Author unknown
Excellence is never an accident. It is achieved in an organization or institution only as a result of an unrelenting and vigorous insistence on the highest standards of performance. It requires an unswerving expectancy of quality from the staff and volunteers.
Excellence is contagious. It infects and affects everyone in the organization. It charts the direction of a program. It establishes the criteria for planning. It provides zest and vitality to the organization. Once achieved, excellence has a talent for
permeating every aspect of the life of the organization.
Excellence demands commitment and a tenacious dedication from the leadership of the organization. Once it is accepted and expected, it must be nourished and continually reviewed and renewed. It is a never-ending process of learning and growing. It requires a spirit of motivation and boundless energy. It is always the result of a creatively conceived and precisely planned effort.
Excellence inspires; it electrifies. It potentializes every phase of the organization’s life. It unleashes an impact which influences every program, every activity, every committee, every staff person. To instill it in an organization is difficult; to sustain it, even more so. It demands imagination and vigor. But most of all, it requires from the leadership a constant state of self-discovery and discipline.
Excellence is an organization’s life-line. It is the most compelling answer to apathy and inertia. It energizes a stimulating and pulsating force. Once it becomes the expected standard of performance, it develops a fiercely driving and motivating
philosophy of operation. Excellence is a state of mind put into action. It is a road-map to success. When a climate of excellence exists, all things—staff work, volunteer leadership, finances, program—come easier.
Excellence in an organization is important—because it is everything.
Be excellent in all you do!
Fran
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Out of Balance??
Here is an article by one of my colleagues. I hope you enjoy it.
Lenny's Tip For The Day: Don't replace the garage door!
For weeks, every time Lenny and Kathy would back the car out of the garage to leave the house, the remote-controlled garage door would shake, hit a certain point, then bounce back open again. After multiple attempts to close the door (hitting the remote control at just the right time, getting out of the car and pulling down the door by hand, or the ultimate - performing the complex, "Please, please close now" ritual) somehow, it would eventually shut.
One day, after 10 frustrating tries to close the door, Kathy resorted to calling a repair shop and asking them to come look at the door. The next day a technician arrived. After assessing the situation he said, "Ma'am, you need a new garage door. This one is old, worn out, and coming off the tracks."
Given his recommendation, and her own level of aggravation, Kathy felt she had no other choice than to replace the door.
Later that same day, Kathy's next-door neighbor came for a visit and Kathy mentioned the broken garage door. The neighbor asked to take a look and after he did he said, "Kathy, you don't need a new door. The door is just out of balance. It just needs something to stabilize it." He returned a few minutes later with a metal bar and attached it to the top of the door. It was like magic. The door opened and closed with ease!
Lenny has observed humans and has noticed that they sometimes allow their lives to get out of balance, without even realizing that a lack of balance is the source of their problems. Sometimes balance shifts through overuse, lack of maintenance, or inattention and that makes people begin to get off track. Often times, just making a small life adjustment will help stabilize us, get us functioning and working again with ease!
Lenny's Challenge: Take 60 seconds and ask yourself, "Am I out of balance? Working to hard? Not spending enough time with my family and loved ones? Not taking enough time for myself? What is one thing I can do today to make an adjustment that will help stabilize my life and bring it back on track and into balance?" Before you decide to "buy a new door," how can you learn to recognize your own state of balance?
Staying balanced is 100% your choice! Shed or You're Dead (TM)!
***************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Announcing NEW BRIDGES program!
Kathy Dempsey has partnered with Bob Danzig, former CEO of Hearst Newspapers, to bring you a new spirit-driven leadership program called Bridges - Connecting the spirit, commitment, and morale of your colleagues to your organization's noble purpose. Visit www.TheLearningAgenda.com for more information.
Order Kathy's new book, Shed or You're Dead (TM): 31 unConventional Strategies for Growth and Change (recipient of a Writer's Digest International Book Award). It makes a great gift for family, friends, colleagues, or staff! Do you know someone who needs a few strategies to get unstuck and grow? To order personalized and autographed copies, visit www.TheLearningAgenda.com or call 302-765-3301. Shed or You're Dead (TM) is $15.95. Free shipping to the first 10 people who mention this message! Order five or more copies and get 30% off the cover price.
Does your organization need a little help shedding? Looking for a speaker or trainer for your next meeting? Need help in 2004 with strategic planning? Kathy and Lenny's facilitated programs might be just what you need. Email Info@TheLearningAgenda.com or visit www.TheLearningAgenda.com for more details.
Recommend 60 Seconds of Shedding to a friend by sending them to www.KeepShedding.com to sign up for their own subscription.
Kathy B Dempsey - www.TheLearningAgenda.com - 302-765-3301 - Kathy@TheLearningAgenda.com
TheLearningAgenda.com - Helping individuals and organizations grow by "shedding their skin."
Change Management - Communication - Strategic Planning
***********************************************************************************
Here's to staying in balance!
Fran Watson
3119 Stone Road
Douglas
Ontario K0J 1S0
Canada
Lenny's Tip For The Day: Don't replace the garage door!
For weeks, every time Lenny and Kathy would back the car out of the garage to leave the house, the remote-controlled garage door would shake, hit a certain point, then bounce back open again. After multiple attempts to close the door (hitting the remote control at just the right time, getting out of the car and pulling down the door by hand, or the ultimate - performing the complex, "Please, please close now" ritual) somehow, it would eventually shut.
One day, after 10 frustrating tries to close the door, Kathy resorted to calling a repair shop and asking them to come look at the door. The next day a technician arrived. After assessing the situation he said, "Ma'am, you need a new garage door. This one is old, worn out, and coming off the tracks."
Given his recommendation, and her own level of aggravation, Kathy felt she had no other choice than to replace the door.
Later that same day, Kathy's next-door neighbor came for a visit and Kathy mentioned the broken garage door. The neighbor asked to take a look and after he did he said, "Kathy, you don't need a new door. The door is just out of balance. It just needs something to stabilize it." He returned a few minutes later with a metal bar and attached it to the top of the door. It was like magic. The door opened and closed with ease!
Lenny has observed humans and has noticed that they sometimes allow their lives to get out of balance, without even realizing that a lack of balance is the source of their problems. Sometimes balance shifts through overuse, lack of maintenance, or inattention and that makes people begin to get off track. Often times, just making a small life adjustment will help stabilize us, get us functioning and working again with ease!
Lenny's Challenge: Take 60 seconds and ask yourself, "Am I out of balance? Working to hard? Not spending enough time with my family and loved ones? Not taking enough time for myself? What is one thing I can do today to make an adjustment that will help stabilize my life and bring it back on track and into balance?" Before you decide to "buy a new door," how can you learn to recognize your own state of balance?
Staying balanced is 100% your choice! Shed or You're Dead (TM)!
***************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Announcing NEW BRIDGES program!
Kathy Dempsey has partnered with Bob Danzig, former CEO of Hearst Newspapers, to bring you a new spirit-driven leadership program called Bridges - Connecting the spirit, commitment, and morale of your colleagues to your organization's noble purpose. Visit www.TheLearningAgenda.com for more information.
Order Kathy's new book, Shed or You're Dead (TM): 31 unConventional Strategies for Growth and Change (recipient of a Writer's Digest International Book Award). It makes a great gift for family, friends, colleagues, or staff! Do you know someone who needs a few strategies to get unstuck and grow? To order personalized and autographed copies, visit www.TheLearningAgenda.com or call 302-765-3301. Shed or You're Dead (TM) is $15.95. Free shipping to the first 10 people who mention this message! Order five or more copies and get 30% off the cover price.
Does your organization need a little help shedding? Looking for a speaker or trainer for your next meeting? Need help in 2004 with strategic planning? Kathy and Lenny's facilitated programs might be just what you need. Email Info@TheLearningAgenda.com or visit www.TheLearningAgenda.com for more details.
Recommend 60 Seconds of Shedding to a friend by sending them to www.KeepShedding.com to sign up for their own subscription.
Kathy B Dempsey - www.TheLearningAgenda.com - 302-765-3301 - Kathy@TheLearningAgenda.com
TheLearningAgenda.com - Helping individuals and organizations grow by "shedding their skin."
Change Management - Communication - Strategic Planning
***********************************************************************************
Here's to staying in balance!
Fran Watson
3119 Stone Road
Douglas
Ontario K0J 1S0
Canada
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Transforming Leaders
TRANSFORMING LEADERS
By Ken Keis
Leadership is missing in our political system, businesses, schools, and even our families. Our streets are filled with wandering souls waiting for someone to build a vision they can grasp.
Everyone is a leader at some level with someone. Leadership skills are required for parenting and being a friend or part of a couple—in your household and at work. We have all seen examples of ineffective leaders, from the lazy boss who expects everyone else to do his work, to the parent of the uncontrolled child at the mall. Leadership is not restricted to the manager of a major corporation; it applies to everyone in every organization.
The challenges for many leaders are that they can manage but not lead; quantify yet not empathize; control but not empower.
Leadership is learned; it is not a skill we receive at birth. To expect someone to automatically know how to build and lead anorganization is a fallacy at best.
We must approach the subject of leadership with a fresh, new vibrant attitude where we truly believe each person makes a difference and is a leader in his or her own right. This new way of thinking forces us to consider changes―where collaboration comes before confrontation, empowerment replaces control, and the value of the individual precedes profits or self-centered hidden agendas.
Leadership credibility comes from four qualities: inspiration, honesty, competency, and forward-looking. Effective leaders operate daily according to certain principles for positive change and demonstrate skills that others want to model.
Five skill sets are essential in the development of transforming leaders. Our experience has proven that few people are competent in all five skills. Educational programs can be created to help individuals learn these important skills.
Self-Management SkillsThis intensely personal yet important area includes the clarification of beliefs, values, purpose, and goals. If leaders are not clear about where they are going and what they stand for, few people will be willing to follow them. Only from a position of self-awareness will you be in a better position to devise a plan to develop and strengthen your weaker areas.
Interpersonal Communication Skills
Interpersonal communication skills are the vehicles through which all interactions you have with other people are made more clear and effective. Attending, listening, responding, and questioning are just four of the twelve skills identified as necessary for quality communication to occur.
Problem Management and Counseling SkillsLeaders who develop these competencies are able to encourage others to develop and perform to their potential. At the heart of effective coaching and mentoring, these proficiencies are critical to any organizational development. Advanced empathy, problem-ownership, action planning, confrontation, and self-sharing are just five of the twelve skills needed for competency in the areas of problem-management and counseling.
Consulting Skills
Group facilitation, clarification, assessment, evaluation, and reporting are included in this skill set. The emphasis of this section is your ability to handle complex situations with an increasingly in-depth set of responses.
Advanced Versatility and Style-Shifting SkillsThe ability to style-shift into appropriate behaviors that match the style of others is a necessity when building and empowering teams. This skill is for everyone; it can be applied to customer service, supervision, team building, and even spousal/family relationships. This expertise is required for gaining credibility with others and for adapting to the permanent state of change in which we find ourselves.
One way to identify your clients’ leadership strengths and weaknesses is through the Leadership Skills Inventory (LSI). The base of the LSI is Transformational Leadership, the belief that leaders can be made, with the right training and guidance. Today's tough organizational challenges require transformational leaders who can adapt to rapidly changing social and technical environments. The Leadership Skills Inventory provides participants with the necessary feedback to better understand and develop their own transformational leadership skills.
Dr. Doug Perkins, Director of People for Coastal Pacific Xpress (CPX), has taken a number of his company’s senior staff through the Leadership Skills Inventory. CPX, headquartered in Cloverdale, BC, has evolved from one truck and trailer in 1985 to 160 trucks and 250 trailers today, making it one of the fastest-growing, temperature-controlled truckload carriers in the province. In fact, the company serves major markets throughout North America.
“Trucking often attracts lower-skilled people,” states company owner Jim Mickey. “Factors combine to create what I call a ‘stupid business.’ You have a $160,000 truck, you put on a trailer worth $70,000 holding $50,000 of cargo and you trust a guy with no competence. How dumb is this?”
To tackle the problem, Jim and CPX set out to hand-pick the best in the industry. Enter Dr. Doug Perkins and CRG assessments.
Doug gives the Leadership Skills Inventory–Self to all CPX managers to evaluate their own leadership skills. To create a full picture of each manager’s strengths, each manager gives Doug the names of five employees who know them well. Doug then distributes the Leadership Skills Inventory–Others to those individuals. To protect people’s anonymity, those who complete the LSI–Others tools return them to Doug, not the manager.
After Doug has received the five LSI–Others for each manager, he averages all five scores and compares them against the manager’s scores on the Leadership Skills Inventory–Self. He then gives the results to the respective manager for review.
Doug and the manager work through the three highest and the three lowest scores in each category. Where the manager received scores that showed he or she was highly competent in that area and capable of teaching that skill, for example, Doug asks the manager to teach his or her assistant how to train the staff in that particular area. Where the manager scored low and wants to improve, Doug teaches or provides resources to help the manager in those areas.
Doug sees the Leadership Skills Inventory as a helpful coaching tool to complement the other CRG resources Coastal Pacific Xpress is using.
Becoming a transforming leader is not an overnight process. You may find it overwhelming and extensive at times, but it will be worth it. You will discover you can make a difference, whoever you are.
Ken Keis is the president and CEO of Consulting Resource Group in Abbotsford, B.C. (www.crgleader.com). He can be reached at (604) 852-0566 or ken@crgleader.com.
By Ken Keis
Leadership is missing in our political system, businesses, schools, and even our families. Our streets are filled with wandering souls waiting for someone to build a vision they can grasp.
Everyone is a leader at some level with someone. Leadership skills are required for parenting and being a friend or part of a couple—in your household and at work. We have all seen examples of ineffective leaders, from the lazy boss who expects everyone else to do his work, to the parent of the uncontrolled child at the mall. Leadership is not restricted to the manager of a major corporation; it applies to everyone in every organization.
The challenges for many leaders are that they can manage but not lead; quantify yet not empathize; control but not empower.
Leadership is learned; it is not a skill we receive at birth. To expect someone to automatically know how to build and lead anorganization is a fallacy at best.
We must approach the subject of leadership with a fresh, new vibrant attitude where we truly believe each person makes a difference and is a leader in his or her own right. This new way of thinking forces us to consider changes―where collaboration comes before confrontation, empowerment replaces control, and the value of the individual precedes profits or self-centered hidden agendas.
Leadership credibility comes from four qualities: inspiration, honesty, competency, and forward-looking. Effective leaders operate daily according to certain principles for positive change and demonstrate skills that others want to model.
Five skill sets are essential in the development of transforming leaders. Our experience has proven that few people are competent in all five skills. Educational programs can be created to help individuals learn these important skills.
Self-Management SkillsThis intensely personal yet important area includes the clarification of beliefs, values, purpose, and goals. If leaders are not clear about where they are going and what they stand for, few people will be willing to follow them. Only from a position of self-awareness will you be in a better position to devise a plan to develop and strengthen your weaker areas.
Interpersonal Communication Skills
Interpersonal communication skills are the vehicles through which all interactions you have with other people are made more clear and effective. Attending, listening, responding, and questioning are just four of the twelve skills identified as necessary for quality communication to occur.
Problem Management and Counseling SkillsLeaders who develop these competencies are able to encourage others to develop and perform to their potential. At the heart of effective coaching and mentoring, these proficiencies are critical to any organizational development. Advanced empathy, problem-ownership, action planning, confrontation, and self-sharing are just five of the twelve skills needed for competency in the areas of problem-management and counseling.
Consulting Skills
Group facilitation, clarification, assessment, evaluation, and reporting are included in this skill set. The emphasis of this section is your ability to handle complex situations with an increasingly in-depth set of responses.
Advanced Versatility and Style-Shifting SkillsThe ability to style-shift into appropriate behaviors that match the style of others is a necessity when building and empowering teams. This skill is for everyone; it can be applied to customer service, supervision, team building, and even spousal/family relationships. This expertise is required for gaining credibility with others and for adapting to the permanent state of change in which we find ourselves.
One way to identify your clients’ leadership strengths and weaknesses is through the Leadership Skills Inventory (LSI). The base of the LSI is Transformational Leadership, the belief that leaders can be made, with the right training and guidance. Today's tough organizational challenges require transformational leaders who can adapt to rapidly changing social and technical environments. The Leadership Skills Inventory provides participants with the necessary feedback to better understand and develop their own transformational leadership skills.
Dr. Doug Perkins, Director of People for Coastal Pacific Xpress (CPX), has taken a number of his company’s senior staff through the Leadership Skills Inventory. CPX, headquartered in Cloverdale, BC, has evolved from one truck and trailer in 1985 to 160 trucks and 250 trailers today, making it one of the fastest-growing, temperature-controlled truckload carriers in the province. In fact, the company serves major markets throughout North America.
“Trucking often attracts lower-skilled people,” states company owner Jim Mickey. “Factors combine to create what I call a ‘stupid business.’ You have a $160,000 truck, you put on a trailer worth $70,000 holding $50,000 of cargo and you trust a guy with no competence. How dumb is this?”
To tackle the problem, Jim and CPX set out to hand-pick the best in the industry. Enter Dr. Doug Perkins and CRG assessments.
Doug gives the Leadership Skills Inventory–Self to all CPX managers to evaluate their own leadership skills. To create a full picture of each manager’s strengths, each manager gives Doug the names of five employees who know them well. Doug then distributes the Leadership Skills Inventory–Others to those individuals. To protect people’s anonymity, those who complete the LSI–Others tools return them to Doug, not the manager.
After Doug has received the five LSI–Others for each manager, he averages all five scores and compares them against the manager’s scores on the Leadership Skills Inventory–Self. He then gives the results to the respective manager for review.
Doug and the manager work through the three highest and the three lowest scores in each category. Where the manager received scores that showed he or she was highly competent in that area and capable of teaching that skill, for example, Doug asks the manager to teach his or her assistant how to train the staff in that particular area. Where the manager scored low and wants to improve, Doug teaches or provides resources to help the manager in those areas.
Doug sees the Leadership Skills Inventory as a helpful coaching tool to complement the other CRG resources Coastal Pacific Xpress is using.
Becoming a transforming leader is not an overnight process. You may find it overwhelming and extensive at times, but it will be worth it. You will discover you can make a difference, whoever you are.
Ken Keis is the president and CEO of Consulting Resource Group in Abbotsford, B.C. (www.crgleader.com). He can be reached at (604) 852-0566 or ken@crgleader.com.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Lifestyle Changes
I have been listening to Jim Rohn for the past few weeks as I drive back and forth to work and what he has been saying has really got me thinking about my lifestyle and the way I do things. One of the main things that he has said that I've heard before, but has made more of an impact this time is MAKE A PLAN - If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. This is particularly true in the area of finances. Jim talks about the value of investing our time wisely. He states that you can always get more money, but you can't get more time.
It is time for me to PLAN my time, to decide what I want to do, need to do and let go of all the rest. One of the things that has fallen by the wayside in my busy life has been this blog. I had intended, (but not specifically planned for) to keep this up on a daily basis, or at the very minimum a weekly basis, but I have falled far behind on that. Those of you who have been reading have probably been wondering when I would be returning.
My plan for this weekend is to finish up yard work and I have booked my son and my boyfriend to help with this project. That will free up some of my time. As well, I am no longer President of two Toastmaster Clubs, nor am I the Area Governor, so that will also free up some of my time. Next I will sit down and write out a plan of when I will do my writing, my blogging, my reading and also plan time for my family and friends.
I would encourage you to check out Jim Rohn for yourself, to see if some of what he says hits home with you too.
All the best
Fran Watson
It is time for me to PLAN my time, to decide what I want to do, need to do and let go of all the rest. One of the things that has fallen by the wayside in my busy life has been this blog. I had intended, (but not specifically planned for) to keep this up on a daily basis, or at the very minimum a weekly basis, but I have falled far behind on that. Those of you who have been reading have probably been wondering when I would be returning.
My plan for this weekend is to finish up yard work and I have booked my son and my boyfriend to help with this project. That will free up some of my time. As well, I am no longer President of two Toastmaster Clubs, nor am I the Area Governor, so that will also free up some of my time. Next I will sit down and write out a plan of when I will do my writing, my blogging, my reading and also plan time for my family and friends.
I would encourage you to check out Jim Rohn for yourself, to see if some of what he says hits home with you too.
All the best
Fran Watson
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Free MP3 by Jim Rohn???? Get it now!!!
I am just finishing up a CD set by Jim Rohn. I have been attending "Automobile University" as I have listed to 10 of the 12 CDs. Next step is to listen to them again with pen and paper in hand to note all the tips and techniques he shares.
You now have a chance to hear - FOR FREE - some of the wonderful information he has to share. Don't miss out! Give yourself a chance to become the person you can be! Listen carefully to this man who went from flat broke to a millionaire in 5 short years.
You now have a chance to hear - FOR FREE - some of the wonderful information he has to share. Don't miss out! Give yourself a chance to become the person you can be! Listen carefully to this man who went from flat broke to a millionaire in 5 short years.
Free mp3! Building Your Network Marketing Business by Jim Rohn The hottest single audio ever created in the Network Marketing Industry Subscribe to the best in personal development Ezines - Jim Rohn, Denis Waitley, Chris Widener, Ron White and Your Achievement Ezine - plus receive a discount on all MP3s and eBooks from Jin Rohn International - available for a limited time For Your Free Download, Click Here: http://www.jimrohn.com |
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Claim Your Power Now
| Has procrastination become a habit? Are you paralyzed by fear that's keeping you from going after what you want? Do you have trouble staying focused on a goal? Are you ready for a personal breakthrough? Want some help? We just received a brand new CD album that I can modestly say will 'knock your socks off!' Produced from the recordings of the live events by the pre-eminent spoken-word producers in the U.S., this 12-CD program features Jim Rohn, Bob Proctor and a stable of other world-class trainers. Now, in the comfort of your home and automobile you can experience an exciting breakthrough just like the live audience where this life-altering material was recorded. - Learn how your past may be silently holding your future hostage, and the simple exercises that will allow you to break free and take a quantum leap forward. Don't be surprised if you see double, triple, even quadruple the results you're getting now. - Learn the real causes of procrastination and how to defeat it. The answer may surprise you and the "cure" will turbo-charge all of your efforts. - The friction-free way to maintain laser focus on any goal. This is the "secret" of the biggest goal achievers in the world. And Much, Much More! To learn more go today toClaim Your Power Make it an Awesome Day! Fran Watson, Part of your YSS Team P.S. Just so you know how powerful this program is, Beverly Kurtin of Hurst, Texas attended the Dallas event and wrote later to say, 'I'm calling people I've put off talking to, I'm making appointments, and I'm closing sales... this is FUN!' Go Claim Your Power Now... |
Monday, June 2, 2008
My Purpose
I have been online for aout 10 years now. I have experimented with online marketing, downloaded ebooks that promise me I will make loads of money if only I..., maxed out my credit cards to pay for this information, spent hours and hours downloading and reviewing "free" information from the many givewaways I participated in. I have felt guilty about the amount of time I have spent doing this, the time I have spent reading and sorting the many emails I have received, trying to decide what to keep and what to trash, who is offering what this week, how can I make some money from this.
I read something this week that really struck home with me. Funnily enough it was a book about MLM Marketing, but with a difference. One thing the author said was that you should never promote a product you haven't tried. If you don't know how it works, how can you tell anyone else about its benefits. I'm sure you, like me, have received multiple emails with the same heading and the same wording - affiliates who are promoting a product they know nothing about. I too have been guilty.
The other thing the author talked about was building relationships. That took me back to the reason I wanted to get involved online, to build relationships with people, to share the knowledge and skill that I had gained to help them in their daily lives. I had even taken a coaching course to allow me to do this and yet I wasted all this time running from one program to another, one traffic exchange to another, only to become exhausted and return to my real passion.
Now is the time to go back to the beginning. To get out the CD's that Mike provided me and listen to them again. To withdraw from the Traffic Exchanges until I have developed my focus and then target simply those that will support my goals. To develop my website with focus on providing the type of information that I know.
I have been a career counsellor for 20 years and have done training for most of those years. I joined Toastmasters in 2002 and so I have skills and experience in that area as well. I have taken coaching courses, learned about personalities with Myers Briggs and Personality Dimensions (True Colors)and completed a University Degree in Social Development Studies. All of these abilities and interests involve people and yet I am spending more and more of my time not helping people, but insread reading email that I don't need to read and surfing on traffic exchanges to build credits for my webpages.
It is definitely time to refocus and get back to the basics.
I invite you to comment and check back to see how I'm doing. If you have any advice for me, if you've gone through this yourself, I'd sure like to hear from you.
Fran
I read something this week that really struck home with me. Funnily enough it was a book about MLM Marketing, but with a difference. One thing the author said was that you should never promote a product you haven't tried. If you don't know how it works, how can you tell anyone else about its benefits. I'm sure you, like me, have received multiple emails with the same heading and the same wording - affiliates who are promoting a product they know nothing about. I too have been guilty.
The other thing the author talked about was building relationships. That took me back to the reason I wanted to get involved online, to build relationships with people, to share the knowledge and skill that I had gained to help them in their daily lives. I had even taken a coaching course to allow me to do this and yet I wasted all this time running from one program to another, one traffic exchange to another, only to become exhausted and return to my real passion.
Now is the time to go back to the beginning. To get out the CD's that Mike provided me and listen to them again. To withdraw from the Traffic Exchanges until I have developed my focus and then target simply those that will support my goals. To develop my website with focus on providing the type of information that I know.
I have been a career counsellor for 20 years and have done training for most of those years. I joined Toastmasters in 2002 and so I have skills and experience in that area as well. I have taken coaching courses, learned about personalities with Myers Briggs and Personality Dimensions (True Colors)and completed a University Degree in Social Development Studies. All of these abilities and interests involve people and yet I am spending more and more of my time not helping people, but insread reading email that I don't need to read and surfing on traffic exchanges to build credits for my webpages.
It is definitely time to refocus and get back to the basics.
I invite you to comment and check back to see how I'm doing. If you have any advice for me, if you've gone through this yourself, I'd sure like to hear from you.
Fran
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