Re-frame – Reduce Stress & Enjoy Success

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I suffer from no illusion that I’m about to introduce you to some innovative strategy that will suddenly change your life. We’ve had at our disposal for generations a powerful tactic which can immediately reduce stress and redirect our lives in a more positive direction.

I’m certain at this point you’re probably thinking something like: “If that’s true, why don’t more people do just that?” Well, if I had the answer to that one, I’d be signing copies of my best seller in the lobby of New York City’s Barnes and Noble. In fact, that’s the million-dollar question in today’s chaotic world. Why don’t more people make an effort to enhance their lives when it costs nothing more than a mental re-frame of the way we think?

Let me share an example. I recently flew from Detroit to Miami to present a keynote presentation for a long-time client. As usual, this was one of those flights that are so common place for me. In the row ahead of me, across the aisle, was an elderly couple traveling with two, yes two, miniature dogs in cages which fit under the seats ahead of them. Directly in front of me was a couple with a young child who was peacefully sleeping as the plane took off.

Minutes into the flight, the two dogs began barking at each other for some reason. I don’t think they stopped until we landed in Miami. Two minutes in the air and the barking dogs woke the young girl in the seat in front of me and she began to cry. I’m sure she was attempting to drown out the annoying sounds of the barking animals.

Moments later the pilot blessed us with a dual announcement:

  1. the Wi-Fi connection wasn’t working on this particular flight
  2. we were heading into a storm front and would be experiencing some rough travel conditions ahead.

At this moment in my typical flight, I’m usually asking myself, “What else could possibly go wrong?” … which creates a negative attitude, which soon leads to a migraine headache. The perfect addition to barking dogs, a crying child, no Wi-Fi and a bumpy ride!

Well, over the years I’ve learned how to manipulate my re-frame abilities and search for a more positive mind-set. In doing so, I suddenly recognized the following facts:

  • I’m sitting in a comfortable seat in a metal tube 50,000 feet (almost 10 miles) in the air with more than 200 fellow travelers!
  • I’m traveling at more than 700 miles an hour! On the ground I’d get a speeding ticket for anything over 70 mph!
  • Outside the plane the temperature is 35 below zero! I’m perfectly comfortable in the plane in shirt sleeves.
  • I’m going to arrive in Miami in just three hours. If I were to drive the 1,411 miles non-stop, it would take me close to 24 hours!

Realizing the enormity of where I am, where I’m going and what I’m doing, I think I can weather the challenge of the barking canines and screaming youngster. I can live a few hours without my computer, and I have a seat belt to make the ride a lot smoother. I simply insert my dependable ear plugs, adjust my therapy neck support pillow, recline my seat, close my eyes and welcome the embrace of the Friendly Skies!

THAT’S a re-frame and every one of us are capable of doing the same thing whenever we choose. The question lies in why more of us don’t do it more often! Think about it. It’s YOUR choice!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Ray Charles and Winston Churchill Shared a Powerful Philosophy

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If you were to ask the average person what they knew about Winston Churchill, they would more than likely mention his famous speech in which he said, “Never give up.”

Here’s a brief bio and an interesting fact about that famous speech.

  • Winston Churchill was a British politician, statesman and orator known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the WWII. He is widely regarded as one of the great wartime leaders. He also served as Prime Minister twice 1940-45 and 1951-55. He passed away in 1965 at the age of 91.
  • Concerning his speech … it was reported that he delivered his inspiring message to the boys of his old school, Harrow, in 1941 and the entire text of his speech consisted of five short sentences built around his advice that you should “never give up.” It was commonly reported that he supposedly spoke for less than a minute and immediately sat down.

Actually, that was a myth that has been recorded in many history books over the years. In reality, his speech was much longer than reported, and his actual phrase was “never give in” as opposed to “never give up.”

Regardless, it was excellent advice which has been heeded by many over the decades.

In the midst of today’s chaotic turmoil, no one has to be told that times are tough. On the other hand, everyone should be encouraged to “never give in.” We, as parents, grandparents, leaders, etc., have a responsibility to educate, encourage, support and even model this classic message.

Let me tell you about another legendary gentleman who shares this critical philosophy of “never give in.”

This celebrated musician lost his sight at the tender age of six years old. This tragedy left him devastated … feeling lost, alone and totally abandoned. He could visualize no future at all. His mother did her best to support, encourage and console him. However, his fear of the unknown kept him in a constant state of terror.

Watching her son waste away led his mother to make a statement that inspired the young boy and eventually change his life forever. She said, “Son, you have lost your sight and nothing can change that. There are things you can’t do. But there are lots of things you can do. You have a creative mind. Find something you enjoy and stick with it, no matter what.”

Following his mother’s advice, he thought about what he really wanted to do with his life. He had always dreamed of becoming a recording star so he would practice playing the piano and singing every day.

Sadly, he was discouraged at every turn. Friends, neighbors, teachers, and even other family members discouraged him and suggested that he find another way to support himself. They made it clear that he would never play the piano or sing well enough to earn a living.

However, he remembered his mother’s words and refused to quit. He remained focused on his goal and practiced different techniques, different styles and different melodies that would fit him. Many times he cried himself to sleep as a result of the rude remarks which haunted him. However, his mother was always there reminding him that he must never give up.

Ultimately his perseverance paid off.

Later in his life, he received countless awards for his music, including 12 Grammies. He performed before millions of people including Presidents and heads of state. His unique musical style has made a lasting imprint on all forms of popular music over the past 50 years. He credited his success to his mother’s words which remained in the back of his mind until the day he died. He wouldn’t listen to the negative influences in his life and refused to quit. His name: Ray Charles.

The next time someone tells you to forget your dream, remember this young boy’s mother who wouldn’t let him “give in” and the Prime Minister who inspired an entire country with the same message. Is there someone in your life that would benefit from hearing that message from you? It could very well make a crucial difference in their lives.

If your dream is something that you REALLY want, don’t let anything stop you until you achieve it!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

We Choose Our Mindset!

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Like more than 110 million others, I watched Super Bowl XLV (#45) unfold on the Texas gridiron of Cowboys Stadium Sunday. News of this battle dominated our media for the week prior to the game and most of the day Sunday.

I played football in high school and in the military. I later coached the game and announced from the booth. In my current role, I’ve had the opportunity to work with two professional football teams. I’ve been an avid fan all my life so I thoroughly enjoyed the Big Game.

However, I found myself moved mentally and emotionally by several events other than the game itself.

  1. As always, the commercials were phenomenal … creative, humorous, and even touching at times. Of course, they should have been as the advertisers were paying $6 million per minute to share them with viewers!
  2. The entertainment was sensational from start to finish. Lea Michele, of “Glee” fame, kicked things off with a touching rendition of “America the Beautiful” followed by Christina Aguilera’s moving version of the “National Anthem.” In the excitement of the moment, Christina missed a few words but recovered quickly, finished with heart like the pro she is, and was thrilled to discover that many missed the mis-que and others didn’t care. Exquisite camera work and uncanny timing captured respectful tears flowing from the eyes of an emotional player during her performance.

Expectations had to be high for the halftime performance with names like Slash, Usher, and The Black Eyed Peas, and apparently they were met, judging by the audience reaction. The performance provided big names, great music, unique outfits, and terrific high-tech choreography by hundreds of extras.

The game itself couldn’t have offered much more in the way of excitement, execution, and edge-of-your-seat outcomes. The game went down to the last 30 seconds, providing fans of both teams with the anxiety only a tried and true fanatic could appreciate.

I mentioned earlier that I was mentally and emotionally moved by several events other than those I’ve mentioned. While there were several, they each had to do with the human aspect of Super Bowl week and how the entire country seemed to be focused on football and the celebration of the upcoming competition. We heard very little about the negativity that has plagued us for what seems forever. No one was debating healthcare or watching the unemployment numbers. You heard little about mortgages, the value of the dollar, terrorist attacks, trade balances, immigration, inflation, or politics. In fact, just prior to the game, conservative newsman Bill O’Reilly interviewed liberal President Barack Obama, and both were not only civil but actually friendly to one another … despite predictions to the contrary.

Though fierce competition was evident at every turn, it was apparent that everyone was good-natured about the upcoming game and everything involved with it. Everything else seemed to have been relegated to a back burner, at least for a short time, while people chose to focus on something more enjoyable. Stress levels were reduced, smiles and laughter increased, and it seemed nice to have something positive to look forward to.

When you think about it, all of this was a matter of choice on the part of each one of us. Maybe we should strive to choose more positive thinking, speaking and interacting a bit more often. Choice is one of the few things we do control. We choose where to place our focus. Maybe it’s time to examine our current choices and make an effort to create a few more “Super Bowl weeks” just a little more often. We’d all certainly benefit from it. Let’s start today!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

We Don’t Need Customers!

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Can you imagine seeing a banner, boasting this message, flying over the main entrance to your local theater, hotel, hospital, bank or retail store? … Or maybe a TV commercial or a giant billboard declaring the “death of the customer”?

At first, that image may sound absurd … but is it really that far fetched? You may not see that message displayed as described above, but you’ve got to admit that it’s been amply declared by so many businesses across this nation today.

Think about it …

  • Video rental stores generate a significant portion of their profits from late fees!
  • Gifts and discounts are offered to new customers while withheld from long-time customers who have proven loyalty!
  • Credit card companies approve rather than decline over-limit transactions and then charge the customer fees!
  • Cellular providers lock customers into lengthy contracts rather than creating loyalty through good service.

The examples are never-ending, but the fact remains that customers today are shown less respect and appreciation than ever before. Ironically, this abuse is occurring at a time when competition is fierce and the business community is feeling the severe ill effects of today’s economic downturn.

If anything, there should be an increased focus on providing better customer service today than ever before! And yet, the level of good customer service continues to decline in most every industry.

A recent survey revealed a variety of reasons (excuses) for this growing trend—most of which were unacceptable and several which were simply too stupid to print here.

Apparently, employers aren’t providing expectations, guidelines, or training in the area of quality customer service.

Those who think they can’t afford employee training in these critical areas will soon face a harsh reality. They can’t afford NOT to prepare their staff to leave an indelible impression on potential and existing customers, even in today’s fast-paced, technological environment.

We’re experiencing an increase in requests for customer service seminars and customer service keynote presentations. Apparently many have learned that good customer service translates into repeat business, an increased bottom line, and your economic survival.

Your competitor may very well be one of those who have made this commitment to providing better service. Can you say the same?

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Evaluate Your Choices!

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I just finished a book, Delivering Happiness, by Tony Hsieh (pronounced SHAY) who happens to be the 24-year-old multimillionaire CEO of online shoe and clothing shop Zappos.com. We’ll be posting the book review in the very near future.

However, in reading the book and doing some additional research on the author, I discovered something rather baffling about the human psyche. Actually, I’ve witnessed this anomaly for years, and yet it continues to mystify me.

After my recent research, I’m ready to place Tony Hsieh into a unique category with some pretty impressive company. That category would include such notable characters as: Bill Gates, Donald Trump, Jack Welch, Jim Collins, Lee Iacocca, Meg Whitman, Peter Drucker, President Obama, Ross Perot, Rush Limbaugh, Barbara Walters, Sam Walton, Stephen Covey, Tony Robbins, Oprah Winfrey, Warren Buffett, and Wayne Dyer, to name just a few.

Have you determined what these people have in common? It has nothing to do with career choices, religious preferences, political beliefs, age, color or creed. It’s true, they’re all educated, experienced, talented, accomplished, creative and outspoken. However, there’s something else.

In the arena of public opinion, each of those noted above fall into one of two categories. They are loved or despised (viewed with contempt)! It’s true. Very few, if any, would say they simply like these people. Each of them fall very solidly into one category or the other.

Sadly, there’s a major drawback to pigeonholing people. Let’s take a look at a harsh reality. Pick someone from the list above that you truly admire. If you’re like the majority of people in today’s society, you will have an inclination to believe everything that person says and does.

Now choose a name from that list that you might despise. In this case, you will have a tendency to believe absolutely nothing that person says or does. Therein lies the problem.

  • We must strive to change our thinking here.
  • No one is always right.
  • No one is always wrong.
  • The same holds true for religions, political parties, and business organizations.
  • There may be a great deal to learn from someone you may not admire or agree with.
  • And you shouldn’t necessarily believe and/or agree with everything simply because you hear it from someone you do admire and respect.

Take the case of Tony Hsieh. Here’s a young man with an impressive background, successful track record, and a creative mind who has created an empire built on great products, good prices, and an unequaled culture of customer service.

My research revealed that he has a fantastic following of employees, vendors, clients and business professionals who wholeheartedly believe in Tony, his philosophy, and everything he’s accomplished. They believe he’s a charismatic leader who has his best days ahead of him and, in the meantime, can do no wrong.

My research also revealed a good number of people who view this young man as a flippant, self-centered, cult leader who came from an extremely privileged background which paved his way to a snooty high school and then on to Harvard. Therefore, his entire career was handed to him on a silver platter. He’s too close to his employees and treats them all as though they were fellow partygoers.

My point is this. I believe there may be some truth in both sides of this story … as there is in so many other scenarios in today’s world. Our challenge is to look at every person and organization we come into contact with and seek out the useful information which may assist us in achieving our personal goals. Most everyone has something to offer us. We must not turn a deaf ear to this information because we don’t approve of the source.

On the other hand, don’t make the sometimes fatal mistake of believing that someone is 100% correct on every issue for the simple reason that we approve of the person and/or organization as an infallible source.

Look for the good, ignore all else. The value you’ll receive will be priceless.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Have You Missed a BFO?

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A number of years ago, I had the rare opportunity to deliver a keynote presentation in a beautiful resort hotel in Cancun. The CEO of the growing organization I spoke to insisted on introducing me himself to explain how we had met in Washington, D.C., and why he had invited me to speak to his staff.

During his brief introduction, he used a phrase that was obviously recognized by his entire team. He used the term BFO which I later learned was an acronym for “Blinding Flash of the Obvious.” Later in the evening, at my request during dinner, he defined the phrase for me as I had never heard it. Over the years I’ve heard a number of various definitions, but I’ve always preferred his straight-forward explanation.

“A BFO is something that is really very obvious. However, until you actually say it, see it and follow the logic of it … the inherent magic of it remains a buried treasure of potential for change.”

Here’s a perfect example: Walk into any bank or grocery store today and you’ll find a large number of high-tech, state-of-the-art check-out lanes fully equipped to service impatient customers navigating overflowing shopping carts. A further look will quickly reveal that BOTH registers are open and each have a very long line of disgruntled customers! Yes, of the 6 to 9 or more available registers, BOTH are open. It never fails! Regardless of the organization or the location … we find only two lanes open when many more are needed.

What’s the BFO? … OPEN LANE #3!

So obvious, so simple, so sad!

Every customer sees it! Why doesn’t the staff or management see it?

Over the years, I’ve heard dozens of reasons why those extra lanes aren’t open. However, I have yet to hear a single explanation that justifies the negative results which emerge in such a situation! I doubt if I will ever hear a suitable explanation to justify such a poor decision!

I’m certain you’ve experienced this aggravating frustration time and time again. You know how it feels. Now let me ask you a question: “What is YOUR Lane #3 scenario?” There’s a better than average chance that you have one … or more!

True … you may not have a register or a lane where you work. However, do you have a situation which causes the same anguish to those you serve? Maybe it’s:

  • the way you answer the phone (or don’t).
  • the difficulty in getting your customer in touch with the right person.
  • the complexity of forms, applications, etc.
  • packaging, shipping or handling challenges.
  • advertising and/or marketing concerns.

Adapt a battle cry of “OPEN LANE #3” and start searching for any BFOs you may have within your organization. Ask yourself what your customers may deem as frustrating as the need to “Open Lane #3.” Then take action to correct the situation. This should be an ongoing strategy in your quest to provide phenomenal customer service!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Creativity Looms as Crucial Success Strategy

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I’m going to ask you to stretch your imagination here for just a few minutes. Think back to a few cherished memories from your past … maybe your high school prom or even your wedding. Relax and remember all of the wonderful details of that evening and especially the facility in which it was held.

Now with that picture in your mind’s eye, pause to attempt visualizing that very special event being held in a funeral home! Yes, a funeral home … because that’s exactly what’s happening from coast to coast!

I just read an article in USA Today describing a new trend in the U.S. where traditional funeral homes are marketing their centers “not just as a place to mourn the dead, but as sites for events celebrating the living, including weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, holiday parties and proms.”

The article explains that funeral homes can be less expensive than other venues, there’s greater availability, and they’re often quite beautiful. Most importantly, while the economy has caused many traditional wedding venues to close their doors, funeral homes aren’t going away.

An Indianapolis funeral home now employs a “special events coordinator” who said no one had thought of marketing her facility for other events “because people had tunnel vision … they saw the facility as nothing more than a traditional funeral home and marketed it that way. However, I don’t see a funeral home; I see an events center.”

While many may laugh at this “re-frame,” her Community Life Center holds a dozen events each month and has nearly every Friday, Saturday and Sunday booked this year, including 99 weddings! They’re also booking birthday parties, anniversaries, holiday parties, business meetings and proms.

The lure? It is often less expensive; there is greater availability; and the settings—inside and outside—can be nothing short of wedding-picture perfect. Don’t look for this emerging trend to be short-lived. In fact, it’s growing very rapidly.

This is nothing more than creative business minds channeling innovative options to deal with the ever-challenging economic environment facing our country today.

A few years ago, banks and credit unions would have laughed at the thought of having their own Facebook page or at using Twitter to communicate with those they serve. Today, these are very productive strategies which continue to grow.

Consider the fact that eBay’s founders took the concept of the flea market, one of the world’s oldest business and escalated it to a world of profits by moving it to the Internet.

Google’s original offering was nothing more than a digital version of my elementary school librarian, who knew where absolutely everything was kept.

I often think Facebook emerged from a memory of our grade school practice of the spiral notebooks we passed around listing who was the best kisser, worst dancer, coolest dresser, etc. We just did it person-to-person as we lacked the Internet.

Andy Warhol traced a Campbell’s Soup can onto canvas and created pop art. Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta channeled Madonna and created Lady Gaga.

We’ve witnessed a growing interest in our creativity seminar (“Creative Innovation: Out-of-the-Box Thinking“) as well as our keynote presentations ( “Get Back in the Box!” and “Tennis Shoes & Blue Jeans – Back-to-the-Basics Approach to Creativity and Innovation“) over the past couple of months. Organizations are starting to deal with the realization that creative thinking can make them more competitive and give them a definite advantage in the eyes of their targeted markets.

That creativity exists in the minds of current leaders and staff members. It needs only to be recognized, channeled, and utilized as the tremendous asset it is. Are you tapping that explosive potential within your organization or are you “waiting for things to get better someday”? You might want to think about that … before your competition does!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

When the Student Is Ready …

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Some of life’s best lessons emerge daily and seldom appear in textbooks. Look around, read the news, watch TV, and get online. They say “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear!” Well, in this country, that can happen every day. Simply be ready.

Let me give you an example I found in today’s paper. The headline read: “Ford likely to show $8 billion annual profit — its biggest in a decade.”

That was the headline, but the lesson lies in the back-story and a little time on Google. The effort is certainly worth the small investment of your time as it can impact you and your organization in a very substantial way.

Let’s recognize a few facts here that make that headline REAL news.

  • Ford Motor Company LOST $30 billion from 2006 to 2008!
  • Less than two years ago, Ford was burning through several billion dollars of cash per quarter!
  • Crosstown rivals, GM and Chrysler, went bankrupt during the Auto Industry crisis of 2008-2009. Ford was the only one of the Detroit Big Three that did not ask for a government loan!
  • While GM and Chrysler expect to be dramatically downsized as a result of bankruptcy, Ford is poised to emerge as the largest U.S. automaker and shows signs of a remarkable recovery.

This sounds like a fairy tale which defies all conventional wisdom. How and why did it happen and how can YOU benefit from learning the answers to these questions. It’s actually very simple and basic. One might even say it’s common sense if not for the fact that common sense isn’t very common in today’s chaotic business environment.

Here’s how it happened.

In 2006, William Clay Ford stepped down from his responsibilities as President and CEO of Ford Motor Company. That must have been a very difficult decision for the great-grandson of the company’s founder Henry Ford.

William Clay Ford remained as Executive Chairman of the Board but named Alan Mulally to take on the leadership roles as President and CEO.

Mulally arrived in Detroit after serving several leadership roles at Boeing during his illustrious 37-year career, culminating with his role of President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Many people questioned the wisdom of bringing an “airplane guy” into the automotive world. He was asked how he was going to handle something as complex and unfamiliar as the auto business. He quickly replied: “An automobile has about 10,000 moving parts, right? An airplane has two million and it has to stay up in the air!”

Since his arrival in the Motor City, many astute observers have declared that Mulally’s success has had little or nothing to do with his knowledge of airplanes or cars but rather his unusual knowledge, respect and focus on people.

Granted, education and experience played key roles in the many crucial decisions he made in leading Ford out of a disastrous circumstance. They are all documented in great detail and will be religiously studied for decades in leadership and management annals worldwide.

However, probably overlooked, but just as critical to his success, has been his ability to inspire, lead, and communicate with people at every level of the business world.

Study his interactions with:

  • Ford’s Board and leadership team.
  • The United Auto Workers.
  • Supervisors at every level.
  • Front-line employees.
  • Vendors.
  • Government officials.
  • Current and future customers.
  • Investors.

Allan Mulally is truly gifted with people skills which have turned around one of the largest organizations in the world while impacting a global industry, hundreds of thousands of employees and customers worldwide as well as a vast number of major cities around the globe.

Think about that as you strive to enhance your leadership skills to obtain future success for your organization as well as yourself. Focus on critical people skills as you train your future leaders. It’s quite evident that many organizations could benefit greatly from the valuable lessons learned at Ford. Have you?

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Top 10 Reasons to Delay Pursuing Success

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In today’s chaotic environment, limiting this list to just ten reasons may seem a bit restrictive. I say that because our enthusiastic media is kind enough to provide us with dozens of reasons every day. Listed below are the TOP TEN reasons you should delay that critical pursuit of what you consider to be success.

No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. There is absolutely NO reason why you should delay pursuing your success … regardless of how that may be defined for you personally.

While many others may provide you with dozens of what they may call good reasons, you don’t have to accept any of them … and certainly shouldn’t.

In fact, it’s much easier and more productive to create a list of reasons why you SHOULDN’T delay that life-changing pursuit. Let’s face it — You aren’t getting any younger! Are you willing to wait for the possibility that things may get better soon? Take action! Close that knowing-doing gap.

There IS a strategy that will help you do just that. We cover it in great detail in our goal-setting seminar, On Your Mark, Get Set, Goal! Below you’ll find a brief outline of those crucial Dynamic Dozen steps that will guide you in your pursuit of success!

  1. Desire (no true desire = no pursuit)
  2. Belief (essential for success)
  3. Write it down (programming your subconscious)
  4. Determine benefits (WIIFMs – “What’s In It For Me”)
  5. Analyze present position (essential for developing journey to desired destination)
  6. Set deadlines (critical discipline)
  7. Identify obstacles (to develop strategy to overcome them)
  8. Clearly define needed knowledge (required for strategy application)
  9. Clearly identify people, groups and organizations you’ll need (network strength)
  10. Visualize your goal as accomplished (see it to believe it)
  11. Create a strategy (based on previous 10 steps)
  12. Make it happen with determination and persistence (close the knowing-doing gap)

Now begin your pursuit and make 2011 the foundational year that leads to the success you seek!

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

Worry Bankrupts the Spirit!

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In today’s chaotic world, worry is the constant companion to a growing number of people. Conventional wisdom would indicate that little will change in the foreseeable future. In fact, if anything, the list of daily stressors which lead to worry continues to grow. Additions to that infamous list include health costs, financial concerns, finding work, terrorism, climate change, job-related stress, crime, time demands, food and gas prices, mortgages, etc.

Worry has been defined as follows: as a verb: to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; fret.

As a noun: a cause of uneasiness or anxiety; trouble.

I once heard worry described as “interest paid on trouble before it comes due.” Worry has become one of America’s worst enemies. Worry is like a rocking chair as it requires a lot of energy while getting you nowhere!

When you really think about it, it simply doesn’t make sense to worry. For years psychologists and other researchers have told us the following:

  • Roughly 40% of what people worry about never happens.
  • Nearly 30% has already happened and can’t be changed.
  • 12% of our worries involve unfounded health concerns.
  • 10% Are Petty Miscellaneous Worries!

That leaves only 8% of our worries that are real! Therefore, we are worrying 92% of the time for no good reason … and it’s killing us!

In the future, simply re-channel that 92% of your time and energy into focusing on the 8% of your worries which are real. You’ll quickly solve those few problems you’re worrying about, you’ll enjoy better health, longer life and become much more productive in every aspect of your life!

In short, if you’re not happy with your current situation in life … don’t worry, do something about it. Worry less and act more. Or, as Bobby McFerrin suggests: “Don’t Worry—Be Happy!”

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.