Don’t Keep Starting Blogs

Once You have a blog then you need to stop starting more. I failed to learn this lesson, and never really got a good blog following.

One of the best ways to stop starting blogs is to stop buying domain names. I currently have 52 domain names but am beginning to consolidate and let them expire. 12 are variants on my name, and 9 are for my families names. Other than that I own several blogging domains and coaching domains, which have several different blogs started on them, but nothing complete.

Focus on your niche and write one good blog, not several nothing blogs.

Steve

This blog is for short notes about what I am learning, nothing more. :)

 

Practices For Life

The practices you choose to use in your life will make a difference on your success and failure.As we go through life we all need to be reminded about some simple lessons.  These are simple thing that each person can do but still so difficult for so many to grasp.

Gratitude Will get you pretty far. Being thankful for what you have and for anything you receive will change your outlook on life.  Once you are content with what you have you won’t need anything else.  You can choose to be grateful everyday.  Write down three to five things you are thankful for every night before you go to bed and begin to cultivate a new attitude.

Your thought life determines how you live. This is a play on the first one since all that we put into our mind is what we are going to get out.  If you are continually thinking, “I wish I had that,” or “He’s lucky to get that promotion.”  You will never find happiness.  Seek the Lord first and all you need will be given to you.

Know where you are going. If you have a destination in mind you are more likely to get there than if you don’t.  Take the time to find out where God wants you.  We were given the Holy Spirit as a counselor to help guide us in our walk with Christ.  If you are not seeking him in where you are going then you may not be going the right way.

Don’t worry about what others think.  This is a hard lesson to learn but ties in with the first two above.  We buy and want a lot of new stuff because we are scared of what people think about us.  Grown men shop at clothing stores for teenagers, plastic surgery is sky rocketing, and the lines are around the block to get the newest cell phone that doesn’t even work very well.  All because people worry about what others think.  Look at the birds and the flowers, do they worry and toil, no.  God still provides them with everything they need.

You can only give what you have. Put good stuff into your mind every day so that when you meet people who need what you have you can give it to them.  Listen to good music and teachers, read good books and blogs, don’t watch the news or graphic television shows.  You can get the top news headlines at Google News or newsmap.  When I learned that my TV watching was nothing more than a habit it was easy to stop watching and change my habit.

Be kind. When you find yourself not being kind think about why you are not.  What is in your mind that is causing you to be anything but kind to those around you.  Jesus said to, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  The person that is closest to you or in need of your help at any point is your neighbor. Love every one like you would yourself.

Image courtesy of Samuel Stocker via cc2.0 licences

Being A Success

No one has ever been able to truly show what success is because it can neither be seen nor held.  While it can’t be seen , I believe that success can be defined as: doing what you were created to do.  Notice I did not say anything about money or things which is how most people define success.  The truth is I know many people who are successful but have very little monetarily. So if success is doing what you were created to do, how do we do that?

Do Your Best

Doing your best  is part of doing what you were created to do. You can not do better than your best, and you can only do your best at what you were created to do.  We are all unique, and have been given abilities to do things that no one else can do, and be someone no one else can be. You may not have been able to decide where you were born, but you can decide what you do with the life you have been given.

Think Small To Grow Big

We were all created for a reason.  While I can’t tell you what you were created to do,  I can tell you that you have a natural ability that only you can use.  You are in control of yourself, and you are in control of whether or not you use your gifts.  Our tagline is, “Get There, Stay There, And Pass It On.”  I use it because I know the only way to get to the top of the mountain is to start the climb.  Mountain climbers know that training and climbing smaller mountains is the key to success when climbing bigger mountains.  You will never climb Everest, if you have not first climbed a hill.  The same goes for your life, if you are not willing to do your best and climb the smaller hills first, you will never be a true success.

Thrive Where You Are

If you are beginning a small business or working from home, don’t give up the job you have now if you are not willing to do it to the best of your ability.  I see many people who are not happy where they are.  They have a bad boss, or bad people around them, or they just hate the job they have.  If this is you; my suggestion is to learn to do the job as best you can and if you are starting a business let the job be your seed money.  I know many other career/business coaches that will tell you to get out now if you hate the job because the pressure of being unemployed will drive you to do whatever it takes to get the business off the ground.  That may be true, but if it takes a year or more, you may run out of money  and in today’s economy you may not get a job if you need one.  So learn to do your best at the job you have, and do your best at the career you are creating until it can support you.

Give Only 100%

Many times we are hampered in doing our best by believing that doing more, is doing our best.  If you are trying to do more, or even less than you can, are you really doing your best?  If you do more than 100% you are probably skipping things and are out of balance in one or more areas of your life.  If you are doing less than 100% you are getting the benefit of someone elses work and that is just like stealing.  Give 100% to whatever you do.  If you can’t give 100% cut out things until you can give it to all you do.

Practice, Practice, Practice

This may seem childish but it is the only way to become the best at what you do.  If you want to speak in front of audiences then get in front of the mirror and talk.  If you want to play golf then get on the range and hit.  Michael Jordan didn’t learn to shoot playing video games, he went out and shot tens of thousands of baskets.  You have to as well.  If you want to teach a subject you have to read books and take notes.  The process is long but it has to be done.  Dr. John C Maxwell said this, “There is a price to pay for everything. You can either pay it now, or you can pay it later, but there will be a price paid.”

Success is built one accomplishment at a time. If you never do anything you will never accomplish anything.  So as you stand at the bottom, or the middle, or wherever you are on the mountain of life remember this.  You and only you can figure out what you have been created to do.  You and only you can decide to be a success at the job you have.  And, As long as there is breath in your lungs you have a choice about how high up the mountain you go. Decide what success looks like and start the climb today.

Image Via Wikimedia Under CC 2.5 Liscense

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Personal Success – You Get What You Give

American cultural icons, apple pie, baseball, ...
Image via Wikipedia

Each of us is created with certain gifts our personal success will be determined by what we do with those gifts in out time here on earth. What I would like for you to see is that no matter who you are, what you put into life is exactly what you get out.

Jesus tells us that a good tree bears good fruit, and a bad tree gives bad fruit. Beyond that your attitude will determine how many friends you have and your level of relationships with these people. Your attitude at work will depend on whether you are advanced at work or whether you work at all. Your attitude toward learning will determine whether you spend time learning or not.

We are very fortunate in America to live in a free society. We can choose to take advantage of the freedom we have and make a life that we were designed to live in the job we were designed to do. Or we can sit on the sidelines and complain about the lot we were cast and become miserable old curmudgeons who have no true friends and die mostly alone.

Life is uncertain in that we do not know what tomorrow holds, but if you knew you would die on a certain day at a certain time would you choose to live a miserable unfulfilled life or one where you choose to use the talents you were given by God and live a joyful life doing what you were designed to do. Well here is some news, you are going to die someday so why not use the gifts God gave you and make something of what you are.

If you let life happen to you; you will probably lose. Sitting around and waiting to hit the lottery is not a long term goal. You have to start paying attention to the calling that is in your heart, start setting goals, and start reading books to help you see beyond tomorrow when you realize you control your future and you start making better choices, then you will start to see changes in your life that you never thought would happen.

Here is the stuff you do not hear in goal-setting seminars. There will be times when you think you have failed. These time of doubt come into every persons life. Unless you quit you have not failed. Mistakes and setbacks happen but they are not failures and you need to see them for what they are, setbacks. If you keep going you will see success.

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5 Simple Strategies For A Successful Personal Retreat

La Quinta Inn & Suites in Cary, north Carolina
Image via Wikipedia

One of the best times for me to get things done is when I am alone on a personal retreat.  I usually take one day every three to four months and go away to think, dream, plan, and write.  I get a hotel room either here in Jacksonville, or close by so I do not have the stress of driving far.  This time away helps me get out of my familiar surroundings and open up my mind for new ideas.

So how do you do this?

1. Plan ahead.  Know where you are going.  Like I said I go on short trips for my get aways.   If you are going somewhere unfamiliar then make sure you have driving directions before you leave.  Get your hotel reservations made in advance.  I use La Quinta Inn’s and no I am not getting paid to write this.  From my experience La Quinta has some of the lowest rates and best hotels at least around here.  $45 per night a lot of time.

2. Set your agenda.  What do you want to get done?  By asking yourself this question and writing out what you want to do you will get more done than if you just show up.  My writing agenda looks like this.

  • Arrive and relax – first thirty minutes.
  • research – thirty minutes to one hour
  • break 15 minute
  • write thirty minutes to one hour
  • supper and unwind one to two hours
  • read or listen to something motivational 30 minutes (this usually spurs and idea or two)
  • write thirty minutes to one hour or until tired.  ( I am a night person so I do more at night.  If you are a morning person get rest now and start writing more in the morning)

3. Don’t turn on the TV.  I have turned the TV around before if I thought I was going to try to watch it.  If nothing else unplug it so you are not tempted.  If you turn it on you will get nothing done.

4. Take what you want to drink with you. This may sound simple or just to picky, but if you take bottled water or soda with you will not have to leave the room to go looking for a vending machine if you get thirsty in the middle of what you are doing.  I even take snacks and sometimes sandwich stuff so I can stay secluded as long as I want. Besides, it will save you some money.

5.  Don’t go down rabbit holes. By this I mean don’t follow every link on the internet when you are researching.  I can waste a couple of good hours just following links to every affiliate program squeeze page around.  Just make a conscious effort to stay on topic and not to get lost looking for the next big thing.

While this is an easy list, it is also one that many of you know you have left off one of these things and wasted and entire evening or lost your train of thought never to get back that one good idea.  Plan ahead, stay focused, and accomplish everything you need to.

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Overcoming Your Mediocrity

When I quote the title for Rick Pitino’s book, Success Is a Choice I can get anything from agreement to heated debate.  In our culture today mediocrity is the norm.  We are told every day by the news that we don’t have to strive for anything better because it is not our fault we are in the condition we are in.  It is the democrats, republicans, Christians, gays, big government, stock market, boss, virus, coworker, spouse, police, lawyers, credit card companies, Wall Street, Wal-Mart, guy next door, public schools, home schoolers, psychiatrist… You get my point?  It is OK to blame anyone we choose; except ourselves.  You make a choice to settle for mediocrity.  Yes I understand there are circumstances like complete handicaps, but if you think about it most handicap people strive for success more than non-handicap people.  The Paralympics, and the Special Olympics are a testament to the success of the handicap community.  They refuse to settle for mediocrity.  They could use their handicap and say, “I can’t because I’m not able”, but they don’t.  Do you?  Do you say, “I Can’t?”  do you make excuses for not giving it your all each and every day?  Stop making excuses and start doing what you sere called to do.  If you can hear, use your hands, and read just a little, you can succeed in your own way.

Make new friends.  “But I like my friends.”  Are your friends encourages, do they build you up, do they dream about success with you?  If they don’t then you need to get around people who do.  Find people who are doing what you want to do then start hanging out with them to find out how they do it.  If your current friends are always pessimistic then you need to get around positive people.  If everyone you know are negative then buy some books and cd’s of positive people.  Burn the cd’s into mp3′s and carry them around on a mp3 player.  Listen to positive talk as much as you can.  This will begin to penetrate your thoughts, and soon you will begin to see a difference. three great resources are:The Power Of Positive Thinking The, The Magic of Thinking Big, and Think on These Things: Meditations for Leaders. Fill your mind with the positive images in these three resources and you will see a difference in your attitude and how you think about your world.

Take time to think.  “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, your right,” Henry Ford. Think about what you loved to do as a child, think about what you would do if money were no object, think about what you look forward to retirement to do.  These things will give you insight to your calling in life.  I believe every person was created for a reason.  My wife knew from the time she was eight years old what she wanted to be and spent every waking hour thinking about that and did everything required to accomplish that goal.

Don’t get hung up on money.  You don’t have to be rich to be successful.  What you have to do is what you were designed to do.  When you do this all the money you need will come.

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Jim Rohn’s One Year Success Plan

I bought the Jim Rohn One Year Success Plan in 2008.  I believe it is the reason my business and my life changed as drastically as it has over the last three years.  If you are Looking to focus your life and reach your goals the One Year Success Plan can put you on the right track.

What You Get:

  • Month 1) Personal Development – Become the person you truly desire to be by engaging in a life-long strategy of skills, knowledge and self-improvement (which will also place you in the upper echelon of your particular industry).
  • Month 2) Goal-setting – Achieve a sense of purpose behind every action as well as multiply your long-term success quotient by having a set of clearly defined 10-year goals.
  • Month 3) Health – Spiritual/Physical/Emotional - Improve your looks, confidence, energy, quality and length of life by having a consistent health/fitness philosophy and maintaining a health plan.
  • Month 4) Money - Financial Independence/Getting Out of Debt/Saving/Giving – Place yourself ahead of 85% of the population and increase by 90% your odds of achieving financial independence by retirement age simply by having a sound financial philosophy and proven investment plan.
  • Month 5) Relationships – Improve your ability to be a more effective and loving parent, spouse and friend by improving your relational skills.
  • Month 6) Time Management – Gain between 10 and 15 additional forty-hour work weeks per year (multiply one to two hours a day by 365 days a year) by applying more productive time management methods each day.
  • Month 7) Networking/Referrals – Tap into one of the greatest resources we posses as well as have a greater, more positive influence in the marketplace by utilizing our current relationships and networking base.
  • Month 8 ) Selling/Negotiating – Increase your production by 10%-50% without investing more time or effort by improving your selling, networking and negotiation skills.
  • Month 9) Communication/Presentation – Increase every level of performance related to your company, staff and individual performance, as well as all your personal relationships, by mastering the art of communication.
  • Month 10) Leadership – Multiply your efforts and have a positive influence over a larger sphere of people by learning effective leadership and management skills.
  • Month 11) Accelerated Learning – Quickly improve your skills and aptitude to gain and retain knowledge in any area (communication, time management, leadership, etc.) through Memory and Speed Reading techniques and more.
  • Month 12) Legacy/Contribution – Take the time to apply your skills in making a difference in your community and world; something that will have an impact on future generations.

Receive 12 Conference Calls (one per month) with a specific focus and hosted by a Premier Expert in each of the 12 Pillars of Success including Jim Rohn, Chris Widener, Zig Ziglar, Nido Qubein, Vic Johnson, Loral Langemeier, Brian Tracy, Bob Burg, Ron White and Mark Sanborn

Now Is The Time To Start Your One Year Success Plan!

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