©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
18 Ways To Maximize
Your Potential Every Day
Philip de Souza
http://thechoicewemake.com
LEGAL NOTICE
Everyone has a story to tell. And mine has become my mission
in life to positively impact effective change to as many people,
willing to take that first step.
I’m allowing you to print and grant you the rights to give away
this special eBook (worth US$47) to anyone in need of uplifting
their thought sand to inspire their actions in their day to day life
struggles.
In sharing my eBook to them, you will spread the strength and
hope. You will become the light for them.
Please DO NOT alter the content in any way.
The Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible
in the creation of this eBook, notwithstanding the fact that he does not
warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate
due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
While all attempts have been made to verify information provided in
this publication, the Publisher assumes no responsibility for errors,
omissions, or contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein. Any
perceived slights of specific persons, peoples, or organizations are
unintentional.
In practical advice books, like anything else in life, there are no
guarantees of income made/results. Readers are cautioned to rely on
their own judgment about their individual circumstances and act
accordingly.
This eBook is for informational purposes only and is not intended for
use as a source of legal, business, accounting or financial advice. All
readers are advised to seek services of competent professionals in
legal, business, accounting and finance fields.
You are encouraged to print this eBook for easy reading! =)
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Acknowledgements.
❖ To my loving parents.
For without them, I would not be around. No upbringing is perfect, I
accept that with humility. I can’t choose the good only and exclude the
bad. Every experience has a story to tell.
It’s usually the difficult times that create opportunities to carve into
positive outcomes. And never let anyone say otherwise.
And if it’s done through love, you’ll be okay. I believe I’m a successful
outcome. And all credit to my upbringing goes to my parents.
I think dad had an easier time; playing good cop. And mom taking on
the role of guidance counsellor. Mom is 86 now and still holds the
rights to discipline me, if needed. And I still love her dearly.
❖ To the woman who gave me her hand in marriage
Alicia Long,
No words will ever express my gratitude for the love and care you
have unselfishly given me without condition.
Only you will laugh at my silly jokes and want to strangle me for my
mischiefs.
No other woman, will ever be as understanding as you. (I better
declare now, there’s no other
)
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Contents
Introduction .................................................................. 6
Express Gratitude ...................................................... 18
Plan Your Day Ahead, Don’t Rush ............................. 20
Focus On The Big Picture ......................................... 22
Value Time ................................................................. 24
Don’t Second-Guess .................................................. 26
Fill Your Mind With Positivity ................................... 28
Create Paths To Personal Success ........................... 30
Choose The Company Of Positive People ................ 32
Write Your Goals Down And Post Them Up ............. 34
Meditate And Visualize Success ............................... 36
Break Bad Habits ....................................................... 38
Urgency And Resilience ............................................ 40
Don’t Compare Yourself To Others........................... 42
Focus On What You Have, Not What You Don’t ....... 44
Share Your Dreams With, Like-Minded People ....... 46
Create Results, Not Excuses ..................................... 48
Affirmations That Will Change Your Life .................. 50
Disappointments Are Opportunities To Improve ...... 52
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Introduction
My Family
I grew up in a family of 5 and I'm the youngest of 3 boys. We were
considered as an above average income family. My father was holding
a good position and was the sole breadwinner.
Mom was a full time housewife. And most of the time she would be
playing her card games with friends and would be out the whole day.
During school days, my brother and I would be known as "latch-key"
children. We would come home to an empty home (dad working and
mom is out). The house key would be left outside for us. We were
supposed to have our lunch (she would prepare lunch before she went
out), take to our school books and not go outside of the house. Those
days, mischief was my companion and playmate… and I would go
outside of the house!
My parents were very loving towards each other. Dad was a man of
few words and never showed his true feelings to us. And mom ensured
all our needs were taken care through her support while dad works.
Dad was easy going and always smiling. Mom on the other hand was
the opposite. She was strict and only had to give instructions once.
You had to be smart enough to listen and react fast in obedience
because, any ill-manner action after the first and only warning was
dealt swiftly with slap.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Mom liked to tutor me in my school work - moments that I dreaded
too. Not being able to get the correct answers often led to painful
experiences - and there were many.
Despite the fear of my mom’s strict upbringing, there was good that
came out from it. Relatives and friends would comment on our good
upbringing. A credit I always give to my parents, especially to my
mom. (Even up to this day).
Dad on the other hand, was my best friend. I was his favourite and he
would always spoil me. He was an avid bowler. Whenever there was a
major bowling tournament, he would allow me to skip school and
accompany him. We even bowled as a doubles team once! Other times
I would also skip school just to follow him to work (he was a manager
of a club)
Dad didn't drive and I enjoyed travelling with him on the public buses.
Journey to his work would take about 90 minutes. At times I would
doze off and end up sleeping on his arms. Then there were other times
on the bus, he would inculcate good manners - by asking me to give
up my seat to someone else who needed it more than me. It was good
training. He was my inspiration and life skills coach.
Still, something was missing in me but I didn't know what it was. It was
not that I wasn't happy but I just didn't feel confident. As I reflect back,
I guess being an introvert and having an inferiority complex (then) was
wasn't helping me either.
As time went on, I felt less of myself.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
School Was Torture
The anticipation and excitement of school wore off fast when I realized
that I did not like school. It just didn't gel with me. (I think I had an
'attention deficiency' probably not medically discovered then).
During my 10 years that I was in school, I failed 6th grade twice and I
had to repeat the full year three times. When I was retained for the
second time at 6th grade, I wanted to stop schooling and join a military
school for boys to become career soldiers. But it my dad who told not
to give up as I still had a final attempt to resit another year. And I am
most grateful for an understanding dad to me. I did manage to pass on
the third attempt.
That how bad I was.
Neither did I look forward at year end when relatives and cousins
come around and ask and compare examination results. That was a
bad place for me to be!
About 2 years before I completed my schooling, dad had to stop
working. Money soon became tight. And the burden fell on my eldest
brother to maintain the household expenditure but he too had his
commitments and there were constraints.
It was only after I finished schooling did I have some freedom, for my
mind to wonder. I always wondered why some people are happy and
what made them tick? I wasn't even sure what my thoughts meant then.
Neither could I find the answers from my family because they never
talked about such topics. I'm quite sure, we weren't dysfunctional but
in those days people didn't really drill down to define 'positive
thinking'.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Oh... did I mention, I was poor at reading too? So reading books on
personal development was a non-starter for me as well.
I Made Do With, What I Had
Coming back to my dad, after he stopped working and money was tight.
I would always check my parents’ wallets first before even asking for
money. More often, I didn’t ask. My second elder brother on the other
hand, was not shy to ask any amount and my mom would get it for him.
Then there were days when my dad would ask me for money instead.
And I still remember once going to the church and asking for help. It
was the first and only time I did that. Which made me realize, when
you are in dire straits or desperation, you’ll find the solution by
whatever means. So it’s a question of how desperate you are to
overcome your dire straits you are in.
I remember having limited clothes. I probably had two or three good
shirts and two pairs of formal pants. Whenever it came to Sunday
church, my mother insisted her children wear a proper shirt and pants
for church.
I would rotate between churches so that I wasn’t seen often in the
same or similar clothes.
I was pretty much a wreck. Still I needed to decide on my next chapter
in life and list my priorities.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
My First, And Only Job I Knew
It was about that time when, I had to decide if I wanted to sign up for
a 3 years higher learning in maritime studies (which meant more cash
required) or apply to become a flight attendant (start earning and
supporting the family)
I chose to be a flight attendant. That was in 1987
Life as a flight attendant was good. It was a lifestyle job and I was
enjoying it (I forgot about my bad patches). The work as a flight
attendant was stressful. But I was young and full of energy and
overcame most of the stress that came with the job.
Two years into my flying career, my life would change and a vacuum
would appeared.
Dad passed away at the age of 69 years.
As much as we prepare for that day, we can never really be prepared
for it. He’s passing had a great impact on me.
For a period of time, I found myself in limbo. The one saving grace,
that shortened my period of loss, was positive thinking. Inch by inch
positive thoughts would flow into my mind, pushing out negativity, and
reinforcing what little positive thoughts still left in me. Thread by
thread, affirmations of positive thinking intertwined to form an anchor
of positivity inside me.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
The Lessons I Learnt In Those 28 Years
Flying was a good platform to test positivity and good therapy as well.
It opened my eyes and more importantly, I found my calling in
customer service. I was happy for the experience which I got and
grateful for the 28 years with the airline: from serving Heads of States,
very important people to the simple person on the street and even
people with special needs. The job experience gave me a wide latitude
of exposure, not many people could get.
The proudest moment as a flight attendant, was serving my parents on
my flight.
And if I may share my years of flying. There were good days and bad
days just as every other job. The years spent in the airline were an
eye-opener. The flying culture then was regimental. Everything was
done in order and at the right time.
The crew you met on board too had an effect because you had to
interact with them in one way or another. It was a very seniority
conscious working environment then. Offend or miss out on your
senior crew or forget to acknowledge them, spelt a very bad flight.
Passengers too didn't spare us. It was drilled into us that all
passengers are "Kings" and they are "Always Right!"
The nice ones always showed respect and never imposed their
demands during the flight.
The nasty ones used the upper hand to make it difficult for the crew
and as a junior crew then, I was always pushed into their crosshairs
by the seniors. Most of the time, I had to swallow my pride and accept
unfair treatment which ironically I actually think shaped my level of
tolerance and gratitude.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Little did my senior crew realize, they were actually doing me a favour.
Painful as it was though (being belittled by nasty passengers), it
brought me out of my protective shell. I was turning a difficult situation
into a learning experience (and it was free).
I learnt how to read people and manage their expectations. I did not
get it right all of the time but, it toughened me up. And in doing so, I
was able to manage difficult situations confidently.
At the end of the flight, it was customary and a tradition to thank
everyone for the flight ("Thanks for the flight"). And I meant every
word when I thanked those nasty senior crew who put me in front of
those nasty passengers. I turned a "negative" into a "positive" and I
became a shareholder of positivity.
As I moved up the seniority ladder, I promised myself never to be like
those nasty crew. I would step up to manage the nasty passengers. I
saw no reason for the younger crew to face blunt treatments of
unreasonable passengers.
Again, as I dealt with them, positive thinking would run at the back of
my mind. It made my interaction with difficult passengers, nonpersonal and objective.
Now and then, I still got knocked down by some nasty passenger who
had the airlines' top management's handphone number in their contact
list. (Oh well you can't win them all)
Despite everything, I live by one motto: "There will always be better
days." It may not be today, tomorrow but, it will come – sooner or
later.
Having a positive mind-set made my flights more bearable. And I
honestly can't imagine I actually clocked 28 years of flying.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
I Wanted Better, So I Resigned
In 2013, I started to feel restless and I didn’t enjoy my time overseas.
There was no fulfilment in the job anymore. I didn't enjoy flying. I
wanted something different and better but I’ll admit, I was afraid to
give up the comforts of the job.
Nobody left at my position.
Two years later - 2015, I left the airlines at the peak of my career as
I felt, I wanted to pursue a less imposing lifestyle with a mentally
enriching life that gave a deeper sense of achievement and meaning. I
wanted to embark on a mission.
I wanted to be on my own, take responsibility for my actions. Rise or
fall, I wanted to set out to help people around. I wanted to be more
than just a person.
I wanted to be an Entrepreneur to maximize peoples’ potentials. And I
wanted to make a difference to peoples' lives and bring positive
thinking to them.
Entrepreneurship is not easy, you have to think, strategize, plan and
put into action. You also need to have alternate plans and capital. You
can be filled with so much enthusiasm to start off and at other times,
doubts will just come knocking.
My 'prayer in a bottle' would be to think more of the positive outcomes.
Visualize them and reach for success in my own ways.
This is where I got the idea of sharing my eBook "18 ways to maximize
your potential every day".
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
The Impact of Maximizing Your Potential
Maximizing your potential like positive actions can never be
overstated. You only need to look around at the people you know
friends and relatives who are weighed down with difficulties. Lack
direction and depleted inner strength. Or resigned to superficial
happiness.
Having positive disposition brings up your potential and cultivates
inner strength and energy to live a life of purpose and success. Which
is so much better than, having to keep topping up on superficial
happiness to be happy.
My journey in entrepreneurship gives me the strength and affirmation
that I made the right decision.
It has been 2 years since I left my job (2015). While it is still early in
my journey and I don’t earn as much as before but I am actually
happier. I eat well, sleep well and get to spend time with wife and
family every day – which is more than what money can buy.
I believe being conscious of positive actions has yielded an impact to
my endeavour to share its riches to the people around me and to the
world at large.
We Are Capable Of Developing Our Potential
As children, our minds are pure and innocent. Free to explore and no
limitation to self-doubts in what we do.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
But as we grow, we unconsciously put limiting barriers on our
potentials from nurturing. While some find it tough to keep the focus,
others lose the zest in life and rescind to building on limiting barriers.
The Change Starts With You, And Me
We have the power to take back our lives and make a difference by
being a light within the darkness—a positive influence. If we chart our
journey, take ownership of our lives and happiness, our influence will
branch out to reach others.
This isn’t a well, kept secret any more. This is the law of attraction.
To understand the law of attraction in its depth would take a lifetime
of playing with the concept and charting our results. But in its essence
it is a law based on physics; ‘like attracts like’ is a law of the universe
so ‘positive thoughts attract positive things’.
Why Would A Thought Attract A Thing?
Everything in this world is matter and made up of light; this concept
does not stop at thoughts. Thoughts too are things and when we
release a lot of negative ‘matter’ into the world, the world responds
by giving us more of it. This is how law of attraction works.
“Thoughts become things. If you see it in your mind you will hold it in
your hand.” Bob Proctor.
If you’re still not convinced think about it this way. Your thoughts lead
to emotions, if they are bad thoughts they will lead to bad emotions.
We then act on these ‘bad’ emotions and bring more bad things into
our life.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
On the other hand, the more positive habits we give out into the world,
the more good things we get back. This is not a secret; it is something
many religions and great thinkers have agreed with for a long time but
has yet to be fully explored.
Even therapists agree with positive habits, an entire branch of therapy
(called CBT) concentrates on changing your thoughts. In the process
you identify negative self-talk such as;
- I can’t do this
- I’m not good enough
- I’m fat/ugly/stupid
And change those thoughts into positive habits.
Human beings have known for a long time that if you think negatively,
negativity comes into your life and causes depression and the inability
to move forward and get what we want.
You too probably know this on some unconscious level; when you start
the day in a bad mood, things around you start to fall apart. You spill
something, then you drop something, then you’re late for work. The
negative incidents snowball out of control the second we get frustrated
and think negative thoughts.
Which is why we need positive affirmations, we need positive habits.
Not only for ourselves but, for our love ones around us too.
And with that, it now gives me great pleasure and humbling that I
welcome you to my eBook which I share with you.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
What Subscribers Are Saying About
“18 Ways To Maximize Your Potential Every Day” :
Phil's book is down to earth. And I like his generosity in giving it
away for free as well. No apprehensions or regrets in reading the
book. It opened my mind!
You only need to read the positive habits off the images, it's well the
worth the download.
When reading into the contents, I realized the book builds on a
realistic confidence journey. He draws from his past experiences and
adds beneficial actions to take, to bring positivity to our daily life
with a purpose.
I’ve made the eBook my digital companion and it fills my time
productively. It gives good grounding and equips skills to face the
unpredictable difficult situations that can throw us off balance in life.
Celine Lee
Very few people ever reach their full potential in life. Often, we get
caught up in someone else's direction - be it at work and at home.
You only need to read 18 ways to maximize your potential, to know
that maximizing your potential is not that difficult.
It makes you realize, you can reach your potential. It just has to start
with you first.
I like the book. I hope you too will like it.
Bill Thomson
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Express Gratitude
“We often take for granted the very things that most
deserve our gratitude”
– Cynthia Ozick
Being grateful for everything in your life will give you a level of
enjoyment you can only imagine. If you want to shift away from
negative thoughts but find yourself stuck, this is the way to do it. The
next time you find yourself filled with negativity shift your mindset
and name 5 things you are grateful for. This will give you a warm fuzzy
feeling (dopamine) that promotes positivity. As you become positive
you get a level of enjoyment from your life which can’t be described.
The more you enjoy life, the more your energy will shift to the highest
degree.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
When your energy shifts upwards, abundance and fulfillment enters
your life.
Even science agrees, being grateful on a daily basis reduces our stress
and allows us to hit our goals. Michael McCollough of Southern
Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and Robert Emmons of the
University of California at Davis, wrote an article about an experiment
where participants stress levels were greatly reduced by gratitude
alone. This proves you can eradicate stress from your life by simply
being grateful.
To put this strategy into action you can practice waking up each
morning and naming something you are grateful for. It doesn’t matter
what it is, we all have something. Clean water, a person we appreciate
or a part of our job we love. Whatever it is will change the whole mood
of the day in seconds. Others use items on their desks or in their
pockets that remind them to be grateful. You can even use a technique
where you take a negative thought and find within it the thing that will
serve you! Adding a silver lining to your situation in this way will
change your life.
If you think that it’s too hard to be grateful, remember, the more you
do it, the more your brain will automatically do this for you. Your brain
will make its own changes. Instead of running through the bad of a
situation it will snap to the good without any effort at all. Soon you will
become a positive person filled with light who draws the best from any
situation. You will find plenty of things to be grateful for and your life
will turn around for the better. It’s all about training your brain to be
happy every moment of the day.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Plan Your Day Ahead, Don’t Rush
“Set your intensions ahead. People who plan, achieve”
You should never rush through your day without taking the time to
really consider how you will spend it and what you intend to achieve.
Every single day is a gift and although we know this on a basic level,
we forget to practice intention and mindfulness during our days.
One way to get the most out of your day is to plan what you want out
of the day. It seems obvious, but so few people do it.
Waking up every morning and setting an intention, along with a plan of
how to get there, will ensure your days will be the days you want.
Don’t react to days, don’t let events of the day catapult towards you,
move towards them. If you spend your day dealing with what comes
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
at you, instead of putting your intention into the day, you’ll be far less
satisfied.
The best way to do this is on a piece of paper—before firing up any
electronics. Have you noticed that if you check your phone in the
mornings you end up down a rabbit hole of things that other people
have given you to do? Avoid that by using paper only to plan out what
you want your day to look like, before you check any device.
At different milestones during the day refocus, remember your plan,
and get back on track. You’re bound to trip up at some point and do
things that aren’t part of the plan, this is just human nature. It’s okay.
Refocus, stay on plan, and have the days you want.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Focus On The Big Picture
“If you just focus on the smallest details, you never get
the big picture right”
-- Leroy Hood
Big picture thinking is spouted as an important part of success. Why?
Because we’re always looking at the small details and little things we
have to do to get to the big picture. We become so consumed by the
moving parts we forget about the whole structure. You need to
remember the larger goals because that’s where the real problem
solving and breakthroughs will come.
To achieve this, you need to set aside time to do it. You need to think
about what large part of your goal is scaring you and stop trying to
solve it in steps; think about it as a whole. What is the biggest
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
challenge you will need to overcome? Put this into words; write it
down; now you can think about it from new angles.
The little details are often a stressor too. The small things you know
you have to do, but aren’t enjoyable, should not be what primarily
consumes your days, or your days will be miserable.
You need to zoom out and tackle things as a whole, really get a big
sweeping sense of how all the gears and cogs will work together to
make your potential sky-rocket.
We should also remember bigger picture; like why we want it and what
we want it for. Ask things like, who are you going to help? What sort
of large impact will this make?
Thinking about your goals and how they will achieve life fulfillment for
you, is more important than tweaking the little details. Business
owners don’t create a business because they want money; they create
a business to help people or to do something they enjoy. Money is just
one of the small details.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Value Time
“The
more you value your time,
the more value it will bring”
Your time is important, but so many forget that. They push through
the day, not time-lining their task, taking things as they come, and not
utilizing their time in the most productive way possible.
Then they get to the end of the day and instead of saying, “wow, look
how much I achieved today,’ they say “Wow! I didn’t have enough time
in the day.” The, ‘not enough time in the day’ phenomenon doesn’t
come from not having enough time; it comes from not valuing time
enough.
If you give away your time to other activities and to other people, and
squander it on things that don’t move you to where you want to be in
life, then you will waste time.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Time is more valuable than anything else in this world because it is in
the only thing we can’t make more of. Who, where and what you spend
time on is something you should examine in your days.
If you want healthy relationships, you need to set time aside for other
people. If you want to hit a business goal, you need to set time aside
each day for that. Use your time with expert precision, and you will
see results.
The Pareto principle states the 80/20 rule. This means, 20% of your
time will give you 80% of the results. You don’t need to spend a lot of
time on your goal, just a lot of the right kind of time. It is likely that
20% of what you are doing right now is giving you 80% of the result.
What if you did more of the 20%? Well, you would see an increase in
the 80% of results.
You could go even further and outsource anything that’s time
consuming and doesn’t get you the results you need. A personal
assistant would be a great way to put all the little jobs that aren’t
important on someone else, things like checking your email for spam
and deleting unimportant messages.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Don’t Second-Guess
“Once the choice is made. Do not look back,
Do not second guess your decisions”
-- Muhammad Ali
In the day to day activities, some situations are beyond our control.
For instance, you have no influence on what other people will think of
you or the attitudes they will develop towards you. Which make it
important for you to be keen on the resolutions that you formulate.
Basing yourself on the views of others will slow down your pace
towards success.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Having faith in yourself is the beginning of accomplishment. When you
trust your ideas and capabilities, then you are destined to realize your
dreams.
We are only humans and have had our fair share of mistakes. Even the
best of the most confident person learns from their mistakes and
become more confident.
Let’s learn from them. You should get along with the mistakes that you
make. And mistakes should be the pace setters.
Be fond of coming up with fresh thoughts that will reshape your life.
Influential actions stand for themselves even in the face of past
experiences. In life, various avenues can make one attain knowledge.
We should be able to review in detail what information adds value. And
the knowledge should help in living our dreams.
Having the peace of mind is being free from doubt and full of great
actions.
Influential moves are easy to cope with if they are not slowed down
by fear. It is up to you to instigate actions that depict confidence and
self-esteem.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Fill Your Mind With Positivity
Your mind is a powerful thing. When you fill it with
positive thoughts, your life will start to change"
Filling your mind with positivity allows us to feel happy and feeling
happy raises our vibration. With our vibration lifted we send out a
signal to the universe which states we are ready to receive abundance,
wealth and happiness into our lives.
The more positively you think, the more joy you will experience.
With our mind and body connected. Positive thoughts give a direct
impact on our health; the more positive we are, the less stress we
impose on our bodies. And in turn, if our bodies act positively, our
mind becomes positive.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
One way to instantly feel positive is to stand up straight and take deep
calming breathes.
Believing in your ability to get what you want, and trusting in the
universe to give you what you need, is a great way to stay positive. If
you trust and believe, these beliefs will come true. It’s like a cycle of
never ending joy and wish fulfillment.
Use positive self-talk, and stop putting yourself down. Self-praise and
positive ideas will raise your vibrations, keep you positive, healthy and
happy. Other things you can do to stay positive are to be kind to people
and smile.
The more love we put out into the world, the more we produce.
Filling your mind with positivity will bring love, joy, health and
happiness to your doorstep.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Create Paths To Personal Success
Don’t be pushed by your problems.
Be led by your dreams
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
To some people, personal success is achieving a fixed target or
attaining a status. While others described their path to personal
success as a journey without any stops– always pushing on to better
and greater milestones in their life.
Targets and goals give us focus to milestones. You need to visualize
where you would you want to be at different stages of your life. Have
a concrete plan on how get there. These goals need to be realistic and
achievable, and this must involve a commitment to get you closer to
your goals.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Your commitment needs to translate through your progress and you
need to track it. Through tracking and measuring your progress, you
will become more aware of milestones you need to reach and it will
make you conscious of the steps needed to get closer.
Influential actions equates to productive habits.
People with influential drive have a purpose in life and mission. This
propels them to deliver. Their goals are clear and cast in stone. They
know why they want to achieve personal success. No turning back.
They become focus driven. Passion and motivation become their
internal gears that run on high levels of excitement
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Choose The Company Of Positive People
“Surround yourself with people that reflect who you
want to be and how you want to feel, energies are
contagious”
Jim Rohn once said, “You’re the average of the five people you spend
most of your time with.” so you should choose positive people with
like-minded goals.
Why do this? You need challenges in life. If people around you are
negative and not goal orientated, then what do you have to aspire to?
Competition and comradely is something that propels success.
Positive people will give you positive thoughts. They won’t drag your
thinking down. Your energy will merge together and get bigger and
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bigger until you feel you can take over the world. Feeling like this will
give you the self-esteem and the confidence to go after your goals.
Obviously, we can’t always surround ourselves with the most positive
people possible. We can’t always choose our colleagues, or our family.
Sometimes there will be negative people in our lives. But we can
choose how we react to those people!
Try to not take what they do and say so personally—if they are
negative, grouchy and critical this says far more about them as a
person than it does you.
Once you have a positive outlook, and happy thoughts, it’s very hard
to be mean spirited to other people. Therefore, people who are acting
grouchy and mean, are unhappy within themselves. Take pity on them,
but don’t put too much thought into it.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Write Your Goals Down And Post Them Up
“Goals in writing are dreams with deadlines”
People who don’t write down their goals, tend to lose focus or fail
easier, compared to those who put their goals to paper.
Taking the trouble to write down your goals is an important part of
success.
A study by Dr. Gail Matthews proved you are 42% more likely to hit
your goals if you write them down. Seeing them every day will remind
you of what you want and keep you focused and on track.
When we visualize our dreams and put some afterthought into it, we
are reinforcing positive affirmation towards our goals. Making our
goals visual inspires us to draw strength and motivation in achieving
it
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
This simple act of visualization of goals will open your mind to things
you didn’t see before; things that can even move you towards your
goal in life.
Physically, it presents you with an avenue to track your progress and
captures the milestones as you move towards achieving it.
And the mind has a lot to do with it. It is a powerful motivator and with
the right stimulus, writing your goals can bring your dreams to reality.
Unconsciously, you are telling your mind, what you want and aiming
to achieve your targets. Instinctively, your thoughts will motivate to
take the necessary steps to realize it.
And it’s easy to do. Just grab a pen and paper, write your goal, and
stick it somewhere you can see it. Now you will be reminded of your
goal all throughout the day.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Meditate And Visualize Success
Meditate, Visualize and Create your own reality and
the universe will simply reflect back to you
--Amit Ray
Meditation is proven to be an integral part of leading a positive and
happy life. When you meditate you put a stop to the stress which
constantly floods your body—you tell your brain to calm down—your
cortisol levels drop, and this keeps you healthy and joyous.
When you visualize your success during mediation, you experience
your end result. This does a few amazing things for you; one of them
is knowing what your end result feels like—if you know what it feels
like in your fantasy, you’ll know when you hit your goal in reality.
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Other reasons for visualization is to send out a signal to the universe
that you know what you want and you’re ready to receive it. Doing this
every day, will also show you how much closer you are getting to this
goal. You’ll see glimmers of it in your everyday life.
Meditating about your dream every day will increase your focus. If
you’re laser focused about what you want, you will brainstorm ways
you can get it, every day. When you move towards this dream with
small goals, you change the world around you to look more like the
dream you envision.
Visualizing your goal is like a little message to your brain and to the
outside world that says, “I want this, I will get this and this is what it
will look like when I do”.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Break Bad Habits
"Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try"
-- John F. Kennedy
If only our bad habits were non-existent, we all would be happy with
ourselves. Unfortunately, that is wishful thinking and it’s not to be.
We need to accept the fact that all of us all have our shortcomings and
some of those have taken roots to become bad habits. People normally
get used to these bad habits that it becomes difficult to eliminate them.
Bad habits can be replaced with good ones with the right plan of action
and will. We all know that.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
What we don’t realize is having the DESIRE to break those bad habits
are influential actions. And have the RESOLVE not to give up.
Bad habits such as laziness and procrastinating will impede your
dreams and progress. Remind yourself to believe in who you are and
that you can do it. Create a journal. Yes! There will be good times but
there will also be challenges. Use the journal as inspiration to cross
another day. Even if you falter, pick yourself up learn and move on
Start with baby steps.
Set a few short terms targets. By accomplishing them, it will give you
the confidence and empowerment to set medium terms targets. And as
you progress bit by bit, keep pushing the limits.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Urgency And Resilience
“I am not what happened to me,
I am what I choose to become"
-- Carl Gustav Jung
People who practice influential actions respect time, which is an
anchor to urgency and reflects positively to your character.
When I was still flying. During our overseas’ layover. Crew would
always meet up to go for a meal together. Needless to say, whatever
time we all agreed, the meet-up time always became elastic. It was
annoying and time wasted. It was unfortunate that some of my ex
colleagues didn’t respect time and lacked urgency.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Urgency also has a way of overflowing your calendar but that’s not
urgency; that’s the fear factor confusing your agenda. Learn to be
smart and flexible to prioritize, “the must do now” and “the can do
later”
Being truly adaptable under significant stress is resilient.
Resilience is not part of our DNA. We acquire it through behavior and
actions. People who exhibit powerful actions usually manifest
resilience in their command and directions.
Building on resilience requires you to be mentally positive about
yourself, having patience, looking at crises with real solutions and
most important, having the ability and confidence to accept things in
perspective.
Couple with the two together, influential actions is decisive.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Don’t Compare Yourself To Others
"Why compare yourself with others? No one in the
entire world can do a better job of being you, than
you"
Comparing ourselves to others, in most situation is healthy. It gives us
a benchmark and motivation to achieve greater experiences. We see
what other people have and decide we want it, and then we can form
a plan to go after it.
Comparison as a motivational tool is a great boost to our productivity
and happiness.
But what happens when we allow it to consume us? Then it becomes
unhealthy and even destructive. Shooting for our goals is one thing,
putting blame on yourself for not being like someone else, is another.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Always remember, you are worthy and you can have anything you
want if you put your mind to it. The next time you compare yourself
to someone else, stop and think what it is you want. What do they have
in their life that you crave in yours? Turning your comparison into the
change that betters your life is a powerful tool. Putting yourself down
isn’t.
Be aware of the comparison conversation in your mind. Are you
comparing yourself and getting excited for your new adventure? Or
are you telling yourself that you should have it already?
At some point this person you are comparing yourself too, decided to
chase that dream/want/personality trait, and you can do the same!
Study this person and what they did, maybe even get to know them so
you can ask them how they did it. Comparison when done right can be
the motivational tool we need to get ahead with our goals.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Focus On What You Have, Not What You Don’t
The earlier you learn that you should focus on what
you have, and not obsess about what you don't have,
the happier you will be. --Amy Poehler
If you always think about what you don’t have you will inevitably get
frustrated, your self-esteem will plummet and you will find yourself
not wanting to get out of bed in the morning, let alone shooting for
your goals.
You can raise your energy and wish for what you want, whenever you
want, but unless you’re willing to focus and go for it you won’t get
anywhere; which is why you need to focus on what you have and use
what you don’t have as a compliment to this.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
For example, you may have a wonderful spouse who you enjoy, but
instead of thinking about that - you think: “I never have time to spend
with anyone.” Right away your spouse becomes a source of
resentment and depression, your better half reminds you of what you
don’t have. This is the worst thing you could do your life partner or
love one. Instead, look at it this way: “My spouse is so wonderful to
be around, I want to spend more time and cherish our memories
together and I will find a way.”
Right away your energy will feel different, you’ll be open to accepting
more time into your life.
There’s even a science to it, the more positive you think the more
open you are to creative problem-solving. Sometimes the solution is
staring us in the face but we haven’t come across it yet.
Staying positive is a sure-fire way of putting ourselves out there to
find the solutions to our problems and get what we want.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Share Your Dreams With, Like-Minded People
“Don't let small minds convince you that your dreams
are too big”
Choosing to share your dreams with like-minded people is important.
It’s only through an association in common interest that we are able
to motivate each other to realize those dreams, no matter how small
or big they are. And the bigger it is, the greater the belief in helping
you to get through it.
And when exploring possibilities, you’ll spark new ideas that could
challenge your mind to a different level of experience. There is much
to gain when you amongst their company
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They will be the force to push you towards it. And when all of that
energy comes together, it’s a force within you that gets exciting, it
adds a new level of confidence and motivation.
Surrounding yourself with like-minded people with common goals also
gives a snapshot of their difficulties and challenges they faced. Their
stories will be equally inspiring and filled with lessons of
encouragement and support which will allow you to learn and
understand yourself better.
Furthermore, when keeping company of like-minded people, you will
have the confidence to ask questions and make positive decisions
because you’ll be around others who believe in the same cause as you
do.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Create Results, Not Excuses
“When I lost all my excuses,
I found my results”
This is could probably be the hardest positive habit anyone would want
to undertake. It’s a commitment that won’t accept any excuses.
But it will be well worth it!
You need to think big and commit big. You need to have mental
strength not to expect to fail. Perhaps a tall order? Only if you allow
your mind to think so.
It’s all about mind setting and believing in yourself and breaking those
limiting beliefs. You need to accept that it’s not going to be easy, but
it’s not going to kill you either.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Yes, there may be some discomfort or pain, but when the results come,
it’s going to be sweet.
So, commit yourself to the short term pain and you will enjoy the long
term sweetness.
In a reality check of ourselves, we all have weakness and
shortcomings. A smart person at all cost will compete to win because
winning matters.
He would play up on the strong qualities to leverage on it. And at the
same time, to outsource his shortcomings to someone who can make
good and perk up those areas.
In today’s context, getting results is a collective effort. Do what you
are good at and outsource what you are not.
A good example, if you need to lose weight and build
not many of us can actually do it on our own. We
technique and discipline. Engaging a personal physical
outsourcing to someone to make good on our weak
positive habits.
up your body,
probably lack
trainer, is like
areas through
Remember, you can have results or excuses but not both.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Affirmations That Will Change Your Life
“I believe in myself and my abilities”
A positive affirmation is a statement you tell yourself. It doesn’t have
to feel true to you; you just have to say it with conviction. Do this
every day and you will see massive improvement in your life.
Some examples of positive affirmations are, “I am wealthy,” “I am
worthy,” or “I am courageous.” You say these things regardless of
your life circumstances. You may be poor but you tell yourself you’re
wealthy, you may be scared but you tell yourself you’re courageous.
Why do people do this?
Positive affirmations do one of two things; 1) you start to believe it
and 2) it starts to become true. This happens for a reason. In
everyone’s brain is something called a Reticular Activating System.
This system filters information we need, and gets rid of the stuff we
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don’t want. When you bombarded this system with positive
information, its ears perk up and it pays attention; suddenly you notice
more of what you want and in turn realize how to get more of it.
Another reason this works is by raising our positive vibrations so we
make a path to the truth, instead of trying to bring the truth to us. As
human beings, we are uncomfortable being reminded of a want, so
your brain will try to make this want true.
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©2017 Philip de Souza, To A Life Of Purpose & Success! http://thechoicewemake.com
Disappointments Are Opportunities To Improve
“Never neglect an opportunity for improvement”
--Sir William Jones
Is the glass half empty or half full meaning?
"Is the glass half empty or half full?" is a common expression, a
proverbial phrase, generally used rhetorically to indicate that a
particular situation could be a cause for optimism (half full) or
pessimism (half empty)
Have you ever had the feeling, despite completing a task, the results
weren’t as good as you expected it to be and you felt lousy?
At some point in our lives, we will face disappointments. No one
escapes it. It even happens to the best of the brightest. Big or small
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it will dent our spirits. What makes the difference, is being prepared
for it and how we manage it, which is more important.
And looking beyond it, disappointments are not the final stop to
progress but rather an opportunity to build on creative optimism to
improve on our previous attempt and that mistakes are only
temporary.
It’s nothing more than a transit stop. And in the progress, making you
wiser and you’ll gain experience.
Everything happens for a reason. And likewise, there’s also a reason
for falling short in expectations. It only encourages you to venture
with a different approach to add more to the glass.
Thank you
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