If you have ever gotten frustrated at the fact that you haven't yet achieved success in any given area of life, take an honest inventory of your efforts, and then be equally honest about whether those efforts are enough to get the job done.

It's easy to say that we are working towards something, and we may even feel that we are making a serious effort, but our efforts - like anything else in life - can become a habit, and habits are not always effective. One of the key components to success is to only spend time on practices that produce the desired results.

Photo Credit: Dominik Gwarek Despite our best intentions, we often get into the habit of continually doing things that do not bring us the results that we want, yet we do not realize it until we have expended a lot of time and energy. A mental checklist - or even a physical checklist - can help us to stay on track daily, maximizing our results, and minimizing wasted time and effort.

There are numerous success systems that people use on their road to greatness, and it falls to each person to choose and utilize whatever systems work best for them. However, no matter what system you choose, if you don't use it properly and consistently, you won't get the results.

Here are several popular success systems, and tips on how you can make sure you are using them effectively.

Visualization

Visualizing is basically the act of seeing yourself as being successful before you actually attain whatever success you are looking for. Visualization has long been held as one of the most effective and simple to use success systems, yet people often do not get results because they visualize ineffectively, or they do not visualize often enough.

Effective visualization includes all of the following:

• Feeling like you are actually in that present moment, rather than feeling like that moment is in the future. Visualizations are always in the NOW.
• Feeling exactly how you are going to feel when that moment actually arrives. Don't visualize a scene in your head as if looking at a painting or a picture. Make it real and make it enjoyable by feeling the feelings of actually being there.
• Having a sense of 100% confidence and expectation whenever you visualize. You are not visualizing something that you hope is going to happen, but rather something that you KNOW is going to happen.
• Visualizing frequently, preferably several times per day. The most effective times for visualization are when you are about to fall asleep at night, and when you first wake up in the morning. However, visualization can be done anytime, anywhere.

Recommended Resources: Vision Boards, Mind Movies

Affirmations

Affirmations are basically the act of saying something over and over again - in your head or out loud - in order to "reprogram" yourself so you can attain whatever it is that you are affirming for. Unfortunately, saying something to ourselves that isn't yet true sounds like a lie, so it feels like a lie, and we end up not believing it, and thus not getting very much out of it.

Here are some ways to get the most out of your affirmations:

• Say your affirmations out loud. We are all proficient at saying things in our head, but if that hasn't been working, bring those statements out into the "real world". Not only does that make your affirmations more effective, but it also helps you to realize how you truly feel about whatever it is that you are saying.
• Say your affirmations in front of a mirror. Again, realizing how you feel about what you are affirming for will help you to overcome any self-limiting beliefs about it. Say it out loud and in front of a mirror so you can look yourself in the eyes when you do it. It's hard to lie to someone straight to their face.
• Say your affirmations in the present tense. Again, just as with visualization, you are creating something NOW, not in the future. "I am so happy and grateful now that…" as opposed to "I will be so happy when…"
• Say your affirmations many times throughout the day. Affirmations work by programming your conscious mind as well as your subconscious mind, so don't be afraid that you'll "overdo it" by affirming too often.

Recommended Resources: BMindful, ThinkRightNow 

Meditation

Meditation is probably one of the least understood success systems because - in essence - it means to just do nothing! You just sit there, and most meditative practices will have you not even thinking, let alone doing anything else. There are other types of meditation as well, yet all of them share the goal of having you free your mind so that it can let go of the day-to-day struggles, leaving you with clarity and peace of mind.

Clarity and peace of mind may not seem very valuable to someone who wants to be on the fast track to success, yet when you consider that 90%-95% of your life is controlled by your subconscious mind, the power of clarity and peace of mind becomes immediately apparent.

Here are some ways to get the most out of meditation: 

• Make sure to let go of your thoughts when you meditate. If you are just sitting there thinking about all of your problems and all of the things that you have to do, you might as well just get up and go do them. You are not getting anything out of meditation if you are not letting go and letting your mind wander.
• Make sure to stay awake. Many people cannot stay comfortable is a sitting up position for long periods of time, so they lay down to meditate. Although there are some meditations that can be used as you fall asleep, most meditations are supposed to involve conscious awareness, which you obviously don't have if you're asleep.
• Meditate without having some definite purpose in mind, such as trying to think of a solution to a problem. Although meditating is an incredible way to resolve issues, if you give conscious thought to the problem during the meditation, all you are doing is engaging your conscious mind, rather than your subconscious mind. Instead, think of the issue that you want to solve very briefly before you meditate, release your attachment to finding a solution for it, and then start your meditation.
• Look for answers and clarity unexpectedly, rather than immediately following your meditation. Meditation helps your subconscious mind to achieve focus and to find solutions, and sometimes that happens quickly, while other times it will take longer. If you consciously try to "rush" your subconscious mind, you will potentially shut down the entire subconscious solution-finding process. 

Recommended Resources: Meditation Music, Guided Meditations

Attitude

No success system in the world is going to help you if you don't have your mind right. You can visualize, affirm, and meditate all day long, but if you don't have an attitude of confidence, success, and expectancy, you will meet with limited results. Your attitude creates the very reality that you walk through every day, so create an environment that ensures your success by keeping your mind and your emotions focused on success, rather than failure.

Here are some ways to get the most out of your own attitude: 

• Check your attitude as soon as you get up to start your day. Our dreams and/or our memories from the previous day can carry over into the new day. If those are positive, uplifting, and confident memories or feelings, then go with it. If not, then release any negativity before programming yourself for a new day by using affirmations, visualizations, and meditations.
• Check your attitude frequently throughout the day. It's easy to "fake it until you make it" when you don't really feel like smiling or acting confident, but faking it will only get you so far. Negativity can creep back in without you even realizing it, so set reminders or cues to go off throughout the day that snap you back into a positive, confident mindset.
• Check your attitude after a negative situation. If you get into an argument with someone, get stuck in traffic, get a negative message or piece of mail, etc., it can be very easy to fall into a feeling of gloom and doom. People who succumb to those types of feelings are not the kind of people who produce success. If you just got mad, sad, frustrated, or upset by something, now is the perfect time to go back to those affirmations, visualizations, and meditations.

Recommended Resources: Positivity Space, Manifest a Miracle

Conclusion

Everyone wants whatever it is that they want out of life, but only a small percentage of the population are willing to consistently and effectively take action in order to get what they want.

If you have been struggling to attain your desires, why not pick a success system (or two or three), and consistently apply those systems over the long-term? You've got nothing to lose, and everything to gain!

WHAT'S NEXT?

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Have you ever heard the phrase "Be careful what you wish for - you just might get it."?

As with most well-known phrases, there is some type of real-world reason why that phrase came into being to begin with. The effects of positive thinking and negative thinking - although not official "wishes" - do nonetheless manifest out in the real world.

Have you ever known someone who was constantly unhappy, complained all the time, and seemed to always have a dark cloud hanging over their head? Likewise, have you ever known someone who was so cheery and upbeat that you would purposely seek them out when you were feeling down, because their positive attitude always made you feel better?

Photo Credit: psycho_royWith each of those types of people, the circumstances of their lives tend to be in alignment with their chronic ways of thinking. Yes, there are exceptions, but as a general rule, the phrase "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer" tends to be accurate. The reason it is accurate is not because of some cosmic conspiracy, but rather because those people habitually have rich or poor thoughts.

At the same time, habitual positive or negative thoughts will also serve to consistently create positive or negative circumstances in your life. In addition, it is not always the long-term thoughts that get you, but the short-term thoughts as well.

If you have very strong negative or positive thoughts about something, those thoughts become your dominate vibration (for you Law of Attraction fans), or your dominate driving force, and something is going to manifest out of that eventually.

The other day I allowed myself to get too stressed out over some projects that I was working on, and I ended up spending several hours reliving the stress as I was trying to discuss the situation, and come up with some solutions. Long story short, by the time the discussion was over, I felt much better, and all was well in the world.

However, the next day, I got spanked by all of that negativity coming back at me.

Although I felt great the next day, and I was back in my normal positive mood, the negativity that I had created the night before hit me first thing the next morning with some highly unexpected and generally unpleasant circumstances.

I am proud to say that I had learned my lesson, though. I kept my positive attitude about me, even though by that point I was starting to feel like life was taking pot-shots at me just for the fun of it. The result of maintaining a positive attitude about the whole thing almost immediately turned into benefits for me, however.

In one circumstance, I was able to quickly and easily fix something that otherwise would have been disastrous (ever lose 2 years worth of bookmarks in your web browser?). In the other circumstance, I was able to let it go without becoming stressed about it, and found not one, but two different ways of dealing with it, and neither of them are very time-consuming or stress-inducing.

The moral of the story is that your thoughts - whether they are positive or negative - will color your experiences from that point forward. Sometimes you'll see this effect over a lifetime, and other times you will see the effect in the short-term.

The effect is always there, however. Just like a boomerang, your predominant thoughts are sent out into the world, and then they come back and hit you upside the head.

Knowing that your thoughts will come back to you eventually in the form of your life's positive or negative experiences, why would you ever allow yourself to have a thought that you weren't going to like when it came back around?

Learn from my example: Don't toss a boomerang out there that you aren't going to want to catch when it comes back!

Related Content:

I have been listening to Mike Dooley's Infinite Possibilities program, and the experiences that I describe in this post are perfect examples of what Mike teaches in that program. That makes this whole thing even worse, because I actually KNEW BETTER than to continue with my negative thoughts, but I did it anyway. I again invite you to learn from my example, and I also encourage you to check out Infinite Possibilities. I am only on Disc 3 out of 12, and it is already proving to be far more valuable than what I paid for it.

Click below to remember what you learned!

Quotable Quotes and Merchandise for the Offline World

Personal Development is just like anything else in the world - in order to get the most out of it, you'll need people to help you along the way. The trick is to find the right type of people who will help you attain your goals without bogging you down in the process.

Networking with other people is a powerful process, and can be an integral part of your success. However, since everyone wants whatever it is that they want, it is important that you find people who will help you get to your goals without their own needs overshadowing the process.

Photo Credit: Blue ArimTo build a personal development network, you should first identify what end result you want your network to help you accomplish, and then choose an organization or group of people who can help you to get there. I have broken the process down into 4 categories, and listed the benefits related to a great site on the 'net where you can find those type of people.

Business Networking

If your personal development efforts include starting or growing any type of business venture, then you'll be hard pressed to find a site better than FastPitch Networking. I have been a member of FastPitch since back in my personal training days, and I have found it to be one of the single most effective websites out there for connecting with other business minded people. You can check out my present profile at FastPitch by clicking right here.

Boasting an active and growing membership, FastPitch Networking offers all of the following features:

• Publicly searched profiles that can easily be found by other members
• A "My Network" feature which allows you to easily keep track of who you have contacted and connected with
• A section solely dedicated to Press Releases that you put out about your business
• The one-click ability to import your blog posts which are then added to the easily searched FastPitch Blogs section
• The ability to add networking events to your profile that can also easily be found by other members who are in your geographic area
• A photo section where you can upload pictures of yourself, company logos, event pictures, etc.

One of the great things about FastPitch is that you get full access to the site regardless of your membership level, but then they also have some very tasty high exposure options for anyone who upgrades their membership.

From a business networking perspective, you would do well to at least give FastPitch a look. If you decide to join up, be sure to network with me on that site so we can stay in touch and possibly work together on future projects.

Education and Support

Many people who embark on a personal development quest very much want to learn what they should be doing/not doing, and they also want to get support from others who are in a similar situation to their own.

In fact, that idea was the very premise behind my own social networking website, Personal Development Partners. After spending 3 years in the aforementioned personal training industry, I saw people every day struggling to succeed, and most of them were going it alone. Many didn't even get support from their friends or family members, let alone having access to a local or online support network.

I have recently upgraded the standards over at PDP in order to make sure that only people who are seriously interested in networking with and helping other people even get to join the site. A network is only as good as the people in it, and Personal Development Partners has some high quality individuals on board. Membership is still open for people who are willing to both help and BE helped by the community.

Also, don't forget that PDP offers local networking opportunities, so finding people in your own area is a distinct possibility. 

In addition to the high-quality support network over at PDP, the Senior Thought Leaders there have put together a staggering amount of educational data on personal growth and development, and all of it is freely available to all members. 

Also, remember FastPitch Networking from above? Anyone who joins FastPitch and then networks with me on that site will receive a discounted Premium membership at Personal Development Partners, in addition to any potential joint ventures or other work that we may do together in the future.

Tried and True Methods

Despite the power of business networking and local support & education that were mentioned above, some people still want to "learn from the masters". They want to crack open the classic books, listen to the wisdom of industry professionals, and they want a format to follow for their personal development efforts.

For that crowd, be sure to check out the Real Life Legends series over at Healthy, Wealthy, & Wise. Other than the fleet of other products and service that the site offers, the Real Life Legends series packs a lot of value:

• More than 80 hours of recorded interviews with the likes of T. Harv Eker, Jay Abrahams, Neale Donald Walsche, and many, many others.
• A multi-media version of the wildly popular Passion Test based on the book by Janet Attwood, The Passion Test
• A community and forum for exchanging ideas with and networking with other elite members of the Real Life Legends club
• The actual printed (as in NOT electronic) It's Your Time monthly newsletter delivered right to your door, including a monthly exercise to make sure that you are on track with your goal attainment.

The Real Life Legends program offers a $1 trial membership that gives you full access to the site so you can check it out before deciding if it is right for you. If you think it's worth a buck, then cruise on over there to check it out.

Positive Thinkers

It doesn't matter what school of thought our belief that you belong to, it is no longer possible to deny the fact that positive thinking benefits everyone, regardless of their goals.

The problems start when we lose track of our positively-charged attitudes as a result of the negative people around us, or even just because our lives get "busy" and we stop taking the time to keep an upbeat attitude.

Staying around others who also have a positive attitude is one of the surest ways to keep your own state of mind in the right place, and for that, I can give no higher recommendation than Gary Evan's PositivitySpace community.

I did a full review of Gary's awesome site a few months ago, and since then I have worked closely with Gary on building up the positive thinking/personal growth community. I have found Gary to be a stand-up guy who truly cares about people's success, and some highlights of his PositivitySpace website include:

• Dozens of classic self-help and success books available for immediate download
• A very unique member-powered book and movie review section
• A forum based on positive thinking and discussions
• An online time management system
• Peer-reviewed articles on success
• 100% original training videos
• Success-mindset interviews
• Private messaging system

Check out my full review of Positivity Space if you want all the details, but before you do, be sure to make note of the following 2 very important points:

1. Gary has started offering the video training system that is part of PositivitySpace as a stand-alone product called Manifestation Mastery which I highly recommend that you check out.
2. Anyone who purchases Manifestation Mastery (it's 7 bucks!) is also eligible for a nicely discounted membership at PositivitySpace.

Regardless of which of the above resources you choose to check out, remember that the primary goal is to get involved with a community that is going to serve YOU in the best way possible.

After all, it is called PERSONAL development! 

PositivitySpace is a new website that just launched on October 5th, 2007. It claims to be the one-stop-shop for all things to do with consciously creating a life of wealth and abundance, and the site features the tagline:

"Dare To Be Rich in All Areas of Your Life!"

When I was approached by the site creator, Gary Evans, and asked to share the site with my readers, I promised him that I would check it out and do an honest review of the site to let people know if it is really all that it claims to be.

I certainly found the site to have plenty of value, and when I do a product review my goal is just to report the facts, and then let the reader decide if the product is worth their time or their money.

So, without any further ado, here is a brief overview of each of the major sections of PositivitySpace, and I will include some closing thoughts at the end.

1) PositivitySpace Downloads

Definitely an extremely valuable area of the site. With over 100 eBooks and audio files that members have unlimited access to, there will be no excuse for not having enough education! 

The content consists of dozens of incredible and classic books available for instant download in eBook format, as well as other books by authors that the personal development/self improvement community will recognize. In addition, there are many original audio files that cover an entire host of subjects, and the entire download area is divided up by subject matter so you can go right to the information that you are looking for.

The downloads area is available immediately to all members as soon as they sign up, including members who take advantage of the $1 membership special that Gary has going on during the launch.

2) Book and Movie Reviews

I liked this area of the site as well. The review area is divided up between books and movies so that you only need to go through the type of media that you are interested in.

Once in the book or movie review section, all of the material that is reviewed has some significance to wealth, abundance, conscious creation, success, etc. Also, what I really liked about this section is that the members can review every title that is listed. Rather than reading a biased review by one or two people, every member can go in and review a book or a movie, and also leave a rating for that title. That really helps to keep the system honest and gives people impartial data they can use to decide on their interest level in that title. 

Also, members who want to be very active in the PositivitySpace community will like the fact that whenever they review a title, a link is automatically added back to their profile. This helps them gain exposure with both active site members, as well as "lurkers".

3) Manifestations

Having my own site that is based around the magic of manifesting, I definitely saw value in this area of the site.

Basically, members can go here to share their manifesting success stories. It is a chance for us adults to play "show and tell" by sharing with others what we have accomplishmented via our efforts. 

In addition to the obvious educational and confidence-building aspects of this area of the site, the peer-review system is also in place here. PositivitySpace members can read each others manifestations and rate them. I like that idea because most people are short on time, so they'll skip right to the manifestations that have the most implied value.

4) PositivitySpace Forum

Over at PDP I have seen that the forum environment is massively popular, even when other bells and whistles are available to site members. Apparently, people like to talk!

Well, at a site like PositivitySpace, there is certainly plenty of information to be shared between the members, and the forum section seems very easy to use and navigate. Frequent forum/message board users will recognize the common format.

The site literally just launched as I am typing this, so the conversations haven't taken off full-steam yet, but again deferring to my experience with PDP, I'm sure that they will in no time!

5) Articles

If you are dying to get your hands on a lot of in-depth content about creating success, this is the place to do it. The articles section is divided up into 2 content-packed sections: Exclusive Articles and Guest Articles.

The exclusive articles I believe were all written by site founder Gary Evans, and the guest articles are written by various other professionals, all of whom can be reached via a link to their website that is included at the bottom of each article.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but in addition to the loads of great content in this area, I am once again drawn to the simple to use peer review system.  You can submit a rating for any article and/or a comment about it. In addition, all of the commenting areas on the site have simple to use buttons for adding colors, pictures, etc. to your comments. 

6) Time Management

This is a very exclusive feature of the PositivitySpace website, and one that I was fairly impressed with.

Basically, the time management system is a downloadable document that you can easily customize for your own time management needs, or you can let Gary do all of the work for you by downloading and installing monthly time management forms.

The system itself is based off of some pretty fancy manipulating of Microsoft Excel, and having doctored up a few spreadsheets in my day, I can appreciate the work that must have gone into that system. Also, it comes with a complete User Guide, so you don't have to be an Excel wiz-kid to use it.  

7) Success Mindset Interviews

Another exclusive feature of the PositivitySpace website is an on-going series of interviews with people who have successfully applied the type of concepts that PositivitySpace members will be learning about and using in their own lives.

Personally, I am a big fan of interviews because they give you a real-world overview of how someone has accomplished something. Books and movies are great, and the good ones can be a part of the process, but I also like to hear from a living, breathing person who has actually "pulled it off".

The first monthly interview has already been posted to the site, and more will be added each month. The October interview is with Dean Shainin, someone who went from $35,000 in debt to running an Internet business worth over $100,000.

8)  PositivitySpace Training

One thing that I really like about this site is that it isn't just made up of "fluff" content that is available elsewhere. There is plenty of original material, and the training section of the site is an example of that.

This section is made up of 100% original training videos put together by Gary, and new material is added every month. The present videos are all centered around practical, real-world ways to utilize the Law of Attraction in order to identify and bring into your life the things that you desire.

Gary uses the term "deliberate creation" which is a term that I think people should internalize. If you don't deliberately create your life, then you just attract a "default" life that will most probably not be to your liking!

9) Private Messaging

A "mainstay" of any community-based website, PositivitySpace lets you stay in contact with other members via private messaging, or "PM" for short.

Private messaging is a great alternative to email as a way to communicate with people. Since most of us already have more email than we need, this is a great feature to stay in touch without adding to the email burden.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I am fairly impressed. Gary has done a great job of bringing together an absolute plethora of great success-related content, yet his website offers that content in a way that is not overwhelming or confusing in any way.

In fact, I would say that the biggest problem with PositivitySpace is that there is so much great info already on the site that it will take you awhile to get through it all. However, that isn't to say that you shouldn't do exactly that!

I remember back when I was a personal trainer, there was a site very similar to this that was made specifically for people who were in the health and fitness industry. It took me over a week after joining the site to read/listen to all of the content, but by the time I was finished, I was armed to the teeth with new ideas!

As I indicated earlier, Gary has recognized that people tend to fall into the "I'll believe it when I see it" category, so he has temporarily set up a $1 membership that buys you 7 days to tear the site apart and access all of the content that is there.

I definitely recommend that you check out the site and make your own informed decision about whether or not you see enough value in it to stick around for awhile.

p.s. - In my personal opinion, Gary's sales copy on the information page for PositivitySpace is a little over the top (sorry, Gary!), but as with all products, it is the content that matters, and PositivitySpace has plenty of that!

Cross-Cultural Contamination is a weekly feature here at Today is that Day that shares blog posts that I have written during the previous week.

The purpose is to revisit recent popular posts from right here on this site, as well as to give readers a chance to see the material that I have written across the blogosphere at other websites. Enjoy!

• 7 Ways to Become a Positive Person

• Watching Personal Growth through the Bus Window

Today is that Day Question and Answer Program

"I've been slowly developing myself over the last couple years and have hit a rut. I'll decide to do something, and then, for what seems to be no reason, I won't do it.

I've been looking for what the problem is, but I've been unable to figure it out. Suggestions on what to do?"

Click here to read this answer

"I normally spend alot of my time visualizing and feeling the feeling of attaining my goals. It seems like just about once a month, something REALLY disappointing occurs that I allow to make my deliberate visualizing decrease almost to a halt… Then about a day or two later, I'm right back at it. Is this normal, or am I being weak, and allowing disappointments to hamper me, and thus increasing the amount of time it will take to reach my goals?"

Click here to read this answer

• 6 Tips on How to Use the Internet to Lose Weight

• How to Exercise - Bent Knee Leg Raises

Have a blog that you would like me to write for? Shoot me an email and we'll see if my skills match up with your audience!