How to Catapult your Business into 2011 by Janet Callaway

What you say?  How can I do that?  The holidays are here, no one wants to listen and besides I don't have time.  After reading this post, you just may want to rethink your position. Opportunity is truly in the eyes of the beholder.  Let me tell you a story.

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One Millimeter Philosophy by Tony Robbins

What will it take for us to realize our potential? Could we be so close that the next step could be the one that opens the door?

I love the 1 millimeter philosophy. We are all closer than we might imagine. Dr Terry Paulsen even goes so far as to say that we might be winning and not have realized it. Whether we have already won and haven’t realized it yet or are 1 millimeter away focus on what you want to accomplish and why you want to accomplish it.

Know that you can make a difference by persevering. Having met and worked with a lot of very successful people I know that they are not much different from everyone else. They have had doubts, fears and frustrations along their paths but they believed in themselves, knew why they were making the necessary sacrifices and went the extra millimeter. One Millimeter is the difference from average to great.

Take the next step and change the world.

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The Top 10 Ways to Start Living Your Life by Liz Strauss

Everyone Gets the Same 24 Hours

Life — it’s what we do between the time we get here and when we go. We only get one, and despite what other folks might suppose, it’s ours to determine what to do with it.

We don’t measure life in hours and minutes. We measure life in memories and moments.

What do you think of when you read this sentence?

It was the time of my life.

We don’t say that often enough.

The Top 10 Ways to Start Living Your Life

Life either happens to us, or we take hold of life and live it. Here are 10 Ways to get a life and start living it.

1. Give yourself permission to claim your life. That’s right — permission. You’re the only one who can decide you are in charge of your life. Even though it feels like you’re not supposed to do so, turn off the internal editors, the old tape recordings, the “shoulds, have tos, and musts”, and the rules that didn’t come from you.
2. Define what living means to you. It’s not as hard as it sounds. Just picture yourself at the end of your life looking back. What words would you want to describe how you lived your life and who you are as a person?
3. Stop living in the future. Every time you think “someday” or “when I have time I will,” stop. Ask yourself, “Why not now?” Think about this sentence, “I always wanted to, but never did.” Start doing the things you always planned to do. Choose your life every morning. Plan one thing you will do that day to feel alive.
4. Surround yourself with people who enjoy living. They’ve obviously discovered how to have a life and live it. Why not hang with the pros?
5. Lay down your pain and your anger. Carrying them around makes living harder and less fun. It doesn’t bring anything, and it steals a lot.
6. Let the losers win. Don’t argue about things that you don’t care about. Unless there’s some real threat, let the folks who have something to prove, prove what they need to. Why waste your living time trying to fix what’s wrong with them?
7. Create energy. Jump to forgiveness and love, then figure things out. Most conclusions we jump to are not only wrong, they’re negative. Negative conclusions lead us to prepare a defense. Being on the defensive isn’t living. It’s hiding from life.
8. Learn the physical symptoms of when your head and heart become disconnected. We know when we’re having a knee jerk reaction, when we’re feeling sorry for ourselves, and when we’re being blind to people’s feelings. We can remember how it felt physically while we were behaving badly. Get to know those symptoms, and you can stop the behavior. Living life will feel a whole lot safer because you won’t be in danger of shooting yourself in the foot.
9. Take small risks that push your boundaries in every way. The joy of life is packed in learning that matches our skill set. When we stretch just a bit intellectually, physically, emotionally, we grow. Living is growing. Even your cells know that.
10. Value and protect the people and the places you care about. A job isn’t a life. It’s just a part of one. Let the people you care about come first, and let everyone know that you do. Re-read numbers 1 and 2.

We come into life with whatever we’ve got. It’s ours to do with. It took me a while to figure that out — that my life isn’t just what happens to me, that I could take hold of it.

I want to have the time of my life.

You’ve already got a life too. Are you living it?

Please do let me know if you enjoy this favorite post by media strategist Liz Strauss as much as I do.

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5 Thoughts on Relationships by Janet Callaway

Since people are everywhere and part of most everything you do, it is stands to reason that the better your relationships, the better your life will be. Any interaction with another is a relationship of sorts; it can be a one time payment in a convenience store, a business relationship or a personal relationship. Let's take a look at some connections between actions and relationships.

Follow the Golden Rule. How many times have we heard “do unto others as you would have them do unto you?” Yet, how many often do we forget that when we are rushed, angry or overwhelmed? How many times has our impatience caused us to treat another rudely or as if they were insignificant? Years ago I heard a man say his goal was to leave each person he met feeling better for having met him. What a fantastic goal! If you keep that thought in mind in all your interactions with people, you will make the day a little brighter for many people; PLUS, you'll feel good too.

Reciprocity. To a certain extent, this follows along with the Golden Rule. How you treat others will come back to you. However, reciprocity is even wider ranging. When you treat others with respect or give generously to others you start a cycle which brings more of that into your life. As more comes to you, you likewise respond by doing or giving more and thus the ripples of your actions spread further and further.

Make New Relationships. New relationships enhance and enrich the lives of all involved. Consciously seek out others and begin relationships. A new relationship does not have to be an “all the time” thing rather it can be a casual checking in be it for coffee, a call or an online connection. There is a lot to be said for that phone company slogan “reach out and touch someone.” Think how you feel when someone reaches out and touches you.

Value People. Too often people categorize people and their “worth” by their job title. A job title is not who a person is. Each of us has innate value. When you listen to people you will be surprised at what you learn about who they are. Treat everyone with respect; you will make a difference for many.

Value Yourself. Your relationship with yourself is your one lifelong relationship. Nurture it. If you do not respect and love yourself, you cannot respect and love others. Pay attention to your self talk. Do you say things that lift you up or do you say things like “I'm such a ______” or “_______ always happens to me” or I never _______?” If you fill in the missing blanks with negatives, that's what you will bring into your life. Change your self talk; change your life.

Have you ever noticed the effect of giving a smile to a stranger?

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Give Thanks Because You are You by Janet Callaway

Probably no one exemplifies better a life of love, giving and appreciation than Mother Teresa. Below is one of my favorite quotes of hers. Take her advice to heart. Give thanks for all that you are and all that you will become. Celebrate You.







"People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.



If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.   Be kind anyway.



If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.



If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.   Be honest and sincere anyway.



What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.  Create anyway.



If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.   Be happy anyway.



The good you do today, will often be forgotten.  Do good anyway.



Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  Give your best anyway.



In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway.”



This is your life. Live It!

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Attitude—It Makes the Difference by Janet Callaway

A number of years ago leadership expert, speaker and best selling author John C. Maxwell wrote a book entitled The Difference Maker. Because we all hear how important it is to have a good attitude, he felt it was important to write a book explaining what a good attitude can and cannot do for people. While attitude isn't everything, it is, as he says in the title, The Difference Maker.

Let's look at three things your attitude cannot do for you. Your Attitude:

Cannot Substitute for Competence. No matter how great your attitude, if you don't have the skill or competence for a certain task, you will never get to where you want to go. John Maxwell uses the example of being an opera singer. He loves to sing and would love to sing opera, unfortunately he simply cannot sing. All the voice coaches in the world and all the practice would not make him an opera singer. It is not an attitude problem; it's a competence problem.

Cannot Change the Facts. Facts are facts. You can have a terrific attitude yet if you are 5' you'll never be a center in the NBA. As Maya Angelou said: “If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain.”

Cannot Substitute for Personal Growth. With just a few words, Bruce Springsteen said it perfectly: “A time comes when you need to stop waiting for the man you want to become and start being the man you want to be.”

Now that you know a few of the things attitude cannot do for you, let's talk about what it can do. Your Attitude:

Makes a Difference in Your Approach to Life. This is the flip of an oft heard phrase. Think “all's well that begins well” rather than “all's well that ends well.” Your attitude going into a project, a game, a relationship or virtually any situation is a determining factor in the outcome. Whether you are talking about Monday morning pep talks or pre-game talks, the purpose is always the same—to lift up, improve people's attitudes.

Makes a Difference in your Relationships with People. Your attitude towards people has a huge impact on your relationship skills. If people consistently have a difficult time with others or continually experience failed relationships, it's almost always an attitude issue. They need to look at their attitude towards others.

Makes a Difference in How you Face Challenges. When you read the many and varied success stories of triumph over adversity, you realize that the common denominator is how those people responded to the challenge. Their successes were not a matter of background, education, ability, wealth or connections, rather it was their attitudes that caused them to persist when others would quit.

In closing I will give you a few lines from Chuck Swindoll who wrote the great piece The Power of Attitude:

“The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we embrace for that day. We cannot change our past . . . . We cannot change the fact that people act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude . . . . I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it, and so it is with you . . . . We are in charge of our attitudes.”

Isn't that great news?

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The Wealth Formula by Janet Callaway

 

Though I am writing this article on The Wealth Formula, it did not originate with me. My mentor, Cindy Samuelson, gave this precious gift to me which was given to her by her beloved mentor G. A. “Curly” Smith. 

Now G. A. Curly Smith did create The Wealth Formula and his success is a testament to its efficacy. Born in 1922, a sharecropper's son raised in depression racked Oklahoma, Curly went on to sell airplanes to multi-millionaires. He consistently asked those wealthy individuals how much time they'd invested in building their wealth. When he died at age 78, having followed their advice, he left a legacy to support three generations.

Curly believed that people failed, not because of their pasts or circumstances, rather they failed because of their indifference to time. In teaching people about time, Curly would ask a simple question. Take a minute to think about your answer before you continue reading after the question. Here it is:

“How many hours are there in a week?” That's it.

Now, what did you answer? Most people answer 24 hours x 7 days a week while other people answer 40 hours! Neither is correct for purposes of The Wealth Formula. Let's do the simple math; you will be astounded.

The Wealth Formula

168 hours in a week

• 56 hours for sleep (7 nights/8 hours)
• 40 hours for work (5 days/8 hours)
• 42 hours for living (7 days/6 hours)

         30 hours remaining

It's what you do with these 30 hours that makes the difference. Unfortunately, most people spend those 30 hours watching television or playing games on computers. Wealth is built in everything over 40 hours. What was the consistent answer of the multi-millionaires who bought planes from Curly? On the average they worked 70 hours a week; their wealth came from the 30 hours beyond the standard 40.

How you spend those 30 hours is up to you. Your decision will determine if you live the life you design or if you live a life designed by someone else. You can choose to have control over your life or to let someone else have it. Which do you choose? Will you invest those 30 hours wisely?

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