Did you know you have the power to make our world a better place?  “Who? Me? Impossible!” I hear you saying. But it’s true.

In this world of turmoil and strife, with chaos everywhere across our nation and around the globe, there has never been a greater hunger for simple words of encouragement. Excessive stress, lack of control, financial pressure, uncertainty about tomorrow—these are all taking their toll on people’s emotions, health, and morale.

However, there is hope. There is one indispensable ingredient that can transform and inspire individuals, improve life, grow positive a attitude, build self-esteem, and enhance relationships. That ingredient is encouragement.

Albert Schweitzer said, “Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being.” There are two ways to rekindle that flame, to give the gift of encouragement—by your words and by your actions…read more

What is the most dominate dream you think about? Would you like to know your odds of achieving it? In three minutes you will know your answer.

As part of my desire to continue learning and growing, I attended a leadership event this past weekend hosted by Bob Burg and Paul Martinelli featuring three of my favorite teachers, Les Brown, Bob Burg and Dr. John C. Maxwell.

Dr. Maxwell (internationally respected leadership expert, speaker, and author) gave an insightful presentation on his book…read more

Stress is evident everywhere in our fast-paced world. It’s a mental, emotional, or physical strain caused by anxiety or overwork. We all feel stress and often suffer the results of it in some way or other.

What you are about to read can have a significant impact on the levels of stress you experience. This post is not about how to deal with stress; it’s about how to reduce and avoid it.

Most of the stress we experience can be broken down into three categories…read more

Are you tired of carrying the stress and pressure of being in debt? If so, are you willing to put together a plan and do whatever it takes to get out of debt?

Here are ten tips that will help you get out of debt.

1.  Get motivated. The only way you will get out of debt is if getting out of debt is important to you. Make a list of the reasons you want to get out of debt. Ideas might include: it’s putting pressure on your marriage; it’s putting stress on your body; you want to live a financially responsible life; you want to be able to put your children through college; you want to save for retirement.read more

Today, I celebrate my one-year anniversary as founder of Little Things Matter (LTM). I started this blog on 1-11-10, launched my book on 11-11-10, and today I celebrate my one-year anniversary on 1-11-11. (Lucky 1’s)

With your help and support, this blog already has more than 10,500 subscribers. The podcasts are now ranked No.26 in America’s Top Podcasts; No.1 in the personal and professional development space; and, the Little Things Matter Facebook page has over 23,500 followers… read more

Recently I listened to an interview between Denis Waitley*, one of the greatest teachers in human achievement and Darren Hardy, publisher of Success Magazine. One of the questions Hardy asked Waitley was, “How can people improve their self-esteem?”

Waitley first defined the term by saying, “Your self-esteem is the deep-down, inside-the-skin feeling of your own worth, regardless of how you look or where you came from. It is the feeling of worthiness—just being glad you are you. It’s the feeling of identity—finding something unique about yourself. It has the feeling of competency—if I do something and it works out, it gives me the courage to do something more.”

Continuing, Waitley listed fourteen ways that people can strengthen their self-esteem…read more

Do you want to enjoy a more positive and productive life in 2011? If so, you must be committed to continuing your growth and development.

If you are not growing in this competitive work environment, you are losing ground to your competitors. Living a status quo life where you are not pushing yourself to improve will likely have negative consequences. Over time your market value will decline, you will lose your edge, your self-confidence will take a dive, and people who are hungrier than you will replace you… read more

I write this lesson as I reflect on some of the most troubled times of my life. Because we all go through these challenging times—no one is exempt—I want to share some ideas and insights that will help you get through them and come out stronger and wiser.

Step 1. Seek to Understand the Problem and its Cause

The first step in addressing any challenge is to make sure you clearly understand the problem and its cause. By gaining a clear understanding of the problem, you will be better prepared to find the right solution.

It is also important to backtrack. Look at the decisions you have made that led to the situation in which you find yourself. Refuse to blame anyone. You are where you are largely based on your decisions…read more

Authors: Todd and Joy Smith, Founders of Little Things Matter

Yesterday, we celebrated our 25^th wedding anniversary. We can’t believe we are old enough to have been married for 25 years. Recognizing the importance of building a successful marriage, we want to share with you our top 25 marriage tips. The following points are not listed in any specific order. It is our hope that these tips will help you enjoy a more rewarding marriage.

We recorded the podcast version of this post and we’ve added commentary that’s not included in the written post. Click here to listen to this podcast. (The audio player is below the title of the post.)

1. Marry the right person. There is only one way you will know if the person you are dating is the right person to marry and that is by spending time together. We recommend dating at least one year before getting engaged. We dated for four years before getting married. Once we got married, there were no surprises…read more

Goal setting is fundamental to any type of achievement. If you want to live a life of purpose, setting goals will increase your odds of reaching your desired outcome.

The process of setting goals helps bring clarity to the things that are truly important to you. Absent a clear picture of what you want to achieve in your life, you will be left wandering aimlessly through life like a ship without a rudder, without ever achieving anything worthwhile.

When you set clearly defined goals and create a plan to achieve them, you will begin to live your life by design, not default. You will feel motivated and empowered. Your self-confidence will grow and you will begin to fill like you are in control of your life. When you are crystal clear on what you want to achieve, you’ll be able to focus your efforts on the things that will help you reach those goals…read more

If we’re being honest, we all get discouraged. It’s just one of those potholes on our journey we all hit from time to time. You can have everything you have ever wanted, but you are still going to get discouraged at times.

When we get discouraged our attitude and emotions turn negative. When this happens our productivity takes a nosedive, we tend to retreat and withdraw from others, and the risk of giving up on whatever we’re working toward runs very high.

Since it can have such a negative impact on every area of our lives, including our health, learning to deal with disappointments in life and the temporary discouragement that may result is an important part of managing our lives…read more

I’m excited to share today’s lesson because it captures one of life’s simple yet powerful truths. When you focus on others rather than on yourself, you make a positive difference in two lives—yours and the person with whom you interact.

When you are intentional about doing things that make others feel good, you create a special connection that accelerates new relationships and nurtures existing ones.

The Values of Making People Feel Good

Recently, I talked about habits we have that bug people and the damaging effect that can have on our reputations. However, doing things that make people feel good is quite the opposite. Not only does it brighten someone’s day, but it’s a positive reflection on you and enhances your reputation…read more

I am feeling heaviness in the air. I am not sure if it’s because of our prolonged recessionary period, the fact that so many people are struggling financially, the long cold winter or a combination of all of the above. But whatever the reasons are, I feel it’s time to put things in perspective and focus on our blessings.

If you are going through a challenging period of time in your life, I bet the woman in the attached photo would trade with you in a heartbeat. Take a couple of minutes and imagine her life: sleeping on the ground every night trying to keep her children warm; no access to clean drinking water; standing in long lines for food; getting soaked every time it rains; and not having a change of clothes, toilet paper or a toothbrush.

Yes…your life may not be turning out exactly how you envisioned it would. But if you are reading or listening to this on your computer, you have it a whole lot better than more than five billion people who don’t have this simple luxury…read more

Have you ever told someone, “You won’t believe what I did?” Then proceeded to tell them about something stupid you did. Why did you feel compelled to share your mistake? Other than using it as an example to teach a lesson, what benefit could you derive by telling people about something shouldn’t have done? Have you ever stopped to consider that it could negatively influence how they view you AND how you see yourself?

Our personal brand is formed from the hundreds of impressions we make on others: the words in our e-mails, our voice tone on the phone, our appearance. Everything we do or say is making small impressions on those around us.

Tony Jeary, popular author, speaker and communication coach, said, “Every day, in dozens of different ways, you’re sending a message out to the world. The wrong message will cost you respect, career promotions, and perhaps relationships. And the right messages will enable you to achieve your personal and professional best.” … read more