Act Or React – Decide For Yourself
The Global Financial Crisis is just one of a plethora of challenges to come along and put pressure on how people plan their lives and careers. There have been many such events including Swine Flu, Bird Flu, droughts and climate change and if you dropped your bundle with each of these your life would be wrecked. What I am getting to is about acting with intent to succeed rather than reacting each time just in case you are affected.
I am not suggesting that anyone should completely discount world events that cross our paths but we do all know that such things are likely to occur. When considering your life path, it is possible to take into account that major world events will occur and decide how you will cope with them. If you have a business that can be impacted, have some idea what you need to take into account. If your work takes you around the world or through airports, have something in mind for how you will manage that.
The thing is that reacting all of the time is not good in many ways. It is not good for your health and well-being; it is stressful and unpleasant for all around you. It is not good for business and it is not good for the whole Universe. Take the GFC in particular. Much has been said about how bad it is for businesses, how businesses are likely to go under and not recover, how high unemployment is and so on.
Now all of this is true for those affected but it is not true for everyone and all business. In fact, I am hearing from more and more business people that they have had the best turnover in this year to date that they have ever had! If those same people had listened to all of the doom and gloom, reacted to it and done things differently they may have had a very different outcome. It all comes back to making your own decisions about what you will so and when you will do it. Decide for yourself how you will engage with the information that comes via the media.
Act or react; it is up to you. Keep your eye on what it is that you want in your life and put your attention there rather than on any number of things that will occur regardless.
Inspirational Poetry
I was having a fascinating few hours yesterday and in the middle of the irritation, noticed a lovely, inspirational, poetry book lying nearby and picked it up for a browse. What a difference that made! You see I am travelling for four weeks and working my business at the same time and my wireless device, essential to success, is not working as I expected. Technology glitches really put me on edge and this one was no exception.
After two hours, countless calls and endless listening to the lovely recorded messages, I was really beyond fascination and well into frustration. In fact, I was spending a lot of time repeating myself and getting nowhere. You know the scenario! At the same time I recognised what was happening to me and started to think about how to short circuit the same old, same old – that is I completely lose it. While sitting with the telephone on hands free and listening to yet another lot of canned music, I noticed this lovely poetry book that I have recently given to myself for being so good. I had been drawn to this book for its inspirational qualities and right at that moment I really needed that.
I had been intending to review the book anyway, just for myself, and had not done it – so with time to spare, away I went. Well, I was blown away by how calming and soothing the writings were. Each poem has a theme of great relevance to personal development, which if you did not already know it, is my personal passion. I felt as thought the writer was talking directly to me and I immediately began to be inspired to use these poems as part of my daily habit. Inspirational readings are already important to me so I welcome another avenue. Poetry has never before been a great love of mine; it is now.
Before I close, I just want to give this lovely book the plug that it deserves. Everyone deserves a daily inspirational dose and to find yours in poetry, look for “A Slice of Life (With All The Cream Filling)” – sounds yummy too – by Hayley Hohn. The book is exquisitely presented from start to finish. You can contact Hayley on seekerpublishing@iinet.net.au
Inspirational poetry – I am now a fan. What inspires you?
The Top 5 Reasons to Start Personal Development
The words personal development, self development and self improvement, all one and the same, have been bandied about for decades. Best sellers have been written and bought and have given some people the boost that they needed to change their life. Yet many such products have languished on the bookshelf, never read or acted upon. In this time of world wide economic downturn, the personal development industry is booming as people seek meaning and direction in their lives. But what is personal development, what can it do for you?
First, almost every person has beliefs that they have a very strong relationship with having cultivated that belief for a long time. Some of these are given to us when we are very young as gifts from our parents, grandparents or other people like teachers who we may have grown to love and trust. These beliefs must be right so we hold on to them very tightly as guide posts for the way we live our lives. Often though, these beliefs hold us back from achieving all that we possibly could. As an example you may believe that everyone grows up and gets a job, they work hard at that job, they earn an income and look forward to the day that they can retire. Perhaps you then wish, at some point in your life, to buy a business but you find that you can not quite do it. You really want to, you have done heaps of research, you have even found the perfect business. But you still can not take that leap of faith that is required.
Could it be that the belief that you grow up and get a job is so strong that it overrules your desire to be your own boss? Limiting beliefs such as these can and do hold many people back from their dreams and a life of freedom. The best personal development programs will help you to clear limiting beliefs form your life, leaving you in the driving seat and not some misguided but well meant messages that you received in the past.
Second, perhaps like many people, you have spent years wondering what your real purpose is in life. Well what if I told you that it is to be happy, enjoy life and have fun. Would your life right now qualify for any of these titles?
You will contribute far more to your work and the community, not to mention your family and friends if you are happy and enjoying yourself. There has been ample research done around this very subject and there are now happiness gurus and even laughter experts who will help you to find this very essence of life; happiness, enjoyment, pleasure and fun. Just imagine how you would feel to hear your children say “my dad/mum is great fun, we have crazy times together”. Through personal development you will have every opportunity to create a lifetime of happiness, fun and laughter. That is your main work and personal development will help you to do it.
Third, do you have a burning desire to achieve prosperity at every level; financially, in relationships, physically, emotionally, with your lifestyle and have plenty of time. Sometimes I hear people talk about prosperity as if it is only about money while others talk about prosperity from a much broader perspective. One of my clients recently told me that to her, prosperity was about the feeling of success and that she felt successful when she had time to herself without having to be working her business and she had the freedom to make her own decisions in relation to travel, where she lived and what she spent her money. She went on to say that having this feeling of success in all areas of her life was being prosperous. Successful and prosperous people are usually devotees of personal development.
Fourth, personal development will help you to become the person who you want to be. Often people have carried with them from childhood, a dream to be a certain person. This might be a person who helps others or a person who changes the way we treat the environment, or a person who changes the policies of government so that there is a fairer go for more people. Whatever, personal development helps you to realise those dreams; to reconnect with them in the first instance and to work out how to take personal action to achieve them. You can be the person who you truly want to be and you could even be better!
Fifth, through using personal development strategies and actions you can act to make the world a better place; you can spread generosity and appreciation wherever you go. Learn how to shift your focus from those things that you do not like to see to those things that you do like to see and then how to make room in your life by being generous and compassionate with others. Now that has got to be a good thing.
Let me know what you think about personal development programs that you have done.
How Old is an Entrepreneur?
Thinking about how old you have to be to be an entrepreneur reminded me of my own home business in personal development and how many of the successful people in this business are young! There are many and it is growing by the moment. Young entrepreneurs are on fire with enthusiasm to get a head start and it appears to me that they have the will to take a risk, have a go and make a go of it.
Historically this has been the case with young entrepreneurs; Dick Smith was just 24 years old when he set up his electronics business, Poppy King, 18 when she founded her cosmetic empire and Fred DeLuca, Subway was just 17 years.
Even so, entrepreneurs come in any age group and cloaked in many colours. It may be you, wearing your daggy hoodie or elegant Jimmy Choos, carrying in your heart the most amazing idea. And that is where many entrepreneurs start – with a great idea and they just keep persevering until they turn it into reality. And there is the exception; some people carry the idea around and do nothing with it, while the entrepreneur gets started and finds a way, against all odds, to achieve the dream.
You may want to be an entrepreneur but just do not have that great idea yet. No problem – start from where you are at, sit quietly and list all of the things that you love in life, all of the things that you feel passion for and the things that you are good at and keep you body, mind and soul tuned for an idea. Then google “entrepreneurs” and see what you find! Massive amounts of information to help you get started on even getting the idea, let alone making it come alive.
Are you an entrepreneur – young or otherwise? Know for Yourself. Me, I am a little older getting started, an entrepreneur nevertheless and I do Know for Myself.
Looking For An Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is described as a person who is willing to take on a venture and all of the responsibility that goes with it. This French word means “to undertake”; and in today’s world that undertaking is a business one, often with substantial risk attached. So an entrepreneur is one who takes action. This reminds me of the words of Theodore Roosevelt in Chicken Soup for the Soul; “Credit belongs to the man who is in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly…..who at best knows in the end the high achievement of triumph”. I am sure that Roosevelt was speaking of an entrepreneur. Read some great blogs for entrepreneurs.
The world of an entrepreneur is an exciting one with new possibilities on the table every day. While this is not the world for everyone, currently more and more people are moving towards their own business as a life of employment becomes less attractive and high paying jobs harder to find. People are investigating, via the Internet, the endless stream of business opportunities that are presented. So how do you decide to become an entrepreneur and what does it take to succeed.
For many people, redundancy has made the decision for them and set them on the path to be an entrepreneur. For others, life in a job has long held little charm and they simply come to the “fork in the road” and are not prepared to work like that forever. Some people have a burning desire to earn a lot more than paid employment will ever allow and still others are drawn to the pure pleasure of being their own boss!
So if you are thinking of becoming an entrepreneur think about the following:-
- Can you set your mind to something and see it through?
- Are you prepared to do the hard yards that the first few years might take?
- What will you do if you have a setback – do you have perseverance?
- Can you work alone and remain motivated?
- Can you focus on solutions and not the problem?
- Do you take control of your own destiny and all of the responsibility that goes with that?
If you answer yes to those questions then you might just be an entrepreneur and the person who I am looking for. Contact me.
