Personal Development

“The best contribution one can make to humanity is to improve oneself.”

By spending time in personal development, you can learn to become more productive and effective at work and able to maintain focus on what really counts in all aspects of our life. You will definitely do better if you have more control of your own actions and emotions and able to stay motivated no matter what situation or environment you’re in.

“The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature perfectly - that is what each of us is here for.” - Oscar Wilde

I have been tagged by Life Reflection. This Personal Development List meme was started by Priscilla Palmer with the objective of compiling a master list of Personal Development blogs that we feel can benefit us in our growth process.

Each person who participates are to put up a list of their 5 favorite personal development bloggers, and then let Priscilla know so she can compile a master list.

Below are sites Priscilla listed that I find very useful:

• Aaron Potts at Today is That Day
• Donald Latumahina at Life Optimizer
• Dawud Miracle at dmiracle.com
• Jacklyn Ker at Inspiring and Empowing Lives
• Karen at Journey with Water Learner

And here is my top 5 blogger list:

• Jennifer at Goodness Graciousness
• Surjit at Gurushabad
• Honman at Open Your Mind to Prosperity
• Killeris at Attitude, The Ultimate Power
• SJ Yee at Personal Development for the Book Smart

“If you wish to achieve worthwhile things in your personal and career life, you must become a worthwhile person in your own self-development.” - Brian Tracy

Photo by carf taken from this source

Related posts:

• Continuous Learning is a must
• Master your mind
• Develop your observation skills
• Develop Good Qualities
• Develop Good Character
• Develop your talents
• Develop Your Will Power

Aim At Perfection In Everything

“The search for perfection begins with detecting imperfection”

Will you not make very sure that there is no fault before you accept a brand new car?

Similarly, I believe most people will never be satisfied after paying a hefty price for a musical show and find that certain part of the show have audio defect. Am I right?

What You'd Get if 99% Were Good Enough

• No phone service for 15 minutes each day.
• 1.7 million pieces of first class mail lost each day.
• 35,000 newborn babies dropped by doctors or nurses each year
• 200,000 people getting the wrong drug prescriptions each year
• Unsafe drinking water three days a year.
• Three misspelled words on the average page of type.
• 2 million people would die from food poisoning each year.

(Source: Internet; Author: Unknown)

It has become an accepted statement to excuse ourselves by saying, "After all, nobody's perfect."

“They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they'd make up their minds.” - Winston Churchill

“This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections.” - Saint Augustine

“There is such a thing as perfection... and our purpose for living is to find that perfection and show it forth.... Each of us is in truth an unlimited idea of freedom. Everything that limits us we have to put aside.” - Richard Bach

“Aim at perfection in everything, though in most things it is unattainable. However, they who aim at it, and persevere, will come much nearer to it than those whose laziness and despondency make them give it up as unattainable.” - Lord Chesterfield


Even though, it can be more stressful but each day we must continually strive to do a little better than the day before. What do you think?

"Perfection consists not in doing extraordinary things, but in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well." - Angelique Arnauld

Photo 1 by Marius!! taken from this source
Photo 2 by cloud_nine taken from this source

Related posts:

• Practise makes perfect
• Live a balanced life
• Commit to Excellence

When is the right time to sharpen the axe?

Nowadays, due to tight schedule, many even have to bring home their work. To make sure what you do is worthwhile, you ought to learn to pause and reflect on what you're doing and why.

"If something is not worth doing at all, it is not worth doing well." - Warren Buffett

Have you asked yourself this question: How much time have I spent improving my skills?

Abraham Lincoln says "If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend the first four sharpening the axe"

Richard C Miller says "Even if at first you do succeed, you still have to work hard to stay there."

Let's take a look at this story that illustrate this point:

Once upon a time, there was a very strong woodcutter. He asked for a job from a timber merchant, and he got it. The pay was really good and so were the work conditions. For that reason the woodcutter was determined to do his best. His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to work.

The first day, the woodcutter brought down 18 trees. The Boss was very much impressed and said, "Congratulations keep it up!" Very motivated by the words of the boss, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he only could bring down 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he only could bring down 10 trees.

Day after day he was bringing down less and less trees. "I must be losing my strength", the woodcutter thought to himself. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.

"When was the last time you sharpened your Axe?" the boss asked. "Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my Axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees."

The moral of the story:

Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don't take time to sharpen the axe. In today's world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy than ever. Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay sharp?

There is nothing wrong with activity and hard work. But we should not get so busy that we neglect the truly important things in life, like our personal life, taking time to care for others, taking time to read, etc.

We all need time to relax, to think and meditate, to learn and grow. If we don't take time to sharpen the axe, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness.

So starting from today, think about the ways by which you could do your job more effectively and add more value to it.

(Source of this story: Internet; Author Unknown)

Photo by Robot Apocalypse taken from this source

Related posts:

• Sharpen your mind
• Be Improvement-Conscious
• Continuous Learning is a must
• Develop your observation skills

Be an Author of Your Life

"There are two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live." - John Adams

"The golden opportunity you are seeking is in yourself. It is not in your environment; it is not in luck or chance, or the help of others; it is in yourself alone." - Orison Swett Marden

"You are the only person on earth who can use your ability." - Zig Ziglar

"If you want your life to be a magnificent story, then begin by realizing that you are the author and everyday you have the opportunity to write a new page" - Mark Houlahan

"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts." - Eleanor Roosevelt

"What happened yesterday is history. What happens tomorrow is a mystery. What we do today makes a difference - the precious present moment." - Nick Saban

Photo by yuen_long taken from this source

Related posts:

• Don't wait for the perfect time
• Make and seize every Opportunity
• Your Precious Time
• Secure your future

You need to look within

“The outer conditions of a person's life will always be found to reflect their inner beliefs” - James Allen

"Look within!... The secret is inside you." - Hui-neng

"Seeing within changes one's outer vision." - Joseph Chilton Pearce

"When a wise man is advised of his errors, he will reflect on and improve his conduct."

“The superior man will watch over himself when he is alone. He examines his heart that there may be nothing wrong there, and that he may have no cause of dissatisfaction with himself.” - Confucius

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” - Mark Twain

"The unexamined life is not worth living." - Socrates

Photo by justindc taken from this source

Related posts:

• Know yourself well
• Examine Yourself
• Have confidence in Yourself
• Conquer Fear
• Your heart is your compass in life

Take the greatest challenge

"Competing in sports has taught me that if I'm not willing to give 120 percent, somebody else will." - Ron Blomberg

The real competition starts after 100 percent.

"There is no challenge more challenging than the challenge to improve yourself." - Michael Staley

"The toughest thing about success is that you've got to keep on being a success."

“Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew. They're what make the instrument stretch - what make you go beyond the norm.”

“Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are.” - Bernice Johnson Reagon

Photo by Sheree K taken from this source

Related posts:

• Be Responsible
• Raise your standards
• Be Improvement-Conscious

Commit to Excellence

"Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well." - John W. Gardner

"People forget how fast you did a job, but they remember how well you did it." - Howard W. Newton

"Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better." - Pat Riley

"Pleasure in the job put perfection in the work." - Aristotle

"Excellence is in the details. Give attention to the details and excellence will come." - Perry Paxton

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

"Cultivate excellent habits."

Photo by SirCharlie taken from this source

Related posts:

• A need for determination and commitment
• Secure your future
• Raise your standards
• Working Attitude

Have you come to realization?

One of the reasons people do not take the time to improve the quality of their life, is that they think things will just get better.

They go through each day hoping that their job will 'somehow' improve. They hope that some lucky combination of circumstances will come about and as a result, they will finally be recognised by their employer and rewarded with more responsibility and a bigger salary.

You need to realize that It doesn't get better...You have to!

There is an old saying that goes like this; "If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got!" How very true that is.

The starting point of all change is in the mind – or more precisely, how you think!

Here's how it works:
1. Your success comes from your results.
2. Your results come from your actions.
3. Your actions come from your thoughts.

So, when you think more effectively, you take better actions, which leads to better results. As you are the only person who is responsible for your thoughts, you decide how successful your career and life will be. It is always up to you, because only you have control of your mind.

Photo by cassetteject taken from this source

Raise your standards

"All personal breakthroughs begin with a change in beliefs." - Anthony Robbins

“People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy after” - Oliver Goldsmith

"If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you'll achieve the same results." - Anthony Robbins

“Any time you sincerely want to make a change, the first thing you must do is to raise your standards. When people ask me what really changed my life eight years ago, I tell them that absolutely the most important thing was changing what I demanded of myself. I wrote down all the things I would no longer accept in my life, all the things I would no longer tolerate, and all the things that I aspired to becoming.” - Anthony Robbins

Photo by supersam5 taken from this source

Related posts:

• Belief System
• Improve Yourself and Be useful
• Be Improvement-Conscious
• Sharpen your mind

Know yourself well

Self-knowledge is the beginning of self-improvement.

"It is wisdom to know others; It is enlightenment to know one's self." - Lao-Tzu

"Self-awareness gives you the capacity to learn from your mistakes as well as your successes. It enables you to keep growing." - Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan

"What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself." - Abraham H. Maslow

"You can live a lifetime and, at the end of it, know more about other people than you know about yourself." - Beryl Markham

The key to success is knowing yourself.

Photo by evansent taken from this source

Related posts:

• Be watchful
• Pay attention to your thinking
• You can become valuable - Find out how!

Sharpen your mind

"Many complain of their looks, but none of their brains" - Yiddish

“If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six hours sharpening my ax” - Abraham Lincoln

“If you have ability in a certain area, why not capitalize on it and improve it and use it?” - Wilt Chamberlain

“You are doing your best only when you are trying to improve what you are doing”

You spend 16 hours working and sleeping every day. Why not 30 minutes sharpening your mind?

Photo by bowbrick taken from this source

Related posts:

• Master your mind
• Be Improvement-Conscious
• You can become valuable - Find out how!
• Growing the right way

Don't repeat the same mistake - Be wise

All men make mistakes; only the fools repeat them.

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it” - George Santayana

When a wise man is advised of his errors, he will reflect on and improve his conduct. When his misconduct is pointed out, a foolish man will not only disregard the advice but rather repeat the same error.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

"Iteration, like friction, is likely to generate heat instead of progress." - George Eliot

"Tomorrow, you promise yourself, will be different, yet, tomorrow is too often a REPETITION of today." - James T. Mccay

Photo by assbach taken from this source

Related posts:

• Who is the wise man?
• Don't be afraid to make mistakes
• Learn by paying attention

You can become valuable - Find out how!

A bar of iron is worth $5. If made into horseshoes, it's worth $15. If into needles, $100; if into watch springs, $1000. This is also true of you and me.

"You don't get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour." - Jim Rohn

“Until you value yourself, you won't value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.” - M. Scott Peck

You determine what you are worth. You create your value.

“The real measure of your wealth is how much you'd be worth if you lost all your money.”

“Through self-doubt, we lose our sense of self-worth.”

"Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value." - Albert Einstein

Photo by StarrGazr taken from this source

Related posts:

• Be Improvement-Conscious
• Have confidence in Yourself
• True Wealth
• Examine Yourself

Be Improvement-Conscious

Every one of us has the potential of greatness, waiting to be developed.

"Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not." - Walter Bagehot

Don't be yourself. Improve yourself.

No one ever finds time for self-improvement. Serious ones make time. They decide on priorities. Without priorities of time, no one reaches his potential.

People seldom improve unless they have models greater than themselves. Adopt a few.

Every morning say: "I will improve something today." Every successful man is improvement-conscious.

Diagram by cote taken from this source

Related posts:

• Effective Learning
• Use Your Head
• Improve Yourself and Be useful
• Master your mind
• Don't be afraid to make mistakes

Parenting Tips

Simply having children does not make mothers. - John A. Shedd

The best thing to spend on your children is your time. "Your children need your presence more than your presents." - Jesse Jackson

Correcting children and employees helps. Complimenting them helps more. "If you want your children to improve, let them overhear the nice things you say about them to others." - Haim Ginott

Children are natural mimics who act like their parents despite every effort to teach them good manners.

"Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you." - Robert Fulghum

Photo by Jordan Brock taken from this source

Related posts:

• Learn like Children
• Happy Family

Keep moving and be Innovative

Business is like riding a bicycle - either you keep moving or you fall down.

“To open a shop is easy, to keep it open is an art”

When business is good it pays to advertise; when business is bad you've got to advertise.

If we keep doing what we're doing, we're going to keep getting what we're getting. - Stephen R. Covey

“You can't do today's job with yesterday's methods and be in business tomorrow”

Photo by J. Star taken from this source

Related posts:

• Customer is your Boss
• Speak Wisely

Examine Yourself

As you climb the ladder of success, check occasionally to make sure it is leaning against the right wall.

Success without honour is like food without salt... it will satisfy your hunger, but it won't taste good.

Success isn't the opposite of failing. A runner may come in last, but if he beats his record, he succeeds.

Photo by Mayr taken from this source

Related posts:

• Seek Wisdom
• Don't be greedy
• Be smart but not overconfident

Master your mind

"The mind is like the stomach. It not how much you put into it, but how much it digests." - Albert Jay Nock

"What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve." - Napolean Hill

To sharpen your mind, select a topic and force yourself to keep talking about it for 10 minutes without stopping. That develops concentration, observation, memory, will power and fluency.

My mind is my greatest gift but it is also my worst enemy.

A great improvement can be achieved as long as we spend some time to improve our mental skills and building our mind.

Photo by jm3 taken from this source

Related posts:

• Control your thoughts
• Belief System
• Have an open mind
• Renew your mind

Your Precious Time

“Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

A life is Too Precious to Waste - To spend on Anything But the Best.

“Wisdom doesn't automatically come with old age. Nothing does - except wrinkles. It's true, some wines improve with age. But only if the grapes were good in the first place.”

Spend your time wisely!

Photo by S Ryo taken from this source

Related posts:

• Don't wait for the perfect time
• Life's Greatest Waste
• Don't wait! - Start now

Customer is your Boss

"There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else." - Sam Walton

The basic philosophy of any business, particularly a service business, is to do two things: get and keep customers.

A Satisfied Customer Is Your Best Advertisement.

"People expect good service but few are willing to give it." - Robert Gately

Photo by strph taken from this source