Are we our own prisoners?

 

Imagine a person in a prison. He/she has been imprisoned for life and will wait till death in the prison.

What can possibly motivate such a person? What do these people look forward to in their lives?

Sometimes, we are also prisoners of our thoughts and our past deeds. We also have nothing else to look forward to. We only have regrets. At least, we can do something about the conditions, but the prisoners can do nothing. Life can be depressing at times. How to inspire ourselves in such conditions?

 

What is inspiration?

 

'Inspiration' the word as it is commonly understood means to experience a state of mind that propels us to work happily, try to achieve goals, and feel good about ourselves and the world.

 

How to break open the prison?

 

When we are not inspired and can set no goals, we feel that we are so helpless that nothing can be done. The first step would be to try finding stories of people such as Helen Keller who overcame so many difficulties to emerge victorious. That will give us a basic thought that things are not that bad. We will open at least one door of our prison with this thought.

 

Then go back in your memory. Try and think of instances when you felt good because of some achievements. It could be something very small. Anything. Like coming first in the class in your second year in school, or getting a good remark from a teacher for an essay or for a math answer. That will break open another door.

 

Now begin counting your blessings. Do you have a functioning kidney? Can you see? Can you hear? Can you smell? Are your hands ok and so on. Will you sell your eyes for any price? No! Who said that you have no money? You are a wealthy person who is unaware of your wealth, your blessings, Isn't it? This will open one more door.

 

Break the last door open by thinking of the goals you might want to achieve. Believe that you can do that. Start planning. Think of ways. Talk to people. Be ready for a long struggle but with a firm resolve that you will achieve the goals. This will take you out of the prison of your thinking and make you a new person ready to fight.

 

Get set to go ahead. You are a winner in making!

As always, here’s to your success.

 

 

How To Achieve Great Success From A Home Based Business

Profitability is the most important factor to success with any home based business. A home-based business can run for a long period of time as long as you make it profitable.

However, as many businesses don't make a profit to start with this is often the first goal of the home-based business owners, and you should achieve this goal as soon as possible.

To achieve this goal you should focus on business development, be careful with your expenses and focus on what you are offering.

Focusing on growth is a key way to build your home-based business profits. In order to influence your results you should have the right mindset. If you don't have a profitable mindset then you are likely going to stay where you are.

Rather focus on growth and have the mindset to notice opportunities when they come along that can lead to gain, and then take action on these opportunities right away before they are gone. Again, success loves speed.          

Next you must pay attention to your expenses seriously. All businesses have some expenses when they first start out even home-based single person businesses. Make sure you set up a budget that includes things such as advertising, utilities, office supplies and anything else that may be necessary to the specific home-based business you are considering.

On your list write down the expenses that are necessary for operating your business, these should be items that you need in order to make your home-based business profitable.

You will likely run into some expenses that you don't really need to operate your business. These are the expenses that don't make your business grow and only take away from the profits of your business.

Carefully consider before you truly need these expenses and if they don't make any profit then you should cut them for something that will actually help with the growth of your business.

However, you can only move your business so far by restricting your expenses. You also need income in order to gain profitability from your home-based venture.

Promotion is the most important factor to developing any business and gaining profitability. Basically you should focus on making your business known to people.

You can't expect to do business with them if they aren't aware of your company. While this may seem like an obvious point, the fact is that many businesses (home-based, store front, and internet based alike) fail simply because individuals don't spend enough time promoting their business. Once again, promotion is the key for your success.

If you have more than one product that requires promoting then consider focusing on just one main product for your business since you can focus most of your attention on marketing one product and once you get interested customers or visitors you can tell them about the additional products.

This will make it easier to run your business and you will also have better results from your actions. Remember, it isn’t impossible for you to promote many products at the same time, just time consuming and has a habit of dividing your concentrations.

These tips don’t just apply to those who are starting a new home-based business. You can still use these helpful advice to let you move your business in the right direction if you have been working on it for awhile and just can get it to work for you. By applying these tips you will be able to have success with your home based business no matter how long you have been in business.

Don’t forget that I am here for your success, if you have any topics that you want me to cover, drop me a line and let me know.

Anxiety And Stress Relief - Facing Life's Giants!

 

Yesterday was my daughter's birthday. This last year was a major season of change for all of us; new house,new job for my wife, new school for my daughter...it's safe to say that I have dealt with stress. Anyway, we wanted to make this birthday special for my daughter with all of the stress of the year, but the more we worked on it, the more ideas fell through. As stressful as it was, we came up with a game plan that gave her an enjoyable time as well as her friends.

I led in with that story to say this, life often takes on a David and Goliath feeling. Giants bearing down on you, taunting you, making you feel small.  Enormous footsteps shaking the very foundations of your life bringing stress and anxiety.  Relief from these problems can often seem to be, not only out of reach, but also out of sight.  When bills pile up, family demands are overwhelming, your tasks in hand get out of hand and calamity and tragedy fill the headlines of your news feeds.

 

What do you do when stress giants come into your life?  Who do you turn to for help?  The fact it is you are not alone there is somebody who can help.  There are people you can turn to for support, advice and assistance.  You do not have to face these stressors alone in silence.  If you need help to over come life's problems and are looking for stress relief try one of these:

 

·           Family

·            Friends

·            Counselors

·            Pastors

·           Self-help books

·           Self-help CDs

 

How about calling your regular doctor for advice about stress relief?  Many people ignore or forget about these obvious support channels.  In fact, sharing our stress with someone who will support us should be on the top of our list when dealing with life’s stress.  When life's difficulties becomes too much and you are finding things bearing down on you to the point your stress is compounded by a feeling that you can’t take it anymore, then this is the time to share that burden with someone else.

 

Stress relief information and help should be sought in the same way as any other assistance.  If you broke your arm then you wouldn't think twice about seeking medical help, so you should treat your stress problems the same way. If you don’t have someone close to confide in, call your doctor, see a pastor, or make an appointment with a counselor.

 

It is possible that your stress and anxiety is bad enough that a doctor will prescribe medication to give you some relief, but most of the time, just getting off of your chest is enough to get you back in the game.

 

Make time for yourself

Another way to handle the giants is to step away and regroup. Everybody deserves (and needs) some time away.  Time for one’s self should not be considered an unnecessary luxury.  It is something that we all need.  Find something that you love doing, something that gives you pleasure and take the time to indulge yourself in it.  If your schedule is so overwhelming then start with ten minutes for yourself per day, your objective should be working towards one hour of time devoted to you per day with one day strictly for relaxation and not thinking about any of your stress giants.

 

Taking the time out for yourself does not mean that you are selfish and uncaring.  When people demand so much of you, it is easy to find your personal resources evaporating away and your ability to cope with your own personal stress will diminish.  To be able to give your best and work at your optimum level means that you need time devoted to yourself.

 

So, what are you going to do with this new time that you have devoted to yourself?  How will you use your "me time?"  Here are a few suggestions to help get you started relaxing and regrouping to face the giants another day:

 

·           Take a long relaxing walk

·           Take a long relaxing bath; light candles, burn incense

·           Read a fiction book

·           Write a poem or short story

·            Undertake some light exercise

·           Take up a new sport

·            Practice meditation

·           Enroll in a yoga class

·           Try listening to music

 

Whatever you do begin to enjoy life.  Live it to the fullest.  Consider each moment precious and know that you do have permission to step away from your giants for a short time to regroup; they will still be there tomorrow. Begin to experience life and don't just let it pass you by because you are spending too much time stressing on things.  Stress relief is attainable and within your grasp.  But you must make the effort to reach out and take it.

 

 

 

Law Of Success: Part III

Welcome to the conclusion of this special three part series commemorating the 21st Century Edition of Napoleon Hill's landmark work on success, "Law of Success," which reveals the 17 Principles of Success that can help take your life to the next level. These are proven principles based on  25 years of research and personal studies into the lives of over 500 of the world’s greatest achievers.

 

Law of Success Part I and Part II covered the first 11 of these principles. (To read Part I and Part II, visit the blog archives). Law of Success Part III will now conclude with the remaining 6 of these valuable, time-tested principles, which can help you, succeed in all areas of your life.

 

Principle # 12: Concentration

 

“Concentration is the act of focusing the mind on a given desire until ways and means for its realization have been worked out and successfully put into operation.” – Napoleon Hill

 

In this age of mass communications, we are beginning to face a global epidemic of mass distraction that is becoming dangerous – and in some cases lethal. (The rising pedestrian and motor vehicle driver deaths due to the host of electronic distractions are just one sad example).

 

PSA: Don’t text while driving. A text isn’t worth your life, or worse, the life of someone who had nothing to do with your conversation.

 

The Weapons of Mass Distraction available to us are just overwhelming: email, cell phones, pagers, text messaging, video games, GPS navigational systems, video games, DVD players, TV, web cams, blackberries, faxes, ipods, and the explosion of social networking sites, just to name a few. (When used intelligently these tools can be powerful, but when used ineffectively, they become what I call, “Weapons of Mass Distraction!”

 

For concentration to be effective, Hill states that it is vitally important to keep your mind focused on ONE subject until you’ve mastered it; to focus on ONE given problem until you’ve solved that problem.

 

What I find helps is starting a task with a burst of energy and enthusiasm which will provide the momentum to complete the task successfully, in this age of sensory overload, some sensory deprivation might be in order.

 

Hill recommends that you set some time everyday where you can enter a quiet place, close your eyes, and put your fingers in your ears, blocking all light and sound, and just repeat your chief goal and see yourself in full possession of the goal that you are trying to reach.

 

I would go as far as to say that you need to take at least one day, or even a weekend per month to distress.

 

Principle # 13: Cooperation

 

“Cooperation is the foundation of all successful leadership.” – Napoleon Hill

 

According to Napoleon Hill, there are two forms of cooperation: 1). The cooperation between a group alliance, such as a mastermind group (which was covered in my Law of Success Part I overview) to achieve a desired end, and 2). The cooperation between the conscious and subconscious minds to draw upon creative intelligence (a theme that continues throughout this overview as well as his book).

 

Power is developed through organized effort and, as they say, two heads are better than one. So for any organized effort to be successful, the harmonious cooperation of people focused on a singular purpose or goal is required.

 

Harmony is the key. And it would serve you well to study the main personality types of people before forming a team so you can bring together people who compliment each other rather than compete with each other. (“What Type Am I” by Renee Baron is a good first book to understanding personality types. I also previously mentioned Social Triggers).

 

One thing in the “Law of Success” that really struck me as powerful was an important observation Napoleon Hill had made: “A great leader is one who understands how to create a “motivating objective” that will be accepted with enthusiasm by every member of [the] group...Most people will work harder for the attainment of an ideal than they will for money.”

 

What is your company or team’s “motivating objective” or ideal? In today’s terminology (thanks to Jerry McGuire), this would be your mission statement.

 

Principle # 14: Profiting by Failure

 

"If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate." -Thomas Watson, Sr. Founder of IBM

 

Profiting from failure is a topic that has been beat to death by personal development gurus so I won’t spend too much time on this principle. It’s overdone for the very same reason that there’s truth in the idea of people reaching higher levels of success by persevering and learning from failure instead of quitting.

 

It’s no accident that John D. Rockefeller felt that perseverance is the single most important quality to achieving success.

 

I’ve personally seen through the years, that success comes to leaders in almost direct proportion to the amount of adversity and failures they’ve overcome and learned from in life.

 

That old cliché, ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again’ applies here. Of course, I’m not saying you necessarily keep on doing the same thing expecting the same results (another definition for insanity), but what I am saying is that the only true failure out there that will hurt you is the failure to get back up and try again.

 

I don’t know how many times that I have personally thought about throwing in the towel. In fact, when we were at our lowest, I had actually worked it out in detail how to commit suicide so that it looked like an accident in order for my wife to collect the insurance…the only problem with that was we didn’t pay our policy, so it wouldn’t have paid out anyway.

 

Don’t ever give up. Failure is a learning experience similar to on-the-job training vs. schooling; on-the-job training may take longer, but you gain knowledge and real-world experience, so think of failure as on-the-life training.

 

Seek counselors and mentors that you can trust to help evaluate the effectiveness of your plans. Explore what is limiting your success by asking them how they see you limiting yourself.

 

If your first plan to achieving your goal in life does not succeed, then change the plan. Keep on changing it until you’ve reached your target, just as an ocean liner makes thousands of adjustments and coarse corrections before reaching its destination, you too should constantly re-evaluate your plan to make sure that you are still on the coarse that you want to be on.

 

Principle # 15: Tolerance

 

“Minds are like parachutes; they work best when open.” – Lord Thomas Dewar

 

If we adopt a closed mind we stop acquiring knowledge. And natural law states that we are either growing or dying.

 

I don’t like the word ‘tolerance.’ I much rather prefer the term “embrace new ideas” and have an insatiable curiosity for learning other people’s customs, belief systems, and unique perspectives. I look at it as an adventure in someone else’s life.

 

In today’s society, the word tolerance has been distorted to pass off someone’s bigotry and intolerance as a justified action. For example, a white comedian lets the “N” word slip in his act, he is a racist, but the leader of the new black panthers makes the comment about killing all white cracker babies and that is freedom of speech. Tolerance is a two way street and cannot be used to justify the actions of some while condemning the actions of others.

 

Finding ways to harness cultural differences within team dynamics and organizations will be the new currency in an increasingly globalized economy.

 

Principle # 16: The Golden Rule

 

Napoleon Hill recognized that the frivolous use of power from the knowledge that is being shared with you would only backfire and be destructive to self and others. Selfish pursuit of your goal without regard for others will eventually come back to bite you.

 

We reap what we sow. What goes around comes around. Therefore, the Golden Rule is: “do unto others as you’d have done unto you”. Before doing anything, ask yourself if it will benefit or hurt the person or persons involved.

 

It’s easy to be self-centered. To transcend self, think more of what the other person wants and feels before acting, that is what Zig Ziglar is talking about when he saying “You’ll get everything out of life that you want if you help enough people get what they want.”

 

See the good in others. Catch people doing things right instead of always looking for the wrong. Kindness and justice toward others goes a long way in establishing successful business and personal relationships. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: “Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great.” To help with this, I suggest a short read called The One Minute Manager.

 

Hill takes us deeper with the Golden Rule philosophy when he said, “think of others as you’d wish them to think of you.” Live this philosophy and your life will be enriched in many unforeseen ways.

 

Principle # 17: The Universal Law of Cosmic Habit-force

 

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” - Aristotle

 

This is one of my favorite quotes on habit. The Universal Law of Cosmic Habit-force is that intangible, unseen force which is made tangible and visible in nature. Just observe nature and you will experience Cosmic Habit-force in action.

 

When you fix in your mind a purpose consciousness focused on your chief aim in life through repetition of thoughts and deeds, Cosmic Habit-force will take over and carry it to its logical conclusion, just as an apple seed will always produce an apple tree through proper care and nurturing.

 

It takes constant vigilance, determination, and willpower to maintain that purpose consciousness, but eventually Cosmic Habit-force will always bear fruit and your life will be richly rewarded.

 

In closing this series, I’d like to point out that at the beginning of every chapter in Napoleon Hill’s “Law of Success” are the words: “You can do it if you believe you can!”

 

It’s that simple. I’m not saying it’s easy, but it really is that simple. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn’t have it in the beginning.” Jim Rohn said, make a goal to become a millionaire. Not for the sake of becoming a millionaire, but for what you must become to be a millionaire.” Replace bad habits with good disciplines and watch things start to change in your life.

 

Believe in yourself! Believe you can do it and move forward this day with faith and confidence.

 

I hope that you’ve benefited from this series and I’d like to encourage you to share these important principles with your friends, family, and associates. I’d also like to highly recommend getting a copy of Napoleon Hill’s “Law of Success: 21st Century Edition” to add to your personal library.

 

It’s a life-changing book, and I mean that as no exaggeration. To get your copy, visit here. 

 

 

Ask Don't Tell Leadership - How Do I Create Accountability As A Leader?

 

 

In today’s post, I get to play Dear Abby…I guess that would be Dear Frankie, Maybe?

Anyway, here is a question from a reader.

 

Hey Franklin,

“Question: I own and run a company, but my leadership skills are sometimes lacking. My Senior Team refers to me as “Mr. Softy,” because I fail to discipline those who breach company policies. I am having particular difficulty with my VP of Sales. While he does bring in new accounts, he consistently enters them incorrectly and causes all sorts of problems for production staff. My team keeps telling me to “let him have it,” but I am not sure what to say. How do I make him accountable without simply firing or threatening to fire him?”

 

NOTE: Though this is a seasoned business owner, with a question that doesn’t really seem to apply to those of you out there who are freelancing or you haven’t yet taken the plunge to start your own business yet, this still applies and I don’t want you to tune this out, because if you learn it now, you won’t be searching for answers later.

 

Answer: Congratulations! You are already demonstrating great leadership wisdom by seeking solutions aside from threatening job loss. The accountability you want would never develop from firing or threatening to fire, anyway. Exceptional leaders build accountability and empower their employees by asking them questions. My philosophy of leadership is “ask, don’t tell.” Although you have identified the VP of Sales as causing the current problems, make sure you have all the facts. This could be a great opportunity for you to build accountability – not just in this employee, but also in all your employees.

 

I suggest holding a company-wide meeting, focused on the big picture of how sales orders are processed. Use the situation with the VP of Sales as an example, and ask, “Is this order representative of how this company functions?” Either everyone will agree, or an interesting discussion will ensue between the disagreeing parties. Sometimes, your role as a leader is to stay out of the middle and simply facilitate. The managers of your various departments likely understand the facts better than you do, and it is perfectly ok to admit this. Enter the meeting with an open mind. Even if your employees begin by arguing and finger pointing, they will eventually work through to the facts. You may need to pepper the conversation with questions, but try not to give answers.

 

Once the group has pinpointed the actual problem and the individual(s) involved, begin discussing solutions. Ask simply, “How would you like to solve this?” Even if you have solutions in mind, great leadership requires you to trust others to develop their own answers. Given this is the first time you have undergone this process, I suggest you stay in the meeting. Continue to only ask questions, and if asked your opinion, refrain from giving it. Remind your managers that you trust them to run their departments and make money for your company, so surely you trust them to solve issues, such as this one. Initially, this entire process may be extremely time-consuming and frustrating for everyone involved. Be confident that you are moving in the right direction! Your employees will soon become more energized as they feel empowered, and the time will prove well worthwhile. By the end of this process, you too will find your power and realize you have built accountability by merely asking questions.

 

Remember: Ask, don’t tell.

 As always, here is to your success. Leave comments, suggestions and questions, I would love to hear from you.

 

A Plan Of Action

 

So we are going to go on the assumption that you have finally made the decision that it is time to make some changes in your life.  You know that the only way things are going to get better for you financially, spiritually and physically are if you sit up and take action.  You know you have to put forth the effort in order to reap the rewards. 

 

So how exactly are you going to implement these changes?  You are going to create an "plan of action".

 

A plan of action is crucial to your success.  Without a plan it is merely a thought.  When you add your thoughts to paper coupled with a desire to see them becoming reality and proceed to do everything possible to fulfill that desire you have a template for success that places you several steps ahead of the person that never gets past thinking about it.

 

A simple equation for a plan of action is by starting the process of attaining a successful life.  What you need to know to make positive life altering changes.

 

A simple equation to use when creating a plan of action from your template is:  Desire + Effort = Results. In fact, I have D+E=R in multiple locations so that I am always seeing it, therefore thinking about it.

 

Your first step is to write down what exactly it is you desire.  Albeit wealth, personal development or whatever you so strongly yearn for that you simply can no longer go without, write it down.  Make your desires realistic.  For example, if your desire is to lose 20 pounds, it is unrealistic to believe you can lose 20 pounds in 3 days.   However, it is possible to lose 20 pounds in 3 months with a proper plan of action.  It is important to note that there should be a time frame with regards to your plan.  These time frames are the milestones to marking your achievements.

 

Now that you know what your specific desire is, list the ways in which you plan on achieving optimum results.  How do I plan to lose these 20 pounds?  What do I have to do each day in order to achieve my goal?  What do I personally need to do to see this plan come to fruition?

 

Set up a scheduled list outlining each step that needs to be taken daily to achieve weekly goals.  Be specific. Before going to bed each night, create a daily "to do" list Some do this first thing in the morning, but I find that it is more productive to do it at night because it sets up the list subconsciously in your mind, so you wake up with a game plan that works the schedule rather than a schedule that works you; if that makes sense.  At the end of the week you will be able to see how much you were able to accomplish and don’t forget to congratulate yourself for each accomplishment. There is no such thing as an accomplishment that is too small. Go back and read blog #036 about change if you haven’t already.

 

Make a commitment to yourself to "Work the Plan".  Stay focused on the positive.  List all the reasons why you will be able to achieve your objective. Utilize the strengths you possess that will help you to complete your plan.

 

Know your weaknesses and make a valiant effort to overcome them without allowing them to control and limit you.  Incorporate both your strengths and weakness into your plan of action.  Know what you are capable of and know what your shortcomings are. 

 

Have your own personal reward system in place.  Know what each reward will be for each accomplishment that you have fulfilled throughout your plan.  With every desired result you achieve there should be a reward for having done so.  An incentive plan customized to your wants. NO! This does not mean if your goal is to lose 20 lbs and you lose 10 lbs that you can splurge and eat an entire chocolate cake.

 

Do not let yourself get disheartened.  If you have a temporary lapse or deviation from the plan acknowledge it and continue to move forward with your plan.  Keep the pedal to the metal, your nose to the grindstone, your eye on the ball, whatever phrase you want to use, just keep on taking action.  Remember, this is not a race to the finish line.  Your plan is your future.  Take the time to nurture and understand it.

 

We've all heard the adage "Rome was not built in a day".  Your success regarding your plan of action will not be achieved in one day either.  Success is a process and the process is something you have a long-term plan for.

 

"You and only you can determine if the reward is worth the price you are paying for it in effort".

 

If you haven’t read them already, I would suggest going into the archives and start reading my blog series on mindset starting with blog #021-Secrets to a Million Dollar Mindset.