Conflicts can sometimes arise in relationships because of differences in expectations. At home this could be because of the differences in expectations between parents and children, or between siblings or spouses. If a parent expects his child to take school seriously and strive for   grade A in all his subjects , but the child thinks that school is boring and unnecessary, seeds for conflict have been sown. Why? Parent and child have different expectations. Unless  these expectations are modified or properly managed conflicts  will arise. You can  use expectations to manage conflict in your relationships by managing expectations. This is part of the process of self-mastery  and relentless transformation.

 Almost everyone has expectations of what they want for themselves and for those around them. These expectations are part of the fabric of the relationship between husband and wife, sisters, brothers, parents and children, friends, co-workers and...

As we begin the new year with resolutions and plans, we need to make sure we have the leadership skills to actualize them. Leadership is about making decisions, taking actions and managing conflicts. Do you have the leadership skills that will help you make better decisions in the different situations or environments that you will encounter throughout the year?

In a work environment you are faced with different personalities, attitudes, work ethics and much more. Because you are viewed as the leader you need to have the ability to deal with people who might be extremely stubborn.  The problem is that  if you do not know how to deal with challenging and stressful situations, the conflict that results will derail your ability to either carry out your new year resolutions or to get the results you desire under pressure.

Here are a few tips and strategies you can use to manage stubborn or just rude people in different situations:

1. Look for an opportunity to  state...

How can you support your loved one who wants to quit smoking?

 When your loved one quits smoking, everyone benefits. Why? This is because becoming  smoke free can reverse some of the health damage they’ve experienced while reducing your risk of second-hand smoke, and maybe even freshen up your home. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) many smokers try to quit about every 2 to 3 years, but seldom use the most effective methods available.

To help your loved ones quit smoking the NIH recommends offering brief and tactful advice on a frequent basis, along with practical assistance to overcome the barriers to quitting. Here are a few tips and strategies you can use:

1. Respect their choices. While your intentions are good, remember that it needs to be the smoker’s decision to quit. This is primarily about them and what they want to do. Reminding them that their decision to quit would also help the kids and the family, may not be a bad idea...

Be prepared  to overcome obstacles once you make a decision. Don’t expect that when you make the decision to lose weight everyone around you will become supportive. Some people will support you but others will say you are pretending. Others will want you to fail either because they have failed or because they want you to find out that it is not easy to lose weight and keep it off. The good news is that opinions are not facts. their thoughts and wishes cannot determine your outcome , unless you allow their words to take away your confidence and ability to act.

When you take regular action, the results will follow. Taking action includes telling people "No" at the Christmas party when you are offered soda and cake. This is part of the process of self-mastery. It also includes not getting into arguments about what you will eat, when you have already made a decision that cake and soda won't be part of your relentless food options for the day. Making decisions and following...

 If you truly want to lose weight and keep it off, you have to develop simple and easy to implement steps and that fit your lifestyle and your eating pattern. Whether you want to lose weight because of a medical condition like high blood pressure, diabetics, gout, COPD or arthritis, you have to begin taking control over your daily action.

Despite the struggle to find time to exercise or acquire the taste for more healthy food, you can overcome the challenge of relentless weight loss by taking greater control over your life and time. Why is this important?   Those with control over their lives and their time are able to take action on a consistent basis. Consistent action will lead to consistent results.

Though time is hard to manage, we have to remember that we all have 24 hours a day. The more you become action oriented the more you will be better able to gain greater control of your time. If you have only 5 minutes to exercise, do it. Don't postpone it for TV or...

Do you sometimes get frustrated by your struggles to have greater personal success? As the year comes to an end, do you sometimes wonder how well fulfilled your goals for the year?  How can you do better next year? One of the keys holding us back from greater personal success are negative thoughts.  Negative thoughts are like a cancer to your spirit. They slowly eat away at you until there isn’t enough left to support your hopes and dreams. Negative thoughts are damaging because they affect everything that comes afterwards. This includes your decisions, goals, actions, and results.

Negative thinking can impact every area of your life and limit your ability to achieve greater self-mastery. If the time you have to spend on self-development is limited, dealing with your negative thinking is good way to allocate your time and improve self-mastery. 

Here are 3 ways you can eliminate negative thinking and be more positive:

 Avoid thinking of yourself as a...

If you do not read your nutrition facts you may end up unwittingly eating food that could make you gain weight or worse still turn out to be very dangerous to your health. This will include breakfast cereals, fruit juices or even some pre-packaged meals. The key to eating smart is to read your nutrition facts whenever you have to eat food that comes in a box, container or package.  

Reading your nutritional facts will give you an idea of the quantity, food types and ingredients in the food you eat everyday. This will help you know the amount of  calories, carbohydrate, fat, protein and sodium  in the food you eat. Physiologically sodium which is the main component of salt draws in water wherever it is found in the body. This means that if you do not watch your total sodium intake, you may unwittingly expose yourself to daily fluctuations in your weight, depending on how much water you retain.

The problem is that without taking the time to read your...

Self-mastery is the key. If you can master yourself, everything else becomes easy. It’s easy to get ahead at work. It’s easy to be healthy. It’s easy to save money and maintain relationships. Can you master yourself? Key your attention on the long-term impact of behaviors and avoid short-term pleasures that lead to long-term challenges.  Focus on long-term goals is one of the strategies for achieving greater self-mastery.

Are you in great shape? Do you only eat healthy foods? Why not? Is it because you’re confused about which foods are healthy and which are not? No. Most people, know what to do, but lack the self-mastery to follow through. You actually know enough to make significant changes in your life. Knowledge isn’t the challenge. The challenge is managing yourself and your behaviors through greater self-mastery. 

Another strategy for achieving greater self-mastery to make a list of the things you should do each day, but...

Here are 3 keys to achieving more overwhelming personal success. Remember that average thinking and actions lead to average results. To achieve more you need to think big. This means you need to believe that you  are capable of greater heights despite your circumstance and situation. You need to act boldly and increase your confidence. It would be nice to just have confidence without doing anything to deserve feelings of confidence, but that’s not how it works. Confidence is a skill you can build up by taking action.

Challenge yourself to become more successful by setting your goals higher.  Instead of shooting for a new job with a 15% raise, what about a 40% raise? Rather than starting a sideline business and adding $1,000/month to your income, what if your goal was to replace your current income with your sideline business idea? Do you believe this is possible? What steps can you take every day to improve irrespective of your fears and what others say? If...

Do you understand ways your body clock can help you achieve more optimal health?  The more you understand your body clock the more you will know the best time to wake up, work, clean, plan, eat, and go to sleep.  If you work or play late into the night and end up being drained and confused the rest of the day, then you are ignoring your body clock for sleep and it can affect your health and productivity at work. Get more hours of sleep, so that you can restore your body clock.

Your  body clock has the power to to shape your energy levels and activities. Eat the right time. Don't ignore your body's hunger pangs or warning signals. Eat smart. Watch your portion and increase your variety while eating in moderation. This is another way to take advantage of your body clock when making your eating decision. 

Remember that many factors including your  environment,  actions and thoughts can affect  your body clock. Paying attention to these factors...