Do you wake each morning filled with joy and happy to be alive? Do you face the coming day with excitement and anticipation? Are you happy with your life and how you have progressed over the years? If the answers to these questions are yes then you do not need to read any further. If, however, you wake each morning feeling trepidation, worry or just plain boredom then read on. If your life is not where you want it to be and you are dissatisfied with your progress then this article is for you.

There is a way to achieve your dreams. There is a way to find happiness. There is a way to uncover the winner that you have always been. You are about to wake the winner that has been sleeping within you.

Perhaps as an adult you have tried to better your life many times only to hit road block after road block. This is a common occurrence for those of us who wish to create better lives and happier environments. Sometimes going or what you want can stir up strong negative emotions and beliefs, leaving you feeling like a failure or loser.

However, do you realise that you were born a winner? You are already a winner! You have achieved the seemingly impossible since the day of your birth. You learned to walk upright on two legs regardless of the fact that you fell many times trying. You learned an unbelievably complex language so well that you don't need to think about what you're saying, all you need to do is hold an image in mind and you can instantly vocalise it! You can say things to yourself in your mind and instantly express those thoughts on paper in the form of words and sentences that were once merely strange symbols to you. Without any conscious effort you can read a book and understand every word. Don't you think it's time to reclaim your birth right and, once again, become the winner that you truly are and apply it to every are of your life?

You were born with tremendous self-belief and self-confidence. You never thought for a moment that was anything that could stop you from having, doing or being anything you wanted. As you got older adults started to tell you that you had boundaries and limitations and slowly but surely you began to believe them. Thus as you progressed in your journey to adulthood you started to learn how to lose in the game of life. You lowered your expectations and began to believe that you were incapable of achieving certain things, should not expect to get what you want and on some level that you are undeserving of success, happiness and achievement.

In order to escape these feelings of disappointment, dissatisfaction and low self-esteem you learned escape mechanisms. Some escape mechanisms involve smoking, drinking alcohol, sex, watching TV, seeking thrills etc. These habits are merely learned behaviour designed to cope with the feelings that drive them which are also learned. None of these states are natural to you!

Your natural state is of bliss, joy and wonderment - just look at a baby! This state of joy with no self-imposed feelings of limitation is the driving force behind success. Before you can achieve success in any endeavour you must uncover at least some of this natural state and remove those negative feelings and beliefs that have been programmed into your mind.

The Personal Development Industry and Self Improvement field have developed numerous methods for removing your self-imposed limiting beliefs in order to uncover the real unlimitedness and joy within you.

The tools available to create inner change range from hypnosis and sound therapy, at one end of the spectrum, to visualization and energy work, at the other. In order to eliminate your own resistance and the negative thoughts and feelings which are holding you back from the life you want you must seek the appropriate tools. There are a myriad of techniques, tools and instruments to help you in this objective. You are a self-fulfilling prophecy. We all create our own worlds. You are creating your tomorrows today!

To achieve success and uncover your true inner joy it is extremely important to monitor your self-talk - the inner dialogue that is constant throughout your day. By doing this you can identify your own self-defeating views about yourself and your world. Watch how you are talking to yourself about yourself and the people around you. If something goes wrong do you immediately blame others, yourself, the world or even God? Do you expect to succeed or fail? Look at your views and identify what your self-talk is telling you about your self-imposed limitations.

Once you have identified these false limitations that you hold you can then seek the appropriate method, technique or tool to eliminate it. Hold the intention that you will identify the thoughts and feelings that are holding you back and then seek some guidance on the best way to remove these inner blocks to your success.

You are manifesting your life on a daily basis and can truly have all that you desire if you take the time to clean-up the garbage in your own mind. Clearing unwanted beliefs is relatively easy these days as there are numerous cutting-edge technologies available. Hypnosis has progressed to a stage where a phobia can be cured with one session, binaural beats, light and sound machines, subliminal messages, the Sedona Method etc., have all been developed to make change happen quickly, easily and in some cases effortlessly. The problem is not having a way to remove these limitations of the mind the only problem you have now is identifying them.

Begin today to watch exactly how you speak to yourself internally. This is the fastest way to understanding how you view yourself and your world. Look for the negative beliefs you hold. Having identified your mental limitations you can get some self improvement tools and begin to change your own ineternal beliefs. Your life will change is ways you can only imagine and you will become the winner you were born to be!

You know, there's much more to playing music than learning scales and chops. There's a whole other side to playing music that's in your mind and your heart. As a musician, if you create your own personal development plans and follow them, you'll be able to do much more than you every believed you could.

Setting Goals

This is first and foremost. You probably don't remember, but one year ago today, you didn't play nearly as well as you do now. You also hadn't heard some of the music that's influenced your playing. There were ideas out there in the universe that you couldn't have even imagined one year ago today.

So, where would you like to be next year on this day? Nobody ever gets anywhere without setting goals. Decide what it is you'd like to achieve in the next year, and then take the steps you need to achieve it.

But, don't set unrealistic goals for yourself. This is a real confidence killer. "I want to become proficient in six more orchestral instruments in the next year." Whoah, put on the breaks a minute! Think about what you realistically can do; take steps toward your goal, and each step along the way will be joyous and inspiring. You can do what you want, but some things take longer than others.

Keep An Open Mind

Every musician has a subconscious checklist. This checklist says, "I am this" and "I am that." It also says, "I can do this" and "I can't do that."

Everybody can benefit from exploration. Get out and check out new music you've never heard before. If you're a jazz player, get some hip hop records. What do you like and what don't you like about them? What is similar and what is different? You'd be surprised how different styles of music mesh together into something else. Don't restrict yourself.

If you're a classical musician, go the library and check out some CDs of music from some other part of the world. If at first it sounds jarring, give it a good listen. Maybe you can bring something unique to your music from a faraway place.

Turn Mistakes Into Learning Opportunities

One thing that holds everybody back, musician or otherwise, is focusing on failure. Regret is a terrible thing. When you make a mistake, reflect on it. Think about what went wrong and how you can make it go better next time.

This is especially important with your performances. When you have a bad show, you just want to go somewhere alone and stew about it. You might want to give the whole thing up and get an office job. But, it's really important not to think about it that way.

Whether you have a good performance or a bad performance, reflect. Think about what went well, and what went badly. What got the most audience response, and what could you maybe skip next time. This is all part of honing our performance skills.

Relax And Have Fun

Every performer has a certain mental zone that he or she gets into before the big show. This helps them play at their best and always give a good performance.

Even after years of performing experience, many people are nervous onstage. In interviews, professional musicians often say that this is the case. Everyone needs their own technique for relaxing before the show. If you're nervous, you just won't get your best results.

For example, when you play, imagine that you are in your room practicing. In your room, you want to do your personal best for yourself. If you fudge a note, it's YOU that has to listen to it. Imagine that you're back there in your room, and do your best for yourself.

Chops Aren't Everything

Finally, technique isn't everything. It's just a tool that helps you realize the sounds you hear in your head. Remember that heart, energy and soul are just as important.

We all play to the beat of a different drum, so find out what works best for you, and make that your personal development plan. In the words of the Beatles, "There's nothing you can do that can't be done..."

Brainstorming or mind mapping is one of the most useful tools available to leaders. Through brainstorming a whole load of ideas can be generated in a comparatively short period of time. The effectiveness of any brainstorming session depends on some simple rules. So what are those rules?

Rule 1: Suspend Judgement

The purpose of brainstorming is to generate ideas rather than evaluate and discount ideas. For this to happen, it is essential that those participating in the session avoid making judgements on the ideas generated until the group has run out of ideas.

Rule 2: Free Wheel

Brainstorming is about being creative. Creativity is what unlocks brilliant ideas and produces the spark that gives organisations competitive edge. Key to unlocking these brilliant ideas is creating an environment, where ideas, no matter how wild or off the wall are welcomed and encouraged.

Rule 3: Focus on Quantity

Your brainstorming session should be all about producing a large volume of ideas. When you focus on quantity you energise and more and more gets created.

As an example, I attended a workshop recently where participants were asked to come up with as many ideas as they could for uses for a coffee mug. We only had a matter of minutes to do this but despite this 48 ideas were generated. The reason for this is that everyone was just focusing on generating as much as they could without thinking about whether they were good or bad.

Rule 4: Build and Improve

Another important aspect of effective brainstorming is to look at ways of building on the ideas of someone else. For example participant A says something that sparks an idea from B and C and so on.

You may be asking yourself how this can be utilised in organisations. Some potential areas where you could use brainstorming include:

• Generate a new product name

• Generate ideas for an article that you are writing like this one

• To come up with a new company slogan

• To carry out a SWOT analysis

• To problem solve

• To generate options for decision making

So if you want to generate more ideas in a shorter time, start brainstorming.

How often have you heard people complain that managers are too remote and don't really know what is going on? Probably a number of times, but have you ever stopped to think about the skills, traits and values of the successful managers? Here are my 9:

1. Productive

The most successful managers are highly productive. They get things done. You have probably heard people say that if you want something done give it to a busy person. Another way of looking at it is to say that if you want something done give it to a highly productive manager.

2. Set challenging goals

Successful managers love to be stretched, challenged and thrown into the unfamiliar situations. Setting challenging goals is about setting goals that that are achievable but will require a big push to make it happen. It might be a sales target, a reduction in waste or increased productivity.

3. Express ideas fluently

It is no good being great at generating ideas unless you can express them. Getting your message across is essential. Those that excel as managers focus on this core area.

4. Communicate assertively

Confusion often arises between what is assertive as opposed to aggressive communication. When a manager communicates assertively they respect both themselves and others. They have a knack of getting results without impacting adversely on the relationship.

5. Technically competent

Sometimes it easy to fall into the trap of believing that technically competent equates to being the technical expert. Technical ability is just one facet of a manager and a manager who is competent will often include others in the team who are the technical experts.

6. Lead the team

Teams look for the manager to set the direction, monitor progress, take responsibility and help unclear blocks. In other words they look to their manager to provide leadership.

7. Loyal and supportive

It is easy to think that when someone becomes successful as a manager they forget about the past. In my experience it is quite the reverse. Successful managers are very loyal to the organisation, their team and peers. They also want to help others to achieve success.

8. Positive approach to problems

Problems and challenges are part of day to day life as a manager. Successful managers accept this and stay positive. They see these problems as an opportunity to develop and grow.

9. Prepared to make sacrifices

Becoming a successful manager requires a willingness to make sacrifices. This can include giving up free time to get additional qualifications or a willingness to relocate to secure a promotion. Alternatively it might be a willingness to wait to get resources for a project because there is a more pressing need elsewhere in the organisation.