Are Things As Tough As You Perceive Them To Be?

One eyes can play tricks with your mind regarding what goes on outside your own world.  Visions of nice cars coupled with vacation advertising that whisk you off to far away exotic places all create a false sense of desire. Your credit card balance continually grows to an uncomfortable balance .  The polish may have fallen off the apple in the relationship with your partner.  It goes on and on.  It's easy to allow yourself to get caught up in the life is better on the other side of the street.  To much TV will do that to a person. 20% of the time in front of the television is watching commercials.  This is where the illusion that all is well with everyone else but me, sneaks into your life. You become consumed with the notion that life has dealt you a difficult hand. No wonder you feel you have been short changed.

Pleasantville and not the movie is actually closer than you think.  I expect your living it and you don't know it. Perception can be reality just like the saying says. I suggest you perceive you already have abundance. If you don't it will soon come to you. I suggest to you just about every individual on the earth has issues that bring them stress and sadness.
So how can you get back to a mindset of abundance. How can you make that perception a reality.  Here are some ideas that have worked for me.

• Start a gratitude journal.  Yes I know what your thinking. Do it. Take a minute to write to paper all the wonderful things you have in your life. Concentrate on the non material things. Write until you can't think of any more.  Now do it every day.  You will most likely find you already have abundance.
• The best way not to have buyers remorse is not to buy it. Trust me. It urge will go away. I have never seen a trailer with all your worldly possessions being pulled behind a hearse.  Have you? You can not take your possessions with you when you die but you get to take love and your memories.
• Spend more time with your friends that are not into showing off possessions.  Remember Will Smith's famous saying. " Too many people spend money they have not earned yet to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like."
• Eat healthy and exercise. Exercise helps clear the clutter from your mind. 
• Create a new habit that will change your outlook on life. It may be as simple as writing in your gratitude journal. Do it every day for 30 days.

We all have heard, in our lives, that money can not buy happiness. I say money can but only if your mentally grounded and not driven to impress like Will Smith told us. Money can provide you with financial security. Spending it on material things will only bring you temporary happiness.  I suggest you first come to the understanding that love of friends and family is earned by who you are. I expect you already have it and did not know it.

Make 2013 The Year You Stop Making Excuses

Excuses are a way of saying I did not have the guts to do it. I was afraid of the outcome. I see an excuse as a way of saying I'm normal. I am just plain lazy or it wasn't that important. Why would I stretch myself? Take a hard look at yourself. If your saying this to yourself and your OK with that your in trouble. I'm suggesting you dig down deep. Make a resolution, that 2013 is the year you stopped making excuses.
How many times have we heard governments say we did not make our target budget because the revenue did not come in as expected. The economy performed below expectations. We all just roll our eyes and say it's government. What else would we expect. Forget the fact they are ruining the future for our children. We have actually allowed the excuse to creep into our every day lives to. It's somebody else's fault. Would you be willing to have government or external forces tell us to turn left and turn right at their will. I sure hope not. Why do we continue to allow this to happen in our every day lives. You will never grow as a person and more importantly as a parent if we accept an excuse of ourselves.
Here is what I believe happens when we stop making excuses.

• When we stop making excuses we actually take control of our lives. Yes, there is a catch. It means that you will actually have to do what you said you were going to do.
• You will gain trust and respect from others. "Now there's a person of their word".
• It causes us to think before we open our mouth and commit to something knowing full well you have to do it.
• Yes is easier than saying no. No is often the right answer especially if you won't do what you said you would do. Think of the consequences on your character.
• Make no mistake that it is only by your actions you are remembered.
• When you stop making excuses you don't have to remember what you said.

I suggest you start to listen to yourself when you talk. Have the guts to say no and mean it. If you think your hurting someones feelings by saying no, think again. You are hurting your reputation even more by saying yes and not doing it. Live your life excuse free. Convince yourself that you resolve to not make excuses this year. Your credibility needs an awakening. Make 2013 the year you will actually do what you said you will do.

The Road To Success Is Paved With A Positive Attitude

Staying upbeat and in the zone requires being in tune to your emotions. I also believe having a positive attitude is closely tied to a belief that you have the talent and the ability to get it done. For some this comes easy. For most it's a difficult.
Navel gazing can be a good thing if you like the possibilities of what life will bring you. To get to this mindset of a positive attitude you must push back the limiting beliefs that were created from your previous failures. These limiting beliefs could have also come from a poor support system in your childhood. So just how do we get to this condition of a positive attitude? I am certain the six tasks below will get you started.

• First, I believe you need to identify what it is you want in life and be firmly committed to that desire. Establishing the emotional pull becomes a pleasure point that will help strengthen your commitment.


• Secondly, you need to identify the negative people in your life and start to work on changing who your friends are. As tough as it may seem, make a list of the negative people in your life and make a commitment to drop them from your circle of friends. Why would you ever call someone a friend who is constantly pulling you back?


• Thirdly, is to start to meet and hang out with achievers and people who can help bring you up a notch. It's like that old saying " Success breeds success." Join a Networking Group.


• Fourthly, is to do something to improve your job or your career. This may be to take a course to upgrade your skills. Meet with your boss and have that heart to heart and express that you are genuinely committed to growing in this company.


• Fifth is what I feel to be one of the most important steps. Find a mentor. Find that someone who has earned success. This is a person you can emulate. A good mentor will help you grow and provide sound advise regarding your future success.


• Lastly is to get your hands on some inspirational books or videos. Tony Robbins, Jack Canfield just to name two. Tony has clips on YouTube. Jack does free tel-conferences on a monthly basis. 1000's attend each call. Tons of free material can be found on the internet. These inspirational leaders will help get you pumped and they will keep you pumped. Most important. They will help keep you on track.

Having a positive attitude is one thing. Staying positive when things are going against you is another beast altogether. Understanding that setbacks are a part of life and that setbacks are only temporary is key. Setbacks are life's way of measuring your commitment to success. A positive attitude will get you up and running faster. It's the fuel of your success.

Find Your Inspiration From Successful People

Last Fall I attended a banquet put on by the Better Business Bureau. Every person I spoke with while networking before the dinner portion was in my opinion successful. The people I got to sit with were nothing short of amazing. The energy in the room was electric. The BBB was honoring companies that displayed high ethics in business. Now this is a crowd that I like to hang out with. I immediately think of trust and credibility when it comes to ethics. It should be a way of life inside your businesses as well as how you interact with our external customers.
As the discussion around our table started to loosen up I became more amazed of the talent I was hanging out with. Those at the table included.

• A Real Estate magnet who does 8 figure property deals internationally. He is also a published author of his business biography.


• There was a President of a large moving company that has offices right across Canada. He is also a Board Member of the Better Business Bureau. Remember the night was about ethics in business.


• An Executive Vice President who left a career as a successful Doctor of Optometry to get into business. Now that's following your passion.


• Also seated at the table was the President of a sales training company but with a unique twist. His company works with business owners who are not sales people. He works with them on how to understand sales people and how to best engage their sales staff.


• Also at the table was a President of a large printing company who is finding success in a very competitive business.


• Seated as well with us, a Lawyer who left a large law firm to go with a three person firm. He wanted to get more engaged with his clients. That takes guts in my books.


• The host of the table is a Regional Manager for a very unique insurance company, that is not an insurance company. How is this for unique! Their customer companies self insure. That's right. Self insure. The customer company selects the benefits and the maximum that can be paid out in each benefit of the plan. His company just manages the details and the claims from the medical card they provide. Their fee is disclosed.


• Oh Yes there was me. The former President of an Office Products Company and Former President of a Computer Forms Company. I am currently a partner in a Scottish apparel company aside from my role at Answer365.

I can tell you the conversation around the table was not about who won the World Series. The purpose of this article is not to say I am good at name dropping and hobnobbing. To the contrary. What I have written about is that I made the effort to go out to this event and hear all about the successful nominees for the BBB Ethics Awards. I wanted to see and feel first hand what ethical businesses do. I left the event feeling invigorated and motivated. Success will not find it's way to you. It is by your actions and your determination that you will find success. I came away with so much more that I went in with. So get out there. Meet some people who will inspire you. You will be thankful you did.

Find Success Using A Balance Of Goals And Resolutions

With the new year just around the corner it's a great time to reflect and to set new goals. Business typically starts to wind down over the holidays and I suggest you start now with your planning for the coming year. Starting this exercise the second week of January will have a negative effect on your end result. Planning takes time and reflection. Planning is tough to do when your buried in the day to day part of your job.
What is the difference between a resolution and a goal you ask? A goal is about achieving something. For example. I am going to earn so much money. A resolution it's something you keep. You own it. When you change a habit like eating less, that transforms into weighing less. Eating less would be considered the resolution. The goal is weighing less. We can use words like intentions and habits too when comparing them to goals and resolutions. All of these words however point back to one word. Change. We all want to improve ourselves for various reasons. The net result is to make your life better. The thing that gets in the middle is change. Change can make you feel nervous. However deep down you know you need to change. That little person in the back of your mind keeps showing up saying. "Why do this, when every time you have tried, you have failed." Quite simply you gave up after just a few days because you found it to hard to change. Your not alone. It is estimated, that some where between 80 and 90 percent of all New Years Resolutions fail after just one week. You ask yourself. Why bother?
There is no single recipe for success. Here are some techniques that will help you identify what you want to resolve yourself to do. Success will soon be within your grasp.

• Don't rely on motivation alone.
• Concede to the fact that change can be and usually is difficult.
• Write down what you want to accomplish.
• Write down how you will feel once you have achieved your goal. This is a critical step as this will add emotion and it will come from your heart.
• Provide yourself with a bonus for the achievement.
• Break your resolutions and goals into daily tasks that are steps toward the end goal and result. As they say "By The Inch It's A Cinch".
• Little weekly victories add up to achievement of your goal.
• Share you resolution with someone who will hold you accountable. It's no fun telling your accountability partner you didn't do it because of some lame excuse.

I believe by using the suggestions above you will not become a statistic. It's good to have lots of goals. Many of these goals can be on your wish list or often referred to as a bucket list. I personally have a long list of goals with completion dates that are two to three years out. It's the resolutions which require change now that are the toughest to achieve. It takes 30 days to break a habit. It also takes 30 days to create a new one. Imagine what you can accomplish having removed what is holding you back from success. Prepare yourself now to take flight in the new year. Have fun.