Newsletter for August 2006:
Taking Steps Toward Your Dreams
Contents:
- This Months Thought
- Taking Steps Toward Your Dreams
- Quotes of the Month
- Strictly Business: Selling Your Best Stuff
- Humor: Wisdom of a City Boy
This Months Thought
From creating wealth or building a business, to raising happy kids or having a remarkable marriage, the steps are pretty clear. Set your priorities, develop a plan, get support, and then work your plan over time, and never give up. Step by step, inch by inch, anything is possible. You can get there!
Taking Steps Toward Your Dreams
Why do some people seem to reach their goals so easily, moving from one success to another, while other people seem to stay stuck, frustrated in their quest for success? We know the difference is not talent or education, and it certainly isn't "luck", or desire, and it doesn't seem to be personality. What makes the difference?
Many people have said that the difference is having clear, written goals.
I think there are some other steps, as well, but this first one is essential. In working with successful people, one of the things that is always true (yes, EVERY time!) is that they make clear, conscious choices.
One of the great truths is that we can have just about anything we want, but it is also true that we cannot have EVERYTHING we want in life. Our lives are filled with more choices than ever before, and yet each day still has only 24 hours, and each week has only 7 days. Successful people understand this and choose their priorities very carefully.
Last year Lance Armstrong won an astounding SIXTH Tour de France. That is an unheard of level of success! While, it is true that Lance has remarkable genetic gifts, there can be no doubt about his commitment to conditioning, to training, to achieving his goals. His success is no accident, and it did not happen because he spent "some" time preparing. The man is focused and knows what he wants.
Do you?
We live in a time of many distractions, and I believe the first and most essential requirement for success is choosing your priorities. Call them goals, or call them challenges or themes or projects or whatever, but you must choose and you must concentrate and you must sacrifice. There can be no success without first choosing what you want most in life.
Secondly, take time to design a practical, workable plan. Yes, some goals seem to arrive "automatically", but far more often, success requires a well-designed plan. Use a calendar and a budget. Consider your resources, talents, interests and other competing projects, and devise a strategy. Success is not an accident! It is the result of careful plans, well executed.
Third, success always requires action and perseverance. Any success worthy of the name, requires time, effort, skill, and persistence. There will be delays and surprises and frustrations. Of course there will - this is not a movie! Success requires that you work your plan, and stick with it over time.
Fourth, surround yourself with the tools you'll need to achieve your dream. From motivational posters, to expert advice, to the wisdom of good friends, success is not a "do it yourself" operation. Get help! Get support! Get good advice, and consider using a coach.
Finally, never, ever, give up. Last month I wrote about sharing your dreams with friends, family and your associates about where you’re going. It's a wonderful thing to share our dreams with others and gain their support and encouragement and then over time look back and be astonished by the progress we have made toward out dreams.
This week, I was talking to a friend who mentioned his family’s investment account. Now, he isn’t "rich", but since August, 1984, he has made a deposit every single month, without fail. When you think about it that's not all that remarkable. It's just a habit, like paying the mortgage or washing the dishes, but for 18 years, those monthly checks have added up.
Your success may look a lot like that. From creating wealth or building a business, to raising happy kids or having a remarkable marriage, the steps are pretty clear. Set your priorities, develop a plan, get support, and then work your plan over time, and never give up. Step by step, inch by inch, anything is possible. You can get there!
Quotes of the Month
"Everything's in the mind. That's where it all starts. Knowing what you want is the first step toward getting it." -- Mae West
"If you want to get somewhere you have to know where you want to go and how to get there. Then never, never, never give up." -- Norman Vincent Peale
"The thoughts we choose to think are the tools we use to paint the canvas of our lives." -- Louise Hay
"If you don't quit, and don't cheat, and don't run home when trouble arrives, you can only win." -- Shelley Long
Strictly Business: Selling Your Best Stuff
Every month, a professional just starting out, or an entrepreneur with a small company will consult with me about "specializing". Some guru has convinced them that in order to grow their business, they have to identify a specific product and market that as their "specialty".
Well. There is both a grain of truth, and a gross over- simplification in that advice.
In most cases a small business need not put "all their eggs in one basket" and sell only one service or provide only one (or a few) products. In fact, the huge advantage of a small business is it's ability to provide personal service, custom solutions, and innovation, far easier, faster and cheaper than a large company.
In a small business, the owner can respond personally and find the perfect solution for a customer with an unusual request or a special need. Never under-estimate that tremendous advantage!
The grain of truth in the "you must specialize" motto is that to grow your business you MUST focus on what you do best. Some products or services, or some aspects of the business simply "suit" or fascinate you more than others. Talents show up in different ways. Even things like the location of your business, or the gender, age and training of your staff will create certain strengths, while also creating a parallel set of weaknesses.
To build your business, focus on what you do best. Specialize and advertise the things you enjoy most, or that you feel passionate about. Make a virtue of your natural advantages and specialize in those things.
Humor: Love Is….wisdom of a City Boy
I didn’t save the name of the person who sent the following to me so whoever you are I thought it was wonderful--not exactly "humor" in the traditional sense, but it made me smile, so that's close enough. Enjoy!
A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:
"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."
Rebecca- age 8"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
Billy - age 4"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."
Karl - age 5"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."
Chrissy - age 6"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."
Terri - age 4"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."
Danny - age 7"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"
Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."
Noelle - age 7"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore."
Cindy - age 8"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."
Elaine-age 5"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."
Chris - age 7"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."
Mary Ann - age 4"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."
Lauren - age 4"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
Jessica - age 8
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!