Get over the hurdles.

It happens to all of us. Obstacles. They get in our way; they block our planned path to success. They are everywhere. The trick to get over and passed them lies in your view of them.

How do you perceive them? As mountains, or as hurdles?

Imagine yourself standing at the base of a mountain. You look up, and you see nothing BUT the mountain. You cannot see past the mountain. This might be frustrating if you are not a big fan of mountains!

Now imagine this. You are on a track. You can only occupy a single lane and the lane is littered with hurdles. You know you have to cross them. Standing upright, you can look over the hurdles to see the finish line. Crutch, and you can peer under them and again, also see the finish line. The point is, you see where you have to go: You'll head to the finish line, compensating for the hurdles.

The trick lies in your perception of the obstacles. Mountains seem daunting, so picture them as hurdles, mere barriers that can be jumped over, pushed over or be crawled through (if you do not believe in your jumping abilities!). See the goal, and plan for the hurdles.

Image courtesy of Getty Images.

Quantify your goals

Pie-in-the-sky goals are a waste of your time. Make sure you can quanntify all your goals.

Example: Do not say: "I would like to loose weight". Rather say: "I would like to loose 20 pounds before Dec 31, 2007."

This gives your mind a clear direction and destination. Now you will know how much and by when: The most important equations in actually reaching your goals.

How much and When.

Weekend exercises to success

It's the weekend baby!

Okay, although your weekends are sacred, "your time", but it is also the perfect opportunity to write down goals or review old ones. During the week you should be "Working the Plan", but weekends should used for "navigational" purposes. Take stock of what you did during the past week (Did you move closer or further away from your goal?) and plan for the week to come.

Use 20 minutes of your Saturday or Sunday to do this.

Getting into a habit - First rule in perseverance

Have you ever heard someone say it takes 21 days to get into a new habit or break down an old one? Well, they are right. However, studies show that you are eight times more likely to succeed in creating a new habit if you do the action (habit) for four consecutive days.

Example: If you want to get into the habit of exercising regularly, start by going to the gym for four consecutive days. Don’t skip a day. After the four days, you may skip a day, but persevere for the first four. You are now eight times more likely to create a habit of exercising regularly!

Getting solutions to problems while sleeping!

One of the odities in life is the old adage:

Seek and ye shall find

Try this tonight. Before you go to bed, write down a question to which you are seeking an answer. Phisically write it down in a small notepad and leave it, with the pen on your nightstand. Repeat the question in your brain. Try to come up with the answer. Chances are you won't have it. Now go to bed.

The next day, when you wake up, look at the notepad and start writing down what you think the answer is. Strangely enough, 6 out of 10 times, ou come up with a meaningful answer to your question!

While you were sleeping, your subconsious did not. It kept on working on the answer to your pressing question, giving you the answer when you wake.

Note. The subconsious can only give you good answers if you feed your brain with new info quite often. If you are an accountant, don't expect your brain to come up with the answer to a nuclear Physics question, and visa versa. But if the answer is within your abilities, but you just do not seem to get to it while thinking about it: Use this metod. You might just be pleasantly surprized.

Image courtesy of Getty Images

Success Factor no1

To succeed, you have to burn with a desire to succeed! You have to envy the things you want and with a burning passion in your veins, go for it.

Be specific in what your needs are. Write it down. Read it often.

Warren Buffett - Success and Integrity goes hand-in-hand

I have my favourite Billionaires: Mark Cuban, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Sheldon Adelson and George Lucas. All of them have made their fortunes doing what they love: Whether through software, the Internet, great branding, conferences or great movies. They each had that one thing that they became the best at. However none has got success down to an art like mr Warren Buffett.

Warren Buffett, the world’s best investor and second richest man has made his fortune of being, 1, smart and 2, patient. When buys stock as an investment, he does so for the long haul. In his words:

“You should invest like a Catholic marries – For Life”

See it like a football game: His team is a great running team without a field goal kicker. He rushes to get to first down, without ever needing to kick in the fourth play. He does not go for the long, risky Quarterback throw, he moves slowly forward with his offence. And his team is always in the final.

His books are filled with lessons in success: He tells in one of his books that integrity and reputation is everything. That you can build your reputation for twenty years and loose it in five minutes: Therefore do not ever be greedy just to make an extra buck. He prides himself that he has no regrets. Every transaction he made seemed the best at the time and he never compromised his integrity in any of them.

If you ever want to read a good biography, read his. (I think there are three different biography titles out for him). He led an interesting life, making his first investment of $38 at the age of 11! I’ll keep quoting him, since I believe his life is a life worth modelling your own after.