Many people make very good use of Facebook and other social media outlets. Everyone has ideas and everyone has good ideas. Social media provides and excellent opportunity to share.
It should not and will not take the place of interpersonal interaction. Instead, it is a part of it and supplemental to it. It is cool that people share photos and successes and milestones on FB. It think that it is great that ideas and news stories are shared on Twitter.
Of course, there are many negatives too and you know what those are if you are a regular social media user. I really hope that we can use this new technology to share good and useful ideas!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
The Walk series by Richard Paul Evans
If you never read anything from author Richard Paul Evans, you are really missing something. In my opinion, he is a truly inspirational writer.
He has recently published the third installment in the series about a character named Alan Christoferson who has some very tragic turns in his life and he decides to sell everything and walk across America from Seattle to Key West. It sounds like a fairly simple plot. In book three, he has made it roughly half way.
This is a strong recommend.
He has recently published the third installment in the series about a character named Alan Christoferson who has some very tragic turns in his life and he decides to sell everything and walk across America from Seattle to Key West. It sounds like a fairly simple plot. In book three, he has made it roughly half way.
This is a strong recommend.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Every day is a new opportunity
In the continuous self improvement process, what you did yesterday is important, but today matters. If you are on a continuous building and improving process, adding on to what you accomplished yesterday and the day before is important.
But, even if yesterday and the day before were not successful in your journey, you have a new opportunity today to get going. Every day is a new opportunity to continue, get on track, or get started. I also think that it is very important to include work on all aspects of your self improvement every day, including physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional.
As author and motivator, Brian Tracy suggests, reading at least 30 minutes per day in your field of improvement is essential to growth and success. This is a practice that takes some determination but it does pay dividends. Get some books that will help you to be the best version of yourself and devote at least that amount of time every day.
But, even if yesterday and the day before were not successful in your journey, you have a new opportunity today to get going. Every day is a new opportunity to continue, get on track, or get started. I also think that it is very important to include work on all aspects of your self improvement every day, including physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional.
As author and motivator, Brian Tracy suggests, reading at least 30 minutes per day in your field of improvement is essential to growth and success. This is a practice that takes some determination but it does pay dividends. Get some books that will help you to be the best version of yourself and devote at least that amount of time every day.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Being the best version of yourself ...
What does that really mean? What is a not so great version of what I could be? Those are very important questions to answer.
One thing that I have known for a long time is that you won't be the best version of yourself if you do not work at it every day. There probably is no standing still or maintaining your best self. Instead, being the best version of yourself requires continuous improvement.
That continuous improvement should probably take place in every aspect of your life including mental, physical, spiritual, social, and emotional. It is very likely that doing nothing to improve in these areas leads you to be less than the best version of yourself.
Defining where you want to improve, setting goals, and then going about acheiving them should get you most of the way if not all the way to the best version of yourself. There is no better time than now to get going.
One thing that I have known for a long time is that you won't be the best version of yourself if you do not work at it every day. There probably is no standing still or maintaining your best self. Instead, being the best version of yourself requires continuous improvement.
That continuous improvement should probably take place in every aspect of your life including mental, physical, spiritual, social, and emotional. It is very likely that doing nothing to improve in these areas leads you to be less than the best version of yourself.
Defining where you want to improve, setting goals, and then going about acheiving them should get you most of the way if not all the way to the best version of yourself. There is no better time than now to get going.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Magnetic Christianity - a strong recommend
I just finished reading the book Magnetic Christianity by Gus Lloyd. I really like listening to Gus on Sirius XM 129 in the mornings on the Catholic Channel. Now I have read his book.
The subtitle of the book is Using Your God-Given Gifts to Build the Kingdom and it outlines several attributes of what a magnetic Christian personality can be. The descriptions include attributes like honesty, friendliness, and enthusiasm and full chapters are used to fully explain what these attributes are about and to give examples.
Each chapter has at least one Magnetic Insight spotlight the indicates the key point given in the chapter. Also, rich scripture passages are interwoven into each chapter to tie the points being made to Holy Scripture. Each chapter ends with some reflection questions and a prayer.
I strongly recommend this book to everyone. No matter where you are with your faith journey, this book will help you.
The subtitle of the book is Using Your God-Given Gifts to Build the Kingdom and it outlines several attributes of what a magnetic Christian personality can be. The descriptions include attributes like honesty, friendliness, and enthusiasm and full chapters are used to fully explain what these attributes are about and to give examples.
Each chapter has at least one Magnetic Insight spotlight the indicates the key point given in the chapter. Also, rich scripture passages are interwoven into each chapter to tie the points being made to Holy Scripture. Each chapter ends with some reflection questions and a prayer.
I strongly recommend this book to everyone. No matter where you are with your faith journey, this book will help you.
Despite politics, despite the news ...
One of the best ways to deal with politics and news is to avoid them as much as possible. Throughout the years, I have had varying levels of confidence that I had things figured out. I have had what I thought was a clear understanding f what was going on in the national politica scene.
I am pretty sure that I do not. I continue to be puzzled by national politics. Despite the chaos that is national politics and despite all that we are told daily in the news, I have come to the conclusion that my best way of dealing with it is by not thinking very often or very much about national politics.
It would be better to spend that time being the best version of yourself that you could be.
I am pretty sure that I do not. I continue to be puzzled by national politics. Despite the chaos that is national politics and despite all that we are told daily in the news, I have come to the conclusion that my best way of dealing with it is by not thinking very often or very much about national politics.
It would be better to spend that time being the best version of yourself that you could be.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Your Relevance is Relative ... Your Witness is Absolute
You might think that you are the most or least significant person in your circles. You might think that someone else is the most or least important or relevant. No matter how important you think that you are, others may see you differently. No matter how relevant you think that you or someone else is, their relevance is relative.
Relevance changes over time also. As your skills and knowledge increase, your relevance increases within certain groups and circles. If you do not work to maintain your strengths, your relevance may actually decrease in other circles. You are aldo seend differently in different places and situations.
Consider this, a VIP is important and is relevant inside that group. On the outside of the company or organization, their relevance and importance is taken from another whole perspective. In other words, a VIP is very important within a certain circle. When he or she is at the movies or in the grocery store, they are seen as just another patron. They are still important but their relevance to others is relative to the situation.
You might be the leader of your family or head of your club. Outside of that, you are a face in the crowd. This is not to say that you are not important. Everyone is important. It's just that your relevance is relative.
On the other hand, your witness is absolute. What people see and witness of you is what they see. Your actions speak loudly and they influence other people. Therefore, be careful of how you act and speak because it does have an effect on other people.
You are what you do and say in the eyes of others. If you are constantly striving to be the best version of yourself that is possible, that infuence on others will most likely be positive.
Relevance changes over time also. As your skills and knowledge increase, your relevance increases within certain groups and circles. If you do not work to maintain your strengths, your relevance may actually decrease in other circles. You are aldo seend differently in different places and situations.
Consider this, a VIP is important and is relevant inside that group. On the outside of the company or organization, their relevance and importance is taken from another whole perspective. In other words, a VIP is very important within a certain circle. When he or she is at the movies or in the grocery store, they are seen as just another patron. They are still important but their relevance to others is relative to the situation.
You might be the leader of your family or head of your club. Outside of that, you are a face in the crowd. This is not to say that you are not important. Everyone is important. It's just that your relevance is relative.
On the other hand, your witness is absolute. What people see and witness of you is what they see. Your actions speak loudly and they influence other people. Therefore, be careful of how you act and speak because it does have an effect on other people.
You are what you do and say in the eyes of others. If you are constantly striving to be the best version of yourself that is possible, that infuence on others will most likely be positive.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Focus on your blessings ...
Everyone is blessed in many ways. Of course, there is the old saying, Count your blessings. I think that it is important to realized that 1) you are blessed in many ways, 2) it helps our personal well being to understand those blessings, and 3) share those blessings with others.
What do I mean by blessings? Well, perhaps you could look at blessings as strengths. What are you really good at? What makes you strong. In what ways has God blessed you? Those are your blessings.
Understand those things and use them for your benefit and for the good of others. That is a focus on blessings.
What do I mean by blessings? Well, perhaps you could look at blessings as strengths. What are you really good at? What makes you strong. In what ways has God blessed you? Those are your blessings.
Understand those things and use them for your benefit and for the good of others. That is a focus on blessings.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Be the first to make good ...
This may be a very difficult thing to do in any relationship, business or personal. Be the first to say I'm sorry. Be the first to make up in an argument or disagreement. If you do that most of the time, it seems to me that you win.
You don't win the argument but you do the winning thing. Actually, both parties win. If you delay making good or making up until the other person does, then neither party wins.
If a relationship is worth keeping, then be the first to save it. Of course, if the relationship is a harmful one theny there is no point to being the first to make good. You can still be the first to say I'm sorry though. This is all a part of working on your relationships. Focus on their strengths and manage their weaknesses. It works.
You don't win the argument but you do the winning thing. Actually, both parties win. If you delay making good or making up until the other person does, then neither party wins.
If a relationship is worth keeping, then be the first to save it. Of course, if the relationship is a harmful one theny there is no point to being the first to make good. You can still be the first to say I'm sorry though. This is all a part of working on your relationships. Focus on their strengths and manage their weaknesses. It works.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
More to selling ...
There is so much more to selling than being good at sales. It starts with having a great product or service. It continues with having an organization that supports the sales team.
If you have a great sales person who does the job of getting great orders, and then the product or service is late or does not meet the expectations of the buyer, the chances of getting repeat sales diminishes. Repeat sales are a huge part of good selling. If your sales reps are excellent at serving coustomers and generating business, but your company does not allow them to thrive in this aspect of the business, this is a problem.
Selling really starts with the product or service, continues through every aspect of the company, and is carried out by the sales representative. If your company does not have this system in place, dont't just blame the sales rep for failures or shortfalls.
If you have a great sales person who does the job of getting great orders, and then the product or service is late or does not meet the expectations of the buyer, the chances of getting repeat sales diminishes. Repeat sales are a huge part of good selling. If your sales reps are excellent at serving coustomers and generating business, but your company does not allow them to thrive in this aspect of the business, this is a problem.
Selling really starts with the product or service, continues through every aspect of the company, and is carried out by the sales representative. If your company does not have this system in place, dont't just blame the sales rep for failures or shortfalls.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Job Sustainability
When it comes to a job, your job perhaps, there is no absolute security really. Things could change at any company or organization that require a change in the job landscape. In such cases where change happens, there is not much an individual could do about that.
Having said that, there are things that you could do to sustain your job or career and they are rather simple policies that you could follow. They all center around respecting your job. If your job is what is funding your very living and lifestyle, then I would think that showing the greatest respect for your job should come naturally. But what does that mean?
Well, being very respectful of the requirements of the job is a starting point. Show up on time and stay until you are supposed to stay and do what you are required to do in between is a minimum. There is a lot more to it.
Here is a perspective that works. Think of how you would approach your job if you were a major stakeholder in the business and your very performance could determine the survival and success of the company. What would expect yourself to do if you were the owner of the business? You would probably be very judicious with your time and with your efforts to give your very best. Well, take that approach and see what happens.
Continuous learning about your field of specialty is also a key to success. Continue to look for ways to learn and grow in your profession. Read every day. Attend seminars. Converse with other people who have been successful in your same field. Make every day another step in your personal success and the success of your company. If you don't feel a need to make your company successful, then you should consider looking elsewhere.
There are ways to help to not only sustain but to grow your career and job. It does start with respecting the job and doing things to get better every day.
Having said that, there are things that you could do to sustain your job or career and they are rather simple policies that you could follow. They all center around respecting your job. If your job is what is funding your very living and lifestyle, then I would think that showing the greatest respect for your job should come naturally. But what does that mean?
Well, being very respectful of the requirements of the job is a starting point. Show up on time and stay until you are supposed to stay and do what you are required to do in between is a minimum. There is a lot more to it.
Here is a perspective that works. Think of how you would approach your job if you were a major stakeholder in the business and your very performance could determine the survival and success of the company. What would expect yourself to do if you were the owner of the business? You would probably be very judicious with your time and with your efforts to give your very best. Well, take that approach and see what happens.
Continuous learning about your field of specialty is also a key to success. Continue to look for ways to learn and grow in your profession. Read every day. Attend seminars. Converse with other people who have been successful in your same field. Make every day another step in your personal success and the success of your company. If you don't feel a need to make your company successful, then you should consider looking elsewhere.
There are ways to help to not only sustain but to grow your career and job. It does start with respecting the job and doing things to get better every day.
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