Being Simple

The Dunn's River Fall

The view of the bottom of the Dunn's River Falls

- where the falls meet the ocean

Climbing the falls

View from the top the falls

Sailing Out...

Do I look like a pro sailer? 
I thought so. 

It turned out we were rescued by Mr. Vidale ( the coach). 

I think I could blame on the afternoon wind. It was too strong:P 

— at Jamaica the Jewel Dunn's River Beach Resort & Spa.

On Dunn's River Beach

I found the fruit ( don't know what it is) in the ocean. 

Thanks Steve for turning it to an interesting object. 

It is a great shot! So artistic! 

It seems like there has a story behind it.

Swimming with Misty

Just figuring out how to create an animated gif file. It's fun. 

Misty is a rescued Mexican dolphin in Jamaica.
 He did not want to return to the deep ocean after healed. 

Free flight tickets

Can not believe that I got the Jamaica trip free flights. It is the first time that I use the points of my credit cards. It's awesome. I even did not know I had that much points.

Have not been on a real vacation for a while and can not wait to take the break!

Go Polka Dots

    
        Have you been Louis Vuitton flagship store on 5th Ave and 57 street in Manhattan recently? I have been there this weekend and I love its new facade and  stunning window displays.

       I especially love this one. It was filled with red and white polka dotted tendrils emanating from the floor and ceiling like stalagmites and stalactites, surrounding a life-size wax statue of Yayoi Kusama herself. Yayoi Kusama is one of the most prominent contemporary artists in Japan. She is well known by using dense pattern of polka dots and nets, as well as her intense large - scale installation.

       It's amazing how one person can own polka dots in such a manner. They are just great fun, enjoy!

Dozens Roses

Wednesday night, 

the dozens roses were waiting outside of my apartment when I came back home. 

I was too busy and worried about they would gone 

before I had a chance to take a decent picture of them.

Fortunately, they are still so beautiful.

Now, I can keep them forever like this...

Baby learning Chinese.flv

 

Soooo adorable...

A frustrated cute baby just wants to have another bun,

 but parents are insisting that he has to finish the request in correct Chinese.

Bo Xilai Scandal

     Aug 9, 2012,  Bogu Kailai stood trail for international homicide. Media published the picture of her in the courtroom. Many people thought that was a double body of her. Some witnesses said that "Bogu Kailai" was very calm during the trail. It seemed like she did not care that much. It was not a normal reaction.

      I have struggled to believe the stories about Bo Xilai and his wife Bogu Kailai that I've read on the internet, . They are too dark for me to comprehend. I think most of people just like me are scratching their heads and wondering what the hell is going on.

       In spite of how much money Bo's family had made" illegally", like those other leaders, one of the "rumors" made my hairs stand on end.  The "conspiracy" tried to convince readers to believe that Bo and Gu involved an airplane crash and assassinated one of their political opponent LiYangFen. China Northern Airline flight 6136 plummeted into sea as it was about to land in the port city Dalian, on China's north-west coast, 10 year ago- May 7, 2002. 112 innocent people were killed in the disaster!

      If they were true, I would lost the hope for China's future. Power hungry paranoid politicians will stop at nothing to protect their interests and their wealth. Bo Xilai scandal may reveal other untold stories among the elite groups and allows Chinese people to see what is behind the curtain. This is why Chinese government is so eager to finish the trail ASAP, and afraid that the ripple effect maybe out of control. We may never know what really happened, at least not now.

Flowers

They are beautiful!

Liu Xiang

         My heart sunken when Liu Xiang fell, even though, I already knew the news earlier. My eyes moisten when I watched him turned back from the athlete tunnel, hopped all the way to the end of the track on his one leg and kissed the final hurdle in his lane. It was very solemn and stirring moment and I heard the commentator's sob.
        It is very disturbing that so many chinese people have criticized him that he and his team put a great show out there and tried to manipulate 1.3 billion disappointed people.  It always easier pointing fingers at others. I maybe naive, or even  there have some truths to their arguments, is it necessary that treat an athlete so cruel? As an athlete, Liu Xiang did his best! There was nothing he could do. We put too much weight on his shoulders more than he could carry. Winning is important in sports , especially in the Olympics,  but more important is the sportsmanship spirit!

Love

We all have the emotional need to feel beloved.

When this need is met,

we move out to reach our potential for good in the world. 

However, 

when we feel unloved, 

we struggle just to survive.

Surprise!

What a surprise! A friend sent me the flowers! They are so beautiful!

Man cycles across the world from China for London 2012

      In just over two years Chen Guanming says he has travelled with his rickshaw about 60,000km through 16 countries, overcoming floods, war zones, mountain passes (included Tibet) and temperatures of -30C.
      His story sounds so fantastical that isn't dissimilar to what Marco Polo did. The 57-year-old from Jiangsu province in eastern China, has the passport, press cuttings and book full of messages from around the world, to testify to his feat.
      His aim, he said, was to "spread the Olympic spirit".
      Original report click here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18980693

      His story reminds me that a few friends and I had an expedition plan to drive Jeeps around the world back to 12 years ago. It was just a big talk. I so admire the man's spirit and his commitment. He made it with his rickshaw. How cool is that! I have to say that he found the most economic way of traveling - no fuel cost, doen't need motels along the way and get great exercise while doing sightseeing. Brilliant! It may become the trend in the future.

Restaurant Week- Morimoto

 It was a summer Friday! Skipped work early and jointed a friend for lunch yesterday.

       I've eaten at Morimoto couple times for dinners. This time I tried the Grilled Wagyu Beef bento lunch box. The box came out pretty, but the tasting was mediocre, nothing was very special. What could I complain? $24 for a fixed menu which included all the dishes in the picture plus a drink- Virgin white lily and a dessert. Lunch like this is a luxurious. 

       Oh, I mustn't forget mention the pretty, psychedelic and  minimalist restroom! Each fully enclosed restroom has its own Toto washlet! Beyond that, was a mirror inflecting floating cherry blooms that continued on to infinity. Why didn't I check this out before? It is the best restroom I have seen so far. Now, I'm thinking about it and regret that I did not try the Toto washlet. Next time!

My Letter to Martin Rogers

I don't believe I wrote a letter to Martin Rogers to comment on his article that posted on Yahoo Sports today. It was so out my character. I must be doped! The truth is that I was fed up by all the nonsenses flooding around the medias about Chinese athletes. Why can't those so call "journalists" just show their respects to the chinese athletes without biased standards. Why do they think those chinese gold metal winners are state trained and brain washed compete machines? Why can't they just admit that all the chinese athletes are the dream pursuers just as other countries'. They sacrificed lot to pursue the glories.

Hi Martin,

A fried of mine asked my opinion about the article you posted onYahoo Sports today- Family kept grandparents' deaths secret from Chinese diver until she won gold medal.

Honest speaking, I don't like the way how you told the story. My personal feeling is that you deliberately used different words to present your biased opinion. If these things happen in other countries, you will present it as heroism and self-sacrifice.

There are no easy ways to won the gold.I'm sure that Wu Minxia and her family sacrificed lot in their personal life. But the truth is that it was a personal choice. Nobody was forced to stay in the training camp. Don't like it, anybody can quit. 

Your article gave the wrong impression to your readers that China was a communist country where people didn't have the freedom to do what they want to do. "In China, athletes are often taken away from their families at a young age and placed in specialist training schools where they practice for hours every day. Wu began training daily at a diving camp at the age of 6. By the time she was 16, she had left home to be installed in a government aquatic sports institute." It was a very interesting choice that you used " are often taken away" and "be  Installed". If you go to boarding school and college, would you use the same words? They are the similar or same situations. Training camps are just more disciplined than others.

I guess you don't know about China. This is not your fault. Chinese government and Chinese people should do a better PR job to improve China's images abroad. This is America, everybody can express their own opinions. I just wish the medias can be more fair on China- related issues. There are many evidences have driven me nuts like this kind of stories.

I am sorry to hear the story about Wu Mingxia's family. But I believe that it was the decision they thought was the best for them. 

Best regards.

Vany

China's new swimming sensations Ye and Sun

London 2012 has been a good Olympics for China's swimming team.

There is no doubt that American swimming team is the dominator in the swimming pool. I was going to see Michael Phelps' performance, but Chinese stoled the limelight at the day one. After Sun Yang,  20, won the gold metal in the men's 400m freestyle in a new Olympic record time and 16-year- old Ye Shiwen rewrote the record books in the women's 400m individual medley.

Some people could not believe what they saw, and have questioned about Ye's speed. Ye beat her own personal best by 5 seconds and swam the final 50m quicker than Ryan Loche. It's rare at the elite level, especially, this is the first Olympic game for Ye. Can you believe that she is only 16, the youngest swimmer of the game? Despite all the controversies over her performance in 400m individual medley, Ye Shiwen, once again, won the gold in women 200m individual medley in a new game record today. I absalutely adore her! As Ye said to reporters, she is still very young and will have a long way to improve.

Sun Yang holds the 1500m freestyle world record. Can not wait to see if he can win and rewrite a new world record time on this Friday.

The bottom line, Chinese have swimming talents too. I still love Phelps though. Hope he can do better.

My sketch

Inspired by the 10 best illustrator bloggers, I created another blog for sharing my design and illustrations. http://vanyhuang.blogspot.com. It's a career-oriented space, I am having fun with it.

For the convenience, I have used markers lot. Actually, the watercolor painting is the best I am good at. I was trained as an artist at my younger age.Oh, I'm missing watercolor painting now. 

Thank Patricia Johnson for sharing the wonderful links. 

http://fashionista.com/2011/06/the-ten-best-fashion-illustration-blogs/05/

My Macarons' Journey - Day Four

     Ignoring the pouring rain outside, I decided to make my macarons anyway. I knew a secret weapon to fight the humidity - my air-conditioner.

 Improvements:
1. The filling came out perfectly this time.
2. Tant pour tant formed nice skin after rested almost 2 hours( I was hiding underneath a comfort cover to keep myself warm)
3. They were not burnt this time.
4. The tasting was close to the macarons , no longer tasted like chewy cookies.

The lessons for next time:
1. Use the correct measurements of all ingredients. My maracons were porous might caused by too much eggs.
2. My macarons are still too flat, I think I might have over beaten the meringue.
3. If I place an other baking sheet underneath as this time, I will need to rise the temperature to 310F.

     I feel I am one step closer to the success.

Palm's Prime Rib

Last night, dear Steve took me out for tasting the famous juicy Palm's Prime Rib steak. I was told that the Prime Rib was not on the Palm's menu, you needed to know about it and had to make the Prime Rib Steak reservation in advance.

After a few hours bowling, Ping-Pong exercising at Lucky strike. I was so ready for munching the steaks.

I guess, Steve wanted to see my reaction. He did not tell me anything besides his promise of how tender and juicy it would be.  So, as a routine, I ordered a salad and french fries as side dish. I love french fries with steaks!

Finished our salad, my stomach was almost full. Steve told me that the man sitting the table next to us was having the prime rib. The man was huge 6.4 F tall, heavy. He was close to finish his plate. In the soft lighting, I saw his plate was full of the blood.

"Am I going to eat so rare steak?" I could not help having some doubts.

Finally, our steaks landed on our table. OMG! I could not believe what I saw. They were massive. I hadn't seen such huge portion size of a dish for one person until then. One dish was enough for two or three people, and we ordered two. The people who sitting next to us busted out laughing. They were very curious to see how a cute and slim Asian girl was going to finish the massive Prime Rib. I was a little bit embarrassed.

I have to say that its less polished appearance was not the picture I had imagined. For the sake of its massive size, I took the picture.

Cut into the steak, put a small piece of it into my mouth. Yummy, the meat melted in my mouth, so tender and juicy. The steak was very simple in taste yet very authentic and not at all greasy or heavy. 


" That is what I want to see, the expression of your first bit! Isn't it great?" Oh, sweet Steve, Thank you for being so thoughtful! 


At the end, none of us finished our dishes. There was no doubt that we got every bit of the money's worth and more, even though, I have no idea how much they charge for it. It was just too big.  I could not able to touch the french fries at all. Steve shouldn't have encouraged me to order the side dish, since he knew the massive size of it. I guess, he was being generous. The manager came out, made a joke out of it" Do you know the restaurant police ? You can not leave until you finish your dishes." What a lovely night! 


Today, I cooked my lunch with the left over steak. I stir fried the red pepper, shiitake mushroom and the sliced steaks. No oil, salt added. It tasted great. I will have steaks 3 days in a raw. Then I will go back to my healthy diet without thinking about steaks for a while.

Mango Lassi

I love mango lassi the smooth texture and lovely color. 

Ingredients: 2 serve

1 large ripped mango

3/4 cup low fat plain Greek yogurt

2~3 teaspoon honey to taste

1/4 cup silk soy milk( optional)

Blending all ingredients on high speed about 30 seconds.

I tried both with and without soy milk. The picture shows without soy milk. it's thicker. I like to have a little bit soy milk. 

2U

My Macaron's Journey- Day three

It is very ambitious for attempting to make Macarons.

I thought it was so easy when the first time I read a matcha macarons' recipe online. I bought all the ingredients and imagined the picture of the pretty little things coming out my oven. After three failed attempts, I realized that it would take a while to learn how to make it. I feel like that documenting the journey will be fun.

This is the picture of my third attempt. It is the best result, so far. 

There is nothing assembling macarons. Too flat and no foot. The filling is too running. BTW, the tasting is not bad at all. Just doesn't taste like Macaraons.

Next time, I will use the 3 days agged egg whites; let the batter form skin longer before placing them into the oven and the oven temperature should be 300F. I hope I can see something I can call " Macarons" even they won't be the perfect shapes.

I believe" Persistence" is the key to a success.

Ketchup Shrimp with Limey Qinoa Salad

Yes, cooking Shrimp with Ketchup! Sometimes, the simplest way is the best way. It is the best tasting shrimps I have had (just my not so humble opinion). The whole dish takes less than 15 minute! Believe me. Tasting so good with little effort. Who needs take-out?

Ingredients: 1 serve


5 jumble uncooked frozen shrimps ( I bought from Trader Joe's, defrost them very fast by using room temperature water, )
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved
one scallion, thinly sliced
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
a few fresh torn basil leaves
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic ( minced)
1 tablespoon Ketchup
half lime ( zest and juice)
Salt / Black pepper to taste


Direction:


1. Bring 3 cups water to boil in a small pot, then add the quinoa. Don't worry how much water you can use. Once the quinoa has been cooked( it's about 10 minutes), drain it. Mix quinoa with basil leaves, cilantro, scallions, tomatoes, lime zest + juice and add pinch of salt+ black pepper to taste. The salad is done.
2. While the quinoa is boiling,  use Non-stick pan, heat up the olive oil and garlic, add the shrimps. cook for about 3~4 minute ( shrimps turn to pink color) . add 2 tablespoon ketchup. quickly stir fry for 30 seconds. The shrimps are done. Place the shrimps on tops of the Quinoa salad. Garnish with a few cilantro leaves. Dinner is ready!

New Running Record- 5.12 Miles in 52 Minutes/2.5 incline

This is the first time I ever run over 5 miles. It's the milestone of my running record. If the gym had been still open, I would have done better than it. Now, I'm wondering what my limit is.

Chicken Korma Recipe (Chicken in Rich Yogurt Curry)

I tried the chicken korma for dinner tonight.  It turned out quite good even though I didn't have all the ingredients. The chicken was so tender and tasty. I paired it up with my broiled asparagus and running yoke boiled eggs as the picture. I definitely will make it again. It's much easier to make than it sounds.
Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs chicken, cut into pieces
2 1/2 tablespoons butter, ghee or oil
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
2 cardamons ( I didn't use it, this time)
2 cloves( I used 2 stars instead this time)
2 bay leaves
4 black peppercorns, lightly crushed
1/2 tablespoon minced ginger
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic

Marinade:

1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Garam Masala( I didn't use it this time)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder or paprika
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt, lightly whipped
2/3 cup fried onions, lightly crushed( optional)

Method:

1. Marinate chicken with Marinade ingredients for 30 minutes to 1 hour ( I marinated it overnight)

2. Heat up wok with 2 1/2 tablespoons butter, stir-fry the items listed under Ingredients and let the whole spices to sizzle a bit until fragrant. Toss in the marinated chicken (with the marinade) and continue to stir-fry for 10 minutes.

3. Turn heat to medium-low, cover the wok and cook for 10~20 minutes, or until the oil slightly separates, chicken is tender enough and you have achieve the gravy consistency that you prefer.

4. Salt to taste, and add some water if the dish appears to be too dry. Dish out and serve with basmati rice or Naan bread.

Cook’s Notes:

Mutton, lamb, beef and vegetable makes delightful Korma as well.

If you prefer, substitute yogurt with cream or coconut milk, or a combination of them.

Need You Now

I've heard it many times and always thought Taylor Swift sung it.

Other Kind of Love

Careless

Everything is as it should be

Batman's rule- No Gun, No Killing...

Last night, I went to see the Dark Knight Rises screening. It was a great movie. I remember that One of Batman's rules is " No gun, No Killing".

The gunman attacked movie- goers at an Aurora, Col., theater during the same movie screening at the same night . What a horrific event. Is it time to take the action to change the gun law? In the United States, it is harder to get a license to drive a car than it is to own a gun. Well, the gun lobbyists can argue that you can kill people by driving a car too.

Work with your expectations and be happy!

12 Things Successful People Do Differently

We all have our own examples of super successful people who we admire. Most of them were not born into success; they simply did, and continue to do, things that help them realize their full potential.  Here are twelve things they do differently that the rest of us can easily emulate.

1.  They create and pursue S.M.A.R.T. goals.

Successful people are objective.  They have realistic targets in mind.  They know what they are looking for and why they are fighting for it.  Successful people create and pursue S.M.A.R.T. goals.

S.M.A.R.T. goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.  Let’s briefly review each:

• Specific – A general goal would be, “Get in shape.” But a related specific goal would be, “Join a health club and workout 3 days a week for the next52 weeks.”  A specific goal has a far greater chance of being accomplished because it has defined parameters and constraints.
• Measurable – There must be a logical system for measuring the progress of a goal.  To determine if your goal is measurable, ask yourself questions like:  How much time? How many total?  How will I know when the goal is accomplished? etc.  When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued efforts required to reach your goal.
• Attainable – To be attainable, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work.  In other words, the goal must be realistic.  The big question here is:  How can the goal be accomplished?
• Relevant – Relevance stresses the importance of choosing goals that matter.  For example, an internet entrepreneur’s goal to “Make 75 tuna sandwiches by 2:00PM.” may be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, and Timely, but lacks Relevance to an entrepreneurs overarching objective of building a profitable online business.
• Timely – A goal must be grounded within a time frame, giving the goal a target date.  A commitment to a deadline helps you focus your efforts on the completion of the goal on or before the due date.  This part of the S.M.A.R.T. goal criteria is intended to prevent goals from being overtaken by daily distractions.

When you identify S.M.A.R.T. goals that are truly important to you, you become motivated to figure out ways to attain them.  You develop the necessary attitude, abilities, and skills.  You can achieve almost any goal you set if you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps.  Goals that once seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable, not because your goals shrink, but because you grow and expand to match them.

2.  They take decisive and immediate action.

Sadly, very few people ever live to become the success story they dream about.  And there’s one simple reason why:

They never take action!

The acquisition of knowledge doesn’t mean you’re growing.  Growing happens when what you know changes how you live.   So many people live in a complete daze.  Actually, they don’t ‘live.’  They simply ‘get by’ because they never take the necessary action to make things happen – to seek their dreams.

It doesn’t matter if you have a genius IQ and a PhD in Quantum Physics, you can’t change anything or make any sort of real-world progress without taking action.  There’s a huge difference between knowing how to do something and actually doing it.  Knowledge and intelligence are both useless without action.  It’s as simple as that.

Success hinges on the simple act of making a decision to live – to absorb yourself in the process of going after your dreams and goals.  So make that decision.  And take action.  

3.  They focus on being productive, not being busy.

In his book, The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferris says, “Slow down and remember this:  Most things make no difference.  Being busy is often a form of mental laziness – lazy thinking and indiscriminate action.”  This is Ferris’ way of saying “work smarter, not harder,” which happens to be one of the most prevalent modern day personal development clichés.  But like most clichés, there’s a great deal of truth to it, and few people actually adhere to it.

Just take a quick look around.  The busy outnumber the productive by a wide margin.

Busy people are rushing all over the place, and running late half of the time.  They’re heading to work, conferences, meetings, social engagements, etc.  They barely have enough free time for family get-togethers and they rarely get enough sleep.  Yet, business emails are shooting out of their smart phones like machine gun bullets, and their daily planner is jammed to the brim with obligations.

Their busy schedule gives them an elevated sense of importance.  But it’s all an illusion.  They’re like hamsters running on a wheel.

The solution:  Slow down.  Breathe.  Review your commitments and goals.  Put first things first.  Do one thing at a time.  Start now.  Take a short break in two hours.  Repeat.

And always remember, results are more important than the time it takes to achieve them.

4.  They make logical, informed decisions.

Sometimes we do things that are permanently foolish simply because we are temporarily upset or excited.

Although emotional ‘gut instincts’ are effective in certain fleeting situations, when it comes to generating long-term, sustained growth in any area of life, emotional decisions often lead a person astray.  Decisions driven by heavy emotion typically contain minimal amounts of conscious thought, and are primarily based on momentary feelings instead of mindful awareness.

The best advice here is simple:  Don’t let your emotions trump your intelligence.  Slow down and think things through before you make any life-changing decisions.

5.  They avoid the trap of trying to make things perfect.

Many of us are perfectionists in our own right.  I know I am at times.  We set high bars for ourselves and put our best foot forward.  We dedicate copious amounts of time and attention to our work to maintain our high personal standards.  Our passion for excellence drives us to run the extra mile, never stopping, never relenting.  And this dedication towards perfection undoubtedly helps us achieve results…  So long as we don’t get carried away.

But what happens when we do get carried away with perfectionism?

We become disgruntled and discouraged when we fail to meet the (impossibly high) standards we set for ourselves, making us reluctant to take on new challenges or even finish tasks we’ve already started.  Our insistence on dotting every ‘I’ and crossing every ‘T’ breeds inefficiency, causing major delays, stress overload and subpar results.

True perfectionists have a hard time starting things and an even harder time finishing them, always.  I have a friend who has wanted to start a graphic design business for several years.  But she hasn’t yet.  Why?  When you sift through her extensive list of excuses it comes down to one simple problem:  She is a perfectionist.  Which means she doesn’t, and never will, think she’s good enough at graphic design to own and operate her own graphic design business.

Remember, the real world doesn’t reward perfectionists.  It rewards people who get things done.  And the only way to get things done is to be imperfect 99% of the time.  Only by wading through years of practice and imperfection can we begin to achieve momentary glimpses of the perfection.  So make a decision.  Take action, learn from the outcome, and repeat this method over and over again in all walks of life. 

6.  They work outside of their comfort zone.

The number one thing I persistently see holding smart people back is their own reluctance to accept an opportunity simply because they don’t think they’re ready.  In other words, they feel uncomfortable and believe they require additional knowledge, skill, experience, etc. before they can aptly partake in the opportunity.  Sadly, this is the kind of thinking that stifles personal growth and success.

The truth is nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises.  Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow emotionally and intellectually.  They force us to stretch ourselves and our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first.  And when we don’t feel comfortable, we don’t feel ready.

Significant moments of opportunity for personal growth and success will come and go throughout your lifetime.  If you are looking to make positive changes and new breakthroughs in your life, you will need to embrace these moments of opportunity even though you will never feel 100% ready for them.

7.  They keep things simple.

Leonardo da Vinci once said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”  Nothing could be closer to the truth.  Here in the 21st century, where information moves at the speed of light and opportunities for innovation seem endless, we have an abundant array of choices when it comes to designing our lives and careers.  But sadly, an abundance of choice often leads to complication, confusion and inaction.

Several business and marketing studies have shown that the more product choices a consumer is faced with, the less products they typically buy.  After all, narrowing down the best product from a pool of three choices is certainly a lot easier than narrowing down the best product from a pool of three hundred choices.  If the purchasing decision is tough to make, most people will just give up.  Likewise, if you complicate your life by inundating yourself with too many choices, your subconscious mind will give up.

The solution is to simplify.  If you’re selling a product line, keep it simple.  And if you’re trying to make a decision about something in your life, don’t waste all your time evaluating every last detail of every possible option.  Choose something that you think will work and give it a shot.  If it doesn’t work out, learn what you can from the experience, choose something else and keep pressing forward.

8.  They focus on making small, continuous improvements.

Henry Ford once said, “Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small pieces.” The same concept configured as a question:  How do you eat an elephant?  Answer: One bite at a time.  This philosophy holds true for achieving your biggest goals.  Making small, positive changes – eating a little healthier, exercising a little, creating some small productive habits, for example – is an amazing way to get excited about life and slowly reach the level of success you aspire to.

And if you start small, you don’t need a lot of motivation to get started either.  The simple act of getting started and doing something will give you the momentum you need, and soon you’ll find yourself in a positive spiral of changes – one building on the other. 

9.  They measure and track their progress.

Successful people are not only working in their job/business, they are also working on it.  They step back and assess their progress regularly.  They track themselves against their goals and clearly know what needs to be done to excel and accelerate.

You can’t control what you don’t properly measure.  If you track the wrong things you’ll be completely blind to potential opportunities as they appear over the horizon.  Imagine if, while running a small business, you made it a point to keep track of how many pencils and paperclips you used.  Would that make any sense?  No!  Because pencils and paperclips are not a measure of what’s important for a business.  Pencils and paperclips have no bearing on income, customer satisfaction, market growth, etc.

The proper approach is to figure out what your number one goal is and then track the things that directly relate to achieving that goal.  I recommend that you take some time right now to identify your number one goal, identify the most important things for you to keep track of, and then begin tracking them immediately.  On a weekly basis, plug the numbers into a spreadsheet and use the data to create weekly or monthly trend graphs so you can visualize your progress.  Then fine-tune your actions to get those trends to grow in your favor.

10.  They maintain a positive outlook as they learn from their mistakes.

Successful people concentrate on the positives – they look for the silver lining in every situation.  They know that it is their positivity that will take them to greatness.  If you want to be successful, you need to have a positive outlook toward life.  Life will test you again and again.  If you give in to internal negativity, you will never be able to achieve the marks you have targeted.

Remember, every mistake you make is progress.  Mistakes teach you important lessons.  Every time you make one, you’re one step closer to your goal.  The only mistake that can truly hurt you is choosing to do nothing simply because you’re too scared to make a mistake.

So don’t hesitate – don’t doubt yourself!  Don’t let your own negativity sabotage you.  Learn what you can and press forward.

11.  They spend time with the right people.

Successful people associate with people who are likeminded, focused, and supportive.  They socialize with people who create energy when they enter the room versus those who create energy when they leave.  They reach out to connected, influential individuals who are right for their dreams and goals.

You are the sum of the people you spend the most time with.  If you hang with the wrong people, they will negatively affect you.  But if you hang with the right people, you will become far more capable and successful than you ever could have been alone.  Find your tribe and work together to make a difference in all of your lives.  Tribes by Seth Godin is a great read on this topic.

12.  They maintain balance in their life.

If you ask most people to summarize what they want out of life they’ll shout out a list of things like: ‘fall in love,’ ‘make money,’ ‘spend time with family,’ ‘find happiness,’ ‘achieve goals,’ etc.  But sadly, a lot of people don’t balance their life properly to achieve these things.  Typically they’ll achieve one or two of them while completely neglecting the rest.  

By http://www.marcandangel.com/

Much Better Now By Salon Alpin.

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