To have a great life one needs to work in a good balance between our personal passions, needs and career, work. In order to achieve this self development the first thing to bear in mind is to understand the intrinsic subtleties of our desires and personality first of all. It is necessary to set clear goals and objectives, and write them down, read it very often and rewrite, adapt them from time to time. This is a continuous work. And the first question is what’s your biggest passion(s). What makes you awake every morning happy and with light in the eyes?

Also “as you think so shall you see!”. This quote has been weighting in my balance and it gives me a sober look at things and it helps me to demystify any myth that I created because of my fears, scars, social background, cultural or religious environment, education and so forth.

How do we than organize a behavior program of personal development around concrete goals and needs, targeting what is really important. One does this being consistent with the real goals not other people advice/s, or suggestions. This is critical to remind ourselves, everyday that we just live one existence, our life!

Moreover it is of utmost importance to be completely open minded. The world changes faster than sometimes our thoughts and the most important lesson is to be always looking to learn, listen, to continually educate ourselves and be prepared to evolve around our own program and manage failures as part of an optimization process. Also you have to be ready to adapt and mutate but don’t (never) sacrifice the core values! In the end it is what one gets! This being consistent with promise, goals and please never wait for perfection, there is no such thing as perfection. What you have is more or less finished projects, goals, dreams. But bear in mind be determined to deliver the basics and do focus on delivering! But step by step and don’t be obsessed about wanting everything at the same time. Things have their own time, create processes, be patient.

Some strategical questions to work out first of all:

1. Where you want to be?
2. Where you are today?
3. What are your special qualities, capacities, passions?
4. How can you develop and improve your skills?
5. How can you be in charge of your life, emotional, material, sentimental?
6. And what are the main gaps to get there?
7. Are you doing enough to get there?

A good exercise is to do a personal SWOT analysis:

1. What are your SWOT: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats?
2. Do this without any kind of prejudice;
3. Try to be very humble, honest, objective;
4. Than on the top of each answer develop an action plan to each of these analysis / research.

Another set of questions important to ask first:

1. How do you see yourself in one year?
2. How do you see yourself in 5 years?
3. How do you see yourself in 10 years?
4. Also the most difficult of the questions, if you would die tomorrow how do you would like to be remembered?

Than the exercise is to think and work out how to get there. Research as much as possible thinking in ways of getting there is the key. Than one needs to set a precise list of tasks in order to get there.

• Write minimum 20 to 30 tasks in order to establish a plan to get there. While writing the list you will find some things you never thought about it. Also you will realize if you are indeed working to reach these goals.
• The critical question is are you going in that direction, have you been doing enough to get what you wanted?

The following exercise is more personal. It is a meditation about your personal in balance. You need to get to understand if you are in a bridge between the inner self, its scars, its memories, deceptions. The questions to ask yourself are something like this:

1. How are you dealing with your dreams, your biggest dreams did you think about it for a while?
2. What you dreamed when you were a child are you still working for it?
3. When you think about a perfect life are you doing enough to go there?
4. Write down you dream wish list and check what have you been doing to get that?
5. Have you been looking at the example of the people you used as models for your dreams?
6. Are you doing what they did?

Also important is to set clear goals for the next 10 months, for this week… This will set a clear path to what we want to achieve and create a disciplined method of approach and focus. Most of people that don’t achieve what they want is because they did not do enough to get it. Not that anyone is special over others. We are all able to reach our dreams. The main difference is that some of us work for it and most of the people simple don’t do enough to get it.

Than with this in mind look at the best ways of getting what you want.

1. What do you need material wise to get close to what you wandered?
2. Economically what are the jobs that correspond match to these reflection of yours?
3. What are the jobs that match your exercise?
4. Moreover who are the people that are doing these kind of jobs?
5. What did they do, where did they study, what courses, workshops are there to get those skills?
6. How did they reach there, have you been looking at case studies?
7. Are you talking with these people, have you tried?
8. Are they in your network, in your circle of friends?
9. Are you learning, interacting with them?

This will help you get closer to the trailer of the best ways to get what you want.

Next phase is to create your own brand. We live in a world where each of us is a brand whether you like it or not. So in order to create a sober and strong brand you need to work out how to match you main virtues, capacities and the best way to show that and promote that. How you do that more effectively is through the creation of a strong digital profile. You do this managing a set of places where you brand yourself and create a marketing of yourself, your capacities, values, passions and even aesthetic and entertainment behavior. Have a look at my presentation: Web Social Media Strategy Now Top Recommendation http://www.slideshare.net/dinisguarda/web-social-media-strategy-now-top-recommendation-dinisguarda

Some questions to establish this personal branding:

• According to my personal goals how and where do I want to be associated?
• According to my professional sets of expectations where can I promote better my skills, knowledge and capacities?
• Am I or did I research about the right places I want to be found and how other people you respect or want to emulate are doing to get it?

Than the next steps are to go very pragmatic, set the instruments to get what you want:

1. Research, work out the right places to be online;
2. Create and invest as much as possible in you digital profile(s) that highlight you for your peers, potential employees: universities boards, union associations, professional peers, linkedin, facebook profile, twitter, your own blog…
3. Find out if you are speaking to the right people in the places you want to reach;
4. Have you been doing enough to get in contact with;
5. Research as much as possible about the companies in your interest areas and field and find out people in that network and try to reach people or someone who know can help you to get an informative meeting;
6. Remember that two thirds of all jobs are not advertised in the media so you need to build a huge network of contacts and let them know that you are looking for a job in the specific job field;
7. Also target the advertised job market by replying on ads in the media and on the Internet and submitting your CV at recruitment agencies;
8. Prepare for each job interview through research on the company, its products, services, culture, hiring policy, job requirements, promotion possibilities, goals and mission. Also conduct mock interviews and prepare answers on possible questions. Dress for success and be on time;
9. Follow up on every interview through thank you notes, phone calls and regular contact;
10. When the job offers come in, compare the benefits and disadvantages of each one against your values, goals, needs and dreams before you make a decision;
11. Select the best one according to your criteria in your career management plan and go all out to make the best of your work life;
12. Create a relaxed natural network plan that includes the names and contact details of everyone you know, meet and plan to meet. Places where you have met specific people, what they do for a living and notes about them should also be recorded;
13. Write down what you do in three sentences;
14. Obtain a networking card and online main profile to hand out;
15. Develop a reference list and obtain letters of recommendation where you can. Update the list on a regular basis and remember to stay in contact with the people on the list. Never give up someone’s name as reference if you don’t have their consent;
16. Keep record of people you liked or respected, do stay in contact, show them your appraisal, without waiting for anything in return.

Again and to conclude remember to be patient, always! Be always positive and persistent, and don’t be radical. One of the things very important to me that I got from my practice is to avoid the all of nothing. Trust me things are never black and white they have a lot of nuances. It is a long road and it is a path with a lot of crossroads, accidents… The important is to do your work, with passion looking forward to your dreams, even when you find a lot of problems, issues painful moments. In order to get a victory you probably will have a lot of defeats. The most successful people in the world are the people that failed the most. Why, you can ask? The answer is because they tried more. Who tries more fails more, but will be also much more successful! And trust me the one who tries and persists more will achieve!

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Some research about how to create a profile online:

• You Want A Digital Profile Social Networking For Professionals. http://www.slideshare.net/mcorsano/you-want-a-digital-profile-social-networking-for-professionals
• Using Linkedin To Create A Professional Profile. http://www.slideshare.net/globalcareerlink/using-linkedin-to-create-a-professional-profile

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