Accounting Principles

Yep, another one on accounting, but trust me when I say that this is only going to help you to make a successful transition out of the rat race into a successful lifestyle that you want, deserve and will enjoy.

 If everyone involved in the process of accounting followed their own system (or no system at all) there would be no way to truly tell whether a company was profitable or not. Most companies follow what are called generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, and there are quite a few books in libraries and bookstores devoted to just this one topic. Unless a company states otherwise, anyone reading a financial statement can make the assumption that company has used GAAP.

If GAAP are not the principles used for preparing financial statements, then a business needs to make clear which other form of accounting they've used and are bound to avoid using titles in its financial statements that could mislead the person examining it. 

GAAP are the gold standard for preparing financial statement. Not disclosing that it has used principles other than GAAP makes a company legally liable for any misleading or misunderstood data. These principles have been fine-tuned over decades and have effectively governed accounting methods and the financial reporting systems of businesses. Different principles have been established for different types of business entities, such for-profit and not-for-profit companies, governments and other enterprises.

GAAP are not cut and dried, however. They're guidelines and as such are often open to interpretation. Estimates have to be made at times, and they require good faith efforts towards accuracy. You've surely heard the phrase "creative accounting" and this is when a company pushes the envelope a little (or a lot) to make their business look more profitable than it might actually be. This is also called massaging the numbers. This can get out of control and quickly turn into accounting fraud, which is also called cooking the books. The results of these practices can be devastating and ruin hundreds and thousands of lives, as in the cases of Enron, Rite Aid and others.

I promise, this will be the last dry post on accounting, but I cannot stress enough that proper accounting will keep you out of the hot seat.

Again, make sure to subscribe, 2016 is the year that you can change your destiny.

Start creating a career online and get out of the rat race. Click here for ideas on how to do it.

You Can Market Your Online Business Yourself

 

Online business is indeed a lucrative means by which you can make a comfortable living. In fact, thousands have been able to live quite nicely off of internet marketing. Those who have decoded the nitty-gritty of the trade (social media, PPC, SEO, etc.) have either attained financial freedom or are on their way to reaching that threshold. It gives at the very least the opportunity to design your life the way you wish with hardly anyone looking over your shoulder to order you around.

 

One of the peculiar joys of Internet marketing is that it puts you in charge literally of your destiny. You get what you input into your business; the internet has virtually democratized the business environment to a significant extent allowing, what one of my clients deemed, “allowing little fish to swim with the big fish and not get eaten”. So while you may engage a professional marketing outfit to handle your marketing chores such as Imagery Magic Solutions (shameless plug, I know J), you have an option of doing your own thing yourself. And this may give you a better sense of personal fulfillment. Honestly, that is how I got started in this, by doing it myself and moving into helping other people.

 

Should you decide to personally market your online business, you would have to consider a number of factors. Would you have the knowledge, skill, time and commitment to see through your marketing campaigns? The key is to make it personal. Give your own stamp of approval (a touch of self) in order to resonate to your audience that you are not a bot or a big faceless chain is in charge of your marketing. Barb Wade said it best:

 

“Always be yourself and there is no competition.”

 

The trick is to start simple. There are a number of cost effective methods and practices through which you can go about marketing your business to steady success, like reading my blogs (another shameless plug; when will it end?). One simple way is to include email signature lines in all messages you send out to friends and associates. Email Signatures simply contain your website address which others may see, visit and become interested in. It would be more effective if you have a separate email address for your official business name, but a good gmail account works just as well. When used in personal correspondences, it works wonders and you can hardly be accused of spamming since it is only a signature line and not an overt advertisement.

 

That leads me into email marketing. This has been a veritable tool for effective marketing of products with very wonderful and rewarding results. I have already written a few posts on email marketing, if you haven’t already check them out. This simple method allows you to alert customers to the availability of new products, lucrative offers and changes to established businesses. In fact, I know a number of very successful Internet Marketers who use this method almost exclusively and they have several successful sites to show for it. However, knowing the SPAM laws is important.

 

Another method you can use to enhance the visibility of your site is the submission of your website to Search Engines and Directories.

 

Whatever methods you finally choose to personally promote your online business will depend on your personal preferences as well as on the results that you are able to get from any or some of them. However, there is this joy and personal fulfillment that you get from running your own business yourself from wherever you choose and at the times that you decide. I love being able to take off whenever my daughter’s school needs help or doing short-term missions with my church.

 

I’m dating myself here, but as the old commercial said, “Try it, you’ll like it.”

 

 

Good Stress And Bad Stress

 

The stress response of the body, in a way, is like an airplane getting ready for take-off. Virtually all systems (e.g., the heart and blood vessels, the immune system, the lungs, the digestive system, the sensory organs, and brain) are modified to meet the perceived danger that is just around the corner.

 

The Pounding Heart

The adrenaline in our system makes our heart beat faster in order to pump more oxygen to the brain in order to obtain a quick flight or fight response if it is needed. This excited feeling can sometimes overtake us and lead to poor decisions.

 

Become aware of your stressors as well as your emotional and physical reactions to those stressors. As the phrase goes, “Know thyself”. Notice your distress. Don't ignore it. Don't gloss over your problems. Determine what events distress you. What is your body and mind telling you about the events taking place? Determine how your body responds to the stress. Do you become nervous or physically upset? If you do, in what specific ways are you acting or thinking?

 

Preventing Stress

Reduce the intensity of your emotional reactions to stress. In today’s society the stress reaction is more often than not, triggered by your perception of danger and not real life threatening situations. Are you viewing your stressors in exaggerated terms and/or taking a difficult situation and making it a disaster?

 

Are you expecting to please everyone?

Are you overreacting and viewing things as absolutely critical and urgent? Do you feel you must always prevail in every situation? Work at adopting more moderate views; try to see the stress as something you can cope with rather than something that overpowers you. Try to temper your excess emotions. Put the situation in perspective. Do not labor on the negative aspects of the situation.

 

Good Stress and Bad Stress

The stress response (also known as the fight or flight response) is critical during emergency situations, such as when a driver has to slam on the brakes to avoid an accident. It can also be activated in a milder form at a time when the pressure's on but there's no actual danger - like stepping up to a podium to give a presentation in front of a room full of people, getting ready to ask someone out for the first time, or waiting for test results from the doctor. A little of this stress can help keep you on your toes, ready to rise to a challenge. And the nervous system quickly returns to its normal state, standing by to respond again when needed.

 

By analyzing our stress at the time we are having it, our left-brain kicks in and allows us to take more control of our situation. If you are taking a test, there is no way that the professor is going to attack you if you don’t finish on time, nor will there be any physical repercussions if you ask someone out and they say no. So, once you realize that there is no mortal danger present, you can see that your body is overreacting and you can quickly gain control before doing or saying something that you will regret later.

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. 

 

 

Blueprint for Leadership - How to Be a Better Leader

Here is a description of what people want in a leader. See how do you compare?

If you were to build a house, you would begin with a blueprint. This blueprint proves useful because it contains more than directions on how to build a house. It also describes the finished house.

So, what does this have to do with leadership?

Curious about it,  I asked an audience of leaders to tell me the characteristics of an ideal leader. I then, later asked the same questions to a random group of employees and compiled the answers and here is what I got (surprisingly similar in order between both groups):

A good listener

Enthusiastic/ Passionate / Charismatic

Shows appreciation

Visionary

Role model/ Leads by example

Trusting/ Credible/ High Integrity

Organized

Knowledgeable

Persuasive

Team building/ Empower others/ Understands followers

Clarity of purpose

Problem solver

Attitude of service

Patience

Consistent

Adapts to change.

From this poll I was able to gain some useful insights.

Notice what the list contains. Most of these characteristics relate to the human side of leadership. That's interesting because I often hear people minimize this side of leadership with terms like "soft" or "touchy feely." Actually, applying these characteristics requires more strength than not.

Now take a look at what the list excludes. Sometimes the words not spoken are louder than the words used. Absent from this list are characteristics such as stern, mean, serious, short tempered, vindictive, tough, angry, harsh, punitive, controlling, violent, or ruthless. And that's interesting because many popular representations of leadership emphasize at least one of these "hard" characteristics. In fact, these characteristics are the refuge of those who lack the strength (or the skills) to apply the human side of leadership.

How about you? How would you rate yourself as a leader compared to the list of positive characteristics listed above? If you were to survey the people around you (especially those whom you lead), how would they describe your leadership? Would they list characteristics from the "soft" list or from the "hard" list? Could you become more effective by improving upon any of the "soft" characteristics? And how about the other leaders in your organization? Do they truly maximize human potential?

People want leaders who treat them with genuine compassion, courtesy, and respect. They want leaders who help them become more successful. They want leaders who inspire them with a vision for a better world and show them how to get there or create it, not one who constantly threaten them with termination.

 

 

Click Here To Take Your Leadership Forward by teaching others how to be successful leaders.

The Leader You Need To Be In 8 Steps

 

An important part of success in life is the ability to lead. It is important that we not only be able to lead others but be willing to lead ourselves first. No one succeeds in life by simply following others.

 

Being a good leader is more than simply being at the forefront of the crowd. A leader must act. Too often we simply accept that someone looks or sounds like a leader and too rarely do we actually investigate their character, experience and actions to see if they really are.

 

In order for us to become good leaders ourselves, we need to concentrate on actions rather than simple appearances. The title of this article refers to eight steps, but do not think of these as steps like in an instruction manual; once completed you move on to the next one, but instead, think of these as progressive actions that you must repeat on a regular basis.

 

First, be alert to new potentials. "Reality" is not absolute but rather subject to constant change. Think about inventors, explorers, and agents of social change who have achieved greatness. Some might simply say that certain people are successful because they are lucky to be in the right place at the right time. Maybe so, but if they hadn't had their eyes open for the opportunity when it showed itself then it wouldn't have mattered if they were in the right place.

 

Second, accept inspiration from wherever it comes (even your opponents). The wisest leaders constantly study their competition. In war, politics, and business we constantly see examples of this research and reconnaissance. Too many times though a certain study, many concentrate on finding a weakness to exploit. If you want to be a leader of positive change don't fall victim to this trend. Instead, if you find a weakness, make sure to avoid that pitfall yourself. If you find the strength then find a way to strengthen your own qualities to match.

 

Third, learn something new and work on implementing it every day. This means you must continually seek to expand your horizons, internally and externally. Feed your mind with new lessons and knowledge and constantly expand your horizons. Seek out and meet new people and immerse yourself in new social situations. You never know when these new experiences will help you in your leadership role.

 

Fourth, search for and find answers in subtle clues. Look beneath the surface and constantly question. This is an extension of the third step in that you are seeking new knowledge. But this also means that you will need to sometimes step off what we see as the traditional paths of knowledge. Don't simply read books in the literary canon or the bestsellers list. Take seminars rather than classes, as there is more room for questioning and debate. Seek out the unconventional thinkers, teachers, and writers. You may not agree with them, but to know someone else’s perspective is to be able to more effectively verbalize your own.

 

Fifth, improvise if no existing solutions are available. No excuses. Necessity is the mother of invention. How do you know it won't work if you've never tried it before? Remember, not all approaches need to come from the front. Look at your problem from all sides and systematically attempt different solutions in various combinations. Part of being an effective leader is problem solving.

 

Six, make at least one person you care about happy every day. If you make it a point to be thoughtful and caring for one person every day then soon this thoughtful, caring behavior will become a habit and that habit will spread to the others around you. Making someone else happy also feeds your own personal happiness. Just imagine how much better the world would be if we all did a little bit more to spread happiness. Successful leadership has the respect of those around you, not fear. Spreading happiness attracts people to you and thus makes you an attractive leader.

 

Seven, offer help, even if there's no apparent advantage to you. This means more than writing a check. It means giving of your time and energy and yourself. Sometimes it will mean helping someone you don't know and sometimes it can be a very personal action. Zig Ziglar is well known for saying “you’ll get everything you want out of life if you just help enough people get what they want.”

 

Finally, never let negativity be your last word on any subject. If your final words are negative it doesn’t matter how hopeful you may be about the potential of a project or action the lasting impression you give to others is one of negativity. Accentuate the positive and you are more likely to see a positive outcome. Even if you have to walk away, regroup and readdress the issue, come back and make sure that the last impression you make on the subject is a positive one.

 

If you follow these eight action steps not only will you become a better leader but you will also lead yourself to a more successful life.

 

If your leadership is stifled due to shyness, limiting beliefs, etc.,click here for help.

Power Question?

I am still taking a running poll; should I keep adding power questions at the end of posts, or would you prefer a Power Quote? Or nothing at all? Let me know your feedback. 

 

Body Speak

Use Body Language to add hidden power to the Message of Your Presentation.

 

“In an orator … we demand the acuteness of a logician, the profundity of a philosopher, the diction virtually of a poet, the memory of a lawyer, the voice of a performer in tragic drama, the gestures, you might almost say, of an actor at the very top of his profession. Here, then, are some of the reasons why a first-class orator is one of the rarest things in the world.”

-- Cicero

 

In any speech or presentation, your body language adds power to the message. It either supports or detracts from what your words are saying. The operative word here that we want to look at is "support". Body language must be in tune with the message. And the corollary is that body language must also not distract or detract from the message you are giving. If they are denying each other, then your presentation will fail.

 

Confidence and sincerity are the absolute basis for this process. If your body is declaring that you are not sincere in what you are saying then your credibility decreases and there is no way your message will have the impact it should have. Think about the tone of your message. Is it relaxed, conversational? Then make your body language relaxed. Is it passionate, strong and powerful? Then create body language that conveys that passion. Is it alert and enthusiastic? Then your body language needs to be reflecting that enthusiasm.

 

Learn to become aware of what your hands are doing while you speak. If necessary, make yourself hold them still. Many people have habits that are terribly distracting and yet they aren't aware of what they are doing. They click or twiddle a pen, play with their hair or their clothes, hold a microphone with fingers unconsciously making a rude gesture (if you know what I mean), take glasses on and off, put hands in pockets only to take them out seconds later and repeat the process continuously. All of these things are not necessarily detrimental in themselves, if the audience is absolutely focused on the speaker and the message. But if there is any reason for the audience's attention to stray (and we all have short attention spans) then they will become fascinated, at best, and possibly annoyed at whatever it is that the speaker is doing with their hands.

 

If, on the other hand, (pardon the pun), those hands are working to support the speech, they will bring the attention back to the message. They will also give power to the impact of the message.

 

Natural looking gestures are basically the aim. If you are not a natural gesturer, your body will support your message. It is necessary to be aware that you are not repeating the same gesture many times. It may add emphasis the first time, but after that it will distract as much as the others mentioned earlier. Watch television journalists and sooner or later you will notice this.

You can also practice gestures. Join a public speaking club where you can practice in a supportive environment until you are comfortable, and confident that your gestures are not detracting from your message.

 

Of course, there are many books and websites with information about body language and gestures. Basically:

• Gestures above shoulder level support messages about things that are spiritual or uplifting (a church minister will raise his hands in blessing).
• Ordinary messages are supported by gestures at the middle level of your body.
• Things that are despicable or degrading or debilitating are supported by gestures below the waist.
•  

You can use your palms. Held out, palm upwards, they support supplication, requesting a response, or openness. They can be used to indicate division if held vertically with the little finger down. Using a fist is a very powerful gesture. It indicates strong power and passion, and may also be used as a threat. Be careful with that. Take care, too, with pointing with a finger. People don't respond well to accusation or to being singled out, so be sure your gesture supports your message.

 

Your clothes, too, can distract attention from your message. If you have a very bright or unusual item of clothing, if your scarf or tie flaps in a breeze, if your earrings dangle or click, or your necklace or tie pin clicks on a microphone, the audience will be distracted from your message. Again, unless your message is absolutely riveting, your clothes will become the centre of attention just as gestures can, and your message will lose its impact.

 

How you stand and walk works in just the same way. If you are a passionate speaker who simply cannot stand still, then hopefully you will support the passion of your message. Try to use standing still to give the same sort of impact that a pause in the middle of rapid speech would give. If you choose to move or change position just to provide relief because you think your speech is boring; be careful. It may be that your movement will have more impact than your massage. Timing can help so that you change position with a new idea or with a new visual support. Try to make all of your body language work with the movement. So, for example, if you want to walk to give the impression of thinking of a new idea, then set your hand up to your face to indicate thoughtfulness, and speak slowly or stop speaking altogether.

 

Facial expression, too, must be in harmony with your message, or it will work against it, just as your body language does.

 

Everything - body language, image and message must work together to create the impact you have chosen.

Click Here to find out more on body language

 

Power Question:

OK, I have gotten an equal amount of positive and negative feedback about ending with power questions, so my question to you now is, should I keep adding them in at the end of posts, or would you prefer a Power Quote? Or nothing at all? Let me know your feedback. 

Learn to Lean

 

As the phrase goes, “no man is an island.” There are times on this road to success that we have to lean on others for support.

 

Ask for assistance and let yourself be helped and contributed to. Get those around you involved in your journey of success--work together as a team. Recruit acquaintances, loved ones, neighbors, bosses, fellow employees, and so forth and invite their support.

 

There are few things as useful in life as a solid support network. In the great times you have someone there to share them and in the bad you have someone there to help you through it; a support network provides you a feeling of stability as well as a safety net. A support network, however, does call for time, lots of dedication and a right approach to correctly build and maintain. Follow these steps to establish and keep a solid support network around you.

 

Make the time. A support network takes time to build and develop in a stable, organic way. Likewise, allowing a support network to grow will give you a clue of whom you are able to trust, for what reason and to what degree. Trusting someone in one area doesn’t necessarily mean that you could or even should trust him or her in another; take the time to grow slow and know for sure who has your back. Deliberately build your network to be diverse. Diversity commonly promotes force in a system. Cultivate a lot of different meaningful relationships so that dissimilar parts of your emerging support network may help you deal with different sorts of issues.

 

Keep in touch. On a regular basis connect with the individuals in your support network. Making a fast phone call or writing an e-mail just to say "hello", or even a personal message on social media lets individuals in your support network know that you're there for them even as much as they are there for you.

 

Utilize the Golden Rule as your guide. You will get as much out of your support network as you place into it. Zig Ziglar always said, “you will get everything in life that you want, if you help enough people get what they want.” If you want a good friend, you must first be a good friend, this holds true in any type of support group whether it is professional or personal. A Component of constructing a support network is giving up your time and energy to assist other people, even if they claim not to need the help or if you are busy. To construct a really strong support network, offer other people as much as, or even more than, you expect in return.

 

Power Question:

What one change would help propel you forward?

Lean toward your success

7 Steps to Position Yourself for Success

Here are 7 steps to position yourself for your success...

Step 1: Commit to the Journey

Successful people are different from most people in that they are very committed and have higher determination in everything they do. The more committed that you are to your success, the more successful that you will be. You need to be committed, and be willing to take persistent, directed and massive actions that will take you to your success.

Step 2: Save to Grow

Develop the habit of saving; not just money, but information. When it comes to money, it doesn’t matter how much right now as long as you make it a habit to save a portion of your income every month and you will see the power of compounding interest. Without saving money, you will never have money for any form of investment and it is the investments that lead to real successful growth. When it comes to information, Jim Rohn says that we need to have a library. This library will consist of books and authors that you find informative, inspiring and educational. It will also house the journals that you will be keeping so that you can randomly go back and see how much you have grown in this journey to success.

Step 3: Adopt the Million-Dollar Mindset

If you missed the blog on the million-dollar mindset, I suggest going back and reading it. Basically, in order to be successful, you need to think like a millionaire, as Jim Rohn says, “not for the sake of becoming a millionaire, but for what you have to become to be a millionaire. For example, a millionaire never blames other people or the environment for what happens to them, even when they suffer losses. Instead they work to improve themselves and learn from losses.  In their failures, they see opportunities and hope while others will only see the failures and wallow in them.

Step 4: Chase Your Passion

As the old adage goes, “do what you love and you will never work a day in your life.” This will keep you motivated even during difficult times. Keep striving and focus your goals around your passion, constantly asking yourself, “What do I need to do or become to make this dream come true?” and you will be on the path to true success.

Step 5: Have a Clear Financial Plan

This one plays into steps 3 and 4. How much exactly do you need to earn in order to have the lifestyle of success that you are looking for? Figuring this out and adding a specific dollar amount to your goal is imperative because this will start the ball rolling when it comes to setting benchmarks to achieve your goals. The phrase “Money Makes the World Go ‘Round” actually has a nugget of truth to it; everything about success requires investment or money, time and effort. It isn’t sufficient enough to just say “I want to be a Millionaire” because it does not give you a clear picture of your end point or how to get there which means that you will not be able to plan for it very easily.

I will take this time to put in here that this plan needs to be on paper. Don’t just try to commit it to memory because that never works. Being creatures of habit, we will find ourselves taking the easy paths and not sticking to our goals.

Step 6: Become a Manager

It is imperative that you become a manager; a manager of every aspect of your environment.

To be wealthy, you need to balance your income and expenses, your time, your associations, your life.

An example to this would be to track your income to make sure they are spent on the right and necessary things. You cannot afford to have your expenditure rising beyond your income.

 

Finally, Step 7: Take MASSIVE Action!

Take massive actions to supercharge your plan for success and start making it a reality today. You should not just let your plans look good on paper. Start with small baby steps, and aim higher after each successive step. Envision your journey of success, not as a road, but a rising staircase that takes you one level higher with each step that you take. Success is yours to take, start now.

Power Question:

Jim Rohn says that we are the sum total of the top 5 people whom we most associate with, who are the top five people who have the biggest influence on your life and why?

 

Here's to your success!

Keep a record of all your past successes

Confidence Building for Gaining a Million dollar mindset.

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.”
― Bernard M. Baruch

Being confident in one’s self is one of the keys to becoming a successful. Reread the quote above and see the confidence exuded by Baruch when he expresses this quote. Today’s question is, how do we build up our confidence level to propel us to our goals of success?

Start at the beginning

Start by setting smaller, more achievable goals for yourself at the beginning of your path to sucess. No, I am not saying to thing small, but rather start small, learn to walk before you run. The point of doing this is so that you can achieve all your initial goals. Imagine deciding that you want to me a millionaire and you are going to do it in six months. What happens if you profit ends up lower than that? 

Your confidence would probably tank and you would hit rock bottom. It would take you some time to recover your confidence. It would be more practical to set your target profit at say 5,000 within the first few months and add to that once that smaller goal is met, a goal that you are more likely to hit. After all it could be your first venture and you might have no prior experience running such numbers in your business. Your confidence grows as your hit progressively growing targets. As your continuously hit higher and higher goals, your confidence will skyrocket.

Side note: No matter how old you are now. You are never too young or too old for success.

Here’s a short list of people who accomplished great things at different ages…
 
Mozart was already competent on keyboard & violin, he composed from the age of 5

Magnus Carlsen became a chess Grandmaster at the age of 13 years

Nadia Comăneci At age 14, gymnast of Romania scored seven perfect 10.0 and won three gold medals at the Olympics

Pele soccer superstar was 17 years old when he won the world cup in 1958 with Brazil

Elvis was a Superstar by age 19

Jesse Owens was 22 when he won 4 gold medals in Berlin 1936

Beethoven was a Piano virtuoso by age 23

Roger Bannister was 25 When he broke the 4 minute mile record

Albert Einstein was 26 when he wrote the theory of relativity

Michelangelo created the two of the greatest sculptures “David” and “Pieta” by age 28

Alexander the Great by age 29, had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world

Amelia Earhart was 31 years old when she became the first woman 2 fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean 

 
Martin Luther King jr was 34 When he did the speech “I have a dream”

The Wright brothers, Orville (was 32 ) & Wilbur (was 36) when they invented & built the world's first successful airplane & making the first controlled, powered & sustained heavier-than-air human flight

Vincent Van Gogh was 37 when he died & virtually unknown yet his paintings today are worth millions

Neil Armstrong was 38 when he became the first man to set foot on the moon

Mark Twain was 40 when he wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and 49 years old for Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Christopher Columbus was 41 when he discovered the Americas

Henry Ford Was 45 when the Ford T came out

Leonardo Da Vinci was 51 years old when he painted the Mona Lisa

Abraham Lincoln was 52 when he became president

Ray Kroc Was 53 when he bought the McDonalds Franchise and took it to unprecedented levels

Dr. Seuss was 54 when he wrote “the cat in the hat”

Colonel Harland Sanders was 61 when he started the KFC Franchise

J R R Tolkien was 62 when the lord of the ring books came out

Ronald Reagan was 69 when he became President of the United States

Jack Lalane at age 70 handcuffed, shackled, towed 70 rowboats

Nelson Mandela was 76 When he Became President
 

One way you can do this is by keeping a journal. Put all the inspiring stories, any accomplishments, testimonials, etc. Record all of your successes daily, regardless of how big or small they may be. Go through your journal when you need motivation because we all have a tendency in times of stress and distress to forget how far we have come. The journal becomes proof.
 

 “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
― Eleanor Roosevelt

Hang with the right crowd

Associate with like-minded people who are also working to achieve their success goals. It is essential to put ourselves in an environment conducive to grow our confidence levels and to keep us motivated. There is no better place to achieve this than by deliberately placing ourselves among those who are also trying to achieve the same things that we are– to become successful and build a legacy. Join social and networking events to meet more people like you. Not only will you be able to exchange ideas, you will also be able to motivate each other and keep each other accountable.

On the adverse, we need to limit our associations with those who are counterintuitive to our goals. Those who will hold us down and keep us from success are the ones we need to avoid as much as possible.

Confidence comes with growth and success growth doesn’t just happen, it is deliberate.

Power Question:

 Who is your mentor when it comes to accomplishing your goal(s)? Seeking out those who have already accomplished that which you are aiming to accomplish will help you learn from their mistakes instead of making your own.

If you are like me, you don't really have time to read. I found that the best way for me to digest a book is by, what Zig Ziglar referred to as, automobile university.

This book tells a story. It is short, but contains so much information on mindset. One of the pillars of success is the topic of today's post. Here is a link to an audio version that you can listen to while driving.

Time is a Unique Resource

 

Time management is not about squeezing more into a day or eliminating distractions.  It’s about managing activities to achieve goals.  This article shows you how.

How many times have you thought or said, “There just isn’t enough time in the day.”  Reality is that when we say this, we are actually saying, “I just don’t have the ability to organize my time wisely enough to account for all I need to do.” 

 

By taking a brief look at time, you will see that I am correct in what I am saying.

 

Time is a unique resource.  It cannot be saved, stopped, or replaced.  In fact, it is the only resource that can never be regained once it is spent.  This then makes it interesting to see that not very many people actually organize their day out better..  Some people seem to be able to manage the time they are given better than others and are subsequently able to make better use time.

 

The real fact of the matter is, these people cannot ‘find time’ or even manage time any more than the rest of us.  Time cannot be “managed” or “found”.  We all have the same amount of time in a day, a week, a month, and a year.

 

24 hours in a day

168 hours in a week

8,736 hours in a year

 

With the current average life expectancy for a man being 76 and women being around 81, figure out how many hours you approximately have left in your life?  Take a minute to calculate the time.  Now look back at your life spent so far and compare the amount of accomplishments you have achieved in the time you’ve already lived with the goals you want to achieve in the time you have left.  Are you pleased with where you are? What about the time you have left, are you focused on how you will spend your remaining years? What are your goals and how have you planned the achievement of those goals?

 

Ask yourself how you can use the remaining time to accomplish job, career, and personal goals that are meaningful for you.  Ask yourself, “What is the one thing I can do TODAY that would have significant and positive results in my department, career, or personal life?”

 

Truth… managing time isn’t about time at all; it’s about managing priorities.  It’s about those achievements that are most important to you when all is said and done.  It’s about setting achievable goals and using a set and proven methodology for achieving those goals amidst the many forces out there vying for your time each and every hour of each and every day.

 

Align Your Goals With Outside Forces

 

Have you ever started a diet around the holidays?  Unless you opted to go to a health camp for the holidays, you probably succumbed to the many temptations of holiday treats and foods that seem to show up and stick around during these times.  The fact that no one else around you seemed to be on a diet didn’t help matters much either!  In short, your goal of losing weight wasn’t aligned with the realities of the time frame in which you started.

 

The same is true of any goals or objectives.  Goals are easier to achieve if they are aligned with ‘outside forces’ or what’s going on around you.  As an example, if your professional goal is to organize a missions trip to another country but that particular country is looking at reducing or halting the amount of missions-based groups it is giving visas to, your goal is not aligned with the outside forces of the country and you will have a challenge meeting your goal.

 

Furthermore, if your goals ARE NOT aligned with that country’s goal and you try to force the issue, you may be seen as a malcontent or a troublemaker and not only guarantee your visa application revoked, but others as well.  If your goals ARE aligned with country’s goals, you are seen as being in support of their decision and your team is seen as a contributing force willing to work within their guidelines and you are more likely to have your visa go through at a later date.

 

Ask yourself, “Will the achievement of my goals help others achieve their goals?”  If your goals MIGHT NOT align with the goals of those around you, you may wish to revisit your goal.

 

Anchor Your Goals to Inside Forces

 

It’s also important that you have your goals anchored to your inner forces or values.  If you don’t value the achievement of your goal, or the achievement of your goal goes against your core values and principles, your goal will be difficult to achieve because self-sabotage will kick in.

Ask yourself, “Will the achievement of this goal reinforce who I am as a person, leader, minister, or person?”  If your goal does not reinforce who you are, you may need to revise your goal or change it all together.

 

Link Your Goals With Other(s’) Goals

 

As alluded to earlier, achieving a goal is easier if it is linked to another goal that you have or to another person’s goal. You may find that several of your goals may link together nicely; by working on one, you can easily work on several.  Even more powerful is linking your goal to another person’s goal.

 

Ask yourself, “Who else might benefit from the achievement of this goal?”  Discuss your goal with this person to see if there’s a possibility of working on mutually beneficial goals (win/win situations).

 

By aligning, anchoring, and linking our goals, they become easier to achieve.

To quote Zig Ziglar, “You can get everything out of life you want, if you help enough people get what they want.

 

Next time I will discuss in more detail, ways to better organize your day to help eliminate wasted minutes, which add up to, wasted hours. Join me.

 

The purpose of these blog posts is to help you strive to be more successful and to create a life worth living, so I never want to end a post without giving your some sort of “power question” to ponder over. Answering these questions will help you to take action.

 

Power Question for the day:

In a previous post I asked about what you wanted more of in life, so now I am asking, What do you want less of in life?