Make a Wish List

Most of us know of New Year’s Resolutions, where one sets intentions for the year ahead. But too often, people make their resolutions     1     — “I will no longer eat biscuits left at my desk”— and then feel unhappy. In the cold month of January, the last thing you need is to     2     your energy further by setting up a series of battles with yourself. And if you break a resolution, you feel     3    , which is a rubbish way to start the year. What you need instead are things to look forward to.

So instead, try a wish list. This involves writing down 100 things you would like to do in the year ahead. The items can be enormous or tiny, ranging from “Climb Everest” to “buy a new pencil sharper”. The main thing is that at some point it has     4     to you as something that you would like to do.

The key here is — write it down.

Do you feel any resistance to the ideas? If so, ask yourself why. What is wrong with     5     what you would like to do? Try not to say to yourself: “I can’t I don’t have the money/time/energy/skills.” Just write it down.

It helps to be     6    , so rather than “Get outdoors”,     7     a place you would like to visit. And take your time when creating it — a wish list is not built in a day. Think about it, polish it and     8     it.

Finally, you have your list. And what a work of beauty it is. Here are all the things that you would like to do. Remember to     9     them up where you can see them; let yourself consider how they can be accomplished. You’ll be amazed that so many of your dreams can be realized though the simple trick of writing them down and     10     to them.

2 . On Jan. 3, a netizen (网民) nicknamed “Programmer Humor” published a short story on his micro-blog. It said that there was an old lady who swept nearly every inch of his Internet company. When she passed by a programmer, she took a look at the codes on the programmer’s computer and kindly reminded him, “Be careful, the stack is overfilled!”

Certainly, it is a casual and fictitious (虚构的) story made up by the micro-blogger. However, no one would have guessed that the short blog would eventually cause the first great Internet meme (网络快速爆红现象) of 2011 in China. Suddenly, the mysterious “Sweeping Old Lady” is showing up nearly everywhere and reminding professionals of their mistakes. From 8 a. m. on Jan. 5, some netizens collected stories of the “Sweeping Old Lady” and found she had appeared to give advice in 150 kinds of careers. A netizen even said he had met with a similar situation in real life.

Actually, the “Sweeping Old Lady” is not new figure, but is based on the “sweeping monk (和尚)”in Louis Cha’s famous Kung fu novel of “Tian Long Ba Bu”. The “sweeping monk” is an old monk and does the lowest class of work in Shaolin Temple, but he is actually the No. 1 master in the noel both in Kung fu and in the study of Buddhism.

The “Sweeping Old Lady” is also a great modest master. Lots of netizens wish that they could have such a lady beside them to give them precious suggestions at a key time.

Although there may be 1,000 “Sweeping Old Ladies” in 1,000 people’s minds, it cannot prevent the “Sweeping Old Lady” from becoming the most popular figure on the Internet.

“Programmer Humor” said he is just a programmer in the real world and once he saw the story about the “Sweeping Old Lady,” he wrote it down in his micro-blog because it was funny. He never knew who the original writer of the story was and never thought the story could be so popular.

Why Mindset Mastery Is Vital to Your Success

The single most important factor influencing a person's success, whether personal or professional, is mindset. What you think about has a direct impact on your behavior, and not the other way around. A seemingly small thing that makes a huge difference, mindset accounts for the primary distinction between those who succeed and those who do not. And, if you are serious about achieving success in any area of your life, you must learn to master yours.

To successfully accomplish any worthwhile feat, a person must first feel capable of achieving it. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Mindset is essential to developing healthy self-esteem. It is an important tool that affects our daily self-dialogue and strengthen our beliefs, attitudes and feelings about ourselves. So, become the gatekeeper of your mind and plant seeds of positivity rather than criticism and doubt.

Besides, mindset is critical to drive. Drive is the constant determination to achieve an important objective. It includes the process of developing a vision for success and engaging in sustained effort over time. Without drive, achieving most goals would be difficult at best. With the power to direct focus and encourage commitment to higher purpose, mindset can easily urge someone to push past comfort zones. People with drive are self-motivated and strive to accomplish more.

No matter what goal you seek to achieve, the path to your success is sure to include some challenges. When facing an extreme hardship, a person may feel justified in bowing to defeat. For them, it can feel like an easy road. If you want to get through them, however, you will need to develop thick skin and learn to lace each challenge head on. Yet, this is where mindset plays a critical role. The capacity to move through the fire, to get knocked down and not knocked out, is the proof to the power of a strong mindset.

Are you ready to command your results? If so, make a conscious decision to master your mindset and reach for greater success in the new year and beyond.

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