Books That Motivational Speakers Write

A number of motivational speakers not only give out motivational speeches and discussions, some of them are also writers. They write inspirational, self-help, and food for the soul books that will help a person be more inspired and motivated towards his everyday life. Titles and topics for these books include reaching for success, self help books on not only motivating yourself but also others and personal development. These are just a few of the topics that motivational speakers write about and publish, there a couple of other topics that is also researched and wrote about by these speakers. Here are some of the topics a motivational speaker mainly writes about and publishes.

Positive thinking books

Mostly deals with a person’s development of himself to always think positive in any situation that may arise. This is to encourage individuals about boosting their self confidence to deal with their everyday life, encouraging people to believe in themselves and the abilities that they are capable of to ensure that they will function properly in their life. This is an important factor that any person should remember in order to be mentally strong and emit the skills that they are truly capable of. That defeat is not the end of everything but the beginning of something great, to never let defeat get the best of a person they must always rise up, learn from their mistakes and begin again.

Interacting with other people

This topic tackles mostly about human interaction and human communication. Lets you reflect on how you communicate with the people around you especially with new acquaintances. This is more helpful for motivational speakers and for those shy persons and people who don’t interact much in public. These topics teaches individuals to conquer their fears of human interaction and generate new acquaintances, also to develop your communication skills with the person standing in front of you, i.e. what you are going to say, how to break the ice, and how to properly introduce yourself to that person. This would also greatly help build a new relationship be it a new friend or with someone that you admire.

Think big books

Topics such as think big books deal mostly on how to develop the ideas and concepts in your head into something productive. This deals mostly in helping you generate your ideas and thoughts into actions that can and will help you with your life. For example you have an idea of setting up a small business but lack the time to formulate and to draft your ideas, that’s where this self help book comes in. They teach you how to balance and literally generate your ideas so you can apply them instead of just thinking them. These books help you cut down your excuses and thoughts of failure it instead gives you the morale boost you need to work and act on those concepts before it’s too late and you have lost the train of thought from your head for it took you long enough to act on those ideas.

Source by Jason D Burch

The Mentality of a Great Graphic Designer

1. ACKNOWLEDGE OTHER DESIGNERS THAT ARE BETTER

What does this mean? Well, unless you are the design superman, who you are probably not, else you would not be reading this article, there is always going to be a graphic designer that is better, more original or simply a better business man than you are. You should acknowledge these people and learn from them. Analyze their work, their thought process and how they present themselves online.

We are lucky we work in a business that is largely based on the internet, so we have pretty much unlimited learning resources. Join design communities such as Dribbble, Behance and DeviantArt. Not only are they good for viewing and posting projects, they also give you ability to meet new people, possibly even friends. Swallow your pride, acknowledge other designers and grow with their help.

2. PLAN YOUR DAY TO INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY

This is probably one of the most important qualities a designer should have. Plan your days, do not just wake up at 11AM and waste half of your day doing meaningless things. Be productive! It is really easy to get lost on the internet. Spend countless hours just browsing around, finding interesting things and allowing time to slowly drain away. I am not saying you need to work from 7AM to 9PM, far from it. We all need time to relax. I am talking about spending time on ridiculous things that are a distraction and help nobody.

I like to plan my day or maybe even a few days ahead each Sunday evening before going to bed. Set your goals for the week and think how you are going to achieve those goals. I am not saying you need to be a workaholic and spend your whole day in Photoshop or Illustrator, this might even have a negative effect. Learn how to manage your time and your work will improve from it as well.

3. THE POWER OF “NO”

This topic is easily explained in a few simple examples.

1. You just made an awesome logo design for a client. You present the logo to the client and he wants you to do some changes. But these changes will make your logo far worse and at that point you realize, that the client has no taste at all and is going to ruin your work.

Solution: First things first, try to reason with the client, use valid arguments. Make him realize your profession is being a graphic designer and you have studied and worked hard for years to get to this level.

2. You are working on a website for a client, but he wants to be constantly involved in the process and is making you do one million changes, all of them which you are doing free of charge. The website is taking longer than expected and your price was not set properly for such a project.

Solution: Explain the client your situation and try to reason with them. Either explain to the client so much changes will cost extra, or give them a limited number of changes you are willing to do. Keep in mind, this is also partially your own fault, because you did not explain the work process in the initial meeting, else this would not happen.

How to prevent all these problems before they even happen? Most of these problems can be prevented during the first meeting with the client. Explain your work process, the potential extra costs and what is included in your work. Think of every possible scenario and prevent it, before it can happen. If you think the client is nothing but trouble you always have the option to decline the work. Choose the work you want to do, it is better to do less work and more quality, than more work less quality. Trust me it pays off in the long run.

4. TAKE THE DAY OFF AND REFILL YOUR CREATIVE JUICES

Designing in your little corner for days and feeling burnt out? Take the day off and relax. But you think you can’t, because you have a lot of work to do and can’t afford to lose a day. WRONG! Designing things in a tired state is never a good thing. Your work suffers, your body suffers, your speed suffers and the finished product can never be as good. Be sure to tackle each project in a relaxed state with 100% of everything you got.

Remember each project you finish is a reflection of your skills and abilities. Future clients will take these projects into account and base their decision on it. One day is nothing compared to having a portfolio full of projects you can be proud of and you know you gave them everything you have to offer.

5. EDUCATION AND PERSISTENCE

I would like to start of this topic with a simple quote by Stephen Richards:

“If you do not have persistence then no amount of education, talent or genius can make up for it”.

I have a diploma, I know everything there is to know. Yeah, right. No matter what education you have, you will never stop learning and you will never stop improving. It is just the nature of this business and why we love it. It is changing and developing so fast, everyone needs to be on their toes and keep up with their education.

So what can I do to educate myself further?

Read articles, join design communities, attend technology events, have chats with other designers… If you do some of these on a daily basis, you will automatically be kept in the loop.

The other thing is persistence. In order to be a successful graphic designer you really need to be hungry for it. Seeing design as a chore and not a passion is a recipe for failure. Sure we all have projects we are not crazy about working on, but as long as you still love what you do, you should have no trouble in being persistent and pushing through all the problems you encounter on your way.

Source by Timi Kokol

How To Avoid Arguing With Your Spouse

Picture the scene. You get home from a hard day at the office and all you want to do is flop in front of the TV for half an hour. On the other hand, your wife has been out at work and when she comes home she wants to tell you all about her day, who said what and in the end, what happened.

Recognize what I'm saying? I guess most people will because this situation and why it arises is well documented, going all the way back to pre-historic times. Man, the hunter gatherer, is happy to sit in silence for long periods of time waiting to trap his prey, he only needs to expend a few hundred words in a day to feel fulfilled. After a 21st century day were the importance of communication in business is stressed, is it any wonder that he does not want to talk.

Prehistoric woman on the other hand remained in camp with all the other women and children doing boring repetitive work and to relive the boredom, the natural thing was to talk. Evolution has eliminated women the hand that they are much more comfortable being able to talk than in silence. Depending on the 21st century job being done a woman is only going to be able to expend so many words and may not feel comfortable at the end of the day. Consider a stay at home Mom …. is it any wonder that when her man comes home she wants to talk.

Now I'm not being sexist, this is well documented and I've read about it in many books, if you've offended it's probably because I have not explained myself as eloquently as some might. After all, I am a man of few words.

If we accept what I've said and I'm sure there will be many who can empathise, effectively what we have is a recipe for conflict at the end of a busy day when everyone is tired. Is it any wonder that this leads to arguments? The best thing a man can do (as I do) is understand this point, accept it and do something about it. In other words plan the work into the daily routine – "At the end of the day when I get home from work I'm going to plan some time to spend with my wife, listening to her". If you plan it, it is not half as bad!

More important than everything that I've planned is when I listen, to show that I'm listening – I found out this bit in some life coaching information on the web. I read it and took it to heart and now I can communicate so much better.

I developed 3 effective listening skills: –

1. The first is that I encourage my wife to talk. By interjecting in the conversation with words like "I see" or even plain simple "uh-huh" or "okay" I give the perception that I'm listening and understanding what's been said. It also helps the conversation flow.
2. I precis certain words and speak them back. In other words, same the same thing but in a different way and this helps my wife feel comfortable that she is again being listened to but most importantly she is being understood.
3. Occasional I summarize what's being said. Perhaps at the end of a particular story and this has the effect of confirming the fact that I've been listening.

It all works very well for me provided I stick to the guidelines and I'm patient. If I'm particularly tired and try to hurry the process along this is the equivalent of taking one step forward and two steps back.

So that's it. Plan to spend half an hour using these active listening techniques with your wife at the end of the day and you'll find that it's 30 minutes well spent because in return you'll get peace and quiet for the rest of the evening and you can have your own "cave time" watching the ball game on TV.

Source by Peter Nash

Abundance: How Your Subconscious Enemies Are Sabotaging You

A millionaire once asked me if I ever had money, and I said no. "Then the barriers to having it all are subconscious", he said. What was he saying? What that means is this. All my feelings about being abundant were all suppressed into the part of the mind that we do not want to look at called the subconscious. Why do we not want to see it? Because it contains memories and experiences from not only this life, but ALL our incarnations in the world. If that sounds weird, just stay open to the possibility. It is called introspection and releasing.

How can releasing help? By a simple process of asking ourselves some very powerful questions about letting go, we can unlock this dark part of our psyche and free up all the energy and power of our limitless nature. The mind is nothing but a recording-replaying machine much like a video camera or a PC where the cameraman or programmer has gone to sleep. It is a junkyard of useless thoughts and feelings that run us 24/7 in a vain attempt to keep us surviving. Once the process of releasing this stuff has begun, our lives begin to lighten up, and we can use the mind for what it was meant for: Creating what we choose, directed by the Self … Who we REALLY are.

The ego and the mind are actually the same thing, a dim reflection of the Self / Beingness. By mis-identification, the ego / mind asserts it is the Self. It is like the moon reflecting the Sun to light our way at night, and believing it IS the Sun. In this metaphor, the Sun rising is like the Self taking over once again to live our life as it was meant to be. Not as victims, but as victors. Happy and abundant. Would you rather moon walk, or Sun walk?

The process is to ask ourselves, Could I let go of this limiting thought? Would I? When? Use it when the negative mental chatter starts. "I will never have money. I am too old. I am a failure." Feelings can be released like this also. Fear, doubt, anger, etc. ask your Self to let go of these the same way. Could I let go of this fear? Would I? When? It is really a decision to hold on or to let go. It just IS.

You will feel more confidant the more you do this. Try it. You'll like it.

Source by Stephen Seretan

Create a Healthy Body – The Choice is Yours

Our lives consist of choices. From one moment to the next we are constantly choosing. Who we are is the sum of what we say, do, and expect, which is why we must retake the responsibility for our own lives and create for ourselves what we want – a healthy, fit body and a life fulfilled.

Ten Tips For A Successful Diet Plan

1. Get a good start. Make your start day a special date. Choose the first of the month or the beginning of the next week. Days before you start your program, prepare yourself mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Remove unhealthy foods from your kitchen.
2. Eat Breakfast. Eat a healthy meal within one hour of getting up each morning and you will generally feel less hungry throughout the day.
3. Curb your appetite. Drinking a tall glass of water 15 minutes before a meal helps to prevent overeating by making you feel full.
4. Stop Eating late night meals. Make it a habit of not eating after 6 pm
5. Eat only when your hungry. Do not eat because your stressed, sad, bored or anything else.
6. Eat Light. When you are really hungry and you are in a rush, choose low calorie items such as fresh vegetables or fresh fruit. If you need more, add a few raw seeds or nuts.
7. Eat the food you like. With so many healthy food choices available there is no reason to make your diet plan more difficult by eating foods you do not like.
8. Eat Slow. Give your body time to release the enzymes needed to tell your brain you've eaten enough. Also, chewing your food well aids in digestion.
9. Do not get discouraged. If you stray from your plan once or twice, it does not mean your effort is hopeless. Just acknowledge what you did and get back on track.
10. Reward yourself. Once a week, treat yourself for sticking to your plan with a special meal, movie, etc.

So start now and choose to make the necessary changes in your life needed to achieve your goals. Whether it be for your health and fitness or anything else.

Source by John L Miller