M = Motivation Monday

The above is part of the A-Z of Excellence cards by Nicholas Bate.

Have Some Fun Today

Just finished watching a great video over at CultureOffering about having fun.

Watch it. Do it.

Sunday is always a great day to start something new.

It's Cool AND It's Easy. . .

Check out this exciting, new, first-of-its kind Small Business Goal Setting challenge issued by Staples. Here's how it works:

Now - April 12, small-business professionals will be able to log on to http://www.staples.stickk.com/ to sign-up for free to be part of the Staples stickK to It! Business Challenge. To help achieve goals, users create a Commitment Contract, a promise by a user to reach a goal. The Commitment Contract concept, based on incentives and accountability, was invented by stickK.com after years of research in behavioral economics.

“We’ve found that everyone starts off wanting to achieve their goal, but most of the time there is nothing out there to make them stickK to their word,” said Ian Ayers, co-founder of stickK.com. “By entering into a commitment contract, backing out becomes harder – ‘commitment’ and ‘contract’ are two words that resonate with people and keep them committed to achieving their goals.”

Participants choose from five different goal setting focus areas on www.staples.com/goals: 1) Get Organized/Increase Productivity; 2) Professional Development; 3) Maximize Your Bottom Line; 4) Green Your Office; and 5) Improve Working Environment. Once they select a focus area, participants select specific commitments and personalize them to best fit their needs and objectives. Next, they choose someone to be their referee- a colleague or friend who will monitor their progress and support them along the way. Then, users will start earning EasyPoints as they make progress and report on their goals and can then redeem the EasyPoints for Staples products and services. The last step is achieving success. If users follow the Commitment Contract framework, as the stickK.com model has found, they will be well on their way to accomplishing their goals.

Thank you Staples, for helping us to reach our goals!

- Posted by Cheri

212

Go from 211 to 212 with Patrick.

Very powerful.

- Posted by Cheri

20 Goals for Your Business/Career in 2010

In the January edition of Actionotes, the lead story gave the results of our recent poll on New Year's Resolutions. As noted in the article, here are a few of the answers our members gave to the question List your top 3 goals for your business/career for 2010:

• Maintain or increase # of employees in FY 11
• Less time at work/more with family
• Expand my ability to lead
• Find a good way to market myself
• Dress nicer
• Increase revenue 15%
• Better organized
• Get the government out of our business
• Exceed expectations on my performance review
• Expand services
• Increase customer satisfaction
• Solidify retirement planning
• Customer service levels better than competition
• Employee benefits vs wage increase
• Try to limit hours at work to 8
• Develop team members
• Increase client list by 5%
• Reward customers for their loyalty
• Have a great attitude
• Stop cussing

- Posted by Cheri

10 for 2010

Check out 10 revolutions (not resolutions) over at Matt's place. Even if you complete just one of the the ten actions, you will be a happier person. Guaranteed.

- Posted by Cheri

Resolutions vs. Goals

Nicholas Bate has a great post up today on why we sometimes fail at Resolutions and "off-the-shelf-goals".

It is the first post in the Breakthrough Principals 1-31 series. Check it out.

- Posted by Cheri

Me? Edgey? Whatever.

Strategic Edge teaches us how to change feeling that way. Just like that.

40 Inspiring Speeches

Everyone has the ability to inspire others. Here are 40 examples:

Jack Of All Trades

Read an article tonight over at zenhabits about whether it is better to be good at a lot of things, or great at one thing.

I was discussing this with my husband and he said it reminded him of a quote he recently heard :

"An educated person should know everything about something, and something about everything"

If conducting a self-examination, I would have to say that I fall into the 'good at a lot of things' category. My problem is that I'm not sure what the 'great at one thing' should be. According to the article and many others I have read, it should be something that I am passionate about.

So which category do you fall in? And what are you passionate about?

"Hey Beautiful, You Have A Text Message"

My daughter recently upgraded her cell phone. Like any typical teenage girl, she downloaded different ring tones and music and apps. Last week I happened to be near her when her phone said: "Hey beautiful, you have a text message". I looked at her and asked, "who is that guy and why did he just tell you that?" She laughed and told me that it was something you can download and that one of her friends sent it to her to use. I wanted to hear it again, so I sent her a text. Sure enough, the man said, "Hey beautiful, you have a text message". I told her that I LOVED it and asked if she would send it to me. Of course she said no. "That would be weird if you had it on your phone mom", she snapped. I was disappointed.

Why did I want that on my phone? Emotion. It made me feel good. I kept thinking to myself, wouldn't it be nice to hear that every day, even if it was from a man's voice who I did not know? It is a self-confidence booster.

Get a group of women together and they tend to compliment each other on their clothes, hair, shoes, purses, jewelry (you get the point). The bottom line is that it is human nature that we like to hear compliments about ourselves. It makes us smile. It puts a little bounce in our step. It puts us in a good mood.

In this fast-paced world, we are so busy that we stop noticing things and we forget to compliment each other. Positive comments can go a long way in building and maintaining relationships. It also creates a habit of thinking of others first, and wanting to make other people happy.

And this world can use a lot less selfishness, if you ask me.

Inspired By Love

Congratulations to Susie Hemingway on her first published book entitled A Power Within.

I just ordered my copy and am looking forward to reading it.

Thanks to Matt for writing about it in today's Sunday Inspiration.

12:59

Take time to watch this video. What an interesting man and business. I would love to go shopping there.



Found it on Seth's blog.

25 Ways to Double Your Salary

. . .with the inspiring Nicholas Bate.

Internet Fact vs. Fiction

My husband brought home a copy of an email he wanted me to read and it was one I enjoyed. As I was reading it, I thought about posting it on this blog. That is until I read the last line:

"Its estimated 93% won't forward this. If you are one of the 7% who will, forward this with the title '7%' "

Let me first tell you that if you send me something that has that on the bottom of the page, I WILL NOT forward this on to anyone. Chances are that I probably will hit 'delete' right away.

But because I liked this email, I decided to do a little research to see if it was real. Here are my findings:

1. The email said it was written by Regina Brett, a 90 year-old woman who is a columnist for The Plain Dealer. The title was called 45 Lessons Life Taught Me.

Fact: Her name is Regina Brett and she is a columnist for the Plain Dealer

Fact: She is 50 - NOT 90. Just a 40-year mistake.

Fact: The original article was called 50 Life Lessons - Regina Brett's 45 life lessons and 5 to grow on

Lesson - Although I can't imagine operating today without the Internet, I certainly don't believe everything I read. You must have a filter and be willing to do some fact checking if you are planning on passing the information on to other people to read.

And you should check out the list. It is filled with good, solid advice to live by discovered by a 50 year-old.

Stuff To Ponder And Listen To On A Sunday

Thanks to mattrutherfordDOTcom for his Sunday Inspirations post today.

I just skimmed the 1,oo1 Rules For My Unborn Son (great stuff - I will be a returning visitor) and am now listening, as I write this, to Olafur Arnalds – Icelandic rock drummer turned nu-classical. Very beautiful.

Life = Risk

Excellent video about failure.
Enjoy.



Thanks Kyle.

I'm Impressed

Recently I told two friends that "I don't impress easily". Titles don't mean much to me and dropping names turns me off. But today, I am impressed.

I found Nicholas Bate through Cultural Offering. I have linked to him several times recently. I love his style of writing - little bits of useful information in the form of lists. Easy read. Inspiring. Motivating.

I received a package today from him, as his way of thanking me for the recent links. It contained several booklets of his which have lists on professionalism, freedom, sales, writing, marketing, etc. Wow. What an unexpected gift.

I'm now impressed.

Thank you Nicholas.

The Daily 7

Good post from Nicholas Bate on things you should be able to do each day.

Stable of Support

Our guest blogger today is Mark Labutis:


The last few weeks and months have been interesting. It's been a time of challenges and growth for me professionally. I've moved in directions that I wouldn't have thought possible more than a year ago.

One of the constant things over this period have been a group of people that have surrounded me and helped me work through this process of professional development. Some may call them mentors. I tend to call them my Stable of Support. This group of professionals have taken the time to invest their time and energy in me. I've written about mentors and mentoring before, but I never really answered the question of "why" you should seek out good mentors. The reasons may seem obvious, but let me cover a few of them:

1. Mentors can increase your potential- You have potential. No one will deny that. We all have potential. The question is, "what will you do with it." A good mentor can add to your potential by sharing insights and experiences that you may not have had yet. They can give you wisdom beyond your years. All of this plays a role in increasing your potential abilities.

2. Mentors can push you-A good mentor, if they truly believe in you, will push you. They will push you to expand your horizons and can help you take that first step to the next big thing. While they are pushing, they are also providing a level of support as well. This mentor affords you access to knowledge and insights that you may not have had. Oh, and if they are pushing you in a certain direction, it's because they believe in you and want to see you succeed. It's a good thing.

3. Mentors can see what you may not see-We all have blind spots. The things that are present, but we aren't aware of. Having someone who can view you and your skills and abilities from a different perspective, is extremely valuable. Good mentors can actually aid you in seeing yourself differently than you normally would.

4. Mentors can help you navigate the road to success-Mentors, because they have traveled a path similar to yours previously, can alert you to opportunities and potential pitfalls. Have you ever traveled somewhere for the first time and had a friend or coworker who has already visited the place you're going? Visit this place. Don't waste your time there. Go there on a certain day for a special event. Don't miss this. You have to do this...you get the picture. A mentor can do exactly that, only for your professional (and personal) development.

So, now you're excited and ready to ask someone to be your mentor. Great! Now, let me offer a few pointers as you pursue this:

1. Choose your mentors carefully- Remember, you become what you associate yourself with.

2. Pick mentors who have similar values to yours- If you don't, this will, more than likely, curb the effectiveness of the mentoring relationship.

3. Show and tell: When asking someone to be your mentor, make sure to tell them why you're selecting them and the things that you appreciate about them. This will allow that person to be able to key in on items that you may want to develop.

4. Have a diverse group: Make sure to include some individuals that work in the industry you are currently in, or you would like to be in. This will allow both you and your mentor to relate the information that you're sharing. You'll also want to include some people that may not work in your profession. They can provide overall professional development to you.

5. Internal vs. External- Should you include only people from your current organization? No. They will provide insight into your current organization, however, you'll also want to include some who work outside your organization, as well. Why? Because you can gain valuable perspectives from different backgrounds. Great ideas can result from taking a concept or idea from one industry and contrasting it against the canvas of another.

6. The Challenge: Provide value to your mentor. As the person being mentored, the greatest challenge in this relationship is to find ways to provide value back to your mentor.
As for my own "Stable of Support", I'm extremely thankful for each of them. Thanks for pushing me, helping me grow and helping me see the things that I, on my own, would not have seen.

For more thoughts from Mark, go here.