LISTEN! YOU HEAR?

The link below, redirects to one of my earlier Facebook notes. People tend to “hear”, and wait for “soundbites”, or the chance to “butt in” and intercept your conversation before listening to the entirety of your points.

Many can’t wait for you to finish speaking, and when they “respond”, their input often has nothing to do with the point that you were attempting to make, and everything to do with the point(s) that they wish to “discuss”.

In order for any conversation to be cohesive, however, all involved parties MUST be willing to “listen” and not just simply hear what others are saying. Listening, in all actuality, requires more than just the use of our ears, but the engaging of mind, body and spirit, as we attempt to communicate effectively.

George D. Goddard

Click on the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/george-d-goddard/is-anyone-listening-by-george-d-goddard/10150471520608690/

Monday’s Motivation…

REMEMBER: Without extreme pressure and numerous cuts, a diamond would have remained a piece of coal. Be that forever diamond!!!

Sometimes, we tend to ignore the value of tough life lessons. Naturally, we expect everything to turn out the way we would like. But, life is not as generous in granting wishes based on our own deadlines. Success, does not expose itself, until a process of passing thorough proverbial fires and emerging like the Phoenix out of its fiery pyre , occurs.

In our business lives, as in our private lives, we must develop the spiritual, psychological and physical power, in order to overcome the numerous challenges and obstacles that fall upon us. Most of them, if not all, are beyond our control, however, neither of them have control over how we internalize them as they pop up. And, most importantly, we must be able to learn from those challenging moments; to be able to carry the lessons learnt with us, as we anticipate the next challenge or obstacle, but this time with more information (data or knowledge) than one had prior to the last challenge.

One of the keys to successfully progressing from “lesson to lesson”, is to have no emotional attachment to any of them. I know, as “feeling” human beings, that may seem to be a tall order, however, that is the only way to stop dwelling in the past and feeling sorry for yourself. I refer to those lessons for intellectual purposes only; to assist me in my decision-making during current challenges and in planning for upcoming challenges. Every lesson, in all actuality, either hardens or cracks their subjects. Coal that survives the pressure of the earth crust, metamorphosizes into the hardest naturally-occurring substance on Earth!

So, as you start a new “work week”, remind yourself of your own hardened value. Life placed you under pressure, and continues to do so, in order to increase your net worth! Of course, even in your “coal” stage, you were worth something, because ALL the elements of your value, were there all along; hidden in their chemical structure, and in wait for the pressures of life to incubate them, and convert you to the bright, glittering gem that you ALWAYS were! Shine on, radiant diamond!!! Have a great week!

George D. Goddard, B. A.

Forbes Agency Council: Can A Small Business Market Itself For Free? Here Are 13 Creative Tactics To Consider.

I found this article, that I found interesting. Hope you like…

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2019/10/21/can-a-small-business-market-itself-for-free-here-are-13-creative-tactics-to-consider

The Story Of “The Gorilla In The Cage”.

Every morning on his way to work, a man had to walk pass the local zoo, where he kept observing that there was a gorilla in a cage that was always crying. After a few weeks and with a few minutes to spare, he decided to stop and ask the zookeeper, “Excuse me; but why is that gorilla in the cage always crying?” The zookeeper replied, “Oh, that’s because he’s got a thorn [picker] stuck in his thumb.” The man then asked the zookeeper why doesn’t the gorilla simply pull the thorn out. The zookeeper calmly responded, “Because it only hurts him enough to cry about it.”

Okay I admit to having a few pet peeves. One of them; I cannot stand the decision of those who choose to “cry and complain” about everything. I am sure that we all know (at least) one person who always “cries” about what they do not have, about how bad their day is, or about any and all of their life issues. They drain you, and absorb all (or most) of your creative energy. Because of that, we MUST avoid such people when they are in that self-pitying state if we intent to succeed at accomplishing our goals, even if those goals are to their benefits.

In The Prophet, Khalil Gibran posits that “[Y]our pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.” Without pain, growth is nonexistent. This is true regardless of the discipline, art or industry. As an entrepreneur, one must be willing to embrace pain, as does a mother in the delivery of her baby. Your business, in fact, is your “baby”. In your “first trimester”, you are experiencing morning sickness, from a “life” that you cannot (yet) see but feel in your gut. You experience “mood swings”; happy one moment, and “cranky” the next. You cry more often than normal, and sometimes, you are (quite frankly) an emotional wreck. You have your “good days” and your “bad days”, and that’s okay. In your “final semester”, the pain of “contractions” are anticipated with excitement more than fear, because you KNOW what you are about to deliver!

We can all recount numerous clichés on the subject of pain, and they all agree that there is no “gain” without it. In order for our pains to be of value, however, we must learn from our past experiences in dealing with pain. The gorilla in the cage, failed to learn from the pain he felt, and he lacked the confidence in the knowledge that he could have done something to ease it. Plus, it was his pain and not the zookeeper’s, the latter of whom went about his day-to-day activities apathetic to the primate’s agony. Your “pain”, after all, belongs to you and only you. Own it. Embrace it. Be thankful for it. And, as Bob Marley sang, “[W]ho feels it, knows it…”

MORAL: To complain (cry) about things without doing something, makes us just as foolish as that gorilla in the cage. For far too many, things only bother them to the point of complaining and not to action.

Fly Like An Eagle!

Most, if not all, would agree that “we are the company we keep”. Those we associate with, become a part of our “environment”. Although we inherit our DNA from our (biological) parents, the people we hang around with, also contribute to our nurturing. As aspiring entrepreneurs, we must become willing to avoid and/or disassociate from those who are not “like-minded”.

Thomas “Tom” Corley, in CNBC’s “Make It” blog, shared the results of his 5 year research on the money-management behaviors of 233 “wealthy individuals”. Some of their habits may surprise you. Of course, Corley’s results, support those of previous “studies” on building and (most-importantly) keeping wealth. This is the link to Corley’s article:

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/14/most-important-habit-millionaires-share-is-also-most-overlooked-says-money-expert.html

REMEMBER: In order to soar like an eagle, you may have to avoid hanging around birds that cannot (or will never) fly!

The “VAD System” and How To “Free Fall” To Success.

The “VAD System” and How To “Free Fall” To Success.

Many years ago, one of my neighbors (Clifford) fell from five stories/floors up from the building in which my family and I lived. In trying to help an elderly tenant who locked herself out of her apartment, he tried gaining entry through the patio door, by having someone lower him from the floor above, using a garden hose that snapped in between floors. (Yes; it was not the brightest move.) His body free-felled, slamming into the concrete below, and he was rushed to hospital in serious condition.

After weeks in intensive care, he began to slowly recover, but his entire right side of his body was completely paralyzed. When visitation became available, my mom and I paid Clifford a hospital visit. As she sat by his bedside, I remember him telling her something about the experience that never left me; that, as he was falling, it looked like the ground was coming to him, and not the other way around. He also said that his skills as a soccer goalkeeper is probably what saved his life, because, just before impact, he “threw” his body to one side, as when “diving” after a shot to goal.

In “free fall”, a body has zero control, as gravity accelerates it to the earth, and, according to my former neighbor, it is the ‘ground that comes to you”. As an entrepreneur, I have learned how to adopt and adapt this concept of free falling, but in this case, towards my goals, which I view as the “ground”. Rather than seeing myself approaching my goals, I see my goals as accelerating toward me. That way, I tend to get out of my own way, and allow the gravity of success to “do its thing”. But, how do I do that? By utilizing the “VAD System”! This system was introduced to me by a millionaire from the Atlanta area. Of course, it is an acronym for “Visualize, Affirm, Document”, and it is a simple method of training one’s mind on how to “free fall” to one’s goals. These are the three (3) steps:

VISUALIZE: In order to want something, you must first know what it is you want. You have to see it! If it’s an expensive car, cut out a photo of it and place the photo somewhere where you can see it everyday. Same if it’s the “girl of your dreams”, the house with the picket fence, or your company making it to the Fortune 500. You must also be able to see them in “your mind’s eye”; a vantage point that ONLY you have, and “dream killers” attack.

AFFIRM: Speaking of dream-killers; in order to fend off negative energy, you MUST (I repeat, MUST) be in perpetual affirmation! Dream-killers come from all walks of life, and not all intentionally come out to kill your dreams. But, without an armor of affirmation, they are ALL potential hazards to your psychological and spiritual health, the latter of which are mandatory for success. And, of course, “where the mind goes, the body follows”. So, AFFIRM, AFFIRM, AFFIRM!

DOCUMENT: The difference between “dreams” ( which we ALL have) and “goals” (which not ALL of us have), is that the latter is documented! Dreams stay in that intangible space in our heads. Goals are converted dreams; converted from intangible to tangible. This is where the magic actually happens! As you document your dreams, it is important to set “deadlines”; specific dates that your would like to see those goals (converted dreams) reach to actualization. Develop an plan (of action), to include both short-term and long-term agendas. Create daily “doable” tasks; those “little things” that add up to “big things”. These are just some ideas, but you get the point.

Once the VAD System becomes a part of you, the “free falling” part gets easier. Momentum picks up, as if pulled by gravitational forces. You begin to trust the process, because you cannot fight it. Success is going to slap you in the face, whether you like it or not. And, it is going to hit you like a ton of bricks! The best you can do is, like Clifford, wait until just before the point of impact, and sacrifice half of your body, but in this case, by “giving back”. Thankfully, he made a full recovery. And, so would you, as long as believe that you can do it! DO NOT BE AFRAID OF SUCCESS SLAMMING INTO YOU! Enjoy the free fall.

George D. Goddard, B.A.