Have you ever wondered what was the “spark” that was behind some of the most successful businesses?
Read about Mac’s own successes as well as 12 other well known entrepreneurs including Howard Shultz (Starbucks), Jeff Bezos (Amazon.com), Sara Blakely (Spanx) and more… Use this book for you and your team to think of new and exciting ways to make your company the next “Big Idea
What’s the Big Idea?
The son of the late “Last Lecture” speaker Randy Pausch is following in his father’s footsteps.
Almost two years after his father’s death at age 47 from pancreatic cancer, 8-year-old Dylan Pausch is campaigning to raise awareness about the deadly disease, lobbying on Capitol Hill and walking the same halls as his father, the Carnegie Mellon professor who touched lives with his inspiring “Last Lecture.” The elder Pausch pushed for increased pancreatic cancer funding in the final days before his death in July 2008.
“So many people are dying from pancreatic cancer and the survival rates are so low,” a precocious Dylan told ABC News. “If we keep studying, we might be able to change that.”
Joined by his mother, Pausch’s wife Jai, and hundreds of members of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Dylan met with Washington lawmakers this week, urging them to increase funding for pancreatic cancer, the fourth-leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. and one of the most underfunded due to its low survival rate.
“I think it’s wonderful for him to see, individually we have the power as an American to make a difference,” Jai Pausch told ABC. “I think that this helps them say, ‘Wow, I can do something, maybe I can’t bring my dad back to life, but I can help other people.’”
With approximately 10 tumors in his body and mere months to live, professor Randy Pausch created his “Last Lecture” to urge his students to chase their childhood dreams, value their loved ones and perhaps above all, have fun. The charismatic Pausch became an Internet sensation as his lecture went viral and eventually became a book.
I love stories that can engage our hearts and our souls! This is one of many that I share in Charging the Human Battery…50 Ways to Motivate Yourself. My goal with this little book is to create many “a-ha moments” that can inspire, encourage and motivate you when you need it most!
Just click here for more information or to look
All the Best,
Earlier this week we had some very windy weather. As I rushed down to the basement floor from my top floor office suite, I could hear the tornado warnings blaring outside. Right before I headed downstairs, I searched my bookshelf for something that would take my mind off of the weather outside and keep me entertained while I sat out the storm. I chose Every Day is a Gift, and rushed out of my office.
As I sat in the corner of the basement break room, I started reading a chapter called, “Someday Isle”. It really touched me, and I’ll explain why. First, though, here’s the chapter from Barry Gottlieb’s book Every Day is a Gift:
I have often heard it said that one of life’s greatest tragedies is when someone dies at a young age. I believe an even greater tragedy would be to live to one hundred, without ever having really lived.
Someday Isle is well known to most people. It is a place that we dream of and talk about, but where we never seem to arrive. Someday Isle is all of those things we wanted to do in our lives; all those places we wanted to visit; all those things we wanted to have. But we put them off because of “Someday I’ll.” Someday I’ll try whitewater rafting … Someday I’ll finish school … Someday I’ll move out of this neighborhood … Someday I’ll have a family … Someday I’ll be somebody.
Think about it. What have you been putting off doing that you have always wanted to do, to have, to be? Ask yourself, what is keeping you from doing these things? Do you have limiting beliefs or fears? Are these limiting beliefs or fears real, or are they just excuses?
What if you didnʼt have any excuses? What would you do?
I am aware of terminally ill cancer patients that have formed “Adventure Clubs.” These patients have been told they are going to die, some in a few months, others in several months, and a lucky few within the next 2-5 years.
These patients started adventure clubs to seek out and do everything they were afraid to do when they were “well.” They went white water rafting, sky diving, rode roller coasters and ate spicy foods they never tried before. They visited places they always wanted to see, but never made time for. They simply made the best out of every day they had left, without fear or limiting beliefs.
They would tell their loved ones they loved them, every day. They didn’t hold back!
You already know this, but chances are you may have lost sight of it. Nobody is promised tomorrow. We are all going to die one day. You don’t need to have a terminal illness to decide you want to live each and every
day to the fullest.YOU have that choice today. You always have!
As I sat in the basement hearing the wind howl, I thought of what I would regret if that was my last day on Earth. A lot of “Someday I’ll” things that I thought about – travel the globe, digitally record my Dad’s stories, learn cooking secrets from my Mom, read the books I’ve been meaning to read – had potential to become “I never ended up doings”.
As the sirens quieted, the wind died down, and we all emerged from our hiding places, I had a renewed interest in turning “Someday Isle” things into “I Did” things.
So, what is on your bucket list? What are some things that you have done that have fulfilled you?
In the wonderful story and movie, Paper Airplane, you will be completely surprised at the innovation and outside of the box thinking that is revealed. It is the perfect way to jumpstart creativity with your own team which will increase your competitive advantage.
Enjoy this unique and inspiring movie!
An added bonus of a 20% discount on any size order this month when you
use the ST20 coupon.
Kind regards,
Building a corporate culture of creativity as well as accepting new ideas will capture
the talent, energy and commitment of employees. Take 3 minutes to watch the movie ”A Peacock in the Land of Penguins” to inspire you and your team.
Share this inspiring movie on your website or in your next email to your fellow
colleagues.
Kind regards,
At 211 degrees, water is hot.
At 212 degrees, it boils.
And with boiling water comes steam.
And steam can power a locomotive.
So many times it is that one extra degree of effort in business and in life that
separates the good from the great.
The beauty of 212° is not only the simplicity but also the many applications. You can
apply the concept to 212° service, 212° attitude, 212° leadership, 212° kindness,
212° commitment, 212° focus, 212° perseverance and the list goes on. Whatever your
passion or profession, how true it is!
Are you achieving the goals you set for yourself back on January 1, 2010? As we near the half way mark of the year 2010, it’s a good time to inspect your goals and evaluate your progress. It’s time to turn up the heat to 212 degrees and give that extra degree of effort to achieve your goals in 2010!
In his book for Simple Truths: Goals…The 10 Rules for Achieving Success, author Gary Ryan Blair has a no-nonsense roadmap that will allow you to fulfill your purpose. For more than 20 years, Gary has been helping business owners, corporate executives and sales professionals manage their time, set their priorities and build sustainable competitive advantage.
Today, I’d like to share Gary’s eighth rule to success. Inspect what you Expect:
Inspect what you Expect:
by Gary Ryan BlairCHANGE IS INEVITABLE – GROWTH IS OPTIONAL.Change knocks the wind out of all good plans. Unless performance is reviewed regularly, growth becomes stunted.
We get what we inspect, not just what we expect.
Be uncompromising in areas that permit no compromises, such as inspecting your expectations. Do not hesitate to evaluate your progress. If you believe that taking time to inspect your expectations is incompatible with progress, rethink your definition of progress. Inspection actually expands time by helping to maintain focus. If you do not use time properly through regular inspections, you burn it through neglect. Just as DNA’s coding is built into every cell of your body, the combination for achieving any goal requires the inspection of expectations.
You must evaluate whether the actions you are taking are going to produce the results you desire. It is important to perpetuate and amplify those actions that produce desired results. You are your own judge, jury, and executioner when it comes to evaluating a goal and deciding what action to take, whether it be changing tactics or dropping the goal.
No matter what you want to achieve, Gary’s book on Goals can be your blueprint for success. As he says, “Embrace these ten rules of goal setting and give witness to a powerful transition in your life.”
When you know for certain that you are on the wrong road, you change course. But if you are driving along ignoring landmarks and road signs, you may continue on the wrong road for a long time without knowing you are lost.
You will make progress when you take time to inspect past performance and learn from your experience.
The purpose of measuring performance and inspecting expectations is to improve performance. You must know how you are performing the “must do” actions necessary to achieve your goals. Inspecting expectations allows you to know what you are looking for before you actually see it!
The best time to establish expectations is when you establish your overall plan. That way you can evaluate the tasks before you act, prepare mentally, and set a pace.
Start off knowing the rules, and how you must play to succeed. Inspections are meant to revisit, revise and reinforce predetermined standards of performance. An inspection process will make you aware of performance gaps. It is this “white space” that you must manage to achieve the results you desire.
Look at this as a personal performance audit or balance sheet that quickly informs you of your assets and liabilities. You will undoubtedly see and feel changes in your life; they will be distinct and noticeable when you inspect your expectations.
Click here for more information or to look inside the book.
Goals, The 10 Rules for Achieving Success
From: Simple Truths
Some people might consider me an “old dog.” After all, I’ve been an entrepreneur for more than 30 years, but you better believe that I’m always looking to learn “new tricks!” My goal is to never stop growing and to always keep my mind open to fresh solutions.
One solution we’re all looking for these days is a way to accomplish more in our limited time. Author Amy Jones takes us back to the basics in Twice as Much in Half the Time- Secrets to Simplifying Your Life. It’s loaded with nuggets that will make a positive difference in your life.
Here’s an excerpt. Enjoy!
Excerpt from: Twice as Much in Half the Time,
by Amy JonesWhat does it mean to manage your time (and life) better? Simply put, it means to live your life in such a way that you are able to accomplish more, so that at the end of each day you can realize measurable results and enjoy a sense of fulfillment. This often involves learning to do things differently so that the outcomes are more efficient and effective (and even less time-consuming) than before. After reading from countless resources and speaking to over half a million people on the subject of time management, I have come up with a simple truth. Learning to manage your life and your time isn’t rocket science. Anyone can do it! In fact, it is often the simple things you can do that will make profound differences. Sometimes you even have to go backward in order to go forward; so let’s go back-to-basics with this example.
First, grab a pencil and paper. Think back to the time you started school, all the way back to kindergarten. One of the first things you learned was how to identify shapes. Next you learned to draw them. On that sheet of paper I want you to do something very simple. Draw one triangle. That was simple, wasn’t it? Now, draw as many triangles as you can in twenty seconds. Stop. Count how many you were able to draw. Write down that number. Do you think there might be another way to complete this activity and draw more in less time?
Start at one side of the paper and draw connected W’s all the way across the page. Now put a line across the top and the bottom. See how many you can draw in twenty seconds using this method. Wow, that creates a lot of triangles! In only a few seconds you have learned to do this activity more efficiently and effectively in a much shorter amount of time. A seemingly insignificant change can make a significant difference in what can be accomplished in a given amount of time. In fact, you most likely made up to four or five times as many triangles the second time around.
What if you could do four or five times your sales volume by making a simple change? Or what if you could get four or five times as much done each day by making a simple change? Would that work for you?
If so, always be on the lookout for “new” ways to do “old” things, and keep your mind open to using alternative methods and plans of action. This book is filled with simple things that can make a profound difference. Are you ready to learn some new ways to manage your life and your time even better?
Then let’s get started!
For more information or look inside the book, just click here Twice As Much In Half The Time.
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Finish Strong in 2009,
Today, I’m happy to announce a new release, Pulling Together by John Murphy: Pulling Together. This book contains 10 Rules to encourage higher performance teamwork.
As I was reading through it and discussing it with my coworkers, we were trying to figure out our collective opinion on the most important teamwork rules. We also wanted your thoughts on the subject, so what do you see as the most important rules in fostering teamwork?
To look inside the book click here Pulling Together
We’ve talked before (a while back) about thinking about and setting life goals
But I’d like to hear from all of you — what are your top life goals, what are your dreams, what [...]
We’ve talked before (a while back) about thinking about and setting life goals:
- Think about your life goals
There’s never a good time to sit down and think about what you want to accomplish in life. We have busy lives, and even when we’re not busy, we might just feel more like vegging in front of the TV or checking our feeds than thinking about the rest of our lives.
Do it today, if you haven’t yet. It could take as little as 10 or 20 minutes, and it could make all the difference in the world.
And it’s not that hard. You probably already have a good idea of what you want to do, but you may not have it written down. Or maybe you’ve done this exercise before, but you haven’t updated your goals for awhile. Now’s the time to do it.
1. How to start? First, think about what you’d like people to say about you at your funeral. This comes from Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People — the habit called “Begin with the end in mind.” It’s also very effective. Imagine you are at the end of your life, looking back. What would you like to have accomplished? What kind of person would you like to have been?
Now here’s the key: start living your life so that you will eventually get to that point.
2. Now that you’ve given that a little thought, jot down some ideas for life goals you’d like to achieve before you die.
They can be in many areas, but here are a few to start with: professional, education, family, spiritual, travel, recreation, hobbies, community, charity. You can probably think of more, and you don’t need to have goals in all of these areas. Just some topics to get you started.
3. Refine your list, or expand it. After your initial brainstorm, you may want to trim it down. But you may also want to expand: sometimes it’s fun, and worthwhile, to dream big.
4. Now break it down. What should you accomplish in the next 10 years for each of these goals? How about 5 years? How about two years? One year? And this month?
Once you’ve planned out each goal for 10-year, 5-year, 2-year, 1-year and 1-month periods, you’ve got yourself a pretty solid plan.
5. Take action! I like to take my monthly goals, and make a to-do list for this week. What can I do today to further my goals? And if I can get just one thing done, I’ve done a lot to make those dreams a reality!
Take a step towards your dreams today by writing them down, and making a plan.
But I’d like to hear from all of you — what are your top life goals, what are your dreams, what is your mission in life?
If you haven’t given this much thought, or haven’t thought about it in awhile, there’s no better time than the present!
So here’s today’s reader question:
What are your top 3 life goals?
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