TipsForSuccess

Interested in Life

Interested in Life?

Everyone is looking for happiness. But many people make the mistake of thinking their happiness comes from other sources.

“As soon as the weather warms up, I'll be happy.”

“If my friend would come visit, I'd be happy.”

“I would be really happy if I could move to a new house.”

Fortunately, you can make yourself happy.

“The clue to happiness is being interested in life.” -- L. Ron Hubbard

For example, why does a sunny day make you happy? Maybe because you become interested in the outdoors? Because you can participate in interesting activities?

Do you feel happy when you're around a certain friend? Perhaps you are also interested in what he or she has to say? Perhaps you do interesting things together?

What makes you happy about a new house? Is it interesting to be there and to live there? Maybe you can take more interest in your current house?

Five Simple Exercises to Increase Your Interest

1. Look around your desk and find a few interesting items. Take a minute to enjoy each of them.

2. Think about your spouse and family. Write down three or more things about your spouse and family that you find interesting.

3. Think about your job. Write down three things that are interesting about your work.

4. What were three interesting things you did yesterday?

5. What are three interesting things you will do today?

If you do not feel happier after doing these five exercises, do them again until you do!

Three Tips for Making Others Happy

Now that you know the clue to happiness, you can use it to make others happy as well. Here are some ideas.

1. When children are upset or unhappy, find something in life which brings out their interest.

For example, a small girl falls and scrapes her knee. After you clean her up, she is still crying. So you say, “Do you like this picture of a kitten?” “Where's your doll?” “Will you help me make a snack?”

2. Your friend is depressed because he lost his girlfriend Sheila. How could you get him interested in life?

“Let's take a walk.” “Have you seen this new web site?” “Who is the most interesting person you know?”

3. If you want people to be happy when they talk to you, find out what interests them.

“What is your favorite food?” “What's the most interesting vacation you have ever taken?” “What was the last book/play/concert/movie you really enjoyed?”

Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.

To subscribe, buy books, contact us or learn more about TipsForSuccess.org, click here.

Joy for Your Job

Joy for Your Job

“Work is only as good as it's enjoyed, not as it's paid.” -- L. Ron Hubbard (from The Problems of Work)

When you do what you love, your odds of success are much greater. You have more passion, more energy and more fun.

When you enjoy your job, you look forward to Monday mornings. Your days fly by. You make steady progress.

Work enjoyment is contagious. The people around you get along better. They follow your example and get more done.

So what if you do not enjoy your work?

The Parts You Hate

Every job, every profession and every business includes distasteful aspects--the complicated, boring, dirty or difficult parts of the job. Yet conquering these difficulties, and enjoying your job anyway, is how you succeed.

To get rich, simply find and perform an important job most people can't do or won't do. For example, drilling tiny holes in people's teeth or performing surgery on people's stomachs is very tough work, but it makes dentists and physicians wealthy.

If you have no love for your job, the difficult parts become unbearable. You hate going to work. You hate the people. You want to quit.

When you love the purpose and results of your work, the difficulties are easier to deal with. You take pride in conquering them. The benefits of the job outweigh the liabilities.

Five Steps to Getting More Enjoyment from Your Work

1. List what you like about your work. What makes it worth doing? For example, working with good people, improving your customers' lives, doing a technically perfect job and so on.

2. List what you dislike about your work. What makes you want to quit? For example, working long hours, customer complaints, health risks, mean bosses and so on.

3. List your purposes for this job. Why did you start? What is the big picture? Why do you do this work?

4. Review and add items to the above three lists. Continue until you feel more joy for your work. When the lists are balanced, your passion takes over and you love your job.

5. If the four steps above do not help you find joy for your job, you need to make some changes.

Change your routine. Work with different people. Do a better job. Transfer to a different department. Change directions, get a new job or learn a new profession.

Change a negative attitude. Learn to accept help. Stop cutting corners.

Keep making changes until the joy of your job is greater than its difficulties.

If you own a business that gives you no joy, change it as well. Make it into an operation that makes you happy. Replace difficult employees. Delegate more responsibilities. Improve the quality of the service or product. Make the operation bigger or smaller. Sell out and start another business.

Go!

When you love your work, you recognize opportunities and make better decisions. You know where you are going. You are on the road to your major, significant success.

Take your foot off the brakes and accelerate!

Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.

To subscribe, buy books, contact us or learn more about TipsForSuccess.org, click here.

The Power of Your Imagination (Part One)

The Power of Your Imagination (Part One)

If you were locked up in prison for ten years, how would you keep your sanity?

If you feel locked in a bad marriage, bad job or bad living arrangement, it might seem like you are in prison. The stress and depression can be unbearable. Even waiting in long lines, traffic jams or boring meetings can feel like jail.

Fortunately, you have the ability to improve your mood in any situation.

“Imagination is a good thing, not a bad thing. With daydreaming, for instance, a person can convert a not-too-pleasant existence into something livable.” -- L. Ron Hubbard

Instead of feeling frustrated while sitting in a traffic jam, have a daydream about your next vacation. You can lay in your hospital bed for hours, with nothing to do, and enjoy a daydream about a shopping trip. You can spend an entire day in a jail cell while imagining a day at the beach.

Your imagination reduces your stress and lightens your mood. Instead of enduring life, you enjoy it. You control the dream; the dream does not control you.

Imagination is so powerful, it can do much more than make bad conditions more bearable.

“Imagination could be classified as the ability to create or forecast a future or to create, change or destroy a present or past.” -- L. Ron Hubbard

Destroy a Past

After being married to Bill for 10 years, Julie has an brief affair with an old boyfriend. She breaks off the affair and tells her husband Bill what she did.

Months later, Bill tells his friend, “I've tried, but I just can't forgive her. I want us to have a wonderful marriage, but all I can think about is her in a motel bed with her boyfriend.”

Bill's friend, who knows the power of imagination, says, “Use your imagination to fix this. Imagine she never had the affair.”

Bill does this. “Okay. Julie never even saw this guy. It never happened. She was shopping.” He closes his eyes and puts his imagination to work. A few minutes later, he says, “Fantastic! I feel better about this. I even think I can forgive her now.”

Of course, Bill knows Julie was unfaithful, but the past incident no longer ruins his marriage. He used his imagination to destroy the affair.

Change the Present

Liz works for a nasty, mean boss. “Liz! I told you to clean my bathroom. Get to work you stupid cow!” She feels like crying whenever he yells at her.

Liz uses her imagination to change the present. “I'm going to imagine my boss is only five years old and I let him think he's really important.”

Now, when the boss yells at Liz, she secretly smiles at his tantrums. Liz uses her imagination to change the present.

Create a Future

Three years after graduating from high school, Charles is still broke. “I work hard at ABC Computers, but I just can't get ahead. And I don't want to fix computers for the rest of my life.”

Charles uses his imagination to create a future. “I will create a new website that millions of people will pay to use. It will be valuable, but inexpensive. It will become very popular and will make me wealthy.”

He daydreams about his new website every day. He thinks of several new ideas. He imagines how each page would work. Using his imagination, he even solves all the problems that may occur with his future website business.

Charles arranges to get transferred to the ABC Computers website design team. When his new boss recognizes his creativity, she gives him exciting new projects. Charles enjoys his new work a great deal. His pay doubles within a few months.

Charles keeps imagining his own website business and works on it at home every night.

Charles used his imagination to change his future.

Three More Ways to Use Your Imagination

1. Successful business owners are constantly imagining how they can give a better service or produce a better product. They turn these imagined improvements into reality which increases their business income.
As a worker, a great way to increase your income is to do the same. Imagine getting more work done than ever before. Imagine ways your work becomes more valuable. Imagine your boss being so delighted with you that you get raises and promotions.

2. Use your imagination to feel happier. Mentally see yourself smiling and feeling good.
Try it right now. Imagine you will feel energized and happy in 60 seconds.

3. Use your imagination to change a condition with your body. For example, if you are ill, imagine the disease slowly dissolving.
If you have a layer of fat you don't like, imagine it disappearing. If you wish to look more attractive, use your imagination to make it so. If you wish you were shorter or taller, had more hair, had more energy, looked younger or whatever, simply imagine the change.
If you maintain your imaginary appearance over time, don't be too surprised if your body changes!

Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.

To subscribe, buy books, contact us or learn more about TipsForSuccess.org, click here.

For permission to copy, print or post this article, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/reprint_info.htm or click here.

Take better control of your life with the TipsForSuccess coaching website at www.tipsforsuccesscoaching.org. or click here.

Your Golden Goose

Your Golden Goose

Do you think your most valuable asset is a possession? Your home, your car, your stereo or your savings? No, none of these things are your most valuable asset.

Even if you have millions of dollars. Your money is not your most valuable asset. In fact, it might become a liability if you get obsessed about keeping it and protecting it. Your life can become controlled by your cash.

No, the most valuable financial asset you own is not a possession, but your personal golden goose.

The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs

The Greek slave Aesop told this story 2500 years ago. A man and his wife owned a goose that laid a golden egg every day. They decided they were not getting rich fast enough. They believed the bird must be full of gold and so decided to kill it.

When they cut open their golden goose, they found it was just like any other goose. They not only failed to get rich all at once as they had hoped, they no longer enjoyed the daily golden eggs.

Because you have probably heard this story, you would never think of cutting a goose that laid golden eggs for you. You would take special care of that goose. You would buy it the best goose feed, build it the most comfortable goose nest and give it the nicest goose pond available, right?

The truth is, you own a golden goose.

Conditions of Success

“The conditions of success are few and easily stated.

“The ability to hold a job depends, in the main, upon ability.

“One's intelligence is directly related to his ability. There is no such thing as being too smart. But there is such a thing as being too stupid.” -- L. Ron Hubbard from The Problems of Work

Your ability to work and produce something valuable is the goose that lays golden eggs for you. The more ability you have, the more golden eggs you can earn.

The Best Investment in the World

Professional investors are constantly searching for investments (golden geese) with three qualities:

1. The investment must be safe and secure.

2. It must produce above-average income.

3. Opportunities to buy the investment must be everywhere.

Your ability to make money, fits all three qualities.

1. Your ability to earn money is safe. Some idiot might try to kill your goose with criticism, attacks or backstabbing. Yet once you bounce back, your skills start to produce golden eggs again. Your skills do not easily disappear.

2. By investing in your golden goose, you can earn a huge income.

For example, a doctor spends $90,000 on education and then earns $180,000 per year. He or she earns twice the education cost every year. How many other types of investments can do that?

As another example, you decide to take a sales class. You pay $5,000 for the class and travel costs. You come back to your business and increase your sales by $1,000 per month or $12,000 per year. By investing $5,000, you get back $12,000 the first year. This is a return of 240% which any investor will tell you is an incredible return.

You can expect an excellent return on your investment by obtaining any skill: people skills, computer skills, speaking skills and so on. Even better is improving your personal power base -- your ability to deal with difficult situations, to make correct decisions, to work harder, to accomplish more, to do tough jobs.

3. Skill-enhancement opportunities are all around you. Professional investors spend most of their time looking for golden geese. They are happy if 60% of their investments make money. By investing in your personal abilities, you can expect 90-100% of these investments will help you succeed. Because you get some improvement from everything you learn, you have no real risk.

Recommendations

1. Make a list of all the abilities you have that make you money. For example, “My ability to handle customer's complaints.” “My ability to lead great workshops.” “My ability to build garages.”

2. Next to each item on your list, write down how you can improve each of these abilities. For example, “As well has handle complaints, I'd like to know how to make people happy.” “As well as leading great workshops, I'd like to give them business consulting.” “As well as building garages, I'd like to learn how to build houses.”

3. Next to each of these new abilities, write down what you can do to obtain them. Examples: “Read every book I can find on helping people.” “Take classes in my spare time on business consulting.” “Find a successful construction company owner who is willing to train me.”

4. Take action. Invest all your spare time into yourself.

If you do one thing every day, to improve your golden goose, you will soon have all the golden eggs you need!

Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.

To subscribe, buy books, contact us or learn more about TipsForSuccess.org, click here.

For permission to copy, print or post this article, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/reprint_info.htm or click here.

Take better control of your life with the TipsForSuccess coaching website at www.tipsforsuccesscoaching.org. or click here.

Succeed with Speed

Succeed with Speed

How long do you wait for a haircut? For a table at a restaurant? For your car to be repaired?

How long does it take before you get irritated?

On the other hand, how do you feel when you receive instant service?

"You need your car fixed? We can do it in five minutes."

"Hello, you're right on time! Dr. Smith will see you now."

"You need a new driver's license? Okay, stand here for your photo. Here's your license. Have a nice day."

One of the fastest ways to hurt your business is to make people wait. After five minutes they become uncomfortable. In ten minutes they are unhappy. In fifteen they are irritable. After twenty, they decide to leave.

There is no benefit in making people wait. They do not think, "Boy, these guys are really important, really busy, really in demand!" Instead, they think, "These idiots aren't very organized." "Maybe they don't think I'm very important."

"To prosper, service must be as close to instant as possible."

"Anything which stops or delays the flows of a business or delays or puts a customer or product on WAIT is an enemy of that business." -- L. Ron Hubbard

Businesses that provide fast service or fast products take over their industries. For example, McDonalds gives you hot food in one minute, Jiffy Lube changes your car oil in ten minutes and Lenscrafters makes your glasses in an hour. All three companies have made their owners and executives wealthy because they provide fast service.

The same principle works for you. Each time you make a customer wait, your boss wait or even a coworker wait, you are hurting your income.

For example, a lazy waiter makes a hungry customer wait for ten minutes before taking his order and gets a $1 tip. The same customer gives a $5 tip to a waitress who takes his order within thirty seconds. With 40 customers per day, the fast waitress earns $800 more in tips each week because she gives fast service. The restaurant also makes more money as customers use a table for 45 minutes instead of 60 minutes; more meals are sold.

If you own a small business, you can use this principle to beat the big boys. For example, you open a small print shop, but cannot get enough work to pay your bills. You advertise, "We will finish any print job in 24 hours." Within a week, you have ten new jobs. Even though you work 15 hours per day for a week, you steal a few of your competitors' big customers and make a small fortune.

As another example, your boss asks you and two of your co-workers to gather your production numbers for the past six months. You bring it to your boss in an hour. One of your co-workers brings his numbers at the end of the week. The other co-worker forgets all about it. If you are consistently fast, who will the boss want to give more responsibility and pay? Who might get laid off?

If you wish to succeed and prosper, you must be fast!

Action Plan #1

1. How do you make money? List every step of the process you use.

2. Look for every delay. Where do things slow down?

3. How can you speed up these points? How can you provide nearly-instant service or a nearly-instant product?

Action Plan #2

1. Who waits for you?

2. Of these people, who has influence over your success?

3. How can you break all speed records and give these people what they need instantly?

Write down your plans and act!

Provided by TipsForSuccess.org as a public service to introduce the technology of L. Ron Hubbard to you.

To subscribe, buy books, contact us or learn more about TipsForSuccess.org, click here.

Interested in Life

Joy for Your Job

The Power of Your Imagination (Part One)

Your Golden Goose

Succeed with Speed

Blog Archive