Who are you? Not your name or your business or even what your ethics are, but who are you in the sense of what people see when they look at you? Does your name and your business bring happiness to the minds of people who hear it? Does it bring anger? Does it bring peace and joy? Does it bring sadness?

How people feel when they think of you is your personal brand. We all know who Gary Vaynerchuk, Tony Robbins, and Robert Kiyosaki are. These people have built huge reputations for themselves. We also know who Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un, and Adolf Hitler are. These people have also build reputations for themselves; very different reputations than the first names I listed.

When you read these names, a different feeling comes to mind, so below are 3 ways on how to evoke positive emotions when people hear your name:

1. Envoke the senses

First lets understand what a brand is. A brand is a product or service that invokes a feeling or emotion. Building a brand is all about invoking the senses of your Customers, you don’t want people to think of your brand and only think of the logo. We want people to have a scent that reminds them of you, a sight like a logo, and a feel that reminds them of not only your brand, but of you as well.

When people think of your company, what do you want them to think of? What emotion do you want to inspire in your customer base, and what can help you inspire that emotion? When creating your personal brand, you want to invoke all five senses of your target audience. If you own a coffee shop, when people walk in you want them to smell coffee, their mouth to water when they think of fresh pastries, their ears to perk up when they hear the beans being ground up.

“I force people to have coffee with me, just because I don’t trust that a friendship can be maintained without any other senses besides a computer or cellphone screen.” – John Cusack

To create your brand you can’t only think about what you want associated with your business, but also what you don’t want associated with it. Think back to the coffee instead of smelling coffee and pastries, how would you feel about walking in and smelling bleach? Would you rather go to the first coffee shop or the second one?

Think of ways to create a positive experience when a customer walks in by bringing a scent to people, or an interesting sight as they walk through the door. These things will all eventually become part of your brand in the sense that when people think of them, they will think of you.

2. Attractive marketing

Marketing is an amazing way to help boost your company’s sales. But marketing can also hurt your business if it isn’t done correctly. Have you ever given someone your email or phone number and had him or her relentlessly spam you trying to get your business? When someone does that, do you want to use their service, or do you want to throw your phone at the wall every time they message you? When building a brand you also want to think of ways to make your business, and marketing plans more attractive.  

This goes back to what you want people to think of when they think of your brand. Small things can go a long way in creating an attractive image for you and your company. Attractive marketing doesn’t stop at just ads, and endorsement. Thinking of ways to portray yourself in a positive light will help as well. It’s natural to think a person would be doing business with a company, but each customer is doing business with you directly. Now think back to a time you were in a store and had terrible customer service. How likely are you to go back to that store?

Even if that company employs thousands of people, the one bad experience you had with one employee could actually prevent you from going back. People are more likely to go somewhere they think of in a positive light, some place that reminds them of a good experience. A personal brand is not only a brand for your company or product, but it is also a way of branding yourself. The goal of marketing and creating a personal brand should be, to get your customer base to feel like they know you personally.

3. Build with social media

Social media is a great way to get your clients to feel like they know you personally. When a client feels like they know you, like you, and can trust you, they are more likely to buy whatever you are selling. People buy based off of person, product and price. So having that personal relationship with a client can go a long way, especially if they don’t know a lot about the product or price. There are tons of social media platforms to reach your customer base, but what platform gives the most personal, and honest form of your business?

One of the most surprising ways to build fans of your brand is podcasts. A podcast lets your audience hear your voice and speaking your opinions exactly how you meant them to be said. The more a person feels like they know you, the more likely they are to feel like they can trust you, your recommendations on products, and investments.

“Social media is not just an activity; it is an investment of valuable time and resources. Surround yourself with people who not just support you and stay with you, but inform your thinking about ways to WOW your online presence” – Sean Gardner

Unlike most social media platforms, podcasts don’t require someone to scroll through an endless feed, or pay attention to their phone or computer. For a podcast all you have to do is throw on a playlist and listen away while you are driving, cleaning, or just doing day-to-day tasks. The main goal is once you have a playlist of podcasts, someone only needs to hear one, let the playlist go, and suddenly be hooked on your opinions and advice.

You have the power to evoke emotions and feelings from people. In every moment of your life you are building your personal brand. Every time you interact with people and every thing you say makes up how people think and feel about both you and your products/services. When it comes to building your brand, the opportunities are endless but what I stated above is the perfect place to begin that journey. Always remember to create a brand to help your company speak for itself.

How do you make sure people understand who you are and follow you? Let us know by commenting below!

The road of personal development will ask you to look at what you really believe about yourself. Life is continually asking us if we believe we are abundant, successful, and valued. Having an awareness of purpose, mission, and a meaningful message are all key. Confidence is the bedrock of growth and success.

Here are my favorite writing exercises that are sure to build your confidence and your belief in yourself:

1. Why I Will Succeed

It’s all too common to spend precious time thinking about what could go wrong or to mentally recite all the reasons why you aren’t qualified enough. This exercise helps focus your thoughts in the right direction.

Get a piece of paper and a pen and write this at the top. Why I Will Succeed As A _____________________.

Take a few deep breathes and bring your whole body into the present moment. Let go of what you desire that is out in the future and focus your attention on the talents, abilities, and experience you have right now.

Write down all the reasons why you will succeed. Read this list out loud, taking a deep breath in between each one and feeling the words in your body. Speak these truths daily until you believe them to the marrow in your bones.

“Every sentence I utter must be understood not as an affirmation, but as a question.” – Niels Bohr

2. Success Affirmations

Stepping into success is about finding a way to soothe our ego into what is beyond our comfort zone. It’s our ego’s job to keep us in more of the same and it values safety above all else.

Purchase a journal and write these powerful affirmations regularly.

• I am willing to be willing.
• I am willing to take the next step.
• I am listening and open to what is mine to do today.
• It’s safe for me to be seen. It’s safe for me to live wholeheartedly. It’s safe for me to put myself first.
• It’s safe for me to be as passionate as I really am. It’s safe for me to be vocal and expressive. It’s safe for me to be too much for others.
• It’s safe for me to show up full strength. It’s safe for me to be smart.
• It’s safe for me to receive large amounts of money. It’s safe for me to work with clients who light me up. It’s safe for me to say no when I don’t click with someone.
• It’s safe for me to show others what I want and need. It’s safe for me to be completely myself. It’s safe for me to find a way that works for me.
• It’s safe for me to play full out.

“Success is a process, a quality of mind and a way of being, an outgoing affirmation of life.” – Alex Noble

3. Capital T’s

A couple years ago I had my handwriting analyzed and what I learned was the one letter that is directly connected to our level of confidence is how you write the lowercase form of the letter “t”. I was instructed to raise the bar on every “t” I wrote in order to raise my confidence level.

As you can imagine, once you are in the habit of writing lower case t’s, it takes practice. Either in the morning right after you wake up or just before you fall asleep, write out 20-60  capital T’s on a piece of paper. It’s pretty amazing to notice how new neural pathways are formed and the affect they have on our lives and interactions with others.

So many think the secret to success in personal development is related to what you know or who you know. However, while these things have some importance, they are worthless if you don’t believe in yourself.

Get notebook and a pen that you love and start practicing these simple writing exercises today. What helps you with your confidence levels?

Image courtesy of Twenty20.com

Many people are ashamed of failure. If they so much as smell a whiff of failure, they quit instantly because the public notices it quickly. But you shouldn’t be ashamed of failure. A lot of people have failed. I’ve failed over and over again in my career, business, relationships and more. Yet, I keep trying because failure isn’t the final verdict.

On the flip side of the coin, lots of people glorify failure when they fail. When I see this happen, it leaves me with a sense of introspection. I understand that glorifying it makes them feel better. It helps them not feel judged for failing. At the same time, glorifying failure in areas of your life has some severe consequences.

Here are some reasons why I believe failure shouldn’t be glorified:

1. Glorifying failure stops you from learning from your mistakes

The main reason why many people fail is because they make certain mistakes. Assuming they had more information, the mistakes might have been prevented. Supposing they evaluated their options well, failure might not have happened. But none of these things happened. The mistake happened and it is undeniable.

The best way to move forward is to learn from the mistake or mistakes, so that you can prevent them from happening later on in life. Glorifying failure makes you look for justifiable reasons for what happened.

2. Glorifying failure makes you defensive

Human beings hate being criticized. It brings out the worst in us because it makes us feel judged and inadequate. When you glorify failure, it amounts to defending your actions. In your mind, you will give reasons for what happened. For instance, if a relationship doesn’t work out, you’ll probably blame it on the other party. You’ll blame it on their inadequacies.

You’ll probably never blame it on yourself. While each situation is unique and different, you can’t take away the fact that it takes two to tango. You can’t deny that it is the work of two people to make a relationship work. Glorifying failure gives you the backbone to put the blame on someone else while extricating yourself and your actions.

“No one is coming to save you. Your life is 100% your responsibility. Plan accordingly.”

3. Glorifying failure leaves you a mediocre

Nobody wants to live a mediocre life. Or do you? We all dream of greatness. We all dream of being successful. Few people go after their dreams. Others stay in the dream lane because they’re so afraid of failure. Do you know that refusing to try for what you want amounts to failure as well?

Failure does not necessarily happen when you take action in certain things and you watch it fall apart. Failure also happens when you’re passive in going after your dreams. You might not know it but you have failed. Automatically, you have glorified failure and given it strength to rule your life which leaves you in a mediocre state for years to come.

4. Glorifying failure stops you from taking risks

Life is full of risks. As an entrepreneur, I understand this a lot. When I first wanted to start my business, I pitched my ideas to a lot of potential investors. The very first person I pitched to looked at me critically, and said a lot of things that would take up all the space here if I typed it out.

In summary, they told me that my idea wasn’t as good as I thought, and tweaking it a bit would help me sell my pitch better. I instantly felt I had failed because they didn’t buy my idea. But instead of learning from it, I justified their words. I replied that they didn’t know that gold was staring at them. I said that they were too sentimental.

All in all, I justified my failure and I refused to pitch to anybody again for months. My thought process had stopped me from taking risks which I knew would help grow my business. From this single interaction, I learned when you glorify failure, you stop taking risks which can help you grow.

“The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” – Mark Zuckerberg

5. Glorifying failure blinds creativity

If you followed my story above well, then you would see that exalting failure blinds creativity. Because of my actions, I couldn’t critically analyze and evaluate my potential investor’s comment. They were obviously objective enough to see that my ideas were good, but not excellent.

They knew that with just a little creativity, my ideas could be better and worth more than I thought. It took me some time, but I eventually modified my ideas and their predictions were right. If I hadn’t justified their words when they first gave them, I would have learnt and challenged my creative side. But those months when I glorified my failure really blinded my creativity.

6. Glorifying failure teaches laziness

Refusing to glorify failure when I fail is one secret I know has helped me be better in all areas of my life. I know I want to be successful. I know I want to achieve a lot. How can I do that if I rest on my oars and praise failure when it happens?

It doesn’t work that way. Successful people have to be resilient in all they do. It doesn’t matter if there’s discomfort and uncertainty. Those factors are what propel people into greatness. And there’s no better teacher for those excruciating factors than failure. Not just failure but learning from failure when it happens.

Failure is something we’re all afraid of. Yes, even I am afraid of failure sometimes. But in the end, all I think about is that I have nothing to lose. When I feel discouraged, I simply remember Lance Armstrong’s words: “Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever”.

How do you handle failure? Let us know by commenting below!

Image courtesy of Twenty20.com

In life, we attach less weight to the spiritual aspect than we do to other domains. We believe that we create our luck whereas there are several instances where our spiritual connection makes us come out on top or saves us from the evil. An invisible hand – for believers of different religions is quite common. They say their locus of control rests with some higher being in the sky.

How do you find out if you or someone you have become is spiritually mature? Look out for the following signs:

1. Your life is guided by a core set of principles and values

Our life is governed by a certain set of principles. Whatever we do is a direct result of what beliefs we have always held on to. A person who is not spiritually strong will always credit the successes to his own doings and failures, he will blame on others.

Such a person fails to realize there are always spiritual forces at work guiding or protecting them. Those are, on the other hand, spiritually strong inculcate in them the habits of love and compassion because they know they are being taken care of so why shouldn’t they care for others? If ever something bad occurs they tell themselves, “I am being taught a lesson here.”

2. You are slow to hold on to grudges and quick to forgive

If you hold on to old grudges or make it your objective to wish bad and intend to hurt the other person for the wrong they once did to you, you are making life difficult for yourself. As only a spiritually immature person would let themselves be consumed with hatred of the sort.

Many people come and go in our lives, and the bad ones are here to give us the taste of how low humanity can hit or how evil a person can get. Upon closer inspection, you will find that, although people are usually good, some past event has shaped them into the person they’ve become today.

So you learn to empathize and try letting go of the incident and speak a kind word to them. You are the first to forgive. This elevates your status in front of them, no matter how ill they thought of you in the first place. Life is wonderful and the spiritually strong understand this. They say gratitude and move on.

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” – Mahatma Gandhi

3. You care deeply for the poor, the marginalized, and the downtrodden

All the religions in the world tell us to care for the needy and the poor. Thus, the ones who are spiritually strong would find time out of their busy schedules to always help those in need. Often we tell ourselves we are too caught up in the race to make a living that we forget about the less fortunate, even if we had intentions of helping them.

I suggest you ask the same question to the spiritually strong who, just like us, also have jobs and families to tend to, and they will inform you how they are still able to manage time for the poor. As the famous saying goes, “It’s not about “having time. It’s about making time.”

4. You maintain your childlike sense of wonder

If you are a person who is spiritually strong then you will never give up the curious nature you had when you were only a child. It is common for people to give up on their sense of wonder as adult life begins to take over and they get burdened with responsibilities.

I am not criticizing anyone but see that is the difference. When you are spiritually connected, you rest your case with the authority up above after giving it your all. Meanwhile, he takes care of the matter, you enjoy life and have fun. No one likes to lead a mundane lifestyle, hence, they take every day as a gift.

5. You are wary of the dangers of excess yet you have an abundance mindset

At first the above can appear to be confusing, however, when you look closely you will see that being spiritual helps you maintain the balance between materialistic gains and spiritual pursuits. When they gather something, they do it without hoarding such as wealth.

Nonetheless, at the same time don’t indulge heavily in making money. When it comes to giving away such as charity, they do it with an abundance mindset, albeit they want to share and it is not just for show. The idea they stick by is the more they give, the more the blessings multiply.

“Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.” – Wayne Dyer

6. You defer pleasure

The idea that instant gratification from quick pleasure seeking sources is our right, is the mindset of morally bankrupt people. Those who are strong spiritually tend to defer this pleasure and realize that this does not bring happiness. On the contrary, it can bring more remorse and regret which can engulf a person.

It does not mean spiritually motivated people do not have the right to experience pleasure,  It’s just that they feel if something is worth pleasure, it takes doing on their part rather than resorting to other means. If it is sex, they know the practice is confined to the institution of marriage and this has been instructed in almost all faiths.

In order for society to change, the change begins on an individual basis. Spiritually strong people take responsibility for what they’re doing in life. If it good, they take the credit humbly. If not, then they own up to it instead of running away. Always understand what you do now will have an effect later.

What do you do in order to spiritually humble yourself? Let us know in the comments below!

Image courtesy of Twenty20.com

Who are you? Not your name or your business or even what your ethics are, but who are you in the sense of what people see when they look at you? Does your name and your business bring happiness to the minds of people who hear it? Does it bring anger? Does it bring peace and joy? Does it bring sadness?

How people feel when they think of you is your personal brand. We all know who Gary Vaynerchuk, Tony Robbins, and Robert Kiyosaki are. These people have built huge reputations for themselves. We also know who Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un, and Adolf Hitler are. These people have also build reputations for themselves; very different reputations than the first names I listed.

When you read these names, a different feeling comes to mind, so below are 3 ways on how to evoke positive emotions when people hear your name:

1. Envoke the senses

First lets understand what a brand is. A brand is a product or service that invokes a feeling or emotion. Building a brand is all about invoking the senses of your Customers, you don’t want people to think of your brand and only think of the logo. We want people to have a scent that reminds them of you, a sight like a logo, and a feel that reminds them of not only your brand, but of you as well.

When people think of your company, what do you want them to think of? What emotion do you want to inspire in your customer base, and what can help you inspire that emotion? When creating your personal brand, you want to invoke all five senses of your target audience. If you own a coffee shop, when people walk in you want them to smell coffee, their mouth to water when they think of fresh pastries, their ears to perk up when they hear the beans being ground up.

“I force people to have coffee with me, just because I don’t trust that a friendship can be maintained without any other senses besides a computer or cellphone screen.” – John Cusack

To create your brand you can’t only think about what you want associated with your business, but also what you don’t want associated with it. Think back to the coffee instead of smelling coffee and pastries, how would you feel about walking in and smelling bleach? Would you rather go to the first coffee shop or the second one?

Think of ways to create a positive experience when a customer walks in by bringing a scent to people, or an interesting sight as they walk through the door. These things will all eventually become part of your brand in the sense that when people think of them, they will think of you.

2. Attractive marketing

Marketing is an amazing way to help boost your company’s sales. But marketing can also hurt your business if it isn’t done correctly. Have you ever given someone your email or phone number and had him or her relentlessly spam you trying to get your business? When someone does that, do you want to use their service, or do you want to throw your phone at the wall every time they message you? When building a brand you also want to think of ways to make your business, and marketing plans more attractive.  

This goes back to what you want people to think of when they think of your brand. Small things can go a long way in creating an attractive image for you and your company. Attractive marketing doesn’t stop at just ads, and endorsement. Thinking of ways to portray yourself in a positive light will help as well. It’s natural to think a person would be doing business with a company, but each customer is doing business with you directly. Now think back to a time you were in a store and had terrible customer service. How likely are you to go back to that store?

Even if that company employs thousands of people, the one bad experience you had with one employee could actually prevent you from going back. People are more likely to go somewhere they think of in a positive light, some place that reminds them of a good experience. A personal brand is not only a brand for your company or product, but it is also a way of branding yourself. The goal of marketing and creating a personal brand should be, to get your customer base to feel like they know you personally.

3. Build with social media

Social media is a great way to get your clients to feel like they know you personally. When a client feels like they know you, like you, and can trust you, they are more likely to buy whatever you are selling. People buy based off of person, product and price. So having that personal relationship with a client can go a long way, especially if they don’t know a lot about the product or price. There are tons of social media platforms to reach your customer base, but what platform gives the most personal, and honest form of your business?

One of the most surprising ways to build fans of your brand is podcasts. A podcast lets your audience hear your voice and speaking your opinions exactly how you meant them to be said. The more a person feels like they know you, the more likely they are to feel like they can trust you, your recommendations on products, and investments.

“Social media is not just an activity; it is an investment of valuable time and resources. Surround yourself with people who not just support you and stay with you, but inform your thinking about ways to WOW your online presence” – Sean Gardner

Unlike most social media platforms, podcasts don’t require someone to scroll through an endless feed, or pay attention to their phone or computer. For a podcast all you have to do is throw on a playlist and listen away while you are driving, cleaning, or just doing day-to-day tasks. The main goal is once you have a playlist of podcasts, someone only needs to hear one, let the playlist go, and suddenly be hooked on your opinions and advice.

You have the power to evoke emotions and feelings from people. In every moment of your life you are building your personal brand. Every time you interact with people and every thing you say makes up how people think and feel about both you and your products/services. When it comes to building your brand, the opportunities are endless but what I stated above is the perfect place to begin that journey. Always remember to create a brand to help your company speak for itself.

How do you make sure people understand who you are and follow you? Let us know by commenting below!

The road of personal development will ask you to look at what you really believe about yourself. Life is continually asking us if we believe we are abundant, successful, and valued. Having an awareness of purpose, mission, and a meaningful message are all key. Confidence is the bedrock of growth and success.

Here are my favorite writing exercises that are sure to build your confidence and your belief in yourself:

1. Why I Will Succeed

It’s all too common to spend precious time thinking about what could go wrong or to mentally recite all the reasons why you aren’t qualified enough. This exercise helps focus your thoughts in the right direction.

Get a piece of paper and a pen and write this at the top. Why I Will Succeed As A _____________________.

Take a few deep breathes and bring your whole body into the present moment. Let go of what you desire that is out in the future and focus your attention on the talents, abilities, and experience you have right now.

Write down all the reasons why you will succeed. Read this list out loud, taking a deep breath in between each one and feeling the words in your body. Speak these truths daily until you believe them to the marrow in your bones.

“Every sentence I utter must be understood not as an affirmation, but as a question.” – Niels Bohr

2. Success Affirmations

Stepping into success is about finding a way to soothe our ego into what is beyond our comfort zone. It’s our ego’s job to keep us in more of the same and it values safety above all else.

Purchase a journal and write these powerful affirmations regularly.

• I am willing to be willing.
• I am willing to take the next step.
• I am listening and open to what is mine to do today.
• It’s safe for me to be seen. It’s safe for me to live wholeheartedly. It’s safe for me to put myself first.
• It’s safe for me to be as passionate as I really am. It’s safe for me to be vocal and expressive. It’s safe for me to be too much for others.
• It’s safe for me to show up full strength. It’s safe for me to be smart.
• It’s safe for me to receive large amounts of money. It’s safe for me to work with clients who light me up. It’s safe for me to say no when I don’t click with someone.
• It’s safe for me to show others what I want and need. It’s safe for me to be completely myself. It’s safe for me to find a way that works for me.
• It’s safe for me to play full out.

“Success is a process, a quality of mind and a way of being, an outgoing affirmation of life.” – Alex Noble

3. Capital T’s

A couple years ago I had my handwriting analyzed and what I learned was the one letter that is directly connected to our level of confidence is how you write the lowercase form of the letter “t”. I was instructed to raise the bar on every “t” I wrote in order to raise my confidence level.

As you can imagine, once you are in the habit of writing lower case t’s, it takes practice. Either in the morning right after you wake up or just before you fall asleep, write out 20-60  capital T’s on a piece of paper. It’s pretty amazing to notice how new neural pathways are formed and the affect they have on our lives and interactions with others.

So many think the secret to success in personal development is related to what you know or who you know. However, while these things have some importance, they are worthless if you don’t believe in yourself.

Get notebook and a pen that you love and start practicing these simple writing exercises today. What helps you with your confidence levels?

Image courtesy of Twenty20.com

Many people are ashamed of failure. If they so much as smell a whiff of failure, they quit instantly because the public notices it quickly. But you shouldn’t be ashamed of failure. A lot of people have failed. I’ve failed over and over again in my career, business, relationships and more. Yet, I keep trying because failure isn’t the final verdict.

On the flip side of the coin, lots of people glorify failure when they fail. When I see this happen, it leaves me with a sense of introspection. I understand that glorifying it makes them feel better. It helps them not feel judged for failing. At the same time, glorifying failure in areas of your life has some severe consequences.

Here are some reasons why I believe failure shouldn’t be glorified:

1. Glorifying failure stops you from learning from your mistakes

The main reason why many people fail is because they make certain mistakes. Assuming they had more information, the mistakes might have been prevented. Supposing they evaluated their options well, failure might not have happened. But none of these things happened. The mistake happened and it is undeniable.

The best way to move forward is to learn from the mistake or mistakes, so that you can prevent them from happening later on in life. Glorifying failure makes you look for justifiable reasons for what happened.

2. Glorifying failure makes you defensive

Human beings hate being criticized. It brings out the worst in us because it makes us feel judged and inadequate. When you glorify failure, it amounts to defending your actions. In your mind, you will give reasons for what happened. For instance, if a relationship doesn’t work out, you’ll probably blame it on the other party. You’ll blame it on their inadequacies.

You’ll probably never blame it on yourself. While each situation is unique and different, you can’t take away the fact that it takes two to tango. You can’t deny that it is the work of two people to make a relationship work. Glorifying failure gives you the backbone to put the blame on someone else while extricating yourself and your actions.

“No one is coming to save you. Your life is 100% your responsibility. Plan accordingly.”

3. Glorifying failure leaves you a mediocre

Nobody wants to live a mediocre life. Or do you? We all dream of greatness. We all dream of being successful. Few people go after their dreams. Others stay in the dream lane because they’re so afraid of failure. Do you know that refusing to try for what you want amounts to failure as well?

Failure does not necessarily happen when you take action in certain things and you watch it fall apart. Failure also happens when you’re passive in going after your dreams. You might not know it but you have failed. Automatically, you have glorified failure and given it strength to rule your life which leaves you in a mediocre state for years to come.

4. Glorifying failure stops you from taking risks

Life is full of risks. As an entrepreneur, I understand this a lot. When I first wanted to start my business, I pitched my ideas to a lot of potential investors. The very first person I pitched to looked at me critically, and said a lot of things that would take up all the space here if I typed it out.

In summary, they told me that my idea wasn’t as good as I thought, and tweaking it a bit would help me sell my pitch better. I instantly felt I had failed because they didn’t buy my idea. But instead of learning from it, I justified their words. I replied that they didn’t know that gold was staring at them. I said that they were too sentimental.

All in all, I justified my failure and I refused to pitch to anybody again for months. My thought process had stopped me from taking risks which I knew would help grow my business. From this single interaction, I learned when you glorify failure, you stop taking risks which can help you grow.

“The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” – Mark Zuckerberg

5. Glorifying failure blinds creativity

If you followed my story above well, then you would see that exalting failure blinds creativity. Because of my actions, I couldn’t critically analyze and evaluate my potential investor’s comment. They were obviously objective enough to see that my ideas were good, but not excellent.

They knew that with just a little creativity, my ideas could be better and worth more than I thought. It took me some time, but I eventually modified my ideas and their predictions were right. If I hadn’t justified their words when they first gave them, I would have learnt and challenged my creative side. But those months when I glorified my failure really blinded my creativity.

6. Glorifying failure teaches laziness

Refusing to glorify failure when I fail is one secret I know has helped me be better in all areas of my life. I know I want to be successful. I know I want to achieve a lot. How can I do that if I rest on my oars and praise failure when it happens?

It doesn’t work that way. Successful people have to be resilient in all they do. It doesn’t matter if there’s discomfort and uncertainty. Those factors are what propel people into greatness. And there’s no better teacher for those excruciating factors than failure. Not just failure but learning from failure when it happens.

Failure is something we’re all afraid of. Yes, even I am afraid of failure sometimes. But in the end, all I think about is that I have nothing to lose. When I feel discouraged, I simply remember Lance Armstrong’s words: “Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever”.

How do you handle failure? Let us know by commenting below!

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In life, we attach less weight to the spiritual aspect than we do to other domains. We believe that we create our luck whereas there are several instances where our spiritual connection makes us come out on top or saves us from the evil. An invisible hand – for believers of different religions is quite common. They say their locus of control rests with some higher being in the sky.

How do you find out if you or someone you have become is spiritually mature? Look out for the following signs:

1. Your life is guided by a core set of principles and values

Our life is governed by a certain set of principles. Whatever we do is a direct result of what beliefs we have always held on to. A person who is not spiritually strong will always credit the successes to his own doings and failures, he will blame on others.

Such a person fails to realize there are always spiritual forces at work guiding or protecting them. Those are, on the other hand, spiritually strong inculcate in them the habits of love and compassion because they know they are being taken care of so why shouldn’t they care for others? If ever something bad occurs they tell themselves, “I am being taught a lesson here.”

2. You are slow to hold on to grudges and quick to forgive

If you hold on to old grudges or make it your objective to wish bad and intend to hurt the other person for the wrong they once did to you, you are making life difficult for yourself. As only a spiritually immature person would let themselves be consumed with hatred of the sort.

Many people come and go in our lives, and the bad ones are here to give us the taste of how low humanity can hit or how evil a person can get. Upon closer inspection, you will find that, although people are usually good, some past event has shaped them into the person they’ve become today.

So you learn to empathize and try letting go of the incident and speak a kind word to them. You are the first to forgive. This elevates your status in front of them, no matter how ill they thought of you in the first place. Life is wonderful and the spiritually strong understand this. They say gratitude and move on.

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” – Mahatma Gandhi

3. You care deeply for the poor, the marginalized, and the downtrodden

All the religions in the world tell us to care for the needy and the poor. Thus, the ones who are spiritually strong would find time out of their busy schedules to always help those in need. Often we tell ourselves we are too caught up in the race to make a living that we forget about the less fortunate, even if we had intentions of helping them.

I suggest you ask the same question to the spiritually strong who, just like us, also have jobs and families to tend to, and they will inform you how they are still able to manage time for the poor. As the famous saying goes, “It’s not about “having time. It’s about making time.”

4. You maintain your childlike sense of wonder

If you are a person who is spiritually strong then you will never give up the curious nature you had when you were only a child. It is common for people to give up on their sense of wonder as adult life begins to take over and they get burdened with responsibilities.

I am not criticizing anyone but see that is the difference. When you are spiritually connected, you rest your case with the authority up above after giving it your all. Meanwhile, he takes care of the matter, you enjoy life and have fun. No one likes to lead a mundane lifestyle, hence, they take every day as a gift.

5. You are wary of the dangers of excess yet you have an abundance mindset

At first the above can appear to be confusing, however, when you look closely you will see that being spiritual helps you maintain the balance between materialistic gains and spiritual pursuits. When they gather something, they do it without hoarding such as wealth.

Nonetheless, at the same time don’t indulge heavily in making money. When it comes to giving away such as charity, they do it with an abundance mindset, albeit they want to share and it is not just for show. The idea they stick by is the more they give, the more the blessings multiply.

“Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.” – Wayne Dyer

6. You defer pleasure

The idea that instant gratification from quick pleasure seeking sources is our right, is the mindset of morally bankrupt people. Those who are strong spiritually tend to defer this pleasure and realize that this does not bring happiness. On the contrary, it can bring more remorse and regret which can engulf a person.

It does not mean spiritually motivated people do not have the right to experience pleasure,  It’s just that they feel if something is worth pleasure, it takes doing on their part rather than resorting to other means. If it is sex, they know the practice is confined to the institution of marriage and this has been instructed in almost all faiths.

In order for society to change, the change begins on an individual basis. Spiritually strong people take responsibility for what they’re doing in life. If it good, they take the credit humbly. If not, then they own up to it instead of running away. Always understand what you do now will have an effect later.

What do you do in order to spiritually humble yourself? Let us know in the comments below!

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