Oct 31st 09
Posted by Aldohas in Management
Here’s how to begin on time.
1) Make it part of the agenda.
Put the arrival time on the agenda. For example, for a meeting scheduled to start at 9:00 AM, you could put “8:50 AM – - – Arrive at the Meeting” at the top of the agenda.
An arrival time is useful because it allows everyone time to socialize, obtain coffee, or organize materials before the meeting. It also ensures everyone is present at the scheduled starting time.
2) Offer a treat.
Provide coffee, juice, or a vegetable platter before the meeting. This can be especially welcome for all-day meetings attended by people from other locations. It provides a time for socializing between visitors and it may also provide a meal for those who came from out of town.
But here’s the catch: offer the treat only during the arrival time. Then put it away once the meeting starts.
And another point: serve snacks that make people more productive (such as fruit) instead of stuff that fills them up and deadens their brains (such as donuts).
3) Set an example.
Arrive at your meetings before they are scheduled to start. You can use the time to make sure that the room is set up properly. And you can greet the attendees as they arrive. This helps you appear in control of the meeting process from the beginning.
And of course, arrive at everyone else’s meetings on time.
4) Make it easy.
Schedule your meetings to begin at odd times, such as 9:10 AM. This allows everyone who was in a one-hour meeting that began at 8:00 AM to travel to your meeting. Similarly, end your meetings at least ten minutes before the next hour so that the attendees have time to travel to their next meeting.
5) Sell promptness.
Send a memo or E-mail stressing the importance of arriving on time. Call key attendees to remind them about the starting time for the meeting. Give people a reason to be on time, such as ask a top executive to make an opening remark.
Bonus idea: let the executive leave after making the opening remark. These people are very busy.
6) Expect promptness.
If it is your company (or department, etc.), you can tell people that they are expected to be on time. Then enforce this by making it a performance dimension. Similarly, arrive on time to demonstrate your commitment. And when necessary, hold a private coaching session with those who need help understanding your expectations.
7) Be realistic.
Realize that some people are beyond coaching because of their attitude or relationship with you. Also, recognize that it is impossible to guarantee that everyone will always arrive on time at every meeting. There will always be emergencies, surprises, and those few who refuse to cooperate.
Bonus point: Ask that people tell you if they expect to be late. If necessary, reschedule the meeting to accommodate them.
Learn more about Effective Meetings at: http://www.squidoo.com/OneGreatMeeting/
Oct 29th 09
Posted by Aldohas in Self Esteem
Believe it or not, some of the most successful people you see in the media today used to have a low self esteem. How did they overcome this and become the successful people that they are today?
You can win the battle over low self esteem with these 4 simple steps…
1. Affirmations.
Affirmations are simply positive things that you say out loud to yourself every day. This can be very difficult at times because you may not actually believe what you are saying. SO why would you say something to yourself that you don’t believe?
Increased self esteem has to start with you. So, if you are shy and intimidated by people, start to say something like the following: I am NOT shy and I am NOT intimidated by people. I am VERY confident when I get around people.
Repeat this to yourself out loud at least 10 times before you leave your room. When you say this, don’t just mumble it either, say it as many times as necessary until you say it with passion and conviction.
2. Read to grow.
Again, increased self esteem starts with you. Read something everyday for at least 30 minutes that will help you increase your self esteem. This can be an article, a book, or even an audio series. The more you learn the more you will grow. The more you grow, the more your self esteem will improve.
3. Take action everyday.
Do something every day, starting with something small, that directly deals with your low self esteem. For instance, if you can’t talk with people because you feel insecure and inferior, just start off by saying ‘Hi’. As you get more comfortable with this, then start to make small talk. You will begin to feel more confident and more confident until one day, you will find that you have overcome low self-esteem in that area.
4. Stop the negative thoughts.
Negative thoughts are like land mines. As soon as you step out to face your fear, a negative thought comes and tells you that you can’t do it and BOOM; you believe it and lose that round. Instead, diffuse negative thoughts before they have a chance to do damage.
A great way to do this is with a rubber band! Put a rubber band around your wrist. Every time a thought comes into your head that tells you that you can’t, you will never succeed, you are a looser, or anything negative, SNAP the rubber band on your wrist.
You may be snapping that band until your wrist is red and sore. Before long though, you will stop the negative thoughts because you don’t want to hurt your wrist anymore.
These four steps will help you increase your self esteem and become the person you really want to be. Just remember this: you are not going to change over night. It will take time but as long as you are progressing, you are winning the war.
Oct 27th 09
Posted by Aldohas in Self Esteem
Feeling good about yourself is one of the key ways to be successful at what you do. Remember that only you are in charge of your emotions and empowering yourself is a great way to get ahead in life.
This article lists three ways to boost your self esteem which can help you feel better about yourself and become a more confident person.
Get your mind relaxed
A relaxed mind is the source of great power. Like the tai-chi masters of old, a calm mind can bring about great mental strength that can allow you to become more confident in what you do on a daily basis. Things like hypnosis, tai-chi or meditation can help you develop this inner calm that will allow you to be composed in the most volatile situations. A calm mind in the face of adversity, is a source of strength.
John for example is a busy executive who was really stressed out at work so in the weekends he decided to take up Tai-Chi and after that was able to maintain his calm during the week. As a result of that, his colleagues started consulting him when they had crisis and his self confidence went up.
Do something that you are strong at
Do something that you are good at and that reinforces in your mind that you are a person that is of value. Spend some time doing something that allows you to experience the feeling of winning. Chalking up the wins is something that will help boost your self confidence.
There is much to illustrate in the area of the psychology of winning. There was an story of a father who let us son beat him at wrestling and after a while, this son started to consistently beat his other brother whom for the longest time had prevailed over him. Such is the power of the mindset of a winner.
Do something for others
Spend some time doing something for others and doing it well. The joy of achievement no matter how small will empower and light up your life. Remind yourself that in small things you are faithful, you will be able to handle larger and more complex things. Thereafter you will be able to be confident in your own abilities to handle more tasks.
Self confidence is relative as well. Some people think that they have the worst life in the world, helping out the less fortune reminds us that we should be thankful and thereafter make the best of our own existence on earth as mundane as it may be. Thankfulness and self esteem have an impact on each other and a thankful mindset is the basis to attract more self confidence.
In conclusion, are you feeling down and insecure? Try taking these three simple steps today and thereafter spend time at night reflecting on your own thoughts. Discard thoughts that drag your self-worth down and take active steps to nurture positive thoughts. There is wisdom in living a more confident life and it is one that you ought to live.
Oct 26th 09
Posted by Aldohas in goal setting
If you have some resolutions for the New Year or if you set some goals for yourself or your business for the next year, here are some ways to keep yourself on track and focused.
1. Less is more. Have 3 or 4 resolutions at the most. Any more than this will make them hard to focus on. If the resolutions you have can be achieved in less than a year, create others once you have accomplished these.
2. Visualize success. Know what accomplishing your resolution(s) will do for you. Day dream about it. How does it look and feel? Reaching your dream only happens if you are motivated enough to stick with it. If you don’t keep thinking about how much you want it and how good you will feel once you either accomplish it or make it a habit (or get rid of a habit!), you will lose interest.
3. Write them down. Here is another way to stay focused on your resolutions. There is something more permanent about the written page than just having it in your head. Sometimes just the act of writing it down is enough to keep you on track and focused.
4. Tell someone. Have a friend, a mentor, or a coach hold you accountable. Once you tell someone else it is just downright embarrassing to admit you didn’t stick with it. Sometimes we know that is the only way we’ll get it done. Some people are motivated completely by the positive aspect of getting it done and others need the fear of the consequences of not accomplishing it. Both can help you.
5. Post them. Put a copy of your resolution(s) where you see it/them frequently. Just seeing the list will continually remind you of what you are trying to do. Where can you put the list so you see it continually? How about the bathroom mirror or the refrigerator door?!
6. Read them. Say them out loud at least once a day. Make a little ritual of this. Do it at the same time every day. This would be a good time to visualize your success too (2). The more you think about your resolutions the more in focus they become.
7. Take action. Ask yourself at the beginning of the day what one action can you take today to keep you making progress on your resolution(s)? Moving forward one step at a time is what you are after.
8. Hire an expert. An expert can help you to overcome blocks, improve the way you are approaching the tasks or just boost your spirits. Depending on your resolution an expert might be a coach, a personal trainer, a nutritionist, or an organizer.
9. Use affirmations. Create a positive statement that you can use when the voice in your head tells you that you are not going to achieve whatever you are striving for. When you become aware that the voice is telling you can’t do it, substitute your affirmation.
10. Reward yourself. Give yourself something special when you cross a milestone or survive a particularly difficult period in your journey to achieving your resolution. Celebrate successes along the way and feel good about what you have done.
Oct 25th 09
Posted by Aldohas in stress
This is a fantastic tip from Touch For Health to help you when you’re stressed, angry, anxious or upset. Try holding your frontal eminences. These are bumps on your forehead that many people hold instinctively when they’re upset.
For those of you who don’t do this naturally, let me help you locate them. Feel up from the middle of your eyebrows going towards your hairline. Your forehead comes outwards before it curves back in towards the hairline. Hold your forehead at the points where it is furthest out – about 3cms (1.25 inches) above the middle of each eyebrow.
While you hold these points think about the stressful event. It can be something that has already happened, something that is about to happen, or something you fear may never happen! Gradually you should find that the stress lessens.
You can use it for small things, but you can also use it for more traumatic events too. If the thoughts/images are too overwhelming initially, imagine you are watching it on a TV – you can always switch it off if becomes too stressful – you’re the one in charge. You can watch it in black and white if that feels easier too. Use it to defuse anything that you feel anxious, stressed, angry or fearful about.
You may want to do it several times covering different aspects of the problem. You can do them one after the other, or at different times, whichever feels best for you.
As you hold the points and think about/imagine the event, you will probably start to feel calmer – you may even find that you start to feel a little bored thinking about this scenario that previously stressed or angered you so much.
Why does it work?
These particular points on the forehead, known as frontal eminences, are reflex points with connections to the central meridian (involved with the brain), the stomach meridian (and your stomach often churns when you’re anxious or angry), and the bladder meridian (trips to the loo/bathroom are often necessary when we’re apprehensive).
I recently explained this self-help technique to a business colleague – a keen mountain biker who’d had a serious bike accident at 30 miles an hour and had broken his skull and collar bone. His bones had mended, but he was now sometimes fearful of the sport he loved.
This is what he wrote to me later:
“I don’t know how to thank you enough for the technique you described to me over the phone the other day, it helped me enormously!”
The following week he sent me this message:
“Your tip worked once again last night – went out (in the pitch black with my Light&Motion ‘daylighter’ light) and did some serious single-tracking and downhilling!!! I never thought I’d be doing that again – ever! Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was brilliant!!!!!!!”
It may be hard to believe that something this simple could be effective in removing anxiety and stress, but try it and see.
