2019 Weekly Insight Archive
6/24/19
Around seven years ago, I began this Weekly Insight Series, by sending our online community, this first Insight:
“Believe in yourself! It’s when you believe that you are empowered to choose to function at your highest potential and determine your own destiny, that your hang-ups no longer have to negatively affect your relationships, major life goals or attitudes. In what area(s) of your life could you believe in yourself just a bit more?”
Since then, and as this Monday morning series has grown and evolved massively, I have enjoyed interacting with so many of you around the issues we’ve addressed – all of which, intended to help you operate optimally and live your best life.
Now the time has come — at least for a while– to go in a slightly different direction. Instead of emailing them weekly, I’ll be posting Insights on social media. In addition I’ll be emailing you my latest blogs, relevant articles, as well as other information, opportunities and programs for optimizing your life— on a more occasional basis. I am most excited about a brand-new online experience, you’ll hear about very soon, that we’re now putting the finishing touches on!
I’d like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you around the world for making this seven-year weekly endeavor so worthwhile, stimulating and such a wonderful source of two-way engagement and creativity for me and so many of you.
So please keep in touch, stay tuned and thanks again for being part of our ever-growing online community!
Here’s to life at YOUR highest potential🥂
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
And the entire Media Psychology Associates Team
PS: Please follow and like us on social media,where we will continue posting Insights, new tools, strategies and support for living your best life!
PPS: In case you might have missed some of our Weekly Insights this year, please click here for the entire 2019 Weekly Insight Archive.
6/17/19
As the ancient Chinese proverb reminds us, “One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade”.
For many people, evenmassive successdoesn’t convert to happiness.So if it doesn’t yet feel like you’re living the life you were born to live, pretend that you’re out of excuses, and instead ask yourself some questions:
What would you likeyour legacy to be? What impact do you most want to leave on the world? On your community? Your favorite cause? The people who matterto you the most?
Consider that the shift you’re looking for is merely to move your focus toward something that triggers feelings in you of benevolence.Listen for a new calling, perhaps, to give something back.
Many successful people find they’ve become “victims” of their own success, when things that used to motivate them no longer do.Some actually burn out on their own self-gratification— even though it’s still nice to have — then realize that something greateris needed to bring meaning back to their lives.
There’s a simple paradox, which for many is the key to happiness: by focusing on your own happiness, you rarely achieve it in a lasting way; but by helping someone else—or many others—happiness and fulfillment come back to youalmost effortlessly.This week, why not give some thought as to how you can use this principle to optimize your life!
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
Click here for strategies (in Chapter 9) to explore and implement your legacy.
6/10/19
As mid-year approaches, how are you doing with those New Year’s resolutions you made for 2019, around five months ago?How is that one big thinggoing, that you wanted to accomplish this year? Kudos for your persistence if you’re still track!
But if you’re behind or even trying to remember what your New Year’s resolutions were, do you know whythat is? Imagine that you really owe yourselfan explanation, and stay with it until you come up with an understanding that can serve as an update as well as empower youto be operating according to your own choices.Is whatever you wanted for yourself back then, no longer relevant? Maybe you abandoned the dream or goal when you hit a bump? Or somehow concluded that you can’t succeed, and brought it to a halt?
This week, why not take an inventory of how 2019 is going for you so far – whileyou still have most of the year to correct course, if necessary or just fine tune it.
To revisit a goal – large or small – that you may be procrastinating on, make a “To Do” list, perhaps include sub-goals, which are smaller aspectsof your goal. Resolve to do something on your list every day. Remember, when being proactive no step is evertoo small!
Personal excellence is merely doing your best. And that’s one standard you can absolutely adopt the minute you commit to it. Then your zone of genius awaits you.
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
Click here for more strategies to get back on track.
6/3/19
When taking the perceived risks and action steps necessary to pursue a goal or dream, remember that your most important mental shift is to convert whatever fears stand in your way, to the couragenecessary for proceeding with optimal passion. And as we’ve discussed so many times, while failure is always a possibility, unless you allowfailure – no matter how difficult or heartbreaking it may seemat the time — to defeatyou, failure can provide you your biggest giftof insight, but only if you allow yourself to see it that way.
Truefailure is guaranteed, only if you permitfear to rule, and prevent you from pursuing your dream. Now to the extent that you’re feeling stuck, the most effective first step is to identify the fears– aka, your most potent obstacles — that are blocking you this minute, from operating out of that zone within yourself where you are at your peak.
Failure itself (or its first cousin, fear of success, which is little more than anxiety over how you will feel about yourselfif you reallytrythen don’t succeed), has the power of defining and perhaps even blocking your ability to make any contribution you’re here to make. If you fear rejection, scorn or ridicule – for example — remember that a common byproductof success is dislike from people who envy you for succeedingwith something they didn’t even have the courage even to attempt!
So take time this week to identify the fearsthat might be holding you back. The possibilities are endless. But most importantly, make the commitment to turn your life around, by refusingto be governed by them one minute longer!
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Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
Click here for more strategies to defeat stifling fears and anxieties.
5/27/19
As this is Memorial Day in the US, let’s primarily celebrate it as day to commemorate heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom of others – a cause much larger than themselves.
It’s also a great time to reflect on your own life, by asking yourself some questions that are almost guaranteed to produce a bit of insight. Perhaps you’ve heard of the classical “rocking chair” exercise, where you imagine yourself at the end of your life – sitting on a rocking chair and asking yourself what you might have done differently in your life, with the wisdom, distance and detachment that this setting provides. If you’ve never done this visualization, try it – it’s quite powerful!
Or this week, why not commemorate the unofficial start of summer by asking yourself a variation of this question: How would you like to remember this era of time, years from now? Where you are now, versus where you want to be? Imagine that you stayed in your comfort zone. What might you someday wish you’d done that you haven’t? What’s the big thing you would like to be remembered for? What do you imagine you would say about this moment at the end of your life?
It was Mark Twain who in my opinion had the best quote ever about regrets: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover”. In other words, trade you comfort zone for the life you were born to live… And the sooner, the better!
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
Click here for strategies to explore and perhaps exit your comfort zone.
5/20/19
We all know or know of people who exude an aura of self-confidence, that seems to communicate that they can accomplish just about anything. Whatpowersthis quality of self-confidence is first to remember that self-confidence is nothing more than an attitudeavailable to just about anyone willing to own it!
Next, it’s crucial to discover what uniquelymotivates you, align your uniquepassions to it and then give yourself permission in your own uniqueway to stay where all of this uniqueness takes you. My overuse of the word unique in this last sentence is purely intentional, because honoringyour uniqueness–rather than attaching yourself to whatshouldmotivate you– is the key.
So what motivates you more than anything else?Take some time this week to give this question a bit of thought. If you find that things such as money, prestige, approval from or power over others; for example, are your main motivators, remember that they are rewards that depend on forces outsideof yourself; and are thereby transient in nature.
However, such things as the feelings of satisfaction that come from doing what you love and were meant to do as indicated by your innate gifts and talents, meeting a difficult challenge, performing optimally with passion and ease, being genuinely creative, fulfilling some larger purpose that nourishes your soul and, of course, whatever triggers bliss in you or the best feelings about yourself– require nothing that is unavailable to you in at this present moment.
Optimal self-confidenceis both the key to and the result ofrecognizing this internaldrive, as your principal source of motivation. Self-confidence and motivation work togethersynergistically. They are both indispensable and best of all, completely attainable keys to success.
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
Click here to learn proven strategies for both self-confidence and motivation!
5/13/19
A nagging reality that many high achievers— as well as those who striveto be –struggle with, is their inability to control outcome. Thus, I got so much reaction to an Insight from a few weeks ago pointing out this aspect of success, that I thought I’d address the main question triggered by the fact that certaintyin virtually anyform is a myth(perhaps the biggest myth of all time?). Therefore, so is the outcome of anything you attempt, in the same way that life as we know it canirreversibilitychange at any moment.
The strategy I urged you to consider was to change your expectationsand definition of success to simply doing your best. This is a standard that nobody can exceed.
So that leaves us with a question I urgeyou to ponder this week: How to make your best better?And there is an infinite array of doable strategies to make this happen and even acceleratethe process.
For example, pick a virtual “mentor”– someone who has accomplished the outcome you are seeking – what does he or she know, believeor do that you could get busy, right now, incorporating into your life or mission?What would he or she advise you regarding risk taking versus adhering to your comfort zone? These questions are just a start, but there are truly no limits to where they can take you.
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
Click here for more strategies to make your best better!
5/6/19
Anytime you start to feel the first signs of burnout (what they are vary from person to person, but you know it when you see it), take them seriously!Remember that to burn out, you needed to be “on fire”. So as a reflection exercise, ask yourself: If all things were possible, what would I do with my life right now?
After you have answered this question for today, try to project ahead to next year, three years even twenty years. Pretend that you can see yourself in those future times and “look back”. Notice how you would answer this question for today, from the perspective of each of the different time periods you choose?
For some people, this extremely simple visualization tells them in fact that they’d do nothingdifferent. So in this case, maybe just a short break or distraction is the remedyfor your feelings of burnout.
However, this exercise could also yield an insightful glimpse, that you might think of as a “first draft” of the next phase of your life. In that case, a bit more exploration is in order. For example, imagine that you were a billionaire who had all the time in the world to pursue your dream. What would you do differently with your life? (Focus, of course, on your life afterthe “big trips” and the “spending sprees” are over.) Ponder, what you would do differently if you felt completely in control of your destiny (which on most levels, you actually are!). Make a list of whatever comes to mind. No doubt you’ve listed items that are impossible to do without resources that may not yet be available to you. So when your list is complete, circle those things you could accomplishwith your present resources.Then imagine how putting those things into your life ASAP would affect your feelings of burnout.
Chances are,there are some passions you can enjoy right nowand build on. So whether or not burnout is an issue for you, this week go for that low-hanging fruit, with this frame of mind that programs you best – not only to succeed, but also to monitor your unique and evolving definition of your best life and highest potential.
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
Click here for more strategies for moving beyond burnout.
4/29/19
What do people who are most successful in their chosen fields,have in common with what is recognized as the most accuratepredictorof happy marriages or other long-term relationships? If the ability to resolve conflictis what you guessed for these two seemingly unrelated examples, you are correct. After all, a couple who can resolve conflict togethercan apply that great skill to virtually any aspect of their lives.
Conflict is everywhere: in the workplace, in politics and other news, in virtually every plot of the movies and books we enjoy, and sometimes even in our funactivities. The fact is, conflict is almost impossible to avoid!
This week, take note of how you typically handle conflict, and whether it can stand some improvement. Here are examples – ranging from the least to most effective ways — of how conflict is typically handled. See which of these you can identify with, and perhaps what you would prefer over what you may nowbe doing:
- By walking away, pretendingthere’s no conflict and doing what is easiest in the moment, without regard to long-term consequences.
- By using some form of deception or strong-arm tactic, bullyingor literally doing whatever you have to do— sometimes even without limits — to assure that you get your way.
- By following a set of black-and-white rules that clearly dictateswho or what is right and who or what is wrong. And perhaps cling to your comfort zone at the expense of what you really want to do.
- By taking the road that produces the most validation from othersand the least anxiety, no matter how it ultimatelyworks out.
- By evaluating whether and how the source of your conflict is related to your bigger picture, then by taking the action(s) that come as close as possible to rebalancing the status quo.
- By doing what feels consistent with your own core principles, values, passions and purpose on a heartfelt level.
- By carefully listening to all points of view, considering each possibility, then making the decision or taking the action(s) that comes closest to a win-win for everyone involved.
A comprehensive menu for conflict resolution includes various strategies that choose the most effective approach or combination of tactics for a given situation or issue.And key to choosing the bestapproach, is never to lose sight of the result you’re seeking.
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
Click here to learn some highly effective conflict resolution strategies.
4/22/19
To strive for successis generally recognized as the goal practically all high achievers have in common. And there are probably as many definitionsof success as there are strivers. Yet by making one simple, yet crucial shift in your definitionof it, success will no longer elude you.
Let me explain: In reality, the outcomeof whatever it is you are trying to accomplish is the one part of any goal or aspect of success that’s least under your control. Now the good news: it is your expectationsthat are totallyyours to determine. It’s an indisputable fact that nobody can do betterthan their best.Thus, change your definition of success, to doingeverything you canto achieve the result you want. Then acknowledge this often-disappointing reality about outcome, by letting go of it.
Whether we like it or not, outcome is out of our absolute control.This is true regardless of how probableyou think success (in anyarea that’s important to you) should orcouldbe. Then, by giving it your best shot, what’s left is inner peace— arguably the greatestsuccess of all – regardless of any external outcome.
This week, try on this new attitude — where no matter what you’re trying to achieve, you recognize inner peace as your ultimate goal.And then simply do your best. Most importantly, inner peace can be lasting, because it never requires forces outside of your own skin, to achieve and maintain it.
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
Click here to learn more strategies for success and inner peace.
4/15/19
Since my new book came out, many of you have simply asked, “just what are the Seven Steps to Your Best Life? So I thought I’d summarize them in the proper order, as benchmarks that you can apply to any part of yourlife.
Throughout the years, here’s what I’ve observed, as those seven steps you can take, whenever you choose to reach this “best life” standard:
- You take the initiativeto do whatever it is you need to do.
- You are self-disciplinedand take responsibility for your actions.
- You often question“the rules”, abandon the obsoleteones and are open to picking your own way of thinking about things and developing alternative actionsand attitudes that take you out of your comfort zone.
- You are not afraid to riskfailure or to sometimes even look foolish. Instead of being governed by your fears or anxieties, you forge ahead and do all you can to get the result you want; and and are committed to converting fear and anxiety tocourage.
- You are committed to expending energy — even to the uninspiring, but necessary practical and logistical elements that are essential to succeedwith whatever it is that you are committed to doing.
- You trust yourself to follow your passion, inspiration,and whatever inner guidanceyou get, to take you to your creativity, talents, innate gifts and all the things about life that you love and enjoy the most.
- You never loose site of your missionto make an indelible contribution to something largerthan yourself.
So this week, take some time to reflect which of these steps stand between you andyourbest life? What needs to be developed, strengthened or just paid some attention to, so that you can be operating at your highest potential?
Remember, these are all within your power — this very moment — andtherefore, so is the life you were born to live! For each of us this is unique. Thus, there’s no need to compete withanyone or do anything that’s beyond your capability.And that fact alone might be the most empowering message of all!
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
Click here for proven strategies to optimize each of these seven steps.
4/8/19
What have I learned merely as the result of mistakes and failures I’ve encountered?Some of my most valuable life lessons, insights, strategies and blueprints for future success. In fact, I could easily fill a book, on that very question and maybe someday I will; although much of what I now do and have written about throughout my career can be traced to these often-unintentionalsources of insight.
In reality, mistakes and failures are giftsthat can provide you with some of your most valuable lessons.If nothing else, you learn that you canhandle what you may have feared the most— as long as you refuse to put yourself down, fall for the illusion of (coulda-woulda-shoulda) hindsightor let disappointment stifle your nexteffort to pursue a dream.
So this week, ask yourself this question – “what have I learned?” — as it applies to a mistake or failure that still resonateswith you,and may even have the effect on you of avoiding a departurefrom your comfort zone in order to do something prudently risky that could potentially deliver big rewards.
The journey to your highest potential is often peppered with landminesthat are there for a reason: to help youmaximize your innate gifts and lock in the courageto use them!
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
Click here for more strategies to access your innate gifts.
4/1/19
If you find that self-gratification isn’t as gratifying anymore, stop chasing it!Instead, consider the possibility that it’s time to make a shift, toward your legacy, in the larger world outsideof yourself.
Since passion is the most reliable guide to your best life, remember that when the forces of gratitude and passion work together, you may no longer be as motivated, inspired or satisfied by personal rewards, you once were. They may still be nice to have. But as the ancient Chinese proverb reminds us: “One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade”. So pay attention whenever you thinkyou hear, a new calling to give something back.
Ironically, when this happens, your own personalenjoyment is optional.In fact, many find that they’ve become “victims” of their own success, when things that used to motivate them no longer do; and instead find motivation in the realization that there’s only so much they can keep for themselves. Thus, gratification comes as a result of serving others.
Sometimes it’s merely boredom— one of our most underrated stressors — or even the phenomenon of burn out on you own gratification, that tells you it’s time to redirect your focus in order to bring a higher degree of meaningback to your life.
This week, take the opportunity to consider or reconsider what you would most like your legacy to be. Then dare to set some additional goals, if necessary, that are consistent with that legacy.
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
Click here to read more about your legacy (in Chapter 7).
3/25/19
When there is a task, goal or mission that you find yourself procrastinating on, it’s possible that you’re overlooking what’s often the most difficult yet underrated step: thinking it throughto and even beyond completion.
Procrastination can merely be a habitof enjoying short term gratification (e.g., diverting your attention to something “shiny and fun”), at the expense of reaching a goal with long-term benefits.
Also,procrastinating can serve the purpose of– at least temporarily — avoiding a more difficultproblem that reaching the goal would trigger. For example, the real purpose of putting off doing what’s necessary to finish a college degree could be to avoid facing a fear of entering the job market. Or if you catch yourself avoiding the necessary steps to handle a medical or health issue, the real culprit could be the fear of finding out it was more serious than you thought. That may be a no brainer. But it could also be the fear of facing what you will do with your lifewhen that issue is actually resolved! In these situations, the realissue is almost always a fear, that you are not acknowledging.
This week, try to identify a goal or an area of your life where you may be procrastinating. Then take it a bit further. What’s the fear you’re trying to avoid?What’s the downside(of reaching the goal or completing the task), that you may not have acknowledged until now? Then face that fear or downside head on!Chances are, you’ll put procrastination in the rea view mirror very quickly.
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
Click here for more strategies for operating at your best!
3/18/19
For me, it’s officially Spring when I experience my first episode of “spring fever” –that great feeling, which organicallyreminds us that all things are possible, if you can simply enjoy the moment!
Because living your best life is about liberating your mind and freeing yourself of toxic emotions, resentments, habits and rules, the painful effects of toxic relationships and environments and anything else you’re still attached to that holds you back from pursuing your dreams; perhaps some spring cleaning is now in order.
Then, your dreams, passions, and uniquely creative ideas and choices are free to occupy the place in your lifethat these toxins once did. This is the truedefinition of liberty!
Nobody ever has the right to tell another person what to think or believe.And your thoughts are the last remnants of true privacy that exist, which are completely yours to share or keep exclusively to yourself.
So this week, why not take some time to reflect on anything that stands in the way of your liberty, aka your power to live your best life. And remember that you and you alone, have the power to make liberty — and the feelings of well-being that come with it — your default frame of mind.
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
Click here to learn powerful strategies for living your best life!
3/11/19
21stCentury politically incorrect pronouns aside, Henry David Thoreau (1812- 1862) was certainly ahead of the curve when he observed that: “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation”. He was describing the condition then and certainly now of low-grade depression, where life – or an important part(s) of it – falls painfully shortof your vision of what it could be.
Later, Thoreauwrote what he saw as the remedy,that is as relevant now as it was then: “I have learned that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with an unexpected success”.This is the shift out of your comfort zone, and toward your best life, where fulfillment replaces discontent.
So let’s put this into practice! What do you most enjoy? What makes you so motivatedthat you need only your own satisfaction to do it, and nobody else even needs to notice? What or whom do you truly love? What excitesyou so much that it keeps begging for your attention, even if you tryto ignore it? What inspires you, or most puts you in spirit? What triggers the best feelings in you about yourself?
This week, take some time to apply these questions to a part of your life where you may feel stuck or unfulfilled. Remember,a comfortable state of discomfortrarely serves you beyond signalingthat some change is in order.
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
Click here for numerous strategies to replace discontent with fulfillment!
3/4/19
It’s a well-established fact that we humans mature mentally, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually in predictable stages, just as we do physically.Stages are simply developmental benchmarks that identify how much you’ve evolved or matured in any given life area. As we outgrow or complete one stage, we move on the next. That’s how nature intended it. But for a variety of reasons, we all tend to “leave behind” parts of ourselves—what I call hooks—in each stage.
Your problematic hooks to your lower stages are the fears and other obstaclesyou accumulate throughout life that hold you backfrom allowing your passions – aka, nature’s roadmap – to organicallylead you to your highest stage or potential in one or more parts of your life! These hooks can significantly impair your ability to fulfill your dreams, have the quality of relationships you want, get the courage to start a business, make a major career change and, of course, to pursue your unique life purpose (whatever that may be). So identifying, understanding, managing andin some cases removingyour lower-stage hooks is the key to reaching your potential and living that passion and purpose-driven life you were born to live.
Let’s build on this Stage Climbing premise and assume that nature – by way of your passions – will guide you to your best life; unless a fear, an obsolete rule, or some other self-defeating attitude blocks your path to it.
This week, take some time to pinpoint how you may be standing in your own way. In the privacy of your own mind, can you identify a fear or self-perceived “inadequacy” that holds you back?You’re right on target as long as whatever you come up with is something that exists within you and not outside of yourself.
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
PS:Click here for the tools and strategies to help you both identify and remove your problematic lower-stage hooks.
2/25/19
Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is storedthan to anything on which it is poured.
— Mark Twain
It’s a well-established fact, that the painful emotion of anger can negatively impact and in some cases even destroyalmost any aspect of your life, if you let it.
But anger is merely an emotion. And your emotions – both the positive and negative ones– exist solely within you. Thus, they’re ultimately under yourmanagement and control.By merely understanding what triggers it, anger can serve you as the wakeup call that tells you (or perhaps more accurately put: “alarms” you) that some action– perhaps massiveaction– needs to be taken.
For example, are you angry because you feel helplessin a given situation? Can’t get your way? Something or someone is not meeting your expectationsor treating you as you wantto be treated? You feel powerless to stop following certain rulesthat don’t serve you or make sense, in a part of your life? Because someone elseis angry at you? You feel stressed or overwhelmedand others keep piling more on you? You feel stuckin pursuit of an important passion? There is an injusticerelated to your cause, your mission or something really important to you, that you feel compelledto correct?
This week, why not take inventory of those things that may be triggeringanger in you.Try thinking of them as signalsthat it’s time to snap yourself into solution mode, and get moving on changing whatever that situation is and/or how you view what triggered your internal alarm, via the emotion of anger.This simple awareness, can turn what started out as a painful emotion to a genuine blessing in disguise!
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
PS: Managing anger as well as your other emotions, is one of the most important skills needed to live your best life.
For an arsenal of tools to bring emotions under your control, please click here to take a look inside or purchase my new book in paperback or Kindle format through Amazon.
2/18/19
Chances are, you know what distractsyou.Some of those familiar distractions may be highly fulfilling and pleasurable, while others may be obligatory or even annoying.
So imagine that for one glorious moment, nothing was distracting you at all, and the only thing in sight were your passions. Then, imagine that nothing was preventing you from followingyour passions wherever they happened to take you. What would that experience be like? What possible life changes, if any, come to mind? How would you live your life differently, if – without conflict — you were firmly guided by your unique passions and were willing to go wherever they lead you?
Imagine that even your negative passions– those things you most wish to avoid or get away from– were also guiding you as another valuable source of information, so you could get certain toxic people and things out of your path. What would life be like then?
Take some time this week to ponder these questions! They are important — not only to your mission or purpose, but also to the vision of your long-term satisfaction and fulfillment. What you actually choose to do is, of course, is another matter. But the awareness of your choices is almost always the crucial firststep.
Living your best life is about accessing that zone of genius within yourself containing all the inner resources you need for that life you were born to live! The best news is that by letting your passions be your guide, you can naturally and organically accessthat part of yourself very quickly– provided you make the commitment to trust that your passions know the way to get you there.
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
For strategies to help you access your zone of genius — in the shortest time possible,please click here to take a look inside or purchase my new book in paperback or Kindle format through Amazon.
Seven Steps to Your Best Life: The Stage Climbing Solution for Living the Life You Were Born To Live
What some luminaries are saying are saying about the book:
“In Seven Steps to Your Best Life, Dr. Broder eloquently shares his powerful Stage Climbing strategies to reach the highest potential in every area of your life. An easy and simple guide to fulfillment”.
—Deepak Chopra, N.Y. Times Bestselling Author
“Seven Steps to Your Best Life will introduce many to the Stage Climbing process, a highly effective series of strategies for living life at your highest potential. Dr. Broder shows how to maximize your unique passions and purpose, by systematically clearing away blockages that obstruct your access to that zone within you. I recommend this book to people who desire to manifest their greatest dreams”.
— John Perkins, N.Y. Times Bestselling Author
“This fast-moving, enjoyable book shows you how to perform and achieve at your best in every area of your life.Get more done, make more money and succeed faster than you ever thought possible”.
— Brian Tracy; Speaker, consultant and author of Maximum Achievement
“It is time to release your full potential in all your dimensions and this book will inspire you to your highest stage!! Happy Reading!”
—Mark Victor Hansen, Co-creator of the #1 New York Times series, Chicken Soup for the Soul
“I highly recommend Seven Steps To Your Best Life for anyone who would like to understand, accept or change an aspect of his or her life. Dr. Broder offers a brand-new approach that will get you the results you want for your career, relationships, spirituality or any part of your life where you apply it”.
—Peggy McColl, NYT bestselling author of Your Destiny Switch
“Stage Climbing brilliantly transforms the best ingredients for reaching your potential into the kind of powerful and highly effective action steps that anyone can apply to quickly make desired life changes”.
—Stephen R. Covey, New York Times bestselling and author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People had this to say about the Stage Climbing Process itself, shortly before he tragically passed away.
2/11/19
Last year, I got more notes of gratitude for this Valentine’s Day tribute than I had ever received for anything else in this series. So I thought I would do something I’ve never done before: resend it so that those of you who are new to our Weekly Insight Series, have had a change in your relationships status in the last year, or would simply like another opportunity to access these resources — which are all complementary – can download them.
Thus, in honor of Valentine’s Day, I’ve got a gift for you regardless of your relationship status, withone exception:
If you’re in a new relationship, in love and still enjoying the high that fuels initial passion, you probably know — at least “intellectually” or from past experience— that your delicious dopamine high probably won’t last forever. But enjoy it while it does…You certainly don’t need help this year for this part of your life!
But if your marriage or love relationship can use a little tweaking or better communication skills, please accept my popular audio program,How To Develop The Ingredients For Staying Together In Your Marriage Or Love Relationshipwith my compliments. If you’d like to improve your sex life together, give How to Enhance Passion and Sexual Satisfaction in Your Relationshipa listen and try the exercises together.
If it’s in trouble, click here for my complimentary “Can Your Relationship Be Saved?” Assessment Inventory and MP3 audio to help you begin to evaluate your marriage or love relationship right now.
If you’re in the process of ending a marriage or love relationship, let me gift you my popular program: Letting Go of Your Ended Love Relationship.
And if you are not in a relationship this year, whether or not youwish you were, please experience with my compliments: The Single Life, How to Love It With or Without a Relationship. Most importantly, remember that the key to staying out of bad relationshipsis to be at peace with yourself notbeing in one, valuing solitude, and really enjoying your owncompany to the max. This program has been around for over 20 years; and many people have said that ironically, it gave them the attitudes and mindset they most needed to find the right relationship very quickly.
So no matter what’s going on for you this year, make it aHappy Valentine’s Day,and remember that with the right strategies and the will to pursue them, you can be living your best life in this important part of it very soon!
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
PS: Within you is a zone of genius that contains everything you need to live the life you were born to live!
Would you like to be living your best life and operate at your highest potential in one or more pivotal areas of your life? Do you consider yourself a High Achiever, or would you like to become one?
My brand new book: Seven Steps to Your Best Life gives you the roadmap, tools and strategies to be operating at your absolute best. It is your step by step, paint by the numbers guide for getting the results you want in the shortest time possible.
2/4/19
In a world that emphasizes relationships, connection, and community; it’s often easy to forget about solitudeand all the benefits of enjoying the company of the one person in your life who’s always with you—yourself.
I talk a lot about solitude, because its benefits as a creativity enhancer, an opportunity to reflectand to enjoy peace and mindfulnessare so often overlooked. Solitude can provide the best environment for creativity without the distractions, since it’s about being with your own thoughts.And that’s a gift no one can ever take away from you. But most importantly, solitude provides the setting and some would argue the fuel, for your best internal gifts.Remember, when you get an original idea, at first you are all alone with it.
But sadly, solitude is often confused with its dark cousin: loneliness, which is the notion of rejection — that the world is having a party to which you’re not invited and thus, your reality of being alone is not your choice.
To the extent you can enjoy solitude and trulycherish your own company, you’re setting a very healthy standard for friendships and even love relationship that you may consider in the future.For example, someone who deprives you of solitude with returning to you some enjoyment, will rarely be your first choice of how to spend your precious time.
This week, regardless of your relationship status, take some time to exercise your solitude muscle, by doing a favorite activity alone that you would normally think must be a shared activity. Warning—this could be habit-forming!
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
Click here for more strategies to live the life you were born to live!
1/28/19
What makes our species unique? I believe we each have an organic and highly accessible “zone of genius” within us, just waiting to be tapped.
If you think about all the innovations humankind has produced in just the last 100 years (not to mention the prior 10s or 100s of thousands of years), one of two things is possible:
1) Just a relatively select fewhave all that talent and guts responsible for manifesting the world as it now is (as opposed to how it was perhaps a mere million years ago).
OR
2) Those people who have actually changed the world simply managed to accessthe zonewithin themselves where their unique genius, passions and purposethat enabled their contributions,reside. Then without regard to whichever fears (e.g., failure, looking foolish, ridicule, etc.) and other self-doubts that could have held them back,they did whatever it took to make their contribution.
I believe the latter – that we allhave this capacityto access that zone of genius within ourselves.And the best news is that by simply clearing the obstacles that blockit, you are there.
In other words, we’re all gifted. You simply need to unabashedly listen to your passions – the unmistakable clue nature provides us — to that place within yourself where your innate gifts reside.
This week, why not take an inventory of passions and desires you may be ignoring. Many would argue that not everyone has a zone of genius. I disagree. Don’t listen to fear or the unwillingness to discover and access those parts of yourself, you may never have imagined exist. Your best life depends on it.
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
Click here to preview my brand-new book Seven Steps to Your Best Life for proven strategies to access your zone of genius!
1/21/19
As you pursue the 2019 promises and goals you’ve made to yourself, there’s no better time to remember that your best life is simply waiting for you to access it this very moment. Your unique passions and life purpose are your innate gifts that will lead you toyour best life, provided you listento them!
Think of a time when you may have envied someone else. Was that useful? Probably not. If envy just triggers self-doubt in you, then it’s certainly not helpful,because it allows your perceptionof others — and how “happy”, “successful” or “fulfilled” you think they may or may not be (and in reality, never know for sure) – to diminish your own self-image.
But there’s an easy remedy for this all too common perception error: go back to the basics and recognize the gapbetween yourlife as it is now and what you know it could be!The latter can be thought of as a vision of your highest potential, as you now see it, in any given part of your life.
Can envy everbe helpful? Only if itmotivates youto enact a desired change in your life. Then perhaps it was just what you needed at the time to access or to give you a glimpseof a neglected passion of your own.
In reality, all of the resources necessary to reachyour highest potential — aka your best life —exist withinyou this moment, just waiting to be recognized and activated. This week, look for ways to make the most of this crucial fact. Then, with the right strategies along with the will and determination to practice them, there’s very little you cannot overcome or achieve.
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
Click here for a clinically proven roadmap to your best life!
1/14/19 —
Every new project or worthwhile goal begins with a dream or vision, that’s powered by inspiration.For most high achievers, accessing your geniusand being inspiredis the fun part. This stirs up your creative juices, because it puts you in touch with your most unique and innate gifts.
But if inspiration got the job done, virtually every aspect of our existence would – for better or worse — be light years ahead of where it is today. That’s certainly what Thomas Edison had in mind, when he coined his most brilliant quote: “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration”. We can quibble with the numbers (maybe it’s as high as 4 or 5% inspiration but that’s it), but there’s a reason why many great visions never make it to the finish line. Some never get started at all, while others simply get given up on.
So this week, let’s focus on the “perspiration” aspect. No matter how motivated you are and how important, noble, or groundbreaking your mission — without self-discipline, it isn’t going to happen.
And the good news is that self-discipline is simply a mindset where you proceed by valuing a long-term benefit, over short-term gratification.For example, to complete a degree, stop smoking, maintain a healthy diet, and anytime you turn off the TV and stop procrastinating on something meaningful; you are merely choosing a short-term “sacrifice”for something better down the road.
What could you accomplish this year by adopting this simple self-discipline building – “just do it” –mindset?If you’re having trouble answering that question, start with even the smallest action step you could take toward something meaningful you’re procrastinating on. Then notice how good that feels. Self-discipline is little more than refusing to give in to the craving of the moment in favor of something more ultimately meaningful.And doing those things that are to your long-termadvantage is a delightful and habit-forming way to be living, in just about any aspect of your best life!
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
Click here for some powerful tools to develop self-discipline.
1/7/19 —
Imagine that five years from now, you were able to look back at 2019 and— without the least bit of ambivalence — see this year that’s just beginningto “have been”a massively pivotal year in your life! What would you have had to makehappen during this year, for2019 to still be consideredthat kind ofgame changer for youin 2024?
Go (or go back) to school? Start (or expand) the business you’ve been dreaming about? Make a major career change? Have a breakthrough in the relationship area of your life (whatever that would be or mean to you)? Write that book? Cutback, retire or semi-retire? _______________?
With that big thing in mind that may only have been a dreamup until now, take the initiative this week to: do some research, learn the steps (if necessary) to get startedorover the finish line, make a “to do” list, connect with the right mentor and/or sources of support, or if you’re further along, take one or more bold action step(s). Most importantly, make an ironclad commitment to do what it takes to convert your dream to reality!
If you find yourself morphing back to the status quo, ask yourself:“what is holding me back”?— Feelings of powerlessness? Lack of self-discipline? Fear of failureor some other phantom fear, aka anxiety? If any of these things (or other success destroying attitudes) ring true, rest assured we will be hitting them all with solutions, as the year progresses.
But this week, just get started. And one great way to do that is to visualize the success that will be your long-term reward for the essential actions you take starting this week.
May 2019 be that pivotal year for you!
Michael S. Broder, Ph.D.
