Is it possible to achieve success without struggle, despite what most of us have been taught from our younger days that success is impossible without massive hard work and sufferings?

 

As you go through stages of life, the painful reality you have to contend with is: Even hard work and struggle does not guarantee success. To most people, success seems like a mystery, a puzzle. Despite pain-staking application of the universal rules and principles taught by the gurus, success remains elusive.

 

The irony, as you may also have noticed, is that some people seemed to have gained success so easily. These people are often deemed to be the lucky ones, with unexplainable factors that guide them to do the right thing at the right time.

 

What is this missing linking of success? Is it really a fuzzy factor that picks the winners at random?

 

The level of difficulty in reaching success is in direct proportion to the level of clarity we have about our life goals and purposes.

 

Do you have to toil away at tasks you never enjoy in order to gain success? Most likely so if you are fuzzy about what your want in life.

 

Can success be acquired in a joyful and fulfilling way? Absolutely! If you have achieved clarity in your life direction and mission, and have placed them firmly at the center of your focus, your life will be characterized by daily experience of joy and fulfillment.

 

The biggest problem many people have with success is: The glamorous kind of success that gain the recognitions and envies of others may not align with your heart’s deepest desire. If you can reconcile success with what your heart truly desire, you can really gain success easily. This is the missing link to finding success without struggle!

 

Most people see success as achievement of goals. The fact is, success should be experienced during the journey. Over more than two decades, I have been pursuing success in studies, sports, career, and even self-development goals. I was extremely goal-oriented, always perpetuate the timeless principle of one of the “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”: Begin With The End In Mind!

 

As I reflect on all these years of experience, I found myself looking at the glaring paradox of success: When I focused only on the goals, the joy and excitement of success is often short-lived. Success is usually achieved after a long period of struggles and sometime unpleasant hard work. The main reason being that I was pursuing success that does not align with my life purpose. I was drawn to prestige and glamor, more than inner joy and fulfillment. The simple lesson that took me years to realize is: Pursue only goals that you can enjoy the journey.

 

Most often it is how we define success that determines whether we are able to enjoy the journey as much as the end goal.

 

Take my favorite sport for example: marathon running. When I set my goal on running a marathon race, I give myself 6 to 9 months to train for the race. It is important to have a clear and specific goal on the marathon race. For me, I have a clear goal to complete the full course in three-and-a-half hours or better. I am setting this goal to push myself to instill better discipline in diet and exercise, as well as in my work. It is a challenging goal to me because the last marathon I run more than ten years ago was barely below four hours.

 

With this end goal, I work backward to find out the pace that I need to run during the race. I would then be able to know the gap between my current form and what I need to achieve in eight month’s time. I work out a training plan to do weekly long run, speed work, and interval training. The training schedule will be in a progressive manner where I should achieve peak form when it reaches the day of race.

 

To cut the long story short, there are lots of details in preparing for a marathon race. However, the single most important thing I have to focus on is how I define success. It is a mindset business. While I have set a specific time goal to finish the race, it is not my definition of success. The success is not found in the distant future eight months from now. Success is defined by my daily commitment in working out the training program. With this definition, I experience success everyday whenever I:

• Complete a 12-mile run.

• Work out an exhausting but satisfying speed training.

• Push myself to finish the punishing interval training even when my muscle is aching.

• Resist the temptation of tasty food to stick to the sports diet.

• Defy the urge to run too hard so as to avoid over-training or injury.

• Diligently attend to blister and chafing so as to recover in time for next day’s training without disruption.

• Remember to replenish my body fluid sufficiently to restore the required balance.

Even though I have to sweat, suffer muscle aching and even injuries, doing these is not a struggle to me. It is fun and exciting. It keeps me energized everyday.

 

I look forward to the training regime everyday, anticipating the excitement and fulfillment of finishing each exhausting training session, knowing that I have achieved success for that day. The compounding effect of such success mindset is empowering. I know fully well that these small successes will add up to huge success in time to come. Even if I do not meet my time goal at end of this year, I know I have succeeded anyway as long as I follow the training regime diligently. I would already have experienced success on a daily basis for eight months even prior to the end goal. The final achievement of running time will be wonderful but it will not undermine my success. I am not comparing myself with others.

 

This same success principle can be applied universally in our life, in anything we do.

 

It is absolutely possible to achieve success without struggle if you can:

• Find your life purpose by seeking your inner wisdom;

• Set your goals base on your purpose, and be guided by what really excites and energizes you;

• Break the goal into small tasks you need to do on a daily basis;

• Stay focus in doing the small tasks well and enjoy the process;

• The key to enjoying the process is to be in the state of flow regularly by aligning your mind, body and soul. This can be achieved by daily meditation exercise;

• Do not be concern about how you measure up with others;

• Have the faith and belief that success will eventually come, if you persevere and never give up.

Everyone can do it and everyone can achieve success in his own terms, without struggle!

 

 

 

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I have been an NBA basketball fan since young. In the midst of the NBA legends, Michael Jordan is probably the only timeless superstar who inspire awe, admiration and respect for people around the world.

 

Over the last twenty years, no single basketball player has achieved the kind of cult-status like Michael Jordan. His ability to turn around critical situation in a game is simply mesmerizing. His superman image has created profound inspiration for millions of fans.

 

Michael Jordan epitomizes the character strength of tenacity and determination, which has had tremendous influence on the personality development of countless teenager fans since his time. Despite his quiet demeanor, Michael Jordan has an immense internal drive that never allow himself to be defeated. Deep inside, he was not one to challenge. His ability to rise up and strike down an opponent was simply awe-inspiring, to which he said: “Unless I’m challenged you don’t see the mean streak in me.”

 

The indomitable competitive spirit in Michael Jordan has made him the most feared and respected opponent for other NBA players. In the lyrics of “Don’t Mess Around With Jim”, Jim Crose described Michael Jordan most aptly:” You don’t tug on superman’s cape, you don’t spit into the wind, and you never pick against Michael Jordan.” After losing to The Bulls in 1998, New Jersey Nets coach John Calipari said: ”Playing against Michael is like playing blackjack against the dealer. He ain’t losing.” When Madonna was asked about her favorite player when she was at the Bulls game, she said:” M.J. is an amazing human. A god. If I could coma back as another person, it’d be as him.”

 

It is interesting to know what had attributed to Michael Jordan’s enormous drive to win. One argument has it that Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and the devastating trauma of the event had given birth to an extremely competitive spirit that refuses to be beaten. This mentality has made him one of the world’s greatest athletes ever.

 

In psychology terms, “drive” is synonymous to “arousal”. It is an emotionally charged state that results from a competitive nature. The degree of arousal or drive, up to a certain level, is the key determinant of the quality of performance whether in sports or business. Beyond that optimal level of arousal, any extra drive will only cause performance to decline. This state of optimal performance only last for a short time, during which the mind, body and emotional system are closely aligned. It is a transcendental state where one is optimally situated between euphoria and depression, boredom and excitement, and relaxation and anxiety. In sports, athletes who are in such optimal state are known to be “in the zone”.

 

It is the state of “flow” that Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi talked about in his book: “Flow”. He said: “Flow is a highly focused state of relaxation concentration that obliterates all else out of consciousness. It is the state of self-actualization or transcendental behavior that is euphoric.”

 

Michael Jordan’s success lies not just in his extreme competitiveness, but also in his ability to swiftly and frequently enter the flow state, or to be “in the zone”. When he is “in the zone”, he can jump with amazing ease, float through the air in gravity-defying grace, and never miss a shot. It is the state of euphoria that is addictive. He knows it when he is there. When in the flow state, he simply becomes unstoppable. This is the same experience you probably may have had in the past when you find yourself doing everything with amazing ease, as if aided by some divine forces. It is indeed the divine force that is within you when you are in that optimal state of mind, body and emotional alignment.

 

How can we enter into such flow state?

 

Being competitive is important but it alone does not help, because competitive drive can only induce anxiety. Anxiety up to a certain level is key to achieving flow state, but any excess of it will not lead to optimal performance. There is a very fine line that exists between under-stressed and over-stressed. The secret of optimal performance is found somewhere in the middle. According to psychologist, a maximum potential for achievement is reached when a subject performs under moderately stressful situation.

 

In sports, optimal performance is seen when two opponents are closely matched. Any significant gap in the proficiency of opponent will not bring out the best in the other. To the elite sportsman, their closest rival has a special place in their personal pursuit of excellence. Their closest rival is that unique person who has the ability to push them to perform their best.

 

The key success factors of Michael Jordan provide valuable insights on what we all can do to create success in our life:

 

- Find something that you are truly passionate about;

 

- Committed to massive amount of hard work to perfect the core skill sets, and enjoying it in the process;

 

- Strengthen your mind power with determination and resilience;

 

- Learn to harness the state of relaxed but intense concentration by regular practice of meditation and creative visualization, which improves the alignment of your mind, body and emotion, and enhance your ability to enter the flow state.

 

If you can experience flow state regularly in the activities that you pursue, winning in itself is no longer important, although you will inevitably be performing at your best. It is the euphoria state of being in the flow that brings immense joy and fulfillment to life, in its moment-to-moment experience. This is the essence of successful living.

 

 

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History is a wonderful teacher; it reveals the unique qualities that attribute to the success of the great people in history.

All successful people display a kind of charm that is unique only to themselves. It is like a magnetic force that draws to them both their followers as well as their life success. Many would say that this charismatic power is the overriding factor in their rise to fame and fortune.

The question is, where does the successful people’s charisma come from? Were they born with this charisma, which eventually help propelled their huge success? Or did the charisma start to show up after they become successful?

From the life of great people like Fred Smith, Mother Teresa, Mary Ash Kay, Oprah Winfrey, Maria Montessori, etc, we know that their charisma stems from a combination of powerful communication skill and strong self-confidence. They have the unique ability to persuade, inspire, and influence people through verbal communication. It is almost like a natural gift that God has given them. This ability emanate from their strong inner drive and passionate interest, which communicate extreme self-confidence to their followers.

Charismatic people seem to have an unexplainable presence wherever they are. When you come in contact with such charismatic people, you could feel the energy field that emit from the psychic energy of an omnipotent inner-belief system. Their innate passion, supreme energy and uncanny persuasive skill act together almost like a hypnotic spell, never fail to motivate, inspire and excite people to take action.

Mother Teresa was known to be able to walk into a room of strangers and command complete silence merely by her presence. She believes her awesome attraction was a gift from God. Jeanne Nealon, a school teacher in Florida, described her experience meeting Mother Teresa as one of ethereal and metaphysical:” When she walked into the room, I froze and felt a tingling sensation in my body. I went into a kind of trance-like state. It scared me.”

Julian Hawthorne wrote in New York Times about his father Nathaniel Hawthorns:” When this titan spoke, one could grasp the future in his face. His psychic energy was awesome. He was ethereal brilliance.”

Elise Barret said of her mentor, Maria Montessori:” When she was around there was nothing else in the room. To us she was God.”

It is a fact that all charismatic people has a larger-than-life mission that energize them so powerfully that it is impossible to stifle their enthusiasm. When one is enthusiastic and passionate about any subject, he will be able to articulate his communication forcefully and convincingly.

Most of the overachievers had a strong inner drive that never allows anyone or anything to interfere with their goals. They never doubt themselves even when deluded. Despite temporary setbacks, they live out their internal self-images to eventually become visionary leaders. Through unwavering inner-belief system, they exemplify the law of “Believing Is Seeing”.

Can we gain such charismatic power?

In the past twenty years psychologists have demonstrated that charisma can be learned. According to Dr Laura Rose, an Atlanta psychologist, everyone one has the innate power to attract, motivate and inspire others and that it is present in most people, but not acted upon.

To become charismatic, one should regularly set aside time for introspection. It is important to gain clarity in one’s life mission and purpose, to be able to forge ahead with unflagging passion and inner energy. Carl Jung believed that this inner energy is a kind of psychic energy, which is a powerful force that manifests itself as our persona. Successful and charismatic leaders know how to tap their psychic energy to move mountains. They are able to master their fate because they become master of their inner self.

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The highly successful people are different from the ordinary people. They see the world through a different lens, and their motivation and drives are different from others. One thing unique among them is, they never get lost. The successful people always have a clear sense of direction and purpose in what they are destined to achieve.

 

While others may fear the unknown and the uncertainties, they are seldom threatened – in fact they are energized by the opportunities to leverage on their talents for great success. They are visionaries by nature, who derive euphoric and empowering experience from events that are perceived by others to be too risky. They are usually borne leaders who capitalized on times of ambiguity to blaze new trails. In short, they are trailblazers of their followers who are immobilized by fear and desperately seeking direction and leadership.

 

Contrary to the leader, the mindsets of the average people are programmed for safety, and have low tolerance for risk and ambiguity. People with such mindset rarely accomplish much in life - they are at best a good follower.

 

All worthy scientific breakthroughs and innovations in man’s history have no precedent before them. Any attempt of innovation is a big step into the wilderness of risk and uncertainty. There is no room for safety and certainty.

 

We all know that great and successful people like Albert Einstein, Howard Hughes, Michael Jordan, and Bill Gates were once subjects of ridicule before they gained success in their career. Almost without exception, most endeavors that eventually gain unparalleled success and achievements usually started off without any encouragement. On the contrary, most creative and intuitive personalities who thrive on the unknown were usually not understood by people around them, and were often labeled as losers by those myopias of the society.

 

It takes great emotional resilience and a strong self-esteem to be able to remain optimistic and press on with the venture, when one is being labeled as loser. These are the key qualities that ensure their survival and eventually propelled them to ultimate greatness. These are also the qualities that make them renegades and arrogant.

 

Great people did not choose to be renegades. They know they cannot go far without freeing themselves from the shackles of conventional thinking and opinions. They have to be a visionary renegade to survive the constant derision from the pre-programmed myopias.

 

Unfortunately, most children today are programmed with mediocrity at the early age. This mediocrity programming comes from the system where the children are taught to conform. The system expects conformity of thoughts and behavior in ways that are socially acceptable. Children are molded mentally and psychologically to be “socially correct” and not to rock any boats. Visionaries like Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, and Charles Darwin would never have achieved what they did if they did not have the courage to break away from the shackles of conformist thinking.

 

The Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are known to be a group of people with significantly different personalities. Most of these men were free spirits who scorned tradition and disregarded the self-preservation mentally of the society. They were iconoclasts who think differently, dressed informally, and create innovative ideas relentlessly. They took extraordinary risk to venture new concepts, and invented new revolutionary technologies that change the way we live, work, and play.

 

Conformity breeds mediocrity, while stifling vision and creativity. When internal vision is limited in any way, it becomes a roadblock to future success.

 

To achieve any real success in life, one need to have a mind of his own, to be a visionary who knows where he is going, and to have an unshakable confidence in what he has chosen to do.

 

 

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The human mind power is probably the greatest mystery in our time.

 

Despite having gone through thousands of years of civilizations, man has only recently found out that the human brain power is generally under-utilized. We have traveled so far as to reach the moon, yet most people today have been able to utilize only up to 10 percent of what the brain is capable of achieving.

 

Our mind holds the greatest power of creation in the universe, yet it is so elusive to many people who are ever in search of the power that can bring success and glory in life.

 

From a young age, we learned directly or indirectly what are the important things we need to do in our life so as to get ahead in the world. In school, we are taught to study hard to get a good paper qualification. In work, we know our life’s single most important purpose is to work hard, constantly upgrade our skill sets to stay relevant to the fast-changing world, and to network diligently to widen the power of our social network. There is always an un-ending list of things waiting to be accomplished. But sadly, most people never truly feel secured no matter how hard they have worked. No matter how far people have gone in their pursuit of power, they will inevitably experience an increasing sense of lagging behind, which constantly drain their energy and confidence.

 

Ironically, the very power that they set out to pursuit through the acquisition of wealth and status has eventually created a desperate sense of powerlessness deep inside their heart.

 

Why is it so?

 

The truth is, in the pursuit of all the “Powers” that should supposedly help us achieve wealth, status and success, people have abandoned the one and only power that really matters in their life – the subconscious mind power.

 

The subconscious mind power is our innate gift. Yet not everybody is aware of its power or even its existence. Some people have probably heard of such innate power but refuse to believe that it works. There are many who are aware and believed in this innate power, are learning how to master the technique of tapping the power residing in their subconscious mind.

 

Our subconscious mind holds the power to create anything that our mind can possibly conceive. The very challenge that people face in harnessing their subconscious mind power is how to tame their conscious mind. A mind that is untamed wonders in all direction from one moment to another. A mind with wondering unfocused thoughts has very little power to command the subconscious mind. Just as the laser beam will not have any power when it is scattered.

 

However, this is exactly the kind of mental state most people are having today, as a result of countless bombardments of information, stress and temptations in our modern world. Calming the mind and be still is not the natural state of being for most people. It takes efforts and practices to be able to quiet our conscious mind so as to control our subconscious mind. Meditation is one good way to tame the mind, but it is by no means an easy process. Some people spend years to perfect their skill of meditation, and achieve a state of being unsurpassed before.

 

Today, studies of the science of mind have provided substantial proofs to confirm the viability of such subconscious mind power; more people are convinced and curious to learn more about how to master their subconscious mind. The scientific findings on the potential of human mind is known to be the greatest discovery of our time, with the potential to leapfrogged the progress of our civilization like the invention of light-bulk, car, airplane, telephone, etc.

 

After years of efforts in mind research and brain development, mind tools such as mind hypnosis are now available to help people achieve effective control of their mind.

 

Having a powerful mind is like having the anchor for our body, mind and soul, which ensures that every other aspect of life, such as health, mental, emotional, finance, and relationship, will be firmly secured. Learning how to tap the subconscious mind power is the ultimate life skill anyone should seek to master. It is considered to be knowledge of the highest order, which probably surpass any other skills in its ability to shape our future and create our life success.

 

The famous metaphysical scientist and writer, Christian Larson said:

 

“He who can change his mind every day and think the new about everything every day, will always be well; he will always have happiness; he will always be free; his life will always be interesting; he will constantly move forward into the larger, the richer and the better; and whatever is needed for his welfare today, of that he shall surely have abundance.”

 

“A man may live the way he wants to live when he learns to think what he wants to think.”

 

If you care about your life and success, start taking action to empower your mind with useful knowledge and positive information such as the following articles:

 

- Unlocking Your Potential - Part 1
- Conditioning Your Mind For Success
- Reprogram Your Mind for Success
- How to Send Your Money Mind to the Money Gym Part I

 

 

 

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To most people, money is an important element of success. Almost a default requirement.

 

In our society today, “successful people” are portrayed by the media as typically whose who have acquired money, status, and hence success. It is rare to see “successful people” in the newspaper that are not at least a millionaire.

 

Living by the society’s perception and opinion, most people would only pursue the kind of success that includes the money factor. No matter what profession or what trade you are in, the ultimate yardstick of success is still based on how much money you can make. High earning professions like lawyer, banker, accountant, etc are the elites and envies of the society.

 

Even success in creative trades are measured by monetary terms. People respect and admire millionaire authors rather than those who produce timeless literacy works of great intellectual value. Few people would accord success to a talented artist if his/her works have not gained celebrity status and command high commercial value.

 

The definition of success is so intimately linked to monetary achievement. There is no wonder why most people go all the way out to pursue money and hence success, as their life goals.

 

I for one have been lured to such perception of success. Following what is known to be prestigious and glamorous, I had pursued the banking job single-mindedly in the earlier years of my career. Despite having a prestigious investment banking job, and the envies of my peers, I found myself trading off with other things in life: Health, hobbies, relationships, etc. I found myself becoming more and more unhappy. My spirit and life force seems to be dwindling by the day. I finally realized: The concept of success that I was holding was such a great fallacy.

 

This concept has been so ingrained in people’s mind that many have gone so far away from their truth. Their truth, which lies in happiness and fulfillment, has little to do with money.

 

Both success and money are subjects of paradox in our life, particularly in relation to our life happiness and fulfillment. Success need not be defined or be associated with having lots of money.

 

Anyone who does not live by the standard and perception of the society will have little motivation to amass money. More specifically, they do not covet money. For they know that money and material possessions, though may be able to attract the envy of their neighbors, rarely contribute much to real happiness.

 

The pursuit of real happiness is an inward journey. Most of the happiest people in the world rarely attribute their happiness to the money they have.

 

We should each have our own definition of success. As a rule of thumb, being able to think independently from the society’s definition of success, is itself a kind of success.

 

Success means different thing to different people.

 

Bill Crosby said:

 

“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”

 

If one is mindful about how he is judged and defined by other people, he is like a puppet manipulated by the external rules. His life success, and hence his happiness, will be controlled by others. Only when he defines his own success, can he plays by his own rules. He can still play the game of the world, but success is defined by his own terms.

 

Our value system of success and money determine our happiness and fulfillment in life. We need to establish a healthy relationship with money. It is important to note that, not to covet for money is different from disdaining money.

 

The fine art of a healthy relationship with money is to welcome its flow into our life without coveting for it. There is nothing wrong to aspire to a better life, to enjoy all the abundance that life can bring.

 

Focus your thoughts on the good things that you desire is an important step to achieving success. (Read the article: Success Principles - Personal Growth is a Result of Action, NOT Reaction, to find out the mistakes made by many people who failed to achieve the success they desired.)

 

The key thing to remember here is not to be obsessed with wanting them. It is important to maintain a sense of freedom without becoming a victim of bondage to the material world, including money.

 

In the book “A Big New Free Happy Unusual Life“, Nina Wise wrote:

 

“Our longing for freedom cannot be satisfied by cars or houses or diamonds; by private jets or offshore bank accounts or caviar; by miniature computers or mighty weapons.

Our longing for freedom can only be satisfied by recognizing that we are each sufficient as we are, and that what feeds us has nothing to do with what we buy and everything to do with an inherent vitality of soul.”

 

Personally, I believe real success is:

 

- Having the freedom in mind and spirit, to be able to experience the world and beyond, and to enjoy the beauty and abundance that life offers.

 

- Being aware of the unlimited possibilities in life, and to take conscious actions to fulfill life’s deserved greatness.

 

You may like to read up on an interview with Jack Canfield: Jim Bunch Interviews Jack Canfield on Success Principles

 

Jack Canfield is a successful entrepreneur, millionaire writer and author of bestselling “Chicken Soup For The Soul” series. His own journey of success is an inspiration story for many. If you like to hear directly from Jack Canfield on his life story and his thoughts on success, check up the video in: Jack Canfield: The Success Principles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Christmas season is around the corner!

 

As usual, this is the time to buy Christmas gifts for loved ones and friends.

 

This is the same ritual we do every year, buying similar item for friends that probably last for a few months.

 

What would possibly make this year special?

 

Am I going to do something different this year?

 

Yes, absolutely.

 

There is a list criteria that qualify for the kind of special Christmas gift that I want to get for my love ones and special friends:

• Meaningful

• Have a long useful life

• Appreciate in value

 

What kind of Christmas gift can fulfill these criteria?

 

It is certainly not something tangible. It is usually intangible assets that have a higher and longer appreciating value.

 

I know the Christmas gift I have chosen for friends is going to make an impact to their life.

 

This is something similar to teaching someone to fish, so as to feed him for life.

 

I am glad to have found something really meaningful for Christmas gift……

 

If you like to find meaningful Christmas gifts that can create lasting value for your loved ones or friends, find out more here……

 

 

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Unlike many people who started young in this hobby, I began keeping tropical fish as a hobby when the pace of my career switches to a slower gear and I suddenly realized the need to look for passions in life.

Over the last four years, my hobby of fish keeping has grown in size and depth. Not only have I increased the number of fish tanks from one to seven to-date, I have also experienced with breeding of various species of Cichlid fish.

From my observations, many people are discouraged from taking up the hobby due to the perception that it is a chore to maintain the fishes and the fish tank.

However, my experience tells me that the benefits of fish keeping greatly outweighed the chores that it requires.

1. Brings Home a Part of Nature

Whenever I see shoals of fishes in the reservoir or pond, there is always an instant rush of joy. As I engross in watching the fish, it gradually put me in a state of mental calm. Water and the fishes has the unique ability to calm the mind and evoke immense joy. I have always been curious about the fishes’ behavior, and always tempted to pursue a more intimate experience with the fishes.

Keeping the fishes at home provides the opportunities to watch the fishes up close and personal. I can study the unique behaviors of the fishes in the tank, which I cannot possibly do even at the reservoir or the pond. For less than a hundred dollars, it is possible to create a miniature piece of nature at home. It is indeed a wonderful and ingenious hobby. It gives me the convenience to appreciate the beauty of tropical fishes as and when I wanted.

It also satisfies my desire to gain more in-depth understanding of fish behavior like an aspiring aqua scientist. Over the last few years, I had experienced the joy of successfully breeding more than ten species of Cichlid fish. I consider this an invaluable and exciting experience not only for myself, but also my family especially my seven-year old son.

Keeping fish also provide another avenue to develop my creative talent - aqua landscaping.

Occasionally, I get to exercise my creativity in landscape design by changing the rock formation in the tank. The whole idea of doing this is to simulate a new environment for the fishes, and allow the fishes to re-establish their territories. This is in fact essential when new fishes are introduced into the tank whereby all territories have been entrenched by existing group of fishes. After changing the entire rock formation, the fishes will reward you instantly by spending the next few hours swimming tirelessly in and out of the new rock formation, trying to familiarize themselves with the new ground and to establish new territory for themselves.

Whenever I am free, I will sit in front of the fish tank and observe the fish, sometime for up to an hour. It is interesting to note that the fish demonstrates many kinds of social behavior that closely resemble human behavior in the corporate world. I will attempt to write another article on more details of these social behavior of fishes.

2. Relaxation

Watching the fish swimming gracefully in the tank with their dazzling colors can indeed put one into deep relaxation and even into a state of trance.

My mind instantly feel more relaxed when I watch the fishes. As I allow my eyes to follow the fishes and be fascinated by the fishes’ graceful body movement and moving colors, I drift deeper into relaxation. It is extremely therapeutic. It is an excellent way to give my mind a break away from work and get a power recharge.

With the stress that we experience inevitably in our fast-pace lifestyle, creating channels for relaxation is an important aspect of healthy lifestyle to keep stress at bay and maintain good health.

Together with exercise, meditation and music, fish keeping has added another avenue to enrich my life, helping me to live a fully and healthier life.

3. Education for Children

Most of the children are fascinated by fishes when they see the fish for the first time, usually in the form of a trip to the local fish shop or fish farm. Keeping fish at home can teach the children a few good things:

• They will learn about the habitats of the fish and other aquatic life.

• They learn how to care for the small aquatic animals and plants.

• When they start keeping fish, they will be instilled a sense of responsibility towards another living creature.

• They learn and understand the basic of water treatment and how to maintain suitable water quality for the fish to live and even to stimulate breeding. This knowledge will serve then well in future when they study science and chemistry in school.

• They can witness the life cycle of fish species, which will enable them to appreciate biology.

• Most importantly, they will derive great pleasure from watching the fishes display a varieties of personalities. Through observing the intricate features and behavior of fishes, the children will improve their observation skills.

• The care of fish is a great learning experience for young children. When the child is able to take good care of the fish, they will usually be able to witness successful fish breeding. This will boost their confidence in the hobby as well as their ability.

4. Create Energy Flow at Home

I use the overhead filters for the few bigger tanks in the living room. The water flows down from the filter box through the pipe, creating a soothing water-trickling sound in the living room. As the water flow hit the water surface, strings of water bubbles are created. This bubbles synchronizes perfectly with the sound of water flow, like having a piece of relaxing instrumental music playing continuously.

Visually, it creates a sense of energy flowing ceaselessly at various corner of the living room where the fish tanks are located. From the metaphysical or the Feng Sui point, it creates an energy field operating non-stop at home.

I had started this hobby only four years ago. The immense joy that this hobby brings to my life and my family makes me wonder how I have been so blind to this wonderfully enriching and affordable hobby all this years.

As I discovered more about this hobby, it becomes increasingly addictive. I have no doubt that fish keeping will be a lifetime hobby for me. The vast species of fish, with their interesting and diverse antics, will take more than a lifetime to fully appreciate.

Life is indeed wonderful and enriching with the fishes. To me, life has just began with fish keeping.

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The Pareto Principle, also known as the ‘80:20 Rule’, states that 80% of efforts that are unfocused generates only 20% of the results. On the contrary, 80% of the desired output can be generated with only 20% of focused effort. Although the ratio 80:20 is only arbitrary, this trend is being observed universally in many aspects of our life.

Some people view time management as a list of rules that involves scheduling of appointments, goal settings, thorough planning, creating things to do lists and prioritizing. These are the basics of time management that should be understood to develop an effective time management skill.

However, there are more skills involved in time management besides the core basics. Skills such as decision-making, inherent abilities such as emotional intelligence and critical thinking are also essential to your personal growth.

Personal time management involves everything you do whether the task is big and small. Each new knowledge you acquire, each new advice you consider, and each new skill you develop should be taken into consideration.

The key result of having good personal time management is a balanced life-style. This may sounds like common sense but it is ironically one of the concepts that many practitioners of personal time management fail to grasp. There are many successful people with successful career and superior time management, who do not have a balanced life-style.

Time management is about getting results, not about being busy.

The six areas that personal time management seeks to improve in anyone’s life are physical, intellectual, social, career, emotional and spiritual:

Physical: Involves having a healthy body, less stress and fatigue.

Intellectual: Involves learning and other mental development activities.

Social: Involves developing personal or intimate relations and being an active contributor to society.

Career: Involves school and work.

Emotional: Involves appropriate feelings and desires and manifesting them.

Spiritual: Involves a personal quest for meaning in life.

I personally do not believe in thorough planning and having a set of to-do list each day to micro-manage my life. It may not be practical and could even create more stress.

However, it is important to set aside time to regular reflect on areas in your life which are not being given enough attention. Each area forms an integral part of your whole life. This is a holistic approach to time management. Being efficient is good, but being effective is more important.

An effective way to acquire time management skills and improve your personal life is to cultivate the following habits:

Review Your Goals Regularly. Whether it is immediate or long-term goals, you should keep them in a list that is always accessible to you. Determine which task is necessary or not in achieving your goals, and which activities are helping you maintain a balanced life style. Each and every one of us has our own biorhythm, where our mind and body experience peak and trough performance in a day. With the knowledge of your own performance cycle, you should be able to know the best time to be allotted for the difficult tasks.

Learning to say “No”. This is potentially the number one time saver, although many people find it difficult to carry out in practice. The ability to say no gracefully can help liberalize you from the clutters of life without hurting relationships.

Don’t Procrastinate. Action is power. Stand up and attend to the necessary things immediately and stop finding reasons to delay the task.

Stay Positive. This will certainly save you the time that would otherwise be wasted in self-doubt and anxiety. Staying positive will set you up for success. However, you should caution yourself not to go to the extreme of being over-positive and having unrealistic expectation in your goals.

Keep a Journal. This is meant to remind yourself of things needed to be done. It is important to be flexible with the use of journal, so as not to fall into the trap of micro-managing your daily chores. You should keep your sight on the big picture and avoid creating stress unnecessarily. Using the journal effectively can help you put things in their proper perspectives.

Time management is a science as well as an art. Master it and you will see more doors open in your life.

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Success is more than economic gains, titles, and degrees. Planning for success is about mapping out all the aspects of your life. Similar to a map, you need to define the following details: origin, destination, vehicle, backpack, landmarks, and route.

Origin: Who you are

A map has a starting point. Your origin is who you are right now. Most people when asked to introduce themselves would say, “Hi, I’m Jean and I am a 17-year old, senior highschool student.” It does not tell you about who Jean is; it only tells you her present preoccupation. To gain insights about yourself, you need to look closely at your beliefs, values, and principles aside from your economic, professional, cultural, and civil status. Moreover, you can also reflect on your experiences to give you insights on your good and not-so-good traits, skills, knowledge, strengths, and weaknesses. Upon introspection, Jean realized that she was highly motivated, generous, service-oriented, but impatient. Her inclination was in the biological-medical field. Furthermore, she believed that life must serve a purpose, and that wars were destructive to human dignity.

Destination: A vision of who you want to be

“Who do you want to be?” this is your vision. Now it is important that you know yourself so that you would have a clearer idea of who you want to be; and the things you want to change whether they are attitudes, habits, or points of view. If you hardly know yourself, then your vision and targets for the future would also be unclear. Your destination should cover all the aspects of your being: the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. Continuing Jean’s story, after she defined her beliefs, values, and principles in life, she decided that she wanted to have a life dedicated in serving her fellowmen.

Vehicle: Your Mission

A vehicle is the means by which you can reach your destination. It can be analogized to your mission or vocation in life. To a great extent, your mission would depend on what you know about yourself. Bases on Jean’s self-assessment, she decided that she was suited to become a doctor, and that she wanted to become one. Her chosen vocation was a medical doctor. Describing her vision-mission fully: it was to live a life dedicated to serving her fellowmen as a doctor in conflict-areas.

Travel Bag: Your knowledge, skills, and attitude

Food, drinks, medicines, and other traveling necessities are contained in a bag. Applying this concept to your life map, you also bring with you certain knowledge, skills, and attitudes. These determine your competence and help you in attaining your vision. Given such, there is a need for you to assess what knowledge, skills, and attitudes you have at present and what you need to gain along the way. This two-fold assessment will give you insights on your landmarks or measures of success. Jean realized that she needed to gain professional knowledge and skills on medicine so that she could become a doctor. She knew that she was a bit impatient with people so she realized that this was something she wanted to change.

Landmarks and Route: S.M.A.R.T. objectives

Landmarks confirm if you are on the right track while the route determines the travel time. Thus, in planning out your life, you also need to have landmarks and a route. These landmarks are your measures of success. These measures must be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time bound. Thus you cannot set two major landmarks such as earning a master’s degree and a doctorate degree within a period of three years, since the minimum number of years to complete a master’s degree is two years. Going back to Jean as an example, she identified the following landmarks in her life map: completing a bachelor’s degree in biology by the age of 21; completing medicine by the age of 27; earning her specialization in infectious diseases by the age of 30; getting deployed in local public hospitals of their town by the age of 32; and serving as doctor in war-torn areas by the age of 35.

Anticipate Turns, Detours, and Potholes

The purpose of your life map is to minimize hasty and spur-of-the-moment decisions that can make you lose your way. But oftentimes our plans are modified along the way due to some inconveniences, delays, and other situations beyond our control. Like in any path, there are turns, detours, and potholes thus; we must anticipate them and adjust accordingly.

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