Little Things Matter &#187; Priorities

The Power of Personal Initiative

Maximizing Your Value

Responsibility Reflects Character

Think Like an Entrepreneur

What’s Your Borrowing Credit Score?

Todd Smith — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 07:45:30 +0000

You probably can’t remember the last time a neighbor asked to borrow a cup of sugar. Those days seem long gone. But I’ll bet you remember the last time you loaned something to a friend, family member or co-worker and had to follow up to get it back. Worse yet, you got it back but in poor condition.

Or, do you often find yourself on the other end of the transaction?

For example:

Do you have items which belong to someone else that you’ve been meaning to return, but haven’t gotten around to yet?

Have you lost, accidentally damaged or broken something borrowed and are ashamed to face the owner so you’re just hoping he never brings it up?

Building Your Borrowing Credit Score

What you may not realize is that, in many respects, the act of borrowing an item that belongs to someone else—whether it’s a book, a tool, or a vehicle—is a lot like building your credit record.

When you borrow an item and return it promptly and in good or better condition, that’s a plus for you. On the other hand, when you fail to return something or return it late, you create a negative impression in the eyes of others, and your borrowing trustworthiness score goes down. In fact, if the offense is significant, such as returning a vehicle dirty or boat on empty, you risk permanently damaging your relationship with that person.

Becoming a Good Borrower

Good borrowing etiquette is really quite straightforward: it requires you to return the item you borrowed in a timely (agreed upon) manner and in the same or better condition.

Although it’s really rather simple, most of us are guilty of violating these rules much more often than we should. While we can say, “It’s because I’m too busy,” the real reason people ignore borrowing etiquette is because they don’t believe it’s important.

I’m taking time today to remind you that being a good borrower is important. When you make the effort to return borrowed items on time and in good condition, you are communicating respect for others and their property. Because this is an area in which most people fall short, it helps you stand out as being responsible. What’s more, when you have a reputation as a good borrower, people are more willing to help you in the future.

Borrowing Tips

If you find it necessary to ask someone to borrow anything, here are five things you can do to build your borrowing trustworthiness and preserve your reputation:

1. When you borrow something such as a stapler from a co-workers desk, dental floss from another family members bathroom, or a weed trimmer from your neighbor, return what you borrowed as soon as you are done using it.

2. When you borrow something such as a book or movie from a friend, make a note on your calendar or your To Do list to return it.

3. If you borrow someone’s car, truck, boat, lawn mower or snowmobile, always return it with more gas than when you borrowed it.

4. If you have borrowed a vehicle for more than a day, I suggest filling it up with gas and washing it before returning it.

5. When you return the item, if appropriate, consider including a hand-written note of thanks.

Where there’s a borrower, there’s a lender. When you’re the one doing the lending, remember that it’s a good idea to keep track of anything you lend out, and don’t lend out items you really care about or couldn’t bear to lose.

Good borrowing habits most definitely matter. I encourage you to make a commitment today to never again return an item late or in worse condition than when you received it.

To help you maintain good relationships and preserve your reputation, ensure that your borrowing habits reflect positively on your character.

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How to Keep From Forgetting Things

The Power of The Word “Please”

The Power of Personal Initiative

Our Lives are a Mirror Image of the Little Decisions we Make

The Importance of Being On Time

What’s Your Brand?
Cell Phone Etiquette

Stand Out From the Crowd

Becoming a Respected Leader

The Power of Showing Your Appreciation

To Earn Respect You Must Show Respect

I’m Sorry!

What’s in Your Rulebook?

Building Relationships That Last

Todd Smith — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 07:45:02 +0000

Whether you’ve just recently dipped your toe into the pool of online social networking or you’ve been swimming in it for some time, you have probably realized that it’s all about relationships.

While the Internet now allows us to connect in new ways and stay connected regardless of where we are, the fundamental skills of building relationships remain unchanged.

Today’s lesson is an important reminder for all of us that the key to any long-term relationship is making sure that you give at least as much as you get.

The value of relationships

One of the most basic needs of humans is to have meaningful relationships with other people. Relationships connect us to each other in every aspect of our lives.

One of the greatest regrets many individuals express at the end of their lives is the lack of time they spent with their spouse, children, and special people. It’s time given to our loved ones and friends that fulfills us and brings meaning to our lives.

There are other benefits as well. Wholesome, long-term relationships bring happiness and health to our lives. Studies show that people with enriching relationships really do have more happiness and they experience less stress.

Long-term relationships require deposits

Enduring relationships are those that may last 5, 10, 15, or more years. Clearly, not every relationship falls into this category, but if you want to build a long-term relationship—one that feeds and sustains you in the different areas of your life—you will need to be deliberate about the time and attention you give.

For any relationship to last over a long period of time, it must be the kind where you offer value and meet the needs of the other person. I sometimes refer to this as making deposits into the relationship.

I like the way Anthony Robbins explains this concept.

“Some of the biggest challenges in relationships come from the fact that most people enter a relationship in order to get something. They’re trying to find someone who’s going to make them feel good. In reality, the only way a relationship will last is if you see your relationship as a place that you go to give, and not a place that you go to take.”

You can make deposits to any relationship by starting to do the little things that show your interest and that you truly care. Here are just a few of the 101 things you can do:

Send an email just to say hi without asking for anything.
Call to see how a son or daughter performed in a recent activity.
Send a card or email on a holiday or birthday to tell them you are thinking about them.
Express appreciation through a thank-you note or phone call for something done for you.
Help them in times of need.
Encourage them when starting new things.
Compliment them on the things they do well.
Be a support during times of struggle and grief.

I try my best to make regular deposits into all my relationships. From listening to offering a helping hand when needed, I am intentional about putting more into the relationships I value than I ever plan to take out. Not only does this give me satisfaction from knowing that this is the right thing to do, it feels good and draws me closer them.

How to nurture your relationships

The best way to nurture your relationships is to contribute to each of them according to their needs and expectations. Take a few moments to ask yourself these questions:

What are the specific needs and expectations of my employer, customer, or client?
What are the needs and desires of my spouse or significant other?
What do my friends need in their relationships with me?

To help you put this lesson into perspective, make a note of the five people closest to you. These should be people with whom you have or desire to have a lasting relationship. Include on your list at least one family member, one friend, and at least one person you work for or with whom you do business.

Next, ask yourself, What does ________ (someone’s name) need from a relationship with me and what can I do to provide it?

Remember that what you decide to deposit into each relationship should depend on that person’s specific needs.

When you start asking what you can do to improve your relationships with others—rather than asking what they can do for you—your relationships will bring you joy and satisfaction and brighten the lives of those you care about.

How Likable are You?

Carefully Select the People who Influence Your Life

Modeling Builds Rapport

The Fundamentals of Eye Contact

Cell Phone Etiquette

The Value of Remembering Names

The Power of Showing Your Appreciation

10 Ways To Be A Good Listener

The Most Important of All Human Qualities

10 Tips For Balancing Your Career and Family

10 Simple Ways to Show Your Sincere Interest in Others

What Will Be Your Legacy?

36 Ways to Make a Positive Impression in Less Than 10 Seconds

Do You Say Things You Later Regret?

10 Ways To Stand Out at The Next Party

I’m Sorry!

Enjoy Life’s Journey

Loving People the Way They Need to Be Loved

Connecting with Family

The Ripple Effect of a Smile

The Compound Effect

Todd Smith — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 07:45:23 +0000

In today’s lesson you will learn one of the principle reasons why little things really do matter, and you will comprehend the incredible impact little efforts can have on your life.

Over the past month I have read and listened to Darren Hardy’s new book The Compound Effect. It is one of the best books I have ever read on what it really takes to become successful at anything.

Darren makes the argument that the only path to success is through the continuum of mundane, unsexy, unexciting, and sometimes difficult daily disciplines compounded over time.

If you want to lose weight, let’s assume you cut out just one of your 150 calorie snacks or beverages each day for a year. This simple discipline would result in a weight difference of 15 pounds after one year. (150 x 365 = 54,750 calories saved, divided by 3500 calories per pound = 15.64 pounds difference.) For me, I cut out my daily Coke.

Reaching your goals is achieved by the DAILY effort you put into what you do, not by some magic success formula, new miracle product, or undiscovered Internet business. Every big success is made up of little successes, each building on the previous and compounding over time.

Formula for Life

Darren created a life formula: “Your life comes down to this formula. You à Choices (decisions) + Behavior (action) + Habit (repeated action) + Compound Effect (Time) = Goals.” Let’s examine each of these components separately.

Choices

Darren said, “The difference between becoming fabulously rich, happy and healthy—or broke, depressed and unhealthy is the choices you make throughout your life.” Our lives are a mirror image of the decisions we make each day. For example, the decision to make a healthy food choice, versus something we know is not healthy. One of my all-time favorite quotes by Jim Rohn is “Success comes from making a series of good decisions over time while failure comes from making a series of poor decisions over time.”

If you want to improve your life, you must improve your decisions. I believe the most important element in making good decisions is making conscious decisions. This is when you actually consider the pros and cons of your decisions before making them. I am convinced most people float through life making decisions on the fly, with little if any thought, only to find themselves wondering why they aren’t happy, healthy, or successful.

Behavior

What stands between you and your goal is your behavior. Darren said, “If you say you are a dedicated professional, but yet you show up late and unprepared, your behavior rats you out every time.” Do you need to stop doing things so the compound effect doesn’t take you in a downward spiral? Similarly, what do you need to start doing to change your trajectory so you are headed in the right direction? As you consider your goals, what behaviors may be sabotaging your success?

Habits

We must establish the right habits—those that repeated over time take us in the right direction. We must look at everything we do consistently and determine if it is a habit that moves us towards or against what we want to achieve. We must create routines or systems of action that become beneficial habits over time.

Darren said, “A routine is something you do every day without fail, so that eventually, like brushing your teeth or putting on your seatbelt, you do it without conscious thought. Just as investments compound over time, so do our daily actions. If they are good they take us down one path. If they are bad or destructive, they take us down a completely different path.”

The Compound Effect

Darren defines the Compound Effect this way: “It’s the principle of reaping huge rewards from a series of small, smart choices. Success is earned in the moment to moment decisions that in themselves make no visible difference whatsoever, but the accumulated compounding effect is profound.”

If you want to save money so you can enjoy your retirement, consider the compounding effect of spending $4 a day on coffee. If you choose to invest $4 a day at 8% interest rather than spending it on a cup of coffee it would result in $51,833.79 in 20 years. The same result could also be reached by making your own lunches rather than eating out. Do both and you will have saved an extra $100,000.

Patience is the Answer

In order for the compound effect to work, you need to be patient. Most of these daily changes won’t provide immediate results. If you reduce your calories by 150 today, you won’t see a difference today or even this week. The same is true with working out. You can go bust your butt at the gym and you won’t see results today or this week. These daily disciplines must be given time to produce results.

Darren said, “What’s most interesting about the process to me is that even though the results are massive, the steps, in the moment, don’t feel significant. Whether you are using this strategy for improving your health, relationships, finances or anything else, the changes are so subtle, they’re almost imperceptible.”

The Path Upward

If achieving your goals and living the life you have always dreamed of is important to you, I have three challenges for you.

1. Make a list of all the choices you make throughout each day and ask these questions. When these choices are compounded over time will they move me closer to the accomplishment of my goals or will they take me further away? Will the time I spend reading the morning newspaper help me achieve my goals? Will the time I spend watching TV help me achieve my goals? Will this lunch choice help me achieve my goals?

2. Review your goals and make a list of the habits you must create each day to achieve them. After making this list, commit to reading this list and applying each of the points listed for the next 21 days. Once you have done them consistently, every day for 21 days, they will start to become habits and will be much easier to sustain over the long term.

3. Buy, study and dissect Darren’s new book, available at www.thecompoundeffect.com. (Darren Hardy is the visionary force behind SUCCESS magazine as the Publisher and Editorial Director. More from Darren on his blog, Facebook or Twitter.)

To achieve something you have never achieved before, you must be willing to do what you have never done before.

The Power of Personal Initiative

Consistency Wins the Race

The Hidden Benefit of Discipline

Our Lives are a Mirror Image of the Little Decisions we Make

How to Make Critical Decisions

Success Doesn’t Come As Advertised

My Top Time Management Tip

What’s Your Value to the Market?

How to Put Together an Action Plan

How to Kick Butt in this Economy

My Second Best Time Management Tip

Accelerating Your Success

A Tip to Improve The Accuracy of Your Decisions

Do You Have What It Takes?

I Said It And I Meant It!

Becoming the Best at What You Do

Consistency Wins the Race

Todd Smith — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:45:07 +0000

After being beaten by Tortoise, Hare reminds himself, “Don’t brag about your lightning pace, for Slow and Steady won the race!”

There’s wisdom for today in this age-old Aesop fable, and today’s lesson is about the power of being consistent when it comes to reaching your goals.

Whether you have committed to eating healthy, to exercising regularly, or to achieving an aggressive sales target, being consistent will play a crucial role in achieving your goals.

Why Strive to Be Consistent?

To illustrate the value of consistently, consider this amazing fact:

A single penny doubled every day for 31 days results in a whopping $10,737,418.24.
A single penny doubled every other day for 31 days yields just $163.84. That’s less than 1/100^th of 1% of the ten million you would get if you doubled it every day!

The real value of being consistent isn’t about how to make ten million dollars. It’s much more practical and widely applicable than that. Consistency is about developing the persistence and patience necessary to stick with your goal until it is realized. I have learned repeatedly, throughout my career, that the fastest way to achieve any goal is by being consistent.

What Are Your Consistency Zappers?

The greatest challenges you must be prepared for are YOUR excuses.

“There are a million other things I have to deal with. It’s impossible for me to focus on just one.” (It’s too difficult.)
“It’s hard for me to be consistent because I’m just so busy.” (I’m overwhelmed.)
“Sure, __________ was important last week, but my priorities are constantly changing.” (I’m not control.)

Do any of these sound familiar to you? It’s ironic to think that our excuses are the biggest challenges we must overcome to be consistent in doing what is required of us to achieve our goals. Isn’t that ridiculous? It’s the excuses we allow that sabotage us from achieving our goals.

I have fought this battle of excuses enough during my career to know that the only way my excuses won’t keep me from being consistent is if the goal is important enough to me.

Consistency is the Key

When I decided to begin a career as a residential real estate agent at the age of 23, my lack of experience put me well behind the ‘pros’ who had been making a living selling real estate for years. But I did have one distinct advantage: I was determined to succeed.

Because I had such a strong desire to become a successful Realtor, I was consistent and prospected nearly every morning (Monday-Saturday) whether I felt like it or not. There were always other things I needed to do (and would much rather have done), but I knew that doing this one activity consistently was key to achieving my goals, so I did it.

Within 4 ½ years, I was one of the nation’s top-selling Realtors, selling over 115 homes a year. At age 28, I became one of the youngest Realtors ever inducted into RE/MAX’s Hall of Fame. As I look back, I credit being consistent in my daily prospecting efforts as one of the defining keys to my success.

Do you have a goal you want to achieve? If so, start by making a list of those activities that are most important in helping you reach your goal. Then follow my seven recommendations below.

Seven Ways to Increase Your Consistency

1. Make a commitment. After you identify the activities you need to do to accomplish your goals, make a commitment to do them consistently—without fail or excuse. Make that decision as to when and what you will do in advance, rather than waiting until the time you plan to do it.

2. Set up routines. Establish a routine to do your daily activities. For example, if you are going to exercise every morning, set up a routine. Allocate the amount of time you will need to do each activity up to and including your exercise period—such as getting out of bed, dressing, morning chores, and travel time.

3. Don’t allow excuses. Resolve right now that you will not permit yourself to make excuses.

4. Take advantage of your peak energy state. When is your energy level at its highest? Whenever possible, use these times to devote to the activities you need to be consistent about. It’s much easier to do what you know you should do when you have energy than when you are exhausted!

5. Do the challenging tasks first. I have found it is always best to do the most important activities first. If the tasks that will drive your results and help you achieve your goal are hard, do them first. It’s too easy to put off the things we don’t enjoy.

6. Review your goals often. After writing down your goals, consider writing a commitment letter to remind yourself why your goal is important and to list the reasons you want to achieve it. Review the letter anytime you find yourself procrastinating or rationalizing that something else is more important.

7. Commit to 21 days in a row. It takes 21 consecutive days to make something a habit. Consistency will be easier once it becomes a habit for you. Will you do what is required of you for 21 straight days?

How to Win the Race

Look at your goals and decide what you need to do with consistency to achieve them.
Determine which of the seven suggestions above apply to your situation.
Put together a daily action plan.
Set a consistency goal that you can maintain over an extended period of time.
Be realistic. Biting off more than you can chew will only result in frustration.

You are in control of your life and how you spend your time. You can achieve any goal you set if you will be consistent in doing the correct activities correctly.

Was Napoleon Hill Wrong?

Formula for Success

The Hidden Benefit of Discipline

Our Lives are a Mirror Image of the Little Decisions we Make

My Top Time Management Tip

My Second Best Time Management Tip

What’s Your Value to the Market?

Becoming a Respected Leader

How to Put Together an Action Plan

How to Kick Butt in this Economy

Accelerating Your Success

The Power of Self-Talk

I Said It And I Meant It!

How to Prepare and Plan for New Projects

Learn to Enjoy What You Don’t Enjoy

Becoming the Best at What You Do

Click here to visit the site and/or comment on this post.

Commitment: Its Purpose and Power

Todd Smith — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 07:45:15 +0000

Think of at least one major accomplishment in your life that has really made you proud of yourself. Now, think of the initial commitment you made when you got started. On a scale of 1-10, how committed were you? Were you very committed or simply desiring something? There’s a vast difference between the two. When you simply desire something, you do it only when circumstances permit. When you’re committed, you accept no excuses, only results.

A commitment is a binding pledge that obligates you to assume a position or carry out a course of action. Making a commitment to what you do—whether in your personal life or your professional life—is one of the most fundamental principles of success.

Commitments are Serious Business

Commitments are powerful because they influence how you think, how you sound, and how you act. Unlike a half-hearted hope or ‘best shot,’ making a commitment means that you try harder, you look for solutions when faced with obstacles, you don’t consider quitting as an option, and you don’t look back.

In addition, a meaningful commitment gives you a script for how to handle things when times get tough. And make no mistake, everyone feels like quitting at one time or another. Unfortunately most people quit when they feel like quitting, which is why they seldom succeed at anything.

After working with thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs over my career, I’ve learned that one of the most distinguishing characteristics of success is the perseverance of commitment.

Whether it’s a relationship or marriage, job or career venture, fitness or health, or a personal improvement goal, the temptation to give up will arise. The key is to anticipate it and make yourself a promise that the feeling of wanting to quit will not overpower your commitment.

To Whom and What Are You Committed?

One of the keys to fulfilling your commitments is to not over commit. The number of opportunities and decisions we’re faced with on a daily basis increases all the time. This is why it’s so important to be selective about what and who you commit to. Given the limits of your time and attention, it’s simply not feasible to do everything you would like. Therefore, you must decide what is truly important to you and commit only to those things.

When you only commit to the people and things that are truly important to you, your relationships will improve, you will be more successful in achieving your goals, and you’ll have more time to enjoy your journey.

Once you decide to whom and what you are committed, it’s imperative that you follow through. When I think of the importance of following through, I’m reminded of the motivational advice of Zig Ziglar:

“It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through.”

There are times when you may think that the challenges of fulfilling your commitments aren’t worth the hassle, or the effort required is more than you’re willing to expend. Remember, however, just like anything worth pursuing, commitments require discipline and often require you to act outside of your comfort zone. Be willing to stand up to the challenges you face by keeping things like your integrity and reputation in mind.

Evaluate Your Commitments

We must also recognize that often time commitments have limitations. There is a difference between making excuses for not honoring a commitment you’ve made and knowing that something just isn’t working, despite your best efforts. Making a call in the thick of things that your commitment isn’t really that important after all may be true (in some cases), but it may just be a cop out. Perhaps, a sudden shift in priorities could be a signal that it’s time to call it quits, or it could be that your resolve is slipping and you need to reinforce it.

So how can you tell the difference? I discussed this very subject in a previous lesson, When Quitting is the Best Decision You Can Make.

What are you committed to achieving? If it is not working, why is it not working? Can you look in the mirror and honestly tell yourself that you have given it your ALL? How hard and how long have you been working at it? Did you set your expectations too high? You must identify specific reasons why something is not working.

If you’re honest with yourself and agree that you are giving your best efforts and you still aren’t making measurable progress, then it may be time to re-evaluate your strategy. If this is where you find yourself today, then I encourage you to read the above referenced lesson.

Identify Your Commitments

Are you able to list the important people and things in your life that you are sincerely committed to? If you can’t, I challenge you to make this list. If you can, take some time to reflect on how you are doing at upholding those commitments. Is it time to renew your determination?

The only way you will enjoy a long-term relationship with someone is if you are committed to that relationship. The only way you will enjoy a successful career is if you are committed to it. The only way you will enjoy life’s journey is if you are committed to making the best of it and living life to its fullest.

Was Napoleon Hill Wrong?

Formula for Success

Stand Out From the Crowd

12 Attributes, Values and Skills of a 360-degree Leader

Accelerating Your Success

What Will Be Your Legacy?

When Quitting is the Best Decision You Can Make

Learn to Enjoy What You Don’t Enjoy

What I’ve Learned as a Young Entrepreneur

Getting Out of The Rut

Todd Smith — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 07:45:20 +0000

The definition of a rut is a deep groove, track or trench with no end in sight, which has been worn by a vehicle or habitual passage. It’s a monotonous routine where you keep trudging along, often losing sight of your own goals and uniqueness. This can be an accurate description of a lifestyle that so many people have fallen into, especially in this economic environment. Does it describe you?

My life experiences have taught me you can’t advance your life forward personally or professionally when you are in a rut. Ruts drag you down and prevent advancement.

If you don’t get out of the rut, you will be frustrated, discouraged, and unfulfilled. Your relationships will suffer and your performance will be adversely affected.

How to Get Out of Your Rut

Recently I visited the website of my cousin, Deb Erickson, who calls herself “The RutBuster.” She has a three-step program to help people get out of a rut.

She’s right on. In fact, I realized that this is the very process I employed when I’ve gotten out of my personal ruts, so I’d like to give those to you now, putting my own spin on them.

Step 1. Become aware. It’s your choice point.

You must recognize that you are in a rut. Before any positive change can occur in your life, you must know that you have a problem. Take some time to analyze your situation. Know that ruts can also be mental, emotional, physical, or financial.

What is the rut you are in? Why are you in this rut? How has it affected other areas of your life? If you are unhappy with your career, how has that affected your marriage and your relationship with your children.

Awareness allows for choices. Stay in the rut and continue to suffer all the negative outcomes, or take control of your life—get out of the rut and find new meaning in life. Getting out a rut is a matter of choice. While it may take some time to get out of a rut, you can’t begin the process until you have made a conscious choice that enough is enough.

Step 2. Set your intentions. Follow your Internal GPS.

Determine what’s important to you. What do you value? What are your goals? Who do you want to become? What do you want out of life? What kind of job uses your skills and talents to the fullest? Where would you find the greatest fulfillment? Get clear on where you would like to take your life.

Listen to Your Internal Voice. Everyone has a built-in GPS system. It’s that internal voice that guides you, tugs at you, warns you, and directs each step you take. Understand the big picture of what you want to achieve and let that internal voice keep you on track and help you accomplish your long-term goals. As long as you are pursuing something that is truly important to you, your inner voice will tell you when you are off track, or on track, and the small refinements you need to make.

Step 3. Let go and flow. Allow things to unfold naturally.

Once you are clear on what you want, put together your plan; then let things unfold naturally. More than likely you will be moving down a new path in life. Although it is impossible to prepare for everything, if you stay focused on the things that are truly important to you, the doors of opportunity will open before you.

As you focus on the big picture of what’s important to you, The Law of Attraction will kick in just as Brian Tracy predicts: “Each person is a living magnet. We radiate thought energy that sooner or later attracts into our lives the people and circumstances that harmonize with our dominant thought.”

You can get out of the rut. Just allow life to unfold naturally and follow Mark Twain’s advice: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sail. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

It’s time for a little self-evaluation

Take time out to review your situation, evaluate your life, and examine your goals. Ask yourself these questions: Where would I like to take my life? Am I in a rut? Is my marriage in a rut? Is my career in a rut? Is my golf game in a rut?

If you are in a rut, I urge you to watch a short 6-minute video by Deb Erickson on her website at www.deberickson.com. Her book, Get out of the Rut and on with Your Life, may also have some concrete ideas that will help you get out of your rut.

You are in control and you have the power to get any part of your life out of a rut. Just keep your eye focused on the big picture of what you want to achieve and then move down the road at a pace that allows you to enjoy the journey.

How to Make a Critical Decision

Our Lives are a Mirror Image of the Little Decisions We Make

Was Napoleon Hill Wrong?

How to Kick Butt in This Economy

Who Do I Have to Become to Get What I Want?

The Toilet Bowl Syndrome

Maximizing Your Value

How to Get Any Job You Want

Becoming the Best at What You Do

Learn to Enjoy What You Don’t Enjoy

The Power of Personal Initiative

Todd Smith — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 07:45:53 +0000

Think of something you want to achieve that is really important to you? (Don’t continue without selecting one of your top goals.)

Now imagine having achieved it? You’re basking in the satisfaction of a job well done. What does it look like? What does it smell like? What does it taste like? What does it feel like? How do you feel?

The ONLY way in which you will experience the joy, beauty, and fulfillment that will come by achieving this goal is if you use your personal initiative. It won’t happen without it.

What is Personal Initiative?

Dwight Turner, a newspaper columnist, defines it this way: “Initiative is a force of personal energy that arises from deep within and flows forth into positive, goal-oriented action.”

Your personal initiative is your inner power that starts all action. It is the enemy of procrastination. It’s the spark that initiates your productive actions. Without personal initiative, you cannot be successful.

How Does One Achieve Success?

Napoleon Hill talked about personal initiative at length in his 9^th principle of success. He said, “Success is something you must achieve without someone telling you what to do or why you should do it.”

Success comes to those who are proactive. Instead of drifting through life doing only what is required, successful people do the extra things that bring more meaning to life.

No one told Fred Smith to start FedEx; he started it using his own personal initiative. No one told Sergey Brin and Larry Page why they should start Google; they did it using their owner personal initiative. No one pushed me every day to do the things that were required of me to achieve my goals; it was the consistent use of my personal initiative that allowed me to achieve them.

No matter what your goal is—becoming a remarkable mom, an honor student, an outstanding athlete, a top-producing sales person, or the owner of your own business—if you are going to be successful you must use your personal initiative to do the little things required of you to succeed. Sorry, but it won’t happen any other way.

Why Do Little Things Matter?

Personal initiative is more than a fundamental requirement to achieving your goals, it’s also about doing the little things that make your life and the lives of others, both at work and at home, more enjoyable.

It’s doing the simple things like picking up your dirty clothes, cleaning the dirty windows or emptying the overflowing trash can. It’s taking three minutes to clean the coffee mugs in the sink at the office. It’s taking time to express your genuine gratitude to someone who did something for you. It’s offering to help a friend in need.

In a sense, your personal initiative is noticing and being aware of the things that need to be done without being asked.

One of my fundamental beliefs is that the only way you will have personal initiative to do big things is by first using it to do the little things. Every big success is made up a great number of little successes, each of which requires personal initiative and many of which are so small and insignificant that only you notice, but they all add up.

What Are the Hidden Benefits?

Using one’s personal initiative has more benefits than meet the eye.

1. People who use their personal initiative are more respected and have greater influence.

2. No other method for building one’s self esteem is more effective than using your personal initiative to do the little things that make you a better person.

3. People who consistently use their personal initiative to advance their careers are those who are at the top of the pay scale in their profession.

4. You will have the edge at everything you do because you will stand out as a person worthy of being noticed.

Why Wait to Use Your Personal Initiative?

I not sure of the reason, but I see fewer people using their personal initiative to advance their lives forward than at any time in my life. It’s like everyone is sitting in a holding pattern waiting for something to change.

This is your opportunity to step up your game and distinguish yourself from the growing number of apathetic people. This is your chance to use your unique talent, skill, and ability to achieve the things that are important to you. Don’t let the lethargic environment around you keep you from stretching yourself to be your very best.

I want to challenge you to start doing the little things that require personal initiative. As you build your confidence in doing the little things, then start stretching yourself to do the bigger things. Continue this process and allow each success to build on the prior one.

David Mahoney said, “There comes a time when you need to stop revving up the car and put it in gear.” Now is the time to put your life in gear and go conquer your dreams.

“Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” William Jennings Bryan

What’s Your Brand?

The Hidden Benefit of Discipline

Formula For Success

How to Kick Butt in This Economy

Who Do I Have to Become to Get What I Want?

What’s Your Value to the Market?

Do You Have What It Takes?

Maximizing Your Value

Click here to visit the site and/or comment on this post.

Enjoy Life’s Journey

Todd Smith — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 07:45:37 +0000

As I anxiously waited for the funeral service to begin, a little girl sitting behind me complained to her mother. “I can’t see!” she said with a bit of a whine. Her mother assured her, “there is nothing to see, sweetie.” This couldn’t have been farther from the truth. The funeral was for my daughter-in-law’s grandfather, a man that despite health challenges and other setbacks, had garnered respect and admiration throughout his life.

What was there to see? From my perspective, plenty! The rows were filled with friends, acquaintances and family members who wanted to pay their respects to a man who understood the joy of living. The French call it joie de vivre - the joy of living. The Italians say nienta sense gioia – nothing without joy. For the Greeks, it’s kefi – the spirit of joy, passion and enthusiasm. A lesson for us all-whatever you’re doing, enjoy the journey.

The popular quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “life is a journey, not a destination” can be found on posters, bumper stickers and the like and has been paraphrased and used to motivate a sales force. As is the case with any over used expression or phrase, we tend to overlook its significance and dismiss the message entirely.

Thank goodness for funerals then to remind us that life is a journey. It will throw you some curves and you’ll have some detours along the way but God intended for us to enjoy life to the fullest extent possible.

When I ponder my life and the consistent commitment to achieving my goals, I often felt like I was running a race rather than enjoying the ride. Reflecting on the funeral and how life can be fleeting, I am making a list of things to help me enjoy the balance of my journey. I would encourage you to do the same. Here are some ideas to consider:

I will make sure to have fun. I will smile. I will laugh. I will tell jokes. I will go fishing more often. I will beat my family in tennis. I will take long walks on the beach with my wife. I will have more pie fights.

I will continue to place a priority on spending time with family and friends, enjoying the activities that we can do together.

I will enjoy God’s gifts of nature. A walk in the park, the birds chirping, the flowers blooming and the waves rolling along the shore. I will take at least 15 minutes a day to remind me to slow down and “smell the roses.”

I will control my reactions and appreciate other people’s differences. I will let others win the battles that don’t matter. It’s just not worth getting worked up over things.

I will recharge my batteries sooner and more often. As an entrepreneur it is easy to work 24/7. But I know that I should take time off, let my body relax and reward myself with breaks.

I will be happy with where I am at any given time and give my all to the people I am with at the time but eagerly and optimistically anticipate the thrill of the next great adventure.

I hope my introspection gives you some ideas. Please take time out of your busy day to contemplate your journey and make it one enjoyable ride! You only live once.

“Enjoy all that you have while pursuing all you want” Jim Rohn

What Will Be Your Legacy?

10 Tips for Balancing Your Career and Family

Become Your Greatest Fan

It’s a New Day!

The Most Important of All Human Qualities

How to Put Together an Action Plan

Count Your Blessings

How to Prepare and Plan for New Projects

Todd Smith — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 07:45:27 +0000

Time to mix it up a bit. Since my post for today Building Rapport By Making Others Feel Comfortable was accidently sent out on Saturday (Oops!), I am going to throw something different at you.

Today I am going to give you a little insight into the thinking I put into my projects. I am convinced that the fastest way to achieve any goal is to have a plan. The larger the goal, the more thought and time you must put into your plan.

I have learned over the years that 95% of all the people who take on large projects don’t have a clear strategy to accomplish their goals. It’s no wonder they don’t achieve them.

Whether you want to start a business, a blog or any other important project, I have learned that it’s best to start the process by transferring all your thoughts and ideas into a written document.

When I take on a project, the first thing I do is create a document called a “Creative Brief”. A Creative Brief as you will see in this article is nothing more than an organized list of your thoughts, ideas and goals.

If I am working with a team of people on a project, I will put together a Creative Brief and forward it to everyone on the team for their review. This avoids misunderstandings, gets everyone’s buy-in and ensures that everyone is clear on the desired outcome.

The balance of this lesson contains the Creative Brief I put together last year for Little Things Matter. I hope that by sharing my thought process you will gain some insights and strategies for your next project.

By following the strategy outlined in this document my blog had more than 50,000 pages viewed in it’s third full month. It has already become one of the top personal and professional development blogs and my podcasts are ranked in the top 100 business podcasts for 2010.

An inside look into Little Things Matter

First, I start EVERY project by draining my brain of all my ideas. I described this in detail in my post How to Put Together an Action Plan. From there I organize my ideas. Here’s what that looks like for the Little Things Matter blog.

Title: Little Things Matter

URL: www.littlethingsmatter.com (I purchased for $600)

Subtitle: Improving your life one thing at a time. (We considered 10+ different options before deciding on this subtitle.)

Mission: To help people achieve greater personal and professional success.

Vision: To see people around the world growing and developing by focusing on the little things they can do to become better people.

Name of category: Personal and professional success.

Target Market: Age 16+

Mastermind Team:

Barry, Gerrid, Jessica, Jake, Hannah, Joy, Josh, Danielle (These are my family members who I sought for feedback and insights. We had three group meetings to discuss different aspects of this strategy. We spent most of our time on the website.)

Big Picture Plan: To build a large and loyal community of people both on Facebook and through my blog that wants to achieve greater personal and professional success. (Every thing I want to accomplish will result from building a large audience of people who knows, trusts and likes me and who values my content.)

Timelines

Facebook page to be set up December 1^st.
Twitter page to be set up December 1^st.
Daily blog posts and podcasts will begin January, 2010

Blog and Podcast Details:

Each lesson will teach one Little Thing that people can immediately implement into their lives.
There will be one lesson each business day.
People will have easy access to the lessons through every means available, including daily emails.
Each lesson can be easily forwarded through every good option available. (Today, my lessons can be shared more than 150 different ways. To my knowledge we are not missing one option.)

Blog and Podcast Strategy

For people to read/hear fresh perspectives on topics that can help them achieve greater personal and professional success.
For people to feel that my lessons are a valuable use of their time
For people to start their day by hearing/reading my lessons each morning.
For people to learn something they can apply to their lives, today
For people to feel so good about what they are learning that they want to tell everyone

LTM Brand:

Fresh- non-regurgitated self-improvement information.
Likable and authentic
Encouraging and inspiring
Concise
Relevant for the day
Challenging and stimulating
Accurate
Casual
Clear
Professional
Non-offensive
Likable
Common sense

Criteria for the Selection of Each Lesson

Focus on personal and/or professional success
Consistent with the brand listed above
Must be of value to the majority of people age 16 and up
Must be so good that people want to forward it to their friends
Must be something people can apply to their lives TODAY
A subject that is not controversial

Key Components of the Lessons

Opening: Jingle on podcasts
Great headlines
Todd’s Opening: Hi this is Todd Smith with Little Things Matter.
An brief explanation of the lesson
Describe my Point of View (POV)
Why it’s important and relevant

Each daily lesson could include people’s natural reaction to the lesson and why it’s important to be intentional about focusing on it.

The benefits of implementing my lesson and perhaps the downside if one doesn’t
A call to action. I want people working on the lesson of the day, that day!
An encouraging statement that makes people feel they can do it. (I haven’t been good at this.)
Close: I want to close each lesson with a statement or quote people will remember.
A great selection of words that most accurately describe my point
Use definitions when applicable
Use quotes from successful leaders when appropriate
Tell stories, if time allows

Potential Profit Centers:

Books

Little Things Matter (Will be available October 15^th)
Little Things Matter in Leadership
Little Things Matter in Sales
Little Things Matter in entrepreneurship
Little Things Matter in Network Marketing
Little Things Matter for Teens
Little Things Matter for Parents
Little Things Matter—Momentum (Gerrid)
Other popular categories

Gift Books (Each page has a nicely written little thing)
Ad specialties such a cube calendar with a little thing for the day.
Speaking
CD training programs
Consulting
Tele-seminars

International: As my daily lessons grow in popularity, I will consider translating them into different languages, so I can begin to build a large global following. This will coincide with an international roll out plan for my book.

Cause: 10% percent of all book sales will be donated to the Little Ones Matter Foundation (www.littleonesmatter.org) where the money will be spent to help children in third world countries. The mission: Spreading Joy to children around the world through holistic care. (This site is not set up yet. My wife Joy will run it.)

Todd’s Personal Goals:

To leave a legacy—If I were to die today, people would say, “Todd Smith was a successful guy”. I want to leave a legacy where people say, “Todd Smith has helped millions of people around the world through his teachings and charitable work.”
For Little Things Matter to become a best seller. (I will need your help!)
To create a series of Little Things matter books.
To have the most popular personal and professional daily blog in the world.
To appear on Larry King, The Today Show and Oprah. (The exposure for LTM on these programs would be huge.)

Additional Lesson Ideas (I have not had a chance to think about these ideas.)

A weekly lesson where I get into more detail on an important topic
A weekly leadership lesson
A weekly sales lesson
Interviews with successful people
A monthly lesson on how I am building Little Things Matter
Friday’s can be leadership Friday with a lesson on leadership
Ask Todd seminars with live feeds

Marketing Options to Drive Subscriptions:

See doc titled, Marketing (Perhaps I will share another time.)

Websites Strategy

See doc titled, Website Creative Brief (Perhaps I will share another time.)

LTM Roll Out Plan

See doc titled, LTM Plan (Perhaps I will share another time.)

As you can see, when I take on a project I drain my brain and put all my thoughts and ideas in a document. I then organize my notes into categories. From there I put together my plan and start working.

I hope you have enjoyed a look into my creative process and can apply some of it to your personal goals and objectives. If the feedback from this post is positive, I will be happy to share some of my other documents in the future.

If you have any questions, please ask me in the comments section below this post on www.littlethingsmatter.com.

You can achieve any goal that is important to you, if you will focus on the little things that matter.

My Top Time Management Tip