I was asked recently by someone posting on my self improvement blog what were the best self help books I have read. Although there are several thousand self help books published each year I have come to the conclusion that there is very little that can be added to the many words of self help wisdom that have been written over the last century and a half. From the early pioneers like Napoleon Hill to today’s monumental giants like Tony Robbins. It was said, I think by the latter of these two gurus, that we arrive on this planet without an instruction manual. I think for that reason alone there is not just a thirst for knowledge but a greater need for a guide to how to survive life which drives the market for self improvement books. You don’t need to have suffered a deep psychological trauma to want to invest in one of these guides. But for those who say you can’t deal with serious issues like depression then I disagree. Where my own doctor and a clinical psychologist were unable to help me a number of the books on my all time classic list gave me the support to get my life back on track. However its not reading self help books that gets results its taking action on the advice that is given therein. So my advice is read a small amount of self help books but take a lot of action if you want to significantly improve your life.
Can self help books bring happiness? Now there is a million dollar question! Depends on your definition of happiness of course. Many people would define it as achieving a certain amount of wealth. However as many wealthy people often say the wealth in and of itself doesn’t bring happiness. In addition have you ever noticed that wealthy people never seem satisfied with what they have got and continually seek to make more and more money. The truth is that happiness is not a destination it is more likely to be a state of continually striving to achieve goals, achieving them and setting more goals to strive to achieve. If thats your definition then I think self help books will help you and my list of all time classics have certainly helped me in that respect. There are many out there who will disagree with my choice of self improvement books and have their own favourites all I can say to them is that these are the ones that gave me the focus and the necessary poke in the ribs to take action and I still revisit them for ideas.

If you do what you’re expected to do, don’t expect an outstanding result, my friend.

Study successful people and you’ll sure to discover one thing that many of them would have in common… they live by that words of “always do more than what is expected of you.”

I don’t care. It could be sleeping an hour less everyday to have more time to build your wealth or whatsoever.

Whether you are mowing people’s lawn or someone is mowing your lawn, when you are teaching a seminar or being a participant, or when sharing your knowledge or giving advice to your people, always do or give more than what people expect. Then they will flock around you, they will line up to meet you and be happy to support you in whatever thing that you want to do next.

If you’re training to be a champion, don’t just train like an average player. Train more than you’re expected to train.

If you’re building a multi-level marketing business, increase the numbers of prospects you would like to meet everyday. If it used to be 10, now you would have at least 12. By just increasing your effort 20%, you’ll end up with 60 new prospects a month. Now, that’s what I called exponential.

Trying to win a girl’s heart? I’m not surprise that you could be “competing” with three other guys for the same girl. And you can only win if you’re giving more than all of them if everyone’s equal. I’m not saying giving more money or buying stuff’ give love, time or whatever that counts to her.

Whenever you are interacting with people or in a relationship, treat the other party extremely well.

Whatever is expected of you in that relationship, be it with your girlfriend or business partner or client, your spouse or your friend, always do or give more than what is expected of you in that relationship for that is the secret of making it a success.

It is not that you have to do or give a whole lot more; you have to do just a little bit more than the rest. That’s it. The 10mm-difference is what Anthony Robbins calls it for you to become outstanding… in any undertaking.

To do this, it’s not difficult. But most people are just too lazy to put in the effort. I’m one of them but I’ll always keep reminding myself this- winner takes all. There is no second place, my friend. I would rather strive with the extra effort to get #1 because the pay off is many times greater.

Do you remember who the second best basketball player is? Nope. You can remember Michael Jordan because he’s #1. In fact, as far as I know, there’s no such place as ‘the second best basketball player’.

Who’s the second fastest runner in the world? Who knows. I just know the #1.

Others have called this ‘more than expected attitude’ as ‘going for the extra mile’. Notice that they don’t say the extra 10 miles.

How come?

Because the average persons don’t bother to do more than what is expected of them. I know it’s sad but that’s the truth.

To most people, “always do more than what is expected of you” are mere words and they don’t put substance to it because people are greedy and they just want to do the bare minimum to make money, to make a profit or whatever.

And guess what… successful people are never your average people.

To be generous and to treat others extremely well, you must come from the perspective of abundance thinking. Then only “always doing more than what is expected of you” will come easy and naturally.

So the next time you are with somebody, or in a business negotiation, or just interacting with another person, ask how can I help you… without even expecting any return.

As the other saying goes, commonly heard in self improvement — you have to give, in order to get. In fact, if you want to gather riches you have to be as generous as you can. Touch people’s lives profoundly, in ways that they would never forget. Give it forward… help another and that person will help another. Always do more than what is expected of you. Do this and the reward will come to you 10 folds or 100 folds when you are least expecting it.

Do you think you can do more than what you’re doing today? Of course you can. The question is… DO YOU WANT OR NOT? You’ll have to decide for your own future on that.

Note: This article is written by Patric Chan who shares his experience about achieving success and wealth at his personal improvement blog. You can also join his self improvement forum for free and meet like-minded positive people.

The problem with losing weight is typically motivation. People are happy just sitting back on the couch and watching TV. How many times have you seen people stop their vehicle in front of the mailbox to get the mail through the window. Why not drive in and park have a walk back to the mailbox instead. It all adds up. No, walking down your driveway will not get you in shape unless you live five miles from the main road. But you have to get motivated to shape up and it can start with the little things. Visit Keynote Speaker for more information

So how do you get motivated? Well, put a photo up of your goal on the bathroom mirror. Remind yourself every day why you need to workout, get in shape and eat properly. There is no reason for you to be overweight unless you just choose to be.

You can learn how to lose weight by listening to motivational CDs or even watching DVDs. One way to stay motivated is to go to a gym. They have exercise classes that will help you get fit. You will begin meeting people who have the same goals which will help you stay motivated. They will make you accountable for participating. Ideally the motivation to exercise should come from within. You should want to be in shape and not be overweight. You just have to want to do it.

The motivation to slim up should be simply to live a healthy life. No, it is not particularly easy or fun, especially if you are not accustomed to doing it. But are you going to be accustomed to having a heart attack? A Stroke? Diabetes? The health benefits of getting fit and losing weight far outweigh the inconvenience. Visit Keynote Speaker for more information

75% of Americans disagree though. They have no problem with being overweight. The medical community now believe that modern medicine has made it possible to stay alive longer and be obese. It makes people relax about losing the weight.

Why would someone want to be overweight and unfit? You can hear the overweight and out of shape coming a mile away. The huffing and puffing as they make their way down the hallway at work or climbing a set of stairs. They cannot move comfortably toting all that weight around. That alone should be motivation enough to get in shape and lose weight.

Get motivated and reduce your fat. Your life will be much better. Visit Keynote Speaker

Beautiful is defined as having qualities that gives great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear or think about, something that is delighting to our senses or mind but most often beauty is described to be something that is pleasing in the eyes of a human being. It is always impossible to say a food that tastes good is beautiful, a news that is good to hear is beautiful but we can always say it is a beautiful view when we see something that would satisfy our eyes. Most often our visual senses can appreciate the meaning of the word beautiful.
Our sense of sight helps us to see how beautiful the world is. Although a few people may see things differently without their Large Reading Glasses or contact lenses on we should be thankful enough that we are not blind. There are many things we could see in this world that we describe as beautiful but there is only one thing in the heart of man which he describes as the most beautiful. The most common phrases that we usually hear like how beautiful a house is, what a beautiful car you have, the sun rising early in the morning is beautiful, the stars in the night is so beautiful but in a man’s eyes a woman he loves, is much more beautiful than anything else in the world.
I don’t believe that perfection exists. In this world Any thing becomes unreal when it becomes so perfect because even the world itself was not made perfect at all. God may have created the world in his image and likeness but he never made anything perfect in this world. A man can paint a beautiful and perfect woman using his imagination and skills but then a man cannot make them exist. A portrait of a woman is one man’s description of the most beautiful thing on earth but not all of them can appreciate it’s beauty only the man who have created it can say it is perfect. In an artist’s point of view only him can see the real beauty of his masterpiece not everyone else. No need for him to take off his Reading Glasses and rub his eyes to see things clearly. Like god for him he created the world perfect but not everyone could appreciate it. Even though there are so many things in this world that are not made perfect but in his eyes it doesn’t make a difference because everything he created he loved and for him each and everyone is perfect. For loving doesn’t count the physical aspect of a being but accepting what one is made of.

Gratitude or appreciation of what we already have is very important in the manifestation process. If we want to attract things we desire we must have feelings of gratitude, so every day when you wake up try to be thankful and think about the good things in your live you should be thankful for.

To begin using the Law of Gratitude and the Law of Attraction to work for us in positive ways, we must take control of our lives and understand how to best use this power we all have within us.

Learn More about the Law of Attraction

We cannot express true gratitude without feeling emotionally grateful. Being thankful for everything that comes to us is to accept our lives as they are, realizing that everything that has come to us is because we created it. It could be hard to accept our responsibility, but without accepting it we can’t start positively changing our lives. Although it may not have been our conscious intent, but we created our lives. It is much easier to understand for people who also know the law of karma or the law of action and reaction.

We must appreciate what we have, so let’s appreciate our jobs (even if we don’t like them). We should feel gratitude for a place to live (there are many people who don’t have a place to live). We should be grateful for some food, some friends or anything else that we possess. A lot of people don’t have enough even basic things like food, water and their own place to live.

It’s natural that you want more, that you want to improve your standard of life, but first you need to feel gratitude for what you already have.

The Law of Attraction and Gratitude

Sometimes gratitude comes in steps. Making a list of things you are thankful for being in your life helps you to create a more positive energy within you. It also helps to begin surrounding yourself with people that are upbeat and positive.

Apart of expressing gratitude, making positive affirmation statements can speed up manifestation process.

When you begin making affirmation statements to yourself, you will begin to manifest a life of happiness and abundance by being grateful. Begin telling yourself that you are grateful for having money in your life. This will affirm things that are already present in your life and create more of it. Even if you only have a dollar to your name, expressing gratitude for this money will begin to bring more of the same.

By reflecting positive affirmations of gratitude, you begin to change your inner world to one of lighter, higher vibration energy. Then the Law of Attraction will answer this by changing your outer world to reflect your inner, positive state of mind.

The Mind works in two ways, on conscious and subconscious level. When we think about something it is impressed on the subconscious mind which acts on the thought. If the thought is not concentrated it simply dissipates into energy. Thoughts like everything are energy.

However, when the thought is concentrated, which means that we focus on something for a longer period of time or often with emotions and imagination, things can really start to manifest.
This may sound corny, or too simple of an idea, but this is the way the universe works. Old thought patterns that we have established over time can be easy to slip back into again. When changing our life in positive ways, staying on course with an attitude of gratitude can seem difficult. In time, this new pattern establishes itself and becomes you.

Learn More about the Law of Attraction

Gratitude and the Law of Attraction work to create abundance in your life, even when you do not know how this principle works. Knowing how this principle works is to be using the Law of Attraction to actively create a life that is truly prosperous and in harmony with the universe. Gratitude or appreciation of what we already have is necessary to attract things we want.

Law of Attraction and Gratitude Information

The Law of Attraction is not just a metaphysical idea; it is also a theory that has been proven to work. Science has discovered through quantum physics that there is a very real law of nature, bringing back to use what we think about.

Every day when you wake up try to be thankful. Think about the good things in your live you should be thankful for.
Appreciate your job (even if you don’t like it). Feel gratitude for a place to live. If you have some food, some friends or anything else you can find to appreciate, appreciate it. A lot of people don’t have enough even basic things like food, water and their own place to live. It’s natural that you want more, that you want to improve your standard of life, but first you need to feel gratitude for what you already have.

We create our lives through our thoughts and feelings being answered. What we send out is returned back to us in kind. This is the science of manifestation at work.

People that live out their lives experiencing poverty and scarcity usually will broadcast these needy expressions in negative ways. Like attracts like, therefore, the universal consciousness that we are all a part of sends back to us more of the same. Just as positive affirmations and states of mind return to us the same. This helps to answer why some of us believe that our glass is half empty, and others experience their glass as half full.

Manifestation and Gratitude Resources

If you start your day with feelings of gratitude you will feel good and you can keep that feeling all day.

But you should also write down something like this: “I am so happy and grateful that…” and then write what you would like to have. For example: “I am very happy and grateful that I make $1 million per year; that I have wonderful and loving wife…etc.” Use the present tense, visualize the things you want, be grateful for them, and think about them as already yours. When you achieve them, you can add new things to your list. When you write about money, start first with amount you believe is possible and then increase the amount when you got the amount you’d written down. Be specific.

When you start doing as described above, at first you might feel strange that you are using present tense for the things you want to have in the future, but it’s important to train your mind and force your mind to think about them in present tense. After some time of playing such “mental ping pong” your mind will obey and will help you to achieve the things you want.

It is important to be consistent with expressing gratitude. Expressing the gratitude writing every day in a notebook is very helpful.

Law of Attraction and Gratitude Information

Life does not always give you want. And because of the lack of manifestations of their desires, many people felt empty and unhappy about life. Thus, if you want to stay happy in life, there is one thing you need to know and accomplish with ease, to love and appreciate yourself.

If you look carefully in life, it is not the lack of those materialistic things in your life that makes it miserable. The whole is full of rich, famous yet unhappy people.

Indulging in materialistic items may seem as one of the ways to stay happy. However, you know that happiness obtained from those items is only temporary.

True and genuine happiness arises from you working inside out, not outside in. Being happy is an inner feeling and it does make sense to work out the issue from the place called ’self’.

Unhappiness usually stem out of your lack of self esteem and self appreciation. At home, your parents have taught you to appreciate others and be grateful to people who assisted you along the way. You are taught to say “Thank you” to others, present gift to others as a token of appreciation etc.

However, have you been taught how to appreciate yourself? How to acknowledge your own success and give praises to you? Do you love yourself for who you are?

To love is to accept. More often than not, we tend to choose what we want to accept about ourselves:
Talents
Strengths
Ability…

However, that is not love. Ask any parents or a couple deeply in love, they will tell you that they will accept their children or their spouse as who they are, for their strengths and weakness.

Others like you for your strengths, well your loved ones love you for your weakness.

To choose to only accept your strengths is definitely not one of the many ways to stay happy. No one can seek to be perfect in this world. In fact, it is human for you to be imperfect!

And because of lack of self love and self appreciation, it resulted in you having to seek affirmations from others by indulging yourself in the role of the victim where you will do things to:
Gain other people’s attention
Gain others’ sympathy
To affirm yourself that you are not capable or lovable…

The truth is your improvement will be much faster and greater when you focus on your successes, your wins and the things you do right rather than overly concerning yourself with your past mistakes.

Thus if you want to stay happy, stay in love with yourself!

Invest 15-30 minutes every night and review the successes you accomplish in the day. I call it the “Appreciate Self Game”.

And like all other games, this game also has its own set of rules:
Write out at least 10 accomplishments for the day
Do not repeat the accomplishments from the previous days. By not repeating your accomplishments, it forces you to be more aware of your different successes and winnings in the day.

Self appreciation and self love is not something you want to eliminate from your life.

Learn more about emotional freedom technique courses.

Honoring the Inner Self
Learning how to access our inner voices is a much needed skill that many lack. Most are not taught how to understand the inner self, often ignoring, for one reason or another, the hurt and pain that is often buried deep inside. If we learn to attend to that all important inner voice, rather then silencing or ignoring it, then we will have a better chance of healing and wholing the many inner wounds and ghosts that challenge each and every one of us. The way we perceive ourselves has a large role to play in how we live our lives. If we engage life in a state of disharmony with all parts of ourselves at odds with each other we are already at a severe disadvantage. In order to begin to heal and whole we need to start looking within as well as without. As such, it is important to begin healing our relationship with our inner self before we can really move forward with our lives. This healing of the inner self is a critical tipping point that will affect our all around progress and holistic self-development.

We are born without external perception of who we are. This develops over time. Though it is my belief an entelechy of purpose comes in with us at birth, many of our ideas, beliefs and habits, the dressings we don, come from the environment and our life experiences. We develop personalities and internal perceptions by engagement with the environment and the experiences with which we engage. This affects our outlook on life, leading to the conceptualization of the self that becomes most habitually familiar to us. More often then not, aches and pains of living are buried deep inside, a protection against our hesitancy to face them. If they are not released, these negative emotions can haunt our lives for ages with devastating consequences. Instead of allowing them to fester and wound from the inside out, there is much we can do to address and heal our inner being, creating a better relationship between all parts of our self so that we can move forward with a harmonious life. In order to heal the inner being and move away from the instinctive self-destructive behaviors we often display we need to be willing to establish a committed bond of communication with the inner self.

We Are Entangled Products of our Environment

In one way or another we are products of our social environment, bombarded with perceptions and ideas that can put us down and lower our self-esteem. Many look in the mirror, see only negative things, and think only negative thoughts. This is not a healing way to honor one’s self and the need for inner self-healing is critical to moving beyond this stage in order to perceive our self as someone worthy of respect and affection. If we do not like or love ourselves how then can we expect others to show us this same respect. We are often predisposed to look at ourselves as lesser persons, but this is not appropriate action if we are to grow and bloom into our deepest potential.
In the process of healing, we need to look inwards and face all the different facets of our lives. It is best to look at ourselves from many different aspects and angles in order to achieve a balanced, healthy, healing outlook of self. We have to dig deep and locate the inner strength to face our dragons and our deep seated wounds head on in order to move past that which blocks us from unfolding into our greatness.

Craft Your Art of Healing Harmony

In order to craft the artistry of our lives, it’s important for us to not only focus on the outside but to also nurture and heal that often forgotten inner self. Only then can we achieve all that we desire in life. We need all parts of ourselves working together in healing harmony, the true mastery for which we were born. If we learn to align the inner self with the rational self and the higher self, we have a better chance of reaching a goal of three part harmony that can be a very special gift to the coffers of the world.

Planets, Moon, Mercury When most of us think of astrology, we think about our natal sign and not much else. Do you know what some of the major influences are though, that define these Zodiac signs? First and foremost is the Sun. It is the center of all life and represents a person’s personality and spirit.

More about understanding the horoscope.

The Moon, on the other hand, gives us our Soul. The Moon is the ruling planet of the Zodiac sign Cancer. It is very much associated with the mother and with maternal instincts.

Mercury rules over Gemini and Virgo. It is the planet of the mind and of communication. In other words, it is the planet of the idea and the means to communicate the idea. The planet Venus rules over Taurus and Libra. Venus is associated with characteristics and principles of harmony and beauty. It is of course, concerned with love. It is also concerned with the pleasure we derive from personal possessions.

Mars is the ruling planet for the dynamic Aries, and to some astrologers, Scorpio, although modern astrologers now determine that Pluto is the ruler of Scorpio. Mars is the planet that is concerned with the things you want, and how you go about getting those things. Jupiter is associated with pleasure and enjoyment. It is the ruler of Sagittarius and is also associated with principles of growth, religion and higher education.

Saturn is the ruling planet of Capricorn and is associated with principles such as reality and restrictions, boundaries and rules. Saturn was traditionally the ruler of Aquarius until the discovery of the planet Uranus. Neptune is the ruling planet of Pisces and is associated with deception, illusions, spirituality and psychic phenomena. The planet Pluto is the ruling planet of Scorpio and is associated with the concept of transformation.

If you’re a Pisces, you probably have a lot of friends, as you have an accepting and malleable nature that makes it easy for other people to be around you. A Pisces is more likely to go with the flow rather than swim upstream to try to change people or their environment. They can be more emotional, rather than rational and analytical. They don’t thrive in highly disciplined environments. Nine-to-five jobs are anathema to the Pisces nature. They are drawn to situations where they can use their artistic gifts and their appreciation of art and nature. They love luxury and pleasure. They can think on their feet and an enjoy new situations and change. They are happiest in the fields of music, literature or art. Not that tough for astrology.

Who’s the ideal partner for the Pisces. Not the rugged, caveman type, for sure. A relationship with a Pisces will be meeting of the mind and spirit, less so than the body. Pisces are cerebral and not intensely sexual. The need to be courted gently. They are intensely loving and loyal and have a monogamous nature. Don’t abuse this rare creature.

If you’re a Pisces, you may find yourself occasionally being walked over or taken advantage of because of your fluid nature. You may need to find ways to assert yourself that’s in harmony with your psyche. Because you tend to go with the flow and live in the moment, you might have a money-management style that can leave you short of funds at times. You may need to be stricter with yourself to ensure that doesn’t happen. Next time you’re drifting around a department store, just do a quick tally of everything before you get to the cashier. Put at least half of it back, if not more. Chances are it will still be there the next time you have money in your pocket!

This is just the beginning. The time for learn and understand astrology.