The Best Plan is...Todays

Today...this moment...the now...is your only concern. You have no control over tomorrow or yesterday. Today you are going to get the most of your working day while working to improve your personal life. 

To do this you will need to set time plans and you must spend your time wisely. Learn to live for NOW, instead of tomorrow or yesterday. 

In your time management plans, make sure to include your daily activities, work, entertainment, relax time, family time and so on. 

As you write your plans, consider how you will deal with the world around you. 

If you are sweating the worlds every move, you see on the T.V. news, you are wasting time. Instead, focus on your world, where you can make a difference. 

At work, practice dealing with your fellow employees respectively and do the same with your personal life. When you learn to respect...it makes everyone’s life better. 

Each day you want to choose a 2 or 3 new strategies that helps you to improve your personal life. 

The more effort you put into building a positive you, the more you will get from your works. 

If you are working long hours, learn to manage your time.Overworking yourself is leading you nowhere but to poor health, poor relationships and in the end, you do not produce your best work. You need to take time out for you. 

At work, learn to deal with the complex problems first this will help to eliminate stressing your day. Once you get past the tough problems, you will get moving toward the simple tasks.  

Don’t put off what you can do today. Do it now, get it over with and you will feel better having accomplished the task. 

As you plan, set a time that works best for you. For instance, if you do your best job in the early morning, work hard then and relax throughout the day. 

Highly Successful and Highly Unsuccessful people have one thing in common...How they spend their time. Which group to you choose to be in?

Change your Mindset and Change your Results,

Rich

The 5 Things You Should Know About Leadership

There has been a lot written about leadership: rules, pointers, styles, and biographies of inspiring leaders. But there are five leadership ideas that we need to recognize and realize.

Here are the five things you should know about leadership.

1. Leaders are formal and informal.

There are many different types of leaders and you will probably come across more than one type in your lifetime.

Formal leaders are those we elect into positions or offices such as the senators, members of Congress, and presidents of the local clubs.

Informal leaders or those we look up to because of their wisdom and experience such as in the case of the elders of a tribe, or our grandparents; or by their expertise and contribution like Albert Einstein in the field of Theoretical Physics and Leonardo da Vinci in the field of the Arts.

Both formal and informal leaders practice a combination of leadership styles.

Here are the leadership styles as described by some of the experts:

Kurt Lewin describes three basic leadership styles authoritative, participative, and delegative.

Renis Likert believes in the leadership styles are; exploitive, authoritative, benevolent authoritative, consultative, and participative

Dr. Daniel Goleman talks about the six emotional leadership styles - visionary, coaching, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, and commanding.

2. Leadership is life long learning.

Sometimes, it appears some people seem to be born with many of these leadership traits, but without the right environment and education, they will fail to develop their full potential.

So like learning how to ride a bicycle, you can also learn how to become a leader and develop your leadership abilities.

Knowledge on leadership and the skills you need can be learned by enrolling in leadership seminars, workshops, and conferences.

Daily interactions with people provide the opportunity to observe and practice leadership theories. Together, formal and informal learning will help you gain leadership attitudes, gain leadership insights, and thus furthering the cycle of learning.

You do not become a leader in one day and just stop.

Life-long learning is important in becoming a good leader for each day brings new experiences that put your knowledge, skills, and attitude to a test.

3. Leadership begins and ends with you.

The best way to develop leadership qualities is to apply it to your own life...Action speaks louder than words.

Leaders are always in the spotlight. Keep in mind that your credibility as a leader depends on your actions: your interaction with your family, friends, and coworkers; your way of managing your personal and organizational responsibilities; and even the way you talk with the waitstaff on your local restaurant.

Repeated actions become habits...Habits in turn form a persons character.

Steven Coveys book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People provides great insights on how you can achieve personal leadership.

4. Leadership is not about you...it is shared.

Leadership is not the sole responsibility of one person, but it is a shared responsibility among members of a team.

Each member has responsibilities to do. Formal leadership positions are just added responsibilities as a member of the team.

Effective leadership requires members to do their share of work. Starting as a group of individuals, members and leaders work towards the formation of an effective team.

Thinking this way means, social interaction plays a major role in leadership. To learn how to work together requires a great deal of trust between and among leaders and members of the team.

Trust is built on actions and not by words. When mutual respect exists, trust is developed and confidence is built.

5. Leadership styles must be flexible depending on the situation.

When the staffs are highly motivated and competent, a combination of high delegative and moderate participative styles of leadership works. But, if the staff has a low competence in one area or they have low commitment, then a combination of high coaching, high supporting, and high directing behavior from organizational leaders is what works best.

The best thing you can do as a leader is to have someone who you trust to give you honest feedback. Many of the coaching clients I work with find this is the first time they were told something about themselves that needed to change.

Change your Mindset and Change your Results,

Rich

Are You Committed to Your Goals?

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. Okay I will date myself but I still remember watching “live” on TV, the first moon landing and retuning the astronauts 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.” They are not “committed.” 

This is the same for individuals.We set our own personal goals but...are we committed?”...or...are we “compliant.”

Have you ever set a goal and not achieved it?  Most people have.  In fact, it is 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 lose 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 continually remind yourself of it, you are much more likely to stick with it and achieve the goal.

Here is how to commit to your goals:

1- First, you have to make sure that every goal you set is important 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 it is accomplished?

Write all of this down and keep it handy so you can refer to it, 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.

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

It is easy to be committed if your goal is new and your motivation is high, but you need to be able to STAY committed no matter what!  

Each morning, 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: You have the information but it is up to you to take action..those that do will succeed.

Remember “When you change your mindset…You will change your results.”

Rich

Do You See a Half Full Glass or a Half Empty Glass?

"Two men look out through the same bars: One sees the mud, and one sees the stars."- Frederick Langbridge, A Cluster of Quiet Thoughts 

In life, you are always filled with choices. You may choose to have a pessimists view and live a self-defeated life or you may decide to take the optimists route and take a challenging and fulfilling life.

Optimism has been linked to positive mood and good morale. It shows up in academic, athletic, military, occupational and political success; even in popularity, good health and helps to live a long life.

On the other hand, the rates of depression and pessimism have never been higher. It affects middle-aged adults the same way it hits younger people. The mean age has gone from 30 to 15. It is no longer a middle-aged disorder but also a teen-ager’s disorder as well.

Optimists expect the best and Pessimists do not.

The pessimists believe bad events, will last a long time and have an impact on everything they do and it is their own fault. The truth is optimists are confronted with the same hard knocks and the same events. 

What is different is the way they explain their misfortune...to themselves. 

It is the opposite way of a pessimist. They tend to believe defeat is just a temporary setback, that its causes are not long term, it a single event. 

Optimists will focus on and plan for the “problem” they are facing now. They use positive interpretation. They most likely look at a negative experience in a way that helps them learn and grow. They know how to deal with a bad situation, they see it is a challenge and try harder.

The positive attitude of optimists also predict better reactions during transitions to new environments, sudden tragedies and unlikely turn of events. If they fall, they will stand up. They see opportunities instead of obstacles. 

People respond positively to optimists

Optimists are proactive and less dependent on others for their happiness. They find no need to control or manipulate people. They usually draw people towards them. Their optimistic view of the world can be contagious and influence those they are with. 

Those who share optimism are embraced instead of those who spread gloom, panic and hysteria who are treated unfavorably. 

In life, optimist often are sought out for advice. When the going gets tough, optimists get tougher 

Optimists typically maintain higher levels of subjective well-being during times of stress than do people who are less optimistic. In contrast, pessimists are likely to react to stressful events by denying that they exist or by avoiding dealing with problems. 

Pessimists are more likely to quit trying when difficulties arise.

Optimists persevere. They just don’t give up easily, they are also known for their patience. Inching their way a step closer to that goal or elusive dream.

Optimists are healthier and live longer

Medical research has justified that simple pleasures and a positive outlook can cause a measurable increase in the body's ability to fight disease.

Optimists health is unusually good. They age well, much freer than most people from the usual physical ills of middle age. And they get to outlive those prone to negative thoughts. 

So why not be an optimist today? And think positively towards a more fulfilled life.

So here is my question; Why not look forward to success in everything you do? 

We all are bound to hit lows sometimes but don’t just stay there. Don’t look at the mud, look to the stars. As Les Brown says “If you can see up ...You can get up”

Change your Mindset and Change your Results,

Rich 

6 Questions a Presentation Must Answer

Your success will reflect your ability to speak to a group of people and motivate them to action. The one skill that all sales professionals, executives, small business owners, experts and entrepreneurs must have is the ability to effectively present their message. 

They must be able present their message to their prospects, customers, employees, associations, boards, meetings are just a few of the places where you will present. 

In any presentation, there are basic pieces of information that an audience should receive from their presenter.  You are the problem solver presenting a solution that will benefit your audience.  The presentation should answer who, what, when, where, why and how regarding your topic.  In giving that information, your presentation will have clarity and will be on track to give the detail necessary to your audience.

1) Who is your target audience?  

What would they like to know about regarding your presentation?  Do they have any preconceived notions about your material?  What are their concerns?  Are you addressing the "who" you targeted in your research?  When you address the "who" of your message, you are better able to relate with your audience.  They will feel like you are speaking directly to them.  They will give you their attention because they feel like their needs are being addressed.

2) What is the message you want to communicate?  

What are the issues?  What are the solutions?  The "what" in your message is the backbone of your presentation.  It is your purpose of your message and the reason you are speaking.  It is also the reason why people come to hear you.

3) When is the recommended time to take action? 

Is there a sense of urgency in your presentation?  Stressing the "when" aspect of your message is especially important when you want your audience to take action immediately following the presentation - i.e. - sign up for a class, sell promotional materials, implement what was learned)

4) Where is the problem located?  

Where can your audience find the help they need?  "Where" signifies direction.  This leads your audience somewhere in your presentation.  Where would you like to take them?  Common "where" statements include "across America today", "in college campuses nationwide", "in the construction industry", and "in families in California".

5) Why should they take action?  

What are the motivating factors in prompting your audience to take action?  The main focus here is inspiration and motivation to take action.  Not only do you want them to listen to you, but you want your audience to take action on what you've said.  You want to somehow improve their lives and honing your message on the "why" is a critical necessity.

6) How can they respond to your message?  

How can they take action based on what they've heard?  This is the learning and teaching portion of your message.  This can be the "how-to" section telling them how they can easily improve their lives.  This section often incorporates steps to follow.  

There are still many more questions that your presentation should answer.  As you piece all of these bits of information together, you'll be giving your audience the detailed answers they are looking for.  You also present yourself as the credible source of information you want to present yourself to be!

Change your Mindset and Change your Results,

Rich

Attitude Matters

For over twenty years I have been leading personal transformation workshops,mastermind groups,consultative selling, leadership and change management workshops. I noticed that to be successful in business and life...The top 1 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. When our lives seem like it 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...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

Reducing Stress to Improve your Personal Life

When you are feeling under the whether all the time perhaps it is because you are stressed. Stress alone can cause major psychological and mental problems. In fact, stress can cause self-induced exaggerated problems. Stress causes confusion, since it targets your physical, emotional responses, and psychological aspects while causing you pain. Stress is the leading problem that everyone in the world faces at one time or another. 

What causes stress:

Bills cause stress, especially if you do not have cash flow to pay the bills. Jobs will cause stress, since you battle to make sure your duties are correctly handled. Children cause stress. Especially nowadays, since the media, television, etc has polluted and corrupted the minds of our children by offering them nudity, violence, and other harmful actions on air. A bad relationship can cause stress. If you are in a bad relationship, it only affects your mind and physical well-being, causing you stress. There are many reasons a person can feel stressed. The upside is, you have the choice to make stress your best friend or worst enemy. 

What are the different kinds of stress?

There are many kinds of stress that can cause you problems like the acute stress this is a short term stress problem normally, which may last shortly or could carry forward. You want to avoid overstressing self. One of the common reasons someone develops acute stress is because they are thinking of how to change things they cannot change. Only change the things you can change and learn to accept. We all deal with everyday challenges. Take each challenge as a learning experience. We all have to pay bills, work, and so on. It's a part of life. We all have to face it. Sometimes we do not have the money to pay bills. Learn to set a budget that relieves you of stress. You may loose your job. Instead of sweating the problem, do something about it. 

Children these days are increasing stress for parents. Many teenagers these days are difficult to manage. Today our children are plagued with mental illnesses, far more so than at one time in history. When you feel chronic stress, burned out and do not see hope, it is time to seek help. Your doctor or mental health expert can help you manage stress emerging from difficulty teenagers. 

How to reduce stress:

You can reduce stress by managing, planning and setting goals. When you have something to look forward to, it improves your personal life. The first thing you want to consider while planning and setting goals is truth. The truth is what sets you free. Everything you do in life should uphold the truth. If you are not sure, research to learn the truth. You can take many steps to reduce stress. 

To improve your life and reduce stress you may want to consider education. If you lack skills, experience or education you will benefit from returning to school. 

You want to avoid setting traps for your memory and intelligence, since the emotions play unhealthy games if you allow it. What I mean is you want to avoid telling yourself I cannot do it. Life is too hard. Life is easier if you learn to think positive. 

How you can improve, your personal life is up to you. You will need to consult with your inner counselor to learn what you need, what you are lacking and the steps you can take to improve your personal life. If you are unsure, seek feedback. Feedback is the key that leads you to success. 

Be the Difference!

Rich