Never Quit

Be in this MOMENT!!

You cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind.

How to Remember What You Read

It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness

"It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."

Albert Einstein's Mind Blowing Words

DID YOU KNOW?

Indian vs Chinese Bargaining

A comedian depicts an Indian trying to get a bargain dealing with a Chinese shop merchant.

7 WAYS TO SPEAK ENGLISH WELL

TOP 7 WAYS TO SPEAK ENGLISH WELL

The ability to speak well can enhance your career, clinch a sale, sell a point of view and increase an executive’s productivity.

1. The most important objective of any speaker is to appear credible and knowledgeable about their subject. Speak to your audience as if you were having a conversation. 
2. Grab the audience’s attention in the first few minutes with a question, startling comment, inspiring story, and a funny experience. This will help you connect immediately with everyone and reduce the tension. Stay away from jokes!
3. Reduce your nervousness by taking several deep breaths immediately before you are introduced.  And for you chocoholics, eat some chocolate to relax your vocal chords.
4. When making a presentation, look at one person long enough to deliver one complete thought, then move to another individual and repeat the process. Everyone else in the audience will also feel attended to.
5. Use visual aids to increase audience retention of your message. But NEVER become a master of ceremonies to your overheads.
6. Avoid the # one mistake in the speaking business…failing to check your audio-visual equipment before your presentation. Show up early to check out the sound system and any other equipment you will be using. 
7. Personal benefits from acquiring excellent speaking skills include: more self-confidence, becoming more persuasive and evolving into a magnetic or dynamic speaker.

PAY ATTENTION

If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

“If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.”― Mark Twain

Ineffective Communication

STOP COMMUNICATING INEFFECTIVELY

Build a door...

Do You Want to Get Others to Improve Their Performance? Then Expect the Best

By Della Menechella

Recently I decided to stretched my athletic abilities and add a running program to my regular exercise routine.  Although I had tried to run in the past, my level of success was pretty pathetic.  This time, however, I decided to follow my own advice and find some expert runners who could teach me how to run.  And that is exactly what I did. 

Our local roadrunner’s organization was about to begin a running clinic for inexperienced runners.  I immediately signed up for the program. During the second class, we were asked to run one mile at our top speed.  What I lack in skill and endurance, I make up for in competitiveness, so I clocked in a mile at 9:28 (9 minutes and 28 seconds).  While this may seem paltry for an experienced runner, I can assure you that it was a major accomplishment for me.  During this speed test, I began to see outstanding leadership qualities of one of my coaches emerge.  Vera, one of the trainers, was absolutely thrilled with my time.  She told me what a wonderful time it was for someone so new to running.  I started to think that maybe I could finally learn to run after all.

Almost two weeks later, I had a major lapse in judgement and signed up for a 5K (3.1 mile race).  Now remember, I had just started running 3 1/2 weeks before and here I was ready to compete with 1,100 runners, some of whom could run a 5K in between commercials (not quite, but they were very fast). 

When I arrived at the race, I saw Vera at the registration desk and went over to her.  “Vera,” I said, “I don’t know how to run a race.  What do I do?”  She looked up at me with a big smile and said, “You ran a 9:28 as your fast mile.  Just aim for a 10 minute pace for the first mile and you’ll be fine.”  I walked away thinking that she had totally lost her mind.  I couldn't possibly sustain a 10-minute per mile pace for 3 miles.  The best I had been able to do was just over 11 minutes per mile.

I ran the race, running part of the way, walking part of the way, huffing and puffing most of the way, and wondering what I was doing there when I could be home sitting on the couch watching TV.  A short while after the race ended, I discovered my time.  I had run at a pace of 9:55 (9 minutes and 55 seconds) per mile.  I couldn’t wait to share my success with Vera.

At the next class, I told Vera my time and she was delighted.  “That’s wonderful,” she said, again with a huge smile and total conviction.  “You’ll definitely be able to get down to an 8 minute mile.”  An 8-minute mile?  At this point, I can’t even imagine running 5 miles without having to walk. However, Vera is an expert and if she thinks I can, maybe I can. 

Vera believed in me.  While I didn’t believe that I could live up to Vera’s expectation of an 8 minute mile, I was willing to borrow her belief in me and continue to try to get my endurance up and my time down.  As I struggled to run and breathe at the same time, wanting to quit more than once, I repeated to myself, “Vera says I can do an 8 minute mile.”  This kept my motivation in gear and my feet in motion, even when I wanted to chuck the whole idea of becoming a runner.

You can use Vera’s leadership strategy to get your team and other people in your life to strive for better performance. 

SET A HIGHER GOAL

Look at where your team member is currently performing and set a higher goal.  Make sure the goal is realistic for that individual.  It must be something that you believe he or she can achieve.  If, after I ran a 9:28 mile, Vera told me that I could run a 5-minute mile, I never would have believed her.  She gave me a goal that she believed was possible for me, and since it was not that far away from what I had already done, it seemed that if I put forth the effort then I could achieve it.

COMMUNICATE YOUR EXPECTATION

Let the person know what your expectation is of him or her.  Too often, people underestimate their own abilities.  However, there is a part of them that would like to believe they could do better.  People usually meet the expectations that others have of them.  Let your team members borrow your faith in them, while they might not yet have enough faith in their own abilities. 

BE A CHEERLEADER

Things don’t always go smoothly when people try to achieve something and there is a strong tendency to get discouraged and give up.  That’s when you must encourage your team to keep on trying.  Again, communicate your faith in their ability to succeed.  When I complained to Vera that I was still having a hard time breathing during my runs, she told me not to worry, that I would get there if I kept up with my workouts.  Your consistent positive attitude is a critical to your team’s success.

CARE ABOUT YOUR TEAM

The bottom line that makes this entire strategy work is that you must genuinely care about your team members.  Make them feel special.  When Vera told me the exact time of my fast run, I was shocked that she remembered it without looking at her notes.  This made me feel that she really cared about me and I began to trust her more.  If your team doesn't trust you, they will perceive everything that you say and do as manipulation. When they know that you value them, they will gladly let you lead them to greater accomplishments.

Follow this strategy with your team and watch their performance soar.  As for me, I still don’t know if I’ll ever be able to run an 8-minute mile.  Vera thinks I can, so I’ll continue to practice even when I feel like quitting, and hopefully, one day I’ll live up to her expectation of me.

Della Menechella is a speaker and trainer who helps organizations achieve greater success by improving the performance of their people.  She is a contributing author to Thriving in the Midst of Change and the author of the videotape The Twelve Commandments of Goal Setting. 

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.

This is what we call... Attitude!!

The first ever million dollar prize winner. He called his father just to tell him he won million dollars.
September 8, 2006

A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Clinical psychologist Joseph Burgo uses film clips from the movie 'The Social Network" to illustrate the prominent symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder.

Narcissistic personality disorder is a condition in which people have an inflated sense of self-importance and an extreme preoccupation with themselves.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

The causes of this disorder are unknown. An overly sensitive personality and parenting problems may affect the development of this disorder.

Symptoms

A person with narcissistic personality disorder may:

• React to criticism with rage, shame, or humiliation
• Take advantage of other people to achieve his or her own goals
• Have excessive feelings of self-importance
• Exaggerate achievements and talents
• Be preoccupied with fantasies of success, power, beauty, intelligence, or ideal love
• Have unreasonable expectations of favorable treatment
• Need constant attention and admiration
• Disregard the feelings of others, and have little ability to feel empathy
• Have obsessive self-interest
• Pursue mainly selfish goals

10 Common Expressions in English

What to do with your hands when you're presenting?

Tips for Public Speakings and Presentations

Business Writing: New Concept... Attractiveness Counts Al Borowski, MEd, CSP, PP Successful Business Writing requires you to make your documents attractive as well as informative. Business letters, reports, e-mails, proposals, even memos benefit the author when these documents are attractive. And, in most instances, the more attractive, the better the results you achieve. You can make your Business Writing more attractive in at least three ways. 1. AVOID THE "WAR AND PEACE" PRESENTATION When reading your document conjures up images in your readers' heads of reading "War and Peace," you know you are in trouble. The first important rule to remember is the 5-18 rules. That means no paragraph you ever write should contain more than five sentences. You may have more than five sentences worth of information. Big Deal! Reading a five-sentence paragraph is definitely more attractive to your readers than reading a ten-sentence paragraph. Either say what you have to say in five sentences or break a long, unattractive paragraph into two or even three paragraphs. You shudder and blink when you see long paragraphs. Think what your readers are thinking. When paragraphs get too long, your readers lose interest. When they lose interest, you lose. If you are looking for success in your writing, learn to hit the "Enter" key more often so that your readers don't get the feeling you are trying to impress them with your knowledge or your superior writing skills. You were inclined to suffer verbal hemorrhages when you had to write a ten-page term paper in high school or fill two blue books on a college exam. Those were the rules in school. You now follow a different set of rules in the business world. Get the point? Which paragraph would you prefer to read? This one or the one above? A document with shorter paragraphs immediately proves to the readers that your writing will be pleasing to the eye and not a burden on their brain. 2. FLATTERY BRINGS MORE SUCCESS THAN BRAGGING Attractive also means the readers will be drawn into your document because it addresses their wants, needs, desires, goals, budgets or timetables. Flatter your readers by making them the Number One consideration in your writing, not how much you know, how extensive you vocabulary is, or want them to know. Here's a tip for you. Imagine how much shorter your "War and Peace" paragraph would become if you used "use" rather than "utilize" and "project" rather than "initiative." 3. AIM FOR THE HEART AND THE HEAD Your writing becomes more attractive when it appeals to your readers emotionally and logically. It appeals to their emotions because they appreciate something created to solve their problem, fix their pain, or vault them into a productive, prominent, profitable, or recognized position. It appeals to their logic because they recognize the value your document delivers to them. If your writing is easy to read, easy to understand, easy to remember, and easy to act on, your "Attraction Index" increases. This is simple logic. Easy equals attractive. Long and complicated equals work. Think Hawaii.. Now think IRS instructions. That's the power of attractiveness in your Business Writing.

100 Most Common Words in English

Secrets of Body Language

Watch this amazing documentary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQENwD-QlRA

Let us start this blog with the word "Professional". What is your profession and what is your understanding about the word "Professional"?