Archive for the ‘Discipline’ Category

Newton’s 3rd Law of Success: Action and Reaction

Posted: April 17, 2013 in Discipline, Natural Laws
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Newton

Today we finish our series on Isaac Newton’s 3 Laws of Success. In case you missed them, you can check out the other two here:

Newton’s 1st Law of Success: Perpetual Motion, Newton’s 2nd Law of Success: Acceleration

Today we will talk about Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion and how it applies to our journey towards happiness and success.

Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion basically states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Some examples of this would be someone shooting a rifle where the force to propel the bullet forward also produces a force in the opposite direction that kicks back against the shoulder of the shooter. Newtons 3rd 1If two people wearing roller skates put their hands together and push off, they will both shoot off with equal force but in opposite directions. When you sit down in a chair you are putting a force downward on the chair. If the chair is not strong enough to provide an equal force pushing back up, the chair collapses and you fall to the ground.

This law is all about symmetry and balance.

If something moves forward, something moves back.

So how can we apply it to our lives?

This law could probably be applied in many different ways but I want to focus on one specific comparison, and it has to do with our journey for self-improvement.

Newton Unbalanced-scalesThe best way to visualize it is to think of a set of scales.

On one side of the scale is a plate for all of the positive aspects we have developed in our lives. All of our positive thoughts, actions, and habits.

On the other side is the plate for all of the negative aspects we have allowed into our life. The negative thoughts, criticism, self-doubt, destructive habits, bad friends, etc.

Now, let’s pretend that every one of us has 100 coins divided into the two piles. Some may have a majority on the positive side, some may have a majority on the negative side. Everybody is different in the way their coins are divided.

Our goal is to get as many coins onto the positive side as possible. We do it through goal setting, hard work, developing positive habits, self-discipline, and training our brain to think positively.

This is where Newton’s 3rd Law works in our favor.

Every time we succeed in moving a coin to the positive side (action), one coin is removed from the negative side (equal and opposite reaction).

The more positive habits you develop, the more you will see your negative habits disappearing. The more you go out to serve other people, the less selfish you will be. The more you focus on positive thoughts, the less time you will have to be self-critical. The more you set daily goals to work towards, the less you will procrastinate or waste time.

When you make positive progress in your life, you are also leaving behind negative hindrances.

Newton's 3rd Visual

Unfortunately, Newton can work against us!

The flip side to the above paragraph is that opposite is also true. If we increase our negative or self-destructive habits (action), we decrease the number of positive, success habits we perform (equal and opposite reaction).

Newton frustrated-manWe all have those bad habits that just frustrate us from time to time. It could be procrastination, laziness, unhealthy substance addictions, self-criticism, gossiping, over-eating, or anything else that we feel holds us back. The more of them that we hold onto to, the less coins we will have available to move over to the positive side of the scale.

For example, if the action is smoking 18 packs of cigarettes a day, the equal and opposite reaction would be a decrease in lung performance and overall health. If the action was chronic procrastination, the equal and opposite reaction would be decrease in quality of work and ultimately success or earning potential.

In case you were wondering, no we cannot create more coins. The system is closed and it is balanced. The coins cannot be created or destroyed, only allocated where we choose to put them. One side of the scale goes up, the other side goes down. Action, reaction.

Ideas for putting Newton’s 3rd Law to work for you

#1 – Take an inventory of your habits, behaviors, thoughts, etc.; both good and bad. Make a list of your “coins” on both sides of the scale.

#2 – Find a negative action that would be the easiest to remove or stop. Work on that one first. As soon as you have changed it, you will notice an increased benefit in the positive side of life.

#3 – Look for a new positive habit to start. Maybe setting effective daily goals, or jogging, or complimenting people. Start adding that to your life every day and soon you will find that you don’t have time for as much negative stuff.

Conclusion

Newton’s Law of Action and Reaction gives us an incredible insight into the balance and battle between the positive and negative in our life. The takeaway lesson from this law is that we should always look for ways to increase our good actions and habits. As you add more and more positive aspects to your life, the negatives will start to decrease without you even focusing on them. That is the magic of this natural law. If you focus on increasing the positives, you are forcing a decrease in the negatives.

I hope you have enjoyed this series on Newton’s Laws of Success. If you enjoyed these articles and would like to see more like them, leave me a message below or share them with your friends!

Kris

48 Ways to Get Your Life in Order

Posted: March 16, 2013 in Discipline, Habits, Life
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Get Organized

This is an article by guest writer Mark Foo, author of The 77 Traits of Highly Successful People.

There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of chaos in your life. As Albert Einstein once stated, “Three rules of work: out of clutter find simplicity, from discord find harmony, in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”

Unexpected challenges are what make us stronger, so don’t avoid them. Keep in mind the following 48 tips and you’ll be able to streamline your life and get back on track moving forward.

  1. Recycle old papers that are filling drawers in your house. If you’re anything like me, you have drawers overflowing with old receipts, junk mail, records, and notes to myself. Get rid of all of this. Invest in a paper shredder to reduce clutter and maintain privacy.
  2. Mentally prepare yourself for change by visualizing your ideal self. Who do you admire the most? How do you envision yourself in the future? Who do you want to be? Visualize yourself to be that person.
  3. Realize that unexpected events can be a good thing. As the Dalai Lama once said, “Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.”
  4. Ask people you admire how they got where they are today. I’ve always admired my grandfather. Learning more about how he started up his business, dealt with difficulty throughout his life, and maintained grace throughout it all has helped me in my personal endeavors.
  5. Cut back on alcohol, cigarettes and other vices. These can be crutches that cloud judgment. The money saved by not purchasing or cutting back on this type of material can then be put into something rewarding such as a vacation.
  6. Remove elements of negativity from your life, be they people or a job you don’t want to do. If you have friends who are bringing you down, there’s no need to keep hanging out with them out of obligation. Cut your ties and cut your losses.
  7. Start each day with a clear to-do list along with your cup of morning coffee. Knowing what you need to do in the day ahead helps keep you on track.
  8. Clean your house from top to bottom and throw away anything outdated. Not only receipts, as mentioned above, but any old junk that should be donated to charity or sold in a garage sale.
  9. Institute a clear filing system for your personal records. Investing in a simple filing cabinet and folders with labels is something you don’t need a personal secretary for and makes your life much easier when you are looking for a specific item.
  10. Do your grocery shopping for the week on the day it’s most convenient. Make a list, budget, and get only what you need to save time and money.
  11. Take a career test that will help you identify your strengths. If you are unhappy with your career but don’t even know where to begin in the process of moving on, this can be a good way to identify strengths and new possibilities.
  12. Meet with a professional counselor if there are issues you need to discuss. Many people are struggling with dead weight from the past or emotional baggage that is holding them back. Deal with them and move on with professional assistance.
  13. Go through cabinets and throw out expired medications or food items. The last time I did this, I found everything from 3-year-old curry powder to 5-year-old aspirin. Throw them out.
  14. Make a clear diet plan with an emphasis on whole grains, fruits and vegetables. A healthy diet plan has a tremendous effect on your overall energy levels.
  15. Add vitamin pills to your daily diet. Vitamin supplements can help reduce the possibility of cancer and osteoporosis, among other disorders.
  16. Work out a clear exercise plan with an activity that you enjoy such as dancing or biking. My girlfriend loves yoga, and I am a soccer enthusiast. As long as it’s active, it counts.
  17. Set appointments you’ve been putting off. It’s easy to put off going to the doctor or dentist until we are sick, but preventive care is extremely important in overall health levels.
  18. Take up a mental exercise. Crossword puzzles, Sudoku, or other word games along these lines are more than just a good way to pass time. They have been shown in studies to help improve overall mental capabilities.
  19. Publish your own book. This is easier than ever before with Internet publishing. You can get your ideas out there and start making money from them.
  20. Make a reading list and join a book club. Most people state that they want to read more, but without an actual plan you may not make the time to do this. Joining a book club not only serves as a social activity but also keeps you up to date with your own reading list.
  21. Spend time with yourself each day. Susan Taylor states that “spending quiet time alone gives your mind an opportunity to renew itself and create order.”
  22. Practice breathing exercises or meditation. Stress can have an overarching effect on our overall productivity levels. When stressed, I personally forget to breathe at times. Take the time to take deep breaths and improve oxygen flow to the brain.
  23. Speak and act with honesty. Are you able to stand by what you do and say? If not, it may be time to reexamine your own words and learn to articulate your thoughts in an open, honest way. This helps eliminate mistakes down the road.
  24. Learn from past mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. Usually, we make a lot of them during our lifetime. As long as they aren’t repeated too many times, and are looked at as a learning experience, they can in fact be a good thing in the long run.
  25. Volunteer to help others in your community. Helping others is a rewarding way to get your own life together.
  26. Take up a new language or hobby.
  27. Read inspirational biographies. For new ideas, find out how others got their lives in order.
  28. Talk to a stranger. Unplanned conversations can be surprisingly inspiring.
  29. Reconnect with friends and relatives who live far away. Call those people you miss but keep putting off calling. With the Internet and Skype at your disposal, even an online chat can help you reconnect.
  30. Change your toothbrush. It can be a hotbed of bacteria.
  31. Take more naps. Sleep is often sadly underrated in its ability to boost energy, mood, and keep reaction times sharp.
  32. Drink at least 6 cups of water per day. Staying hydrated helps keep energy levels up.
  33. Organize your photo collection. Get both digital files and physical printouts in albums. If you’re anything like my family, your photographs could be sadly sitting tucked away in shoeboxes in the closet, taking up space.
  34. Take an interest in art in your community. Visiting galleries can help introduce you to the artists in your community and help stimulate thinking.
  35. Join a hobbyist club. My friend decided to learn more about building model airplanes and was so deeply into it that he recently obtained his commercial pilot’s license. You never know where a simple hobby can lead you in life.
  36. Keep a calendar with commitments. Having a visual reminder in front of you can be extremely helpful. We are all different types of learners.
  37. Don’t put off difficult conversations. Deal with problems directly and immediately. This will result in a much lower level of anxiety for all involved.
  38. Make a list of priorities and do what makes you happy. If you have lost touch with your own priorities lately, it can be beneficial to take the time to sit and think about what actually makes you happy. Work toward achieving this as much as possible.
  39. Spend more time outdoors. Nature has an ability to help soothe a troubled mind and clear your thoughts. Taking a walk in the woods or climbing a mountain, at any level of difficulty, gives a sense of pride and accomplishment.
  40. Attend lectures. These could be science lectures or other types, but it’s helpful to keep up-to-date on what’s going on in the world and plan accordingly. Keeping the mind active helps you in all aspects of your daily life.
  41. Take the time to stretch muscles. Get a massage to improve muscle tone and circulation, then use this new energy and apply it to your work routine.
  42. Make laughter a priority. Hang out with some of your most entertaining friends for a good laugh, or simply sit back with some favorite old comedies. Laughter counts as exercise and has been shown to expand your life span.
  43. Clear some time each day to do nothing. As a child, I remember that we had “free time” scheduled into our school activities every day. This could be used for reading, drawing, or simply staring into space if that’s what we felt like doing. What a novel idea, and one that keeps the brain at ease.
  44. Schedule a much-needed vacation. If you don’t ever schedule it, you will always find some reason not to go.
  45. Learn new tips for entertaining. You don’t have to be Martha Stewart to throw a great dinner party, and learning how to be a host or hostess with minimal effort can give a big boost to your confidence levels.
  46. Throw out old clothing that doesn’t fit. Too many of us are squeezing into outdated clothes that are doing us no favors. Look and feel your best with clothes that are tailored to fit.
  47. Live in the present, not the past. The past is over. Move on and enjoy every moment as it occurs. Take stock of what needs to be accomplished and move forward with this information.
  48. Learn from past mistakes and move forward with your life. Get your life in order by looking forward, not back.

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Kris

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29 Ways to Simplify Your Life

Posted: September 19, 2012 in Discipline, Life, Stress
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Have you ever noticed how busy life has gotten? It seems like whenever there is available time, the world finds a way to fill it. The only way to manage it is to take an active stance against the “life clutter.” Here are some tips for simplifying your day. It is amazing how much stress you can get rid of by employing just a few of these strategies. Give it a try, you won’t be disappointed!

1. Start everyday with your most important task, leaving other ones undone
2. Do what you said you will do first
3. Say no when you are already committed and asked to take on more
4. Ask others for help whenever you need it
5. Finish things completely, don’t leave it only to have to come back again and again
6. Pick one thing at a time to do and focus on it
7. Make the most time for your passions and purposeful work
8. Leave spare time for yourself unscheduled and uncommitted
9. Prioritize your todo list
10. Keep one todo list and keep it short (only the most important things should be on it at any time)
11. Take time to be in solitude
12. Take time to pray and meditate
13. Make wasteful actions (like TV watching or pointless internet surfing) more difficult to do to help avoid them.
14. Find and eliminate other wasteful actions in your life
15. Develop habits and daily routines to practice important actions
16. Read every single day
17. Plan your week and all major tasks for that week
18. Review your accomplishments each week
19. Be grateful for what you have, what you can do, and for everything in your life
20. Turn off your cell phone
21. Turn off all notifications on your computer from IM, email or other popups
22. Eat simple meals and don’t cook things that don’t need to be cooked
23. Eat less, which lets you also prepare less and cleanup less and store less
24. Automate any bills, payments, and money transactions that you can
25. Ignore distractions from media
26. Commute by bicycle or public transit instead of the busy freeway
27. Use commuting time wisely by reading or listening to books
28. Consider a career or job change to reduce stress
29. Find and maintain routines for day to day things

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The Law of the Harvest

Posted: September 17, 2012 in Discipline, Habits, Life
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(This is an excerpt from my book “The Law of the Harvest” which you can download for free HERE or from iBooks for your iPad.)

There are many “Natural Laws” in existence that help us describe or explain why certain events occur. You may have heard of the Law of Attraction, the Law of Relativity, or the Law of Cause and Effect. One of the most basic and essential natural laws is called the Law of the Harvest.

The Law of the Harvest has been around for as long as man has been on the earth. It has been taught in various forms by religious, cultural and business leaders around the world.

Simply put, the Law of the Harvest says that you reap what you sow; you only harvest what you have planted; your results are the product of your actions. It is the most basic of principles and probably seems pretty obvious.

However, this law is at the root of every accomplishment and every failure in your life; be it at home, at work, at school, or in your personal life.

Every action you perform is like a seed you have planted in the ground. You decide if it is a good seed or a bad seed. At some point, it will grow and produce fruit. Whether the fruit is good or bad, depends on the seed you initially planted. Combined, these fruits are what determine the quality of your life today.

Learning how to make Law of the Harvest work for you will help you have more accomplished and fulfilling life. It is a law that can work for you or against you. You decide the seeds you plant and therefore it is your decision as to the type of harvest you will have.

Remember, in everything you do and everywhere you go you are planting seeds. Plant a smile, gain a friendship. Plant procrastination and get poor results. Plant good study habits, get good grades. The list is infinitely long.

Challenge: Take inventory of your daily actions and look for a way to add a couple of extra “good seeds” to what you are already doing. If you do this, you will begin to feel happier and more accomplished in no time.

Happy harvesting!

Kris

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Wake Up

Posted: September 14, 2012 in Attitude, Discipline, Goals, Happiness, Hope, Life, Perspective, Vision
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Last night someone asked me why I started Successify! I have always had different answers to this question but none of them ever seemed to describe why I really started it or what it’s purpose is.

As I thought more about it on the drive home, these words came to mind:

“I look out and see a world full of promise and opportunity…and it is waiting.

I look around and see people full of promise and potential…but they are sleeping.”

And I realized that it was a great way to describe what I’m trying to do. I feel like we live in an amazing world where it has been proven time and time again that ANYBODY can rise up and create a fabulous and successful life.

But I think most of us don’t ever do it. Sometimes it is because of self-doubt. Sometimes it is because we let life get in the way. For whatever reason, we give up our greatest dreams about the time we hit college. We stop thinking big and start thinking practical. We put our ambitions into hibernation. And by the time we realize it, we feel like it is too late. Or that we just don’t know how to get a jump start.

The vision I have for this website and company is to help people “wake up” from their proverbial slumber. To tell people that it is time to start living the life they always dreamed of living and show them how to do it. I want to form a community of like-minded people who want to work together and support one another in adding the elements of success into the family, their business, their relationships, and their personal lives. I don’t want anyone to get to the end of their life and say, “I really wish I would have…”

I hope you find this blog helpful. If it ever becomes dull or boring, please let me know. If it is of no value to you, then I need to improve it.

Now wake up and get to work!

Kris

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Discipline

Posted: August 16, 2012 in Discipline
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                            “Discipline is a choice. Its simply consistently choosing the hard right over the easy wrong.”

I love this quote from Rory Vaden, author of the book Take the Stairs. What a great description of discipline. Becoming disciplined is not easy and it doesn’t happen all of a sudden. It is slowly developed over time and requires consistency.

     When I think about discipline, I automatically think about some of the diets I have attempted. I can easily choose the carrots over the candy bar for a few days but it seems like after a week I am off the wagon and pounding breakfast burritos. No consistency. Diet Discipline comes from consistently choosing the hard healthy (carrots) over the easy junk food (candy bar).

     The diet analogy is applicable to just about anything we attempt in life. It doesn’t matter how good we are for a week. It matters how good we will be each day for a lifetime. Repetition leads to discipline. Discipline leads to success. All great achievers are incredibly disciplined. They weren’t born that way, but they have become that way.

     I’m pretty sure that early on, there were days where Michael Phelps didn’t want to get out of bed to go swim laps. He probably ditched some days or at least gave his mom a hard time about making him go. But the more he worked at it, he realized that to produce the results he wanted, he had to be disciplined. He had to learn force himself to leave the comfort of his bed and go get in the water.

     When we strike out into something new or strive to achieve some great goal, we start the process of developing our discipline. If we can focus and work every day, our efforts will become easier and easier and we will move closer and closer to our goal. Our level of discipline will determine our level of success.

Choose the hard right, avoid the easy wrong, enjoy the lasting benefits of a disciplined life.

- Kris

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