Monthly Archives: May 2011

Yes You Can

Posted by admin on 05/31/2011 None comments

If you could change one thing in your life today, what would it be? Why don’t you have some of the things you’d like to have, and why do you have some? What’s the reason for the inconsistency?

Do you find yourself wondering what people think of you? Has that line of thinking ever made you doubt your abilities and your potential?

Do you ever catch yourself thinking ‘I can’t do that, I’m not good enough’ or ‘that level of success and prosperity is for them, not for poor old me’, or other similar thoughts?

One thing you must realize is that your success in any venture starts with your thoughts about it. If you think you can succeed (in losing weight, stopping smoking, securing a high-income- paying job, finding your ideal partner, etc, etc), you’re already on your way to getting what you want.

Someone once said (I forget who)’if you think you can or if you think you can’t, you’re probably right’. It’s up to you to make things happen in your life.

The way your mind works, it accepts whatever you feed it as reality. So if you feed it with thoughts of success (eg ‘I CAN lose weight healthily’, ‘I CAN stop smoking’, ‘I CAN find a high- income paying job, etc, etc), it will work to make it happen.

You’ll become alert to opportunities (and they are all around you if you’d only open your eyes and look) to move you towards your desired results.

Conversely, if you feed your mind with negative thoughts such as the ones above, your mind doesn’t bother to find solutions to your problems. It closes up. You wouldn’t recognize an opportunity to help you out if it slapped you in the face.

You know, it takes the same amount of effort to think positive thoughts as it takes to think negative thoughts. If positive thoughts help move you towards your goals while negative ones move you further away

from them, it makes sense to dwell on the positive.

~*~SIDEBAR~*~

Positive thinking is but a step in the journey called ‘success’. You need to back your thoughts with ACTION. You can think positive thoughts until your brain gets the cramps but if all you do is think and not act, you’d be wasting your time.

The good thing about positive thinking is that it puts you in the right frame of mind to take appropriate action.

~*~END of SIDEBAR~*~

Mark Twain (and later Napoleon Hill) said that ‘What the human mind can conceive and believe, the human mind can achieve’.

The problem comes up after conceiving a potentially great idea. The little voice inside you starts saying things like ‘that’s a crazy idea’ or ‘nobody’s ever done that before -who do you think you are?’ . Your friends and family make fun of your idea. You begin to get discouraged and to think ‘maybe it wasn’t such a good idea after all’.

What should you do when this happens? Take control of your thoughts, that’s what. Your mind has conceived it, remember, so your mind CAN achieve it. You just need to line up your thoughts and actions with what you want to do.

Tell all those naysayers (internal and external) that you will succeed in reaching your goal.

The next line of thinking after ‘I CAN’ is ‘I WILL’.

Feed yourself with thoughts like that about yourself (and act accordingly) and you’ll see your confidence, awareness and productivity soar. You’ll find yourself attracting those things you want into your life.

Who says you can’t make it? Tell them you CAN and you WILL. Then go out there and make it happen.

About The Author

DR Kem Thompson is a Personal and Health Coach. She teaches individuals and groups how to achieve success using the Universal Principles of Success. Subscribe to her FR*EE newsletter, ‘Days of Success!’ and receive a thank-you gift by filling in the form here: www.daysofsuccess.com

kem@daysofsuccess.com

Make the Eat and Earn Connection

Posted by admin on 05/30/2011 None comments

If you’ve ever thought about wanting to increase your physical energy and wouldn’t mind increasing your financial as well, you have to read this right now!

Focus #1 – Name Your Hunger/Want/Desire/Achievement

• You know what you want to change better than anyone else. It is that nagging voice in the back of your head that speaks to you every time you go against it (i.e. when you find yourself at the fridge when you aren’t hungry or spending money that you don’t have)

• Give it Daily Attention. This doesn’t mean to be sure that you feel BAD everyday about something you don’t have. Instead, once you really declare what you WANT, you need to give time in the morning, evening…anytime that you can to focus on everything you ARE doing to bring this change about.

• Believe. This is a key ingredient for success, people. You must recognize the role you play in creating your own life. If you have been spending the majority of your time telling yourself what you can’t do, it is time to shift that focus to what you can do.

Focus #2 – Feed Yourself Well

• Change Habits. This is what I call finding “A New Family Recipe”. It is about letting go of the things in our lives that are not serving us, but that we feel committed to out of loyalty to our families (i.e. – The Smith family ALWAYS has dessert!). This is absolutely one of the most difficult things to do. So, you have to bring yourself back to giving attention to shifting your beliefs. You can still love your family and NOT eat dessert every day.

• Your Physical Fuel. Give real strong attention to what you use as fuel for your body, your day, your life. It isn’t about playing games with yourself, making trade offs (cookies today, gym tomorrow) or just “eating less”. It is about bringing in

strong sources of EnergyRich foods – whole, high vitamin, up and outward energy food. Prepare yourself for this journey called your life.

• Your Brain Fuel. This is about choosing your life, not just letting it happen to you. It requires making decisions, setting goals and creating plans. It is about answering the question, What do I want? Then writing down some thoughts on paper for the month, next 3 months and 1 year ahead. You want to pull yourself into your future, not just wade through each day. We get one go-around this lifetime.

Focus#3 – Invest

• Nothing comes from extremes. Take what you want to change and try it for one day: i.e -one day of no sugar. The day will end and you will have had the experience. You can make your choice of how to proceed from there.

• Value mistakes. You have so much to learn from what didn’t work. Make a note of it; don’t beat yourself up and then don’t do it the next time around.

• GIVE. This doesn’t mean put everyone and everything in front of yourself and lose yourself as a result. It means to NOT give into the fear of “not enough”. It is instead about recognizing that there is enough for you and then others. Money is an energy exchange. Withholding, hoarding etc. keeps this energy from moving. It also keeps toxins in, weight on, and ailments from healing.

Think about all of it …

To Your Health and Success, Heather

Want to use this article on your website or your own ezine? You absolutely can! But here’s what you MUST include: Heather Dominick, Certified Nutrition-Energy Consultant, is founder of the EnergyRich Lifestyle Program™, the proven step-by-step program to help you achieve your best health and fullest life. To sign up for her freebie how-to articles and no-charge teleclasses on creating your best energy life, visit http://www.individual-health.net

Ideas

Posted by admin on 05/29/2011 None comments

While the inception of penicillin brought a bit of a stir, and the television warranted some focus, it is somewhat easier now to fashion an idea into something sustainable.

Easier again is the ability to make an idea into a business without leaving the house.

For this to happen, we must blame our current communications networks, or more specifically, the Internet.

Tele commuting, as it is known, can never replace physical relocation. Nor is it likely that we will be able to download a pint of milk. We can though, order such a necessary protein.

Modern society has become a blessing to the infirm and physically compromised, due to the relative ease with which an individual can access services and create services.

Not many will claim it to be simple, as it isn’t. Few can say that it is impossible where everything but the idea itself is present.

It is the idea and the future protection of it, which will be the issue, as new ideas must muscle some space in a world revolving on existing ideas.

Being good enough is not enough, as competition will argue. All aspects must be covered from the type of marketing to the targeting of an audience.

A burger joint in the middle of an unpopulated dessert could only work where the

indigenous camels have an understanding of money, as well as convenience food.

Indeed, the delivery of an idea even supersedes the idea itself. Evidence of this is everywhere, with rather silly ideas turned into success stories because the correct and most impressionable markets were focused upon. Thereafter, some time to progress was inevitable.

Without a doubt, though anything on-line is convenience at its best and has real-time update abilities that its off-line counterparts can never have. In some countries, taxation doesn’t apply where the product is electronically deliverable.

“The burger joint must restock, while the on-line business reboots and reloads”.

Negligible inventory, increased automation and user-friendly interfaces mean that possibilities are less punishing and within the grasp of anyone so inclined.

Even to be able to discuss anything with a stranger on opposing sides of our planet opens up a networking potential. While some might take it for granted, it was impossible some time ago and such strangers would not even be known, let alone contactable.

So it is true that focussing on an idea can be difficult in a distractive world.

It is also true that it is simpler not to even bother.

But, “where the will is there, the way of it is becoming more amenable”.

Seamus Dolly and Global Franchises are at http://www.Bidhire.com

What Do You See When You Look In The Mirror?

Posted by admin on 05/27/2011 None comments

‘Image & Professionalism’ we hear these words being thrown around in conversation like cheap tokens, almost as frequently as their counterparts ‘quality’, ‘service’, and ‘value’. So what does ‘Image & Professionalism’ really mean, and what do you see when you look in the mirror?

A funny thing happens when you overuse a word. It loses its power. It loses its effectiveness. Overuse weakens it…sort of like tissue paper.

“Yuck!” Now that was a bad analogy. Sure I could have changed it – but I liked the image, it served to make a point.

Soggy Tissue Paper…

One moment you were reading along, paying close attention, and then (in the words of Emeril), “Bham!” You had visions of soggy tissue paper floating through your mind.

Now that was an image.

Do I have a point? Sure I do. An image is a fragile thing and can be created and destroyed very easily. As the saying goes, if you don’t actively create an image for yourself, someone else will. Permit me to share one definition of ‘image’:

Persona, image — ((Jungian psychology) a personal facade that one presents to the world; “a public image is as fragile as Humpty Dumpty”)

Hold on to that thought for a moment, I want to get to ‘Professionalism’. Here’s the definition for that word:

A set of characteristics or behaviours that are worthy of the high standards of an occupation that requires advanced training in a specialized field.

Okay, so now you know the dictionary definitions, did they match yours? To the definition of professionalism I’d add a professional is someone paid to render a service – unlike a volunteer who does not.

Pay The Piper…

Now before you disagree with me and say you’re a professional and a volunteer, I’d challenge you to research the word a little further. It’s this whole payment aspect that seems to pre-qualify the word.

Also, pay attention to the ‘requires advanced training’ component. If you’re a highly trained paid individual – then by definition you are

a professional.

If your actions are seen by others to mirror those qualities (in other words the image you portray) then you are seen as demonstrating professionalism. Of course there is that issue of ‘worthiness’, but let’s not cloud things.

If a Tree Falls In The Woods…

So does that mean if no one sees you acting professionally then you’re not a professional? It’s like the question about the tree falling in the woods, does it make a sound if no one is there? Does that mean someone could arbitrarily decide you’re not worthy of the title? Does that mean that someone could come along and damage your image with negative comments?

Sure it does. It means all these things and more. In fact the whole image and professionalism debate will most likely carry on for ever. At the end of the day the measure of a person will always be, to some degree, externally defined by the opinions and observations of others.

Who’s Watching?

However the real test of your character – because that after all is what we’re really talking about here – is defined by what you do when no one is watching. It’s how you act when the chips are down. It’s how you speak to others when you’re tired and low, and as an unknown author once said, “Don’t be content with being average. Average is as close to bottom as it is to the top.” Be excellent!

So what do you see when you look in the mirror?

AUTHOR BIO: James Burchill is a freelance marketing consultant and author. He’s also the editor and associate publisher for two of the automotive aftermarket industry’s leading print publications and he’s the publisher of http://www.CorrectLink.com – a new Internet publication for the automotive aftermarket in Canada.

In between all that, James helps people ‘Sell more stuff, and make more money!’ and publishes a series of informational and Internet products about advertising and marketing. His main website is http://www.JamesBurchill.com

Creative Thinking The Secret Key To Lasting Success

Posted by admin on 05/27/2011 None comments

What is creativity anyway? Well, let us look at the word. Creativity means the capability to build, create something. It does mean to build something new but not necessarily something unique. And here is the first trap many of us tap into. We tend to think about creativity as building something unique, something that has never been there before.

In fact, everything you create has never been there before anyway. Whatever you create, from making breakfast to writing letters, is something that has never been there before. Right? Ah, I can almost hear you say that is trivial.

Well, it might be trivial but creativity is trivial as it is a gift every human being is blessed with. What we need to do to unleash the power of creativity is to put it from the breakfast creating level to new heights.

Now how do you do that? You do it as you learn every skill. By practicing and exercising. Any skill you ever mastered you mastered through taking the steps needed and practice them over and over again. That’s how we learn new things.

Think of your creativity as a muscle. That muscle can be strong or weak, depending on how much you have used it in the past, but no doubt about it that muscle is there. If you compare yourself with a body builder, would you say your body misses any muscle he has? Certainly not, only these muscles might be covered a little bit – or a little bit more- under some fatty tissue and are so weak that they do not show through.

Same goes with creativity. We simply have it but it is often our weak muscle covered by the fatty tissue of beliefs we have about our own incapability and about the superiority of others.

Once you take that metaphor as a given, you can start building your creative muscle. You can make it as strong as you like it to be. the only thing you need to do is constant excoriate.

So, how to build your creative muscle again?

Every creative process has 4 phases.

* Preparation

* Cerebration

* Realization

* Application

Like toning your muscles by going through certain steps in the right sequence you build up creativity by applying these for phases sequentially.

At first you might only do it once in a while. But the more you do it the stronger your creative muscle gets and the easier it is. it just becomes a habit. And a habit is something we do unconsciously.

Let us look at the steps a little closer.

Preparation

This is maybe the most important step. Preparation is about gathering the data, the information. All Improvements start with questioning the current situation. Asking questions, and asking the right questions is key.

Asking yourself hard questions is not always comfortable. But, remember, starting to exercise is not always comfortable as well. Nevertheless it is a must.

What questions to ask? Here are some questions to start the process.

What am I trying to do?

How am I trying to do it?

What are my assumptions?

What if my assumptions are wrong?

By asking these questions you start the loop of creativity. Just do not start judging for now.

Once you have your data collected, you know the frame of the problem. Now, begin with the second step.

Cerebration

This is the easiest step in the process. Cerebration simply means to stop consciously thinking about the issue and turn it over to your

unconscious mind. Because your rational mind has already clarified the frame of the challenge it is time now to tap into your resources.

How to do that? There are many ways but one works pretty well for me. I start thinking and doing something totally different after I told myself that I hand the issue over to my subconscious mind. No second thought on it. I actually deny myself to ponder over it. I do everything I can to not think about it anymore.

I think my unconscious mind becomes pretty upset of me ignoring it and usually starts acting like wild to get through to my conscious mind. The more I suppress this the stronger it tries.

Eventually my unconscious mind is so upset that it fires up ideas. Not only one or two, but because I consciously suppressed it from letting ideas coming out, it starts firing on idea after another. I never know when it happens, it could be hours or even days after I framed the issue. But I am sure it always happens.

And, this is my goal. Now I can go to the next stage.

Realization

This is where you take all the ideas your unconscious came up with and write them down. You realize them. You get aware of them.

In that critical stage we often start judging the ideas. Don’t do that before you have written down every single idea that your mind came up with.

Writing the ideas down or even saying them out loud, gives them a new dimension. You create the idea literally by giving it a form (either written or by producing sounds we call language). This is a very important part. Let the idea emanate, become something that exists outside of your brain. No matter how silly it seems, if it was worth for your subconscious to come up with it is worth to be written down. Value the work of your subconscious mind.

After you have written down all your ideas, you can go to the next stage.

Application

This is the last stage, where you evaluate the set of ideas and pick the one you belief has the biggest chance of being applicable. Make a Top 10 list of your ideas and sort them as long as it takes to find the right sequence.

Now you have done it. You can start to apply your idea to the problem. You will maybe find hundreds of issues that have to be solved but that is only an entry point to start the whole process over again until you succeed.

Creativity is a skill it is not a genetic gift to some. It is a gift you have too. Build your muscle using the sequence i gave you and you will start becoming a creative person able to solve problems and create the outcome you want.

2005 © Norbert Haag. All rights reserved.

PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH:

This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites given attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated: mail to: nhaag@onlinebusinesscoach.com

Norbert Haag is a business consultant, entrepreneur and sought after speaker for more than 20 years.
His company – Online Business Coach http://www.onlinebusinesscoach.com – provides information and services for online businesses, small business owners and freelancers.
You can reach Norbert at nhaag@onlinebusinesscoach.com.par

10 Ways to Survive and Celebrate Valentine’s Day When You Are Single

Posted by admin on 05/26/2011 None comments

Do you feel all alone and out of sorts on days like Valentine’s Day when you are not in a relationship? Use these suggestions to reframe your experience and set the stage for what you want to attract for yourself. Here are 10 things you can do to make it a great day for you.

1. Spend some time thinking of the loves you have known in the past. Are you holding any anger or grudges towards them? If so, spend some time releasing those feelings. Write a letter of forgiveness to the person, which you can choose to send or not. Be open and willing to forgive. Forgiveness gets you off the hook and frees you from a toxic bond that keeps you stuck in attachment to that other person. It doesn’t say what they did was okay, just that you aren’t going to hang on to feelings that are attached to the past and that hurt you more than the other person.Forgiveness opens the door to your heart and creates a space and loving emotional tone.

2. Be sure to spend at least 5 minutes in front of the mirror and tell yourself that you love yourself, exactly as you are now. Attracting a loving relationship is much easier when we love ourselves first. And it’s always good to give what we want to receive.

3. Think about the people that are part of your world that could use some extra attention and affection because they are alone. Is there someone you know that you could call and say I love you? Or send them a card? That will amplify the spreading of love which helps you to attract more.

4. Set an intention to have a loving day and to participate as fully as you possibly can in loving rituals. Be your own valentine for the day. What would you want to receive today – flowers, chocolates, and a loving card? Buy them for yourself!

The idea is to create as much as possible the Valentine’s Day you would want to have if you were in a relationship. That’s telling the universe what you intend to have in your life and gets you into the feelings level of the goal, which is a key way to attract what you desire.

5. Do celebrate with a friend. It is much more fun to be in the spirit of the day than to stay home feeling sorry for yourself. Ask one or more friends to go out and do something special with you.

6. Dress up. Do act as though you are going on a date. You are, only it is with yourself! Get all spiffed up. Gals, do your hair and make-up

as if you were going out with the man of your dreams. Men, put on what you would wear on a big date. If you treat yourself with this loving attention, you will feel the excitement of the day and that will send you out in the right frame of mind to have a great time.

7. When you are at the restaurant or wherever you have chosen to go, notice the couples and bask in all the love that is being expressed. Just soak it in and let it permeate you and keep you open to it. It will remind you of what you desire and give you concrete evidence that it is possible to have. Maybe you are not part of a couple today, but you could be tomorrow and this will help you be ready.

8. Be grateful for all the people you love now or have in the past -your friends, family and loved ones. Gratitude opens our hearts, puts us in a very positive frame of mind and says a great big “Thank you” to the universe. Appreciation means “to increase in value” and we are much more likely to receive our heart’s desire when we express gratitude for what we do have.

9. Do use today to recommit to what you really want in a relationship. Make a list of all the qualities that are important to you in a partner. Write out ten to thirty qualities or so and then read them periodically after today to remind you of what you intend to attract. Give thanks that this person is on the way to you.

10. Now spend some time visualizing yourself in a relationship with this ideal person.

What would it feel like to be in this relationship? What activities would you like to do?

If you would be living together, what is your home like?

What’s your favorite restaurant? See yourself having a romantic candlelight dinner with your man or woman. What are you eating? What are you wearing?

What places would you go?

Get in touch with whatever sensory experiences you can create. Perhaps there’s a cologne or perfume that you enjoy. Smell that. What does it feel like to walk hand-in-hand or to be held in the arms of this person?

This process of visualizing and acting “as if” is another tool to create the life of your dreams.

Copyright 2005 Rosemary Heenan

Rosemary Heenan is a Certified Integrative Coach Professional. Her specialty is coaching mid-life women who want this to be the best part of their lives. Sign up for her free newsletter at http://www.rosemaryheenan.com

NOTE: You’re welcome to reprint this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end).

5 Powerful Steps To Unleashing Your Creative Self

Posted by admin on 05/25/2011 None comments

There is a thread of certainty that runs through many lives. It is sensed as a measured and anticipated rhythm of predictability built upon our notions of how things have been and how they will continue to be.

While this is comforting and provides a sense of continuity to our lives, it is also limiting and not conducive to unleashing our creative selves. Here are five steps you can take to break the mold of predictability and expand your horizons in ways you never imagined.

1. Acknowledge And Release The Past

The mundane concerns of existence that propel us through our days often leads to a deadening of exhilaration; a striping away of the possibility for anything out of the ordinary.

Walking in a haze of memories, expectations, assumptions, guilts, worries – bombardments on our psychological and emotional centers – we are often oblivious to moments of complete amazement and wonder. We are wholly unaware and uninterested in seeing what is already there, but not yet recognized.

By bringing the preceding moment into this moment, you are unfairly coloring the outcome of this moment to look the same as before. Creating true change in your life begins by acknowledging and releasing the past, whether it be good or bad.

In fact, see the bad things for what they really are: revelations of what is truly good. For if life were all rosy and nothing bad ever happened, how would you know things were rosy? You would have no reference point; nothing to compare rosy against.

Release the past and you are free from a linear, pre-ordained future.

2. Say Thank You

Appreciate your life for what it has been. Give yourself a pat on the back for everything that brought you to this exact moment. Congratulate yourself on doing the best you could.

Give thanks to yourself, for the people around you, and to the source of life that allows you to say, “Here I Am!”

Practice sincere gratitude several times throughout your day. In this way you are able to stay connected with your creative energies and recognize abundance in the world.

3. Create Your Day

Imagine yourself awakening each morning to exclaim, “This is how I shall create my day!” How many people aspire to create moments that shape the day around them, rather than allowing the moments of their yesterdays to serve up the ordinary menu of today?

When you awake each morning, start out by deciding on the outcome of the day. We have been taught from an early age that the outside world determines our actions and our state of mind. This is not true. You have freewill. Use it.

Decide for yourself how you will feel and what you will accomplish. Do you want to be happy that day? Do you want to begin writing a operatic ballad? It doesn’t matter what it is. Just declare it. Simple as that.

If you don’t know what to declare on a given day, always start with happiness. Affirm your decision to be happy. Remember that happiness is a state of being, not a reaction. Don’t allow outside events determine whether you will be happy. Create the commandment in your mind and you will find that happiness exists in the strangest of places.

Fully expressing your creative self takes practice, especially if you are in the habit of reacting to the moments of your day. You are rewiring the neural connections in your brain. You are breaking old connections. With practice, creativity becomes a habit.

4. Expect The Unexpected

Consider the clarity and simple freedom that comes from being unattached to the unfolding of a moment in your life. How does it feel to be an observer; an inconsequential witness? Most of us have experienced these special moments to some degree. Can you recall such moments? Do you remember how it felt to be completely in the world, but not an immediate player within it? Simply watching. Uninterested. Non-judgmental.

At these times it is not unlike staring without prejudice into a fish tank. It makes

no difference in what direction the fish swim. It matters not the size of the bubbles percolating from the bottom. It’s of no concern the manner in which the water ripples on the surface.

If the moments of your life were observed in such a manner, you could then decide the meaning of circumstances in your life with fresh eyes. Moments would exist within the space of a moment. The meaning of the next moment could then be nothing, or anything. There are literally no limits.

Therefore, aspire to be an unattached observer each day. This doesn’t mean you can’t feel things. By all means, feel things with passion. Yet, be the observer of your passion. Be in your emotions, but not swept away by them. Watch your reactions, say hello to how you feel, and watchfully move on under the creative mandates you set for yourself at the beginning of the day.

What happens when you let go and be the observer? The unexpected happens. The clarity of purpose you defined at the beginning of the day is ever-present around you. Now you are free to notice, from among the thousands of pieces of information entering your brain each moment, the meaning of things which encapsulate your purpose.

5. Believe

What if the meaning of your moments was like the first flush of rapture found in the eyes of a new-found lover? Can you imagine such wonder and amazement, such endless depth, in the moments of your day?

When moments are free of preconceptions that have been brought forward, then the possibility of infinite futures take form. These are the times when you can indulge the ending of your story however you choose.

What is the ending? It is no more or less than the extent of your belief in what is possible. It is the ending that holds meaning for you; void of conjecture that your environment might not relinquish the prize of your choice.

It is an illusion to think that the environment around you exists without you. The environment exists because of you. You are the master. The stimuli that enters your brain through your senses is timeless, formless, and meaningless. You bring to your environment the meaning of your choice.

Your environment is like sand on a beach, smooth and undisturbed until your footprints change its landscape. A few come to build castles in the sand, while most simply wonder the water’s edge while their footprints wash back into the sea.

The universe listens to those who ask. And of those who ask, it is those who expect to be answered who will receive. Do not say you want the thing you desire. For the universe will deem your request already answered. To want is not to have. Do not say you will have it. That is the same as wanting.

Instead, have the thing you desire. Make up your mind it is already yours. Believe it is so because it is so. There is no elaborate, complex formula. It is as simple as breathing.

Now watch. Your desire has been granted. The universe has delivered it. With your new, unfiltered, of-the-moment vision, your steps lead right to it.

Putting it all together, here are the steps to fully expressing your creative nature:

  • Acknowledge the past and release it from this moment.
  • Give thanks to yourself, all things, and all persons.
  • Create your day on purpose. Decide and resolve.
  • Be watchful and expect the unexpected.
  • Believe.

    • Do you know the most wonderful thing about creating your life on purpose?

    You are in fact changing the world in no less significance than the achievements of the greatest teachers through all the ages.

    For when the masses transform the beaches into glistening and interweaved towers of sand then the world will change in indescribable ways. The unknown becomes infinite. Chaos becomes opportunity. Improbability becomes possibility. Certainty becomes purpose. Creativity becomes boundless.

    Brett Krkosska is a freelance writer and syndicated columnist. Visit his site, http://www.GodUnplugged.com for perspectives and commentary on the issues of life.

    Creativity, Innovation, and Market Performance

    Posted by admin on 05/25/2011 None comments

    Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.

    There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas.

    There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Whilst there is no sure fire route to commercial success, these processes improve the probability that good ideas will be generated and selected and that investment in developing and commercialising those ideas will not be wasted.

    Creativity, Innovation and Market Performance

    In the broadest terms, strategy is about growth. Decision makers are constantly looking for growth, in fact, in listed firms, shareholders demand it and at ever increasing rates.

    Decision makers have therefore to decide how to grow. There are a number of growth models and one of them is the Ansoff Model, which is useful for this argument:

    a) Market penetration – existing products in existing markets

    b) Market development – existing products in new markets

    c) Product development – new products in existing markets

    d) Diversification – new products in new markets.

    The strategies above suggest, at least, that:

    a) There should be a strong correlation between

    new products and market performance. This is proved correct (Tidd et al, 2005).

    b) Innovation is required consistently no matter what strategy is chosen. Existing products in existing markets must consistently improve their cost / performance mix to beat off rivals and innovation is required to find new markets for existing products. It is more obvious that innovation is required when new product strategies are engaged in.

    These and other topics are covered in depth in the MBA dissertation on Managing Creativity & Innovation, which can be purchased (along with a Creativity and Innovation DIY Audit, Good Idea Generator Software and Power Point Presentation) from http://www.managing-creativity.com.

    You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

    Kal Bishop, MBA

    **********************************

    You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author’s name and site URL are retained.

    Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached on http://www.managing-creativity.com

    Whos World Is It? The World Is Yours – Invite Success

    Posted by admin on 05/25/2011 None comments

    Who’s World Is It?

    Who’s world really is it? Is it a man’s world? There is a song by James Brown. “This is a mans world” is the chorus. Is this world the wealthy mans world? Those who have the money have the control, a lot of people will say. Is it the white mans world? Many people over the years have used this crippling concept, neutralizing their own ability of visualizing an outlook for themselves.

    Life has no boundaries. The sky is the limit as far as what we can obtain in all aspects of what we choose to see. The vision of the world is of no monopoly to anyone or anything.

    The World Is For Whoever

    The world is yours. mines. His. Hers. The world is for whoever. Those who challenge themselves enough to realize its rewards for them self. The world is simply a visual and mental picture of all things that make up your reality. If we do not see it, then for us it does not exist for us. How can it? This article did not exist for you until you brought it into your reality by acknowledging it.

    Stare at a piece of paper intensely for a minute, while telling yourself throughout the whole time that it is not a piece of paper, but rather a sheet of tin metal. In your world, this is what that piece of paper will become, and how can that not be the case, if that’s what you believe. This is your world.

    Our Visions Form Our Reality

    All things are first inspired through a visual picture. The music that you hear and listen to was arranged and inspired by the artist’s picture of a reality that is personal to them. They attempt to give you pieces, through their music.

    The designs of the vehicles which you see and drive are inspired by the engineers perception of what he believes people, whom he’s never met, will like enough to go out and purchase it.

    We scope out our relationships based on our perceptions of compatibility between the two persons involved. We draw up our goals according to a destination which we first only visually see, before making it a reality through achieving it.

    We Shape And Mold Our World

    We shape and mold our world according to how we view the circumstances which makes up our reality. This is why you will never be able to

    fully explain the extent of your view of your world. Our view is personal and formed specific to our likeness. Each of us have our own individual circumstances that conform our view accordingly, and no two views are the same. Same as no two people look exactly alike.

    Invite Success

    Think Positive

    Through our perceptions is how we invite success into our lives. Our lives are shaped by how we view its reality. We hold the ability to manage our thoughts, envisioning positive things as well as negative things. Just because something is negative for someone else, does not mean it has to be negative for you. We all individually hold control over our belief in this position, where we will decipher circumstances consistent with our personality.

    A person who thinks positive, is more likely to retrieve positive from a situation that most people will see as only being a bad situation. Just as a negative thinking person will see it undoubtedly as bad, with no chance of anything positive.

    All things first take place by way of your vision of mind. Then transformed into a reality, consistent with your thoughts. This is why the traits of your personality which form your perceptions are so important. Nothing happens until we first perceive it as being. In the light, positive or negative, of how we perceive it is how we then direct it toward the reality we want it to be.

    Envision It To Form Its Reality

    Just as in the case of reaching success building wealth. If we do not first see it, then it is not likely to happen for us. When we believe it enough to see it for ourselves, we then naturally place ourselves in positions to realize and accept that reality.

    Empower yourself and develop and conform your world, filled with the circumstances you want. Take control of your world and build its fortune, first by way of your perceptions, to then bringing them forth into reality.

    “Who’s World Is It? The World Is Yours. Invite Success”

    The author Eric Devone. His intentions through all of his writings are to encourage individuals to empower themselves and take hold of the reality of destiny. Grasp the presence of prosperity, the substances of success, first establishing within yourself environments which will admit such fortunes. To find out more, visit his site at http://www.successmindset-for-buildingwealth.com

    Empower yourself and achieve the levels of success you most desire.

    The DIY Guide To Brainstorming

    Posted by admin on 05/24/2011 None comments

    If you and your team are looking for a technique that’s pretty well guaranteed to solve all your problems, and come up with ideas you’d never think of on your own, then you can’t do better than good old-fashioned Brainstorming.

    When done correctly, Brainstorming is all of the following: simple, quick, productive, effective, developmental, teambuilding, and, perhaps most of all, fun.

    The technique has been around for a long time. It was first used by Alex Osborn, an advertising executive of the 1950’s, who laid down the following 5 rules when performing a brainstorming session:

    1. no evaluation of ideas

    2. wild ideas to be encouraged (in fact, the more, the better)

    3. quantity of ideas all-important

    4. participants should build on each others’ ideas

    5. apart from these 4, no other rules were needed.

    A brainstorming session can be used for all sorts of problems. It works for little problems where there is a solution waiting to be identified, such as a machine fault, to situations where there is no known solution, such as “How do we improve customer service?”

    So, how should you brainstorm?

    Based on Osborn’s 5 principles, the following method is one of the best:

    • First create a good group climate. Warm them up with a mini icebreaker or fun game. Don’t brainstorm in a group that isn’t already laughing, joking and chatting.

    • Select as many scribes as you can find with as many flipchart stands as you can find. Check these people are your quickest writers. Their job is to hear and record every idea.

    • Now write up your problem clearly and precisely. Make sure everyone can see it and understand it.

    • Then you’re ready to go. Encourage a constant flow of ideas while keeping some kind of order. Don’t put a time limit on the session as this adds pressure and will cut off the flow.

    The most common brainstorming technique is known as Sparking. That’s because in Sparking, all ideas are welcome and should spark off each other a bit like flashes of electricity.

    For

    more ways to brainstorm, here are 3 other techniques:

    • Paradoxical Intention, which turns the brainstorming session on its head by asking how you can make the problem worse. For example, if you had the following problem: “How do we improve the paperwork systems in the office?”, you might get: mix the files up; collect other people’s paper as well; leave them in untidy piles.

    • Wording, which takes each word in your problem statement in turn and develops ideas around it. So, in the same example, the word “paperwork” might produce: Put files on film; put files on computer; have a paperwork purge.

    • Seeding, which randomly selects a totally unrelated word and sees what ideas this will set off. So, in the same example, the word “breakfast” might produce: keep all the papers in empty cornflakes packets; have a daily breakfast-time clear-out of files; and have a deadline on all incoming paperwork by breakfast time each day.

    If your brainstorming sessions are chaotic and out of control, that’s good. They should be. Remember, you’re looking for a pile of ideas, not the one that instantly fits, and your team are producing them intuitively and spontaneously without any check on the flow from their subconscious.

    When you’ve filled up a large number of flipcharts and the ideas stop coming, then it’s time to take a break. You can then declare the brainstorming at an end and the evaluation can start.

    Even after 50 years of use, Brainstorming is still top of the creative thinking charts. Try it whenever you need lots of original ideas, and you’ll have one of the most powerful thinking techniques you could ever hope to use.

    © 2005, Eric Garner, ManageTrainLearn.com

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