Have you ever been at a networking function talking to someone when during the conversation you felt very self-conscious trying to say the right thing? Were you afraid that maybe if you said the wrong thing the person might not find you likeable, and therefore not want to do business with you? If you have, I am about to tell you why you should not worry about it. Like the obnoxious song "Don't Worry - Be Happy" from years ago, I want to share with you the reason why being careful about what we say works against us in the networking environment.
Our goal in business networking should be to establish new relationships and through the process of follow-up develop them over time. As with any relationship, being honest plays a very important role in that development.
When we meet someone for the first time, we want to make a good impression. Often we put on our "party face" so that we do. This can often cause us problems that we do not expect. One problem is that when we try to appear to be something that we really do not feel inside of us, we often have a fear that we are going to be "discovered". This fear causes us to feel uncomfortable about the situation and though we may be smiling, we are really cringing inside.
Most people worry that if they just be who they are, that no one can accept them. I argue that if we do not just be ourselves, sooner or later who we really are will slip out and then we will have to deal with the consequences of being discovered. This then leads to a feeling of distrust between people.
Have you ever been in a relationship with a person of the opposite sex where you did not tell them something important early on and later had to reveal it or even worse it was revealed by accident? It leads for difficult times after that and a lot of shuffling and apologizing.
In my opinion, it is better to risk being who I am up front. To let people know exactly how I feel. People, for the most part, have a forgiving nature. They actually want to forgive. If you make a mistake and say something that can be potentially embarrassing, you can always apologize for it and be forgiven. But if you say something that is not necessarily true and are discovered later, your credibility may be permanently damaged.
If you go into a networking environment prepared to be relaxed and genuine, you will find that it is a lot more fun to be there. If you have a plan of action to really get to know people, you will be much more productive in a shorter amount of time. People will feel comfortable talking to you and you to them. In an environment of truth, more people will want to do business with you and to be around you.
Authentic enthusiasm is contagious. You will always appear to be more attractive when you are excited about what you are doing. When you are not worried about making mistakes, you will appear to be happier. Being happy about the situation will help you to smile more, and the smiling face is a natural human attractor.
So next time you attend a networking function, just be yourself. Your results will improve and you will feel better when you leave to go home. Over time, the difference will be measurable in more ways than just your income. You will find that you have more friends than you had ever imagined possible. When it comes time for the referral, your friend will remember you because friends really do refer friends.
Are You Shooting Yourself In The Foot?
Be Yourself
Let’s look at what the experts advise. By the way, while these tips sound bizarre -- they’re real nuggets, so stay with me:
1. Be an authentic liar.
2. Be your own valentine.
3. Fight bull.
Here’s how these successful experts connect with the marketplace – and you can too:
Be an authentic liar. In his latest book, All Marketers Are Liars, Seth Godin explains “the power of telling authentic stories in a low-trust world.” Mildly unsettling at first, he makes the case that our buyers are actually the ones who are lying. To themselves. About why they want to buy from us.
Successful marketers are just providing the stories that our buyers choose to believe. But here’s the rub: you have to really live the story you’re telling. The second a potential buyer smells anything less than complete dedication to what you’re selling, you “cross the line from fib to fraud.” It’s simply not good enough to have a good story. You have to live up to it as well. If you’re a cobbler with no shoes, why should your clients take your advice?
Be a role model for what you sell, and nothing less. Then tell a good story about it, to buyers who want to believe.
Be your own valentine. In his hot little book, Little Red Book of Selling, Jeffrey Gitomer takes a tough-love approach to helping us be the best version of ourselves we can be.
My personal favorites are:
• No Whining (“Don’t whine to me that the customer won’t return your call. Study voicemail. Don’t whine to me that your boss is a jerk. Get a new one. Don’t whine to me that your company won’t give you a laptop. Go buy one.”)
• Kick Your Own Ass (“Ever have a bad day? Ever lost a sale you thought you had? Ever had someone say yes to you and three days later just evaporate? Wanna know what to do about it…? Kick your own ass. No one is going to hand you success…that’s something you have to do for yourself.”)
The heart of Gitomer’s message is put your heart into your work…and if you don’t love what you sell, go sell something else. No amount of cleverly packaged marketing spin can camouflage a missing heart. Your clients will see right through it and won’t buy from you.
Research shows that people buy professional services because of trust. In Gitomer’s words, “If they like you, and they believe you, and they trust you, and they have confidence in you…then they MAY buy from you.”
Let your heart shine through in your words and actions. If you do, your clients will like, believe, trust, have confidence, and buy from you.
Fight bull. In their recent book, Why Business People Speak Like Idiots: A Bullfighter's Guide, Brian Fugere, Chelsea Hardaway, and Jon Warshawsky give it to us straight. Stop using words that are meaningless, boring, indirect and obscure. Start communicating with your own voice, personality, and style.
How many times have you sat through mind-numbing presentations, meaningless PowerPoint slides, or felt no connection with (no trust in?) the person trying to sell you on their idea, service or product?
So stop. Just stop adding to the bull that piles up every day in business communications. Talk and write to your target audience person-to-person. Ask them simple questions that get to the heart of their wants and needs. Tell them that you’ve thought a lot about their situation and have some ideas that might help them. And do it without the crutch of slides, silly business-speak, or slick messaging.
In other words, just be yourself.
*WIIFM: What’s In It For Me?
References
Fugere, B., Hardaway, C., and Warshawsky, J. (2005). Why Business People Speak Like Idiots: A Bullfighter's Guide. New York: Free Press.
Gitomer, J. (2004). The Little Red Book of Selling. Austin: Bard Press.
Godin, S. (2005). All Marketers Are Liars. New York: Penguin.
21 Quotes You Can Use To Inspire Yourself to Fire Your Boss and Build Wealth at Home
It has been said that it takes 21 days of consistent action to change a behavior or create a new habit. Often times we want something different but old tapes continue to play in our head that keep us from reaching our goals and dreams. This can range from trying to drop 10 lbs to gaining the courage to start your work at home business.
The truth is going from an employee to an entrepreneur can be a little scary. However one of the ways to reduce fear and increase success is to lean on the wisdom and experience of others who have been successful in life.
Some may be famous and others not. Nevertheless, the wisdom if you choose to listen can help you create a paradigm shift in thinking which the foundation to massive success. I have always loved to listen to the champions that have gone before.
Here are 21 quotes that I have thought about often and used to inspire me to down size my boss and it can do the same for you.
1. Once in a while it really hits people that they don't have to experience the world in the way they have been told to. ---Alan Keightley
Were you told to go to school and get a good job? I was. While I know my mother meant well and thought she was preparing me tobe able to have access to the pearly gates of success she could not know how things would change.
However, I knew that I wanted more? How about you? Remember, you don’t have to settle for 60 hour work weeks, 30 minute commutes, your kids in day care or relocating for the promise of career advancement. You don’t have to be part of the grind…the rat race.
2. You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. --- Mike Murdock
Are you afraid to get started? It may seem overwhelming but if you focus on simply daily actions the big goals take care of themselves.
3. No one lives long enough to learn everything they need to learn starting from scratch. To be successful, we absolutely, positively have to find people who have already paid the price to learn the things that we need to learn to achieve our goals ---. Brian Tracy
Get help right out the gate. Find a mentor, coach, mastermind or become a part a community that will help to support you in your success. You want to become a life long learner. Attend seminars and boot camps in your specialized area knowledge. When you learn from people who have been successful and you model their activities you will get their results.
4. By stretching yourself beyond your perceived level of confidence you accelerate your development of competence. --- Michael J. Gelb
The only way to gain confidence in a certain area is to take action. It is in the action you will start to have small victories which will increase your level of success.
5. If you don't program yourself, life will program you! ---Les Brown
Don’t let other people make decision for your life. If you have no plan on you will create wealth during your working years your employer will. Have no retirement plan? You don’t the government to be your strategy. Remember, it’s your life and it’s now or never.
6. There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them. ---Denis Waitley
No matter what your current conditions are you have the opportunity to change them. However, this only can happen if you take total responsible for the direction of your life. If you don’t like where you are forgive yourself and focus on solutions. Don’t focus on problems or why you think something can’t happen. Start to ask powerful questions the answers will start to appear.
7. Everything you need you already have. You are complete right now, you are a whole, total person, not an apprentice person on the way to someplace else. Your completeness must be understood by you and experienced in your thoughts as your own personal reality. --- Dr. Wayne Dyer
8. Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Who are we NOT to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in us all. ---Marianne Williamson
When I first heard this quote it brought tears to my eyes. What talent or gift do you have that you are allowing fear to rob you from achieving? Doing what you were called to do it is bigger than you. You are unique and sharing your gift with someone could make a difference in their life. Are you playing it too small? Are staying in a job that doesn’t stretch you? What can you do to make a difference?
9. You'll see things "you never knew you never knew." --- Disney's Pocahontas
The journey and pursuit of freedom allows you to see the world in a different way than others. As you grow you will naturally see opportunities that others can not see. Jason Oman author of Conversation with Millionaires calls it “Money Goggles.” Even if you were in a pitch black room you will have infrared vision in the area of creating opportunities to make money.
10. A different world cannot be built by indifferent people. ---Peter Marshall
You can’t have what you want in life by being indifferent. Successful people are passionate and sometimes radical in pursuit of their dreams. Don’t allow yourself to be in environments that discourage you.
11. What is it that you like doing? If you don’t like it, get out of it, because you’ll be lousy at it. You don’t have to stay with a job for the rest of your life, because if you don’t like it you’ll never be successful in it. ---Lee Iacocca
Why would you ever spend most of your waking hours doing something that you don’t like? The key to success is finding something you love to and set the standard for excellence.
12. Simply making consistent investments in our self-education and knowledge banks pays major dividends throughout our lives. --- Jim Rohn
The self-education I have pursued after college has been my greatest return on investment. There is something to be said when you develop skills that you know will support you in any economy. Specialized knowledge applied with all out massive results will yield hefty financial and emotional rewards.
13. Finding your purpose may be a lifelong pursuit or you may have discovered it when you were 5 years old. There’s no absolute timeline for anyone. That’s a good reason never to give up, to keep on discovering things every day. --- Donald Trump
If you have not discovered your life’s purpose don’t be hard on yourself. Start to ask yourself questions and enter into a discovery process. Allow yourself to dream without concerns of how you will get it done. Every time you think you have found the answer did a little deeper with more questions. Rarely are your true goals, purpose and desires on the surface of your soul. Often times they have been put away for safe keeping to protect yourself from disappointment. Keep discovering new things until your purpose is crystal clear.
14. What material success does is provide you with the ability to concentrate on other things that really matter. And that is being able to make a difference, not only in your own life, but in other people's lives. ---Oprah Winfrey
When you get the money out of the way your world expands even greater. Oprah exemplifies this principle. She now looks for ways to help others in everything she does. Whether it is giving more support to your family or contributing to a worthy cause, having freedom as a work from home entrepreneur will allow you make your mark in the world.
15. The world cares very little about what a man or woman knows; it is what the man or woman is able to do. --- Booker T. Washington
So what can you create and add value to the world? I love this quote because it demonstrates very clearly that what matters are results at the end of the day. Don’t get caught up in theories. Make sure you are constantly taking action that moves you towards a specific goal.
16. There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction. --- John F. Kennedy
Are you so afraid to fail that you just can’t get out of the box? Don’t be. Many people have “failed” their way to million dollar empires. It is better to do something and be wrong then to do nothing at all. When you choose to do nothing someone else usually makes a decision that impacts you and you ending up doing something you don’t want to do.
17. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for circumstances they want. --George Bernard Shaw
There is no such thing as luck. You create the luck by working and preparing for the opportunity. When you start to put yourself out there the universe gives back. Make sure you are clear of your intentions and then go and make it happen.
19. It's not the hours you put in your work that counts, it's the work you put in your hours. --- Sam Ewing
You have the same 24 hours in the day as Bills Gate and Oprah. Don’t sabotage yourself by saying, “Well they can do it because their rich.” Unless you inherit wealth there is a price that everyone has to pay. You don’t have to work all day at your work from empire. However, you must consistently put time in if you want success.
20. You must do the thing you think you cannot do. --- Eleanor
Roosevelt.
One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself is to do something you think you can not do. It doesn’t have to be something huge. A simple action of courage goes a long in adding to your confidence in every area of your life.
21. You will never leave where you are, until you decide where you'd rather be. --- Dexter Yager
Until you know your purpose you will be at risk for staying in a job that slowly eats away at you. Why? You simply don’t have a strong enough goal to leave your current job. When the goal is strong enough you will search to find the answers.
Benchmarking: Avoid comparing yourself to the industry average.
Most organizations conduct employee surveys of various types either annually, every two years or sporadically. Some organizations use the data from the employee survey to affect real change that contributes to their ongoing success. There are organizations who like to focus on comparing their survey scores to the scores of other organizations and there are the organizations that do little with their survey results. The focus of this article is to discuss the middle group: those organizations that like to focus on and compare their employee survey scores against the average scores of all the organizations that are in a third party database.
Many surveying companies sell their services on the basis that they will be able to compare the scores of the one company against the average score of all of the organizations in their database. Comparing yourself to someone else is enticing. We have been exposed to comparative data from the first day we stepped inside a school. Throughout our primary and secondary education we were compared to the rest and typically this comparison was against the “class average”. We knew who the smartest and the dumbest kids were but it was the average that counted. Was I above or below the class average? That was important in terms of dealing with our own self esteem and dealing with our parents. This was not the case for all students. The parents of some students demanded top marks and that is exactly what those few students worked towards. They had to be the best. They had to have the top marks.
This was all very interesting but in the end it was irrelevant. When it came time to apply to university a new standard had to be reached. University entrance requirements varied but one thing was clear. Average marks were not good enough. In fact being above average in many instances was not good enough. University entrance requirements were demanding and one had to strive for a new and much higher standard than “average”. The profile or status of a university that you were interested in attending, determined the level of academic excellence you had to achieve.
It is puzzling to see how many organizations fall into the trap of placing a great deal of emphasis on comparing their surveys scores to a database that represents the average of a number of companies. These comparisons are sought not only for the overall scores of the employee survey, but for every question in the survey.
It would appear that a fundamental question needs to be asked by every organization-why are we conducting an employee survey in the first place and what are we going to do with the results.
From a strategic perspective it would seem reasonable to think that an organization would wish at the very least, to demonstrate that the survey is helping the organization to achieve their strategic goals. In other words, they are conducting the employee survey as a way of obtaining employee information that can be used to improve for example, workplace practices in order to lift their employees’ working experience. In turn this will lift the customer experience and profits.
However, if this or some other strategic purpose is not being fulfilled by the employee survey than the value of conducting the survey is questionable. One could argue that comparing oneself to other organizations is in fact a legitimate strategic objective. It is worth knowing how you compare to the best. How does your stock performance compare to the best in your business sector-not the average of all the companies in your business sector but only the best? How do your employee survey scores compare to the best in your business sector-not the average of all the businesses in the database but only the best?
Comparing oneself to the very best is legitimate especially if the best sets a benchmark that you adopt as your own. But to compare oneself to the average serves no useful purpose. If a senior management group knows that their scores are better than the average of all the companies in a database, strategically of what use is this information. Perhaps it may give them a sense of pride knowing that they are better than the average. But it may also lull them into a false sense of confidence. The question that should be top of mind is “are we really as good as we can be and are we really achieving a level of excellence that will sustain us over the long term.”
For example, employee turnover in the retail sector is fairly high. Most retailers take it for granted. Entec Corporation has been working with Gap Inc. Canada for several years. Gap offers excellent training programs especially for their associate managers and store managers. In 1999, Gap was routinely being raided by other retailers and their annual turnover rate for store managers was 39% and for associate managers it was 48%. This was costing Gap hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in recruiting and training. With over 200 stores and 10,000 employees across Canada, these costs were unacceptable. Entec Corporation was engaged by Gap to conduct an Organizational Health Survey. Gap acted upon the recommendations in the survey and was able to reduce manager turnover rates to 13% in one year.
But these lower turnover rates were accompanied by real business gains. For example, secret shopper scores increased by 5% after only eight months and sales in Canada over the last few years have improved to a level where the Canadian operation moved from being about in the middle to becoming one of the most profitable divisions in the world. The survey results were linked directly to the bottom line.
If Gap accepted “the trap of comparing themselves to the average” and accepted the conventional wisdom that “this is the average turnover rate in retail so we are OK”, they would not have saved thousands of dollars each year in training and recruiting. More importantly they would not have experienced the benefits that reduced turnover brought them; namely preserving human capital of highly trained managers that helped to grow Gap’s business. This last point is typically overlooked. The impact of a reduction in turnover of well trained employees to the bottom line of a company is considerably higher than the cost savings achieved from reducing recruiting and training.
Several points need to be considered when embarking on an employee survey:
1. Develop clear strategic objectives
2. Measure towards those objectives
3. Inform your employees of the survey scores
4. Follow up with positive implementation
5. If you must compare yourself to others, compare yourself only to the best
If this process is not followed the organization can expect:
1. Employee participation rates in the survey to be low (30% or lower)
2. Rising employee cynicism with the organization (why bother if the activity of completing an employee survey does not make a difference)
3. Employees become disengaged from the organization
4. The organization loses an opportunity to make significant strides in performance
Conclusion
The trap an organization falls into when they become focused on benchmarking themselves against others is that they lose sight of what is really important-what is it that we are doing well and where do we need to improve in order to create an even better organization than the one we already have. If you must compare yourself to others, compare yourself only to the best and do not get side tracked. Focus
Advance Your Career by Selling Yourself
Often when it comes to our career we are some of the worst salesman of our abilities and skills. We sell ourselves short in our abilities come review time, or accept less than we are worth out of fear that they will find someone else. Instead of building ourselves up and selling ourselves for maximum value we accept what is given to us and end up doing twice the work for half the pay.
One of the most important places you can ever sell yourself is during the interview process for a new job. It is during this process that you should make an effort to build up yourself and sell your skills to the potential employer by making them feel that if they hire anyone else but you they are going to be losing out on an amazing talent. Here are a few tips you can use during your next interview to make the interviewer think WOW!
Dress for success. Clothes make the man (or woman) and you should dress as if you were interviewing for the CEO position.
Research the company and know the background of it. During the interview show that you have done your homework by asking questions or making comments about a recent press release or company announcement.
Ask questions. Most interviewees just answer the questions they are presented and never speak up. Show the interviewer you are truly interested in the company and the job by asking questions relating to the company, your potential job and company culture.
Bring samples of your work. Whether you are an artist or a computer programmer bring a sample portfolio of your past work and share it with the interviewer. Remember, a picture (or document) can speak a million words.
Be ahead of schedule. Remember the golden rule; it is better to be 3 hours early than 3 minutes late. No one is going to hire someone who can't make it to the interview on time.
Follow-up. Don't sit around waiting for a letter or a call. Send a follow-up letter immediately expressing your interest in the job and if you haven't heard back within a week pick up the phone and call. What do you have to lose?
Aptitude Test - Know Yourself
It it very important to know ourself well. In my career I have constantly try to figure out what do I want to do and what is suitable for me. Since secondary school time I have started to think hard on what I want to be in the future. During University time I did a lot of reading and test to understand myself more. I wanted to be an entrepreneur. However I don’t know where to start and what industry I should go into. I have tried to start some small business in university time and I learned that passion is very important. I simply need to love what I am doing. So I planned to gain some working experience before I go into any business. I started my career as a programmer. I figure out that I wanted to become an system analyst, which I have already achieve it today, after 5 years of working.
I did an aptitude test on Test You Own Job Aptitude by Jim Barret and Geoff Williams 6 years ago which I think its worth to mention. Following are the results of my test. According to the test I am a mixed of Research and Literary type. Below are some descriptions of the categories:
Research
This attraction shows how much you enjoy acquiring knowledge. As a result of this you seem prepared to devoted a great deal of time to study and the careers which appeal to you generally need academic, professional or special qualifications.
At school, you would have preferred scientific subjects, particularly the main-stream diciplines of mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology. You will have enjoyed objective problem solving and being able to sift through information in order to draw conclusions. You will have enjoyed experimenting and working with formulae.
Careers in this category: astronomer, bacteriologist, botanist, chemist, dietitian, mathematician, microbiologist, physicist, surgeon, computer scientist
Literary
You are attracted by carrers involving words, ideas and communication. You will be happy reading or writing a lot - probaly both. Other interests or activities might also appeal, but these can be saved for leisure time. It is with a literary activity that you want to spend most of your time.
If you have not been engaged in literary events hitherto, it is possible that your self-awareness has changed. Perhaps now is the time to find out whether you have any talent. Some people have produced a first novel after retirement.
Careers in this category are: actor/actress, editor, historian, interpreter, journalist, language teacher, librarian, literary critic, novelist, proof reader
Research and Literary
You may be able to combine these preferences in a career which fuses science with art. In this case, you are likely to be high qualified: you will be one of the lucky few who are very highly specialised and for whom there are careers available. Most careers will be in an academic or educational environment. If your background is in research you may also have a literary talent which allows you to write about your subject. Additioanl personal skills would be required if you are to be successful in presenting your work to others as a lecturer or trainer.
Careers in this category are: anthropologist, archaelogist, information scientist, science writer, technical writer.
I found that the test result are indeed very true for myself, not only 6 years ago, but even until today it remains true. Today I am a system analyst, but that is not my final destination. I have something else that I wanted to achieve. I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to further my study in master degree. I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I know that I need to focus on one at a time.
Knowing yourself is important. It helps you to keep focus on your lifelong journey.
10 Ways To Transition Yourself Into Retirement
Let’s be completely honest. Everyone has their own dreams and expectations about retirement. Upon retirement, some folks plan to travel around the world while others simply plan to take excursions to their local beach. Whatever the retirement plan that you may have, being able to implement your goals takes a certain degree of financial security. The problem however is that financial security does not just happen but requires careful planning, commitment and yes, money.
To be a successful retiree, you must successfully transition yourself into retirement in order to meet your retirement objectives. In addition, you have to plan the amount of money you need and what you want to accomplish with your savings. After all, you’ll likely spend 35+ years in retirement so you must start planning now. In this article, we will discuss 10 ways that you can successfully transition yourself into retirement. They are as follows:
1. Debt Reduction - Make sure that you do not carry your debts into retirement. Therefore, commit yourself to paying off as much of your debts as you possibly can. Eliminate car payments, credit card debts, personal loans, etc. Do what you have to do now to squash debt and make sure that you don’t obtain any new debts either.
2. Have a Nest Egg of Emergency Funds - Have enough liquid funds in hand to cover at least a few months of expenses, without eating into your investments. Be prepared for the unexpected expenses while you transition into retirement. After all, emergencies will certainly come up but if you have a certain amount of savings, you won’t have to worry about them.
3. Adequate Insurance Coverage - Make sure that you have adequate insurance to cover your life, health, homeowners', and auto insurance policies. Reassess your insurance needs on a yearly basis to ensure that they suit your retirement needs. Be open to making changes as needed and check out your employer’s retirement coverage. Many of folks have been unpleasantly surprised to learn that their employers will no longer cover their medical expenses after they retire. So, if you find out now, you can take the necessary steps to protect yourself and your family.
4. Retirement Income Plan - To ensure that you don’t outlive your assets, develop a retirement income plan that includes your income and expenses. Keep track of your current expenses and cut back as needed.
5. Social Security Benefits - The rules for benefits are rather complex, so talk to a Social Security representative a year before you plan to retire. By doing this, you’ll be able to understand your benefits and how much you’re covered. In addition, you should apply for social security three months before you want to start collecting your benefits or three months before your 65th birthday.
6. Contribute to a Savings Plan - If your employer offers a tax-sheltered savings plan (such as a 401K), make sure that you contribute as much as you can. Not only will this substantially lower your taxes but will also make huge difference in your financial security due to the magic of compounded interest.
7. Review Wills and Trusts - Make sure that you have a valid will and/or trust. Not only will this protect your assets but will give you peace of mind.
8. Invest in IRA - By putting money in an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), you’ll cleverly delay paying taxes on investment earnings. If you invest $2,000 in IRA at 4% when you are 30, it will grow to $112,170 by the time you are 60. Now that’s a lot of moola for simply being smart!
9. Follow Basic Investment Principles - Just remember that how much you have for retirement depends on the type of investments you make now. Learn how to multiply your savings using mutual funds, stocks, bonds, etc. Consult a financial advisor for additional information.
10. Know About Medicare - Find out when it is appropriate to apply for Medicare and then apply. The Medicare application process and premiums may vary, depending on your age and whether or not you are receiving Social Security by being aware of the type of Medicare you may qualify, you’ll be ahead of the game. For instance, the two parts of Medicare are:
- Hospital insurance, which generally you do not pay. It helps to pay for hospital, hospice, and home health care.
- Medical insurance, which you pay. It helps pay for doctors, outpatient care, and other medical services.
Follow our suggested ten steps and you’ll not only improve your mental health but you’ll also transition yourself into a happy and financially secure retirement.
Advertising Yourself To Friends?
Did you know many of your friends do not know exactly what you do to make your money? It happens more often than you'd like to think to small businesses.
Since people like to do business with friends, it is important you help them to know what you do.
Recognize that you need to educate your friends and acquaintances about your small business. Then they can become some of your best sources of new clients and promote you to others as well.
Right now you have lots of social and business networks of people who know you personally: from your clubs, recreational activities, school activities, religious affiliations, hobby groups and so on.
Your friends and acquaintances know you for the person and character you demonstrate to them in person. Your friendship is of primary importance to them. What you do for a living is secondary.
So it's up to you to tell them about how you can help when they (or others they know) need what you are selling. Your personal colleagues are valued assets to promote both you and your business.
Your goal is to become the "go to" person when your friends need your services. Instead of the "WIIFM" What's In It For Me formula, you want to get them to ask you "WCYDFM", What Can You Do For Me? In other words, "Can I turn to you for valuable advice to help me solve my problem?"
Sure, your friends may know what type of business you are in. "He has a garage, she owns a consulting service, he is a mortgage broker, she sells real estate" and so on. Sometimes, small businesses can have vague names, which cry out for further explanation.
So it can be quite productive if you simplify and clarify precisely what you do in terms your friends can understand. Tell stories. Give easy-to-understand examples.
You probably already have one or two "elevator" speeches of 10 or 30 seconds explaining what you do. Develop another version suitable for more general use.
When you tell others what you do, use your own personal style of story-telling. Take advantage of impromptu situations, and be sure to use your judgement about when to insert your message into the conversation.
Make it easy for people to talk about you with others in their own circles of friends and acquaintances. This how to use the multiplier effect: friends tell friends... who tell friends, etc.
In the never-ending quest for new customers and clients for your small business, why not take advantage of personal opportunities right there in front of you every day?
And be sure to learn about their businesses, too. It works both ways!
© 2006 Jon Sinish
This article may be reprinted and distributed as long as the resource information remains intact.
Taking Care of Yourself is Part of the Job
The job of becoming the primary caregiver for your aging parent is universally recognized as one of the most difficult transitions we will go through. To start with, it’s hard to go through the reversal of parent and child. All your life, mom or dad were the strong ones. They were the ones you ran to for help and who were always there to tell you, “It’s ok. Everything will be all right.”
But now as your parent ages and you have to witness their demise mentally and physically, you realize that everything may not be all right especially if your parent is going through a slow decline of a terminal illness. When the only outcome of what you are dealing with in your parent’s life is death, that makes it tough to stay upbeat, creative and proactive about how to handle life’s daily challenges.
The task of caring for an elderly parent is overwhelming. You have concerns about their finances, their medications, the progress of their disease if they are battling something terminal, their mental state, their diet and their emotional state as well. It’s easy to begin to “hover” your senior citizen in an emotional attempt to block any more harm coming to him or her. This is a parenting instinct and one that your dad and mom probably won’t resist because they want to be cared for.
You feel the anxiety of your parent and the fears they face as the months and years ahead hold uncertain dangers and a certain outcome. So there is an instinct in caregivers to give 100% of your time, your energy and your resources to caring for that elderly loved one.
The problem is that you, the caregiver do have other obligations other than caring for your loved one. You may have a job, a family and your own health and upkeep to think about. So it’s a good idea for you the caregiver, the family of caregivers and event he one being cared for to keep your eyes open for caregiver burnout to help the one who is trying so hard to take care of Grandma or Grandpa to also take care of themselves a little bit so they will last a lot longer.
Underlying much of the intensity of effort many caregivers put out to help their aging or align parents is guilt. Guilt can be a powerful force that feeds on itself in an unhealthy way. The outcome is not only does the primary caregiver feel guilty that mom or dad are even having to go through age related illness, they feel guilty for any time they take for themselves or to care for their own needs or the needs of their family.
Caregiver burnout can result in decline in health in the caregiver and eventually may lead to changes in attitude about the task of care giving and in some cases a nervous breakdown. Symptoms include poor sleep and eating habits in the caregiver, a possible increase in drinking to help “settle the nerves” and an inability to think about anything else than what mom or dad needs.
If you see these symptoms in yourself or someone you know and care about who may be suffering from caregiver burnout, act fast to get them some help. They need to realize that taking care of themselves is part of the task of caring for their aging parents. It may even be a situation that calls for a talk with the caregiver along with the one being cared for. If that senior citizen can see that they need to encourage their caregiver to go be with family, get some rest, see a movie and forget the responsibilities of care giving for a while, that respite from the stress can do a world of good for that important person in their lives.
What You Should Do If You Find Yourself Fired From Your Job
Each week, millions of Americans go to work, do their jobs, and collect their paychecks. Unfortunately, there comes a time when that cycle is disrupted. If you have recently found yourself fired or terminated from your current place of employment, you may be in shock. Although shock is a normal feeling, it is important that you start taking action right away, should you ever find yourself fired from your current position.
As previously stated, you should take action right away if you ever find yourself terminated from your current work position. This action is patricianly important if you rely on your income to pay important bills, such as your rent or mortgage, or if you use your paycheck to help support your family. Depending on the circumstances, you will find that most states do not allow those terminated from their jobs to collect unemployment payments. This typically only happens if you are laid off. What does this mean for you? It means that means that you may need to try and find a new job right away.
Speaking of taking action and finding a new job right away, one of your first steps should involve creating a resume for yourself. This is important, as you will need a resume to apply for new jobs. Even if you are able to fill out a traditional job application, you will still want to attach a resume. Resumes add professionalism to all job applications and they can help to set your application apart from all the rest. If you are unsure how to write your own resume, you may want to consider using the services of a professional resume writer.
In keeping with resumes and job applications, it is important that you proceed with caution. Unfortunately, many job seekers make the mistake of including a job in which they were fired from on their job application or on their resume. However, in that same sense, many make the mistake of leaving the job that they were recently terminated from off of their resume, when it should really be on it. That sounds a little bit confusing doesn’t it? If you are unsure as to how you should prepare your resume, you are not alone.
When trying to determining how you should prepare your resume, what you need to do is examine your reasons for being terminated, as well as how long you were employed by your past employer. Many employers do not like seeing gaps over one or two years; therefore, if your last job, the one in which you were fired from, lasted over two years, you may still want to include that position on your resumes and job applications. With that in mind, you also want to use your best judgment with cases such as workplace confirmation, multiple missed work days, or theft.
Once you have created a resume for yourself, you can start to go finding and applying for jobs. This is the easy part, as you will find that you have a number of different options. You may want to start with your local newspaper. Most newspapers have an employment section. What is nice about using your local newspaper to examine all open job positions is that most of your jobs will be local. There is typically no sorting by location needed. In addition to using your local newspaper, you can also use the internet to help you research companies with open positions.
Once you have a collection of jobs that you would like to apply to, you will want to create a cover letter for yourself. Cover letters typically should not be developed in advance, as you will want to personalize your cover letter with the name of the position you are applying for, as well as the company you are applying at. You can create a template for yourself, but make sure each and every one of your cover letters is personalized in one way or another.
The above mentioned steps are just a few of the steps that you should take, should you ever find yourself terminated from your current position. In dire circumstances, such as ones where you need income right away, you may want to visit your local temporary employment agency, as they can help you find short-term temporary jobs.
The Benefits of Creating a Camping Checklist for Yourself
Have you recently made reservations at a campground park to go camping?
Whether you are camping with friends, family members, or your romantic partner, preparation is important. Have you already started preparing for your trip, in terms of packing the supplies that you will need or the food that you would like to bring along with you? If you have yet to do so, you may want to take the time to create a camping checklist for yourself, as there are a number of benefits to doing so.
Before examining the many benefits of creating a camping checklist for yourself, you may want to take the time to familiarize yourself with what a camping checklist can include. In all honesty, a camping checklist can include just about anything that you want. Most people use camping checklists to ensure that they bring enough food and clothes with them, as well as the right camping equipment. You can also use your camping checklist to make a list of each of the activities that you would like to participate in while on your camping trip. As previously stated, the options are unlimited when creating a camping checklist for yourself.
As for the benefits of creating a camping checklist for yourself, the biggest benefit of doing so is that a camping checklist helps to ensure that you do not leave anything behind. You should know that this happens quite often, in fact, you may have forgotten to bring something important along with you on one of your previous trips. A camping checklist, especially one that is made in advance, can help to make sure that you bring enough food, drinks, snacks, clothing, and other important camping equipment, like your tents or sleeping bags.
Another one of the many benefits to creating a camping checklist for yourself is that it is easy to do. In fact, when it comes to creating a camping checklist, you will find that you have a number of different options. One of those options involves making your own camping checklist from scratch. You can sit down and make a list of everything that you would like to bring, as well as everything that you need to bring on your next camping trip. Once your checklist has been compiled, you will want to try and keep that camping checklist in a handy location, like on your refrigerator. This is ideal as you can easily add any other additional items that you can think of to your camping list later on.
In addition to making your own camping checklist from scratch, you can also find camping checklists online. These online camping checklists should be free and easy to print. What you will want to do though is be sure to add your own information or anything else that you can think of. Most of the online camping checklists that you will find are generalized ones; therefore, you should add your own personal touch. To find online camping checklist templates, to use or even to just get suggestions, you will want to perform a standard internet search.
If you are interested in making a camping checklist for yourself or even just adding on to an online checklist that you printed off, you may want to sit back and envision your next camping trip. What do you see yourself doing, eating, or wearing? This may help to ensure that your checklist is complete and filled with everything that you need and want. Also, since you will likely not be camping alone, you may want to have your family or your romantic partner add their own wants and needs to your camping checklist as well. This will help to ensure that everyone has a pleasant camping trip.
As outlined above, there are a number of benefits to creating a camping checklist for your next camping trip. With a camping checklist being relatively easy to create, why not at least give it a try?
Steps For Do It Yourself Car Valeting
When your car was brand new, you just can't get over the fact on how great looking it is. The paint is shiny and has that luster that you can be proud of showing off in public and you also have those great leather seats that is so soft and comfortable. However, as years go by, you will see that the luster of the paint will disappear and scratches may develop that you definitely don’t want to see in your car.
You will also notice that the leather in the seat will become a bit stiff and quite uncomfortable.
You have to remember that even if you are extra careful or cautious in driving your car, the environmental factors will significantly affect the look of your car. The paint will lose its luster and will eventually fade away because of the environment, such as acids, the suns harmful rays as well as the harshness of snow and rain.
Most cars manufactured today only have a thin coat of paint. In fact, the overall thickness will be 4 to 6 millimeters, which will include the anti-corrosion coatings and the scratch resistant coating. The thickness of the clear coat can be compared to the thickness of a piece of paper.
Even the bumper and other soft parts of the car will have thin coats of paint.
These are the facts that you need to consider when you plan on detailing or valeting your car. Basically, you may want to evaluate the paint of the car before undergoing a detailing or valeting project.
The first step in car detailing is by removing any contaminants in the exterior, such as tar, bugs, grime, dust and other things that affects the look of the car.
You must thoroughly wash the car first with water and use a car shampoo to completely remove the dirt. Then, with a chamois, polish the car and make sure that no water droplets remain.
There is commercial grade tar and bug removers that will help you remove any unwanted stains that may have stuck on the paint of the car. Usually, most professional car detailers will use a clay bar that has a fine abrasive property which can remove any stains without harming the paint job on the car.
After giving your car a good scrub with the clay bar, the next step is to remove the clay residue from the car. After removing the clay residue, you are now ready to apply a professional grade car wax. Then, you may want to use a liquid polisher compound. Carnauba is also a great addition as it will contain carnauba fat which will provide a thin coating on your car which will give it its shine and give the paint more depth and luster.
There is also chrome refinishing products that you can spray on damaged chrome. With this, you will be able to make the chrome shine like it was brand new as well as recondition it and remove and damages.
For the engine, there are engine detailer kits that you can use. However, you have to follow the instructions first. There are basically two things that you need to apply. The first is the dirt and grease remover, and the second is the detailer which will make your car's engine shine like it just came out of the factory line.
For the interior, you may want to use a vacuum to remove dirt from the carpet as well as the seats. There are also chemicals that will moisturize the leathers on your seats which will make it soft like it was brand new.
Car detailing/valeting kits are quite inexpensive. All you need to do is follow the instructions on how to apply each of the compounds and you can be sure that you will have great results.