Create Your Personal Strategic Plan

Your success in life is determined, to a large extent by your ability to think, plan, decide, and take action. The stronger your skills are in each of these areas, the faster you will achieve your goals and the happier you will be with your life and career. Personal strategic planning is the tool that takes you from wherever you are to wherever you want to go. 

Difference between Train and Plane :

The difference between people who use strategic planning to organize and direct their lives and those who do not is like the difference between taking a train and taking a plane. Both will get you from point A to point B, but the plane—personal strategic planning—will get you there much faster and without frequent stops. 

Systematic Way of Thinking :

Skill in personal strategic planning is not something you are born with, like eye color or perfect pitch. It is a systematic way of thinking and acting and is, therefore, something you can learn, like riding a bike or changing a tire. With practice, you can master the many different elements that make up this key skill, and you will get into the rhythm of thinking and acting strategically for the rest of your life. When you do acquire rhythm, you will realize extraordinary results. Your life and career will take off, and the sky is truly the limit. 

Save Time and Money :

Why is strategic planning and thinking so helpful? The answer is simple: it saves you an enormous amount of time and money. When you review and analyze key strategic questions of concepts of your career or business, you find yourself focusing on the critical tasks necessary to achieve your goals. At the same time, you stop doing those things that keep you from achieving success. You do more of the right things and fewer things that get and keep you off track. You set performance goals for people and projects. You become skilled at measuring and tracking results. You move into the express lane in both work and life. 

Design Your Life and Career :

Your goals in personal strategic planning are similar. The key difference is that rather than improving your return on equity, your planning efforts will allow you to realize a greater return on energy. You might say that personal strategic planning will increase your return on life. A business measures its equity in terms of financial capital. On the other hand, you measure your personal equity in terms of your own human capital. Your personal equity consists of the physical, emotional, and mental energies you are able to invest in your career. Set a goal of achieving the very highest return possible on the investment of your energies. 

Critical Question :

Ask yourself this critical question: What is it that I do especially well? Examine the areas where you excel or are clearly superior to others in your field. You need to know what you can claim as your personal competitive advantage. This is the lifeblood of personal strategic planning. Your success is tied directly to how excellent you become at the most important part of your work. 

- By Brian Tracy 

Life Lesson

Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there...to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson or help figure out who you are or who you want to become.

You never know who these people may be but, when you lock eyes with them, you know that every moment they will affect your life in some profound way. And sometimes things happen to you at the time that may seem horrible, painful and unfair but, upon reflection, you realize that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, will power or heart.

Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of good luck. Illness, Injury, love, lost moments of true greatness and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul.

Without these small tests, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere. Safe and comfortable but dull and utterly pointless. The people you meet affect your life. The successes and downfalls that you experience can create who you are, and the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are probably the most poignant and important ones.

If someone hurts you, betrays you or breaks your heart, forgive them because they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to whom you open your heart to. If someone loves you, love them back, unconditionally, not only because they love you, but because they are teaching you to love and open your heart and eyes to little things.

Make every day count. Appreciate every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can, for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Let yourself fall in love, break free and set your sights high.

Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself, no one else will believe in you.

-Author Unknown

Overcome Your Limitations By Changing Your Beliefs

So many in the world today believe that in order to attain wealth that you must be smarter than the “average person”, be fortunate enough to be able to afford an education at some prestigious university, that you must “work harder and longer”, that you must “invest wisely”, or “just be plain lucky.”

These misconceptions run rampant in our societies today and are perceived to be truth by the majority. Many mistakenly perceive these falsely held beliefs to be the only logical means to attain such a state as true abundance and happiness, because that is what they have been led to believe to be true.

While it is true that a college education can be helpful in your life long endeavors, whole societies teach that a college education is essential and necessary to attain a good job unless you are one of the lucky few.

If this is true, what becomes of the multitudes who are not fortunate enough to attain a formal education? What becomes of the many who for whatever reason are unable to attend a college? Are they doomed to a life of mediocrity and struggle? Are they hopelessly bound to unfulfilling low paying jobs with no hope of ever realizing any sort of success and financial independence? Absolutely not!

Sadly, because of these widespread traditional misconceptions that have been taught for hundreds of years, and that the masses have accepted as truth, millions of people today do believe that they are hopelessly stuck in jobs that they dislike, that they must work long grueling hours, spend little to no time with their families, and get so caught up in making a living that they fail to make a life.

In looking at the world, it has become obvious that something isn’t working quite right. Although two income families are more prevalent than ever before, technology is far more advanced, and opportunity at an all time high, why is it, that so many seem to have to get by with so little?

If one were to look at the statistics of rising emotional and mental dysfunction, rising bankruptcy percentages, stress related dis-ease, staggering rates of divorce, and the ever increasing rates of homelessness, it would certainly raise questions as to why.

Could it be that that the harder people try to cure the deficient areas of their lives by following ill given advice, provided through a flawed educational process, that is actually the cause for these ever increasing and unfortunate situations? Is it possible that the majority have lost sight of the true means of where real and lasting abundance comes?

Is it possible that our educational system is severely flawed and not teaching the real life principles that would allow the majority to live lives of plenty rather than struggle?

Is it possible that there might be a simple answer to the rising numbers of poverty stricken families, ever increasing divorce rates, single parent homes, world hunger, etc. etc.

There is! It’s called education. I’m not talking about the kind of traditional type education that is received in the majority of our government controlled schools., or learning a new trade at the local Vo-tech.

I’m talking about an education that teaches people the truth about who and what they were really created to be, and taught correct principles concerning the kind of lives that they were really intended to live, that would teach each individual the unlimited potential that each is capable of attaining.

I’m talking about an education that helps people to understand that life doesn’t have to be a “I wonder what’s going to happen tomorrow” type of existence wondering if the electricity, phone, or water is going to be turned off because they didn’t have enough left over to pay the bill.

Why is this education not taught to the masses? It’s readily available to all who will take the time to find it and certainly provable if they will only take the time needed to discover, learn, and apply the simple principles that are required.

Many would have you believe that such talk is a bunch of nonsense, and that so many struggle in our societies because “that is just the way life is.” Many would have you believe that is just the nature of people and to some extent, I would have to agree. The reason that many people find themselves in these unpleasant and uncomfortable situations is because that is what they have been taught and come to believe to be the truth.

All any person or family needs to do is learn the true principles that control our entire universe and learn the simple, unwavering, and predictable laws that govern the entire cosmos. All any struggling single mother has to do is rewrite the nonsense subconscious programming that they have allowed to be absorbed through the education that they have received and learn to replace the self limiting teachings of the nay sayers that they have associated with and replace that false teaching with universal truth. All it would take is a slight shift in the thought processes that have been taught to them throughout their lives.

All that is required is developing an awareness of who they truly are as individuals and learn the real truth of what they were created to be and capable of becoming.

All it takes is a change in belief. Your beliefs are determining where you are at in your life right now. Your current beliefs are determining what kind of job you are capable of, the amount of money that you can make, and what type of home you live in.

If what you currently believe isn’t serving you, you have the power to learn new information and the free will to choose to establish new beliefs. You have the capability and the power within yourself, without any help from anyone, to accomplish your lifelong dreams and goals if only you will only acquire the right kind of education that will empower you to do so, and allow you to establish the real truth concerning who you truly are and what you are truly capable of becoming.

You also have the power to remain as you are. You possess the power to continue to make your life decisions based on what you have come to know as truth. You have the power to allow your previous teaching to control the rest of your life or you also have the power to discover for yourself what you are truly capable of doing, achieving, and becoming.

If you are able to develop your awareness of the true and limitless possibilities that are available to you and develop your consciousness to the point of conceiving a life of Abundance and Happiness for yourself, you are certainly able to achieve it, regardless of what you have been previously taught.

Now you have to decide if this is a bunch of nonsense, or if it is in fact possible that what is being shared might be true. There is plenty of credible information available to you to prove it for yourself. This proof comes in many forms. It can be found through scientific study. It can be found through correct teachings in the right spiritual circles which has been practiced, talked about, and understood for thousands of years.

The truth is readily available as well as the steps that it will take for you to live a life of purpose, joy, fulfillment, and inner peace.

Does it require some effort on your part? Absolutely! Does it take a specific amount of discipline to accomplish it? Definitely.

The truth is available to those that will seek it. The steps have been laid out for those that have a sincere desire to transform their lives in a dramatic and powerful way.

Now it only becomes a matter of choice. Your Choice. What do you choose?

Your life is limited only by your beliefs. Change your beliefs and you can change your world.

- By Chuck Danes

The Mousetrap

A little mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. "What food might this contain?" the mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow and said, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house — like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.

The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake lunged and bit the farmer's wife on her foot.

The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.

But his dear wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for them to eat.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall and sighed with great sadness...

Moral :

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and you think it doesn't concern you, remember that when one of us is threatened, we are ALL at risk ... we are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for other folks and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

The Niche Strategy for Success

The starting point of career success is for you to select your boss carefully and refuse to work for a difficult or negative person. Much of your happiness and job satisfaction depends upon your relationship with your superior. If you don't get along, make every effort to resolve it or get transferred but if you can't, be prepared to walk away.

Make the Right Choices :

Choosing the right work, the right place to do it and the right people to do it with is laying the foundation for career success. Now you are ready to implement the "niche strategy." The niche strategy is based on the fact that some jobs in any organization are more critical to the health of the organization than are others.

Influence the Cash Flow :

A strategic niche is a job or position that influences the cash flow of the company. In most companies, cash flow is determined by sales and marketing and if you want to get ahead rapidly in those companies, you must work your way into the sales and marketing function.

How to Make More Money :

Many people ask me how they can make more money at their jobs. When they tell me their positions, the problem is usually clear. They are working in areas of the company that are felt to be of lesser importance than other areas. As a result, their services are not highly valued no matter how hard they work or how well they do their job. Their increases are set at the level that will keep them from quitting or that will enable the company to hire someone else fairly quickly.

- By Brian Tracy

24 Things To Always Remember

Your presence is a present to the world.
You are unique and one of a kind.
Your life can be what you want it to be.
Take the days just one at a time.

Count your blessings, not your troubles.
You will make it through whatever comes along.
Within you are so many answers.
Understand, have courage, be strong.

Do not put limits on yourself.
So many dreams are waiting to be realized.
Decisions are too important to leave to chance.
Reach for your peak, your goal and you prize.

Nothing wastes more energy than worrying.
The longer one carries a problem the heavier it gets.
Do not take things too seriously.
Live a life of serenity, not a life of regrets.

Remember that a little love goes a long way.
Remember that a lot goes forever.
Remember that friendship is a wise investment.
Life’s treasure are people together.

Realize that it is never too late.
Do ordinary things in an extraordinary way.
Have hearth and hope and happiness.
Take the time to wish upon a start.

AND DO NOT EVER FORGET., FOR EVEN A DAY HOW VERY SPECIAL YOU ARE!

The Kindness I See In The World

Kindness is a simple answer in a sometimes difficult and challenging world. I know that to be true. For a long time now it has been my mission to acknowledge and appreciate all people and to encourage others to do the same.

When my 7 year old grand-daughter, Skylar, and I go out, we have a contest called “Who can make the most people smile. “ It makes for a wonderful glorious day. We will be walking in the supermarket and someone will be walking down the aisle with her head down. Skylar walks up to her and gives her a big smile. I watch her walk down the aisle, turn around and smile at Skylar again or perhaps smile at someone else. Kindness is a chain that pulls us all together. Anything that lifts another person is kindness. Every single act of kindness has a ripple effect.

 In 2002, my dad had a series of strokes and other illness. At that time, I was the facilitator for a large women’s networking organization. One day I asked the ladies if on a personal level they could send their positive energies my dad’s way and maybe go out and do something nice for someone, someone for whom they would not normally think to do something nice. My dad has been doing nice things for all sorts of people for years, from the street crossing guard, to the waitress in a restaurant, to a friend’s mother. That same day, I made cookies for the janitor at the post office. When I gave him the cookies he actually looked a little embarrassed.

“Why, Linda?” he asked. “Because I appreciate you!” I answered. “When I get here at 6am and it is still dark out and it is a little scary, I know you are inside and I feel safe. And when I first moved here and my post office box was always empty, you always cheered me on. And you keep this place spotless.”  That evening his wife called me and said that he was overwhelmed. “No one even knows his name never minds bakes him cookies! What can I do for you?” she asked. “Nothing, just go out and do something nice for someone else.” I answered.

Well, that woman and many other women started practicing kindness on a regular basis. It was wonderful to witness. After that day, I started becoming more and more aware of the kindness in this wonderful world of ours.

In fact, a few weeks later, I was in a drugstore looking at some items when I noticed three people standing on line at the prescription counter. The last person was a young woman with a crying baby. It was obvious the baby was sick. When she got to the head of the line, the pharmacist said he was sorry but they did not have that medication on hand but that they could get it in about 2 hours. One tear just trickled down the young woman’s cheek. Suddenly an older gentleman who was sitting on the side came over and asked if he could be of assistance. The young woman looked up at him bewildered. The man said that he didn’t have much to do and that he had to wait for his prescription, so if she wanted, he could deliver her prescription to her home. 

“But I don’t even know you,” she said. “I won’t come in your house,” he replied. “I’ll just leave it by the door and ring the bell."  “But why?” she asked. The man looked at her with kind eyes and said, “I live on a really limited income and my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren all live up north and I rarely get to see them so this would a privilege for me."

With that, people in the store started nodding their heads to the young woman with approval. She mumbled okay, wrote her address on a piece of paper and gave it to the man. The baby stopped crying and the young woman left the store. By that time, I was crying. I walked over to the gentleman, introduced myself and told him how wonderful it was that he was so kind. Michael was 82 years old. We became friends and had breakfast and lunch a few times. 

About three months later, he phoned me to tell me that the young woman had told all of her friends about what he had done by delivering the prescription. They all chipped in and sent him airfare to visit his family. Another wonderful act of kindness and it was the last time Michael saw his family before he died.

When I am having a tough day, I recall this total act of unsolicited kindness and it always brings to me waves of gratitude. We are surrounded by kindness every day. Unfortunately, we get so wrapped in life that we forget to stop and smell the roses, as they say, or witness the acts of kindness that surround us each day. Little acts of kindness and love are the best parts of one’s life.  As the Dalai Lama said, “When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us to develop inner happiness and peace.”

So, got out today and experience the kindness around you. Bathe in it and be kind to others. You may discover that being kind to others is actually being kind to yourself.

- Linda Burhans