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GOALS ENERGIZE OUR LIVES

Goals Energize Our Lives-Ray and Lyn achieving their Italy goal

Ray and Lyn celebrating their 25th anniversary in Italy 2022.

Goals energize our lives.

Goals provide us greater clarity, focus, and direction for living more joyful, fulfilling, and meaningful lives.

 

These tips will have you setting goals the SMART WAY.

Make them…

  • Specific(not too vague),
  • Measurable(so you know the progress you’re making),
  • Attainable(but a definite stretch),
  • Relevant(in alignment with your purpose, values, mission, and vision), and…
  • Time-bound(scheduled milestones). It is also important that you have them be…
  • Written(this makes them more solid), and build in…
  • Accountability(hence the need for individual development plans for your employees) and, finally, have a strong…
  • Yearningto achieve them (never underestimate the power of enthusiasm).

Here is a good example of a goal statement

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Create a Balanced and Fulfilling Life

Balanced and Fulfilling LifeDo you want to create a balanced and fulfilling life? Do you feel like your life is spinning out of control with all the chaos and turbulence that we have been experiencing lately in the world in the form of Covid, hurricanes, wildfires, and politics, etc.?

If so, now is the perfect time to refocus your attention on the things that you can control and restore balance back to your life. Don’t let others dictate what you should focus on. Invest some personal time on self-discovery to refocus your energy on the important areas of your life. This quick self-assessment can help.

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Cope with 2020 by Practicing Purity, Patience, and Perseverance

Practice Purity, Patience, and Purity

Twenty years ago, I learned a valuable life-principle for dealing with chaos and uncertainty that has helped me to better cope with 2020 by practicing purity, patience, and perseverance.

My three trips to an ashram in India from 1996 to 2001 continued to reinforce the importance of living this revitalizing triad of values. It has served me well especially when dealing with chaos and uncertainty like we are collectively experiencing today. Here is how you can feel greater confidence, comfort, and calm by applying the 3 P’s—purity, patience, and perseverance—to your life and business…

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Do Values or Principles Matter Anymore?

Do values or principles matter anymore? If so, what is the most important value or principle you live by? Why?

For me, two intertwined principles seem to rise up from deep within our collective humanity during trying times such as these we are facing today—a global pandemic, widespread unemployment, and the recalibration of political, cultural, gender and racial justice. These principles have been my guiding light throughout my entire life especially during turbulent times.

Hope and Healing After 9-11-01

One such time I remember is the aftermath of the 9-11-01 events. I was inspired, at 45 years old, to pedal my vintage bicycle 3,369 miles in 70 days from Phoenix, Arizona, to Ground Zero, New York City to honor the heroes of 9-11. Supported by my wife, Lyn, we rolled across America and shared a powerful message of hope and healing with thousands of people across America. People shared heartwarming stories with us, grounded in timeless principles that can help each of us be more peaceful and joyful no matter what is happening in our lives and the world.

The Golden Rule principleThe Golden Rule

The principle that echoed the deepest in my heart and others’ hearts that I connected with during my bicycle journey—and has echoed again during this present chaotic time—is The Golden Rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated. This overreaching principle embodies values such as respect, caring, trust, honesty, and simply being nice.

 

The Diamond Rule principleThe Diamond Rule

Another equally powerful principle is the flip-side of the same coin. I call it The Diamond Rule: Strive honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view. It means to walk a mile in another person’s moccasins to better understand their unique perspective. Read more

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50 Books for Small Businesses

Hope your summer is off to a terrific start.

Summer is a great time to catch up on your reading. Here are 50 books that a colleague, Lindsey Anderson, recently shared on her blog that are sure to keep you inspired and your business thriving even during your summer adventures. If you don’t own a business yourself, feel free to share it with someone you know who does.

I feel honored to have my book Energize Your Business included on Lindsey’s list of must read business books. Enjoy!

50 Books for Small Businesses

By Lindsey Anderson

(The following is from Lindsey Anderson’s One-Click Lindsey blog post dated May 30, 2019)

In the wide world of business, so much emphasis is put on what’s “Bigger.” It’s good to have a large, successful business, of course, but no business becomes the company of your dreams overnight. Everyone starts somewhere. Maybe you’re in the early stages of building your business—you’ve worked hard, stayed dedicated, and you know there’s a vibrant market out there just waiting for your great idea! However, you may not be sure where to go from here; hard work and passion got you this far and will carry you even further, but maybe you’re looking for something a little extra, some help to push you in the direction you need to go.

Look no further! Countless entrepreneurs just like you have been in your shoes before, and many of them are willing to help. Here are 50 books to aid you in your small business ventures—whether you’re looking to expand your horizons or keep it small-time, these experts know the ins and outs of success in businesses of all sizes and are more than willing to share their wisdom in the hopes that others may follow their dreams…

(Read About the 50 Books)

Enjoy your summer adventures and staying inspired.

Much success and fulfillment,

Ray

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How to Realize Your Goals Like a Pro

Introduction

Are you looking to grow and expand your business and life? There’s and art and science to it. The art is choosing to create an intention (or goal) you love that is meaningful to you and others. The science is invoking the universal creation process to realize your inspired idea.

Invoking the 4-Phase Creation Process

Each of us has been born with the same power to create the reality we desire. In each moment, we get to choose to be a creator or a reactor in life. A creative life is a joyful, expansive life. A reactive life is a stressful, contractive life. As human beings, we feel most alive and energized when we are consciously creating something new.

If you are satisfied with what is showing up in your life, do more of that. If you don’t like what’s showing up, do something different to create a more satisfying experience. The four phases of creation to manifest any inspired idea or intention are:

  1. Imagine
  2. Visualize
  3. Expect
  4. Allow

Here’s what each of the phases entail. Read more

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9 Ways to Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment

What do you do if someone you know or work with has a bad attitude or poor habit of doing something? A leader’s and parent’s job often includes mastering human relations by changing people’s attitudes and behavior.

In the last article I shared the “12 Ways to Win People to Your Way of Thinking ” from Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People.*

In this article, I share the remaining nine Dale Carnegie principles that can help you to be a leader who changes people without giving offense or arousing resentment.

Whether in business or your personal life, these following principles really work wonders to improve potentially destructive attitudes and behaviors.

9 Ways to Be a Leader:

How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment

(Click on each principle to read a brief synopsis)

  1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
  2. Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly.
  3. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
  4. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
  5. Let the other person save face.
  6. Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be “hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise.”
  7. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
  8. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
  9. Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.

Enjoy mastering the art and science of human relations. Read more

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12 Ways to Win People to Your Way of Thinking

Navigating today’s social and political climate which appears to be raging with divergent points of view takes mastery in human relations. Below are twelve common sense principles that can help.

In the last article I shared the “9 Ways to Be a Friendlier Person” from Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People.*

In this article I share the next twelve principles that can help you win people to your way of thinking (and still be friends). Whether in business or your personal life, these principles really work wonders to create alignment and mutual agreement.

12 Ways to Win People to Your Way of Thinking

(Click on each principle to read a brief synopsis)

  1. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
  2. Show respect for the other person’s opinions. Never say, “You’re wrong.”
  3. If your are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
  4. Begin in a friendly way.
  5. Get the other person saying “yes, yes” immediately.
  6. Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
  7. Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.
  8. Try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view.
  9. Be sympathetic with the other person’s ideas and desires.
  10. Appeal to the nobler motives.
  11. Dramatize your ideas.
  12. Throw down a challenge.

Enjoy mastering the art and science of human relations. Read more

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9 Ways to Be a Friendlier Person

Master the art and science of human relations. Do you want to be successful in business and life? Then it takes mastery in dealing with people.

This is an important time in history to show extreme kindness and compassion toward each other. To connect deeply.

Seeing so many people in attack mode these days can be disheartening. Maybe it’s time we remember the basics of human relations much like baseball players will return to the fundamentals of their swing when in a slump.

This summer I have enjoyed a great summer read that is as meaningful and relevant today as when it was published over 80 years ago—How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.* I hope you have enjoyed the 30 principles I have shared over the past several months.

I thought you would enjoy an encapsulation of the principles. Whether in business or your personal life, these first nine principles will help you generate a magnetic, attractive personality.

3 Fundamental Techniques in Handling People

(Click on each principle to read a brief synopsis)

  1. Don’t criticize, condemn or complain
  2. Give honest and sincere appreciation
  3. Arouse in the other person an eager want

6 Ways to Make People Like You

(Click on each principle to read a brief synopsis)

  1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
  2. Smile.
  3. Remember that a person’s name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
  4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
  5. Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.
  6. Make the other person feel important—and do it sincerely.

Enjoy mastering the art and science of human relations. Read more

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Human Relations Principle #29 to Be a Leader

Human Relations Principle #29: Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.

 

 

(This is the twenty-ninth in a series of articles where I will encapsulate each of Dale Carnegie’s timeless, life-changing principles for dealing with people. (Adapted from How to Win Friends and Influence People.))*

Tell your child, your spouse, or your employee that he or she is stupid or dumb at a certain thing, has no gift for it, and is doing it all wrong, and you have destroyed almost every incentive to try to improve. But use the opposite technique…

  • be liberal with your encouragement,
  • make the thing seem easy to do,
  • let the other person know that you have faith in his or her ability to do it, that he or she has an undeveloped flair for it,

and he or she will practice until the dawn comes in the window in order to excel. Read more

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