Eight Tips on Giving Presentations Like a Pro by Shawn Doyle

I am a professional speaker, and I get many chances as I travel around the country to see other people give presentations. When I see professional speakers give presentations, they’re always very well done and professional. Of course these presentations should be great because they are delivered by professional speakers. Sadly, in most cases, I see exactly the opposite with others—terrible presentations that are boring, dull, dry, and go on way too long. You know what I’m talking about because you have seen it. 

I believe that in order to be a successful leader and a successful entrepreneur, you have to become skilled at giving presentations like a pro. Here are eight tips on how to give presentations like a pro. 

1. Pros properly prepare. You’re probably thinking that preparation means having your presentation deck in order and having your handouts organized, but that is not what I mean at all. What I mean by proper preparation is doing a careful audience analysis to know to whom it is you’re speaking and what they are expecting or needing from the presentation. Take time to talk to the person who has asked you to give a presentation to do a full and complete audience analysis to determine who will be in the room. Obviously, the presentation for a room full of CEOs will be different than a presentation for a group of front-line workers. 

2. Start with a bang, not a whimper. I have seen many presenters who start out their presentation by giving their name and the title of the program and then say, “Let’s get started.” I promise you if you start out the presentation with a boring beginning, you will lose the audience before you even get started. We live in an era of high entertainment, and when we sit people in a room to watch a presentation we need to start our presentation with a bang. You can start with a compelling quote, you can start with a great story, you can start with a stunning statistic, or you can ask the audience a very provocative question. The key is to get their attention. Then you can introduce yourself and your topic. Use these tools to close out your presentation with a bang as well because people do remember the beginning and the end of everything. 

3. The space is part of the presentation. In many instances, I have seen the space become a barrier to the presentation’s effectiveness. Either the room is too crowded or was set up the wrong way, or the speaker was tied to the podium because that was the only place a microphone was available. Make sure to check out in advance the space in which you’re going to be presenting to see what limitations and possibilities it offers. Additionally, arrive early the day of your presentation so that you can solve any room or space problems that exist before your presentation starts. 

4. Please get rid of the PowerPoint slides. It seems to me that everyone giving presentations these days is in love with PowerPoint. To me, there are several issues with PowerPoint—the main one being that PowerPoint quickly becomes an anesthetic because people are staring at a screen, and often people will dim the lights so the PowerPoint can be seen more clearly (an invitation for everyone to take a nap). I personally believe you’d be much better off with a couple-page handout than you would hypnotizing people with PowerPoint. I also think most people, when they give presentations, have way too many slides. This is, in my opinion, just a disaster. Lastly, most people seem to believe that their PowerPoint is their presentation, when the reality is the PowerPoint is supposed to be a supplement to illustrate key points of the presentation. Most people do not use PowerPoint in this way; they actually use it as a script for the presentation, and they read from the screen. This makes people want to run screaming from the room. 

5. Make it a conversation, not a presentation. When you’re designing a presentation, you should have a couple of moments designated for interacting with the audience. This makes the presentation much more useful and interesting for the audience, and they have a chance to provide feedback and ask questions and actually talk to you like a human being instead of a presentation robot. 

6. Use stories. Great presenters tell stories that captivate the attention of the audience. But here’s something I don’t want you to miss: the stories are not just stories to tell for the sake of it; they illustrate the key points that the speaker is discussing. This makes the presentation much more memorable. 

7. Get some coaching. Every professional speaker with whom I’ve ever spoken has told me that they used a professional coach at some point to help them with their presentation skills. Join Toastmasters to learn better presentation skills, determine if your company offers training for presentation skills, attend a presentation skills class somewhere in your community, or use a private coach to help you polish your skills. I guarantee you if you do that you’ll get it amazingly better results just by having someone give you feedback in an objective way on what you do well and what you need to improve. 

8. Evaluate. Each time you give a presentation, ask a trusted colleague to observe your presentation and give you feedback or, if that is not possible, at least sit down after every presentation and review what you believe went well and what could be improved. This will ensure that you continue to improve, and you will be one step closer to being a presentation pro! 

For more business and personal development insight from Shawn Doyle, check out his titles from Sound Wisdom, including his Jumpstart Series, The Sun Still Rises, The Leadership Manifesto, and Two Months to Motivation. 

The Art of Presentation by Jim Stovall

Every great professional understands the difference between information and presentation. We all live in the information age and regularly deal with the advantages and the challenges that it offers us. If you only want to deliver information, a memo, e-mail, or even a text may suffice, but if you want to deliver emotion, attitudes, and impact, you need to employ the art of presentation.  

I am very proud, along with my esteemed coauthor Dr. Raymond Hull, of our book The Art of Presentation. As a professional speaker for more than a quarter of a century, I’ve come to realize that corporations and associations regularly pay me a considerable amount of money to deliver a small fraction of the material that is contained in just one of my 30-plus books. Obviously, they want more than mere facts or simple information. They want impact, emotion, and a memorable catalyst for change.  

If we were to take William Shakespeare’s masterpiece, Romeo and Juliet, and reduce it to information, it might look something like “boy meets girl, their families disagree, tragedy ensues.” The difference between this terse phrase and Mr. Shakespeare’s enduring work of art is the difference between information and presentation.  

I’ve had the privilege of having six of my books turned into major motion pictures with several others in production at this writing. The difference between simple words on a page and emotion impactfully exploding on the silver screen illustrates the contrast between information and presentation; however, great writers—like great professionals—can turn their information into an unforgettable presentation. 

Simple phrases such as “Go ahead, make my day,” “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore,” “Here’s lookin’ at you, kid,” or “May the Force be with you,” are not just communicating information. They are indelibly etched into the fabric of our society. One powerfully presented idea or concept can be a transformational experience in a person’s career or their life.  

As a young man, my only ambition in life was to be an All-American football player and then make my living playing in the NFL. The coaches and scouts who evaluate players assured me that I had the size, speed, and talent to make my dreams a reality. Then, one year during a routine physical in preparation to play another season of football, I was diagnosed with the condition that would cause me to lose my sight. My dreams were shattered, and I did, indeed, completely lose my sight by age 29.  

Many things contributed to my rehabilitation and the life I know today, but if I were to pick one transformational, fork-in-the-road turning point, it would have been listening to an audiotape of the bestselling author Dr. Denis Waitley. I wasn’t worried about making a living or living a normal life; I was simply wondering if I could ever get out of my little 9- by 12-foot room and walk the 50 feet to my mailbox. I sat for many days simply contemplating the overwhelming prospect of traversing those 50 feet down my driveway to the mailbox at the curb. As a totally blind person with no skills, it seemed impossible, but on that tape, Dr. Waitley offered more than information. He delivered a powerful presentation of the phrase “If you think you can, you can.” 

This may seem overly simplistic as all great truths do, but when powerful ideas come to life in transformational presentations, they change people who can, in turn, change the world. If we are to create these powerful presentations, we must, as my late, great friend and colleague Stephen Covey told us, “Begin with the end in mind.” 

If you know the emotion, attitudes, or change you want to come from any presentation, you can make it a reality.  

Today’s the day! 

This and other motivational pieces by bestselling author Jim Stovall can be found in his latest collection of columns, Wisdom for Winners Volume Four, an official publication of the Napoleon Hill Foundation. Be sure to check out Jim Stovall and Raymond Hull’s The Art of Presentation, a must-read for anyone wanting to cultivate their public speaking abilities. 

Tips for Organizing Your Freelance Projects by Jennifer Janechek

Successful freelancers often juggle multiple clients and projects simultaneously. Without an effective organizational system, freelancers risk falling behind on work, missing deadlines, and working at less-than-desirable times to compensate for poor planning. Below are some tips inspired by chapter 6 of Rachael Doyle’s Organize Your Business—Organize Your Life (2017) to help you better manage your freelance projects. 

1. Project plan for maximum effectiveness. 

Answer the following questions: 

• What are the objectives and goals of this project? 

• What is the deadline? 

• What is the priority level? Should this take precedence over other projects I currently have, either because of the client, the due date, or the client’s explicit directions? 

• Do I have a budget (or an expected maximum numbers of hours the project should take, as specified on a purchase order)? 

• What are the components of the project? Write a list of steps that must be executed to complete the project. Consider using a free project management software like Trello or some sort of visualization tool like a flowchart, a mind map, a Gantt chart, etc. 

2. Schedule work time in blocks. 

Ask yourself: “How many hours do I need to work each day to complete this project on time?” Then schedule your work time in blocks on your calendar. Consider using an hourly agenda, an electronic calendar, or a whiteboard with Post-it notes that are color coded for each client or project. That way, you’ll make sure to dedicate enough time to each project every day so that you complete your projects on or before their deadlines. 

Make sure to check in with yourself about the status of each active project at the beginning of every work day. 

3. Determine how you will store all the information about your project. 

Will you create a project folder on your computer’s desktop so that all associated files can be easily accessed? Or will you have a folder for each client on your desktop and then individual project files within those larger folders? Alternatively, do you want to avoid clutter on your desktop and place project folders in your “Documents” section? 

4. Use a time-tracking software. 

Toggl is one great (and free) option. You can assign projects to specific clients, use a stopwatch to track your exact work time on each project, and then produce a report that charts the amount of time you dedicated to that particular assignment. This is particularly helpful if you are switching between tasks throughout the day and want to make sure you’re noting the time spent on each. 

5. Organize your finances. 

Give your invoices file names that enable them to be easily located and that cause them to be arranged in a logical order (e.g., by client name and date submitted) on your computer’s hard drive. Consider also printing your invoices and storing them in a physical filing system organized by client for quick reference. You might also create a spreadsheet with individual pages for each client that documents the dates of invoices, project title (if limited to a specific project), amount billed, date received, and amount received. This will greatly help when it comes time to estimate quarterly or yearly taxes. 

For more helpful tips on project management and organizational strategies, pick up a copy of Rachael Doyle’s Organize Your Business—Organize Your Life, available at Amazon and other retailers worldwide. 

Side Hustle Is the New Normal by Simon T. Bailey

All employees need to reconfigure their mindset to see themselves as self-employed employees. Corporations love talent, but they are no longer committed to keeping employees on the payroll for the sake of the good of the company. They’re now looking at how they can shave costs or increase their margins to grow a healthy bottom line. If that something means hiring the best talent that is available at the best time, for whatever length of time, they will do it. 

Companies are looking at everything they spend to drive revenue, and labor is one of the No. 1 expenses. With that in mind, employees have to begin to say: “If I’m going to thrive long term, I need to have a side hustle.” 

So the question becomes, how does one identify a side hustle? 

1. Ensure it does not conflict with the product or services being offered by your company. You should not be working for a company that directly takes away business from your existing 9-to-5 job. Number one, it’s not good business and is ethically questionable, and number two, if your company finds out about it, your full-time gig will be in danger. \

2. Think of ways to leverage your talent outside of your full-time job so that you can invest time after work and enjoy it. If you work 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. but you have an interest in starting a restaurant or playing in a band or doing medical billing, can you carve out additional hours to pour yourself into the thing you love most? 

3. Is there a temporary agency you can join that is looking for contract labor or freelancers? Some examples of what that looks like include Lyft, Uber, Airbnb, and Etsy. 

4. There are websites specifically dedicated to helping you find a side hustle. If you’re not sure where to start, you can check out Side Hustle Nation or Fiverr to get some ideas about what you can do with your existing skills. 

Side hustles are a great way to put a toe in the water if you’re thinking about leaving your full-time gig to do something else. You can test the waters before you make the full leap and determine how much you need to invest and what the long-term ramifications are without having to quit your job completely. Let a side hustle be your laboratory where you beta test future opportunities. 

Note that pursuing a side hustle doesn’t always mean you have one foot out the door. Your side hustle can help you build skills and knowledge that inform your existing position. 

For example, a friend of mine works a 9-to-5 job, but she is not able to exercise her writing skill set in that position. For her side gig, she writes articles for an outside company. The research that she does in order to write the articles is relevant to her 9-to-5 job and increases her knowledge for her full-time role. 

As the world of work continues to evolve and change, side hustles will become more the norm. 

The original post appeared here on Simon T. Bailey’s website and has been slightly modified for republication. For more inspiration from the author, pick up a copy of his books Shift Your Brilliance: Harnessing the Power of You, Inc. and Brilliant Living: 31 Insights to Creating an Awesome Life 

Get Into Position and Excel! By Adrean Turner

There are certain aspects of success that involve chance or luck. For instance, someone you know has a personal relationship with a hiring manager of a company that you want to join. They provide a referral, and you are able to bypass the cumbersome online application process and receive an immediate interview. That’s a benefit of chance. 

But in many cases, success doesn’t just happen. It is dependent on you! You are responsible for setting the stage and positioning yourself for opportunities that can lead to goal achievement. 

Consider this situation. After being frustrated for months with her job, one of my group coaching clients packed up her entire family and moved to the West Coast for a new opportunity. Although it wasn’t her ideal position, she was confident that it provided an environment where she could fully contribute and excel. Just as luck would have it, three months later, her director resigned, creating an opportunity for a promotion. Because of the work ethic she demonstrated and the relationships she built in that short time period, she was offered the role. She made a choice to take a chance to achieve the change she desired in her career, and it paid off. She positioned herself to succeed. 

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” ~Seneca

No matter what you are trying to accomplish or become successful with—a career transition, a promotion, more time with family, better relationships with others, or a healthier lifestyle—these tips can help. 

1. Pursue Progress and Forget Perfection
   The goal is moving forward, not how fast you go or how well you do it. Small steps forward add up to a lot of mileage over time. As you succeed, you’ll learn and improve along the way. Get your footing and follow through on the tasks you’ve identified that will help you to excel. 

2. Manage Your Time
   If your activities don’t align with your vision or mission, it’s time to make some changes. When you’re bored, how do you amuse yourself? What do you do when you procrastinate? How can you add more time to do the things that are helpful for achieving your objectives? Write them down so you can see the impact of your actions or lack of action. The sooner you’re able to stop yourself from indulging in time-wasting activities, the better the odds of success. 

3. Schedule Time to Get Things Done
   Someday is not a day of the week. Eliminate non-essential tasks that are clogging your calendar. Be purposeful in allocating time to get things accomplished. Begin by starting small (if it’s necessary). Schedule 30 minutes a day for working toward accomplishing your goals. Focus on staying engaged, and record your progress daily to stay motivated. 

4. Meet More People
   You often hear that it’s what you know or who you know that leads to success. Another contributing fact that matters is who knows you. Surveys reveal that personal referrals are the top means of how jobs are filled. One survey conducted in partnership with LinkedIn reveals that up to 85 percent of jobs could be filled that way. Networking helps you connect with mentors, customers, colleagues, and people of influence. Get the word out about who you are and what you are trying to accomplish. Use every opportunity to increase your exposure by sharing valuable information and insights that demonstrate your brand and that supports those who engage with you. 

5. Build a Support System
   Reaching your goals will involve talent, persistence, patience, and other people. According to Nielsen’s Trust In Advertising report, 84 percent of consumers say they either completely or somewhat trust recommendations from family, colleagues, and friends about products and services—making these recommendations the highest-ranked source for trustworthiness. 
   
   In order to sell yourself or a product, create your own advisory board. Surround yourself with people who challenge you, inspire you, make you laugh, add value to your life, and who will vouch for you. The strongest method of success is when others do the work for you, whether that is through encouragement, information, or a recommendation. If you can get others to support you, the chances of your success are multiplied. 

Don’t sit around idling…waiting for success to knock on your door. Move forward and be your best self! Get into position and excel. It’s time! 

Get more information and inspiration in Adrean’s book, F.I.T. for Success: Fearless, Inspired, Transformed for Success, or visit www.coachadrean.com. To receive this e-book, click here and get it now. 

8 Ways to Live Again After Losing a Loved One by Shawn Doyle CSP

Almost every year, each of us has a friend or family member who loses a loved one. It is a sad fact of life that everyone is going to face it. According to the CDC, 2,596,993 people die in the United States each year. 

So here is the compelling question: How do you heal after losing a loved one? I experienced this on a personal level when I became a widower at the age of 54, when my wife of 32 years died tragically. So I had to learn how to heal after losing my wife. Here are eight ways to heal after losing a loved one. 

1. Remember the good times. Often when someone passes away, we tend to dwell on their death instead of celebrating their life. I highly recommend writing in a journal and listing all of the good times you had with the person that you lost. It’s a way of reminding yourself to be grateful for what you had, for as long as you had it, instead of just focusing on the loss alone. 

2. Only be around positive people and situations. When you are grieving, the last thing you need to do is expose yourself to anything negative. Concentrate on spending your time with positive people, viewing only positive television and movies, and reading positive books and articles. Avoid anything negative.  

3. Figure out what you don’t want to do. During my healing journey there were certain things I just decided I did not want to do. For example, the first Thanksgiving after my wife passed away I was invited to visit with family in another state to celebrate Thanksgiving. Quite honestly, I didn’t feel like doing it—so I didn’t. It’s okay to say there are certain things you don’t want to do and not allow other people to pressure you to do them. This helps you heal.  

4. Think to yourself, “I’m going to be okay.” Most people who have had a loss do not think they’re going to be okay; they think that they will never be okay. I ended up writing a book about grief and loss called The Sun Still Rises. One reason I wrote that book was to help people realize that they can be hopeful and optimistic even after a loss. If you keep saying to yourself long enough, “I’m going to be okay,” eventually, guess what—you will be. It just takes time. 

5. Think about how you want to reinvent your life. When I talk to people who are grieving, they find this to be an odd concept, but it actually really makes a lot of sense. Once you have lost a loved one, your life is changed forever, and it will never be the same because of their absence. But the other side of that equation is it is an opportunity to reinvent your life and make it whatever it is that you want it to be now.  

6. Tap into your resources. There are many resources available to people who are grieving. You could join a support group. You could volunteer for various organizations and give back to others. You could surround yourself with supportive family and friends. There are so many online resources of articles and groups that are available at the touch of a button. There are also many great books about dealing with grief and loss that are available physically or as a download to your Kindle. 

7. Know that the pain will get better in time. People who are grieving are in pain and will be in pain—that is the bad news. The good news is the pain will get better with time, and one day it will actually go away. The phrase “time heals all wounds” may be a cliché, but I have found it to be remarkably true. So, just knowing that the pain will get better is a comforting thought. 

8. Get a grief education. I think when people are grieving, they think they are the only people in the world who are experiencing grief or who have had loss. When people start to study grief by reading books about grief and loss or attending support groups, they learn that they’re not alone and get tools and techniques that really can help. 

If you have had a loss, review this list, figure out what you can do now, and put it into action. If you know someone who has had a loss, please share this with them and let them know you are there for them. Yes, you can heal after a loss, and I know because I lived it. There is hope.  

Read more about surviving and thriving after grief and loss in Shawn Doyle’s The Sun Still Rises, available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Audible, Google Play, iTunes, and other major retailers. 

Chief Happiness Officer Strategy #3: Encourage Wellness by Simon T. Bailey

Paul Zane Pilzer wrote a book titled The Wellness Revolution: How to Make a Fortune in the Next Trillion Dollar Industry. Pilzer is a Harvard-trained economist and thought leader around this whole wellness movement. One of the things he talks about is how businesses don’t want to be in the healthcare business because healthcare costs too much on the back end. 

The job of the Chief Happiness Officer is to encourage wellness and well-being on the front end. Invite people to think about things like: Are they eating properly? Are they taking mental breaks? Are they getting enough rest? (Arianna Huffington has written a plethora of articles and devoted a whole book to the idea of a “sleep revolution” that shatters the exaltation of the sleep-deprived executive. Huffington argues that sleep is the new competitive edge, and she encourages everyone to get more sleep in order to succeed in work and life.) 

For the good of both the holistic person and the organization, the Chief Happiness Officer must be the proponent within the organization of prioritizing things like meditation and sleep rooms. People are spending 8 to 10 to 12 hours a day in the business. They’re at work more than they’re at home, so businesses have to be places that really care about their employees in order to earn the right to their best work. 

Another example of something the Chief Happiness Officer should consider is, how do we think about nutrition that’s offered in the employee cafeteria or in break areas? One of my favorite examples is my experience at the Lynda.com offices. They have probably one of the healthiest employee cafeterias I’ve ever been in. There’s no fried food, everything is green, there’s a lot of kale, and what that said to me is they care about what employees put into their bodies. 

Provide an abundance of physical fitness resources that will cater to multiple interests. For example, go beyond just having a fitness center relationship with one gym. Consider: How do you begin to collaborate with other gyms that have a different format, like CrossFit or Pure Barre? 

The Chief Happiness Officer literally can increase employee happiness and boost the bottom line by offering preventative measures. They can help people think about what they need mentally and how much sleep they’ve had, and they can help ensure that people exercise and eat well. Show people the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle, because if they live a healthy lifestyle they’ll have longevity—not just for the business, but for their loved ones and for themselves. 

The original post appeared here on Simon T. Bailey’s website and has been slightly modified for republication. For more inspiration from the author, pick up a copy of his books Shift Your Brilliance: Harnessing the Power of You, Inc. and Brilliant Living: 31 Insights to Creating an Awesome Life 

Elevate Your Mind by Jim Stovall

I hate to be the one to give you the bad news, but life is not fair. Life is great, it’s grand, and it’s wonderful, as well as being the only game in town—but it’s not fair. We don’t always get what we want, need, or even deserve, but we will always eventually get what we expect. 

Our vision drives our expectations, which drives our performance, which creates our results. You cannot outperform the vision you have of yourself. You may think it odd to be getting advice from a blind person about vision; however, vision is the opposite in many ways of sight. Sight tells you where you are and what’s around you. Vision tells you where you could be and what is possible.  

My mentor and friend Jack Nicklaus often says, “I never hit a successful golf shot until I visualize it in my mind going exactly where I want it to go.”  

In order to supercharge our vision, we often need to get away from the mundane and ordinary elements of life to explore the realm of possibility. Pablo Picasso said, “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” Oftentimes, we get so caught up in maintaining the status quo that we forget to consider the universe of options and opportunities. It’s easy to become so busy making a living that we forget to make a life.  

There are certain works of literature and pieces of music that can elevate my thinking and get me away from the day-to-day routine of responsibilities. It’s important, periodically, to rise above the fray, gain a new perspective, and evaluate your course. Habits are good and can serve us well within our daily routine, but we must form an additional habit of re-examining the routine so that we can be not only productive but creative.  

My friend and colleague Paula Marshall and I wrote a book together entitled The Executive Entrepreneur. Paula is the third-generation CEO of a multimillion-dollar, multinational company, and I am a startup entrepreneur. Paula and I discovered that executives need elements of entrepreneurship to stay current and creative, and entrepreneurs need executive training to manage what they have built.  

As you go through your day today, take care of the here and now, but consider the realm of possibilities. 

Today’s the day! 

This and other motivational pieces by bestselling author Jim Stovall can be found in his latest collection of columns, Wisdom for Winners Volume Four, an official publication of the Napoleon Hill Foundation.  

Should I Be Creating a Life for Myself or My Ideal Self? By Jennifer Janechek

I just finished reading Cait Flanders’s The Year of Less (Hay House, 2018), which is an incredibly moving memoir about the year the author put herself on a shopping ban, decluttered and gave away 70 percent of her belongings, left her corporate career to pursue her freelance writing work full time, and attempted to locate her authentic self—without the fillers of consumerism, alcohol, and toxic relationships. 

Like half of her blog readers (she runs caitflanders.com, formerly blondeonabudget.com), whom she says fill her comment sections with posts about admiring her dedication to minimalism while expressing doubt that they could ever do the same, I found myself reflecting while reading about how I engage in similar destructive consumer behaviors—wasting a considerable portion of my “free time” on online shopping sites and frequently making impulse purchases that leave me less than satisfied and that detract from my ability to save—but not sure whether that exact approach was right for me. After all, as a fashion lover, I am someone who derives great pleasure from certain clothing and shoe purchases. At the same time, her book made me realize that I definitely need to bring more mindfulness to my purchasing practices. But what should mindful purchasing look like for me? And how might it look different for different consumers? 

In a chapter aptly subtitled “letting go of the future,” Cait offers the following guiding question: “Who are you buying this for: the person you are, or the person you want to be?”  

This question really gave me pause. I felt—and still feel—conflicted about it. On the one hand, I recognize the importance of honoring the person you are and not trying to buy things to fill a void or to present an inauthentic version of yourself just to be accepted. On the other hand, I also see the importance of being the best version of yourself, which entails, to some degree, creating a life for the person you want to be—not necessarily the person you are at the moment.  

I understand Cait’s dilemma: she, like all of us I’m sure have done at some point or another, bought clothes, books, and project materials that she never used simply because she wanted the be the sort of person who wore, read, and did those types of things; so those purchases ultimately were a waste of money and became clutter (both emotional and physical). And there is a real trap, especially in the modern influencer-led world of social media, in marketing strategies that make you feel bad about your life so that you will make purchases in the hopes of achieving an ever-elusive ideal (read: more photogenic) life. 

Perhaps mindful purchasing has more to do, then, with not buying items to be more like another person, opting instead to direct funds only to those things that are really for you, whether the you you are now or the you you want to be (as long as that you isn’t someone else). Obviously, disentangling the best or ideal version of yourself from the “best” version of someone else as presented in ads, social media, or even friendships is incredibly difficult, because marketing messages and ideologies of consumerism operate at such complex psychological levels that it’s often hard to discern the true roots of “wants.” But if that mental and emotional work can be done even in part, it seems like that would go a long way in determining whether a particular purchase will add value to one’s life. After closing the book, I decided to institute a waiting period before making any discretionary purchases—to spend three days mulling over why I wanted the item, what it will be used for (and how much use it will get), and whether it would add enough value to my life to justify the cost. It’s not the 30 days that Cait recommends, but I think it’s enough of a safeguard to prevent impulse—or what she terms “blackout”—buys. 

Even if I can’t full decontextualize “ideal me” from the web of marketing ploys, it is possible for me to shift from being a “binge consumer” to being a more mindful consumer. To this end, I found Cait’s near-to-closing remarks encouraging: “Remember that all you’re committing to is slowing down and asking yourself what you really want, rather than acting on impulse. That’s it. That’s what being a ‘mindful’ consumer is all about.” 

How do you determine the “value” of purchases? What decluttering/minimalism strategies have worked for you? Where do you stand on the issue of making purchases for your current self vs. your ideal self? 

Character vs. Strategy by Simon T. Bailey

In life there are moments that create a cause for a pause. Here’s one that I just had to share with you. 

A while back, I was sitting in a board meeting for one of the non-profit organizations I serve, and the president and founder posed this question: “In business, which one is more important—character or strategy?” 

Everyone around the table chimed in and gave an opinion. It was evenly split down the middle. 

However, the president said that character is more important than strategy. A profound silence swept through the room as we waited to hear his rationale. 

He then said, “Anyone can come up with a strategy, but if they lack character, it is nothing more than a man in an empty suit with a hallowed soul.” I sat there in astonishment doing my best to process the deeper meaning. And then I had an epiphany: 

Character is forged when no one is looking. 

Character is doing the work of work for no prize at all. 

“A person of character is willing to do the right thing and walk alone than to do the wrong thing in order to follow the crowd.” 

I’ve discovered people over the years who talk a good game. They can blow smoke in your ears and do everything they can to see and be seen. They want everyone to know that they are important, smart, and special. 

I was that foolish person once upon a time. 

Then one day, I met a man of impeccable character. He was the type of person who gets personally invited to the White House. As I watched him from afar, he walked into the room and didn’t make a big fuss or a scene. 

His presence spoke volumes, and I learned that when you are “the man,” you don’t have to tell people that you’re the man. Your very essence will speak louder than words. 

Be mindful of a person whose mouth runs faster than their mind. True character speaks less and listens more. 

That man invited me to join this non-profit board, and my life has never been the same. 

The original post appeared here on Simon T. Bailey’s website and has been slightly modified for republication. For more inspiration from the author, pick up a copy of his books Shift Your Brilliance: Harnessing the Power of You, Inc. and Brilliant Living: 31 Insights to Creating an Awesome Life. 

4 Steps to Success with Small Wins by Adrean Turner

Most people achieve success one experience at a time. Leaders from Bill Gates to Barbara Corcoran attest that they were able to reach their career goals by individual steps or small wins. 

Business experts and social scientists agree that modest victories provide major motivation to stay engaged along the journey of success. Per the progress principle, based on a multi-year study by researchers at Harvard Business School, of all the things that can boost emotions, motivation, and perceptions, the single most important factor is making progress in meaningful work. And the more frequently people experience that sense of progress, the more likely they are to be creatively productive in the long run. Whether they are trying to solve a major scientific mystery or simply produce a high-quality product or service, everyday progress—even a small win—can make all the difference in how they feel and perform.  

“People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed.” ~ Tony Robbins

Try these steps to small-win success: 

1. CREATE

According to the Harvard team, one factor that encourages small wins is related to how you work. The catalyst factor includes events that directly enable progress in the work. These actions include developing clear goals, managing your time and resources effectively, and practicing open communication to influence productivity. 

“Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.” ~ Oprah Winfrey

2. RELATE  

A second factor that encourages small wins is “nourishers.” Interpersonal support can ignite and expedite your progress. Build relationships with colleagues and mentors who provide validation and constructive feedback. Nourishers can have a powerful influence on your performance. Involvement in personal or professional groups that are aligned with your mission and goals will enable you to cultivate those interactions. 

“Success doesn’t always come from the big actions we take, but from the sum of the small actions we repeat.” ~ Robert Collier

3. STATE

Considering the challenges of pursuing your dream career, starting a new business, or taking on a large project can be overwhelming. Develop an action plan with intermediate goals. Break your activities into groups of small, manageable tasks. You’ll become energized each time you complete a goal.  

“I am a 20-year overnight success!” ~ Steve Harvey

4. ELEVATE

Keep a record of your accomplishments and setbacks. Maintaining a journal of your activities will help you recognize and celebrate miniature milestones that you might otherwise overlook. Tracking your advancement provides clarity to recognize conditions that affect your performance. 

Use the small win strategy for your grand visions to achieve the success you desire for a fulfilling career. 

Adrean Turner is a certified career coach, speaker, professional development trainer, and business consultant. She leverages 25 years of experience in management, marketing, operations, teaching, and training to partner with individuals, entrepreneurs, and organizations to achieve their maximum potential. Adrean is the author of a newly published book, F.I.T. for Success, which is based on her syndicated podcast that airs daily on a Philadelphia radio station and Internet channels.  

Being, Doing, and Having by Jim Stovall

We live in a world that is obsessed with having more things. One of the fastest growing industries in our society is the storage business. We are buying so much stuff we can’t hold it all. We have to rent places to put our stuff. There is nothing wrong with having things as long as the things don’t really have you. 

Unfortunately, we have a preoccupation with buying things that we can’t afford, using money  

we don’t have, to impress people who don’t care. Acquiring wealth and assets is a byproduct of doing work that creates value in the lives of others. In our consumer “buy-now world,” we have it backward. We want to have things that will make others think we are already successful.  

The universe is set up with three natural steps to success: being, doing, and having. First, you have to “be” the right kind of person who has the motivation, intensity, ethics, and values that would make you successful. Then, after you become this kind of person, you are ready, willing, and able to “do” the things you know are necessary to make you successful. And finally, after you have become the kind of person who is doing the right things, you will inevitably “have” all the stuff and things you want. 

In proper balance and as a reward for hard work, having nice things is wonderful. As a façade of smoke and mirrors using consumer credit to create the illusion of success, it is a hollow existence. Trying to have the result first is like the person who stands in front of the fireplace saying, “Give me some heat, and then I will throw in some wood.” Or the farmer who says to the field, “Give me a crop, and then I will plow, plant, and fertilize.”  

When you get the natural system out of order and want to have things before you become the person who would do the right things, you inevitably will still have to pay the price for those things; and if you do it out of order, the price will come attached to a staggering interest charge.  

As you go through your day today, focus on yourself as the ultimate tool that will perform the tasks creating value in our world that will inevitably result in you having everything you want and more to share with others around you. 

Today’s the day! 

This and other motivational pieces by bestselling author Jim Stovall can be found in Wisdom for Winners Volume Two, an official publication of the Napoleon Hill Foundation. 

Creating a Daily Work Rhythm by Jennifer Janechek

As the mother of a toddler, I have been reading a lot of parenting books lately, and I have been struck by a notion introduced in a few of them—that of the importance of creating a daily rhythm. In Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids, for instance, Kim John Payne suggests that “by surrounding a young child with a sense of rhythm and ritual, you can help them order their physical, emotional and intellectual view of the world.” According to him, cultivating a daily rhythm provides a strong foundation for children, giving them the security to explore their world confidently and allowing their creativity to flourish while keeping them grounded in home values and traditions. 

I started to wonder: How might a daily rhythm be beneficial to my adult life—and more specifically, to my adult work life? 

I began implementing a daily work rhythm where I scheduled my day according to ebbs and flows, dedicating periods of time to different tasks that best suited my energy levels and creative rhythms. I quickly realized that the days I was the most productive, at peace, engaged in my work, and present with my family when at home were those in which I maintained a rhythm at work. I suppose acclaimed poet Mary Oliver was right—“Rhythm is one of the most powerful of pleasures, and when we feel a pleasurable rhythm we hope it will continue.… When it becomes reliable, we are in a kind of body-heaven.” 

Below are some ideas for how to cultivate a daily work rhythm in your life: 

1. Determine the core activities of your day, and dedicate a block of time to each one. 

While companies often value employees who can multitask, this activity can leave us feeling harried, stressed, and frenetic. If your work situation allows you to do so (not everyone’s will), try to engage in only one “core activity” at a time. Your core activities are the basic work activities in which you engage on a regular basis. For me, this is communication, research, creation, and revision. Various activities fall into these larger categories (e.g., communication entails responding to e-mails as well as participating in conference calls, and revision includes both copyediting others’ writing and reworking my own), but stick to performing one mode of work at a time. This is similar to business and organizational expert Rachael Doyle’s advice in Organize Your Business—Organize Your Life: “I recommend creating blocks in your daily calendar that are set aside for all like activities: there are blocks of time to answer email, blocks of time to work on projects, blocks of time to make phone calls.” Which leads to my second suggestion… 

2. Don’t check your e-mail (or social media) throughout the day. 

And don’t keep your e-mail open in your browser (unless of course you work in customer service or another industry that requires quick response times). Or if you want to keep your e-mail open, silence the notifications: the noise and distraction they cause can unsettle rhythmic work patterns. The same thing goes for social media notifications—giving in to one alert can lead you down a wormhole of mindless newsfeed scrolling. Doyle recommends checking your e-mail either at the beginning or at the end of your work day. This was very difficult for me, a chronic e-mail checker, but I noticed that on days when I saved e-mails for certain times of day (for me, both the beginning and the end of the work day), I actually found pleasure in reading and responding to e-mails, was better able to process their content and give thoughtful responses, and made greater progress on work projects. 

3. Make sure your daily work rhythm correlates with your circadian rhythm. 

The Harvard Business Review published an article a couple years ago about how the ideal work schedule is one in tune with your internal bodily clock. According to it, studies suggest that attending to how our internal clock affects our energy flows and organizing our work time accordingly enhances employee performance. The author’s advice was that

employees should take their own circadian rhythms into account when planning their own day. The most important tasks should be conducted when people are at or near their peaks in alertness (within an hour or so of noon and 6pm). The least important tasks should be scheduled for times in which alertness is lower (very early in the morning, around 3pm, and late at night). 

This is why I said at the beginning of the article to first chart your ebb and flows and then organize work time accordingly. Below you will find a sample work rhythm chart that I made, but keep in mind that everyone’s natural rhythm is different. Try to create a work schedule that honors yours. 

Do you follow a daily work rhythm? How has it benefited your work and/or home life? 

Six Fundamental Business Lessons Every Entrepreneur Can Learn From Walt Disney by Shawn Doyle, CSP

Everyone knows Walt Disney. Almost everyone has been to a Disney park somewhere, seen a Disney movie (live action or a cartoon), or knows some Disney character. Some people even go on Disney cruises. I think in some ways people know more about Disney, but fewer people about Disney the man. Walt was a visionary, an entrepreneur, and a creative genius. There are some invaluable lessons every entrepreneur can learn from what he was able to accomplish in his life.

Lesson #1 – Never give up. Many people don’t know that Walt Disney was not an overnight success. He started several companies that went bankrupt. He started a commercial art studio, and it tanked. He tried to create advertisements, and they also failed due to lack of revenue. Instead of giving in or giving up, Walt always just tried the next thing. As Walt said, “All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”

Lesson #2 – Be a problem solver. Walt Disney was the consummate problem solver. He was very observant and was always looking for ways to solve a problem and thinking of how it could be an opportunity in the marketplace. He took his daughter to a park to ride some rides, and he noticed the rides were dirty and in bad shape, and the people operating the rides were rude. This problem that he thought about became Disneyland. He wanted a place that was safe and clean, where parents could take their kids. As Jason Kilar once said, “When I was 10, we drove to Disney World. When we arrived, what impressed me most was the meticulous attention to detail; there wasn't a gum wrapper anyplace.”

Lesson #3 – Be willing to reinvent yourself. Many people don’t know that Disney’s first major cartoon star was not Mickey Mouse but Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. He had signed a contract with a distributor for the short cartoons and was thrilled with their success. When he went to renew the contract, they fired Walt and said that they legally owned Oswald, not Walt Disney, as outlined in the contract. Even worse, all of Walt’s animators left Walt and went to work for the other company. Walt went home having lost his biggest success. He had to start over. As he said: “Mickey Mouse popped out of my mind onto a drawing pad 20 years ago on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood at a time when business fortunes of my brother Roy and myself were at lowest ebb and disaster seemed right around the corner.”

Lesson #4 – Surround yourself with talent. Walt Disney admitted that he was not the most talented at drawing or animation. As he once said, “I started, actually, to make my first animated cartoon in 1920. Of course, they were very crude things then and I used sort of little puppet things.” He was brilliant at knowing what he did best and was able to hire the best artists and animators in the world. The person who animated Mickey in the early was not Walt but an animator named Ub Iwerks. Walt didn’t have to have the talent for drawing, but he had the vision. It’s like being an architect—you don’t have to be the general contractor; you just have to know what you want the project to look like when it is done.

Lesson #5 – Be curious. Walt was an inquisitive soul and always wanted to learn new things. In animation, this led to some stunning developments in the early years. He is famous for making the first sound cartoon, the first live action and animation mix film, and the first full-length cartoon movie. Until Walt, cartoons were fluffy, short, mindless clips that came on before the main feature. Here is the point, and don’t miss it—he didn’t know how to do any of those things, but his curiosity led him to investigate and figure it out. Walt said: “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things because we’re curious, and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

Lesson #6 – Diversify. Walt was smart enough after building a successful animation studio to get into live action movies, documentaries, television, amusement parks, and tons of products. He could have just run an animation studio, but that would not have created the kind of success his company had. I think Walt said it best: “Times and conditions change so rapidly that we must keep our aim constantly focused on the future.” Every business needs to keep looking at ways to grow and diversify.

This article originally appeared in Entrepreneur and has been slightly modified for republication. For more business and personal development insight from Shawn Doyle, CSP, check out his titles from Sound Wisdom, including his Jumpstart Series, The Sun Still Rises, The Leadership Manifesto, and Two Months to Motivation.

Change Your Mind and Your Life by Jim Stovall

Behavioral scientists have long debated whether we are most impacted by nature or nurture. The argument is made up of professionals who believe we are products of our genetic makeup and those who believe we are molded by our environment. As a student of behavioral science, I find it impossible to imagine that we are not impacted both by our DNA as well as the world around us.

The element that most scientists overlook is that we all have the ability to change our minds. We can be born with certain abilities or disabilities but decide to pursue a myriad of possibilities within our lives. As a blind person myself due to a genetic disorder, I am limited in how I do certain things far more than which things I choose to do. I have written more than 30 books, and eight of them have been made into movies or are in production now. This means I write books I can’t see that are made into movies I can’t watch. 

Recently, there have been extensive studies of twins who grew up in homes with alcoholic parents. These studies revealed that, given the same genetic makeup and environment, one sibling might become an incurable alcoholic while the other twin might choose to never touch a drop of alcohol throughout their life. We are impacted by our genetics and environment, but we get to choose how we are impacted. 

My late, great colleague and mentor Dr. Wayne Dyer bought a house on the beach in a new development in Hawaii. Every day as Dr. Dyer walked on the beach, he encountered new neighbors who were moving into the development. One morning he confronted a gentleman who had just moved to Hawaii from New Jersey. The gentleman asked Dr. Dyer, “What are people like here? Are they friendly?” Dr. Dyer considered it a moment and then asked, “What are people like where you come from?” The gentleman blurted out, “They are rude, thoughtless, and annoying.” Dr. Dyer responded, “You’ll find people to be about the same here.”

As Dr. Dyer continued his walk, he was confronted by an elderly lady who had just relocated from Nebraska. She asked, “Are the residents here nice?” Dr. Dyer inquired, “Are people nice where you come from?” She smiled and said enthusiastically, “Yes! People in Nebraska are friendly, giving, and loving.” Dr. Dyer smiled and stated, “You’ll find people here in Hawaii to be just the same.”

Environment and heredity determine where we start, but we determine where we finish. 

As you go through your day today, embrace the good, reject the bad, and create the life you want.

Today’s the day!

This and other motivational pieces by bestselling author Jim Stovall can be found in his latest collection of columns, Wisdom for Winners Volume Four, an official publication of the Napoleon Hill Foundation.

Let Go of What Works by Simon T. Bailey

It is obvious that you should let go of what doesn’t work. It’s not serving you. But what about letting go of what works?

If you don’t let go of what has always worked and start to move toward what will work in the future, what works for you now will be what isn’t working for you later.

I had a conference call a while ago with the CEO of a company with whom I was going to speak in a few weeks. In preparing for this engagement with a multi-billion-dollar global conglomerate, I asked the CEO what he wanted me to share with the team.

The first thing he said is: he needs his team to be unreasonable.

And I asked, “What does that mean?”

He said, “We can no longer settle for the status quo. We can no longer operate with a business-as-usual mindset. We are getting market share eaten out of our business every single day. Just because you think things have always worked, clients have said ‘yes,’ and we’ve increased prices doesn’t mean those clients are going to say ‘yes’ forever.”

This CEO was saying, “Let go of what works now in favor of what will work later.”

You’ve got to be unreasonable in your efforts, see yourself as an entrepreneur and really own your business, your life, and your relationships.

The original post appeared here on Simon T. Bailey’s website and has been slightly modified for republication. For more inspiration from the author, pick up a copy of his books Shift Your Brilliance: Harnessing the Power of You, Inc. and Brilliant Living: 31 Insights to Creating an Awesome Life.

Five Positive Changes to Make in Your Life Today by Jennifer Janechek

Don’t let New Year’s resolution burnout stop you from continuing to implement positive changes in your life. See how these simple modifications to your daily routine can transform your life today.

1. Wake up 30 minutes earlier. Don’t just set your alarm; actually get out of bed a full half hour earlier than you’ve been getting up. Doing so will prevent you from feeling rushed or arriving at work groggy, and it will give you time to eat a decent breakfast, which is crucial for helping you power through your morning.
2. Complete a cardio routine, preferably in the morning. If you need to wake up even earlier, do so. Getting your blood pumping and endorphins flowing will boost your mental and physical energy, sharpen your intellect, improve your response time, and help you maintain a positive and focused mind-set throughout the entire day.
3. Spend time journaling at the beginning and end of each day. In the morning, remind yourself of your long-term and short-term goals, and list what steps you plan to take that day to accomplish them. Also, jot down the positive additions you intend to make to your daily routine—and keep yourself accountable! Check off items you’ve completed as you go. At the end of the day, use your journaling time to reflect on what you’re grateful for, to celebrate your successes, to note the lessons you’ve learned, and to establish a game plan for the next day.
4. Add a green smoothie to your breakfast or lunch. There’s nothing like leafy greens to make you feel like you’re winning at life. Not only will you feel better about yourself after drinking a green smoothie; you’ll also feel better on the inside, which will carry over into your other activities. Remember the last time you ate a burger and fries for lunch and wanted to take a nap immediately afterward? Yeah, I thought so. I like the recipe ideas from 100 Days of Real Food, found here.
5. Smile—a lot. We often hear, “Fake it till you make it,” particularly with regard to positivity. But it’s very true. Keeping a smile on your face throughout the day will transform your attitude, and it will change the way people interact with you: they will find you more approachable and more pleasant to be around, which will provide you with a greater sense of collegiality and community.

What other suggestions do you have for “quick fixes” to improve your daily life? Share them below!

Get Excited for the Legacy Film and Companion Book Based on Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, Coming in Early 2018 by Jennifer Janechek

To celebrate the continued influence of Hill’s work on self-starters around the world, a highly acclaimed team of writers and producers has created a full-length feature film that cinematically recreates inspirational stories from Think and Grow Rich, Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice, Think and Grow Rich: A Latino Choice, Think and Grow Rich for Women, and Three Feet from Gold. Directed by Scott Cervine, written by Cynthia Whitcomb, and produced by Sean Donovan, Karina R. Donovan, Joel Franco, John Shin, and Marcelo Quintanilla, Think and Grow Rich: The Legacy weaves together the stories of early twentieth-century business tycoons and those of today’s most renowned entrepreneurs, cultural icons, and thought leaders, including Sharon Lechter, Bob Proctor, Barbara Corcoran, Warren Moon, and Sandy Gallagher. Sound Wisdom’s own Jim Stovall is featured in the film, where he shares the career guidance and spiritual insight that fill the pages of his Wisdom for Winners series. Sanctioned by the Napoleon Hill Foundation, the docudrama demonstrates how Hill’s thirteen key success secrets are more relevant today than ever before.

www.TGRmovie.com Think and Grow Rich: The Legacy is a feature length docudrama film chronicling the story of some of today's most renowned entrepreneurs, cultural icons and thought leaders. This feature length film will tell their inspirational stories and how they ultimately achieved their success.

Think and Grow Rich: The Legacy debuted on October 14, 2017, in Los Angeles, California, at the Regal L.A. LIVE to a sold-out crowd. The premiere featured a panel discussion with some of the greatest prosperity teachers in the world. An official sponsor of the event, Sound Wisdom, will be publishing a companion book to the film, written by James Whittaker, in early 2018. Sound Wisdom publisher David Wildasin said of the experience, “I was honored and humbled to be chosen to be associated with the project and to be invited to attend the event.”

In addition, the highly anticipated Think and Grow Rich: The Legacy live event is scheduled to occur in Atlanta, Georgia, in March 2018. Those interested in participating in the event can purchase a pass either to attend in person or to view the event live or on demand from anywhere in the world via a Simulcast broadcast. Confirmed presenters at this on-stage event include Don Green, CEO of the Napoleon Hill Foundation; Bob Proctor; Joel Brown; Sharon Lechter, Gerard Adams; Dr. Dennis Kimbro; Sandy Gallagher; Preston Smiles; and Janine Shepherd. Footage captured from the live event will be used to produce a companion film to Think and Grow Rich: The Legacy.

Wisdom for This Year: Lessons We Keep Learning Over and Over by Shawn Doyle

A while back, I had oral surgery in order to remove an impacted wisdom tooth. My family dentist said the tooth needed to come out, and after reviewing my X-rays the oral surgeon also agreed that the tooth needed to come out. So off I went one early Friday morning to have dental surgery. I was asleep during my surgery and woke up feeling pretty good, and Friday night I slept fairly well. On Saturday I had a tiny bit of pain but felt well enough to go to the mall to do some shopping. All of that changed on Sunday night when the pain was so bad I was waking up all night long. By Monday I was miserable, popping painkillers every four hours and feeling extreme pain and fatigue. I was hurting. My day was a blur of prescriptions and ice packs and naps—when I was able to sleep. This pattern continued on for an entire week. I expected to recover in one or two days, but instead it took me eight days to fully recover. I was told by medical professionals that I was recovering slower because I was an “older patient” (I was 55 at the time) and because my surgery was “more involved” because I had a tooth that was impacted and laying sideways under the gum line. During my eight “lost” days I was not able to work, drive myself around, or really even think very clearly at all in my Percocet haze. Don’t get me wrong—I know that there are many people fighting long-term chronic diseases, and I was sick for only a measly eight days. I know that is nothing. It was, however, the most painful experience of my life in terms of the length and severity of pain.

But when I woke up on the ninth day, I felt so much better. I had energy! I was no longer in pain and no longer on pain-killing drugs. So as I embraced feeling well again, it got me thinking at the start of a new year—what do we take for granted?

Healthy is normal – Why do I feel that getting up and feeling great every day is normal? What if for a 56-year-old man that is not the norm? What if I am the exception, not the rule? So why do we blithely ignore the blessing of good health? I don’t know about you, but as for me I plan to celebrate each morning that I wake up and feel healthy and have energy.

That we will always have a job – Even in today’s economy, I think when people lose their jobs due to cutbacks or layoffs they are often shocked. “But I was the best marketing person in my department!” they say, or “I was the best salesperson in the region.” Unfortunately layoffs and cutbacks are often not related to the skillset of the person who’s been let go. It’s based on numbers and headcounts and budgets. As an entrepreneur and professional speaker, I never assume that I will have work, and I am always looking at the calendar for the next several months because my work is never assured. So why do people take their jobs for granted? One theory I believe is that once people come to a company and are hired, they assume that their position is permanent until they decide to leave. I call this the “job security mythology.” As for me, I went to celebrate every success that I have and will continue to be grateful for the business that I can produce.

That people will always be there – As a person who lost my wife suddenly over five years ago, I know that there is no assurance that someone I know will be there tomorrow. A friend of mine recently lost a dear colleague at work, and she had worked with him for over 15 years. She left the company a few years ago and so she had lost touch with him, but she had always planned to go back by the company to say hello to her former coworker. But he died of a sudden heart attack so she never had the opportunity to say hello, only goodbye at his funeral, and she regrets it. So I think that we take life for granted and we take the people in our life for granted. It’s a good idea when we lose a loved one to use that experience as a reminder to appreciate people who we love and like. As for me, I will make sure that all the people that I know, love, and like will be told this year that I love them and that I like them and truly enjoy working with them.

The supply of time is unlimited – My time in recovery at home was eight days, but it seemed like the first week lasted a month. Time crawls when you are in pain. On the flip side, when we are having fun, we perceive time to fly by, but I also see how as a society we waste time and throw it around so lightly. For example, the average American watches 32 hours of TV a week but then says they “don’t have enough time.” Imagine what they could do with those hours! I for one will not waste my time and will only watch one hour of TV a day (and some days none at all). I want to do more important things.

So what are you grateful for? Why?

What should you not take for granted? Why?

What do you need to look at more carefully? Why?

The answers to these questions will lead to a better life. It’s funny—having my wisdom tooth taken out may have helped me became wiser.

This article originally appeared in B2B Magazine and has also appeared in The Good Men Project. For more business and personal development insight from Shawn Doyle, check out his titles from Sound Wisdom, including his Jumpstart Series, The Sun Still Rises, The Leadership Manifesto, and Two Months to Motivation.

New Life by Jim Stovall

New life is a powerful concept and possibility in every area of our existence as well as the title of a movie that I am very proud to be associated with. We can experience a new life in any aspect of our world including our friends, our family, our faith, our finances, or our fitness. 

The first step to experiencing a new life is to release the old life. Our world abhors a vacuum. Once you make space in any area of your physical, mental, or spiritual life, something new can fill that space, but it is impossible to get something for nothing. A seed must die for a new plant to grow. That plant will bloom and create new seeds which, in turn, must die to keep the cycle of growth and life moving ahead into the future.

The New Life movie concept came to me from an industry colleague named Drew Waters. I met Drew when he was starring in a movie based on my book The Ultimate Life. That movie involved a flashback to follow the early life of Red Stevens who may be the most iconic character I ever created in any of my books. Red Stevens was played magnificently in The Ultimate Gift by legendary actor James Garner, so the thought of having someone else play that character as a younger man seemed awkward and uncomfortable to me. Then I met Drew Waters and got to experience him bringing to life a younger version of the character that Mr. Garner had embodied in an earlier movie.

Drew and I were at a red carpet movie premiere event for The Ultimate Life when he turned to me and said, “I’ve got a story for a film that I’ve got to share with you.” I was absolutely mesmerized by the story as you will be when you watch the New Life movie, but I was concerned when Drew told me he was not going to act in the film but would, instead, be making his directing debut on the project. My concerns were unfounded when I experienced the same energy Drew had brought to The Ultimate Life as an actor in every scene of the New Life movie as he directed it. 

The film is a story of love, loss, legacy, learning, and experiencing new life. I am very pleased that my company, the Narrative Television Network, combined forces with Drew’s production team so the 13 million blind and visually impaired Americans and their families as well as millions more around the world will be able to experience this powerful new movie.

I fervently hope you and your family will enjoy New Life as an entertaining movie experience, but also as a catalyst to reexamine your priorities and move to a higher level in every aspect of your existence.

NEW LIFE is a film about hope. Benjamin Morton's life changed forever the day he met the little girl next door. Ava was and always would be the girl of his dreams. From the innocence of a childhood friendship, through adolescent attraction, their love strengthens and grows.

As you go through your day today, leave the past behind, and step into a new life.

Today’s the day!

This and other motivational pieces by bestselling author Jim Stovall can be found in his latest collection of columns, Wisdom for Winners Volume Four, an official publication of the Napoleon Hill Foundation to be released in January 2018. 

This and other motivational pieces by bestselling author Jim Stovall can be found in his latest collection of columns, Wisdom for Winners Volume Four, an official publication of the Napoleon Hill Foundation to be released in January 2018.