Successful People Know that Presentation Matters

The best leaders don't just do amazing things — they know how to present a compelling story.

After a relatively brief war with a certain Pharnacles II of Pontus, Julius Caesar had to sit down and write out a report to Rome detailing his conquest. According to both Greek biographer Plutarch and Roman historian Suetonius, the commander didn't go into too much detail, writing simply: 

"I came, I saw, I conquered."

The phrase proved so catchy that we still remember it, centuries later.

 

- Derived from an article titled “7 Unforgettable Leadership Lessons from The Ancient Roman Conqueror Julius Caesar” by Áine Cain

To Have Less Stress, Embrace the Messiness

 

 

Those who are raised as neat freaks, have a mantra that says: “There is a place for everything and everything belongs in its place”. The television remote stays in the same spot, the pillows are strategically placed, and the countertops are void of dishes.

When you share your life with a family, the opposite is true. The new mantra says: “A clean house doesn’t define you; it confines you”.

Embrace the messiness. It comes with the territory and means you’re leading a busy, fulfilling life—not a Stepford existence.

- Derived from an article titled “7 Thoughtful Ways to Stress Less” by Colette Carlson  

Top 10 Economies in Africa - 2019

 

To Have Less Stress, Power Off

The quickest way to gain downtime is to turn off the phone, TV and computer and enjoy the lack of distractions. 

Many people feel anxious when their DVR is overloaded with recordings and they don’t have the time to watch their shows. Seriously, do you really need to know who’s getting kicked off the island or what has-been star can dance!!? 

Some people say TV relaxes them, but I believe it’s more of a habit than a way to lower stress. TV just numbs you, and when the show’s over, your pressures resurface. Same with the computer. 

Sure, it’s great to connect with old friends on Facebook, but do you really need to know what someone ate for dinner? 

Rather than screen sucking, grab that unopened book from your shelf, call a good friend or grab a cup of your favorite beverage and reflect on your day.

 

- Derived from an article titled “7 Thoughtful Ways to Stress Less” by Colette Carlson  

To Have Less Stress, Say "No" to Others, So You Can Say "Yes" to You

 

Are you turning down distractions disguised as opportunities?

Are you being asked to join social sites that are leaving you no time to network with the people under your roof?

Are you still knocking yourself out to host the annual Labor Day party when all you see is the labor ahead? 

It’s not selfish to say no to others when the intent is to clear some space to say yes to you.

Life does go on even if you aren’t involved in every activity, party or event.

Look at it this way: Being missed makes you more interesting and appreciated when you do show up. 

- Derived from an article titled “7 Thoughtful Ways to Stress Less” by Colette Carlson 

To Have Less Stress, Scale Down on Drive Time

When choosing a new doctor, dentist, hairdresser, whatever, find one as close to home as possible. 

Bonus: with gas so expensive, think of the savings! The same holds true when finding activities for any family members—stay local. 

Sure the ideal preschool, soccer club or SAT study group may be a longer commute, but add up all the drive time in advance and ask if it’s really worth it before committing to rush-hour jams and early alarm clocks. 

Still determined? Set up carpools and recognize you don’t have to be at every activity. Sure it’s fun to participate, but your child will not turn into a serial killer if you miss a few games or performances.

- Derived from an article titled “7 Thoughtful Ways to Stress Less” by Colette Carlson 

To Have Less Stress, Snooze or Lose!

 “I’ll sleep when I’m dead”, says stress lovers! 

But the point is you will be dead sooner as a result. Exhaustion is not a badge of honor. Without sleep, you are worthless to yourself and those around you. 

Staying up even one hour later to finish a task or watch Grey’s Anatomy costs you more than your health. Try irritability, trouble retaining information, minor illness, poor judgment, increased mistakes and even weight gain. 

A Harvard Business Review study of 975 global managers determined that 45 percent of high-earning managers are too pooped to even speak to their spouse or partner after work. This is your wake-up call to get your ZZZ’s. 

- Derived from an article titled “7 Thoughtful Ways to Stress Less” by Colette Carlson

To Have Less Stress, Realize That "Good" is "Good Enough"!

Any perfectionists around here? 

Stop wasting time creating the “perfect” proposal, letter or marketing brochure, seeking the ideal gift for your nephew, the best comforter for your bedroom, or the supremely clean house. Stop at 80% and move on to the next task. 

Otherwise, hours of your life are wasted and nobody notices the difference but you. 

Get over yourself and take a step closer to acceptance.

 

- Derived from an article titled “7 Thoughtful Ways to Stress Less” by Colette Carlson

To Have Less Stress, Give Up The Daily Guilt

Too many of us waste time feeling guilty that our life is out of balance, but you’ll never feel balanced as long as you have goals and dreams. Why? There’s always way too much to do, to learn, to accomplish. 

If you have passion for your work, it’s easy to lose yourself in your tasks and projects since they bring you joy. At a certain point, however, you have to consciously ditch work to spend time with friends and family (minus your phone). 

Quit thinking you need to “touch” everything each day and look at how “balanced” your life is over a period of time, not a specific day of the week. Take this one step farther and realize that it’s about being balanced over your lifetime. It all evens out. 

- Derived from an article titled “7 Thoughtful Ways to Stress Less” by Colette Carlson

 

 

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence (or E.I.), put very simply, is your ability to acknowledge your own emotions, recognize emotions in others, and use that information to guide your behavior.

Developing your own E.I. can help you understand and improve your social interactions.

- The New York Times – “An Adult’s Guide to Social Skills, for Those Who Were Never Taught.”

Successful People Realize That "Good" Is Good Enough!

Any other recovering perfectionists out there!?

Stop wasting time creating the “perfect” proposal, letter or marketing brochure, seeking the ideal gift for your nephew, the best comforter for your bedroom, or the supremely clean house.  

Stop at 80% and move on to the next task. Otherwise, hours of your life are wasted and nobody notices the difference but you!

Get over yourself and take a step closer to acceptance.

“Done is better than perfect.”

– Mark Zuckerberg

- Derived from an article titled “7 Thoughtful Ways to Stress Less” by Colette Carlson

Successful People Give Up Daily Guilt!

Unfortunately, too many of us waste time feeling guilty that our life is out of balance, but you’ll never feel balanced as long as you have goals and dreams.

Why? There’s always way too much to do, to learn, to accomplish!

If you have passion for your work, it’s easy to lose yourself in your tasks and projects since they bring you joy. At a certain point, however, you have to consciously ditch work to spend time with friends and family (minus your phone).

Quit thinking you need to “touch” everything each day and look at how “balanced” your life is over a period of time, not a specific day of the week.

Take this one step farther and realize that it’s about being balanced over your lifetime. It all evens out.

- Derived from an article titled “7 Thoughtful Ways to Stress Less” by Colette Carlson

Successful People Accept Things, or Let Them Go!

With everything in our lives, whether positive or negative, we have two choices: to accept it or let it go.

Accepting it means accepting the negative source to the point where we can begin to move through it. It doesn’t mean we are committed to allowing the negative energy to remain in and influence our lives.

Accepting it means handling the challenge and creating change.

When negative energy surrounds us, it’s obvious that change is needed. That doesn’t mean change will immediately occur or solve the problem.

If the negativity persists, we may see that it has become a toxic cycle that no longer serves us, and have to come to terms with letting it go. In the end, we have to do what is right for us and our mental well-being and overall happiness.

It isn’t easy to let go of things that used to matter, yet when they aren’t serving our highest good anymore and possibly even harming us, what choice do we have?

Successful People "Do Not" Lose Focus!

Sometimes when hardships are coming at us from all directions, we have a hard time knowing what to do. It is so intense that it can paralyze us into inaction!

Instead of tackling the big ball of chaos all at once, try doing one small thing. Just one.

Doing one thing will crack open a space in the negativity and chaos for success and positivity to begin to shine.

This small success will begin to build, and your motivation to do more “things” will propel you to eliminating the effects of failure.

Successful People Show Themselves Compassion!

No matter how bad things get, remember that failure isn’t always about you! 

While you are responsible for all results, the burden of mistakes of others shouldn’t be carried on your shoulders. 

See the importance of this distinction, because if you can separate yourself from the wrongdoing of others, you can focus on getting to the heart of the matter logically, without allowing the emotion to latch onto you.

Successful People Accept Possibility and Release Expectations!

Successful people aren’t successful because bad things don’t happen to them, they are successful because they know how to handle the bad things better! 

Someone who is successful has similar challenges to those that are not successful.

The difference is that they release expectation of what might happen, and focus to create their best possible situation – no matter whether it ends up good or bad.

Knowing that life could deal you some good cards and some bad ones, and releasing expectation makes it easier to work through situations because you are ready to accept whatever happens.

The key is not dwell in situations where negative energy surrounds you, and take action right away to move back into a better position.

Successful People Surround Themselves with Positive People!

Every day we come in contact with a variety of different people. Some of these people make us happier, and others may have the opposite effect!

Who we allow to influence us is up to us and choosing to spend more time with positive people will help prevent a buildup of negative energy around us.

Successful People Focus on Solutions!

The logical step in questioning and understanding any problem or obstacle is to focus on how to eradicate it, and prevent it in the future.

Why focus on solutions?

The answer is simple: you end up receiving more of what you focus on. With that basic principle in mind, it makes sense to focus on the solution rather than the problem or nuisances associated with it.

Successful People Eliminate Negative Energy!

Question your thoughts and the thoughts influencing you!

Before you can take action to decrease the negativity that surrounds you, you must question the negative energy to find the source of it. Once you do that, you can begin to remove yourself from the emotion surrounding you. 

Simply trying to eliminate negative energy doesn’t do much for the reason it’s present in the first place. If you don’t get to the heart of the matter it is likely to keep recurring, so keep questioning until you do.

“Very Successful People” Have The 99 Percent Do Their Work For Them!

“I would rather make 1 percent of 100 people’s efforts then 100 percent of my own.” 

— J. Paul Getty, richest man in the world in 1957

The 99 percent work. The 1 percent hire the 99 percent.

This is not rocket science. If you have a lawn mowing service, the last thing you should ever be doing with your time is personally riding a lawn mower. I mean it looks fun, and I’ve always wondered what it’s like, but I’m guessing the novelty wears off after about one front yard.

Why physically do things to grass and shrubbery when the 99 percent are literally waiting in line to do it for you?

Do them a favor and let them do it. You spend your time marketing and getting more clients. And at some point, get someone to do that for you as well, then go start another business. Keep doing this until you just have checks coming in from 100 different places and you barely know what or where any of these places even are.

Do you work for someone else? That’s OK. Start training for your 1 Percent Day of Reckoning by getting other employees to do all your work for you!

I’m not kidding. During Standard Oil’s hay day, John D. Rockefeller had a policy that every employee’s No. 1 priority was to find some other employee to do their job for them. Lol. Ahh the 1 percent. Gosh they’re clever.

You might be wondering who will do the work once the 99 percent vanish, which is of course the goal of this article.

Answer: the robots.

The robots will do the dirty work. And they will do this until they realize they’re smarter than us. Then they will become the 1 percent, the 99 percent will reappear as robot slaves, and then we’ll have the whole overpopulation problem again, which the robots will solve by annihilating us all. But this is at least 10 years away—maybe even 11. Let’s not worry about it right now.

  - Derived from an article titled "7 Things the 1% Do That the 99% Don’t" by Preston Ely

“Very Successful People” Value Production Over Playtime!

“The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.” 

— Arnold J. Toynbee

There is a time to work and a time to play. The question is this: What are you living for? What drives you? What are you most looking forward to most of the time? 

Are you living to work, produce and serve others, with playtime as a pleasant and occasional respite? Or you are you living to play, party and self-serve with work time as an unpleasant but necessary evil that exists to support your playtime?

I hate to be the one to break this to you, but we’re here on earth to work. I’d say the ratio is about six to one in favor of work. But you know what the beauty of this is? Once you internalize that fact and find work you enjoy, work time becomes playtime. Right now, as I write this article it doesn’t feel like work. It feels fun. I’m totally energized and enjoying every minute of it.

“Very Successful People” play all day every day. There are no weekends or weekdays, workdays or vacation days, Sundays or Mondays. They’re all the same. You know you’re living life the way it is intended to be lived when you look forward to work. You actually prefer work.

  - Derived from an article titled "7 Things the 1% Do That the 99% Don’t" by Preston Ely

“Very Successful People” Strive To Be The Best At Whatever They Do!

“It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.” 

- Somerset Maugham

The “Very Successful” people know that people generally like to buy the best products and services possible. So they make it their goal to be the best and produce the best.

You are going to have a hard time producing the best products and services if you, personally, are not the best!

So if you’re not the best, don’t focus so much on your work. Focus on You!

Sharpen your skills. Sharpen your mind. Sharpen your abs. It’s hard to not be the best with sharp abs. Impossible almost.

  - Derived from an article titled "7 Things the 1% Do That the 99% Don’t" by Preston Ely

“Very Successful People” Dislike Sleeping!

Sleep is super annoying to me. If it wasn’t for sleep, I could read books seven more hours a day. That would mean… let me do the math real quick… … carry the one… uummm… I would be a trillionaire.

Knowledge is power. Power is powerful. 

Only powerful people get to have money. They don’t call it currency for no reason. Only weak people with no purpose look forward to sleep and are sad when it’s over.

And that’s only partially true now that I think about it. I actually do look forward to sleep. But only because I can’t wait to hurry up and get it over with, wake up and get back to work.

Do you sleep like a baby? Think through the ramifications of your answer to that one. If you answered yes, you’re probably just not thinking hard enough during the day. Or you’re doing too many drugs at night!

The smartest people I know are all insomniacs. So if you can simply figure out a way to develop insomnia, I think that will increase your odds of entering the golden gates of 1 Percent Land.

Speaking of 1 Percent Land, someone please invent that. I would much rather take my daughter there than Disney Land where 10-foot-tall ducks chase her around and leave permanent emotional scars and an unnecessary fear of probably all Lands in general.

Seriously though, get sleep by all means. You need it. Just don’t like it is all. This is merely a different way of saying you need to have passion and purpose in your life.

The 1 percent have stuff to do. Do you have stuff to do?

 - Derived from an article titled "7 Things the 1% Do That the 99% Don’t" by Preston Ely

Successful People Choose To Be Happy!

We often do not realize that we have the power within us to change a bad mood to a good one!

Bad things happen to good people.

Bad things happen to bad people.

Bad things just happen.

How we react to them is what matters.

Choose to be happy at least once a day, every day.

You might surprise yourself with how quickly this new habit takes flight.

- Derived from an article titled "7 Things Extremely Happy People Do Every Single Day" by Peter Economy

Successful People Are Grateful!

It's easy to complain. It's difficult to appreciate.

Beat the cycle by trying to look at things differently when something doesn't go your way.

Even when all is wrong, find one thing to be grateful for. It'll be enough to get you through your day.

- Derived from an article titled "7 Things Extremely Happy People Do Every Single Day" by Peter Economy

Successful People Surround Themselves by People They Love!

We derive the most pleasure from social interactions when we have a deeper connection with the people with whom we are interacting.

Thus, it makes sense that happy people will consistently choose to avoid those who fill their lives with negative energy, and gravitate towards those who give off warmth.

- Derived from an article titled "7 Things Extremely Happy People Do Every Single Day" by Peter Economy