You are powerful... Only if you believe it.

Maintain those high standards.

Keep your expectations and standards high.

Far too often we have been told to lower our expectations in order to avoid disappointment. In other words, we are told to know what we want but we should not really want it because we face the horrible possibility of not getting it... And that is nothing short of ridiculousness. So I think that it is time that we develop a new understanding of ''expectations.''

I believe that expectations play a big role in achieving our goals; If we fully understand the desired outcomes in all of our endeavours it should not be very difficult to pursue them and we will never agree to lower our expectations.
You must be fully convinced that what you want is nothing short of everything that you dream of and you need to keep those standards high. Our expectations should push us to work harder and the only real disappointment should be failing ourselves by not pushing hard enough; not that we expected too much.

You see, instead of lowering your expectations, you need to increase the understanding of your worth. When you know what you deserve you will never settle for less. If you lower your expectations each time that you do not get what you want, you will end up being less than a tenth of who you really are.

Expectations go hand in hand with who we want to become. They are an idea of our desired destination and it should not make sense to change or lower them. If life were an experiment, expectations would be a constant. Know your worth and keep your standards high. Do not lower your expectations. Change your situation instead.

Be optimistic

Open your mind. Achieve greater.

Knowing what you want in life and how you want to get there is a great thing. We also understand that making our dreams come true will not be a speedy process. However, we are sometimes faced with the complexity of doing everything by the book and not really getting any progress. Well… Perhaps it is time that you changed the book, especially if you are the only author.

I think it is quite obvious that if you are doing the same thing over numerous occasions and not receiving the results that you desire, you need to change your strategy. Our problem as people is that we are often so convinced that our way is the best way such that we shut our senses completely from opposing views, without even taking them into consideration. Maybe it is about time that we stop being so consumed in our own world and we start taking the time to hear what somebody else has to offer.

I believe that we were created in our differences in order to be contributing factors to our fellow man’s success; one man’s weakness may be another man’s strength. I also believe that if everything had to be done in your way alone, we would not co-exist. Therefore, we need to open our minds to new and greater possibilities and the only way to do that is to be willing to accept guidance from somebody else.

Instead of seeing life as a race to the finish line, we need to start seeing it as a team effort. One where we are not afraid to ask for help when we need it and also be able to admit when we are wrong. The desire to acquire success should not make us power hungry monsters who cater for themselves only. Instead, it should instill values in us of hard work, determination and most importantly-humanity.

We also need to be open to change. Situations will not always be the same. We must understand that in order to move forward in life, we must always be ahead of the time. We need to be able to adapt to change so that we are constantly moving forward and not stuck in the past thinking ‘‘If only.’’

Open your mind in order to achieve greater. Seek help when it is needed. Do not allow pride to come in the way of your success because sometimes, what you think is insignificant could be just what you need for your breakthrough.

Appreciate those difficulties. Allow your mind to mature.

Do not be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

As previously and frequently mentioned, I am a big supporter of goals and ambitions. I genuinely believe that everybody can make their dreams come true.

With that said, you must be wondering why the world is filled with people who are unhappy with where they are in life; people who are merely trying to make it through the day. The answer is simple. They got comfortable and they gave up.

I need to clarify that I am not oblivious to the difficulties that some people have to endure and I have so much respect for people that have to make ends meet everyday trying to maintain smiles on their families' faces. However I believe that if you really want to make things happen for yourself, you need to be uncomfortable for a long time.

The road to success is a bumpy one. You will experience successive storms and only a day of sunshine. A stretch of gravel and only a meter of tar. A moment of hard work, blood, sweat and tears BUT a life time of achievement. It will never change, therefore it should occur to you that the road to success is an extremely uncomfortable one, so how is it logical that we start becoming comfortable under such extreme conditions? It isn't.

It is clear that some people have to work harder than others. The reason for this is that we all have different walks in life and we all have lessons to learn. The hardship that we endure form part of those lessons. Going through tough times should never break us, but should build us instead. However that will only happen if we allow it to.

The lessons that we learn on the road to success are structures of reinforcement for the mind. These structures allow the mind to mature fully, such that when you reach your destination you will have the ability to handle it with a sound and matured mind, because it is very easy to destroy what you have built if you become too careless.

Here's something to think about: Every time that you feel cold in the night, you get up and grab an extra blanket and every time that you feel too hot during the day, you wear something that attracts less heat. So the next time that you feel uncomfortable with your situation, get up and work harder towards reaching comfort. Do not give up, because you would not take a cold shower on a winter's morning.

A thought to inspire

Let your mind be bigger than your heart

It is a tricky situation. We have always been told to have big hearts: Give more. Love more. Care more. These are the things that make us noble human beings, but what happens when your heart starts to get in the way of your success?

Far too often we allow our feelings to cloud our judgement. Although we do not realise it, this holds us back from productivity. It has become easy to say ''I'll do it later'' when it really needs to be done now. We tend to take advantage of our privileges and we take life for granted.

We have all missed school or work because we ''just weren't feeling it'' that day. I will admit that I am guilty of that felony too. However, I have come to realise that the real problem lies in the few seconds when the alarm clock rudely interrupts my peace, but when I combat the gruesome urge to stay in my comfortable bed I, thereafter, practically forget that beds even exist. That is hardly the point.

The main focus here is that we are not willing to put in the effort to achieve our goals to the highest level of our capacity. Somehow we expect that it will be easy... I still have no clue where we got that idea from but it clearly is not working for any of us. So how about we start training our minds to overrule the judgement of our hearts when it is necessary?

There are three main weapons that can effortlessly defeat any negative energy that holds us back from success: Focus, hard work and (the) will (to succeed). You should take note that all of the above mentioned have nothing to do with the heart and everything to do with a disciplined mind. In essence, in order to move forward, our minds should be two steps ahead of our feelings - Let it be done in your mind before it can be done for the world.

I often tell the people around me that we need to thoroughly search our hearts to find what it is that we are hungry for. Thereafter we should by all means focus on pursuing satisfaction. Our confidence should flow so infinitely such that when there comes a minor bump on the road, the path still remains quite clear. How do we achieve such discipline?

We teach our minds to be bigger than our hearts. We focus on our dreams. We work hard even when our strength is approaching depletion. We maintain  a strong will to succeed. We love and we care, but we do not allow our hearts to trick us into thinking that we are not in the mood for work when it takes priority.

Yes, the future belongs to you but only if you stand up and grab it by the hands. So, are you willing to allow your mind to take over your life?   

A thought for the day

Think about it

Something else to think about

A thought for the day

Be your own peacemaker

For the purpose of this article I will define peace as a state of being utterly content with your surroundings and most importantly, yourself.

When these words are spoken the speaker usually implies that one should accept one's situation irrespective of one's desires. This, in essence, becomes the key to one's happiness. However I intend to challenge that particular understanding of ''being content'' and hopefully instill a new mind set which I believe makes more sense and is more effective.

I think that we can all agree that it is ridiculous to force ourselves to accept whatever situation we are in, in order to find peace or happiness. No. That is not how we should live our lives, because this means that we grow as a nation that lies to itself to ''create peace'' only because we have been told to ''be content''.

So I present a new strategy in becoming your own peacemaker and ultimately reaching the stage of content: Make the feeling of content your ultimate goal in life. By this I mean that you need to do whatever it takes to reach your preferred destination. Set your heart and mind to an equal level of maturity because the greatest enemy of achieving any success that the heart desires is a mind that settles for less. All you ever have to do is believe in yourself as it all begins with you. You need to be so sold to your idea that everybody else sees it in your charisma.

In case you think that this is too clichéd, consider how many times you have heard it and compare that to how many times you have acted upon it. You see, it doesn't always have to be complicated. Sometimes the biggest breakthroughs are a product of the simplest actions. So go ahead. Be your own pacemaker. Understand that it will not be a speedy process and as the old English saying goes: ''Good things come to those who wait".

Lastly, picture the person that you want to be one day and make that picture your priority. Be your own pacemaker, and ultimately, your own peacemaker.