Top 4 Ways to Boost Brain Power.

Success in business and in life relies on establishing and maintaining a positive mental attitude.  The mind is the single most important tool we have in our personal lives, but is also and equally powerful in our creation of a thriving and growing business.

Brian Tracy is recognized as the top sales training and personal success authority in the world today. He has authored more than 60 books and has produced more than 500 audio and video learning programs on sales, management, business success and personal development, including worldwide bestseller The Psychology of Achievement. Brian's goal is to help you achieve your personal and business goals faster and easier than you ever imagined.

Brian Tracy says of the mind:  “Based on many psychological tests, happy people seem to have a special quality that enables them to live a better life than the average.  Can you guess what it is?  It is the quality of optimism and positive thinking!”.

According to Patty Carrosicia, R.N. in her article “Mind & Body Connection – attitudes affect your health” which was published in Graves’ Disease & Thyroid Foundation Blog; “Recent studies show that severe prolonged stress and chronic negative thinking can compromise the immune system. By the same token, studies have also revealed that individuals with a positive attitude toward life tend to become sick less often than those with a negative attitude.”

According to Dr. Deepak Chopra in his article “Harness Your Mind’s Power to Heal and Transform”, Dr. Chopra states:  “To think is to practice brain chemistry. Every thought, feeling, and emotion creates a molecule known as a neuropeptide. Neuropeptides travel throughout your body and hook onto receptor sites of cells and neurons. Your brain takes in the information, converts it into chemicals, and lets your whole body know if there’s trouble in the world or cause for celebration. Your body is directly influenced as these molecules course through the bloodstream, delivering the energetic effect of whatever your brain is thinking and feeling. “

In the Pychology Today online article entitled: “What Is the Best Way to Improve Your Brain Power for Life? 4 daily habits that can boost your brainpower for a lifespan.” Posted Jan 21, 2014, Christopher Bergland of The Athlete’s Way writes:

4 Simple Ways to Boost Brain Power for Life

• Aerobic Exercise: People who exercise moderately to vigorously just once a week are 30 percent more likely to maintain their cognitive function than those who do not exercise at all.
• Cognitive Training: Memory, reasoning, and speed-of-processing exercises create a winning combo for cognition.
• Don't Smoke: Non-Smokers are nearly twice as likely to stay sharp in old age as those who smoke.
• Maintain Social Networks: People working, volunteering and maintaining close-knit human bonds are 24 percent more likely to maintain cognitive function in late life.

I would add to this that there are resources available to the reader for places to go, and courses to sign up for, which will help the reader to experience a direct access of the mind’s power.

Keeping a journal and tracking one’s progress in one’s journey of self-discovery and self-development will help one test and measure the correlative data that proves one’s progress is positively impacting one’s productivity and increasing one’s bottom line, while strengthening the bond and enhancing the quality of one’s personal relationships.

James Chamberlain is a sales and business development professional who helps Tampa Bay businesses grow through dynamic strategic initiatives and campaigns and increase of new business revenue. James is responsible for building relationships with businesses throughout Florida and the US. Contact James at: 727.645.6490 james.chamberlain@consultant.com or http://www.twitter.com/JDC352 

Overcoming stress is easier then we think.

Dr. James C. Dobson is noted as saying: “there are very few certainties that touch us all in this mortal experience, but one of the absolutes is that we will experience hardship and stress at some point.” Circumstances which lead to stress will be ever present, but how we choose to respond to these triggers can thwart our progress or empower us to overcome and drive harder toward success.

Everyone is at a different point in their lives and so we all respond differently to the triggers that bring stress and stress itself.

As I have illustrated in my earlier writings, the successful individual is most likely to avoid blame, excuses and denial and take personal ownership, accountability and responsibility.  We find that this success oriented mindset tends, also, to lead one to effectively confront, handle and overcome stress.

Overcoming life’s challenges and rising up the scale to greater levels of success in life is a choice.  A popular prayer states: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” The secret is – we can change everything, but sometimes (when we "can't get there from here") we need to take a break, assess, plan and execute our program to get from A. to B.

If the situation cannot be immediately changed, accept it for what it is – at the moment. Accepting does not mean surrender. By accepting where one finds one’s self in conjunction to the situation and finding ways you can cope with what cannot immediately be changed, stress can be drastically reduced.  This reduction in stress will then free the mind and release your inner power to find the way to confront and handle the seemingly unchangeable situation – leading to greater wins and successes.

Assume an attitude of gratitude. Attitude has a profound effect on how we deal with life. Negative attitudes affect our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing.  So does a positive mental attitude.

When in a stressful situation, try adopting an attitude of gratitude. Running late for a meeting because you are stuck in traffic? Think of all the things you can be thankful for. You can find gratitude in the smallest things. Be thankful for life, health, strength, friends, family, nature, etc. Gratitude will change your attitude, which in turn can change your life.

Often we forget to take care of ourselves. If we don’t care for ourselves, we can’t effectively help others.   The relaxation that results from finding one’s center and purpose rejuvenates the body, emotions, mind, and spirit and transforms us to be better equipped to handle stressful situations.

Schedule time for finding your center every day.  Set aside time for relaxation, and set aside a designated, uninterrupted time to relax and enjoy being alive. People say they don’t have time to relax, but relaxation isn’t time-consuming. Periodic 5-10 minute breaks of breathing exercises or watching an awesome YouTube video can change one’s perspective. Relaxation can also include connecting with positive people.

Stress does not have to overwhelm us.  Accept that we can confront and handle stress.  Successful stress management is about learning how to take control. It’s important to remember that we control how stress affects us. We can control the stress or let stress control us.

James Chamberlain is a sales and business development professional who helps Tampa Bay businesses grow through dynamic strategic initiatives and campaigns and increase of new business revenue. James is responsible for building relationships with businesses throughout Florida and the US. Contact James at: 727.645.6490 James.Chamberlain@consultant.com or http://www.twitter.com/JDC352

5 Ways to Stay Motivated.

Motivation is a turning point in anyone’s success.  From getting out of bed in the morning, to showing up to work and executing one’s tasks with efficiency and pride in one’s work is all a matter of motivation.  Motivation is the driving force behind everything we do, so the more of it you have the better off you will be in life.

Enthusiasm is to the deep mind, what motivation is to the actions our thoughts translate into. The more enthusiasm we feel, the more motivation we will have to get up and at it with maximum intention to succeed.

Grant Cardone, New York Times best-selling author, international speaker, and top sales training and social media expert in the world, says of motivation:  “I can’t think of anything more important than staying excited about what I’m doing. Staying motivated is a skill and should be something that you are focused on EVERYDAY.”

Jeffery Gitomer, world renowned author, professional speaker, and business trainer says of motivation:  “The difference between motivation and inspiration is that motivation must constantly be injected. Inspiration lasts a lifetime. Great leaders can instill both.”

Brian Tracey, Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, a company specializing in the training and development of individuals and organizations. Says on the subject of motivation:  “The world is full of people who are waiting for someone to come along and motivate them to be the kind of people they wish they could be. The problem is that, “No one is coming to the rescue. “

Here are some essential keys to motivation, how to get motivated and how to develop the skill of maintaining a high level of motivation to drive you to higher states of success now and into the future.

1. Active Self-Development.

A partner I worked with for several years in a digital media company, used to collect motivational and self-development books, cd’s and videos.  They kept an open door policy which enabled anyone in the company to read any of his books, and encouraged everyone to block out a couple hours a week or day to actively engage in some form of self-development.  He cared about the people he worked with.

First learn as much as possible about yourself and what drives you.  What things are important in life and why.  Then, once you have a clear picture of what makes you tick you are in a better position to move forward toward mastery of motivation in your life. 

Another key aspect of self-development is to understand that that the same human brain that sends adrenaline through the body also has the same to potential to send motivational hormones such as serotonin, endorphins, and dopamine.

Serotonin is released when we feel significant and important and have a sense of internal satisfaction. Endorphins (endogenous morphine) are the body’s serum designed to relieve stress and enhance pleasure. They’re released with certain foods, social connections, and light to moderate exercise. Dopamine motivates us to take action toward goals and desires, and gives us pleasure when achieving them.  You have to actually take some action to release dopamine, even in small increments.

2. Enforce relaxation.

Accomplish some very important task, like paying at least one bill, every week. More than just the timely payment of bills; it’s getting your brain away from the danger-zone to neutralize the adrenaline saturation.  You may also want to set aside some time to clean and organize each day. This allows you to feel the accomplished win instead of the adrenaline-rushed four-hour cleanup. With no reason to dump adrenaline at the last minute, you get the benefit of your brain sending dopamine more often.

3. Establish Self-Awareness.

Remain mindful of thoughts while accomplishing cycles of activity in specific increments of time.   Be mindful of your mind’s tendency to perceive events as dreadful, painful, and boring.   If you perceive events as emotionally dangerous, the natural tendency is to procrastinate. You have the potential to change thoughts toward perceived mundane activities which make up about the majority of daily life — such as eating, showering, cleaning, driving, and walking.

4. Operate from ethics.

Always seek to see the world for what it truly is.  Interact with people on the basis of your knowledge and experience of who they are.  Avoid allowing the thoughts, opinions and prejudices of others to influence your outlook on the world and the people with whom you interact.  This, in turn will cause you to operate from a vantage point of truth and honesty.  You will operate from ethics.  Experience life for what it is.  Take a walk and smell and fee the wind on your face.  Listen to the wind rushing through the trees, see the smiles on people’s faces and learn to deal with the world on the world’s terms, rather than your own pre-conceived notions of how things “should” be.  This will increase your connection to reality and in turn help you to keep in touch with your motivation.

5. Stay grateful.

When you start the day by taking inventory of the things in your life you have to be grateful, and by constantly counting your blessings, you will stay in touch with the lasting and important things in life.  This will keep you aware of the motivating factors that cause you to start any given series of actions, or embark on any new enterprise.  This is at the root of motivation for the vast majority of us.  When motivation begins to lag at work, or in life, just remember all the wonderful things you are working to preserve and recall all the reasons that you were initially motive to take your course of action at the start.

 Every win or success you can celebrate, every time you move ahead rather than falling behind, remember to map this back to your original and clearly understood intentions and your motivation will be always accessible to you.

James Chamberlain is a sales and business development professional who helps Tampa Bay businesses grow through dynamic strategic initiatives and campaigns and increase of new business revenue. James is responsible for building relationships with businesses throughout Florida and the US. Contact James at: 727.645.6490 james.chamberlain@consultant.com http://www.twitter.com/JDC352