Achieving Success: Top 7 Tips For Living A More Meaningful & Fulfilling Life

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A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life~Charles Darwin

I believe it’s in our nature to want to please everyone we can, make them happy, help them. Make them proud of us. However, when we do this, our life often suffers. Our loved ones suffer. The time we are given suffers. Our work and sometimes our health suffers because of it. We need to stop pleasing everyone and start pleasing ourselves. Start living our own life. A more meaningful, fulfilling life that we can look back on and say, “I did my part for society, but I also lived a fulfilling life”. Often we get wrapped up in things that don’t matter. Time wasters if you will. As I sometimes call it, “time eaters”. Time eaters are people who have one agenda and one agenda only. Themselves. They could care less about your agenda.

There are only so many minutes and hours in a day. Before you know it, a week, a month, a year has past. You will look back and say, “what have I accomplished”, “where has all the time gone”. Before you know it, you’re sitting on a rocker at a ripe old age wondering, did I really live my life to the fullest. We don’t want to say “I didn’t live my life, others lived my life”.

I’m all for helping others and making a huge difference in others lives. Making an impact in other lives is a great feeling. Knowing that you have impacted someone for the better is an awesome feeling. Knowing that you gave back to society is a wonderful feeling. However, we only have one life to live. What’s it going to take for us to realize that we’re only on this beautiful earth for a short time. We don’t want to live with any regrets. When our time comes, we want to ask ourselves, did I make a difference, did I love passionately and did I live a fulfulling life. Our answer should be Yes to all of them.

Here are 7 Tips for living with NO regrets-Living YOUR Life:

1) Don’t Buy Happiness-If you believe money is the secret sauce to happiness, consider this: According to a University of Illinois study, the Forbes 400 (the wealthiest billionaires in America) and the Maasai tribes of East Africa (simple, pastoral herdsmen) exhibit the same levels of happiness, regardless of their monetary differences. In plain English: Money doesn’t buy happiness.

2) Get Together With Friends & Loved Ones Often-Could getting together and having fun save your life? Maybe so, when you consider that loneliness is a life-threatening condition that can raise your risk of heart disease and depression. It helps to have a close group of friends, but it’s also important to interact with people outside that circle. Every kind of positive interaction, from smiling at the waitress to chatting with a stranger can boost your mood.

3) Weekend Get Aways-Spare some time away for a weekend trip. This WILL boost your mood and productivity.

4) Make The Little Things Count-We are often on auto-pilot and don’t appreciate the small things in life. Hey, you woke up in a warm home, you have hot water, you have food in the fridge, you have someone that loves you. Stop for a moment and appreciate how blessed you truly are.

5) Pursue Your Passion-Do WHAT you LOVE. Stop living for others. Life’s too SHORT.

6) Forgive Yourself-Focus on the PRESENT, FUTURE,  NOT the past.

7) Live In The Moment-Be PRESENT in ALL you DO! Look that person in the eyes and pay attention to what they are saying. Stop looking around when someone is talking too you. Treat that person as if they were the only human being alive. Kneel down and kiss your child and tell them you love them more than life. Lay on the floor and play checkers with your best friend. Without being PRESENT you’ll lose out on 90% of your life.

I’m John R. Salkowski, Founder of Achieve Success Academy, Leading Authority on Peak Performance, Achieving Greater Success, Overcoming Adversity & Finding Your WHY Power, Speaker, Entrepreneur, Retired Cop and Survivor of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)

I can be reached via email at John@JohnSalkowski.com for questions and Speaking Engagements.

Achieving Success: Top 6 Steps in Overcoming The Fear of Success

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Fears are nothing more than a state of mind. Napoleon Hill

 

The one quote that resonates with me that has changed my mindset in overcoming fear is, “Do the thing you fear & the death of fear is certain. We all have a fear of something. The majority of the population fears success. Why? I believe people fear success because it not only takes hard work, discipline, dedication and perseverance it also takes courage to overcome the 6 Fears of Success. Below are the 6 Fears that play an intrical part in NOT achieving great things. Follow the solutions, work on them, implement the strategies and encourage failure. You will fail along the way but know that failure is a stepping stone to your success. Once you conquer the 6 Fears of Success, your success is virtually guaranteed.

 

The Six Fears of Success and How to Overcome them.

Determine which Fear is holding you back and resolve to take it back.

1. Fear of Failure. This is the greatest of all fears. Fear of failure keeps people from trying new ventures. The fear that they may fail therefore choosing not to take risk.
Solution: Do your homework, however do not over analyze to where it causes paralyzes. Once you learn more about it, be decisive in your actions. It requires a reframe that failure is a normal stage in achievement.

2. Fear of Embarrassment. People who fear embarrassment have typically experienced a time in their childhood that was humiliating in which they filed the memory and said to themselves, “I will never feel that way again or put myself in that position.” Solution: Practice self-talk, self-affirmations. “I can do this, I can accomplish this, I can achieve this”, are a few examples.

3. Fear of Rejection. People who fear rejection have experienced the feeling therefore resulting in low self-esteem. Solution: Realize that rejection is about the other person. It’s about their own insecurities. Know that you are a great person and that rejection is a part of life. Do not let rejection stop you from achieving your dreams. It takes a healthy ego to know that rejection is a normal part of life.

4. Fear of Hurting Others. There is a saying, “If you fail to plan, your plan will fail.” Solution: People who fear hurting others need to plan so that they can continue to meet the needs of others and still pursue their dreams. Make sure the people in your life know how much your Goal(s) mean to you. Do your homework.

5. Fear of Success. Some people have low self-esteem for whatever reason and may fall into the category that they aren’t worthy of success. They fear how their life will be different if they succeed. They decide to stay in the same old place to avoid their own potential for greatness. Solution: Positive Self-Affirmations, Self-Talk can do wonders in reprogramming your thoughts and mindset.

6. Fear of The Unknown. I call these people the “half empties”. There glass is always half empty as opposed as half full. People who fear the unknown usually catastrophize and fear the worst instead of counting on the best. Solution: I am a true believer of what will be, will be. Things happen for a reason. Place your fears in the hands of a higher power and understand what is meant to be will be.

I’m John R. Salkowski, Founder of Achieve Success Academy, Real Estate Entrepreneur, Leading Authority on Achieving Greater Success and Overcoming Adversity, Retired Cop and Survivor of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)

I can be reached via email at John@JohnSalkowski.com for questions and Speaking Engagements.

 

Achieving Success: The Top 3 Qualities That Are Essential For Your Success

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In order to be successful, these three words are paramount to your success. If you don’t live and breathe by these three words, your success is virtually impossible.

Here they are: Passion, Push, Perseverance

Passion:

Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you ~ Oprah Winfrey

My definition of Passion is the burning desire you have inside you to achieve more, be more and do more.  Whatever you are passionate about should keep you up at night. Whatever you are passionate about should be on your mind 24hrs a day, 7 days a week. Passion is wanting success just as bad as you need the air you breathe. This is Passion.

Push:

I always wanted to be the best I could be at whatever I did. I didn’t want to be the number one golfer in the world. I just wanted to be as good as I could be. I work hard, I push myself hard, and I probably even expect too much of myself ~ Greg Norman

You must push yourself to the breaking point when you want to achieve something. If you want something so bad you must be willing to run through a brick wall to get it, achieve it, accomplish it. Sounds crazy, huh. Well guess what, if you don’t feel this way then you are leaving it all on the table for someone else to grab. If you cheat yourself one time, this will carry over into everything you do in life. For example, if you are in the gym and you have a goal of doing 30 minutes of cardio and you quit after 20 minutes, you just cheated yourself. Cheating in the smallest task will carry over in to all you do in life. To push you need discipline. By cheating yourself, you are failing to create discipline in your life. In order to succeed in anything you do, you must have the discipline to push through the feeling of giving up. It takes 21 days to create or break a habit. Over the next 21 days, push yourself to the limit in everything you do and watch and see what happens in your life.

Perseverance:

Football is like life – it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority~ Vince Lombardi

Perseverance is the steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. You must possess the mentality that failure is no option. You must encourage failure. You must persist through failure because failure is guaranteed along your journey. Learn from it, embrace it and persist through it. If you lack perseverance you will never be successful. Did you know that Thomas Edison, the worlds greatest inventor failed over 10,000 times. Where would this world be had he quit?

I’m John R. Salkowski, Founder of Achieve Success Academy, Businessman, Entrepreneur, Motivational/Transformational Speaker, Real Estate Expert, Retired Police Officer, Survivor of PTSD (Post traumatic Stress Disorder) and the World’s Leading Authority on Overcoming Adversity and Achieving Success.

I can be reached via email at John@JohnSalkowski.com

To Your Success,

John

The Top 10 Laws to Achieve Success and Win the Game of Life

The Top 10 Laws to Achieve Success and Win the Game of Life

1) Be Decisive in all you do: The decisions you make will define your destiny

2) Stay Laser Focused: By focusing on something you want or want to achieve, it becomes like a magnet that pulls you and the resources you need to achieve them

3)Goals: This is a MUST: Write down all the goals you want to achieve each night before going to sleep. The goals must Specific, Measurable, Time Bounded.

4)Planning: Without a plan you will wander like a boat without a rudder

5)Surround Yourself with Positive Successful Influential People: Follow their lead and DO NOT Re-Invent the wheel

6)Encourage Failure: Failure is a MUST if you want to succeed. Embrace it and learn from it

7)Take Action: Do what is necessary each and everyday to get you closer to your prize. Without Action, you will remain in the same spot

8)Inspect what you Expect: Your attention toward your goals will increase Productivity

9)Reward Yourself: You MUST reward yourself once you accomplish your goal. Positive Reinforcement

10)Commitment and Perseverance: Commit yourself, hold yourself accountable, stay focused on your mission

Achievers aren’t born, they are made. They are made just like anything else, through hard work. Hard work is the price you’ll have to pay to achieve your goals/dreams you desire~John R. Salkowski

I’m John R. Salkowski, Founder of Achieve Success Academy, Retired Police Officer, Speaker, Entrepreneur, America’s Leading Authority in Helping PTSD Sufferers Overcome Their Challenges and To Achieve The Success They Deserve so They Can Live The Life They Deserve!

Please leave your comments below.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Why You Need A Mentor

PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is becoming an epidemic amongst cops and military personnel. You see it all over the news, in the newspapers by our returning heroes. This disorder is affecting hundreds of thousands of lives across this country and we as a society need to do something about it before it becomes worse than it already is.

To often when someone experiences the symptoms of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) they turn to different avenues of trying to overcome it. Let me give you a few examples of what I mean: Turning to self medicating or drug abuse: whether prescription drugs, alcohol or any other illegal drug to soothe the feelings of anxiety, depression, anger, irritability and any other feelings they are experiencing. Self medicating doesn’t help. It makes the symptoms worse which in turn leads to the person acting out. What do I mean by acting out? The self medicating or drug abuse only enhances the feelings that one is going through. This leads to the next epidemic of PTSD sufferers. Committing suicide and often homicide. Why?

Why are Police Officers, war veterans and military personnel not seeking help from the powers to be? The command staff, human resources department, mentors. Because we are trained that asking for help is weak? We are trained to act as if we have no emotions. Nothing is supposed to bother us. Who are they kidding? This thought process makes me sick. Makes me want to vomit! The machoisms, the egos in these professions need to be checked at the door. We are human beings for christ sake. Things do bother us? When they bother us, we need to be trained to seek help and not be afraid of what people will think of us. Instead, they throw you out like a bag of trash in a dumpster. They get rid of you. It’s easier to turn your back on a problem then face it head on. This mentality is for the cowards of the world. Police Officers and Military Personnel are their to help, correct? There to serve our communities and country, correct? Then why is it that when one of us needs help, they turn their back on us?

Don’t rely on help or assistance within these organizations. Why rely on them for help when they need help more than you do. My advice to you is to seek out a mentor or a mentoring program. A person or place you can go to confide in to helping you through your road bumps or adversity. Seek out a person or program that you can trust. Use your gut instinct, listen to your inner-voice when seeking out a mentor or a mentoring program. Seek out someone who has been there and done that is now in a place where you want to be. Seek out a mentoring program that has proven results. If you’re afraid of what people may think then keep it to yourselves. It takes a man to admit we need help. It takes a man to admit that you are at your breaking point. It takes a man of courage and strength to admit this. Don’t let anyone tell you different and if they do turn around and walk away. This type of person you don’t need in your life anyway.

Trust me on this please. You are important. You matter in this world. There are people who love and care about you. For all you parents out there, do it for your kids. They need you more than anyone or anything. Do it for them.

I’m John R. Salkowski, Founder of Achieve Success Academy and survivor of PTSD, Businessman, Speaker and Self Made Man. If I can overcome PTSD and achieve the success I have accomplished so can you. Believe in yourself because no one else will.

Please leave your comments below and let’s start making a difference in this world by helping our Hero’s live happy, healthy, successful lives.

Masterminding: The Success Principles Behind It

What is a Mastermind? How can it help you in succeeding?

A mastermind group is simply an alliance of two or more individuals dedicating themselves to a specific goal. The mastermind model is the power of organized knowledge expressed through intelligent efforts. Masterminds facilitate this power.

But is information organized power? Surfing the web for a particular answers can cause a deluge of conflicting, ambiguous information that does nothing to increase one’s knowledge.

A Mastermind is a “coordination of knowledge and effort, harmonies in spirit, between two or more positive, success-minded people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.”

Some of the smartest people in all walks of life from CEO’s, Realtors, Police Officers, Alcoholics, Small Business Owners, Suffers of PTSD and such have attributed all of their success due in part to this term we call ‘Masterminding.’”

Masterminding has been around since the early 1900’s. This idea of mastermind groups has grown and evolved to become a successful tool of successful individuals. A Game-Changer if you will.

The benefits of having a supportive mastermind group are plenty:

1.You have a group of people available to help you succeed.

2.You get the benefit of differing perspectives, input and feedback.

3.Your mastermind team can bring resources and connections to the table you might not have had on your own.

4.You receive accountability and inspiration from the group, thus enabling you to maintain focus in achieving your goals.

It was once said by the famous founder of success principles, Napoleon Hill ,“No two minds ever come together without, thereby, creating a third, invisible, intangible force which may be likened to a third mind.” In other words, your ability to create great things in this world we live in is increased by having that invisible “third mind” or what we call, ” The Mastermind Group”.

Creating a mastermind group does not have to be difficult. But I will share this, being in several mastermind groups myself, you must have people in this group that want the same thing you do. No matter what it is. The key ingredient is “Like-Minded, Positive, Goal Oriented/Goal Achieving, Motivation, Inspiration, Failure is No Option mentalities.

There are two basic types of mastermind groups:

1) One focused on the success and vision of one individual

2) One focused on helping everyone in the group.

When creating/building the perfect mastermind group both in mind.

You would be amazed at how willing many like-minded people are there to help you when asked. I believe it’s an honor to be asked for advice or an opinion. It means that you are trusted, respected and admired. Did you ever ask someone for advice and feel in your “gut” that they were mis-guiding you? I have. Steer clear of these individuals. Ask the people that have already accomplished what you so desire to accomplish.

When someone mentions that a mastermind group is forming, they mean a group of dedicated people who want to see themselves and others succeed and achieve great things in their lives.  These groups can meet in person, over a free tele-conference line, online chat rooms or webinars.

I contribute 85% of my success to the power of masterminding. I pay thousands of dollars a year to surround myself with like-minded, success oriented, goal achieving, positive people. By taking this step, it has created a life I never thought I could have.

However, you must act! Your actions will educate yourself in the laws of success. Take action today and start creating the life you truly want and deserve. I don’t care who you are, we all want the great things this wonderful life has to offer us.

Remember this Quote by the great Napoleon Hill, “Analyze the record of any man who has accumulated a great fortune, and many of those who have accumulated modest fortunes, and you will find that they have either consciously, or unconsciously employed the ‘Master Mind’ principle.”

PTSD: Overcoming Tragic Events or Thoughts to a Fulfilling Successful Life

The more and more I learn about our returning Troops, the more and more I resonate with how they’re feeling. They are coming home from the battlefield, the front line if you will, where they confront, see and hear tragedy day in and day out. Witnessing their fellow comrads being maimed or killed. Witnessing death and destruction as if it were just part of normal life.

They are immediately rushed back into society or the normal life as we call it. How are they suppose to transition from a KILL zone to the supposely NORMAL zone? Are they being properly prepared for their arrival back home? Is their brain being re-wired/re-trained for the normal world? Is there protocol on re-inventing these young men and woman so they can enter society as a civilian?

The latest article I read was about a tragic murder of a 19 year old Southern California girl by one of our Troops. In the article it said, ” I was trained to kill. I come home. I can’t adjust to regular civilian lifestyle.” “I spun out of control. I needed help.”  Unfortunately with the way I was trained, you know to react to threats is to neutralize threats. …Even with someone I love.”

The tragedy of it all is that not only did an innocent yound woman lose her life, a young man lost his as well.

Why isn’t PTSD on the dashboard of the minds of the men and women in charge of our returning troops? Why isn’t there more of an impactful debriefing process? This MUST change! If it doesn’t, we are going to hear more tragic stories of suicides and homicides by our protectors, our heros.

In my estimation, I would venture to guess that the suffers of PTSD are soothing their emotions by drugs and alcohol as opposed to other more positive outlets.

My mission is to change this. Suffering PTSD myself, undiagnosed and diagnosed for more than 10yrs, I too experienced the horrible thoughts, nightmares, anger, depression, anxiety, heightened alertness, physical and emotional torment that our HEROS are experiencing today.

It was a battle everyday to stay on course. However, I refused to allow this to take hold of me. To allow this to destroy my life. To allow me from achieving the great things that this world so desperately needs.

I took it upon myself to re-wire/re-train my brain to block out the the negative thoughts and everything else I was experiencing. There are so many things that I have done to overcome PTSD but what we are experiencing with our returning troops is an epidemic. This MUST change and if I have anything to do with it, it WILL!

Overcoming PTSD with a Focused Mindset!

Since January of 2000 and suffering PTSD, my life has changed in so many ways. It’s coming up on the 12th anniversary of my in-the-line-of-duty shooting. There isn’t a day that goes by that I do not think about that incident. For several years the thought of the incident occupied my thoughts all the time. I would get angry with myself for having those thoughts. I felt weak, insecure, sorry for myself. I use to ask myself why me all the time.

I knew the end was near. The end of my law enforcement career. The anger, anxiety, depression was overcoming me. I can recall driving to work and feeling sick to my stomach. The sick feeling you have when you have a bad case of the stomach flu. The pains, sweats and heaving breathing got worse as I neared the border of the Township.

Once I was out of the building and in my patrol car, the first thing I would do is go to a place of solitude and just hide. Hoping that the radio would not call my car for the remainder of the 12hr shift. I felt like I was in prison. Waiting for my sentence to be over each and every shift. I couldn’t wait to get out of the uniform. I couldn’t wait  to not have to deal with it anymore. The thoughts that would go through my mind would make your chin drop.

What I started doing while on patrol changed my life forever. While hiding from the public and other patrolman, I would read. What I began to read changed my outlook on just about everything that happened in my life. The glass was no longer half empty. It was now half full. The light at the end of the tunnel I could finally see.

I began to focus on success and entrepreneurship. I had a burning desire to become a successful, happy, healthy & wealthy person. I was so tired of trading time for dollars. I made up my mind that if I had to leave police work I would no longer work for another human being ever again. I wanted be my own boss. I wanted to create my own road map to the promise land. The promise land of never ever answering to anyone again.

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with working for someone else. It was at that point in my life that I had to change who I was. Change how I was feeling. Completely change my life all together if I wanted to win the battle.

I truly believe that we are all put on this earth for a purpose. For a reason. I was put in a situation on January 10th, 2000 for a reason. It took many years to believe this but I was there at that very moment in time for a reason. With a focused, success/goal achieving mindset, I finally see that anything is possible. Possible if you discipline & dedicate yourself in becoming the best person you can. It has been quoted by several personal development experts that, “you do become what you think about most”!

Good days and Bad days with PTSD

Every so often and I mean every so often do I have a not so productive day. When this happens I usually feel sluggish, lethargic for one reason or another. Why? I get about 8 hrs of sleep a night. I usually sleep very sound. I am sure not to read or watch anything that will spike my adrenaline before I shut down the lights.

I wake up at about 6am every  morning. I will usually read something motivational or inspirational for 30 minutes or so. I will re-read my goals that I had written the night before as well. I also review what I have planned for the day ahead. I jump in the shower and get ready.

I wake up my daughter and help her prepare for her day. I will pack her lunch and prepare her breakfast. After she eats, I then give her the medicine that she needs everyday. She suffers ashtma.

I then drive her to school. While in the car we go over her self affirmations. We go over positive things that will train her brian for success. Preparing my daughter for a successful, healthy, happy positive life.

I get back in my home office and my day starts. Today was a funny day. I felt like I was in slow motion. I told myself that I have to snap out of this. I can’t let this feeling rule my day. I immediately turned to what motivates and inspires me. I go to YouTube and pull up something that will pump me up. I’ll also review several of my quotes that I have created as well as others to get me in the Success Mode.

I know that everyone has a day where they’re not with it for one reason or another. It’s okay for me to have those days to. I just remind myself that I need to snap out of it and get back on track.

Police Officers and PTSD

It has been reported through research that 15%-35% of Police Officers across America suffer PTSD. PTSD caused by a traumatic event or citical incident that the Officer has been exposed too. The symptoms can range from moderate to severe depending on the type of critical incident and how often one has been exposed to critical incidents. PTSD can also come about from the stresses of the inside infrastructure of the job as well. As I often heard, it’s more stressful inside the department than it is outside the department.

Police work is one of the most dangerous and stressful jobs in the world.

Police officers are at risk for experiencing stress due to the various threats, or stressors, inherent in the profession. One type of stressor unique to police officers is the level and intensity of danger they are exposed to on a daily basis. Although extreme and rare incidents such as shootings and riots are innately dangerous, common tasks such routine car stops and calls regarding domestic violence can also have dangerous and even deadly consequences for police officers. There is no such thing as a routine car stop. In the life of a police officer, life and death situations can occur on a daily basis, without warning.

Police officers are not well received by the public either. Usually, everytime a police officer is in public, the first reaction from the community is “what’s wrong”.  Does this need to be changed, of course it does but will it? I hate being negative in anything I do but I have to say No.

If you are suffering PTSD and don’t know where to turn you can friend me on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1258603255 or “Like” my page dedicated to overcoming any obstacle life throws at you and achieving what you deserve in life http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Achieve-Success-Academy/246640965374976 or email me at John@JohnSalkowski.com.