Many people struggle with weight loss and have tried nearly every diet and exercise plan available. Most of these people have simply given up and decided they will never be able to lose the weight. Often, the problem is not the diet or exercise plan these people are following, it is their mindset. Having the right mindset when entering a weight-loss plan is vital to the success of reaching your goals. The power of positive thinking in weight-loss cannot be overstated; it is vital for your success.

You must train yourself to stay positive when you are trying to lose weight. This can be very difficult because you may be depriving yourself of many luxuries you have enjoyed for many years. You may have to cut out foods which you truly love, and you may also have to force yourself to exercise when you could be doing things which are much more fun. However, you must continually think of the positive outcomes which your weight-loss can offer yourself. You must come to the realization that losing weight is the hardest part. Once you accomplish the weight loss it is much easier to keep the weight off. By simply staying on track and introducing good eating and exercise habits you will be able to keep the weight off. We are creatures of habit and once you have instituted these changes in your life they will become natural and replace the unhealthy habits which you have had in the past.

In order to accomplish your weight loss you must set realistic goals. Setting unrealistic goals and missing them time after time can be detrimental to your mindset. Decide how many pounds you would like to lose in one year time and then divide that by 12. This will give you a realistic goal to accomplish each month. By reaching attainable short term goals you will be much more likely to eventually reach your long-term goal.

Motivation cannot be overstated when it comes to positive thinking and weight loss. Without motivation there is nothing pushing us towards our weight loss goal. Motivation can be many different things to different people. Some people simply want to lose the weight in order to look great at the beach. This may be all the motivation they need to accomplish their goal. On the other hand, many people attack a weight loss program in order to attain better health. A health scare or seeing loved ones suffer because of weight issues can often be a motivating factor.

To help keep yourself motivated write down your goals and keep them somewhere where you can see them every day. Remember, Smart people write down their Goals. Having your goals right in front of you all the time will keep you focused. You may even have a picture of yourself when you were younger and much slimmer. Post that next your goals and try to reach that weight once again.

Finally, visualization is extremely important when it comes to positive thinking in weight loss. Many successful people have endorsed positive visualization as a driving force behind their success. This can also be used to help achieve your weight loss.

You were reading a guest post by Myln from the blog that helps you to lose weight the healthy way.

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Some make success look easy but the truth is that when a person who has reached the brass ring is noticed it’s only after the most difficult steps have been traversed, and not when they are struggling, which all people who have worked hard have done.

Luckily for those who want to follow in their footsteps, the secrets to success are not secrets at all. In fact, there are five things that all successful people do in order to achieve their dreams.

1. Successful people take responsibility for their actions and inaction

Have you ever wished for success but never put forth the hard work? If you can admit it, then you are on your way to becoming successful, because a person looking to become something bigger than he or she is will be honest enough to say ‘I made a mistake,’ or even ‘I was not totally committed to my dream.’

Most people would rather lie to themselves. They;ll buy new gadgets while on the brink of bankruptcy, eat out when they should be on an at-home budget, and sit around playing video games and eating snack foods while they tell themselves that they are going to be in a body building contest.

2. Successful people are willing to sacrifice in order to achieve their dreams

Sacrifice is a must for success. Sometimes it is spelled out like the amount of time it takes to finish college. Other times it’s not, like the amount of rejections one must go through in order to publish a book.

The length of time that it may take is of little consequence when you want something badly enough.

3. Focus and Determination

When one is chasing a dream the pursuit must be a single-minded focus at times, which requires immense determination.

Aspiring pro athletes will be in the gym when they are not in class, and some will let their grades slide in order to ensure that their bodies will be able to operate at a higher level. Like these athletes, musicians will spend countless hours perfecting their technique and compositions, and this does not come but with the focus that brings about time allotted for practice.

Abraham Lincoln was noted as having practiced his speeches repeatedly. From this, he was able to overcome being unsure of what to do with his hands and keep his voice from breaking into a high pitch.

4. Focus leads to field expertise

From this focus people become experts in their fields. A musician knows all of his scales. Business people know all of the proper terminology, such as gross and net income, ROI, ROE, and billable hours.

Without focus, people who want to be successful may find themselves in embarrassing situations.

5. Successful people have a written plan as well as a personal mission statement

Without a written plan, it is unlikely that success will be achieved because goals are not reached in a day, but daily. Every day must involve something that helps a person achieve their goals.

Over time priorities change and so do people, but a good plan should not. If it is not readily available along with a personal mission statement then it will more likely than not be forgotten like so many other dreams that were really just wishes.

Do you think that there is something else that I missed? How do you motivate yourself? Please share it with us in comments below.

You were reading a Guest Post by Melissa Tamura, She writes about online degrees for the Zen College Life blog.

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Why is it that some people achieve more than the average lot? Why are some people more successful than others?

• Is it because they are smarter?
• Are they just too lucky?

I don’t believe either of the above are reasons to be more successful.

“Luck favors those who help themselves”

People don’t get success just because of luck, they apply a few principles consistently that lead them to success. Here are 7 important points which are crucial to achieve success:

1. Get a Burning Desire

Successful people have a deep burning desire to achieve success. They want it badly.

A young man asked Socrates the secret to Success. Socrates told the guy to meet him near the beach next morning at 4 A.M.

The young man thought to himself, – “I am asking him the secret to success and Socrates is calling me near a beach!! Man, I do not want to learn swimming, I want to know the secret of success.”

Nevertheless, next morning 4 A.M he reached near the beach. Socrates asked the man to walk with him towards the beach.

When the water got up to their necks, Socrates dunked the young guy into water. The guy tried and struggled to get his neck out of water but could not. Socrates held the young guy’s head into water for around a minute and after that he released his grip and allowed the young man to come out of water. The young boy immediately took a deep breath of air.

Socrates asked him – “What did you want the most when you were under water?”

I am sure he must have wanted to say ”the most I wanted to do was – Kick you” but he replied that he wanted ‘air’ the most when he was under water.

Socrates said – That’s the secret to success, If you want success as badly as you wanted to breathe when you were underwater, then you will succeed.

Do you want it badly enough? Do you have the burning desire?

2. Find out what you are passionate about

How do you do that? Keep reading…

3. Write down your Goals

You can make a very important contribution towards achieving success by doing a goal setting exercise.  Smart people write goals to achieve them. Setting goals makes it easier for you to plan your tasks at hand and prioritize.

Let me tell you a rewarding technique of setting your goals, just draft a table in your planner/organizer as shown below:

Let me just briefly go through the relevance of each column in organizer:

• First of All, mention the goals that you want to work towards.
• Now, mention the reason you want to work towards this Goal, (You must be wondering that why do you need to mention the reason/necessity for its completion. This will always remind you of the results that you will reap once the goals have been accomplished within deadline).
• This will keep you motivated enough to continue working towards it since it is very natural to get discouraged/demotivated while working towards long term goals if you can not see the rewards you are going to get through them.
• Assign a priority on a scale of 1-5 for every task where 1 stands for critical tasks and 5 for tasks that can wait. Arranging the goals in decreasing order of priorities will help in tracking them
• Also, do set the target date for each task since this will give you a deadline to work towards, thus also giving you a chance to get better with your time management skills .Keep reasonable time estimates for every goal so that you are not discouraged in case any failure to achieve them due to lack of time.
• Do mention the status for every goal as Pending/In Progress/Completed. Also, start shading goals in red if the target date is approaching and status is still pending. The pending task in red will always catch your eye first when you open your organizer the next time.
• You can also start shading your completed task in green since this will motivate you to continue working.

4. Work Hard

“In Life, there is no free lunch”

It means you don’t get something for free. If you want to be successful, you will need to put in efforts.

Just look at all the facilities you are currently getting – Electricity, Roads, Cars, Buses, Mobile Phones, Internet. All these are making your life so much easier. It is there because someone worked hard to invent these. Someone had the burning desire to bring these new inventions to the world.

There is no shortcut. You don’t get success by taking shortcuts.

Most underachievers start procrastinating even at the thought of working hard. They start getting stressed. Believe me, If you are passionate about your Goal, If you want it badly enough, then you will not feel as if you are working. You will enjoy your hard work because you know it will bring you closer to your Goals. Trust me, work will seem like fun if you have the burning desire in you.

5. Give your best at the task at hand

There are just two methods of doing any work in hand:

• Doing it halfheartedly
• Doing it passionately with all your heart

Which method do you think will achieve better results?

Passion can really help you a lot in achieving your dreams. Make sure that you put in best efforts for the task at hand. Working on something with full passion will give you contentment of working and trying really hard for it from your end. Also, giving your best

will encourage you to perk up on task at hand and will fill you with a sense of confidence.

“Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.”

Oprah Winfrey

6. Focus

Focus is a necessary ingredient for achieving success.

As Carl Lewis, Track and Field Star Athlete has quoted “My thoughts before a big race are usually pretty simple. I tell myself: Get out of the blocks, run your race, stay relaxed. If you run your race, you’ll win….Channel your energy. Focus.”

So, focus and work towards the ‘task in hand’ without worrying for the results since the best that you can do at that moment of time is to give your 100% towards the task in hand.

This moment is the first moment of the rest of your life.

7. Persistence

Keep trying to achieve your goals in spite of failures since this another try might be the last blow and you may succeed. Keep Going… Keep Trying……

As you keep on trying and in case you encounter failures, then look at it with a positive approach since you are just eliminating the number of options and are moving closer to your success ?.

And also, you will know the options that are not to be repeated the next time

“They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats”

B.C. Forbes

Success is possible for anyone who is willing to achieve it. I love the quote from Bible – “If ye have faith, nothing shall be impossible unto you.”  A lot of people want to be successful, there is a huge difference between wanting-to and willing-to.

Are you willing to work towards your success? Do you think you have it in you to be what you want to be? Do you need any help ? Of course, I will not be able to help you monetarily

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When a child tries to learn ‘how to walk’. Do you think the first time he tries to walk, he is able to do it?

Even when he tries for 50 times and is not able to do it, Do you think he quits trying? If a 2 years old child does not give up, Why should we ? I do believe we all are better off than a 2 year old!!

Here are a 5 tips to help you Never give up, until you are successful

1. Believe in Yourself
The first step to achieve anything is believing that you will be able to do it. Believe in your abilities and strengths. There are numerous examples of people who have achieved extra ordinary things in life. They were able to achieve their dreams because they believed in themselves.
Bible says – ‘If ye have faith, nothing shall be impossible unto you’.

2. Recall a past incidence when you were able to do what you wanted
There must be some incidence in your life when you were able to achieve what you wanted.
Example: A win in a football match
Getting good marks in school
Impressing that beautiful girl to say yes for the Prom night
Success in getting your first client / sale.

The idea is to picture success in your mind. If you were able to be successful at something in the past, then you can be successful again. It may not be the same thing that you are trying, but you can be successful at other things too.

Framing a picture of success in your mind will give you the strength to try again and believe that you will be able to do what you want to do.

3. Break down your Goal into smaller tasks
“Life is hard by the yard;
By the inch, its a cinch (cinch means easy to accomplish)”
If you break down your tougher tasks into smaller bits, it is easier to manage them. Sometimes, the goals you want to achieve may seem overwhelming.

Example: To buy a home with a big backyard. For some people, It seems too big to be accomplished.

Breaking down the Goals into smaller tasks makes them more manageable. Once you keep completing the smaller tasks, it will motivate you to achieve your goal and help you not quit your Goal in between.

4. Promise yourself a BIG TREAT once you achieve your goal
Tell yourself that you will treat yourself with something big and nice, once you complete your Goal.

Example: A lavish treat in your favorite restaurant… or spending a day in Spa.

5. When you feel discouraged, try getting inspired from someone who never gives up
Imagine a man with no arms, no legs. What would happen if he falls down. Do you think it is easy for him to get back up? What would happen if he gives up?
Watch it yourself:

People like Nick Vujicic give us the inspiration to never give up in life, no matter what happens.

Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.

- Michael Jordan

6. Become a regular reader at ‘The Positive Life’
Well, this bonus tip is the most important. You will find a lot of tips and tricks to help you deal with your life in a more positive way. Do not forget to subscribe yourself for FREE updates.

Do you use any more tips that help you in never giving up?? Would you like to share any example from your life, any incident when you didn’t give up and succeeded in your endeavor? What are your thoughts about the above tips?

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Yes, its true !! Microsoft’s founder and the world’s richest man, Bill Gates, has just joined Twitter. You can start following him at @BillGates. Within just 14 hours, more than 160,000 people have started following him. Imagine the kind of popularity he has !!

The account is indeed real: it is officially a verified account and is confirmed by Twitter’s Caroline Mizumoto. So far, he has only tweeted thrice and retweeted two tweets. He isn’t the first high-profile tech figure to join Twitter. Recently Google CEO Eric Schmidt and also Bollywood’s King – Shah Rukh Khan joined the service. People have been talking about the huge numbers of followers these celebrities got in such less time, but Bill Gates has almost created a record by getting 160,000 twitter followers in just 15 hours !! Well,

The world’s richest man deserves such a following, doesn’t he??

We all want to be successful, right ? Still, when we come across something new that tells us that we can be more successful and happier using that technique, we feel a little doubtful. I can understand your doubts, Trust me, I can tell you from my own experience – Affirmations are something that can bring a world of difference in the way you live your Life.

I will give an example, When Rajiv was in Senior secondary school, he got flunked in Maths. Simply speaking, He got below average marks in Maths and had to re appear for that examination. Fortunately after that incident, he started reading books on Positive Thinking and started applying the principles mentioned in those books in his daily Life. More importantly, he started using affirmations in his daily life. He considers it one of the great Secrets of cultivating a positive attitude. Now, After 7 years, He has got two Gold medals for topping his college during Post Graduation.

Imagine, a failure becoming a Gold Medalist !! How often do you come across a story like this? Well, the story I just told you is about myself. Affirmations have great power in them. If I can do it using affirmations, so can you. If you have still not checked Affirmations on Positive Self Esteem, you can check them here.

Here are Affirmations for Becoming Successful:

As I mentioned, Do read them twice a day for 21 days in a row and feel the difference in your attitude.

Just read them loudly to yourself, and try to visualize what you are reading…

• Today is the beginning of my new Life.
• I greet this day with happiness, I now lift my arms towards God to thank him for everything he has been giving me.
• I am a unique historic event in myself and there is no one on the whole planet like me, and they can never be even if they try.
• I am rare, and there is value in all rarity, and so I am valuable.
• I cherish and make the most of every moment I have. I make the most of my day.
• I am prepared for wisdom and opportunities which will help me realize each and every single goal of mine.
• I persist until I succeed. I keep my eyes fixed on my Goals, for I know that If I persist long enough, I am surely going to succeed.
• I set high, assessable Goals for myself. I set a Target date of accomplishment for my Goals.
• I always aim for more than I think I can achieve, and then I achieve what I had aimed for.
• I always strive to make the next hour better than this one.
• I always raise my goals as soon as I achieve them.
• I am hungry for success. I have a burning desire in myself to be ultra successful.
• I believe in myself, I have the power to achieve my dreams. I can do it.
• My dreams and goals are worthless if they are not followed by action. I act now. With these words, I condition my mind to perform every act necessary for my success. I act now.
• I understand the principle – ‘No Gain Without Pain’. I work hard and endure pain if required to achieve my Goals.
• I can achieve anything I set my mind on.
• I destroy Procrastination with Action, I bury doubt under Faith.
• I deserve to be happy and successful.
• I take time to laugh and play everyday.
• Today is the best day of my Life.

Did they make you feel better? How are you feeling after reading these?

If reading them once can make you feel better, imagine the effect they will have on you if you read them continuously for 21 days.

Do you use some affirmations or auto suggestions that you would like to add in the list?? Do share your feelings in the comments below…

People with Clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine !! – Brian Tracy

In 1973, the 1953 graduating class from Yale met at a reunion. There were researchers who asked the graduating class – “How many of the former students had achieved written life goals. Five per cent said they had.

The researchers then had each person complete a financial asset work sheet. The results are as follows:

• 70% of the class had never set goals.

• 25% had New Years resolution–type goals or goals they could articulate but were not written down.

• Only 5% had written goals.

The five per cent of the class that had written goals controlled ninety-six per cent of the group’s net worth.

That means:

• 5% People had 96% of Net worth of the whole group.

• 95% People had 4% of Net worth of the whole group.

Hmmm, do you think that’s just an example and does not hold true everywhere. Lets look at some eye opening facts regarding the Richest people in the world. I am sure you would agree these people are Smart.

• 50 million richest people of the world achieve as much as 2.7 billion poor people of the world.” (Milanovic 2002, p.50)

• The wealth of the world’s 7 richest people combined is more than 567 million poorest people in the world.

Do you think that these rich people have achieved so much just by luck ?? Of course, they work hard and strive their best to achieve what they have.

But there is one important thing which is common in all the greatest achievers of the world.

“THEY WRITE THEIR GOALS”

That is why, they are called Smart. Generally, Ninety-seven per cent of the people do not write Goals. They do not have a clear, written aim of where they’d like to be in six months, five years or ten years. You must be wondering Why is it so?

This is so because most of the people are either unaware that they can achieve a lot in life by writing their Goals. Some are lazy enough not to do it.

The point is – Why does it happen that if we write our Goals, we are able to achieve far more than those who do not write their goals.

Here is your answer – On an average, a human mind goes through 60,000 thoughts in a day. It becomes difficult for us to Focus on one particular thing/task during the day. If we write our Goals, then our mind becomes focused on the thought of achieving the goals that we have written. And since we are more focused on our Goal, we tend to work towards achieving our Goals.

I urge you to take a Diary which you can maintain, and write your Goals right now about whatever you want to achieve in Life. It can be financial, personal, academic, any thing that you wanna achieve.

Written your Goals? What Next?

It is not so that you write your goals today and then just forget about them. Once you have written your Goal, you need to give 5-10 minutes daily by going through your Goal in the morning as well as in the eveniing.

Reading your Goal in the morning: Helps you remain focused on the Goal throughout the day.

Reading your Goal at Night before you Go to Sleep: Helps you introspect and analyze the progress you are making towards your goal.

Still reading the article? Have you written your Goal? Come back after writing your Goal and share with us in the comment that you have written it. Also, if you would like to share your Goal with us or need any help on achieving it, I am there to help.

Do you know someone personally who did write their goals and achieved them?? Or Did you achieve yours by doing the same? Share the success story with us.

Download The Secret of cultivating a positive Attitude

Wow !! I had not imagined that I will be creating a small, handy and easy to understand version of “The Secret of Cultivating a Positive Attitude.”

This one also throws some light on the power of your conscious and subconscious mind which you will not find in the article.

I am offering it as a GIFT for my Blog Readers !! And I am sure, you are going to enjoy it.

If you wish, You can also distribute it freely or put it on your blog or website for FREE !!!

Instructions to Download:

Just right click on the above link, and click “Save as” and save it on your computer.

In one of my previous posts, you read about taking the first step to achieve your dreams. But not many of us do all that is required to achieve our dreams. Do we?? We feel as if our feet are tied to something. We want to work towards achieving our dreams but we don’t.

If you are hungry and you have the ingredients available to prepare food and you have the time to prepare it, won’t you make food to satisfy your hunger??

But, why is it different when it comes out to chasing your dreams? We know that Human mind has limitless potential and we can achieve anything we set our mind to.

The question is, Why don’t people take action to achieve their goals? What stops them?

Here are 3 reasons that give an insight on “What stops you from achieving your dreams and goals?”

1. Waiting for the Perfect Situation

We keep waiting for the perfect situation. We think that we will start when the situation is favorable. But my dear friend, situation will not become favorable by itself. Think about it….. Will the situation become favorable by itself if you don’t work towards it??? Somebody has to work towards making the situation favorable and that somebody has to be ‘YOU’.

“God helps those who help themselves.”

In 1980’s, when Sam Pitroda came to India from USA and tried to make a call to his wife(in USA) from a 5 Star Hotel located in India’s capital, He could not talk to her because there were disturbance in the phone line. This disturbance was due to improper Telecom Infrastructure in India.

Did he accept the situation as it is?? No, He did not sit quiet, he said to himself – “I am going to fix it.”

Just imagine, a guy coming to India from US, not being able to talk to his wife because of improper telecom infrastructure, and imagining that he can fix the situation!!

Was that goal unrealistic?? He had faith that he CAN DO IT!!!

He worked with the then Prime Minister of India (Rajiv Gandhi), and finally after a few years of hard work, his dream got converted into reality. And today, we have wonderful Telecom infrastructure in India.

The situation was not perfect but Sam Pitroda did not wait for the perfect situation, he started working to change the situation and finally triumphed.

If he can do it, so can you…..

2. Waiting for others to agree with you.

My dear, don’t wait until others agree with you. In 1909, When Wright Brothers dreamed of creating a machine that would be heavier than air and would fly in air. People did not agree with them, people called them mad. But Wright brothers did not wait for others to agree with them, They had faith in their dream and they kept working to achieve it. And today, we are able to travel in luxurious airplanes only because of Wright Brothers’ WILL to achieve their dream and because Wright Brothers did not wait for others to agree with them. If they could do it, so can you…..

3. Waiting because you do not have the required skills.

Many people keep waiting because they think they do not have the required skills to do what they wish to do. But cant’ the skills be learned?? Aren’t their enough teachers/tutorials available?? How about googling on a subject you do not know??

I understand that for many people, learning something new can be difficult. But, its only a matter of quitting procrastination and trying (yes, trying and taking that crucial first step) to get the skills required to achieve what they want.

I was keen to have a website of my own. When I started last year with blogging, I could have quit easily because I was a noob in blogging, Yeah, really. I did not know anything about blogging. But I learnt from the tutorials available on internet, I started my journey on the path of learning about blogging. In fact, I am still learning something new every day !! But because I made efforts to get the skills required, today, I have been able to touch lives of more than 50,000 people through this blog!! Is that bad??

If I can do it, so can you…..You just need that Passion -”Yes, I can achieve my dreams”

Now, You know the reasons that stop you from achieving your goals. The choice is entirely yours. The power lies in your own hands…

Do you think knowing these reasons will help you in taking action to achieve your goals?? Do you find any other obstacles in your path of achieving your goals??

Do you have a dream deep in your heart that you want to achieve?

Have you taken the first step to achieve your dream? It is said that first step is perhaps one of the most difficult. But, once you take the first step, everything else follows!!

I realized this during one of my recent trips to a Hill Station. I want to share my dramatic experience with you, which helped me realize that it is only the first step that’s difficult. Once you take it, other steps will become easier !!

THE DRAMATIC EXPERIENCE:

I had gone their with 30 of my college friends and a team of corporate trainers

On the second day of our trip, the corporate trainers took us near a mountain. We were standing near the bottom of a mountain. Approximately 300 feet above us, we saw a person standing, waiting for us. He was one of the corporate trainers.

We were told that we had to climb down that mountain (300 feet) with the help of a rope. ( It is called Rappelling) It was so damn scary, how the hell could we do it? I was afraid to do that, not just me, I could read many of my friends’ faces, even they were scared too. But none of us wanted to say – “I will not do it”, you see – Peer pressure.

On top of this, I was the among the first few to be called by the corporate trainers to climb down the mountain.

When I reached that spot from where we had to climb down, I saw down, All of my friends were looking as tiny as an ant. You can’t even imagine how scary it was. The corporate trainer standing there helped me in wearing safety equipments. Although I had worn them, I was very very scared.

I saw down again, I told him it seems very difficult. He said – “Try, you can do it” As soon as I took my first step, my legs started trembling, Frankly speaking, I was very afraid, What else can you expect from a person who had never done something like this before…. it was too tough for me.

After taking a few more steps, I began to feel more confident. Whoa !! It seemed easier, in the next few seconds I had climbed down the mountain. I had climbed down 100 feet!! Yipppieee, I had accomplished that Goliath looking task. Yeah.

THE REALIZATION:

Just then – I realized that when we are trying something new, It is only the first step that seems difficult. May be we are afraid of it because we have not done something similar before….But once we take the first step, we realize that we can do it, things start seeming easier, we start gaining confidence and we feel more motivated to accomplish that task.

That’s why I am saying : Once you take the first step,other steps will become easier for you.

So, Don’t just wait to do it later; Don’t listen to others who say you can’t do it. Don’t think you will not be able to do it, Try building up some faith in yourself and – Just go for it. Take the first step and other steps will seem easier.

Have you faced any such situation before, What are your thoughts about the whole story I just told you ? I would love to know your feelings in the comments