Search Results for "RESPECT"

Aug 20 2019

DOES YOUR BUSINESS GO BEYOND “BUSINESS”?

DOES YOUR BUSINESS

 

  GO BEYOND “BUSINESS”?

 

Is it time to take a breather in your creative business quest? “NEVER!” is what most entrepreneurs would respond. 

In fact, I would go so far as to say that

MANY TIMES NEVER” is what those who are truly creative entrepreneurs would actually think!

 

 

This week brings one of those rare-breed individuals I’m describing: Valerie Connelly. She has come to the point of taking a breather long enough to present 35 years worth of dedicated creative focus on refining and building one single product to the point of readiness — delivering genuine women’s empowerment!

This experience includes: writing/producing/acting in three original stage musicals, creating CD albums and hundreds of original songs, backed by 16 years of publishing/editing/ designing 225 books of every genre for both US and foreign authors (plus six of her own!). . . add 17 years of classical piano training, 2 years in the Peace Corps in West Africa, 25 years of teaching high school French and (often on the same days) entertaining in Chicago nightclubs, being an award-winning painter, acclaimed block-art artist, patented inventor, and a “dog whisperer” . . . all while raising two life-success daughters and inspiring her two grandchildren.

Thursday night, the Watkins Theater at the Watkins College of Art in Nashville, Tennessee, is hosting Valerie and many of her supporters to a long-awaited professional actors’ “Live Readers Theater Performance” of her totally-original, full-length, pre-production musical film: LOVE IS…” 

Click HERE to see the sizzle reel!

The live narrated script-reading presentation includes big-screen video representations that accompany each of the film’s 16 original songs

The planned movie, with a view toward 2020 production, has been endorsed by world-famous-and-respected  performer, Kelsey Grammer through his production company (Grammnet Productions) crediting LOVE IS… script, music, story, and plans as follows:

“A truly inspirational

 

and touching journey

 

of life, love and laughter,

 

with a timeless message.

 

Delightful!”

 

NEWLY “ATTACHED” TO LOVE IS…

 

— As Film Music Composer and Selective Music Arranger, GEOFF KOCH brings 22 years of high profile music composing expertise to LOVE IS… He is President, Nashville Composers Association, and President of SCORE-COM, working in tandem with FILM-COM. Geoff is at the forefront of composing for productions in all genres that take place in planetarium domes worldwide . . .

 

— As Music Supervisor, ANDY HILL is a 9-time Academy Award-winner in film music. He led the “Disney Renaissance Decade” as VP of Music Production for Walt Disney Studios, including direct music supervision of The Lion King, Beauty and The Beast, and Sister Act, and subsequently for his own firm: Message In A Bottle, Ed Wood, James and the Giant Peach, and Happy Feet… before winning a Grammy Award for Best Musical Album for Children for Elmo in Grouchland.

We wish Valerie and her team

great success in their pursuit

to “go beyond” and “rise above”

in their quest to prove that

BUSINESS WORKS.

 

No responses yet

Jun 14 2017

Everybody Can Write . . . Right?

Books, billboards, news

 

releases, website content,

 

 

 

magazines and magazine

  

articles, posters and

 

displays, newspaper

 

 

columns, surveys, signs,

 

 postcards, brochures, 

 

commercials, promotional

 emails, direct mail, photo

 

captions, jingles, branding

 

themelines, package labels,

  

training curricula, promo

 

literature and exhibit

 materials, webinars, sales

 

presentations, seminars 

  

lyrics, booklets, speeches,

 

 ebooks, blog posts, scripts

 

  business plans, marketing 

 

 strategies, love letters,  

 

manuals, greeting cards,

 

and matchbook covers

  

Ever write any of these yourself? How’d it come out? Did you get the results you wanted? What happened? Are you a skilled writer? An experienced wordsmith? Probably not. If you’re reading posts on this blog site, it’s because you’re an entrepreneur, a small business or professional practice owner, manager, or principal, a student, or a leader.

If you fit any of those kinds of career descriptions, odds are that you are marketing a product, service, or idea (or some combination) and the daily challenges of keeping your business or organization moving forward leaves little room for you to indulge in fantasy of seeing yourself as a talented writer. And you’re smart enough to know when to get help.

One telling characteristic of successful entrepreneurs, in fact, is that they know how to pull their ideas forward while leaving necessary professional services up to professionals they engage — CPA, attorney, management consultant, and more often than not: creative services, especially writers and designers.

Entrepreneurs, after all, are the catalysts of business and the economy. They are agents of change. They serve as mirrors of society wants and needs. They alone are responsible for new job growth (not corporations, and certainly not government). As a result, entrepreneurs are also the most sensitive of business people, and the quickest to recruit outside expertise when they see the need.

Small business owners are far more in touch with reality than their big business counterparts who are obsessed with analyzing what message content and structure communicates best, and sells.

They recognize that one dot or small sweep of a design line, or one word can make the difference between sale and no sale. (And remember, with online content: WORDS are still King!)

Entrepreneurs respect and appreciate the value of expertise.

 

So the list above is not just a teaser or composite of writing applications. It is a list of real business-related (yes, even love letters!) writing needs that most entrepreneurs are confronted with at one time or another. It is also a list of writing applications that anyone you hire to write for you should have experience with, at least most of them.

I know. I’ve written all of the above many times over. And I can tell you that a marketing writer who hasn’t written a book doesn’t know how to tell a story, and stories sell. A website content writer who hasn’t written radio and TV commercials has no sense of writing concise, punchy stuff that’s short, sweet, and memorable . . . and “short, sweet, and memorable” sells!

Someone who’s never written a billboard hasn’t even a clue about how to write branding lines because the discipline is the same:  Aim for 7 words or less and tell a story in those 7 words or less that has a beginning, middle, and ending . . . and is persuasive. Ah, then comes the opposite: Direct mail. In direct mail, the more you tell, the more you sell — that means, literally, a blanket of billboards.

Writing emphasis must always be “you” focused (not “we”). It must attract attention, create interest, stimulate desire, bring about action, and deliver satisfaction. It MUST ALWAYS answer the question: “What’s in it for ME?” All writing –even an instruction manual– represents an opportunity to make a sale and/or create a favorable impression.

The writing you have now?

Does it work as hard as you do?

 

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Hal@Businessworks.US  931.854.0474

Open Minds Open Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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Apr 22 2017

IS PUSHING TOO HARD COSTING YOU EMPLOYEE/INVESTOR/FAMILY SUPPORT ?

 Standing On Someone Else’s Head?

 

It’s a thin line. Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial thinkers often become delusional in their oblivious-to-others, all-or-nothing charge to make their ideas work yesterday.

The fuel? It can be good or bad news . . . a sudden brainstorm, making a major contact or receiving an unexpected investment (or bill), the surfacing of a sticky legal problem, a major family uproar or health issue. Or even NO news!

These are just a few examples of the kinds of events that trigger the reactive need for an immediate “stampede of one.” Most everyone has been on the receiving end of stampede clouds of dust and dirt.

 

When it’s “the Boss” who runs over, under and around support personnel, the result is inevitably negative and often irreparable.  Business prospects as well as personal and family connections are often short-circuited.

And those whose heads have been stepped on are usually prompt to update resumes, and rarely stay around.

Ah, but there is help for impetuous, oblivious and reactive behaviors (vs. tuned-in, team leader-style responses). And the difference between cultivating reactive and responsive –though great– is not the only answer.

We have all heard along life’s path that “Patience is a Virtue.” Great, we say, but how do we gain patience? How do we know when and where to STOP?

It’s called: Get to work learning all we can about how to focus our brains and lifestyles on fostering moment-by-moment, here and now awareness levels as much as possible.

WHY? Because upset feelings ONLY take place in the past (anything longer ago than one second) or the future (anything more than one second away). The more we can train our minds to stay in the present moment as much as possible, the more control we have over our behaviors, our productivity, and our health.

This is not to suggest we try to abandon all past and future in our lives. We need the past to learn from, and often as a relaxing avenue for pleasant memories . . . and of course we have to plan things in the future, The point is to use more present awareness to prevent dwelling on the past and worrying about the future.

There is nothing more immediate in your life than your pulse, your heartbeat, and your breathing. And your breathing is the only one of the three that can control the other two. Click on this ARE YOU BREATHING? link or the tab at the top of this homepage for step-by-step guidance.

And have a great day sharing and showing respect instead of the bottoms of your shoes!

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Make today a GREAT day for someone!

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!”    [Thomas Jefferson]

Hal@Businessworks.US         931.854.0474

Guidance to 500+ Successful Business Startups

Creating Record-Sales for Clients Since 1981!

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals and God bless you!

# # #

Make A Grandparent Happy Today!

GET Hal Alpiar’s short story, “DIRT FLOOR VISIT” in the great book from Nightengale Press: THE ART OF GRANDPARENTING Amazon ($19.95–with a few for under $9– or $9.99 Kindle OR order special (signed by Hal)  $22.45 total check only (includes s&h), payable & mail to: TheWriterWorks.com, LLC, 370 South Lowe Avenue, Suite A-148, Cookeville, TN 38501. Include continental US ship-to address.

 

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Sep 29 2015

DAY 16 – 30 Days To The New Economy

Your Role In History As An Entrepreneur

 Imagine Leadership

leadership

and Management

 

The traditional organizational chart is a construct left over from Alfred Sloan’s leadership at General Motors in the early 20th Century. That, my friends, is 100 years ago.

Adapted from the book 30 DAYS TO THE NEW ECONOMY written and published by Peggy Salvatore

 

In the 1980s, the hierarchical organizational chart was challenged by enterprises that found products were better built when workers had ownership of their production. The philosophy of pushing decision making down to the employee flattened the organizational chart somewhat and relationships became “matrixed.” In other words, people sometimes had multiple layers of reporting and responsibility as well as accountability and all those layers were spread throughout the organization.

The shift away from top-down thinking has been gradual. It paved the way for entrepreneurs in the New Economy to be comfortable spreading responsibility, accountability and rewards across the organization — based on performance, not role.

Leadership and management in the New Economy is about vision— and goal-setting.

 

It’s about being able to get out in front of the parade with a baton while respecting the fact that without a parade, Internet Joe is leading no one.

orchestra leader

And here is where the distinction between leadership and management takes a leap.

True leadership isn’t conferred as much as it is earned.

True leaders are people who others follow, in fact emulate, for their innate qualities. This harkens back to our first and most important quality of leadership, and that is integrity. People naturally follow someone they trust; they know they will wind up somewhere worth going. That requires a bit of a track record.

Management skills can be learned. Management is about the ability to align and assign resources to achieve goals. Managers don’t require the kinds of rigorous traits of a true leader but they do require consistency, persistence and organization.

Managers don’t need to be leaders.

But great leaders get nowhere without great management of resources. If an entrepreneur is not a great organizer, it is critical she or he hires one.

A great idea, even with enthusiastic followers, goes nowhere without someone to arrange the resources in straight lines, all headed in the same direction.

Leadership and management don’t have to be embodied in the same individual. They do, however, need to be together at all times for efficient allocation of resources. An entrepreneur in the New Economy needs efficient organizational alignment with wise distribution of responsibility and accountability — even though your business map will not resemble, even remotely, Alfred Sloan’s hierarchical organizational chart at GM.

A successful Entrepreneurial Leader today

is not at the top of her or his organization.

He or she is in the lead, and that is a very different position.

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For more information on Peggy Salvatore’s book: 30 Days to the New Economy [© Peggy Salvatore 2015. All Rights Reserved.] click on ENTREPRENEUR NEWS or visit ow.ly/RysnP for the E-book

 # # #

Hal@Businessworks.US     

Open Minds Open Doors

Thanks for your visit and make today a GREAT day for someone!

 

No responses yet

Sep 27 2015

DAY 15 – 30 Days To The New Economy

Your Role In History As An Entrepreneur

K N O W L E D G E

 

Adapted from the book 30 DAYS TO THE NEW ECONOMY written and published by Peggy Salvatore

Always Seek Knowledge Acronym

Knowledge, confidence and a sense of adventure are the entrepreneurial trifecta. One or two makes someone a great employee but a successful entrepreneur needs all three.

 

 

Imagine confidence and a sense of adventure without knowledge – you have a risk taker who has no context and who won’t win the respect of employees and customers. There is a place in your startup for this person – perhaps cleaning windows on the 100th floor – but not at the helm.

What about knowledge and confidence without a sense of adventure – you have a good researcher and expert who won’t step out of her or his comfort zone. There is a place in your organization for this person in the lab, but not at the helm.

Imagine knowledge and a sense of adventure without confidence – you have a risk taker who will step out but is unable to follow through. There is a place for this person in your startup, perhaps as the pitch person, but not at the helm.

IMAGINE possibilities

An entrepreneur in the New Economy enters the global marketplace with a certain set of knowledge and skills to support his or her confidence and sense of adventure. That knowledge is the ticket to entry in the global entrepreneurial sweepstakes.

A successful entrepreneur in the New Economy has a learning mindset because the environment is always in motion. Remember our discussion earlier about the pace of knowledge and the rapid acquisition of data: 90% of what we know we have learned in the last two years.

What Internet Joe knows may have been true yesterday. However, with the rapid expanse of knowledge and data collection, that truth may be different today. In fact, if you are starting a new business, there is a pretty good chance you can assume you are operating with outdated information even as you develop your products and services.

In a fully interconnected, 24/7 marketplace,

knowledge isn’t static. It’s fluid.

And it includes knowing your SELF.

wise old owl

A business in the New Economy is a learning organization and that requires a learning CEO. The leader sets the example. There is an old saying that “leaders are readers.” More accurately, leaders are learners. As situations materialize and unfold, leaders can process what is happening and adjust their product, service or approach based on constantly changing data.

The world is always in beta and successful entrepreneurs practice agility. Think permanent beta and constant learning, and you have the essence of knowledge in the New Economy.

 

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C’mon back TOMORROW 9/29 for Day 16.
ARE  YOU cut out to be a leader or a manager?

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S P E C I A L    A N N O U N C E M E N T

Sign up NOW for NOVEMBER 29th (Sunday Night after Thanksgiving)

LIMITED SEATING COACHING WEBINAR:

“ENTREPRENEURS ARE AGENTS OF CHANGE . . . Accelerating Your Business”

Get fresh, informed, proven insights geared specifically to your business market, your biggest problems, your biggest opportunities.

With Hal and Peggy’s wealth of business coaching experience, you’ll learn how YOU match up with what successful entrepreneurs are thinking and doing RIGHT NOW. Get ideas you never imagined. Gain the traction you need within 2 hours — not days or weeks or months. Simply call 931.854.0474 Central Time: 11AM to 4PM Monday-Friday for details, to explain your business pursuit focus and to reserve your seat! $99 total for 2 hours. Satisfaction Guaranteed.

———-

 

For more information on Peggy Salvatore’s book: 30 Days to the New Economy [© Peggy Salvatore 2015. All Rights Reserved.] click on ENTREPRENEUR NEWS or visit ow.ly/RysnP for the E-book

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Hal@Businessworks.US      Peggy@Businessworks.US

Open Minds Open Doors

Thanks for your visit and make today a GREAT day for someone!

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Sep 21 2015

DAY 11 – 30 Days To The New Economy

Your Role In History As An Entrepreneur

I  N  T  E  G  R  I  T  Y

Adapted from the book 30 DAYS TO THE NEW ECONOMY written and published by Peggy Salvatore

Boy Scout

First of all, without integrity, you can stop reading right now. Don’t waste your time trying to lead an organization—or even yourself—because if you do not have integrity in all you do, you cannot perform any of the necessary actions required to grow and lead a successful organization.

 

 

INTEGRITY. Is it more than not cheating on your expense account? More than not pocketing stuff in a retail store? More than lying on your taxes or to your partner or associates? Your landlord? Your family?

Integrity is all-inclusive. Maintaining integrity half the time is like being half-pregnant. Integrity has to do with your treatment of all people all of the time.

It includes all of your communications and the commitments you make – written (including texts, emails, blogs, and site content) and oral (including personal meetings, telephone calls, and electronic transmissions).

If you say one thing to one person and another thing to someone else, don’t expect anyone to listen to you or follow you. They cannot follow you because you have proven that you cannot be trusted; if they follow you, they don’t know where they’ll end up.

If there is any incongruity in your actions or words, you will lose the respect and trust of your employees and everyone else who knows you, including importantly (especially if it’s your own business) your customers.

The reality of  this thinking applies not only to all your business dealings, but all your dealings in life.

 You cannot effectively be one person in your public life and another person in your private life.

mixed signals street signs

Without integrity, you have (or will likely end up having) nothing.

An individual with Integrity is one who is wholly integrated. All pieces of that person’s life line up and make sense. A fully integrated person acts from the same core of values in her or his actions, at work with employees, at home with family and friends, at the gym, in the restaurant, on the phone . . . standing in line.

Integrity is about trust and consistency.

When others let you into their world, whether on a screen, or through a product or service, deserve a certain basic level of trust. And people with Integrity are honest in all cases, which is a demonstration of respect for others.

People who are used to treating others with respect can be expected to treat customers with respect, too. It’s a behavior that comes naturally.

People with Integrity have nothing to hide.

What you see is the actual sum of the man or woman. This is important for several reasons. Generosity tends to accompany Integrity. People who are fully integrated are free to be open and that means they are free to share their ideas, their friends, their lives and their resources.

As a corollary to generosity, people with Integrity usually have an abundance mentality. They aren’t hoarders. This openness is a prerequisite to have a giving personality, one that believes there is enough to go around. An open hand gives and receives in a virtuous cycle.

Another quality of people of Integrity is their outward focus. The natural integration of their lives means that their business is a member of the community it serves. In the Internet world, some entrepreneurs have a global focus, so that community can be near or far.

An Internet entrepreneur may be the leader of a company of one as a solopreneur, or may lead a company of hundreds. But the same rules apply. As the leader of your organization, Integrity is the make-or-break personal quality.

Integrity is the foundation of success in any
venture and is particularly critical to
long-term successful leadership
at any level. Entrepreneurship is no exception.

 

Let’s close this discussion by pointing out that this is not a sermon. None of us is perfect. We are, after all is said and done, humans. That requires us to each have faults. The intent of this post is to serve as a reminder that—as motivational guru Brian Tracy so aptly paraphrases: “We become what we think about most of the time.” Thinking more about integrity helps us to gain more of it. And that’s as good for our businesses as it is for ourselves and for those around us every day.

 

For more information on Peggy Salvatore’s book: 30 Days to the New Economy [© Peggy Salvatore 2015. All Rights Reserved.] click on ENTREPRENEUR NEWS or visit ow.ly/RysnP for the E-book

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Hal@Businessworks.US     

Open Minds Open Doors

Thanks for your visit and make today a GREAT day for someone!

No responses yet

Sep 14 2015

DAY 6 – 30 Days To The New Economy

Your Role in History as an Entrepreneur

The Virtues of Internet Joe

Adapted from the book 30 DAYS TO THE NEW ECONOMY
written and published by Peggy Salvatore

It takes a lot of hustle to open your own business.
I recently met a young married couple starting a boutique brewery. Location. Licenses. Equipment. Employees. And some real hassles. A lot to consider. But it was worth it to them. They’ll end up making their own beer.BEER

Internet entrepreneurship requires the same kind of hustle. He might not be cleaning vats or hoisting foamy mugs, but Internet Joe does his own version of cleaning and heavy lifting. Think about it. He will integrate years of expertise (could be 2, could be 50) to come up with a product or service that will provide value to people somewhere, anywhere on this planet.

That’s a pretty wide swath to cut, so Internet Joe (and maybe you too?) needs to build his pursuits on the following ESSENTIAL 7 TRAITS:

1.  CONFIDENCE: Internet Joe has enough confidence to believe he has something to offer and is willing to put in the time, effort and money to offer it.

2.  KNOWLEDGE: He has a defined skill set that he may have used or is using at a corporate job, but he has acquired other skills and knowledge that he did not use in his tightly defined corporate role. He is anxious to use these skills and knowledge in his new Internet business.

3.  DEPENDABILITY: He opened the business for a few reasons, including but not limited to the need for an income. By taking the chance of investing both time and money in developing the Internet business, Joe has already proven that he is a go-getter and is responsible. Customers can depend on delivery from Internet Joe.

4. CREATIVITY: Internet Joe has the energy and creativity to build a business online from scratch. He also has the ability to put that kind of thinking to work for customers. And all those skills that weren’t used by the last employer? Now’s the time to figure out how to integrate his interest in fine art with his sales and marketing expertise.

5. REASONABLE RISK-TAKING: Joe took a risk by putting himself and his products, services and ideas out for sale to the public. That investment of time, money and creativity to build the business came at the risk of not doing something else with those resources. It also came at the risk that his endeavor could meet with crickets.

6. INTEGRITY: This is the core requirement for any business person online and offline. Your word is your bond. You can be trusted and you respect yourself as well as everyone you come in contact with. Without integrity, you have nothing in business. Internet Joe is putting himself in the public eye and subjecting himself to levels of scrutiny heretofore impossible without investing in private investigation services.

7. ADVENTURESOMENESS: The Internet is new. Even if you are following a proven model in your online business, you are bound to uncover some new ways of doing things and improving upon the existing system. Because Internet business is in its infancy, Internet Joe is learning along with everyone else. Internet entrepreneurs are learning together and there is a lot of room for innovation.

Certain personal qualities are essential for success in any business. With an industry that is new, people who succeed will be among the first to find effective ways of operating in this environment.

 

Businesses and products have a life cycle. The business cycle is traditionally divided into four segments:
• Early Adopters
• Pragmatists
• Conservatives
• Skeptics

 

“The Chasm” is the space between the innovative early adopters and the majority of early pragmatist entrants when a majority of people jump on to a new idea.

I reproduce this graph here to suggest that we have not crossed the chasm but we are rapidly approaching it.

The Early Adopter phase is the place where

history is made. It is where you are!

 

 

PEGGY'S GRAPH

The seven traits I list above are essential for success at the Early Adoption phase. I will dedicate the next seven weekdays talking about them . . . the Success Traits of Internet Joe.

 

There are lots of Internet Joe’s in the new economy. Are you one of

them? Are you one of the “Frontier Pioneers” staking your claim?

 

C’mon back TOMORROW 9/16 for Day 7
to find out how you and Joe compare.

When you need some personal, one-on-one coaching beyond the Internet offerings, give us a call. (Direct line numbers on masthead above.) In the meantime, follow us HERE for FREE for the next 24 weekdays to see what others think, and discover some of the surprise findings we have in store for you—new and proven “mental apps” to apply to your own entrepreneurial and business development!
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For more information on Peggy Salvatore’s book: 30 Days to the New Economy [© Peggy Salvatore 2015. All Rights Reserved.] click on ENTREPRENEUR NEWS or visit ow.ly/RysnP for the E-book

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Hal@Businessworks.US      Peggy@Businessworks.US

Open Minds Open Doors

Thanks for your visit and make today a GREAT day for someone!

No responses yet

Jul 16 2015

TRUMP OR NO TRUMP

America Needs

 

Entrepreneurial Leadership

 

It’s time for another Teddy Roosevelt/Harry Truman/Ronald Reagan to step up to America’s leadership challenge. History has shown us that “more of the same” leadership style following in the “too big for your boots” footprints left behind by prior leadership has produced either a false sense of progress and security, a lethargic aura, and/or a cavernous hole “too big for the planet’s britches.”

The days of corporate, governmental and politician “muckity-mucks” and their analysis paralysis approach to problem solving have long passed. This is 2015 and “We the people” can no longer endure those we elect to represent our interests wrongfully.

As a country and as American citizens, we simply cannot any longer tolerate elected representatives of the thinking that literally stomps on and casually pushes aside adhering to the very tenets of the Constitution that has made America great . . . the same feeble-minded political-payoff-and-payback representatives who then proceed to excuse their behaviors with shoulder shrugs and palms-raised declarations that “I tried! And, besides, it’s someone else’s fault!”

We are far beyond the point of receptivity we’ve naively granted to those who challenge and undermine our Constitution.

We are long past acceptance of those who see fit to substitute their own delusional self-indulgent needs in exchange for that which binds and ensures us of the rights to freedom of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We are weary of the lies, deceit, blame, second-guessing, unresponsiveness, societal repression, citizenship indignity, false-alarms, and global disrespect that now shrouds our nation.

So where can we turn for restoration, reconciliation, and re-kindling of spirit?

Let’s consider the perceptive, “say-it-like-it-is” and “Git R Done!” attitude of an entrepreneur. Let’s face it: we have no other worthwhile choice at this point in history — not if we are serious about the survival of our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

Small business owners and managers understand this need to untangle ourselves perhaps best of all. It’s called adaptability, tackling priorities, turning problems into opportunities, moving forward– entrepreneurial leadership! Business owners and operators who fail to do this, fail.

The truth behind the old expression: “Words do not cook rice” is something every entrepreneurial thinker/doer knows from experience. Certainly our Congress (and, in varying degrees, every government agency) fails to understand that revitalization time is here. Now. There can be no better nor more effective force to drive the realization of filling this need than a proven entrepreneur, one with the fortitude and courage to walk the talk.

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Hal@Businessworks.US    931.854.0474

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

God Bless You and Thank You for Your Visit!

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Feb 21 2015

Are You Sending Out Mixed Messages?

“Pretty good job… for a woman!

 

“Pretty good job… for a woman!“

“Thanks for nothing” types of “mixed” messages pervade today’s society– in meetings, phone calls, emails, texting, even music! “Don’t smoke, don’t drink, and don’t curse,” he warns his new employee. Then the boss frantically pats down his pockets and exclaims with frustration: “Sh*t! I must have left my pipe at the bar!”

“All the world’s a stage…” proclaimed Shakespeare. At one time or another, we all play roles and mask ourselves in some way. If we become aware of ourselves when we are putting on a performance, that awareness gives us the freedom to reject unproductive (unless you’re “on stage”) playacting in favor of authenticity.

A is for Apple.jpg

And (yes, apples are great, but) certainly, A is for AUTHENTICITY too! It is Authenticity, after all, that is the overriding human quality which serves us best in both life and work

. . . yet, short of hiring someone to monitor or videotape our daily words and actions, it can be difficult at best to be aware of when we are “putting on airs” or undermining someone else or sabotaging current circumstances. Why? Because playacting is often an unconscious knee- jerk reaction to another person or situation.

So what are we to do to begin eliminating or at least minimizing phoney images and communications?

Awareness of life/career damages from disingenuous behavior is the beginning. So, you’ve already started. Next comes making a conscious effort to strengthen your resistance to assume or take on these self-destruct roles. You need to “catch yourself” by keeping your mind and body in better balance with the real you:  the deep-inside you.

Accept from the outset that–unless you’re another Mother Theresa–you may be unlikely to ever achieve 100% authenticity. But know that even slight improvements will enhance your personal respectability and community standing, and will dramatically increase others’ acceptance of your ideas and trust.

Once you are aware of this thinking and accept that “being more genuine” will rocket-boost your life, work, and play pursuits, begin to take more deep breaths. That alone will help you ground yourself in times of trouble and, ultimately, clarify your here-and-now focus in ways that win you more intrinsic happiness and more extrinsic rewards.

Being more aware paves your path to greater control and spotlights that everything you say and do is a choice that you make or the result of some choice you have made at some point in life. Simply by being more “Choice-Conscious,” you will find yourself better able to illuminate your strengths and free up your uniqueness . . . bring your real self, your authenticity, to the surface in more of what you think and say and do.

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Hal@Businessworks.US          931.854.0474

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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Jan 28 2015

CREATIVITY WAKE-UP CALL!

Are you taking your music to the grave?!

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    STOP HIDING YOUR ACORNS!

 

You are not a squirrel. Stop saving up your best-effort production, creation, plan or idea for “the right moment!” With a deader-than-doornail economy that some ignorantly pretend is historically great because of low gas prices (which are only low because of record unemployment!) . . . but that’s politics we have to live with. We don’t need to live with missed opportunity, and there’s no time like the present to get that great creative genius product of yours out of the closet (or the back of a drawer), dust it off, and make it work!

Ahhh, but to make it work, first means freeing it from the imaginary chains you’ve wrapped around it, and the hiding place you’ve confined it to in your home, office, truck, notebook, recording, hard drive, smart phone, tablet . . . or your mind?

Your best will never achieve what you

hoped for it if it’s locked away.

 

Put it into your daily work schedule. Treat it as if it was a key client or customer project.

TRUST YOURSELF. Give yourself a chance. What’s the worst thing could happen? It gets rejected? You think maybe there’s only one person or audience for your special creation? The odds for fame and appreciation will be better after you’re dead? Regardless of your skills and calling, that’s not likely. And it’s a choice.

Try to look at it this way: Posthumous success is failure to achieve what’s been rightfully earned in life during that lifetime. Most of us agree that of course the dead are to be honored in some fashion. Military courage and sacrifice certainly count the most. I’m not attempting to strip that love, respect, gratitude and reverence away.

The point is that posthumous recognition doesn’t accomplish anything. It fails to provide you the incentive and opportunity to do even greater work because it affords you a springboard for awakening other talents of yours and for inspiring others who will enjoy and benefit by your creation, and emulate your efforts.

Oh, and perhaps it’s blatantly obvious, but I believe it’s still worth mentioning just to raise consciousness: we only go around once in this life. We get only one “here and now” every passing minuteDo you truly want to take your music to your grave?

It’s a choice to never make a choice.

An action step you take today can pay you back tomorrow. Action you never take hasn’t even a chance of being worthy of your talents and authenticity. And action you keep making excuses not to take is actually a step backwards. If you’re not a squirrel, stop hiding your treasures. If you have “yes, buts” — contact me. If you think you’re losing your mind, try this! And if you still have doubts, think on this — one of my favorite quotes to pin on your wall:

 

Remember time waits for no one.

Yesterday is history.

Tomorrow is mystery.

Today is a gift.

That’s why it’s called the present.”

– B. OLATUNJI  

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Hal@Businessworks.US   931.854.0474

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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