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Cast Your Life

September 11, 2013
Clapper Board and Reel

Image Courtesy of M4D Group

Think about your life as a television show for a moment. Season after season (year after year) you are the director, producer, editor, and caterer. You are the star and you get to control just about every aspect of what goes on. But would you like to know what your most powerful job is? You get to work in casting and decide who gets a spot in your show!

You get to choose the people who play a lead roll and those that are the extras in the background. Each role is your decision. You are the boss when it comes to casting and this task should never be given to anyone else. While characters will be introduced by other people you have full authority whether to give them a spot.

Choose carefully who you add into your life show. Audition those that you are considering for your cast and think about the role they will play carefully. Be gentle with those that you won’t be allowing to return next season and always keep open the possibility of a return spot if circumstances change.

And remember, give an award winning performance that you are proud of!  Your life show is your legacy for other generations!

Filed Under: Life Coaching, People Tagged With: , , , , ,

Teach Your Kids The Tech Way

July 31, 2013

My Job ChartI am going to deviate a little from my normal blog and write about a service I ran across a couple of weeks ago.  It is call My Job Chart and is a great tool for teaching your kids to spend, save, and give in a technical but easy way.  Did I mention it is also free?

My Job Chart was developed to allow the parent to assign various chores and along with that a point value.  In their system one point equals one cent towards a reward such as something from the Amazon store (you can set whatever items you want to allow them to save points for), a trip to the movies, eating out, game time and a lot more.  You can also choose custom rewards and how many points it takes to receive that reward.

The system also allows the child to select how much money they want to save and can click a button to have you add that amount to their savings account once they earned it.

Lastly, it allows your child to give.  You can setup whatever charities you want your child to be able to save their money to be donated to and they choose how much goes the charity.  Once they have earned enough points they click a button and you receive an e-mail asking you to donate the amount on behalf of the child.

We use this with our daughter and it is great.  She is excited to see her points go up everyday after she does her jobs rather than waiting for the once a week payday that we were doing.  She is able to be in control of her points (*cough* money) and learn how to save for a goal, give to those less fortunate, and save for a rainy day.

There is a lot more as far as customization and options you can do.  It is 100% free so give it a try.  After you do swing by here and let me know what you think!

 

Filed Under: Goal Setting, Money Saving, People Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Serve Them Well

July 24, 2013

Serve others.  If you have read self development materials for any length of time you have heard this and for good reason – it is the root to many good things in life.

“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” Zig Ziglar

When you serve other people you are able to release stress and get out of a depressed state.  You can do many things to serve:  be in the military, donate time to a non-profit, or even creating a product that fills a need and makes you rich is still an example of serving others because you have filled a need and brought it to the marketplace.

Recently our car was totaled in an accident when a vehicle hit ours from behind (nobody was seriously injured).  Of course, it is can be a nerve racking experience.  Questions are up in the air and you are lost if you have never been through one before on what to do about getting your vehicle repaired, rental cars, etc.  However, it was made a lot easier thanks to my agent who took the time to explain things to me and the other person’s insurance adjuster who was there to serve us.  They should both feel good about what they do and the help they provide in moments like they deal with.

The more people you serve the better your life and those around you can be.  A service animal serves the need of their owner but the owner, in turn, provides for the needs of the animal.  Along with that service comes a bonding friendship between the two.  This can be achieved with people as well as animals.

Figure out a way to serve many and go do that.  Impact millions and make life better for everyone around.

“Service to many leads to greatness-great respect, great satisfaction.” Jim Rohn

Filed Under: Business, Careers, Customer Service, Leadership, Life Coaching, People Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Don’t Let It Overwhelm You

July 3, 2013
Overwhelmed

Photo Courtesy of Walt Stoneburner

Sometimes life can bury you under trials and tribulations (or Tribbles if you are a Trekker).  You feel like there is no direction you can turn where a problem doesn’t sit in the middle of your path.  What can you do when this happens?  Redraw your map.

When a lot of stuff is going on first thing you need to do is breathe.  Sit back and relax.  This might be a real good time to learn how to meditate if you don’t already do it.  You have to do this first and get a grip on your emotions.  Until this happens you can’t go any further.

Once you have gotten a bit relaxed determine what your elephant is.  What is the biggest out of all the problems?  Once you have decided what this is for you write down what you can do today to take steps to getting that elephant back into the wild.  While you may not be able to fix this problem on day one taking at least a small step will allow you a bit more breathing room.  Each time you get closer to eliminating it the better you will feel.

Once you have done at least one step towards the big problem do the same thing with all of the smaller ones.  Anything you can eliminate today, such as calling and making that apology you know you need to offer, making that doctor’s appointment for the physical you dread, or making a big financial decision, just go ahead and get it over with.  You will feel better, have one less thing that you need to deal with, and can focus your energy on everything else.

Now that you have taken some steps make it a point to make small steps each day until the overwhelming feeling is gone.  If you really put some effort forward it shouldn’t take long for you to have a bit more wiggle room.  And while this is a simplistic process that will not work for everyone, most people can eliminate quite a bit by doing this.  Give it a shot and see how it works for you.

Filed Under: Life Coaching, Motivational, People Tagged With: , , , ,

Alive In Your Mind

June 5, 2013
Main Street USA

Main Street USA at Magic Kingdom

Why do some people make changes in their lives while others don’t? One of the key reasons is those that change can see the change in their mind before it happens.  If there is something you want you have to see that you already have it in your imagination.

Want to own a restaurant?  See it in your mind so vividly that you can see the menu and smell the food.  See the layout of your place and the guests sitting in at their table enjoying their food.  Revisit this in your mind over and over to where it becomes so real for you that you.  When you do this opportunities show up and when you grab them your dreams become realities.

One of the most notable imaginations of the 1900s was Walt Disney.  In the book “How to Be Like Walt” Pat Williams says this on page 84:

Though Walt envisioned Walt Disney World in Florida, he died before it was built.  On opening day in 1971, almost five years after his death, someone commented to Mike Vance, creative director of Walt Disney Studios,”Isn’t it to bad Walt Disney didn’t live to see this?”

“He did see it,” Vance replied simply.  “That’s why it’s here.”

See yourself where you want to be and take the journey as life allows you.  It may take some time but you can get there.

 

Filed Under: Business, Creativity, Motivational, People Tagged With: , , , , ,

I Dare You

May 22, 2013
Jason Kincaid

Professional wrestler Jason Kincaid on top of the world doing a handstand overlooking a deep gorge.  Photo by Will Trotter.  Used with permission.

This week I wanted to share a small piece from the book “I Dare You” by William H. Danforth.  I hope it means something to you.

I loved it the first time I heard these lines.  We were digging through a bin of books and came across a small leather-bound red one with “I Dare You” in silver ink on the cover.  I dare you, after reading this, to go do amazing things for other people.

I DARE YOU!

IT IS DIFFICULT to put a challenge on paper. I would rather look you straight in the eye and say, “I dare you!” In my mind that’s exactly what I am doing. I am on one side of a table. You are on the other. I am looking across and saying “I dare you!”

I Dare You, young man, you who come from a home of poverty—I dare you to have the qualities of a Lincoln.

I Dare You, heir of wealth and proud ancestry, with your generations of worthy stock, your traditions of leadership—I dare you to achieve something that will make the future point to you with even more pride than the present is pointing to those who have gone before you.

I Dare You, young mother, to make your life a masterpiece upon which that little family of yours can build. Strong women bring forth strong men.

I Dare You. boys and girls, to make life obey you, not you it. It is only a shallow dare to do the foolish things. I dare you to do the uplifting, courageous things.

I Dare You, young executive, to shoulder more responsibility joyously, to launch out into the deep, to build magnificently.

I Dare You, young author, to win the Nobel prize.

I Dare You, young researcher, to become a Microbe Hunter.

I Dare You, boy on the farm, to become a Master Farmer—A Hunger Fighter.

I Dare You, man of affairs, to have a “Magnificent Obsession.”

I Dare You, Grandfather, with your roots deep in the soil and your head above the crowd, catching the rays of the sun, to plan a daring program to crown the years of your life.

I Dare You, who think life is humdrum, to become involved. I dare you who are weak to be strong; you who are dull to be sparkling; you who are slaves to be kings.

I Dare You, whoever you are, to share with others the fruits of your daring. Catch a passion for helping others and a richer life will come back to you!

William H Danforth

 

Filed Under: Business, Leadership, Life Coaching, Motivational, People Tagged With: , , , , ,

Give Something Today

May 1, 2013

Jeff McBrideJeff McBride is a magician that I have been studying for many years. When I got into magic in my teens I was fascinated with some of the things he did with playing cards. Later on I would listen more to what he had to say rather than what he was doing in his act. One of the consistent things I would hear was to create a magical moment for someone just to be doing it; just to gift them that moment.

I think this is something that everyone should do on a regular basis.  Think of something you can do for someone that might be out of the ordinary for someone to do but extraordinary for the person you are doing it for.  Think about something as simple as sending a letter to a manager telling them what a good clerk they have working for them.  Do you know how rare a compliment is like that and how you can stand out and make a day brighter?

Think of something you can do at least once a week, preferably once a day, to help make someone’s day a little brighter.

 

Filed Under: People Tagged With: , , , , ,

It Is How You Say It

April 24, 2013
words

Photo Courtesy of Susana Fernandez

My dad always told me “It isn’t what you say but how you say it.”  I lost count long ago on how many times I heard this as a child.  As an adult I can appreciate what it means.

When you are speaking with anyone whether it is personal or business you must say what you mean and how you mean it.  This is conveyed by tone of voice, volume, and, of course, body language.

Be conscience of how you speak to someone.  If you can tell that you are loud then make an effort to take your volume down a couple notches.

Speaking, just like all other skills, takes practice.  Actively practice and you can become great!

I wanted to share this video with you as well.  It shows that the words you use can change everything.  Enjoy!

Filed Under: Business, Leadership, Life Coaching, People Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Impact

April 10, 2013
Server

Photo courtesy of torbakhopper.

What impact do you have on people in your day to day life?

Think about it for a second. You directly and indirectly influence, in some way, hundreds if not thousands of people’s lives each and every day.  It doesn’t matter what you do assuming you leave the house or pick up the phone.

Take for example the server in the picture.  He is providing a meal to the patrons which gives them the energy to go out and impact their hundreds of lives.  By working in the restaurant he providing a service to a paying customer which provides a job to cooks, cashiers, dish washers, and in the end turns a profit for the owner.  By working, the server is also providing a life for himself and possibly a family which in turn impacts more people.  This is a very shortened example and we could go on and on how this one server being a host to this one table alone has an effect on hundreds of people.

Now, I ask the question again, what impact do you have on people your day to day life?  Are you in a drive thru window handing out food?  If so, congratulations.  You are providing meal time with that family, helping a single mom who is working two jobs do one less thing that night, and you are impacting everyone you are working with.

Be proud of the impact you make and stand tall – you helped a lot of people today.

Filed Under: Customer Service, Life Coaching, Motivational, People Tagged With: , , ,

Thanks

March 27, 2013

EasterEaster is this weekend and I wanted to challenge everyone to think of one person in your life and say “Thank You” to them for something they have given to you.  Christians know what they were given on this day and those around you should know that you are thankful for them.

Happy Easter!

 

Filed Under: People Tagged With: , , ,
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