|
Bring on the bad news
A common problem for people who are unsuccessful is that they slavishly avoid bad news. If such news has to be received, they prefer to put it off as long as possible. Often, they prefer to dodge it altogether.
Successful and competent people aren't afraid of bad news. Indeed, they positively seek it out. Of course, like everyone else, they'd prefer it if no problems existed. But if there are challenges to be dealt with, the successful want to know about them as soon as possible.
That's because a large part of winning is about overcoming such problems. In almost any field you choose to compete in , it's almost certain that a large number of obstacles will be thrown into your path. The way to beat such obstacles is not to ignore them. It's to know as much as you can about them so you can formulate a strategy to defeat them.
Indeed, often, bad news will lead you to stop wasting resources on a futile effort. If you are pursuing a particular goal, and some insurmountable problem stands in your way, wouldn't you prefer to know about it sooner rather than later? That way you can invest your limited time and effort into more worthwhile pursuits.
If you find yourself finding excuses to avoid bad news, force yourself out of this habit. Yes, it's painful, that sinking feeling in your stomach when you find things aren't going as you hoped. And yes, such pain is difficult to invite into your life. But in this situation it's absolutely necessary.
Bring on the bad news. Seek it out. Speculate on its possible sources.
If such news fails to surprise or stop you, you're already a long way down the path towards your ultimate goal.
 | Finding your life's purpose | | Many people find life a bit meaningless. They fall into a routine of living day-to-day, with little to look forward to. Each moment seems to slip by into the void, with little achieved and no feeling of moving forward. |  | It’s not easy being happy when you’re not in control | | The basis for happiness is having control over your own existence. This is a simple and obvious statement, yet who among us has not ceded such control before? To assume responsibility for our lives can be a struggle, often it’s easier just to let outside forces take over. | | Don't get sucked in by the "it's all an emergency" mindset | | What is one of the biggest obstacles standing between most people and what they want? Other people of course. |  | No matter what you do, some people won't like you | | When I was a teenager, I worked out that convincing people to like me was a useful skill to have. I tried all sorts of strategies and experiments for doing just that. Soon, I became a virtual expert. | | How to motivate yourself without the mental crutch of positive thinking | | A few people have written in to say they think I'm too hard on positive thinking. I've been criticized because I haven't supplied an alternative for self-motivation. Fair enough. Here's how to motivate yourself without having to resort to the problem-filled strategy of positive thinking. | | Sometimes, irrational behavior can be explained by attention-seeking | | Why do people do so many things that are so obviously stupid? Why do they take drugs, commit crimes, ruin good relationships, and spend money they don't have? | | Be willing to crash and burn sometimes | | We all have trouble dealing with failure. We play so many mental tricks on ourselves in order to pretend we aren't avoiding it, that they can sometimes become all consuming. At night, while asleep, we have terrible nightmares of others disapproval, or the world rejecting us. | | From adversity comes greatness | | The challenges of the world sometimes seem ready to engulf us. Difficulty appears to stare out from every angle. But hardship and misfortune aren't always the evils they appear to be. |  | Ten good rules-of-thumb for investing | | I've been investing money for about 14 years now and have had more success than failure along the way. I've also read a large number of books and articles on good investment strategy. Here are my rules-of-thumb if you want to get ahead in the investment game. | | The secret of wealth is working easier, not harder | | Want to get rich? Just work hard and you will is the conventional wisdom. But the conventional wisdom is wrong. Since the dawn of humanity, the road to wealth has been through working easier, not harder. |
New articles are being added all the time, so make sure you bookmark Paul's Tips and come back.
|
|