Nick Vujicic has no arms or legs but has come to terms with his lot in life and in this short video he delivers an inspirational speech to a heap of school kids that they will probably never forget.  I know that I won’t.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QbgOGnbxDo

The following questions might make some people think more carefully:

Question 1:
If you knew a woman who was pregnant and already had 8 children (3 of whom were deaf; 2 were blind, 1 was mentally retarded) and she also had Syphilis, would you recommend that she have an abortion?

Please read the next question before looking at the response for this one.

Question 2:
It is time to elect a new world leader, and only your vote counts.

Here are the facts about the three candidates. Who would you vote for?

Candidate A.
He associates with crooked politicians and also consults with an astrologist.   He’s had two mistresses.  He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.

Candidate B.
He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.

Candidate C
He is a decorated war hero.  He’s a vegetarian, doesn’t smoke, drinks an occasional beer and has never cheated on his wife.

Which of these candidates would be your choice?  Go ahead, make your decisions but no peeking. 

When you have chosen, please scroll down for the response.

Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Candidate B is Winston Churchill.
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.

And, by the way, how did you answer the abortion question:

If you said YES, you just killed Beethoven!

Pretty interesting isn’t it?  Makes a person think before judging someone.

So the next time you say something can’t be done, stop and take a look at this video.

I know this won’t please the animal activists but it does stop and make you think.  If you are like me, you will also be filled with a profound sense of regret and sorrow for what we are doing to our planet and our fellow sentient beings. 

“I think we all have a little voice inside us that will guide us…if we shut out all the noise and clutter from our lives and listen to that voice, it will tell us the right thing to do.”

How true it is! And this “little voice inside us” captures the essence of our new gift book, Walk the Talk, by Eric Harvey and Steve Ventura. It reminds us that having values is very important, but it’s much more important to live them.

So sit back, turn up your speakers, and enjoy 3 minutes of inspiration from our new movie…Walk the Talk. Just click here …and don’t forget to share it with your friends and your team.

1. Be Passionate

Be passionate about your goals so that you are motivated to achieve them. Scratch off any goals on your list that you are not willing to do anything it takes to accomplish them.

2. Be Realistic

When you choose goals for yourself, it is okay to dream, but you want to be as realistic as possible. You do not want to become discouraged when you don’t achieve a specific goal. Choose time frames that are reasonable and goals that are a stretch from where you are today.

3. Write your goals down

Writing your goals down will lead to an increased chance of achieving them. Write them all down and then prioritise them in order of personal importance.

4. Be Detailed

Every goal should have a time frame and amount assigned to them. For example, “I would like to increase sales by 10% by the end of the year”; instead of, “I would like to increase sales for my business”.

5. Be Accountable

To become successful at achieving your goals, you will need to hold yourself accountable by scheduling regular check points for progress review.

6. Ask for Help

Mentors and other professionals are valuable tools to help you in achieving your goals.

7. Have Integrity

Do what you say that you are going to do.

8. Be Persistent

Keep going until you reach your goals. Don’t give up prematurely.

9. Be Prepared for Failure

If you fail, set a new goal and keep going. Most successful people fail at some point, and most business owners will tell you that they have failed numerous times on the way to becoming successful.

10. Reward Yourself

Choose a reward for each goal that will encourage you to work hard to achieve them. You are more likely to work hard when there is a reward at the end of the process.

To apply goal setting to your business, read my article called, “5 Reasons why a Business Plan is Essential for your Business”.

There are several strategies available to cope with stress including lifestyle changes, dietary changes and proactive steps to avoid burnout.

In business, stress is often associated with the demands of the career or with work and family imbalance. To avoid burnout, try the following strategies:

Take care of yourself
It is important to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle to properly cope with and to reduce the effects of stress on your body. Be sure to limit your alcohol intake, avoid smoking and eat a diet rich with vitamins and minerals by regularly eating fruits and vegetables.

If you are unable to maintain a healthy diet regularly, consider adding a multi vitamin supplement to your daily routine.

Take Time Off
Schedule regular long weekends, holidays and time to relax throughout your work year. If you do not have time to take regular holidays with your work schedule, practice relaxation techniques in your weekly schedule to help you cope with stress.

To read more about time management, click here to read an article on my blog.

Set Limits
Business owners tend to take on the majority of the work responsibility. Time management is a priority to ensure that you are not overworked and that you are able to complete tasks in a timely manner without being overloaded.

Outsource
If you are feeling overworked, outsource tasks to other employees or outsource them to another company to avoid being overworked.  Virtual Assistants can assist you with a variety of tasks, leaving you to focus on your health and business.  I regularly use the team at Office Elves for these type of jobs. 

To read more about outsourcing, read the recent article that I have posted onto my website.

Get Enough Sleep
Most business owners are not getting enough sleep. Lack of sleep can affect your ability to concentrate and can have serious health consequences if not addressed. It is recommended to get 6-8 hours of sleep on a nightly basis.

All of these strategies are important to help you reduce the effects of stress on your body and to help you to cope with stress that you have from your personal and family lives.

If you need to reduce stress, start by evaluating anything in your current life that is causing your stress and then take proactive coping steps to reduce the effects of stress on your body.

If you are looking to become more successful in business, there are a few simple strategies that will help you to immediately boost your daily productivity by leveraging your time.

To start, identify where you are wasting time throughout the day. You may be spending more time than you realise on activities such as reading emails, making personal calls, searching the internet or simply preparing or organising your day.

If you are unsure of your own personal time wasters, create a daily time tracker and record what you complete throughout the day.

Once you have a few days of data, you will be able to identify potential distractions that you can eliminate.

Using time management tools such as a day planner or a software program are essential business tools. There is a large difference between using the tool and using it effectively.  Your time management tool should include all business, personal, charitable, health related and any family obligations that you have throughout a given week.

To read more about time management, click here to read my article called “Take Control of your Life- Use your Time Effectively”.
 
As you are using your time management tool, you will need to prioritise your daily activities and responsibilities. Begin each day by reviewing the tasks that you will need to complete and set performance milestones for yourself throughout the day.

Eliminate all tasks that are unnecessary to ensure that you complete as many important tasks throughout the day as possible. Establishing a daily routine is also beneficial for ensuring that you leverage your time throughout the day.

Outsourcing is a powerful business tool. No matter how large or small your business may be, leveraging other people to carry some of your business load can allow you to focus more of your time on valuable business tasks.

To learn more information about outsourcing, read this article.

Don’t waste time waiting for appointments, meetings or through waiting in traffic. Always have something to do while you are waiting such as an audio book to listen to, a report that needs to be read, a business book or just a blank notepad that you can use to plan your day or next project on.

Leveraging your time to be more productive in business is a crucial skill to possess to ensure your overall success.  Learn how to control your time at www.secretstobettertimemanagement.com 

Whether you are looking to write business letters, emails, blog postings, forum posts, articles, newsletters, eBooks, eZine, autoresponders or sales copy; your ability to be both clear and effective will determine your levels of impact on you readers.

Here are 5 tips for clear and effective writing:

Catch the Reader’s Attention

When you are writing you should start with a short sentence that is designed to captivate your reader’s attention. The goal of the introduction is to make your reader interested in what you have to say.

You will want to identify the bigger picture of your writing by explaining why your topic is important and how it applies to your reader’s personal or business life. You will also be able to catch your reader’s attention by knowing the audience; who they are, what their needs are and what would they be hoping to learn or gain by reading your text.

Use Strong Verbs

Verbs describe action and readers pay attention to action. Use active verbs instead of static verbs, avoid turning verbs into nouns and beware of using technical terms that you reader may not understand.

Clear descriptions are powerful when communicating a message in a way that is interesting and easy to follow for your reader.

Keep Your Writing Simple

If your writing is not simple, you may lose your reader’s attention. Be sure to construct simple messages, avoid parentheses, strive for simple paragraphs and have a clear and organised path for your reader to follow.

An organised writing structure with well organised thoughts is crucial to use when planning your business writing.

Keep Your Readers Involved

There are several ways to keep your readers involved while they are reading your writing such as providing specific examples, using stories to paint pictures in the minds of the reader and using effective quotations when appropriate.

Use an Effective Closing

When you are concluding your written content, it is important to summarise your thoughts and to include a clear call to action for the reader to follow. Be brief in your conclusion and be sure to end by emphasising your thoughts and what the reader’s learnings or calls to action should be.

You will need to learn how to be effective in all forms of written communication in business.

To learn about how to use clear and effective writing when drafting an email, read my article called “3 Incredibly Simple But Outrageously Powerful Keys to Guaranteeing your Email Messages are read”.

Emails can be used for business communication, general communication and sales messages as an autoresponder.

Working at home allows you to work in your own time and at your own pace. There are several important strategies that you can implement to ensure that you run a successful home based business.

One of the most important skills to master when you are running a successful home based business is time management. It is crucial to set up a work schedule that is organised, effective and one that you adhere to, as it is easy for business owners to become distracted without a schedule when they are working at home.

You need to treat your schedule the same at home as you would if you were going to an office every morning. Also, ensure that you have an organised work space that is separated from any distractions in your home, such as children during the times that you are scheduled to work.

Your workspace should be structured in an efficient manner, with all of the necessary tools at your disposal to enable you to work continuously throughout your workday without disruption. For more information on time management, read my article “Take Control of Your Life- Use your Time Effectively”.

Marketing is the key to growing any business and is crucial in driving your business revenues. Leveraging your current network is one of the most important strategies in running a successful home based business. You will need to regularly contact your network, stay visible and grow the number of people within your network.

You can also tap into any existing customers that you may currently have by using drip marketing systems to help increase your sales rates per customer and to solicit qualified referrals.

Other important marketing techniques to help you grow your home based business include: eZines, Automatic email responders, Blogs & blog carnivals, IM’s, Podcasts, nanocasts, webinars, Social networking, forums and advertising. For more information on how to grow your home based business, click here to read my article called “Growing your Business: Top 5 Tasks that you must perform”.

Education is another key step to help you run a successful home based business. Be sure to leverage newspapers, eZines, eBooks, books, articles and websites that would contain tips or ideas that you can use to help build your home based business. The best strategy is to read something on a daily basis from blogs, forums and articles that are relevant to your business topic to help you to keep up with the latest news and tips from within your industry.

A case study outlining how one company similar to your own became widely successful just may be the jumping off point for your home based business to do the same

Home based businesses have made millions of people income every year across the world. By implementing time management, marketing and education strategies, you are more poised for home based business success.

For those of you who know anything about Rugby (or who even care), one of the biggest “rivalries” in world Rugby is any game (and I mean ANY game) between Wales (Cymru) and its centuries’ old foe, England.

How sweet it was when, today at Twickenham (home of English Rugby), Wales defeated its arch-enemy on its own soil for the first time in 20 years. I couldn’t resist draping my Welsh flag over my front balcony and belting out a few Welsh arias…much to the dismay of my English wife, Karen, and our Pommie next door neighbours! Oh well.

What’s this got to do with small business, I hear you ask? Well, I think it’s a triumph for the little guy and gives hope to all of you small business owners who at times feel that it’s only the “big boys” who succeed.

If it’s possible for a nation with only 3 million people to triumph over it’s big “brother” of 51 million people…small businesses will (and can) survive in just as hostile environment and compete with the big corporates.

Small business success isn’t guaranteed but with the right skills; hard work and focus, anything can be achieved in life and in business.

I’m sure that my family in Wales are all partying and still singing Mae Hen Wlad fy Nhadau - iechyd da (cheers) & pwb lwc (good luck) to them all.

Cymru am byth!