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Does your workspace feel inviting or does it make you want to cringe? Remember, where we work, we live as well. Our desire to work should come out of a sense of passion and drive. But an unorganized or boring work environment will dramatically stunt our productivity.

It’s not just about how our workspace looks though, it’s how it feels that creates the feeling of a relaxing space. Even more, it’s how we work.

Here are 10 ways you can create a more relaxing workspace:

1. Keep only what is needed on your desk; nothing else.

This is a difficult one to follow, but is essential to creating a relaxing work environment. If our desk is filled with unnecessary folders or projects that don’t need our immediate attention, we’ll easily become distracted and lack focus.

By keeping on our desk only what we are presently working on, we create the proper attentional feng shui of our workspace. That means we have our workspace designed to only focus on the most important task(s).

Ideally, at my own desk, I try to only keep out what I’m currently working on. I have to be ruthless sorting out what my biggest priority is. This helps keep my adult ADD in check (want to ride bikes?).

2. Clear out the clutter.

When you walk into your workspace does it give you a feeling of dread, or does it invite you in? We can’t expect to have a relaxing workspace with piles of paper, receipts, files and miscellaneous junk crowding our space. If you only change one thing, get organized.

Clear everything off your desk except the absolutely necessary items. This means filing (I know, the dreaded f-word) anything that doesn’t need to be out and keeping everything you don’t need constantly, in drawers or cabinets.

• Use in/out trays to sort your paperwork by urgency and relevance.
• Create an action for each tray such as “needs research” or “to be filed.”
• Consider how often you use particular items and place the ones that you need frequently in a convenient place.

Often, the beginning of our day in the office can be our rudder for the work day. Inevitably, we can’t control everything, but at least we can set the right tone by coming into a clean and organized space at the beginning of the day.

3. Make your space comfortable.

Ergonomic is one of the biggest buzz words around every office it seems. Probably because so many companies have settled workers comp suits for not being ergo-friendly. Although these companies might not have known that they were doing anything wrong, there’s a reason why ergonomics are important.

Here’s some basic ergo tips:

1. Make sure your feet are firmly planted on the floor.
2. Keep proper posture.
3. Adjust the arms of your chair so they’re level with your keyboard.
4. Placed referenced documents for typing near the keyboard to prevent repetitive neck movement.
5. Your wrists should be straight and “float” about the keyboard.
6. Relax your hand on the mouse to prevent cramping.
7. Adjust brightness/contrast on your monitor; place away from windows and bright lights to prevent glare.
8. Do eye asanas anytime your eyes get tired.
9. Adjust your screen font size to make it properly readable.

4. Listen to music.

Find out what type of music helps you work the best. I find that when I’m doing repetitive work like answering emails, voice messages and filing, a good eclectic mix of music is perfect for me. “Radio Paradise” is one of my favorite stations. You can find it on iTunes under Radio > Eclectic > Radio Paradise.

iTunes has a lot of other great stations you can choose from as well, just do a little exploring. When I’m doing creative work that requires a high level of focus I prefer strings. Vitamin String Quartet is one of my favorites.

Stan Richardson (Japanese bamboo flute artist) is one of my favorite artists to listen to in the morning when I’m writing. Figure out what kind of music works best for you.

5. Personalize your workspace.

When we personalize our desk space, it helps remind us that things outside of work are important. Pictures of family members and loved ones can help us stay motivated and remember what we’re working for, instead of working for “work’s” sake.

Our workspace should be visually appealing to us. After all, we spend about a third of our day at work over the course of 40 years. That’s a considerable amount of time to spend in a sea of grey.

Take a moment to think about what your ideal workspace would look like. What would make your workspace more inviting?

Adding plants (living ones of course), candles, photos, fresh flowers and fresh fruit to your desk is a good start. The idea of having fresh fruit, flowers and fresh (recent) photos is that we’ll be inviting new energy into our work and lives.

6. Single task.

It’s a common belief that we’ll be more efficient and get more done by juggling multiple tasks simultaneously. Multi-tasking could practically become an Olympic sport. It reminds me more of a circus.

Trying to walk and chew gum at the same time may not be that difficult. But while you’re actually trying to finish an important project, you’re more likely to have greater success without any distractions. Stop trying to answer your email, check your Blackberry and clip your toenails at the same time.

Also, switching gears constantly means your brain requires more time to move from one mode of work to another. Multi-tasking makes you more prone to error and stress when you’re juggling too many things at once.

Instead try only focusing on doing the most important tasks of the day first. Ask yourself “if I could only do three things today, what would they be?” If you can’t finish those three, what would be the one most important thing? If you dedicate your morning to finishing these tasks, I guarantee that the rest of your day will be much smoother.

7. Create uninterruptible periods.

Dedicate a block of time each day to be completely uninterruptible. This will help you focus on your most important tasks.

This works best for me early in the morning. I try to discipline myself to not check my email, voice mail or anything else that seems urgent until I’ve finished at least one of my most important tasks. If you feel the urge to check your email or respond to whatever comes up in the moment, re-focus yourself, take a deep breath and get back on track. Commit to a certain amount of uninterrupted time to work on your most important project.

If you can only devote 30 minutes to your important task, that’s fine. Next time go for 45 minutes. Eventually you can build your way up to an hour, then an hour and a half and eventually 2 hours. Although, I wouldn’t recommend more than 2 hours of solid work, unless you’re really in the zone and it would be detrimental to stop.

8. Stay in the present.

This is probably the hardest tip of all to remain consistent with, but it’s essential to enforcing tips 6 and 7 and to really turn them into a habit. Staying in the present means that our attention is 100% focused on only the present task at hand. We’re not thinking about what we need to tomorrow, next week or even the next 5 minutes. We’re completely focused on the here and the now.

Re-focusing myself to stay in the present has had a tremendous impact on my productivity and my quality of work. Because my attention is completely focused on what I’m doing right now, I’m able to devote all of my energy to its completion. As a natural result, I have a much higher attention to detail because my mind is not divided. I’m able to pick up on mistakes and oversights that I probably would have missed if I were busy worrying about tomorrow or the next project that I need to work on.

9. Take a mini-spa break.

What better way to bring a little more relaxation into our workspace than to take a mini-spa retreat right at our desk? Here are a few examples of easy ways to create a relaxing break:

• 5 minute mini-steam. Pour hot water in a cup. Put 3-4 drops of essential oil such as peppermint, lavender or eucalyptus in the cup. Put your face over the cup and put a large file folder over your head to trap the steam as much as possible. Now close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. (Your co-workers might think you’re a little strange but at least you’ll have something to talk about at the water cooler.)
• Mini-acupressure session. Take 2-3 minutes to give yourself an acupressure session. Acupressure uses the Chinese principles of opening your energy (chi) channels by applying direct pressure on certain points of the body. Press your middle fingers firmly on the temples and move slowly in a circular motion. Do this for a minute or two and then press your middle fingers at the top of the nose, in between the eyes. Move your fingers up and down in a slow and steady motion. Remember to breathe!
• Take a walk. Take a few minutes to go outside and walk around the building or down the street. Remember to stay in the present and just relax for a moment in nature.

10. If it feels right to you, it’s right.

What matters most is what feels right to you. Everyone will have a different idea of what helps them relaxed and stay the most productive. For some, this might mean blasting Ozzy and head-banging your way through the day. Or perhaps you prefer listening to Enya and being completely Zen.

If it helps you relax and stay productive, it’s right.

Don’t settle for working in a lifeless cubicle your whole life. Imagine the most relaxing, enjoyable space you could work in. Now make it a reality!

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One of the biggest obstacles I’ve had to overcome in my personal growth is overcoming the seeming conflict between acceptance and complacence. I thought if I’m accepting of my situation, it must mean that I have to sacrifice my desire to grow, overcome my weaknesses and strive for excellence. How can I be accepting of my life if I’m constantly trying to improve?  Doesn’t that mean I’m not accepting of my faults and weaknesses? But on the other side, if I’m accepting of my current situation, wouldn’t that mean I’ve given up my personal power and become complacent?

Why is it that many people seem to confuse acceptance with complacence? If you have acceptance of your life and the world around you, does that necessary make you complacent? Where do we draw the line?

I think resistance to acceptance is caused by a fear of regressing into a deterministic mindset.

Many people feel that if you’re accepting of the way you are, the way things are, you’ve given up. You’ve become complacent and have surrendered yourself to the whims of the universe. Whatever comes along, you’re fine with it, what else can you do right? “It’s just the way things are.”

This is the basic view that you are determined by life, or life determines your circumstances and the life you’ll live. However, we don’t live in a determined universe, we live in a co-creative universe. It’s not a one way street. Our environment influences us, and we also influence our environment.

The smart decision would be to accept this basic fact of life and work with it. After all, when we work with natural laws, instead of against them, we’ll probably get better results.

Uncovering hidden assumptions

Accepting that our environment shapes us isn’t giving up our power, it’s embracing it completely. When we accept that our environment influences us, we’re no longer denying what is. Just as when we accept that we also determine our environment, we’re embracing our response-ability to create our own lives. We don’t have to choose one or the other, why not have our cake and eat it too. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s making cake and not eating it. =)

I used to think that if I accepted life as it is, I was fating myself to whatever life brought my way. I felt that life was essentially pointless, since I didn’t have any real say in how my life would turn out anyway. What’s the point in even making an effort, when my destiny is pre-determined? Luckily I was able to realize that this wasn’t an accurate model of reality. It was only my map of reality that was causing me to view life in a deterministic way. It was my choice to choose to live with this belief or not. That’s when I started to realize that my beliefs were a filter for my reality. They were like holding a blue lens in front of your eyes, you lose your perception of color. The same way that a depressed person views reality through their own mental lens of sadness.

Re-examining your life and making a commitment to finding happiness and joy in your life might cause your beliefs to change. With this change in your beliefs, you’re now viewing reality through a new lens, perhaps one of love or hope. It’s not necessarily that anything “out there” has changed, but the way you see things has.

We have to question our beliefs and ask whether or not they are just assumptions or if they’re actually based in truth. I’ve gone through this process many times in my life. I’ve questioned my beliefs about reality, religion, the nature of our world, relationships, the meaning of life, friendships, sex, drugs, motivation, you name it, I’ve probably questioned it. And if I haven’t, I’m sure I’ll get around to it sooner or later. This questioning isn’t always the most pleasant experience though.

Dropping old beliefs that you’ve carried around your entire life can be very discomforting. The feeling of not knowing and being unsure of what everything means is a very scary place to be. Trust me, I’ve gone through it many times. But ultimately, I’d much rather know that I chose my beliefs consciously, rather than just accepting the ones life happened to hand me along the way.

At first I thought this questioning of life was at odds with the basic need for acceptance. If you can’t find acceptance, you’ll never be satisfied right? This either or approach just didn’t cut it for me though. I had to find a way to reconcile my desire to grow and accept myself as I was. Eventually I learned that acceptance and a desire to grow weren’t at odds with each other at all. In fact, they worked greater together for me than they ever did apart. When I accepted the way things were I stopped working against reality and moved in alignment with it. What’s the point of trying to deny what is? If you’re denying what is, you don’t have an accurate map of reality. It’s like trying to find your way through Los Angeles with a map of Seattle. In the same way, when I realized my response determined my results, I accepted my innate ability to create my own life.

Demystifying the blocks toward acceptance and growth

The real key is to not seek your identity with your position. When we identify with growth, we identify with our position. We resist acceptance because we see all of our flaws and mistakes. We judge ourselves for them and find ourselves guilty. How can we be accepting when there are so many things we see wrong with us?

On the other side we can identify with acceptance, we seek ourselves in our ability to be accepting of life and ourselves. Then we find a conflict in the desire to change and the desire to grow because it violates our acceptance-identity. If we’re constantly seeking growth and excellence, we’re not accepting life as it is. We can’t have that, because acceptance is important. Acceptance brings peace.

What about not accepting yourself because you’re not being accepting enough? I’ve gotten caught up in this useless mind-trap as well. Utter nonsense.

However, if we cease to seek our identity in our position and define ourselves based on our principles and values, we find stability. We our driven by our internal compass, instead of the constantly changing terrain of our life. Instead of the terrain defining us, it will instead define how we apply our values, or compass, to the current situation.

The terrain of life is constantly changing, identifying ourselves with terrain is a dangerous path. We leave ourselves vulnerable to becoming too attached to something that is constantly shifting. If I identify myself with my position today, I might think very highly of myself. I’ve written two articles, I’m caught up on all my correspondence and business matters that need to be taken care of. I also just got accepted to do a guest post on two major personal development blogs. I’ve walked a total of over 5 miles today, practiced my eye asanas, yoga and ate a mostly raw diet. Everything is looking good for me right now, I’m meeting all of my expectations. But if something doesn’t go the way I planned and my expectations aren’t met, I’m left open to feeling disappointed and frustrated. However, if my sense of self is rooted in unchanging values such as clarity, authenticity, love and compassion, I will find peace within regardless of the constant ups and downs in my life. That doesn’t mean I can’t strive for growth and excellence, I just no longer seek my sense of self-worth within my constantly changing position.

This is not easy to do, especially when you’ve spent years doing exactly the opposite.

Finding our sense of self in the permanent

The key to overcoming the conflict between acceptance and complacency, is finding the values that matter the most to you and referring to them for your sense of identity and purpose. My top three values are authenticity, clarity and balance. I know if I’m living authentically, I’ll naturally be happy because I won’t be trying to be someone I’m not. I’ll be expressing my creative energy with everything I do, because I’m living out of a sense of integrity and not a sense of fear. I’m living in congruence with my own truth, not simply what society or others expect of me.

When I strive to find clarity in all aspects of my life, I increasingly become more aligned with the truth. The more we live in truth, the more happiness we’ll find because we no longer let fear hold us back. Another side-effect of increased clarity is our map of the terrain of life becomes more and more accurate. We move from stumbling along an unsure path to having a crystal clear vision of the meaning and purpose in our lives. We know what direction we need to take because we have our purpose to constantly refer to. No matter how much the terrain of life changes, we can constantly refer to it as our guide for the next step we need to take.

Lastly, but not least, balance is very important to me as well. If I work towards balance in all every areas of my life I can find peace and sustainability. The result of all problems in life can always be traced backed to some sort of imbalance. Perhaps your lack of inspiration is due to an imbalance of mind over heart, or an imbalance with meeting the needs of yourself with the needs of others. Maybe your health is suffering because of an imbalance with your desire for money and success and making the time and priority to stay in shape. Or if you’re not finding the fulfillment you want in life, you’re probably not doing a very good job balancing the important with the urgent. You’re just spinning your wheels reacting to the next thing that comes your way. The point is wherever there is a problem, we can always find that somewhere there is a lack of balance.

I have other values that are important to me like health/fitness, excellence/mastery, devotion, drive, integrity, discipline, compassion, love, growth and focus. But there are all secondary to my top 3 values because as long as I’m living in alignment with balance, clarity and authenticity, I’ll naturally create a life aligned with all of my secondary values as well.

It’s important for me that I keep my sense of self rooted in these values. That way even if my position changes or the terrain of life gets rocky, I’ll still be able to refer back to my unchanging values for a sense of purpose and direction. I’m no longer identifying with the hills or the valleys, but my unchanging internal compass.

If you’re struggling with reconciling your desire to accept yourself and life as it is, with your drive to grow and improve, the best thing you can do is to find out what your core values are and start referring to them for your sense of identity and purpose. After all, aren’t your core values such as love, happiness, inner peace and authenticity more important then how much money your making, your social status or how much you weigh? You don’t have to sacrifice your desire to improve these aspects of your life, you just stop seeking your self in them. In this way you can find fulfillment without attachment and acceptance without complacence.

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photo by jibbo

 

“An idea can be profound, but it is useless unless used”
-Richard Bach, Author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull

We all know of course that results are the cause of action. But how do you develop the habit of taking action? In order for us to successfully implement the habit of taking action, we have to learn how to use our imagination and independent will to overcome our conditioning.

We have a unique endowment as humans, we are responsible. When we take a closer look at the word responsibility we find its roots come from the two words; response and ability. We have the ability to respond, or the ability to take action.

When we make the decision of becoming response-able, we accept that our lives are the product of our choices. The choice to take action, or not will ultimately determine your results. If you want results in life, you must master the habit of taking consistent action.

1. Your environment is a product of you

The reason most people don’t take action is because they think they are a product of their environment. This is a classic case of determinism and a distorted view of reality.

This thinking gets us nowhere as it leaves our fate beyond our control. If our circumstances are beyond our control, naturally, we’ll lack motivation to take action. What’s the point when we’re a product of our environment?

Here’s what this type of thinking look likes:

As you can see, this is a linear thinking process.

Here’s what is actually happening in reality:

You might ask “Jonathan, why did you make the arrows rainbow colored?” Good question. I think diagrams are boring in general, which is why I hesitated to use them. However I think for this purpose, it’s good to be able to see the difference. The rainbow colors are just for added effect. If you really need a meaning though, perhaps it’s because life is much more colorful when you see things clearly. =)

When we can see that this is a continuous cycle, we realize that our environment is a product of us. If our environment is a product of us, well jeez, that means we have to take responsibility for it, don’t we? If you want to give up that responsibility, fine, live a determined life. But at least make that decision consciously.

2. Follow your passion

This may seem like a no-brainer, but most people go for exactly the opposite. They go for security, safety and comfort. They spend more time acquiring outer resources, then developing inner ones.

If you’re going to develop the habit of taking action, you need to be motivated.

If you’re doing what you love to do every day, you’re likely to take consistent and massive action.

If you’re working in a job you hate, slaving yourself away in a cubicle, you’re less likely to take action. You’re just going to do the bare minimum to get by.

To develop the habit of action, we need to make goals that inspire us. When we’re inspired, we’ll be motivated and the natural result is that we’ll take lots and lots of action.

Find a way to start doing what you love, even if you have to start small. You’re more likely to develop your talents in something you love, rather than something that gives you a false sense of security. If you feel like you don’t have enough time, consider making time for the important. If we don’t make time for the things that really matter to us, when will we? Who wants to go from the cubicle to the casket?

3. Focus on the results you want, not on the means by which you’ll achieve them

When we’re constantly trying to figure out how we’ll get things done, we’re stuck in the mode of planning. Move your focus to what you want, instead of how you’re going to get it.

Start taking action toward your goals and stop trying to plan everything out perfectly in advance.

Don’t be afraid to make up how you’ll get there as you go along. Use the Ready Fire Aim aproach, instead of Ready Aim Aim Aim Aim Fire. Correct your course as you go along instead of trying to find the perfect course. Often the perfect conditions never come and 5 (or 50) years later you realize you’re in the same place you’ve always been.

Don’t let anyone get in your way, most importantly, don’t let yourself get in the way. If your mind has doubts about your ability, silence it. Take a rain check on your opinion.

4. Inspiration and great ideas are the result of action

Don’t wait for inspiration and great ideas to happen to you. Most people think that a great mind precedes great action.

It’s easy to see why people think this way when we refer to the world’s most influential people as “great thinkers” or “great minds.”

What we don’t realize is the reason they were great thinkers is they didn’t wait for inspiration to come to them, they came to the inspiration. They took action and may have failed repeatedly, but the difference is that they didn’t wait around for a great idea to just pop into their heads. They actively sought out inspiration, instead of just passively waiting for it to happen. They were not simply “great thinkers” they were “great doers.”

Not only did they actively seek out ideas and creative genius, but they failed many times before reaching their own level of greatness. Fear of failure didn’t paralyze them. Instead they realized with each failure, they were that much closer to success.

5. Practice makes the master

It takes time to develop the habit of taking action. Especially when you’ve spent years doing exactly the opposite. Start small and don’t let your fear of failure or self-doubt stop you from taking action. Sometimes, if we don’t have anything nice to say to ourselves, it’s better that we remain silent. We readily apply this principle with other people all the time, but how often do we talk negatively to ourselves on a daily basis?

The best way to overcome fear and self-doubt is to take action. Action crushes fear, because it demystifies it. Often we realize we weren’t afraid of anything other than simply not knowing. Release yourself from your need to know, and trust that you’ll find the answers as you go along.
Remember, you can always change course. You can always change your aim, but if you haven’t fired yet, what’s the point of aiming?

6. Don’t think, what do I have? Think, what do I want?

Are you waiting until all the conditions are right in order for you to take action? Perhaps you think, “if only I had enough time”, “if only I had the money”, “if only I had the resources”, “if only I knew the right people.”

You’re not the only one who’s thought this way. I used to think that I could accomplish my goals “if only I had this.”

If only I was born with better rhythm I could become a good drummer.
If only I was born with a better voice I could write better songs.
If only I had a better memory I might be a better web developer.
If only I was more romantic I could have a better relationship.

Do you know where all this thinking got me? Absolutely nowhere.

Fortunately I managed to overcome my focus on what I didn’t have and started focusing on what I could do.

Stop focusing on what you have and start focusing on what you want. Doors will start to open for you where before there were only walls. And hey, if there’s no door, there’s always a sledge hammer. =P

Implementing the action habit:

• Start taking action even if you don’t have a clear idea of what needs to be done. Start moving towards you goal. Make corrections later.
• Make a commitment. Sometimes the easiest way to take action is to make commitment. Tell your friends and family about it, so you have their support. A commitment helps you stay accountable.
• Enjoy the process of discovery. Trying to plan everything before you start will often paralyze you from taking action. It’s fine to a vision, and actually essentially to success, but don’t let your need to know every detail stop you from taking action.
• Focus on your strengths, not your limitations. Not everyone will have the same approach to solving a particular problem. Use your unique talents to your advantage.
• Use your imagination to create to build up your emotional desire. Whatever your goal is, just visualize in your mind for a moment what it would feel like to accomplish your goal. What would it feel like emotionally to know that you completed it? Often this process of creating an emotional build-up will be enough to make us start itching to take action.
• Let Flickr inspire you. Find a thought related to your goal and do a search for it on flickr. For example, if you want to create a better relationship with your parter, you could do a search for “embrace” or “lovers.” Take a moment to meditate on the image and how it relates to your intentions and desire, let it swirl around in your head a little bit. Often images have a powerful effect of getting us to really feel our goals emotionally. The more emotion you have behind your goal, the greater chance that you will take action.

What are you waiting for, a certain shade of green?

Other articles you might enjoy:

• What’s Keeping You From Taking Action?
• Getting Things Done: Inner vs. Outer Motivation
• 33 of Life’s Most Powerful Lessons
• Postivity Demystified

Related articles:

• How to Build New Habits at The Office Diet
• Need help getting motivated? Try creating a Goal Movie, Clay from The Growing Life will show you how.

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“We are stronger together than apart”

This single phrase has helped me transform the way I work and interact with others. Coming from a person who’s always had the attitude “if you want something done right you have to do it yourself,” this realization has had a big impact on me.

Focus on how you can help the other person. People are more likely to want to help someone that’s helped them. Doing this you open up the door to creating mutually benefiting relationships.

Here are 10 tips to help you network effectively:

1. What are your networking goals? The most important thing to keep in mind is your objectives for networking, when networking with others. What are you trying to gain, what do you have to offer? When you have clear answers to these questions, it will be easier to focus on making quality connections and stay on track with your goals.
2. What’s your story? How did you get started? Perhaps there was an interesting event or occurrence that brought you into your line of work. People love stories. If you have memorable story to use when introducing yourself to others, you’ll greatly increase the chances of them remember you and sharing your story with others.
3. Make a positive impression. People want to work with positive people, having an upbeat attitude and response will increase your chances of creating a lasting impression. Just remember to be genuine, don’t be overly cheery and gung-ho. People will connect with you more when you’re positive, but still down to earth.
4. Focus on quality, not quantity. Instead of focusing on making as many connections as possible with other people, focus on the quality of those connections. Is there a great chance for a mutual benefit? If not, move on. If there is, try to find a way you can help the other person succeed with their own goals.
5. Be interested. The best way to make friends and to network is to become interested in others. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. People will be more likely to trust you because they’ll know it’s not all about you.
6. Like likes like. Try to make connections with people that have similar interests as you. You’ll have a deeper chance of connecting with other person and they’ll be more likely to want to help you.
7. Become an expert and write about it. Do you have a particular knack for something in your field of work? Start a blog and write about it. Or write a few articles and submit them to online article banks like ehow and how stuff works. Now you have published, referencable content that you can use as a source when networking. After introducing yourself you could tell them about one of your articles and how you think they might be able to benefit from it. Make it a double whammy and include your story in your how-to articles.
8. Really listen. Most of the time when we’re listening to another person, we’re really just formulating our response. Instead of just thinking about how you’re going to respond, quiet your thoughts and really listen to what they say, this will help you with the next tip.
9. Uncover their needs. Try to find out how you can benefit the other person. Ask them questions about what goals and aspirations they have.
10. Offer help. Once you’ve uncovered a perceived need, offer your help. Even if they decline, they will be appreciate your willingness to help and will be more likely to want to help you in return.

I’ve realized the key to success is giving what you want to receive. If you want more traffic, send other people traffic. If you want more people to link to you, link to other people. If you want more comments on your articles, comment on other peoples articles.

When someone reciprocates, treat it as a gift and thank them.

Focus less on selling yourself and more on how you can help others. It’s in the spirit of giving that others are more likely to help you in return. Remember “we are stronger together than apart.”

If you’d like to practice your networking skills, feel free to send me an email. Perhaps there’s some way we can help each other. =)

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Related articles: Learning to Love Networking - Akemi Gaines

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March was a great month for me, I feel like I’m starting to get a hang of this blogging thing. During this month, I’ve gotten half-way through Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I know it’s a classic in the personal development field so I thought it was about time I read it. If there’s one thing that’s impacted me the most, it’s taking a proactive position in your life. Whatever is happening in my life, is my responsibility. So if there’s something I don’t like, I need to take action to change it. This is considered one of the simplest and biggest milestones in anyone’s personal development. I’ve realized the importance of it many times before, but I feel like it’s now taken on a deeper more internalized meaning for me. I feel like it’s finally become a habit. That’s what makes the difference. After all, we are creatures of habit are we not?

Here are some of the most popular articles from JM this month:

• 33 of Life’s Most Powerful Lessons - My most popular post this month.
• 7 Lessons from the World’s Greatest Minds - Get inside of the world’s greatest minds and learn from their wisdom.
• Positivity Demystified - What is true positivity?

I’ve read a lot of outstanding articles from other personal development sites this month as well. Here are a few of them:

• How to Love Yourself in 17 Ways - Evelyn shares 17 inspiring ways to show yourself some love.
• How to Find Your True Purpose - Todd shares his story about finding purpose in his life
• Productivity Guru SMACKDOWN: Tim Ferriss v. Dave Allen - Clay sets the stage for a battle between two ultimate productivity gurus.
• NLP That! - Tim’s insightful and humorous story about the power of NLP.
• Mind Over Mattress: How to Wake Earlier When All You Want to Do is Sleep - Peter will show you how to beat the battle of the bed.
• My Best Excuses for Remaining in a Rut - Jeff shreds your best excuses to bits.
• Twelve Tenets of a More Empowered Life - Karen sheds a little light on how to live a more empowered life.
• Why Understanding Religious Symbols is the Key to Your Spiritual Progress - Do you understand how the symbols in your external rituals relate to the inner depths of your spirit?
• True Life Purpose Goes Beyond the Illusion of Self - What do you love doing? What are your gifts?
• Four Rocks to Grasp in Life
• 11 Solid Ways to Enhance Your Memory
• 5 Tips for a Well Balanced Life
• Manifest a Job You Actually Want
• You Reap What You Sow
• Clobbering Overwhelm

Here’s to a wonderful April! =)

Have my articles helped (or at least entertained) you in some way? Click here to buy me a coffee.

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