After having worked with thousands of entrepreneurs over the last 29 years, I have seen many succeed but many more fail. And what distinguishes the two groups? Successful people consistently push themselves outside their comfort zone to achieve their goals.

Best selling author Brian Tracy, whose teachings I have been following for more than 25 years said, “Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.”

Another best selling author, Denis Waitley who has trained countless U.S Olympic athletes said, “To achieve your dreams you must break out of your current comfort zone and become comfortable with the unfamiliar and the unknown.”

I am convinced that you must push yourself outside your comfort zone to make any advances in your life. Think about it. Your comfort zone is where everything feels safe and familiar. How can you reach greater heights personally and professionally if you aren’t stretching yourself and growing on a regular basis?

It’s Time to Get Uncomfortable…read more

William James, well-known psychologist and philosopher, said, “The deepest principle of human nature is a craving to be appreciated.” If we are honest with ourselves, we all want and need to feel valued for who we are and recognized for our contributions and accomplishments. It’s important for us to know that we have made a difference in someone’s life.

If a person takes the time to express their heart-felt appreciation for something we have done, it boosts our spirit, passion, and purpose. It builds our self-confidence, self-esteem and our entire self-image. It gives us energy and motivation to work harder and do more….read more

Have you ever met someone for the first time who hardly looked you in your eyes, said the standard nice to meet you greeting without any authenticity behind their words and couldn’t remember your name five seconds later? What impression did this person make on you? Would it have required any more time or effort to make eye contact, offer a genuine smile and give a friendly greeting such as “it’s very nice to meet you Bob?” The answer is obviously no but the first impressions created by the two greetings would be different as night and day.

In Dale Carnegie’s timeless book How to Win Friends and Influence People he wrote, “If you want to win friends, make it a point to remember them. If you remember my name, you pay me a subtle compliment; you indicate that I have made an impression on you. Remember my name and you add to my feeling of importance.”

Techniques and Tips

When you greet people, regardless if it’s the first or the tenth time, make it a point of saying their names in your initial conversation. For example, “It’s a pleasure to meet you Sharon,” or “Jim, it’s great to see you again.” And then when the conversation concludes, use their name again. “Jim, I really enjoyed our time together,” or “Sharon, it was a real pleasure getting to know you.” Remembering someone’s name is a difficult skill to master but if you make it part of your daily routine, you will stand out from the crowd in the personal and business relationships…. read more

Have you ever noticed how you are drawn to people with whom you share things in common? This is called the law of attraction and means that you will inevitably be attracted to people into your life that are similar to you. We don’t need to look far beyond our close friends to understand that we are drawn to people with similar interests. So, how can you use this natural tendency to your advantage in all of your relationships?

Two key methods come to mind:

• Become aware of activities, interests and relationships you may have in common with people and pay particular attention during conversations. You may both have children, you may both work in the same part of town, you may both have a son who plays soccer, or you may both like Thai food.

Throughout my career I have made it a point of asking people questions with the goal of identifying things we have in common. Once I identify something we have in common, I transition the conversation to that subject. When I do, I almost immediately feel them connecting with me…read more