then people take notice. You win respect!

Are you ready to live a better life?

If you want a change in lifestyle, you must be prepared to pause… and take that leap of faith. Here’s how you can do it.

Never look back.

When you decide to take a new job, don’t quibble. Quit now and start applying. Want a new relationship? Cease suffering the old one. Get out there and meet new people!  Want more money? Don’t second guess opportunities. Pick one, implement it and proceed.

The decisive take a leap of faith and reach a goal almost always. Those who look back trip their own feet. Others feel your indecision and subsequently treat you with reservation.

There can be no half measures.  Take that leap of faith. Confidence in your abilities empower you to succeed.

You want a lifestyle change? Then just do it now. And Don’t look back.

There’s a way to get things done with a smile.

Our mindset governs the driving force of our action. What do you think when you’re about to accomplish something?

“I have to do this”

“I must accomplish this”

“It’s my job”

“It should be done”

Thinking in terms of  ‘shouds’ and ‘musts’ demotivate us because we feel coerced. It robs us of choice… even if there is choice (otherwise you won’t be doing it). There is, however, an elegant way of re-empowering our decision to toil. It is to think this way:

“I am glad to do this”

A simple mind shift and BAM! You’ll suddenly see rainbows in the sky.

Gotta mop the floor? Think to yourself, “I’m happy to mop this floor!”

Try it.

Want to believe in yourself?

The truly powerful person:

1) Knows that he is his own person and an ultimate authority upon himself for his opinions.

2) Never compares himself with others.

3) Listens to suggestions but never blindly subjugates himself to other’s opinions.

4) Has faith in his instincts and listens to his emotions.

5) Recognizes in the inevitability of mistakes and learns from them.

6) Values R&R to recharge and evolve.

7) Depends on his judgement, but enhances them with creative external input.

Are you powerful?

Seeking for and becoming the scapegoat tend to be options of the martyr or victim. While it seems foolish, there are payoffs to this avenue:  to validate low self-esteem, to evade responsibility, to offload blame on others, to avoid rocking the boat, to minimize risk.

The better choice is to respond powerfully; the quickest way to do this is to take proactive, positive steps using manuevers never tried before in order to yield beneficial changes. This route is not always easy as it  demands tenacity. But realize that in this life, only you have the power to take responsibility for your fortunes. If you fail, you have only yourselves to blame.

Victim consciousness tends to arise from poor self-confidence. If you persistently lose at interactions, get abused, used and misused…. isn’t it possible that you believed that you deserved to be treated that way?

The next time you find yourself ducking in the face of adversity, or buckling to force of guilt and blame, stop and ask yourself: Do I respect myself? What do I deserve? How can I take responsibility for my life and stand up for myself?

Remember: your fortunes are spawned from your creative effort. You must react powerfully!

First, take note of your eyes. Are they downcast? If you avoid people’s gaze, there’s a one hundred percent chance you will be ignored.  To take respect, you should emanate command from your eyes. Engage eye contact with everyone you meet and you instantly raise your respectability 100%

Second, rear up. I noticed that folks who are too tall like to bend over, as if ashamed of their height. That’s a poor practice. Do generals bend? Do presidents cower? Learn from them. If you’re short, just tuck out your chin. People will feel that you’re one who shouldn’t be messed with.

Finally perk up your mood. A happy enthusiastic guy commands respect, attention and warmth. Even if you don’t feel like it, smile and greet people jovially. You’ll be the life of the party and take the much desired respect you seek.

Fly high!

The answer’s simple. It’s in your gut.

Something’s definitely wrong when your gut wrenches. This indicates that you feel you’re being manipulated, twisted or given the short end of the stick. Most fail to listen to this inner intuition. They say yes right away, while their stomach screams nooooo!

Trust your instincts next time. Next time you feel bad about something, pause. Evaluate your response before aceding. It’s the first step to truly asserting yourself.

Do these musings sound familiar?

“Someday, I’ll be rich…”
“Someday, I’ll find the right one…”
“Someday, I’ll start that business…”

Geez! If you think like that, Someday will never happen. You’ll push ‘it’ so far into the future that you’ll be dead before anything happens.

There’s just one way out. Next time you say “Someday”, replace it with “TODAY. ”

Then magic will really begin.

Consider that there is no limit to the laundry list of activities which you can choose to delegate your time. Therefore, there will rarely be a day during your life when you feel “tied up.” Think back. Can you ever recall a day when you felt that you had accomplished all the things you needed to do and would like to have done? I definitely cannot remember one. However, what’s key is not that everything gets done during a chosen day, but that the activities that are most vital to the achievement of your dreams have been concluded on a schedule set by you. To feel good about how you utilize time does not require being hectic every moment, or regularly playing “catch-up.” Positive feelings and the mental rewards coupled with real accomplishments are fashioned through effectiveness, since only effectiveness creates results.

Believe it. If you can double your effectiveness, by definition you can complete twice as much in the same amount of time. You will double the momentum at which you realize your objectives, and you will cut in half the time it takes you to reach your dream.

To boost your effectiveness, apply the 20/80 rule. Just twenty percent of the behavior on which you could opt to spend your time will generate 80 percent of the results you’re after. On the contrary, spending energy on the other 80 percent of your possible activities will produce only 20 percent of the outcomes you’re after including only 20 percent of the total sense of satisfaction from attainment.

When it comes to attaining your dream, just 20 percent of your activities will take you along your path faster and farther than others. Recognize that 20 percent and then splurge the lion’s share of your time, mental and physical energy on their accomplishment. Focusing first on the completion of that 20 percent is what alters energy-wasting efficiency into results-producing effectiveness.

Remember: it would be a misuse of your time to spend effort on anything not in the top 20 percent of the activities on your list, at least until that 20 percent has been fully satisfied.