by Brian Tracy

Highly productive people take the time to think, plan and set priorities. They then launch quickly and strongly toward their goals and objectives. They work steadily, smoothly and continuously and seem to go through enormous amounts of work in the same time period that the average person spends socializing, wasting time and working on low value activities.

Getting into “Flow”
When you work on high value tasks at a high and continuous level of activity, you can actually enter into an amaz ing mental state called “flow.” Almost everyone has experienced this at some time. Really successful people are those who get themselves into this state far more often than the average.

In the state of “flow,” which is the highest human state of performance and productivity, something almost mirac ulous happens to your mind and emotions. You feel elated and clear. Everything you do seems effortless and accurate. You feel happy and energetic. You experience a tremendous sense of calm and personal effectiveness.
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By Barbara K. Giamanco

Isn’t it amazing how masterful we can become at denial, procrastination, and avoidance, constantly making excuses for why we aren’t accomplishing the goals WE SAY WE WANT! A lot of energy gets wasted in this department. Usually there is far more talking and not enough doing. Far from criticizing, I believe many people generally have good intentions. Though it’s maddening when I hear someone say it…I just don’t have time… I honestly believe they think they don’t have enough time or can’t have it all.

We Have 24 Hours Each Day

OK, a little reality check here. We all have the same 24 hours each day to work with and there are people all over the world having it all. Why then are some people widely successful, living healthy, prosperous, balanced and joy filled lives while others are not? In a word, FOCUS!

Each day presents challenges with any number of “things” coming at you. Usually that means a lot of people who want something from you – the kids, your boss, the significant other, co-workers, family members, friends, your staff – you name it. It makes the art of focus even tougher AND it can be done.

Tune Out Technology

Instant accessibility is a by-product of technology, and I think it’s both a blessing and a curse. It certainly strains our ability to focus our attention. Too many people are allowing their Blackberry’s, cell phones; fax machines and laptops run their lives. On the other end of that technology is a person…someone who wants something, so it’s up to us to manage those situations instead of the other way around.

Where this phenomenon started is anyone’s guess, but people are being trained to respond 24/7, perhaps out of fear that they won’t get the sale, receive the promotion or be offered the job. Worse yet, (more…)

by Brad Isaac

Years ago when Seinfeld was a new television show, Jerry Seinfeld was still a touring comic. At the time, I was hanging around clubs doing open mic nights and trying to learn the ropes. One night I was in the club where Seinfeld was working, and before he went on stage, I saw my chance. I had to ask Seinfeld if he had any tips for a young comic. What he told me was something that would benefit me a lifetime…

He said the way to be a better comic was to create better jokes and the way to create better jokes was to write every day. But his advice was better than that. He had a gem of a leverage technique he used on himself and you can use it to motivate yourself - even when you don’t feel like it.

He then revealed a unique calendar system he was using pressure himself to write.

Here’s how it worked.

He told me to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker.

He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day. “After a few days you’ll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You’ll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain.”

“Don’t break the chain.” He said again for emphasis.
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by Travis Wright

Or, at least I like to think so. In the 8 days that I have been in San Francisco, California, I have talked to over 100 people from many different walks of life. I’ve talked to multi-millionaires, as I met several CEOs and thought leaders of the future of the internet. I have talked with many homeless people, including a ‘heirophant’ and another gentlemen that has lived homeless and wayfaring from place to place since early 1967.

And to each of the people I met, I handed them my card that says Cultivate Greatness on it. This fact remains, when you send happiness and friendliness with you, you get it in return.

So I had two days to play around in SF. Yesterday, I go to Alcatraz, and see how much of a bummer it would have been for those staying in those 5×9 rooms that were 7 feet tall. Poor Al Capone. Poor Machine Gun Kelly. Going out to the recreation area and seeing on the horizon a busy happening, San Francisco and both bay bridges.

Later on, I stumbled upon Haight and Ashbury in San Francisco on Friday, April 20th. Lots of hippies and alternative culturists out and about. Apparently, a pot smokers holiday is the day April 20th. And at 4:20 in the afternoon, that time is especially celebratory. Looking at my watch, 4:19, I grabbed a piece of chalk that was on the sidewalk and wrote the message.

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Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Here we are with the 12th edition of the Success Blog Carnival at Cultivate Greatness! This issue has also has over 100 Article Submissions! A great amount of wisdom to share… so many golden nuggets of wisdom to share.

Thanks for your submissions! I’m going to increase the amount of carnivals that I put out, so that there are fewer entries on it, making it easier to read all the stuff. There are SO many great articles here, its unreal.

Also, if you article is listed in this blog carnival, please provide a linkback to CultivateGreatness.com somewhere on your site, to provide a nice circle of link love!

Here we are in April. The year is 1/4th over. Make sure to stay on task with your goals and move forward toward your dreams. You deserve them! Thanks for making the April 7th, 2007 edition of the Cultivate Greatness, Success and Personal Growth BlogCarnival a success!

Personal Development

Joysoriano.com presents BELOVED – Part II posted at Street Smart Spirit, saying, “This article encourages the reader to discover his/her beauty and strengths, to continue the never ending process of growth and to be able to truly love oneself, as a prerequisite to being fully capable of loving other people.”

Praveen presents Viewpoint posted at Tao of Simplicity.

Rajesh.P.I presents Freeing a dream… posted at Let the sunshine in, saying, “To free myself from a recurring nightmare, I realized I had to first face it then deliverance was just a step away…”

Christine Kane presents Rust Never Sleeps posted at Christine Kane.

Albert Foong presents Tools: Forgiveness Part One posted at Urban Monk.

Jonathan Fields presents Live Life Forward - Forgive the Past posted at The Being Project.

Business

Billy Smith presents When It Comes To Being A Firefighter posted at The Organic Leadership Blog.

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Office Politics posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.

Ybother presents 10 Ways to Improve your Marketing Presentation posted at TodaysTen.com: Daily Top Ten List to jumpstart your knowledge, saying, “Presentations should be eye catching and have as little text as possible. This article shows you 10 simple to make graphics which spruce up your presentation in less than 5 minutes.”

Aaron M. Potts presents Personal Development Pop Quiz: Why do you Work? posted at Today is that Day.

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by Travis Wright

When a situation doesn’t turn out as you would liked it to, take a moment to reflect and visually float above it all. Seriously. Imagine that your are like a spirit floating above this moment in time. Now, take look from a new angle. Sometimes, you will find a certain ridiculousness about the situation than you initially thought.

Many of us like to think that we are logical 100% of the time. We would like to think that we are rational 100% of the time. But in reality, we make irrational and illogical choices every so often… probably more frequently than we would like to admit.

So, I propose taking a moment and being purposeful, fanciful and pretend to be omnipotent. Rise above the situation, and perhaps view it as if were an optimal situation. Do a 360 angle pan around the event in your mind’s eye, if you wish.

What would it take to make it happen and become the best it can be? How could you have acted and reacted in that event, to make this optimal situation occur?
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by Cari Vollmer

Do you know your life’s purpose? Most people, at some point, wonder what theirs is. We search for meaning and hope that our lives carry special meaning. We sense, at a deep level, there is MORE to life. We can feel it.

Discovering your life’s purpose is more like putting together a big puzzle then it is finding a needle in a haystack. Like a puzzle, you need to fit the right pieces together and in time a picture starts to emerge. The picture that emerges will be made up of your special interests and talents and preferences. It will represent the whole of your life. Every piece is needed.

Unlike a puzzle you buy off a store shelf with all of the pieces already contained in the box, the pieces to your life purpose puzzle come to you one at a time, over a period of time. You will get each new piece when you are ready for it and not a day sooner. And unlike the puzzle you buy off the store shelf which supplies a picture of what the finished puzzle should look like, your life purpose puzzle has no such guide available. The picture that emerges will be one of a kind and each new piece will add depth and meaning to the whole.

The following experts have written about discovering your purpose in great detail. Below is a condensed version of their formulas and philosophies for discovering your life’s purpose.
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