I believe one of the pieces to laying a solid foundation for success can be summed in one word – BALANCE! If you lean too much to just the money side of achieving your dreams or goals, you may find getting or arriving at the top of your field or businesslonely. If you place too much emphasis on getting ahead and working endless hours, you may wake up one day to the harsh reality that you have no meaningful friendships or significant person in your life to love.
The best way to guard against these possible scenarios or others like them is to devise goals that include key areas of your life that are based upon your core values. For example, as a Christian woman, my values are (1) God first (2) family second (3) ministry or business, etc is third on my hierarchy of priorities; it is different for everyone.
There are six areas I believe will set a strong foundation from which to build as you pursue your goals for 2010 and beyond. They are (1) Faith (2) Family (3) Fitness (4) Finances (5) Friends and (6) Fun.
1. Faith. It is important to build yourself up spiritually and stay connected to God through prayer, praise, and worship, reading the Bible, and study Scripture. Doing these things every day consistently will help you be in tune for divine guidance, instruction, and direction for your family, health, business, etc.
2. Family. Family is one of the most important relationships you can have in life! If your home is not in order or falling apart, it will have a negative impact on every thing you do including our business. You may have the most wonderful wife or husband and children in the world, but if they are not nurtured and made to feel important, you jeopardize losing them. Devise a family mission statement and stick with. This will help you see when you are getting of course or imbalanced.
3. Fitness. We live in such a fast-paced society that we often do not the care of our physical health. The fact is you cannot neglect your physical health and expect to accomplish your dream and goals. A sick or diseased body will limit how we pursue your dreams and goals – energetically or sluggishly; sharp thinker or dull thinker, etc. The best remedies for this is plan and execute a regular exercise regimen and eat more healthy foods. Being emotionally healthy is just as important as physical health. Exercise your brain by reading inspiring and encouraging books, listen to tapes. Develop a personal development regimen.
4. Finance. Become a good steward of the financial blessings that come into your life through running your own business or as an employee. No where your money is going. Set goals of how much income you want to generate, save, donate, and invest. Guard against greed! Develop a healthy attitude and relationship with money. It’s only a tool and when used properly can benefit and bless you, your family and those around you.
5. Friends. Next to having strong family connections friends are the second most important relationships in your life, and they need to be honored and nurtured as well. When others, including your family, fail to understand you sometimes, a close, trusting friend can really help keep you well grounded! You may only have one or two close friends, but that is more than most people have. So, hold onto them and do not work too much at pursuing your dreams and goals that you neglect your friends!
6. Fun. The old adage, “All work and no play makes a Jack a dull boy” still rings true today! It is so important to laugh and have fun, go places and do fun things! Have fun just for the sake of having fun!! It is a big stress reliever and is good for your overall health. It is not a healthy practice to work 18 hours or more 7 days a week! Take time to nurture yourself; it will rejuvenate you!
Doing these things will ensure a strong foundation of balance in your life so that you can build strong, healthy relationships while you pursue your dreams and goals. Happy New Year!
If you’d like to use this article on your website, in your newsletter or anywhere else, you may do so as long as the information below is included in its entirety.
Yvonne Carson is the CEO/founder of Woman-To-Woman Empowerment Academy and Women Breaking Free, a free membership community. Her mission is to help women to grow through spiritual development and personal development.http://womenbreakingfree.ning.com
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Leadership Secrets from Santa Claus
by Gary Ryan Blair in Leadership |December 24th, 2009 |
For 26 years, a man known only as Secret Santa has roamed the streets of Kansas City every December quietly giving people money. He started with $5 and $10 bills.
Who is Santa Claus?
As his fortune grew, so did the gifts. In recent years, Secret Santa has been handing out $100 bills, sometimes two or three at a time, to people in thrift stores, diners and parking lots.
During his life he’s anonymously given out more than $1.3 million. It’s been a long-held holiday mystery: Who is Secret Santa?
Larry Stewart passed away on January 12, 2007 from esophageal cancer but not before he revealed his identify and passing on his belief in random acts of benevolence.
Mr. Stewart made his millions in cable television and in long-distance telephone services.
His holiday giving started in December 1979 when he was nursing his wounds at a drive-in restaurant after getting fired.
It was the second year in a row he had been fired the week before Christmas.
Turning Tragedy into Opportunity
Soon after getting fired, Mr. Stewart was at a drive in restaurant and came across a car hop: “It was cold and this car hop (waiter or waitress who brings food to people at drive-ins) didn’t have on a very big jacket, and I thought to myself, `I think I got it bad. She’s out there in this cold making nickels and dimes,’” he said.
He gave her $20 and told her to keep the change.
“And suddenly I saw her lips begin to tremble and tears begin to flow down her cheeks. She said, `Sir, you have no idea what this means to me.’”
Stewart was moved and went to the bank that day and took out $200. He then drove around looking for people who could use a lift.
That was his “Christmas present to himself.” He hit the streets each December since.
While Stewart has also given money to other community causes in Kansas City and his hometown of Bruce, Miss., he offers the simple gifts of cash because it’s something people don’t have to “beg for, get in line for, or apply for.”
That was a feeling he came to know in the early ’70s when he was living out of his yellow Datsun. Hungry and tired, Stewart mustered the nerve to approach a woman at a church and ask for help. The woman told him the person who could help was gone for the day, and Stewart would have to come back the next day.
“As I turned around, I knew I would never do that again,” Stewart said.
Over the years, Stewart’s giving as Secret Santa grew. He started a Web site. He allowed the news media to tag along, mostly because he wanted to hear about the people who received the money. Reporters had to agree to guard his identity and not name his company.
His entourage grew over the years, and he began traveling with special elves and training others to be Secret Santas.
The Spirit of Secret Santa is Alive and Growing
Today, Larry Dean Stewart’s loyal Elves and the Secret Santas he trained are building upon the foundation he laid.
A new group of Secret Santas and Elves are very busy this Christmas. They are going coast to coast in selected cities and towns to spread hope this Christmas, giving one hundred dollar bills to the needy.
This year in his honor each one hundred dollar bill will bear the name Larry Stewart Secret Santa.
They will also be training those who have come forward to be a Secret Santa Leader in their community.
Could you be a Secret Santa? Go the Secret Santa Society to learn how.
Also, while you may not be able to pass out $100 dollar bills, how can you make a difference in the life of just one person in your community?
I’d love to hear about it.
Happy Holidays!
Gary
http://www.everythingcounts.com/
For 26 years, a man known only as Secret Santa has roamed the streets of Kansas City every December quietly giving people money. He started with $5 and $10 bills.
Who is Santa Claus?
As his fortune grew, so did the gifts. In recent years, Secret Santa has been handing out $100 bills, sometimes two or three at a time, to people in thrift stores, diners and parking lots.
During his life he’s anonymously given out more than $1.3 million. It’s been a long-held holiday mystery: Who is Secret Santa?
Larry Stewart passed away on January 12, 2007 from esophageal cancer but not before he revealed his identify and passing on his belief in random acts of benevolence.
Mr. Stewart made his millions in cable television and in long-distance telephone services.
His holiday giving started in December 1979 when he was nursing his wounds at a drive-in restaurant after getting fired.
It was the second year in a row he had been fired the week before Christmas.
Turning Tragedy into Opportunity
Soon after getting fired, Mr. Stewart was at a drive in restaurant and came across a car hop: “It was cold and this car hop (waiter or waitress who brings food to people at drive-ins) didn’t have on a very big jacket, and I thought to myself, `I think I got it bad. She’s out there in this cold making nickels and dimes,’” he said.
He gave her $20 and told her to keep the change.
“And suddenly I saw her lips begin to tremble and tears begin to flow down her cheeks. She said, `Sir, you have no idea what this means to me.’”
Stewart was moved and went to the bank that day and took out $200. He then drove around looking for people who could use a lift.
That was his “Christmas present to himself.” He hit the streets each December since.
While Stewart has also given money to other community causes in Kansas City and his hometown of Bruce, Miss., he offers the simple gifts of cash because it’s something people don’t have to “beg for, get in line for, or apply for.”
That was a feeling he came to know in the early ’70s when he was living out of his yellow Datsun. Hungry and tired, Stewart mustered the nerve to approach a woman at a church and ask for help. The woman told him the person who could help was gone for the day, and Stewart would have to come back the next day.
“As I turned around, I knew I would never do that again,” Stewart said.
Over the years, Stewart’s giving as Secret Santa grew. He started a Web site. He allowed the news media to tag along, mostly because he wanted to hear about the people who received the money. Reporters had to agree to guard his identity and not name his company.
His entourage grew over the years, and he began traveling with special elves and training others to be Secret Santas.
The Spirit of Secret Santa is Alive and Growing
Today, Larry Dean Stewart’s loyal Elves and the Secret Santas he trained are building upon the foundation he laid.
A new group of Secret Santas and Elves are very busy this Christmas. They are going coast to coast in selected cities and towns to spread hope this Christmas, giving one hundred dollar bills to the needy.
This year in his honor each one hundred dollar bill will bear the name Larry Stewart Secret Santa.
They will also be training those who have come forward to be a Secret Santa Leader in their community.
Could you be a Secret Santa? Go the Secret Santa Society to learn how.
Also, while you may not be able to pass out $100 dollar bills, how can you make a difference in the life of just one person in your community?
I’d love to hear about it.
Happy Holidays!
Gary
http://www.everythingcounts.com/
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Different Kinds of Work
If your boss asks you to move a box from point a to point b, it's probably not okay to say, "I don't feel like it right now."
If you work on the chain gang and it's time to dig a ditch, you don't get a reprieve if you roll your eyes and say, "that's not what they pay me for."
And if you're a dishwasher, you don't get a chance to say, "I guess I'm just not the kind of person who's good at putting his hands into really hot soapy water all day."
And yet.
And yet when we ask you to look people in the eye, be creative, brainstorm, be generous, find a way to satisfy an angry customer, work with a bully, learn a new skill or bring joy to work, suddenly the excuses pile up. Is this a different sort of work? Is raising your hand in class too much to ask of you?
The jobs most of us would like to have are jobs like this. And yet we put up a fight when given the chance to do them well.
Seth Godin
If you work on the chain gang and it's time to dig a ditch, you don't get a reprieve if you roll your eyes and say, "that's not what they pay me for."
And if you're a dishwasher, you don't get a chance to say, "I guess I'm just not the kind of person who's good at putting his hands into really hot soapy water all day."
And yet.
And yet when we ask you to look people in the eye, be creative, brainstorm, be generous, find a way to satisfy an angry customer, work with a bully, learn a new skill or bring joy to work, suddenly the excuses pile up. Is this a different sort of work? Is raising your hand in class too much to ask of you?
The jobs most of us would like to have are jobs like this. And yet we put up a fight when given the chance to do them well.
Seth Godin
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