"What's your very best personal excellence tip?" Sixty-six engaged Litemind readers took the challenge and now share with us advice on what makes the most positive impact on their lives. Enjoy and vote for your favorites!

Mistakes are the seeds of evolution and change. It is said that the journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step. And it's within this single step that lessons are learned, directions are given, and mistakes have already been made a thousand times over. It is in fact this single step that provides us with an opportunity to learn from all those who came before us and to lay down the seeds of personal evolution and change. Learning from another's experience could be the most important factor towards achieving any kind of success in life. [details] (by Adam Sicinski) Be careful when comparing yourself to others. You know everything about yourself: your strengths, your weaknesses, your successes, and your failures. All you know about others is what they've chosen to show, and that would usually be only their success. List everything good about yourself and say, "Hey, I have a good personal résumé. Look at all I have achieved and what I can learn and achieve." You can then go out feeling good and prepared for whatever challenge the world presents for you. (by Colleen Dick) I am grateful for… To ensure that you do not take things for granted, begin a Gratitude Journal. Each day write on a blank piece of paper 'I am grateful for…' then write down as many things that you are grateful for. Believe me, you will realize how lucky you really are. Date each sheet, and when you aren't feeling all that crash hot, look back over what you have written and it will certainly boost your spirits! (by Viki Slough) Persist until it pays off. Most people give up right before they are about to succeed. Never, never, never give up! (by Jeremy Day) Eat chocolate. If you're in a bad mood, or want to become more positive, have some chocolate! When I am unhappy, angry, or feeling negative, I often have a few pieces of chocolate. It helps to calm me down and seems to have a great effect on my mood. Fair Trade chocolate can have an amazing effect, because you know that you are helping to make a difference. (by Andre Livingstone) Have a personal hero. Mine is the late Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman. Anytime I am trying to solve a difficult problem, I invoke the pragmatic spirit of Feynman to guide me in the ways of rationality and the scientific method. When writing technical prose, I eschew jargon in favor of clear and precise language to communicate the ideas to my peers. When someone is presenting ideas or theories to me, I think of Feynman to hone my powers of critical thinking and my BS detector. (by Mike Yoke) Practice meditation regularly. Learn a proven and effective method of meditation, set a manageable routine, and keep to it. The objectivity and clarity of mind produced will help in all aspects of your life, from the mundane to the elevated. [details] (by Reddy Kilowatt) Use mind maps to quickly review books you've read. As I'm reading a book, I populate a mind map that I have started for that book. I jump between the book and the mind map after completing a major section or sometimes a whole chapter. This method has increased my comprehension of the topics covered in books 1000-fold. What's more, I can look at a mind map of a book and within minutes recall important lessons learned in the book. I also use the mind map to point me to those parts of the book where I want to quickly review a specific topic. (by Llewellyn) Serve. My personal excellence tip is just that – serve. If in all that I do, I do in a spirit of being of service to the other, I win all the time. This has been my experience and the reason for my very successful life as a professional manager. (by rummuser) Break the cycle of self-inflicted junk mail. Stop deleting, "marking as read" or archiving newsletters, forwards, and RSS feeds you don't read. Processing these items wastes valuable time every day. Instead, archive them in a "Self-Inflicted Junk" folder. Once a month, review what is in that folder, and unsubscribe. Use services like StopForwarding.us to stem the tide of junk from your friends as well. [details] (by Sid Savara) Practice being selfish. Stand firm behind the airplane/oxygen metaphor and put your own oxygen mask on before helping others. To be able to help others you have to take care of your own needs. When I don't take care of myself, I can't take care of other people. So I find time to relax and refuel on a daily basis (alone time), weekly basis (