January 27, 2014 Focus Point

Are You On Track With Your New Year's Resolutions?

"Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start." ~Nido Qubein

"You have to believe in yourself when no one else does. That's what makes you a winner." ~Venus Williams

"Don't wait for the perfect moment. Take the moment and make it perfect!" ~Unknown

"Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"You were born to win, but to be a winner you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win." ~Zig Ziglar

You have got to love those new years goals and resolutions. I recently read an excellent article by Michael Hyatt. The gist of the article as follows: 25% of people abandon their New Year's resolution after one week believe it or not. 60% abandon them within six months and the average person makes the same resolution 10 separate times without success. Only 5% of those who lose weight on a diet keep it off; 95% regain not only the same amount of weight but even more. Even after a heart attack only 14% of patients makes lasting changes around eating or exercise.

Dr. Gail Matthews, a psychology professor at Dominican University in California, did a study on goal-setting with 267 participants. She found that you are 42% more likely to achieve your goals just by writing them down.

So what is the secret to success in resolutions and goal setting? Write them down. And I will add, look at them often. Keep them fresh in your mind and even affirm them to yourself out loud twice per day as a part of your positive speech. Don't ask for tasks equal to your strength, ask for strength equal to your tasks. Many times we fear setting a goal for the simple fact that: "What if we don't reach it?" I know this however. We are much more likely to accomplish a thing if we first set out to do it. For more on daily affirmations click - Lead Your Life - Affirmations

January 20, 2014 Focus Point

Read Great Books

"Don't just read the easy stuff.  You may be entertained by it, but you will never grow from it." ~Jim Rohn

"We over estimate what we can do in a day, and we underestimate what we can do in a lifetime." ~John Maxwell

"There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." ~Joseph Brodsky

"If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much." ~Jim Rohn

Reading good books is such a powerful way to feed your mind and heart. From the words on a page we can gain knowledge as well as understanding from the great minds of men and women who have written it all down. The right books will lead you to a better life, give you ideas, and fuel success. Hyrum Smith was doing a seminar and asked the question, "How many of you feel that books are important?" Most every hand went up. And then he asked, "How many of you are reading a book right now?" Only just a few hands went up. "Why do so many believe and know it's value and so few actually read?" Someone shouted, "Because books don't ring."

The fact that books do not ring and call for our immediate attention makes reading a bit of a lost art. I challenge anyone who is serious about gaining insight and greater perspective in life to read a great book daily. Find the time, make the time, and you will thank yourself. Even if it requires putting away the electronics or turning them off and moving away from all distractions it is a very worthwhile choice.

January 13, 2014 Focus Point

Growth & Continuous Improvement 

"Learn and apply one new idea each day to help you to become more productive and effective at your work. The incremental effect will amaze you." ~Brian Tracy

"There is a choice you have to make in everything you do so in the end keep in mind that the choice you make, makes you." ~John Wooden

"Most people want more and believe less." ~Paul Martinelli

"Life without progress becomes unendurable, and the person who ceases from growth must either become an imbecile or insane.  The greater and more harmonious and well rounded your growth is, the happier you will be." ~Wallace D. Wattles

Can you imagine not taking a bath or a shower for a few days and eventually a few weeks and even months? Would you agree there would be some social concerns and roadblocks with this kind of behavior? I suppose that someone who loves you and cares about you would pull you aside and say: "What are you thinking? You have got to fix this situation."

Yet many people go for days, weeks, months, eventually years without feeding or giving proper nourishment to their minds. Brian Tracy teaches: " If you become one tenth of one percent more productive each day, that amounts to one half of one percent more productive each week. One half of one percent more productive each week amounts to two percent more productive each month and 26% more productive each year. The cumulative effect if becoming a tiny bit better at your field and more productive amounts to a tremendous increase in your value and your output over time."

I believe the key to self improvement is two fold. First, commit to doing something every single day that will edify, inspire, and increase your knowledge, vision, and possibilities. A good book or audio recording for instance. Something to feed your mind. Secondly, be patient in taking small steps. Isn't it amazing every morning as dawn approaches how slowly it starts to become light? At first there is just a glimpse of daylight and before you know it there is enough light to see quite well and soon the sun is up and a new day is born, but it is very difficult to determine at which exact moment it all happened. Growth in life happens much the same way. Slowly, gradually, and over time. And for the person who is consistent and determined the rewards are tremendous.

January 2014 Leadership Connect

Gain Respect From Everyone Around You. Up, Down, And Sideways

"The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant." ~Max de Pree

"Influence is the ability to change other people's thoughts, beliefs, and actions." ~Chris Widener's

"The key to successful leadership is influence, not authority." ~Kenneth H. Blanchard

"The secret of my influence has always been that it remained secret." ~Salvador Dalí

"A parent gives life. A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." ~Henry Adams

"The seeds you sow determine the harvest that you reap." ~John Maxwell

"I believe each of us is born with a life purpose. Identifying, acknowledging, and honoring this purpose is perhaps the most important action successful people take." ~Jack Canfield

How would you like to be the guy or gal in the room that when you speak people listen? What difference would it make in your life to have the respect in your office or classroom, and from your work associates that you feel you deserve?

Influence is a matter of disposition not position. Leadership is a choice you make not a place that you sit. In other words, just as effective communication is more a learned skill than natural talent, so is leadership more a choice than it is a position. Yet those who are inexperienced in leadership think that it is in fact a position, rather than a decision in how we choose to treat people. Therefore even a position or title does not guarantee that you will have influence with your people and certainly will not protect you. John Maxwell teaches that "Leadership is Influence, nothing more and nothing less."

The question is, if leadership is influence then how do you and I increase our influence and respect with those that we lead or teach, and even those over us? The answer is to add value to them. Add value to your boss, add value to your work associates, add value to those whom you lead, if you are a teacher in a classroom add value to your students. Desire to understand their needs and connect through understanding needs. This adding value behavior along with hard work is a choice that you make and will certainly distinguish you from all the rest and will give you more confidence and credibility which are both keys to better relationships.

For more on this, I highly recommend 360 Degree Leader by John Maxwell available at under products.

January 6, 2014 Focus Point

What Is Success To You?

"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." ~Winston Churchill

"Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another." ~Napoleon Hill

"A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him." ~David Brinkley

"To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence." ~Mark Twain

"Successful people make bold decisions and they follow through on them." ~Unknown

"In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure." ~Bill Cosby

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." ~Winston Churchill

I just recently had the chance to purchase an audio recording from Earl Nightingale and was reminded of what a legend in the personal growth industry he was dating even back to one of his first messages The Strangest Secret that he delivered in 1956. In The Strangest Secret he answers the question that he had been searching for since he was 9 years old. The question was regarding why some people have so much success and abundance in life and yet others struggle merely to survive. He defines success as the progressive realization of a worthy ideal. His life and teachings were such a positive impact. For example: "The greatest puzzle is life. The greatest mistake is giving up. The greatest comfort is work well done. The greatest journey is that of the mind, because it determines life."

My definition of success is: Knowing who you are and working to become such. When I think of success I think of potential. Potential is one of the most powerful words in any language. Yet so many people understand it incorrectly. They think of a great job as having potential or a book as having potential, maybe they see potential in a particular relationship. The truth is that all of these are opportunities, but the potential to fulfill and connect with that opportunity is only in you. It can come from nowhere or no one else, but you. Your preparedness and the expression of a higher level of your potential will meet with the opportunity and turn it into something greater. We often hear: "Success is when opportunity and preparedness meet." Isn't it amazing what you see in the world, when you know what you are looking for? I love the expression: "You don't see the world the way it is, you see it the way you are."