12 Habits That Set Ultra Successful People Apart

1. They're Composed

Ultra successful people are composed because they constantly monitor their emotions, they understand them, and they use this knowledge in the moment to react to challenging situations with self-control. When things go downhill, they are persistently calm and frustratingly content (frustrating to those who aren’t, at least). They know that no matter how good or bad things get, everything changes with time. All they can do is adapt and adjust to stay happy and in control.

2. They're Knowledgeable

Super successful people know more than others do because they’re constantly working to increase their self-awareness. They vow constant growth. Whenever they have a spare moment, they fill it with self-education. They don’t do this because it’s “the right thing to do”; they do it because it’s their passion. They’re always looking for opportunities to improve and new things to learn about themselves and the world around them. Instead of succumbing to their fear of looking stupid, truly exceptional people just ask the questions on their mind, because they would rather learn something new than appear smart.

3. They're Deliberate

Ultra successful people reach decisions by thinking things out, seeking advice from others, and sleeping on it. They know that (as studies show) impulsively relying too much on gut-instinct is ineffective and misleading. Being able to slow down and logically think things through makes all the difference.

4. They Speak with Certainty

It’s rare to hear super successful people utter things like “Um,” “I’m not sure,” and “I think.” Successful people speak assertively because they know that it’s difficult to get people to listen to you if you can’t deliver your ideas with conviction.

5. They Use Positive Body Language

Becoming cognizant of your gestures, expressions, and tone of voice (and making certain they're positive) draws people to you like ants to a picnic. Using an enthusiastic tone, uncrossing your arms, maintaining eye contact, and leaning towards the person who’s speaking are all forms of positive body language that super successful people use to draw others in. Positive body language makes all the difference in a conversation because how you say something can be more important than what you say.

6. They Leave a Strong First Impression

Research shows that most people decide whether or not they like you within the first seven seconds of meeting you. They then spend the rest of the conversation internally justifying their initial reaction. This may sound terrifying, but by knowing this, you can take advantage of it to make huge gains in how people respond to you. First impressions are tied intimately to positive body language. A strong posture, a firm handshake, a smile, and open shoulders help ensure that your first impression is a good one.

7. They Seek Out Small Victories

Successful people like to challenge themselves and compete, even when their efforts yield only small victories. Small victories build new androgen receptors in the areas of the brain responsible for reward and motivation. The increase in androgen receptors increases the influence of testosterone, which further increases their confidence and eagerness to tackle future challenges. When you achieve a series of small victories, the boost in your confidence can last for months.

8. They're Fearless

Fear is nothing more than a lingering emotion that’s fueled by your imagination.Danger is real. It’s the uncomfortable rush of adrenaline you get when you almost step in front of a bus. Fear is a choice. Exceptional people know this better than anyone does, so they flip fear on its head. Instead of letting fear take over, they are addicted to the euphoric feeling they get from conquering their fears.

9. They're Graceful

Graceful people are the perfect combination of strong and gentle. They don’t resort to intimidation, anger, or manipulation to get a point across because their gentle, self-assured nature gets the job done. The word gentle often carries a negative connotation (especially in the workplace), but in reality, it’s the gentleness of being graceful that gives ultra successful people their power. They’re approachable, likeable, and easy to get along with—all qualities that make people highly amenable to their ideas.

10. They're Honest

Super successful people trust that honesty and integrity, though painful at times, always work out for the best in the long run. They know that honesty allows for genuine connections with people in a way that dishonesty can’t and that lying always comes back to bite you in the end. In fact, a Notre Dame study showed that people who often lied experienced more mental health problems than their more honest counterparts.

11. They're Grateful

Ultra successful people know that it took a lot of ambition, passion, and hard work to get where they are in life. They also know that their mentors, colleagues, families, and friends all played a huge role in their success. Instead of basking in the glory of achievement, super successful people recognize others for the wonderful things they’ve done for them.

12. They're Appreciative

Truly exceptional people are able to achieve so much because they know the importance of slowing down and appreciating everything they already have. They know that a huge amount of their positivity, grit, and motivation comes from their ability to stay grounded and appreciate the opportunities that life has given them thus far.

Bringing It All Together

These habits can make any of us more successful if we use them every day. Give them a try and see where they take you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr. Travis Bradberry is the award-winning co-author of the #1 bestselling book, Emotional Intelligence 2.0, and the cofounder of TalentSmart, the world's leading provider of emotional intelligence tests and training, serving more than 75% of Fortune 500 companies. His bestselling books have been translated into 25 languages and are available in more than 150 countries.
Dr. Bradberry has written for, or been covered by, Newsweek, TIME, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Harvard Business Review.

Dr. Bradberry is a world-renowned expert in emotional intelligence who speaks regularly in corporate and public settings. Example engagements include Intel, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Wells Fargo, Boston Scientific, NY Life, Fortune Brands, Salesforce.com, Fortune Magazine Growth Summit, The Conference Board: Learning from Legends, and Excellence in Government.

From linkedin blog: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/habits-set-ultra-successful-people-apart-dr-travis-bradberry 

Meet my old friend, Mr. Serotonin. It has been a while since we've parted last year.

Serotonin is an important brain chemical that helps to elevate your mood and stop you from feeling down or depressed. While there are chemical ways to increase your serotonin levels, there are also numerous natural ways too. Below is a discussion of some of the natural ways that you can boost your serotonin levels to get feeling happy, fulfilled, and energized again.

Boosting Serotonin Through Diet

1. Understand the serotonin/food myths. Unfortunately, there are a lot of myths surrounding food and increased levels of serotonin. These myths include:
2. Shun the simple carbs and embrace the complex carbs. Complex carbohydrates are absorbed by the body differently than simple carbohydrates. Simple carbs like white rice and white bread raise your blood levels quickly, causing a spike in insulin, which drops after a while. Complex carbs are absorbed more slowly by the body and therefore avoid the massive peaks and troughs brought upon by simple carbs.
3. Avoid caffeinated foods, especially energy drinks. Caffeine suppresses serotonin, which could also help explain why it's a hunger suppressant as well. Energy drinks contain large amounts of sugar, which the body processes quickly, but which produce an energy-zapping low after the insulin has finished surging. If you have to drink caffeinated products, wait until after you've eaten, doctors recommend.
4. Eat healthy fats, such as omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are hypothesized to affect the functionality of serotonin in the brain. People with low serotonin levels commonly have low DHA levels, which is an essential building block in the brain, and which needs to be replenished with foods such as fish oils, which are high in omega-3 fatty acids. Look for omega-3 fats in:
5. Eat dark chocolate. Eating dark chocolate improves serotonin levels partly because of resveratrol. Resveratrol boosts both endorphins and serotonin levels. Remember to reach for dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate, as milk chocolate contains far less cocoa (the stuff that produces serotonin) than dark chocolate.

• Foods rich in tryptophan automatically boost serotonin. This is false. Most foods that contain tryptophan, an amino acid, compete with other amino acids to be absorbed by the body's transport system.^[1] Eating a lot of turkey, which is rich in tryptophan, will not automatically give you more serotonin.
• Eating a lot of banana will automatically boost serotonin. Bananas do contain serotonin. That serotonin, however, is unable to cross the blood-brain barrier and be absorbed by humans.^[1]

• Complex carbs include:
  
• Simple carbs include:
  

• Legumes like peas and lentils
• Whole grain breads
• Whole grain pastas
• Brown rice
• Starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes and parsnips

• White bread
• White rice
• "Normal" pasta
• Cakes, candies, and other refined sugar products

• Fish, such as salmon, and fish oils
• Nuts, seeds and seed oils, such as flax seed oil

Boosting Serotonin in Other Ways

1. Exercise regularly. Exercise is a great way to boost your serotonin levels.^[1] The results are clear: exercise causes an increase in tryptophan, which is a precursor to serotonin. The tryptophan persists well after exercising is finished, suggesting that mood elevation may be present for hours after the exercising has finished.
2. Get enough light. Light probably helps serotonin synthesis. Research has found a positive correlation between serotonin synthesis and total hours of sunlight during the day.^[1] In postmortems of humans, serotonin levels are higher during the summer months than the winter months.^[8] Getting a better mood could be as easy as opening the curtains in your otherwise dark room.
3. Invest in massage. Several studies show that massage therapy helps cut down the stress hormone cortisol while boosting serotonin levels and increasing dopamine.^[10][11] This double-pronged benefit makes massage particularly valuable.
4. Understand that stress may interfere with serotonin. Prolonged periods of stress can deplete serotonin levels.^[12] Serious and systematic stress can have an impact on the body's ability to produce and synthesize serotonin. This means that you should stay away from stressful situations as much as possible, and find healthy ways to deal with stress once it comes your way.
5. Relive happy memories. Though it may sound corny, reliving happy times may be enough to give your brain a serotonin boost.^[9] This may directly increase serotonin levels and keep you from fixating on less happy times, if you are prone to depression. The inability to think of happier times is called "state dependent recall." If you can't think of happier times, try talking to friends or family and looking at old journals or pictures.

• Work out in at intensity levels with which you are familiar. Consistent serotonin release is linked with exercise that people feel comfortable with, not exercise that pushes people off the edge, an English study has found.^[7]
• If you can't find the time to exercise regularly, try walking or 30 minutes to an hour per day. At the very least, this moderate exercise will help burn calories and boost tryptophan levels, causing an increase in serotonin.

• Get natural light during the day, not artificial light during the night. Natural, daytime sunlight is better at giving you serotonin than artificial LED, fluorescent, or UV light.^[9] Getting artificial light, especially at night, has the added disadvantage of blocking melatonin production, which helps your body get a good night's sleep.

• If confronted with lifestyle stress, try practicing:
  

• Yoga
• Meditation
• Deep breathing exercises
• Self-expression (art)

Tips

• Eating healthy, exercising, and maintaining an optimistic outlook can do wonders for boosting your serotonin. You don't necessarily need drugs to boost serotonin.

Warnings

• Talk to your doctor if you are seriously depressed or inexplicably saddened. You may have a serious condition that needs medical intervention and/or drugs.

This entire article was taken from wikipedia. I need not say more. This explanation is simple and easy to understand.

Meanwhile, here’s a link to celebrities with depression. http://www.webmd.com/depression/ss/slideshow-depression-celebs

Lost in space, emerged out of a dirty lake.

I did not get the chance to watch this film at the cinema, but it's a good thing a lot of HD copies are uploaded online. Well, this entire films revolved around the story (or shall I say the epic space adventure) or just a few people. Basically Gravity is about american astronauts in outer space who were unexpectedly warned by the ground command post to abandon its mission because of the ill effects of a Russian mishap on the other side of space, involving their satellites. In an attempt to commence the evacuation or escape fast, they all end up on a freaking awful situation--literally lost in space. Well, then some of them die (actually all of them except the lead female star Sandra Bullock), who sought refuge from an abandoned Chinese space station and disembarked her way to the earth’s atmosphere. What is horrifying here is the freaking parachute that was attached to her escape vehicle--it turned out it won’t let Dr. Ryan leave the outside world. To add, she had a bad dream of Matt beside her on her near death moments. And who could ever forget the arf arf and all the woof woof barking she did? I find it awfully nonsense. Painfully, she plunged all the way down to a lake with frogs, and I thought she could have died from drowning, yet managed to escape a near death expo from outer space. In the end, she emerged out of the water, savouring the earth and air and seems to be elated that she is still alive. Hmm, 7.5/10 for me. I just don't know, it feels like there’s something wrong with this movie. Maybe the characters were just so few. The lesson of the story: Learn chinese language and writing; coz’ if she did, it could have saved her from a painful dump into the lake. Buddha was there watching her all the time. 

Summary:

Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone - tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness.