Wednesday, June 30, 2010

INFECTED By Fear?

“Fear of all kinds and sizes is a form of psychological infection. We can cure a mental infection the same way we cure a body infection with specific, proved treatments, condition yourself with this fact: all confidence is acquired, developed. No one is born with confidence. Those people around you who radiate confidence, who have conquered worry, who are at ease everywhere and all the time, acquired their confidence, every bit of it.”~ David J. Schwartz

ARE YOU INFECTED BY FEAR??? Why? Why are you letting it hold you back from becoming all that you can be? Are you playing small because of your infection? Get some anti-virus attitudes right now!!

What is the anti-virus attitude that beats fear you ask? Glad you asked! It's confidence and action! Confidence is not something we are born with but it is something that is developed. You can develop that confidence any time you want. Why not start right now?? You are good at some things, start there. Know that you are good and work to be better at them. This will build your confidence. The more confidence you get, the more you are likely to do bigger and better things.

The other anti-virus attitude is action. We will talk about action tomorrow.
Grow your confidence, grow your business, grow your life.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

“Fear of all kinds and sizes is a form of psychological infection. We can cure a mental infection the same way we cure a body infection with specific, proved treatments, condition yourself with this fact: all confidence is acquired, developed. No one is born with confidence. Those people around you who radiate confidence, who have conquered worry, who are at ease everywhere and all the time, acquired their confidence, every bit of it.”

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Are You Arguing for Your Limitations?

"When we argue for our limitations, we get to keep them."~Peter McWilliams

Are you arguing for your limitations? Why? Is it safer than letting those limitations go and having new experiences? Is it because the pain caused by those limitations is familiar and easier to deal with than the unexperienced feelings that you will have when you let them go?

You don't serve the world playing small, being less than you should be. Abraham Maslow said that "If you deliberately plan on being less than you are capable of being, then I warn you that you'll be unhappy the rest of your life." Is that what you want your life to be? Unhappy? Less than you are capable of being? Not becoming all that you can be?

We all want to be more than we are right now. Some of us will do what it takes, go through the fear that is holding us back and be all that we were meant to be and some of us won't. Don't get caught wishing that you should have done something when you knew that you could.

Stop arguing for your limitations and cast them off you so that the real, authentic you can come out and serve the world! What are you waiting for? Do it NOW!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"When we argue for our limitations, we get to keep them."

Monday, June 28, 2010

Are You Secretly Dissatisfied?

"Are you disappointed, discouraged and discontented with your present level of success? Are you secretly dissatisfied with your present status? Would you like to be able to really learn how to be proud of yourself and still not lose genuine humility? Then start dreaming! It’s possible! You can become the person you have always wanted to be!" ~ Robert H. Schuller

Are you disappointed, discouraged and discontented with your present level of success? Thoreau said that "most men live lives of quiet desperation." Is that you? Are you disappointed and discouraged by your present level of success? Your present level of success is the direct result of the work that you put in the past. So if you are discouraged, there's an easy solution to that...Do more of the right things!

You can become the person that you want to be and you can start right NOW!!! Because, "it's never too late to be who you might have been." All it takes is your decision to start now and do things better and differently than you did them before.

If you are unsure of what the right things to do are, ask someone who has already done what you are trying to do. No one can do it all by themselves, we all need friends, mentors and coaches. A Mentor is "someone who makes you do the things that you don't want to do and makes you see things you don't want to see, to help you become all that you can be."

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Are you disappointed, discouraged and discontented with your present level of success? Are you secretly dissatisfied with your present status? Would you like to be able to really learn how to be proud of yourself and still not lose genuine humility? Then start dreaming! It’s possible! You can become the person you have always wanted to be!"

Friday, June 25, 2010

Be Irreplaceable!

"In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different."~Coco Chanel

Are you irreplaceable to your customers? Really? What is it that you give them that other people in your business can't give them? Think about that for a while...What do you provide that no one else can provide? Until you have figured that out, you will continue to be a commodity in everyone's eyes. Do you see the product that you sell as a commodity? That's too bad if you do...

You ask, 'How can I be irreplaceable?' Good question! Think about that for a while and I'm sure that you could come up with many ways that you could become irreplaceable. But start out with being authentic to who you are. Most people in business are "acting as business people," not being who they really are. Are you? Do you do things because that's what "business people" are supposed to do?

"When everyone thinks the same, no one is thinking." This applies to doing the same thing as well. Look at the car ads in the newspaper (for those of you younger readers, newspapers were sheet of paper printed on that would bring the news from yesterday to your house...)

You could just change the name of the dealership on the top of the ad and no one would know the difference! What a bunch of sheep! "When everybody thinks the same, no one is thinking."

Think about being irreplaceable. I guarantee you that if you think about being irreplaceable for one hour a day, for a week, you will develop so many good ideas at being irreplaceable that you could double your business in 6 months!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different."

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Be A Beginner

"You can learn new things at any time in your life if you are willing to be a beginner."~Barbara Sher

Are you willing to be a beginner? Are you willing to submit yourself in order to learn something new? Most people will say, "sure, I can be a beginner" but when put to the test, revert back to their old "I already know that" routine.

Allow yourself the pleasure of not having to know it all and learn some new things!! Our current business society says that you should always know everything and never show weakness or lack of knowledge...How's that working for ya???

Do you know how freeing it is to say, "I don't know that, can you tell me more?" Do you know what it does for the person who you say it to? It's huge. A validation for them and an opportunity for you to let someone else teach you!

Most people won't allow that to happen, to let someone else know that they don't know something. Think about your favorite/hated politician. What would happen if they were being authentic and said that they didn't know something...instead of obfuscating, spinning, etc? Wouldn't you feel better that they at least had the guts to be truthful? In today's politics, the other side would crucify him for stupidity or something worse.

Don't be a politician. Be yourself, and if you don't know something, take the opportunity to be a beginner! Always be learning. You are never too old.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"You can learn new things at any time in your life if you are willing to be a beginner."

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

I Know That

"You can never learn less, you can only learn more."
~R. Buckminster Fuller


Do you realize that you were created as a learning machine? That if you allow yourself, you could be constantly learning? What is something that is stopping you from learning?

It's those 3 most dreaded words in the English language..."I know that." Or, "I already know that."

Each time you use those words, you are cutting off learning. Even if you do already know that, let the experience continue, because there is always something that you may have not known about if you don't cut yourself off from learning. Always!

An old mentor of mine once told me that you could hear something 99 times, but on the 100th, as long as you were listening, it might make more sense to you, allow for deeper understanding, or just plain hit you right between the eyes with the truth that you thought you already knew!

How often do you say that, "I know that." Make it your goal to take those words, in that sequence, out of your vocabulary. It inhibits learning, stifles the mind and just makes you plain boring...

Always take the opportunity to learn more...because you can't learn less.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"You can never learn less, you can only learn more."

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Unused Potential

“Ineffective people live day after day with unused potential. They experience synergy only in small, peripheral ways in their lives. But creative experiences can be produced regularly, consistently, almost daily in people's lives. It requires enormous personal security and openness and a spirit of adventure.” ~Stephen R. Covey

Are you living with unused potential? Don't think so?? Hate to break it to ya...but we all are, some just more than others. Why are we living with unused potential? A lot of reasons...Fear. Complacency. Lack of Knowledge. The list could go on and on.

Our society, in order to make sure that no one feels bad, has been rewarding mediocrity as excellence. Little League baseball teams don't keep score, lest some one's feeling get hurt. I read about a League that wants to make sure that all the teams end up with an even won/loss record. Why? To make sure everybody is equal.

Here's the thing about equality. You can't dictate equality of outcomes, only equality of opportunity. We are now trying to dictate equality of outcomes.

It requires enormous personal security and openness and a spirit of adventure Are you personally secure and open? Most people would say yes, but if you really think about it, most people aren't. They aren't secure in who they are. Some are unsure of who they are while the rest...simply lack the spirit of adventure. Be secure in who you are and revel in that spirit of adventure.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

“Ineffective people live day after day with unused potential. They experience synergy only in small, peripheral ways in their lives. But creative experiences can be produced regularly, consistently, almost daily in people's lives. It requires enormous personal security and openness and a spirit of adventure.”

Monday, June 21, 2010

Be Your Best Self

"Be yourself; no base imitator of another, but your best self. There is something which you can do better than another. Listen to the inward voice and bravely obey that. Do the things at which you are great, not what you were never made for." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Why are there so many penguins and so few peacocks? Because in the world, we are told to "fit in," "Don't stand out," "This is the way we've always done things." (thankfully in Arizona at least, we are losing the penguin suits...) Our individuality has been systematically beaten out of us. So who we are sometimes is a second hand version of someone else...How sad!

Be yourself, your best self! Too often, we hid our best self for fear of it being not enough, for fear of people not liking us, for lots of reasons. There is something that you can do better than any other and if you don't do it, the world will never see it, because you were put here for that one thing.

Listen to the inward voice and bravely obey that. How often do you turn that voice off or down so low that it can't be heard? Why do we do that? Because we need courage to listen to our own intuition...and act on it.

Do the things at which you are great, not what you were never made for. Are you doing things that you were never made for? Most small business owners are...for all the wrong reasons.

Do the things at which you are great.
Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

Friday, June 18, 2010

The Butterfly Effect

How far forward would we need to go in your life to show the difference you make? There are generations yet unborn whose very lives will be shifted and shaped by the moves you make and the actions you take today. And tomorrow. And the next day. And the next.

EVERY SINGLE THING YOU DO MATTERS.

You have been created as one of a kind. On the planet Earth, there has never been one like you…and there never will be again. Your spirit, your thoughts and feelings, you ability to reason and act all exist in no one else. The rarities that make you special are no mere accident or quirk of fate.

YOU HAVE BEEN CREATED IN ORDER THAT YOU MIGHT MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

YOU HAVE WITHIN YOU THE POWER TO CHANGE THE WORLD.

Know that your actions cannot be hoarded, saved for later, or selectively used.

By your hand, millions – billions – of lives will be altered, caught up in a chain of events begun by you this day.

The very beating of your heart has meaning and purpose.
Your actions have value far greater than silver or gold.

Your life…And what you do with it today…

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

Thank you, Andy Andrews

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Disciplined vs. Devoted

"People think I'm disciplined. It is not discipline. It is devotion. There is a great difference." ~Luciano Pavarotti

Are you disciplined or devoted? Really?? I believe that most people are disciplined and only a few are devoted, but as Pavarotti says, there is a great difference. Do you see the difference?

If you are disciplined, you will get the job done, (usually) no matter what. If you are devoted, you will get the job done because. Because you love what you do, because it's not really work to you and because it is what you are on the earth to do.

It seems to me that great workers are disciplined, while those who are devoted are great workers and also the ones who really enjoy life and all it has to offer. Does this mean that those who are disciplined don't enjoy life or that those who are devoted aren't disciplined? No, not at all, but I think you can tell the difference between the two.

It also seems to me that the devoted ones are the ones who always play big, always stretch for bigger and better things and dream more. Can you say that you are devoted to your job or are you disciplined in your job? The mere fact that 78% of people hate their jobs in the US leads me to think that most are just disciplined and not devoted (and maybe not even disciplined, but know how to show up to get a paycheck...)

Be devoted. Play Big. Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"People think I'm disciplined. It is not discipline. It is devotion. There is a great difference."

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Choices

"By the choices we make, by the attitudes we exhibit, we are influencing lives every day in positive or negative ways...our family, our peers, our friends, and even strangers we've never met before and will never meet again. So when you brush your teeth every morning, look in the mirror and ask yourself...'Are there things I'd like to change?'" ~Mac Anderson

What would you like to change about yourself? Anything? What are you waiting for. You can choose to make a change right now. You don't need anyone's permission and if you do, I give you permission to change what you need to change. Just because you have always done something one way, doesn't mean that you have to keep doing it that way.

Who are you influencing with your choices? Anyone? No one? You are influencing at least one person...and that's you. How is that working for you or do you believe that you don't have any choices and you are stuck?

Your choices have brought you to where you are now. Are you happy with them? If not, it's not to late to change your choices and choose new things. "It's never too late to be who you were meant to be." Who were you meant to be? Are you who you were meant to be???

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"By the choices we make, by the attitudes we exhibit, we are influencing lives every day in positive or negative ways...our family, our peers, our friends, and even strangers we've never met before and will never meet again. So when you brush your teeth every morning, look in the mirror and ask yourself...'Are there things I'd like to change?'"

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Kaizen

“When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but eventually a big gain is made. Don’t look for the big, quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That’s the only way it happens — and when it happens, it lasts.”~John Wooden

Do you work on improving a little each day? I can hear you now..."Or course I do." But really, do you or do you just say that you do? It takes discipline to work on improving a little each day and most people are TOO BUSY with everyday life to spend even 5 minutes working on themselves. Why? Why will you not spend 5 minutes a day working on you?

Most people want huge improvements right away. In our microwave society, we have been trained to make things happen and make then happen NOW. But business and life really doesn't work that way...It's the baby steps that cause us to grow and then finally it happens for us. The challenge is that most of us are too impatient...we want things NOW!

Delayed gratification. Ever experience it? It's even better than instant gratification...which quickly fades.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

“When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but eventually a big gain is made. Don’t look for the big, quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That’s the only way it happens — and when it happens, it lasts.”

Monday, June 14, 2010

Choose to be Happy!

"If we allow our emotions to be tied to the events in our lives, we have given the power of our happiness to the changing tides of circumstance." ~Allen Cohen

Do you allow your emotions to be tied to the events in your life? I think we all do to some extent, but Cohen is saying that we are giving away our power and the power of our happiness if we do. Think about that. When we simply react, we are giving away our power.

Here's the thing. Happiness is a choice. It's not tied to anything. You can choose to be happy or you can choose to be sad. Too often we tell ourselves that when this happens, then I will be happy. Sure, we're happy for a few minutes, but then the happiness fades and we need to look for the next thing to make us happy.

Too many people are waiting for someone or something to make them happy. Why? When we do that it doesn't work and we've given away our power. Happiness is YOUR CHOICE!!! Don't give it away. Choose to be happy, today! You can do it! Choose to be happy today!!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"If we allow our emotions to be tied to the events in our lives, we have given the power of our happiness to the changing tides of circumstance."

Friday, June 11, 2010

Are You Living?

"All of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today." ~ Dale Carnegie

Are you putting off living? I know, you're breathing, so you must be living...well, that doesn't count. Are you putting off living? Why? What is holding you back from really living? Do you know or are you just guessing at what is holding you back?

Nelson Mandela said "There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living." Most people just settle for their life, they play small, not wanting to create a great life.

We have been given the capability to live a great life, but most people are too scared to live the life they want. They settle for what they get. Stop setteling for what you get, start creating the life you want!!!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"All of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today."

Thursday, June 10, 2010

I "Meant-To"

"Mr. Meant-To has a friend, his name is Didn't-Do. Have you met them? They live together in a house called Never-Win. And I am told that it is haunted by the Ghost of Might-Have-Been." - Marva Collins

Now, I'm sure that you don't fall into one of these descriptions, right? Oh really??? Hmmm. How many times do we tell people that we "meant to" do something, but didn't? How many times have we just "didn't do?"

To me, they should live in the house of "Never Will" instead of "never win" although they won't win at anything either.

Here's our challenge...when we start using excuses and reasons why we didn't do something, we are not holding ourselves accountable, to ourselves, never mind the person who we told we would do it.

"You have reasons or results." That's it. Results or reasons, and reasons don't count. Am I saying that your results will always be what you want? No way, but you will have a result and you can change the result by doing it over better. You can't change a reason and make it better...

Oh, "what might have been." Don't stay stuck there. "It's never too late to be who you were meant to be." So start today, leave the reasons behind and become who you were meant to be. The world is waiting for you!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Mr. Meant-To has a friend, his name is Didn't-Do. Have you met them? They live together in a house called Never-Win. And I am told that it is haunted by the Ghost of Might-Have-Been."

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

What Makes You Come Alive?

"Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, 'This is the real me,' and when you have found that attitude, follow it."~ William James

What attribute, mental or otherwise, makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive? Do you know? Have you found out what it is yet? It took me almost 50 years to figure what made me feel most deeply and vitally alive. What about you?

What do you do that says "this is the real me?" Have you found that yet or are you just floating down the river, without any real direction or purpose? I'm afraid that most people are floating down the river without any real direction. The world is begging you to find what your purpose is and you're stuck doing something "to pay the bills."

Your life is the sum result of all the choices you've made, both consciously and unconsciously. Here's the key though. You can choose a different choice, today. Right now, you can become what you were meant to become. It's never too late to become who you were meant to become!

Make the choice, NOW. It's NEVER TOO LATE!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, 'This is the real me,' and when you have found that attitude, follow it."

Friday, June 4, 2010

Think As Big As You Are

"You're bigger than you think. So, fit your thinking to your true size. Think as big as you really are! Never, never, never sell yourself short!" -David J. Schwartz, PhD

Does your thinking fit your true size?? I'm talking about mental size, not physical size...Do you realize that you are bigger than you think? Most people are satisfied with being mediocre and are not really interested in seeing how big they can play. Oh, they talk a good game, but when it comes down to it, they are happy to stay in their shell and not venture out too far.

What will it take for you to think as big as you really are and not sell yourself short? Do you let the voice in your head talk you down from trying? Do you listen to those fears? About those fears...they only exist in your head. In fact, think of all the fears that you have and there are only 2 that we are born with, the fear of loud noises and the fear of falling. Don't let the fears stop you from doing what you know needs to be done to think big.

Never, ever, sell yourself short. Here's the problem with selling yourself short. The world will not raise your value if you don't value yourself. No one else can raise your value either, so it comes back to you. Stop playing small. Play and think BIG.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Everything Matters

“When you know that everything matters, that every move counts as much as any other, you will begin to live a life of permanent purpose.” ~Jones

Do you realize that EVERYTHING you do matters? Do you really understand that? Most people go through life with the attitude that what they do has no bearing on anyone else...but they are wrong.

When you realize and think about everything you do, then you are living a life of permanent purpose. What is your purpose? Do you know?

Mother Teresa said "We have not come into the world to be numbered; we have been created for a purpose." So I ask you again, what is your purpose?

If you are not living your purpose, then the world is denied what you were to bring the world. If you don't do your purpose, no one else will. So, find your purpose and then Live Your Purpose!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

“When you know that everything matters, that every move counts as much as any other, you will begin to live a life of permanent purpose.”

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

What We Learn Has A Purpose

“Whatever we learn has a purpose and whatever we do affects everything and everyone else, if even in the tiniest way. Why, when a housefly flaps his wings, a breeze goes round the world; And it's much the same thing with knowledge, for whenever you learn something new, the whole world becomes that much richer.” ~ Norton Juster

What are you learning? Do you realize how what you learn affects other people? Even in the tiniest way? Everything we do makes a difference, some for good and some for not so good.

The Butterfly Effect used to be a urban legend, until the scientific community came to the conclusion that it was authentic, accurate and viable. In fact, it has been accorded the status of "law" and is known as "The Law of Sensitive Dependence Upon Initial Conditions."

When you learn something new, the whole world becomes richer. But what are you learning? Most people are "too busy" to spend any time learning anything. Do you know that if you worked ON your business 30 minutes a day, after a year, you will DOUBLE your business? Stop working IN your business and spend some time ON it.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

“Whatever we learn has a purpose and whatever we do affects everything and everyone else, if even in the tiniest way. Why, when a housefly flaps his wings, a breeze goes round the world; And it's much the same thing with knowledge, for whenever you learn something new, the whole world becomes that much richer.”