I heard an interesting reference to the economy as “drama” that got me thinking of what the news seems like these days.
First, I should qualify myself and point out that I don’t read much regarding the current affairs, only bits here and there so my perspective is a step back from where you may be.
I see headlines about foreclosures, jobless rates rising, recession and it is all quite depressing and bleak.
Mixed in with those headlines are scandals involving people with a lot of money but unable to keep out of trouble with it.
That’s what I’ve gleaned from the front pages of newspapers and from social discussions.
That is a lot of drama.
I think of it as a soap opera because it hasn’t changed much over the past year; new characters perhaps, slightly different situations too.
As I said in the beginning, I don’t spend a lot of time on standard news and I believe I benefit. I recall being worried all the time about world events before I stop watching and reading the news.
These days, I hear mostly about possibility and all the potential of reaching out and earning income while helping people. Far more positive, upbeat and happy don’t you think?
What keeps a person in that negative world? Why stay in the rat-race when there is a whole lot more satisfying life outside of it?
Please share your thoughts.
I was listening to a taped teleconference and was caught a bit off guard when the person handling introduction was asking the participants to use their leadership muscle to introduce themselves.
Sounded odd at first, but after some pondering I realized it makes all the sense in the world!
What is “Leadership Muscle” anyway?
When we think of a normal muscle we think of various types of exercises to make it stronger for power and endurance. It’s a known fact that our brain is no different – use it or lose it, use it a lot and it’ll get sharper.
With that understanding, it is not a big leap to seeing a soft skill like leadership having the same requirements and benefits as your brain.
How can we build our Leadership Muscle?
I believe it starts small. One accomplishment. One goal realized. One public declaration. All these little steps build self-confidence and it grows and expands all the while the persons circle of influence expands along with their leadership presence.
A person introducing themselves on a teleconference call could easily be small step towards lofty goals. They are in fact making a public declaration that they are apart of that call and what it represents. For some this is a huge first step that should be acknowledged and encouraged.
I believe everyone has something unique to offer. I also believe our conform or be cast out society squashes many from sharing their unique gift. And that is a tragedy.
If you are the shy, timid one, please realize there are many people waiting to share and benefit from your unique offerings. For the leaders, we must encourage those we lead to stand tall and share their gifts! Better for them and better for the team!
I’m always interested when old technology is reused to wisely and Google is doing that with Youtube. I remember 15 years ago I suffered an injury to my wrists (RSI) that prevented me from typing. This was a huge deal as I was a software developer and integration specialist back then. I was looking at needing a solution quick… my career was on the line.
After looking around I quickly came across Dragon Software, which is very prevalent now but incredibly expensive to get then. While investigating, I came across a man who was a software developer using the Dragon solution because he also did not have use of his arms! Wow. He’d programmed it with commands to support software development and this was back in 1995!
The technology has gotten a lot better since then and it looks like Google is putting it to good use. They are offering realtime closed caption services for the hearing impaired on Youtube videos! It’s in beta right now, but I’ve know doubt they’ll have it smooth in no time.
It also has an interesting side effect which is to keep video posters honest. They have been closing channels and there is a strong rumour floating that channels are being closed when the title and tags are not spoken in the videos themselves. This is of particular importance to online video marketers that may be putting up generic videos and tag stuffing them to get better exposure.
Be warned, beware – automated content police maybe monitoring a channel near you! ;o)
Wow! Windows is typically my last resort, but since some of my preferred applications only work on Windows, I’m stuck with it.
I also prefer being very mobile. I’d have loved it if the iPad had a few extras to support webinars and flash. Instead I looked back at the old netbooks. Under powered laptops that haven’t done well for me.
Friends kept telling me that Windows 7 really was better. This was hard for me to believe since I am still recovering from Vista! ;o) But I was faced with having to get a Windows OS for my Mac or upgrade my Acer netbook which did fair well with Ubuntu remix, but crashed often in hibernate or sleep.
Given the Asus was just a $100 more than buying Windows 7, I decided to take a chance on it. I did replace IE with Chrome and office with open office and am impressed. It has performed quite well. I’ve done webinars, skype phone calls, photo editing, web browsing, email, spreadsheets, documents and of course, e-book reading. All accomplished without issue or degradation in services.
Its only been a week, so I’ll have to return to this in a month or two to see if the system bogs down a bit. So far so good! And from me that is huge, because I am not usually impressed with Microsoft products. ;o)
Mar 10
2
Home Business is Serious
There are days when I hear people or see emails discussing hands off opportunities which are going to set them up for life without any effort on their part. My take on that, is the opportunity must not be a serious business.
Serious business requires solid effort, focus, and hard work; particularly in the beginning. Online home businesses typically involve networking and team building. I know many people shutter at the thought of sponsoring or recruiting. I did at one time too. However, a minor change in mindset reveals that if we are to take our business seriously, then we would not shutter at the thought of sponsoring but look forward to finding our business partners.
So instead of jumping on the hands off opportunity or running away from an opportunity that requires sponsoring/recruiting, take a good hard look at opportunities that promote solid work ethics, true team building, community spirit and solid support.
Of course, you need to possess the solid work ethic, focus and desire to learn and lead others in order to succeed. But if you do, I’ve no doubt your life will be far better! The life of an entrepreneur, in my opinion, in one of the most satisfying because of its direct positive impact on other peoples lives.
