Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!

Go Givers!!

It's been said that you cannot give away what you do not have. One of the most spiritual important insights or secrets in life is that you already have, and always have had, what you need to give away! If you impart the message that 'I am not worthy' the universe will send it straight back in many shapes, forms and circumstances.

When we say 'give me' we are imparting this message. We are saying we think we need to get something to complete ourselves or prove our worth. Most of us are taught to live a life of gimmie gimmie gimmie - always striving, desiring, wanting, struggling.

We do so only because we think that when we get what we want we will be fulfilled and esteemed by others. But it's an illusion. We are all already complete and worthy but we cannot know it and experience it, until we give it away!

Only giving allows us to know what we are and what we have within. Ask the question- how can I serve? The intention to serve will point you towards what you need to give. If the intention is real it also generates the will.

The most successful people in life are not go getters, but go givers!

Hearing and Listening are not the same thing

Active Listening

Hearing and listening are not the same thing. Hearing is the act of perceiving sound. It is involuntary and simply refers to the reception of aural stimuli. Listening is a selective activity which involves the reception and the interpretation of aural stimuli. It involves decoding the sound into meaning.

Listening is divided into two main categories: passive and active. Passive listening is little more that hearing. It occurs when the receiver or the message has little motivation to listen carefully, such as music, story telling, television, or being polite.

People speak at 100 to 175 words per minute, but they can listen intelligently at 600 to 800 words per minute (WPM). Since only a part of our mind is paying attention, it is easy to go into mind drift - thinking about other things while listening to someone. The cure for this is active listening - which involves listening with a purpose.

It may be to gain information, obtain directions, understand others, solve problems, share interest, see how another person feels, show support, etc. It requires that the listener attends to the words and the feelings of the sender for understanding.

It actually takes the same amount or more energy than speaking. It requires the receiver to hear the various messages, understand the meaning, and then verify the meaning by offering feedback. The following are a few traits of active listeners:

• Spends more time listening than talking.
• Do not finish the sentence of others.
• Do not answer questions with questions.
• Are aware of biases. We all have them...we need to control them.
• Never daydreams or become preoccupied with their own thoughts when others talk.
• Lets the other speaker talk. Does not dominate the conversation.
• Plans responses after the other person has finished speaking...NOT while they are speaking.
• Provides feedback, but does not interrupt incessantly.
• Analyzes by looking at all the relevant factors and asking open-ended questions. Walks the person through your analysis (summarize).
• Keeps the conversation on what the speaker says...NOT on what interests them.


• Takes brief notes. This forces them to concentrate on what is being said.

The Brain Test!

THE Right Brain vs Left Brain test ...

Do you see the Dancer turning Clockwise or Anti-clockwise?

If it is clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain, if she is spinning anti-clockwise then you use more of the left side of the brain. Interestly, some of you will be able to get her to spin in either direction. This is you switching sides of your brain from left to right and visa versa.

The brain sides have very different functions and the trick is to generate "whole brain thinking" to get the best from your life. Find ways to incorporate both left and right brain into your learning.

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS

• logic
• detail oriented
• facts rule
• words and language
• present and past
• math and science
• order/pattern
• perception
• reality based
• forms strategies
• practical
• safe

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS

• emotions
• colours
• control of our 5 senses
• big picture oriented
• imagination rules
• symbols & images
• present & future
• philosophy & religion
• spatial perception
• fantasy based
• presents possibilities
• impetuous
• risk taking

Another really important (and often over looked) point is that the right side of the brain looks after your long term memory. So if you want to remember something then I always recommend finding ways to learn that involve the use of colours, our senses and good use of the imagination.

7 Steps to make that “follow-up” call a Success

1. Don't assume the sale.
Prospects are used to the traditional buyer-seller relationship. They assume you’ll pressure them. Therefore, they may decide not to tell you things that make them vulnerable to pressure. Until you’re sure you know the complete truth, you can never assume the sale is yours.

2. Keep making it easy for potential clients to tell you their truth.
Toward the end of your conversation, ask, “Do you have any more questions?” If the answer is no, follow up with the 100% final truth gathering question: “Now, are you 100% sure that there’s nothing else that I can do on my end to make you feel more comfortable with this situation?” You’ll be amazed how often people will reply, “Well, actually, there’s one more issue...” It’s at this point that you really start to hear their truth.

3. Call back to get the truth, not close the sale.
Most potential clients who suddenly disappear expect you to chase them down. They expect you to call and say, “Hi, I was just wondering where things are at?” Instead, eliminate all sales pressure by telling them you’re okay with their decision not to move forward, based on their not having called you back. In other words, take a step backward. Most of the time, this will open the door to a new level of trust-filled communication.

4. Reassure them that you can handle a “no.”
Of course, we’d rather hear a yes. However, the only way to free yourself and your clients from subtle sales pressure is to let them know that it’s not about the sale – it’s about the best choice for them. If that means no sale, it’s okay with you.

5. Ask for feedback.
Whenever prospects disappear, call them back (e-mail only as a last resort because dialogue is always better). Simply ask, “Would you please share your feedback with me as to how I can improve for next time? I’m committed to understanding where I went wrong.”
This is not being feeble or weak. It’s being humble. This invites the truth.

6. Don't try to “close” a sale.
If your intuition tells you that the sales process isn’t going in the direction it should be going (which is always toward greater trust and truth), then trust those feelings.
Make it safe for prospects to tell you where they stand. It’s simple. All you have to say is, “Where do you think we should go from here?” But be prepared because you might not want to hear the truth of how they’re feeling. You can cope with this by keeping your larger goal in mind, which is always to establish that the two of you have a “fit.”

7. Give yourself the last word.
Eliminate the anxiety of waiting for the final call that will tell you whether the sale is going to happen. Instead, schedule a time for getting back to each other during your conversation. This eliminates chasing. Simply suggest, “Can we plan to get back to each other on a day and at a time that works for you? Not to close the sale, but simply to bring closure, regardless of what you decide. I’m okay either way, and that’ll save us from having to chase each other.”

You'll find that these suggestions make selling much less painful because you stay focused on the truth instead of the sale. The truth is, the more we release the idea of needing to make the sale, the more sales we will likely see.

Top ten tips to improve your memory

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR MEMORY

Four simple truths about memory:

1. It is normal to forget.
2. You can remember more and retain more for a longer period of time than you probably think you can.
3. A few memory aids that many people have found useful may work for you.
4. The best memory technique may be one you create for yourself, one that corresponds to your learning style.

Top 10 tips

The following is a list of strategies that have worked for many people:

1. Decide to remember. Resist passivity. Become an active learner by making a conscious, deliberate decision to remember. Follow through on this decision.


2. Combine memorizing with a physical activity. Each sense that you use while reviewing provides another pathway for information to reach your brain. Recite either silently or aloud, while riding a bicycle, while doing aerobics or calisthenics (floor exercises like sit-ups and jumping jacks), and while walking or running. Feel good about yourself for keeping fit and for exercising your mind.


3. Use mnemonics. Mnemonics are tricks, games, or rhymes that help you remember things. You learned some as a child—“In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue.”


4. Use acronyms. An acronym is a word formed by the first letters of other words or items that you want to remember. For example, “TEAM” is an acronym for --
   “Together Everyone Achieves More”.


5. Associate to remember. Association is the process of connecting new information that you want to remember to something that you already know. An association is often
   personal. For example, use something personal to you to remember something unrelated. A friends name or a place you know can be used to trigger the association.


6. Visualize. Form an image, or picture, in your mind of something that you want to
   remember. Visualization is an especially good way to link names with places or parts with
   locations. Draw things on a board or in a book that will remind you of the thing you need to remember rather than listing in words what needs to be remembered


7. Use an organizational technique. Organize information in a meaningful pattern that shows how each item relates to the others. List steps in a process. Outline complex
   materials. Make charts, diagrams, and information maps that show the relationships of parts to a whole or one part to another.


8. Sleep on it. Reviewing before sleep helps you retain information. Because you are relaxed, concentration is focused. The information stays in your mind while you sleep. When you awaken, try to recall what you reviewed the night before. Chances are good that you will remember.


9. Remember key words. Sometimes you have to remember a series of connected ideas and explanations. To recall items stated in phrases or sentences, select a key word to two in each item that sums up the whole phrase. Recalling key words will help you recall the whole item.


10. Memorize. Useful for recalling certain kinds of information, memorization can be an effective tool if it is combined with other memory techniques. Memorization works best when recalling spelling, definitions, maths and facts about historical events, life cycles, etc.

Remember: A flexible memory system is best. The basic elements of successful memory work also include the following:

• Be organized. Information that is organized is easier to find.
• Be physical. Learning is an active process. Get all of your senses involved.
• Be clear. You can reduce the background noise that may interfere with recall.
• Be smart. Intelligent application of memory techniques can save work.

Your memory is a muscle.. if you exercise it, it will become bigger and stronger… Exercise your memory daily…
By improving your memory, you can find greater success in your career and in your personal life.

Business Owners 10 great questions to ask yourself

1. Customer base
Ask yourself: If I just bought this company, how would I sell more/expand what I sell to this customer base?

2. Cash
Ask yourself: If I could invest this cash in any one part of this business/niche/product line for the biggest cumulative return/profit over the next 5 years, where would I invest it all?

3. Market Leadership
Ask yourself: To remain the market leader for the next 25 years, where should I invest my time and company's resources right now?

4. Reputation
Ask yourself: What can I do to double the strength of our current reputation, within the next 6 months?

5. Momentum
Ask yourself: What's working well right now and how can I keep it working well?

6. Key Staff
Ask yourself: Who are the 5 key people in my organization and what game/plan can I create with them so they'll stick around for a long time?

7. Systems
Ask yourself: What systems work so well that we take them for granted? How could we improve them?

8. Responsiveness
Ask yourself: How quickly and completely do we respond to changes in our customers, market, technology, staff needs or economic conditions?

9. Intellectual Property
Ask yourself: What do we have, IP-wise, that just isn't being as leveraged as it could be?

10. The X Factor
Ask yourself: What do we have that's very, very special and that we could really maximize, just for the pleasure of it?

18 STRATEGIES FOR HIRING THE BEST

1. Focus on hiring only the best.
2. Make sure you have a written job description.
3. Don’t limit your sources for good employees.
4. Avoid hiring someone who averages more than one employer every two years.
5. Use a rating system so that early candidates are not forgotten in the interview process.
6. Where possible, promote from within to maintain employee morale.
7. A person with an extensive self-employment background is very likely to go back to self-employment as soon as possible. Hire this person as a consultant.
8. Disabled workers often do a better job with greater loyalty and less absences.
9. Use a temporary employment agency instead of hiring an employee in haste.
10. “Over qualified” people are better than “under qualified” people.
11. Have the person leaving the position interview their replacement.
12. Test the skills and industry knowledge of a prospective employee. Get specific.
13. Look into a potential employee’s energy levels. If you engage in more than one interview, try to do it at different times of the day.
14. Look into any significant gaps in employment.
15. Consider using outside recruitment agencies if you won’t follow a process.
16. Use pre-employment questionnaires.
17. Check an applicant’s background and all references thoroughly.
18. Memorialize the terms of employment.

The Power of NO!!!!

The Power of NO!

You don't know how to say No to a person then please learn because a single Yes can eat up your fruitful quality time.

1) If you don't know how to say NO, people will take undue advantage of you. At office you will be bogged down with work and others will enjoy while you will be doing their stuff.

2) Adapt yourself to all circumstances and situations because it may so happen that your Boss or your peers may transfer their own work to you because you cannot say “NO”

3) If you are a parent you very well need to understand when to say NO or else children's take undue advantage and when you give in they become a spoiled brat.

4) If you cannot meet a person’s expectations just tell him NO rather than thinking what will he think if I say NO and then worrying and getting sick.

5) Its always better to say NO rather than saying YES for a work and then suffering afterwards.

6) If you cannot drink alcohol say NO, Cannot smoke a cigarette just say NO rather than getting addicted and suffering afterwards.

Be true to yourself, you understand yourself better than anyone else. Believe me this is the truth and reality. You have to understand when and how to say NO. The people who are close to your heart may feel bad if they hear a NO from you, so you very well need to understand how to tell NO to them assertively without hurting their feelings and without giving in to the situation.

It happens with everybody and you are not the only one. In day to day life we face these situations and it’s upon us how well we can manage that situation.

We have got 24 Hrs in a single day and we need to manage that time for all our work. We need to go to office, look after home, do shopping for home, look after parents and children, do social activities, take out time for friends and take out some time for ourselves and our personal life.

If we start doing others work there will be a great imbalance in our own life which may lead to irritation and frequent quarrels.

Try out the power of saying “NO” and be a different and transformed person

Eat a Frog for Breakfast!

The secret to successful time management.
From a book by Brian Tracy

The key to happiness, satisfaction, great success and a wonderful feeling of persona power and effectiveness is for you to develop the habit of eating your frog, first thing every day when you start work.

Fortunately, this is a learnable skill that you can acquire through repetition. And when you develop the habit of starting on your most important task, before anything else, your success is assured.

Here is a summary of the 21 Great Ways to stop procrastinating and get more things done faster. Review these rules and principles regularly until they become firmly ingrained in your thinking and actions and your future will be guaranteed.

1. Set the table: Decide exactly what you want. Clarity is essential. Write out your goals and objectives before you Begin;
2. Plan every day in advance: Think on paper. Every minute you spend in planning can save you five or ten minutes in execution;
3. Apply the 80/20 Rule to everything: Twenty percent of your activities will account for eighty percent of your results. Always concentrate your efforts on that top twenty percent;
4. Consider the consequences: Your most important tasks and priorities are those that can have the most serious consequences, positive or negative, on your life or work. Focus on these above all else;
5. Practice the ABCDE Method continually: Before you begin work on a list of tasks, take a few moments to organize them by value and priority so you can be sure of working on your most important activities:
6. Focus on key result areas: Identify and determine those results that you absolutely, positively have to get to do your job well, and work on them all day long;
7. The Law of Forced Efficiency: There is never enough time to do everything but there is always enough time to do the most important things. What are they?
8. Prepare thoroughly before you begin: Proper prior preparation prevents poor performance;
9. Do your homework: The more knowledgeable and skilled you become at your key tasks, the faster you start them and the sooner you get them done;
10. Leverage your special talents: Determine exactly what it is that you are very good at doing, or could be very good at, and throw your whole heart into doing those specific things very, very well:
11. Identify your key constraints: Determine the bottlenecks or chokepoints, internally or externally, that set the speed at which you achieve your most important goals and focus on alleviating them;
12. Take it one oil barrel at a time: You can accomplish the biggest and most complicated job if you just complete it one step at a time;
13. Put the pressure on yourself: Imagine that you have to leave town for a month and work as if you had to get all your major tasks completed before you left;
14. Maximize your personal powers: Identify your periods of highest mental and physical energy each day and structure your most important and demanding tasks around these times. Get lots of rest so you can perform at your best;
15. Motivate yourself into action: Be your own cheerleader. Look for the good in every situation. Focus on the solution rather than the problem. Always be optimistic and constructive;
16. Practice creative procrastination: Since you can’t do everything, you must learn to deliberately put off those tasks that are of low value so that you have enough time to do the few things that really count;
17. Do the most difficult task first: Begin each day with your most difficult task, the one task that can make the greatest contribution to yourself and your work, and resolve to stay at it until it is complete:
18. Slice and dice the task: Break large, complex tasks down into bite sized pieces and then just do one small part of the task to get started;
19. Create large chunks of time: Organize your days around large blocks of time where you can concentrate for extended periods on your most important tasks;
20. Develop a sense of urgency: Make a habit of moving fast on your key tasks. Become known as a person who does things quickly and well;
21. Single handle every task: Set clear priorities, start immediately on your most important task and then work without stopping until the job is 100% complete. This is the real key to high performance and maximum personal productivity.

Make a decision to practice these principles every day until they become second nature to you. With these habits of personal management as a permanent part of your personality, your future will be unlimited.

Just do it! Eat that frog.

TRYING DOESN’T WORK!

Trying doesn't work. When we say we're going to try, it presupposes failure.

I tried for years to make certain changes and do certain things. What I didn't realise was that the feeling of trying was becoming familiar. People like what's familiar, so once I got used to trying, my neurology didn't want to shock me by having me succeed. So I went on trying for years.

Have you become familiar with the experience of trying or struggling? If so, it may be time to find out what happens when you move beyond trying. What happens when you imagine getting what you want? How does it feel?

As Yoda said "Do or do not. There is no try." Trying doesn't work.