If you have been trying to lose weight and have not been successful then maybe you have to apply more will power into your efforts.

The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology explains that just one act of self-control reduces your ability to have self-control in another unrelated area. For example if you are prohibited to eat the chocolates that you can see right in front of you then your ability to do something else is adversely affected.

In the same manner that when subjects were told to suppress their reaction to a particular movie, they couldn’t solve an easy puzzle. The explanation for this is that you can only apply your will power on one action at a time. This explains why it is so difficult to stop eating and get a regular exercise at the same time. You don’t have the ability to use your will power on both occasions.

Research shows that your conscious mind can only process 50 bits of information per second, while your unconscious mind processes approximately 11 million bits per second. This means your unconscious mind processes information faster than your conscious mind.

The will power research is simply saying that your conscious mind is limited in its scope as compared to our unconscious mind.

Dr. George A. Miller of Princeton University, in his study proved that the conscious mind can only handle 7 pieces of information at a time.

Therefore the key to becoming successful in using your will power is to tap your unconscious mind.
In this scenario you need to get you unconscious mind like the kind of food that is recommended for people who want to lose weight. Here, we will apply the principles of psychology which are:

1. Positive association. This is the principle used by Ivan Pavlov in his experiment with the dog where he used positive reinforcement. He rewarded the dog everytime it was successful in the task given.

2. Priming involves the hints, photos, pictures that lead you to do a particular behavior. For example, very time you see a fast food advertisement, you are receiving a prime or a hint to do an action but this time it is something that is not good for you because it defeats the purpose of your trying to lose weight.

3. Power of ritual. Studies show that it takes 21 days to change a habit. And that is not an easy thing to do. You cannot just change overnight. So initially choose one easy activity that you can do on a daily basis which will help you lose weight. One very easy thing to do is to do some simple exercises in the morning then eat a light breakfast until you get used to that kind of routine.

If all else fails, you can also try hypnosis where you will use your unconscious mind to get what you want done.

There are times when you need confidence right away. Here are 25 to get it right when you need it.

1. Compliments

Watch out for compliments. When someone gives you one, accept it gracefully. The most graceful way to accept a compliment is to say thank you. When someone gives you compliments this means that they value you as a person.

2. Successes

Make a record of your successes. Write them down no matter how simple they seem. It could be the first song you sang or the first million you made you need to document it.

3. Failure

Don’t despair about experiencing that failure. That will actually boost your confidence. You can now confidently say that it will not happen again because you now know the pitfalls and will want to avoid then like the plague.

4. Abilities

Keep a list of what areas you can do best so will be constantly reminded that you are a doer and that you can accomplish things according to your abilities. Make a I’m a good at list and this will boost your self-worth.

5. Talent

Sometimes if you feel insecure just say that you have the talent.

6. See People as Individuals

Often in business we see names of groups.
• Email list.
• JV Partners
• Affiliates
• Prospects
• Customers

Try to know the members of these groups. It will give confidence because you have people to call if you need to.

7. Family Support

You can say that you are blessed to have a spouse and children who will be by your side come hell high water. It’s great to have people in your team who will support you all the way.

8. Constructive Feedback

Listen to the feedback from sincere friends. They will tell you the real score about things. True friends will tell you the real score, they will not sugar-coat. After telling you what’s wrong they will also tell you tell you the solution and how to it that right.

9. Being Conversational

Use simple language when you talk to your friends. Do not to use jargon or technical terms. Using natural and easy to understand language will put other people at ease consequently helping you gain friends and boost your confidence.

10. Think of Who You Love Most

Think of the person you love. Love conquers all. Keep on thinking of that person you love and you will be inspired to do the things you love to do and even better.

Time wasted is money wasted. We always seem to be in a hurry racing with time. From the time we wake up in the morning until we retire at night, we don’t seem to run out of things to do.

For some us time is of the essence that’s why we don’t want to waste a single minute of it. If we want to be successful in this aspect of our life then we need to have a plan on how to manage our time well.

Time is a unique resource because everyone of us on this planet gets exactly the same amount as anyone does.

Some of you probably would say that you can do tomorrow what you are not able to do today. Time management can be likened to smart financial planning where you are taught about what to spend and what to keep.

Below are tips to manager your time:

1. Carefully Plan Your Week.

Write down the activities that you intend to do this week. Be specific. Prioritize. Put the most important task in number one and the list goes on. Make your tasks simple and if there are complicate one, you can do them little by little. Do one task after another and make sure you accomplish them. It it’s impossible to finish them in one week then continue on to the following week.

2. Adhere to Your Plan.

If you have identified number one lsit as your number priority then do it, and do it right now. Some people change their plans when they are emotionally troubled. Don’t let emotions or feelings affect your work. Save those emotions for you family and for making the basis of what you should do for the day.

3. Take it Easy on the Emails.

You should set a specific time each day to check you emails. You don’t have to go to your computer each time you hear the message alert. That is such a waste of time and energy. Set a schedule where you can go over you mails in tranquility and peace giving you time to read and reply to important mails.

4. Forget those Bad Habits.

If you currently have unpleasant habits that are eating up your precious time and energy which could otherwise be spent in more important endeavors then, change them, forget and junk them, they are not doing you any good. Think about it, it could be just a minor thing that you don’t notice or it could be very obvious. Accept that those are bad habits so it will be easy for you to change them.

5. Devote Time for Leisure.

Set aside valuable time for leisure. You need to unwind after a hard week’s work. You can do this regularly so will be recharged and ready for another week’s grind.

6. Don’t be Busy for the Wrong Reason

Make an assessment of your daily schedule and check what eats up most of your time. You might be making yourself too busy just to be labeled that you are busy or just going through the motion. Or you can be really busy in accomplishing the goals you have set for yourself. If what you’re busy about is for the second reason then you are on the right track. Otherwise you need to rethink your priorities so can manage your time more efficiently to achieve your goals.

I had the opportunity to meet with a gentleman from the State Attorney General’s Office where they handled the famous McDonald’s hot coffee case. This was a case about a lady who purchased hot coffee from McDonald’s, placed it between her legs while driving and accidentally spilled it on herself.

The lady filed a case against McDonald’s and won millions of dollars in compensation. They made a research and found out that the temperature of the coffee at that time the lady purchased it was hotter by two or three degrees than what was normally served.

The lady was clearly the one responsible for what happened when she spilled the coffee placed between her legs.

This is a glaring example of having to reward what you a cry baby society. We love to look for scapegoats, blaming others for our mistakes even if directly we are the one to blame.

This gentleman from the Attorney’s Office said that it was fair enough because the millions of dollars paid to the lady was just a small percentage of their profits.

The amount of fine may not have hurt McDonald’s so much but it did hurt the nation by giving a clear message that you can be a cry baby and you will be pacified by giving you money.

Try not to get trapped in the web of this blame society. Take responsibility for your actions. Do not put the blame on others if something goes wrong.

I encourage you to visit India or the Dominican Republic or any other third world country and you will see that you cannot just blame any one because you tripped on a pot hole and hurt yourself. You cannot just do that in a third world country.

No matter what your life’s circumstances are, you can definitely lead a happier and more fulfilling life. You can choose to be a person who make things happen and not just one of those who watch things happen.

• Be Aware. Be consciously aware of the unpleasant thoughts, feelings and behavior that you want to change.

Being aware means being conscious of your thoughts, feelings, actions and behavior. Acknowledging that a change is necessary is first step in achieving you goal.

• Make a Choice. Carefully choose your thoughts, feelings, actions and behavior.

Making a choice is deciding on what you want and what you don’t want. It is the act of making choices, selection and options. It’s about choosing between 2 scenarios laid out to you. You should make a choice. You have to take sides and take a stand otherwise you’ll be like a drift wood floating on the ocean without any direction.

• Change. Change the way you think about people, objects and events.

When you have reached a point where you suddenly realize that you have been very critical, mean, judgmental and moralistic about so many issues then it’s time to do a self assessment and decide what aspect of your life need to be changed. Do it right now. You might be continuously hurting people if you don’t stop.

The moment you notice that you are being obnoxious to people around you then:

1. Take control of your feelings.
2. Analyze the reason for your low self-esteem and nasty attitude.
3. Entertain thoughts that reinforce positive behavior, thoughts, feelings and emotions and positive thoughts that boost your self-esteem.

Attempting to make a life-changing decision to adapt a healthy and positive lifestyle is sending a message to your brain that you are in perfect control of your life and that you mean serious business when you say you want to change for the better.