People who form their opinions of themselves based of how others are doing fall into a dangerous trap; do not base your own happiness on how others are faring. Compare yourself to your own past performance rather than that of others to measure your growth and happiness. The process of comparing oneself to others is addictive, and you must free yourself from such unhealthy contrasts in order to find true happiness.

Getting your foot in the door is an important, necessary first step towards getting the job you want. Once you are “in”, your colleagues will protect you if you work hard and you will have the same opportunity to compete with others. The biggest step you can make in your progress towards your goals is to get your prospective employer to let your foot in the door, even if only a little.

The most successful people in the world have found new ways of expressing themselves professionally. To be continually successful, it is vital for you to reinvent yourself and find new, fresh approaches to the world. Settling into a single way of doing things is dangerous as it makes you predicable, and therefore easier to replicate and ultimately replace.

My wife and I enjoy taking classes. We’ve taken classes in meditation, various exercise classes, acting classes, different types of yoga, Eastern religion, and even classes that simply deal with the nature and meaning of various things. Several years...

At least once every three to four weeks, my telephone rings with a call from someone I know looking to make money selling something on the Internet. For the most part, these calls are from people looking to sell books, courses, personal membership sites, horoscopes, mortgages, credit cards and other associated products. Some of these people are well known, others are not.

Many people fall prey to the false attractiveness of the ego, allowing it to dominate their lives and hinder their progress. To conquer your ego you must establish a sense of what is and is not correct, and introduce discipline to your business and personal lives. This means your work will result from true effort rather than cutting corners, and you will be respected for the ethics that govern your actions.

One of my neighbors in Malibu is John Paul Dejoria. According to Forbes, he is worth over 4-billion dollars. Dejoria started a shampoo company called Paul Mitchell with $750 while homeless and living in his car. That company now does close to 1-billion...

Originally published in the 1920s, The Multiple Mentality Course by Harry Kahne describes a series of exercises leading to the development of greater mental power. The author, who was at one time known as The Incomparable Mentalist and The Man with the...

In my entire career, I have not come upon a single instance in which a candidate left their firm within one year of starting there.  Putting a person in a job where they are likely to stay is more difficult than it may sound.  In order for someone...

The Lazy Man’s Way to Riches by Joe Karbo is one of the best-selling books of all time. You may have seen the advertisement for this book in Popular Science and other magazines in which it ran for years. The advertisement went into some detail as...

You have the power to become the person you are capable of being. Although you will face external obstacles in the process of becoming this person, but your biggest challenges will be internal. Do not allow others to keep you down, but instead decide to excel on your own; in order to achieve your goals, direct all of your energies towards being the best person of which you are capable.

Your perceptions can make you either happy or unhappy. Most peoples’ perceptions, however, are clouded by assumptions that frequently aren’t even true. To change your life, change your assumptions about the world around you; suffering lies in the perception of the fact, not the fact itself.

Too many people approach their job searches from the perspective of their own needs. They need a job, they need to make more money, they need flexible working hours and benefits. This is not the way to get a job. In fact, this “me-too” method of job seeking is unlikely to get you anywhere.

Arrogance is a trait of the weak and insecure; one of the biggest career mistakes you can make is to act as though you are better than those around you, broadcasting to the world that you are afraid for people to see you as you actually are. Instead, try to hone the skill of making people empathize with you and want to help you. Empathy is a much more beneficial quality to instill in your peers than anger or resentment.

I am ashamed to admit it, but I do not even own a house key. I’ve lived in the same house for years and never owned one. I leave the doors of my house open. I leave my car doors unlocked and the keys in my car when I am at home. My wife bought me...

You must have access to complete information for success in your life. In life and business, many people will try to take advantage of your lack of pertinent information about a certain issue. Whenever you are making an important life decision, in any area of your life, make sure you have all of the available information; you can only succeed when you have all of the facts.

In this article Harrison discusses the power of unifying force in any organization. The success of your career will largely be determined by your ability to be a unifying force rather than a divisive force in the organization you work for, or lead. The world wants people who unify rather than do the opposite. People who succeed are those who bring together rather than drive apart. In your life and career, the ability to bring together and unify is one of the strongest possible skills you can have. The greatest companies, leaders, and others bring people together and do not drive them apart. You should ask yourself what you can do to bring people together at work and in your job. You should lessen friction rather than create friction. You should do everything you can to make the people around you get along together.

Russell Conwell’s fantastic Acres of Diamonds speech argues that the means for success do not require extensive searching, but are all around us. Opportunity is everywhere if you know where to look. Many times we miss opportunities that are right in front of us because we are looking in the wrong places.

You must find a job about which you are passionate, perform it with dedication, and make sure this dedication is visible to those around you. When you devote yourself to a job that you love, you open the doors for greater happiness and fulfillment in your career and life. Employers and colleagues notice those who demonstrate passion for their jobs; they naturally gravitate towards these types of people, and avoid those who take a more perfunctory approach to their work.

Bruce MacLelland’s Prosperity Through Thought-Force discusses how one man, whose life was accustomed to failure and who did not have strong abilities, was able to make an incredible change in his life using certain principles. The book is inspiring...

A few years ago, I was on an airplane and was seated next to a woman who appeared to be in her mid-40s. It turned out she had started a well-known business and was married to a well-known business tycoon. For most of the five-hour flight we went back...

Life is a gift and we need to make the most of it now. What does hard work and success mean if we never enjoy our lives?

Recently, my 5-year-old daughter finished applying to kindergarten. I never had to apply to kindergarten; instead, I just went to the local school in my neighborhood in Detroit that anyone could attend.  In California, there are charter schools and...

Anything that is not managed will eventually deteriorate. Set goals and develop a road map to achieve them, as goals function as a roadmap, forcing you to take action and follow it through. Self-management provides you momentum to tackle other obstacles moving forward. The best businesses and people are well managed, and so must you be.

Direct your efforts to creating the most long-term value in everything you do, rather than taking from people every chance you get. The people who have and achieve the most are those who contribute and give the most; true power and success lies in doing so, and will forever change your life and career for the better.

Even with technological advances, newspaper ads are still the best source for jobs and a very smart place to look. Regardless of your experience level, it is vital that you include newspapers in your job search if you are to be thorough. Many employers still rely on newspapers, but fewer people use them in their searches, which makes them a very effective tool.

You need to control your work environment. People who are successful in their work and personal lives are generally able control their environment, and resist being controlled by it. Do not take on more work than you can handle, and make sure to competently handle the work that you do take. An organization’s success depends on its control over its assets, and your own success similarly depends on your ability to control your environment rather than the other way around.

One of the greatest risks in your career and life is of becoming a commodity; at that point you are no different than anyone else in the market, and employers can mint more workers just like you. To set yourself apart from this process, you must become entrepreneurial and circumvent what others around you are doing. Examine situations around you, and figure out how to create unique efficiency and value. Work for companies that are constantly innovating, and approach your own career in terms of constantly improving efficiency.

You have far more assets than you realize or comprehend, and you need to devote your career and life to making the most of them. The more assets you use, the more you can achieve, meaning that the potential for achievement in your life is limitless. Make the absolute most of all of the assets that you have, as do the most successful individuals and businesses.

In this article Harrison talks about releasing the lack that you feel, in order to reach your full potential. If a sense of lack dominates your thinking, it will affect your interaction with the world and how the world sees you. There are many areas of your life where you are coming from a position of lack. Your ability to release this lack and go forward with your life can create a tremendous sense of peace and more natural accomplishments in your world. The amount of lack that people see out there is profound and it has a massive impact on their lives. According to Harrison, the most successful people in the world see the world as a place of opportunity and not lack.

To be happy, you must create the life that you want on your own terms. Structure your life in a manner that is fulfilling to you, rather than a vision of what you want to be or a vision that outside influences have created for you. The inability to design your own life is one of the worst tragedies that can befall you. When you design your own life you are in complete charge of your life’s events, and you set the rules any way you choose.

One of the most fundamental laws in the human and animal kingdom is that you must contribute to the world in order to survive. Species that do not contribute effectively to the world are typically eliminated by evolution. People who do not contribute...

Anyone can be up when things are going well, but the real challenge comes when things are not. Do not look at problems, which are inevitable for any person or business, in a negative light; think of them instead as challenges, lessons, or opportunities. There is a silver lining to be found in every problem, and finding that silver lining will enable you to grow.

Informal networks can make a massive difference in the quality of not only your job search but also your life. Too few people take the time to understand the importance of informal networks and referrals when it comes to getting your foot in the door...