Winning Strategies

Why Social Networking may Work for You...

Party Planning- the Facebook way-
Michael and I decided while on our date last night that 'yes', we would plan a party at our house.  We picked the date and the menu.  We jumped out to facebook and ran through our facebook friends list.  For the facebook novices, this is the list of friends that we have accepted onto a 'friends list'.  They are our friend 'network'. 

We planned the invitee list and sent invites over facebook from our blackberries in the restaurant.  From start to finish, total planning time-    8 minutes.  This is life in the fast lane.  If you find that you can't find enough time in the day to get it all done, you may be able to find a few minutes by using efficiencies gained using social networking.  I know- you don't want to believe it.  You don't know how you REALLY feel until you try it. So- give it a try.

Celebrating Friday!

I'm celebrating the weekend.  The boys and I cuddled up on the couch for our family night.  We ate take out and watched a movie in the quiet of the eve.  The simplest of things have the most value.  I value quiet time with the family (when they are not arguing or talking back) (laugh); moments with no work, no phones, no doorbells, and no bills to pay.  I value these peaceful moments.

Enjoy your weekend....celebrate the small joys that make life great.

Your Perception is Your Reality in Business and in Life

One resounding fact that continues to astound me over and over again, is the fact that PERCEPTION is stronger than reality.  Perception to the person feeling it- creates their reality.  I remember a discussion that I had with a VP of Sales at IDX systems Corporation eons ago.  I was astounded that we had lost a deal to a company that didn't have a product.  I couldn't understand that a viable and reputable product had lost to a company that promised to 'invent' a product.  I hadn't appreciated the value of 'perception'.  It continues to baffle me some fifteen years later.

We make opinions (ie PERCEPTIONS) about people at the office, companies we deal with and information  around us.  These opinions or perceptions may or MAY NOT be correct.  These perceptions guide our decisions and our footsteps.  If we perceive that someone at our office or work doesn't like us, it could impact our relationship with them or our job and our performance.  We change our reactions based on our perceptions.  Our perceptions become our reality.

Companies sometimes buy from the wrong vendor because their perception about delivery of products or services is inaccurate.  Their perceptions are often intangibles.  We encounter this in the job search.  You may know that you are valuable, but are you leaving the perception behind that says you are valuable?

Our perceptions about life can either cause us disapointment or keep us flying high.  We can believe that we are blessed beyond belief and be happy or believe that we are disadvantaged and treated unfairly and be upset.  Our circumstances could be the same in either thought process- but the result of how we feel is significantly different.  Have you ever thought about the power of perception?

Today I am thankful for Robert.  I've had a busy week - too busy to blog- (which- it is always a sad day when you find that you are toooo busy to do the things that you love)- then I received an email from Robert. 

He says,

"I have to tell you that every time I visit your blog I get inspired and again realize the blessings in my life.  The awesome professionals that I have met after moving here after Hurricane Katrina have been incredible and an eye opening experience as Dallas proves that people genuinely want to help.  Your "Living the Dream" story really hits home after you stop and realize the magnitude of it all.  Katrina killed 1100, in Haiti the death toll is over 15,000 and could get much higher.   Thanks again, let me know if I can ever help you with anything."  Robert McCoskey

His email changed my perception of my day.  It was the same day as it was before I received his email- but after it- my perception of my day turned to great.

Create yourself a GREAT day and build a perception that starts out with thankfulness, joy, happiness, and a reality that ALL IS WELL today.

Thanks for reading......

Living the Dream

Today I woke with a sense of wonder and thankfulness. As we watch the plight of the Haitians and I read the perils of women in other countries (as I read Half the Sky), I am overcome with a feeling of thankfulness combined with a sense of compassion.

Two things I think can be our reaction to the world events. 1) we can give and/or lend our services wherever possible, but 2) I also think that we should allow our minds reflective thankfulness for all we've been given.

Many of us are living the American dream. We have all that we could possibly have and our needs are met. We don't worry about where our next meal comes from or where we'll find shelter. We, however, are sometimes a body of people that don't 'know' what we have. Sometimes we don't appreciate the gifts surrounding us.

We walk through life in a stupor, upset over mundane things and yelling and frustrated with others who are also walking in the same stupor.

Today is the day to wake up. Today is the day to recognize all the gifts surrounding you and sing praises for the life you have! Today is a day for rejoicing for your health, your life, and the world around you.

Anyone saying social networking is dead, is dead wrong...

Laugh- I hate to be controversial, but social networking is definitely not dead.  I have a blog and a web site and have had both for several years.  I get about 40,000 hits a month on my website.  When I write about social media, my hits double.  No doubt about it, the public is clammoring for information on social media.  Can you guess what my other hottest topic is?  You'd never guess, it is scoliosis.  I'm guessing that is because of the lack of available information.

Statistics don't lie.  People are logging onto the web site and the blog to learn more about social networking.  Now, why would they do that if it were dead? (smile)

Learn to work smarter- - not longer hours

If you were to ask the most successful executives today what their best advice for you would be, you would discover that they would advise you to learn to work smarter- not longer hours.  They evaluate their schedules closely.  They look for components or 'to dos' on their schedules that they can delegate.  They learn to closely evaluate the things on their schedules that only they can do.  They learn their unique skillsets and the things that differentiate them from the others.  Those are the things that they do.  Other things on their schedules, they offload and delegate.

They work smart.  They learn smart working. 

We fall back into our old habits.  We lose track of time and begin to spend more and more time at work and less and less time on our responsibilities, time with our families, and time volunteering in our communities.  We should aim for a constant goal to strive for learning to work smarter, not longer hours.  Our goal today can be to work towards spending our time as efficiently and effectively as we can to best 'spend' the valuable resource that we own called time.   If we blew it today, tomorrow is a new day and we will start it afresh and anew without guilt for previous days.

Make it a goal to work smarter- not longer hours.  Become a productivity genious.  It will not only help you to achieve, but it will help you to live a happier, healthier life.  Good luck.

Working without arms, John Foppe strives to teach us all to change our being

Yesterday I attended the regional HFMA Leadership meeting at the Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas.  John Foppe was the first speaker.  Born without arms, he works to encourage both individuals and organizations how to executive and break through traditional boundaries.  You will find his story encouraging and uplifting ( http://www.visionaryvelocity.com).

How many times a day do we complain, and get frustrated over what we feel that we cannot do?  How many times do we let the surrounding messages penetrate our being and affect our mood and attitudes?  We don't have to.  We can rise above.

Thank you John, for providing an uplifting and riveting presentation.  You rock!

Get Some Social Networking Help

It doesn't have to be so hard.  Social networking can be easier than you think.  I've compiled all the 'helps' together in a 10 page Social Networking Handbook and am making it available digitally for $2.99.

Oprah's No Phone Zone Pledge

Oprah begs her audiences and viewers to lay down the your phones when driving and eliminate the texting and phoning while on the road.  She highlights heart wrenching stories of those that have died at the hands of distracted drivers.  A distracted driver is compared to an equivalent of driving after having 4 drinks.

Take her pledge to keep your car phone free online now on her web site:  http://www.oprah.com/questionaire/ipledge.html?id=4

  

Several states have passed laws against texting while driving and some have laws against cell phones while driving unless they are hands free.  Relatives that have lost loved ones are fighting to get laws passed in the states that haven't passed these laws yet.

We get busy.  Life sneaks up on us.  With the advent of new technologies, it only seems that we have more and more to do.  How do we 'stop' and 'slow down'?  How do we take a deep breath and just 'be' in the moment wihtout letting our mind wandeer to the 101 things that still remain on our 'to do' list?  It seems impossible to get everything done.  We go through life constantly dropping a few of the balls that we feel that we should be keeping up in the air.

Allow yourself to 'drop a few balls'.  Allow yourself a little slack.  Try to hone your attention on the most important things that need to be accomplished and lower your expectations of yourself for some of the rest.

Pledge to make your car, your family and the road safer by elimating texting and phoning while driving.  And for goodness, consider going back to just listening to the radio while in the car- it is quite relaxing.

Discovering Social Media

Tonight I sat on a panel to discuss Social Media for WITI (Women in Technology) Dallas.  Companies are trying to figure it out.  More and more we are seeing people that are changing the way that they consume, use and access information.  The statistics are daunting.  We can sit back and pretend that the trends are not shifting, but they are.  The movement to increased social media and social networking is happening whether or not you accept the trend.

It may be time to start utilizing an online presence that works for you.

1. Establish the goals that you'd like to accomplish.  This will help you know if you are achieving what you have set out to achieve.  You need measurable goals.  If you don't achieve them, then it will be easy to assess the viability and return on this valuable time investment that you've made.
2. Determine your brand that you'd like communicated throughout your online presence.  Without a stated or defined brand, your online business persona could be less able to achieve any goals that you've set.  See the importance of your brand and online presence:
   www.bethanywilliams.org
   
   
3. Find the best mode to use to achieve your online brand.
   
   LinkedIn
   Plaxo
   Facebook
   Twitter

Start with just one step forward....stay tuned...more to come.