There is NO SECRET!

Yes, I have seen the movie more than once, but what bothers me is that when someone looks at me and says that something I am sharing is from The Secret, my first thought is that there is NO Secret! Instead each one of us harbors within us our own best kept Secret and it is up to each of us to discover our own Secret and share it with the world.

Unfortunately instead, many individuals seem to be running around thinking about what they want, but not taking action to get there. Thought without action is fruitless. All the positive thinking in the world isn’t worth a darn if you aren’t taking positive action. Any action is better than no action even if isn’t entirely the right action, it is still movement. This also follows the theory of Ready, Fire, Aim that urges you to act even before you know precisely what you are going for. This has pros and cons, but does beat staying home and wishing and hoping!

Look inside yourself, find your own Secret and share it!

Finding Your True Voice

As a member of the National Speaker’s Association I was attending the outstanding monthly meetings and taking in all of the priceless recommendations, advice, and suggestions for building both my platform and my speaking business. I had to stop! I was getting overwhelmed with the wealth of ideas, the myriad of methods, and the examples to follow. I had to call a time out to find my own voice.

Often we get caught up in organizations we belong to for business, networking opportunities, and even keeping up with industry reading but don’t find ourselves getting ahead. It is because we are so busy learning, we forget to determine which strategies (and all is never the answer) are the best for us, and that implementation is critical to real success.

Surely you know one of those lifelong students amongst your friends? You know the one with the string of initials following their name, garnering every possible degree and certification but in the meantime never really putting any of it to fruitful real practice. Beware of falling into that trap. It isn’t what we know that matters, but what we do with it that makes the real difference.

Find your voice, determine your path, and go forth in success!

Budget vs. Investment

Whenever I am asked for my budget, whether it is in business for a marketing plan or advertising opportunity, or personally for a trip planned or party to throw, I balk. You see budget implies “limitation” and since I live an unlimited life that goes completely counter to my values. This same reaction occurs with most individuals. We don’t want to: a) admit that we have a limitation or b) share that limitation with anyone else. However when asked what I am willing to invest, I become much more open and willing to discuss exactly that, an investment.

In business, I guarantee you will find greater success when you replace the word budget in your client conversations with the word investment. After all aren’t your services or product providing a valuable ROI? Budgets are simply for line item expenses, no return. An investment is not a line item and doesn’t have to rely on fitting into a budget! It offers a valuable return on investment that can be calculated and measured. This has allowed me to take a budget design project of $30K and turn it into an investment of $150K. What will changing your semantics do for you?

Feed Your Brain for Best Results

What I enjoy most about any holiday is the chance to truly feed my brain. Instead of simply keeping up with all the many details and the frantic pace of life and business today, I allow myself a chance to feed my brain. This means that I catch up on industry reading, take the time to listen to the latest in personal development CDs and MP3s, and enjoy a novel or book of short stories. This serves to open my mind to new ways of thinking, refreshes my outlook and perspective, and reminds me that there is far more to life than the doing we are all obsessed with and taking time to be is a way to feed my brain.

After all, if you don’t feed your brain but simply keep it on a diet of work in and work out, you will find your mental capacity diminishing rather than growing. What we read is easily as important as what we listen to (a diet of educational CDs will result in far greater benefit than a menu of nothing but rock and roll or even jazz, unless you are a musician!) We are only able to produce based on what we take in, too often it is very limited and limiting. Go beyond your own mental backyard and explore new technology, alternative viewpoints, different philosophies, and the latest trends. Sometimes we just need to be jogged by something we read or hear to make giant strides forward. Feed your brain, increase your wisdom.

Resolutions vs.Commitments

At Burning O’ Your Troubles I brought in a tarot card reader for fun. The key to these types of readings is to realize firstly that this is only done in that particular moment in time and can change dramatically even in 24 hours. Much of this type of reading is based on your energies and where you are in your life and your outlook. While many claim to be surprised by the accuracy or predictions what they fail to realize is that the seeds of all of the predictions lie within them. Few people take the time to truly tap into themselves, their energies and focus on their desired priorities and outcomes. When we do we find that we are able to truly design our own reality. Tune in, turn on, and listen to your interior self.

Sometimes it takes just a word to give us a new outlook and make what may have been a negative into a positive. Since most individuals abandon their New Year’s resolutions within the first three days of the year (scientific study!) perhaps it has to do with the word itself. To resolve means – to loosen, release; to break up; to reduce by analysis; to clear up. To commit means – to promise devotion; to promise resources; to entrust something to somebody; to record something for the future. At Burning O’ Your Troubles we do release our troubles to the past and COMMIT by promise and devotion to our present and our future. Consider resolving to let go of your past and your troubles and COMMIT to your desired experiences in 2008.

5 Tips to Save Big This Holiday Season

Save time this holiday season: Make a list, and check it twice. Save the agony of repeated trips for missed items. Be sure to group items by resource and keep your sources close together whenever you can. Drive once.
Save time. Get Organized.

Save money this holiday season: Before you go out shopping, take a very good inventory of what you already have and don’t need or want. I am betting that you have a load of goodies that would make great gifts, many never used at all! Consider giving from the wealth you already have before buying even more.
Save Money. Give What You Have.

Save water this holiday season: While it has taken me years to consider a permanent tree, this year makes the most sense with the severe drought we in Georgia are enduring. Permanent trees (well only until they lose their sparkle and start shedding) require none of that so precious resource H2O.
Save Money. Fake It.

Save energy this holiday season: Easy to do in the balmy 70’s we are experiencing, but what about when it does get cold? Use your fireplace. I see so many that are never used and they are great cozy house heaters in many instances. Whether wood burning, or gas logs, you can generate real heat!
Save Energy. Fire It Up.

Save someone else this holiday season: Every trip I make to the grocery store I add on one of those boxes of assorted canned foods for a mere $7.50. If that isn’t available there are coupons from $1 to $5 that you can add to help make the season brighter for someone less fortunate. Share your fortune.
Save Them. Share Your Abundance.

Stop Comparing and Start Winning

This past week, I had this particular message reinforced unexpected. Many of us are very competitive individuals, and I don’t mean just having to win a race, but win the promotion, win in business, and win in life. This is all good, except when we do this at our own expense. It is vital that we stop comparing ourselves to others and simply focus on our own personal best. There will always be those ahead of us and behind us, greater than us, and lesser than us; that isn’t what matters.

For example, there are designers that specialize in multimillion dollar homes and others who prefer budget projects. It is unlikely that either would do well at the others specialty, but better that they focus on their unique niches. There are speakers that are best with small audiences, under fifty or a hundred and others that have a gift for the more the better. I learned long ago while teaching at Emory that I derive an energy from my audiences and need a minimum to really create a synergy and the larger the better, that is just what I know about me. What do you know about you? How can you use that priceless knowledge to succeed in your life without having to “beat” others?
You life will become more peaceful when your desired experiences (aka goals) are your own and not related to anyone else’s. Personal best is the greatest potential you can achieve.

Footprints to Success

Wading through the social networking web can be somewhat confusing and mystifying. From MySpace to Facebook, Digg to Feedblitz, Linked In to Zoom, Twitter to Ryze where is the best place to spend your time and connect in a meaningful way with others? Sure you can spend hours and hours online just playing, but in today’s business environment it is vital to avoid the tendency to see this all as a big toy box and realize it can be a valued tool for business. In many ways it can best be compared to the optimal places to leave your footprints for others to follow you or make a connection.

Age, intention, and demographic does have a lot to do with it. In my experience, since many, if not all of these services are so far free, it can’t hurt to put up a profile. Many are short or limited to name, picture and tidbits only, then send a handful of invites out and see what sticks. I know it sounds haphazard but trial and error is still a reasonable test method. I’m getting good response on Facebook, and amazed at the number of connections on Linked In. Ryze hasn’t done a thing for me as yet and I’ve been there the longest. MySpace so far seems strictly social, but the jury is still out. I’m still learning the ins and outs on Digg, Reddit, and Feedblitz. Zoom is waiting to be explored. Twitter seems interesting but you have to be proactive and post blog bits with live links back. One of the best experts in navigating all this is Penny Sansevieri. Penny tells you clearly and concisely how to benefit quickly and easily from these networks. She’s got a great free ezine that really delivers.

The Color of Money and Much More

Green is the most universally accepted color along with blue, but it does depend on the shade or tint. Most veterans are not fans of camouflage green and that means sage and moss as well. If you are specifying apple green make sure you know where your apples are from! Certainly a Washington apple will taste different than a Maine apple and that goes for color too.

Green is considered an undemanding color. It is one of the easiest colors to perceive. It represents perfect balance, as the center of a rainbow. Green provides a sense of quietness, compassion, relaxation and comfort and is the easiest neutral. It is popular in home interiors as it gives the illusion of bringing the outdoors inside. And it is a neutral with personality far beyond a beige or taupe.

Green is also a hue of rebirth, regrowth, and renewal. It is what most of us in seasonal climates look forward to in the Spring. The astounding regreening with all the new leaves and plant growths after the grey of winter. It is a time for our spirits to reawaken and recharge.
It is also, of course, the color of money and for many alone that makes it a favorite! And often, it is money that can provide growth, and rejuvenation.

Change Direction for a New Perspective

I often enjoy getting outdoors for exercise particularly in the cool crisp temperatures of approaching winter. Just 2-3 miles is enough to clear my head, open my mind, and renew my vision. Recently, I reversed my usual walk and was surprised at how completely different the very same route looked from a new direction. It made me realize that all too often we do things one way only and lose our perspective. In order to regain it, we need to approach our routine from a new angle. Next time you feel your life and business getting trapped in tunnel vision or feeling myopic in focus, consider viewing it from another angle, or approaching from a new direction. You are bound to get a different perspective, fresh insight, and possibly a new solution and opportunity for greater success.