Archive for the 'Life Plans' Category

Mar 07 2011

Daily Commutes: Exhilarating or Zombie Zone?

To and from work, are you

                                        

wide-eyed and bushy-tailed

                                   

… or in a trance-like state?

                                                             

DOES IT MATTER? Well, does your job attitude matter? Your family attitude? What goes on with you in that little Twilight Zone commuting-to-and-fro time window? Are you looking and acting like you just stepped out of (or into) some weird, skin-crawling Steven King story? How does your daily commute impact your business? Career? Family?

                                                                                                                                                                              

Or, hey, maybe you’re hop-skip-jumping along in time to your happy whistling? (Hmmm, hard to remember the last time I heard someone whistle. Once it was commonplace, but now suggests serial-killer symptoms.) Or, no, I was, well, I was  going to substitute “humming” but that’s come to signal readiness for being committed, y’think?

I’m asking all these questions because I have been, alternatively: a tiger, a puppy-dog, and a zombie commuting to, from, and through a wide variety of career pursuits.

I’ve run the proverbial gamut of commuter vehicle experiences from choppers to car pools, and here’s some of what I found . . .

                                                                               

Years of Fortune 500 corporate client travels and commuter trains so jam-packed and smoke-filled, I often gave up a seat to stand, freezing, between the deafening, open-air train car connection spaces (an hour each way on those rare occasions when schedules were actually met), hanging on for dear life. And I won’t even mention the rain.

Ah, yes, and there was always at least one time when briefcase snaps failed or a coffee lid wasn’t secured!

Those enlightening death-defying train rides definitely fed appreciation like no other for the plastic suburbs and phony weekend-warrior neighbors.

I mean imagine racing home from the railroad station to screaming kids, barking dogs, complaints about dinner being cold and a mountain of bills. 

But, alas, those late arrival, go-getter young executives –after working long past punch-out time, in efforts to excel and earn more– often found that state of pandemonium a welcome greeting!

                                                       

In fact, it was almost a treat compared to straddling the clanking, jerking, bucklings that connected the stinking (slippery when wet) rail-cars after a stressful workday.

Then there were years of driving (and standing still on “expressways”) and tolls, bridges, bus fumes, and broken windshield wipers. I wonder how many hours wasted away waiting in lines and at traffic lights and in (cough!cough!cough!) claustrophobic tunnels. No, never mind, I really don’t want to know. It would make me crazier than I am.

So, take a taxi! Yeah, right! Talk about crazy. Besides that drivers must have to pass a taxi test that proves they can’t speak English, they all have their little trade secrets about longer routes to take passengers who are in a hurry, more dangerous routes to take passengers who look nervous, etc. Taxi? No thanks! 

____________________

Besides, I ditched all that nonsense years ago when I took the big leap off of payrolls and benefit plans and came crashing to Earth as (Ta-ta-ta-ta-tah-tah!) . . . poorer than a ragged beggar, more headstrong than the bull in front of the Stock Exchange, able to leap onto prospective clients in a single bound . . . Look! . . . Up in the air! . . . It’s . . . It’s a corporate mogul . . . it’s a pocket-padding politician . . . NO! IT’S ENTREPRENEURMAN!

Yup, that’s me! Shucks! You’d never recognize that frazzled commuter anymore. Now I just run up and down the stairs to my basement office, bathrobe aflutter, with an armful of pantry snacks, writing fool that I am, remembering the good old commuter days, and being soooo thankful to be struggling in small business with big happiness!

                                                                                  

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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!

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Mar 06 2011

Startups and Expansions <--NOW?

GOTTA HUNKA SPUNK?                                                                                                                               

NEGATIVE REALITY: “In THIS economy? Nah, now’s not the time to be thinkin’ about starting or expanding a business. You’d have to be nuts! Besides it costs too much for stuff like that, and –if I were gonna do a big new push, I’d want to do it the right way, y’know? Big-time!”          

POSITIVE REALITY: There will never be enough money available to start up or expand a business the way I want to make it happen. Never. So waiting won’t matter. I’ve always believed that CONTRARY to the famous quote: 

NOTHING comes to he who waits!     

That leaves spunk . . .  

  1.  Spunk,

  2.  determination,

  3. tenacious persistence, 

  4. belief in yourself and your ideas,

  5. commitment,

  6. and a burning desire to make your ideas succeed. 

                                                  

When all six of these ingredients are front and center 24/7, odds are you will succeed by just putting your head down and charging toward the goal of making your product or service ideas come to fruition. 

When you can do that, the money you need to put things over the top will come to you from sources you least expect. Every truly successful entrepreneur will attest to this. If you doubt it, then consider these two points:

  • If you have doubt, then you do not have all six criteria (noted above) going for you. Back off and shore up the weak spots before you go charging off. 

  • If you are close to having the six criteria above, but still have a smidgen of doubt, talk with someone who has been successful as an entrepreneur, someone who started a successful enterprise on the proverbial shoestring, and you will hear back the exact same kind of chatter.                                           

In other words, people who worry about their ideas making money will not make money; they will, instead, make worry. 

Those who turn their backs on the making money goals and focus their energies instead on getting their ideas to succeed, will make money. 

Weird, huh?  Perhaps, but it’s true.

                                                     

I have helped over 500 successful businesses and business expansions to get started. I have never seen a single exception to this thinking.  I’m sure there must be some somewhere, but not in my experience. 

You can take advantage of my experience if you’re thinking about launching a business or expanding one. For a modest consulting fee, I will serve as your temporary coach and advisor until you get things off the ground. I work with clients by phone and computer and occasionally, when realistic and appropriate, personal visit. 

You can tap into what I have learned the hard way and spare yourself considerable stress and expense. 

If you’re interested, call me direct at 302.933.0116, and let’s set a time to talk. No fee. I’ll give you 20-30 minutes to get me interested.

If you can’t afford me or I can’t help you personally, I’ll steer you in the right directions –as a courtesy– because my life’s mission is to help small businesses succeed.                                                                                                        

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 302.933.0116

 “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!

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Mar 05 2011

What Sells?

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!

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Feb 28 2011

NEIGHBORSHIP . . .

What is free that feels good

                                

when you get it, that

                                                                                

feels good when you give it

                                                                                               

and is worth more

                                                                

than a bathtubful of cash? 

 

 

Well, maybe a backrub, but let’s stick with the blog mission for business owners, managers, and entrepreneurs . . .

Being a good neighbor isn’t just a warm fuzzy behavior promoted by the late children’s TV icon, “Mr. Rogers” (God bless his talented, perceptive, sweet, caring soul!). His teachings stand tall.  

Being a good neighbor —in business and personal life both— means helping and sharing and sometimes, being self-sacrificing. 

It’s an attitude. 

                                                    

It’s a behavior pattern driven by your willingness to accept responsibility for more than yourself, and to be agreeable to act responsibly toward those around you, even when you’re tired or may least want to, and even when the cause and/or circumstances –and/or  individual(s)– involved may be unpopular ones. 

At home AND on-the-job! 

                                                          

It doesn’t mean giving up your SELF for others (those are “Heroes” and Heroines” and we need only glance quickly to our young service men and women –who in fact provide us the freedom to act as neighbors– for glowing examples!). 

It doesn’t mean (necessarily) making a career of it, like so many of the wonderful helping professionals (nurses, charity and social workers, missionaries, therapists, et al) among society’s ranks.

Oh, and it also doesn’t mean doing favors for others who really don’t want your favors!  

It DOES mean being conscious of others’ needs and helping to fill those needs whenever you can, when called upon, and whenever you see the needs and are able to help, whether called upon or not. 

Some call it “pitching in.”  Others call it “stepping up to the plate.” I call it”

                               

“Neighborship”! 

                                                                                

And you know what’s really amazing? It seldom takes more than the simple offer of a helping hand to revitalize the home attitude or on-the-job attitude of the person or persons on the receiving end.

Of course, you may have to be willing to accept a “thank you,” or handshake, or smile, as your reward. 

But, oh, isn’t that what a truly blessed event is all about anyway?

You know, when we used to run management training programs, we always focused on providing “take home” experiences, knowing that program participants would retain what they learned a whole lot longer and more deeply if they could “take home” the methodology and apply it to their personal lives as well.

Well, the thoughts in this blog post have genuine “take to work” application.

Email ’em to yourself!

                                                                                                                                                    

I am truly blessed to have YOU be reading this right now ;<)  Thank you, and please do return. Have a great day, a great night, and a great week ahead!    

If YOU have an inspiring “Neighborship” example to share, please post it as a comment or email me:

                       

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

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

 

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Feb 27 2011

$tep it up with creditor$! $tart communicating!

Talk out busine$$ obligation$.

                                              

Creditors chase excuses-filled 

                                            

non-communicators hardest!

                                                                                              

     Yes, these are hard times.

And maybe you’ve let some payments slide.

                                                                                

Perhaps the warning notices have been turned over to a collection agency, and next will be the lawyers, and then –in spite of all the delay tactics of ignoring mailings and not taking collection calls– you lose!

How do I know? I’ve been on both sides of it a few times in my life. So, from practical, hard-nosed experience: most reputable creditors will generally treat you respectfully if you treat them respectfully.

By NOT hiding, cowering, and making excuses, by facing up to your obligations and taking the initiative to communicate and trying to work things out, you, as a debtor, will ALWAYS get treated better.

                                                                        

You are also more likely than not to be given leniency simply because you picked up the phone to present your situation truthfully. Sooner is always better than later, but It’s never too late to try.

Steer yourself clear of ever discussing other debts and/or other payback arrangements. No one wants to hear that you’ve dealt with some other bill collector before facing her or his company’s music. But be as straightforward as possible in owning up to and acknowledging the obligation in question.

No need to feel awkward, embarrassed, inferior, intimidated, or bloody-knuckled.

In business, everyone owes something to some one.

                                                                   

If it’s been making you crazy, stop yourself in your tracks, take some deep breaths, and take the initiative to establish contact with the creditor.

Call. Ask to speak with the supervisor of the person who you end up with, regardless of whether it’s a “Customer Service” rep or a VP. Get as far up the ladder as you can.

Explain your circumstances the way you would like a problem-paying customer/client/patient of yours to do. Wouldn’t you really rather have a person or business that owes you money take the lead and call you to (briefly) explain the circumstances and offer some kind of payment plan –even if it’s ridiculously low– instead of hide in the shadows and not return your calls?

Well?

                                           

Don’t make payment problems bigger for your creditor than you would want debtors to make for you. The consequences of not working hard at communicating with those you owe are not worth it.

You are NOT going to win the lottery. Stop dreaming! You are NOT going to make that gargantuan sale you’ve been hoping for, for two years. You are NOT going to inherit millions from your estranged father-in-law. NOT.

Tell it like it is. Pick up the phone and –if it’s local– ask for a meeting. If it’s long-distance, ask for someone who can help you negotiate a payback arrangement you can afford. And do NOT try to use emails to negotiate.

Be sincere. Be truthful. If you are both of these things, you need not feel like you are approaching the issue “hat in hand” so to speak. There’s a time and place for humility, and a time and place for straightforwardness. This is the latter!

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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!

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Feb 23 2011

Corporate Jobs The Biggest Risk!

Entrepreneurs?  No!  It’s the

                                           

9-5 folks who sell their souls!

 

I read a Tweet today, oh boy, and all it said was:

“Entrepreneurship is risky!”

Ah, such sweet naivety!

Corporate life is risky, not entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs take only reasonable risks, and –in the process– maintain strong contact with and control of their destinies.

Corporate types are the ones who risk.

They risk losing their souls.

They give up their spirits to security.

Far greater risks indeed than those that entrepreneurs take by investing in themselves! 

Having a nine to five job with guaranteed benefits and a pocketful of perks is like feeding a bagful of sugar cubes to a horse. It will love you and run around in circles until it drops from exhaustion. But never accomplish anything.

  • If you believe life is all about who can drink and BBQ the most on any given weekend, be the 5-mile-run talk of the neighborhood and pay the way through college for kids who ought to be earning it themselves, you may want to just stay where you are. That white shirt and tie fits your sterile, fair-weather-friend, control-freak personality.

  • You’ve been kissing corporate political butts so long to get to the next rung on that ladder to the stars, that you’ve forgotten there are other ways to achieve (like, for example, creating new jobs or innovating new revenue streams with product and service line extensions that are simply introduced and sold instead of swallowing them up in corporate analysis paralysis.

  • You probably should just hang onto that corporate job.

  • You’ll never survive with pursuing your own business. It will be too much work, too many hours, not enough pay, no security, and never enough time to do weekend runs and BBQs. You’ll be searching futilely for vacations, weekend time, 401k deposits, dental plans, sick days, bonuses, and a pension.

                                                       

Entrepreneurs live every minute of every day with a burning desire to make their ideas succeed, and will work 24/7 when necessary to do that.

They are NOT big risk-takers.

In fact, I’m quite sure if you start counting up gamblers, you’ll find the overwhelming majority are corporate moguls.

People who work hard to build and maintain their own business don’t bet the farm because they have no income/benefit guarantees to back up their losses (and they work too hard for their money!).

Entrepreneurship is about passionate determination to step out where others cower. Corporate life is about protecting yourself . . . having a ready-made excuse for every action, every decision, and never working longer or harder than is required or expected.

Getting ahead personally is more important to corporate employees than gaining success with or for the product or service one represents.

The differences are huge.

If you’re on the streets and you think like a big-business employee, get some more education and training and find yourself a safe, secure job.

If you’re in college and think like an entrepreneur, get out! Stop wasting your time and money. College will not teach you how to believe in yourself and your business ideas, and make them work.

Only “doing it” does it!

# # #

931.854.0474 or 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!

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Feb 22 2011

Are You Making A Difference?

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!

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Feb 20 2011

MEMO TO 30 MILLION PRESIDENTS

TO: The Presidents of America’s

                                      

       30 Million Small Businesses

                              

FR: Hal, on Behalf of Your  

                          

        Families, Friends and

                           

        Loyal Employees

                          

RE: Happy Presidents Day!

                                          

                         

Dear Small Business President:

                                                         

Presidents Day is your day too

 Lincoln, Washington, and YOU!

                                                     

Your finger may not be poised at some war and peace hot button, but you are just as important to your customers, clients, and patients as you are to the partners, employees, vendors, referrers, investors and lenders who serve you. Whew! There’s a brainful of thought.

Now layer on top of that, your importance to your family, friends, and loved ones. Obligations, emotions, responsibilities, and headaches galore! (Maybe where the title, Pride and Punishment came from?)

                                                                            

Yet you run FULL AHEAD, battling the storms at sea, and always with your business strapped to your back. It’s no wonder people think you’re crazy! Ah, but you’re still there. You have consistently seen problems as opportunities. You have exercised leadership by example. And you’re still captaining your ship.

                                                         

That alone is cause for celebration… so 

take some Presidents Day time to party!

                                                                      

In fact, odds are pretty good that you’ve already outlived (or surely will) the terms of any elected American President. And though it’s hard to imagine upstaging the likes of Teddy Roosevelt or Ronald Reagan, odds are also pretty good that you’ve probably outperformed them all as well.

                                                                    

Well, you might say, almost all of them were both caught up with and bogged down in partisan politics. But, hey, you’ve had your in-laws to deal with, and probably your fill of rambunctious txtmsging teenagers, not to mention the dysfunctional families we all have standing in the wings.

                                   

So like the old hamburger slogan,

“You Deserve A Break Today!”

                                                                

Take some time out to appreciate your SELF and what you’ve been able to accomplish. (I mean, you have stayed out of jail so far, right?) Your business is still functioning even though our government is not, and big business just pretends to be. Somehow or another, you have stayed the course, and kept on ticking.

                                        

Give yourself a pat on the back!

                                                                

Call the president of another small business you know, and wish her or him Happy Presidents Day. You may even strike up a collaborative relationship discussion. Y’never know!

                                                            

Oh, most important of all . . . tell your family you love them for giving you the chance to run your own business, and call a couple of friends you’ve not kept up with to thank them for their patience and understanding about you being so preoccupied so often. Guaranteed you’ll be glad you did.

                                                      

Then, get back to work!

     

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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!

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Feb 19 2011

Defeating Depression

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

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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www.TheWriterWorks.com or 302.933.0116 or 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!

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Feb 16 2011

The Return of PACMAN

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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302.933.0116     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!

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