Category Archives: Entrepreneur

Dressing for Success, Entrepreneur, Executive Coaching, improving sales, Leadership Coaching, Life Coaching, LinkedIn profile

What Are They Biting On? 5 Ways To Improve Your Bait

young_boy_going_fishing

What are your clients biting on? What is your bait

I recently watched the movie “A River runs through it”. I should confess that anything with Brad Pitt I watch with a big smile on my face! Anyway, in the movie Brad and his brother were, fishing, in this river. Brad’s brother was catching a whole lot of fish and Brad had not caught one. After some time of being a spectator in this fishing expedition, he shouted to his brother, “What are they biting on?” His brother shouted back, “Pimento Bugs”. Strangest, bait, I ever saw, these bugs had wings! But sure enough, when Brad changed his, bait, he caught the biggest fish ever!

In sales, you are the, Bait!

Everything you heard is true! People buy from people they like, people they feel a connection to or with people who are like them!


Here are 5 Ways you can Improve your Bait:

teeshirt dress

No tee-shirts and tattoos

1: Your Attire can be your, bait 

Again, I will start with an Old Cliché “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” If you are going for an interview or meeting with a customer for the first time; look the part, and that is your best, bait.
I went for an interview once at Apple retail Store and I was very confused. Apple, Google and Facebook CEO’s have all made famous the tea shirt and running shoes mode of dress. So I was not sure how to dress; but I decided on a suit. No tee-shirt and runners for me! Better to be overdressed than not get a job because you showed up in tea shirt and tennis shoes. In the movie “the Pursuit of Happyness”, Will Smith was sleeping in bathrooms and homeless; but he made sure he had one suit that always looked good. That is all you need, one good outfit. It is suggested that for the man the color should be blue, black or grey for a suit. For the ladies a pant suit or an A-line dress works wonders.

2: Your Profile is bait 

Your profile picture is what everyone sees. Just a picture of your head and face, and they from that they form a judgement, whether consciously or not. In a recent LinkedIn training class, the presenter told a story about how he was about to hire someone for a service, then he noticed that their picture was dark and blurred. He said he decided not do business with them. He formed a judgement that if they could not spend $50 to get a good profile picture, then they could not be successful. You might say that he was too judgmental; but you never know what is costing you business. It is best to button it up.
I personally would never connect with anyone who didn’t have a profile picture because I made the judgement that they were either not active or not serious. Now I connect because I can offer my consulting services because they need Help! Spend the money to get a professional profile picture and it will pay dividends.

suit and shoes

3: The entire package is your Bait

I could never understand the “shoe shine” concept. Why did men favor going to get their shoes professionally shined until it became a mirror and they could see their faces in their shoes?
Now I understand, those men understood the value of “the entire package”. You can’t show up in an expensive suit, and your shoes are not shined! You can’t show up in an expensive suit and your hair looks like a hippie; you can’t show up in an expensive suit and your car looks like you bought it from the scrapyard. People form the wrong impression and then you have to work doubly hard for them to hear what is “coming out of your mouth”.

For men, pay attention to the suit, shirt, tie, hair style, shoes.

For women, pay attention to your dress, your hair, your shoes and your pocket book! Yes, people now pay attention to what handbag you are putting your lipstick into!

4: Your Business card, your Website, and your Printed Materials

If you want to convey success, then you have to look the part.

Has anyone ever handed you a business card that was printed at home on cheap paper? What was your reaction? Did you want to run out and purchase their product? I am sure you didn’t. Or you ask someone who has a service you are interested in for a business card, and they tell you they don’t have one.
I should even add a pen to this scenario. In the movie “the Pursuit of Happyness”, there is a scene in which a salesperson bent over backwards to get a contract with Will Smith to produce his story. He called him several times, he made him an irresistible offer, he tracked him down at the airport and when Will was about to sign the contract and he asked him for a pen, he did not have one! Will cancelled the deal. He felt that a salesperson should always have a business card and a pen if he is worth anything!

5: Your Speech makes or breaks you 

I don’t know if you have noticed, but most of the leading roles for movies and television commercials are going to actors who sound English! It is like a “cool breeze” to listen to someone with a pleasant voice. You don’t have to have an English accent; but your volume should be right and your pace should be right. As a Toastmaster, when we are speaking, we are gonged when we add fillers to our speech. Fillers are so, umm, ahh, etc. if you are doing a presentation and you have too many fillers, your audience doesn’t regard you as a subject matter expert.

Your, Bait, is you! Once you make a good impression and the fish are biting; then you can get on with the business that you came to do, and that is to sell your product or service.

You want to catch some fish! So go, fishing.

http://myhelps.us/contact-us

Entrepreneur, Executive Coaching, Leadership Coaching, Life Coaching, Personal Development, small business, Spiritual Fulfillment, Spiritual Life Coaching

How to Care For Your Inception Thought Seeds

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In the movie, Inception, a thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O.

Inception, are, thought seeds, and can be planted by a, thought.  As a CEO, it doesn’t matter whether your company is only “you” or you have a staff of one thousand. If you are the CEO, you are the visionary. You are all your company has, and your company will rise or fall depending on what you do with your, “thought seed,” or vision.
You are the lid!

thought seed

Limits, like fear, is often an illusion.
Michael Jordan

What we are today comes from our, inception, or,  thoughts, of yesterday, and our present, thoughts, build our life of tomorrow: Our life is the creation of our mind.
Buddha (563 BC-483 BC) Founder of Buddhism

Inception of thought Bill Gates

Let’s say you are a Law student at Harvard University; but your passion is writing software. You spend most of your time in the computer lab writing code. One day your friend and fellow computer enthusiast show you an edition of Popular Electronics magazine, featuring a kit to build one of the first mini computers, the “Altair 8800”. You think to yourself, this new computer needs software to run.

I can write the code for the software to run this computer!. So you call the company and tell them that you have already written software that would run on this new computer. Not true, you don’t even have a model! But you get them to agree to give you a meeting to demonstrate. You bust your ass to deliver; and you meet the deadline. Your code worked perfectly. The company gives you the contract. You quit Harvard and go full time into your own company; you call it Micro-soft!

Where is reality in this story? How many CEO’s operate in this space of total confidence, vision and action? The ordinary would have said, “We would need to get an Altair computer and understand the Bios before we can write code.” The ordinary would wait for the right time to make the call. You know the end of the story. Bill Gates and Paul Allen started Microsoft after that. At 23 years old, Bill Gates had 25 employees and his company was grossing over 2 million annually. This was before IBM and MS-DOS. Today he is the richest man in the world with a personal fortune in the billions.

seeds of thought

Care for your, “thought seeds”. Ideas that are in alignment with your purpose will light you up and make you feel good. Most of us, you and me, when we get “thought seeds”, we filter them through our reality filter. We ask the question “does this make sense”.

“Dare to be unrealistic. Saying this is not realistic is the most commonly travelled road to mediocrity”
Will smith

What do you do with your, inception, of,  thoughts seeds? Are you like the farmer from the scriptures? Do you sow some of them on rocks? Where the winds of negativity or your friends and family discourage you and tell you it would never work?

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”………Mathew 13:4-9

Is it inception or just noise?

Learn discernment. You have to know you. You have to know when the, inception, or, thought seed,  is a vision or it is just noise. You can tell this by paying attention to how your body reacts to the thought.

Think about how your body reacted when you first saw your spouse or when you first thought about marrying him or her. I am guessing that the thought made you happy and “lighted” you up. I recently saw a theatre production of the Buddy Holly story; apparently Buddy Holly proposed to his wife after meeting her for 5 hours; He must have been burning up!

So, when you have a, “thought seed,” or a vision that excites you; you plant it in the ground, you cover it up, you water it and it WILL become a tree.

I started off talking about CEO’s but each and every one of us wants to grow up to be something.

Michael Jordon, inception, thought is that he wanted to be the best at basketball. So he hired a coach and every summer he practiced and mastered one skill.

Coaching helps you take stock of where you are now in all aspects of your life, and how that compares to where you would like to be.
Elaine MacDonald

 

 

Entrepreneur, Executive Coaching, Leadership Coaching, Life Coaching, Personal Development, small business

The World of the Entrepreneur

So, you are now an, entrepreneur, and working for yourself! You are the Boss, the President and CEO! What do you do next?

 

spiritEntrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship – What makes one throw in the employment towel? Why do, Entrepreneurs, give up the guaranteed paycheck every two weeks? Work 14 hour days, and sometimes not even pay themselves. Why? I think it is because we are passionate about what we do. When you are passionate about what you do, you would it for free!

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” –Steve Jobs, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, Apple

entrepreneur jobs

So, you are now an, Entrepreneur, and working for yourself! You are the Boss, the President and CEO! What do you do next?  The first decision to be made is figuring out what Business structure works best for you.

Is Incorporation or Sole Proprietorship the right structure? Are you “Minding your own business”? This is a term made popular by Robert Kawasaki in the book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” and refers to the concept having regular employment while operating your own business on the side.

Robert suggests that you have this dual employment status until your business on the side generates revenues equals your current pay check. This relieves the stress of supporting yourself and your family with revenues from a new business. Your Accountant can recommend the best structure for your company or you can refer to my self help start up guide “Minding your own business” available for download at http://myhelps.us/contact-us-myrna-young/.  Below is an excerpt from “Minding your own Business”

What New Entrepreneurs Need To Know:

As a new, entrepreneur, you need to know your federal Tax responsibilities. In addition to knowing about federal taxes, you need to make some basic business decisions. ​​​

What is the Form or Structure of your new Business?

The most common forms of business are the sole proprietors, Corporations, Partnerships, LLC, and S Corporations.  When beginning a business, you must decide which form of business to use. Legal and tax considerations enter into this decision.

Sole Proprietorship: A sole proprietorship is an unincorporated business that is owned by one individual. It is the simplest form of business organization to start and maintain. The business has no existence apart from you, the owner. Its liabilities are your personal liabilities. You undertake the risks of the business for all assets owned, whether or not used in the business. You include the income and expenses of the business on your personal tax return.

Corporations: In forming a corporation, prospective shareholders exchange money, property, or both, for the corporation’s capital stock. A corporation generally takes the same deductions as a sole proprietorship to figure its taxable income. A corporation can also take special deductions.  For federal income tax purposes, a C corporation is recognized as a separate taxpaying entity. A corporation conducts business, realizes net income or loss, pays taxes and distributes profits to shareholders. The profit of a corporation is taxed to the corporation when earned.

Limited liability Company: A limited liability company (LLC) is an entity formed under state law by filing articles of organization as an LLC. The members of an LLC are not personally liable for its debts. An LLC may be classified for federal income tax purposes as either a partnership, a corporation, or an entity disregarded as an entity separate from its owner by applying the rules in regulations.

S corporations: An eligible domestic corporation can avoid double taxation (once to the corporation and again to the shareholders) by electing to be treated as an S corporation. Generally, an S corporation is exempt from federal income tax other than tax on certain capital gains and passive income. On their tax returns, the S corporation’s shareholders include their share of the corporation’s separately stated items of income, deduction, loss, and credit, and their share of non separately stated income or loss.

Employer Identification Number (EIN) is used to identify the tax accounts of employers, certain sole proprietors, corporations, partnerships, estates, trusts, and other entities.

entrepreneur everybody

Some Other Considerations of your new Business are:

  • Who are your customers?
  • How do you market to this select base?
  • What are my skills? What skills do I need to complete my team?
  • What is my vision? What is my plan to get there?
Who are your customers?

With the current state of the economy, having a well-defined target market is more important than ever. No one can afford to target everyone. Small businesses, can effectively compete with large companies by targeting a niche market. Many businesses say they target “anyone interested in my services.”

Some may say they target small business owners, homeowners, or stay-at-home moms. All of these targets are too general. Targeting a specific market does not mean that you have to exclude people that do not fit your criteria from buying from you. Rather, target marketing allows you to focus your marketing dollars and brand message on a specific market that is more likely to buy from you than other markets.

This is a much more affordable, efficient, and effective way to reach potential clients and generate business. For example, if you are a Florist, your customers could be anyone with a birthday or anniversary but you could decide to target the wedding market and put your marketing dollars towards that Target market.  With a clearly defined target audience, it is much easier to determine where and how to market your company.

entrepreneurship cupcakes

Here are some tips for entrepreneurs to help you define your target market:

  • Look at Your Current Customer Base

Who are your current customers, and why do they buy from you? Look for common characteristics and interests. Which ones bring in the most business? It is very likely that other people like them could also benefit from your product/service.

  • Check Out Your Competition

Who are your competitors targeting? Who are their current customers? Understand why they are targeting this demographic and then try to become innovative and offer something different. You may also find a niche market that they are overlooking.

  • Choose Specific Demographics to Target

Figure out not only who has a need for your product or service, but also who is most likely to buy it. Think about the following factors:

  1.  Age
  2. Location
  3. Gender
  4. Income level
  5. Education level
  6. Marital or family status
  7. Occupation
  8. Ethnic background
  9. Consider the Psychographics of Your Target Customer

Psychographics are personal characteristics of a person including:

  1.  Personality
  2. Attitudes
  3. Values
  4. Interests/hobbies
  5. Lifestyles
  6. Behavior
  7. Determine how your product or service will fit into your target’s lifestyle.
  8. How and when will they use your product or service?
  9. What features are most appealing to them?
  10. What media do they turn to for information?
  11. Do they read the trade journals, search online, or attend particular events to choose suppliers?

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Understand How Your Customers Think. Once you’ve decided on a target market, be sure to consider these questions:

  • Will my target really benefit from my product/service?
  • Will they see a need for it?
  • Do I understand what drives my target audience to make  decisions?
  • Can they afford my product/service?
  • Can I reach them with my message?
  • Are they easily accessible?

You may be asking, “How do I find out all this information?”

  • Try searching online for research others have done on your target.
  • Search for magazine articles and blogs that talk about your target market.
  • Search for blogs and forums where people in your target market communicate their opinions.
  • Look for survey results, or consider conducting a survey of your own.
  • Ask your current customers for feedback.

entrepreneur kid

What are my skills? What skills do I need to complete my team?

In the early days of, entrepreneurship, it’s natural to try to do as much as possible yourself. It’s the most cost-effective, comfortable, sensible way to do things in the beginning. But as your enterprise grows, you’ll find yourself stretched thinner and thinner.

Eventually, you’ll find you just can’t continue to oversee operations and sales and accounting and fulfillment and marketing–and hope to continue to grow your business. When you reach this point, it’s time to think about bringing other high-level managers or team members on board to help you out.

You need to build a senior team that’s able to manage all the critical areas of your business to take it to the next level. Building your team demands matching jobs to people’s strengths. That means giving people responsibilities according to skill level, not based on how close a friend they are, or how closely related they are to you, or whether you just like their sunny personality.

Become Conscious of your strengths and the areas you lack the necessary skills. Eg. Are you creative? Can you design your marketing or branding materials? Are you skilled in sales? If not you need a sales team.  When it comes time to hiring an executive team, you’ll need to find people to fill the following roles:

Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The fact of the matter is, the CEO is the boss of everyone and is responsible for everything. They determine the company’s strategy. They hire and build the senior team. They make the final call on how resources get divvied up, and they’re the one whose face appears on the press releases!.  The CEO’s skills must include strategic thinking, the ability to rise above the daily details and decide where the industry and business are headed. They must then be able to decide the company’s best route for navigating the future market conditions. They have to be able to make good bets.

Some of the best are Steve Job; Apple; Bill Gates, Microsoft; Jack Welsh, GE.

http://www.businessinsider.com/best-ceos-past-30-years-2011-7?op=1

Your management team

The CEO’s key skill, however, is in hiring and firing. The right management team can cover a CEO’s shortcomings. A CEO may be able to set strategy, predict the future and control the budget, but if they don’t hire the right team, they have to master it all themselves.

Chief Operating Officer (COO). A COO handles a company’s complex operational details. Think about UPS moving three billion packages in the two weeks before Christmas: or think of a Florist delivering hundreds of flowers on Valentine day. The day after is too late! The company’s COO insures the business can deliver day after day. He figures out just what needs to be measured so he can tell if things are going well. Then his team creates the systems to track the measurements and takes action when the company isn’t delivering.  As an, Entrepreneur, you are probably the President, CEO and COO. If you just take orders and do no planning and measuring then you will remain an Entrepreneur.

Your vision should be to grow up and become an Enterprise!

entrepreneur success

President. A president oversees staff functions–human resources, finance and strategy–while the COO oversees daily operations. the president can also be a synonym for COO, especially in smaller companies.

Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Plain and simple, your CFO handles the money. They create budgets and financing strategies. They figure out if it’s better for your business to lease or buy. Then they build the control systems that monitor your company’s financial health. The CFO is the “bad guy” who won’t let you buy that really cool videoconferencing equipment and makes you pay down a commercial loan instead. While you mope about it in your office, the CFO will be busy figuring out which customers, business lines and products are profitable, so next year you can afford the really cool videoconferencing equipment.

Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Recently, companies have been bringing in a marketing expert at the C-level rather than as just a vice president. The reason is simple: Many current business battles are battles of marketing, so corporate strategy often hinges on a marketing strategy. The CMO owns the marketing strategy–and that often includes the sales strategy–and oversees its implementation. The CMO will know (or learn) your industry inside out and helps you position your product, differentiate it from your competitors’ products, enlist distributors, and make sure customers learn to crave your product. Think of Apple and the new IPhone 6!

All business Live or Die with marketing. I heard a story once about a new magazine start-up Company that hired a sales person to go door to door and sell subscriptions to the magazine as their marketing plan. The magazine was a very good magazine but the business failed because the sales person (their only form of marketing) did not sell a single subscription in 6 months! I am marketing to you the reader of this Blog right now! Marketing can take many forms; but it is the blood of a business. Without it, your business dies.

Chief Technology Officer (CTO). A CTO should keep up with technology trends, integrate those trends into the company’s strategy, and make sure the company keeps current when it’s necessary. You need a CTO if technology impacts your business or industry strategically.

Entrepreneurship, is about going for the things that are much bigger than what you could do alone. Your job isn’t to reach the goal; it’s to build a team that will reach the goal. If you really want to reach your goals, you’ll need to bring on others to help, and creating a good executive team means knowing what you need them to do, finding good candidates, and giving them what they need to do their jobs. If you choose well, they’ll be successful and make you successful as well.

entrpreneurship nothing

Vision – The Universal Energy behind your dreams

“Some believe there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world’s ills — against misery, against ignorance, or injustice and violence. Yet many of the world’s great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man.

A young monk began the Protestant reformation, a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth, and a young woman reclaimed the territory of France. It was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and 32 year old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that all men are created equal. ‘Give me a place to stand,’ said Archimedes, ‘and I will move the world.’ These men moved the world, and so can we all.”— Robert F. Kennedy

the big three

Pat Riley’s vision was to win a Championship for Miami. So he put together his team with his star players; Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Then he needed supporting players, each with supporting skills. He also needed the right coaches! Vision, The right team and execution won him not One but Two Championships!!

What is your Dream?

Entrepreneur, Executive Coaching, Leadership Coaching, Life Coaching, Personal Development, small business, Spiritual Fulfillment, Spiritual Life Coaching

Who is Tending your Mind Garden?

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MINDFULNESS-MEDITATION

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The, mind garden, is everything. What we think we become.” ~Buddha

The Garden of the Mind

Imagine your, mind, as a garden. Positive thoughts are the beautiful flowers that brighten your life. Negative thoughts are the ugly weeds that spread and suffocate your happiness, by cutting off sunlight. Just like plants we need sunlight to thrive.

Negative thoughts can take the form of fear, self-doubt, guilt, anger, blame, insecurity, prophesying or any thought that makes you feel bad! 

We need to kill the ANTS :(Automatic Negative Thoughts)

ants lots

Fear  – defined as false events appearing real, is the number one reason that we don’t achieve success in this life. Fear of the unknown, that feeling of uncertainty. Our minds spin tales of past events when we failed or of someone we knew who failed.

One way to Kill this ANT is to imagine what is the worst that could happen. If you hate your job and are afraid to leave for fear that you would be able to find another job that pays as much or more than you are making now; talk back to this fear and say that you are skilled and you would so get another job.

If the worst that could happen is that you run out of money and can’t eat or become homeless; then you plan ahead and either find another job before you quit or acquire the necessary skills to get the job you want. Doing nothing because you are afraid should never be an option. There is also a positive side to this ANT.

If you are afraid of losing something be it your spouse, your job, your home; it tells you that these things are important to you and that you should do the necessary due diligence to keep them. For example if you fear losing your spouse, then you should work on keeping the marriage fresh, you should keep yourself attractive and don’t let yourself get to 300 lbs and you should serve your spouse and make them feel special.

mind and negative thoughts

The Mind garden of self doubt

Self-doubt – or lack of confidence is a very powerful ANT. One of the most essential character traits to have is confidence. It is sexy and it allows you to command attention. When this ANT is telling you that you are not good enough, you will not get that promotion because you don’t have a degree for example; talk back and tell it that you are the best person for this job and that it is their loss if they don’t hire you. If you don’t, you will never move from where you are today. You will never be an over achiever or the top sales person on a team! You need self-confidence to achieve success.

Guilt –  guilt affects your, mind garden, as a weed that needs to be pulled up. it is a result of your conscience telling you that you have violated your own core value. It is telling you that you did something that is moving you away from your predetermined goal. You can talk back to this ANT by telling yourself that you recognize your mistake and that you have forgiven yourself. Don’t let the guilt and shame arrest you and keep you in bondage.

The mind garden of Anger, Blame and Prophesying

Anger – Anger ANTS keep telling you that someone had no right to do something. The more you think about it, the angrier you get. Psychologists say that anger is like an iceberg, what you see is just the tip but there is more ice for miles below the surface. If you are conscious you have an Anger Management problem, then you should understand (with the help of a Therapist) what is causing your anger.  You can talk back to this ANT and tell it that you cannot control what someone else does; the only person you can control is yourself.

Blame – this ANT can be very destructive. When you blame others for the results you are having in your life, you assume the role of the victim. As the victim, you have no power to facilitate change. You talk back to this ANT by becoming a player. As a player you take back control. Regardless of what the dealer is showing, you can still win! You are not the product of your circumstances. Everybody has a story, it is how you handle adversity and challenges that define and grow you.

Prophesying – the prophesying ANT talks to you about what it knows about the future! It tells you things like “you are never going to close that sale”. “The customer is going to string you along and they will never buy” or “it is never going to work out”. You can talk back to this ANT by declaring that you cannot predict the future. You do not have a crystal ball!

My Automatic Negative Thoughts generally take the form of conversations. These ANTS usually starts crawling when I get a trigger. You know what happens when you step on an Ants nest? The Ants all run out at the same and start attacking, they bite! Tony Robbins teaches about anchors and how to replace the negative ones with positive ones.

If you have this problem you should check out his book “The Power Within”. The way I handle these ANTs is by shaking my head when I become conscious that they are crawling around. I physically shake my head like I am trying to shake them off me, then I bring my attention to my breathing for a few minutes. If they come back again and they usually do, I download them in my journal and that usually takes care of the problem for me.

I tend the Mind Garden by becoming Conscious of the thoughts that make me feel bad!

weeds tall

Positive thoughts, on the other hand are like flowers, they beautify your gardens and bring smiles to anyone who stops and pays attention to their beauty; in a similar way positive thoughts make you beautiful to anyone who you have interpersonal relations with. But the beauty of positive thoughts is that they make you feel good. It is not only sex that makes you feel good!

Tending to the, mind garden, is an ongoing process.

I’ve seen firsthand how dangerous it is to let the weeds of negative thinking take over your mind and just like in your natural garden the weeds thrive more than the flowers or plants. In a similar way when you allow the ANTS to run free in your head; they snuff all the joy out of your life. All you see is darkness, because they are blocking the sunlight from getting in! Let’s look at a garden metaphor to bring an awareness of what happens when weeds take over a garden. Left alone the weeds flourish, creating a dark, tangled mess.

weed blooming

Don’t let weeds thrive in your mind garden

This morning I stepped outside and noticed one of the largest weeds I have ever seen. I didn’t notice it before because it looked like a tree. It had a trunk, and was taller than the other flowers. I thought to myself; how on earth could a weed grow so strong and big?  The answer is simple:  their purpose is to take the nutrients from the plants, so they get big when your plants become weak and die.

So it is too with your mind: An unattended, mind, can create havoc for you because your, mind, is amazingly receptive to whatever suggestions may be dropped into it. It has been said that the subconscious mind cannot take a joke. This simply means that whatever belief is introduced to it, it takes seriously as an instruction to grow that thought-seed into a full-blown plant–be it a rose or a weed, and it can’t tell the difference.

When you stop and consider how many thought seeds are purposefully planted in your mind on a daily basis, it may cause you to tend to your mental garden with a bit more regularity. This is in addition to all the seeds that were planted in your mind unconsciously.

As you listen to the radio, watch TV or even sit in a restaurant where others are talking, your mind hears it ALL, irrespective of whether you are conscious of it or not. Given what’s going on in our world today with all of the talk that comes from fear and anger, this is a vital point to grasp. Even when you engage in gossip or negative conversation with or about others, your subconscious mind hears it all. Be careful of the seeds you let in.

A mind expanded with an implanted thought cannot be returned back to its original form.  Leonardo DiCaprio starred in this complicated movie called “inception”, the implantation of another person’s idea into a target’s subconscious.[Hollywood understands this concept. The only way to avoid this type of mind pollution is to be consciously focused on positive activities and limit news and gossip.

There are some companies that have a zero tolerance for gossip. They treat it like a cancer and remove the gossiper immediately.

The action you and I need to take is clear isn’t it? It has been proven that the human mind thinks thousands of thoughts a day. Instead of planting a mixed bag of thousands of various seeds, from fearful to simply confused and unfocused thought-seeds, which will require a full time gardener to pull up the weeds, why not specialize in planting one or two types of seed? Plant thought-seeds about yourself and others that are rooted in reverence and loving-kindness.

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Plant seeds that focus on God’s Presence at the center and circumference of all you say think and do, at work, home, or play.

Be mindful…be skillful in the seeds you plant and how you nurture them. Your life is your garden; keep the weeds out because that is one way in which you can personally beautify our world. You owe that much to yourself and to those who receive the benefit of  the seeds you plant along the way.

Entrepreneur, Executive Coaching, Leadership Coaching, Life Coaching, motivation, Personal Development, setting goals, small business, Spiritual Fulfillment, webinar

Can you recognize your failure symptoms?

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could go to the doctor and tell him our, failure, symptoms and he would give us a diagnosis of success or failure?

 

types of failure

How often have you said “life is short”? Well It is! We are here on earth for a limited time to fulfill a purpose. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could go to the doctor and tell him our life symptoms and he would give us a diagnosis of success or failure? For example if you go to the doctor today with itchy bumps and a fever, he would look at you and without running any tests diagnose you with the chicken pox.

How to deal with Failure

Recognizing your, failure, symptoms early in life before you get to your 5th or 6th decade is the only way to take action to modify your behaviors.

Here are 5 symptoms of failure.

1. Sleeping too much.
sleep tired

Do you sleep more than 6 hours per night or day? Thomas Edison took only 2 hour naps on his desk while he was working on his inventions. He didn’t want to sleep because he was so invested in his work. He called sleep a waste of time.

I read Donald Trump’s biography and he said that he hated going to sleep because he was so excited about his business and he didn’t want to miss anything.

Donald Trump credits only sleeping for three or four hours with staying ahead of his competition. “How does somebody that’s sleeping 12 and 14 hours a day compete with someone that’s sleeping three or four?” he’s said.

Political leaders across the globe run their countries on short spurts of shuteye. President Obama has said he can get by on a four-hour doze. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ran the U.K. for a decade, on four hours a night.

The saying “the early bird catches the worm” is meant to tell you that waking before dawn is best if you want to be the best at what you do. If you go to bed early and sleep late, that is a failure symptom that you will not be successful.

2. Are you an Introvert?
introvert extrovert

A shy kid might look longingly at other kids playing in the schoolyard, afraid and unsure about how to approach them, but an introvert is perfectly content on her own.
Laurie Helgoe

Introverts are sometimes called the “walking sleepers”. Introverts usually allow activity to pass by them without participation, indulge in time killing pursuits, taking only the most minor role or unconstructive parts. Introverts are also the solitaire players, the pathological bookworms, the endless crossword puzzlers, the couch potatoes. In order to succeed in business or life, you need to have the ability to sell yourself, you need social skills. You don’t have to be the life of the party but you must be able to be comfortable at the party.

3. Are you drinking more than 2 drinks daily? This is a failure symptom

Drinking heavily brings on a waking sleep. Drinking affects your ability to think straight and handicaps the drinker. You will not be able to contribute fully in staff meetings, argue sensibly, plan or be proactive if you are under the influence of alcohol.

4. Extreme extroverts

“I always thought I was an extrovert until I became a theatre major. Then I realized I just didn’t like silence.”
― Cora Carmack, Losing It

Do you count the day lost if you did not attend a dinner party, go to a movie theatre, dancing at a club or hanging out with friends? To be successful you need time alone to plan, to be creative and to ponder your next move.

5. Having no goals is a symptom of failure

vission mission

Dr William Menninger says “a fellow must know where he wants to go, if he is going to get anywhere”

No goals are bad enough but low goals are worst. Is your goal to just keep your job and make just enough money to pay your bills? Is it to live to retirement and then collect social security? Or is it to be the top player in the “candy crush” video game?
The bible says “people without a vision will perish”. Not necessarily physical death, but spiritual death. It is exhilarating to work towards a goal. Happiness is defined as working towards a goal.

“We are at our very best, and we are happiest, when we are fully engaged in work we enjoy on the journey toward the goal we’ve established for ourselves.”

The great leaders and legends of our time, all had goals, vision, mission and as they achieved one goal, they started on the next.

Join me for a Free webinar on how to set and achieve clear goals, how to create vision and mission statements, how to motivate your staff to excel and how to create influence.

Entrepreneur, Executive Coaching, Leadership Coaching, Personal Development, small business

How to Develop Your Employees Potential with Feedback.

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Feedback, is the breakfast of champions.

~~Ken Blanchard

Developing your employees with Feedback

As a, sales manager, you have a team of 10 sales persons: Two are overachievers and the other eight are happy being average. You know they have the potential to do so so much more… What do you do?
• How do you find out what really motivates them?
• How do you offer, feedback, that inspires instead of deflates?

sandwich
The Sandwich Technique of Giving Feedback

Think of your favorite sandwich… It has bread on top, lots of juicy meat and condiments in the middle and bread at the bottom again.

In the, Sandwich technique, of giving feedback, the top of the bun represents the good things you see your salesperson doing.

Eg “Patty you did an awesome job on that PowerPoint presentation. You kept your audience interested, you listed facts and supported them, your tonality was awesome and you had good volume. Excellent job; BUT….”

Now you get to the middle of the, sandwich technique, the meat. This is where you offer, feedback, on what Patty could have done better to close the sale. Phycologist’s reports that people are more receptive to hear negative, feedback, after you make them feel good with a positive comment.

The reason men in bars lead with flattery!

feedback

Feedback must be genuine

However, Your, feedback, is not going to get the desired result if you are not genuine with your praise, the same way if you use a tired overused line at the bar! You get nowhere and the party feels insulted. So dig deep and find something genuinely good to lead off the, feedback. In our case study, Patty gave an awesome presentation, but she did not get the sale. So we pick up at:

Excellent job Patty but; the customer said that they needed to check out other suppliers before they made their decision. It might be a good idea to ask your salesperson what she feels she did wrong. If she says that she felt the customer needed to compare before they bought, you can tell her that they would have made a decision if she had SOLD them on the product by offering a solution to satisfy their real need behind the want.

feedback breakthrough

The meat: Excellent Job with the presentation Patty but the customer did not buy. I believe the reason is because you did not identify and therefore could not offer a solution to the real need.

The customer told you they needed to purchase a new computer system because their old system does not give them enough storage capacity. Your presentation focused on listing our product with features highlighting our iCloud storage. If you had qualified the customer more thoroughly and understood why they needed more storage, you could have tailored your presentation to highlight the unique features of our product to satisfy the real need and eliminated our competitors.

I have a suggestion, for the next month, when you meet with customers for the first time, I want you to really understand their needs behind the want. Ask questions like “I understand your need to have more storage. What would more storage really give you?” The customer may say, something like “We would be able to look back at data for 5 years and understand our customer’s buying history. We also would be able to really identify trends and analyze what worked and what did not work.”

encouragement

No, sandwich, is complete without the bread at the bottom. So you end with encouragement. To finish off your, feedback, you could say something like “You can become the star on this team, you just need to tweak your qualifying questions to understand the customer’s needs and you will see your close rate shoot through the roof.”

This, sandwich technique, is the best way to give, feedback, to your subordinates. It motivates instead of deflates!