Newsletter for April 2004:
Time, Money and Life Balance, Part I
Contents:
- This Months Thought
- Time, Money and Life Balance, Part I
- Strictly Business: Marketing Means Networking
- 10 Quotes for Living Well
- Humor: Kids Proverbs
This Months Thought
It's amazing to me that highly successful people seem to have plenty of time to do what they want to do. Don't you think that they must arrange it that way? This month, challenge yourself to be a great manager! Manage yourself, your environment and your relationships so you create the life you truly want.
Time, Money and Life Balance, Part 1
This is the beginning of a three-part series on the topics of Time, Money and Life Balance.
Contrary to popular belief, you cannot "manage" time. Time just is. It moves in one direction, and you can't speed it up, or slow it down, or create more of it.
You can't save time or buy time, or make time. You can't borrow it or squander it or kill it, and the folks who write about "time management" should know better. With time, your only choice is to use it to create the life you want, or to live with the regret that time (and opportunity) have passed you by.
When we talk about "time management" what we are actually talking about is "life management". The following are three examples of good skills toward life management.
1. Self Management. Folks who don't have enough time usually have too much of too many other things. They don't have enough time, but they have lots of errands, lots of work, lots of hobbies, lots of commitments and lots of "stuff". They fill their lives with promises and deadlines. They are always busy, but complain their hard work doesn't produce the results they wanted.
Highly successful people manage their commitments. They say "No!" - often, and forcefully. They decline invitations. They refuse to accept other people's burdens. They are very selfish about sticking to their goals and priorities.
Highly successful people have a mature wisdom about this. They cannot do or have all the possibilities in life, so they commit to doing a few things very well, and manage their lives around those selected commitments.
2. Environmental Excellence.
Highly successful people are fussy about their homes and offices. They don't have as many crises as other people. Yes, emergencies happen, but usually their environments serve and support them elegantly. Whether it's having "reserves" so they don't have to run to the store before dinner, or having great tools, or hiring a housekeeper, they rarely waste time. Their homes and offices encourage excellence and support productivity.
3. Effective Relationships. Highly successful people communicate well and often. They are choosy about their friends, and have clear boundaries. They value their relationships with friends and loved ones, but they also keep things "clean".
Highly successful people don't answer the phone every time it rings. They arrange boundaries so they can focus on their work, their personal development, and their loved ones, without interruptions. Time with family is treated like time with a valued client. Work and personal time are organized so they rarely interfere with each other.
There is a tremendous level of skill in managing life so time is used well, but consider the alternative! Highly successful people seem to be less busy than most every one else because they arrange it that way. They join fewer clubs, make fewer promises, run fewer errands and waste less of life's most precious commodity.
Next month, the discussion will focus on managing money - yes, you can manage money! You can create it, replace it, save it, even make it grow, but none of that is true with time. Time just is, and we either manage our lives and use time effectively, or we don't. This month, challenge yourself to be a great manager! Manage yourself, your environment and your relationships so you create the life you truly want.
Strictly Business: Marketing Means Networking
In the end, marketing is always about networking - it's who you know, and who knows YOU that counts. While we may buy lunch at a restaurant we've never heard of or go to a movie we know nothing about, most of the time we do business with people we know and trust. It always comes back to that.
And about those lunches - how often have you stopped at a McDonalds not because you love the food, but because you know and trust the brand? It always comes down to familiarity, predictability and trust.
Here are four strategies that have worked for thousands of small business owners. They are not "quick fixes", and they will require more of you than merely buying an advertising campaign, but they are likely to produce better results:
- Let people get to know YOU. Join organizations you believe in. Work for worthy causes, donate your time to charities and civic groups. You'll be helping your community, you'll know your customers, and more importantly, they will know and appreciate you.
- Communicate in every way possible. Instead of buying a radio ad, why not be a guest expert and answer questions? Instead of buying an ad in the local paper, write a column. Instead of mailing brochures, send a newsletter filled with practical information, community events - and a coupon.
- Donate to community organizations. Offer your professional services for a reduced fee (or free) to local groups. Donate supplies to a local school or community center. Invest in your audience and they will, in turn, be more likely to invest with you in the future.
- Make your website a true resource. A website that is merely an electronic brochure will have limited value. Provide resources folks can use! Add valuable tips or links to other web sites. Give people a reason to use your site, and to return regularly.
Branding is always about YOU. Yes, branding your company name is helpful, and branding your goods and services is a nice idea. But the more people who know and appreciate you, the more business you'll do. In the end, marketing is about networking.
10 Quotes for Living Well!
Over the years many people have offered their models of the "Good Life", and some have left quotes that nicely summarize important truthes. The following are bits of wisdom or observations.
Know Thyself - Socrates. From ancient Greece comes this reminder that introspection, keeping a journal, paying attention to the heart of things, comes first. Before we can know the world around us, and make reasonable decisions about our roles and goals, it seems we must first come to grips with who we are and what we value.
To Thine Own Self Be True - Shakespeare. In life there is no substitute for integrity. Have you ever heard the phrase? "We either stand for something, or we'll fall for anything." Integrity is about going beyond the truth to full and complete honesty, openness and fairness.
And the Greatest of These is Love - St Paul. He also observed that "without love I am just a clanging symbol or a noisy gong." Without love, caring relationships, and compassion, life is indeed a dry and shallow thing.
Imagination Rules the World - Albert Einstein. The good life is at least partly based on dreams that are worthy of us, dreams that elevate and challenge and inspire our best. Bobby Kennedy noted, "Others look at the world and ask, 'Why?' I dream of a world that never was and ask, 'Why not?'" Martin Luther King's defiant cry, "I have a dream!" will live long after most of us are gone and forgotten.
Too much of a good thing is wonderful! - Mae West. The good life is about living large, about expressing the joy and love of life. It's about song, exuberance, and about taking chances, and "going for it".
Opportunities multiply as they are seized - SunTzu. Success depends on the courage to act, and courage in turn requires a level of faith that every opportunity acted upon will lead to more and better ways to serve, learn, grow and prosper.
Do, or do not. There is no "try" - Yoda (The Empire Strikes Back). Life requires action, boldness and decisiveness. Mae West also observed, "He who hesitates is a damned fool."
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away - Antoine de St. Exupery. Henry Thoreau recommended, "Simplify, simplify, simplify. Let your concerns be as 2 or 3, no more." Friends, work, the media and this thing called the Internet, along with our own "wish lists" try to seduce us to complexity, busy-ness and anxiety. Keep it simple!
The artist is nothing without gift, but gift is nothing without work - Emile Zola. Only focused, intelligent, diligent effort turns potential into reality. Without creative effort, talent and "gift" seem to atrophy and die. Truly a case of "use it or lose it".
There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. - Albert Einstein. I highly recommend practicing the attitude of gratitude. What else is there?
Humor: Kids Proverbs
A first grade teacher collected well known proverbs. She gave each child in her class the first half of a proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb. Enjoy...
- Better to be safe than---punch a 5th grader
- Strike while the ---bug is close
- It's always darkest before---Daylight Savings Time
- Never underestimate the power of---termites
- You can lead a horse to water but---how?
- Don't bite the hand that---looks dirty
- No news is---impossible
- A miss is as good as a---Mr.
- You can't teach an old dog new---math
- If you lie down with dogs, you'll---stink in the morning
- Love all, trust---me
- The pen is mightier than the---pigs
- An idle mind is---the best way to relax
- Where there's smoke there's---pollution
- Happy the bride who---gets all the presents
- A penny saved is---not much
- Two's company, three's---the Musketeers
- Don't put off till tomorrow what---you put on to go to bed
- Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and---you have to blow your nose
- None are so blind as---Stevie Wonder
- Children should be seen and not---spanked or grounded
- If at first you don't succeed---get new batteries
- You get out of something what you---see pictured on the box
- When the blind leadeth the blind---get out of the way
- And the favorite... Better late than---pregnant
Rodger Blaker is a Professional Coach who supports people in their desire to bridge the gap between where they are today and where they want to be! For info on resources for your success, visit: http://www.rodgerblaker.com
GIVE A GIFT TO A FRIEND! Please forward this copy to your friends and colleagues! That's how I grow!