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.

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.

The Hunger For Success: Are You Hungry? Then You Need To Stay Hungry?

Are you hungry for what you want in life? Do you wake up everyday starving to accomplish great things? Ask yourself this question: What is my Why? If you can answer this question then you’ll wake up every morning hungry. Starting each and everyday on an empty stomach knowing you have to find your next meal. Of course I mean the success you want in life.

Staying HUNGRY

If you’re not hungry than you don’t want to be the best you can be. You don’t want to be the best in your field, no matter what profession you’re in. If you don’t want to be the best you can be rest assured there is someone out there that does. If you want to be the best that you can be day in and day out then you need to start everyday wondering where your next meal will come from. Think about this: According to the University of Michigan back in 2005, there were 11.5 million entrepreneurs in the U.S. Some of these entrepreneurs didn’t know where their next pay check, customer, prospect was coming from. This can be very stressful for a lot of people. This is not just directed to the business owners of the world. This is directed to the employees that want that promotion or raise. You can sell someone a plate of food but you can’t make them eat if their NOT hungry.

Success doesn’t come easy. If it were easy there would be a hell of a lot more successful people in the world. Success is a choice. It’s a mind set. You must want it as much as you want the air you breathe. This might sound crazy but it’s the truth. Look at some of the most successful people in the world. Most of them don’t have MBA‘s from Harvard. Some never even graduated from college. Some never went to college. But the difference was that they were hungry for success. They wanted it just as much as they needed the air they breathe.

Hard Work

We bust our asses for the things we want, right? We work extra hours for the vacation we so desperately need, the car we want, the shoes we want to buy and so forth. Anything worthwhile having requires hard work. It requires getting up every morning starting from ground zero. Having the mentality that you are starting each day with NOTHING! You must hustle to get want you want. You must figure out a way on how to attain what you want. Are you busting your ass for the success you deserve?

It all boils down to how bad you want something. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to make it? What are you willing to sacrifice to get it? I think back when I was a cop knowing that my career was coming to an end. I had to ask myself do I have what it takes to make it out in the world without an employer. I had to ask myself over and over again was I willing to do whatever it took to be successful. Thinking of all the adversity that I was about to face. The truth is that you will only be as hungry as you want to be. If you want success as bad as you need the air you breathe, you will stay hungry.

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.

Suffering PTSD: The challenges I faced

When I was going through my internal torment with PTSD I felt that the outer world was just plain cruel. It seemed to me that no one cared about anyone or anything but themselves. I realized that we live in one egotistical & self centered world. Everyone was out for themselves. If it didn’t involve or affect them they didn’t care. They turned a blind eye to it. I was calling out for help in so many different ways now that I look back on it and no one was there for me. You sure can tell who your true friends are when you need someone the most. I was suffering PSTD for christ sake. They thought, “he’s faking it”. Everyone turned their back on me. They never returned my calls or emails. They acted as if I no longer existed. Why? I ask this over and over again in my mind. It made me crazy angry knowing that I had to face this battle alone. It made me bitter, resentful to a point where I hated everyone including cops. I was a cop. I hated myself for choosing this career. Then I ask myself why did I choose this career path. The only answer that would come to my mind over and over again was because I cared about people. I wanted to make a difference in someones life. I wanted to make a difference. Period! I than discovered that 95% of the cops I worked with didn’t feel the same way. It was an ego trip for them to carry around that badge and gun. They were macho. They felt like the shit. 95% of cops in my opinion during this difficult time were insecure human beings.