15 Ways In Which You Ruin Your Life Even If You Don’t Notice It

Life is like a house that needs to be built and maintained. People try to avoid many realities and continue to ruin what’s good in their life without even noticing. Such poor choices don’t have to be made by you. Being happy and successful starts with acknowledging what damage you are doing to yourself right now and doing well to fix it.

1. You ruin your life when you don’t forgive

You can’t take life too seriously. People will hurt you and you will hurt others. Holding on to grudges or anger will only blind you from focusing on what is truly important.

2. You ruin your life when you keep a job you don’t like

Sometime you keep a job because you want a steady paycheck. But why jeopardize your happiness and focus on the present rather than on the future where you are free and happy?

3. You ruin your life when you care about what others think

You can’t please anyone. Caring about what others think will only make you empty as people will end up hurting and disappointing you.

4. You ruin your life when you are always procrastinating

Stop waiting for things to be perfect before you take action. Go out there and do what needs to be done to make your life perfect.

5. You ruin your life when you don’t take care yourself

Your body is your vehicle to success. Treating your body right by eating right and maintaining a healthy lifestyle will not only secure a healthy future but boost your self-esteem now.

6. You ruin your life when you complain about everything

Living a life of complaints doesn’t take you anywhere but will leave you disappointed, frustrated and angry. You need to channel that energy you use to complain into something worthwhile.

7. You ruin your life when you live in regrets

Your past cannot be changed. Learn from it and move on. Living in regrets only saps your positive energy and distracts you from possibilities.

8. You ruin your life when you pick the wrong partner

If you are Samson, please don’t pick a Delilah. Nothing is as awful or destructive as living with someone who doesn’t compliment or make you happy.

9. You ruin your life when you compare yourself to others

There is nothing as awful or as degrading as trying to compare yourself with others. We are all unique so why try to compare yourself with someone who is not you.

10. You ruin your life when you believe money will make you happy

Money offers you freedom, but there are many simple things in life that will make you happy and don’t require any money. Draining your life and focusing all your attention on wealth can make you distraught.

11. You ruin your life when you are not grateful

Gratitude means to appreciate the things you have. If you are thankful, you will have an ease, and an internal peace.

12. You ruin your life when you are in the wrong relationships

It is a bad thing to have an awful partner, but it will also tear you down if you are in relationships with friends who bruise and batter your self-worth.

13. You ruin your life when you are pessimistic

You should always be optimistic that things will be better. You cannot be negative and continue to condemn everything good that will come your way.

14. You ruin your life by living a lie

Many take on lives that are not theirs. They pretend and live under false guises. You have to be completely honest about who you are and live on that line.

15. You ruin your life by worrying about everything

Take some time to reflect and appreciate those great things you currently have. Although life is not perfect, it most definitely has handed some wonderful things to you. So appreciate it and quit worrying about what may not matter at the end of the day.

Source: LifeHack

7 Reasons Why “C” Students Will Be The Most Successful People In World

There is a common opinion that if you study hard and graduate with an “A diploma,” it will guarantee you will find a great job that pays well. Unfortunately, the reality is different. Although, most positions require you to have a diploma, no one will look through your grades. When you graduate, the only thing that matters is your knowledge and the ability to operate within the system.

So why is it that students that you could barely get their “C” at the end of a semester manage to become super successful? Let’s look through 7 reasons why “C” students will be the most successful people in the world.

1. They understand what they want earlier than others 

“C” students don’t spend much time on the unnecessary classes we all have to.

If you are trying to become a technician, you obviously don’t need to write a hundred of annoying essays about culture and your summer experience.

They stop taking the required classes and focus on vocation-related subjects that can help them during their work. World famous innovator and entrepreneur Steve Jobs never finished college and made it to the top of IT industry only because he was focused on doing what he liked. During his famous speech to Stanford graduates he emphasized that “The only way to succeed, is to love what you do. Keep looking, don’t settle”.

2. They get first-hand experience.

Most “C” students start working earlier than their peers, which lowers their marks as they have to skip classes to make a living. At the same time, they get priceless experience every “A+” graduate is missing. And we all know that you are less likely to be hired without actual experience.

3. They build networks.

While “A” students are stuck learning unnecessary subjects, C students read tons of useful literature and communicate with dozens people every day. In real life, knowing powerful people as well as the ability to communicate can make a difference in your career.

4. They know how to enjoy life.

When in college, they visit parties and come to the lessons a little bit hangover, nevertheless, they enjoy their life. Same happens when they start working. Plain and simple: happy people are more successful than those who are not. It happens because they are fun to be around, proactive team players who will cheer up the entire team, which is one of the best skills your boss can look for. Stressful, negative people, no matter how intelligent they are won’t be in the top list of candidates.

5. They find the simplest solutions.

Billionaire computer specialist Bill Gates is one of the many successful people who cannot show off with their college marks. Nevertheless, he managed to get to the top by building Microsoft, one of the giant IT corporations. Bill Gates is very open-minded and unlike others, he never looks at grades or even diploma. Moreover, he thinks it is important to think outside-the-box. One of his famous quotes: “I will always choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because he will find an easy way to do it”.

6. They follow their dreams.

Much of success comes from loving what you do. When you enter college you are very young and might not understand what you actually need.

That’s why it is important to understand that you are not obliged to follow the choice you made when you were 18 or worse, if your parents made it for you. Look at the youngest female billionaire Elizabeth Holmes, who is revolutionizing medicine. She dropped out of Stanford, one of the most prestigious colleges to follow her dreams. Another great example is all-known fun-lover Richard Branson, he dropped our school at the age of 15, now he is managing a giant air company “Virgin.”

7. They understand what it is to struggle.

Success requires emotional intelligence, perseverance, passion and, most importantly, the ability to overcome failure. In business as well as in life, you will go through ups and downs no matter what grades you had in college. “C” students become more successful because they know what it means to struggle, starting with passing an exam and ending with finding money to start their own business.

At the end of the day, grades are just numbers. True achievement is to become someone in a real world. And, if you graduated from college with lower grades, don’t despair. Real life and real lessons occur when you leave the classroom.

Source: LifeHack

10 Management and Business Skills Everyone Should Learn To Be More Productive

Business leaders measure productivity by the quality and quantity of output over input. Management seems to have a big part in a business. They decide, implement actions, and take the control. The professional skills and roles of managers are important to be adapted and put into practice not only by business people but all people who want to do and be more everyday.

1. Prioritize tasks

Lining up your daily tasks can be one of the effective ways to be productive.Focus on what is important by asking what are the things needed to be done first or by measuring the value of each task needed to be accomplished. It is essential to assess the things needed first to finish the right job at the right time.

2. Manage time properly

Get an early start. Doing things now instead of later is the ultimate secret that business people use to get more done, providing a schedule and record to help them track their activities and progress during the day. They reward themselves with a break that is short enough to avoid wasting time but long enough to refresh and clear their minds.

3. Know when to say ‘yes’ and when to say ‘no’

“I nourish myself by saying “no” when I mean no, and “yes” when I mean yes. I know what I want.”

What keeps people from saying ‘yes’ instead of ‘no’ (when they mean ‘no’) is the fear of losing opportunities. In some cases, there are people that don’t want to be rude to others and make others feel rejected, so they take the responsibility. But, it is all up to you. Come to think of it, everyone has their own desires and priorities in life. There is nothing wrong with saying ‘no’ to the things you don’t want and you are no longer interested in doing, as long as saying it will do no harm to others.

4. Begin with the end in mind

Business people have a clear picture of the goals they desire to achieve or to have at the end of the day, week, month or even year. It helps them focus more on important concerns. It also involves the idea of “believing in yourself” that you can do it. Efficient and timely strategies can lead to successfully achieving the goal. Nothing happens in waiting for things to come your way, so the most important step is to make it happen.

5. Keep on learning and finding new ways

Knowledge can be found everywhere. It is not only something people can get in school, but is also acquired through their personal experiences. Productive business people look for hobbies that will encourage their learning everyday. They explore. They are open to new great things that could help them grow mentally, physically, and emotionally.

6. Allocate resources efficiently

In business terms, resource allocation is the proper assignment and management of scarce resources to effectively support an organization’s goals. Management knows how to maximize their time (to get duties done before the deadline) and power (to create and accomplish more productive things everyday). They learn to value what they have today and create wise actions out of it, because not all things will be present at all times.

7. Use the right tools to stay productive

Productive tools can improve the level of productivity and maximize efficiency while working. Mobile phones, although not objectively stated, are obviously essential when dealing with your team, for example, in group projects, since it can bridge the gaps of communication with the members. With the rise of technology, productivity applications on mobile devices are highly useful and powerful and helps business people keep track of daily agendas and increase their productivity level.

8. Live for today

“Work smarter, not harder.”

Productive business people normally dwell on things they have yet to achieve, but they always have breaks intended to appreciate life and to focus in the ‘now.’ They avoid worrying about things regarding the future that can ruin the day.

9. Deal with the unexpected

Unexpected events can come anywhere, at any time, to anyone. Business people prepare for the worst. They learn to keep everything in mind to deliver a quick and meaningful response.

10. Get organized

Like beauty, organization comes from within. It has to start within oneself before other people can actually see it. Organized people know how to keep everything in its proper place. They carry a journal and love to make lists. They are busy categorizing so everything will fall into place.

Source: LifeHack

15 Things You’re Not Taught In School That Determine Your Success

School teaches you many of the fundamental things you’ll need a basic grip on in order to be a genuine success during your life, including math, English, science, discipline, and socializing, to name a few. But not everything that’s worth knowing is chalked up on blackboards. At least, not yet.

Listed here are 15 essential life skills that determine your success yet aren’t part of a typical school curriculum, although they really ought to be.

1. Spotting a Scam

As a rule, schools don’t tend to teach children about how to spot the signs of a swindler, and getting fleeced at least once is currently the only way to learn about the incredible amount of scams that plague the world. Knowing a dodgy deal when you see one is something that comes in handy in today’s world, especially in a day and age in which so many are able to hide behind the shifting face of the internet. Teaching students to spot a scam can allow them to go a long way in life.

2. Negotiation

In most classrooms, there’s very little room for negotiation. Unless the teacher is having a particularly good day and decides to meet children halfway in terms of what the deadlines for that particular lesson might be, any attempt by a student to get a better deal for themselves is met by the teacher’s furrowed brow and an extended finger pointing towards the door. It’s a shame, really, since when you enter the big, bad world of adulthood, being able to negotiate is vital in order to help get you out of some seriously sticky situations. Negotiation strategies come particularly in handy in the world of business, and teaching children how to master this skill from a young age can end up having all kinds of benefits in later life.

3. Self-defense

It’s never nice to think about, but that doesn’t stop the fact that there are depressingly high numbers of dangerous people out there in the world who one day might target you personally for a number of reasons. To stay safe, it’s important to learn the very basics of self-defense – both in terms of being able to protect yourself through the art of speech as well as physically, if it ever comes down to it. Self-defense is an integral part of life, and knowing how to shelter yourself from the evils of the world can boost your confidence, keep you happy, and allow you to live a highly successful life. 

4. Mental Health

Occasionally, schools will host workshops and activity days where various society health representatives will totter from classroom to classroom, but for the most part, the aspect of mental health is left entirely up to the school’s counsellor, if they have one. For the most part, today’s youth are largely kept in the dark about the specifics of mental health, with issues like depression being very poorly understood. Raging teenage hormones are not the same as somebody who’s dealing with depression, and high-quality mental health education is needed in every school in order to help everyone learn about the more troubling conditions of the mind.

5. Socialising & Networking

Managing your internet profile is about so much more than having a high number of “likes” on Facebook these days. It can be the difference between being offered a terrific job opportunity and facing an endless string of rejections. Keeping your appearance online professional and in check will make potential employers recognise your maturity as a person, and schools really ought to widely teach the art and discipline behind crafting your very own unique internet identity.

6. Emergencies & First Aid

Basic first aid ought to be taught at regular intervals in every school at every age. Science is consistently finding new ways to medically treat people, and some of the old breathing assistance techniques that you saw on television back when you were a kid are now considered archaic and even dangerous. Frequent, up-to-the-minute emergency reaction and first aid teaching in schools can go a long way to helping someone out if a serious situation occurs in the future.

7. Household Repairs

As you get older, you’ll come to realise the absolute necessity of being able to perform basic household repairs. There are few worse feelings on earth than an appliance breaking down in your home and you standing ashen-faced with no idea how to fix it. A few basic tutorials in ordinary household maintenance could prove to be enormously expedient when it comes to moving into a first home.

8. Self-assessment

Taking a long, hard look at yourself and acknowledging what you’re truly good at, as well as what you are not so good at, is probably one of the most challenging aspects of life. Few people can truly do it. It takes practice, and being able to come to terms with what you need to improve on can make you a much better person in all aspects of your life.

9. Balance

School rightly encourages you to work hard at improving your academic performance, but what it doesn’t truly teach is the ability to balance your life so that you achieve high levels of gratification in every aspect – from having quiet family time, to working hard, to partaking in joyful evenings with your friends. Achieving a great sense of balance is paramount in order to live a happy, heathy life. Managing your time well will allow you to make sure the things that ought to come first do indeed come first, and not at the expense of anything else.

10. Cooking

There’s a reason why so many university students find themselves living on budget noodles for the entirety of their degree years. Money of course is a factor, but it’s also due to the fact that very few young adults have any real experience cooking by the time they move into college dorms. Serving up a mouth-watering meal isn’t just an art that can pave the way for success for an aspiring chef, either. Cooking is a skill that can impress friends, bosses, dates, and perhaps most importantly, keep you in good health. Cooking classes in schools do exist, of course, but putting a little emphasis on some tasty, healthy recipes could really help turn young children into terrific little cooks by the time they fly out of the nest. 

11. Coping with Harsh Realities

Simply put: life isn’t fair. If you expect it to be, you’re going to be disappointed. Sometimes things will go your way, and on other occasions they won’t. It’s enough to make you want to claw your hair out, but by learning to cope with harsh realities, you’ll be able to live happily without succumbing to the pangs of stress that life can so cruelly impose upon you.

12. Money Isn’t Everything

It’s terrific to have a well-paying job, a big house, and a glossy car on your driveway. We know this because this is what school facilities drum into our heads from day one. It’s a simple equation: Working hard at school = Better grades = Better prospects = More money. But money isn’t happiness. On the contrary, cash can actually be toxic if handled in the wrong way and has the ability bring out the worst in people who are unable to separate it from joy. Wealth and happiness are two very different things, and schools ought to make a conscious effort to instil this in pupils’ heads before they depart from lower education.

13. Learning from Failure

Some teachers are absolutely exceptional at handling children who struggle to deal with even the simplest tasks. But learning from failure isn’t really what school is about. No, school is about doing enough so you don’t fail in the first place. A fine lesson in itself, but the fact is that at some point in their lives, everybody will fail.

But no failure is a catastrophe if you learn from it. Understanding what went wrong and why something didn’t turn out as planned can help you to curb your lifestyle so that it never happens again. It can and will turn you into a stronger, more successful person.

14. Forgiveness

It can be tricky to say that you forgive somebody who has let you down. It’s even more difficult to actually mean it. Learning how to let the silly things go and move on with your life may be something that’s discussed in specific counselling sessions with people who have gotten themselves into extremely problematic situations, but otherwise, the act of forgiveness isn’t something that’s currently taught in schools across the world. It’s a process that requires patience and understanding. It puts you into someone else’s shoes, helps you to understand other people, and makes you a more successful person in life.

15. Expect the Unexpected

Perhaps it’s a little tough to teach this, but it’s a rule that everyone ought to live by in order to be a successful person. The world is an utterly unpredictable place. It’s a scary thought, but at the same time it’s also kind of wonderful, if you’re prepared for it. Putting yourself in the mindset that absolutely anything might be lying around the corner in wait can actively improve your personality and help you to deal with life when times get a little tough.

Source: LifeHack

7 Key Differences Between Successful People And Unsuccessful People

There is always a clear cut difference between the successful and the unsuccessful. The difference in habits and decisions give birth to what is either being talked about or what is not. Adjusting and aligning your thoughts with successful people will start to have a profound effect on how people see you. It will also help in understanding the daily habits that successful people use to fine tune their values and standards.

To define the actions of successful people, John Paul DeJoria, the billionaire behind brand names such as Paul Michell hair products and Patron tequila, explains what a ‘successful’ person is: “Successful people do all the things that unsuccessful people don’t want to do.”

Success has elements attached to it from hard work, determination and perseverance. It goes beyond the desire to be successful and reaches in to taking action to make a difference. This infographic offers more by explaining what extra factors the successful have over the unsuccessful.

Their success is dependent on the success of others

They understand that change is constant and they move with the trends rather than get stuck at a spot.

They are focused on getting their creativity juices going.

They are in charge of their success

Their desire for knowledge is unending

They are grateful and show genuine appreciation

Source: LifeHack

10 Powerful Habits of Ultra Successful People

This excellent infographic is a brilliant way to get you into the right frame of mind to achieve all the goals you are set to accomplish: It goes over 10 powerful habits of ultra successful people and include some real-life cases where famous people have used them to achieve success.

1. They Speed Learn

Being able to boost your own learning curve to a point where you feel comfortable with learning about new topics is a sign of successful people. Just fifteen minutes a day of non-fiction is all that you need to make a genuine difference to your own development.

Simply start by reading up on books that make sense to you and can be the ideal solution to helping you see through problems that you are facing at the current time.

Speed reading is very popular across the globe, and has been used by plenty of highly successful people to improve their chances of success in the long-term. For example, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and George Washington are all famous speed-learners.

2. They Know How to Identify Their Problems

Being able to actually see your problem in front of you is a great thing. If you are able to get to a stage where your problems are more than just a confused equation in your mind, you can make a genuine success of yourself in the long-term. The hardest part is going to be making sure that your problems are something you can relate with visually, though.

For anyone struggling with this we recommend checking out the books recommended in the infographic. Being able to see the problem in front of you rather than just having a big, scary image in your head is much easier – plenty of big names across the world are known for using visualization, such as Oprah Winfrey.

3. They Set Priorities

Having a list of different priorities throughout the day can stop you either from getting bogged down in meaningless tasks or simply from dealing with the easy ones and then not having enough time to deal with the “real” tasks. Limitations start to create an urgency, as the infographic states, and this can be the kick-on that you need to start being more successful.

This isn’t some weird, new-age idea that does nothing for you by the way – it’s been used by many people throughout history. For example, this article shows you how Eisenhower created a model which is known as the Eisenhower Matrix.

4. They Manage Their Money

Start off by reading the books suggested above, as financial management is going to be so important to your long-term success as an individual. It can take a bit of time and getting used to but once you start seeing the fruits of your labor it becomes much easier to deal with.

Of course, it takes a lot of time and planning but is well worth looking into further as it can help you totally transform your fiscal management and make your life much more comfortable than it has been in the past.

Fiscal management isn’t just for “normal” people, either. Plenty of celebrities throughout the world – and big name entrepreneurs – got there by being smart with their money. Will Smith is well known for being smart with his money, as shown here.

5. They Rise And Shine

An easy way to make the most of every day is to attack it – get up early, get into this difficult tasks, and see the rest of the day through. Successful people don’t start at 1PM – they start at 8AM! Be sure that you get the most out of each and every day. Long lies and sleeping in can be done when you have fought towards achieving your life goals rather than when you are nearly there!

Former England and Manchester United footballer Gary Neville is well-known for his old philosophy of “attack the day”. He’s mentioned it a lot in the past, and you can really see the benefits being an early riser has for him!

6. They Set Clear Goals

Everyone needs to have clear life goals and ambitions to strive for – because without them, what is the point? So as long as you have something to aim for then there’s something to keep you motivated and successful. It’s when you start running out of things to see as progress or an achievement that it can become quite tough to manage.

However, with the help of some expert thinking and by having written down goals on something you see every day, you can make sure that you never lose track of where you are going and what the endgame is going to be.

Setting goals is vital for everyone – whether you are on the conveyer belt or you are running a multi-billion dollar business. Here is what Oprah has to say about setting clear goals.

7. They Have a Healthy Diet

Nothing is worse than having an imbalanced and poor diet – when this happens, you need to eat healthier. A body with the right nutritional intake is far more useful to you than one that is flagging and needs help getting through those hard days. Make sure that you eat well and regularly so that your body is well topped and able to cope with the rigors of the day.

Additionally, exercising on a daily basis is vital to be successful. People who are unfit physically can find it constraining their minds, as well.

How you eat will reflect how your look – this is no more apparent than in the most “elite” of society (although we hate that term). When you eat right, it shows in how you look.

8. They Know Their Strengths

Take the personality test listed at 16Personalities.com and you can really notice a big increase in your life goals and aims. When your own strengths – and weaknesses – are so apparent to you, it becomes much easier to start correcting and improving upon them. Rather than letting your strengths hold you back in the future, make them a focal point of how you will kick on and start to improve yourself moving forward.

This is an example of one of the personality styles that tend to come out from this test – you can see how it relates these personality styles to some specific people that you may have heard of. This can help you get a bit of perspective about what is being said, and who you’re like!

9. They Network

Having friends in high places and close associates that you can rely upon to help keep you busy and in work is never a bad thing. Are you a confident and frank talker? If so, you should really consider getting involved in using those powers to network and build your list.

Pick up the book recommended in the infographic for even more information on how networking can properly help you make friends for the long-term.

This form of networking – via social media – is so important today, and can give you a chance to network from afar. Celebrities see a massive amount of attention from social media, and you can see how they deal with it in a professional manner to enhance their own career prospects.

10. They Build Character

Nobody likes to fold easily, and it becomes so much easier to do when you have a list of moral rules that you will follow at all times. When you live by a set code that ensures you never break ranks, and that you are always able to look in the mirror and stay true to yourself, it’s much easier to be successful.

Have these principles in place and never deviate from them.

Inspirational people are easy to find, and they are more memorable than your usual person because they actively force positive thinking and change – what more can you ask for from an individual, really?

10 Powerful Habits Of The Super Successful (Infographic) | Addicted2Success