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The Power of Words

Starting Each Day With A Little Thinking...

Nothing is Something

by Curt Stowers | A Daily Word, Uncategorized

Up at 6.  To work by 8.  Home at 5.  Kid’s ball games at 6.  Pay the bills at 9.  Bed at 10.  Repeat. DaXX I’m tired and don’t have any energy!

With the pace of the world today, day’s go by very quickly.  They’re filled with a plethora of activities and downtime is non-existent.  As a result we feel tired, look tired, and ARE tired.  What folks fail to realize is that downtime is key to uptime.  There’s study after study that shows that those that rest well, reflect, and plan have disproportionate success rates.  Unfortunately, peer pressure is a powerful thing and we normally succumb to the next request or activity.  Reality is you NEED to plan time to do absolutely nothing.  This is the time when the brain and body recover.  The time when we grow.  The time when we position ourselves to do the key somethings that are important to each of us.

Sometimes the hardest thing to comprehend is that doing NOTHING is actually doing SOMETHING.

Are you taking time each day to do nothing?

As always, thanks for the time.

Good, Bad, or “It Depends”

by Curt Stowers | Uncategorized

Break.  What immediately comes to mind?
I took a break from work.  Did you break your arm?  A quick search on the internet shows over 100 different ways to use this one word.  My guess is that when some of you saw the word you went the “noun” route, while others went the “verb” route.  Along those lines, some of you probably had a positive response to the word and some a negative.  Why is that?
The reality is “It Depends”.  It depends on the situation, it depends on who is around you, it depends on your previous experiences.  More important than anything else, it depends on how you CHOOSE to act given the opportunity.  You can not control anyone else (see wife, kid, parents, in-laws, etc.).  You can control how you deal with the situation.  It is not always easy to exercise this control, but the option is yours.
Will your next break be a good or bad thing?  My guess is that “It Depends” on what you want it to be.
As always, thanks for the time.

Networking and 6 Degrees of Separation….

by Curt Stowers | Uncategorized

We all know that networking is critical to success in “The 29% Solution”, Ivan R. Misner and Michelle R. Donovan highlight 52 weekly activities, 10 key traits, and 10 key questions to learn that will help you to achieve higher levels of success.  They suggest that those that master these lessons will actually be able to claim that — as with Kevin Bacon — they’re no more than 6 connections away from all others.  It’s worth the time to read; however, if you’re time constrained, here’s a summary of their recommendations.

As always, thanks for the time

 

  1. Set Networking Goals
  2. Block Out Time to Network
  3. Profile Your Preferred Client
  4. Recruit Your Word-of-Mouth Marketing Team
  5. Give to Others First
  6. Create a Network Relationships Database
  7. Master the Top Ten Traits
  8. Diversify Your Contacts
  9. Meet the RIGHT People
  10. Reconnec t with People from the Past
  11. Talk to Your Family
  12. Stop Being a Cave Dweller
  13. Join a Web-Based Networking Group
  14. Become Magnetic
  15. Be a Value-Added Friend
  16. Become a Catalyst
  17. Find an Accountability Partner
  18. Volunteer and Become Visible
  19. Send a Thank-You Card
  20. Follow Up TODA
  21. Be “ON” 24/7
  22. Learn to Play Golf or Something
  23. Have Purposeful First Meetings
  24. Make First Impressions Count
  25. Seek Out a Referral Networking Group
  26. Join a Chamber of Commerce
  27. Sponsor Select Events
  28. Host a Purposeful Event
  29. Ask Your Own Questions
  30. Talk About Benefits, Not Features
  31. Become a Profiler for Your Business
  32. Become a Motivational Speaker for Your Business
  33. Leverage Your Smallest Billboard
  34. Give a High-Value Presentation
  35. Create an Informative Newsletter
  36. Write a Press Release
  37. Write Your Own Identity
  38. Ask for Written Testimonials
  39. Write Down Two Success Stories
  40. Write a Personal Introduction
  41. Toot Your Own Horn
  42. Ask for Feedback
  43. Adopt a Host Mentality
  44. Follow the Money Trail
  45. Write a Letter of Support
  46. Ask for Referrals
  47. Read the Paper, with Referral Intent
  48. Conquer Your Fear of Public Speaking
  49. Become the Hub Firm of a Power Team
  50. Become a Networking Mentor
  51. Recruit an Advisory Board for Your Business
  52. Commit to Lifelong Learning

Ten key traits

  1. Timely follow up on referrals
  2. Positive attitude
  3. Enthusiasm/motivation
  4. Trustworthiness
  5. Good listening skills
  6. Commitment to networking 24/7
  7. Gratitude
  8. Helpfulness
  9. Sincerity
  10. Dedicated to working one’s network

Ten key questions to ask

  1. What do you do?
  2. Who’s your target market?
  3. What do you like most about what you do?
  4. What’s new in your business?
  5. What’s the biggest challenge in your business?
  6. What sets you apart from your competition?
  7. Why did you start your business?
  8. Where is your business located?
  9. What’s your most popular product?
  10. How do you generate most of your business?

“And”

by Curt Stowers | A Daily Word, Pegged, Uncategorized

As someone once pointed out to me, we live in an “AND” world and not an “OR” world.  Be it non-work or work related, each of us struggles on a daily basis to balance the “AND’s” of this world:  Spouses, children, religion, family, AND hobbies.  Quality AND productivity.  Favorite food AND losing weight.  The lists are incomplete; but, hopefully, they illustrate the point:  there’s a lot to do and some things just can’t be “traded off”.

 

The key here is to MAKE the trade offs where you have the choice so that you CAN accomplish the ANDs.

 

All too often we simply let things happen and then wonder WHAT happened!  What would happen if you made a conscious decision on WHAT you was going to happen today?  What if you committed to getting up at 5AM AND exercise AND read for 30 minutes AND eat breakfast with the kids AND then go to work?  Replace the AND’s with OR’s and the sentence and the day doesn’t start nearly as well.  The difference here is two choices.  First, the choice on WHAT you will accomplish (the list of things above) and the second is the HOW (getting to bed a bit earlier to arise a bit earlier).  If you decide on the WHAT and the HOW, the “AND” suddenly becomes achievable.  The question you need to answer is: “How will I make the right trade offs so that sure that I talk about ‘AND’ versus ‘OR’ at the end of the day?”

As always, thanks for the time.

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