Steer Your Life to a Happier Balance Every Day

1.  Decide to be successful. Success is a decision. Make the decision to improve.
Become an architect of your destiny. Write down your clear goals and action plans, and act on them!
Success is best achieved when a person is flexible about the ways of accomplishing his goals.

2.  Develop options for yourself.
Our happiness largely depends on the number of options we have developed for ourselves.
The more choices we have, the more likely that one of them will enable us to achieve our goals.
We are as free as the number of developed options we have available to us.

3.  Organize your life by priorities. We generally accomplish considerably more when we have a plan. Failure to plan is a plan to fail. First draw a plan with a ‘broad brush’ and then ‘zoom in’ on the details. Learn to use forces around you to your advantage. Look for the right wind. Careful planning will help you to learn to gently sail to your goals around obstacles, not bumping and crashing into them. At the end of the day, your health and relationships are what matters most of all. Make sure the people you love and those that love you are among your priorities.

4.  Program your mind for success. We are constantly moving in the direction of our dominant thought. We see and create what we think about. To program your mind for success, read, watch and listen to materials that will support your success. Figure out what you do better than most people and keep developing these skills. Learn something useful every day. Make a list of books you need to read or listen to and prioritize it. Read for an hour a day on topics that interest you.

5.  Find a way to steer your life to a happier and more productive balance every day.
Generally, if you keep doing what you have been doing, you’ll keep getting what you have been getting. The world is constantly evolving. It you want to move forward you have to try new things. Focus on a goal that is just outside of your comfort zone. When you reach it, set a higher goal just outside your new comfort zone once again. Keep regaining your balance in the changing business environment. The biggest risk is usually to do nothing. Think of how to make the change process enjoyable and how you will reward yourself.

6.  Take good care of your health. You are your most valuable asset. Appreciate your health. Get an adequate amount of sleep, eat healthily, and avoid harmful addictions. Energy is needed to drive us in the direction of our goals and dreams. The more energy you have, the happier and more productive you will be. Exercise in moderation. Use your time and energy efficiently. Having a happy family, good friends and a career, depends on our health. Make it your number one priority.

7.  Gradually develop success habits. Future success depends a great deal on a person’s habits. Efficient habits bring success over time. Successful business people are very good role-models. Develop behaviors and habits that lead to success. The sooner you start adopting efficient habits, the further you’ll go in life. One gram of action is more productive than a ton of anxiety.

8.  Network for success. A person essentially is the combined average of the five people he spends most of his time with whether he wants that or not. Spend more time with healthy, optimistic, success-minded people. Keep improving your collaboration effectively across your networks. Look for synergy. Keep improving your communication skills and adapting your communication style (both oral and written). Create allies.

9.  Develop your creativity, be entrepreneurial and proactive. Anticipate the coming changes and be prepared for them. Learn to use the power of market forces for achieving your goals. Keep improving your flexibility and adaptability. Find a way to turn every stumbling block into a stepping stone. Write down good ideas and accumulate them. Keep updating your self-development plan.

10.  Make every day of your life a masterpiece. Allocate 20-30 minutes every day for analyzing your performance. SWOT yourself. Review your day in your imagination before you go to sleep and incorporate the lessons learned into your experience. Have a clear plan for the next day. Consider each day as a precious, never-to-come-again gift. Think more about how to create a better future, rather than to regret something from the past.

Summary:
*  Decide to be successful
*  Develop options for yourself
*  Organize your life by priorities
*  Program your mind for success
*  Steer your life to a happier and more productive balance every day
*  Take good care of your health
*  Gradually develop success habits
*  Network for success
*  Develop your creativity, be entrepreneurial and proactive
*  Make every day of your life a masterpiece


Vocabulary

to steer (to)  -  направлять в какое-л. русло, управлять (автомобилем и т.п.)
decision  -  решение
to make a decision  -  принимать решение
to improve  -  улучшать
destiny  -  судьба
clear  -  ясный
action plan  -  план действий
to achieve  -  достигать
flexible  -  гибкий
about  -  в отношении
way  -  способ, путь
to accomplish  -  достигать
to develop  -  разрабатывать
option  -  вариант
largely  -  существенно
to depend  -  зависеть
number  -  количество
likely  -  вероятно
to enable  -  позволять
available  -  иметься в распоряжении
priority  -  приоритет
generally  -  обычно
considerably  -  существенно
failure  -  не способность
to fail  -  потерпеть поражение
Failure to plan is a plan to fail.  -  Неумение планировать  -  это план провала.
broad brush  -  широкая кисть
to zoom in  -  навести резкость
to your advantage  -  себе на выгоду
gently  -  плавно
to sail  -  идти под парусом
obstacle  -  препятствие
to bump  -  натыкаться
to crash  -  сталкиваться, ‘разбиваться’ (о что-то)
At the end of the day… - В конечном счете…
to matter  -  иметь значение
Make sure…  -  Убедитесь…
mind  -  сознание
dominant thought  -  доминирующая мысль
to support  -  поддерживать
to figure out  -  выяснять
list  -  список
to prioritize  -  расставлять приоритеты
Generally…  -  В целом…
to evolve  -  развиваться
to move forward  -  двигаться вперед
outside  -  за пределами
to reach  -  достигать
to regain  -  вновь обретать
environment  -  среда
enjoyable  -  приятный
to reward  -  вознаграждать
to take care  -  заботиться
valuable  -  ценный
asset  -  актив
to appreciate  -  ценить
adequate  -  адекватный
amount  -  количество
harmful  -  вредный
addiction  -  зависимость
to drive  -  вести
in moderation  -  умеренно, без фанатизма
great deal  -  в значительной степени
efficient  -  эффективный
over time  -  в течение каког7о-то времени
role-model  -  образец для подражания
to adopt  -  прививать (привычку)
further  -  дальше
anxiety  -  беспокойство
to network  -  устанавливать полезные контакты
essentially  -  существенно
combined average  -  среднее арифметическое
collaboration  -  сотрудничество
synergy  -  взаимное усиление
ally  -  союзник
creativity  -  креативность
entrepreneurial  -  предприимчивый
to be proactive  -  действовать предвосхищая события
to anticipate  -  предчувствовать
flexibility  -  гибкость
adaptability  -  приспособляемость
stumbling block  -  obstacle
stepping stone  -  промежуточная цель
to update  -  обновлять (информацию)
self-development  -  саморазвитие
masterpiece  -  шедевр
to allocate  -  отводить (время или деньги)
performance  -  функционирование
SWOT yourself.  -  Analyze your strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
strength  -  сильные стороны
weaknesses  -  слабые стороны
threat  -  угрозы
to review  -  делать обзор
imagination  -  воображение
to incorporate  -  включать (в состав чего-то)
consider  -  рассматривать
precious  -  ценный
gift  -  дар
rather  -  в большей степени
to regret  -  сожалеть

Alex Kritskiy, a private English teacher, Ph.D., 38-067-391-76-62