Why don’t we have the things that we want? Ever think it’s because we don’t deserve it?

Of course we don’t. “I deserve what I want. I work harder than the kid driving a Lambo because his dad’s a millionaire. What did he do to get that car? Nothing! Am I right?”

Nope. I don’t deserve the Lambo because I haven’t done what I need to do to get the Lambo. That kid did exactly what he needed to do; he came out of the right lady, and was born into the right family. What he doesn’t have: the opportunity to EARN the Lamborghini… more on that in a bit.

We spend so much time wishing and complaining, that we fail to come to grips with the fact that we have everything that we deserve to have. We’re as happy as we should be because our attitude and outlook on life determines our happiness.

We’re as successful as we deserve to be because we’ve put in the amount of work that determines the amount of success we’ve achieved. We’ve also risked and sacrificed what is necessary to be where we are. No more successful, and no less successful than we are right now.

We’ve done what’s necessary to be where we are at this very moment. We HAVEN’T done what’s necessary to achieve everything we want to achieve. Otherwise, we’d be there.

Now what about the spoiled rich kid driving that Lambo… Why shouldn’t we be pissed off at him from being born with a silver spoon while we have to work our asses off for everything we want? Or what about our buddy who has had everything go his way in life; don’t we have the right to be mad at him?! We’re slaving away here, and he’s off in South America living the good life, that lucky son of a bitch.

Yah, we have that right if we want to be a sour, jealous, shadow of a man for the rest of our lives… on second thought, no we don’t have that right. But we do have an opportunity. A great opportunity.

The kid with the Lambo and the silver spoon will never have the greatest opportunity a man can ever have: the chance to elevate his status, to work hard, and to EARN. I have this opportunity. This gift. This blessing. And so do you.

We can be sour, mad, and jealous of our buddy who’s had some good breaks. But will he feel the same towards us when we achieve our success? Probably not, he’s a good dude.

So where do we stand?

Exactly where we deserve to be standing.

Success, no matter how you define it isn’t a right. It’s something that has to be earned. Wherever we are right now in life is where we deserve to be.

Sometimes it sucks to say this because some very hard working and deserving people don’t get the breaks that others get. Sometimes this leads to a change in attitude or a break in their faith. The shaken faith can lead to a lack of hope. The lack of hope can lead to poor decision making, which can lead to more bad breaks ending in a life that had promise, but was never realized.

We are never put under circumstances that we can’t handle. Believe it?

If you do, when time’s get tough and life seems unfair, you’ll know that you can handle it. That no matter how dark life gets, it’s nothing but a passing phase. Like the night is before daybreak. The darkness will always pass if you’re strong enough to stand through it.

If you don’t believe it. If you instead become angry that life isn’t going your way. If you resent other’s success and hate the world for the lack of your own, the darkness will never cease until you decide to change how you view it.

Yes, we are where we deserve to be. Even more, we are where we’re supposed to be.

No higher. No lower.

Only you can create the change that will determine the most important position: where you end up.

In January 2009, Ric Elias, a front-seat passenger of Flight 1549 came face to face with death as his plane crash-landed in the Hudson River.

Ric Elias shares with us publicly, for the first time what went through his mind as the doomed plane went down. He reflects on how this event has helped him connect the dots in his life and how his goals and perspectives have changed through such an eye opening experience.

(Video) The 3 Things I Learned While My Plane Crashed

As an Entrepreneur, you often need to start from scratch, go up against the corporate big guns, and take massive risks. Its not as easy as it sounds, that is why we have decided to share with you the 10 Top Entrepreneur Essentials For Bulletproof Success.

Read on and share with us any other pointers that you may have come across in your adventures as an Entrepreneur.

Top 10 Tips For Bulletproof Success

1. Be passionate about life, as well as your business. Entrepreneurs who have passion in business, as well as their life, may drive us all batty, but there is never a dull moment. These moments are always being transformed into options to be explored. They make life interesting and an adventure, and everyone loves an adventure.

2. Be delightfully authentic and honest. Authentic entrepreneurs are destined and determined to have fun, as well as move forward in business. They have an unerring confidence that’s inspiring yet attainable. They savor relationships, and are generous with themselves and their smarts, so they attract a savvy following.

3. Be revered for an amazing positive attitude. Rather than cave when things get tough, optimistic entrepreneurs go analytic, looking for pivots that keep their goals in sight. They are disciplined, upbeat thinkers, but they don’t take themselves too seriously, and know how and when to laugh it off. A negative attitude takes everyone down.

4. Be warm and completely accessible. Warmth comes from your smile, and facial expressions that indicate genuine interest. Investors and partners look for entrepreneurs that will look them straight in the eye when speaking, and give their full and undivided attention while you’re speaking. Everyone looks for “rapport talk” rather than “report talk.”

5. Have impeccable manners and flair. Entrepreneurs who are always looking for opportunities to be gracious and considerate are going to be liked, admired, sought after, and trusted. In business, that means staying connected, showing up on time, with no signs of boredom or preoccupation. It’s not always about you, so dress and talk for them.

6. Be competent and confident. Competent people accomplish more in business because they’re driven by a pronounced sense of purpose. They are willing to put themselves on the line, and have confidently done their homework to know what it takes. They are reliably consistent, and unafraid to ask for help.

7. Able to just “get it.” Entrepreneurs who “get it” are emotionally attuned to peers and customers, so that their gut-level instincts become informed judgments that move the business forward. “With-it”-ness takes work, like reading the right blogs every day, challenging yourself to stay abreast of the latest technology, and social media marketing.

8. Have a big bandwidth. Can you talk, with equal engagement and respect, to your company’s CFO and the guy who pumps your gas? Look for opportunities to praise and nurture the people with diversity. Get comfortable out of your circle of interest and expertise. Go for that black belt in networking.

9. Be vivid virtually. Developing a superior virtual presence requires a mastery of several mediums – phone, email, text messaging, as well as handwritten notes – but the payoff is undeniable. But don’t overuse virtual communication to the exclusion of face-to-face time In all cases, don’t forget your sense of aplomb, mastery of tone, and the spell-checker.

10. Build and use a board of advisors. The right board is a group of individuals who may not know one another, but know you, and know your business domain. Plus, they need to be willing to put their brains and their expertise at your disposal as long as you need it. No entrepreneur is an island, so take the initiative to build and use an advisory board.

Article By: Martin Zwilling

I have watched this video 3 times over now and I am still blown away. Meet “Dean Karnazes” the man who can run forever. Running 50 back to back marathons in 50 days you’d say that this guy has the mental and physical stamina to accomplish most things thrown at him. Dean Karnazes recently featured on comic book legends, “Stan Lee’s: Superhumans” TV show, where Stan Lee tracks down and follows a handful of superhuman beings with amazing abilities.

So when you feel like you can’t pull yourself out of bed for that 5am run, flick this video on for some hardcore motivation and see if you can top this guy!

Dean Karnazes – Superhuman Ultra-Marathon Runner

Dean Karnazes Advice

Below is some training advice from the pro himself “Dean Karnazes“:

Run Like a Pro
Focus on maintaining good form by tightening your core, leaning your upper torso forward, and thrusting your arms.

Train Twice as Hard
“Build your endurance with dual cardio workouts,” Karnazes says. “Do cardio in the morning and repeat it in the evening — a minimum of 45 minutes each on the treadmill, the elliptical, or whatever your preferred machine is.”

Put on the Blinders
“Ignore any sort of mile markers,” Karnazes says. “Inevitably, you’ll look at them, see how much distance you have left, and think you can’t go on.” Instead, focus your attention on your form.

Listen to Your Body
A cramp or gut stitch is a surefire way to lose time on the course. But ignoring it is even worse. “It’s painful, but you’ve really got to slow down and work through it.” Since cramps are caused by oxygen and electrolyte deficiencies, breathe deeply to pump in fresh oxygen to your muscles, and if possible, swig a salt tablet with an electrolyte beverage.

Dean Karnazes Quotes:

You cannot grow and expand your capabilities to their limits without running the risk of failure. – Dean Karnazes

Regardless of how distant your dreams may seem, every second counts. - Dean Karnazes

Even if you’re inches away from the finish, never take success for granted. - Dean Karnazes

I never feel more alive than when I’m in great pain, struggling against insurmountable odds and untold adversity. Hardship? Suffering? Bring it! I’ve said it before and I’ve come to believe it: There’s magic in misery. - Dean Karnazes

Pain is in the neurons of the beholder. - Dean Karnazes

Running has an uncanny ability to mellow the soul, to take the edge off hard feelings, and put things back into healthy perspective. - Dean Karnazes

Have you ever had trouble closing a deal or convincing someone of your worthiness? Most people have this problem or at least have had this a few times in their life. In Business, mastering the technique of persuasion is known to be the key to major success and can be the difference between a pat on the back or a slap in the face, figuratively speaking.

Read on for a little insight into the art of persuasion in the world of business.

7 Great Persuasion Techniques To Use In Business

1. Give and you shall receive

When someone does you a favour, you know instinctively that you will have to do something in return in the future. Psychologists call this the reciprocity rule, and it can be very useful in persuasion.

Try it out next time a colleague or your boss needs help with something by being the first to stand up and lend a hand. Even better, think ahead and be aware of the deadlines and meetings your boss has to reach so you know to step in if they get called away. According to the reciprocity rule, they’ll be more likely to return the favour in the future.

2. Admit your weaknesses

People will never accept an idea or proposal if it sounds too good to be true, so one of the most effective ways to be persuasive is to admit a weakness.

Next time you’re trying to convince someone into giving you that job or deal, admit a small drawback before you go on to tell them that you are the best person for the job, or why your proposal will work. For example, point out that you have only two years experience instead of the required three, but then go on to explain the relevance of your past experience and how it puts you ahead of other potential candidates.

3. Emphasise potential loss

A study in the Journal of Organizational Behavior showed potential losses count far more in a manager’s decision-making than the same things presented as gains. What this means is that to be more persuasive, you should point out what they have to lose by not accepting your idea, as well as what they can gain.

So if applying for a job, or putting forward a proposal, make sure to emphasise what the company has to lose by not taking on your skills or suggestions. Just make sure you do so respectfully, and do your research on the company or your client first.

4. Highlight similarities

It is well known that people respect and listen to those who they believe to be similar to themselves. One way to influence this is by using what psychologists call mirroring. By mirroring the body language, tone of voice and interests of the person you’re speaking to, you’ll make them more likely to accept your suggestions.

Next time you meet a potential employer or client, do a brief background check on their company or personal interests. Find any similarities between them and yourself or your individual companies and bring them up in the beginning of your meeting – they’ll be more likely to say yes if they feel like you’re on common ground.

5. Appeal to their reputation

People are more likely to behave in a way that is consistent with their past decisions or beliefs, thereby upholding their reputation. This is what psychologists call labeling.

You can use this to your advantage by pointing out that someone has demonstrated a particular trait in the past, and then suggesting that their next course of action remains consistent with that label. For example, say, “Your company is cutting edge and cutting edge companies invest products like X.” This technique is tried and true and you’ll often see it used in marketing.

6. Use Social Proof

When people are unsure of which course of action to take or how to behave, they tend to assume that others around them are better informed, and will look to them for guidance. Psychologists call this Social Proof, and it is a powerful mode of persuasion.

If you’re trying to convince someone to hire you, mention that you have had interest from other potential employers. Or if you’re trying to sell an idea or product, highlight how the idea or product has been successful with other businesses. People will trust the decisions or behaviours of others and will be more likely to do the same.

7. Take it one step at a time

This is all about getting your foot in the door. If you’re pitching a proposal that’s a bit of a risk, if you throw it all on the table at once your potential employee or client is likely to say no to the whole lot. In order to build trust, you need to convince them one step at a time.

Try breaking down what you aim to achieve into small steps, and then gradually talking them into saying yes to each one – you’ll be more likely to persuade them into giving you what you want. This process can take time but remember small steps in the beginning can lead to big leaps in the future.

The Great Jim Rohn once said: “If you want more, you need to be more”. Something to think about.

Carl Richards, a financial planner whose blog, Behavior Gap, features his witty take on personal finance and investing. Carl Richards has crafted 18 Money Saving Sketches on Napkins that I would love to share with you.

We hope Carl Richards‘ view of personal finance inspires you to think the same way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following article appeared in the Harvard Business Review. Why have you been so successful in reaching some of your goals, but not others? If you aren’t sure, you are far from alone in your confusion.

It turns out that even brilliant, highly accomplished people are pretty lousy when it comes to understanding why they succeed or fail. In fact, decades of research on achievement suggests that successful people reach their goals not simply because of who they are, but more often because of what they do.

9 Rules Of Success

No.9 Get specific

When you set yourself a goal, try to be as specific as possible. “Lose 5 kilograms” is a better goal than “lose some weight,” because it gives you a clear idea of what success looks like. Knowing exactly what you want to achieve keeps you motivated until you get there. Also, think about the specific actions that need to be taken to reach your goal. Just promising you’ll “eat less” or “sleep more” is too vague — be clear and precise. “I’ll be in bed by 10 p.m. on weeknights” leaves no room for doubt about what you need to do, and whether or not you’ve actually done it.

No.8 Seize the moment to act on your goals

Given how busy most of us are, and how many goals we are juggling at once, it’s not surprising that we routinely miss opportunities to act on a goal because we simply fail to notice them. Did you really have no time to work out today? No chance at any point to return that phone call? Achieving your goal means grabbing hold of these opportunities before they slip through your fingers.

To seize the moment, decide when and where you will take each action you want to take, in advance. Again, be as specific as possible (e.g., “If it’s Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, I’ll work out for 30 minutes before work.”) Studies show that this kind of strategic planning will help your brain to detect and seize the opportunity when it arises, increasing your chances of success by roughly 300%.

No.7 Know exactly how far you have left to go

Achieving any goal also requires honest and regular monitoring of your progress — if not by others, then by you yourself. If you don’t know how well you are doing, you can’t adjust your behaviour or your strategies accordingly. Check your progress frequently — weekly, or even daily, depending on the goal.

No.6 Be a realistic optimist

When you are setting a goal, by all means engage in lots of positive thinking about how likely you are to achieve it. Believing in your ability to succeed is enormously helpful for creating and sustaining your motivation. But whatever you do, don’t underestimate how difficult it will be to reach your goal. Most goals worth achieving require time, planning, effort, and persistence. Studies show that thinking things will come to you easily and effortlessly leaves you ill-prepared for the journey ahead, and significantly increases the odds of failure.

No.5 Focus on getting better, rather than being good

Believing you have the ability to reach your goals is important, but so is believing you can get the ability. Many of us believe that our intelligence, our personality and our physical aptitudes are fixed — that no matter what we do, we won’t improve. As a result, we focus on goals that are all about proving ourselves, rather than developing and acquiring new skills.

Fortunately, decades of research suggest that the belief in fixed ability is completely wrong — abilities of all kinds are profoundly malleable. Embracing the fact that you can change will allow you to make better choices, and reach your fullest potential. People whose goals are about getting better, rather than being good, take difficulty in stride, and appreciate the journey as much as the destination.

No.4 Have grit

Grit is a willingness to commit to long-term goals, and to persist in the face of difficulty. Studies show that gritty people obtain more education in their lifetime, and earn higher grades.

The good news is, if you aren’t particularly gritty now, there is something you can do about it. People who lack grit more often than not believe that they just don’t have the innate abilities successful people have. If that describes your own thinking… well, there’s no way to put this nicely: you are wrong. As I mentioned earlier, effort, planning, persistence, and good strategies are what it really takes to succeed. Embracing this knowledge will not only help you see yourself and your goals more accurately, but also do wonders for your grit.

No.3 Build your willpower muscle

Your self-control “muscle” is just like the other muscles in your body — when it doesn’t get much exercise, it becomes weaker over time. But when you give it regular workouts by putting it to good use, it will grow stronger and stronger, and better able to help you successfully reach your goals.

To build willpower, take on a challenge that requires you to do something you’d honestly rather not do. Give up high-fat snacks, do 100 sit-ups a day, stand up straight when you catch yourself slouching, try to learn a new skill. When you find yourself wanting to give in, give up, or just not bother — don’t. Start with just one activity, and make a plan for how you will deal with troubles when they occur (“If I have a craving for a snack, I will eat one piece of fresh or three pieces of dried fruit.”) It will be hard in the beginning, but it will get easier, and that’s the whole point. As your strength grows, you can take on more challenges and step-up your self-control workout.

No.2 Don’t tempt fate

No matter how strong your willpower muscle becomes, it’s important to always respect the fact that it is limited, and if you overtax it you will temporarily run out of steam. Don’t try to take on two challenging tasks at once, if you can help it (like quitting smoking and dieting at the same time). And don’t put yourself in harm’s way — many people are overly-confident in their ability to resist temptation, and as a result they put themselves in situations where temptations abound. Successful people know not to make reaching a goal harder than it already is.

No.1 Focus on what you will do, not what you won’t do

Do you want to successfully lose weight, quit smoking, or put a lid on your bad temper? Then plan how you will replace bad habits with good ones, rather than focusing only on the bad habits themselves. Research on thought suppression (e.g., “Don’t think about white bears!”) has shown that trying to avoid a thought makes it even more active in your mind. The same holds true when it comes to behaviour — by trying not to engage in a bad habit, our habits get strengthened rather than broken.

If you want change your ways, ask yourself, What will I do instead? For example, if you are trying to gain control of your temper and stop flying off the handle, you might make a plan like “If I am starting to feel angry, then I will take three deep breaths to calm down.” By using deep breathing as a replacement for giving in to your anger, your bad habit will get worn away over time until it disappears completely.

The definition of “thoughts” is “An idea or mental picture, imagined and contemplated by thinking or occurring suddenly in the mind.” I believe if you can harness and channel the right thoughts you will be unstoppable in any walk of life. These 5 thoughts are mistakenly carried out by the best of us at times and may be the reason why you cant reach that level of Success you have been hoping for.

Break throughs are made when we change the way we think, when we alter our beliefs and open our mind to its full and witty potential.

5 Common Bad Thoughts & How To Break Them

Perfectionism

We have all heard the saying ‘no one is perfect’ and in my opinion……thank god! Could you image a world with total perfection? It would be boring and there would be no thrill of risk and nothing better to strive for or look forward to.

I believe imperfection makes something beautiful, real and different and this is how most successful people in the world get to where they are now, by embracing their flaws/imperfections and putting everything they can into their passion!

Thomas Edison invented 3,000 duds before he invented the lightbulb. He himself did not call it failure. Instead, he said: “Any of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

Taking imperfect action is the best starting point.

Comparing yourself to others

There is only one YOU and trying to be like anyone is a total waste of time I say!

Many entrepreneurs push you to follow your passion and to observe successful people and do what they do. I also believed this. Do what they do but do it in your own way; add your own personal flare and passion along with your high energy and action and you will succeed on your own accord and merit.

Everyone is unique so embrace YOU and concentrate on what you can, do not what others can do.

Thinking that you’re not ‘good enough’

Ok, so I am even a culprit of this at times however who are you or anyone else for that matter to say that you are not good enough?

I truly believe that your mind is the most powerful tool you have and thoughts become things! Start telling yourself that you are good enough, or better yet that you are too good and even if you don’t believe it, you will start to etch this out and create what once was just a vision.

We are all put on this earth for our own personal journeys and success’s and I know that no matter what anyone says, everyone has it in them to do anything they put their mind to! All you have to do is start believing it!

Doing too much at once

I read 10 books at a time and yes as thrilling as it is getting lost in 10 different stories and becoming one with all those different characters and adventures, it sure is hard to concentrate and focus on one at a time! How many books do you think I end up finishing? None!

This is a perfect example of why you concentrate on one thing at a time and don’t overload your plate with too many tasks at once. Even though it sounds fun and the excitement of wanting to finish so many things at once drives you to take everything on board, it really isn’t practical and you end up getting ¼ of everything done and finishing none of them.

Focus on one thing at a time and the satisfying feeling of accomplishing and moving forward will be enough of a reward to help you to successfully complete one thing at a time.

“But I” (Excuses excuses…)

The 5^th and final rule is a ban on excuses! Everyone can find an excuse to do or not to do something, this is a known fact!

Excuses help us justify the doubts we already have about something so that the risk is lessened by a self belief for why we can’t do something.

However, I have a philosophy that everything works both ways so next time you find yourself making or finding an excuse why not to do something, change your way of thinking and force yourself to come up with an excuse as to why you SHOULD do that something!

Whenever I doubt something or find myself coming up with an excuse I ask myself this one little question:

What’s the worst that can happen?

Usually my answer to this is “It won’t work out the way I want it to” and if this is what happens then you know what not to do in the future or what to do when you try next time!

It’s all easier said than done and no one can help you unless you really want to help yourself  but one thing I do know is that we are all creatures of habit so if you start to forcefully change your way of thinking by following these rules then your body and mind will soon catch on and start to think differently in your favor, automatically!

 Article By: Charlene Barry | Addicted2Success.com

This list right here is the true meaning of “Age is nothin but a number.” This list shows you what we are all capable of and that anything is possible at any age.Some of these amazing people started their dreams in their 30s & 40s, some started as soon as they were born.

Read on to see what these amazing people were doing at your age.

1 yr old – . By this age, Christian Friedrich Heinecken had read the Pentateuch.

2 yrs old –  Speed skater Bonnie Blair began skating. She later won five Olympic gold medals.

3 yrs old – Jodie Foster began acting professionally at age 3, when she shot her first Coppertone commercial.

4 yrs old –  Singer/songwriter Tori Amos was accepted into Baltimore’s Peabody Academy of Music, the youngest student ever accepted there. She was expelled at age 11 for improvisation and playing rock covers by ear.

5 yrs old – Mozart began composing minuets. Once when a second violinist failed to appear for a string quartet performance, Mozart took his place, even though he’d never seen the music.

6 yrs old - Drew Barrymore, granddaughter of noted actor John Barrymore, was already a seasoned actress.

7 yrs old - Child film actor Jackie Coogan starred in the Chaplin movie The Kid and became the youngest person to make a million dollars.

8 yrs old - Three-time Olympic gold medal-winning runner Wilma Rudolph was unable to walk until she was eight.

9 yrs old - Daisy Ashford wrote her first and last novel, The Young Visitors, which sold over 200,000 copies.

10 yrs old - Recording artist Stevie Wonder was signed by Motown records.

11 yrs old - Country singer, songwriter and actress Dolly Parton made her first radio appearance.

12 yrs old - Filmmaker Steven Spielberg got his first movie camera and spent hours writing scripts, drawing storyboards and making movies of subjects such as head-on miniature train crashes and an exploding pressure cooker full of cherries jubilee.

13 yrs old – World champion Mario Andretti began racing.

14 yrs old - Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci became the first athlete in Olympic history to achieve a perfect 10. She went on to do it six more times.

15 yrs old - Inventor Thomas Alva Edison became manager of a telegraph office.

16 yrs old - Tennis player Tracy Austin became the youngest person to win the U.S. Open.

17 yrs old - The youngest player to play in a World Cup final, Pele won the match for Brazil, then passed out on the field.

18 yrs old - Elias Howe, who worked in a watchmaking shop, dreamed the idea of the sewing machine and worked on developing it for the next five years.

19 yrs old - Tired of watching friends fall prey to drugs and crime, Matty Rich fought back by directing the award winning movie “Straight Out of Brooklyn.”

20 yrs old - Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard and cofounded Microsoft.

21 yrs old - College dropout Steven Jobs co-founded Apple Computer.

22 yrs old - Olympic runner Herbert James Elliott, ranked by many as the greatest mile runner ever, retired undefeated at 22.

23 yrs old - Jack Nicklaus became the youngest golfer to win the Masters.

24 yrs old - Entrepreneur Ted Turner took over his father’s billboard advertising business. He later launched CNN.

25 yrs old - By this age, Charles Chaplin had appeared in 35 films.

26 yrs old - Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Italy.

27 yrs old - Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space.

28 yrs old - The Danish physicist Niels Bohr published his revolutionary theory of the atom.

29 yrs old - Blacksmith Kirkpatrick MacMillan invented the first real bicycle.

30 yrs old - Donald Trump persuaded bankers to lend him $80 million so he could buy the Commodore Hotel. + Bill Gates was the first person ever to become a billionaire by age 30.

31 yrs old – Gregory Pincus achieved in-vitro fertilization of rabbits. Later he invented the birth control pill.

32 yrs old - By the time of his death at age 32, Alexander the Great had conquered almost the entire known world.

33 yrs old - Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic alone.

34 yrs old - After defeating Antony and Cleopatra’s forces in a naval battle, Augustus became the master of the Roman world.

35 yrs old - American sprinter Evelyn Ashford won her final Olympic gold medal at age 35, old for a sprinter.

36 yrs old - German chemist Friedrich August Kekule discovered the ring structure of the benzene molecule in a dream.

37 yrs old - Jersey Joe Walcott became the oldest man ever to win the world’s heavyweight boxing title.

38 yrs old - Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the moon.

39 yrs old - Charles Goodyear discovered vulcanization and led the way to the effective use of rubber.

40 yrs old - Joan Ganz Cooney founded Children’s Television Workshop and became the mastermind behind “Sesame Street.”

41 yrs old - Rudyard Kipling became the youngest Nobel Laureate in literature.

42 yrs old - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became the oldest NBA regular player.

43 yrs old - John Fitzgerald Kennedy became the youngest man elected to the United States presidency.

44 yrs old - Assistant cashier Jim Priceman returned an envelope containing $37.1 million in negotiable bearer certificates found outside 110 Wall Street.

45 yrs old - George Foreman recaptured the heavyweight championship with a 10th round knockout, becoming the oldest person ever to win the heavyweight championship.

46 yrs old - A Scottish surgeon, James Baird, discovered hypnosis.

47 yrs old - Edward Jenner, an English doctor, pioneered the use of vaccination against smallpox.

48 yrs old - George Blanda played his last year of NFL football.

49 yrs old -Well known author Julia Child published her book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

50 yrs old - Barbra Streisand won a 10-year film and recording contract estimated at $60 million.

51 yrs old - The Marquis de Sade, imprisoned for much of his life, wrote the novel Justine.

52 yrs old - Francis Chichester sailed around the world alone in a 53-foot boat normally manned by a crew of six.

53 yrs old - Inventor Walter Hunt patented the safety pin.

54 yrs old - Annie Jump Cannon, the dean of women astronomers, became the first person to systematically classify the stars according to spectral type.

55 yrs old - Richard Daniel Bass reached the summit of Mount Everest.

56 yrs old - Mao Zedong founded the Peoples’ Republic of China.

57 yrs old – Betty Ford was frank about her cancer surgery, in an effort to alert other women to the danger of breast cancer.

58 yrs old - Sony chairman Akio Morita introduced the Sony Walkman, even though nobody seemed to like the idea prior to its release.

59 yrs old - Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross.

60 yrs old - Playwright and essayist George Bernard Shaw completed a play, “Heartbreak House,” regarded by some as his masterpiece.

61 yrs old - Richard Milhouse Nixon resigned in disgrace, the first U.S. President ever to quit office.

62 yrs old - J.R.R. Tolkien published the first volume of his fantasy series, Lord of the Rings.

63 yrs old - Countess Rosa Branicka, a wealthy Polish noble, performed breast cancer surgery on herself and lived to be 82.

70 yrs old - Benjamin Franklin helped draft the Declaration of Independence.

75 yrs old - Warren Buffett set up a $30 billion contribution to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for use in various world-wide charitable causes. + Cancer survivor Barbara Hillary became one of the oldest people, and the first black woman, to reach the north pole.

80 yrs old – Jessica Tandy became the oldest Oscar recipient for her work in Driving Miss Daisy.

85 yrs old - At 85, “Coco” Chanel was the head of a fashion design firm.

90 yrs old - Pablo Picasso was still producing drawings and engravings.

95 yrs old - Nola Ochs became the oldest person to receive a college diploma, a degree in general studies with an emphasis on history.

100+ yrs old - Alice Porlock of Great Britain published her first book, Portrait of My Victorian Youth, when she was 102 years old.

Here is a list of “The Top 10 Fears That Hold Us Back From Success“. This list goes into detail about each element of fear and why it holds us back. I’m a true believer of “When I know why, Then I’ll know how!”, so by pin pointing the exact reason why you are scared to progress forward in your plan you are then able to work on beating that element of fear and succeed in what you truly want to accomplish.

“If we doubted our Fears instead of doubting our dreams, Imagine how much in life we’d accomplish”. – Joel Brown

Fears That Hold Us Back

10. Losing your freedom

While the exact definition of freedom and its value in a society are debatable subjects, the fear of losing your freedom has always been present in human minds because, even though it is not something that we think about every single moment, it has given us times of deep thought and wonder of what would happen if we were to lose the power to control our own lives. This fear starts with mundane things such as that time you were grounded in your room by yourself without the possibility of leaving until you finished your homework or our fear of the commitment that marriage establishes. But this raises a question, is absolute freedom the best thing for us? We have all seen people make bad decisions over and over again and wondered whether having someone else make their decisions for them would make things better.

9. The Unknown

The fear of the unknown is easily explained like this: the mind tells us that in order to move forward we must know what is waiting for us there, because “if I know, then I can control the situation, and if I don’t know, then I am not in control”. This second part is what scares us the most because control is what establishes a measurement that we can use to manipulate the result of our actions. And when we don’t like what is different, this is simply because we can neither understand it nor have a plan to control it beforehand.

This fear has been with us for thousands of years, and it is a great part of what has helped us survive as a species. Many of us, when we were kids, were afraid of the dark, mainly because we didn’t know what might be hiding in there, and similarly when we didn’t know what might be at the end of the hallway we felt the need to pull ourselves away from it. However, this fear of the unknown often stops our progress and makes it harder for us to discover and understand new things, encouraging rejection and closed mindedness.

8. Pain

Since the intensity of physical pain is a purely subjective feeling which is sensed differently by each individual, it is quite hard to make generalizations of what causes people pain. But physical pain can be described as an unpleasant sensation generally caused by damage to a certain part of the body.

Aside from a few exceptions, most of us are intolerant or afraid of physical pain, this can be noted in the fact that there are a great amount of medications related to pain relief, with different levels of strength and related to different types of pain. The rejection of pain is caused because we associate physical pain with illness and bad health in general. This fear can be linked with the fear of losing your freedom, such as in the case of people that suffer from chronic pain and usually see their physical freedom limited because they want to avoid doing the actions that cause or increase the pain sensation. Let’s face it, pain is not a good sensation (although, as stated before, some people believe otherwise), and like animals do, we tend to keep away from that which causes us pain, as it is one of the key elements in survival instinct as well as the way our brain tells us that there is something wrong with a certain part of our body or that the action we are doing is causing a negative effect on it. In this case pain in itself is not a bad thing, but a way to let us know that we must stop doing what we are doing to avoid further damage to our body.

7. Disappointment

This fear is somewhat hard to explain, since there are two different fears that are related to disappointment – one of disappointing others and one of suffering disappointment yourself.

We all as kids lived that awful experience in which we did something wrong or misbehaved and were expecting a punishment or at least some screaming from our parents, but instead got the unpleasant sight of our parents just staring at us with sadness in their eyes and saying “I am disappointed in you”, and how that single sentence hurt a lot more than any other punishment would have.

The fear of disappointment is part of the reason we avoid the unknown, disappointment is that feeling of dissatisfaction when our expectations do not match what actually happened. It is obvious that we make our best effort to avoid that, and like pain disappointment is a negative feeling that sometimes is followed by regret, in which a person wonders if their choices contributed to the outcome. “If I had done things differently, would it have made a difference?”

6. Misery

Poverty is defined as a situation that comes from the lack of the resources needed to completely fulfill the human needs. But misery is what we see as a more extreme case of poverty. It is the inability to cover our own basic personal needs. No one likes seeing or feeling human misery, because we know that the worst of human actions come out of the desperation caused by misery. It is what we consider as the lowest point in what comes to human needs and that is why we fear it so much. No one wants to feel that absence of things, and this has caused the media to feed us more of this fear in advertising, telling us that we need more things than those we actually do. And even though we all know how bad a habit this actually is, at the end of the day we can all acknowledge how hard not having basic goods to back you up is. Like it was expressed in the 2006 movie “The Last King of Scotland”, when Dr. Nicholas Garrigan tells Ugandan dictator Idi Amin that “money is no substitute for anything” he replies saying “[you say it because] you have never been poor”.

5. Loneliness

The fear of being alone is that dreadful feeling of emptiness caused by the absence of interaction with another human being. This fear has also evolved from one of our early survival instincts: we fear loneliness because it is more probable for us to survive if we live in group.

The fear of loneliness is related to doing something and no one noticing, we often feel that in order for our actions to be meaningful, someone has to notice them. This relates to the philosophy quote “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”. If you make a groundbreaking discovery but no one else ever finds about it, does it still count?

4. Ridicule

The fear of ridicule is related to the fear of getting bad criticism and is also caused by our social fear of not projecting a good enough image of ourselves to the others. This fear is most often experienced in what is called “stage fright”. We all have felt it at least once in our lives having to speak or perform in front of an audience. We fear that we might mess up and cause the audience to respond negatively, either by mocking us with laughter or, in the worst cases, booing. Even though some people practice hard enough to not feel stage fright or have a well built self-confidence that helps deal with the effects of being laughed at or criticized, the fear of ridicule never really leaves us because we don’t like the feeling of being in the spotlight for a negative reason and being at the mercy of the opinions of others.

3. Rejection

This social fear is one of the main reasons people act the way they do, we tend to (sometimes blindly) follow the others actions because it helps us avoid dealing with rejection from the society. We fear rejection because, like the fear of being alone, most of us can only justify our existence through the acknowledgement and acceptance of others. There are people who argue that acceptance from the society is a mere illusion and that there is no such thing as “normal” behavior from an individual within a society – if this is the case, then why do we fear not behaving “correctly” and in accordance with the cultural norms? This really puts into perspective our whole ethical infrastructure as a society; is something really good or bad just because society says so?

2. Death

This fear is not no. 1 because even though it is the main reason our instincts tell us to act the way we do, it is a well known truth that we all in the end will kick the bucket, but that doesn’t mean we have death as our worst everyday worry because we avoid the thought of it as a near future occurrence in our lives.

The fear of death is tightly tied to the fear of the unknown; we don’t know for sure what will happen to us when we leave this world. In fact, we are so interested in death that we have even developed whole cultures and religious beliefs that have tried to give an explanation to death since the beginning of time, with almost all ancient civilizations having a godly form or worshiping death in some way, we’ve all learned to respect it and eventually accept it.

1. Failure

This fear deserves the top spot because it rules over all our actions and decisions, we all do and don’t do things in order to avoid failure. Failure can be a lot of things; realizing you don’t live your life the way you wanted to, not succeeding in your plans, finding yourself helpless, or in the worst cases even hitting rock-bottom.

Failure is a very ambiguous and subjective term because failure is not on the same level and perspective to everyone, what counts as failure to one might not be even halfway there to another. To some, failure is actually a way to learn lessons and try again, so it is not really an end, but a tool for future reference. The main fear of failing comes with the disappointment that follows, that feeling that despite your effort, nothing seemed to go as you wished it did, and it causes a feeling like you might not even want to try again. That is why this is the worst fear of all, the fear or failure is very often used as an excuse to procrastinate or not do anything to make situations better – “why bother?” and “I’m just not good enough”.

In an ideal world every man, woman and child would be programmed for Success, the truth of the matter is that Success is a lot harder than you think. Success takes alot of Passion, Drive, Focus, Risk Taking etc… to get there and alot of people are just not up for that kind of work.

These are 10 of the most common reasons people end up failing, not just in business, but what they want to be successful at in life also. Read on and see how you can improve on your road to Success.

1. Because You Procrastinate- Yes this is one of the more common reasons for most people to never excel in fulfilling their chosen field or business. Instead of taking advantage of every waking moment you make excuses on why you can put it off until tomorrow or put the “grunt” work off until later, which is usually the most important of your daily task. Many will complain about why they’re not successful, but continue to put unimportant events ahead of what really should be a priority to anyone trying to better their situation or build a successful business and the answer is right in front of you and the sad thing is most know it, but fail to do anything about it.

2. Because You Blame What You Lack as your Reasons for Failure- Nine times out of ten if you ask any person or entrepreneur why they have failed in finishing or accomplishing a goal their sentence will begin with Because I don’t…. Depending on what field of business they’re in many of us could guess how that sentence will end. The sad reality is that most of us lack one thing or another and many of our predecessors have overcome many obstacles and proven time and time again that where you live, your financial status, your race, location, height, and/or belief has no take on whether or not you will be successful and it is ultimately up to you.

3. Because your idea isn’t as Brilliant and Unique as you think- I know this doesn’t come as a a suprise to most of you especially if you have ever started a business or had an idea that you thought was just revolutionary or unique with no competition, but once you do a little research or decide to launch you see ten other businesses doing the same thing. As I’m sure you have heard this before, but it is obvious most need to hear it again a successful business begins with a great execution and a failure is well… lack there of. Most ideas have been thought of or tried and tested, but many failed because of their execution and how it was brought about. There are many reasons why the same businesses fail while others succeed timing has a lot to do with it, capital, the person or entrepreneur, knowledge on the subject and much more.

4. Because some of your Best Ideas are just Memory or Were Never Brought to Life- I definitely think this is one of the biggest reasons most are never successful. Many of our best ideas that would have spread virally or been a necessity in life were never brought past the brainstorming process or seemed like one of them unobtainable goals, because most of the time the brilliant ideas are the hardest to accomplish or will have you facing the most obstacles to see them come to life. I read an article about how almost everyday people think of at least two million dollar ideas on their way to work during a 5day workweek, but over 90% never put any of them into action pass the the thought phase and without reasonable doubt I agree.

5. Because you’re not patient- Many of us fall into this category and I was once a very impatient person (still am at times) when it came to seeing results with a new venture or goal I wanted to attain. I think the above title is why many of us fall victim to all of these get rich quick schemes we see in our email inbox everyday or on late night TV infomercials. In reality there is no quick-legal ways to get rich or becoming successful anything that is worth attaining will take time to acquire. Many of us abandon a business before we give it time to get over the first years slump or automatically mark it as a failure before it has time to reach its full potential.

6. Because there is always somebody working harder than you- This article goes back to the first reason on procrastinating and reinforces that you’re not taking advantage of every waking moment. Every moment you sleep or take off for a break or make time for anything other than the goal you want to accomplish or the business you want to be number one there is always another team of people or a person working toward the same goal. I think every time you decide to tackle an objective or start a new business that you want to succeed in that you should keep in mind…there is always be somebody putting in harder work and longer hours than you. Remember the number one spot or your accomplished goals wouldn’t feel so good if you were the only one going for it, because it wouldn’t be worth attaining.

7. Because you wait on Luck or Opportunity (Meal Ticket) to be given to us- In most instances opportunity is not given to you it is created and you’re lucky if you are prepared. That is why it is important to always be prepared for the unthinkable, because opportunities usually arise when you least expect it and that is why in most cases we’re not prepared and that is what we call bad luck. You can’t wait fo rANYTHING to come to you or for somebody to hand it to you. If you want financing for your business go out and get it, if you want to relocate to another city go do it, if you want to be a millionaire before 25 get to work today not tomorrow anything is attainable with hard work and being persistent no matter how small or large the obstacles to success may seem.

8. Because the odds are against you- In most cases people want to be successful from starting a business whether it is online or offline. The reality is over 50% of small businesses fail within the first five years and out of all businesses started 85% fail within the first five years as you can see the odds are not in your favor to succeed. Many people who have weight loss goals will most likely not meet them considering that more than 65% of the United States population is either overweight or obese and it was up more than 16% from the year before. Your chances of being a millionaire are not as bad when compared to the other odds, because the average American has a 1 in 13 chance of becoming a millionaire and more than 741,666 become new millionaires every month. Will you be next months millionaire??

9. Because life is too short- This reason basically takes into mind all of the above reasons for reaching success, tried and failed and taking time for granted for when opportunity is presented to you. You should take advantage of every SOUND opportunity that is presented to you, make use of every free second you have available, read up on any topic relevant to any goals you want to accomplish, make no excuses for tasks or goals not completed, and realise that you have nobody to blame, but yourself for any failures that you have or goals that you didn’t accomplish within your lifetime.

10. Because you will NOT make a change today- Even though this article stated in the beginning that “you will never be successful unless you make a change today” most of us will read it in its entirety and actually agree with its content, but will still go back to our same habits of procrastinating, blaming what we lack, putting together half-thought out ideas with poor execution, never bringing our greatest ideas pass the brainstorming process, being impatient and not persistent, letting someone work harder than you for that number one spot, waiting on our meal ticket, still understanding the odds are against you, but not working harder to overcome them, not taking advantage of all our time on this earth to see our dreams and goals manifest into something greater than we could ever imagine.

It is still in your hands whether or not you will become successful and defeat these odds. Just don’t become a victim to one of these common mistakes and reasons for not being successful within your lifetime.

Article By: Cream BMP