Success Lessons from Olympians

You Can Use Their Tools to Your Advantage

keys to success from Fired Up!

If you watched the Olympics at all the past few weeks, it would be nearly impossible to not be inspired. There were
so many great stories of overcoming adversity and set-backs,o of getting back up when you fell down, of hard work and determination fueling the fire of the torch.

All of us have big goals we want to achieve and need help along the way. I really liked this article How Olympians Stay Motivated by Olga Khazan.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/02/how-olympians-stay-motivated/283643/

Key takeaways for me were:

• mindfulness- be fully present where you are doing whatever you are doing- it’s your most resourceful state

• keep your self-talk positive and have encouraging mentors and cheerleaders

• optimism is key- you’ve seen me talk about this before. Keep your outlook focused on the good.

Have a great week fueling your dreams!

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Forget Resolutions- Make Written Goals

Study Shows Accountability and Written Goals are the Key

Many people use the new year to kick off resolutions, but the truth is, only 1/8 of people actually follow through, according to Darren Hardy. Resolutions typically don’t work because:

• lack of support and belief in your resolutions
• lack of a realistic action plan
• lack of accountability.

Instead of resolutions, have written specific goals. A study done at Dominican University shows the power of written goals, coupled with accountability. Those who had written goals with someone to check on them regularly were much more successful than those without written goals and without support.

So write your top 10 goals for 2012, get an accountability partner to help you along the way (as you help them) and make an action plan. You’re already on your way to success.

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 ©2011 Snowden McFall All Rights Reserved. No duplication 
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Improve Your Professional Success By Increasing Your Optimism & Happiness

The latest research on happiness is that the most successful business people, entrepreneurs, doctors and workers are happy first. In fact, happiness, optimism and joy can dramatically improve your professional achievement, if that’s important to you.

• Doctors put in a positive state before diagnosing show 3x more intelligence and creativity & make diagnoses 19% faster than doctors in a neutral state.

• Optimistic salespeople sell 56% more than pessimists.

• Happy students far outperform their peers on tests.1

Being happy, joyful and optimistic can radically improve the quality of your life. Happiness and optimism can be learned by anyone and applied immediately.

Optimists live seven years longer than pessimists, according to a study done at Yale University analyzing 600 people. Those who viewed aging from a positive perspective live on average 7.5 years longer than those who did not. So you can add nearly a full decade to your life by having a sunnier perspective!

Optimism has substantial health benefits. How’s your breathing? Do you have asthma or frequent bronchitis? A study at Harvard found that optimists have significantly better lung function. Changing the way you feel about things may help you to breathe easier, literally.

Given the economic pressures many areas of the world have encountered recently, how does optimism play out at work? No matter what the economy is doing, there are always certain people who thrive.

Dr. Martin Sullivan of the University of Pennsylvania spent 20 years interviewing 350,000 executives and learned something fascinating: the top 10% performers think differently from others: they are all optimists! That’s a pretty amazing statistic. So if you want greater success, achievement, and effectiveness at work, become a more positive thinker.

1 (Data from the book The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor)