This week’s blog post is about the concept of self-improvement and bettering your lifestyle. A lot of people want a better life, but still end up stuck on the same old hamster wheel going in circles. This article by Maxwell Rubin might give you some ideas. In improving your life I mean, not going in circles!

———-

The advice often given to young couples starting off in life is “Not to buy what you cannot afford”. The same basic advice should be heeded by many. If you cannot afford it- then do not buy the item. But what of investing in your own future in terms of an investment in your personal education or training as well as investments in your own personal career. Is this not getting ahead in life? Is this not money well spent? Even if you have to borrow and go into debt is this not money well spent?

If at the end of the day , year or decade you will be much further ahead in position , salary as well as benefits in addition to “job” and “personal” satisfaction is this not money, time and effort well spent and allocated. ? Indeed it is and can well be.

In the case of your education a dollar borrowed now will result in better jobs- that you will most likely find more challenging and enjoyable , and have a lot more financial reward than a job on the status scale – say as a bus driver or a technician doing oil jobs at your local Wal-Mart. In the case of a vehicle or car loan it may be a godsend. If your vehicle is not reliable – then how can you show up on time, keep your job without an image and reputation of reliability? Not only do you want to keep your employment and income associated with the job but also the job references from your employment superiors for use with other employers for better positions and pay, or for promotion within your present organization. You may even run into a case of promotion within your present firm to another branch office or plant. Not having reliable transport may limit your promotion offerings and flexibility. In addition, if you take out a loan to purchase that vehicle, you may well have upscaled and upgraded your car or SUV, from the models that you most likely would have purchased. By doing so, and driving a higher grade auto model, you may well appear as a more established, senior, more experienced and established employee as well as individual. Fortunately or unfortunately in life most comes down to appearances and perceptions.

There may be a much better and / or better paying job but its way across town, or in an area not served by the bus transit system. Or it may be the case that there is bus service - but if devours a good two to three hours a day of travel time. Good bye to your personal social life. You may have all the money in the world – the wealth of Bill Gates Himself and yet no time or energy to enjoy it. So much for all that pay of that new wonderful job.

A real step foreword as they say. It is always a case of reward versus cost or cost versus benefit. It is a case by case analysis.

In addition you should think of additional or add on costs. Do not stretch yourself too thin – financially. A course at university may not be offered in your calendar year – you will have to complete your schooling fully at a later date than expected. A course may be full – ditto for time delay. Or you may even have to repeat a course or change plans along the way necessitating longer time duration of studies. Leave a buffer of funding both for yourself and as well with the agency that provided the loan – be at bank, savings and loan, credit union or even parents or relatives. Don’t break the bank so to speak at the first step. The same analysis of benefit versus costs prevails in the car / transport / job scenario situation. Many people will drive across town for a bargain to save a dollar and spend $ 10 on gas costs in the process. Incorporate the price of gas into your final net salary not as an aside.

Lastly and most importantly – always pay your bills. Never take on more than you can chew, or in this case afford. Before making that commitment for a loan or undertaking always evaluate carefully before signing on the bottom line. It’s not only a matter of convenience. Your credibility itself is on the line, in addition to your personal honor and integrity and reputation. Pay your bills on time – even earlier than required. This applies to all loans – whether they are for rent, mortgage, utility bills, bank loans, charge card payments or student loans. If you cannot pay in full, then at least pay a bit above the minimum payment. If you are really stuck then contact the lender. Explain the situation honestly. Make a commitment and follow through. Remember the whole point of the exercise was your self improvement – an investment in yourself. To not take the exercise seriously is to shortchange yourself and your future opportunities as well as income stream in the future. To borrow for yourself and personal gain make prudent sense.

About The Author

Maxwell Z. Rubin is a consultant on Property Tax Reduction. Check out his website at http://www.realtytaxconsultant.com/.

———-

I hope you have found this article helpful and maybe gained some insight on how to make things better in your life. After all, they keep saying that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results”.

Steven Ng

Another Monday, another start of a long week. Hope this picture put a smile on your face.

Steven Ng

Last week we posted an article on how to keep on trucking in your job through a recession. This week’s blog post has similar themes, but for businesses instead. Allyn Cutts talks about how to make your business and advertising more efficient during leaner times.

———-

Winners are ALWAYS looking for ways to grow their business. They trust their company, trust their customers to come through for them, and realize that a financial crunch offers advantages that aren’t available during better economic times.

1. Get More For Your Advertising Bucks

When the economy makes a turn for the worse, it just makes sense that your advertising will give less of a return than during and economic boon. Sure there’s a lot less money being spent, but you don’t have to have to watch your profit margin plummet!

Think about it… advertisers are feeling the recession just as much as you are, and are more desperate for clients. It’s the perfect atmosphere to negotiate your way to lower costs - even if you are already getting a good price. Every advertising penny you can save, is that much more profit you’ll earn on the products.

Have you thought about getting free publicity? Local newspapers are always looking for something of local interest. Make the news! Publicity is free, but a wonderful way to get your business in front of potential clients.

Do your advertisements really need to be as big as they are? We tend to think the big is better, but the facts are that short ads with 11 words or less often generate higher response than large ads. Give it a try, and trim some costs right off your advertising bill.

2. Take Advantage Of Big Ticket Sales

Not all of your customers suffer during recession. Remember that there are always people who are thriving financially, so don’t be afraid to make big ticket sales offers. Additionally, when money is tight, people who place a lot of stock in your product will value it even more.

Think about ways to create products similar to yours, but with much higher prices. Internet marketers often create members only sites and sell their products at much higher prices. Hey, they’ll obviously make fewer sales, but the people who really value the product will buy. Each sale will net an immensely higher profit. Think about it like this… even though the sales are fewer, the actual profit may be even greater than when it was sold at a lower price.

3. Maximize The Customers You Have

Your customers already know that you have great products and provide satisfactory service. They trust you to come through for them. Think about it… it’s much easier to make sales to someone you already have a relationship with.

Use every opportunity to increase your sales volume within the customer audience you already have. Do you have a product that goes with the one they are purchasing? Offer it to them at the register. It’s a proven and effective method for increasing sales. You may be shocked at the additional sales you can generate from those who are already buying from you.

About The Author

Allyn has spent over 24 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales to current customers. Allyn is a marketing and sales fanatic, providing measurable marketing solutions that drive huge results for small-to mid-size business clients. You can learn more about Allyn Cutts at http://www.AllynCutts.com.

———-

Actually, this article makes sense both in good times and bad. After all, you’d want to maximise your profit all the time.

Steven Ng

Windscreen Wiper Fail

From the Failblog website.

Who says the current state of the economy is all bad? Creativity and genius is born of necessity!

Hope that made your Monday a bit more bearable.

Steven Ng

With the financial markets in turmoil the last few weeks, the words “recession” and “depression” have been bandied around a lot. I thought it fitting to post the following article by Ed Sykes on job security during tough times.

——–

Economic times constantly change and organizations adapt to these changes. For you to find career success, you must be pro-active about your job. What are the career secrets of those who soar to the top in their careers no matter what the economic environment is in the world?

The following are ten career secrets you can use to “recession proof” yourself and find career success no matter what the economic situation is:

1. Find Out What Your Organization Needs for Career Success

Invest the time to investigate and understand your organization’s mission, goals, and values. Your organization may be facing challenges and the person who can tune into what the organization needs to be successful and provide the solution can write his/her own career success ticket.

Remember, to get what you want in your career, you must help your organization, your department, your manager succeed. Focus on what is important to your manager and provide the solution. If customer service is important, speak with your manager in terms of creating customer solutions. If your manager is a numbers person, quantify all your results, etc.

2. Be a Change Agent for Career Success

Organizational change will change the way you do your job. There is no escaping the changes that are happening around us all the time. Learn to embrace these changes so that you can learn how to take advantage of the career opportunities available from being a change agent.

How do you do this? Be pro-active and ask questions about the change. How does it affect the organization? What challenges will there be implementing the changes? How will these changes affect the way you do your job? And the most important question, “What can you do to help implement the changes?”

Once you receive the answers to these questions, and are able to act on the answers, you are way ahead of the “change curve” and will be looked at as someone who can “make things happen” within the organization. This will lead to countless career opportunities

3. Be the Master of Your Job for Career Success

Invest the time to learn as much as there is to know about your job. Many times, employees will become complacent and master only the few tasks that they do 80% of the time. Then when a career opportunity comes up, this employee doesn’t have the skill set to take advantage of a promotion or raise.

Take the time to read trade journals, go on the Internet to job related sites, and ask questions to master the understanding of your job. With the wealth of information there is in the 21st century, there is no excuse for “not knowing.”

4. Volunteer to Make a Difference for Career Success

Volunteer for assignments that expose your skills. Look for especially challenging projects that other people have declined.

Also volunteer to mentor others within your organization. This will show and develop your leadership, management, and interpersonal skills. Keep management posted on your challenges and how you are working with the person you are mentoring to overcome these challenges.

Volunteer to write a department or organizational newsletter. This is another way to benefit a large group, while showcasing your skills and ideas.

5. Be a Solution Creator and Not a Problem Maker for Career Success

Anybody can find problems within organizations. My experience is that you don’t need to find them…they will find you. Some people have a special skill for finding problems and reporting them.

Develop the skill of looking at these problems as “opportunities for advancement,” step back and analyze the opportunity, and develop ideas for overcoming the problem. Make sure you communicate these solutions during meetings, e-mails, memos, and conversations with management. You will soon be looked upon by management as someone who can overcome obstacles and make things happen within the organization.

6. Handle the Next Level at This Level for Career Success

If you are a manager and want to become a vice president, then start working like a vice president. Find a vice president that is open to mentoring you for the next level. Remember, that vice president will not be promoted to the next level unless the organization sees that the vice president has developed someone to take his/her spot. It might as well be you. Plus, you can lighten the vice president’s work load.

Explain to the vice president what you want to accomplish so that everyone has a clear understanding and that this is a win-win situation for all involved.

I hear, “I’m too busy already to do this.” Well, let me ask you, “How badly do you want the promotion?” We are all busy. It’s up to you to enhance your time management and delegation skills so that you can take on these tasks that will prepare you for the next job level.

Note: Dress as if you are already at the next career level. When you dress for the next level, this makes it easier for the decision makers because they can already envision you at the next career level.

7. Announce That You Want It!

Many times employees miss out on promotions because the decision makers and career influencers do not know they are interested in being promoted.

Announce that you want to go to the next career level!

Take time to sit down with your supervisor, manager, director, etc., and let them know you are interested in going to the next level. Ask them for their honest assessment of your skills. Then ask what you need to do to be ready when the next career opportunity appears.

Also announce your career aspirations to influencers in the Human Resources Department. Remember the more people they can hire from the inside, the less work they need to do. Make it easy for them to hire you.

Announce it to any one who can influence the decision for your promotion.

8. Network and Join Groups to Accelerate Career Success

Join and be active in committees within your organization for career success. This shows management that you care enough to make a difference. It also allows a larger assortment of managers to experience your skill set outside of your normal duties.

Also join professional groups and associations for career success. Professional groups and associations are a perfect way to let influencers outside your organization become aware of your skills. Remember, these influencers most likely work for other organizations and may be in positions to hire new employees. Don’t just join, participant in the association’s activities to show your creativity, teamwork, and other skills.

Join and let your organization know you’ve joined these groups. This will show your organization that you are an employee who is taking action to stay ahead of the “career success curve” and can contribute to the organization.

9. Tell Your Job Story for Career Success

Let as many people within your organization and outside your organization know what you do and how well you do it. Make sure you tell your job story at meetings, company conferences, and retreats and to customers. Make sure you tell them with passion!

Many people are shy about telling their career story in a group setting. Because of this fear, you may miss out on the one opportunity to let other people know what you know. One of the most important groups that you could ever join to overcome this fear is Toastmasters. This is a worldwide organization with over 175,000 members dedicated to helping members improve their public speaking, evaluation, think-on-your-feet, and leadership skills. The main reasons you should join Toastmasters are the following:

* Toastmasters can give you the confidence to approach any opportunity with confidence.

* Toastmasters can give you the speaking skills to stand up in front of a group and present your point in a persuasive manner, while others may shy away from this opportunity.

* You develop your leadership skills by learning how to do effective, positive, and encouraging feedback and evaluations, while learning how to empower the receiver to do better.

* You have the opportunity to develop your leadership skills by volunteering for positions at the club, area, state, regional, and international level. I always say if you can’t get the skills at your organization, you can get it at Toastmasters.

10. Build a Nest Egg for Career Success

One of the biggest barriers to creating career success is not building a financial nest egg. When you are at a financial disadvantage, you are less likely to pursue job opportunities, invest in educational opportunities to increase your skills; and, most importantly, you may develop an overwhelming fear of losing your job while in your present position.

Eliminate your debts so that you can freely pursue any career opportunities that present themselves. It’s no fun knowing that you wanted a certain job but couldn’t pursue it because of financial obligations.

I challenge you to apply these ten career techniques today! You will see immediate job results and go to the next career level no matter what the economic environment may be.

About The Author

Ed Sykes is a highly sought after leadership, motivation, stress management, customer service, and team building expert, success coach, professional speaker, and author of “Jumpstart Your Greatness.” Go to his web site, http://www.thesykesgrp.com , and signup for the free success newsletter, OnPoint.

——–

I hope this article has given you some additional insight, and I hope you will succeed through these volatile times!

Steven Ng

If you haven’t noticed as yet, halfway down the homepage of the Income Resource Club is a section entitled Quote of the Day. Each day, a quote from a famous person related to business and success is displayed here, and is worth wrapping your mind around.

For those of you who haven’t managed to catch all the quotes, here are a few from the last couple of weeks.

Enjoy!

Steven
“Dream On”

I know the last few weeks of extreme volatilitiy and market uncertainty have hit a lot of people pretty hard.

Here’s hoping everyone hasn’t been affected too much by the ongoing financial crisis. And for those who have been, hang in there! Hopefully things will right themselves soon!

Good luck!

Steven Ng

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS:

Why a mentor won’t burn your dreams

It wasn’t meant to look like that, was it? Staring at the picture
in the magazine you ponder why their roast chicken looks succulent
and yours looks, well, not succulent. And aren’t baked potatoes
meant to be golden brown?

You meticulously check over your steps, not quite sure what you
did wrong. As you hold the magazine picture next to your chicken,
you realise that you’ve just turned your chicken into road kill and
Colonel Sanders into a vegetarian.

Although the oven light is still on, you know that only flames can
produce those harsh flickers of light, and you succumb to defeat.
As the guests arrive, you reach for the phone exhaustedly and
speed-dial Chung Wa’s Chinese Takeaway.

Mistakes will always be a part of success. But a chef can help you
from making the same mistakes (and steaks) more than once.
Learn the recipe of success from someone who has already
achieved what you set out to do.

Here are 6 steps that make mentors a recipe for success.

1. ADD 3 CUPS OF KNOWLEDGE

Mentors have an abundance of knowledge to share with you. They
may present themselves in any form, be it a book, CD, or seminar,
and can pass on a wealth of information. A mentor offers the
opportunity to gain years of knowledge in a very short time period.

Siimon Reynolds, Director of Photon Group, believes that books
and magazines have been his teachers when it comes to
accelerating his knowledge of business and understanding of life.
He has more than 800 books on personal and professional
achievement, and will study the best in any field that he wants
to become successful in.

2. ADD 5 3/4 CUPS OF EXPERIENCE

Mentors who have achieved success in their chosen field of
endeavour, have a thorough understanding of the DOs and DON’Ts
and can ensure that people don’t make the same mistakes they did.
They will minimise the ‘trial and error’ phase of your business ensuring
that you save time, money and effort.

When property investor, Patrick Bright, decided at a young age
that he wanted to be wealthy, he began studying the habits of
rich people, and learning from their experiences.

3. STIR IN 4 TABLESPOONS OF CONTACTS

Mentors have many contacts as a result of being a successful
member of their chosen field. Contacts will offer you further
opportunities and will serve as a further source of knowledge
and experience.

4. ADD PLENTY OF INSPIRATION

Mentors who have achieved great heights in a particular field
possess qualities essential to their success. People who seek
out mentors can choose to be influenced by these qualities and
will strive to achieve their goals. When we are inspired, we get
motivated and then we take positive action that leads to results.

For ballet dancer, Stephanie Williams, she was inspired every
time she saw her mentors dance and found herself wanting to
emulate them.

5. BAKE OVER TIME

Mentors will save you time, as they have already taken the path
that you are now following. They can show you the short cuts,
potholes and right and wrong turns at every crossroad.

6. SPRINKLE SOME SUPPORT

Mentors will understand what you are feeling or at least appreciate
what you are going through. They can not only offer advice and
support in a professional capacity, but also on a personal level.
For some people their professional lives are a lifestyle choice,
which consequently has implications on their personal lives.

For snowboarding champion, Torah Bright, her career required her
parents to relocate across the world with her. Her mentors have
been her family - her parents who have instilled correct principles
so that she can govern herself; and her siblings who have taught
her many things about cause and effect and about decision-making.

WRAPPING UP, achieving success is as simple as finding someone
and following their recipe to success. Mistakes are inevitable, but
there’s no need to make the same ones. Why waste your time and
effort through ‘trial and error’, when there are people out there
that can show you how to do it? With a mentor in the kitchen you
will never burn your dreams again!

* All of the people mentioned in this Feature Article can be found
in the Income Resourece Club Library

Here’s an email that has been making the rounds recently and got my attention. Have a read… it can challenge the way you think.

—-

An unemployed man is desperate to support his family of a wife and three kids.

He applies for a janitor’s job at a large firm and easily passes an aptitude test.

The human resources manager tells him, ‘You will be hired at minimum wage of $5.35 an hour. Let me have your e-mail address so that we can get you in the loop. Our system will automatically e-mail you all the forms and advise you when to start and where to report on your first day.’

Taken aback, the man protests that he is poor and has neither a computer nor an e-mail address.

To this the manager replies, ‘You must understand that to a company like ours that means that you virtually do not exist. Without an e-mail address you can hardly expect to be employed by a high-tech firm. Good day.’

Stunned, the man leaves. Not knowing where to turn and having $10 in his wallet, he walks past a farmers’ market and sees a stand selling 25 lb. crates of beautiful red tomatoes. He buys a crate, carries it to a busy corner and displays the tomatoes. In less than 2 hours he sells all the tomatoes and makes 100% profit. Repeating the process several times more that day, he ends up with almost $100 and arrives home that night with several bags of groceries for his family.

During the night he decides to repeat the tomato business the next day. By the end of the week he is getting up early every day and working into the night. He multiplies his profits quickly.

Early in the second week he acquires a cart to transport several boxes of tomatoes at a time, but before a month is up he sells the cart to buy a broken-down pickup truck. At the end of a year he owns three old trucks. His two sons have left their neighborhood gangs to help him with the tomato business, his wife is buying the tomatoes, and his daughter is taking night courses at the community college so she can keep books for him.

By the end of the second year he has a dozen very nice used trucks and employs fifteen previously unemployed people, all selling tomatoes. He continues to work hard.

Time passes and at the end of the fifth year he owns a fleet of nice trucks and a warehouse that his wife supervises, plus two tomato farms that the boys manage. The tomato company’s payroll has put hundreds of homeless and jobless people to work. His daughter reports that the business grossed over one million dollars.

Planning for the future, he decides to buy some life insurance. Consulting with an insurance adviser, he picks an insurance plan to fit his new circumstances. Then the adviser asks him for his e-mail address in order to send the final documents electronically.

When the man replies that he doesn’t have time to mess with a computer and has no e-mail address, the insurance man is stunned, ‘What, you don’t have e-mail? No computer? No Internet? Just think where you would be today if you’d had all of that five years ago!’

‘Ha!’ snorts the man. ‘If I’d had e-mail five years ago I would be sweeping floors at Microsoft and making $5.35 an hour.’

So what do you think the moral of this story is?

Pretty thought-provoking isn’t it?

Today’s success tip comes from Andrew May.

After he founded Good Health Solutions, which is now Australia’s
largest corporate health and wellbeing consultancy, Andrew
continued to work with professional athletes and is now considered
one of Australia’s leading experts on performance.

What are your seven steps for successful goal-setting?

1. Ask yourself the right questions - what do you want and why
do you want to achieve it? How much does it really mean to you?
What are the benefits of achieving the goal? Who will be affected?
Are you prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve the goal?

2. Involve significant others - don’t keep your goals to yourself.
Enlist the support of your partner, family, friends and colleagues.
This keeps you accountable, while at the same time forming a
support group to keep you on track.

3. Get anchored - write your goals down on a sheet of paper,
simplify them into point form and then display them somewhere you
can view them regularly - your diary, office, car, even on the back
of the toilet door.

4. Small bites - George Miller, a 1950s psychologist, believed that
we can only deal with seven bits of information at any one time.
Any more than this and we need to group things into more
memorable, manageable chunks. So when you create your master
plan for the New Year, keep goals to a manageable number and
group similar areas.

5. Set a plan - after you have written down your specific goals,
the next step is to work out a specific plan. Identify the key
steps you need to take toward accomplishing your goals and
assign specific dates for their achievement.

6. Project the future - review your goals at least every seven
days (every day is ideal) - and don’t leave it for another year.
This helps activate the Reticular Activating System (RAS). The
RAS is an inbuilt goal-setting device that tracks us toward our
target and filters the type of information we let into our internal
system. Spend time thinking about what it will be like once you
have successfully achieved your goals. How are you going to feel?
We really do become what we think!

7. Be realistic and reward yourself along the way - it is important
to reward yourself along the way as you tick off your achievements.
Give yourself a pat on the back for sticking to the process.

And remember, humans make mistakes, so don’t beat yourself up
if you lose focus. If you find yourself breaking resolutions or
experiencing distractions, sit down and go through the goal-setting
process again, starting from step one.

This website contains even more great tips from Andrew May.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE NOW.