Growing up on a small farm had a lot of advantages.  Living with my grandparents through my high-school years, in Snowflake, AZ, also had its privileges.  In addition to learning the fastest way to clean stalls filled with horse manure (my grandpa always told me that you can learn a lot from the end of a shovel) and how to mend a broken fence I was privileged to learn from a generation removed and learn, to some degree, how things were done in the “old days”.

My grandpa, Glen Stratton, had a way of teaching things using analogies and with sayings of his that we frequently called “Glenisms”.  One of his most popular sayings was, “I wouldn’t throw stones at your outhouse like that”.  I’ll let you figure out that one.  I’m not sure if he purposely meant for his instructions in one area of life to be applied to several areas of life, but they did leave lasting impressions.

My grandpa taught me to have a love of horses and also taught me how to team rope.  In learning how to ride horses and to rope there was always a guarantee that at some point you were going to be bucked off.  With that guarantee there was also a guarantee that no matter how small you were or how big the horse was you ALWAYS got back on.  This was not negotiable.  In fact, if you didn’t get back on it taught the horse a bad lesson; that it could buck someone off and be okay with it.  Try being the next rider on the horse after it’s formed this bad habit.

Isn’t this the same with life?  At some point we are guaranteed to be bucked off and if we don’t get back on what have we taught ourselves or learned from the lesson?  In fact isn’t getting back on an empowering action that strengthens us while if we were to stay off it would be a disempowering action that would weaken us.

There is a favorite poem that I have framed, hanging in my bedroom, entitled “Don’t Quit”.

Don’t Quit

When things go wrong as they sometimes will, when the road your trudging seam all uphill.

When the funds are low and the debts are high, and you want to smile but you have to sigh.

When care is pressing you down a bit, rest if you must but do not quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns, every one of us sometimes learns.

And many a failure turns about, when you might have won had you stuck it out.

Don’t give up, though the pace seams slow; you may succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out; the silver tint of the clouds of doubt.

And you never can tell how close you are; it may be near when it seems so far.

So stick to the fight when your heart is hit; it’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

I would like to hear about your greatest triumph and the feeling that came from conquering.

And as always, if you enjoyed it, please share it, digg it, stumble it and retweet it…

I am confident that as we scan our personal corridors of memory we can all recall lessons that we learned in our youth.  Some memories may be pleasant while others might be disheartening.  Despite the circumstances that our lessons came in or the situations in which they were made we all have the power to choose if our lessons are empowering or disempowering.  Do they cause us to grow or to shrink?

Glen Stratton

My Grandpa, Glen Stratton, always told me that if you see something that needs to be done, just do it.  I don’t know if he took this from Nike or if they took it from him but it did make a lasting impression on me.

He also taught me that today is the first day of the rest of my life.

On my eighth birthday my grandpa gave me a framed quote, entitled Believers Creed, which I still have today. I suppose that he saw potential in me that was not limited to my age or circumstance.

Believers Creed: Today is the very first day of the rest of my life. This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it…or use it for good, but what I do today is important, because I am exchanging a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving in its place something that I have traded for it. I want it to be gain, and not loss; good and not evil; success, and not failure; in order that I shall not regret the price that I have paid for it. I will try just for today, for you never fail until you stop trying.

I suppose that I would ask what lessons are we teaching our children, if we have any, or even those with whom we associate with?

Regardless of what you religious or spiritual convictions are, the video below reminds us that we are all part of something that is greater than ourselves.

As always, after watching the video share the lessons that have been the greatest worth in your life and the lesson they taught.

Born with no shin bones, it would be easy to think that Aimee Mullins would be content with leading a “disabled” life or at best a “normal” life.  Instead of buying in to her reasonable excuse to live a life of mediocrity Aimee decided at a young age that she wanted and was worth much more.  Instead she became an Olympic Athlete, a model, an actress, and an inspiration to many around the world.  She knows firsthand what it means and what it takes to overcome adversity and to harness it into opportunity.

It is mind boggling to watch her and know that she was at one time looked at as being “disabled”.  On the contrary she is a living testimony that the human spirit can triumph over all hardships and come off a conqueror.

Watch part of her story below and as always, drop me a comment. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

If you want to be rewarded for something you put your heart and soul into, then you should go for an MLM business. This kind of business is extremely profitable

Massive Online Leverage

and it’s no wonder so many people are jumping into the trend. But in order for you to succeed, you have to completely understand the simple concepts which the most successful Internet businessmen have mastered. In that way, you can break through the niche you’ve decided to participate in.

It’s true what they say – too much information can be overwhelming. Nowadays, there are just too many gurus and their secrets seem to contradict one another. When applied, these tips seem to do more harm to the business than good. The general advice most gurus give to newbies is to buy this and buy that. They encourage them to take a risk. There’s truth to their statements but these newbies should make decisions based on sound judgment – and not just because a lot of Internet marketers are doing the same thing.

Truth be told, you don’t have to buy the Internet marketing tools in order for your business to succeed. If you want to be a successful Internet marketer, you need to be completely focused. You should understand the foundation of your business. That is why before you completely jump into Internet marketing, you need to strategize. What does your business offer? What makes your business different from your competition? What’s your target market? There will be distractions along the way but once you set your eyes on the prize, then this would make you completely impenetrable.

If you want a successful MLM business, you need to overcome four hurdles. The first is to have a website that allows you to make money online. There are affiliate programs you can contact that will get this done for you without any cost. Once yo0u have the website, then the business will slowly take off.

The next thing on your to-do list is to generate traffic to your website. You can get these from other sites. You can also promote your site in different ways. Remember that your online business will only make money if it gets 100 visitors a day. If you get 1000 visitors then you truly are very lucky.

Once you generate traffic, you can tweak your site in such a way that will make your visitors become leads. This is a skill that you should definitely learn as an Internet marketer. You may have traffic to your site but if they are not paying then it does not matter.

Finally, once you’ve started a relationship with your constant visitors or your leads, then you should interact with them regularly. In doing so, you get to profit from them again and again. Once you’re used to doing this, then you can say that you are a master online marketer.

If you are an internet marketer, YOU are your brand. You have to market yourself; therefore you need to be consistent. You have to be true to who you are. Take note of the things that make your personality and you should improve the gifts that you have. Compensate for the ones that you lack.

These days, when you say “brand”, people instantly think material branding. Branding from commercial products, these companies that have made their mark in our consciousness. And how did they make that mark exactly? It’s through years and years of consistent quality and unique product packaging. A good marketing and advertising strategy helped too. And what was achieved was a sort of trademark, a brand, a guarantee that you will get your money’s worth.

You may wonder why you should have a personal brand. Well, look at you and your business as living stories. Tell your audience, in this case, your customers what makes you and your business unique. Tell them what sets you apart from your competition. Think of those moments that make you stand out. You have to help them understand your tools and your community. You can do this by improving your own communication skills.

When you talk to your customers about your business, deal with them as if you are an annual review. Tell them what your business has done and what the goals are for the coming year. You should have integrity nonetheless. Another thing you should remember is that you must improve what you have. Do not lament on what you lack. If you focus on your liabilities, then you will not be able to work on your strengths.

As children, we are taught to be well-rounded. We should strive to fix what’s broken. But there are cases when you need to show your colleagues what you can do and impress them about your abilities and your perspectives on the business. You have to accept the parts of your job that you’re very good at accomplishing. You should encourage them that you can get it done for them. Remember that you are branding yourself.

Since you are brand and you are marketing yourself, it is best to think about your characteristics. Identify your strengths and work on your weaknesses. Re-invent yourself and invest in your well-being. After all, you are your own brand.

But then, you have to realize whether it is worth the time investing in something that you’re not. You can build and deliver power through those parts of you that are already considered to be your best gifts. If you look into other several works, these words have already echoed. Flip through those self-improvement books and you will see this statement.

Finally, the most important technique that you should learn in personal branding is confidence. You have to nurture your confidence. When you do, then you will accomplish far more than any software, logo, or slogan. You are your own brand, remember that. You have to empower your belief in yourself. This is the best strategy and method that you can do.

Don’t forget to comment and share…

Relationship Week will give you access to some of the brightest minds, bestselling authors and relationship experts to learn how to increase your ability to create healthy and lasting relationships and ultimately the bottom line of your business.

A good friend and mentor of mine, Ty Bennett, has had great success as an entrepreneur, a speaker, and an author.  In all of Ty’s experience he has found that business is all about relationships.

With that in mind – Ty has titled the week of Valentines Day – Relationship Week and I am inviting you to listen in as he interviews a leading expert every day on an area of relationship building. These experts include bestselling authors Stephen M. R. Covey, Bob Burg, Mike Robbins, and Kevin Hall.  Ty will also interview social media gurus David Riklan and Gilbert Mellott, radio talk show host Laura Kennedy and CEO Dave Blanchard.

To access all of these live calls for free go to www.RelationshipWeek.KyleClouse.com.

Let me introduce you to who you will be hearing from.

Bob Burg

Bob Burg, coauthor (with John David Mann) of the Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek Bestseller, The Go-Giver and the just-about-to-be-released “Go-Givers Sell More” will discuss how the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success can accelerate your sales success.” Best-known for his business classic, Endless Referrals, Bob will show you how five seemingly counterproductive Laws are actually the keys to becoming the success you desire to be.

Kevin Hall

Kevin Hall is the author of the newly released book Aspire! Discovering Your Purpose Through The Power of Words. Kevin is a highly sought after business consultant, speaker and coach. He has been recognized for his groundbreaking approach to uncovering the hidden, and often secret, meanings of words. Kevin will share unique insights into the language of relationships.

Stephen M.R. Covey

Stephen M. R. Covey is co-founder and CEO of CoveyLink Worldwide. He is the author of The SPEED of Trust, a groundbreaking and paradigm-shifting book that challenges our age-old assumption that trust is merely a soft, social virtue and instead demonstrates that trust is a hard-edged, economic driver—a learnable and measurable skill that makes organizations more profitable, people more promotable, and relationships more energizing.

Dave Blanchard

Dave Blanchard is the Chairman and CEO of The Og Group. In the last three years alone, Dave has debriefed well over one thousand, five hundred 6 Advisor Assessment Reports (3,000+ hours), coached over five hundred clients (7,000+ hours) and delivered well over 200 speeches. He has acquired through vast experience a wealth of information regarding how people think and the impact this can have on an organization. Dave’s seven principles to connect with people are life changing.

Dave Riklan

David Riklan is the founder of the largest website of it’s kind www.selfgrowth.com. As a recognized authority on social media and internet marketing David has successfully built an email distribution list of more than 1 Million people. He is also the founder of www.selfgrowthmarketing.com where David teaches social media and internet marketing.

Gilbert Melott

Gilbert Melott is the Founder and CEO of NextVoice 247. NextVoice 247 integrates social media to build business, create product and events, and develop the talent of emerging leaders and entrepreneurs.

Mike Robbins

Mike Robbins is an expert in teamwork, communication, and the power of appreciation and authenticity. Mike is the bestselling author of Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Already Taken and Focus on The Good Stuff: The Power of Appreciation. Mike’s lessons on authenticity are refreshing and impact both business and personal relationships.

Laura Kennedy

Laura Kennedy has lived a life of adventure and trailblazing. She uses those experiences to motivate others to reach for and obtain the gold ring. As a highly sought after business coach and radio talk show host, Laura impacts individuals and organizations with her wit and wisdom. Laura’s networking tips will have you networking like a pro.

Get access to these powerful calls for free go to www.RelationshipWeek.KyleClouse.com.

Self esteem is all about the way a person thinks of himself. A person possessing high self esteem feels good about himself, while person having low self esteem feel worthlessness. Self esteem is vital and a keystone for having a positive attitude to live a better life. Self esteem is a vital aspect of your life because it has an effect on your thinking and acting process. It also determines the way you relate yourself to people. Low self esteem can result in lowering your confidence level, which can initiate the negative thinking process.  This, in turn, can hamper the happiness and well being of a person. This article discusses a few ways to develop self esteem in you. These tips can help you develop a positive thought process leading to success.

Imagine Things Which Make You Feel Good…About You

If you are in a state where you feel that your self confidence as well as self esteem has hit the bottom, you will start imagining yourself in a negative fashion. In such a stage, make sure that instead of criticizing yourself try to seek out the positive aspects in you. Whenever you think about yourself, make sure that you concentrate on your strengths and not your weaknesses. Visualize yourself in a positive light in the future always. These things can definitely boost the level of your self esteem.

Take Proper Care of You

It is a general phenomenon that people who possess low of self esteem as well as self confidence tend not to provide enough care for oneself. Such people care about others and what others do, but minimal care is provided for oneself. This can hamper the way you project yourself and in turn, leave a negative stamp about you. So make sure that for giving your self esteem a boost, pamper yourself with proper care.

Associate With the Right People

This is perfectly true. Being in the presence of a good company always yields you good results. So make sure that your friend circle is full of people who can radiate happiness, cheerfulness, confidence and esteem. Staying in a company of people who are really high on self esteem and self confidence can do wonders to your self esteem and self confidence.

Set Goals Which are Realistic and Focused

At any point of time, if you are feeling low on your self esteem, evaluate the goals which you have set for yourself. Any goals that are focused and realistic will definitely help you improve your self esteem. This is because you will develop the confidence that you will be able to achieve those goals. Accomplishing the goals can increase the level of your self esteem.

Education in Positive Energy

It is good to read positive quotes or articles to give you positive vibes. If you have the habit of maintaining a diary, then make sure that you read the positive aspects of yours from the diary often. Every successful incident of your life can help build your self esteem. Never feel low that you were not able to achieve something. If not this time, next time you will be able to do that.

Replication Equals Duplication

Replicating what you do on a daily basis has a vital impact on your thinking process. Think about the positive things which happen in your life on a daily basis. Never think of anything which has hurt your or is negative in any way. Being positive will add to your self esteem and self confidence.

By following these tips you will definitely be able to improve your self esteem and do well in professional and personal life.

Communication in Network Marketing is a process of exchanging information, or enthusiasm, among individuals. The process is meant for conveying our ideals, thoughts as well as objectives to the recipients.  A communication process becomes successful only when the message is interpreted by the sender as well as receiver in its right way.

Affective Communication in Network Marketing is a vital aspect of your business both on personal and professional front. We need to communicate with our friends, family, at work and various other scenarios. So lack of communication skills can definitely kill your MLM business. Lack of effective communication can project your message in a wrong or offending manner. It can cause frustration, misunderstanding and misinterpretation, finally resulting in disasters.

With the dynamic environment becoming more information and technology friendly, the need of effective communication skills form a vital part of personality development process. Lack of communication skills can hamper the career as well as the personal relationships of people. Some steps which you may follow for effective communication is:

Clarity of thought

The intention and purpose of the messages should be very clear. The recipient of the message and the purpose of communication should be identified clearly. Any barriers which come into the picture be it gender, language or age or any other thing should be kept in mind while communicating the message. Make sure that you have chosen the correct scenario for communicating the message. Cross check with self about the results of the message and impression which you want to create after conveying the message.

Determine the method of communication.

Now that you have identified the need of Affective Communication in Network Marketing, figure out the way you want to communicate the message. If you are going to a direct communication, make sure that you maintain the eye contact. Your posture should be in such a way that it reflects your confidence and trust.  Make sure that your body language is perfect as any small mistake can send a wrong clue to the recipient. Non-verbal communication is always much stronger than verbal communication. Your tone should be a non-judgmental one.

Be a good listener

Good listening skills are vital for a communication to be successful, especially in Network Marketing. Communication is not a one-way road. You need to talk, then stop and listen and then expect feedback and clues to understand how far you have been successful in communicating the message. Make sure that you do not cut off the words of the recipient(s). Pay complete attention to what they are saying. Once they complete, make sure that the message has been conveyed in the right manner. Ask questions so that you can clarify the doubts of your recipient(s). If required, make sure that your message is fine-tuned.

Arrive at a consensus with the recipient(s)

Once the message is discussed and you receive the feedback, re-examine the aim of the communication has been achieved. Has a consensus been reached? Has the problem been resolved? If you were teaching something, have the recipients understood what you taught?

A good communication is successful only if the recipient interprets the communicated message in the way it was sent by the sender. A communication can be considered as a successful one if both parties involved in the transaction understand each other completely.

What exactly is meant by entrepreneur? An individual ready to take on financial risks and is ready for venturing into new financial projects for profit is an entrepreneur and a person who holds seriously the responsibility for the risks as well as outcome which are incurred in a project.

Derived from French words ‘entre’ and ‘prendre’, which mean to enter and to take respectively, the word was introduced in English for the first ever time by Richard Cantillon, who was a renowned Irish economist. He defined entrepreneur as a person who acts as the middle-man between labor and capital.

Being an entrepreneur is one of the most difficult and challenging, yet rewarding undertakings that a person can venture into. The situations are very rarely in favor of the entrepreneur so certain traits are required to be a successful entrepreneur.  Let’s examine some of the traits that are essential for an entrepreneur to be successful.

Focused or Confused

Entrepreneurs need to be thoroughly focused. Focus must be on the goals and aims they want to achieve. The goals set by them should focus on satisfying the customer needs and requirements. I am a firm believer that if you help others to get what they want you will eventually get what you want.  Entrepreneurs should also focus on rendering motivation to his employees, team mates or associates which in turn can make the customers satisfied and build the business.

Vision with a Plan

The next essential trait that must be possessed by an entrepreneur is vision. It is an entrepreneur’s vision that helps them foresee where they want their venture to be positioned in future. The vision should be framed in such a way that it is realistic and achievable.  The entrepreneur should be able to communicate this vision to employees or associates who also in turn should be passionate about the vision.

Leadership

The third buzz word for being a successful entrepreneur is to be a good leader. An entrepreneur cannot work alone for his goals to be successful. With a focused team and vision in hand synergy is accomplished.  It is team work which needs proper guidance.  A team does not succeed unless it has a leader which works hard and who is able to identify the needs of the team and guide them towards their vision.

Persistence and Passion

Lack of passion is something that will never give you success. Anything you do must be done whole-heartedly and sincerely combined with lots of passion. Then only, you will be able to achieve success. Similar is the case with persistence. There is no shortcut to victory. Only hard work which comes with a strong determination of being successful yields victory. There will be times where you feel that you are yielding out yourself, but if you possess a very strong will power and are very passionate about what you do then victory will definitely be yours.

Technical Skills

Even though you are an entrepreneur or the boss of your firm, it does not imply that you need not have any idea regarding the technical aspect of the firm. The entrepreneurs need not be the greatest technical assets of the company, but they should have enough technical knowledge to lead the technical team. They should be able to understand what the technical team is communicating so that they can work together for achieving the vision.

Flexibility

Last, but not the least, entrepreneurs should be able to adapt themselves to the ever-changing dynamic world. Even though they will have to stick on to certain policies and skill sets, they must make sure that the policies and strategies are molded in such a way that they can adapt to the constantly changing environment.

Are all these skills in born or can they be acquired? There are varying opinions. While there are people who believe that there are quite a few traits which can be acquired by experiences, there are others who think they are in-born.  This is where continued education is a must.  An entrepreneur must identify strengths, focus on them and then continually become educated in areas for improvement.

Make sure to comment and share…

It was an tribute to have received the book Aspire as a gift from Ty Bennett, founder of Leadership Inc.  I knew that anything coming from Ty was going to have significance and be worth reading and re-reading.

In Aspire, Kevin Hall embarks on a unique passage into the influence of words as he dissects them to their origins and gets behind their true meanings.  This is literally one of the most moving books that I have read and is a must read for anyone in 2010…I could not advocate it more.  Getting to the root level of words that inspire helped me get to the root level of myself to aspire to be more, do more and become more.  I know that if you read the book with an open heart and desire to change it will do the same for you.

Here is what others are saying about Aspire:

“Words have power . . . amazing power! I can’t wait to see the world’s response to Aspire!.” (John Assaraf, author of The Answer; Teacher in The Secret )

“I love great books that have changed my life. Aspire is one of those truly great books. Kevin Hall is right up there with Og Mandino and Napoleon Hill.” (Bob Proctor, teacher in The Secret and bestselling author of You Were Born Rich )

“Just as I broke new ground in human development over twenty years ago by uncovering the habits that make for a meaningful and effective life, Kevin Hall is breaking new ground by uncovering and revealing the true intent and meaning of the words that make up those habits.” (Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People )

“This book brings to light the power of language to not only inform, but also to realize the potential of a life fully lived.  The revelations in Aspire are necessary tools to aid every passage of life.” (Gail Sheehy, New York Times bestselling author of Passages and Passages in Caregiving )

“Kevin Hall’s ability to unlock human potential is rare and extremely valuable. In Aspire!, he unveils a completely new paradigm for personal development and growth that is dynamic and life changing.” (Norman E. Brinker, founder and chairman emeritus, Brinker International )

“Once you pick this book up you will find it hard to put down. The layers of examples and principles inside a single word can prove life changing. This is a treasure that I will refer to over and over again. (Stephen M. R. Covey, author of The Speed of Trust )

“More than just an engaging sojourn into etymology, Aspire! has the power to help individuals and teams focus on their true purpose and reach their best and highest aspirations.” (Richard Paul Evans, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Christmas Box )

“Kevin Hall shows us the surprising power of words-tools we can use to shape new thoughts and beliefs-to help us change, and create something better for ourselves and our planet.” (Spencer Johnson, M.D., #1 New York Times bestselling author of ,Who Moved My Cheese? and Peaks and Valleys )

Pick up your own copy of Aspire at www.Amazon.com or visit www.PowerofWords.net.