How to Stay Motivated

The new year is upon us and it is around this time when many people set New Year's resolutions for themselves -- goals to improve their life somehow.

Unfortunately, as most of us know, these once firm decisions often fall by the wayside a couple months into the year. But why? One of the most common reasons cited is a lack of motivation. But how accurate is this claim?

Let’s get one thing straight: You do not lack motivation. Actually, nobody does.

Why am I so confident about this? Well, let’s think about what motivation actually is...

16 Books To Help You Think, Grow, and Prosper

Without a doubt, the most common question I get asked is:

"What books would you recommend for someone just starting out on their personal development journey?" (Or some version of this).

I've given this question a lot of thought and I made the following book list to address it.

Of course, you don't have to be a newbie to benefit from these books. I've chosen books that can be read at multiple levels, they also just happen to be a great entry point for beginners. The principles in these books will be just as relevant and applicable decades from now as they are today.

Personal development is about improving and evolving across all areas of your life, not just one. With that in mind, I've included books from a variety of genres, including achievement psychology, people skills, relationships, spirituality, entrepreneurship, creativity, philosophy, and personal finance.

How Your Focus Shapes Your Reality

You may be familiar with with popular adage, “Your focus creates your reality.” Variants of this saying also include:

“You get what you focus on, so focus on what you want.”

“Energy flows where attention goes.”

“What you focus on expands.”

I love pithy maxims as much as the next person but I’m more interested in practical wisdom.

When I hear a quote or idea that resonates with me, I typically ask questions like, “What makes this true? What basis does this statement have in reality?” “Can I corroborate this with an experience from my own life?”

I’ve found that sayings that have been around for a long time tend to contain at least some truth or wisdom. It turns out there is a lot of wisdom packed into the idea that your focus creates your reality. Let me walk you through a short exercise that will demonstrate, on a small scale, how your powerful your focus can be...

How To Create Better Beliefs

Many of the beliefs that hold you back from living your best life are not true -- at least not in the objective, scientific sense. In other words, they are not absolute, inviolable laws of nature. Rather, they are only subjectively true to you. The reason they seem true is because of a quirky mechanism your brain has.

Psychology has a name for this mechanism. It’s called confirmation bias, or the tendency to search for, interpret, and recall information in a way that confirms your pre-existing beliefs or theories. Basically, when you think something might be true, your brain immediately goes to work to find more evidence that supports your theory.

This tendency to jump to conclusions about our theories is

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