Renewing Your Zest For Life

The more that I listen to and observe people… the more convinced I become of just how stale and unsatisfying life has become for so many of you these past several years.

It’s reminiscent of when I went to my 25th high school reunion a while back. There were only a few couples out on the dance floor as everyone else had relegated themselves to the sidelines. When I asked the once vibrant women why they weren’t dancing, they replied that they were too old and too tired to tango.

Just because the world is in a state of upheaval and turmoil doesn’t mean that you are supposed to go through life on emotional cruise control and live a life of stress, fatigue and worry. There are real people out on the town who are dancing all of those hot Latin dances that you have relegated yourself to summarily watching on “Dancing With The Stars”.

It’s time to shake things up and put some zest back in your life! Take a moment to recall what your first date was like. Life was exciting and intense back then. And it can be again… but you’re going to have to stop living life in a protective bubble. So, what would bring out the flavor in your life?

Here are just a few of the many ways that you can put some real zest back in your life:

Be Bold and Do Something New: Stop telling yourself that “Some Day I’ll…” Dare yourself to do what it is that you’ve been contemplating for far too long.

Say Goodbye To Your Junk: There’s a bunch of crappy stuff that’s junking up your life. Deal with it and then get rid of it once and for all.

Get Off-Centered: You know everything that is at the center of your life only too well. That’s the biggest part of your problem. Start exploring the outer “edges” of your life. What’s out there on the fringe of your universe just waiting for you to discover it?

Pump-Up The Volume: What still excites you? What’s important to you? What ever it is… pump-up the volume and start doing a lot more of it.

Get Zest From The Best: What’s the “best” thing you ever ate? Go enjoy it again! What’s the most fun that you ever had? Go do it again!

Decide What’s Non-Negotiable: What are the things that you absolutely can’t live without? Make them a part of your life for keeps.

Determine What’s Missing: What is it that needs to be an integral component of your life? Build it in now.

Lighten Your Load: What ever has been weighing you down… get it off of your shoulders. Stop being so darn serious. Get real about it. Deal with it. Then be done with it.

Snag A Sunrise: Catch a spectacular sunrise at the beach or on a mountain vista and remember just how precious and fragile life really is.

Make A New Memory: Stop reliving your old memories and start making new ones. As Frank Sinatra once crooned… “The best is yet to come…” So go dip your toe into the unknown.

And then there is this one other thing… the daunting words of the famous publisher Elbert Hubbard… “Do not take life too seriously. You will not get out of it alive.”

Copyright © 2012 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC All Rights Reserved.



Give Your Business A Face-Lift For Spring

At least once a year it’s a good practice to give your office and work space a face lift. For most organization’s, their slow period provides the perfect time to not only get organized, but to prepare in earnest for the upcoming busy season.

Every work space from the corner office, retail storefront, warehouse, cubicle complex or home office will benefit from clean and organized surroundings. As well, it’s more appealing to your customer’s, visitors and a morale booster for your staff.

The best place to start is with everything paper. Clean out your old files and keep only what is absolutely necessary. Shred everything that has any sensitive or personal information about your organization, your people and your customers. Once this task is done, it’s off to the recycle center along with the rest of your office recyclables.

Your next step is to update and reorganize your remaining document files. And don’t forget your business card binders and Rolodex (if you still have one). Now repeat this same process for all of your electronic files, database and anything else that is virtual.

Next up… it’s time to de-clutter the desks and file cabinets. The promotional junk that you’ve accumulated has got to go. And the monthly desk calendar pad on the top of your desk should have gone bye-bye three years ago. Clean out the drawers too… how many hand held calculators, rulers and the like do you really need?

Once you can actually see your real desk top, take the time to clean and polish it. Now move on to the book shelves and file cabinets. Pull the books which are no longer utilized or that have become outdated. Categorize the professional, reference and resource books together for easy time saving access in the future. Reorganize the file cabinets and remove the extraneous items that have accumulated over time. File cabinets have a real purpose and are meant to save time… not to be the office catch-all.

Now it’s time to round up all of the strays from around the office and then gather all of your office supplies into one central location. Then test all writing instruments, sharpen all pencils and refill all staplers, sticky note holders, paper clip holders and the like. Subsequent to this protocol, inventory your office and computer supplies and then generate both a current shopping list and future needs schedule that will maintain appropriate supply levels.

The time has come to turn to your technology equipment and to assess your computer hardware and software needs, upgrades, maintenance, repair, optimization and back-up. Just like your paper files, delete the old or unnecessary files along with any programs that you no longer use. Once this has been completed it’s time to tackle your email files which may truly be your biggest source of clutter. Start by cleaning out your in box, sent files, deleted files (some of which need to be permanently deleted to actually remove them from your hard drive) and of course your spam.

Also remember that pictures, audios and videos take up tons of hard drive space. Keep what you need, place them on a CD/DVD and then delete what you can from your system. Reclaim as much disk space as possible and then optimize your computers by running the defrag and disk clean up programs.

With these tasks accomplished, it’s time for a little elbow grease and some serious down to earth office cleaning. Wash all windows inside and out, clean the blinds and draperies, vacuum the carpets and floors thoroughly and have them shampooed as necessary. Clean all tile, linoleum, baseboards, baseboards, door frames, doors, door knobs, hinges, light switch plates, walls and add a fresh coat of paint where needed.

Now that your office is bright and shiny, it’s time to freshen up its aesthetic look. Review your office equipment and telephone system needs. Consider rearranging the furniture and wall décor. Update your accent pieces, especially if you have a waiting room or foyer and don’t forget to update magazines, journals, brochures, information pamphlets and business card holders.

Lastly, perform an office makeover with regard to your policies, practices, procedures and business plan as this will help you clean up your old ways of thinking and help your organization to focus on creative ideas and new ways of better serving your customers.

And remember… that good organization will always reward your bottom-line.

Copyright © 2012 Developing Forward Thomas H. Swank, CBC All Rights Reserved.

Your 7 Best Time Strategies

Time is fleeting and life passes by oh so quickly. Every moment of your time is truly precious and should be used wisely.

In a few weeks you will receive the gift of an extra 24 hours to do with what ever you please. What are your plans for your Leap Year gift? How will you spend them? Or, will you choose to invest them?

Your journey through life… is also a remarkable journey through time! Time is in a sense a portal, because you literally pass through it. Time is also a dimension, because time changes everything, including you. Time like money, is also a commodity, for it is the most valuable thing that you will ever possess. And no amount of money can ever add a single day, hour or minute to your life.

February 29th should serve to remind you of your responsibility to both value and respect your gift of time throughout every moment of your every day – for once the grains of sand have slipped through the hour glass, you can never get them back. Time is an integral part of your daily environment, because it is with you wherever you go. And as I’m certain that you would agree, taking care of our environment is an appropriate thing that we all should do. When to comes to your own personal environment, time is the one thing that is so utterly precious… Yet, you can neither conserve it or nor recycle it. It has a zero shelf life.

Every one of your hours and every one of your minutes has an absolute value that must be used “now”. Time is the ultimate use it or loose it commodity. Your ability to strategize and prioritize your time is your prerequisite key to improving your personal productivity. Given the volatile global economic environment, following are my Top 7 Time Strategy tips to assist you with your continuing need to do more… with less:

» Allocate Time Properly. Planning your time is critical to your productivity. Decide today how you are going to allocate your time tomorrow. Not only will you sleep better tonight – you’ll perform better tomorrow.

» Focus On Revenue Generation. On average, business people only devote about 20% of their time to those activities which actually generate income. Look for ways to delegate, outsource or eliminate non-revenue generating tasks. Then start focusing on turning your time into cash.

» Identify Time-Wasters. You waste time every day… stop it! Review the past several days while they are still fresh in your mind and then identify your Top 5 Time-Wasters. Be clear about “what” or “who” is wasting your valuable time. Now take the corrective actions to reclaim both your time and the money that this waste has been costing you.

» Prioritize Tasks. While you need to prioritize your daily work load based on importance, you also need to prioritize your tasks based upon their time requirements. Group tasks together as blocks of time, i.e. you have a staff meeting in an hour, but you don’t really have a sizeable task that will take up a full hour. Group a 30 minute task, a 20 minute task and 10 minute task together. You won’t leave something unfinished and you won’t have to review or refocus your attention back to that task after the meeting – Instead you will be able to start fresh on a new project.

» Think Prime-Time. Everyone has certain times of the day when they function best and feel the most productive. Learn to identify the time frames that constitute this “Prime-Time” for you. Then block out as much of this time frame as possible for your most important projects and tasks – then arrange for you to not be disturbed during this period of time. Start maxing-out your personal productivity.

» Stop Procrastinating. There will always be those tasks which are your least favorite things to do. Yet, in the end they still have to get done. Quit avoiding the inevitable… get them out of the way so that you can move on to more enjoyable work and creative opportunities. Not only will you be more productive, you’ll feel a whole lot better in the process.

» Put A Value On Time. If you really want to stop wasting time… Get crystal clear about what your time is really “worth”. While you know may readily know what you typically earn per week and consequently per hour – this is the wrong measuring tool. You are stuck in a loop that thinks in terms of “earnings” and not relative value. If you view how you make money in the context of revenue generation (listed above) which accounts for roughly 20% of your time – this means that when you are actually selling your product or service and generating revenue that your time is actually “worth” 500% more than it is the entire remainder of your day from an hourly perspective. When you know what your time is really “worth” you will quickly change what you are doing.

Ben Franklin is often quoted for saying that “Time is money.” When appropriately viewed through the prism of reality, it is my opinion that “Time yields productivity… and productivity in return yields money.”

By utilizing sound time strategies you can master the art of turning your time into “cash”!

Copyright © 2012 Developing Forward Thomas H. Swank, CBC All Rights Reserved.

Your #1 Success Attribute...

Martin Luther King, Jr. once stated that “All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.”

Dr. King’s observation is as true today as it was in his. These past several years have clearly been quite precarious and problematic. No sooner had my last post been published, that more adverse economic news broke in the media informing you that the manufacturer of Hostess Twinkies and Cupcakes had filed for Bankruptcy and that the Food Lion Grocery Chain (like Sears/K-Mart) had announced that they were also going to close 100+ stores.

As well, retail sales for December were below expectations and first time unemployment claims were again on the rise. It is mid January and the time for ceremonial resolutions has now passed. The time has come to have true resolve and commit to undertaking real goals, real plans and pursuing real outcomes.

If there is one success attribute that you need to personify in 2012 and beyond, it is that of “Self-Discipline”. For it is self-discipline that serves as the glue of life – in that it connects and holds every facet of your life together. Self-discipline is what keeps your life from becoming fragmented into unmanageable pieces of chaos.

Your ability to develop self-discipline as a dominant habit will enable your achievement of success (as you define it on your own terms) more than any other single aspect of your character. Following are 10 key areas on which you would be wise to focus if you are to become better self-disciplined.

» Discipline yourself to have clarity of mind about precisely what it is that you want to accomplish and why.

» Discipline yourself to have clear written priorities with regard to what you are going to do tomorrow – before you put your head on your pillow tonight.

» Discipline yourself to devote the majority of your time on your top money making activities.

» Discipline yourself to work and live more confidently with the knowledge that you have highly developed skills and abilities that will serve you well if you use them appropriately.

» Discipline yourself to avoid distractions at all cost and to stay on task and on target… all day, every day.

» Discipline yourself to have consistent habits (not just good ones), such as going to bed at the same time every night and getting up at the exact same time very morning.

» Discipline yourself to be properly motivated. Just like your body requires breakfast lunch and dinner for nutrition, so does your mind and attitude. Set the tone for your day with inspirational scriptures, videos or quotations. Have a mid day motivational snack, and at end of your day prepare your mind for quality rest with soothing inspiration.

» Discipline yourself to not only work hard at your work, but to work every bit as hard on yourself and build a better you.

» Discipline yourself to persevere with persistence. Times are tough and life is hard… so what? Planes fly into strong headwinds every day and still get to their destinations. You can too.

» Discipline your personal leadership of self. The more accountable and responsible that you make yourself in every area of your life – the more self disciplined you will become.

As you become more and more adept at developing these aspects of self-discipline, the more aware you will become that you are accomplishing more in less time and that you have an enhanced sense of self control about both your life and your future.

Copyright © 2012 Developing Forward Thomas H. Swank, CBC All Rights Reserved.

Tom is an author, speaker and trusted advisor to business entrepreneurs worldwide. Jump-Start your New Year with Tom’s newest book “NOGGIN NUGGETS~ 365 Days of Exceptional Motivation" get your copy at www.NogginNuggets.com

A Small Business Revolution

As you return from your holiday season and begin your New Year… the question is how much of your work and life is actually going to be “new” for 2012?

Are your business expectations and self expectations genuinely optimistic, guarded or rather uncertain? Your answer to this question lies entirely in your beliefs of what is possible for you in the coming year. Whether you choose to believe for a little or a lot is entirely up to you. The key point to realize is that it is first and foremost a conscious “choice”.

Moreover, will you make the choice to become part of the economic solution?

I would ask you to consider that again in 2011 the casualty list for “big business” has been enormous. Just last week Sears/K-Mart announced the closing of 100+ locations. The other brand names that went out of business or closed retail outlets in the past year include Blockbuster, Borders, GAP, Anchor Blue, F.Y.E., Foot Locker, Talbot’s, Friendly’s, Pier One and Lowe’s. Even Macy’s, J.C.Penny, Walmart Marketside and BJ’s found themselves having to shut down many store locations and substantially reduce their staffing.

The obvious media storyline revolves around how bad the economic recession has been, how so many workers have lost their jobs and the resultant impact on both the uncertain economy and the wary consumer. However, there is a whole other not-so-obvious side to these big business events than you may be missing and which the main stream media is not covering.

What I’m driving at it this… big business is exactly what it says it is… BIG. In many ways too big for its own good. It’s all in how you choose to look at it. Big business is cumbersome in that it is slow in being able to deal with and respond to change. Its decision making processes are complex and slow. Retooling costs a fortune and takes time. Big business is laden with heavy debt and economic structures. Its ability to innovate is bogged down in lengthy and often questionable research and development projects. What’s more customer service, satisfaction and loyalty are continuing to decline.

Conversely, small business owners are agile and lean by comparison, and are therefore far better able to respond to changing markets and trends. You are able to make more expedient business decisions that are free from the procession of endless management and committee meetings. Small business has always been able to innovate and bring new products and ideas swiftly to the consumer market. The garage based small business start-ups like HP and Apple have clearly demonstrated this ability and the innovation capability of the budding entrepreneur.

Of equal significance is the fact that small business is historically responsible for creating 60% - 80% of all new jobs. The reality is that it is you the small business owner that holds the key to economic growth and future prosperity.

There has never been a more perfect time than now to raise your business expectations and performance bar to the extreme. This is not the time to hang back and wait for things to turn around in their own good time. Especially with the fact that there are more no cost and low cost ways to promote your business than ever before! So, why not get more aggressive about the results that you want to achieve in 2012?

The other important factor that you need to realize as a small business owner is that you have the direct ability to build and maintain meaningful relationships with your prospective customers and existing clients. As well, you have the capability to provide a level of personal service that big business for all intents and purposes is incapable of delivering.

When you take the time to really consider the big picture for business in 2012 and beyond… It is the small business enterprise that is going to fill the void of the big business organizations that have gone under or have been forced to downsize.

It is small business that is going to create the jobs, reshape the business landscape, invigorate the economy and fuel future prosperity.

I encourage you to make the conscious choice to be part of the economic solution and become a vibrant member of the small business revolution that radically grows their business in 2012!


Copyright © 2012 Developing Forward Thomas H. Swank, CBC All Rights Reserved.

Tom is a trusted advisor and mentor to business entrepreneurs worldwide. Jump-Start your New Year with Tom’s new book Noggin Nuggets ~ 365 Days of Exceptional Motivation order your copy at http://www.developingforward.com/Noggin_Nuggets.html