These days, it seems like it’s becoming harder and harder to be a human being rather than a human doing. “Action” is the buzzword of the day (every day).
In an article I read recently, the author was discussing the oft-asked question, “What are you willing to do to be successful?” The answer, she wrote, (as often expected from those of us serious about obtaining life success) was, “Whatever it takes.” She challenged this answer by adding, “…as long as you still love your life.”
I would like to take her challenge even further.
First of all, let’s look at the question itself. It asks, “What you are willing to do,” not what (or who) are you willing to be, in order to be successful in life. Society places an intense focus on external achievement as a measure of success (money, recognition, status, etc.). Along with that is the push for us to constantly market ourselves, our business, our website, our blog, etc. It’s not hard to see that it becomes all too easy to lose sight of how to be rather than how to do. We all know there is surely no lack of things to do.
I would propose to you that learning how to be is equally, if not more, important than learning how to do.
It’s important to know when to stop, when enough is enough, when getting, achieving, conquering, no longer has a place on the priority list. We can all learn to recognize success in life as being comfortable within one’s skin, with the journey one has taken, and with the friendships one has made and sustained.
Defining success as a human being rather than a human doing requires the ability to tune out the constant barrage of external demands on time, talent and resources. It requires the ability to turn inward, to reflect, and to determine with one’s own internal set of values and standards what is worthwhile and what is a waste of the precious resource of time. It means defining a life of success based on quality rather than quantity.
Recently my wife’s 99-year-old aunt passed away and left a lesson for us all. She was a dear, sweet and loving woman who had truly mastered “being.” Her wish for her friends and family, as quoted from her memoirs was, “That we become content with just being. It is not a matter of trying to fulfill a social role; it is a matter of becoming wisdom itself.”
So where do we begin? How do you learn to slow down and just take it all in? Try this exercise. For the next five minutes:
* Stop. Breathe. Listen. Rest.
* Reflect on who you are in this moment.
* Identify three internal measures of success for yourself.
* Listen to your inner values and where they’re guiding you.
When you take the time to live right now, in this very moment, you allow yourself to reconnect to your true self and gain the wisdom to let go of the things that, in the end, really don’t matter, and to cherish those things that you take for granted.
About the Author:
Gary Jordan, Ph.D., has over 27 years of experience in clinical psychology, behavioral assessment, individual development, and coaching. He earned his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology – Berkeley. He’s the co-founder of Vega Behavioral Consulting, Ltd., a consulting firm that specializes in helping people discover their true skills and talents. Visit www.vrft.com for more information.
Month: September 2009
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BIZNESS! Newsletter Issue 91
Free 28-pages PDF report (worth $38) – “Cool Business Ideas in 2009” – included with your subscription. Learn more here.
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Privacy Tips for Small Businesses
You may be a small business, but chances are you collect some form of PII. Even small businesses are accountable for the safety of user PII, and thereby must take adequate measures to protect it. Lead Microsoft.com editor Monte Enbysk gathered TRUSTe’s insight to help develop 6 privacy tips for small businesses:
1. Take inventory of the personal information you collect and store.
2. Analyze how safely you use and store this data.
3. Make sure you’re complying with industry or federal laws.
4. Post a privacy policy that is clear and comprehensive.
5. Have your policy reviewed by an attorney or by a privacy seal program.
6. If you have employees, make sure their personal information is protected too.
According to Enbysk , you should seek the expert opinion of a privacy service like TRUSTe who can help ensure the accuracy and validity of your privacy statement. Not only may a third-party privacy authority ensure your privacy statement and practices are up to par, but a seal from TRUSTe can benefit your brand.
“The Web privacy seal is one of TRUSTe’s most popular products,” says TRUSTe’s VP of Communications, Carolyn Hodge. A privacy seal may be most beneficial to small e-tailers with little or no name recognition outside their hometown or region.
About TRUSTe
TRUSTe Privacy Seals help consumers click with confidence by guiding them to trustworthy Web sites. More than 2,400 Web sites rely on TRUSTe industry best practices to help them make the right decisions about privacy and protecting confidential user information. Half of the top fifty Web sites are certified including Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft, Disney, eBay, Intuit, and Facebook. Independent research shows that when a TRUSTe web seal is present, visitors are more likely to share personal information, register at higher rates and spend more money. To learn more about internet privacy services for SMBs, visit http://www.truste.com/privacy_seals_and_services/small_medium_business_privacy/index.html
Most people think article marketing is just about getting links. They couldn’t be any more WRONG!
Article marketing is about getting your messages (in the form of articles) out to as many prospects as possible in as many ways as possible.
Here are 21 ways to use your articles so you can build your business:
1. Send your top article placements via email to current clients.
2. Send your top article placements via email to former clients.
3. Send the top article placements via email to prospects. This is how PR LEADS Article Marketing Expert client Kevin Berchelmann scored a $50K+ client!
4. Post reprints on your website. Note – Turn your article placements into PDFs. Do NOT link to your top article placements. This will take people off your website!
5. Include your article placements in book proposals. Roxanne Emmerich, Dr. Vicki Rackner, Dr. Karen Sherman and many other clients of mine have used this strategy to win major book publishing deals.
6. Include your articles in new business proposals.
7. Include your article placements in new business PowerPoint presentations.
8. Add your articles and/or mention your placements in your blog.
9. Add the articles to your newsletter. Remember, your newsletter isn’t ALL about selling. It’s about building relationships based on trust. The way to earn trust is to educate your prospects with powerful knowledge that only you can provide in articles,
10. Mention your article placements on the front page of your website. For example, put across the top of your website: As see on About.com, MarketingProfs, CEO Refresher and Small Business CEO Magazine. Then down the right hand side of your website, put links to your PDF versions of your article placements.
11. Send print copies of your article placements to your current clients.
12. Send print copies to your former clients.
13. Send print copies to your prospects.
14. Mention your article placements in you website bio.
15. Mention your article placements in your speech introduction.
16. Create a list of all the top article placements and post it to your website’s “newsroom’ section.
17. Add your articles to your Facebook page.
18. Twitter about your article placements.
19. Turn your articles into video articles and post it to YouTube, Viddler and other video syndication websites.
20. Use your articles as a list building mechanism. Check out how Shane Ellison uses his articles on his website: www.thepeopleschemist.com/articles to build his list.
21. Mention your article placements in the P.S. of your email signature. For example, put…P.S. My article, “25 Ways to Make Money Using Articles” was just published on About.com. Now you can read it at (put your website URL where you put the text or PDF version of the article)
You don’t have to do all these steps. If you do only ONE of these steps, you will be doing more than you are now to build your business. Take action today to build your business with article marketing!
About the Author:
Eric Gruber uses the power of articles to create online opportunities for Internet marketers, small business owners and entrepreneurs who want more publicity, prospects and profits. Now, you can get his instant article writing templates that will help you write your articles in 30 minutes or less. For a limited time, you can get 3 of his favorite article writing templates for free at: http://www.TryMyFreeArticleTemplates.com
Social networking sites originally became popular as a way for friends to stay in touch with one another and to keep up-to-date with what was happening in their lives, but they quickly became a place for business owners to grow their networks too. These days you can use these sites as a business building tool, but, more importantly, you can get to know your prospects, clients, and colleagues in a more relaxed and friendly environment.
This means that if you’re active on these sites and regularly contributing and seeking out new connections you can very quickly build your network and have a ready audience of contacts who are interested in what you have to say, your services, programs, and products.
However, I hear of many solopreneurs saying that they’re spending hours of time on their social networking activities, whether that’s on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or one of the other popular social networking sites, but are not seeing any benefits as a result of their time i.e. the amount of time they put into social networking is not comparable to the returns they are seeing. And so they lose interest and wonder what all the fuss is about.
As with any of the list building strategies that I teach, the real key to success is consistency. If you decide that social networking is one of the lead generation strategies that you want to implement then you need to be consistent in your approach to make it successful. You need to be spending time each week (several times a week) visiting each of your social networks, contributing, and building relationships.
Even though there are many, many advantages to this latest marketing strategy, there are several pitfalls that can easily be avoided if you’re aware of what they are.
Today I’d like to share with you my top four social networking pitfalls so that you can avoid making these mistakes and so utilize this strategy to grow your network:
1. Not updating regularly.
If you’re a beginner in this area, then you may believe that all you have to do is sign up for an account at one of the more popular sites, add your details, and you’re all set. In order for this strategy to be effective, you need to be a regular contributor to the network, actively seek out new connections, and participate and post regularly.
2. Your profile is lacking in information.
Add pictures; make yourself sound interesting and fun! People want to know about you, what your interests are, and see you. Always include a photo, and, the beauty with social networking is that because it’s informal, you don’t always need your photo to be a professional head shot – a more informal photo works just as well; let your contacts see the ‘real’ you.
3. Not thinking relationships first!
Social networking is all about building relationships with those people in your network – it’s not about getting new clients. Although you’ve probably heard of colleagues getting new clients via social networking, it really is about creating and building relationships with those people in your network. Remember… relationships first!
4. It’s not about sell, sell, sell!
If all you’re doing when you visit the various sites and post your updates is pitch your latest program, product or service then it’s no wonder you’re not seeing results. Share information with your network, whether that’s your own information or you’re passing along information from clients and colleagues. The more you share, the greater your results will be.
Whichever social networking arena you’re active in (and it may be more than one) remember the “social” in social networking – it’s to build relationships, make new contacts, and socialize. Inform your network, not sell to them.