Daily Inspiration 11-30-12

"There is surely nothing quite so useless

as doing with great efficiency

what should not be done at all."

-- Peter Drucker 

This is one of my favorite quotes by the management guru of the 20th century, Peter Drucker. It is also one of those quotes that I think of periodically to encourage myself to divest myself of things I don't really need to do. Yet, I persist with things, holding on far longer than makes any sense to a normal person.

I like how Jack Canfield in The Success Principles says it: "Don't just delegate, eliminate!"

This is a concept I need to work on. . .

I Am Always In Control, So It Is Always Up To Me.

Spread Some Joy Today--You may have no idea how much a simple "thank you" can mean to someone who you don't think needs to be told. They do and they do. . .

Daily Inspiration 11-29-12

"Making good decisions

is a crucial skill

at every level."

-- Peter Drucker

Sometimes I just scratch my head in wonder at the responses that I get from some businesses (employees), and organizations. I had another one on the 27th.

 

I saw an email announcement from a book seller that I buy from sometimes. They have closeout copies at a bargain price and I love to give books away, so that allows me to give more away. Well, I wanted this one book by John C Maxwell and they had 56 copies of it and it was on sale for half their normal bargain price Black Friday through Cyber Monday. I got busy, time passed, and on Tuesday I sent them an email. I told them I wanted to take advantage of the sale and if they would honor it, I would buy the remaining 45 copies immediately.

The next day I get this response: "Thank you for your note. Unfortunately, once a promotional sale has ended, I am no longer able to apply it to any orders placed afterwards. I am very sorry for any inconvenience." When I see this, I call BS. What they mean is we choose not to do this for you. Phrases like, "can't" or "no longer able" is just plain crap.

I'm not upset. I don't need the books. It appears that they do. Yet I've been a customer for a number of years and you might think they would focus on that just a little bit. What's the big deal? It's not a big deal, rather, it is a great deal. They would sell 45 more books and do what they claim to do: closeout books. I won't say the name of the company, but it rhymes with bookclosouts.com. . .

Anyway, I think it's funny how people respond to common sense, and how they relish rules and tradition. This example is dinky and insignificant compared to so many I see that involve hundreds of thousands of dollars.

When it comes to these kinds of things, regardless of size, I just stand back and go hmmmmm. . . velly intellesting! 

 

Here's Hoping Your Business Dealings Make Better Sense.

Spread Some Joy Today--Take a nap! Don't ya just love naps? 

Daily Inspiration 11-28-12

"A really good laugh a day

keeps insanity away."

-- Albert K Strong

Ran across this hilarious bit today and felt that it was a perfect thing to share for your Wednesday morning. . . Thanks to my friend Tom Anderton. Enjoy!

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It's All In How We Look At It. . .

Spread Some Joy Today--Share some laughter and joy with others today.




Daily Inspiration 11-27-12

"To become enthusiastic,

act enthusiastically!"

-- Frank Bettger

In 1973, after starting in the automobile business as a salesman just the year before, I went to the local library looking for books on sales to learn the craft that seemed so unfamiliar to me. There sure wasn't much available, but I found a book written in the year I was born in 1949 by a guy named Frank Bettger with a strange title: How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success In Selling. Dale Carnegie of How To Win Friends and Influence People fame encouraged him to write it about his success in sales and then got him involved in another passion of Dale's, public speaking. So I checked the book out and read it. (Both of them.)

 

There is much to tell about this wonderful sales-oriented book, and of course, I highly recommend it. I've read it at least 10 times and bought and gave away a good number of copies of it. I still have many copies and a few signed ones too.

 

In Chapter 30, he hit home with me in the car business. It began, "The other day, I tried to figure up how many automobiles I have bought in my time. I was surprised to find that I had bought approximately thirty-three cars.

 

He goes on to say, "Now let me ask you a question: How many different salesmen would you guess sold me those thirty-three automobiles? Exactly thirty-three. Isn't that amazing? Not one of those salesmen ever once, to my knowledge, made an attempt to get in touch with me again."

 

He adds some power to this with this: "Is that unusual? Listen, I have asked more than fifteen thousand people in audiences all over the country if anyone ever had that same experience, and more than half of them promptly raised their hands."

 

This was a most powerful and memorable message for me to remember to follow up. Closing the sale is not the end of the transaction, but it certainly can be.

It's What Happens After The Sale That Often Makes All The Difference.

 

Spread Some Joy Today--It's amazing what a nice card with a simple message will achieve. . . today is a good day for it!

Daily Inspiration 11-26-12

"There's no such thing as too much gratitude.

Because the more of it you express,

the more reasons you'll be given to express it."

-- Mike Dooley, A.K.A., The Universe @ tut.com  

I laughed with joy when I saw this quote several days ago and I'm smiling still. It's funny now, but I used to think that it was not only possible to have too much gratitude, but that I would run out of it, change my thinking or something.

 

Many years ago (many), I studied TA or Transactional Analysis which was a brilliant way of seeing how our minds work and how to interact better with others as well as ourselves. In that, there was the talk of the warm fuzzies and the cold pricklies. Sometimes people would think that there was a shortage of warm fuzzies, so they would reach in their bag and give out cold pricklies instead so that they didn't run too low. But I never related that to gratitude as I do now. Very interesting.

 

Since I've become a grateful man, I find myself in gratitude so much of the day in thousands of ways with thousands of shades of feeling. It is amazing how a beautiful sky at certain times of the day can almost bring me to tears in how grateful I am to now actually see it when much of my life it was taken for granted.

 

As I've expanded that gratitude to include people in all their ways, life in all it manifests and circumstances as inevitable joy, I cannot see an end to it. That is fascinating. At one point I thought I might tire of being happy and grateful, but I find that I am renewed again and again as a good nights sleep is refreshing for our energy.

 

So, now I agree wholeheartedly that there is no such thing as too much gratitude.

Thanks Mike, For The Reminder And Lesson!

 

Spread Some Joy Today--Counting things you are grateful for is good for a beginner as training wheels are helpful for a bicycle beginner, but a time is very near when counting will not matter, and your joy will be like riding your bike down a steep hill with no hands! With no fear! That's what I'm talkin' about.

Daily Inspiration 11-25-12

"People don't believe what you tell them.

They rarely believe what you show them.

They often believe what their friends tell them.

They always believe what they tell themselves."

-- Seth Godin

Seth Godin Week

This week I will explore his marketing

and business wisdom

Read the quote above again, and consider it this way:

It demonstrates the value of networking. . .

It spells out the perfect strategy to close a sale. . .

Consider it well in your marketing. . .

It applies equally in business and life in general. . .

You can watch and see it in action by just observing.     

Truth Is In The Thought Of The Thinker.

Spread Some Joy Today--Smile as you walk around today. It will be amazing the looks that others will give you. It's as easy as appreciating whatever is in your path.

Daily Inspiration 11-24-12

"Yes, I think it's okay to abandon the big, established, stuck tribe." -- Seth Godin Seth Godin Week This week I will explore his marketing and business wisdom I watched a YouTube video from BigThink today and it was sad and almost depressing. The guy was talking about the high cost of college and the burden of student loans and the fact that after college these young adults have no jobs waiting for them and that it is a sad affair. It was a whole bunch of whining. Since when did a college degree ever guarantee a job? The sadder part to me is how important the "job" has become. I think what needs an overhaul in the country is the whole idea of how education is done. It doesn't work very well, and takes much longer than it need take. But, that's another story. . .   I've always believed that education was to teach us how to think. In learning how to think, we are creating options for ourselves. I'm not against getting or keeping or wanting jobs. I've had a number of them. I'm for having choices and creativity. We have this miraculous mind and we have it stuck in neutral sometimes.   I've given up more than one job that paid over a hundred thousand a year to pursue something that had no guarantee. I had the courage to think differently, to make choices that are uncommon, to ignore the expressed fear and anxiety of friends and relatives, and pursued my passion to try and do and create. I have zero regrets. Every choice for me was the better choice and the perfect thing to do, and has all been verified by hindsight.   A job is fine and good until you get to a place where you're stuck. I've felt that place and then I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to keep something I haven't really wanted anymore for some time. I need to be passionate about what I'm doing and when that is gone, I am too. Life is so short and I don't want to get to the end and wish I had done anything, but to have made choices and created at will.   College students (and any other ears that hear): Focus on creating and becoming rather than having. Don't settle. Think and make choices. Choose passion. Choose to live. Create your own employment and income. There is so much need that has yet to be met. You have all the power in your own head and heart. Thirty comes quick and forty far faster. Build your own platform under your dream. It's okay to abandon the big, established, stuck tribe.

Choose To Ignore The Status Quo. Or Not. . . Either Way, Put Your Thinking Cap On And Choose!     Spread Some Joy Today--by looking at your own. Is there enough joy in your life? If not, you can choose more at any time. It's also that easy.

Daily Inspiration 11-23-12

"It's never too late . . . to start heading in the right direction." -- Seth Godin    Seth Godin Week This week I will explore his marketing and business wisdom      I've heard people say, 'I'm too old to do facebook', or computers, or whatever. A more appropriate response, and a more honest one would have to be, 'I don't want to learn it. I would rather stay where I am.' Using phrases like, 'I'm too ____ to _____, I can't _______, There isn't enough time to _______, someday I want to ____________, there's never enough money to ______, I can't afford to __________, I don't have a ________, so I can't _______, is saying you are perfectly happy where you are and you don't want to bother. It's okay to be there. It can be frustrating though to say one thing and mean another, so try next time saying it the way it really is and the way you really want it. That might even change things for the better . . .

It Is Never Too Late To ______!   Spread Some Joy Today--Give an anonymous gift. No tax write-off, no receipt. Just for the joy of giving.

Daily Inspiration 11-22-12

"Believe that giving up is the same thing as being realistic. . . Reject the tyranny of picked. Pick yourself." -- Seth Godin    Seth Godin Week This week I will explore his marketing and business wisdom      [This piece was pulled from the archives in 1998 and seemed appropriate] Since I was just a kid, I've wanted to change the world. You too? Wow, I thought I could, then I tried and became very frustrated. Then I finally decided to just give it up and join the world. That didn't change anything and the frustrations didn't go away either. The frustration might have even expanded, because I knew that I had thrown in the towel. Finally in the past couple of years, I've been going through a change, and I think I'm finally seeing how to change the world. Call it a bit of wisdom, but the only way that I have seen to change the world is to change me. After all, the world is a huge challenge that would consume my life span easily. I've tried changing others-I've tried real hard-to no avail. There's only one thing left: me. Call it deductive reasoning, wisdom or enlightenment, but what else is left? I can only change me and how I think; how I respond; how I act and interact with others. In giving a short speech to a group of employees, I said that all of my life I have wanted to work for the perfect company where everything works well for every one. Where the boss cares about us and we care about each other. Where we encourage each other and help each other. Where it is satisfying and even fulfilling to be a part of a whole. I then said that the perfect company is wherever you are currently working because the perfect company starts with you. Until we each start treating each other with love, respect, dignity, the perfect company will continue to be an illusive dream. We must start and we must change, then the company will change. A company is a non-entity without people, so the people create the company. It is not what happens to us that matters, it is how we react to it that matters. At work this last week I reacted to a co-workers conclusion that another employee was sabotaging our efforts with an account. It was easy to agree with this conclusion because this person has been known to be less than helpful; however, after my reaction, I later found this supposition to be without merit. Indeed, I once again felt ashamed at my quick judgement based on rumor instead of fact. Once again, I get the learning opportunity of being humbled. Once again, I get the opportunity to choose a different reaction next time I'm offered a situation. If I am to continue on my journey of changing the world, I first must change me.

Accepting Responsibility For My Own Thinking And Actions Is Not A Burden, It Is Move Toward Power.   Spread Some Joy Today--Choose joy today. Give plentiful thanks. Start with speaking of it to yourself. Selfish joy is a wonderful things. Selfish gratitude is a life changer.

Daily Inspiration 11-21-12

"If you don't know how it works, find out. If you're not sure if it will work, try it. If it doesn't makes sense, play with it until it does. If it's not broken, break it. If it might not be true, find out." -- Seth Godin Seth Godin Week This week I will explore his marketing and business wisdom I think this quote speaks about the vast majority of my life. It seems that I've always learned things this way. I wanted to learn how to play guitar. I tried this and that and bought one thin book, and didn't even take a lesson until about 15 years later, and then only to learn figerstyle playing. I wanted to learn about songwriting, so I just jumped in and started messing around with it and then at one point created a songwriting class and taught it. I wanted to learn about music recording, so I jumped in and bought a little recorder and played around with it for hours. I bought better units and ended up with about 8,000 hours of recording experience and owned a recording studio. I wanted to learn how to sell, so I took a job selling. I wanted to learn how to be a sales manager and it became me. As I look back, having just read this quote, it is funny how without any formal training, classes or tutoring, I was able to do these things and even excel at one or two. I never really thought about it this way before, but I think I just like figuring things out. My latest gig is Internet marketing and what I've learned would fill a few books. Again, I created a business doing it with only an idea and desire and almost no knowledge. Now I can teach it, and we do. Some people are really stuck on the institutional idea of learning. They want to go to a class to learn how to do something before they are willing to do it. I never had that much patience. Some people even think you have to have a degree in something to make it real and valuable and important. It's not an idea that ever caught my attention. Having someone else give me a piece of paper that says I'm now qualified never appealed to me. Although, had I the parents with the money for me to go off to college for a bunch of years might have been interesting, but for the learning?. . . it's not necessary. I really like what has become the Nike slogan: Just Do It!

Works For Me! And, A Few Others I Know. . . Spread Some Joy Today--Realizing that everything is a choice is a very powerful place to arrive at. Realizing this, choose joy. Others will follow.

Daily Inspiration 11-20-12

"Change isn't made by asking permission. Change is made by asking forgiveness, later." -- Seth Godin Seth Godin Week This week I will explore his marketing and business wisdom A willingness to make a decision on our own is admirable and praiseworthy when it works well, and when it doesn't well. . . blame is the name of the game for so many and who doesn't love to blame someone who obviously didn't follow protocall, and went off on their own, away from the norm, and away from safety. In the typical world that we see around us, very few are willing to go out on the limb of initiative. It is a lonely place to be.   In fact, the list of those initiators is worthy of note, just so we can keep the record straight. You see it is the ego, or the lizard brain as Seth Godin makes it out to be that keeps us in conformity. But, back to the list. . .   Let's see. . . Seth Godin, Abraham Lincoln, Harvey Firestone, Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, Franklin D Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Mark Twain, Harry S Truman, Walt Disney, Walter Chrysler, Abraham Maslow, Albert Einstein, Albert Schweitzer, Winston Churchill, Anthony Robbins, Paul McCartney, Mother Teresa, Napoleon Hill, James Cash Penney, George Bernard Shaw, Jack London, Leo Buscaglia, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Mahatma Gandhi, Harland Sanders, Henry David Thoreau, Jimmy Carter, John Wooden, Booker T Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Esther & Jerry Hicks, Carl Sewell, Charles A Lindbergh, R Buckminster Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, just to name a very few.   Seems like wonderful company to me. I'm in!

Go Ahead! Get Some Practice In. It Will Only Get Better.     Spread Some Joy Today--How often do you say Thank You! each day? It's an easy way to bring joy to others, and you get an extra dose for yourself.

Daily Inspiration 11-19-12

"Crash diets don't work. They don't work for losing weight, they don't work for making sales quota and they don't work for getting and keeping a job. The reason they don't work has nothing to do with what's on the list of things to be done (or consumed). No, the reason they don't work is that they don't change habits, and habits are where our lives and careers and bodies are made." -- Seth Godin    Seth Godin Week This week I will explore his marketing and business wisdom    Many of us have a love-hate relationship with habits. We've been told that there are good habits and bad habits. It also seems that the bad habits are way more fun--or, at least that is the way it is portrayed on the TV. Heck, it is the fodder for hundreds of fix it, psychological, and emotionally-oriented shows with millions of viewers every day of the year. In that, it seems that we can not get enough of bad habits and the decisions that make them function. Then the good habits are the virtues that so many of us want and dream of and follow guru's for and can't quite seem to get to fully. It's those dang bad habits that are always coming back to life to interfere with my progress. . . It's like the want and need dilemma where we need something but don't really want it. This is helpful for the bad habits to keep returning. However, when we want something and it doesn't really matter that we need it, we find a reserve of power within ourselves to find a way and this creates good or better habits to help fulfill the desire. I guess you could say that if you wanted it bad enough, you would get it. Conversely, when we don't care that much even though our need is real, complacency rules. Making sales quota and losing weight are something we might want so quickly and maybe even in big chunks, and the reality is that it is the little bites every day, every meal, that become habitual and cannot be denied success.

I'm Changing My World One Thought, One Action, And One Habit At A Time.   Spread Some Joy Today--Look around. Is there something you don't use or need anymore that you can give to someone that will benefit them. Don't sell it, give it.

Daily Inspiration 11-18-12

"The end of should.   Banks should close at 4,  books should be 200 pages long, CEOs should go to college,  blogs should have comments. . . Find your should and make it go away." -- Seth Godin    Seth Godin Week This week I will explore his marketing and business wisdom    Should. It is a far too powerful word. It is also the major cause of another all too powerful word: frustration. We're only frustrated because we think a thing or experience should be one way, but it is not, hence, the frustration. I think that many, if not most of us use the word should internally far more than externally. In other words, we should ourselves by saying to ourselves, or intimating it that we should do something, we should have done something, and often those do not come to pass as planned, and then we become frustrated with ourselves. Seth suggests in the quote above that we create the end of should by making our own shoulds go away. The best way I know to do that is to allow things to be the way they are without any insistence that they be something they are not. This requires letting go of your rules. There are no rules. There just is what is. Let it be. If you want something else, then make it happen on your own, but don't expect things to be a certain way from others. You might even find as I have the gentle peace that comes from not having to be in charge all the time. I gave up the throne. Now I only direct myself, but without the should word. Well. . . it's a hard thing to completely let go of, but I'm very close.

I Let The World Make Any Decision It Wants. It Will Go On Nicely Without My Advice.   Spread Some Joy Today--You should spread some joy today. . . just kidding. . . you may choose to go forth and be joyous. . . or not as you choose.

Daily Inspiration 11-17-12

"Change always comes bearing gifts

 

-- Price Pritchett

I love it when people say something so smart and so deep and profound and only use a few words to express it, as in the case above with Price Pritchett where he uses only five words.

His quote instantly made me consider quite a number of changes in my own life and that of the world around me as I have seen it, and in just a matter of a moment, I was completely agreeing with him. Of all the scenarios that I can think of, change has always come bearing gifts, and it didn't matter how good or how bad I thought it was at the time. As soon as I could get to a place where I might look down on the change from a larger point of view, it not only came bearing gifts, but came in perfection.

It seems to be only ourselves that prevent us from seeing this by holding on to something in the past. Think of that as if we were chaining ourselves to a post. We just can't get away from it. It becomes such a part of us holding ourselves from moving on, growing, and experiencing the new.

Some even fear change so much, yet it could be something to get truly excited about once we realize as the quote indicates, that change always comes bearing gifts.    

 

Maybe It's Time To Embrace And Accept The Gifts!   Spread Some Joy Today--Give the gift of your own joy. There are plenty who want and need it. You are the perfect person to give that gift to them.

Daily Inspiration 11-16-12

"Study the art of taking a lemon and making lemonade." -- Albert K Strong        In my business we are exposed to a wide variety of small and medium sized businesses. I have found a number of business owners and managers who are stuck in a thinking pattern that has them constantly looking at problems with little or no hope of successfully overcoming them. The reason there isn't much hope is that the problems are "industry-wide," or it is the local, city, regional, state, or national economy, and more. All of these are much larger than the business owner, so the odds are overwhelming. This makes for a good excuse that almost everyone will accept as real, or reality. After all, what's a small business to do in the face of such odds? I said almost everyone, because I don't accept it as real, or even seriously legitimate. I say, there's always a way. And there is if people are willing to step outside of their own thinking and situation for a short spell and take a look from a refreshed and different perspective. I'll quote a piece from John Mayer's famous song: "Now we see everything that's going wrong with the world and those who lead it. We just feel like we don't have the means to rise above and beat it, so we keep waiting. . . waiting on the world to change." Of course, all you have to wait is a nanosecond and it is changed. The reality is that it is constantly changing, but somehow we want to stand still and have the world change for us. Getting outside your routine for a bit and looking in on your business instead of being inside looking out is a requirement to see things differently. There is such an advantage to this. Hiring a consultant to do this for you can be even more beneficial. Fresh eyes and attitude can make a world of difference. It surprises me how many people I find in business who are negative about their business and/or industry. It surprises me that they stay in business. I'm asking why? If it is that bad, why do you remain? Only you can choose. But, I do get it. We are around a thing long enough and some things rub off and become part of who we are at the moment. So, here's the deal: Wake up! Get a new perspective. See if there is a better way, a more profitable way, get some excitement going again. This may require jumping out of your routine, hiring someone from the outside, going off to a retreat with your team as examples. Whatever it is, get into it and on with it! Life is way too short to not like what you're doing, or who you've become. Shut off the outside negative influences such as the news, newspapers, talk radio and such. Avoid those negative friends for a while. Get a new lease on your life and your business and watch what happens!

I Predict You Will Be AMAZED At The Possibilities!   Spread Some Joy Today--Be bold enough to be a friend. Lead by example.

Daily Inspiration 11-15-12

"Selling is not manipulating; selling is harmonizing." -- Jeffrey Gitomer       I heard it again today in a meeting of sales people. Someone mentioned an opening line to get past the "gate keeper" in a business, and it was just made up and bogus. Right. So, let's start this great long-term business relationship with lies. . . Sorry, it doesn't make any sense to me. I cannot be that desperate to find someone to talk to! The quote above says it well: "Selling is not manipulating; Selling is harmonizing!" So many sales people I think are focused on the former and not the latter and that means that they are focused on themselves and not the potential client. It's all about getting in, get the deal, get out and collect the commission to some. Jeffrey Gitomer says, "questions lead to answers. Answers lead to harmony. Answers lead to productivity. Answers lead to customers." Before we would ever have an opportunity to earn another person's business, we must find out if they even want anything! The best way to do that is with questions. I think sales people need to think more about how they would feel with these kinds of "tactics." Would it be okay for someone to lie their way in? Or, how about cold calling your business and trying to manipulate the conversation to get information? Or trying to sell you anything without taking the time to get to know you, your business and your needs?

All Is NOT Good In Love And War, Or Sales. . .     Spread Some Joy Today--Listen!

Daily Inspiration 11-14-12

"If you want to feel valuable, add value to others." -- John C Maxwell       In The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth by John C Maxwell, law number three is the Law of the Mirror: You Must See Value in Yourself to Add Value to Yourself. It's all about self-esteem, believing in ourselves, loving ourselves, and many of us have a problem with that. I know I used to. I love this law and the way John deals with it, and I especially honed in on the quote above. John asked immediately following the quote above, "How much time every day and every week do you spend focusing on others and adding value to them? Do you service others through a volunteer organization? Do you mentor people? Do you give assistance to others less fortunate than yourself?" All good questions, yet I find that they might give the wrong impression. Counting the time each week sounds like a huge commitment to a long-term project that may very well become an expected, repeating endeavor that can be taxing and burdensome. Of course, it is always nice to serve others through a volunteer organization. Again, some may consider these troublesome. And, we probably all give assistance to others less fortunate than ourselves, though probably not as often as we should. And that word should is the rub. This way of giving to others, helping others, volunteering for others creates more problems than it solves. I get it. He says to serve others, to create value for others and to others in order that we may be more, and he even says we should do more and even give a tenth of our time and energy to serving others. What a burden it can all be. . . Though I don't care for the way he spells this out at the end of this chapter, I do agree that by adding value to others, that we have to add value to ourselves. This can be done in so many ways and there are no right ways and wrong ways. But, here's the real key: it has to come from the heart. It cannot be something we should do or something we do expecting a return. It has to be freely given with zero expectation of any result period, except that we think it could be of service to another. I attend business networking events and I love to help others in any way that I can that is "on my path." That might be knowing more about their business so I can send them some prospects. It might be encouragement to write a book, or play an instrument or enjoy their day with joy. It also may be more profound than this, but in any case, it comes from the heart and without any attachments whatsoever. It is not a trade. The feeling that I get from doing it is sufficient for me. I feel that I am lining up with the best of myself in doing such. You don't have to go very far "off your track," or away from your strengths, or what you enjoy and love in order to be of service and add value to others. It isn't an amount, or even a how-to, it is just a simple and beneficial way of sharing love.

What Could Be Better Than That? It's The Best!   Spread Some Joy Today--Love, love, love. . .  Love, love, love. . . it's easy! All you need is love, do-to-do-ta-do. . .

Daily Inspiration 11-13-12

"No one improves by accident. Personal growth doesn't just happen on its own. And once you're done with formal education, you must take complete ownership of the growth process, because nobody else will do it for you." -- John C Maxwell       No one improves by accident and personal growth doesn't just happen on its own. How true. I've studied quite a number of famous and not so famous successful people and in every case they have taken 100% control of their learning and personal growth. When I was a child and read and heard about Abraham Lincoln and how he sought out and devoured every book he could get his hands on in a time when finding books was a serious challenge. He would be so astonished at the availability of learning materials today that are available to most people on the planet. In grade school I was so excited about learning, and then in junior high and high school, I was much more interested in fitting in, or trying to. My real education didn't take off until it was no longer required. I was out of school, out of the Air Force and at age 22 ready to make my way in the business world. My learning skyrocketed then, and has never stopped. Though I did not graduate from college, in my Linked-in profile, I state this as my education: Masters, Philosophy, Sales Management, at University of Self-Education Studies. I am proud to go to that University where the students never graduate. Instead, they are lifelong students. I have grown on purpose because I want to know, and I want to understand so much. I want that for me. For you, it might be something else entirely. It's all good. We each have our own way to dealing with the idea of learning and personal growth. I grew up around people who gave up learning and growing and instead focused on drama. I could not wait to escape the gravitational pull of that and get myself into a different space. Timing may be an issue too. There were many dry spots in my own personal growth where I found myself feeling the friction of the atmosphere surrounding me, but I awakened from that pattern a grateful man, reminded once again, that I am in charge of my own growth by my own choice and desire.

'No Wind Favors Him Who Has No Destined Port." -- Michel de Montaigne    Spread Some Joy Today--Wherever you are and whatever you do, the only thing that really matters is that you are enjoying yourself. Learning, loving, sharing, working, growing. The joy that you get when you are excited about life and living is the most powerful attractive quality you could possess.

Daily Inspiration 11-12-12

"Few things prompt a person to follow through like accountability. One of the ways you can do that is to make your goals public." -- John C Maxwell       In my continuing personal observations of John C Maxwell's new book, The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, I saw this quote above in the chapter on the second law, the Law of Awareness. Have you ever seen this or a similar message somewhere, or been told that this is a good strategy? I've seen it many times and it has never really worked for me. The idea is that others will help keep you on track of what you say you want to do. And, they might for a while, but generally not for long. In fact, at least in my experience, that this strategy was harder on me than failing to follow through. I really didn't need the additional pressure and it was a negative. My philosophy based on my own successful follow through is that it just has to be between me and me. It has to rise to the level that it doesn't matter at all what anyone else thinks about what I'm going to or committed to doing. It only matters that I do it for myself. I don't need a support group or any other crutch or pressure, what I need is to see myself where I want to be and to become it but moving into that picture. If I decide to lose 20 lbs., I need not announce that to the world, but to see myself 20 lbs. lighter and how that feels and how I look and then become it by moving into that picture. It must be for my reasons, for me alone so the change will become entirely personal. If I'm going to write a book, having a cheering section, or a progress oversight committee, is counterproductive. I just need to do it. The important things I actually succeed at doing, others found out about long after it was up and running.

Knowing What I Want Is A Good Motivator, Deciding To Act Is A Helpful Second Step, But Knowing WHY And That Being Important To Me Creates The Discipline To Do It.   Spread Some Joy Today--What action can you do today in gratitude?

Daily Inspiration 11-11-12

"You will never change your life until you change something you do daily." -- John C Maxwell       In yesterday's Daily Inspiration, I shared a link to a webcast and some thoughts I gained from it by John C Maxwell centered on his newest book, The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth. Since I find that I was so profoundly moved by the incredibly powerful and yet simple messages, I decided to share a little bit each day about this for a while. Frankly, I'm finding some answers that I've been ignoring for a long time. Maybe some of you are like me in that something sparks a thought and another and another and you start getting excited about where those thoughts are leading you. In the webcast, John spent a good amount of time on the Law of Consistency. I absolutely loved the simple ideas he shared about how he has been able to write 74 books. Bringing what he said to the simplest concept, it is this: He is passionate about what he does because he loves what he does and more importantly, he knows why he does it. He also knows that what he does is something much, much larger than himself. In other words, he serves a larger purpose than making a living, writing a book, etc. The first part of that is his motivation, but in order to actually get it done, or turn it into an accomplishment, requires discipline matched to the motivation. Discipline is a scary word to most people because it sounds an awful lot like drudgery, work, lots of effort, late nights and other such ideas. However, he says the truth is that he just does it every day. 'Every day? What does that mean?' people would ask him. His answer, 'it means, every day.' Of course, they're looking for a different answer because to them every day seems like a burden. . . surely he must mean 5 days a week, or every day for just a month or two or something. 'No,' he would say, 'every day means every day.' 'Even on Christmas?' they would add. 'Yes,' he says, 'every day.' So, how does he have 74 books published? He writes every day. 'Now,' he says, 'I might only write 10 minutes today, 6 hours tomorrow, I have no set amount, but only to write every day.' It is the consistency of his actions that add up to the accumulation of the results. John asks, "what are you willing to change doing today in order to change what you will be doing tomorrow?" It's a great question to consider and answer. He adds, "in the end, hard work is really the accumulation of easy things you didn't do when you should have." I've known that consistent efforts are a key to better results, but have I applied that in my life? Rarely. It is now obvious to me why I have what I have. However, in recent years, I have endeavored to find things that I love to do and have a good reason why which helps me do some things consistently. This CTS Daily Inspiration began in summer 2009 and every single day since I have practiced writing and thinking and sharing. Believe me, there have been many days when I didn't feel like it. But, I love what I am doing, have a strong larger than me purpose and that strong motivation encourages me to actually then be consistent by following through and doing it anyway.

The Results To Me Are Worth Any Of My Efforts. It Is Also Interesting How The Accumulation Factor Works.   Spread Some Joy Today--Beating yourself up, or 'shoulding' yourself is not joyous or helpful. Start by loving yourself first. Count your blessings that you already have. Now go do some things you want to do from that much stronger foundation! Whatever your choice, you are perfect the way you are to begin with.