Mixed in with your Employees,

Customers, Vend0rs, SalesReps,

Investors: is a “Psycho” or two!

Channel-surfing the other night, a woman addicted for over twenty years to daily feasting on toilet paper! I was promptly reminded that there are weirdos everywhere, and the business world is no exception. Thankfully, I never had to work with the likes of a TP-eating sicko, but I have had to deal with some genuine head cases, and guess what?

The task is not as impossible as it may seem at first. The key is to separate yourself emotionally from the smoking volcano. Rise above it and give it as much space and patience as possible.

You don’t want to be a shrink?

Sometimes in life, when you’ve directly or indirectly chosen to box yourself into an undesirable situation, there’s no choice.

On those occasions (which hopefully are rare), turn on your alert system without setting off any alarms. Tune in to what’s in front of you. Take some deep breaths to help yourself get focused. Contact your inner “adult” — the part of you that’s calm and caring and empathetic but that’s –as Thoreau once urged us to be– forever on the alert.

Recognize that your self-identity (how you see yourself) needs to step back and your personality (how others see you) needs to step up. People who are in difficult emotional or mental states (or physically ill or injured) will rarely have any interest in what you think of yourself. It’s difficult for them to think much beyond their own skin.

If you’ve ever had any practice with a cranky baby or temper tantrum toddler, you’re way ahead of the game.

Instead of trying to override or overpower a troubled individual, try to “buy into” a compatible level of relating and then exercise a gently persistent adult-like tone. Without being bossy or pushy or demanding, simply be rational and understanding. Be persuasive by not allowing yourself to get drawn into the other person’s dilemma or issues.

Does all this take time and effort? Is it hard work?

Hey, do shrinks get burned out?

It’s definitely not a frame of mind you want to be in for any lengthy period of time, but it’s also one that –if you make up your mind to commit your energy to assisting someone else instead of thinking about yourself– gives you an opportunity to help an unbalanced someone to gain enough stability to function without the presence of threat.

If your own personality tends to be explosive, you may want to stay in your rubber room and not deal with others at all, but then, you wouldn’t be much of a leader, would you? Business success requires leadership at every level, not just sales or just innovative thinking or just financial management. People are your most important asset!

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Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

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

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

“So you work from home, huh?”

______________________

Hey, it’s not everyone who can flap around the house

–or up and down the stairs– in her or his bathrobe

all day, and call that work… and get paid for it!

______

First of all, congratulations for getting yourself out of mainstream corporate and incompetent government arenas, for putting yourself in a work environment that you control, and presumably enjoy more than some sterile cubicle or make-believe “dress up” conference room.

Yes, I know, I know, there are some great exceptions. I work with a few. (And they ARE exceptions!) The point is that you are clearly a cut above average intelligence (and hopefully below average stress) level to be functioning out of your basement, attic, bedroom, garage, kitchen, bathroom, porch, closet, pantry, workshop, shed, or tree house.

But now that you’ve made your bed, laying down there can be unnerving, right?

You keep getting up and walking around; you drive to the convenience store for social stimulation; you bring home stray dogs and cats for company.

You get bleary-eyed staring at the computer screen and keep taking munchie breaks.

Uh, oh. A new bathrobe belt?

Your family admires your independence. Your friends are jealous. Your in-laws think you’re a waste of a good loyal corporate sheep or lemming. But you like the freedom and you’re making a go of it. It’s just not quite working out the way you think it’s should. It’s the missing money in your pocket thing? Ah yes, sore spot! Pockets usually are.

So how do you get from where you are to where you want to be without having to give up your new-found entrepreneurial freedom? It’s called step back and revitalize your sense of self-discipline. Stepping back is easy. Seeing yourself in a revitalization mode is also fairly simple. Both of course are choices. Now comes the challenge.

Self-discipline. Maybe you have to trick yourself. Maybe you have to figure out some way to make it all a game. You know about the mice on the treadmill deal, and Pavlov’s dogs. And you’ve even watched the American Kennel Club finals on TV, so you know all about the perform/reward stuff. Well? Okay you’re not a mouse or a dog, but . . .

There’s something to be said for challenging and rewarding yourself.

Get this next task done and you can have a chocolate chip cookie.

When you’ve made the next three calls on your list, treat yourself to a fresh air walk around the block (uh, depending on where you live, you might want to change out of your bathrobe?) 

Try it! What’s to lose? It’s a little hard for most non-contortionists to pat themselves on the back, but surely you can figure out some reward system that will motivate you and not result in you no longer fitting your bathrobe. Instead of doing tasks of avoidance, try doing tasks of reward for NOT avoiding.

The whole thing, be reminded, is your choice. If you want to choose to over-stress yourself, be my guest. If you seek instead to choose success and make money, choose to keep trying every technique that comes along until you find one that works for you . . . one that makes your home-based business pay for itself, and give you cause to celebrate!

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Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

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

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Seek healthier

                        

relationships?

                                 

Want to lower

                              

your stress, BP,

                                         

chronic pain, risk

                            

of addiction? Wishing

                       

you could grow your

                           

business now to where

                            

you want it to be?

Yes, my friend,”

you are told as you stand glassy-eyed in the vegetable aisle of the supermarket, leaning dumbfounded over your wire shopping cart, “you can have all this and more!” the man shouts.

You expect a crack of lightning and rumble of thunder to follow as he reaches toward the heavens and then steps down toward you from his platform and proceeds to sell you a 27-piece set of stainless knives for just $9.95!

Well, who knows whether a set of knives can turn your life around. Nothing surprises me anymore. Oh, except for one thing: finding out that all the benefits above (and more!) really can be yours when you are able to bring yourself to forgive yourself.

In a whole series of studies conducted over the last 3-4 years at the Mayo Clinic, prayer is believed to facilitate forgiveness, and forgiveness (especially self-forgiveness) may hold the key to a healthier state of well-being, and longer, healthier, happier lives.

How come everyone doesn’t know this or do it? Ignorance may account for the majority of the world’s population not knowing or practicing this thinking. Of those who understand, not everyone accepts the values of prayer.

And even among those who do accept the ability of prayer to heal, not all of them believe that forgiving others –and especially themselves— could possibly enhance their own physical, spiritual and emotional well-being.

Don’t go getting

your entrepreneurship

in an uproar!

This is not a Bible study blog.

I am not an Evangelist.

It’s safe to keep reading.

The bottom line on credibility, by the way, is to simply Bing or Google Mayo Clinic studies on forgiveness, and check out what you find. Suffice it to say that the conclusions drawn certainly seem to make sense to a great many successful business owners I’ve known.

Every human being carries burdens of having done something wrong and/or harmful –in error or intentionally. Such burdensome experiences bury themselves deep within us as we move on with the clock and the calendar and the rush of Earthly existence.

We may keep these upsets tucked away forever until some event triggers us enough to bring them back to the surface, or to implode in, for example, the form of a heart attack, or explode from within as hostility or aggressive behavior, or lie dormant to rise one day as suicide.

The situations and events we choose not to forgive can paralyze and erode parts of our brains and inhibit some of the freedom of our movements.

Many of us torture ourselves over and over, day after day, year after year . . . for perhaps one instant of bad judgement.

To choose to take some action about forgiveness of others and forgiveness of ourselves moves us a giant step closer to productive leadership, and raises the prospects of growing our businesses to where we want them to be, to where we believe they are capable of being.

If prayer leads us to forgiveness, and forgiveness leads us to healthier relationships, lower stress and blood pressure, less chronic pain and less risk of addiction, then we become better stronger leaders. Happy, healthy, positive business leaders who have chosen forgiveness of themselves and others as a path are those who succeed.

If your business is not where you believe it could or should be right now, consider yourself the catalyst for change by taking action now to strengthen your self. Have you tried prayer? (Seriously, or token tinkering?) Have you prayed for forgiveness for yourself and for others?

What’s have you got to lose by not trying? Your business? Your life? Eternity in hell? 

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Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

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

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

Thanks, Angela Current www.ClassicResumes.com, for today’s topic

PUT AN “X” THROUGH IT!

It’s never easy to balance two large critical chunks of your daily existence –like your work and your exercise– without experiencing some feelings of inadequacy, and wondering if you’re cheating yourself.

Why can’t I make both of these things work? What do I have to do to make both pieces fit my daily timeline? Life is no longer feeling like a series of opportunity windows . . . it’s more like locking and unlocking prison gates. HELP!

There are no magic-trick answers. What there is, is discipline. And self-imposed discipline is the hardest to follow. Grumble though we may, it’s almost always easier to follow someone else’s schedule of discipline.

“Your report is needed for a 3pm meeting,” says the boss. “Two more laps around the track!” yells the coach. “Parade Rest!” orders the CO. 

Ah, but all of those external discipline situations include real or imagined consequences for failure.

So?

You’re saying you can only perform when there’s a perceived threat involved?

Maybe you need a shrink?

You use self-discipline to get through every hour of every day. It’s called living a mature and responsible life. What you make of your self-imposed discipline is what draws the line in the sand between your existence and productivity and achievements, and the existence, productivity, and achievements of others

If you’re an extremist, you might be choosing three hours a day, seven days a week, of pumping iron. This can of course severely cut into any kind of reasonable work schedule, and this is not even to mention the time that must be used to be selecting, preparing, and eating the specialized diet that needs to accompany such a commitment.

But hopefully you’ve figured out how to harness your compulsiveness by combining interests — by running or managing a gym, or functioning as a personal trainer or exercise physiologist or physical therapist, or perhaps by being a professional or Olympic athlete.

Now this may be an even bigger stretch, but let’s assume instead that you are fairly “normal” (HA! and you’re reading this?)

Okay, you’re a typical entrepreneur who’s preoccupied with making your business idea work; you put in longer business hours than most of your friends and family.

And you’re trying to maintain a reasonable exercise schedule, right?

As with anything in life, success doesn’t drop from the sky. You must apply yourself. In this case, you must set up your own disciplined approach to doing the kinds and amounts of exercise that you believe you need (or that a healthcare professional has prescribed), and commit your mind and attitude to working around that!

Put exercise times down on your calendar for every day you decide you need to exercise.

Pick times (usually best kept consistent from day to day) that do not interfere with essential work hours. For most, early mornings fit best; some prefer early evenings (late evenings are not generally recommended by professionals); others use their lunchtimes to exercise, and nibble healthy snacks throughout the day rather than sit-down lunches.

Some set flex schedules.

The point is that once you choose the times, record them on your daily calendar — put an X through the time slots involved.

Then work everything else in your life around those X’s.

Unless it’s an emergency situation, simply elect to not schedule any meetings or conference calls in those X-boxed times.

Make excuses if need be, but protect those Xs because they are indicators of investment you are smartly choosing to make in your SELF. No one but you can do this. And no one but you can make it work. Reinforce your X hours by watching and/or listening to motivational programs. And keep marking your calendar, always  a month in advance.

Oh, by the way, when you’re occasionally forced to miss an Xd-out time block, don’t torture yourself. Make it up as best you can, when you can. It’s not the end of the world. It’s an opportunity to make adjustments.

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www.TheWriterWorks.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

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

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

If you’re not selling

your creations,

stop whining

about being hungry! 

You got music, art, writing, design, sculpting, dance, painting, acting, photography, and/or craft skills and you’re broke?

How is that? Because the world you’re trying to make money in is not a music, art, writing, design, sculpting, dance, painting, acting, photography, craft skills world, that’s why.

It’s a business world. Period.

If all you seek is to win posthumous awards and recognition, good luck and God speed (and I hope –in addition to your talents– that your billionaire grandmother left you a great deal of money). But, if you’re looking to make your creative talents make money, you’re going to have to step it up (or maybe take yourself down a notch!).

It’s a business world. Period. 

Will you have to prostitute your skills? Perhaps. Depends on your definition of “prostitute” (as a verb), but if you do feel like commercialization is a process of selling your soul, you might want to re-think the value structure you’ve saddled yourself with, and accept that payment for services is not always about the giving up of one’s spirit.

It is only within your realm of definition of the word, “prostitution” that you choose to accept for an act or creative product or service of yours to be what it is.

Be reminded, in other words, that

you choose your behavior.

When you can accept that truth, you will be able to stop torturing your self. You will free yourself to give up all the self-destructive attitudes you may harbor about having to trade off your creative talents for some project retainer or ongoing fee that you’ve considered unethical or unappreciative of your instinctive abilities.

Or, someone once told me she didn’t feel the stars were aligned for her to feel okay about getting paid for applying the purity of the innermost resources of her mind to a brand name.

She was not independently wealthy.

Instead of using her God-given talents to earn a living, I presume she’s now contributing to our nation’s misguided, deficit-draining, socialist agenda, collecting welfare and food stamps!  

Do you have to market and sell and publicize yourself and the work you produce? Yes. Or hire someone you trust who has those skills and is sensitive enough to your neurotic state to be your agent or rep and stand in the publicity spotlight for you. Easy to do? No. Not if you are truly gifted and struggling to acknowledge the need.

Keep in mind that successful marketing of creative talents and creative products takes great amounts of tenacity and networking and skill-sets that include public relations (events and news release coverage), branding (both you and your creativity), and business applications to Internet and social media avenues.

Don’t feel that you’re lowering your standards. Choose instead to see you are raising your odds for success.

The more you sell, the more you can command the integrity levels of work you deserve, but right now, it may be time to start affording to bring home more than junkfood, and get some nutrition on the table to feed that creative furnace.       

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

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

We humans are “suckers”!

No? Well, here’s

what we buy:

•  Good-looking women

• Good-looking men

• Good-looking children

• Cute babies

• Especially ugly men, women, children, and babies

• Puppies (any kind)

• Red,white, and blue (still the top colors in America!)

• Repetition of messages, including colors, designs, images, and fonts

• Love stories

• The promise of love, suggestive or otherwise

• The promise of sex, suggestive or otherwise

• Music (all kinds – there’s something for everyone)

• The promise of svelteness, muscles, physical strength

• The emotionally-satisfying images associated with brand names

• Taste

• Smell

• Softness

•  Ruggedness

• Good feelings

• Happiness

• The promise of happiness

• Wealth

• The promise of wealth

• Security

• The promise of security

• Relaxation

• Discovery

• Endorsements (especially from celebrities, and “regular” people

• Opportunity

• Time savings, speed, access

• Responsibility

• Praise

• Convenience

• Sports and entertainment

• Food and beverages

• Preservation of resources

• Health and the promise of health (physical, mental, emotional)

Do you see anything here that looks like logic? Rationality? Objectivity? Product and service features? Warranties? Guarantees? Reasoned sensibility?

Of course not! UN-emotional, logical, rational types of appeals are only used by buyers to JUSTIFY their purchases!

All purchase decisions (even those that appear on the surface to be rational ones are emotionally-triggered. Because people buy benefits!

And nothing on Earth has proven ability to trigger emotions as effectively as words. Because good sales words keep it simple! Because words explain benefits!

How much attention does your business pay to the words it uses? How much do the words you use answer the question every consumer has:

“What’s in it for me?”  

Is your branding message as concise, meaningful, and emotionally-triggering as it can be. Does it emphasize benefits instead of features?

Does it attract attention, create interest, stimulate desire, bring about action, provide satisfaction?

And does it do all that in seven words or less?

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

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Are You Making a Difference in 

Someone’s Life Right Now?

. . . Is Your Business?

Most people, it seems to me, share a whole myriad of negative goals. Things like: Stay away from jails, surgical procedures, lawyers, courtrooms, politicians, ER’s, dentist drills,and food poisoning.

There is, though, at least one positive goal that most all of us appear to share –at least in conscience if not in deed:

To make a difference.

It’s something like the moral of the story deal. You know, as in: “Hey! You’ve taken me through all this, so now what’s the lesson I’m supposed to have learned?”

No one wants to get to her or his deathbed without feeling like life has been worthwhile, or that he or she has helped make life worthwhile for someone else — that the Earth has been left a slightly better place than it was to enter.

It does sometimes feel like technology has taken over, like privacy has been violated and values have been led astray. Yet those who care about those they live with and near, about those they work for and with, about those they celebrate and mourn, persevere in their pursuit of happiness. Because the pursuit alone IS happiness.

Entrepreneurs get it. I’ve always thought the “P” in “Entrepreneurs” stands for “Pursuit,” and that the “s” stands for “seek.”  

We seek to make a difference in life, in our businesses, in the industry or profession each of us is involved with. We seek to make a difference in the lives of our parents and children, and grandchildren (and, yes, our pets!). . . in the lives of our associates and employees, in our communities and neighborhoods . . . and on our fragile planet. 

We like to think that others do, or can, or will benefit by the examples we set, the charitable deeds we do, and the authenticity and good cheer with which we approach our work and day-to-day existences.

The intensity of purpose that embraces these kinds of positive pursuits inevitably grows as we grow older and more aware of who we are and where we are and what we’re doing.

Growing older moves us ever closer to the fabled moments in time that “dwindle down to those precious few.”

And the calendar pages turn and the clock ticks on relentlessly.

What’s that about “time and tide”?

Is it too late?

Is it ever too late for anything, except perhaps enjoying ice cream once it’s melted?

Thinking and acting like it’s too late to change course, to make a difference for yourself, for others, is a choice. If you’re still alive, you still have a choice.

Is your business still alive? If you are, it is. 

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

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Consciously or unconsciously,

every entrepreneur somehow

chooses to fold him or herself

into a depression sandwich…

Then what? Withdrawal? Repressed anger? Heart attack? Stroke? Suicide? Not much of a payoff for being depressed, is it?

So what’s a poor, struggling, depressed entrepreneur to do? My suggestion? Take a page from my favorite “go to” book, BORN TO WIN by Muriel James and Dorothy Jongeward. It’s 40-years-old and as true to the moment as if it’d been written this morning.

[If you don’t have a copy within arms distance, you’re either a masochist and enjoy suffering, or you are the poster-girl or -boy for emotional stability and perfection. This book will help you grow, sell, communicate, love, forgive yourself, be inspired, and win.]

Whenever you make a move toward autonomy, old feelings and behaviors may remind you of how you “used to be.”

Being aware of how you feel, even if it doesn’t seem rational, gives you a chance to change.

Here’s a sample of some how-to suggestions the book offers us for first-hand, realistic dealing with depression. What have you got to lose for trying? You’re not going to be doing anything else important until you get yourself out of the funk you’re in anyway, right? So try this recipe (recommended to do in private, and out of others’ earshot!):

1. When the blues start, take a good look at yourself in the mirror.

• Study your face carefully. What do you look like when you’re depressed?
• Now look at your entire body. How are you holding your shoulders? Your hands? Your abdomen, etc.?
• Do you resemble how your mother or father or some parent figure looks or used to look?

2. Now exaggerate your symptoms of depression.

• First exaggerate your facial and body expressions.
• If you tend to withdraw and sulk, curl up in a ball, cover up your head, stick out your lower lip, and sulk in a big way.
• If you cry, get a few imaginary buckets, and fill them with imaginary tears.
• Exaggerate any symptom you’re aware of.

3. Now become aware of how your body feels when depressed. 

• If you feel uptight around your shoulders and neck, try to discover whether the tenseness is related to a specific person.
• If it is, say softly, “Get off my back.” If this phrase “fits,” say it louder and louder, increasing your power until you are shouting.

4. Now ask yourself

• What else could I do with this time if I weren’t sitting here feeling miserable?

5. Next, reverse your depression symptoms.

• If your eyes look sad, your mouth droops down or something similar, reverse your expression.
• If your head is hanging low and your shoulders are drooped, raise your head high and pull your shoulders back. Thrust your chest forward and say “I am not responsible for everything and everybody!” or “I’m OK.”

All five of these steps will be enhanced and even more productive for you if you toss in a sprinkling of deep breathing. You’re worried about appearing foolish? Imagine how foolish depression looks on your pleasant face and positive posture. Bottom Line? You’ve got nothing to lose, except depression. Have a great day!

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

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Bitten Off More Than

You Could Chew, Eh?

We all do it now and then, but some make a steady diet of taking on too many projects. The end result is never pleasant or rewarding, yet most of us fail to learn the first or second or third or . . . time around.

We tend to either be in situations where we have overwhelmed ourselves or chosen for others to overwhelm us, or somehow put ourselves into overwhelming situations.

Some might argue that they have fallen victim to overwhelming situations.

But you know what?

If we trace the root cause of any over-whelming situation, it will inevitably come back to a conscious or unconscious choice we’ve made somewhere down the road.

So what? Well, we can’t always avoid making bad choices or choices with bad outcomes –and sometimes we might even intentionally elect to put ourselves in the middle of bad choice/bad outcome circumstances– but when we can accept choices as the driving force, we increase the odds of survival and success.

How is that possible?

When we acknowledge and own up to our behavioral choices, we stop making excuses.

We stop sulking.

We stop blaming others, We stop kicking ourselves (because that, of course, is also a choice!).

We stop having tantrums. 

And these actions and awareness’s lead us closer to resolution.

Accepting responsibility for our actions, and for leading ourselves into high pressure situations helps us get on with life quicker than we are able to by wallowing in misery.

I once accepted an offer to write a commissioned memoir about a very prominent, admirable, and likable elderly person in failing health who had led what I thought was a fascinating life. The challenge was hearty. The compensation was fair. The 3-month project turned into 14 months and the degree of engagement multiplied exponentially with each new life path discovery.

For me, research time exceeded writing time by many moons. The project commandeered time away from management and marketing consulting clients, community programs I was developing, and family engagements and contact with friends. Stress arrived at my doorstep dressed in many costumes. But I did it to myself.

 Realizing that I had set myself up for the time crunch didn’t untangle the commitments, but it helped me deal with them more realistically, and all the while (I think!) keep my sanity . 

A friend of mine has a growing family with young children and aging parents. He owns and operates four different, rapidly growing businesses — each with over a hundred employees, sits on three charitable boards of trustees, travels extensively and regularly participates in a variety of favorite outdoor activities. He admits he’s bitten off more than he can chew.

But instead of blaming others or banging his head against a wall, he has engaged his family’s help in consolidating the businesses and finding replacements for the trustee seats he holds from among his employee ranks. He now brings parents and children and spouse along individually and as available on his business trips. They now join him with his outdoor pursuits  . . . and he joins them with theirs! 

The transition is taking time, but PACMAN has stopped eating away at his life. He has turned the corner and found renewed energy. 

You can too! It truly is a matter of choice.

Need a little fresh “Overwhelm-Deactivation” guidance?

Call or email me.     

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

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

I know, you’re an entrepreneur of some sort, and you haven’t any time for time management. But, guess what? If you haven’t any, who will?

• Draw a bulls-eye with two fat rings around

  it and label the center circle space:

“FAMILY & PERSONAL”

• Next, label the innermost ring space:

“WORK & BUSINESS”

• Then label the outer ring space:

“FRIENDS & OTHER ACTIVITIES”

• Copy each heading onto a separate column on a separate piece of paper. Then list the most appropriate items (names of people, places, things, activities) in each category. Allow yourself one minute per list. 

Put the list down and walk away. Get some water or a cookie or just stare out the window. (This is like a little ginger between sushi pieces.) Then return to your target and lists.

The amount of “blur” between your bulls-eye and your next two rings will indicate how “fast lane” your life is right now. I say “right now” because this is a here-and-now, present-moment exercise: what goes in each part of the target can change by next week, tomorrow, tonight, or within the next seven seconds!

(In fact, when life gets too hectic, it’s a quick useful device for daily assessment, for helping you sort out and stay focused on priorities.)

Whatever blur does occur (in other words, whatever the lack of definition there is that exists between the three areas) should give you a good heads up on how efficiently or inefficiently you are using your time, as well as the extent of your allegiances to each entity that is taking time and attention from your life.

Once you’ve done this little diagnostic study on yourself, and have a good overview of your current activities and involvements, you need to decide if these pieces are where you want them to be.

Are you spending too much time with your business and not enough with your family, for example?

Or, are you so caught up in someone else’s problem that you haven’t made time to solve your own?

I once found myself so sucked into a Chamber of Commerce project to boost town retail traffic, that I ended up working nights and weekends just to catch up with my own business (which was not retail, and stood to gain nothing from the initiative).

The crunch infiltrated my time commitments to my family. The small disruptions that surfaced were clearly the tip of cataclysmic explosion. I extracted myself from the C of C mission and discovered — lo and behold! — the retailers I was knocking myself out to promote didn’t care enough to pick up the ball for themselves.

This is NOT to suggest that voluntary community work is not worthwhile. It most certainly is. But I highly recommend such engagements be clearly defined, clearly justified, and clearly scheduled.

Plus –realistically —where choice is involved (vs., i.e., an emergency), no one should ever commit to helping others who is not herself coming from a position of strength to begin with. A sick teacher is an ineffective teacher. A cash-poor business cannot donate to charities. A business owner who’s preoccupied with family survival issues or debt collection issues cannot be an effective sales leader.

Draw your target again tomorrow. See if anything changes. Can you make something change? Well, of course. Behavior is, after all, a choice. Maybe if you choose to stop juggling one fewer seagull, it will fly away! 

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 Hal@BusinessWorks.US

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

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!