August 26, 2013 Focus Point

August 26, 2013
Focus Point

How To Have Job Security & Make Your Boss Love You!

This is such an exciting topic. I love to see people encouraged in their jobs and to feel love towards their daily work and the company. Many have found the following to be powerful in learning to enjoy and become more effective in their work, and for supervisors to determine who should stay, who should go, and who should be moved to another area within the company.

1. Show a sense of urgency

Do things the right way. When you face a "lazy streak" avoid the urge to take "easy street".

2. Show a positive effect

Are your co-workers excited to see you at the beginning of the day, or do they duck into the ladies restroom when you walk in the door? Do your thoughts, words, and actions lift and build others?

3. Show a willingness to do more

Beat 50% of the competition for your job by working hard. Beat 40% by being a person of integrity. Do you pick up paper or trash off the floor, even in someone else's area or space?

4. Show unique skills that you bring to your company

Along with the skills that you offer, this also includes the willingness to grow and change. Not either or, but, both. When you walk in the door on Monday morning do you feel like you are working a job or fulfilling a mission with purpose?

Dr. Wayne Dyer said it well. "When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change".

To consider this week: What are the wonderful things about my job that I was attracted to in the beginning? How can I add more value to my co-workers and to my company?

August 19, 2013 Focus Point

August 19, 2013
Focus Point

The 3 self defeating C's. Criticize, Complain, Compare.

Criticizing is all about what we think and feel about others. Have you ever been around someone who just accepts you for who you are? Even through all of the mistakes you make, they are someone who remains solid and a person you can count on. Contrast that relationship with one where all they seem to think about and talk about is what is wrong with you and others.

When you make positive changes in life you may get criticized for it. But pressure from other people who do not have your best interests in mind, and to whom you have given no permission to speak into your life should never have power to deter you from following your heart and creating the future which you desire. John Maxwell said it this way: "If you don't try to create the future you want, you must endure the future you get."

Complaining is much the same as to criticize, but more pointed towards circumstance and situations. The traffic is horrible, it's too hot, it's to cold that's not fair, and so on. To avoid the temptation to complain, when you realize that something bothers you first decide if it is something you have control over. Much of what people worry or complain about they have absolutely no control over and it is wasted energy at best, and really a detriment to their forward progress at worst. If you do have control over the situation, then the only answer is to go to work.

Comparing is when you measure yourself to others, or your stuff to their stuff, your job to their job, your car, your house, your toys (or lack of toys), your face, etc. The problem here is that in your mind you start to form judgments and really measure people by their stuff. If they have more or better than you, well, you feel jealous. If you find that you actually have more than them, then you feel that it makes you better than them. It is judging people by what they have rather than by who they are. The only comparing that should be done is your current performance and behavior against that which you desire to have, do, or become.   

When a person has been in difficult situations or had people harm them in some way, and you would think that they have every right to criticize, complain, or compare, and yet they do not, you know you have found a true friend. Because this kind of person is rare to find, they are someone you can count on, and they will always stay true.

August 12, 2013 Focus Point

August 12, 2013
Focus Point

Plan, Do, Check, Adjust (PDCA)

Thank you for reading the message this week. Whether you are the president of a company, run a small business, perhaps you are a leader in your company or part of a team within the company that has a great vision and purpose, or maybe you are retired from your work altogether, or work and build with people in your community or in political matters. Maybe you are a leader in your church. Regardless of your station in life, or the project at hand, I believe that the ideas here will assist anyone in accomplishing big important tasks in life.

Planning: Prior planning prevents poor performance, right? Planning is such a necessary step to an effective project. From my experience some people are gifted in planning and effective preparation. While others are more gifted in the doing. But the most successful people are balanced in both areas. They take the time and energy to plan properly, but they also don't fall in love with it so much that they want to stay there and keep planning to put off or delay the doing. At the same time they know that by jumping directly into action may cost more time, energy, and resources down the road because of the high chances of poor performance that are most certain to come from the lack of planning. Brilliant ideas that come to a person is no substitute for lack of planning and preparation.

Doing: Is the action that must take place in order to move the project forward.

Checking: I believe that this step is absolutely vital. There is no real sense pursuing something that is not working effectively. By checking on progress and exactness you become aware of what needs to change in order to become even more effective.

Adjusting: Is to actually put the changes into effect. If you feel the same way I do, you value your time, energy, money, and resources. The more quickly you can identify and make needed changes, the quicker you can meet your standard of excellence.

To consider this week: Do I PDCA my Life?

August 5, 2013 Focus Point

August 5, 2013
Focus Point

A Bend In The Road Is Not The End Of The Road

Have you ever had a time in your life when everything was going well and then all of a sudden, and it seems out of the middle of nowhere, everything changes?

When circumstances are not favorable, when someone else harms you, when your dreams are dashed in front of your face, and when you are not sure if you have what it takes, take a step back and clarify your purpose and determine if your daily actions are taking you in the direction of that purpose. It is hard to see the picture when you are in the frame, so take a step back, take time to evaluate and look from different angles.

Nick Vujicic teaches: "You need to determine what it is in life that you can control and what you cannot control. The things you can control, start making changes in those areas today. It is about turning obstacles into our next opportunity. It is about having a purpose stronger than fear, because a clearly defined purpose will offer courage to keep trying."

That which we persist at doing gets easier, not because the nature of the thing has changed but because our ability to do it has increased. Any achievement worth pursuing will almost always, if not always, have challenges along the way. And so when you face a major bend in the road ahead it will require adjustment indeed, but it does not mean that the road has ended, and it may in fact be the start of your next great opportunity. You see, some people think that you just have to live the life that you are dealt. I believe that you can shape your life according to your desires.

To ponder this week: A bend in the road is not the end of the road, unless you miss the corner.