I know, some people won’t acknowledge that. Maybe you’re one of those people. Maybe you think of role modeling as childish or you think it’s a method only weak people use. In fact, it’s none of the kind.

What not to do

It’s probably true that a lot of weak people got some kind of role models. And they might aim at becoming like their superstars, but trying to become like your role models is not what you should do. Here’s why:

If you copycat a person you will become a poor copy of that very person. You will never really reach the goals you aim for, because you’re setting yourself limits. Your role models are limiting in that case. Yeah, you could possibly improve in certain areas but at what price? You’d be giving away your uniqueness and freedom. Don’t do it.

What to do

Try to exceed your role models. Try to integrate their best habits, attitudes etc. into your own life but keep your uniqueness. This goes hand in hand with another view of your chosen mentors:

Do not see them as unreachable gurus. They’re not. They might did some great things in their lives but you can do it as well. In fact, you can even do better as picking up their effective traits gives you a nice time advantage. Keep that in mind. They made their faults as well.

If you truly believe that you can be greater than your role models, then you can proceed. Study their lives and think about which of their habits you could use to improve yours. Ask yourself: “Why did they become so successful?”

It’s also important to compare different prosperous persons at that point. Look out for things they have in common. If several highly successful people all have some very special common characters, then it’s very unlikely that this is due to pure chance. It’s more likely, that there’s a direct relationship. So these common characters are what you’re looking for.

Integrate them in your lifestyle and become great.

Basically, that’s it. I’d like to close this article with one little warning though:

Don’t let studying other people’s lives detract you from living your own life.

So why do I think that 2010 will be a special year? It’s the number. Somehow there seems to be a symbolic value behind it that encourages people to tackle their problems and take a step towards reaching their goals. “2010″ just sounds like the perfect opportunity to me. I expect quite a lot of people to take that opportunity and do something about their lifes.

I got some plans myself. You know, I started doing all that self development stuff about half a year ago. And I already improved in many areas of my life. For me, 2010 will be the time to blow up my remaining limits. Setting me free.

It already begun. I’m adapting to the everyman sleep schedule right now. This means I’ll probably sleep only 4 hours a day from now on. Having all that extra time, I feel like it’s the perfect time to do some more changes.

Oh yeah, I’m looking forward towards all those pleasant moments of the new year that are yet to come. And you should do so as well. Start the year with a positive attitude to boost your success. And maintain that attitude.

Set the additional new year resolution of staying motivated all the year long. It’s not too late so set this resolution. Set it and let the year 2010 motivate you. The time has come to finally reach your goals.

I’ll tell you a little example. If you think you suck in life (and therefore have a negative attitude) your success will be very limited. I don’t want to go into great detail here, but basically, having a negative attitude leads to a vicious circle: You think you fail, therefore you fail. This failing increases your negative attitude, making it even more likely for you to fail in the future.

Fortunately, this vicious circle works very similar with a positive attitude. Well, the circle ain’t really vicious in that case but the principles remain the same: Having a positive attitude directly increases your success. This success reinforces your positive attitude. (Read Why a Positive Attitude Leads to Success for a detailed explanation on why a positive attitude leads to success.)

But not only does your attitude influence your success. Getting knowledge and understanding is dependent on your attitude as well for the same reasons.

So what exactly is the right attitude for learning, reading or thinking?

Be Interested

First of all, you need to be interested in the subject. Being interested leads to a better memorization and keeps you motivated. You might know from school that learning about some boring subject is way harder than learning about a subject you’re interested in.

So, if you want to know a lot about different subjects, the first step you should take is to become interested in all those subjects.

I know, this sounds easier than it actually is, but once you’re interested in a topic, it will be so much easier for you to learn more about it.

Be Open-Minded

Don’t disapprove of something just because it seems to be strange at first glance.

Many great theories seemed weird when they’ve been proposed. The theory of relativity is a perfect example for this. It suggests some really strange things but it has helped scientists a lot to understand more of the world around us.

However, don’t mistake being open-minded for believing anything that is told to you. People lie and people talk about stuff they don’t understand themselves. That’s why the next point is crucial.

Be Critical

This one is especially important if you browse the internet a lot. So this might be especially important for you, I mean, you are just reading an article published in the internet. Don’t believe everything I tell you without asking yourself if it makes any sense.

Seriously, people tell a lot of bullshit. If something seems to be very obscure, then you might want to check the source of this information before you believe it in all its fabulous details.

Try to keep those points in mind.

Why is it that some people seem to be successful in every way while others fail doing the most basic things? What separates successful people from the unsuccessful?

Of course, there are some different factors, but I truly believe that a positive attitude works wonders with regard to your overall success. And I got some good reasons to believe that:

Effects on Others

Your inner state is constantly visible to other people. Sometimes they perceive it unconsciously,
but they definitely perceive it. This means that a change of your attitude alters the way people think about you. And that’s why a positive attitude brings about the following advantages:

• It’s easier for you to get to know people. As people with a positive attitude are usually seen as more approachable, people talk to you more often. So it will be easier for you to get to know others. This directly leads to the next point:
• You have more friends and better business opportunities. Others are also more likely to like you and trust you if they sense a positive attitude within yourself. People just feel good in your presence. But not only the quantity of your friendships improves, the quality improves as well. That’s because of the next consequence:
• You attract other people with a positive attitude. Those other people will amplify your own point of view which creates some kind of loop.

Effects on Yourself

A positive attitude has several favorable effects on yourself as well. You probably could have guessed that for your own but let’s go into details:

• You don’t waste your time with pessimism. Your attitude determines your thoughts. If you’re optimistic you just don’t think pessimistic thoughts as often as others do. And this is a time saver. Pessimism doesn’t get you anywhere. So there remains more time to think about the important stuff.
• You tend to give up later. If you have a positive attitude, you trust yourself. This trust leads to good endurance. Lots of people give up before they reach their goals, so this endurance gives you a huge advantage over them.
• You believe in yourself. If you don’t think you can reach your goals, you won’t reach your goals. You automatically use a kind of negative autosuggestion if you have a negative attitude, manipulating yourself into failing.
• You’re motivated and enthusiastic. Your goals seem to be closer if you’re optimistic. And this is what helps you to create a stronger desire within yourself. A desire that gives rise to enthusiasm, motivation and a better focus, which all can be seen as real boosters for your success.
• You’re healthier. Last but not least, your attitude has a direct effect on your body. It’s because your thoughts and believes do influence your inner processes. The placebo effect should be proof enough for this. So people with a positive attitude are healthier than those with a negative one. And health is beneficial for success.

So what about your own attitude? Are you an optimistic person or do you want to change your attitude?

Fortunately, there are plenty of techniques and tips that will help you to become and stay motivated.

Unfortunately, you need to apply them more than one time. It’s not that you need to use a certain technique more than once to become motivated, but motivation tends to fade away quickly if you let it go. So you will need to motivate yourself regularly. Keep that in mind. That’s also the reason why it can be pretty useful to have some different techniques in your repertoire. Alternate. Combine. Don’t become bored by using the same technique over and over again.

To finally add some variety to your motivation creating process you may try out the following techniques:

• Think about your own moments of success: Remember past moments when you felt great. Moments when you succeeded. It doesn’t need to be any huge success, small achievements are sufficient. Try to create the feeling that you can succeed again.
• Read biographies of famous successful people: Read about famous actors, scientist, inventors, almost any successful person will do. Notice that in most cases, their success is nothing but the result of hard work. You can be equally successful if you can create the right attitude.
• Read about motivation: Motivational quotes, articles and even books about motivation are available in the internet. Learn new motivational techniques. Try to understand motivation. If you understand it you can handle it.
• Reward yourself. Why not just think up a little reward for staying motivated over a certain period of time? Rewards surely increase your desire to hold on which will lead to some extra motivation.
• Make it a habit. Don’t ever allow yourself to give up. If you manage to create the habit of keeping up, then guess what? Keeping up will become almost effortless in most situations. Every time you decide to hold out, your will gains power for future decisions. Motivation creates motivation.
• Think about life and death for some time. You should get a feeling for the limitedness of human life. Life is too short to give up. It doesn’t matter if you live to a great age or die in a car crash next week, your life span is very limited. You won’t survive life, so try to use the little time you got. Don’t waste it.

And there’s yet another great tip to become and stay motivated: Learn something about proper goal setting and goal achievement. You could do that by reading the according articles on this website for example:

• Successful Goal Setting Explained
• How to Reach Your Goals