TipsForSuccess: Bad Habits--Are You the Master or a Slave?

 

To change your e-mail address, unsubscribe or forward this article, see links below. Bad Habits -- Are You the Master or a Slave? If you can break any bad habit you wish, you can be more successful. For example, bad spending habits block your financial success. Procrastination reduces your income. Acting like a victim makes people avoid you. Bad health is often caused by smoking, drinking, drugs, poor eating habits or a lack of exercise. When you break these bad habits, you feel better and live longer. A healthy body is essential to your success. Bad marriages are often caused by bad habits like cheating, laziness and disrespect. Low pay is often caused by bad habits like tardiness, mood swings, unprofessionalism and so on. From drinking to lying, smoking to gambling, you can stop any behavior that is bad for you or that you are not proud of. You become the master and not the slave. Taking Control You can control yourself. For example, you are the one who controls your arms and legs. You decide what you say. You are the final decision-maker on where your body goes. In other words, habits are not forced on you by others. Habits are a matter of control. "Control may be subdivided into three separate parts. These parts are start, change and stop." "A habit is simply something one cannot stop." "When one finally loses the ability to stop something, that thing to some degree has become his master." "Franticness, helplessness, incompetence, inefficiency and other undesirable factors in a job are all traceable to inabilities to start, change and stop things." -- L. Ron Hubbard from his book "The Problems of Work" If you cannot control a habit, the habit becomes your master. For example, you cannot stop eating foods with sugar in them. At first, you probably felt that you could start, change and stop the habit without any trouble. You could go for days without eating sugar. You were in control. But then you could no longer change. You were eating sugary foods routinely. Donuts for breakfast, candy with lunch, cake after dinner and cookies in front of the television at night. You found you could not stop eating sugar. The urge to eat sugar became your master. How to Take Better Control "Control consists entirely of starting, changing and stopping. There are no other factors in positive control. If one can start something, change its position in space or existence in time and stop it, all at will, he can be said to control it, whatever it may be." -- L. Ron Hubbard So how can you increase your self-control? Improve your ability to start, change or stop what you do. What can you start about the bad habit? For example, maybe with smoking you can start smoking each day at a different time. You decide when to start or when not to start for the day. You take more control of the "start" aspect of control. Next, find something you can change about the bad habit. For smoking, you might switch brands. Smoke two cigarettes at the same time. Smoke with your other hand. Simply work on changing the habit. And find things you can stop about the habit. For example, stop smoking when you are driving. Stop smoking for an hour. Stop smoking half-way through a cigarette. Just get better at stopping. As you gain the ability to start, change and stop the habit, you will notice you have more control of the habit. Continue improving these three abilities and you are suddenly in control of the habit. You can break it completely. For assistance with your control planning, go to www.tipsforsuccesscoaching.org. To learn more about taking control, buy and read The Problems of Work by L. Ron Hubbard. Order your copy at www.bridgepubs.com or www.tipsforsuccess.org/problems-of-work.htm.   Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you. Copyright © 2005 TipsForSuccess.org. All rights reserved. Grateful acknowledgment is made to L. Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce selections from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard. Take better control of your life with the TipsForSuccess coaching website at www.TipsForSuccessCoaching.org. For permission to copy, print or post this article, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/reprint_info.htm or click here. To subscribe, buy books, contact us or learn more about TipsForSuccess.org, click here.

TipsForSuccess: Four Happiness Exercises

Four Happiness Exercises In 1982, L. Ron Hubbard wrote a poem called, "The Joy of Creating" "Force yourself to smile and you'll soon stop frowning. "Force yourself to laugh and you'll soon find something to laugh about. "Wax* enthusiastic** and you'll very soon feel so. "A being causes his own feelings. "The greatest joy there is in life is creating. "Splurge on it!" -- L. Ron Hubbard (*Wax: to gradually increase in size, strength or intensity. **Enthusiastic: having or showing enthusiasm.) You can use the advice in this poem in several ways, including the following four exercises: Exercise 1. "Force yourself to smile and you'll soon stop frowning." A. Force yourself to smile. B. Stop forcing yourself to smile. C. Repeat steps A and B above until you are cheerful. Some people feel happier immediately while others take 10 minutes or longer. Try the exercise in front of a mirror for an extra boost. This first exercise is especially useful if you are upset, depressed, angry, apathetic or resentful. Exercise 2. "Force yourself to laugh and you'll soon find something to laugh about." Do this exercise when you are feeling stressed or taking life too seriously. A. Force yourself to laugh. B. If you cannot force a laugh, say, "ha ha ha ha ha." Then say, "ho ho ho ho ho." Then say, "he he he he he." Repeat until you can force yourself to laugh. C. Continue to force yourself to laugh until you find something to laugh about. Sooner or later, something very funny will come to mind. You will feel less stressed, less serious and more optimistic. Exercise 3. "Wax enthusiastic and you'll very soon feel so." You have the power to motivate yourself. You don't need a bonus, an energetic boss or a seminar to get you excited. When you make yourself enthusiastic, you make better decisions, get more done in less time and produce better results. You can motivate yourself by "waxing enthusiastic" or increasing your show of enthusiasm, you make yourself interested and excited. While doing this third exercise, do not actually start working on the task until you feel fully enthusiastic about doing it. A. Select a task you are avoiding or hate to do. Put the task in front of you. B. Pretend to be slightly enthusiastic about a small part of the task, but don't start it yet. C. Act a little more enthusiastic about another small part of the job. D. Show even more excitement about another part of the job. Remember to not do anything yet. E. Gradually show more and more enthusiasm about the job. F. Wait until you feel enthusiastic and motivated to do the job before starting. Example: You walk into the dirty bathroom that you need to clean, but hate to clean. You pretend to be a bit enthusiastic about cleaning the mirror by doing a little jump. You act a little more enthusiastic about emptying the bathroom garbage can by smacking your hands and smiling. You gradually show more enthusiasm until you are jumping up and down with a big smile on your face. Suddenly, you grab the toilet brush and start scrubbing! You might be surprised at how quickly this can work. Exercise 4. "The greatest joy there is in life is creating." What are your greatest joys in life? Being a parent? Starting a company? Finding new customers? Forming new relationships? Notice how each activity creates something new? A. Write down something you can create right now. Examples: a fabulous meal, a redecorated room, a new section of your garden, a new friendship, a different appearance to your hair, a furniture arrangement, an interesting photograph, a new source of income. B. Write down something you must maintain. Reword it to emphasize the creating aspect of it. Examples: continue to show up at work each day so I can finance my new home business; keep exercising so I add a few extra years to my lifetime; protect my time with my kids so they grow up to be happy, useful members of society. C. Write down something you must stop or destroy. Reword it to be a creation. Examples: stop smoking so I can start a healthy lifestyle; throw away the junk in my garage so I can create a place to store my car at night; stop trying to bother my ex-husband so I can find a new boyfriend. D. Add these activities to your plans for today or this week. When you do them, stay focused on the creation aspect of the task. The happiest individuals in the world are those who create things. The most exciting goals you can have involve creation. You create your success. "Splurge on it!" To hear musical versions of "The Joy of Creating" by Isaac Hayes and Doug E. Fresh, go to www.joyofcreating.org/hear/index.htm Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you. Copyright © 2005 TipsForSuccess.org. All rights reserved. Grateful acknowledgment is made to L. Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce selections from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard. Take better control of your life with the TipsForSuccess coaching website at www.TipsForSuccessCoaching.org. For permission to copy, print or post this article, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/reprint_info.htm or click here. To subscribe, buy books, contact us or learn more about TipsForSuccess.org, click here.

TipsForSuccess: No Goal, No Management

 

No Goal, No Management (Note: This article is taken from the 55-page e-booklet from TipsForSuccess.org called "How to Set Exciting Goals You Can Reach." For a free copy, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/goals-link.htm.) Most government officials, executives and managers cannot explain the purpose of management. Yet by understanding this purpose, you take the first step to becoming a more powerful manager. Even if you are not a government official, business executive or group manager, you at least manage yourself. If you properly manage yourself, you enjoy enormous personal success . . . and can easily take charge of others. You start by learning the definition of management. "Management could be said to be the planning of means to attain goals and their assignation for execution to staff, and the proper coordination of activities within the group to attain maximal efficiency with minimal effort to attain determined goals." -- L. Ron Hubbard Let's break this important sentence into its parts. 1. ". . . planning of means to attain goals. . . " Goal examples: "Reach $1 million in sales by August." "Provide such a wonderful experience to our customers, that 95% of them buy from us again." "Make XYZ Bolts and Washers the largest bolts and washer manufacturing company in Canada." Do you have goals? Do you have a plan to reach those goals? If not, you will fail as a manager as you have nowhere to lead your group.. In some cases, the goal for your group is already spelled out. You only need to create a plan that makes progress toward that goal. If you do not or cannot get a goal for your group, you must create one and then plan how to attain it. 2. ". . . and their assignation for execution to staff . . . " Once you have a plan, you can break down the plan and decide who will do each step. You give out assignments to your staff (assignation means to assign something). You ensure they execute (do) those assignments. You may need to hire a few people and train many others. You issue written instructions. You make it clear what each person must do to complete the plan. 3. ". . . and the proper coordination of activities within the group . . . " A key job of a manager is to organize the activities. You get all parts of the operation working with the other parts. You hire, train and supervise the people. Hold meetings if necessary. Adjust work loads. Set up schedules. Make the staff work together. 4. ". . . to attain maximal efficiency . . ." You must also cut out wasted effort. The more efficiently your group can do its job, the faster you reach the group's goal. Remove the distractions. Get everyone focused on the important aspects of their jobs. Improve the group's speed at completing tasks. 5. ". . . with minimal effort . . . " If you make the work as easy as possible, you get more done. So if you see an employee doing a job the hard way or otherwise suffering from the job, you must step in and help. Constantly look for ways to reduce the effort of the group. For example, computers often make everyone's jobs easier. Training manuals help people learn their jobs faster so they don't need to learn through trial and error. 6. ". . . to attain determined goals." All these steps boil down to the final, most important step of management: Reach the goal. If all five previous parts of this definition are in place, you will reach your group's goals. Summary Now that you understand the six parts of this definition, you know more than most executives about the purpose of management. "Management could be said to be the planning of means to attain goals and their assignation for execution to staff, and the proper coordination of activities within the group to attain maximal efficiency with minimal effort to attain determined goals." -- L. Ron Hubbard   Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you. Copyright © 2005 TipsForSuccess.org. All rights reserved. Grateful acknowledgment is made to L. Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce selections from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard. Take better control of your life with the TipsForSuccess coaching website at www.TipsForSuccessCoaching.org. For permission to copy, print or post this article, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/reprint_info.htm or click here. To subscribe, buy books, contact us or learn more about TipsForSuccess.org, click here.