Are You an Effective Leader of Yourself?

It has taken me a minute to bring a new discussion to the table, as I wanted to fully analyze this question based on my own behaviors and habits.  I wanted to be able to discuss my own personal situation with you, as you pondered the following question:  Are you an effective leader?  Naturally, our initial response to this question is "What are you nuts?!  Of course I am an effective leader?!"  But if you really stop to think about the question, the answer that you come up with may surprise you!  The answer that I came up with for myself sure did surprise me!

Here are some things that I thought about when I lamented on this question for myself:

• Do you consistently manage your time effectively?  When I asked myself this question, I thought, "Sure I do!  I manage my time very well!"  I am a great manager of my time, but sometimes as we all do, I get side tracked with some things and it's so hard to get back to certain tasks once you put them off.  In fact, I once gave myself 19 goals to complete in a month. I wrote the goals down and put them in my purse.  I remembered them about half way through the month, and when I pulled them out, I had only gotten to 3 of them!  As a result, I now post my goals up on the wall in my office, and I check off each goal as I complete them.  By reading the goals each day, I am reminded that I still have unfinished work.  Since I am serious about completing the goals, I read them daily and then I analyze how I have been using my time and what I can do to get another goal completed.  I look at previous to do lists, and I track the things that I have been doing, so I can see where my time is going.
• Are you delegating menial tasks?  This is a big deal for some people!  You have those that will delegate everything, and then those that will not delegate one thing!  I am here to tell you, that the art of delegation was practiced in ancient history, thousands of years ago!  There is a method to delegating as well that if done correctly, will make the person who feels the worst about delegation appreciate it more!  The method is as follows:  The delegator works first, while the person being delegated to watches.  The delegator works again on the same task, while the person being delegated to helps.  Next, the person being delegated to works, while the delegator helps, and finally, the person being delegated to works while the delegator watches!  This is called on the job training, and even Jesus did it! By delegating those tasks that are menial, you free yourself up to take care of the big things that keep you up at night!  It's less stressful, when you shift the work that you really don't need to be doing onto someone else.  Once that low-end work is shifted elsewhere, you can then shift your focus to what's really important!  I was once a person who hated to delegate tasks, but when I realized how much time I had for other things I was amazed, and would never go back to trying to do everything myself!
• What do you do when things don't go as planned?  If your plan doesn't go right, it doesn't necessarily mean that you abandon the plan!  What you should do is access the plan and tweak what didn't go right!  If your plan is a good one, then you should not give up on it, but work to improve it.  Ask yourself, "Why didn't the plan work?  What could have been different?  Do I need to change the materials?  Change my target market?  Spend more time connecting with others, etc?"

These questions, are ones that I think would serve any individual well whether they are leading others or just leading themselves.  If you put these items into action, you will definitely become a great leader for others, but most importantly, you will become a great leader of yourself!

Don't Let the Fear of Rejection Paralyze You!

Good Afternoon!

Today's message is one about the fear of rejection.  I was talking to a business colleague yesterday and she indicated to me that she is not able to do much in her business because she is afraid of being rejected.  In fact, my dear friend also admitted that she misses out on a lot of opportunities that come her way as a result of her fear of being rejected!  She decided to ask me how I got past the fear of being rejected when working my own business and here's what I told her:

In many businesses where one has to work to create an opportunity for growth or profit for themselves, there should be an expectation that someone will say no to your oppotunity.  Some people are just going to say no, for whatever their reasoning is.  Most of the time, other people are afraid to take a chance too! You have to help people see the value in the product or service that you are trying to provide for themselves.  You have to connect with them on a level that goes just a little bit deeper than the sale!  People do not want to be sold!  They want solutions to all of their problems and if you can make them see that your product or service is a solution to just one problem, then you have the chance to grow a very fulfilling relationship with that person!

Also, people pick up on your energy as well.  If you are not confident to offer the product or service you provide to someone as a valuable commodity, then you should work to understand why that is the case?  Have you tried the product or service for yourself?  If so, what benefits did you receive from it?  If not, then the question you have to ask yourself is "Why not?".  Also, have you done research on the product or service and compared it with its market competitors?  Can you answer most questions about the product or service honestly and accurately?  If the answer to that question for you is no, then you've got work to do!

I mean let's face it~ Would you want a doctor or studied a little bit about open heart surgery to work on you or would you rather have the doctor who specializes in this field?  Would you take a tax attorney to defend you in a criminal trial?  I would hope not!  We should also keep in mind that doctors and lawyers have to go out and drum up business too!  They do not get a list of customers who need their services after they pass the medical and bar exams!  If anyone going into business for himself as a doctor or lawyer and they are afraid to talk to other people about their services, they will not be successful!

So what did I do to overcome my fear of rejection:

• I began to use my products faithfully so that I could build up my own belief in them (and boy do they work well)!  The more you believe that your product or service is great, others will too!
• I also study and learn all that I can about my products and the competitors products so that I will be abreast of all trends, pricing, claims, etc. to be able to better market my own.
• I also realize that a certain number of people are just not going to do business with me, and that is okay because for every person that doesn't see the value in what I have to offer, someone else will....so I just move on to find the latter!
• I also just go out and talk to people!  You will never know who is interested in what if you don't take the initiative to meet someone new!  I like to think that when I am meeting a new person, I am adding them to my circle of influence!  Your business will not grow just by dealing with family and friends alone.  You have to be willing to talk to people you don't know!  I am a firm believer that if you do something that is outside of your comfort zone with positive intentions then the results of that work generally turn out to be positive as well!
• I ask questions to find out what people need!  Asking questions is a great segway to telling them about your product or service!
• I don't give up!  Always remember there is a natural law that says for every action there is a reaction.  Always remember to follow the Golden Rule, and you will soon get the results you most desire!

Don't let the fear of rejection paralyze you!  If you believe in yourself, then others will naturally begin to believe in you too.  Fear is really just false evidence appearing real, BUT if you believe it's real then it is. The monster of fear is only as big as you build him up to be in your mind and heart!  Faith and action are your weapons for destroying it!

If you're on purpose for doing great things, then great things will happen!

It's a great day to be alive and on purpose!  It is amazing how God works things out for you when you are on purpose for getting things done!   Being in business for yourself is very exciting, and it has been for me!  But you do have to have a plan, and you have to be willing to devote the same amount of time to building your business as you would to working for someone else!  We all must learn to work hard at the beginning so we can play hard later. . By intentionally setting aside time to get involved in spiritual activity, spending time with family and friends, working to make an income, feeding your brain with something positive, and then planning down time will make you happier beyond your wildest imagination!

Here's an idea for helping you to start designing the life of your dreams:

• Take a sheet of paper and write down all of the goals that you have for your life!  Imagine where you want to live, how much money you want to make, what kind of car you want to drive, etc.  Remember to THINK BIG!
• Think about when you want to have all of these things accomplished, and put a date on them
• Next consider what it is going to take for you to make your dreams a reality (revenues, opportunities, etc.).  Also consider the obstacles you might face, and determine how you can overcome them.
• Separate the goals into goals that you want to follow through with now and goals that you need to put off. Here's a tip for determining which category to put each goal into.  If you have a very clear vision about the outcome of the goal, then you can work on it now.  For each goal that you do not have absolute clarity on, put it aside.
• Based on your research and consideration of the aforementioned items, put a plan into place to accomplish the goal and stick to it!  Don't give up!  And no matter what, be faithful and let no one else rain on your parade! 

If you do these things then you are off to a good start towards changing your life for the better!  You should always ask yourself, "What would I do if I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I couldn't fail?"  Then help yourself to believe that you won't fail by telling yourself that, and then run like the wind to your finish line!  God will keep you and take care of you the entire way!

Welcome!!

Hello and welcome to this blog!  My name is Kaye Thompson and I am a small business owner who has a passion for writing and a strong desire to help others succeed!  What I hope to accomplish with this blog is to be able to share information that will help even the biggest under achiever to reach the specific goals that they have for their lives!  I hope to inspire others to action, so that together we can make a positive difference in the world, by becoming better people!  I will share about things that I am doing myself to improve my life and the lives of others.  I will also share about others who are making a difference (with their permission of course). 

One of the first things that I learned from a very successful person is that if you want to achieve anything in life, you have to have a plan.  You cannot be a wondering generality, you must become a meaningful specific (as Zig Ziglar so eloquently put it).  Some of you are probably wondering, what does that mean?  Well, it means you really have to get on task to complete your goals!  Goals are just dreams if you let them just float around in your head forever.  You must take the dream out of your head to bring it into the physical realm.  A wondering generality is always "wishing for the time to be right to take action", or "hoping for something to happen that will just make their dream a reality".  I am here to tell you that these methods very seldom work.  In fact, for most people to become ultra successful, gurus in their field, they have to plan their work and work their plan!

Most truly successful people (those who have balance spiritual, familial, and work balance) do it because they write their dreams down (this helps to make the dream a goal), and then they plan a strategy to make it a reality.  They think about the materials they need, the time they need to dedicate to making it a reality, and who they need to have involved in order to reach the goal.  Successful people make a blue print for every endeavor they under take.  Having a blue print to follow allows the person to know what the finished product should be, and helps to guide the work towards it.  If plans for the finished product need to be changed, they are changed on the blue print and not when the product is finished! 

So if you have a big dream in your heart, one that will not go away, then chances are you should be pursuing it!  But you probably, won't get anywhere without a blue print!  If you turn your dream into a goal, and not give up on yourself, the chances of you realizing the goal are maximized tremendously!  So start today, and make a blue print for your dream.  What or who is stopping you?  What do you really have to lose?  Why not start now?  There is no better time than this moment!  If you can conceive it, you can do it!