The Leadership Manifesto by Shawn Doyle

I travel all over the world as both a trainer and a speaker, and leadership development is the focus of my work. I work with companies of all sizes: small, medium, large, and corporate giant. In doing this, I have come to a realization—it is time for a revolution in the way we think about, train, and develop leaders. In fact, let’s just scrap it all and start over.

The way in which we view leadership development now is worthless. Why do I make such an outrageous statement? I see managers and leaders who are failing themselves, failing their teams, and failing their companies. Their companies, of course, failed them first, by never providing the proper training for their leadership roles. 

To start the much-needed revolution, it’s time for the Leadership Manifesto. Follow it and see the difference. Ignore it, and bask in the ineptitude of your leaders.

There are six principles to follow in the Leadership Manifesto:

1. Stop promoting people to leadership roles just because they are technically competent. 
   Fred is a brilliant programmer who got promoted. His new position requires that he manage a team of sixteen people. However, he has no interest in leading people and probably isn’t a very gifted leader anyway. All Fred ever wanted to do was do his job well, but now he has to manage a team, which is killing him slowly. 
   Solution: Promote people in the organization that have the technical knowledge and the potential to lead.

2. Stop promoting someone and then assuming they know how to lead. 
   Alexis gets promoted to a leadership role. She is excited and optimistic about the future but scared to death. Why? She has never led a team before, and she doesn’t know how. She won’t admit it or ask for help. She figures that since she was promoted, she’ll just have to figure out how to be a leader. Alexis goes from the frying pan straight into the fire. Her only option is to model what her managers have always done in the past—many of whom, by the way, were completely incompetent. 
   Solution: Have a comprehensive leadership development training program to get new managers up to speed.

3. Stop assuming existing managers don’t need development. 
   I once met with a CEO of a small company and asked him about his current training and development initiatives. He raised an eyebrow questioningly and said, “Who would I train? Most of my managers have been here a long time.” When I mentioned the concept of ongoing development, he smiled and replied, “I hired them because they know what they are doing. Why would I have to train them? If I have to train them, I hired the wrong person.” From the expression on his face and the tone of his voice I could tell that the discussion wasn’t going to go anywhere. He clearly did not understand and was never going to. Just because you hire a manager doesn’t mean that he or she is already a great manager. Even if they are, training always helps the people in leadership roles to grow their skills. 
   Solution: Every leader in the organization should have an individual development plan and should receive training annually. If they don’t, they will leave and go somewhere where they can get training and development.

4. Stop allowing mean leaders to lead teams. 
   I have been in many organizations where I meet and observe managers who are mean, surly, demanding, rude, offensive, and specialize in striking fear into the hearts of the team members. Why is this allowed? The answer is always either “they get results,” or “they have been there a long time.” Neither of these answers is an acceptable or a legitimate excuse for that kind of objectionable behavior. The days of mean bosses are over. This is 2019, and leaders have to lead with influence, negotiation, expectation, and motivation. What companies don’t understand is that allowing abominable managers to keep being mean is sending employees a confusing message: “We allow our managers to treat you like dirt, but we value you still.” Yeah, right.
   Solution: Mean leaders need to be put on notice that they have to change or they have to go. There’s sure to be a celebration in the employee lunchroom if the tyrannical manager gets fired, and they’ll certainly breathe easier if the manager is forced to change.

5. Stop allowing executives to think that they don’t need development.
   In many companies, I hear: “Well, we can have training, but our vice presidents won’t attend.” Why not? “They don’t feel that they need training, and if they did, it would be an admission that they have skills they need to work on.” In many organizations, attending training is viewed as a sign of weakness. What’s going on here? Just because someone attends training, they’re weak? Shouldn’t commitment to development be viewed as a strong point? Apparently not. In the leadership ranks in many organizations, this is a liability. Sad, but true. Arrogance and ego are robbing executives of development that they need. 
   Solution: The CEO has to model a dedication to development and insist that every executive get training and development annually, based on specific and identified areas for improvement. When the rest of the organization sees that executives are committed to development, then they will be more inclined to develop themselves.

6. Stop waiting until you have a vacant leadership role to identify talent.
   Here is how I see it happening in many organizations. Someone in a leadership role resigns or gets fired. Panic ensues. The executives meet to see who can fill that role. Is there someone internally they can promote? Do they need to do an outside executive search? Although they seem organized, they will never admit that there is no strategy—it’s called flying by the seat of your pants. 
   Solution: Every organization should have a talent management initiative. This would include recruitment, succession planning, leadership development for future leaders, leadership development for current leaders, and ongoing individual development plans. This helps to build the talent pool for future needs. 

I want to see a brighter day when companies and organizations are led by leaders who are inspired, dedicated, and skillful in the way they lead their teams. Let’s tear down the old bronze monuments to arrogance, incompetence, and management by intimidation.

Let the revolution begin.

 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. Be sure also to listen to his podcast Winning Edge@Work, co-hosted with Rachael Doyle.

Finding Your Great Motivating Desire by Earl Nightingale

The key that unlocks energy is desire. It’s also the key to a long and interesting life. If we expect to create any drive, any real force within ourselves, we have to get excited. 

Did you ever wonder where those human dynamos, those people who can pack as much work into one day as most of us do in two, get all the energy and drive that makes them go? Well, the source of drive and energy in human beings is known. It’s the personal excitement that comes from a great motivating desire. 

If you ask most people why they get out of bed in the morning and slug away all day on the job, they’ll probably have to think about it awhile before coming up with an answer. When they do, it’s usually along the line of “Oh, to pay the rent” or “To put food on the table.” Answers like these aren’t exciting. I belong to the group that thinks life is far too short to be dull. Shelter and food are things we need, but unless we’re living out in the street or starving to death, we’re not up to getting too excited about a place to sleep or something to eat. 

Those who have no exciting reason for getting out of bed in the morning may be fine people, but they never seem to accomplish anything out of the ordinary, and they miss a lot of fun and a lot of rewards that they could be enjoying. They haven’t got the drive to become outstanding because they don’t have a great motivating desire. 

The key that unlocks energy is desire. It’s also the key to a long and interesting life. If we expect a person to do something we want him to do, we have to get him excited. And if we expect to create any drive, any real force within ourselves, we have to get excited. We have to decide on something we desire very much—a goal that fires our imagination with a mental picture of having something, doing something, or being something. 

In a company I once surveyed, one of the men had won the admiration of all the others. I noticed that he had thorough knowledge of his company, its products, its markets, and its competitors. He took pains to understand his customers and their problems. These things, along with an easy manner and a good personality, marked him as an outstanding employee. We asked him about all this, and he said, “When I came to this company a few years back, I decided to shoot for a manager’s job in one of our districts. I’m doing everything I can to be the kind of man who would have that job.”  

Well, that explained it. In his mind, he was already running his own district. The rest of him was merely carrying out the motions that would soon propel him into the job he wanted. Meanwhile, he was enjoying himself tremendously. The mental image of being a district manager so appealed to him that he found all the enthusiasm, energy, and drive he was going to need to achieve that position. Everything he said and did in his current job had to conform to the image he held in his mind. He was outstanding because nothing less than his best would fit with the goal he’d picked out. 

Of course he’ll get that district manager job and all that goes with it. People with unusual drive and energy, people who excel, are the ones who have given themselves a mental picture, a goal to work toward. And the amount of drive they possess will always be in exact proportion to the strength and desire to make that mental picture a reality, to reach that goal. 

We don’t have to worry about setting a goal we can never reach; that’s the strange and wonderful thing about humans, something that most people seem to miss. We never seriously desire anything we can’t possibly have. If you get all fired up over something, whether it’s an executive position in your company or the income you feel you and your family need to do and have the things you want, if you can clearly envision how it will feel to satisfy your desire, well, then it can be yours. 

Arnold Bennett wrote that the kind of desire that triggers drive and energy within us isn’t some vague hankering, some undefined wish. The productive kind of desire is real, it’s concrete, it’s a mental picture that will never leave us alone. It’s always there in front of our minds, prodding and poking, goading us on. It’s an obsession, a whip. It has no mercy, and we’ll never be satisfied until we’ve achieved that which we truly desire. 

Well, how about you? What’s your goal? What is it that gets you fired up every time you think about it? If you have such a goal, you’ll never have to worry about the drive and energy you’ll need to achieve it. But if you find that you lack drive, that you’re short on energy, give it some thought. Decide on the dream that’s more important to you than any other. Then begin to make that dream a reality. You can—and you’ll find that you’ve got all the drive you need and all the energy you want. 

This is an excerpt from Earl Nightingale’s Your Success Starts Here: Purpose and Personal Initiative, now available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, 800-CEO-READ, and other fine retailers. This volume contains Nightingale’s most potent messages about finding your purpose and taking the steps to better your life and relationships and achieve professional and financial success. It is never too late to give your life meaningful direction—pick up your copy of Your Success Starts Here today! 

Four Ways to Turn Introversion into a Leadership Asset by Jennifer Janechek

In her bestselling book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, Susan Cain explains how in the twentieth century, extroversion became a cultural value—one that resulted in the conflation of success and outgoingness, likeability and talkativeness. Consequently, “introversion—along with its cousins sensitivity, seriousness, and shyness—is now a second-class personality trait, somewhere between a disappointment and a pathology.” However, as she notes, pointing to figures like Sir Isaac Newton, Rosa Parks, Steven Spielberg, Dr. Seuss, and J. K. Rowling as examples of high-achieving introverts, “we make a grave mistake to embrace the Extrovert Ideal so unthinkingly. Some of our greatest ideas, art, and inventions…came from quiet and cerebral people who knew how to tune in to their inner worlds and the treasures to be found there.”   

The Extrovert Ideal has long shaped assumptions about what effective leadership looks like: good leaders, according to the prevailing wisdom, are loquacious, loud, and quick to act. But as Dr. Rick Goodman suggests in his new book The Solutions-Oriented Leader: Your Comprehensive Guide to Achieve World-Class Results, introversion can be a huge asset, rather than a liability, for success in leadership. He writes: “One of the main things that holds introverts back, I think, is the perception that those who are quiet, even shy, cannot make commanding figures.” To break through misperceptions about introversion and tap into its power for leadership greatness, Goodman recommends the following four strategies: 

1. “Remember that listening—not talking—is the mark of a really engaging leader.” 
   Despite the assumption that the most effective leaders are the ones who talk the most, active listening is a far more important leadership skill. Indeed, Goodman notes that potentially the most significant challenge faced by today’s business leaders is positioning yourself “to lead your team not just through commands and dictations but through real engagement.” Meaningful engagement requires not listening to respond, but listening to understand, a communication skill at which introverts are particularly adept. 

2. “Remain calm during times of crisis.” 
   There’s a temptation for extroverts to channel their energy and loquacity into impassioned dialogue when things get stressful, but introverts, with their tendency to calmly, internally process situations before responding, can diffuse emotional situations by offering deliberate, rational, and well-thought-out solutions. Goodman advises introverts to “seize crises as opportunities to provide stable, steady leadership.” 

3. “Force yourself out of your comfort zone.” 
   Although you might prefer small-group situations to large speaking events and value deep, meaningful conversation over small talk, to be an effective leader you’ll want to push yourself a bit to engage with others in the ways that matter to them. Goodman recommends playing to your strengths but also challenging yourself to step out of your comfort zone in order to grow as a leader. 

4. “Allow yourself some quiet time.” 
   Contrary to popular belief, introversion does not mean that you don’t like others or you’re antisocial; in fact, introverts can be quite social beings—in measured doses. What distinguishes introverts from extroverts is that being around others saps their energy rather than boosting it; as such, introverts require time alone to recharge their batteries. Creating space for this—whether by setting aside fifteen minutes in the morning to be by yourself and collect your thoughts for the day, taking a time-out during the workday to fill up your energy reserves, or using another recovery strategy—will help improve your impact as a leader. 

For more strategies on transformational leadership and tips for increasing productivity, enhancing employee engagement and retention, all while creating a happy work environment, pick up a copy of Dr. Rick Goodman’s The Solutions-Oriented Leader: Your Comprehensive Guide to Achieve World-Class Results, available from Sound Wisdom on April 16. 

Dr. Rick Goodman is one of the most sought-after thought leaders and keynote speakers internationally specializing in leadership, engagement, and business growth. As a serial entrepreneur who has built several multimillion-dollar businesses, Dr. Rick walks his talk and shares his winning leadership philosophy with his audiences based on lessons learned as one of the team physicians for the Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams and his association with other championship teams like the NBA champions Miami Heat. 

His mission is to introduce his transformational leadership and team-building formulas and systems into 10,000 businesses worldwide, A few of Dr. Rick's clients include Heineken, AT&T, Hewlett-Packard, Ultimate Software, Inova Health Systems, and Franklin Templeton Investments. 
 
He is the founder and president of Advantage Continuing Education Seminars (ACES), one of the largest online continuing education companies in the world. He is a distinguished member of the National Speakers Association, the Global Speakers Federation, The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Florida Speakers Association. 

Are You Accountable to Your Customers? by Sam Silverstein

Accountable leadership cares less about the short-term bottom line…and more about the long-term relationship. 

 A key test of accountability comes in the form of two tough questions:  

• Can your customers count on you to act in their best interests? Do they know you’ve always “got their back”?  

• Do they know you are accountable to fulfill a commitment to provide them with full value…and to give them all the information they need to make an informed decision?  

A recent PBS NewsHour story is making customers think twice about whether their most trusted providers are offering the right answers to those questions.  

Gretchen Liu, 78, went online and paid her insurance provider’s chosen supplier a copay of $285 for a 90-day supply of some medication she needed. The price seemed high, but her condition was serious, so she simply paid the bill and trusted that her insurance company was pointing her toward the best available price. Time passed, and Liu needed a refill of her medication before going on a trip. She headed to the pharmacy at Costco…where she learned that she could have gotten the very same medication there for only $40 if she had opted to pay for the same (generic!) drug out of pocket, instead of using the online copay arrangement provided by her insurance company! 

Let’s be frank. Something went very wrong here, something that needs to be noticed not just by online pharmacies and insurance companies, but by companies operating in all industries. When we don’t tell our customers how to make the very best choice, we let them down…and we don’t fulfill our accountability to them to look after their interests and deliver full value. 

There are two places where accountability needs to show up in this kind of situation. First, the online vendor for these medications should prominently inform customers when they can get a substantial price break by not using the copay option. The online pharmaceutical vendor, and by extension the insurance company, failed this test. 

Second, the pharmacists we visit in person should also make sure we get the best price possible. The Costco pharmacist passed this test. Guess which supplier Liu trusts more? Guess which she is more likely to recommend? 

One relationship with the customer—Costco’s—was based on accountability. The other wasn’t. Can you blame Liu—or any of us who need prescription drugs—if we start assuming that we need to watch out for our own interests, rather than trust our insurance company’s chosen suppliers? 

News flash: If you’re my insurance company, I’m your customer! That means you should be looking out for my best interests. 

That’s true for any company, of course, not just companies that sell insurance.  

If a company is more concerned with its immediate bottom line than it is with the customer’s best interests, that is a short-term decision, and a poor one. That company is maximizing a short-term profit in exchange for a long-term loss. When that company stops looking out for its customers, it might maximize its profits that month, that quarter, or maybe even that year—but there are going to be long-term problems down the line…and if the company ignores those problems for long enough, its survival will eventually be at stake! 

So: How committed is your organization to always do what’s best for the customer? How likely are you to tell a customer, “You know what? You can save some money and/or time if you do it this way instead of that way”? How committed are you and your team to giving customers all the information they should be able to expect from you? 

If you hesitated before answering any of those questions, consider that the problem you just uncovered begins with your company leadership’s commitment to employees.  

When leadership is only focused on the short-term bottom line and is not looking out for the best interests of customers, that sends a message to the employees in the organization that leaders probably aren’t looking out for their best interests, either! All too often, that message is part of a corporate death spiral—poor employee morale reinforces poor customer service, which reinforces poor employee morale, and on and on. This cycle is a hallmark of unaccountable leaders—not bad employees! Wherever there is a customer service issue, that points toward an accountability issue internally in the organization…usually at the very top.  

The flip side is also true. If the people in the organization know that the leader has their back and is personally accountable to uphold a commitment to help them achieve their full potential and be the very best they can be, then that leader is building a culture based on accountability and commitment—and those employees are going to be accountable to fulfilling a commitment to the customers to deliver full value, time after time after time. 

Rest assured: If you care about the long-term relationship more than the short-term bottom line, you will build a marketplace advantage based on accountability…and you will turn your customers into passionate advocates for your brand. 

Sam Silverstein is dedicated to empowering people to live accountable lives, transform the way they do business, and create a more accountable world. He helps companies create an organizational culture that prioritizes and inspires accountability. His most recent book in the No More Excuses series, No Matter What: The 10 Commitments of Accountability, is available now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, 800-CEO-READ, and other fine retailers. You can follow Sam on Twitter @SamSilverstein, Facebook @SilversteinSam, Instagram @samsilverstein, and YouTube @samsilverstein. 

What Entrepreneurs Can Learn from Poetry by Jennifer Janechek

This article originally appeared here on Entrepreneur. 

Humanities majors are becoming increasingly desirable to corporations. Just take a look at this recent study suggesting that Google’s most-prized skills in its employees are those cultivated by a humanities degree rather than a STEM one. But even if you don’t have a degree in the humanities, you can still take insight from the wisdom that programs of study like English, history, and philosophy have to offer. 

For instance, I recently read Mary Oliver’s A Poetry Handbook: A Prose Guide to Understanding and Writing Poetry (Mariner Books, 1994) in preparation for a poetry segment in a literature course I’m teaching, and I was struck by how much of Oliver’s advice to budding poets is incredibly relevant to the corporate world as well. The following points and their accompanying Handbook quotes demonstrate how the humanities, and poetry in particular, can offer fresh advice and creative strategies for entrepreneurship. 

1. Imitation is a good starting place. 

“Emotional freedom, the integrity and special quality of one’s own work—these are not first things, but final things.” 

Oliver recommends that beginning poets start with imitation, learning the techniques of craft from the masters of poetry and experimenting with different poetic forms until they gain a thorough enough understanding of the mechanics of poetry to break out on their own. The same advice seems relevant for those new to the workforce: spend time studying the success stories of those in your field, learning what enabled them to achieve greatness, before striking out on your own. Read books like Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, which details over 20 years of research on the basic principles contributing to the success of over 500 of the world’s wealthiest businesspeople. It’s important to know what’s been done before, and how it’s been done, to avoid as many pitfalls as possible and to be able to develop your own work style. 

2. Be wary of when your work habits become “second nature.” 

“It demands, finally, a thrust of our own imagination—a force, a new idea—to make sure that we do not merely copy, but inherit, and proceed from what we have learned. A poet develops his or her own style slowly, over a long period of working and thinking—thinking about other styles, among other things. Imitation fades as a poet’s own style—that is, the poet’s own determined goals set out in the technical apparatus that will best achieve those goals—begins to be embraced.” 

While imitation is a great starting point, you don’t want to spend your entire work life copying what others have done. Rather, you want to “inherit, and proceed from what we have learned,” as Oliver says. Use your study of others’ stories to develop your own unique vision and style. 

3. Avoid clichés at all costs. 

“The cliché works in poems as it works in any kind of writing—badly. Do not use the cliché in a poem unless, perhaps, you are writing a poem about the cliché.” 

Clichés abound in the corporate world as much as in the academic world. They fill our hurried e-mails, our copywriting, and our presentations. Relying on clichés suggests a certain laziness and a lack of engagement with the person or topic. Put in the extra effort to say something original and meaningful that will add value to your life and the lives of the people with whom you’re working. 

4. Finding a work rhythm enhances productivity and pleasure. 

“Rhythm is one of the most powerful of pleasures, and when we feel a pleasurable rhythm we hope it will continue. When it does, the sweet grows sweeter. When it becomes reliable, we are in a kind of body-heaven.” 

When we read poems with enjoyable rhythms, we feel pleasure. We do this because rhythm is one of the greatest joys of the human body. Just like rhythmic text brings us joy, daily rhythms nourish our bodies and our souls. Developing a work rhythm will similarly bring more pleasure to your professional life and will help you accomplish more and feel less stressed during your workday. 

5. Inspiration is important, but it almost always takes hard work to get desirable results. 

“Have some lines come to you, a few times, nearly perfect, as easily as a dream arranges itself during sleep? That’s luck. That’s grace. But this is the usual way: hard work, hard work, hard work. This is the way it is done.” 

We might be tempted to think that the most successful poets, businessmen, etc., were just “lucky” or that they received inspiration from the muses and simply coasted to greatness. In 99.9 percent of cases, that is not true. Success, as Oliver notes, requires “hard work, hard work, hard work.” 

6. Workshopping ideas and business materials makes for better employees and better products. 

“With everyone using an understandable language, and with a number of persons scrutinizing the work, the workshop members can learn a great deal about their general aptitude and specific writing skills—can learn much more than even the most diligent writer could ascertain in the same amount of time while working alone.” 

The poetry workshop has been a staple in creative writing programs since the early twentieth century. Although collaboration is a buzzword in the business world, it’s not the same thing as workshopping. Companies might continually improve the effectiveness of their employees and refine their products by encouraging workshops—meetings where employees use a shared language in order to scrutinize their work processes, materials, etc. For these to be successful, it’s crucial for everyone to lay aside their egos, be willing to receive and provide constructive criticism, and forgo comments based on personal tastes/opinions for those more focused on objective reasons why something does or does not work. 

7. It’s crucial to stay aware, curious, and engaged. 

“A mind that is lively and inquiring, compassionate, curious, angry, full of music, full of feeling, is a mind full of possible poetry.” 

While it’s beneficial to have a work rhythm, you don’t want to let your habits turn into mindless routines. When this happens, you can fall into the work doldrums, where you operate on autopilot and stop thinking creatively. To give your job (and yourself) the best, prevent yourself from developing tunnel vision: stay engaged with and curious about your surroundings and your career, have daily and weekly check-ins with yourself about your goals and the steps you’ve taken to achieve them, and continually read books and articles that keep you passionate about your work and your vision. 

How does poetry inform your work? Do you write or read poetry for fresh inspiration? Let us know in the comments below! 

Jennifer Janechek is the director of content strategy for Sound Wisdom. She has her PhD in English literature from the University of Iowa and her MA in English from the University of South Florida. She is also the founder of The Work-at-Home Mom Blog, which provides inspiration and community for moms who juggle work and parenting simultaneously. Her writings can be found in Entrepreneur, The Good Men Project, and many other publications. Follow her on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @thewahmblog. 

Five Solutions to Get Unstuck and Gain Fulfillment by Adrean Turner

My grandmother used to say, “Just because you’re moving doesn’t mean that you’re going anywhere.” She then remarked, as she was sitting in a rocking chair, “You see, I’m in motion, but my position isn’t changing.” That is often the case for most individuals who find themselves dissatisfied in the workplace or their home lives. They are “doing things” but not accomplishing goals that enable them to move forward. Do you wonder why it is that our lives rarely change, even when we’re miserable? 

The answer may very well lie in the way we think. In fact, it’s proven that there are effective forces within our minds that conspire to keep us stuck—so much so that we don’t even realize it’s happening. 

If you sometimes feel like you’re running in mud, discover these reasons why you may be in a rut and what you can do to get unstuck: 

RUT 1: You’re uncertain about what you want. Indecisiveness is a major factor affecting individuals’ ability to achieve success. If you think you might like to be a psychologist but also think becoming a writer sounds interesting, you’re stuck. At some point, it’s necessary to make a clear decision and set a goal. Begin by answering these questions to identify your talents and interests: 

• What are your natural gifts and abilities? 

• What would you do if money weren’t an option? 

• What books, shows, or music do you most enjoy? 

• What are you passionate about? 

RUT 2: You lack knowledge necessary to make a change. You might know that you need to be more confident, but you might also lack the knowledge of how to develop confidence. Figure out the skills needed for you to realize the change you desire in your life. This may involve additional training, developing new professional relationships, volunteering, or even taking a lower-paying job. Then create and implement a plan to achieve success. Change is not about being perfect; it’s all about effort.  

RUT 3: You lack willpower or fail to use it effectively. Willpower is limited, but it’s great for creating new habits and behavioral patterns. Sticking with a task after the urge to quit surfaces can develop willpower. Implement these exercises to increase your self-control: 

1. Eliminate as many choices as possible. We all have a finite store of mental energy for exercising self-control. The more choices we make during the day, the harder each one is on our brain. Therefore, making fewer choices helps us make smarter choices. 

2. Make choices in advance. It’s easier to make smart choices when a decision isn’t right in front of you. For example, decide now what you’ll have for breakfast tomorrow. Or determine now what you will do tomorrow to increase your productivity. It’s important to conserve your mental energy for the decisions that really matter. 

3. Do the hardest thing you need to do first. You have the greatest amount of mental energy early in the morning. Decide what those things are and tackle them before anything else.

Use your willpower to develop small habits that can grow into useful routines. 

RUT 4: You can’t deal with being uncomfortable. Anxiety, nervousness, and fear are great for preventing you from jumping off a ten-story building. But they are barriers when it comes to getting unstuck. It’s often said that the only constant in life is change. To overcome limiting beliefs try these techniques: 

• Consider the “harm” and the opportunities associated with the change. For example, you won’t die from giving a speech. But you can improve your professional presence by doing so. Use the logical part of your brain to override your primitive instincts. 

• Implement stress relievers to lower your levels of discomfort. Meditation, prayer, and exercising are a few that can be beneficial. 

• Break down tasks into manageable chunks. It’s important to see the big picture, but you don’t have to do everything at once. Start small and push through your discomfort. Your ability to handle the bigger and scarier situations will grow with experience. 

RUT 5: You give up too quickly. Most people don’t achieve change because they drop out before they graduate to the next level of success. Change not only takes effort, but it takes time to see the fruits of your labor. Most likely, 80 percent of the change you seek won’t reveal itself until at least 80 percent of the work is done. Although your early efforts show little results, recognize the things that are happening behind the scenes. Perseverance is the key to realizing meaningful change. 

To change your life, change your priorities and understand the roadblocks preventing you from moving forward. Many people live like a feather blowing in the wind, never having a true direction. It’s important to choose your destination. Leaving things to chance is choosing not to use your power. Set new goals and reinforce them. Each day, rewrite your goal and imagine how you’ll feel when you accomplish it. They’ll become a priority over all the other noise in your head. And eventually you will enhance your ability to bring about fulfillment. 

You have everything within to have an AMAZING life and career.  All things are possible! Just keep going! 

This post originally appeared here on www.coachadrean.com. Get more information and inspiration in Adrean’s book, F.I.T. for Success: Fearless, Inspired, Transformed for Success. 

Four Reasons Why Emotional Intelligence Is the "Secret Sauce" to Transformational Leadership by Jennifer Janechek

In Season 21 of ABC’s The Bachelor, one of the contestants, Taylor Nolan, became infamous for her continual references to “emotional intelligence”—namely, in telling her fellow contestant Corinne Olympios that she “lacked the maturity and emotional intelligence” to be with bachelor Nick Viall—bringing to the forefront of cultural awareness a concept that has long been considered crucial for personal and professional success. In her lecture to Corinne, Taylor explains, “It kind of speaks to self-awareness,” which is true in part, but it is more relational than that simplistic definition implies. 

(Photo from Pop Culture Sensation)

In his new book The Solutions-Oriented Leader: Your Comprehensive Guide to Achieve World-Class Results, Dr. Rick Goodman defines emotional intelligence (EQ) as the “ability to perceive and identify emotions in the workplace and in your relationships with others…being attuned to the emotions of the people around you, but also to your own emotions—and making your decisions accordingly.” 

If you’ve ever wondered what that certain je ne sais quoi is that distinguishes truly great leaders from mediocre ones—that quality that makes them dynamic, engaging, motivating, and that enables them to deliver results—very likely it is emotional intelligence. Goodman shares four reasons why EQ is the “secret sauce” to transformational leadership:  

1. “EQ can help you cultivate employee engagement and retention.” 
   Today’s job seekers and employees want more than good pay and decent benefits; they want the engagement that comes from feeling like part of a close-knit community. Being able to identify and respond appropriately to your employees’ emotional cues will help make them feel like valued team members, which in turn will improve recruitment and retention.  

2. “Leaders with high EQ better understand how their employees derive satisfaction.” 
   Success looks different for different people; as such, not all employees will be incentivized by the same factors. Goodman explains, “Having EQ will help you identify these specific drivers for each employee and build a workplace dynamic that provides everyone with necessary motivators.” 

3. “EQ can assist in team building, too.” 
   In order to build a cohesive, well-performing team, according to Goodman, you need to know how to “structure a team that allows everyone to play to their unique strengths.” EQ will help you determine what these strengths are and how to channel them in a way that maximizes the potential for effective collaboration and optimal productivity. 

4. “EQ can help identify your employees’ management styles.” 
   Being able to assess employees’ emotional needs and personalities and knowing how to match them with employees and mentors well-suited to those needs and types will aid in employees’ personal growth and professional development.  

Interested in learning how to cultivate your emotional intelligence? Pre-order your copy of Dr. Rick Goodman’s The Solutions-Oriented Leader: Your Comprehensive Guide to Achieve World-Class Results, available from Sound Wisdom on April 16, 2019.

Dr. Rick Goodman is one of the most sought-after thought leaders and keynote speakers internationally specializing in leadership, engagement, and business growth. As a serial entrepreneur who has built several multimillion-dollar businesses, Dr. Rick walks his talk and shares his winning leadership philosophy with his audiences based on lessons learned as one of the team physicians for the Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams and his association with other championship teams like the NBA champions Miami Heat. 

His mission is to introduce his transformational leadership and team-building formulas and systems into 10,000 businesses worldwide, A few of Dr. Rick's clients include Heineken, AT&T, Hewlett-Packard, Ultimate Software, Inova Health Systems, and Franklin Templeton Investments. 

He is the founder and president of Advantage Continuing Education Seminars (ACES), one of the largest online continuing education companies in the world. He is a distinguished member of the National Speakers Association, the Global Speakers Federation, The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Florida Speakers Association. 

Stalking the Elephant by Jim Stovall

Many people would claim to believe that anything is possible, but when it comes to their own life, career, and success, they don’t believe everything is possible.  

The concept of anything being possible is random and ethereal. It includes ideas such as “I might win the lottery,” “We might get hit by a meteor,” or “If I’m lucky, I could get the perfect job and meet Mr. or Miss Right.” In these examples, believing in anything being possible assumes that the outcome is not within our control but it’s possible. On the other hand, when we believe that we control our destiny and our fate is in our own hands, we understand that everything is open to us based on the choices we make and how hard we want to work.  

I am an entrepreneur and run a small business called the Narrative Television Network. Due to a lot of hard work by our team, we landed a contract to do business with one of the largest corporations in the world. Many well-meaning, well-intentioned, and knowledgeable people would assert that a little company from Oklahoma with less than ten employees couldn’t do business on a level playing field with a multinational, multibillion-dollar giant. In reality, if they believe it’s impossible in their circumstances, they are right. If I believe it’s possible for our team, I’m right.  

Success is a self-fulfilling prophecy. In my book The Millionaire Map, I explain that if you want to be successful, you need to surround yourself with a group of people who have what you want. I call these people your Dream Team. I’m a firm believer in being willing to be turned down or rejected by the very best. At the start of any endeavor, if you will simply believe that everything is possible and open to you, you can list the candidates for your Dream Team.  

When we started the Narrative Television Network, we had no background, training, experience, or resources in the industry. When I asked myself, “If I could have anyone I wanted on my Dream Team to advise and assist us, who would I pick?” The answer was as simple to me then as it is now. Ted Turner. When we got involved in the financial planning and investment arena, the potential Dream Team member I listed first was Steve Forbes. When we got into the field of leadership training, the first name that came to my mind of someone I wanted on our side was the legendary Coach John Wooden. When my novels began to be sought for movie projects and I was looking for people on my Dream Team, I thought of people like James Garner, Peter Fonda, Raquel Welch, and Academy Award-winner Louis Gossett Jr. I am pleased to report that each of these special people has contributed and continues to contribute to our success. As ancient wisdom tells us, “You have not because you ask not.”  

As you go through your day today, set your sights high, and you might just get what you aim at. 

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.  

Spring Training for Organizational Success by Sam Silverstein

While visiting and working in Florida, I had the opportunity to attend the St. Louis Cardinals’ home opener spring training baseball game. Spring training is a great time both for the players and the fans. Everything starts new in spring training. Fans have renewed hopes of their team winning the World Series. Young players have renewed aspirations of moving up in the organization and possibly even making the Major League team.  

But a lot has to be accomplished before decisions are made on who will make the Major League team and who will continue to play in the Minor Leagues. 

There are many goals that need to be addressed in spring training. The players are working to get in everyday playing shape. Management is evaluating talent. Pitchers are developing new pitches that they are willing to try when the games don’t really matter so that they are ready when the games do matter. And, even though the games don’t count in the regular season standings, the organization’s leadership is working to develop the drive to win. Winning is a habit that has to be nurtured inside of everyone and inside the team as a whole. In essence, they are learning how to compete.  

During drills, the players have a lot of mini competitions. They discover momentum. They learn what working together as a team feels like. This is the time to master what happens between the players and their relationships in addition to the physical skills involved in playing the game. One without the other will leave the team short of reaching their potential.  

Leadership is looking at how players interact in relationship to each other; evaluating if the values of different players line up with each other and if they will fit together on a team. Teamwork isn’t created by assembling the best players on a single team. Teamwork is about assembling a group of people who share a common set of values and who commit to living those values with each other. That is not only teamwork but accountability in action. 

It is the same in any business or organization. There are the skills necessary to perform the tasks, deliver the service and create the products, and there is the environment where everyone works. That environment, or organizational culture based on a set of values, will determine the level of performance that everyone is able to achieve.  

You can assemble people with the best skills, but if you don’t put equal time into creating a winning organizational culture, you come up short. It’s the transactional side of businesses, the skills, and the relational side—the teamwork, camaraderie, trust, and respect—that when focused on equally, allow an organization to be at its best because people are then positioned to be at their best. 

Sam Silverstein is dedicated to empowering people to live accountable lives, transform the way they do business, and create a more accountable world. He helps companies create an organizational culture that prioritizes and inspires accountability. His most recent book in the No More Excuses series, No Matter What: The 10 Commitments of Accountability, is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, 800-CEO-READ, and other fine retailers. 

8 Ways to Improve Your Leadership Skills by Adrean Turner

Today’s organizations are struggling to recruit and retain valuable employees. Employee engagement is less than 30 percent in most industries.  

A leader is NOT born. A leader is created, and the whole process starts inside the most dangerous place you’ll ever encounter—your own mind. How can you become a strong leader who inspires others, drives people toward excellence, holds people accountable, and instills a sense of trust? Learning what makes a great leader is your first step.  

Here are some things you can do to become the leader you’ve always wanted to be: 

(1) Control yourself. Every great leader in history has had to become a master of self-discipline and willpower in order to stay focused on the big picture. If you don’t have a goal or the drive to achieve it, you can’t lead others to attain theirs. 

The man who cannot control himself, can never control others. Self-control sets a mighty example for one’s followers, which the more intelligent will emulate. ~ Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich 

(2) Follow through in everything you do. As challenging as it may be, you need to be disciplined enough to be where you need to be, when you need to be there, whether you want to or not. By being strong in your resolve and resisting temptation to give up, you are setting an example for others to live up to. 

(3) Choose your emotional response to a situation carefully. Sometimes you’ll need to practice the art of silencing your inner thoughts when they’re not appropriate in order to set a positive example. 

(4) Project your goals. If the people you’re leading don’t completely understand the deeper meaning in their work, they won’t share your vision or work ethic. Every step of the way, communicate with your team to make sure they’re on the same wavelength and know what you expect of them. 

(5) Get your team involved in the planning process and the implementation of your ideas. This gives everyone a greater sense of ownership toward the end result. 

A successful person finds the right place for himself. But a successful leader finds the right place for others. ― John C. Maxwell  

(6) Praise highly and criticize constructively. The way you praise and criticize others can make all the difference in being able to lead effectively. Make sure you publicly praise the people who do excellent work for you. You’ll give the person a sense of accomplishment and the drive to do even better. When someone does something wrong, offer constructive criticism and do it privately. Suggest solutions on how they can improve and take the time to answer any questions. They’ll accept your input more willingly if they know it’s done to help and not to harm. 

(7) Know your people. You can’t truly lead a group of people unless you truly understand their hopes, dreams, struggles, pains, and goals. All the good intentions in the world mean nothing unless you have a true sense of the people with whom you’re working. Getting to know each other on a personal level will strengthen the bond between you. They’ll want to do better for you because you’re more than just a “boss.” 

(8) Make the hard call. There are times when you have to bite the bullet and make some unpleasant decisions. Firing, demoting, and holding people accountable for their actions can be very hard at times. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to handle these matters.  

Regardless of where your leadership role takes you, believe that you can be a strong leader. Remember that in order to lead others, you must be disciplined yourself. After all, your actions will speak louder than anything you can say. In order to gain the respect of others, strive to lead by example in every area of your life.

This post originally appeared here on www.coachadrean.com. Get more information and inspiration in Adrean’s book, F.I.T. for Success: Fearless, Inspired, Transformed for Success.

Unleash the Power of Your Humor Being by Jennifer Janechek

In his new book Motivate THIS!: How to Start Each Day with an Unstoppable Attitude to Succeed Regardless of Your Circumstances, professional stand-up comedian and Speaker Hall of Fame inductee Steve Rizzo shares strategies for overcoming the negativity bias that’s programmed into us in childhood and retraining our brains to think more positively in order to reach our goals. One of the methods he endorses is “unleashing the power of your Humor Being.” According to Rizzo, your Humor Being is that part of yourself that enables you to access your sense of humor in order to thrive during life’s ups and downs. Rizzo defines “sense of humor” in a unique way, one that helps readers view it as an actual mental tool for reshaping their outlook: “a sense of humor means to be aware that you have a mental quality to turn your mind in an unusual way, or a need to produce joyful or absurd ideas that can soothe your being.”  

Pause on that idea for a second: a mental quality—to turn your mind—in an unusual way. It’s easy to dismiss advice like “laugh it off” as trite or perhaps even unrealistic—though to be sure, Rizzo never actually phrases it that way. But what Rizzo is offering here is much more profound, for he’s teaching readers how to reprogram their brains—actually setting into play physiological and neurological changes—so that they can shift (or cognitively turn) into a place of joy during times of stress, sadness, or frustration. Doing so generates positive energy that then enables them to focus on attaining their goals. Indeed, as Dr. Sherrie Bourg Carter explains, “laughter releases the neurotransmitter dopamine, which serves as a reward for the brain, creates a sense of euphoria, and plays a pivotal role in our motivation to continue the behavior.” 

So how can you unleash the power of your Humor Being? Here are some ideas: 

1. Find something to laugh about as soon as you wake up in the morning. This will set a positive and energizing tone for the day. As Rizzo notes, though, it’s important to continue to employ your sense of humor throughout the day. 

2. If you’re feeling stressed or upset, take time to observe your surroundings and identify something humorous. Finding a reason to chuckle will initiate electrochemical reactions in your brain that will help you feel better physically and emotionally. 

3. If you can’t find levity in your immediate surroundings, use your imagination to envision humorous scenarios. 

4. Share inoffensive GIFs and memes to enliven your workplace and mitigate both major and minor tensions there. As Rizzo suggests, laughter significantly boosts employee productivity and morale. 

5. Help yourself deal with stress or negativity and recharge your battery by carving out time to go to a comedy club or watch a funny sitcom or movie. 

These practices will help you get in sync with your Humor Being, improving what Rizzo terms your “humor insights,” which will activate during difficult or mundane times and help motivate you to conquer any obstacles and actualize your dreams. 

How do you use humor to motivate you? Do you have any strategies for accessing your Humor Being other than those listed above? Share in the comments below!

The new and expanded edition of Steve Rizzo’s Motivate THIS!: How to Start Each Day with an Unstoppable Attitude to Succeed Regardless of Your Circumstances is now available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and other fine retailers.

Do You Believe in the Power of Love After Sixty? by Darlene Corbett

Many years ago, a lovely client showed me a bracelet her husband had gifted her for a special occasion. Inscribed was a beautiful quote by Robert Browning sent to his beloved Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 

I never forgot the words: “Grow old along with me. The best is yet to be. The last of life for which the first was made.” I could not imagine something lovelier, and I was only 30–31 years old at the time. 

Love in the Second Half of Life 

If you find yourself in that second half of life, think about the beauty of such a statement. Truly, this is the part of the journey where the rose has fully bloomed as a result of the seeds sowed in the first half. 

Love at this remarkable juncture can be more passionate and fulfilling than ever imagined, even for those who experienced it in days gone by. 

Valentine season is all around us. For those who recognize the magical ingredients of love, do not forget that it is not only for the young. 

Many sexagenarian women have listened carefully to wellness experts and subscribe to a healthier lifestyle. As a result, in comparison to their predecessors, they are living longer and more fruitful lives. 

Because they remain vibrant, many women continue to yearn for love and passion at this later season of life. And why not? 

I know three lovely ladies in their 60s who believe in the possibility of later love. All three have been divorced for over a decade. Here are their stories. 

Belinda and the World of Online Dating 

Belinda, a generous, attractive woman, left a very abusive relationship. After healing over the course of many years, she has courageously ventured into the feckless world of online dating. 

With aplomb, Belinda has navigated the unpredictability of dating new people. Although she is frustrated and may take a hiatus, Belinda is determined to continue her pursuit of love, and as I remind her, deservingly so.

Maeve and Her Younger Man 

Maeve, a beautiful woman, was emotionally starved during a ten-year marriage. Her withholding and somewhat mentally abusive husband left her. Finally recognizing she deserved better, Maeve opened herself to love. 

At the beginning of her voyage into the world of the unattached, she met a younger man who asked her on a date, perceiving her to be much younger than 52. 

When Maeve declined and shared her age, he was incredulous about her desire to engage in the act of love and boldly asked, “You still want to do it?” Well, actions speak louder than words, and yes, Maeve not only wanted, but did it. 

Over the next couple of years, she became involved in two passionate relationships. Although those relationships came to an end, Maeve did not succumb to defeat. Now she is 60 and is still pursuing love with the right man and remains open to the possibilities. I say, “You go, girl!” 

Katrina and Meaningful Relationships 

Katrina is a lovely woman who continues to look for love after leaving a very unfulfilling marriage over a decade ago. She wanted to divorce much sooner, but her children begged her to remain in the marriage. 

Temporarily, Katrina acquiesced to their request. Once the children were adults, she was able to make the break. Since that time, Katrina has had two meaningful relationships. The last one, about three years ago, was with a man with whom she planned on spending the rest of her life. 

Unfortunately, as things are not always as they seem, neither are people. This man abruptly ended the relationship through a text message. Later, she discovered he was a charlatan. As we discussed, better to find out before a more permanent living or financial arrangement ensued. 

Katrina continues to be optimistic. Recently, she had a few dates with a pleasant man with whom she does not feel a connection. 

She realizes the challenge of meeting someone who might be the right fit. Well-intentioned relatives remind her of this difficulty and encourage her to give this man more of a chance. 

Katrina shared with me that she would rather take the risk of looking for a better match than settle for the sake of having a partner. As she is aware, I support her determination and courage to take the risk of pursuing her true heart’s desire, and wish her well.

Do You Miss Romantic Love? 

The Valentine season is a reminder of the importance of love. When pierced by Cupid’s arrow, the feeling of romantic love can be utterly exquisite and ageless in its scope. 

To experience this potency, some people will often chance the agony of unreciprocated love for the possibility of tasting such ecstasy. 

Legend states that Valentine performed weddings for soldiers forbidden to marry under the Roman Empire. If there is any truth to this, he obviously recognized and respected the wonder of love. 

Valentine’s determination to conduct the sacred ritual was so great it rendered the ultimate sacrifice for him. 

Do you believe in the power of love? What kind of love are you experiencing in your life? Do you believe in love occurring during the last stages of life? More importantly, do you believe in the possibilities? Please share your thoughts below. 

This article originally appeared here on Sixty and Me. 

Darlene Corbett is a keynote speaker, success coach, and licensed therapist who is committed to helping people become “unstuck” through visualization and scripting so that they can live their lives to the fullest. Her book Stop Depriving the World of You: A Guide for Getting Unstuck is available to purchase from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and many other fine retailers on November 20, 2018.  

Two Out of Three by Jim Stovall

One of the most questionable advertising, marketing, or promotional phrases is, “You can have it all.” You can have all of some things and more of other things, but you can’t have all of everything. 

Time, energy, and money are all finite resources. Wealth brings you choices, but the ability to choose “all of the above” doesn’t exist. I believe if you’re producing any product or service, your results can be fast, good, or cheap. You can pick two out of three, but you can’t have them all. If you want something fast and good, it will be expensive. If you want something fast and cheap, it will not be good.  

When you’re investing your money, you can invest for safety, liquidity, or return. There’s no right answer, and any of these goals will be appropriate for certain investors at various times of their lives; however, once again, you can’t have it all. If you want total safety, you will have to give up some liquidity and some return. If, on the other hand, you want the highest possible return, you will forego liquidity and safety; important decisions in your personal life, therefore, are not yes or no. They are top five or top ten type of decisions.  

We often overlook issues of health, family, spirituality, and well-being when we establish our priorities. All things being equal, more money is better than less money, but if you’re sacrificing your health or quality time with your loved ones for money, it is likely a poor bargain; we must, therefore, budget the things that are finite such as our time and money while prioritizing the elements of life that are infinite such as spirituality, well-being, and significance.  

A veteran airline pilot once told me that on a four-hour, coast-to-coast flight, we would be off-course at least three-and-one-half hours of the entire trip. Our lives are much the same way in that success involves a constant adjustment and precise management of all elements. We live in a high-definition movie environment, not a single-frame snapshot photo. The right priorities and percentages for me would likely be improper for you, and even if you have perfect balance today, it probably won’t fit for you next week, next month, or next year.  

Wisdom comes not only from making good decisions but in deciding how to decide. 

As you go through your day today, realize you can’t have it all, so get what matters most to you. 

Today’s the day! 

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

Living the Lottery Life by Shawn Doyle

I saw a news story the other night where a reporter on the street was interviewing people and asking them what they would do if they won the lottery. Many people said that they would travel or that they would buy exotic cars, a new house, or some other luxury extravagance. What I found most interesting is that when asked, “Would you stay at your job?” every single person said, “No, I would leave my job immediately.” That was every single person. 

This story really got me thinking about the psychology of the lottery. People often say that if they were to win those millions of dollars, they would finally be happy. But the big question is, why would that be? As the old saying goes, “Most people are living lives of quiet desperation.”  

Well, I have some good news and some bad news: It is highly unlikely that you will ever win the lottery—I guess that is the bad news. The good news is that you can begin to live the lottery life starting tomorrow. What do I mean by that? I mean that you can create your own life and win! 

1. Your job—If you truly hate your job enough to quit immediately upon winning the lottery, then guess what? You may want to think about the work that you do, because obviously you do not have a passion for what you do. First, mister, no one is making you do it. After all, you don’t have to work there. You could find another job. You could switch industries. You could find a new profession. 
   
   I was recently doing a full-day training program at a company, and when I asked one of the team members how long she had been with the company, she told me, “Fourteen years.” When I responded, “Oh, that is great.” She said, “No, it’s not. In fact, I have been here fourteen years too long.” I am a realist and not an idealist, and I know that you just can’t up and quit your job tomorrow. That is not realistic, and you do have mouths to feed and bills to pay. I get that. What I am saying is that starting tomorrow, you need to begin developing a plan for doing the thing that you have a passion for doing. The key, then, is to do something every day to move closer to that goal. You can work at your real job while in your spare time working on creating your dream job. There are many cases of people who have reinvented their careers and have ended up living very happy lives doing the work that they love. 

2. Your dreams—Maybe you dream of having a huge mansion. Maybe you dream of having a high-speed boat or traveling all over the world to exotic locales. I’m sure you believe that winning the lottery would help you achieve those dreams very quickly because the lottery would pay for them. But here is my question: What are you waiting for? Go ahead and start working on those dreams now instead of standing at your local convenience store buying twenty tickets and hoping that one of them is “the one.” Why not take some time today and write out your goals in every part of your life. Create an action plan and start working on it now. Find out what training and development may be available for what it is you’re trying to do, sign up for a college class, start learning a trade. Why not sit down today and figure out how you can have the home of your dreams; how you can have that boat; how, through your work and effort, you can travel the world to exotic locales without being sponsored by the Powerball? 
   
   You may think I’m crazy, but I also believe that if you achieve your dreams through your own hard work and sweat equity, you will feel much better about it than if somebody handed you a pile of cash that you really did earn. If you don’t believe me, there have been many cases of people who won the lottery, then a few years after winning lost everything and said that they were miserable because they felt like they did not deserve the money. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t turn down the money if someone handed it to me; I’m just saying I think you appreciate it more when you earn it and you worked for it. 

3. Your happiness—I hear people say this all the time about the lottery: that if they won, they would finally be happy. What if you never win the lottery? Would you never be happy? Are you not happy now? So instead of waiting for some random balls to come down the chute and change your life, why not figure out what would make you truly happy now? 
   
   I have often written that you are the architect of your own life, and I believe that. Take some time and analyze your life and figure out the things that make you happy, and those are the things you want to keep doing. Here’s a suggestion from the land of the obvious: if you have things that make you unhappy or miserable or that fill you with sadness and despair, change them, get rid of them, or do something about it. As far as I know, we only have the chance to live one life, and to me life is way too short to sit around and not be happy. You can decide how to handle every aspect of your life.  

So here’s what I want you to do: don’t stand around with your fingers crossed, watching the screen to see if your numbers come up. Instead, spend your time and energy creating your own lottery life, because the reality is it’s the only one that you can truly control.

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.

How to Find Balance as a Work-at-Home Mom by Jennifer Janechek

These days there are a plethora of opportunities that enable mothers to stay in the workforce while remaining at home, which is fantastic. However, working from home as a mother of small children is no small feat. While I certainly would not dare say that one mom role is harder than another, being a WAHM can be a very trying position: in many ways, the WAHM is, in addition to being a working mom, a stay-at-home mom (SAHM), someone who is responsible for childcare and/or household duties at some point in the day. And in my experience, because you’re juggling these two positions as a WAHM, it is easy to feel like you’re failing at both. Below are some tips for managing the stress and challenges that come with being a WAHM. 

1. Wake up early. 
   The morning can be an incredibly productive work time. Try to wake up at least an hour before your children (unless they’re very early risers) and register an hour of work time in the quiet and calm of the early morning. 

2. Get the necessary childcare. 
   This is a biggie, and it was a difficult one for me to accept. When I first had my daughter and was doing freelance work, I struggled to determine whether projects merited the cost of additional childcare. I often (wrongly) decided that I could handle both the extra project and the childcare responsibilities, which always ended up being extremely stressful. I relied entirely on my daughter’s erratic nap schedule, so I was a nervous wreck every time a loud car would pass the house or the UPS driver would ring the doorbell. And there were days when she simply would not nap, something for which I could never plan. Once I started hiring sitters to come to our home in the mornings, I became a better worker, a better mom, and yes, a better wife. It’s important to note, too, that if you have a full-time telecommute position with a company, they might require you to have your child(ren) in full-time daycare outside of the house. 

3. Pretend you’re going into the office. 
   As a WAHM, I’m very busy and constantly tired, and, quite honestly, the last thing I feel like doing in the morning is fixing my hair and getting dressed (in something other than at leisure anyway). When I started finding myself going through the entire day in a tank top and sweatpants, I knew something had to change. I began pushing myself to practice more self-care and to prepare for the day as though I were going to work at an office, and the results were amazing: on days that I put myself together I felt so much better physically, emotionally, and psychologically, and I was immeasurably more productive. 

4. Set strict boundaries.  
   Real talk: this is really tough to do. It’s often incredibly difficult for husbands, friends, and family to understand that just because you work at home doesn’t mean that it’s easy for you to do chores during the day. Emptying the dishwasher, meal prepping, cleaning up around the house—these activities may not take much time on their own, but each little chore interrupts the work day, hampers productivity, and can add up to a significant loss of time over the course of the day. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t do these things—indeed, part of the benefit of being a WAHM is that I’m able to take twenty minutes and throw dinner in the slow cooker before lunch. What I am saying is that you need to determine what you’re capable of doing in a day and set strict boundaries about everything else. For me, this means that I dedicate a specific hour of the day to household tasks—an hour when I don’t have a sitter and my daughter is awake, so I wouldn’t really be able to work anyway. As a WAHM, boundaries are key to managing your stress level; I can’t overemphasize their importance.  

Do you have tips for finding balance as a WAHM? Let us know in the comments below!

Jennifer Janechek is the director of content strategy for Sound Wisdom. She has her PhD in English literature from the University of Iowa and her MA in English from the University of South Florida. She is also the founder of The Work-at-Home Mom Blog, which provides inspiration and community for moms who juggle work and parenting simultaneously. Her writings can be found in Entrepreneur, The Good Men Project, and many other publications.

I Spy a Sale by Jennifer Gluckow

Remember playing “I Spy” when you were a kid? 

Before the “tablet age,” this was a classic parenting tactic to keep children entertained during a long car ride or a grown-up meal in public. My parents would challenge me to find things everywhere we went (like a Where’s Waldo book, but with cooler, non-disclosed objects in real life). As simple as the game was, I’m convinced it trained me to seek, observe, remember, and think about the smallest details from a very young age. 

Think about what you look at. 

Flash forward 15 years to any restaurant or any airplane, and everyone is staring at their phone trying to exist in two places at once, barely living in the moment. Ignoring EVERYONE. Observing NOTHING. 

Ever take time from your busy schedule and rush to a dinner reservation to enjoy time with friends, only to have your head buried in a screen? I’m guilty of this too, but WHY do we all do this?! FOMO? Are we all so busy that small sentences have to become acronyms? (Hey! Look up, I’m talking to you!) 

When you live in the moment, you notice your friend’s hidden engagement ring, or the choice of art hanging on the wall, or the song playing in the background. I am a confessed, total tech geek, but knowing when to put the phone down has helped me connect to life—both personally and professionally.  

During a sales call, the hard-to-find details in the room can often be the secret passageways that lead to an order. What do you look at and what do you look for when you’re in a conference room or someone’s office? Are you so busy “pitching and showing slides” that you forget to look around? Are you staring at your phone in anticipation of the next e-mail or text? No! This is the precise time to be in the moment, look up, and put your “I Spy” skills to work: 

Look around your client’s office, but not just at trophies and family photos. 

• Is there a wrapper of their favorite candy? 

• Do they drink tea or coffee? 

• What publications do they read? 

• Where did they go to school? 

• Do they showcase a certain style of art? 

• Are they well traveled? 

• Do they have a favorite sports team? 

• A favorite hobby? 

• Are they PC or Mac? 

• Android or iPhone?

Take time to examine your surroundings. Search for clues that will help you connect with your client on a more personal level. Find something in common that you can discuss to help build rapport and create the foundation for a successful business relationship. These details add up—all the way to a sale, IF your “spy” glasses and senses are on and your phone is off.  

Don’t just spy IT, spy THEM. Look at and listen to your client’s non-verbal clues—observe their gestures, body language, and eye contact; listen to their questions; and interpret their subtle messages. What are they telling you without saying a word? Are they engaged or in a hurry? Do they let their office line go to voicemail, or do they take the call? Do you think it’s a secret that you’re there, or are you being introduced to people? 

Seeking, observing, and analyzing even the smallest details during a sales call will help you better identify and understand your potential client’s needs. You will gain insight and further understand who they are and how they do business. Your job as an international spy is to use that new knowledge to make a human connection. Your connection will lead to trust, and that trust leads to closing the deal. 

Hey, I spy a sale.

The original post appeared here on Jennifer Gluckow’s website. Her book Sales in a New York Minute: 212 Pages of Real World and Easy to Implement Strategies to Make More Sales, Build Loyal Relationships, and Make More Money is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, 800-CEO-READ.

How to Find the Work You Love by Simon T. Bailey

I am astounded at how many people roll out of bed every day, every week, every month, and every year to work for a company that is subpar in its treatment of its most important asset—people. There is no spark of enthusiasm when the alarm goes off on Monday morning. Why not? Perhaps it’s time for a career audit. You may discover that your job is a liability instead of an asset.  

The University of Phoenix (one of the largest online accredited colleges for working adults) invited me to give the commencement address to an audience of 10,000 people in Atlanta, Georgia. I shared with them that some people graduate from college and settle for a cubicle, a check, and a cup of coffee, only to wake up 20–30 years later to realize that the whole world has shifted. Then there are those who hop from job to job looking to find a fit. Do you know anyone like this? 

Here’s the deal: you were never created to work a job. You were created to find your universal assignment, also known as your life’s work!

A job is what you are paid to do. Releasing Your Brilliance is what you are made to do. 

When you find your life’s work, you will automatically position yourself to become the czar of your field, industry, and marketplace. According to Dictionary.com, a czar is defined as “any person exercising great authority or power in a particular field.” That’s right, I am telling you that it’s time to become the dominant force in your life’s work. 

This current economy is flushing out bad attitudes, lackluster performance, and half-brilliant contributions. I know what you are thinking: How do I find my life’s work? It starts with an honest assessment of the meaning of your life. 

Rihanna and TI encourage you in their platinum hit to “Live Your Life,” but what does that really mean? I know that I just lost half of my boomers with that last statement. Okay, download it from iTunes or Google it to see the words to the song. I interpret it to mean, “I can make my life what I want it to be instead of having others tell me what it should be.” 

Here are some action steps to punch into your system of thinking: 

1. Identify one person you work with who is passionate about their life’s work. Take them to lunch and buy them a meal. Ask them when they knew that they truly were making a life instead of a living. Ask them what steps they took in order to shift gears and pursue being brilliant. 

2. In every organization, 80 percent of the results are generated by 20 percent of the team members. Who are the 20 percent in your organization, industry, or marketplace? If that is not you, then who? How do they think? What do they read? Who are their mentors? What do they listen to? 

3. Invest in a copy of Thank God It’s Monday: How to Create a Workplace You and Your Customers Love by Roxanne Emmerich. This books is a transformational manifesto that will shift your place of business.

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

Achieving a Better Work-Life Blend in 2019 by Jennifer Janechek

In his forthcoming book, Motivate THIS!: How to Start Each Day with an Unstoppable Attitude to Succeed Regardless of Your Circumstances, Steve Rizzo writes: “If you put most of your time and energy into one area, you run the risk of leaving the other unfulfilled. This is especially common among high achievers.” According to Rizzo, it’s important that we dedicate quality time to our work, but a problem arises when this work interferes with what he terms our “cherished values.” Examples he gives of such core values include spending more time with family, establishing technology (and work)-free personal times, and engaging in activities that satisfy our spiritual and emotional needs. 

Rizzo encourages readers to brainstorm what activities feed their spiritual and emotional selves and to shift their priorities so that they can achieve a better work-life blend. Using his prompts, I identified three goals related to my core values: spending more time being fully present with my family (a.k.a. not scrolling Instagram, checking e-mail, or worrying about professional commitments), dedicating time each day to personal enrichment through reading parenting and self-improvement books, and committing to 30 minutes of regular exercise each day. 

Next, I needed to determine how I spend my day and evaluate each of my responsibilities to determine whether they are bringing me closer to, or pushing me away from, my cherished values. Once I mapped out my daily activities, I used Rizzo’s three “free-will will questions” to scrutinize my commitments: 

1. Will there be personal consequences to this choice I’m making? 

2. Will this choice affect others, now and in the future?

3. Will this choice make me happy, now and in the future?  

By applying Rizzo’s free-will will questions to each of my regular activities, I was able to determine which commitments are worth the time they require and which ones could be cut or reorganized in order to free up more time for living out my cherished values. The interesting this is, deep down I already knew which pursuits didn’t align with my core values and needed to be cut, but journaling responses to these questions gave me the motivation I needed to implement much-needed changes. 

So in 2019, I’ll be saying “no” to voluntary side commitments unless they specifically align with my goals; repurposing the time I lose to Internet surfing while I drink my morning coffee, instead dedicating those first 30 minutes of the morning to reading personal development and parenting books; and implementing 2-hour power work sessions, using one work break for a 30-minute workout or running session. 

I am excited to implement these new habits because I firmly believe they will enhance my professional success while also encouraging a significantly better work-life blend. So, win-win, right? I found Rizzo’s book very helpful in enabling me to see that it’s possible—and, in fact, completely necessary—to cultivate both areas of your life at the same time. I hope it will do the same for you! 

Read more advice on how to motivate yourself to identify and live out your values and then shift your priorities accordingly in Steve Rizzo’s Motivate THIS!, available for preorder now. 

What resolutions do you have for 2019? Do any of these relate to work-life balance? If so, how do you plan to shift your priorities to live a life that more directly reflects your cherished values? Share in the comments below!

Motivate THIS!: How to Start Each Day with an Unstoppable Attitude to Succeed Regardless of Your Circumstances will be released on February 19, 2019, but you can preorder your copy now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and other fine retailers.

Holiday Happiness by Jim Stovall

Everyone wants to have happiness for themselves and their loved ones around the holidays. We wish people “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Holidays,” and “Happy New Year,” but rarely do we consider what really makes us happy during the holiday season and throughout the year. If you think back on past holiday seasons when you were particularly happy, you will likely discover it had more to do with gifts you gave, people you were with, and activities you enjoyed rather than something you received.  

While it is the season for giving, if we want to make people really happy, we need to look beyond just the standard stuff we buy at the mall, wrap up, and hand to someone. We need to explore the concept of sharing an experience, giving of ourselves, or engaging in a giving activity with our loved ones.  

I often ask people to share with me their favorite holiday memories. Among my favorites are people who recount the experience of going as a family to serve homeless people holiday meals, giving toys or bicycles to less fortunate children, or simply spending quality time with special friends or loved ones. I actually have a friend who received a luxury automobile with a giant bow wrapped around it, parked in the driveway, as a Christmas gift, but when I asked her to share her favorite holiday memory, it involved going through a family photo album with her great aunt.  

We’ve often heard it said but seldom do we act upon the fact that “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” In my novel The Ultimate Gift and the movie based on that book, a prominent theme is the gift of giving. This concept is foreign to many people because, with the rush and commercialism during the holiday season, giving can seem like more of a chore or an obligation than a gift.  

We are never too busy to give a kindness, share a memory, or engage in service to others. This time of year, people seem to be worried about spending too much money and overcharging their credit cards, but giving of yourself and sharing memories remain no-cost but priceless elements in the gift of giving.  

As you go through your day today, give the gifts that matter. Share your time and your love. 

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.

How to Stop Making Excuses and Excel by Adrean Turner

It’s the time of the year when you’ve most likely created a list of resolutions. You are determined that this time will be different. You won’t quit. You won’t get distracted. You’re going to stick with your plan for a new start. However, sadly enough the odds aren’t in your favor. According to U.S. News, approximately 80 percent of resolutions fail by the second week of February. What’s the common denominator? Excuses.  

For most individuals, it’s much easier to think of ways something can’t be done versus how it can be done. Many of us have a series of excuses that we can pull out of a hat at a moment’s notice. We make excuses mostly to protect ourselves and to justify our current circumstances. But these limiting beliefs hinder our chances for success. Consider these excuses and commit to the solutions: 

1. “I DON’T KNOW HOW.” This common excuse gives you permission to not even try.  

• SOLUTION: Get support. At no time in the history of mankind has there been so much information and resources available. Want to start a charity? There are hundreds of books on the subject. Need to lose 100 lbs.? There are thousands of CDs, videos, and blogs to support you. Want to change careers? Consult a coach or mentor. Or simply try and then adjust your approach based on your results. 

2. “I’M AFRAID.” Who hasn’t been afraid to try something new, to step out of the box, to move beyond their comfort zone? Most of our fears are socially based and have no real consequences. 

• SOLUTION: Ask yourself what’s the worst thing that can happen. Once you have determined the worst-case scenarios, you’ll realize that the fear is a disguise to kill your dreams and stifle your growth. Then list the best things that can happen. You’ll recognize that your success is more important than the fears that are holding you back. 

“Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and FOCUS on what could go right!”  —Coach Adrean  

3. “I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH TIME.” If your heart is in it, then you will make the time for what’s truly important to you. 

• SOLUTION: Create a list of the things you do on a daily basis from the moment you awaken until the end of the day. Record your activities in 15-minute blocks. Include everything from talking on the phone, surfing the Internet, to watching television. After doing this for one week, most people are able to find at least three hours to dedicate to a new activity or adventure.  

4. “I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY.” There is usually a way to work around a lack of financial resources. 

• SOLUTION: Find alternatives. For example, if you’re looking to increase your skills but can’t afford college tuition, there are other ways to enhance your credentials. For instance, volunteer at a nonprofit organization, get certification in a particular skill, or intern for a small company on your days off. If you are a business owner, consider bartering (trading your services or products). There is always a way. You just may have to work a little harder to find solutions to support your growth. 

“If it’s important to you, you’ll find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse.” —Coach Adrean 

5. “IT’S TOO LATE FOR ME.” It’s never too late to become what you might have been. A person climbed Mount Everest in his eighties. People have gone back to medical school in their sixties. Getting a late start might be less convenient and more challenging, but there’s nothing wrong with that. 

• SOLUTION: Figure out what interests you, influences you, and motivates you. Build a plan for the challenges that are really important to you and take one step at a time to complete your goals. 

6. “IT’S TOO HARD.” Some endeavors are certainly more difficult than others. But claiming that something is “too hard” is really just another way of admitting that you’re afraid. People with limited resources and talent can still be extremely successful. 

• SOLUTION: Set your mind on success! Those with motivation and stamina are really the ones who succeed. Get an accountability partner. Read encouraging stories. Practice affirmations. Do what’s necessary to keep your thoughts and energy centered on a successful outcome. 

“The way you eat an elephant is one bite at a time.” —Coach Adrean 

Your success is dependent on effort. No action, no results. Break your tasks into small assignments and keep going until you’ve achieved your goal. It’s time to make some changes. Transformation isn’t always easy, but it is necessary for your success. Remind yourself of the reasons why you started in the first place. And have the courage to put aside your excuses and go after what you truly want. You’ll be glad you did! 

Train your brain to take actions to make your goals a reality through positive thinking. Download Power Thoughts with self-reflection activities to stay F.I.T.™ (Fearless. Inspired. Transformed.) and gain greater success. 

This post originally appeared here on www.coachadrean.com. Get more information and inspiration in Adrean’s book, F.I.T. for Success: Fearless, Inspired, Transformed for Success.