2009 was the toughest, and yet the most rewarding, year in our company’s history.  For the last 10 years we have been dragging around a huge anchor of debt that we had gotten the old fashioned way – we earned it!  Like a boil on our backside, this debt always seemed to make itself known just as we were about to move into position to do something big.  There were several times when we put a lot of padding around it so we didn’t notice it so much, but still every time we needed a little extra help or we were ready to go to the next level, the protective bandages would come off and it would ooze its poison throughout our company.

A few years back I started listening to a dude named Dave Ramsey.  From the minute I started listening to Dave I knew he was a good guy (mainly because he quotes Dad a lot!) and he knows what he is talking about when it comes to debt.  I started reading his books and listening to his podcasts, and before I knew it I was infected.  Then, in 2008, I got to attend the Entreleadership program in Cancun.  That’s when I realized two big things:  Debt was killing us and keeping us from achieving our mission, and getting rid of it was MY CHOICE and MY RESPONSIBILITY.

There is no doubt that the Dave Ramsey system for getting rid of personal debt or business debt works.  But here is the key:  If you have a big boil like we did, nobody can lance that sucker but YOU! Dave can provide the lance, but YOU have to take it in your own hands and OWN it.  It’s no fun to start lancing away, but the immediate pressure release is amazing, and soon, as the poison is squeezed out of your body, you find you can sleep in any position and run as fast as you want.

Thank you, Dave Ramsey, for all that you and your team do.  We officially became 100% debt free in November of 2009.  We owe more than you will ever know to you guys, possibly even our company’s future.  You see, while we were getting out of debt, the economy took a turn for the worse and our revenue went down 40%. I mention this to let everyone who is reading this know that the time to start getting out of debt is right now, and no matter the circumstances surrounding your situation, you can do something to improve your position.

No matter what 2010 brings, I know this:  Our chance for fulfilling our mission as a company is infinitely better because we are DEBT FREE!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course there is a tremendous amount of push for all of us in the business development world to be involved in social media networking.  We can not avoid it. It is one way conversations with us and about us, are taking place.  If we don’t join in, we might as well be burying our heads in the sand.  However, much like anything else, doing it the wrong way, is certainly no better than not doing it at all.  Truthfully, a lack of understanding may do more harm than good.  There are at least 11 things to remember when getting involved in social media networking.

1. It is networking.  All of the rules of networking apply. It is not about you. It is about them, it is about the community. If you need help understanding networking, suggested read, Never Eat Alone,  Keith Ferrazzi.
2. One must give far more than you ever expect to receive.  If you are keeping score, this is not for you.  You will always feel like the score is one side, as it should be. 
3. When you are involved in the social web, you are part of community.  Continuous interaction is best.  You are expected to contribute.  If you do this hit or miss, you will be seen as uncommitted at best and untrustworthy at worst.
4. Most people in business are on social sites to do business, but selling is a no-no.  Be honest and open about what you do, but openly selling is frowned upon.
5. Know the community you are getting involved in.  Each social site and groups within sites have specific cultures.  Know these cultures and you will get far more out of these groups and communities.
6. Each group has rules.  If you want to be a part of the group you have to know the rules. Best case scenario when ignoring the rules, you will be ignored.  Worst case, you can be kicked off and banned. 
7. For those of you who are doing this in your company’s name, remember this has to be part of your company’s overall strategic plan, marketing strategy and social media plan.
8. Be altruistic.  Remember what Zig Ziglar says, “The way to get everything you want out of life is to help enough other people get what they want.” 
9. It must be genuine.  Fakers will be found out, and frowned upon.
10. A few years ago, a solid campaign slogan was, “it’s the economy, stupid”.  With Social media, it is the content.  Offer something of value. 
11. Finally, and most important,  whatever you put out there is for evermore out of your control.  Once it is out there it is out there.  Consider the long term ramifications of everything you post.  If pictures are worth a thousand words, make sure all of them say what you want. 

“Zig, when did you find out your gift was to help others help themselves?”  Bev

This question came in on a Success 2.0 webcast.

Bev, Dad learned this early in his sales career over 50 years ago.  As he became more successful in sales he was asked to conduct sales training.  At first he taught sales skills, but then he realized that while sales skills are important, most people struggle with basic personal development issues like attitude, goal setting, and confidence.  He then realized that these things had to be developed on a foundation of character in order to work for the long term.  When Dad began to teach these foundational things, he started to see people’s lives change in significant ways.  This inspired him to become passionate about teaching these truths, which allowed him to develop even greater his gift of helping others help themselves.

Please note that Dad is not unusual in that he has a gift.  We all have gifts.  Dad is unusual because he relentlessly works on developing his gift.  The true lesson here is not to copy Dad’s gift, but to relentlessly develop your own gifts.

I came across an interesting article by Zig Ziglar today in regards to the tendencies of individuals in sales organizations.  According to the findings of Mr. Ziglar the top sales people are seated at or very close to the front while the bottom-feeders tend to arrive late or at the last moment and unprepared.  In the article he notes these low-producing people are also the ones who most likely squirm in their seats, leave early or talk to the person next to them.

He goes on to mention a great point.  These bottom-feeders are typically the same people who arrive at an athletic or entertainment event wanting the best seat in the house.  Generally arriving in plenty of time and are irritated when there are distractions from anyone else.

This is my friend sounds to me like a Piker who is someone who holds back, looking forward to vacation time and giving very little effort at work.  In my line of work I have one person that comes to mind while I was reading Ziglar’s post.  In fact most recently he was talking about his recent trip to a professional sporting event, how the tailgating before the game was fun, how he was drunk 3 hours before the game, the annoying person in front of him, and then the after-game party.  All of this coming from the same person who shows up 1-3 minutes before his scheduled shift and he wonders why he is having a hard time producing.

I cannot help but chuckle out loud as to how right Zig Ziglar is on this.  The individuals at my work who are successful have two things in common.  They do whatever it takes, every time.  They are the people who sit in the front, who continuously want to learn, unlike the above-mentioned individual, they show up early to meetings and generally are the last people to leave.  I leave you with the closing comments from the article:

“In short, these people are winners because they plan to win, prepare to win and expect to win.  That’s a good approach to life.  Try it and I’LL SEE YOU AT THE TOP!”  

Anda mau mengetahui bagaimana melakukan presentasi di depan umum ?
Doug Jefferys punya caranya !

Dalam film berdurasi 90 menit ini Doug membuat kita mengubah pandangan kita tentang bagaimana berbicara di depan umum dengan teknik-teknik yang mudah dipelajari serta bisa langsung dipraktekkan.

Killer Presentation Skills dari Doug Jeffreys akan melengkapi koleksi Anda sebagai seorang profesional yang sering melakukan presentasi di depan umum.

Selain itu, masih ada Building and Maintaining Generalization dari Richard Bandler yang membantu Anda memotivasi orang lain dengan hal-hal yang positif dan membangun serta bagaimana membuatnya tetap terpelihara.

Semuanya hanya ada di DVD Pembelajaran !

Untuk list New Collection bulan Des 2009 silahkan download disini.
Daftar baru CD per Des 2009 (New Collection)

Sedangkan untuk Full Collection bisa download disini.
Daftar baru CD per Des 2009 (Full Collection)

This question came in from a Success 2.0 Webcast

“Being a student of Tor Dahl in Minnesota, he speaks very highly of the way your dad has changed the world.  What would you say has been your dad’s greatest accomplishment?  Also, does he believe in giving back or paying it forward?  What would he say about that?” Dwayne

Dwayne, Dad’s core philosophy, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want,” is very close to the “pay it forward” or “giving back” concept.  I believe Dad’s greatest accomplishment is his gift of encouragement and hope.  Dad has the ability to help others “see” what they can become.  This encouragement creates hope, and when this happens people take action and try out what Dad says.  By taking action, they get results, and then they try something else, which gets even more results.

Dad’s greatest accomplishment is simple – it is really the sum of other people’s accomplishments that he had a small part in inspiring.

Visualize this scenario, if you will – God talking to Moses like a friend. If God considers relationship vital between us and Him, might we also consider that relationship among each other is also important? I’ve heard it said recently, “…relationship is the currency of the Kingdom.” Let us first pour into our relationship with God, and then into our relationships with each other – showing love, kindness and mercy. (thedailyverse.com)

The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Exodus 33:11a

Power Thoughts
1. “Of all the attitudes we can acquire, surely the attitude of gratitude is the most important and by far the most life-changing.” ~ Zig Ziglar
2. “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” ~ William Ward
3. “You are wise to not grieve for the things which you don’t have, but choose to behappy for the things which you DO have.” ~ Unknown

The world lost a great leader and a great man this week with the passing of Jim Rohn.  Jim was a giant in our industry, but more than that he was someone that you were grateful you could follow, and someone who made you believe you could become and achieve more than you ever thought you could.

My best memory of Jim was at an event about five or six years ago.  Both Dad and Jim were speaking for Brian Buffini’s organization at a big event in Orlando.  Over 5000 people were in the audience that day, and they had the rare treat of having Jim and Dad on stage at the same time. Brian spent about 45 minutes interviewing both Jim and Dad, asking them each their own perspectives on various topics and questions.  I will never forget how mesmerized I was.  And I remember thinking that Jim’s answers to the questions then made Dad stretch and go deeper on his answers to those same questions.  That was the greatness of Jim  -  he drew out the greatness in everyone he touched.

You can read more about Jim here.

After a Saturday afternoon collecting stones from a North Wales beach for a time management project I had coming up (you’ll have to book the course to find out why), my little boy turned to me and said “You should use an orange as well!”

Humouring him, I turned and asked why, what would I use an orange for?

And his answer reminded me of a lesson I really shouldn’t forget so easy – you can learn something from everybody if you just listen.
Then my son gave me a great analogy for persistence, which I’m going to use from now on, which I’ll share with you later.

Zig Ziglar, the fabulous motivational speaker, gives a great talk on persistence and tenacity.

He tells us about his friends, driving through Alabama on a hot August day, where they find an old water pump.
They prime the water pump; put all their effort into the production of water and pump with all their might over a considerable period of time.
But he says the wells in South Alabama are deep.
Allegedly, the deeper the well, the cooler and sweeter the water.

Finally, one of the friends suggests they give up, but the other replies that if they give up now all the water they have pumped so far will fall all the way back down to the bottom of the well.

Everything that they have pumped half way up the pipe line, will just slip away.

The only thing to do is keep pumping, keeping working hard, they are so close to quenching their thirst.
And it is then that Zig Ziglar shares with us a truth about wells in South Alabama and what they have in common with personal success – if you put all that hard work in at the beginning and don’t give up, then when the rewards finally come, they come in abundance and they come with a greater ease than you’d ever expected.

As long as you want that well to keep giving you water, you just keep gently pumping and out it pours.

Let it slip away again and it will take the same initial amount of effort to get it back, keep it pumping gently after all your hard work, and your thirst will be quenched until that well runs dry.

OK, so back on the beach with my son.

Humouring him, I turned and asked “Why, what would I use an orange for?”
And my little boy said;
“Because lots of things are hard work and seem pointless at first, but once you get through the nasty skin bit that you don’t want, if you’ve got an orange, you know it will turn out to be worth the hard work in the end!”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Do this now
Later on today, plan to start something that you know you want to do, but the journey seems too long, too difficult or too ridiculous.

If something will take ten years, then just accept it will take ten years!
The ten years will pass one way or the other.

They can pass while you get closer to your reward, one step every day, or you can wake up in ten years time with a sad, nagging feeling of regret.

Think back to when you were eight years old and age twenty seemed an eternity away.
Responsibility and careers were the things that grown-ups had, six weeks over summer lasted forever and the gap between Christmases was unbearable.

But guess what, age Twenty happened, summers came and went and (believe me) Christmases start coming quicker and quicker.
Whatever you start now will eventually take you where you want to go, if you just keep working for it.
2019 will happen, as a year it will run its course and become 2020.

What will you become?

Do this from now on
Keep moving forward, keep believing in yourself and look out for me when I walk into your seminar hall with an orange.

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing.. that’s why we recommend it daily.”

-Zig Ziglar

I have a few sources for my daily motivation.  I found that food for the soul and mind motivate me to be a better person.  Nowadays, you can’t help but be a  pessimist when you hear the news, are constantly exposed to negative attitudes, overwhelmed by your own life and allow narrow-minded thoughts in your head.  My faith, ideals and perception can easily be shattered at any time.  But I found that in daily readings about God’s love, a daily dose of inspirational articles is enough of a motivation for me to face the day.

This question came in from a Success 2.0 webcast.

“What is the key to preparing for success?”  Karl

Karl, the key is to determine first what you really want to accomplish in life.  When you determine this, then you can put together the game plan that will help you prepare for success in the area you really want to be successful in.  Nothing worse than winning the wrong game!

This question came in from a Success 2.0 Webcast

“Of all of your powerful messages, which one do you think is the most important?”  Armand

Armand, it is very hard to narrow Dad’s key messages down to one.  I will give you several that always come up when you ask Dad about this.

Zig Ziglar’s Key Messages:

“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”

“When you do everything with integrity you have nothing to fear because you have nothing to hide.”

“What happens to you is not nearly as important as how you handle what happens to you.”  You have the choice to either respond or react when something bad happens to you.

“You are who you are and what you are because of what has gone into your mind.  You can change who you are and what you are by changing what goes into your mind.”

“Be a constant student.”

“Develop the home-court advantage.”

“Faith in Christ is what changed everything for me.”

The most important one to me when I see Dad is “Faith in Christ.”  It has eternal significance, drives everything else he does, and gives him joy in the struggle.

Please comment if there is another Key Message from Zig Ziglar that impacted you.  I would love to hear it!

Just a little assistance to fuel your path to success…

Today Mom and Dad celebrate their 63rd wedding anniversary.  It’s such a big day that our entire nation decided to honor them by having Thanksgiving on the same day, and not to be out done, Jerry Jones got involved and is hosting a Cowboys football game so that Dad can really have the perfect afternoon! (LOL)  Yes, it truly is an anniversary to be thankful for!

Yesterday I had the privilege of watching Dad sign the anniversary card he gave Mom.  I took a picture of the envelope so you could see his personalized message.  Amazing how a few minutes and a few thoughts can turn a blank piece of paper into a treasure.

Here is Mom opening and reading the card.

What are you thankful for today?  Take a few minutes and make a phone call or send a note to a friend or loved one and let them know what they mean to you.

Many people are Embracing their Struggles today, and for them a little extra love and encouragement from you might make all of the difference.  We have some good friends, Michael and Brenda Pink, who are going through a health struggle right now.  Would you remember Brenda in your prayers?

Thanks everyone from making this blog one of the most fulfilling things I do!  If you want to leave Mom and Dad a happy anniversary greeting, just comment below and I will make sure they get it.

Being able to start each day with the right mindset is important.

My sixth grade son calls it his ‘game face.’

Quick Question:  What is your game face and what is it telling the world?

Here are some shared reflections to make the your week laser focused and filled with gratitude. . .

The first is a universal truth:

Out of every adversity comes a seed of equivalent or  greater value.

When one door closes . . .another one opens

——————————————–

My friend Max Steingart says it this way:

‘YOU CAN DEVELOP SUCCESS FROM ANY FAILURE

Failure is one of the surest stepping stones to success.

No element can do as much for you as failure can,

if you’re willing to study it and make capital out of it.

View every problem you encounter as an opportunity.There is always a good side to every situation.’

The optimist sees the doughnut, the pessimist sees the hole.

———————————————-

For those of you that see the glass half full . . . here are a few short quotes to get you in the ‘hmmm’ mode:

“The thoughts we choose to think are the tools we use to

paint the canvas of our lives.”

– Louise Hay

“A moment of choice is a moment of truth. It’s the

testing point of our character and competence.”

– Stephen Covey

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important

as what you become by achieving your goals.”

– Zig Ziglar

“Trust that still, small voice that says, This might

work and I’ll try it.”

– Diane Mariechild

“Success and True Lifestyle Freedom are in the Foundations

that you build on a Daily Basis”

–John DiLemme

Read Zig Ziglar’s quote  it again:

‘What you get by achieving your goals is not as important

as what you become by achieving your goals.’

What do you want to become?

Take a minute to identify where it is that you want to go . . .

Put you ‘game face’ on and know your consistent daily actions

will yield BIG results.  Be like a pro football player  . . .  keep ‘em

guessing until you’re at the goal line!

**************************

Debbie Wysocki is the owner of Women with Dreams and residual Money secrets – companies that empower the average person to live an extraordinary life by teaching how to build profitable businesses in the network marketing arena. She is a wife, mom, volunteer, a top producer in the MLM industry, a real estate investor, author, trainer, and former Beverly Hills financial analyst who is passionate about helping others succeed. Her motto is ‘How you do anything, is how you do everything!’For more information or to contact Debbie directly: Debbie@WomenWithDreams.com954-781-6629

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If you didn’t know I am the youth pastor at New Covenant Church in Longview, Tx. I continue to be excited about what God has and continues to do in my life. I believe God called me to full time ministry as a young man and spent many years pursuing that dream. 17 years exactly. Well as God continues to mature me he has helped me to switch my focus from my own life to others.

One of my favorite quotes is Zig Ziglar’s. His motto is: “You can have everything in life that you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want. So I began to pray how God will use my life to help other people get what the want. God begin to place on my heart the desire to find ways to bless other youth pastors in the East Texas area. Just as I sit here and write this I can think of other lay pastors in this area that have powerful burden on their hearts for young people but they are either short on resources or short on the knowledge to effectively reach kids. So this is my prayer that if you are reading this you will stand with me in prayer that God will continue to give me wisdom and insight on the best way to bless other pastors to better help them minister and also that God will continue to bless our resources that we can spread them around.

My second favorite quote of Zig’s is this one. “Far too many people have no idea of what they can do because all they have been told is what they can’t do. They don’t know what they want because they don’t know what’s available to them.” Zig Ziglar I believe this is a travesty in our society that to many young men and women live lives of poverty because their entire lives that is all they have seen or heard. Honestly some people don’t honestly know that they can live a different life. I continue to pray that God will place me in the position where I may bless and uplift young people to live lives that compel them past there family and past failures. Please pray for me as I continue this journey.

If you have any words of wisdom or knowledge please send me a comment. Thanks alot.

People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.
—Zig Ziglar