In Walter Isaacson’s terrific biography of Steve Jobs there’s a wonderful passage that describes “The Apple Marketing Philosophy,” three clear, concise points drawn up right when the company was incorporated, in early 1977, that still ring true today. Jobs had recruited Mike Markkula, a 33-year-old marketing and finance man, to help prepare a business plan for the nascent company. As Jobs told Isaacson, Markkula “emphasized that you should never start a company with the goal of getting rich. Your goal should be making something you believe in and making a company that will last.” Markkula, Isaacson writes,

wrote his principles in a one-page paper titled “The Apple Marketing Philosophy” that stressed three points. The first was empathy, an intimate connection with the feelings of the customer: “We will truly understand their needs better than any other company.” The second was focus: “In order to do a good job of those things that we decide to do, we must eliminate all of the unimportant opportunities.” The third and equally important principle, awkwardly named, was impute. It emphasized that people form an opinion about a company or product based on the signals that it conveys. “People DO judge a book by its cover,” he wrote. “We may have the best product, the highest quality, the most useful software etc.; if we present them in a slipshod manner, they will be perceived as slipshod; if we present them in a creative, professional manner, we will impute the desired qualities.

Thus the three principles might be summed up as (1) understand and serve the customer better than anyone else, (2) forget about everything else, and (3) make sure every little thing you do serves (1), always and everywhere. It’s a remarkably simple, clear, purposeful vision, and maybe that’s one reason it seems to have stayed with the company more than 30 years later. As Isaacson writes, “For the rest of his career, Jobs would understand the needs and desires of customers better than any other business leader, he would focus on a handful of core products, and he would care, sometimes obsessively, about marketing and image and even the details of packaging.”

Think of how many businesses of every size and in every field could benefit from hewing to such principles.

Steve Jobs is great storytelling about a hugely important and colorful life, but it’s also one of the great leadership books, full of nuggets like this one. Read it.

Everyone, at some point of his or her life, has dreamed of being somebody special, somebody big. Who hasn’t fantasized about being the one who hits the game-winning homer? Who hasn’t dreamed of being the homecoming queen? And how many times have we dreamed of being rich, or successful, or happy with our relationships?

Often, we dream big dreams and have great aspirations. Unfortunately, our dreams remain just that – dreams. And our aspirations easily collect dust in our attic.

This is a sad turn of events in our life. Instead of experiencing exciting adventures in self actualization, we get caught up in the humdrum of living from day-to-day just barely existing.

But you know what? Life could be so much better, if only we learned to aim higher.

The most common problem to setting goals is the word impossible. Most people get hung up thinking I can’t do this.

However, if everyone thought that, there would be no inventions, no innovations, and no breakthroughs in human accomplishment.

Remember that scientists were baffled when they took a look at the humble bumblebee. Theoretically, they said, it was impossible for the bumblebee to fly. Unfortunately for the bumble, bee no one has told it so. So fly it does.

On the other hand, some people suffer from dreaming totally outrageous dreams and not acting on them. The result? Broken dreams, and tattered aspirations.

If you limit yourself with self-doubt, and self-limiting assumptions, you will never be able to break past what you deem impossible. If you reach too far out into the sky without working towards your goal, you will find yourself clinging on to the impossible dream.

Try this exercise. Take a piece of paper and write down some goals in your life. Under one header, list down things “you know you can do”. Under another header, write the things “you might be able to do.” And under one more, list the things that that are “impossible for you to do.”

Now look at all the headers strive every day to accomplish the goals that are under things “you know you can do”. Check them when you are able to accomplish them. As you slowly are able to check all of your goals under that heading, try accomplishing the goals under the other header-the one that reads “you might be able to do.”

As of the items you wrote under things I could do are accomplished, you can move the goals that are under things that are “impossible for you to do” to the list of things “you might be able to do.”

As you iterate through this process, you will find out that the goals you thought were impossible become easier to accomplish. And the impossible begin to seem possible after all.

You see, the technique here is not to limit your imagination. It is to aim high, and start working towards that goal little by little. However, it also is unwise to set a goal that is truly unrealistic.

Those who just dream towards a goal without working hard end up disappointed and disillusioned.

On the other hand, if you told someone a hundred years ago that it was possible for man to be on the moon, they would laugh at you. If you had told them that you could send mail from here to the other side of the world in a few seconds, they would say you were out of your mind. But, through sheer desire and perseverance, these impossible dreams are now realities.

Thomas Edison once said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Nothing could be truer. For one to accomplish his or her dreams, there has to be had work and discipline. But take note that that 1% has to be a think-big dream, and not some easily accomplished one.

Ask any gym rat and he or she will tell you that there can be no gains unless you are put out of your comfort zone. Remember the saying, “No pain, no gain”? That is as true as it can be.

So dream on, friend! Don’t get caught up with your perceived limitations. Think big and work hard to attain those dreams. As you step up the ladder of progress, you will just about find out that the impossible has just become a little bit more possible.

When you consider that low self-esteem is usually the result of negative messages being absorbed by the subconscious, it makes sense that feeding your mind more positive messages can make a powerful difference!

What stops most people is the uncertainty of what to say, and how to word affirmations for optimal effectiveness.  Below you”ll find some simple tips to help you write effective affirmations for improving your self-esteem.

1) Present tense.  First, it’s helpful to word affirmations in present tense, not future.  You wouldn’t want to say, “I will learn to love myself” because that makes it sound like you”ll get around to it ‘someday.”  Instead you could say, “I choose to love myself.”  The wording of that affirmation does two things:  it empowers you with the addition of the words “choose to,” and it puts the time frame in the present moment.

2) Believable.  At the same time, your affirmations should be believable to you.  If you tried to say, “I am a wonderful person with a lot to offer the world,” you may not really believe that, so your subconscious mind might reject it.  Instead, try to focus on a process rather than an end result in your affirmations.  Say something like, “I am learning to embrace my uniqueness and share it confidently with others.”

3) Use the right tone.  When you recite affirmations, you can do so aloud or just mentally, but you should focus heavily on the TONE you use.  Rather than saying the words without emotion like you were reading a newspaper – really inject an element of love and tenderness into them.  Your subconscious mind picks up on the emotional aspect of what you”re saying more than the actual words.  Imagine the difference between saying the words, “I really love myself” with a tone of love and compassion, or sarcasm.  Which do you think would have a greater impact on your subconscious mind?

4) Repetition.  Once you’ve got some affirmations formed to work on your self-esteem, try saying them several times a day.  Remember, your subconscious mind is constantly playing back old, negative messages – so you want to counteract those as much as possible.  Keep reciting your more positive thoughts on a regular basis – especially when you become aware that you”re thinking negatively about yourself.

5) Give it time.  Finally, remember that it will take time to change those old, negative messages in your mind to something more positive.  It may take a few weeks or even months before you”ll notice an obvious difference in how you feel, and you may be tempted to think it isn’t working.  Keep with it, and you will begin to see a difference eventually!  Most likely it will be a gradual change.  Little by little you”ll start feeling more positive, and notice that you”re feeling a bit happier and lighter.  That’s your signal that it’s working!

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Daily Positive Affirmation: The Feel-Good Factor

Since ‘daily’ was the word of focus in my last post, here I am with another positive affirmation post stressing the need to consistently practice constructive thoughts. As discussed earlier, daily positive affirmation phrases do have an optimistic influence over your subconscious mind. This is a widely acknowledged belief system with hardly any apprehensions regarding its credibility. Affirmations emerging out of a constructive belief system and positive faith can significantly affect life in general.

Basically, positive affirmations refer to trivial thoughts you mutter in your head to enhance confidence and self esteem. These phrases give an individual energy, attention, vitality and sharp focus. All these make him/her more determined to overcome obstacles and became perceptive to opportunities. Forced to face a world filled with negativity and stagnant thoughts, an individual loses the inner creative zeal and often perceives negative thoughts as normal. This is where daily positive affirmations come in handy. An individual who constantly engages himself in a daily positive affirmation will not only experience ecstatic positive mental outlook towards life, but also enjoy overall psychological growth.

A daily positive affirmation is known to follow the fundamental ‘cause-&-effect’ model. Consider your mind to be a printer system. The data you feed it will decide the outcome. If you are unhappy with your life, just feed your system with different thoughts and you’ll likely receive new results. A daily positive affirmation acts as new information for your brain to work upon.

The Techniques

You can practice your daily positive affirmation using any technique you like. The foremost requirement is that you should be comfortable while doing it. However, there are some universal techniques to help newbies get started. Here are some methods to channelize positive energy towards you:

1. The Mirror Technique: This method involves standing in front of the mirror and repeating your chosen daily positive affirmation phrase. It is imperative that you stand upright and look straight into your eyes while the process lasts. This method is highly recommended for people with low self esteem as it helps them overlook their bodily defects and focus on the inner confidence.
2. Positive Writing: You can write down some positive phrases or your optimistic expectations from life. Maintain a personal diary where you can write a daily positive affirmation. Once you are done, be calm and acknowledge the fact that your positive thoughts are resonating throughout the universe to bring your desires to fruition. Conversely, you can write your negative thoughts and throw the paper in the trash bin.
3. Meditation: Besides calming your inner self and healing emotions, meditation also helps build a positive outlook. This involves sitting quietly and searching your subconscious mind for insights, help and guidance. You can then proceed to repeat your daily positive affirmation several times. Remember, breathe normally and restrict your limb movements to a minimum.

A daily positive affirmation is an effective approach to feed your system with positive energy. With little effort, you can change the way you look at the world. So, when it comes to positive affirmations, you are the only one who can:

• Decide what goes into your mind as thoughts
• Perceive reality in a new way
• Create yourself a better future

Undoubtedly, a persistent daily positive affirmation can bring about a complete overhaul of your personality – one that will be immediately noticed and admired by your family and co-workers alike. Eventually, no one controls your life except you. So go ahead and take the reins in your own hands.

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