The Power of Sharing Your Story

One of the areas I talk about in my book "The Boomerpreneur Revolution" is telling your story. It will separate you from your competition. All the other websites look and sound the same. People are interested not just in your product or service...they are interested in you.
This is a good article to support why you need to get this done.
Change Your Mindset and Change Your Results.
Richard
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/syed-balkhi/the-power-of-story-tellin_b_3866452.html

A Better You: Your 7 Step Program to Self Improvement

Here are 7 steps you can do to improve your professional and personal effectiveness. 

1. Know your purpose 

Are you wandering through life with little direction - hoping that you'll find happiness, health and prosperity? Identify your life purpose or mission statement and you will have your own unique compass that will lead you to your truth north every time.

This may seem tricky at first when you see yourself to be in a tight or even dead end. But there's always that little loophole to turn things around and you can make a big difference to yourself.

2. Know your values 

What do you value most? Make a list of your top 5 values. Some examples are security, freedom, family, spiritual development, learning. As you set your goals for 2014 - check your goals against your values. If the goal doesn't align with any of your top five values - you may want to reconsider it or revise it.

The number shouldn't discourage you, instead it should motivate you to do more than you can ever dreamed of.

3. Know your needs 

Unmet needs can keep you from living authentically. Take care of yourself. Do you have a need to be acknowledged, to be right, to be in control, to be loved? There are so many people who lived their lives without realizing their dreams and most of them end up being stressed or even depressed for that matter. List your top four needs and get them met before it's too late!

4. Know your passions 

You know who you are and what you truly enjoy in life. Obstacles like doubt and lack of enthusiasm will only hinder you, but will not derail your chance to become the person you ought to be. Express yourself and honor the people who has inspired you to become the very person you wanted to be.

5. Live from the inside out 

Increase your awareness of your inner wisdom by regularly reflecting in silence. Commune with nature. Breathe deeply to quiet your distracted mind. For most of us city slickers it's hard to even find the peace and quiet we want even in our own home. In my case I often just sit in a dimly lit room and play some classical music. There's sound, yes, but music does soothe the savage beast.

6. Honor your strengths 

What are your positive traits? What special talents do you have? List three - if you get stuck, ask those closest to you to help identify these. Are you imaginative, witty, good with your hands? Find ways to express your authentic self through your strengths. You can increase your self-confidence when you can share what you know to others.

7. Serve others 

When you live authentically, you may find that you develop an interconnected sense of being. When you are true to who you are, living your purpose and giving of your talents to the world around you, you give back in service what you came to share with others -your spirit - your essence. The rewards for sharing your gift with those close to you is indeed rewarding, much more if it were to be the eyes of a stranger who can appreciate what you have done to them.

The difference lies within ourselves and how much we want to change for the better.

Change Your Mindset and Change Your Results,

Richard

Thoughts For Life

“There comes a time in your life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it.
You surround yourself with people who make you laugh. 

Forget the bad, and focus on the good.
Love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones who don't.
Life is too short to be anything but happy.
Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living.”

― José N. Harris, MI VIDA

Change Your Mindset and Change Your Results,
Richard

Are You Committed?

Dr. Peter Senge author of “The Fifth Discipline” describes the difference between “commitment” and “compliance.” To illustrate his point he uses the late President John Kennedy’s quote that the United States should set as a goal "landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth" by the end of the decade.

We during that time as a nation, as businesses, as people were committed to meeting this goal. I still remember watching “live” on TV, the first time we landed on the moon and retuning them safely to the earth.

Often when I work with organizations they falsely believe that their employees are committed to the company’s goals but in reality..they are just “compliant” but not “committed.” This is the same for individuals.

We set our own goals but...are we “committed?”...or...are we “compliant.”
Have you ever set a goal and not achieved it? Most people have. In fact, itís quite common for people to get stuck in an endless cycle of setting goals and then quitting them shortly afterwards and accomplishing nothing at all.

Why do people do this?

One of the biggest reasons is a lack of commitment to their goal. Without commitment a goal will gradually shrink in importance, and the temptation to quit will seem much more attractive, especially when obstacles cause setbacks and delays.

On the other hand, if you make a serious commitment and then continually remind yourself of it, you will be much more likely to persevere and achieve the goal.

Here ís how to commit to your goals:

1- First and foremost, you have to make sure that every goal you set is of VITAL importance to you. 
This can be tricky because we so often fool ourselves into thinking we want one thing when we want something entirely different. Take some time with this part of the process, and be sure that you get to the heart of what you really want. 

• Why do you want it? 
• What will it do for you? 
• What positive things will it bring to your life? 
• How will it help you? 
• How will it make you feel when itís accomplished?

Write all of this down and keep it handy so you can refer to it as often as necessary if you feel your commitment beginning to slip.

Also ask yourself if your goal is worth the effort and sacrifice that will be needed to achieve it. If you can honestly answer yes, you are on the way! If not and go back and make adjustments and then ask yourself again.

2- Think about what will happen if you do not follow through. 
Would nothing much happen if you do not achieve your goal? If not, then you need to raise the stakes! You have to make your goal the most important thing in the world, and if you do not do it, you will deal with negative consequences. Even if you have to indulge in a bit of make believe...my mentor would tell me “fake it till you make it.”

3- Then, each and every day, renew your commitment. 

It ís easy to be committed if your goal is new and your motivation is high, but you need to be able to STAY committed ñ no matter what! Each day when you awaken, read through the goal you wrote down on the first day, and stress again how vitally important it is to you. Promise yourself that you are going to do as much as you can to work on your goal that day, and every day until you achieve it.

When it comes right down to it, no one can achieve your goals for you. 

If you want to achieve them, you will have to find the determination necessary to keep going. Inactivity and procrastination are usually nothing more than bad habits. Turning those habits into something more positive and productive is as simple as taking it a day at a time and working your hardest to change your life. The more committed and determined you are to making your goal happen, the more likely you will do just that.

Bottom Line: Remember the Nike commercial a few years ago...”Just Do It!”

Be the Difference!
Richard

Change Your Attitude

For over twenty years I have been leading personal transformation workshops as well as consultative selling, leadership and change management workshops. I found the top 10 percent have something in common...“A Positive Attitude”

It does not matter about how old you are, where you live, your occupation, or the ways you choose to spend time, I can guarantee that your attitude is one of the most significant things that determines your happiness and contentment in life.

Attitude is so powerful because it is one of the few things that every person has the ability to be in control of regardless of any other factors in life.

When life is going well and we have no complaints we can choose what kind of attitude to face each day with. Fortunately, when our lives seem like they couldn't get any worse we can also choose what kind of attitude we will have each day.

Think about a time in your life when your attitude made all the difference? Or, think of an example from the life of someone you know.

Can you think of a situation when all things looked bad and yet you or someone else's attitude made that situation better just by being positive?

You may be wondering why it is important to keep a good attitude despite all the other factors in your life. Good question.

One thing I've learned about life is that it will not always go my way. It is highly unlikely that everyday for the rest of my life will be filled with joy, friendships, and peace. It is possible, but highly unlikely.

It is much more likely that life will throw me things I wasn't expecting. Work issues, tragedies, sicknesses, and relationship problems will come my way and it will be my attitude that determines how those events affect me.

Keeping a good attitude in life allows us to remember that even in tough times we have much to be thankful for.

If you let your attitude reflect this perspective instead of reflecting the fact that you are not getting exactly what you want at a this moment.

Let your attitude reflect all the ways your life has been blessed and all the good things that has happened to you.

We have all heard it said "attitude is a little thing that can make a big difference." I agree with whoever said those words wholeheartedly, but I'll even take it a step further and simply say that attitude is a big thing.

Attitude is perhaps one of the biggest factors that determines the path and results we see in life. When we can look at the worst situations with hope and a right perspective, nothing will be too hard to overcome.

Be the Difference,
Rich