Hobbes: Do you have an idea for your story yet?
Calvin: No, I’m waiting for inspiration. You can’t just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to wait for the right mood.
Hobbes: What mood is that?
Calvin: Last-minute panic.

While waiting until the last minute can be effective motivation, it is far more comfortable (and profitable!) to plan your projects so that you can meet deadlines without killing yourself in the process.
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That does not, however, mean you should only set small, comfortable targets.
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I remember a conversation I had five years ago in which a friend of mine was trying to convince me that I should be making five times what I was making. At the time I thought there was no way I could do that.
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I then read Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki in which he says that when growing up, his father would say things like, “We can’t afford that,” while his friend’s father would say things like, “How can we afford that?”
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I then started noticing every time I had negative success thoughts, like “I can’t afford that.” I’ll never be rich.” or “I wish I could have my own plane.” (the unstated assumption being that I’d never have my own plane).
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I stopped thinking I couldn’t have or be those things, and starting asking myself how can I have or be those things? I started to set higher goals, started researching how others did what I wanted to do, and started planing on how I could do the same.
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You are the sole factor that determines whether or not you set and achieve your goals.
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How successful do you want to be?
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OK, start!
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Related posts:
Contingency plan, yes. Worry no.
Using Social Networking to Advance Your Career

Worry

“Most people spend their lives running away from something that isn’t after them.”—Unknown

Whenever we were upset about the possibility of something bad happening, before it actually happened, Mom would smile and say, “Don’t borrow trouble. That hasn’t happened yet. If it does, we’ll figure out what to do then. Worrying about it today isn’t going to help.”

This kind of conversation was usually preceded by the phrase “What if…”: “What if I don’t get accepted by the college I want to go to?” “What if I don’t get a date for the school prom?” “What if I don’t get the part I want in the play?”

Now this is the same mother who was sick with worry if we were late getting home from our dates, but that was worry for a real event happening in the present. She didn’t waste energy being concerned about our being late days before the actual event.

Worry is a negative affirmation. When you worry, you focus all your attention on the negative, scaring yourself with pictures of disaster and failure. Worry is different from contingency planning. Certainly, you want to have a backup plan in place in case your first effort fails.

Mom had us apply to several colleges instead of just one, plan something fun to do if we didn’t go to the prom, audition for other parts in other plays. Contingency planning enables you to await outcomes with equanimity. As a successful woman business owner once said, “Plan A is always the ideal picture. But it is usually a dream bearing no relation to reality. By the time I get to Plan F, I’ve got a plan that has some chance of actually succeeding.”

I make my plans, put my dreams and goals onto paper and send out my ships. I hope they will come in. But I know I am never in charge of when they come in—or which ships come in. I am only in charge of sending them out. At that point, the winds of destiny and the hand of God take over.

Worrying about those ships won’t see them safely past the rocks and the waves. I trust that some of the ships will reach my harbor safely. God will choose which ones. And even if, at first glance, they look like leaky rowboats, they will turn out to be the right ships for me—golden galleons in disguise.

Today’s Affirmation: “All my golden galleons are arriving safely in my harbor now.”

Chellie Campbell is the creator of the Financial Stress Reduction® Workshops, and author of The Wealthy Spirit and Zero to Zillionaire. She has been prominently quoted as a financial expert in the media and more than 50 popular books. For 30 days to a Wealthy Spirit, visit www.chellie.com.

This is SO true! I think most people forget that social media is there to assist COMMUNICATION. Without something to communicate, something directed from YOU to OTHERS (be it one person or thousands), then it’s not communication–it’s noise.

Once the signal-to-noise ratio falls below a certain threshold, I stop following people. And so do customers (and potential customers).

Have something to say. Then say it to ME, not the air…!

Jack Molisani
Executive Director
LavaCon 2.0: The Conference on Digital Media and Content Strategies
September 29–October 3rd, San Diego, CA
http://lavacon.org

Many people run into trouble when it comes to negotiating money. This applies to salaries, pay raises, prices of products, and fees for services.

Often fearful of asking for too much, they make the opposite mistake and ask for too little.

It’s like they study the situation very carefully, figure out the least amount they can possible ask for and still be able to eke out a living, and then ask for their rock bottom line amount. Then, when their prospective boss or client tries to negotiate a better price, they are angry and resentful.

How, they think, can this person ask for a better price—don’t they know this is an incredible deal and the cheapest price around?

Well, no, they don’t know! They are playing the negotiating game. It is a win-win scenario if it’s played correctly.

This is how to play it:

1. Seller figures out bottom line price.
2. Seller asks for amount above bottom line price.
3. Buyer asks for reduction in Seller’s price.
4. Compromise is reached in the middle.
5. Every dollar Seller got above his bottom line, he wins.
6. Every dollar Buyer gets Seller to reduce his asking price, he wins.
7. End game: Win-Win.

You can see that if the Seller goes in asking for his bottom line, he leaves the Buyer nothing to do but say “Yes” or “No.” Then somebody loses and is unhappy. To make it possible for everyone to win, the Seller must ask for more money than his bottom line.

Note: If you asks for an amount above your bottom line and the Buyer says yes immediately, you didn’t ask for enough money!

For more information, see ChellieCampbell.com

There are three types of dashes in the world:

Hyphens: used to join compound words. Example: mother-in-law

En Dashes: a dash that is the width of a letter “n.” Used to show ranges. Example: 2005–2009

Em Dashes:  a dash that is the width of a letter “m.” Used to show additional information. Example: My mother made a pie on Monday—boy, was it good!

The AutoCorrect feature in MS Word tries to be helpful and when you type “space hyphen space” it thinks “oh, this is a date range” and will turn the hyphen to an en dash for you (unless you disable this feature).  But if you type, “space hyphen up-arrow” it does not.

Thus one can get a mix of hyphens and en dashes in your date ranges.

According to The Chicago Manual of Style a date range should be punctuated using an en dash and no space before and after: 2005–Present

Check your resume—this is an easy error to fix!

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My next blog post: Overcoming Resume Myopia

58% – Excellent communication skills

22% – Ability to work alone, work in teams

18% – Ability to adjust to changing priorities, deadlines

18% – Ability to multitask/juggle multiple projects

14% – Good organization skills

12% – Attention to detail

10% – Strong interpersonal skills

6% – Self motivated