Happiness is one of those elusive things that people believe they want really bad, but can’t describe what it is exactly. For the unhappy, all they know is that happiness is “something else”, it’s not what they’re feeling, it’s not what they’re going through.

How can I plan if I don’t know the future?
Frequently, this type of avoidance of planning is typical in people that are afraid of failure. The possibility that their plans might not come true freaks them out. I don’t know about you, but I would rather plan and conquer a few things, risking occasional failures due to unexpected events, than a whole life of chaos.

Why you should have strategies, not just goals and plans
The secret of success may not be in setting goals and planning – only… Strategies can make all the difference, giving goals and plans smart focus and leverage.

How to have the best year of your life
Happy new year! Isn’t this the best time of the year?! I like beginnings, it’s refreshing, it’s motivating. I makes me feel like everything is possible. If you also get a boost of energy on the first day of the year, take this opportunity to plan the best year of your life!

How to pick the best idea
Sometimes it’s hard to come up with ideas, we struggle to get our creative juices flowing to find ways to solve our problems. But what about the times when we have the exact oposite problem? We have two or more really good ideas (or goals) and cannot commit to both (or all). We need to pick only one!

How to be more focused?
Focus has a lot to do with proper prioritization. To start with, if you’re all over the place, trying to get a million things done, your attempts to focus will naturally fail. You’re doing it wrong!

How thinking strategically changes your brain
Thanks to neuroplasticity, we can learn to think differently by focusing on key aspects of decision making. We start doing it slowly, writing everything down, weighting pros and cons, and before we know, we’re doing it automatically. Our brains can learn to think strategically.

The art of dream design: using project management in your personal life
Project management tools can be a great strategic asset to help you organize your life and manage the progress of your goals.

Who’s in charge of your life?
Goal setting and planning require confidence and control. If you’re not in charge, your plans will fade away in the background of your life. Taking a dream, a fantasy, turning it in to a structured project, and then proceeding to take consistent action on a timely basis until it becomes reality takes power, leadership, and focus.

Your motivation determines your success
You must be thinking that this is obvious and old. Motivation is connected to success, no brainer. Except that maybe you didn’t think about what exactly motivation is. Most people know what motivation feels like, but can’t define it in exact words.

How to choose goals: pick the right battles
One of the most striking things about life is that we must make choices. Everything in life is limited. Time, resources, opportunity, and so on. You can’t be everything you have ever desired to be. You can’t do everything you’ve ever wanted to do. You need to pick and choose.

How to be happy? How stupid is this question?
Aristotle, 2.300 years ago, used to say that all people want is to be happy. That’s the motive behind all actions and decisions. He didn’t say anything about it being right or wrong, he just said that’s the way it is. Of course, two millennia later we understand motivation and happiness a little deeper. We […]

How planning strengthens your habits for optimum performance
Your habits build your destiny. Whether you are successful or not, you reach your goals or you don’t, results and failure can all be tracked down to your habits. Habits are usually the tip of the iceberg that hides your personality traits, your behavior, and your tendencies below the waterline.

Can you really appear smarter than you are?
There are a lot a articles around the web claiming to teach you how to appear smarter than you are. Do those “tricks” really work? Can you really make people believe you’re more intelligent?

Welcome to the future!
Today, 10/21/15, is the day Marty McFly arrives in the “future” in Back to the Future II. We tend to think about the “distant future” – more than 10, 15 years from now – as something so far away that we just assume that everything will be different. If that’s the case, how could we plan for it if we don’t know what’s going to happen?

To plan or not to plan
Not planning leads to inaction, not an adventurous, romantic life where incredible and amazing events happen all around you. Sometimes things just happen in our lives. It’s good when it does, planning in fact would not keep us from bumping into opportunities. But the rest of our lives is filled with pure inertia.

Life is like sailing
One of the most frequent questions we get about planning and goal setting is: how can I set goals and plan if I can’t predict the future, and life changes so much?

The happiness obsession
Western society is obsessed with the idea of happiness. The media, the arts and even education are permeated with the concept that our goal in life is to achieve a state of bliss loosely called happiness. This is not new, though. Aristotle, more than 2000 years ago, said that all men really want is to be happy and all of our choices and actions have this ultimate goal.

Letter to my future self
It looks like just a silly new trend, but if you think about it, suddenly getting an email you wrote yourself 5 years ago can have a powerful impact on you – if you do it wisely, of course! Writing silly or superficial stuff can be fun, but using it as a life strategy to keep you on course can be smart.

The impact of motivation on success
If you want to be successful, the first step is to find out the key to self-motivation. The ability to light up the flame that sustains the energy of motivation burning and fueling your body and mind at will through the challenges and shortcomings along the way is what is going to make all the difference.

Should I tell my dreams and plans to anyone?
Some people love to share their dreams and plans with everybody they meet, or shouldn’t they?

And time goes by
Do you always talk about your dreams and goals as things that will happen in the future?

Why you shouldn’t have too many goals
Many people with overachieving potential (a lot of different talents, hobbies and interests) end up underachievers because they can’t remain focused. They chase too many rabbits at the same time. Having too many goals or one big dream that monopolizes our expectations about life can ruin our ability to act towards any goal. The result is slow to no progress.

How to create my personal vision?
Creating a personal vision is one of the most important items in order to get the momentum you need to take off in life. If gives you a clear idea of what you should expect at the end of the road and what exactly you’re aiming for.

Why you should have life strategies
Life is not long enough for you to do everything you desire. You have about 15-17 hours a day to make the best of your time. What you choose to do daily shapes your future. To reach desirable outcomes, you must focus on specific paths that lead to winning results. You can’t do that without strategies.

What if things don’t go as I planned?
A lot of people fail to plan because they fear things will go wrong and they will have wasted their time. Why is the fear of making mistakes, failure and wasting time is so powerful? Is it really so true that we must all give up planning and just live our lifes in autopilot?