Tag: motivation

Live everyday with No Regrets, So you don’t regret it one day!

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When I was studying Behavioral Economics, I read a very interesting analogy, about how “human” are different from “ECONs”  here’s how it goes:

Econs are mythical creatures that live on the pages of economics textbooks. They’re very smart, they can look forward infinitely, they can compute something called utility of objects, and they make perfectly rational choices.

Econs don’t care about emotions because they don’t have any. Econs have the ability of a supercomputer to make fairly complex computations in the snap of a finger. Human beings are people like you and me– very different. We’re different because we’re emotional. We fall in love, we sometimes do silly things, regret our choices, and sometimes we choose things just because, which is a concept that Econs would never understand. Human beings are impulsive. Human beings tend to make decisions on the spur of the moment. Human beings sometimes do things because other people would like them to do things. Human beings donate to charity. Human beings are also very forward-looking at some points in time, but often care only about the present.

So as the sum of us being Human, with all what was mentioned above, I want to concentrate this week’s tip on how to Live with NO Regrets.

Live Everyday with No Regrets, So you don’t Regret it on day ~ Samer Chidiac

I’m going to leave you with this small true story that happened with me:

Between the year 2005 & 2006  I was traveling locally in the US; Those who travel a lot can tell you that after a while, all the flights and travels will start to look the same… Same people, same faces, same issues with barely few details that change. that’s why I didn’t expect that flight to be any different.

The only difference this time was that I had the FLU, and although this might seem OK on a regular day, it’s NOT when you’re flying.

When the plane started to board, my head started to become more and more HEAVY…

I went to wash my face, and I saw it bleeding, I got terrified from the scene and even blood was coming out from my ears…

At that moment, I knew that I might be suffering from an internal bleeding and that if that was right… This would be my LAST trip.

Depressed… I went back to my seat, and placed my head on the window and started thinking… (I’m on a Plane, there’s almost NOTHING I could do…)

They tell you that when you become close to Death, you start thinking of Life… They are right… My Life was spinning in my head as a Video…

No Matter what you may think I was thinking… I wasn’t thinking about how much TV I watched, or how many songs I memorized; How many long hours I spent in the office… I was just thinking about the People who mattered most to me.

When was the last time I saw my parent? what’s the last sentence I said to them? did I spend good time with my siblings? I recalled my friends 1-by-1 and asked my self was I the example of a good friend? did I actually stood by their side in good and bad times? I was a Manager then, I recalled my employees and wondered what would they say if they knew that I was gone…

It’s a BRUTAL feeling, to see your self helpless before your end, and the idea that kills you slowly was that you won’t be able to  stand before those people and Express to them How lucky you were to have them in your life… That their Love and Care, gave your Life a MEANING…

Just when everything seemed dark and heavy, I felt as if the Collective Love and Care of those people … LEND me a Hand… I Opened my eyes and Said to my Self… “I WILL MAKE IT… and when I do, I will Change my life”.

That day, my Life changed… I started living everyday as if it was my last, with no regrets… Everyday I meet someone who matter to me, I act as if it’s the last day I will see him/her..

You see I never thought of that before, that OTHER people will give you strength to be THE BEST OF WHAT YOU CAN BE… To Defy the impossible!

And I do that Every day!

The Quote from that Experience that I live with it Every day since…

“Dream as if you’re going to Live Forever… and Live as if you’re going to Die Tomorrow.”

Have a Nice Week!
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Samer Chidiac

Samer Chidiac is a Sr. Strategist, Author & an International Innovation Expert.

The Monday Tip Weekly blog is part of the “Influencing the Life of Others” project

Be the purpose you would run for

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In a world where supporting a cause is a “click away”, it has become hard to REALLY tell if you would be willing to go the extra mile for your cause. You see it’s easy sometimes to support the hungry ones in Africa while sitting on your comfortable couch and pressing LIKE on a Facebook page before navigating away to do something else and never looking back, and it’s completely different when you would quit your job, and actually travel to Africa to work for free to help the unfortunate.

Although there are many ways to support your cause, from donating, to giving away your time and sometimes doing a physical effort to prove a point, (Like Climbing or running, etc). I want to be focus in this week’s tip on a very small and yet narrow objective… it’s called YOUR Cause.

We all run, some of us feel that life is more like a Treadmill, where you keep on running simply to remain standing still, but running has a lot more significance than just exercising a physical effort. Of Course there’s a nice physical reward to stay in shape and so, but the psychological impact that you would get impacted by running is far more great.

At one point in time, I have met a nice girl who works at the Bank I deal with, her name was Assia Y. and when I got to know her a little better, I discovered that her Silent Story was more Inspiring than much more than seeing a 1 Million Like on Facebook page; It’s plain simple, SHE RUNS… For Her Cause! The cause of becoming a better person, for the cause of making a difference, for the cause of learning, for the cause of ambition, the cause of aspiration and the cause of becoming successful. Assia knew that the 1,000 Step she took last time… Breaking her PERSONAL best of 10 KM, meant Career, Life, Social, Personal and much more… Silently… but Deeply.

What I always say to myself while running is: Never say I can’t.. U can and u will do it.. U will finish the race.. ~Assia Yassine

Inspired by Haruki Murakami from his book what i talk about when i talk about running “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional”

My tip for you this week, is to simply… Make yourself a Cause Worth Running for… And keep on Creating a personal Best! Every time!

Here’s a clip that I’d love you to see from a Movie What Women Wants featuring Mel Gibson & Helen Hunt

You don’t stand in front of a mirror before a run
wondering what the road will think of your outfit.

You don’t have to listen to its jokes and
pretend they’re funny in order to run on
it.

It would not be easier to run if you
dressed sexier.

The road doesn’t notice if you’re not
wearing lipstick.

Does not care how old you are.

You do not feel uncomfortable because you
make more money than the road.

And you can call on the road whenever you feel like it. Whether it’s
been a day or even a couple of hours since your last
date.

The only thing the road cares about, is
that you pay it a visit once in a while.

Nike. No games…just sports.

Have a Nice Week!
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Samer Chidiac

Samer Chidiac is a Sr. Strategist, Author & an International Innovation Expert.

The Monday Tip Weekly blog is part of the “Influencing the Life of Others” project

Look back without turning around

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I’m not really sure when would it be safe to assume that one has gone through enough in his or her life so they are considered old, mature or simply “experienced”.

It may have been one of the really first articles I’ve published more than 13 years back, titled “Whom to take advice from”, and basically I took the scientific and logical approach, saying that “You shouldn’t be taking an advice from someone unless they are doing better than you in that specific topic”, you see a lot of married women take advice on how to enhance their marriage from their single & never-married or even divorced girlfriends (same thing applies to men), and a lot seek life changing advice from people whom really have no clue on what you’re talking about but they would simply care enough for you to be giving you a genuine opinion.

This week’s tip is about you taking the advice from the younger version of yourself, looking back without turning around;

When you’re back to your house, closing the door and you’re finally by yourself, it doesn’t really help to pretend that things are going well if they weren’t and instead you should look for solutions to your problems; therefor it does help to take a deep look in the mirror, or to an older photo of yourself, and evaluate what went right and what went wrong. And although your younger self have a lot to say to you, words can’t and won’t come out… it’s just that Look in your eyes… That would mean the world to you… Will it be a look of Pride or a Look of Shame of a look of indifference?

Have a nice week!

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Image from “Reflections: Portraits of the Elderly Seeing Their Younger Selves”

Samer Chidiac

Samer Chidiac is a Sr. Strategist, Author & an International Innovation Expert.

The Monday Tip Weekly blog is part of the “Influencing the Life of Others” project

Believe in the Law of Averages

Posted in Business, MotivationTagged , 1 Comment

If you look up the Law of Averages on Wikipedia, you’ll come up with the following definition:

 ” The law of averages is a layman’s term used to express a belief that outcomes of a random event will “even out” within a small sample.

As invoked in everyday life, the “law” usually reflects bad statistics or wishful thinking rather than any mathematical principle. While there is a real theorem that a random variable will reflect its underlying probability over a very large sample, the law of averages typically assumes that unnatural short-term “balance” must occur.Typical applications of the law also generally assume no bias in the underlying probability distribution, which is frequently at odds with the empirical evidence. “

 This week’s tip is inspired by successful sales persons and one of their secrets.

According to Jim Rohn, the Law of Averages says that if you do something often enough a ratio will begin to appear.  If you talk to 10 people per example and 1 says yes, a ratio will begin to appear; you are at 1:10.  You’ll notice that once it starts, it tends to continue.  If you talk to 10 you’ll get 1.  Talk to 10 more, get 1 and so on. And in Digital Marketing, this is often referred to as a Conversion Rate and of course the higher that CR is the more successful your ad is performing or so.

So the key from these sales people is that you will need to keep moving and keep talking to more people, keep meeting, calling and exploring opportunities to increase your chances and to increase your ratio. And this way Mathematically, you can increase your chances of Winning more deals.

And further to that, we need to start enhancing this Ratio… to Make it 2:10 , 3:10 …

Even a broken clock is right twice a day. ~Stephen Hunt, The Court of the Air

The other benefit of believing in the law of averages, teaches us to ACCEPT that bad things would happen that we cannot control even if we were very well prepared and have everything in order. Like the Story of the Sower and the reaper

In short: You’ll face many struggles along the way if you are seeking success and happiness. If you are the sower, your seeds will get picked up by the birds first and won’t give a return. Then they will fall on shallow ground, leaving you with nothing again. Then they will fall on thorny ground and the sun will shine so hot that your small plant will die after the first day. No return either.

Then, one day, the seeds will fall on good ground and finally give you the expected return and success.

So instead of worrying on the opportunities that fled you, just keep moving and you’ll get the next one and the next one… And remember, Success usually Comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it!

Enjoy your Week!

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Image courtesy of suphakit73 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Samer Chidiac

Samer Chidiac is a Sr. Strategist, Author & an International Innovation Expert.

The Monday Tip Weekly blog is part of the “Influencing the Life of Others” project

Pack Your Bag For a New Beginning

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On a day like today, exactly one year ago, I was packing my bag for the journey that would change my life…

To tell you a bit about my self, in the past 15 years, I have been on airplanes more than I have taken Buses… so Flying for me is really not a big deal, it’s more of a day-to-day experience rather than anything else, and packing for a trip was not something special… But that night was different… You see, I was flying OUT… Out of my old life, out of my past and especially out of my present.

I was not trying to escape from tomorrow, I was simply signing off on the last page of the book of my life story today, and start a new book with the story that will BEGIN tomorrow..

At many points in life, we feel that we need to start over, to experience something new, to change our lives and move forward to a brighter day, we close our eyes, and we pray and hope really hard for the moment we will open our eyes and realize that all of our issues are gone…

Well the big and most important point that try skip, is not the decision of starting over or having a new beginning, but it’s more of  the bag-pack we will have on that day… What will it include.

A Beginning by definition, is the very first starting point of “anything”; so on your timeline of thoughts, a beginning shouldn’t be the “continuity” of the past… but moreover a start of something new… But let’s face it, how could you FLY if you can’t let go of the thins that weight you down? how can you move on when you can’t let go of the things that made you miserable in the first place?

It’s that night where you need to decide to leave so many things behind, – Unfortunately, things to let go will include both GOOD and BAD – , pack your bag with the things you will need for your next journey… and Move on… That’s this week’s Tip 🙂

 Make no mistake your relationships are the heaviest components in your life.

The following is a speech from the movie up in the air starring George Clooney as Ryan Bingham. I kinda relate so much to this movie; and although it may seem a big harsh, it does have a lot of truth in it depending on where you stand right now…

How much does your life weigh? Imagine for a second that you’re carrying a backpack. I want you to pack it with all the stuff that you have in your life… you start with the little things. The shelves, the drawers, the knickknacks, then you start adding larger stuff. Clothes, tabletop appliances, lamps, your TV… the backpack should be getting pretty heavy now. You go bigger. Your couch, your car, your home… I want you to stuff it all into that backpack. Now I want you to fill it with people. Start with casual acquaintances, friends of friends, folks around the office… and then you move into the people you trust with your most intimate secrets. Your brothers, your sisters, your children, your parents and finally your husband, your wife, your boyfriend, your girlfriend. You get them into that backpack, feel the weight of that bag. Make no mistake your relationships are the heaviest components in your life. All those negotiations and arguments and secrets, the compromises. The slower we move the faster we die. Make no mistake, moving is living. Some animals were meant to carry each other to live symbiotically over a lifetime. Star crossed lovers, monogamous swans. We are not swans. We are sharks.

Enjoy your Week!

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Samer Chidiac

Samer Chidiac is a Sr. Strategist, Author & an International Innovation Expert.

The Monday Tip Weekly blog is part of the “Influencing the Life of Others” project

Better Late than Never

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I’ve published this post on Tuesday intentionally 🙂 … To prove this point.

So many times, we get delayed for one reason or the other in submitting a proposal, fulfilling a task, finishing a job and so on… We reach to a certain point where we cross the original deadline or let’s say appropriate time. And that point would leave us with 2 choices: 1) forget about it 2) continue and deliver on your promise “Late”.

Ok, so let me tell you a random something about your brain. One of the primary ways your brain keeps itself motivated is with a chemical called Dopamine. It’s the feel-good hormone that makes drugs so popular, but it’s also an important part of the self-regulating system that makes you productive. So the more you finish tasks the more Dopamine your system has and therefor the more accomplished you feel and therefor more HAPPY you become 🙂

Now pretty much what you would be feeling when you have just passed the deadline (whether you had all the right reasons or not), is a combination of guilt, sadness and anger. And mostly no matter what your decision will be (to proceed or not to) regarding the late task in hand it WILL be affecting your productivity; and it will be delaying so many other things, because a part of your brain will still be thinking and being emotional about it and that alone will be decreasing the energy you will have to fulfill other tasks.

So the tip for this week is simple,

  • Keep in mind that until that particular task is completed (even later on) you won’t be able to be at your Full Productive Capacity.
  • Sometimes you may be able to deliver more than expected and that MAY save you, and turn things around.
  • it’s Super important to ACKNOWLEDGE the situation with the other party, Ignoring that the mistake is not healthy and will turn back on you some other day! just Face the Music and apologize if it’s your mistake or share the reasons if it’s not.

Enjoy your Week!

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Image courtesy of imagerymajestic  / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Samer Chidiac

Samer Chidiac is a Sr. Strategist, Author & an International Innovation Expert.

The Monday Tip Weekly blog is part of the “Influencing the Life of Others” project

Stop looking for the Silver Bullet to all your Problems!

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In the past 10 years, I have spent some decent amount of time coaching and mentoring individuals on topics related to career path, exceptional thinking and mostly reaching goals and enhancing their chances in getting to where they would like to go in life.

One pretty COMMON issue I’ve seen that still dazzles me in almost 90% of the people I worked with, was what I’d like to call “The Search for the Silver Bullet”

If you’re not familiar with the concept of the Silver Bullet, it’s a mean to kill a werewolf  in horror stories, where the beast can’t be killed except with that specific bullet. So we normally call any “Ultimate Solution” a Silver Bullet

It seems for each one, there is a specific silver bullet that would *in their personal opinion* solve all of their problems in like ONE SHOT. All Together!!! yes just One Solution 🙂

Examples of Silver bullets I’ve encountered:

  • When I move to Dubai / Canada / Europe / <______ Fill in the blank with the country of your choice>
  • When I get married (That’s mostly with single women from the arab world)
  • When I win the lottery (or get a big load of Cash that I don’t have to work for it… Pretty applicable to all of those who think that money is the solution to everything…)
  • and the list goes on and on…

Now let’s pause for a second and try to visualize the following:

If you’re feeling cold, you would long for WARMTH, and would crave to be sitting next to the fire for hours… When you finally do, you would enjoy this priceless and incredible feeling of both satisfaction and happiness crawling all over your body… It’s simply the best feeling in the world…

Then after some time… (mostly not too long after)… The same spot will make you feel hot and few more minutes, you won’t be able to stand it that you decide to move AWAY…

So what just happened? isn’t it what you “wished for”?

This week’s Tip, is divided into 2:

  1. I advise you NOT to set the solution of your problem (s) as a destination with no time-bound
  2. Not to Tie EVERYTHING all together, so there will Only be ONE solution… But instead divide your life into 3 separate layers (which influence each others but not too interconnected):
    1. Personal: that will include your friends, parents, society, love life etc
    2. Professional: that will include your career and job etc
    3. Self: that will include your dreams and hopes and physical and spiritual objectives etc

Enjoy your Week!

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Image courtesy of  David Castillo Dominici/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Samer Chidiac

Samer Chidiac is a Sr. Strategist, Author & an International Innovation Expert.

The Monday Tip Weekly blog is part of the “Influencing the Life of Others” project

How to keep going when you think you can’t

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It was already 9 PM when I got home after a long day, I had to do so many things before leaving to the airport again, what do I do first, what to start with, and I need to remember to get some sleep… Well, either way it’s not going to make much of a difference. So I packed my bag, prepared my cloth, took a shower and went to bed…  at almost 11 PM, my phone rang with the alarm and I may have woke up from one of the best sleeps ever, and It really felt that I want to get back to sleep no matter what… Even to miss my flight for that sake. But something amazing happened, I smiled and stood up, dressed up, grabbed my bag and left to the airport and here I am sitting at the departure lounge and writing this post 🙂

I Chose this life, and I’m happy that I did… I have a sense of purpose in the goal I designed for myself, and with every obstacle, with every sleepless night, I know that I’m getting closer to where I want to be, knowing that I’m happy where I am right now… and that alone is what keep me going day after day, challenge after challenge; that special feeling that I’d like to call: “Positive Thinking”.

In so many years and decades of research, science has revealed one very important thing about the human nature… We Are what we Think about ourselves. and whether you think you CAN or CANNOT do something… You’re Right!

I was speaking in a Regional Conference last week in Tunisia about Strategic innovation in Education, and I was on a Panel of experts of education, and someone asked me about the pressure that educators get with all the tasks they have to do during the day leaving them no time or energy to innovate, so I answered the professor with another question:

“Let me ask you this professor, why do most people feel more energized at 5 PM as they leave their day job while they have just spent 9 hours at the office WORKING? and why do students and teachers get this unique energy as they are about to leave while in the middle of the day, you see some of them almost fainting from the experience… The Answer is simple… It’s MOTIVATION, that’s the Fuel Professor!”

So it really is irrelevant what you may think about time, energy you need to accomplish a specific task, if you’re Motivated Enough you’ll have access to UNLIMITED energy or Fuel to accomplish whatever you want… you could stay awake all night working without feeling tiered, you would feel an adrenaline rush all over you… even if you’ve been overloaded all day long!

Now the tip for this week, is simply to use the power of positive thinking to give yourself continuous motivation not to do a specific something, but to be who you are… and being satisfied by YOU, will grant you an explosive energy that will get you places you can’t even imagine you could get there.

Stay Positive! Everyday, even when times are not looking great… no night was ever eternal, just like sunlight…

Enjoy your Week!

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Image courtesy of winnond / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Samer Chidiac

Samer Chidiac is a Sr. Strategist, Author & an International Innovation Expert.

The Monday Tip Weekly blog is part of the “Influencing the Life of Others” project