Our resistance to honor our positives while holding up our shortcomings is derived from our own childhood, being instructed not to be conceited. If you’re like me, you’ve misconstrued that well-meaning life-lesson to mean “hide your light under a barrel.”

It’s a definite bonus when our goal of self-improvement spills over to enhance the lives of those we care about. However, if our sole motivation is to make someone else happy, we’ll be resentful and they’ll be more miserable. You might as well stick with what you’ve got – which is exactly that but without having to be frustrated to get there.

Writing and delivering a great speech relies on understanding human psychology, crowd behavior, communications principles and leadership skills. Here are 5 of the most memorable.

My hypothesis: When we are happy with our actions, we take credit for them. When not, we blame them, not us. In effect, good results are internalized; bad results are externalized. This is critical because where we place that control determines our future results.

We each have habits of which we’re not proud; it’s part of the human condition. The singular difference is those who heft a larger mass have theirs on full display, unable to hide it behind closed doors. If everyone had to display their bad habits, no one would look at overweight people.

Laughter’s tears may also carry away harmful toxins from the body, and the suppression of them, as in the suppression of emotional tears, increases our susceptibility to stress-related disorders.

A basic premise in the field of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is that each of us has our own unique perception of reality created by using our senses – what we see, hear, feel, smell and taste. The very thoughts being calibrated by the Thought Compass are represented to ourselves via these same senses.

Weight Watchers has changed the game, so instead of one” getting started session,” they have introduced three PowerStart sessions; each one focuses on the basics of the program for just a few minutes but spends a lot of the time focusing on three different skills that will help the members actually make some helpful and healthy changes – and begin without delay. What can we learn from that about productivity and planning?

We provide our name in reply to the question “Who are you?”. But, in reality, that’s not accurate, because my name is not WHO I am, it’s WHAT I am called; it’s a label. Well, I could reply, “a man,” “father,” or even “American.” Those are actually more descriptive than responding with my name. They deliver more detail, but are still painfully vague. Piling on additional descriptors becomes the next step. Certainly this constructs a more vibrant portrayal, but it is still soooooo scratching the surface.

Just “thinking” something can be naive and even dangerous. However, that’s a false premise as positive thinking is not about just “thinking” and expecting a result. It’s also about getting support, guidance, and direction from other people. Of course, you have to take some action too.

The hitch in the get along is that attitude is transparent and contagious. We can spot a “negative person” instantly. His supposed attitude is loudly broadcast via body language, facial expressions, even tone of voice. We return those perceptions without thought, making countless assumptions, which we communicate. The drawback is, as evidenced here, we might not be responding to what’s really going on inside of them, as much as to what’s occurring within us.

It turns out that there’s more to production than money. We need purpose, self-direction, and mastery. This makes sense to me as most of the people I know are not “in it” solely for the money.

In reality, the simpler we make it, the more likely we will achieve our goals. We have built our lives over years with patterns and habits to fill our days. If we try and make too many changes, we have to knock out huge sections of the our life. If we can just rearrange a few adjustments, we’re more likely to fit that in and stick with it. Here is a very simple Five-Step Plan to make change starting right NOW.