INTRODUCTION:

Are you happy in your job right now? Or are you spending most of your work day watching the clock tick slowly towards 5:00pm while dreaming about what you’d really rather be doing instead? Well, if what you’re dreaming about is a new career, make sure that it’s one that will make you happy while it makes you an income, or you’ll find yourself staring at the clock all over again. Brendan Baker is one person who has found the key to linking happiness, work, and life – and he’ll share his tips with you.

UV: You’ve got a great quote on your website attributed to Abraham Lincoln: “People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be.” That reminds us of one of the first noted motivational authors, James Allen, and his essay titled “As A Man Thinketh,” which discusses how a person’s thoughts can affect their life, their character, and even their health. Who are some of the other people that have inspired you?

I’m inspired by so many different people – from thought leaders to sportspeople to celebrities to the everyday person to my own coaching clients.

What really inspires me is when someone has a dream and they turn that dream into reality. I don’t know of one person that hasn’t had challenges in their life or in making their dream a reality, but it’s the process of breaking through those barriers that really fires me up! It reinforces the fact that we can all do what we really want to do as long as we are willing to be persistent, consistent and we stay firm to who we are.

I think the famous quote by Thomas Edison sums this up perfectly – “I have failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”. It’s those that remain committed to their dream and make it a reality that truly inspires me.

UV: Thoughts are made up of words, and most people have a sort of inner dialogue going on that they may not even be aware of. How important is it to choose the right words to use when talking to yourself?

Words are insanely important!

And note that I used the word “insanely”… because your words can truly make you sane or insane. They can motivate or demotivate. They can inspire or they can bore.

I’ve caught myself out on numerous occasions using language that prevents me from taking action or demotivates me. Phrases such as “I’m not good enough for this” or “I’m a failure” can be replaced with phrases such as “this is challenging, but I’m learning and growing”.

That very change in the way you speak to yourself can change your life. The key is to be aware of your own thoughts.

UV: Happiness may not require talking to other people, but most careers do involve communication. Here at Ultimate Vocabulary we’re dedicated to giving people the tools to learn better communication skills. At what point do people need to start focusing on how their ability with words affects their dreams and goals?

I’d actually argue that happiness does actually require talking to other people. Numerous studies have shown that relationships are the number one predictor of happiness, no matter your age, social status, geographic location or cultural background.

Based on this, communicating skills are essential for happiness. Also, the more effective you can communicate the more likely you are to be able to inspire, persuade and negotiate which will help you achieve your dreams and goals. All dreams and goals involve other people.

UV: Why do you recommend that people start by looking at their values?

Your values are your core beliefs. They fundamentally represent who you are as a person.

When you start with your values, you start creating goals and creating a life based on who you truly are and what you truly want to do with your life. It’s about being honest with yourself.

When you are aligned with your values and you act congruently with your values on a daily basis, you will be more motivated, inspired and energetic and ultimately reach your goals faster.

UV: Sometimes when people say “I wish I could spend my day doing …” they’re thinking about the things they like to do in their free time, like surfing or hiking or reading. How easy is it to turn a hobby into a career?

It takes time. If there was a magic pill then everyone would be doing it.

In saying that, the earlier you start the more time you will have to be doing what you truly want to be doing on a daily basis.

The key, as mentioned above, is to be honest with yourself. Be honest whether you truly have the desire and passion to make that hobby a career and do it day-in-day-out. Will it give you the income you desire to support your other areas of life? If you’re looking to turn that hobby into a business, do you really want to be doing things like accounting, marketing or management?

If your answer is yes, then the key is to act now and simply get started!

Ultimate Vocabulary guarantees to help you increase your vocabulary knowledge! Learn more words and apply them in your writings.

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INTRODUCTION:

Here at Ultimate Vocabulary we’re committed to a philosophy of helping other people achieve their dreams through self-education and self-improvement. That’s why we’re so excited when we meet other people who have the same belief, and who are actively working to assist others in finding the way towards their goals. One such person is Steven Aitchison, a successful author and self-made businessman. We talked to him recently and asked him to share some of his secrets with our readers.

UV: You’ve been through a lot of changes in your career – nurse, counselor, customer service professional – but there has always been a theme of “helping people” in your jobs. Were you consciously choosing this type of work, or did you need to do some self-reflection to bring that focus forward?

I went through a long period of introspection before I knew what my calling was in life.  Between the ages of 12 – 21 I honestly didn’t know what my place in the world was; I didn’t know why I was here and what my place on Earth was.

At 20 years old I reached a pivotal point in my life, I wasn’t happy with my job, the place where I stayed, my ‘friends’, and life in general.  It was then that I found a book, ‘Think and Grow Rich’ and knew things had to change for me.  So I decided I was going to drop everything.  I left my job, tried to travel alone for some time but wasn’t quite ready, I dropped my friends at the time who were really drinking buddies, and left my hometown.

It was at this point I knew I wanted to help people in some capacity, but just didn’t know how.  So I decided to try nursing.  I loved it but fell ill 18 months into the course and left.  I then took my Psychology degree and went on to counsel people with drug and alcohol issues, all the while writing and developing personal development programs, and it has now become my full time business.

UV: “Change your thoughts” is a key phrase in your writing. Does this involve changing the way you talk to yourself, and choosing specific words to use when you think about problems, questions, or decisions you need to make?

One of my major discoveries in life has been the fact that we can change the beliefs we hold about ourselves and the world around us.  I used to think that our beliefs were rock solid and that they couldn’t really be changed and my personality and life was tied to the beliefs I held about myself.

When I discovered beliefs are actually malleable and that we can change them, my whole life literally changed and that has been my passion ever since: to teach others this amazing fact.  

Our thoughts are born from our beliefs and if we can change our thoughts we can therefore change the beliefs we hold about ourselves and that’s why I feel it is key in changing our lives.
It doesn’t necessarily involve changing key words, it involves changing our perspectives in life.  This involves the questions we ask ourselves.  We have been asking the wrong questions of ourselves and if we can structure a good question to effect a positive outcome then this can ultimately change our lives.

UV: Following up on the topic of words, as a published author you know the power of a good vocabulary. While Ultimate Vocabulary is focused on helping people improve their English vocabulary, we also know that achieving this goal helps boost a person’s confidence. What are some of your other recommendations for self-education and self-improvement that lead to multiple benefits?

We’ve all had that feeling when we’re talking to someone and we’re trying to find the right word to describe something, and we get frustrated because that word seems to elude us for some reason.  Well, a lot of people feel frustrated a lot because the right words never seem to be there when they need them.  Vocabulary gives us the power to express our emotions, our thoughts, our stories in a way that accurately describes what we are trying to say.  If we have that power to hand every day of our lives, our confidence skyrockets; we become much more involved with life, more involved with learning, we don’t feel so ‘stupid’, our social interactions become richer and ultimately our lives are deeply improved with an improved vocabulary.

UV: What is “lucid dreaming” and how does it help people?

Lucid dreaming is the art of becoming conscious whilst you are dreaming.  Imagine what it would feel like to be dreaming and suddenly realize you are dreaming, the feeling is just amazing.

It empowers you, I think that is the biggest benefit.  It gives you a feeling of self control.  

I was plagued throughout my childhood with a recurring dream where an unknown entity would chase me, or grab me from behind and I would wake up screaming.  When I started lucid dreaming I was in this dream being chased by this entity when suddenly I turned around and confronted it.  The entity turned out to be myself in a white cloak.  I still occasionally get these dreams but nowhere near as much as I used to, and I felt so empowered because I was able to become conscious in my dream.

UV: Sometimes the problem isn’t finding out how to reach a goal – it’s figuring out what that goal really is! What do you advise people to do if they aren’t sure what they want, or can’t see where they want to go?

The problem with having a lofty goal is that we haven’t a clue how to reach that goal, all we see are the immediate obstacles and hassle that going for the goal can bring us, so we stop having goals in life.

The real secret is having small goals.  When we reach the small goals in life, it gives us confidence to go for bigger and bigger goals until pretty much anything we want to achieve becomes achievable.

You’re right that a lot of people don’t know what they want and I believe it’s because we fall into a trap; the trap of money, the trap of a family, the trap of responsibility. What we don’t realise is that we can still achieve what we want despite all of these ‘traps’, but there’s one caveat; you’ve got to want something, you’ve got to have a dream, a goal, a wish.  The person who sits around waiting for life to happen to them will not go far in life, but the person who has even an inkling of a goal and decides to do something about it will achieve so much more and be so much happier than the person who doesn’t.

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