Self-Motivation?

I heard you

stayed up all night

talking to yourself?

Couldn’t wait to see

Part 2? Here it is:

(Oh, and be sure to check out the P.S. at the end!)

What are some other ways to motivate yourself besides talking to yourself?

When you’re feeling negative and you surround yourself with yourself, you set yourself up to lose. When you surround yourself with positive people, who are productive, achievement-oriented, and generally cheerful, you are setting yourself up to cultivate positive thoughts and positive attitudes.

When you find yourself feeling like you’re drowning in a sea of negativity, or overwhelmed by negative people or circumstances, remember you control your own brain and your own behavior . . . it is a choice, your choice. Choose to “change the station in your brain to best fit the circumstances. Dial in HAPPY-FM because “happy” works. 

Ask yourself what’s the worst thing could happen if you get up to the plate and swing instead of cower in the dugout corner?

You might strike out? Babe Ruth’s record number of hume runs ran in tandem with his record number of strikeouts.

Thomas Edison made 10,000 attempts before succeeding at inventing the lightbulb.

All logical rational stuff, you might be thinking, but negative feelings are not always logical or rational. True, but your ability to rise above them can be.

Learn what triggers your “throw in the towel” attitude and the feelings you typically experience just before that happens, then use that trigger instead to remind yourself to take some deep breaths. Use the couple of seconds worth of deep breathing as a focal point that allows you to shut down the upsets, crank up the positive side of what’s happening, and turn the situation around by simply choosing to turn it around.

Here’s what’s worth remembering (besides talking to yourself with conviction, three times a day, for 21 days): Use these tools (deep breathing and self-talk and awareness of choosing behavior) to force yourself to concentrate on the present, here-and-now moments in your life, as each moment passes, as much and as often as you possibly can.

Just in case of some disconnect as to why one would want to do this in the first place: The past is over and cannot be changed. The future has not yet come (and may never). Now is the only time. Or, as the now famous quote goes from B. Olatunji:

“Yesterday is history.

 Tomorrow is mystery.

Today is a gift.

That’s why it’s called the present.”

It may not be possible for us to live in the present moment 100% of the time, but odds are pretty good that most of us aren’t even doing that 20%-30% of the time, so there’s lots of room to grow and improve. And improving just this one single thing about yourself will improve your daily existence measurably. Again, give it 21 days. You will astound yourself with all you can accomplish and enjoy.

You doubt it? Then you’re proving the point that you become what you think about. The choices –happy and healthy or upset and ill– are 100% your choices. Make yourself a happy camper, and watch your business perform as never before. Surely your business is worth a 21-day trial?

Need a boost? Give me a call and we’ll talk. No fee to talk. No sales pitch. Anyone who wants more will ask for it and maybe then, we can discuss some terms, but this post isn’t about money. It’s about helping you to strengthen your SELF, in order to strengthen your business.

By the way, the very short video at the “P.S.” link below should give you a jump start, maybe even launch your rocket!

P.S. Click HERE: Could you possibly have

a bad day after starting off like this?

# # #

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!

Giddy-up Gone?

Talking to yourself

too little too late?

Have you been secretly worried about talking to (and even with) yourself? Has it crossed your mind that you were becoming one of those “men-with-the-white-jacket-are-coming” basket cases? Take heart! Yes-sir-reebob!

You are, instead, probably (notice I leave a little squeeze room for those of you on the cusp) about as normal as blueberry pie. Actually, the worrying part is what hangs your mind in the balance. In other words, if you have to worry, worry about your worrying!

Bottom line is that all of us talk to and with ourselves (no,I am not referring to those who spend hours a day at it). We do this because verbal expression (like a pilot reciting her or his checklist out loud before taxiing onto the runway) serves to clarify and enhance, and prompt focus. I never knew a good writer who didn’t speak out loud what she or he had written before calling it “a wrap.”

“So, self, here we go. It’s time to share one of life’s great secrets.”

“Okay, I’m game. Let’s hear what your J.K.Rawling/Dan Brown tangled web of mysticism can reveal for all us normal folk who chatter away at ourselves in cars, closets, beds, and walking down the street.”

Hey, I don’t know much about

Harry Potter’s chambers or DiVinci’s codes,

but I discovered 35 years ago that “self-talk“

motivates, heals, humors, and strengthens.

Not sure? I’ll give you a quickie to try –improvise as you see fit to adapt it for yourself. I’ll also offer you a pack-on promise that if you say and repeat what’s below (or your own version) out loud, to yourself, like you truly mean it (even when you don’t feel up to it) three times a day, every day, for 21 days, you will be happier, healthier and more productive.

You will feel better!

( . . .and it’s free; in fact, you’ve nothing to lose but stress and upsets; how hard is that to argue with?)

Recite/Chant it exercising, or laying down, or standing on your head while spitting wooden nickles. Do it any time or place (except driving or operating heavy equipment, or with drugs or alcohol in your system). Concentrate on each word as you say it. It works. Period. Free. No charge. Me to you. Make it happen:

Healing energy into my body.

Healing energy into my body.

Stress and pain and tension out of my body.

Stress and pain and tension out of my body.

I am my body — left, right, center. (and think it!)

I am my body — left, right, center. (and think it!)

I am relaxed, happy, alert, and weigh the weight I want to weigh.

I am healthy, wealthy, painfree, safe and sound, and physically fit.

Today (“Tomorrow” when reciting at night) is the first day of my new life and I’m going to make (“am making” when reciting midday) it count.

I will make today (tomorrow) special for someone!   

All the great motivational and self-development gurus who ever lived share and practice similar methods. . . from Brian Tracy to Napoleon Hill and Wayne Dyer.

Try Zig Ziglar’s prescribed daily morning ritual recitation which starts with two hand claps as soon as you open your eyes in the morning:

(Clap, Clap) “Oh, boy, what a GREAT day to wake up and get going! I believe something wonderful is going to happen to me today!” 

Saying it like you mean it, from your heart, and concentrating on each word is –again– the key to success. Doing it consistently even when you would rather sleep or eat or play games on your computer, is your insurance policy that it will indeed produce results.

I am assuming of course that you ARE interested in producing results?

TOMORROW: Self-Motivation (Part 2 of 2)

– Same time, same channel.

# # # 

931.854.0474 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! 

Yikes! So What? Who Cares? 

Give It Up! Get Back To Work!

VISIT THIS POST  AT iSalesman.com

If I read one more article, website comment, blog post or magazine cover offering to enlighten me on The Ten Best (fill in the blank) of 2010 or The Ten Worst (fill in the blank) of 201o or The Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Have (fill in the blank) in 2010, I’m going to jump out of my skin (and that will not be a pleasant sight)!

STOP with This 10 and That 10! Enough already!

Review it?

Okay, if you’ve nothing else to do.

Dwell on it?

Not okay, unless you’re a stalk of celery waiting for a dip.

Give it up! Get back to work! Unless there was some outstanding, earth-shattering  play, nobody in their right mind sits around watching more after-game replays of the game that they’ve just watched (including the 14,786 replays that they already watched during the game!)

New Year’s always does this. It makes people nuts!

Business and professional practice owners rush to look back at who and what did better and worse than they did in the past year, which is (ahem!) past?

Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve heard that the past is over and nothing can be done to change it . . . so, who cares who was best and worst and in-between?

What’s happening this minute? Ah!

If we could pull together all the collective time we waste looking back at who did what to whom and why B happened when A was supposed to happen, and could apply that to productive forward movement, small business would be in the economy’s driver’s seat, where small business belongs, instead of our inept government “servants” (who do indeed serve themselves admirably).

Wallowing in the past has never –N~E~V~E~R– moved anyone forward. Now, I’m not talking about remembering stuff, nor even occasional reminiscing (which can serve to relax the stressed-out mind that’s overloaded with here-and-now focus).

No, I speak of the guy you went to high school with. You know him. He’s the one who’s still hanging out in the same local bar with his 30-year-old winning touchdown as conversation topic one. 

Okay, so we can put this disastrous 2010 year behind us, right?

Now that’s a good thing, but that doesn’t authorize us to jump ahead to the point of worrying about 2011.

And kill off those empty New Year’s Resolutions that waste even more time deciding on and pursuing.

It simply means it’s time to roll up your sleeves, get your glove and get back into the game . . . get back to work.

Forget those philosophical Tweets you read: It’s time to work harder, not smarter.

You’re already smart enough to succeed or you wouldn’t be here reading this. Working harder doesn’t mean physical labor or adding hours or wearing 20 hats instead of the 18 you’ve had on.

It means working harder to keep your mind in the here-and-now present moment as much of the time as possible — because it’s the only way to make your business and your career succeed.

You thought this was just a modus operandi for surgeons? Wrong! You are, in what you do and the ways you do it, a surgeon in your own right.

You take a history, do an examination, test, interpret results, form a treatment plan, perform the necessary procedures, decide on a prognosis, start therapeutic action to accelerate recovery, re-examine, and set up a maintenance plan.

So the bottom line, Doctor Business Owner and Manager, is to stop wasting time analyzing 2010, and start attacking 2011. Now. One patient’s needs at a time! 

# # # 

www.TheWriterWorks.com

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! 

STOP holding your breath!

Just don’t use these words.

Reported in today’s Marketing VOX/News, are the results of LinkedIn‘s survey of its 85 million member profiles. Among other things, the Top 10 most-overused buzz words (and word pairs) by professionals in the United States are itemized.

I have presented them here for your own personal and business branding edification, and for your editing and deletion pleasure, as you beef up your turn-over-a-new-leaf-for-2011 identity and add some transparency to your camouflaged bio sales spiel.

You know the “identity” and “spiel” I’m talking about . . . it’s that “profile” thing . . . the one you’ve plastered across the Internet with your ten-year-old, hold-your-breath-in photo? That’s the one. 

It’s that sweet, down-home, good-ol’-boy (or, you-go-girl) slick-and-nifty (you remember them?) packaged presentation of you.

How do I know? Because I’ve seen you on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Salesblogcast, BizBrag, NAYMZ, Plaxo, ActiveRain, EConsultancy, Merchant Circle, Technorati, iSalesman, WordPress, and the 37 gazillion other sites you subscribe to, or have an account with.

It’s 2011. It’s time to clean up your act!

According to LinkedIn findings (And I mean, really, how could 85 MILLION people be wrong?) :

You would be well-advised to cease and desist use of any of the following words in resumes, business blog posts, email and website content, media and direct mail advertising (and, yes, in your hot little profile) for fear of being over-buzzed:

1. Extensive Experience

2. Innovative

3. Motivated

4. Results-Oriented

5. Dynamic

6. Proven Track-Record

7. Team Player

8. Fast-Paced

9. Problem Solver

10. Entrepreneurial

In answer to your next question: No, I do not pretend to be immune from the stupidity of the masses in using these descriptive terms. I have used them all (maybe that’s how they got overused?), and –in fact– I am probably among the leaders of all active online Americans in continuing to use them (I know, I know, a visit from the devil is coming!). But I promise to start cleaning house.

And you can take that promise to the bank. You know why? Of course you do. You were waiting for this, right? Well here y’go:

Because my extensive experience in igniting innovative, motivated, results-oriented commitments to change is accompanied by a proven track-record of dynamic proportions. Furthermore, as a team player, I am dedicated to being an entrepreneurial, fast-paced, problem solver who delivers words that sell — online and beyond.

Then again, sometimes “overused” (like with my 20-year-old workboots that are more comfortable and better made than anything sold on this planet) can be a good thing — especially when “entrepreneurial” is in your blog heading!

Tune in tomorrow for a special New Year’s message.

# # # 

www.TheWriterWorks.com

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!

Seize the moment!

Trying to “Carpe Diem” (grab hold of an entire day) in these relentless times, can breed toxic troubles in your relationships and send chills up the spine of your bankbook. But “moment at a time” works.

The days are history when we all thought we could bite off more than we could chew and get away with it. Carpe Diem–from its humble creation by lyric poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus (known primarily as “Horace”) between 65BC and 8BC–has quietly and dormantly stood the test of time, even up to 22 years ago! 1989? What happened then?

Robin Williams’ inspiring performance as a 1959 boys prep school teacher in the classic movie, Dead Poets Society, reinvigorated and redefined the seize the day expression for an entire generation. Most of you who are reading this right this minute were at least around at the time of that screen debut. But guess what?

The breakneck speed of technology has so revolutionized our world so rapidly that even THAT is now ancient history.

Life is moving so fast.

Almost all business is a reflection of the needs and wants of the societies and communities that house each of them.

Business owners and managers are scrambling just to keep pace . . . even as they continue to struggle with the still plummeting economy and job market. 

There’s a steadily emerging new emphasis on immediacy and responsiveness. FOR INDIVIDUALS, this means getting out of and away from that unproductive, hope-based, dreamlike existence so many have chosen to pursue and, instead, start taking action!

Return messages. What are the most productive roles to play with needy friends? Without meddling or trying to commandeer the day, provide here-and-now support where you can.

As with 3-D Leadership, lead by example. Teach yourself to respond instead of react! Pace yourself to match your capabilities, but don’t underestimate what you’re capable of, especially when you don’t need to block out a full day to get ‘er done! Oh, and trust yourself more, will you?!

Don’t just live FOR the moment.

Live IN it!

This translates to having a more pointed sense of urgency. FOR BUSINESS, having a present-moment mindset can’t help but impact the bottom line positively. Let all dealings with employees, customers, investors, referrers, vendors and suppliers, professional services ring with a Do It Now! attitude . . . from finance to operations to marketing.

Responsiveness

is the new transparency

because responsiveness is

    married to responsibility!  

Yes, we all need to be more on top of our lives and our businesses in 2011 than we were in 2010. With a full third of our existences (2,920 hours a year) consumed by needed sleep –or wishing we could– we’re left with 5,840 hours of awake time. This of course hasn’t changed much since the beginning of time, but the rate at which we consume those 5,840 hours has slammed our sensibilities.

Well, the way I see it is that seizing any single day out of 365 is not really within the realm of possibility anymore (unless it means rocking on the nursing home porch), but I sure as hell can seize one minute at a time! And my reward is that it keeps me in touch with the fun and reality of the personal and business lives I lead without leaving much room for upsets, stress, and disappointment. 

How do YOU see it?

# # # 

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 THIS moment a GREAT moment for someone!

When you finally slow down for

(or from) the weekend,

DEFRAGMENT!

No need to explain why. You already know all the economy, industry or profession, marketplace and competition reasons.

So let’s get to the heart of it. Use this slow-down-time period to step back, adjust your glasses, put your hands on your hips, stretch, yawn, take some deep breaths, and defragment — put all the pieces out on the table.

Start with your business . . .

What’s been going on these past few months? Weeks? Where’s your business now, and where’s it headed?

~~FINANCES?

Management? Strategies?  Communications? Budgets? Investors? A/R? A/P? Cash flow? Payroll? Other overhead? Reimbursements? Taxes? Revenues? Charitable donations? Profits? Accounting systems? Bookkeeping services? Add your own here: _____________________  

~~OPERATIONS?

Management? Strategies? Communications? Equipment? Supplies? Storage? Shipping? Inventory? Warehousing? Operating systems? Work flow? Scheduling? Purchasing? Leases? Legal actions? IT? Add your own here: _______  _________________________________   

~~MARKETING?

Management? Strategies? Communications? Branding? Sales? (Yes, sales is a function of marketing.) Public and community and investor and industry relations (Also all marketing functions, including news releases, special events, blogs, BUZZ)? Advertising (another function of marketing, including online, traditional and direct media . . . as well as the creation and production of all of it) Pricing? Packaging? Promotion? Merchandising? Social media? Add your own here: _____________________________  

~~HUMAN RESOURCES?

Management? Strategies? Communications? Benefit programs? Customer Service? Referral values? Recruitment? Hiring and firing? leadership, teamwork and skills development training? Performance incentives? Motivational programs? Add your own here: _____________________________

[So you noticed those 3 primary targets for each category, huh? Well, in my experience, poor management, poor (or no) strategies, and poor communications have consistently been the primary reasons for business failure!]

That should give you a place to start. When you’ve exhausted your business thinking, switch gears to your SELF.

What’s been going on these past few months/weeks  with YOU? Where are you now, and where are you headed?

~~HEALTH & FITNESS?

Are you squeezing in enough exercise every week to keep yourself in decent shape? You need not lift or jog for three hours a day and eat powered protein shakes with 37 raw eggs for breakfast in order to stay physically fit.

Many experts say 3 hours a week of brisk walking and avoiding overdoses of red meat and fatty foods will suffice for most people with busy schedules. Are you getting routine medical and dental health checkups as recommended? What do you need to do to motivate yourself in these directions?  

~~FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS

Are you spending enough quality time with children, parents, spouse or significant other and (get your finger out of your throat!) your in-laws? How can you combine some time-consumers more productively? Walk with family members or friends. Partner up for health tests (easier to deal with when you have company).

Get serious about sharing healthy food preparation ideas, recipes, and meals. Small specialty of handmade gifts and handwritten thank you notes work wonders as relationship cement. Add your own ideas here: ____________________

~~SELF-EXPRESSION, SELF-AWARENESS & SELF-DEVELOPMENT

Surely you know what you need to do in these categories to defragment yourselfand move forward with the adventures in creative expression and self and academic learning that you’ve always wanted to fit into your life, but never chose to make the room for. Now’s your chance to choose, and blame it on me!

The more you can learn about yourself, the better you’ll be as a leader and coach and role model . . . the better prepared you’ll be to inspire and motivate others to productivity and peak performances. Choose to make yourself make room for this. 

Weekend time slow-down periods are the perfect times to reevaluate and make commitments to yourself.

No, not token promises that never happen. Get serious here for a minute.

You have only one life, and the rest of it starts the minute you leave this blog post, so how about making the rest of your life make the kind of difference you’ve only ever dreamed of?

Hey, what’s to lose by trying?

 # # # 

www.TheWriterWorks.com

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!

Headed to 2012–and

your business

is still breathing?

You got guts!

It takes more, much more, than an MBA, family inheritence, or good luck to have a living, breathing business survive this still-spiraling economy. It takes guts.

Guts? Right. You must have ’em, or you wouldn’t be reading this. Okay, enough with the backpats, where do you go from here? Yeah, into January, right. I know. But beyond that, what?

Since you’re an entrepreneur preoccupied with making your idea work, you’ll probably be doing all your gift shopping online, or running around at the 11th hour grabbing stuff off what’s left on nearby retail shelves.

If that’s not the case, and you’re a true romantic who has planned every inch, and had a thousand hours to plan and organize and wrap, you’re probably a corporate type who did all your Christmas shopping in July, and not reading this anyway.

So, here’s a thought: What about taking yourself through a group brainstorming experience —  by yourself?

Is that like suggesting that you do a multiple-personalities thing? Yes, but not so close to the edge that you’ll need a shrink by New Year’s.

I’m suggesting you start with a pad and pen or pencil (if any of those tools are still within your reach). Laptops and all those other hand-heold devices just don’t cut it! They don’t give you enough time to think.

Besides a little practice with that lost art called handwriting, the experience alone could be a good stimulous (speaking of which, Red Bull isn’t a necessary accompaniment, but you may want a cup of coffee?). 

Next, turn off your cell phone; I promise the world won’t end. Then find a place where you won’t be interrupted. (HA! Talk about challenge!) Maybe it has to be a locked car in your driveway?

At the top of your page, write the one business issue that is most important for you to address in 2012.

Be realistic.

Draw a vertical line down the middle of the page.

Put a + (plus) sign on the left and a – (minus) sign on the right. Start to write down everything you can think of (in the left-hand column) that could be a positive outcome of resolving this issue. Everything you imagine as negative on the right. Think freely.

Don’t criticize or second-guess yourself. Instead, go back over your list from the perspective of what you imagine to be your most trusted advisor or most valuable employee. How would it change?

When you’ve given these two columns about 10-12 minutes for each of your split personalities, STOP! Take a swig of coffee. Take some deep breaths. Rub your hands together briskly.

Next page: Write down the three steps you can take on Tuesday, January 3rd, to make some of that left-hand column stuff on your first page start to happen. Rank order the priority of steps.

Make some specific notes about the who, what, when, where, and how each of those three steps can/should/will occur.

Give them a timeline.

Be realistic.

Keep it all flexible: your rankings, your steps, your timeline, and what you expect for results (yes, without this, it’s hard to know why you’re pursuing anything) . . . flexible.

If you get close to the date and it’s not going to happen, don’t whip yourself (that’s hard to do anyway), just move the date. If the steps involve money or other people, leave them flexible enough to adjust in case things don’t go swimmingly (which as you know, they rarely do!)  

Fold up the pages. Put them in your pocket. Type them into your computer tomorrow (not today) and edit them in the process. Share the information as appropriate.

Congratulate yourself for doing goal-setting the right (most productive) way. Now make it happen! And stop worrying. Remember, you got guts!

 # # # 

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!

“But I have

promises to keep

     and miles to go

      before I sleep . . .”

— ROBERT FROST

NOTHING is more aggravating to a business professional than assurances from others that prove empty, guarantees that don’t deliver, and boxes full of promises with false bottoms.

These games waste time and money, drain energy, and create havoc for the person or organization on the receiving end.

I recently witnessed a guaranteed $1 million sale that ended up costing a great deal of anxiety and money to discover that the “sale” was a hoax.

Maybe a million dollar sale is hard to relate to, so here’s one I’m sure you’ve experienced:

An on-again, off-again client (Sam) once assured me my proposal to manage a very major (big fee) project was acceptable and that we should meet to wrap it up early the following week.

He asked me to call on Friday morning to set a time and date when we could meet and I could pick up a check.

With some overdue bills on the desk, that was a welcome thought. The accompanying feelings of relief were quickly muffled. On Friday morning, Sam was unavailable so I left a voicemail and doubled up with an email that I could be available to get together on Monday or Tuesday. Sam never responded. It was a long weekend.

I called again on Monday and had to leave another voicemail. I sent another email. Still no response.

In the meantime, the two teleconferences originally set for Monday that I had moved to Wednesday so I could be available for Monday or Tuesday were suddenly on the firing line. I tried Sam’s number to no avail three more times that day. At the end of the day Tuesday, Sam called to apologize for being very busy and wanted to meet on Wednesday.

I explained I had conference calls set up, and Sam then suggested connecting on Thursday. He had my check ready. I asked if he could put it in the mail so I could get started, and he said he needed to meet personally with me first to “go over a couple of minor points and sign off on the project.” 

One of the Tuesday conference calls (involving a dozen people) was last-minute rescheduled –you guessed it– to Thursday.

Sam, as it turns out, was “called out of town at the eleventh hour” on Thursday and didn’t bother to let me know until his email arrived two minutes after the rescheduled conference call that I was supposed to be in, was completed.

He sent me an email on Friday saying he promised he would be at my office first thing Monday. I took a deep exhale and shuffled my Monday schedule around so the morning would be clear.

Sam called at noon Monday to say he was sorry for not getting to me earlier, but assured me he would be stopping in later that afternoon, at 2pm. At 2:15pm, an email arrived announcing that the week had just become “too crazy” and would the following Monday afternoon be okay to meet. You know when you can feel the meltdown is on the way?

I politely told Sam to take a hike. I had to run double-speed to make up the lost time and attention to other clients and pay the overdue bills. This is of course all in addition to my churning stomach and missed sleep.

I know, I know, I did a lot of stupid things , but only because I start with trust, and expect people to keep their word. 

It’s happened before. It will no doubt happen again. I would never dream of being what I consider to be so “insolent,” so I have a hard time accepting that some people out there really don’t care about honoring their commitments.

“Promises are made to be broken” they might say. Well, I’ve learned the hard way to be more suspect of people who assure me of anything. It’s really not hard–especially these days– to communicate, unless a conscious choice is being made to confuse, confound, annoy, not deliver, take the high road, or pretend to be too busy to be concerned about other’s commitments. 

Show me. Don’t talk about it.

And when you miss the first shot and don’t call . . . don’t call! I’m not interested. Sam ruined it for both of us! Here it is: Demonstrate respect and follow through with what you assure others of, and you’ll never lose credibility, or business. And you stand to gain: a high-trust reputation. 

 # # # 

302.933.0116    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!

 “I read a blog today,

Oh Boy!”

[With thanks for the unconscious melody, to The Beatles]

Contrary to a blog post I just read, MOTIVATION does NOT come from inside you!

It is DESIRE that lodges itself deep within each human being (and of course most animals).

Motivation is an influence that’s exercised and exerted from the OUTSIDE.

It is what activates or triggers desire.

To say someone is “self-motivated” simply means that person is in touch with her or his desires, and that some external things or events (or other person or people has) have activated, stimulated, or triggered those desires, increased awareness of them, and brought them to the surface.

This little bit of wisdom is as important to marketing strategists, sales professionals, and online content writers and designers seeking to trigger emotional buying motives, as it is to business owners and managers.

• We’ve chatted here often about the practical motivational applications of Maslow’s Theory of Needs Hierarchy.

Decades later, it is still a constant and still the most valuable motivational tool for business and organization leaders.

It requires leaders to pay ongoing attention to what things most make themselves and those around them “tick,” and recognize that needs can change instantly. 

• Herzberg’s research adds yet another dimension of reality that we often assume that we know what other’s needs are, but are frequently wrong . . . and that financial and job enrichment rewards are important, but in motivating for true job satisfaction, gaining some sense of achievement is what really matters most.

Okay, now that we’re past all that textbook stuff, let’s take a closer look at leadership. Motivating and inspiring others to perform optimally is a primary challenge and responsibility.

Whether the prompts to action are directed toward problem solving or innovating (or producing innovative solutions), or selling (which may of course combine all of the above), there is an over-riding need to turn on the reality spotlight!

The point is if you are out there on the front lines of sales and/or management–and aim to be successful–you’re not likely to have the time or patience to mollycoddle (cool word, huh?) a bunch of theoretical approaches about how to do your job.

Theory talks. Reality walks.

Now, here’s the killer: if you don’t do the reality booster-shots hourly or daily, your leadership effectiveness stands to suffer big-time.

Remember those on-the-job moments when a boss expected you to be internally-motivated and told you to do something “by the book” that turned out to be dumb, wasteful, irrelevant, insensitive, or ineffective (maybe all?)? Just a small example.

What about the boss who got you excited about doing something that you always wanted to try or to learn, but thought you’d never get the chance? THAT is external motivation of your internal desire! Also just a small example.   

How can you reach inside those you are responsible for leading, to locate and push those magic buttons that ignite their rocket launchers?

One good answer: 

Igniting people’s individual rocket launchers requires full understanding that the strength of your role performance as a leader is determined by how well you can get to know your SELF and others’ individual selves.

Your ability to make great things happen depends on how effectively you size up other people’s qualifications, energy drives, interests, instincts, capabilities . . . and desires!

The more you can know yourself, the more easily you can know others. When you know what others want and need, you’ll know how, when and where to reward and challenge them most productively.

But keep it on your back burner that a personal crisis or even minor oversight on your part or on the part of any of those you lead, can change the dynamics of the relationship and the tasks at hand overnight or within the hour, even within the minute! And that can change what you need to do to help others make a difference. 

# # # 

www.TheWriterWorks.com

302.933.0116  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!

The quickest fix for

“Nuttin’s Happenin'”

. . . is to ACT NOW!

NOW, while we’re on the cusp of

The Great American Work Slowdown. 

Christmas is just a week from Saturday. Everyone (except for rambunctious entrepreneurs–there’s some other kind?) is moving more slowly at work. The rank and file are increasingly preoccupied with office and neighborhood parties.

Could this be true? Is it just my imagination? Are you grinning nervously at that thought or at what I might be tossing your way in the next couple of paragraphs? 

                                                                                                 

Well, if you’re in that “rambunctious” crowd I mentioned, you probably wait ’til the last minute to shop, hate to waste time making the festive rounds but find that a couple of stiff drinks help make those swashbuckling business status-climbers and oozy neighbors a little more tolerable . . . and it’s all good practice leading up to that big week of dysfunctional family gift-giving gatherings! 

Put your mouse down for a nap.

Get up from your desk or work station or laptop, and stop reading this blog (I trust you that you’ll come back). Now, DO SOME thing. ANY thing! It doesn’t matter what you do. What matters is that you do SOMEthing.

Take a walk around the block. Eat a cookie. Take a bathroom break. Turn the music on or up. Draw a picture. Get away from the monitor and keyboard and take some deep breaths. Shake your head like a wet dog. Clap or briskly rub your hands together. Take a slug of cold water.

Appreciate that by breaking your concentration, you are also breaking some element or accumulation of stress.

Don’t quit yet. Don’t rush back to the screen. Gently close your eyes and take ten seconds to massage your temples or the back of your neck (counter-clockwise stimulates more blood flow).

Pick up a pen or pencil (you DO still have one?) and a piece of scrap paper. Write or draw or diagram the first thing that comes into your mind . . . like a creative branding theme exercise! 

It absolutely doesn’t matter what you record (and no one but you will ever see it anyway).

Go ahead. I’ll wait. ………. Good!

Next, draw or write or diagram the first thought you have about something you can do at 9 o’clock tomorrow morning to pump up or booster-shot some part of your business into action right away.

Maybe it’s a new direction. Maybe it’s solving a nagging problem. Or it’s reviewing reports or articles you’ve been shoveling around, or checking websites you’ve been intending to visit, or having coffee with the new (or oldest) employee (or supplier/vendor/sales rep) and listening?

Perhaps you haven’t made enough time lately to initiate collection of customer feedback? 

No matter how small a step, just make it an ACTION step. SOME action always beats NO action! I hear from blog visitors all the time that success comes from having a bias to action. Do you? 

# # #

www.TheWriterWorks.com

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!