Have you ever gotten to the end of the day and though you were busy all day you felt like you didn’t get anything important done? It’s time to reclaim our lives and get back on track to accomplishing our goals and here’s a simple way to do that. I’ve been in business for years and it seems that the better business gets the harder it is to stay focused on the most important things. There have been many days I felt like I needed to work on an important project but things got in the way. Emails open doors, unexpected meetings, a conference call got scheduled, social media notifications and next thing you know … didn’t make progress on anything but BOY I sure did “stay busy.” Reclaiming our day can be simple when we build just a few routines in place to protect our time so we can focus on making progress in the areas we deem most important.

1. Start the day in your best state. The most successful people have a morning routine that centers...

  I would always hear people speak about finding a cause to get involved with and I’d say to myself, “Oh, I’ll do that when I’m making $XXX.” Or I’d say, “Oh, I don’t have time for that but when I’m a CEO and I have more time, I’ll be able to get involved in something!” Yeah right!! I learned very quickly … there is no such thing as finding or getting more time. And the more money you make the more money you spend … unless you have great habits already in place. Here are 6 steps that will help you with making contribution a consistent part of your life whether you’re just getting started or you’re already running a successful business.

1. You’re already good enough. It’s easy to think we need more credibility, experience, money, or whatever to be worthy of someone learning from us. But remember, there is someone else who has less than you and there is something you can offer.
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If I can come from a kid who was in an out of jail 3 times in high school, total hippie, no sales experience, no business experience and basically very little education and build myself into a successful business owner, coach and trainer, then YOU can accomplish anything you want as well.  

 1)    What is the PROJECT that you're working on? What do you want to accomplish? 

Too many people let other people tell them what their goals should be.  Take ownership of your goal.  Go after something that YOU get excited about.  Be specific.  "I want to sell ______ by ______."

 2)    What is the PURPOSE of this goal to you?  What does it mean to you? 

Too often we wander aimlessly toward something that we want to achieve without ever defining for ourselves why we're doing it in the first place.  What does accomplishing the goal mean to you long term?  What will it help bring more of into your...

When I was twelve, I wanted to be a lawyer.  I think I just liked arguing a little more than was healthy, and it seemed lawyers got paid well.

When I was fourteen, I thought many foods were disgusting.  Those included broccoli, onions, bananas, tomatoes, olives, and spinach.  I also thought I knew everything I really needed to know in life.

When I was sixteen, I thought I had a pretty good handle on life.  Work your ass off, stay out of trouble, get a decent job, and find someone to marry and make kids with – that’s the way to live the good life.  Oh, and at that point, I wanted to be an accountant, because that was the only business class I had in high school. 

When I was twenty, after having anthropology, astronomy, philosophy, and literary analysis classes, I really wanted to change my major to something more interesting than marketing (which it was by that point).  But I also wanted to do something practical that would almost...

The elderly gentleman in the rusted, old truck next to my car had thick eyeglasses and a frown decorating his face.  He glanced at me as I left the veterinarian clinic.  Our vehicles were parked next to each other in the shopping center lot.  I put my cat, Spike, in the passenger seat of my car, and as I walked around to get in the driver seat, I heard the old
man’s engine make some noise but fail to start.

I had started my car and was ready to pull away but decided to see if I could help.  After all, it was a blistering hot day.  I couldn’t imagine leaving him stranded in an old truck with no AC.

I got out of my car, walked over to him and knocked on his window.  He didn’t respond right away, so I knocked again thinking maybe he didn’t hear me the first time.  He turned and looked at me, then opened his door. 

“Do you need a jump?” I asked.

“Yes.  I think I do,” he said.  “That...

While reading Lend Me your Ears by William Safire – a book of great speeches, I’m reminded of a lesson I learned years ago that still rings true today.  Preparing for multiple future outcomes can provide many benefits in both the present and the future– when you’ll experience the not-yet-known result.

The future benefits include:

• Appearing clever when reacting to whichever result occurs
• Less emotion attached to the outcome
• Strategies already in place or quickly implementable

The present benefits include:

• Decreasing fear or anxiety
• Ample time for strategic thinking

The reason Mr. Safire’s book reminded me of this topic is because within the great passages of his script, he shares the speech he wrote for President Nixon to use in the event that Apollo XI was an unsuccessful mission.  When the astronauts landed on the moon, two types of speeches were written – one for celebrating the...

If you chose to train as a basketball player, and you could choose anyone in the world to be your personal basketball coach, whom would you choose?

You’d most likely choose someone like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, or Tim Duncan.

If you wanted to be successful as a musical artist, and you could choose anyone in the world to be your personal music mentor, whom would you choose?

That answer would probably be someone like Justin Timberlake, Madonna, Diddy, Jennifer Lopez, Toby Keith, Steven Tyler, or (insert your favorite artist here).

What if you wanted to be a successful investor?

What if you wanted to be successful in relationships?

If you are going to learn from someone, why not learn from the best?  Someone that has done successfully what you want to do and knows how to do it and how not to do it.  They’ve already been through the trial and error portion of their path to success and have learned invaluable information along the way.  You can benefit...

Deliberate Acts of Kindness

It’s no surprise that when one person does something nice for another, the recipient is more likely to do something nice for a third person, and so on.   Research has shown that just as acts of aggression toward others can lead to a chain reaction of aggressive behavior in others, so too do acts of generosity lead to more generous behavior in the recipients.  If you want to help mold your college campus, work environment or community into a kinder place, it starts with being the altruistic example.

Will you commit to doing at least one of these acts every day?  If you do, you'll see the impact it has on you and those around you.

Acts of kindness:

• Say "please" and "thank you" and really mean it.
• Say "Good morning" to people you cross paths with in the morning.
• Put a shopping cart back in its holder – even if it wasn’t one you used.
• Take off your shoes when you enter someone’s home, without being...

We checked in to our room at a sunny resort in Dominican Republic, thanked our bellman with words and cash, and I kicked off my shoes.  Filled with excitement for the coming week with plans of relaxation, spending time with our friends, and exploring the area, we began to unpack. 

Since I used my computer during travel, it was low on battery, so I pulled it out of the bag and bent down to plug it into the outlet under the desk.  After standing, I attached the cord to the power outlet on the laptop and received a little zap.  “Got my finger in between the two metal pieces,” is what I thought.

I proceeded to move the laptop to the corner of the desk so it would be out of the way, and when I touched the metal laptop case, I received my second shock.  A vibration shot up my arm.  This time, I let out a small shriek as I jumped back.

That got my husband’s attention.  He asked me what I was doing, so I explained the zaps I was...