Winning Strategies

Motivation Towards Action

Do you need to motivate yourself? Do you need to take action? Do you wonder how you can motivate yourself to ACHIEVE the things that you need to achieve? Motivation is simply action taken one step at a time. It is activity one step at a time. Can you do that? Can you motivate yourself to take one step?

What generally keeps us from getting things done is that we see a giant pile of To Do's and it overwhelms us. Better stated today by one of my co-workers, Kevin Weinstein,  " it can no longer be considered a TO DO list because it is sooo long. Now I am considering it a  'I haven't done it yet list'. Kevin can be funny, and often quite on the money. Has your list of TO DOs morphed into a long list of To Don'ts? or a long list of I haven't done it yet list?

Start by taking that VERY long list and segmenting it into days and potential time elements. If you can whittle it down to a conquerable list, it will be easier to accomplish. I stopped writing To DO lists. I started plotting the tasks on my Outlook calendar and getting to them when i scheduled them. Whatever your solution is to motivate yourself to ACHIEVE, stick with it. You can motivate yourself towards action if you reduce it to smaller steps. Go make it happen.

Life Can Change in an Instant

I sit at my desk and try to concentrate on the work before me.  It all seems like a blur of words and computer images.  My mind is floating. 

 In an instant, in a second in time, your life can change.  I drift back to Jeff's motorcycle accident and think about the course of events that began with that fateful moment that ended his life on Dec 15, 1995.  I now think of his mother, Lucille Carter, lying in a hospital, fighting the stroke that has forever changed her body and her life.

I drift to my sweet baby girl that is getting ready to get married and I , in my mind, picture her a young girl- like in this photo, clinging to her mother and hoping that I can remove pain.

As we enter this Thanksgiving week.  Be thankful for all that you have been given.  Hug those that you love as if you will never hold them again.  Affirm those around you and leave no words unspoken.  Today is your day to LIVE LIFE to the fullest.  Recognize that today is a gift- a precious gift.

Find Thanksgiving in your heart and time to think of all the things that you are grateful for.  Happy week of Thanksgiving.

 

The Seven Wonders of the World

You'd think it would be very easy to identify 'the list' of the 7 wonders of the world.  Well, upon googling it, it was not.  There are more than a few lists.  Wow, there are a lot of lists. 

In 2007, online voting from around the world announced the following 'new list' 7 wonders:

Wonder	Location	Image
Chichen Itza Chi'ch'èen Ìitsha'	Yucatán, Mexico
Christ the Redeemer O Cristo Redentor	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Colosseum Colosseo	Rome, Italy
Great Wall of China 万里长城 萬里長城 Wànlǐ Chángchéng	Beijing, China
Machu Picchu Machu Pikchu	Cuzco Region, Peru
Petra البتراء al-Batrāʾ	Ma'an Governorate, Jordan
Taj Mahal ताज महल تاج محل	Agra, India

Source:  (http://wiki.ask.com/New7Wonders_of_the_World?qsrc=3044)

Why do I care?  You might ask.  I've always struggled to remember the exact list.  Maybe this is why it is difficult to name the list, because the list is ever changing (just like my vacation wish lists and my Christmas and birthday lists).

Where in the world would you like to go?  What vacation destination has you dreaming away?

Vacation Dreaming

Every now and again, when work, kids, bills, and the monotony of life send me into a doldrum, I begin vaccation dreaming.  In my mind, I begin to dream up the next far away destination that I could run off to, leaving my bills (and my kids and job) far behind.

The excercise itself is refreshing.  Watching a travel video, travel show, or even reading about a journey can bring me out of my mental state and help me prepare for another day.  I do plan to take a vacation, as often as life allows.  My next destination of choice is Machu Picchu.  I'm dreaming of running away to Peru to see the ancient ruins of old.  The pictures seem simply amazing, and one wonders if in fact it is THAT amazing in person.

I enjoy hiking, and the thought of a long hike (actually, I have no idea how long the hike is) to the top of an ancient ruin with an amazing view holds MUCH appeal to my deadened senses and overworked and under relaxed body and mind.

I mentally think about the steps to move towards the goal.  Start with 1) order book on Machu Picchu (that should be easy with Amazon my trusted online order friend.  2) watch a travel video on it.  Searching the DVR now to see if Machu Picchu or Peru brings up any shows, yup, press red record button for upcoming show on Peru (it is on, of course, during working hours, so I'll have to record for later viewing).

Well, 2 steps in a process is a good start.  I'll keep you posted.

Vision Required

 

All of the great business leaders have one thing in common; phenomenal vision.  I love the story of Walt Disney.  Concentrating on what he wanted the end product to be, he defined a great vision for Disney World .  It was (and still is) an amazing vision.   He refused to sacrifice in his grand thinking.  Despite the protests of many banks as he tried to get financing, he would not budge off of his vision.  That vision set the mark in which all Disney employees today still strive to meet.  That vision catapulted Disney to a name brand that equals ‘exceeding your expectations’.  He pushed them to be great, pushed them up to a grander vision, pushed them to be faster and better.  He refused to believe that customers would complain, and installed ‘listening posts’ to hear comments people made as they toured his park.  He wanted to know- was the vision resonating where the rubber meets the road?  He wanted to make sure that it did.

In your work life, are you creating a Disney brand that catapults your organization forward?  Are you ‘dreaming up’ a target that is high reaching and exceeding in expectations? Or are you setting mediocre goals and expectations that you know that you can meet that will fall far below the expectations of your customers?

 When we set mediocre expectations and we miss them, we end up with BAD or OK. When we set VERY HIGH expectations and visions and end up missing them, we arrive at GREAT.  Push the limits.  Dream a better dream.  Dream a vision that catapults the thinking of ALL THOSE around you into a higher paradigm.  Shift the thinking to a higher rock.    Install ‘listening posts’ to see if you have indeed exceeded your client expectations. 

You will succeed beyond belief with these small tactics.  Shift your thinking upwards.

A Parent's Life

Trying to diet
And stay in shape
Working a lot
And trying to make life great

Trying to pay attention
To the kids
And be the best spouse
Keeping my anger under a lid

Working to pay
For my daughters wedding
Expenses real high
Stress I'm not shedding

Trying to keep the family intact
Fights erupt and anger glows
Teenage hormones are raging that is a fact
Reality knows

Just how hard this family thing is
To keep it together and
To remain strong
To lift up your heart and bow your head

To hold on for one more day
Hoping that with a new day
Comes new hope and a brighter tomorrow
Time will tell they always say

Can you hold on for one more day? Are your teenagers causing you to question yourself?

Stay strong.

Sent with Xobni Mobile - http://xobni.com/mobile

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Happiness is a State of Mind

Happiness is a state of mind.  It is a state that we decide to enter.  You can decide to accept your circumstances, rejoice in your blessings, and aim to quickly forget the pieces of your life that fall below your expectations.  Happiness is a choice.  You can choose to be content. 

I believe this with all of my being.  I once memorized a poem that goes like this:

Happiness

Everybody, everywhere seeks happiness tis true
But finding it and keeping it seems difficult to do
Difficult because we think that happinesss is found
Only in the places where wealth and fame abound

And so we go on searching in the palaces of pleasure
Looking for wealth and monetary treasure
Unaware that happiness is just a state of mind
Within the reach of everyone that takes time to be kind

Go create yourself a happy day!

#1 on Amazon List of HOT NEW RELEASES in Advertising

Wow- this is so cool!

New BOOK- Brand YOU Book Announcement Press Release

Press Release

For Immediate Attention: November 1, 2011
Contact: Amy Van Vleck, 214-649-9895

“Brand YOU” author empowers professionals to develop a personal brand

that sells them in today’s competitive market.

Dallas, Texas - The job market is perhaps more gloomy than the 9.1 percent unemployment rate suggests, because America's 14 million unemployed must also compete with 8.8 million other people not counted as unemployed — part-timers who want full-time work.

So, how can job seekers, regardless of employment status, position themselves to find work, prevent losing a job when the floodgate opens or, better yet, be on the lookout for an open opportunity or an advanced job? In her new book, Brand YOU: A Step-by-Step Guide to Building Your Brand, author Bethany Williams helps professionals find ways to survive and thrive in this tough economy.

In Brand YOU, Williams takes readers through the process of a professional self-evaluation and external evaluation, guides readers to create and market a distinct personal brand, and teaches how to communicate that brand both online and in-person.

“Your online personality should reflect your strengths, your accomplishments,” Williams says. “Once your digital resume, if you will, has their attention, doors begin to open.” She offers practical steps to position your strengths and individuality in a tough market.

Williams is a results-oriented executive with 27 years experience driving complex initiatives in the business world. She is the Vice President of Product Marketing and has worked in high level positions in industry leading corporations such as  PwC, Perot Systems, Sharp Healthcare, GE Healthcare, and IDX Systems Corporation. In 2009, Bethany was named “One of the Top 25 Women to Watch” by the Dallas Business Journal.

She has two other published books: Winning Strategies for Women and From Mother to Mentor, Father to Coach. All of her books are available on Amazon.com. Brand YOU also will be available in e-book by mid-November.

For more on Bethany, her books and speaking engagements, visit bethanywilliams.org.