Category Archives: Life Areas

Talk with Tom: Episode #97 | Coaching Suggestions for the Week

 

creative solutions

Here are three quick suggestions from Tom for accomplishing your greatest goals.

  • Meditate on creative solutions
  • Journal about finding balance
  • Take action on asking for help

These three quick suggestions, if put into practice, will lead to success. Don’t believe us? See what giving a month – each suggestion 4x – changes for you… then assess. They’re a guaranteed game-changer.


Every month Tom shares topic after topic to Grow Your Life and Build Your Business including these Coaching Suggestions. If you’re not already a subscriber, join us. Talk with Tom is 100% free, and there are special benefits available only to our subscribers, so be sure you subscribe yourself on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts, and we look forward to seeing you right back here on the last Wednesday of every month with Talk with Tom.

New Year’s 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge

 

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

Topic: Goal Setting

 

It’s New Year’s Day 2021 and what better day to begin setting your 2021 goals, if you haven’t already.  Would you like to…

  • …make more money?
  • …spend more time with loved ones?
  • …travel as much as you want?
  • …live the life you dream of?

Then set your 2021 goals and make an Action Plan for their achievement NOW!


What if you could radically and positively transform your life in EVERY ONE of the 7 Life Areas?


To help give you a little nudge, Download my FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge here – A Guide to Help You Set Your Goals, Create a Plan of Action and Begin Achieving Them IN ONLY A WEEK!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What if you could radically and positively transform your life in EVERY ONE of the 7 Life Areas (personal, physical, professional, financial, relational, spiritual, and philanthropical)?

That’s right, your relationships, your health, your career, your finances, your fun and leisure, and even your level of contribution to the world? My FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge will help you determine where you are, where you want to be, and what you want, to create the life you want, IN ONLY A WEEK! Download it for FREE here:

 

 


Please share this blog post with your family and friends.

My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.

I am a Success Strategist and Master Coach. I provide transformational coaching and training for individuals and organizations to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business by getting clear and focused on what you want, why you want it, and how to create it. Learn more about me at SuccessSeriesLLC.com.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many FREE resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address OR forward this to them and have them simply click here (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

FREE Resource – Year End Assessment Tool

 

year end assessment

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

FREE Resource – Year End Assessment Tool

 

I just wanted to send you a quick boost of encouragement and motivation as we head into 2021. You and I both know that these last few weeks of the year present a major opportunity. There’s no better time than now to take a look at your life and work and assess some areas that are ripe for improvement. Invest your time away from the office in personal growth.

I suggest taking a hard look at the last year and asking yourself a few very important questions:

  • What is a goal you set this year that you haven’t yet achieved?
  • What did you make more important than achieving that goal?
  • Who helped you the most, and how can you be a greater resource to them?
  • What’s still important to achieve?

Take time for yourself to do YOUR Annual Review. Download my FREE Year End Assessment Tool to help you through those and other questions which will springboard you into 2021.


tom hart success series year end assessment Download my FREE Year-End Assessment Tool [here]. As you look to the new year, it’s important to step back and take a look at the year just finished – to take inventory, add it all up and see how you did. What were your successes, and where did you come up short? What worked? What didn’t? Download my FREE Year-End Assessment Tool [here] to help you do just that. My FREE Year-End Assessment Tool is a guide to help you assess the progress you made toward achieving your goals this past year and set you up for success in 2021. Download this valuable FREE resource [here] and get started today!


Please share this FREE Resource with your family and friends.

My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.

I am a Success Strategist and Master Coach. I provide transformational coaching and training for individuals and organizations to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business by getting clear and focused on what you want, why you want it, and how to create it. Learn more about me at SuccessSeriesLLC.com.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many FREE resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address OR forward this to them and have them simply click here (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

Tom and the Success Series Team Remember and Honor

 

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

Topic: Memorial Day

 

Tom and the Success Series Team Remember and Honor

 

Each year on Memorial Day, Americans take a pause from their busy schedules to remember those who gave their lives to protect the freedoms people enjoy daily.

 

Occurring on the last Monday in May, Memorial Day is celebrated today, May 25, 2020. While most people are aware the holiday honors America’s military, at times, the significance of Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day are combined into one.

 

Veteran’s Day is commemorated in November and honors all those who have served their country, including those who have passed away. However, it’s primarily focused on thanking those who have served who are still alive.

 

Memorial Day, on the other hand, is designed to honor those service members who passed away, especially those who gave their lives in the line of duty.

 

 


Memorial Day honors more than one million men and women who have died in military service since the Civil War


 

In 1868, then-Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic proclaimed May 30 to be Decoration Day, becoming Memorial Day in 1968. At first, people honored only Union and Confederate soldiers. However, it was expanded after World War I to include all service members who perished in all wars. As of two years ago, the United States Census Bureau reported Memorial Day honors more than one million men and women who have died in military service since the Civil War.

 

The Civil War was the deadliest of all America’s confrontations with over 500,000 people dying. Since the Civil War, America has participated in seven other wars, with casualties identified as:

  • Spanish-American War: 2,446
  • World War I: 116,516
  • World War II: 405,339
  • Korean War: 54,246
  • Vietnam War: 90,220
  • Desert Shield/Desert Storm: 1,948
  • Afghanistan and Iraq: 6,951

 

Please join Tom and the Success Series Team in honoring our fallen heroes.

 

Continue reading

TOMORROW: National Small Business Town Hall re: Covid Stimulus Package

 

Just a heads-up to my many small business and entrepreneur clients of a valuable invitation:

TOMORROW the US Chamber of Commerce and Inc. magazine are hosting a FREE virtual Town Hall to explain the many small business facets to the Covid Stimulus Package. Sign up [here].

Congress just passed a historic economic stimulus package benefiting America’s small businesses. What does this Bill mean for your small business? What do you need to know to help your business thrive, reassure your employees, and give you some of the certainty needed to lead? Sign up to receive the answer to these and many other questions regarding the $2 trillion stimulus package.

Click [here] to register and then pass this email on to your entrepreneur friends.

Stay healthy! Remember, we’re in this together!

 


Please share this blog post with your family and friends.

My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.

I am a Success Strategist and Master Coach. I provide transformational coaching and training for individuals and organizations to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business by getting clear and focused on what you want, why you want it, and how to create it. Learn more about me at SuccessSeriesLLC.com.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many FREE resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address OR forward this to them and have them simply click here (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

What Will You Do With Your Extra Day Of 2020?

 

There is another event other than the Olympics that occurs every four years…a leap year! Just like my blog post for daylight savings time when we were given an extra hour by “falling back”, today I ask: “What will you do with your extra day of 2020?”

 

I came across this article from Apartment Therapy which gives us 30+ ideas on what to do with our extra day:

 

If you’re feeling productive:

  1. Make a detailed, drilled-down, personalized spring cleaning checklist.
  2. Catch up on the chores you missed doing last week.
  3. Get ahead on next week’s chores.
  4. Make the returns that are sitting in your front hall.
  5. Meal plan for the next week and order groceries.
  6. Create a master meal plan template (for instance, Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Bowl Wednesday, Leftovers Thursday, Pizza Friday, etc.).
  7. Create a block schedule.
  8. Take action on the “actionable” paper pile on your desk.
  9. Catch up on laundry.
  10. Do a blitz-clean of your whole house.

 

Continue reading

Relationship Series: A Simple 3 Step Process To Self-Acceptance

 

#GrowYourLife 

Life Area: Relational

Topic: Accepting Yourself

 

A Simple 3 Step Process To Self-Acceptance

It’s February and ”relationships” is my blog theme for this month of Valentine’s Day. Let’s begin our deep dive into the Relational life area, with your most important relationship: your relationship with yourself. Specifically, accepting yourself unconditionally.

The other day in a coaching session it became apparent to me that my client hadn’t yet fully accepted herself.  Now, I admit we all on-goingly struggle with this to a certain extent, but she hadn’t even begun the process and this was standing in the way of a major breakthrough for her so I walked her through the following simple 3 step process:

Step 1:               Your attitude toward yourself is determined largely by the attitudes that YOU “think” other people have toward you. When you believe that other people think highly of you, your level of self-acceptance goes up and vice versa.

Step 2:               For you to truly understand yourself, or to stop being troubled by things that may have happened in your past, you have to be able to get those things off your chest. When you can disclose what you’re truly thinking and feeling to someone else, you can become aware of those thoughts and emotions yourself. If the other person simply listens to you without commenting or criticizing, you have the opportunity to become more aware of the person you are and why you do the things you do. You begin to develop perspective, or what some call “detachment.”


When you can stand back and look at yourself honestly, and candidly admit to others that you’re not perfect, then you can start to enjoy a heightened sense of self-acceptance.


Step 3:               After doing those things, you arrive at self-acceptance. You accept yourself for who you are: the good and the bad, your strengths and your weaknesses. When you can stand back and look at yourself honestly, and candidly admit to others that you’re not perfect, then you can start to enjoy a heightened sense of self-acceptance.

YOUR ACTION STEP

A valuable exercise for developing higher levels of self-acceptance is to take an inventory of your unique talents and abilities and your past successes in both your personal and professional life. Think about how those things will serve you in the future and the possibilities that may come from them and soon you will determine that you WILL be who you want to be, have what you want to have, and do what you want to do. You can then set goals and move toward them.

Remember, there are no obstacles to what you can accomplish except the obstacles that you create in your own mind…so keep your monkey-mind in check!

 

Please share this post with your family and friends. 

My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.

I am a Success Strategist and Master Coach. I provide transformational coaching and training for individuals and organizations to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business by getting clear and focused on what you want, why you want it, and how to create it. Learn more about me at SuccessSeriesLLC.com.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many FREE resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website  and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address OR forward this to them and have them simply click here (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

Talk with Tom: Episode #68 | 4 Goal Achievement Hacks

 

It’s that time of year again … goal setting time! I’ve been setting and achieving goals my entire teen and adult life and have been professionally coaching about it for the last 20 years. I have learned a lot of goal setting hacks along the way and in this episode of Talk with Tom, I share 4 of my favorite hacks and offer up 4 FREE Resources to assist you in setting your goals.


Every month Tom shares topic after topic to Grow Your Life and Build Your Business. If you’re not already a subscriber, join us. Talk with Tom is 100% free, and there are special benefits available only to our subscribers, so be sure you subscribe yourself on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts, and we look forward to seeing you right back here on the last Wednesday of every month with Talk with Tom.

Relationship Series: 8 Equivalents of Functional Teams & Functional Families

 

functional families

#GrowYourLife 

Life Area: Relational

Topic: Functional Families


8 Equivalents of Functional Teams & Functional Families

Let’s segue into the month of Valentine’s Day by talking relationships. Today I identify 8 habits that crossover from functional teams at work to functional families at home. It was an article in Real Simple magazine by author Patrick Lencioni (The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team) that prompts this post translating organizational dynamics to a family setting:

 

Identify your core values. Companies define their core values because they provide a great framework for making all kinds of decisions. To apply this idea to your family, think about what common traits drive each family member.

 

Establish a single top priority.  If everything is important, nothing is. Too many companies fail because they spread their time and energies too thin. Answer this question as it relates to your family: “If we accomplish one big thing as a family in the next few months, what should it be?”, and then work on it.

 


If we accomplish one big thing as a family in the next few months,

what should it be?


 

Keep your values and top priority visible.  You don’t need an engraved plaque stating your vision and mission, but write it down and stick it on the refrigerator where everyone will see it everyday.

 

Don’t make snap decisions.  Companies (and families) tend to take on commitments out of peer pressure or guilt, before they understand what’s involved. Gather information and then make a decision.

Continue reading

10 Ways To Make This Year Your Best Year Ever – Part 2

 

Today I present Part 2 of 10 Ways To Make This Year Your Best Year Ever in our Goals Series. Below I list the first five ways in our list of 10:

  1. Assess the past year
  2. Finish up or let go
  3. Put your goals in writing
  4. Exercise
  5. Build new relationships

Now, here are the last five:

6. Learn new skills to make this year your best year ever

New goals require new actions, and new actions typically require new skills. Take a moment to identify some of the skills you would like to acquire this year, and begin looking for the people and resources that can help you acquire those skills.

Whether it’s a local class, an online course, or a seminar, remember that all skills are learnable. Don’t make excuses for not learning new skills. People who stop learning new skills are the first ones to become obsolete in the marketplace.

7. Move away from relationships that don’t support your success to make this year your best year ever

Unfortunately many of us are surrounded by people who do not support our success. Whether they are friends, colleagues, or even relatives, some of these people may try to belittle your ambitions, hold you back, or convince you to quit once you get started.

Understand that you become the average of the people you spend the most time with. If the attitudes, philosophies, and behaviors of the people around you are not aligned with those of the person you intend to become, you must begin dissolving those relationships.

Continue reading

10 Ways To Make This Year Your Best Year Ever – Part 1

 

The beginning of the year is a special time of year. It’s a time when most of us reflect on the past year and take time to plan the future year. Most of us turn our focus to improving ourselves and our life by implementing new habits for the year ahead. Many resolve (create new year’s resolutions) to make positive changes in the year ahead. The fact of the matter is though that statics reveal that only 8% of people achieve their new year’s resolutions, 49% have some level of achievement, and 24% never had success achieving their new year’s resolutions.

As you know from having read this blog for any length of time, we advocate setting New Year’s Intentions and following a deliberate Goal Setting and Achievement focus. THAT is how you make your dream a reality. Over this, and the next, blog post I offer up 10 ways to greatly improve YOUR odds.

1. Assess the past year to make this year your best year ever

Take an honest look at last year. Assess the good, the bad, and the ugly. Celebrate your triumphs, learn from your mistakes, and treat any constructive criticism as valuable feedback.

2. Finish Up or Let Go to make this year your best year ever

Use January to finish any Incompletes. Of those remaining, decide which to carry forward and which to honorably “let go to move on”. Navigate to the Workshop Resources page on my website and download the handout entitled 10 Ways To Complete Before Moving Forward to get some ideas on how to create an Incompletes List of your own.

Continue reading

New Year’s 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge

 

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

Topic: Goal Setting

 

It’s New Year’s Day 2020 and what better day to begin setting your 2020 goals, if you haven’t already.  Would you like to…

  • …make more money?
  • …spend more time with loved ones?
  • …travel as much as you want?
  • …live the life you dream of?

Then set your 2020 goals and make an Action Plan for their achievement NOW!


What if you could radically and positively transform your life in EVERY ONE of the 7 Life Areas?


To help give you a little nudge, Download my FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge here – A Guide to Help You Set Your Goals, Create a Plan of Action and Begin Achieving Them IN ONLY A WEEK!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What if you could radically and positively transform your life in EVERY ONE of the 7 Life Areas (personal, physical, professional, financial, relational, spiritual, and philanthropical)?

That’s right, your relationships, your health, your career, your finances, your fun and leisure, and even your level of contribution to the world? My FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge will help you determine where you are, where you want to be, and what you want, to create the life you want, IN ONLY A WEEK! Download it for FREE here:

 

 


Please share this blog post with your family and friends.

My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.

I am a Success Strategist and Master Coach. I provide transformational coaching and training for individuals and organizations to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business by getting clear and focused on what you want, why you want it, and how to create it. Learn more about me at SuccessSeriesLLC.com.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many FREE resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address OR forward this to them and have them simply click here (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

FREE Resource – Year End Assessment Tool

 

year end assessment

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

FREE Resource – Year End Assessment Tool

 

I just wanted to send you a quick boost of encouragement and motivation as we head into 2020. You and I both know that these last few weeks of the year present a major opportunity. There’s no better time than now to take a look at your life and work and assess some areas that are ripe for improvement. Invest your time away from the office in personal growth.

I suggest taking a hard look at the last year and asking yourself a few very important questions:

  • What is a goal you set this year that you haven’t yet achieved?
  • What did you make more important than achieving that goal?
  • Who helped you the most, and how can you be a greater resource to them?
  • What’s still important to achieve?

Take time for yourself to do YOUR Annual Review. Download my FREE Year End Assessment Tool to help you through those and other questions which will springboard you into 2020.


tom hart success series year end assessment Download my FREE Year-End Assessment Tool [here]. As you look to the new year, it’s important to step back and take a look at the year just finished – to take inventory, add it all up and see how you did. What were your successes, and where did you come up short? What worked? What didn’t? Download my FREE Year-End Assessment Tool [here] to help you do just that. My FREE Year-End Assessment Tool is a guide to help you assess the progress you made toward achieving your goals this past year and set you up for success in 2020. Download this valuable FREE resource [here] and get started today!


Please share this FREE Resource with your family and friends.

My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.

I am a Success Strategist and Master Coach. I provide transformational coaching and training for individuals and organizations to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business by getting clear and focused on what you want, why you want it, and how to create it. Learn more about me at SuccessSeriesLLC.com.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many FREE resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address OR forward this to them and have them simply click here (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

So, You Want To Be An Entrepreneur?

 

 

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Professional

Topic: Entrepreneurship

 

So, You Want To Be An Entrepreneur?

 

So, you want to start the next chapter of your life as an entrepreneur? As many of you know, I formed my first company at age 19 and have since founded, bought and sold 16 companies and ventures. About half of my coaching practice consists of Business Coaching to small business owners, mid-cap companies and mom-preneurs just like you.

 

Entrepreneurship is highly attractive for many reasons. If it’s time you did something different this could be the best life move you ever make.

 

Want to join the club? These are the first steps you’ll want to make:

 

1) Learn What it Means and Decide if You are Still Willing to Pursue it

Entrepreneurship has become very trendy. That doesn’t mean it is just a trend, but there is a lot more to succeeding with a hot startup than writing a few lines of code.

 

First understand the differences between becoming your own boss as a freelancer, opening a small business, and launching a true fast growing startup that becomes valued at billions of dollars.

 

Learn what a startup entrepreneur really does. They don’t really get to continue on with their favorite hobby every day and make billions doing it. You may start doing something you love, but then have to very quickly learn to become a leader in your business. Become a business owner, evangelist, professional fundraiser, negotiator and big deal maker.

 

Even with 100 plus employees working for you, you’ll need to master many new roles. You may or may not still be your own boss at this company in a few years. Either way, you will be very busy. This isn’t really a four hour work week squeezed around your full-time gig of hiking the world and lounging at fabulous resorts.

 

With all that said, out of all the successful entrepreneurs I know, none of them want to go back to a regular job. The big question is do you have what it takes?

 

You can learn just about any of the leadership skills you’ll need. What you’ve got to bring to the table is relentless grit, the determination to never quit, and the ability to keep going no matter how hard, stressful or desperate things become along the way.

 

If you’re still interested in becoming an entrepreneur, here’s what you do next.

 

2) Pick a Business Idea

If you’re entrepreneurial you probably have ideas all the time. Which idea will you get started on?

 

If you are juggling a few business ideas, write them on a whiteboard and let them marinate for a week. Which idea can you live without doing? Which were you born to do?

 

Most highly successful entrepreneurs are just quitting jobs they hate to try and become their own boss, have an easy work week, get rich quick and live in semi-retirement for the rest of their lives. That is not realistic. Quite the opposite actually happens.

 

The most successful startups seem to share the trait that the founder found a problem they really wanted to solve, in a very big industry, and found several other great team members who were passionate about it too. They looked forward to building something from scratch even though they were typically in good-paying jobs they already loved or were in a good college.

 

Before you go all in, make sure you research your idea. Check out all the competition. Check for commercial viability and why no one else has done it or succeeded yet. Determine if it is a real urgent need that lots of others have, and are willing to pay money for.

 

Continue reading

What’s Stopping You?!

 

 

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

Topic: Emotional Intelligence

 

What’s Stopping You?!

Jack Canfield once said, “Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” And he’s right. But I’m going to take it one step further.

 

Pain, discomfort, shock, boredom, impostor syndrome, awkwardness, fear, being wrong, failing, ignorance, looking stupid: your avoidance of these feelings is what is stopping us from a life beyond our wildest imagination.

 

These are the feelings that accompany a life of success. And yet, these are the very feelings we relentlessly avoid!

 

Interesting how that works, right?

Wealth, optimal health, incredible relationships, deep spiritual maturity are all available to us. And, the primary obstacle in our way is how we feel about what we need to do to have these things.

 

Most people aren’t willing to feel difficult emotions on a regular basis. However, if you’re willing to disregard how you feel in the moment, you’ll have access to a world of opportunity unavailable to 99% of the population.

 

When we feel the fear and do it anyway, we get the satisfaction of living life on our terms. Instead of being a hostage to our emotions, we get to experience them more deeply.

Ironically, once we break past the emotional blocks and just act, it’s never as bad as we think it will be.

 

Make the decision and act

Napoleon Hill said, “When your desires are strong enough, you will appear to possess superhuman powers to achieve.” Similarly, Tim Grover has said, “When you crave the end result, the hard work becomes irrelevant.”

 

Put most simply: when your “why” is strong enough, you’ll be willing to do any “how”. The clearer and bigger the why, the bolder the how. Hence, if you 10x your why, you’ll have insights about how to do things far more effectively than the norm. As Supercoach Dan Sullivan has said, “When 10X is your measuring stick, you immediately see how you can bypass what everyone else is doing.”

 

If your dreams are big enough, you’ll have to do different things than you’ve been doing. Not all “hows” are created equal. You’ll have to do things you don’t feel in the moment like doing. You’ll resist the actions you need to take.

Continue reading

Your Healthy Day via Ancient Chinese Medicine

 

 

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Physical and Personal

Topic: Healthy Living

 

Your Healthy Day via Ancient Chinese Medicine

 

Most of us think of our Circadian Rhythm (body clock), as the internal system that regulates when we fall asleep and wake up. But there’s so much more to our inner timekeeper, especially when considered through the ancient wisdom of Chinese medicine.

 

According to the 2,500-year-old practice, just about every function of our body is linked to a specific time on our internal clock. Each organ has a time period each day when it’s in the spotlight. This the time when that particular organ, and its related energy meridians, are said to be most energized and working hardest, affecting everything from our emotions to our productivity.

 

Here is a tour of the Morning, Noon and Night body clock according to this ancient practice – tips on how to optimize it through food and lifestyle choices. Think of it as a roadmap that’s meant to guide you toward working with your body’s natural rhythms, rather than against them.

 

MORNING

 

Drink some water and do a gentle workout
Organ: Large intestine
Actions: Waking up and releasing
Emotions being processed: Guilt and stagnation

 

It’s best to start the day with water, as hydration allows the large intestine to begin its process of elimination. Sorry, but hot coffee doesn’t count…caffeine in the morning is what leads to the midday crash and the release of too much cortisol throughout the day. You should also give yourself time upon waking to relax and allow for your body to naturally detox.

 

Eat a nutritious breakfast
Organ: Stomach
Actions: Eating and nourishing
Emotions being processed: Despair

 

According to Chinese medicine, breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. A nutritious breakfast will assist in building good, long-lasting energy for the day.

Continue reading

An Investment Gaining Popularity With My Millennial Followers

 

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Financial

Topic: Millennial Investments

 

An Investment Gaining Popularity With My Millennial Followers

 

As I was researching for an upcoming blog post on the topic of Personal Finance, I came across some research I wanted to immediately pass-on to my Millennial followers: Like most investors, Millennials want convenient, simple ways to invest that will help them achieve their financial goals. Based on what these young professionals are doing with their company-sponsored and individual retirement plans, Millennials seem to be gravitating toward what many see as the perfect all-in-one investment vehicle to save for retirement: target-date funds.

 

Nearly two-thirds of professionals in their 20s who participate in 401(k) plans at work use target-date funds in their investment strategies, according to the latest available research from the Employee Benefit Research Institute. That compares to less than half for those in their 60s. With many employers offering target-date funds within their menu of investing options, the availability and simplicity of these funds makes them an obvious choice, and recent hires are gravitating toward them now more than ever.

 

What is a target-date fund?

One of the appeals of target-date funds is that they are easy to understand. The idea is that each fund targets individuals who intend to retire or otherwise get access to their money at a certain date in the future. In order to accommodate this time horizon, the investments that each target-date fund start out having an aggressive growth objective when the target date is far in the future. Over time, the fund then shifts to a more conservative approach, balancing growth and income needs gradually over time. By the time the target date is imminent, target-date funds have a greater emphasis on capital preservation than on future growth.

 

Let me mention, however, that these funds tend to be pretty broad and don’t make it possible for you to invest in certain stocks individually, especially your hand-picked social impact stocks.

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Outwit Fear To Create Abundance

 

 

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

Topic: Abundance Thinking

 

Outwit Fear To Create Abundance

 

Hopefully by now you’ve read the classic Napolean Hill book, Think and Grow Rich. The final chapter of the book is entitled, “How to Outwit the Six Ghosts of Fear.” In this chapter, Hill names these six ghosts as:

. Fear of Poverty

. Criticism

. Ill Health

. Loss of Love

. Old Age, and

. Death

 

And, as if that were not enough, he reveals a seventh condition, which he says is “more deeply seated and more often fatal than all of the six fears.” This he calls “susceptibility to negative influences.”

 

 


Susceptibility to negative influences is more fatal than the six ghosts of fear.

Napolean Hill in Think and Grow Rich


 

 

The point of identifying these troublesome ideas is clear: when we seek to apply the Law of Circulation by declaring our good through prayer, meditation and affirmation, resistance arises from within us in the form of these hidden fears and susceptibilities.

 

This is what prevents us from moving forward and achieving our deepest desires. To get rid of it, we must be willing to acknowledge them, release them completely and consciously reject the possibility of them re-entering our daily thoughts.

 

Hill writes that if we neglect this inner work, we will forfeit our right to attain the object of our desires. An honest inventory includes “identifying patterns of complaining, fault-finding, sarcasm, indigestion, hopelessness, self-pity, lack of self-confidence and worry.” These are only examples of the kinds of activities that prevent us from achieving our most desired outcomes.

 

Join me in applying a proven method from reversing such limitations: Begin by declaring that you no longer indulge in the debilitation behaviors that you previously used for some limiting purpose. Reject our past behavior, saying “That was then, this is NOW.” Then, fill your mind with the object of your greatest desire, and declare this to be the truth of your life right now.

 

For my FREE downloadable resource on Creating Effective Affirmations, click [here]. And, for my FREE 7-Day Mindfulness Meditation Audio Series, which includes seven 10-minute meditations (personally guided by me), simply click the meditation tab above or click [here].

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4 Ways To Claim Your Independence

 

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

Topic: Independence Day

 

4 Ways To Claim Your Independence

 

I hope you’re having an energizing holiday spent with the people who matter most to you. The 4th of July is a day where we come together to celebrate our country and what it means to be American.

 

For me, the message of prosperity and freedom rings the most true. We live in a time where opportunity is plentiful and it’s more possible than ever to achieve your dreams. We have the liberty to choose our thoughts and dreams, as well as the freedom to pursue them.

 


What are you doing to create freedom and independence in your life?


 

In the spirit of 4th of July and the land of opportunity, here are 4 ways to claim your independence:

 

  1. Step Out of Your Comfort Zone. You’ve heard it said, “Everything you want is just outside your comfort zone.” Check out what I learned when I stepped out of my comfort zone in this blog post entitled Three Life Lessons You Can Learn From Skydiving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Join a Mastermind Group. Surrounding yourself with like-minded people will help you harness and maximize your success and guide you to prosperity. Listen to [this episode] of my Talk with Tom podcast on how to form a mastermind, and [this episode] to learn the benefits of being a part of one. Keep tabs on my website for an upcoming invitation to join a newly-forming mastermind group…including one specific to millennials.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Change Your Life While On Vacation. Join me for an unforgettable day of growth, clarity and epiphanies at my annual Create The LIFE You Want private retreat to be held later this year at an exotic location (past retreats have been held in Sedona, Arizona; Santorini, Greece and a Caribbean cruise). Let me know your interest by clicking [here].

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Three S’s To Create Any Breakthrough

 

The Three S's To Create Any Breakthrough

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

Topic: Creating Breakthroughs

 

The Three S’s To Create Any Breakthrough

 

A question I’m often asked by first time coaching clients when I first meet with them is: how will you create breakthroughs for me through your coaching, and how will I make them last? A breakthrough occurs at that Ah-ha moment when we see the light. The light bulb goes on and what was once viewed as impossible, we see the way clear to its achievement. There are three areas to break through in order to feel lasting success in any of the Seven Life Areas:

. Physical

. Financial

. Professional

. Relational

. Spiritual

. Personal, and

. Philanthropical

 

I will outline below the three areas to breakthrough in order to get lasting change. They are our:

 

. Strategies

. Story, and

. State

 

STRATEGIES

One breakthrough area is our STRATEGIES. I personally live for finding strategies—those shortcuts that help people get more done in less time. What is it that gets some people to succeed while others fail who seem to have equal enthusiasm or passion for the tasks at hand? They have insights, distinctions, and strategies that allow them to achieve more quickly.

 

For example, take someone who was born very poor, without an education, and had emotional and financial challenges but found a way to be highly successful and living an inspired life. I don’t believe that’s lucky—luck is what you do for a day or a week—strategies are what make it consistently happen for decades. A strategy can be found in the simplest or slightest distinction and it can happen in an instant.

 

As I described above, there are three elements that effect the long-term success or failure of a person and whether they break through or not. For example, there are hundreds or even thousands of strategies out there for losing weight, and frankly most of them are proven to work—if you work them! We’re not hurting for strategies. There are fitness clubs on every street, dieticians, health coaches, training videos, audios, books, etc. Yet 65% of the United States is overweight and 33% is obese, and those numbers are only growing geometrically. I would suggest to you that the problem for most people is not that they don’t have a strategy—it’s that they’re not using a strategy that works for them or acting upon it. Why? Because they have a disempowering STORY.

 


 In order to get out of a story you have to be triggered by hunger and desire


 

 

STORY

We all have stories—narratives we tell ourselves about why we can or cannot do or achieve something in our lives. To remind you of the infamous quote of Henry Ford’s that I’ve mentioned time and again: “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right!” We’re right because our expectation controls our focus, perceptions, and the way in which we feel and act. When a person succeeds it’s because they have the right strategy, and they found it usually because they have a story that it was possible or they could make it happen. Often people are not losing weight because they have a simple story that says, “I can never keep it off.” With that as your core belief system you are never going to find a strategy, and even if you do you won’t follow through on it.

 

Your story may be true—you may have been through a horrific experience–but that’s not the reason why you can’t have the life you want. For example, you might have had a bad breakup five years ago, but that’s not the reason you haven’t found the passionate and loving relationship you deserve. A disempowering story is one of the things that controls people and makes them stuck in their beliefs.

 

Most people tell a story in a selective way so they don’t have to ever maximize their effort towards a strategy because they’re afraid they will fail. In order to get out of a story you have to be triggered by hunger and desire—if someone wants something strong enough they will break through the story that’s limiting them. We usually have to reach a point where we will not settle for anything else in that Life Area.

 

STATE

Of course, whether you have an empowering story or disempowering story is influenced most powerfully by the mental and emotional STATE you’re in at this moment in time. It’s human nature to develop emotional patterns—moods—that are mental or emotional states that tend to filter how we look at our life.

 

Those emotional states influence the stories that we make up about who we are, what we’re capable of, or what’s achievable or not. The states we go into most often then become the most powerful filter of all that will determine whether we find the strategies necessary to succeed and whether we come up with a story that will empower us. The big question then becomes, what is it that we can do to change our state of mind when we’re not able to maximize our true potential? One of mankind’s greatest scientific discoveries has been that we can change our emotional mood by a radical change in your “physiology.”

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Today Is National Meditation Day

 

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

Topic: Meditation

 

Today Is National Meditation Day

 

I had no idea that today was National Meditation Day until I just received an email from my friend Deepak Chopra. Finding that out prompted me to write this blog post reminding you to listen to and/or download my FREE 7-Day Mindfulness Meditation Audio Series which you will find by just clicking on the “Meditation” tab in the navigation bar or simply clicking [here]:  SuccessSeriesLLC.com/meditation.

 

One of the most valuable things I’ve ever done for myself and my career was to start meditating every day.

 

The mental, emotional, health, AND SUCCESS benefits of daily meditation are truly amazing.

 

Unfortunately, traditional meditation can take a long time to master (and even longer to start enjoying the benefits).

 

But now you can start to reap all the incredible benefits of meditation from the very first day, in only 10 minutes with my FREE 7-Day Guided Mindfulness Meditation Audio Series recorded personally by me.

 


Learning how to meditate can help you achieve success faster, because when your mind is clear and focused, and your body is relaxed and calm, you can access information, both internal and external, that can help you make better decisions.


 

When you visit SuccessSeriesLLC.com/meditation, you will gain access to seven 10-minute meditation sessions of a simple to learn and easy to follow format of mindfulness meditation personally guided by me. You can access them anytime, from anywhere, from any device, right from that page OR you may download them and listen to each of the seven sessions any time you want.

 

Do yourself a favor. Sit down where you won’t be disturbed and visit my landing page for this valuable FREE resource. There you will also find out:

 

  • What Mindfulness is,
  • How mindfulness improves our decision-making, and
  • How to meditate.

 

You can also read my compilation of research on the types of meditation, the many entrepreneurs and celebrities that practice meditation, and its many benefits.

 

Learning how to meditate can help you achieve success faster, because when your mind is clear and focused, and your body is relaxed and calm, you can access information, both internal and external, that can help you make better decisions.

 

Link to its landing page here and listen to or download my valuable FREE 7-Day Guided Mindfulness Meditation Audio Series now!

 

You can access all the sessions anytime, from anywhere, from any device, right from that page OR you may download them and listen to each of the seven sessions any time you want.

 

I promise it’ll be worth your time.

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Tom and the Success Series Team Remember and Honor

 

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

Topic: Memorial Day

 

Tom and the Success Series Team Remember and Honor

 

Each year on Memorial Day, Americans take a pause from their busy schedules to remember those who gave their lives to protect the freedoms people enjoy daily.

 

Occurring on the last Monday in May, Memorial Day is celebrated today, May 27, 2019. While most people are aware the holiday honors America’s military, at times, the significance of Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day are combined into one.

 

Veteran’s Day is commemorated in November and honors all those who have served their country, including those who have passed away. However, it’s primarily focused on thanking those who have served who are still alive.

 

Memorial Day, on the other hand, is designed to honor those service members who passed away, especially those who gave their lives in the line of duty.

 

 


Memorial Day honors more than one million men and women who have died in military service since the Civil War


 

In 1868, then-Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic proclaimed May 30 to be Decoration Day, becoming Memorial Day in 1968. At first, people honored only Union and Confederate soldiers. However, it was expanded after World War I to include all service members who perished in all wars. As of 2018, the United States Census Bureau reported Memorial Day honors more than one million men and women who have died in military service since the Civil War.

 

The Civil War was the deadliest of all America’s confrontations with over 500,000 people dying. Since the Civil War, America has participated in seven other wars, with casualties identified as:

  • Spanish-American War: 2,446
  • World War I: 116,516
  • World War II: 405,339
  • Korean War: 54,246
  • Vietnam War: 90,220
  • Desert Shield/Desert Storm: 1,948
  • Afghanistan and Iraq: 6,951

 

Join Tom and the Success Series Team in honoring our fallen heroes.

 

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Six Key Questions To Ask When Writing Your Business Plan

 

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Professional

Topic: Business Plan

 

Six Key Questions To Ask When Writing Your Business Plan

 

As many of you know, I started my first business when I was just 19 years old and have bought and sold 16 ventures since. I’ve written here before about the elements of a business plan, creating a pitch deck and have offered up FREE downloadable email templates to help you raise seed capital. Today, I want to talk to you about the many invaluable things you’ll learn writing your business plan and the merits, beyond raising capital, of going through the effort of taking your many thoughts out of your head and committing them in writing. By first writing a strategic plan, you can evaluate on paper without the risk of finding out the hard way by trial and error. At the very least, these are questions that any potential investor IS going to be asking of you and you better be prepared to answer:

 

1. Why you? Why your business or your product/service? What differentiates you from your competition?

 

I am, or any potential investor is, going to assume that your product or service fulfills a want, need or desire of the buying public. If it doesn’t, rethink your plans. Sometimes the market doesn’t know it needs your product – and that’s fine. Henry Ford famously said, “If I had asked them what they wanted, they’d have told me faster horses.”

 

The first step is to identify the need your product or service will fulfill. Then determine whether or not this need is currently being met and if so, how and by whom? The first question I always ask my business coaching clients is, “Why should a prospective customer buy your product or service rather than a competitor’s?” If they can’t answer this question clearly, concisely and definitively, I tell them that that is the first thing that we will accomplish in their business coaching.

 


The first step is to identify the need your product or service will fulfill. 


 

 

2. Is there a large enough segment of that buying public that will value that difference?

 

Identify the segment of the market that values whatever it is that differentiates your product or service. Estimate the size of the market segment. Now, reduce the size of this segment by the percentage of people who won’t be willing to pay what you will have to charge to make your business profitable and answer if you can still reasonably project enough volume to make your business economically viable?

 

3. Now, question whether that difference, the very things that set it apart, are indefensible?

 

If your idea is a good one, you had better know how you will keep a large competitor with deep pockets from knocking it off and running you out of the market. There are many examples of well-healed copycats overtaking people with good ideas. You need a plan to protect yourself from this. Perhaps you can protect your intellectual property through a patent. Perhaps your idea, for one reason or another, is difficult to copy. What barriers to entry are there to keep the competition from moving in?

 

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10 Productivity Hacks We Can Learn From Benjamin Franklin’s Daily Schedule

 

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

Topic: Productivity

 

10 Productivity Hacks We Can Learn From Benjamin Franklin’s Daily Schedule

 

For my Sunday reading, I selected one of my favorite books off my bookshelf, an autobiography: Benjamin Franklin, America’s Original Entrepreneur.

 

In Franklin’s 84 years of life he was not only a statesman and one of the United States’ founding fathers, he was also an inventor, author, publisher, musician, diplomat, and founded many civic organizations including the library system and the University of Pennsylvania.

 

As I thumbed through the book, I noticed a number of productivity hacks and daily disciplines that you may want to integrate into your daily schedule.

 

Known as the author of many historic and modern-day axioms, such as “The early bird, gets the worm” and “A penny saved, is a penny earned”. What Franklin may not be so well known for is his self-discipline, including his daily habits and how he conducted his day. Here’s a view of his calendar on a typical day and some noticeable principles for us to imitate:

 

1. Keep it simple

The first thing to note about Franklin’s daily schedule is its simplicity. There are only six time blocks scheduled for each day, and one of these blocks includes sleep — an obvious necessity. There’s no overwhelming to-do list of things to get done. It’s simple, focused on the essential, and highly effective. Read this past blog post of mine, Try Time Blocking Instead of a To-Do List, to learn more about the merits of time blocking.

 

2. Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day

One of Franklin’s most popular axioms was “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,” and according to this schedule, he definitely lived up to it. Each day, Franklin woke up at 5am and went to bed at 10pm, for a total of seven hours of sleep each night. It’s important to note however, that what matters most isn’t the time you go to bed or wake up, it’s the consistency of your sleep schedule. As you’ve heard me say before, your body will tell you the optimum amount of sleep and the hours of the day that are best for you. For instance, my optimum number of hours is 8 hours of sleep between the hours of 10pm and 6am. You know my standard answer by now when asked: “How do you have so much energy?,” it’s “Eat good nutrition and drink plenty of water, do some form of exercise daily, and get plenty of sleep!” By going to bed and waking up at the same time each day, you’ll train your brain to fall asleep faster and improve the quality of your sleep. To track the hours and quality of your sleep, try the Sleep Cycle app I discuss in my blog post: 8 Ways to Gain Energy Naturally or The Productivity Sweet Spot blog post or in the Talk with Tom podcast episode of the same name.

 

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Successful Entrepreneurs Failing Forward

 

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Professional

Topic: Failing forward

Successful Entrepreneurs Failing Forward

 

Steve Jobs failed forward. So has Jeff Bezos, Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates … so have each of the other 8 entrepreneurs included below. Each of these individuals struggled through depression, business failures, debt and doubt on their path to becoming the successes we know them as today:

 

Jeff Bezos

Prior to starting Amazon, Jeff Bezos floated a few different ideas. Among them was a shopping site known as zShops which failed.

 

Fred Smith

We all have heard this story of FedEx founder Fred Smith: in college, Fred pitched the idea for his future company on an assignment for which his professor gave him a failing grade because the idea was infeasible.

 

Sir James Dyson

Dyson vacuum cleaners has evolved to a huge business but Sir James Dyson failed forward to get there. Before finding his footing, Dyson worked on more than 5,000 prototypes and depended on his wife’s income to stay afloat.  

 

Thomas Edison

Speaking of prototypes, history knows Thomas Edison as a great inventor but he had over 10,000 failed prototypes before he invented the light bulb. His resume also includes a series of lost jobs and teachers who call him “unteachable”.

 

Steve Jobs

Apple was a tech giant when Steve Jobs passed-away but it wasn’t always that way. When the company was in its infancy, products like the Apple I and Lisa computers created millions in company losses. In the mid-80s, Jobs was even fired from Apple until being re-hired by the Board in 1997.

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Are You Chronically Late?

 

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal and Professional

Topic: Time Management

Are You Chronically Late?

 

Many people have the habit of constantly running late … er ah, let me re-state that: I used to have the habit of constantly running late … and it drove myself and others crazy!

 

Some have the opposite problem – they often arrive too early. This is annoying as well, but in a different way. In any event, more people seem bothered by chronic lateness. Feeling as though you’re always running 20 minutes behind schedule is an unhappy feeling. Having to rush, forgetting things in your haste, dealing with annoyed people when you arrive… it’s no fun.

 

There are many reasons you might be late, but some reasons are particularly common. The first step is to identify the problem – then you can see more easily what you need to change. Are you late because…

1. YOU SLEEP TOO LATE?

If you’re so exhausted in the morning that you sleep until the last possible moment, it’s time to think about going to sleep earlier. Many people don’t get enough sleep, and sleep deprivation is a real drag on your personal energy and health. Try to turn off the light sooner each night.

 

2. YOU TRY TO GET ONE LAST THING DONE?

Apparently, this is a common cause of tardiness. If you always try to answer one more email or put away one more load of laundry before you leave, here’s a way to outwit yourself: take a task with you that you can do once you reach your destination. Tell yourself that you need that 10 minutes on the other end to read those brochure drafts or check your CFO’s figures.


Figure out the precise time that you need to leave for your typical commute by testing it day-by-day at that hour.


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Four Productivity Tips To Avoid Distractions

 

four productivity tips to avoid distractions

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Professional and Personal

Topic: Productivity

Four Productivity Tips To Avoid Distractions

I’m prompted to write this blog post as I just got off the phone with a business coaching client who was sharing with me some of the challenges he’s facing running a successful startup. I’m sure you too will relate:

 

Other than the usual, like financing, people, systems, etc., one of his greatest challenges was the overwhelming amount of tasks that compete for his time and attention. Always being in “urgent” mode didn’t allow him or his business partner to focus on the “important” as in the Eisenhower Decision Matrix popularized in the Stephen Covey classic book First Things First.

 

I shared with my client some of the productivity “hacks” I use when coaching executives to overcome distractions and achieve the important tasks. Here are my recommendations to help stay focused and feel more accomplished:

 

  1. Block off time to accomplish your goals.

Use your Master Calendar, Personal Strategic Plan (PSP) and your Evernote Master Task List (and other FREE resources from my Resources page) to identify your long-term goals (1-5 years), mid-term goals (6-12 months) and short-term goals (30-120 days). Move your high-priority items to your Weekly Task List, and then pick your Top 3 for the day, the important activities you want to accomplish, emails that need attention or any other task you don’t want to be distracted from. I recommend that you take a two-hour block of time, say from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day. Place a note on your office door that advises your team not to interrupt unless it’s a dire emergency. Try to repeat this habit at the same time each day. Over time, you will see how much you were able to accomplish by staying focused. Have weekly team meetings to update everyone on the goals, as this enhances transparency and accountability.

 

  1. Practice mindfulness.

Some people have discovered that mindfulness helps them think clearer and without interruption, and stay calmer. Mindfulness can be achieved through meditation. Focus on breathing in and out and not letting your mind wander. If you find that your mind has wandered, just go back to focusing on your breaths. A great idea would be to start those two-hour blocks from Tip No. 1 with 10-20 minutes of mindfulness. Check out my FREE 7-Day Mindfulness Meditation Audio Series which you can find by clicking [here].

 

  1. Break up your day into blocks.

Many experts have noted that you’re better able to concentrate in spans of 90 minutes, after which, you should take a break. You might use the first part of the day to sort and answer your emails, then the next block to focus on your Top 3 or other items. Between each block, you can decide what’s important and what’s not. Resist the urge for distractions during these blocks of time. By doing this day in day out, you and your team will accomplish a great deal.

 

  1. Encourage employees to solve problems on their own.

Incidentally, most small business owners and managers tell me that questions from employees can be disruptive. Too often, it takes them a long time to reply, especially if it’s a sticky question. This could only further hinder productivity. My hack is to always ask the employee what they think the answer is or ask them to think of three solutions to the problem. Have them share with you the solution they would go with and why. Or if you aren’t able to chat right away, tell them you’ll circle back with them in 48 hours. If they don’t hear from you by then, they’re free to move forward with their solution. This way, employees not only get used to boundaries and time blocks, but they get into the habit of problem-solving on their own rather than finding easy answers to questions. Obviously, this is something that needs to be agreed on up front, but it works wonders.

 

If you would like to use me as a sounding board and business resource as your Coach to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business, check out my Coaching page or my Business Advisory page and contact me to set up a FREE initial consultation to determine fit.


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My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.

I am a Success Strategist and Master Coach. I provide transformational coaching and training for individuals and organizations to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business by getting clear and focused on what you want, why you want it, and how to create it. Learn more about me at SuccessSeriesLLC.com.

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4 Goal Achievement Hacks

 

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

Topic: Goal Achievement

 

It’s that time of year again! Goal setting time! I always spend the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day bringing out the draft of my next years goals that I wrote around my birthday (October) and finalize them by using my Personal Strategic Plan (PSP) template (which you can download for FREE from my Resources page on my website: www.SuccessSeriesLLC.com). I set three goals in each of the 7 Life Areas (physical, financial, professional, relational, spiritual, personal and philanthropical) and then translate their deadlines to my Master Calendar and Success Planner. You can download the Master Calendar template and 2019 Success Planner eBook for FREE from my website Resources page as well.

 

I’ve been setting and achieving goals my entire teen and adult life and have been professionally coaching and training on goal setting for the last 19 years (FUN FACT: I once had a personalize license plate on my car which read “GGGOALS”). I have learned a lot of goal setting hacks along the way and wanted to share 4 of my best ones here for you now.

 

If you need a little motivation and accountability to get you going on your 2019 goals, download my FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge eBook which you can find [here].


Download my FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge here – A Guide to Help You Set Your Goals, Create a Plan of Action and Begin Achieving Them IN ONLY A WEEK!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What if you could radically and positively transform your life in EVERY ONE of the 7 Life Areas (personal, physical, professional, financial, relational, spiritual, and philanthropical)?

That’s right, your relationships, your health, your career, your finances, your fun and leisure, and even your level of contribution to the world? My FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge will help you determine where you are, where you want to be, and what you want, to create the life you want, IN ONLY A WEEK! Download it for FREE here:

 

 

 


1. Keep Your Goals In One Place

Whether you write them in a notebook, use Evernote, or use my FREE PSP, you will want to keep your goals list close at hand and review it regularly. Do a monthly, or at least quarterly, review to assess your progress. Compare where you are to the metrics you selected to measure to determine what needs to still be done to reach the outcome you desire. You should be able to see at a glance what your goal is, the metrics indicating your progress and the next action for pushing things forward.

 

2. Simplify Your Goals

Write a book. Run a marathon. Launch a new product. You might want to achieve a lot of goals this year, but setting too many at once is a surefire way to dilute your focus. Warren Buffett once told his pilot, Mike Flint, to pick 25 goals he wanted to achieve and then to focus on achieving five of them. He said, “No matter what, the others get no attention from you until you’ve succeeded with your top 5.” I say: Three for each of the 7 Life Areas is 21 goals total. Now single out the top one from each category and you’ve got your immediate seven focus goals.

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New Year’s 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge

 

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

Topic: Goal Setting

 

It’s New Year’s Day 2019 and what better day to begin setting your 2019 goals, if you haven’t already.  Would you like to…

  • …make more money?
  • …spend more time with loved ones?
  • …travel as much as you want?
  • …live the life you dream of?

Then set your 2019 goals and make an Action Plan for their achievement NOW!


What if you could radically and positively transform your life in EVERY ONE of the 7 Life Areas


To help give you a little nudge, Download my FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge here – A Guide to Help You Set Your Goals, Create a Plan of Action and Begin Achieving Them IN ONLY A WEEK!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What if you could radically and positively transform your life in EVERY ONE of the 7 Life Areas (personal, physical, professional, financial, relational, spiritual, and philanthropical)?

That’s right, your relationships, your health, your career, your finances, your fun and leisure, and even your level of contribution to the world? My FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge will help you determine where you are, where you want to be, and what you want, to create the life you want, IN ONLY A WEEK! Download it for FREE here:

 

 


Please share this blog post with your family and friends.

My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.

I am a Success Strategist and Master Coach. I provide transformational coaching and training for individuals and organizations to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business by getting clear and focused on what you want, why you want it, and how to create it. Learn more about me at SuccessSeriesLLC.com.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many FREE resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address OR forward this to them and have them simply click here (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

How To Manage Holiday Stress

 

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

Topic: Holiday Stress

 

For some people, the holidays really are “the most wonderful time of the year,” but for others they’re anything but. Stressors can include anxiety about travel or pressure to be with family.

 

Whether you’re nervous about flying or worried about spending too much time with your dysfunctional family, there are common ways to manage your emotions. Here are some techniques for dealing with holiday stress and anxiety that stems from common holiday season scenarios:

 

If you’re worried about traveling…

Flying during the holidays usually entails long lines, jam-packed spaces, and short tempers. The chaos can induce a lot of panic, or even panic attacks.

 

Centering yourself can help re-establish your sense of reality. Coloring during your flight, for example, shifts the focus to what’s in front of you.

 

If coloring doesn’t resonate with you, use your own body to relax. Try the emotional freedom technique, which involves tapping the meridian points on your body, such as the front of your eyebrow and under your nose.

 


Help yourself by establishing a boundary by predetermining how long a family visit will last.


 

If you’re uncomfortable drinking…

Not everyone can drink in social settings, whether it’s because they prefer not to drink, are in recovery, or because they’re on medication. They may be pregnant but don’t want to announce that yet.

 

For folks who are striving to maintain sobriety, it’s important to remember that the holidays are just like any other day, we, as a society, have given holidays special meaning and designated certain traditions on these days, but they come and go just like every other day. Your preference not to drink or your recovery routine shouldn’t change.

 

Prepare an explanation so that you’re not caught off guard, such as “I’m on medication, I’m a designated driver, or I don’t drink anymore.”

 

One of the biggest sources of anxiety for those not drinking or for those in recovery is the explanation that they have to give and possibly being dismissed. So anticipating possible peer pressure and preparing is key. Make an escape plan before the event in case you want to leave earlier than expected. Say and do what’s necessary in order to feel comfortable, even if that means answering a pretend phone call outside. No matter what people say or think, sobriety is the number one priority.

Continue reading

What Are You Struggling With?

 

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

FREE Resource – Year End Assessment Tool

 

Thank you so much for visiting my blog page! I’m excited to send you more information to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business.

 

So that I can better help you. I’d love to hear from you. Yes, I’m actually asking you to respond to this blog post! Email me at THart@SuccessSeriesLLC.com and share with me some of your biggest struggles both in your personal life and in your business. This way, I can make sure that I’m delivering content that matters to you in the future.


Email me at THart@SuccessSeriesLLC.com and share with me some of your biggest struggles both in your personal life and in your business. Thanks so much, and I look forward to reading your reply.


As a FREE gift for giving me your feedback, download my Year End Assessment Tool [here] and start your 2019 off right by reflecting back on the year just finished.

 


tom hart success series year end assessment Download my FREE Year-End Assessment Tool [here]. As you look to the new year, it’s important to step back and take a look at the year just finished – to take inventory, add it all up and see how you did. What were your successes, and where did you come up short? What worked? What didn’t? Download my FREE Year-End Assessment Tool [here] to help you do just that. My FREE Year-End Assessment Tool is a guide to help you assess the progress you made toward achieving your goals this past year and set you up for success in 2019. Download this valuable FREE resource [here] and get started today!


Please share this blog post with your family and friends.

My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.

I am a Success Strategist and Master Coach. I provide transformational coaching and training for individuals and organizations to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business by getting clear and focused on what you want, why you want it, and how to create it. Learn more about me at SuccessSeriesLLC.com.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many FREE resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address OR forward this to them and have them simply click here (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

FREE Resource – Year End Assessment Tool

 

year end assessment

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

FREE Resource – Year End Assessment Tool

 

I just wanted to send you a quick boost of encouragement and motivation as we head into 2019. You and I both know that these last few weeks of the year present a major opportunity. There’s no better time than now to take a look at your life and work and assess some areas that are ripe for improvement. Invest your time away from the office in personal growth.

I suggest taking a hard look at the last year and asking yourself a few very important questions:

  • What is a goal you set this year that you haven’t yet achieved?
  • What did you make more important than achieving that goal?
  • Who helped you the most, and how can you be a greater resource to them?
  • What’s still important to achieve?

Take time for yourself to do YOUR Annual Review. Download my FREE Year End Assessment Tool to help you through those and other questions which will springboard you into 2019.


tom hart success series year end assessment Download my FREE Year-End Assessment Tool [here]. As you look to the new year, it’s important to step back and take a look at the year just finished – to take inventory, add it all up and see how you did. What were your successes, and where did you come up short? What worked? What didn’t? Download my FREE Year-End Assessment Tool [here] to help you do just that. My FREE Year-End Assessment Tool is a guide to help you assess the progress you made toward achieving your goals this past year and set you up for success in 2019. Download this valuable FREE resource [here] and get started today!


Please share this FREE Resource with your family and friends.

My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.

I am a Success Strategist and Master Coach. I provide transformational coaching and training for individuals and organizations to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business by getting clear and focused on what you want, why you want it, and how to create it. Learn more about me at SuccessSeriesLLC.com.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many FREE resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address OR forward this to them and have them simply click here (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

The Role Luck Plays In Our Success

 

#GrowYourLife  #BuildYourBusiness 

Life Area: Personal

Topic: The Role Luck Plays In Our Success


The Role Luck Plays In Our Success

 

I recently recorded a Talk with Tom podcast episode on the topic of the role luck plays in our success. You can listen to it [here]. For those of you who favor the written word, I offer up the fascinating findings from a number of studies I came across in my research.

The results of a recent Italian study conducted by researchers Alessando Pluchino and Alessio Biondo, dovetail with a growing number of other studies based on real-world data, which strongly suggest that luck and opportunity play an underappreciated role in determining the level of individual success. As the researchers point out, since rewards and resources are usually given to those who are already highly rewarded, this often causes a lack of opportunities for those who are most talented (i.e., have the greatest potential to actually benefit from the resources), and it doesn’t take into account the important role of luck, which can emerge spontaneously throughout the creative process.

What are the secrets of the most successful people?

 

Time and again things such as talent, skill, mental toughness, hard work, tenacity, optimism, growth mindset, and emotional intelligence have been cited.

Brendon Burchard from research for his recent book High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way identified six common habits:

 

Three Personal Habits including:

. Seek Clarity,

. Generate Energy, and

. Raise Necessity; and

 

Three Social Habits:

. Increase Productivity,

. Develop Influence, and

. Demonstrate Courage.

 

All these underlying assumptions influence how we distribute resources in society, from work opportunities to fame to government grants to public policy decisions. We tend to give out resources to those who have a track record of success, and tend to ignore those who have been unsuccessful, assuming that the most successful are also the most competent.

But are these assumptions correct?

Continue reading

Simple Strategies To Increase Workplace Productivity

 

workplace productivity

#GrowYourLife  #BuildYourBusiness 

Life Area: Professional

Topic: Workplace Productivity


Simple Strategies To Increase Workplace Productivity

 

Workplace productivity is top of mind for both business owners and employees/contractors. My business coaching clients know that the more efficient they can run their operations the more profitable the business will be. Employees and Independent Contractors know that the best measure of their value are their results. These two objectives merge at the sweet spot of workplace productivity with a win/win outcome. To encourage a more productive workday I offer to both business owners and employees four workplace productivity strategies:

 

MAKE YOUR WORKDAY SYNC WITH YOUR ENERGY  We are most productive in the first four and a half hours of the day, so arrange to tackle you most challenging or important task during this time. Don’t look at emails, answer phone calls or multitask. “One of the saddest mistakes in time management is the propensity of people to spend the most productive hours of their day on things that don’t require high cognitive capacity, like social media,” behavioral scientist Dan Ariely has said. “If we could salvage those precious hours, most of us would be much more successful in accomplishing what we truly want to.” As my friend, Brian Tracy says: “Eat that frog first!

 

RECHARGE YOUR BRAIN  If you try to concentrate on one piece of work without taking a break, your mind will wander. “The brain cycles from highest attention to lowest attention approximately every 90 minutes,” Jeff Stibel, brain scientist and author of Wired For Thought, has said. “You should hit the reset button about that often.” Going for a quick walk around the block will boost it. If you can’t get out or it’s raining, it helps to just take a break from your screen and sit in a different location, like a conference room to read printed material or make a phone call. I recommend using the pomodoro method of concentrated work for 50 minute stints then a 10 minute break and so on. Check out the app Pomodoro Time Pro to keep you on track.

 


 

When I’m conceptualizing a workshop or speech presentation slide deck, I edit out the obvious, the irrelevant and any repetition.

 


 

USE LESS WORDS  The world-famous TED Talks are limited to 18 minutes, and there’s a good reason why. Research shows that too much information prevents the successful transmission of ideas. In presentations, nobody wants death by PowerPoint! A picture can speak volumes. Also, don’t expect your audience to read your slides while listening to you. When I’m conceptualizing a workshop or speech presentation slide deck, I edit out the obvious, the irrelevant and any repetition. Whatever the task, I try to find the shortest route to convey my message.

 

HAVE FEWER MEETINGS  How many real decisions are made in meetings? They’re usually made beforehand and the meetings simple sign off on them. The ratio of time versus value for a typical meeting is rarely justified. Remember, less is more. If you’re running the meeting, include as few people as possible. Set a clear, short agenda and a time limit – and stick to it! If a problem must be solved, deal with it first. If you’re an attendee, ask for the agenda in advance. If other issues arise that threaten to get in the way of decision-making, suggest firmly but politely that they be dealt with at a later date. And, speaking of TED Talks, check out this 6-minute TED Talk by David Grady entitled “How To Save The World (or at least yourself) From Bad Meetings.


Please share this post with your family and friends. 

My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.

I am a Success Strategist and Master Coach. I provide transformational coaching and training for individuals and organizations to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business by getting clear and focused on what you want, why you want it, and how to create it. Learn more about me at SuccessSeriesLLC.com.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many FREE resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website  and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address OR forward this to them and have them simply click here (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

Relationship Series #3: 10 Tips For Having More Meaningful Relationships

 

#GrowYourLife 

Life Area: Relational

Topic: Relationship Tips


10 Tips For Having More Meaningful Relationships

In this last of my February Relationship Series, I give you 10 tips for having meaningful relationships. The term “relationship” encompasses many forms: clients and customers, work colleagues, one’s significant love, parents, children, even acquaintances and strangers to a certain extent. All of these “relationships” can have a positive or a negative influence on our lives. The condition of our relationships, and most certainly our most significant relationships, have an impact on our successes in each of the 7 life areas.

Want to know how to achieve more meaningful relationships with those around you? Start with these 10 simple tips:

1. Take inventory of the relationships you have.

Some relationships are meant to last for a long time, others serve a short-term purpose or life lesson. Take an inventory of the relationships you have and see which ones you would like to keep and which you should let go. Letting go of unnecessary or toxic relationships make room for new ones to show up.

2. Be happy with yourself.

As I described in my blog post A Simple 3 Step Process to Self-Acceptance found [here], your most important relationship is your relationship with yourself. Be happy with yourself…always.

3. Be positive.

Here’s a quick question. Would you rather spend time with someone who is a downer or someone who is upbeat?  Barbara Frederickson, a psychologist at the University of North Carolina, backs up the obvious by writing in Psychology Today, that positive emotions help us “broaden and build” relationships.


Would you rather spend time with someone who is a downer or someone who is upbeat?


4. Don’t be someone else.

Be yourself. Be authentic. As Adrian Savage puts it in LifeHack, “If you can’t trust yourself, why should others trust you?”

Continue reading

Relationship Series #2: 8 Equivalents of Functional Teams & Functional Families

 

functional families

#GrowYourLife 

Life Area: Relational

Topic: Functional Families


8 Equivalents of Functional Teams & Functional Families

Continuing my blog theme of “Relationships” for this month of Valentine’s Day, I identify today 8 habits that crossover from functional teams at work to functional families at home. It was an article in Real Simple magazine by author Patrick Lencioni (The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team) that prompts this post translating organizational dynamics to a family setting:

 

Identify your core values. Companies define their core values because they provide a great framework for making all kinds of decisions. To apply this idea to your family, think about what common traits drive each family member.

 

Establish a single top priority.  If everything is important, nothing is. Too many companies fail because they spread their time and energies too thin. Answer this question as it relates to your family: “If we accomplish one big thing as a family in the next few months, what should it be?”, and then work on it.

 


If we accomplish one big thing as a family in the next few months,

what should it be?


 

Keep your values and top priority visible.  You don’t need an engraved plaque stating your vision and mission, but write it down and stick it on the refrigerator where everyone will see it everyday.

 

Don’t make snap decisions.  Companies (and families) tend to take on commitments out of peer pressure or guilt, before they understand what’s involved. Gather information and then make a decision.

Continue reading

Relationship Series #1: A Simple 3 Step Process To Self-Acceptance

 

#GrowYourLife 

Life Area: Relational

Topic: Accepting Yourself

 

A Simple 3 Step Process To Self-Acceptance

It’s February and ”relationships” is my blog theme for this month of Valentine’s Day. Let’s begin our deep dive into the Relational life area, with your most important relationship: your relationship with yourself. Specifically, accepting yourself unconditionally.

The other day in a coaching session it became apparent to me that my client hadn’t yet fully accepted herself.  Now, I admit we all on-goingly struggle with this to a certain extent, but she hadn’t even begun the process and this was standing in the way of a major breakthrough for her so I walked her through the following simple 3 step process:

Step 1:               Your attitude toward yourself is determined largely by the attitudes that YOU “think” other people have toward you. When you believe that other people think highly of you, your level of self-acceptance goes up and vice versa.

Step 2:               For you to truly understand yourself, or to stop being troubled by things that may have happened in your past, you have to be able to get those things off your chest. When you can disclose what you’re truly thinking and feeling to someone else, you can become aware of those thoughts and emotions yourself. If the other person simply listens to you without commenting or criticizing, you have the opportunity to become more aware of the person you are and why you do the things you do. You begin to develop perspective, or what some call “detachment.”


When you can stand back and look at yourself honestly, and candidly admit to others that you’re not perfect, then you can start to enjoy a heightened sense of self-acceptance.


Step 3:               After doing those things, you arrive at self-acceptance. You accept yourself for who you are: the good and the bad, your strengths and your weaknesses. When you can stand back and look at yourself honestly, and candidly admit to others that you’re not perfect, then you can start to enjoy a heightened sense of self-acceptance.

YOUR ACTION STEP

A valuable exercise for developing higher levels of self-acceptance is to take an inventory of your unique talents and abilities and your past successes in both your personal and professional life. Think about how those things will serve you in the future and the possibilities that may come from them and soon you will determine that you WILL have what you want to have, do what you want to do, and be who you want to be. You can then set goals and move toward them.

Remember, there are no obstacles to what you can accomplish except the obstacles that you create in your own mind…so keep your monkey-mind in check!

 

Please share this post with your family and friends. 

My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.

I am a Success Strategist and Master Coach. I provide transformational coaching and training for individuals and organizations to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business by getting clear and focused on what you want, why you want it, and how to create it. Learn more about me at SuccessSeriesLLC.com.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many FREE resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website  and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address OR forward this to them and have them simply click here (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

Goals Series #3: Three Ways To Stay Motivated To Reach Your Goals

 

#GrowYourLife  #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

Topic: Goals Achievement

When I was engaged by yoga and athletic apparel company Lululemon to train their Denver area sales people on Goals Achievement I was asked multiple times from the workshop participants, “How can I stay motivated to reach my goals?”  We’re all capable of improving, regardless of what natural abilities we were born with or without. It’s important then to acknowledge our successes or failures and remind ourselves that they are a direct result of our own effort or lack thereof, not of factors outside our control.

It’s the difference between having a “fixed mindset” or a “growth mindset”. Download this FREE infographic – Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset – from my FREE Resources page on my website to learn more.

growth mindset vs fixed mindsetA “fixed mindset” assumes that our abilities can’t be changed in any meaningful way, and success or failure is the reinforcement of the traits we were “born” with. On the other hand, when we have a “growth mindset,” we see obstacles and challenges as opportunities for growth beyond our existing abilities.

These two mindsets spur a great deal of our behavior so it’s essential to recognize if you tend toward a fixed mindset and try to shift your thinking toward a growth mindset.


A growth mindset will keep you trying when you hit obstacles.


When we are hungry, cold, or feel in danger, we have no trouble finding the “motivation” to eat, stay warm, or get somewhere safe. But when comes to everyday situations that don’t hold a life or death outcome, we suddenly find ourselves searching for the “motivation” to make it happen. This happens all too often when it comes to setting and achieving our goals.

Here is this third of a three-part blog Goals Series, I offer up 3 ways to stay motivated to reach your goals:

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

 

According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as devised by Abraham Maslow, once basic needs such as food, water, and safety are satisfied, humans are naturally motivated to embark on an ongoing quest to reach our full potential.

So is it really the problem of lack of motivation? Or are we just having trouble following through?

Often the problem is our misguided concept of motivation itself. Read on to learn three ways to think about motivation differently in order to achieve your goals >>>


Download my FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge – A Guide to Help You Set Your Goals, Create a Plan of Action and Begin Achieving Them IN ONLY A WEEK! I describe it in detail in this Talk with Tom podcast episode on the subject [here].

What if you could radically and positively transform your life in EVERY ONE of the 7 Life Areas (Personal, Physical, Professional, Financial, Relational, Spiritual, and Philanthropical)?

That’s right, your relationships, your health, your career, your finances, your fun and leisure, and even your level of contribution to the world? My FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge will help you determine where you are, where you want to be, and what you want, to create the life you want, IN ONLY A WEEK! Download it for FREE [here].


Continue reading

Goals Series #2: How To Reach Your Goals

 

How To Reach Your Goals in 2018#GrowYourLife  #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

Topic: Goal Achievement

Do you want to make this year your best year ever? Keep reading and I will give you 4 key tips for how to do it.

One of your most valuable financial assets is your earning power. They call it your human capital. To earn more you have to constantly increase your value. The only way you can create more value for yourself this year is to learn and apply new skills that allow you to get better results.

Imagine climbing a mountain. Base camp is when you first start your career. Perhaps you’ve just graduated college and you’re now going out into the world seeking a first job that best fits your newly acquired education with your passion and desires. When you start at the bottom of mountain (Base Camp), most people have no earning ability, but after 10 or 20 years some are earning 20 to 50 times more than others! Even though they started out in the same place.

What’s Their Secret?

 

The difference is that the top performers, continually learn new skills as they go through their careers —  be it corporate America, musician, or entrepreneur. Like climbing a mountain, every new skill brings you to Camp 2 then Camp 3, another step closer to the summit. As you scale the mountain, you increase the value of your contribution. This, in turn, increases your ability to earn more money. If one of your goals is to earn more money this year, then create more value. It’s as simple as that.

Focus on these 4 skills to continue your trek up the mountain and make this year your best year ever:

 

Tip 1:    Write Better Goals

 

how to reach your goals in 2018Some people don’t know where to start and wonder how to write goals. Ask yourself this question:

“Where do I want to be in 12 months?”

Write down one major goal for each of your 7 Life Areas (Physical, Financial, Professional, Spiritual, Relational, Personal, and Philanthropical) that you want to accomplish in the next 12 months using the SMART goals definition. Look at your goals that you have written down and think to yourself, “If I could wave a magic wand, which one goal would have the greatest impact on my life … would most move the needle?”  As Gary Keller puts it in his bestselling book The One Thing,

 

“What’s the One Thing I can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”

 

For most of us, it’s a financial goal. For some of us it might be a fitness goal, a relationship goal, or a business goal, but for most of us it is a financial goal. You can still use these tips on any goal.

 

Tip 2:   Focus On One Skill At a Time

 

 Write down that One Thing very clearly and set a date for its attainment. Then make a list of everything that you can do to achieve this goal using my friend and mentor Brian Tracy’s ABC Method. Then, the next question you want to ask yourself is:

 

“What one skill will help me the most to achieve this goal?”

 

Think about all of the skills that you have and if you determine you don’t have the skill(s) that it would take to achieve that goal then focus on learning one skill that can help you achieve that most important goal.

This formula is the reason why people go from the bottom to the top of the mountain. The most successful people are very clear on where they are and where they want to be.

You must have very clear goals. Then you must be very clear about the skills you must acquire that will get you to each result/outcome you desire. When you acquire new skills, it helps you climb the mountain, every step (skill) increases your value. When you increase your value, you open up new opportunities for yourself. Keep adding new skills and keep growing to achieve your goals.


Download my FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge – A Guide to Help You Set Your Goals, Create a Plan of Action and Begin Achieving Them IN ONLY A WEEK! I describe it in detail in this Talk with Tom podcast episode on the subject [here].

What if you could radically and positively transform your life in EVERY ONE of the 7 Life Areas (Personal, Physical, Professional, Financial, Relational, Spiritual, and Philanthropical)?

That’s right, your relationships, your health, your career, your finances, your fun and leisure, and even your level of contribution to the world? My FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge will help you determine where you are, where you want to be, and what you want, to create the life you want, IN ONLY A WEEK! Download it for FREE [here].


 

Continue reading

Goals Series #1: 5 Cash Flow Goals Every Small Business Should Have

 

5 small business cash flow goals#BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Professional

Maintaining cash flow positive is something that many small businesses struggle with. After all, it only takes one or two late net 90 clients and you may find yourself among the 90 percent of small businesses who fail every year due to cash flow problems.

Setting goals for cash flow management can help make sure you have a profitable business and enough cash to offset your monthly expenses. Here are five cash flow goals that every small business should aim for:

 

5 Small Business Cash Flow Goals

 

1) Pay attention to margins

By “margins”, I mean both gross margin and net profit. Gross profits are what are left over once you subtract the cost of goods sold. Margins vary by industry, but there are some things you can do to ensure yours are healthy. That includes controlling the cost of materials, labor, and setting the right price point.

Don’t forget your net profit margins (before taxes are paid). This is what’s left from your gross margins after your expenses have been paid. If your net margins are below 10 percent, you should reassess all the above. A good goal is a minimum 10-20 percent. Grocery stores run 3-4%, home builders 8-10%, and suppliers can run as much as 25-50%, so be sure to compare yours to the relevance of your industry.

 

2) Pay yourself a salary

It’s not uncommon for new business owners to work uncompensated. However, many continue doing so even when they start turning a profit. It’s believed that as many as 90 percent of small business owners underpay themselves.

Continue reading

FREE Resource – Year End Assessment Tool

 

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

 

FREE Resource – Year End Assessment Tool

 

I just wanted to send you a quick boost of encouragement and motivation as we head into 2018. You and I both know that these last few days of the year present a major opportunity. There’s no better time than now to take a look at your life and work and assess some areas that are ripe for improvement. Invest your time away from the office in personal growth.

I suggest taking a hard look at the last year and asking yourself a few very important questions:

  • What is a goal you set this year that you haven’t yet achieved?
  • What did you make more important than achieving that goal?
  • Who helped you the most, and how can you be a greater resource to them?
  • What’s still important to achieve?

Take time for yourself to do YOUR Annual Review. Download my FREE Year End Assessment Tool to help you through those and other questions which will springboard you into 2018.


tom hart success series year end assessment Download my FREE Year-End Assessment Tool [here]. As you look to the new year, it’s important to step back and take a look at the year just finished – to take inventory, add it all up and see how you did. What were your successes, and where did you come up short? What worked? What didn’t? Download my FREE Year-End Assessment Tool [here] to help you do just that. My FREE Year-End Assessment Tool is a guide to help you assess the progress you made toward achieving your goals this past year and set you up for success in 2018. Download this valuable FREE resource [here] and get started today!


Please share this FREE Resource with your family and friends.

My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.

I am a Success Strategist and Master Coach. I provide transformational coaching and training for individuals and organizations to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business by getting clear and focused on what you want, why you want it, and how to create it. Learn more about me at SuccessSeriesLLC.com.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many FREE resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address OR forward this to them and have them simply click here (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

4 Reasons Why You Should Hire a Business Coach

 

#BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Professional

So, you made the leap from being an employee to owning a business. Congratulations! You’ll soon realize that you can only take yourself so far before you need to raise capital, form a team and yes … find someone who has gone down this road before you. Enter the business coach.

4 Reasons Why You Should Hire a Business Coach

 

There isn’t anything else that you receive 100 percent dedicated attention to you. A business coach is somebody who helps you move from where you are to where you want to be, and does so by solely focusing on your goals.

If you are not clear on your vision, then every single opportunity will distract you and impede your progress. After all, you’ll never really know what you’re capable of until there’s someone to push you outside your comfort zone. Just ask any professional athlete.

If a business coach is something you’ve thought about recently but aren’t quite sold on getting one yet, here are four reasons why you should:

1. To brainstorm brilliance

There’s a common saying that goes, “nobody is smarter than all of us.” In other words, the collective power of many is far superior to the single power of one, which speaks to the value a coach brings in brainstorming new ideas. However, doing so is both an art and a science.

Anybody can go online and find brainstorming software for free with the goal to generate genius — that’s the science part. The “art” part, however, is excavating personal values and beliefs that you never knew existed and linking them to your desires and intentions. Sometimes it takes a new perspective to see an existing connection.

2. To bounce ideas off

Nowhere else can you find somebody solely dedicated to acting as your own personal sounding board. A coach — well, a good coach — asks powerful questions that unearth deeply rooted values otherwise firmly planted, with zero judgment. Unlike the local rumor mill in your neighborhood or office, it’s not a coach’s responsibility to opine about your position, but rather to suspend judgment in such a way that guides you toward your own goals.

3. To be accountable

Isn’t it strange how easy it is to break the promises we make to ourselves, but less so when we involve other people? A coach serves as an accountability partner who challenges you to strategize and develop your goals while aligning your efforts toward achieving them.


tom hart success series year end assessment Download my FREE Year-End Assessment Tool [here]. As you look to the new year, it’s important to step back and take a look at the year just finished – to take inventory, add it all up and see how you did. What were your successes, and where did you come up short? What worked? What didn’t? Download my FREE Year-End Assessment Tool [here] to help you do just that. My FREE Year-End Assessment Tool is a guide to help you assess the progress you made toward achieving your goals this past year and set you up for success in 2018. Download this valuable FREE resource [here] and get started today!


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Why Having Gratitude Helps You Achieve Your Goals

 

why gratitude helps achieve goals#GrowYourLife

Life Area: Personal

You’ll recall when I and my team sent you are Thanksgiving greeting that I recommended keeping a daily or weekly Gratitude Journal. I mentioned its many benefits and wanted to add one more benefit to the mix with this blog post as we approach the stereotypical goal setting time of the year:

Why Having Gratitude Helps You Achieve Your Goals

 

One of the challenges in reaching our long-term goals is getting derailed by short-term gains. These are decisions that look good in the moment—instant gratification usually does. But they actually prevent us from making progress or even set us back.

See if you recognize any of these:

  • The impulse buy that dings your savings goal.
  • The skipped workout routines that plateau your weight loss.
  • The late night at work that keeps you from your child’s school recital.

We get the short-term win from the purchase, the rest, and the project completion. But we lose the long-term payoffs that only come from reaching our goals: financial security, physical health, and lasting connection with our kids.


Download my FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge here. It is for anyone who is looking to achieve a specific goal in their personal or professional life, no matter how big or small. If you’re unsure of how to go about starting on a path to achieving your goals, then this challenge is for you. Over the course of 7 days, you will gain clarity into exactly what you want to achieve in every area of your life and determine a clear-cut plan for how to achieve those goals. Download it here and listen to my Talk with Tom podcast episode where I describe in detail how to use the guide.


It’s true for all kinds of goals. What I and many others came to realize is that gratitude is the difference maker. Why? There are at least three reasons gratitude can help you stay the course and reach your goals:

  1. Gratitude keeps you going. In one study researchers Robert A. Emmons and Anjali Mishra had students list goals they hoped to reach over a two month period. Ten weeks later they checked back and found the grateful students were closer than others in the study to reaching their goals. Emmons and Mishra said there’s a prevailing (but unproven) idea out there that gratitude can leave people feeling complacent. If I’ve got enough, then maybe I don’t need to achieve more. Instead, they determined, “gratitude enhances effortful goal striving.”
  2. Gratitude improves your patience. A lot of times we take the easy out because we’re impatient. Achieving big goals takes time and effort. Thankfully, gratitude can keep you in the game. David DeSteno of Northwestern University led a study where participants were asked to recall an event that made them feel grateful, happy, or neutral. After writing about it, they reported their mood and then made a series of financial decisions. If they wanted, they could take a cash reward at the end of the session or receive a larger amount by check in the mail at a later date. The grateful were happy to wait for the bigger payout. “On average, we increased people’s financial patience by about 12 percent,” said DeSteno. “Imagine if you could increase people’s savings by that much.”
  3. Gratitude lowers your stress. People fall for instant gratification because indulgence and avoidance are both attractive ways of coping with stress. But we all know they’re not effective in the long run, and we’ve got the bills and ill-fitting clothes to prove it.It turns out gratitude is a far more effective way to cope with stress. Emmons and Mishra conclude, “The evidence strongly supports the supposition that gratitude promotes adaptive coping and personal growth.”

Instant gratification looks good in the moment, but can actually prevent us from making progress or even set us back.


I love asking successful people what they do to succeed. When their answers overlap with each other it’s like building a list of best practices. When the science backs them up, we’d have to be foolish not to listen.

Expressing Gratitude is just one of eight different best practices in goal setting. Download my FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge here. It is for anyone who is looking to achieve a specific goal in their personal or professional life, no matter how big or small. If you’re unsure of how to go about starting on a path to achieving your goals, then this challenge is for you. Over the course of 7 days, you will gain clarity into exactly what you want to achieve in every area of your life and determine a clear-cut plan for how to achieve those goals. Download it here and listen to my Talk with Tom podcast episode where I describe in detail how to use the guide.

Your Action Step

Download my FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge here and get started today setting your 2018 goals.

Please share this post with your family and friends. 

My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.

I am a Success Strategist and Master Coach. I provide transformational coaching and training for individuals and organizations to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business by getting clear and focused on what you want, why you want it, and how to create it. Learn more about me at SuccessSeriesLLC.com.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many FREE resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website  and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address OR forward this to them and have them simply click here (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

A Simple Mindfulness Practice – Keep a Gratitude Journal

 

A Simple Mindfulness Practice - Keep a Gratitude Journal

#GrowYourLife

Life Area: Personal

Perhaps you’re on a roll with your mindfulness practice by incorporating my FREE 7-Day Guided Mindfulness Meditation Audio Series into your week. If not, give it a try [here] or at  www.SuccessSeriesLLC.com/wordpress/meditation. If so, fantastic!! Keep it up! Maybe it’s time to integrate a Gratitude Journal into your mindfulness practice.

A Simple Mindfulness Practice – Keep a Gratitude Journal

 

Studies suggest that writing in a gratitude journal three or four times a week might actually have a greater impact on our happiness than journaling every day. So just take 10 minutes every other day and note three things you are grateful for.

The overall benefit you want to achieve is to actually FEEL the joy…the good emotions…that come with your recollection of a good event, experience, person, or thing in your life.

Write down up to five things for which you feel grateful. Physically writing it is important—don’t just do this exercise in your head — and yes, you can do it on your computer, or with an app, and not lose out on anything. The things you list can be relatively small in importance like “my tasty lunch today” or significant, such as “my game changing new job.”

How to do it

There’s no wrong way to keep a gratitude journal, but here are nine guidelines to get you started:

  1. Be as specific as possible—specificity is key to fostering gratitude. “I’m grateful that my co-workers brought me soup when I was sick on Tuesday” will be more effective than “I’m grateful for my co-workers.”
  2. Go for depth over breadth. Elaborating in detail about a particular person or thing for which you’re grateful carries more benefits than a superficial list of many things.
  3. Get personal. Focusing on people to whom you are grateful has more of an impact than focusing on things for which you are grateful.
  4. Try subtraction, not just addition. Consider what your life would be like without certain people or things, rather than just tallying up all the good stuff. Be grateful for the negative outcomes you avoided, escaped, prevented, or turned into something positive—try not to take that good fortune for granted. Continue reading

5 Tips to Minimize Stress

 

5 Tips to Minimize Stress

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

Stress is a normal and natural part of human life — you can’t avoid it, so how do you manage it?

 

5 Tips to Minimize Stress

We encounter stress every day: in driving through traffic, falling behind schedule and managing big projects. We must learn to how to deal with stress in order to lead a more productive, happy life.

Today I’m going to share a few ways that I manage the stress in my life, and I know these will work for you as well.

Here are 5 tips to minimize stress:

1) Plan Your Day

Plan every aspect of your day and plan your activities in advance, especially if you are going through a difficult time in your life. Having a plan for your day will make you feel more in control. You won’t have to think about or make a decision on what to do next. Becoming an expert in time management will reduce your stress levels enormously. Breaking down every task and activity in your day or week will make the big picture a lot less intimidating.

2) Focus on Your Most Important Task

When you are experiencing a lot of stress, only work on the tasks that are the most important to improving your life. You can use tools that we’ve discussed in the past, like the 80/20 Rule, to make setting and choosing your goals easier. Setting clear priorities for your work each day, before you begin, will relieve much of your stress immediately. Then, discipline yourself to start on your most important task and work on it until it is complete.

3) Get More Rest

It’s amazing how many people suffer greater stress from the same event because they are just tired. Fatigue causes you to experience stress at much higher levels for much longer periods of time. A body well taken care of will serve you much better in the long-run, and will reduce your stress naturally. If you are planning your day properly, then planning for more sleep shouldn’t be a problem.

Read on to learn two more ways to help you deal with stress >>>>>

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A Formula For Achieving Big Physical Goals After Age 40

 

A Formula For Achieving Big Physical Goals After Age 40

#GrowYourLife

Life Area: Physical

The older one gets the harder it is to achieve our BIG audacious physical goals, like competing in a triathlon or riding a century. Not only because of growing physical limitations but also because of growing responsibilities of family, career and community. Can you still go BIG? OF COURSE YOU CAN! If you follow this system, the only thing that can stop you is YOU.

A Formula For Achieving Big Physical Goals After Age 40

#1 – Assess yourself and what you are asking your body … and your mind … to achieve.

 

First, and foremost, you must believe you can do it. And, I don’t mean just competing in the event, but the needed training as well. Belief is the genesis of all accomplishment. Maintain a realistic perspective during your training and push yourself to excel at a rate necessary to peak at the competition. To help keep perspective, remember these things:

 

Find your why. This is your reason for wanting to achieve your big audacious goal. Without it you will fail when the going gets tough.

 

Go all in. Decide at the onset that you are going to do whatever you need to do to achieve your goal. Sign up for the event, commit to training, and fill your days with positive motivation to keep you going.

 

Know what you are willing to give up and what you aren’t. There are certain things I have on hold when it comes to my training and certain things that I will not give up. I must continue to run my businesses in spite of my training and I want to continue to spend time with my family and friends, so often times it is my leisure activities that must be put on hold if I am in the middle of training for a century ride or other big audacious physical goal.

 

#2 Make a plan.

 

Set yourself up for success with a routine. Figure out your training plan and do not deviate from it unless, or until, you experience a flaw in it. Create a realistic timeline. Many of the athletes I work with get down on themselves when they aren’t progressing at their pre-determined pace because they were unrealistic about how long something would take in the first place. They feel so discouraged that they beat themselves up and their mental-game plummets.

 

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The Purpose of Your Business Plan

 

the purpose of a business plan

#BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Professional

 

Many of my business coaching clients first come to me asking me to help them write a business plan. Whether they were just a start-up or had been in business for a number of years and were then seeking a capital investor for the first time, they found themselves, as many entrepreneurs do, unable to describe to outside third-parties the who, what , where, why, when and how of their business.

How To Write A Business Plan

 

Providing an overview of your business can be tricky, especially when you’re still in the early planning stages. If you already own an existing business, summarizing your current operation should be relatively easy; it can be a lot harder to explain what you plan to become.

What I advise them is to project out into the future and reverse engineer.

Think about what products and services you will provide, how you will provide those items, what you need to have in order to provide those items, exactly who will provide those items… and most importantly, whom you will provide those items to.

Sound like a lot? It boils down to:

  • What you will provide
  • What you need to run your business
  • Who will service your customers, and
  • Who your customers are

If you open a restaurant, what you plan to serve will in some ways determine your labor needs, the location you choose, the equipment you need to purchase… and most importantly will help define your customer. Changing any one element may change other elements; if you cannot afford to purchase expensive kitchen equipment, you may need to adapt your menu accordingly. If you hope to attract an upscale clientele, you may need to invest more in rent at a prime location and creating an appealing ambience.

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Want To Know How Productive You Really Are?

 

productivity assessment

#GrowYourLife #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal and Professional

 

Want to know how productive you really are?

I am pleased to offer to you this FREE resource from my friend, Michael Hyatt: Michael just came out with a quick self-assessment test to find out how productive you really are. It’s completely FREE, and it only takes a few minutes.

http://freetofocus.com/WLPROG/2017assessment

You may be asking yourself, “Why does this matter?”

Because if you’re like most high-achievers, you want to your spend time well — and live intentionally. This test helps you do just that.

You can only find the path to more time and more freedom when you’re CLEAR about where you are now.

I just finished taking mine and I was surprised with my results. I encourage you to take the assessment for yourself and discover your Productivity Score! Michael explains what it all means and gives you a free summary of your answers.

It’s the ticket to upping your productivity game…

Ready to discover your score? Just click here. http://freetofocus.com/WLPROG/2017assessment

 

Please share this post with your family and friends.

 

My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.

I am a Success Strategist and Master Coach. I provide transformational coaching and training for individuals and organizations to help you Grow Your Life and Build Your Business by getting clear and focused on what you want, why you want it, and how to create it. Learn more about me at SuccessSeriesLLC.com.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many FREE resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website  and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address OR forward this to them and have them simply click here (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

DISCLOSURE: As a Michael Hyatt affiliate I am pleased to offer Michael’s Free To Focus course to you. In the event that you register for this valuable resource I will receive an affiliate commission.

Why Attention To Exercise and Nutrition Is A Must

 

why exercise and nutrition

#GrowYourLife

Life Area: Physical

In the late 1990s I was 30 pounds overweight due to too many years of entertaining real estate clients at fancy restaurants, private clubs and Laker games. I gained the weight over 10 years and when my mom had a minor heart attack, following my dad having one himself years earlier, I knew genetics wasn’t helping any. So I lost 30lbs in 60 days by eating less and exercising more.

That wake-up call taught me first hand the value of monitoring your exercise and nutrition and I present to you here five reasons why we can’t afford to neglect diet and exercise:

5 Reasons Why Attention To Exercise And Nutrition Is A Must

 

1 – First, our bodies are made to move. Our bodies are literally built to move with muscles, tendons, and bones. Our world of technology has created a sedentary culture where people are sitting and staring at their cell phones, tablets, or computer screens for hours on end. In previous times, physical work was a given.

2 – Second, exercise adds fuel to your gas tank. some people think, “I can’t workout, I’m too tired.” What they don’t realize is that if they would just do it, they would be more energetic for the rest of the day. Exercise not only eliminates toxins from our bodies, but according to the Mayo Clinic, it also improves our circulation and our hear and lung health. It might sound counter-intuitive, but exercise gives you more energy than it takes. Read my blog post here on Natural Ways To Gain Energy.

3 – Third, exercise lifts our mood. According to one survey found in one of my Recommended Reading books by Tom Rath, Eat Move Sleep, just twenty minutes of moderate exercise in the morning has been shown to improve mood as much as twelve hours later in the day. Exercise unleashes neurochemical processes (endorphins) that can leave us feeling exhilarated and happy.

4 – Fourth, exercise helps regulate our blood-sugar level, which directly relates to our energy levels. And, of course, so does food. This is one reason why I generally avoid high-carbohydrate, especially refined carbohydrate, meals. They make me sleepy and lethargic because they spike our blood sugar ramping up our insulin, then send us crashing.

5 – Fifth, eating for convenience instead of health and well-being leads to obesity and a whole range of conditions that sap our energy. Looking at the World Economic Forum’s Human Capital Report, what drives down the U.S. numbers is primarily our bad health. There’s a direct connection to the foods we eat and what we’re able to accomplish.

YOUR ACTION STEPS

Determine to get (and stay) physically healthy. It’s easy to compromise here. You have to decide ahead of temptation that you’re not going to back down from what matters most to your physical well-being.

Next, move! Get intentional about moving. Park away from the entrance and walk. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Ease into it if you need to. Take the elevator up and the stairs down until you’re in the groove. Eat with conviction not convenience. Go to the work of juicing that morning green drink. Pack your own lunch. Order small portions. Watch what you eat and don’t let that deadline or to do list take you off course with an easy out fast food meal.

Please share this post with your family and friends.

 

My mission is to inspire people and organizations to live their highest vision.  It is my honor and privilege to serve you in this way.  I make it an absolute MUST to inspire each and every one of you to STEP UP and live the life of your dreams, NOW, and not settle for less than you can be, do, have, say or believe.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many FREE resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website  and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address OR forward this to them and have them simply click here (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

3 Life Lessons You Can Learn From Skydiving

 

3 life lessons from skydiving

#GrowYourLife

Life Area: Personal

3 life lessons you can learn from skydiving.

 

When my son turned 13 I told him we would have an adventure of his choosing to move him from childhood to manhood. He chose hiking the Grand Canyon. I did the same with my daughter but by the time she had decided what she wanted to do, she had turned 16…and, gulp, she had decided to go skydiving!!

Now I write that with emphasis because though hiking the Grand Canyon was arduous and entailed multiple days (1 day down, 1 day on the bottom, and 1 day out), my son and I were somewhat prepared having made many hikes over the years. But skydiving? My daughter and I had no experience whatsoever. It was a complete outside-the-box thing with challenges of its own. For instance, my daughter had no idea that I had a fear of heights!

For years I had been developing skyscrapers. Up and down the exterior construction elevator I went showing colleagues, partners, and prospective tenants the city view from 1,000+ feet up. As I would step off the exterior construction elevator I would bee line for the middle of helipad and stay somewhat away from the edge, if I could. And here my daughter was telling me the one adventure she wanted to have was to skydive. So…of course…I had to swallow hard and just say “yes” without skipping a beat.

Life Lesson #1 From Skydiving: Step out of your comfort zone and lean into your fear.

 

The best time to skydive is the first jump of the day. This way you avoid the inevitable weather delays that come later in the day as jump after jump is pushed out an hour, maybe two, maybe even to the next day. So we drove out to the airfield for the 7am tandem jump and took the required orientation training, then off we went with our instructors, a few other novice divers and their tandems, and a couple intermediate and advance solo jumpers.

‘Round about 5,000 feet the solo jumpers step out the door. You see, they were just after increasing their jump count to advance to the next level of their sport. We on the other hand, were going to 10,000’ to be able to experience the free fall as well as gliding to a landing. Well let me tell you, when those jumpers stepped out at 5,000’ my daughter and I, wide-eyed, with pupils-dilated, looked at each other and said, “We’re really doing this!!”  We knew there was no going back, our turn was next.

Life Lesson #2: When you commit to a vision, follow through.

 

Up to 10,000’ we went and sure enough when our names were called we were strapped to our instructors and ready to go. When you tandem skydive, and I hope you do, very little is under your control. Though they tell you how to position your legs and arms, and when to pull the chute, you’re basically going along for the ride.

My daughter went first. She screamed as she went out the door and my heart sank. You see…as a Dad or Mom you must relate…you see, I wanted to help her, comfort her, and assure her that all would be well, but no, she was having to find out that all for herself. I was next, and out we went.

Remember me mentioning the free fall? For the first 5,000’ you have the exhilaration of the free fall. You do some spinning tricks, some aerodynamics. I’m, of course, looking for my daughter hoping all is well with her and that she is enjoying the journey…to no avail. It’s hard to orient to things when you’re going who-knows-how-fricken-fast free falling to the earth. Then the tap on your shoulder comes to pull the rip cord. A little aside if you do go skydiving: don’t worry if you don’t pull the rip cord fast enough, your tandem instructor is watching his/her little altimeter and if you don’t act fast enough, they will. No need for that with me, I was ready and waiting.

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How To Do Your Weekly Review

 

how to do your weekly review

#GrowYourLife

Life Area: Personal

 

You probably notice on my Ideal Week Sample that I do a Weekly Review every Sunday evening…well, not EVERY Sunday evening, but that would be my ideal 🙂 Anyway, I’m often asked, “How do you do a weekly review?”

A Harvard study found that practicing reflection makes what we’ve learned stick in our minds better, as well as improving our performance. In fact, they proved that we reach a point in our work or training when we’ve learned enough such that reflecting on our experience can actually boost our performance more than further practice.

Reflecting is good for us, whether tracking our progress on goals or taking note of what we’ve learned, reflecting regularly helps us refocus and re-motivate. The weekly review is a chance to tie up loos ends, prepare for the week ahead and monitor short-term goals progress.

How To Do A Weekly Review

 

If you’re just getting started with your own weekly review you’ll probably go through a phase of trial and error to find your sweet spot as to what works for you. What I share here is what I do and it may be a place for you to get started.

Step 1: Sort through paperwork. Some will need to be scanned and digitally filed, some may need action, and others simply tossed.

Step 2: Review meeting notes from the week. When I take notes I use various symbols to depict a personal action item, a delegated item, an in-progress item, etc. During my Weekly Review, I review my notes and find those items that need further action or follow-up next week.

Step 3: Review last week’s Weekly Task List and calendar. As mentioned here before, you all know I keep, and advise you keep, a simple task management system in Evernote which includes a Master Task List, a Weekly Task List, and a ToDo Today list. During my Weekly Review, I review my Weekly Task List and my calendar to cross off items accomplished and find any items needing follow-up…ok, true confession, I don’t wait for my weekly review to check-off items accomplished, I usually do it immediately (and yes, if the item is not on my Weekly Task List, I add it and then check it off!).

Step 4: Review goals. Doing this at this point grounds me in my priorities for the week ahead. Inevitably we get pulled away from our visions by the day-to-day mundane. By looking at my goals before establishing my week ahead reminds me what to prioritize. Continue reading

7 Tips On How To Best End Your Workday

 

how to best end your workday

#BuildYourBusiness

 

Life Area: Professional

I do a ton of reading. These days I listen to about an audio book a week using Audible while I workout or commute. On top of that, I read hardcover books, magazines and other periodicals, and targeted, personalized, responsive online magazines and articles using apps such as Flipboard and Feedly. If I can’t read something I’ve come across online until later, I save it in Pocket. In putting together today’s blog post I used a number of those different resources to compile today’s content:

 

7 Tips On How To Best End Your Workday

 

Do you often find yourself running out of workday before you run out of work? I do! And I find that if I can remember to implement many, if not all, of these 7 tips I find myself able to end the day on a high note and be prepared to hit the ground running tomorrow:

 

Tip #1: Prepare for tomorrow’s workday. Many sources recommend ending your workday by preparing for tomorrow’s. From Forbes.com we learn: be sure to check-off all you accomplished today and set a clear plan for tomorrow’s tasks. Use a task management app such as Todoist or simply a task list in Evernote to organize your ideas, tasks and goals in one place.

Tip #2: Move end-of-day meetings to tomorrow. We are all running out of energy at day’s end. Meetings held late in the day can be unproductive as people’s energy levels wane. In the Huffington Post it was recommended to schedule time to catch-up the next day instead, and explain you’d like to give it your full energy and attention. Often times they will feel relieved themselves.

Tip #3: Say a proper goodbye. We learn on BusinessInsider.com that a friendly goodbye to your team helps build rapport as well as signal that you are gone for the day. Say goodbye once to those around you to minimize distractions for those still at work.

Tip #4: Organize your desk. One of the world’s foremost authorities on time management is my friend and mentor Brian Tracy. Brian tells us, “50% of time is wasted on low-value activities like looking for information. Having an organized desk helps you think clearly and effectively.” I would add: have only on your desk those things that you need for the task at hand; file everything else away to do away with distraction. Continue reading

The 5 Levels of Delegation

 

5 levels delegation

#BuildYourBusiness

 

Life Area: Professional

So many of my clients and seminar attendees are entrepreneurs and small business owners susceptible to falling into the habit of doing everything themselves and finding it very difficult to delegate even the most trivial of things to others. That was me too! It was hard for me to hand over something to another when I felt like it wouldn’t be done as good or that it would take me longer to explain to them how to do it than it would take for me to just do it myself!

 

To assist them, and you, I offer up here the starting point of how I began to delegate. There are five levels of delegation and as you work your way up the levels you exercise your delegation muscle more and more. My mantra for last year is applicable here… “Business moves at the speed of trust.” What I found is that I became more and more trusting as my delegates succeeded. Soon you too will find that you have off-loaded quite a bit, leaving you more able to focus on those things that require your unique core competencies.

 

The Five Levels of Delegation

 

Level 1: Do exactly what I have asked you to do. Don’t deviate from my instructions. I have already researched the options and determined what I want you to do.

 

Level 2: Research the topic and report back to me. We will discuss it, and then I will make the decision and tell you what I want you to do.

 

Level 3: Research the topic, outline the options, and make a recommendation. Give me the pros and cons of each option, but tell me what you think we should do. If I agree with your decision, I will authorize you to move forward.

 

Level 4: Make a decision and then tell me what you did. I trust you to do the research, make the best decision you can and then keep me in the loop. I don’t want to be surprised by someone else.

 

Level 5: Make whatever decision you think is best. No need to report back. I trust you completely. I know you will follow through. You have my full support.

 

There’s a big difference in authority between these levels. If you or your delegate are unclear about the scope, then clarify, clarify, clarify.

 

What to Delegate

To decide what to off-load, you must first do a quick self-assessment as to what you like to do and what you are competent to do. Ask yourself these three questions:

 

  1. What am I good at doing?
  2. What do I enjoy doing?, and
  3. Of all team members, what can only I do?

  Continue reading

Know When To Go Organic

 

know organic

#GrowYourLife

 

Life Area: Personal
If you want to be healthy, wealthy and wise about the fruits and vegetables you eat, you should know when to go organic, as well as when it’s unnecessary. Sometimes I find it worthwhile to pay a little extra for organic…sometimes not so wise.

I came across a study by the Environmental Working Group which ranked produce based on what contained the least and most amount of pesticides. The ones with the most pesticides were strawberries and spinach – so go organic for these two, as well as nectarines, apples, peaches, pears, cherries, grapes, celery, tomatoes, bell peppers and potatoes.

As for least amount of pesticides (making it unnecessary to go organic): obviously the thick skin things such as avocados, pineapple, bananas, eggplant, mangoes, papayas, cantaloupe, kiwi and grapefruit, but also cauliflower, cabbage, onions and asparagus.

On another note, Happy Birthday to my Dad…he’s 84 today! Happy Birthday Dad! I love you <3

One of my missions in life is to move and inspire people to live their highest vision.  It is my honor and privilege to serve you in this way.  I make it an absolute MUST to inspire each and every one of you to STEP UP and live the life of your dreams, NOW, and not settle for less than you can be, do, have, say or believe.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website  and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

8 Ways to Gain Energy Naturally

 

#GrowYourLife

 

Life Area: Personal

Do you often find yourself running low on energy late in the day? Or, do you occasionally wake up already tired? Energy Management is as key to success as Task Management and Focus but few people realize that. Conventional wisdom taught us that if you slept eight hours a night, ate right and exercised well, you would have all the energy necessary to accomplish a successful day.

We now know that there are many ways to gain energy, both naturally and unnaturally. It can be easy and convenient to grab an energy drink or coffee when you’re feeling tired, but a cheap-and-quick energy drink will leave you feeling even more fatigued than you initially were once it wears off. Try these natural, clean and easy methods for increasing your energy:

8 Ways to Gain Energy Naturally

 

STAY HYDRATED. The more water, the better. Staying hydrated keeps your body functioning properly, which in turn keeps your energy levels up. Here’s the popular rule of thumb my clients have heard me say time and again: Drink half your body weight in ounces every day.

REMEMBER CAFFEINE IN MODERATION. Natural caffeine in coffee, green tea, or black tea is a great way to boost your energy level. Caffeine has also been found to stave diabetes, dementia and migraines.

INCREASE YOUR MAGNESIUM INTAKE. Halibut, whole grains and nuts (particularly almonds and cashews) are rich in magnesium. If those don’t appeal to you, take a daily natural supplement. A Department of Agriculture study found that women who had more magnesium in their diet could workout longer and harder at the gym.

GO SMALL. Eat smaller meals more often. By eating a small meal every two to three hours, you maintain your brain’s steady flow of nutrients and avoid fatigue. If you prefer less frequent, larger meals, make sure you don’t skip any. FYI, a portion is the size of your fist.

ADD ANTIOXIDANTS TO YOUR DIET. Blueberries, artichokes, and tomatoes are great examples of foods full of antioxidants, a clean energy source (meaning they can protect the body from energy swings). Continue reading

Some Alternatives to SMART Goals

 

smart goals hard goals pure goals clear goals

#GrowYourLife

 

Life Area: Personal

You’ve heard me say, write, live SMART goals. That is:

SMART GOALS:

S   pecific
M easurable
A  chievable
R  ealistic
T  ime bound

Here’s three other acronyms I came across for you non-conformists:

PURE GOALS:

P  ositively Stated
U  nderstood
elevant
E   thical

CLEAR GOALS:

hallenging
L  egal
nvironmentally Sound
A  greed
R  ecorded

HARD GOALS:

H  eartfelt
A  nimated
equired
D  ifficult

Tom Hart Success Series 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge

For more on goal setting, check out my recent blog post Mid-Year Goals Check-in and dive deep with my 2016 Goals Series of blog posts: [here’s #1] [and #2] [#3 is linked here] [find #4 here] [and last in the series #5] and read [this blog post from the 2015 archives]. To learn how to write an action plan for goal achievement read [this post].

My crash course for this year is my 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge – A Guide to Help You Set Your Goals, Create a Plan of Action and Begin Achieving Them IN ONLY A WEEK! I describe it in detail in this Talk with Tom podcast episode on the subject [here].

Download my FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge eBook – A Guide to Help You Set Your Goals, Create a Plan of Action and Begin Achieving Them IN ONLY A WEEK! [Download for FREE here].

 

In continuation of a sampling of the 100 Things Successful People Do from the book of the same title by author Nigel Cumberland (but not all 100 🙂 Here’s another 5:

1. Have the courage to fail

2. Seek wisdom and use it

3. Model the best

4. Sleep well

5. Laugh more.

 

One of my missions in life is to move and inspire people to live their highest vision.  It is my honor and privilege to serve you in this way.  I make it an absolute MUST to inspire each and every one of you to STEP UP and live the life of your dreams, NOW, and not settle for less than you can be, do, have, say or believe.

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you’re reading or are using my many resources, tell a friend to join the Tom Hart Success Series Community, to receive email notifications of new blog posts and Talk with Tom podcast episodes, learn of upcoming events, and other news, by visiting my website  and clicking on the offer to receive my FREE monthly resource by leaving their email address (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and will never sell, rent, lease or give away your information to any third party).

Mid-Year Goals Check-in

 

#GrowYourLife and #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Personal

Nearly half the year has past to achieve your 2017 goals and I want you to ask yourself the following question: Are you on track to…

  • …make more money?
  • …spend more time with loved ones?
  • …travel as much as you want?
  • …live the life you dream of?

If your answers had you shaking your head or feeling disappointed, might I suggest taking action to get you back on track?

To help give you a little nudge, download my FREE 7-Day Goal Setting Challenge – A Guide to Help You Set Your Goals, Create a Plan of Action and Begin Achieving Them IN ONLY A WEEK!

 

7-Day Goal Setting Challenge

 

Continue reading

Try Time Blocking Instead of a To-Do List

 

ideal week sample time blocking#GrowYourLife and #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Professional

 

Many of you know my simple time management technique. You start with a brain-dump to create a Master Task List, then from that develop a Weekly Task List, with your Top Three becoming your Daily To Dos.

 

When combined with my Ideal Week time blocking method (found on my FREE Resources page) you may find it easier to manage your time and your tasks.

 

TIME BLOCKING

 

Time blocking is essentially assigning your tasks to different time slots of concentrated work throughout your week.

 

Why Time Block?

Organizing your tasks into time blocks helps you prioritize better. Assign your number 1 task to your number 1 time slot. Your number 1 time slot may not necessarily be your first time slot of the week…make it your best time slot based on the cycles I talk about below.

 

There is also a psychological reason why time-blocking makes more sense. In what is known as the Zeigarnik effect, which basically states that we remember what we haven’t done better than what we have done, an uncompleted task weighs on us, leading to stress and insomnia. However, when we have all of our tasks placed into a specific time slot, we sleep more soundly knowing everything that needs to get done is assigned a time to get done.

 

Cycles and Biorhythms

I’ve written here before about the Pomodoro productivity method which recommends at period of focused work, usually 50-60 minutes, followed by a brief break of say 10 minutes. In spite of having a three hour block of time, be sure to “break” it up.

 

Before you start calendaring your time slots, think about how your energy and work both flow. Are there work cycles that could affect how much uninterrupted time you will have? And what times of day do you have the most energy or are best suited to do the tasks you need to do? “Don’t schedule a hard task in a time of day where you typically lag, and don’t schedule a big task in a small amount of time. Wishful thinking can’t change the reality of your schedule,” Cal Newport adds in his new book Deep Work.

 

Here’s how it works: Remember this: your Master Task List may contain 100 items but you know from previous mentions here that the Paraeto Principle states that 80% of your results will come from 20% of your efforts. The same holds true for your tasks. They will break out like this: 10% will be your highest priorities at any given time (with 20% of those yield 80% of your results). The bottom 10% WILL NEVER GET DONE. And the 80% in the middle will slide up and down, be replaced, drop-off, etc. So here are the numbers from your brain-dump of 100: 10 will be of highest priority (2 will be game changers), 10 will never get done, and 80 will constantly be on the move to completion or deletion.

Continue reading

10 Basics of Personal Finance

 

10 basics of personal finance

#GrowYourLife

 

Life Area: Financial

Disclaimer: This material is based on my personal experience and has been prepared for informational purposes only. It should not be the only means of your personal finance decision making; please consult a professional advisor before taking action.

 

Some of you have attended my Create The LIFE You Want workshop and you would remember much of these personal finance basics from my Saturday afternoon Money module. For those of you who haven’t attended (you can [sign up here for the next one] held closest to you in either LA, Denver, Dallas or KC) here’s a quick lesson in the basics of personal finance:

10 Basics of Personal Finance

1. Have a reason why money and financial freedom is important to you.

You must know your “Why” to be motivated as to the “What” and “How”.

When I started my first business at age 18, I was motivated to make money because I needed to pay for my college education. When I sold that company, a Southern California-based auto detailing company named Every Last Detail, and went into real estate it was because I was a new father and wanted a more profitable career to provide for my family. Your “why” will motivate you and keep you on track when the inevitable peaks and valleys occur. Continue reading

Seek Out a Mentor or Coach to Accelerate Your Results

 

 Seek a Mentor or Coach

#GrowYourLife and #BuildYourBusiness

Life Area: Professional

 

The Power of Mentors. Do you want to know how to cut twenty years off the learning curve in your career or business? It is to learn from people who are already where you want to be, or people who have done what you want to do.  A mentor is one of many ways to accomplish this.

Mentor

A mentor is a person who is interested in your success, happiness, well-being, and future, and wants to make a contribution. A mentor brings insight, feedback, integrity, a willingness to help, and genuine concern for the mentee. One mentor can accelerate your career and two can skyrocket it. I suggest you look through your contacts and see if you can find someone who can contribute to your career or business success, and ask him or her to meet with you. The key is to create a win-win relationship. If the person is at a distance, then call. A mentor/mentee relationship can be accomplished over the phone just as effectively.

Set up ground rules up front for each person’s roles, expectations, agendas, time use, accountability, and feedback.  The right mentor can save you time, energy, and money. He or she can challenge your thinking, hold you accountable, help you reach your goals, share in your successes and failures, and have fun in the process.  Find someone today who can help you further your career in this way.

Seek a Mentor or Coach

Business or Life Coach

An alternative to a mentor is a professional business or life coach. Do your research and find the best fit with your business or personality, define your objectives, and have an initial free phone consultation to determine if he/she is right for you. I have been a business coach and a life coach for over 17 years and am a Certified Master Coach and have provided transformational coaching and Continue reading

Try Forming Habits Instead Of Making Resolutions

 

Success Series blog post - Try Forming Habits

#GrowYourLife

 

As I pointed out in my last blog post, our minds often prevent us from accomplishing our New Year’s resolutions and after while, whether from procrastination or lost focus, our resolutions fall by the wayside. For those of you out there who set new year’s resolutions vs concrete goals, I have an experiment for you to try this first quarter of the year: rather than set new year’s resolutions, why not aspire to new habits in each of the seven life areas? After while they will soon become a lifestyle…a happier, healthier lifestyle… by doing little things every day. Continue reading

FREE Year End Assessment Tool

 

tom-hart-success-series-year-end-assessment-tool

#GrowYourLife

 

As you look to the new year, it’s important to step back and take a look at the year just finished – to take inventory, add it all up and see how you did.

What were your successes, and where did you come up short? What worked? What didn’t? Which were good decisions, and which were bad? It’s important to learn the lessons of life quickly or you will be apt to repeat them. Continue reading

Happy Thanksgiving from Tom Hart and the Success Series Team

 

happy-thanksgiving-from-success-series-team-b

Happy Thanksgiving! This coming Thursday those of us who reside in the United States will be celebrating Thanksgiving Day, a national holiday primarily celebrated with family and friends in an expression of shared gratitude for our many blessings. As you sit down with you and yours, please remember that we at Success Series are truly grateful for the wonderful support that we receive from all of you. Continue reading

Five Steps to a Higher Self-Esteem

 

Five Steps to a Higher Self-Esteem

five-steps-to-higher-self-esteem_b

“I want to increase my self-esteem”

 

“I want to increase my self-esteem” is a statement I hear quite often from participants in my EmpoweredWoman 101 seminar (soon to be released in its updated and renewed version entitled Goddesses 101). The participant’s asking believe that once they achieve a higher self-esteem, they’ll be able to become more successful. Continue reading

Meditation and the Benefits of Its Daily Practice

 

Meditation and Its Benefits

Meditation and the Benefits of Its Daily Practice

Guest blog by: Aaron Wilker, host of Talk with Tom

 

A quick word from Tom:

Are you interested in meditation, but question its validity since it appears a little too foo-foo for you? Despite its PR problem, mindfulness meditation is a simple, secular, scientifically validated exercise for your brain. Just in case you’re worried, meditation doesn’t require a lot of the things people fear it might. For example, you don’t have to sit in a funny position, light incense, chant, become a Buddhist or believe in anything in particular. Continue reading