Archive for the 'Stress Management' Category

Mar 15 2011

Are You Doing Your BEST Today?

— ——WELCOME! ——–

 

Hal is taking off 3/16 through 3/22 inclusive to work on a new commissioned book he is writing (More news on this soon!) 

Be sure to plan to revisit here Tuesday 3/23 to check out Hal’s special post on a subject that impacts all small business leaders.

In the meantime: Help yourself to the Archives —> and enjoy Hal’s early 3/17 message with his best wishes for a

 

Happy St. Patricks Day!

 

 

What happens for you on this day every year? Do you get up and put on green clothes? Pig out on corned beef and cabbage? (This “traditional” meal is an Americanism, by the way. Like pizza not coming from Italy, the Irish eat spareribs and sauerkraut on St. Patrick’s Day!)

                                                                                                                           

     Maybe you eat green bagels (ah, many of these in New York, but positively not an Irish thing!) Can you even find a florist with any green carnations left? Do you get smashed on green beer and end up with a hangover on March 18th?

Or is today just a day like any other?

                                                              

     Y’know what? I think that if you think this day is just like any other, you have a problem needs fixin’ because what you’re really saying is that everyday is just like every other one, that nothing much changes and that nothing much is special, except maybe Fridays at 5pm and your birthday, right?

     Well, hopefully this isn’t you we’re talking about, but maybe you know someone who fits that description? And if you do, maybe wish her or him Happy Birthday more often!

     The secret of a prosperous business is to practice the secret of a prosperous life. The trouble is that practically no people get this until they achieve AARP status. The secret, after all, of a prosperous life only comes with the hindsight and wisdom of age and the kinds of genuine appreciation and gratefulness that only come from deep, deep inside.

     To me, it’s a lot like learning the positive and productive life changes that come from discovering the simplicity, value, consciousness and energy flow that come from deep breathing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Click this link for a free, 60-second, 4-step “how to” that can change your life. No sales pitch. No gimmicks. Just a valuable “how to” that you’re likely to wish you’d learned long ago!       

~~~~~~~~~~~~

     What can we do to come to realizations like this sooner in life? Maybe nothing. Maybe we just need to be grateful to have finally grabbed the brass ring (whoops! showing my merry-go-round age again!). and we should just take it and run!

     Well, breathing and running can get us nowhere if we’re living on a treadmill and afraid to step off. Breathing and running won’t take us where we want to go if we don’t believe in ourselves. and believe that we have the ability to get there, wherever “there” is for each of us.      

The point is that EVERY day –St. Patrick’s Day and the day after St. Patrick’s Day included– is a new opportunity to be the best that we can be, to do the best that we can do!

It’s a new opportunity to move another step closer to the “there” that we want to get to, the “difference” we want to make.

                                          

     Making your life happen the way that you want it to happen is 100% in your mind.

     It is your CHOICE! When you find your brain falling out, knees weakening, and upset feelings coming in, STOP! Take a deep breath, focus your mind on where you are and what you want and start going there.

     Dump the “upset” baggage and go forward. Make today and tomorrow and the next day, and the next, EACH the special day that you deserve to have. Choose it! Use it! STOP with the excuses! Do it!

                                                        

God Bless You and

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

EVERY DAY!

 

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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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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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“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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“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 10 2011

TIME OUT!

Juggling Seagulls?

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! 

  # # #

 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 02 2011

DEALING WITH INDIFFERENCE

Do You Hate

                               

What You Love?

                                                                                                                                                      

That’s not as surprising a thought as you might think.  On the spectrum of emotions, “Hate” and “Love” are not at opposite ends.  In act, they are remarkably close to one another.  At the extreme opposite end from both of these emotions is “Indifference.” 

When a child, or puppy, or employee seeks positive attention (praise, pats and pets, a bonus), and doesn’t get it, she or he or it will turn around and begin to start seeking negative attention, because even negative attention (a scolding, for example) is better than no attention . . . or indifference! 

 _________________________

Contrary to what many of us older-than-dirt types might believe, recent study findings show that today’s teenagers seek praise above all other things.

They would rather have praise than alcohol.

They would rather have praise than drugs.

They would rather have praise than sex.  

 _______________________________ 

See, and you thought all those upstart employee and puppy types were just masochists.  Nope, but it is true that those who get to a point of losing all hope for receiving attention of any variety stumble along the edges of depression, and can easily become prime prospects for illness, abandonment, homelessness, addiction, violence, even suicide. 

Okay, so indifference is the worst and arguably most destructive emotion?  And love and hate are like cousins or something?  Yeah. 

Well, don’t we sometimes love those we hate and hate those we love? 

How about the jobs we do?  The employees we work with?  Our clients, customers, patients, vendors, consultants, advisors?  Spouses?  Children?  Siblings?  Parents?  Students? Hey, let’s face it — it’s the stuff books and movies and TV shows are made of. 

But we seldom stop to think it through, right?  The point is EVERY one needs recognition, or “strokes” as the shrinks call it.  The challenge in motivating others is trying to figure out what kinds of strokes work best for each of them (See Maslow’s Theory of Hierarchy) at any given moment, and being willing and able to reward each individual in the way(s) that are most meaningful to that person. 

A trophy doesn’t mean much to someone who’s struggling to pay the rent.  A pay raise for a social worker isn’t as much of a motivational factor as a program grant that covers counseling resource expenses. 

Indifference (especially lack of recognition or appreciation) makes hateful people more hateful, and turns those who want to give or seek love headed in other directions.  So where does that leave us? 

Pack up your feelings of indifference toward others.  Stow them away with your ambivalence in a locked attic trunk.  Open, instead, your mind and your heart to accept the weaknesses of others as you would wish them to accept yours.  Watch what happens when you recognize and appreciate that others often say and do what they say and do because they seek your kindness, your pat on their head, your patience . . . your smile. 

That IS a great smile you have,

          by the way.  Pass it on!          

 

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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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Jan 25 2011

As we sow, so shall we reap.

Do the WAYS

                     

we do business

                                                                  

determine

                        

the results we get?

                                                         

ATTITUDES

Do you and your partners, associates, and advisers ALL demonstrate positive upbeat attitudes in practically everything you say and do? When it’s time to swallow hard, eat crow, and bite the bullet (heck of a name for a restaurant!), do you and those around you own up, face the music, take it on the chin, take some deep breaths, and then step forward, onward, and upward? 

Are high-trust responsive attitudes standard fare in all your business dealings? Do you practice and foster “OPEN MINDS OPEN DOORS” attitudes? Are you listening?

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Can you honestly say there are no exceptions ever to: the customer is always right, the customer is always right, the customer is always right? (Even when it’s a customer who has overstepped bounds, or someone you don’t particularly like?) Do you and your people try to make EVERY customer deliriously delighted. Are you invested in cultivating repeat sales with a present moment focus? Are you listening?

EMPLOYEES

Are you taking the time and trouble to get to know your people well enough to make the most of their strengths (or are you constantly trying to shore up their weaknesses)? Have you frequently matched employee need levels against Maslow’s Hierarchy (Google or Bing it if you’ve forgotten it) to most effectively motivate productive performances? Do you practice leadership by teaching by example? Are you listening?

INVESTORS, LENDERS, AND REFERRERS

Is your level of transparency what you would want it to be if you were investing in you, or referring others to your business? Are you keeping these key connections inside your inner loop? Are you tapping them as resources and regularly soliciting their input. Have you recruited them into unpaid Advisory Board positions? Are you listening?

VENDORS AND SUPPLIERS

Do you treat these resource people and companies like partners? Can you extend and generate better terms for exchanging and referring and bartering products and services? Do you keep them competitive with an ongoing bid process, and constantly review their performances while keeping open-minded to other options? Do they know where they stand with you? Are you listening?

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Are you running a U.S.Marine Drill Instructors Academy, or a hospice, or something in between? Is the way you run your business in keeping with the industry or profession you’re part of? Is it too much in keeping that it doesn’t stand out? Do your policies and procedures squelch innovative thinking and doing, or enhance it? How lawyer-crazed tight are your policy interpretations? 

EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING

Are you constantly making room for top talent, and cultivating it. Are you providing enough of the right kinds of training. Are you aware of how importantly regarded expanded opportunities and responsibilities are to most people? Did you know that young people are positively more attracted to being praised than they are to sex, drugs, and alcohol? 

COMMUNITY RELATIONS

Are you and your business being good citizens in the various (professional, industry, geographic, neighborhood)communities that patronize your business and support your existence?

GOD AND COUNTRY

When you put God and country first on your business agenda, all the other pieces will fit together because both God and your country will know about your allegiance, your commitment, and where your heart is. As we sow, so shall we reap. 

                                                      

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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! 

One response so far

Jan 18 2011

THE MUSIC OF BUSINESS

When what goes on day to day

                                             

brings to mind a certain

                                                                    

old song or two . . .

 

 

I know, I know, you’re not the first one to tell me I’m crazy. Just because I think of different business people and situations whenever I hear certain old tunes doesn’t mean I’m ready for that big nuthouse in the sky.

But it IS interesting to think about how parallel some favorite lyrics can run to the good and bad fortunes of your business. No, not “The Eve of Destruction.”

Consider, just as an example, the three plays in a row I heard recently on Sirius 33:

James Taylor:

“I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain…sunny days that I thought would never end…lonely times that I could not find a friend…” 

Bob Seger:

Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then…I’m older now, but still running against the wind…”

and Jackson Browne:

“Running on empty.”

                                                                                                            

All three of those sets of words have applied to my business and many clients’ businesses many times over the years. Some, in fact, hold varying amounts of truth today. (You think Jackson Browne had some premonition about gas prices?)

Then, how about that great old inspirational song from that great old group, AMERICA:

This is for all the lonely people, thinking that life has passed them by . . . don’t give up until you drink from the silver cup and ride that highway in the sky!” 

 

                                                        

Music, it seems to me –considering it in both a business context and the reality of life– has a funny way of opening up some of the wounds it heals and healing some of the wounds it opens. Does that make sense? You don’t have to be a shrink to see the truth of that. 

This observation is not limited to pop music, by the way. I think the dynamic of stirring up old emotions and creating new ones applies equally to classical music as it does to rap or jazz or any other style of creative musical expression.

Why else do we tap our feet and fingers, hum along, and sometimes just drift off into the mental or emotional space that music suggests?

                                                                 

Certainly, advertising jingle and commercial background music producers plus cinematic music specialists  know the heartstrings-tugging value of an oboe, a violin, or a wailing tenor sax, and how to make it play to trigger emotions.

These people are also acutely aware of the importance of maintaining some denomination of 80 beats per minute to best coincide with the average human heartbeat, and use that tool to help reach the unconscious mind through the ears and absorbed vibrations. 

Is there music in your workspace? Does it help or hinder productivity? Inspire creativity? Innovation? Is it the same music you listen to when you’re not on the job? (HA! Are you ever not on the job? Hey, YOU chose to be an entrepreneur.)

Anyway, dredge up some happy stuff (there actually is a little of it out there!) and sing away. That action alone is a terrific stress reducer, and we can’t have enough of that as we plunge onward into 2011.  

 

 

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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! 

One response so far

Jan 06 2011

Self-Motivation (Part 2 of 2)

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!

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Dec 21 2010

DEFRAGMENT YOURSELF!

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!

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