Newsletter for February 2006:
Creating a Value-Based Life
Contents:
- This Months Thought
- Creating a Value-Based Life
- Quotes of the Month
- Strictly Business: The Best Tools for the Job
- Humor: Life’s BEST Lessons
This Months Thought
It takes time to sort out our core values. It often takes a life-time to find our calling. How many painters, musicians, entrepreneurs, writers and teachers didn't begin until after they retired from their "first" life? One of my heroes is Frank Lloyd Wright, and while he became an architect as a young man, it wasn't until his 70's and 80's and 90's that he made his greatest contributions. It is never too late to have a GREAT life!
Creating a Value-Based Life
Most of us set goals in the worst possible way. Periodically, we are given an exercise or worksheet, so we get our calendar and we start listing wishes. We set a goal to lose weight, to increase our income, or to spend quality time with loved ones. We write things down because they sound good and because part of us really DOES want them.
But, the things we write down are the very things we have been choosing NOT to do for months, sometimes for years. How silly is that?
The Great American Resolution to lose weight is a good example. For a healthy person, losing a few pounds is simple: consume fewer calories than you burn. Eat less, exercise more. Anyone can do it any time they choose.
But we don't lose weight. Of course, we wish to. Yes, we talk about it. We think about it. We beat ourselves up for not doing it, and experience shame for our failure, but the fact is that we choose to carry those extra pounds and lose weight "tomorrow". For today, we would rather have dessert.
One of the keys to achieving any goal is to be CERTAIN the goal accurately reflects your core values.
We all know stories of people who have turned their lives around and changed everything when new values or new realities transformed their priorities.
I read about a fellow who has lost over 150 pounds in 17 months since his heart attack. I know of a single mom who started a home based business, purchased rental real estate and paid off every dime of a $200,000 debt her husband left when he ran off after the birth of their daughter. We all know ordinary people who have done extraordinary things when they "had" to.
Unfortunately, we also know too many stories of failure. We know stories of people with great incomes who are drowning in debt, or people with every advantage and terrible relationships. We know too many people who barely keep it together, who hate their jobs, who drink too much, or who have simply given in to pessimism. How sad! What a waste!
The keys to a GREAT life are to know what you love and what you STAND for, and then build a life around those core essentials.
I imagine that's the only way it has ever been done.
George Washington Carver KNEW it was possible to transform the poverty of a nation by finding uses for the peanut. His work changed everything for thousands of people. Nelson Mandela believed in his vision, and eventually triumphed. Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Helen Keller, Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Rosa Parks, Oprah Winfrey, Sally Ride and a host of others are heroes and models of success. Why?
Not because they began with unusual advantages or great genius, but because they knew what they stood for and where they were going in life. They stood up. They stood FOR their vision, and "the rest is history."
It takes time to sort out our core values. It often takes a life-time to find our calling. How many painters, musicians, entrepreneurs, writers and teachers didn't begin until after they retired from their "first" life? One of my heroes is Frank Lloyd Wright, and while he became an architect as a young man, it wasn't until his 70's and 80's and 90's that he made his greatest contributions. It is never too late to have a GREAT life!
Quotes of the Month
"If you can DREAM it, you can DO it." -- Walt Disney
"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing." -- Theodore Roosevelt
"In each of us are places where we have never gone. Only by pressing the limits do you ever find them." -- Dr. Joyce Brothers
"The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams." -- Eleanor Roosevelt
Strictly Business: The Best Tools for the Job
A critical distinction that determines the future of almost any business is your willingness to invest in equipment and training.
I cringe when I hear a professional talk about the "cost" of new equipment, hiring or training better staff, or attending a conference, seminar or training. These things almost NEVER "cost", they pay!
We live in a world of immediate cost and quality comparisons. Trust me, whether you own a restaurant, run a law office, or manufacture widgets, your customers talk to each other! There are no secrets and the truth about your quality, your level of innovation, your performance and experience is known to every one of your customers, and more importantly, to virtually every potential customer.
Whether you invest in new software, new furniture, or in new training, if it makes even a slight difference in your performance, it can make a HUGE difference in your bottom line. It's called leverage!
Attending a training or Conference to meet the best people in your profession or learn a few new things, or to review the best of the "old tricks", can be worth a fortune. Customers want experts. They want it done right the first time, and they will pay a premium for the confidence that you know what you're doing.
Even buying a new laptop "just because I like it" can pay for itself almost instantly if it makes you slightly faster, slightly more creative or more productive. You only need a slight edge to multiply your results enormously.
Invest in training. Invest in the right tools for the job. Invest in your future.
Humor: Life's BEST Lessons
There have been many versions of these over the years, and some emails have credited Andy Rooney as the original author. Hopefully you'll appreciate the wisdom of these earlier rather than later in life!
- If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved its full potential; that word would be "meetigs."
- There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
- People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.
- And when God, who created the entire universe with all of its glories, decides to deliver a message to humanity, He WILL NOT use as His messenger, a person on cable TV with a bad haircut.
- You should not confuse your career with your life.
- No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.
- When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that individual is crazy.
- Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. If anybody cares how you dance, feel sorry for them. They need to get a life and learn how to have fun.
- The most powerful force in the universe is gossip.
- You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.
- There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven.
- The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers.
- The main accomplishment of almost all organized protests is to annoy people who are not in them.
- A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)
- Don't think that because a person is having fun they are drinking to excess. Some people have fun naturally given the moment, and you need to find out how they do it.
- Never FRY anything naked.
- Your friends will love you anyway.
Rodger Blaker works with executives, small business owners and professionals who want to grow in their business and create an extraordinary life! For info on resources for your success, visit: http://www.rodgerblaker.com or call me at 214-485-2238.
GIVE A GIFT TO A FRIEND! Please forward this copy to your friends and colleagues! That's how I grow!