One of the changes I’ve made in my life that greatly reduced my stress is to simply reflect upon my day as it ends and ask myself a few questions. I can easily gauge where I stand professionally, personally and in my relationships with just a few straight-forward questions. I encourage you to try this method as you’re getting ready for bed. Your world will become much clearer one you stop to reflect on your daily actions!

The questions are simple and quick but they provide a great deal of feedback on your day and leave you with a plan and motivation for tomorrow.

Take a look at what I ask myself and leave your self-reflection questions in the comments section and let’s get a discussion going!

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Now that the winter break is over and you’ve headed back to college to start a fresh semester, it’s time to start thinking about your keys to success. The semesters just seemed to come and go during my first two years of college but once junior year hit, I got it. The workload and subjects were tougher but my GPA increased. I didn’t suddenly have this wave of knowledge come over me–instead, I started working smarter instead of harder. I put together a list of things I did that really helped me to succeed. You probably do some of these already but implement anything you find that is new on the list below and make this your best semester yet!

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There are countless reasons why we procrastinate but one of them stands out for me personally and is relatively easy to overcome. Are you ever in the middle of doing something when suddenly you get a great idea and switch your focus over to the new and exciting project? This happens on a small scale at home for me quite often. I’m cleaning the garage when I find a tool and think, “I could use this to fix that faulty light switch.” Without any further thinking, I’m standing in front of a light switch with my garage still a mess. The issue is a form of procrastination that is terribly counterproductive and happens throughout our lives but affects web designers more than anyone else.

Almost every web designer has one characteristic in common–they are all great at thinking up new ideas for websites. This skill is one of their best and worst at the same time! A new idea for a website can be exciting and motivating but it can also be the downfall of all of the other great ideas in the past.

Read on after the jump to hear how I handle my new ideas. I keep churning them out but it takes some dedication to actually get things done!

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2007 is quickly coming to an end. The holiday decorations are up, cards have been mailed out and presents have been purchased. Soon, the only thing left to do will be to set my New Year’s resolutions! The problem with these lists of goals for so many people is that we set ourselves up for failure in a number of ways. To look at why we fail at our New Year’s resolutions, let’s take a look at some best-practices for goal setting and apply those to our year-end goals. We’ll look at alternatives for some of the most common resolutions that we set and then some general tips for achieving your goals.

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I had a very interesting email come in this morning from one of my readers asking me how for a little guidance on blogging. He is about to launch what sounds like a very interesting blog and wanted to know how I was able to get my blog off the ground. I answered his email and then decided I’d write a quick post on the topic so others can possibly get a little motivation and learn what has worked well for me recently.

There are so many topics to write about and an equal number of ways to promote a blog. That being said, I want to point out that these are ways my blog gained a readership. Other blogs have succeeded in completely different ways. I wouldn’t say any particular way of bringing readers to your site is better or worse than another. As such, let’s open a discussion in the comment and share with each other various ways we’ve succeeded on this topic.

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Your teacher has been standing at the front of the room for what seems like hours, clicking through the day’s Powerpoint lecture. You anxiously wait for each click of the mouse knowing that you’re a step closer to class being over and regaining your freedom. People have been packing up their things and walking out early as you look on with jealousy. Finally, your professor makes an announcement that you’ve been dying to hear–”That’s enough for today. We’ll end a little early.” A strong feeling of freedom rushes through you and you quickly get your books together and head out the door, 15 minutes before the scheduled end of class.

Sound familiar? At the start of my college career, this was the story of my life. I would sit in class unable to focus on what the professor was saying because I was constantly thinking about how much time was left. We’ve all done it, but why?

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You are probably reading this article because you are looking for ways to become more motivated and to better your life. Most motivational coaches will teach you that one of the fastest ways to start being more productive both at work and at home is to develop habits. These habits will help you accomplish tasks without really thinking about how difficult they are to overcome. One of these difficult tasks that is quite easy to overcome is to get on a personal fitness campaign.

Going to the gym can be an impossible hurdle to overcome but the results are fantastic! Ask anybody walking into the gym how they feel about what they’re about to do and then ask the people walking out of the gym how they feel. It is a very odd phenomenon but people dread going to the gym but love the feeling once they are done. It is a feeling of gratification and accomplishment as you leave the gym and head to your car–you have accomplished something great! For this reason, start going to the gym first thing in the morning!

If you get into the habit of waking up in the morning and heading straight to the gym, I promise you will have a more productive day. The reason is, before most people have even rolled out of bed, you will have accomplished a very difficult task. This feeling of accomplishment will carry over into your work day and get you in the proper mindset to get more out of the day. Not only that, but you will be more fit and healthy before you know it.

Will it be easy? You will need to wake up earlier than usual, drive over to the gym, lift heavy weights, run longer than you’d like and then head to work. That sounds ridiculous but there’s an easy way to keep this motivation up. At the same time every day (I prefer the mornings), take out a fabric ruler and measure your waist. Write this measurement down and keep it where you’ll see it. Simply watching this number shrink will give you the motivation you need to get into the gym. Furthermore, you are going to constantly get reassurance from coworkers, family and friends in the form of compliments. For me, people noticing that I am losing weight is motivation enough to hop out of bed and want to go to the gym.

If you’re already in this mindset, please share in the comments section how you do it. Similarly, if you’re having trouble getting out of bed, I want to hear from you as to why. Let’s learn from each other and improve our lives one day at a time.

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