Most times people fail is because they didn’t do enough. They didn’t work as hard as they should, didn’t plan enough or were shy, insecure, uncommitted or inconstant. But, blind to this fact, these people then give excuses.

And the truth is that few times will an outside event restrain you for achieving your objective. It has to be something really extraordinary and completely unpredictable. Few of these happen: most of the times people could have done a little bit more to make things work out.

So when you don’t get a job or get rejected by someone you like or fail at an important exam just think: Could have I done something more? Could have been possible for me to do better? Probably yes. You have to go one step beyond; you have to do what others would not. Then will you succeed where others are failing at.

The first step in that direction is to not give any more excuses. And I don’t mean giving excuses to others. Don’t give excuses to yourself! If things didn’t go as planned is YOUR fault and it’s your duty to find out why. Assume the responsibility, accept your failure and blame yourself as much as you have to.

Then focus on how you will make these failures be a part of the past. Learn from your mistakes and never repeat them again. Become someone better, understand these failures and don’t let them hunt you down in the future.  After all, no one is perfect. But make sure you are the best you can.

Say, for example, that you failed an exam because it was too hard. I bet it was. But did others pass? If they did, then it was doable. What happened is that you didn’t study enough. Of course it was hard, but don’t make your failure be a consequence of the exam. After all, someone did pass… So you surely could have done better.

Perhaps you failed at a very important job interview. But were you perfectly dressed, was your pitch smooth and did you answer all the questions? It could happen that you were outstanding, but so were other men who got the job instead. Most of the times you can be better than the rest. Did you practice enough? Are you sure?

And, last, did the girl from your dreams reject you? You lost a tennis match? You were late? Most times could have done better. Just don’t give excuses and focus on working harder, on being remarkable.

Assuming failure is one step to maturity and a bigger one in your road to success. If you build yourself stronger after failure and make sure those mistakes don’t repeat you’ll be on the right track. Little by little failure will be less and less common in your life.

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We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit. – Aristotle.

And Aristotle is quite right: a successful person is built around good habits. It’s inevitable for you to become a winner if you have the right habits. But it’s not something you can do from one day to the other. It takes time, effort and commitment to create these habits. Here are a few of my favorite to get you kick started.

I recommend you to work just with one every month. If there’s something that helped me achieving all what I did, it’s focusing on these:

1- Having a Low Information Diet.

To start a low information diet has been one of my best decisions. It’s a great relief and a huge time saver. It’s really something that can change your life. Breaking it up to the essentials, it means to batch email, stop reading the news and to stop pointless social media surfing.

By doing this you’ll get rid of the biggest time wasters of our era. You’ll avoid interruption and will be able to exclusively focus on getting your most important tasks done. If you want to multiply your productivity, this is the way to go.

The benefits of having a low information diet far outnumber the potential and so threatened negative consequences. I don’t check emails more than twice a day, don’t read newspapers (just business stuff once a week) and so far no catastrophe has happened. If I’m dying to do so (which hardly happens) I do it after finishing with all my tasks for the day.

2- Exercise 20-30 Minutes Every Day.

I have been going to the gym ever since I was 13. I hate it since day one. But, want it or not, it’s good for me. I’m proud of having a good body, of being healthy and of being fit to do any activity I want to. Yet, every time I had to sacrifice something to save time for study, work or something else gym was first on the list. If I had to quit something, I would quit the gym.

That’s really bad. My body has never lost shape, but it could certainly do if I stay out of exercise for long. What do I do, then? First thing in the morning, before doing anything, just after eating a couple of fruits, I go out and run. Not that much, really. Maybe 20 minutes, no more. And then I make another twenty minutes of exercise outside, at home or, maybe, in the gym.

Like it or not to stay healthy is important and I can’t just skip it. By doing all exercise first thing in the morning I make sure I won’t. After all, the temptation not to go running or not to lift weights multiplies as time goes by. Do it whenever you want to, but do it.

3- Write Down Your Three Most Important Tasks (MIT) Every Day.

First thing in the morning take a notebook and write which are your three most important tasks for the day. Don’t do less and don’t do more: three is the right number. What these tasks are depends on you, but they should be something outside of your routine.

If you are studying, it could be to read X pages of the books and write the highlights on your notebooks. If you are working it could be to complete a project or advance with some other. If these three are the most important things you have to do that day all your effort should be focused on completing them. Once you finished you can move to something else.

Make a habit of completing all these tasks. It’s no use if you constantly write them down and never accomplish them. With that in mind, start small. Focus on tasks that you can, with a decent amount of effort, surely complete. Once you are getting good with it, move on to more demanding projects.

4- Read One Book Every Week.

Reading is a very good habit. Books will flow your head with ideas, thoughts, culture and more. So take a few hours out of your TV and Internet routines and spend it reading.

Read nonfiction to learn, to have new ideas and to expose you to the thoughts and teachings of remarkable people. The potential is gigantic. There are surely dozens of high quality books on any topic you have interest about: be it work, projects or just for fun.

Work your way to read one book a week. On this article Steve Pavlina points out the great benefits of doing so. But the highlight is that when you read a new book every week, you condition your mind to keep taking in new knowledge. You’ll have new anecdotes and stories to share, new perspectives and ways of thinking. It’s really worth it.

If you just don’t have physical time to spend reading, multitask. I always have a book in my bag, wherever I go to. Also, I hear audio books when I’m exercising or moving around the city. I also have programs to hear while I’m driving. It’s great from any side you look!

You may ask yourself: but doesn’t he get bored of reading? Absolutely not. I read or hear programs about subjects I’m passionate about (and so should you). There’s no way I’m going to get bored. Plus, all this reading means at least an hour a day of new ideas that will flow my mind. I love it.

Finally, I also keep reading fiction books. I read at least one or two chapters of fiction in bed just before sleeping. This way I engage my imagination and abstract myself from all the thoughts about the future, about planning my tasks or about worrying about the future. Helps out for that and there’s nothing like a very good fiction!

5- Be Nice To Everyone.

It’s amazing how much can you achieve just by being nicer than you normally are. Take a few extra seconds (or minutes) to make people feel great around you. Make them feel important, ask them questions, how they are doing and never forget the magic words “please” and “thank you.” It takes almost no effort and the benefits are spectacular.

When you buy something, ask for it kindly and with a smile. When you meet someone, ask them how they are and compliment them. Be all about positive energy. People will then want to meet you, become closer friends and will do you favors.

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It may well happen that you are just graduated and, after months, still looking for a proper job. It’s not all your fault – after all, as a consequence of the crisis new positions are scarce and it’s still really hard to find one.

What to do then? First, don’t desperate. If you can’t find a job just remember that most graduates are in the same situation you are. It’s as sad as that. But don’t let that take you down, use this opportunity to work on your personal development and building up for better job prospects in the future.

I really encourage you to read Seth Godin’s short and thought-provoking post on what he calls the “Graduate School for Unemployed College Students.” Seth gives you a very demanding list of things you could and should do while you are still looking for a job. Taking a year off your plans to do what Seth says is, if you have the possibility, a great idea. Read the post to see what I’m talking about!

Seth tells you to do everything on the list, something that, though possible, is still way hard and demanding to achieve. But, in the end, if you want to be really successful in life and excel over everyone else (and, thus, also have better job opportunities in the future) you should do most of what Seth says.

I took Seth’s advice and changed it a bit for my own perspectives. Think that, if you have the possibility and you don’t have the absolute necessity to be working on a bad job, taking a year off for extensive personal development is absolutely worth it. I’ll let you know what I’m doing while I still don’t find a proper job. I hope it is inspiring to you!

• I started working for a non-profit. Albeit not as many hours as Seth says, I’m still giving a chunk of my time to work for the dream of helping the poor out of their terrible situation. Makes me feel good, I met a lot of new and great personalities and I’m doing something that matters.
• I’m learning intensively a foreign language – German – with lessons, meet ups and more learning at home. It’s hard, but I’m going up levels fast and with a lot of dedication. I already speak the language well enough, but I want to master it.
• I started and run an online community – Dating Beautiful Women. It is not that big yet but it will keep growing. People meet each other, exchange advice and opinions and will make long and ever lasting friendships. I’ve big plans for this one!
• I’m preparing to give workshops on inspiration, life and happiness here in Buenos Aires. Still planning the programs, the venues and all. But it will happen. It is the ultimate way to practice my public speaking while I’m helping other people.
• As well as the two blogs, I’m writing a novel, a movie script and a few e-books that will see the light of the day someday soon. I expect to self publish a small guide to be complimentary to the workshop too. Because of all this writing, I have been taking a few writing workshops to improve my skills.
• I’m training to run a half marathon. Seth says I should train for the whole marathon, but I don’t think I’ll be able to achieve that just yet. We’ll see what happens!
• I’m writing a detailed business plan for a entrepreneurship competition – Seth says three, so I could give a try and write one more. But I have still yet to think about a new remarkable idea.
• I take tango classes twice a week and practice for the GMAT exam a little every day.

It may seem that it is a lot of things to do, but just as Seth says, if you wake up early, give up TV and pointless Internet surfing, you can make it. You have to take it as a real job because that is what it is. After a few months of doing this seriously it may sound even stupid to you to spend eight hours in an office doing something you don’t want and spending most of the day making money for someone else.

I didn’t take this so serious from the very beginning, but the more I’m immersed on it, the more responsible I’m becoming. Give it a try! I hope it serves as inspiration and, if you are just graduated, don’t worry! Until you find the job you want, better work on doing this! Seth’s list is very clear, but just as me, you can tweak it a bit and work on what you feel is going to be the best for you.

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Just graduated? Only few years ago, with the world booming and most of the countries growing, it was easy to find your first job. One could find one real quick, even a good position, as companies were fighting each other to hire the new talents. But, to our great disgrace, those days are now long gone. Job openings are just a fraction of what they were before and, thus, we have to be really trained and prepared for once we have the opportunity to get one – that is, the interviews.

The fundamental thing here is to put yourself inside the mind of the interviewer. What is that they want for this job? You got to have that very clear, as not all positions will look for the same attributes, skills or personalities. You’ll have to adapt your best self for what they are looking for.

With that said, here are some points you should take much attention to:

Before the Interview

• Prepare yourself and investigate about the company thoroughly. Search which are the firm’s activities, main markets, products and so on. Mind, a five to ten minute Internet research won’t do – If you want the job you have to be serious about it, go beyond that!
• If you know the name of the person that will be interviewing you investigate about him or her too. Check if they have a LinkedIn Profile, make a Google Search and get to know, if it’s possible, what they like, their views, family, etc. The more you know about them, the better.
• Look your best for the interview. If you are a man, wear a suit (and a tie!), even if they don’t ask you to. It can make the difference and shows commitment and seriousness. If you are a woman, dress as professional as possible.
• If you are  feeling nervous before the interview, do the following (it’s better than doing nothing):

A)     Shout and clap with your hands to release tension.
B)      Call one or two friends, family or anyone who can cheer you up, give you good vive and help to take the tension away.

• Get there on time. Being late may kill of your chances from the very beginning. If you feel you might get there late because of one reason or the other, call the company in advance and let them know. The perfect timing to get there is 5 minutes before hand. Getting there before is not worth it and may even hinder your chances.
• Practice, practice, practice! Your CV pitch should be brilliant, well thought and you should practice it beforehand in front of a mirror or friends.
• Always take a couple of extra copies of your CV, cover letter, grades and references to the interviews in case they ask for them.

During the Interview

• Speak slow, loud and clear. Keep eye contact und use your body language to emphasize the main points.
• Answer what they ask and be concise! Talking more than you should may be even worse than talking little.
• Don’t talk about anything personal unless they directly ask you.
• Focus on your strengths and on what you can offer that other people can’t. That is, speak about the advantages of hiring you.
• Don’t sell yourself cheap. If you want your earnings to be a certain amount, say it. But always tell them that for that specific job you are willing to negotiate.
• Two great qualities you have (always) are that you adapt to changing environments, even if the changes are sudden, and that you excel in team work.
• Ask questions, always. Have them prepared beforehand and, when you ask, though, look as if you thought about them on the moment.

Group Interviews

• Always look open and as if you really cared about the other people’s stories and opinions.
• Don’t try to take the center of the attention all the time. Play cool. Stand out with one smart question or as the one promoting the unity of the group.
• Practice a 2-3 minutes CV pitch. You’ll have less time to speak about yourself than on an individual interview, so make sure you use it wisely!
• If you are applying for a job in administration, economics or into some big multinational company, practice GMAT-kind of exercises.

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If you want to start a new blog and take it all the way to success, this condensed guide is everything you’ll need. Work as Darren Rowse’s, Steve Pavlina’s and Chris Guillebeau’s, as well as many others’ are of absolute help, have to be read and is where I got the inspiration to write this list.

But in here I have summarized which are, in my eyes, the ten important things you have to do. Blogging success is not easy, but the steps and the paths you have to take are all clear. If someone has a blog that doesn’t succeed is because they just don’t follow these rules. Read through and be willing to work hard on each of these points!

1-      Write quality content. Give value to the people. Make your articles great, deep and unique. Make the people be thrilled waiting for your next piece. Write timeless and viral material.

2-      Write quality content for others. This is THE way for you to reach new readers and drag people into your site. Leave thoughtful comments on other blogs, write guest posts and participate in forums. The more you do it, the bigger you’ll get.

3-      Post regularly. I schedule my posts for every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday and all my readers know that one way or the other the posts will be online by midnight at the latest. This helps building reader confidence and establishing a solid number of subscribers.

4-      Start with the best design possible. As long as you don’t have money to spend, get the best themes and designs you could possibly find for free. Once your writing gave you some return, reinvest it and set up your own custom designs. Get a logo designed from the best professionals, a premium or custom theme and show the world how serious you are about your blog.

5-      Build a big social media presence and leverage from it. Use Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, etc to bring new readers into your site. Connect with people in your niche, learn and also promote your work. It takes time but it’s absolutely worth the effort.

6-      Tell everyone about your blog. Tell your family, your friends, colleagues, etc. Let them all know about your work and also ask for their help and feedback. A friend of mine went far enough to leave a big sticker on the back of his car with the URL. Spread the idea as much as possible!

7-      Optimize for Search Engines. There’s a lot of talk about SEO these days. Honestly, I never went that deep into it but I do know a few things that are important. Pay attention to post titles and meta descriptions, build a solid internal link structure, install SEO plugins, use “nofollow” links and add a xml sitemap. All these have ended up giving me a lot of extra visits – Take a few days off your writing and focus on this too!

8-      Create a community. Don’t make your blog a monologue – Make it a thriving group, encourage people to speak out and build your own social movement. Interact with your readers, prize the ones who help you and also encourage participation.

9-      Learn to adapt on the fly. Perhaps your blog is not a success in the way you first planned it but ends up being a hit in some other. Change and adapt fast to satisfy the new and unexpected readers, offer them services and build value focused on them.

10-   Stay for the long term. Outstand your competition, stay longer than all of them and build your place in the scene. If you are planning a new blog, make sure you update and comprise yourself for at least a year. Support it, write fresh posts and give services and features all that long.

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